Optimización de Coeficientes de Absorción para Simulación Numérica Acústica

The following work presents a methodology to optimize the absorption coefficients, conventionally considered as the main input parameters of room acoustical simulators. In the first place a presentation of the main characteristics of the acoustic simulator is made. Next, the procedure that is based on a modified “hill-climbing” approach is detailed. It performs the optimization of the coefficients value in an iterative procedure, which includes the calculation of the acoustic quality parameters (AQPs) with the results of an acoustic simulation of a real room. The AQPs from each simulation are compared with experimental measurements performed in the room, used as a reference for iterative adjustments. Finally, the results of the last iteration show a substantial reduction of the error, showing differences of 5.83% with the AQPs measured in the real room. &nbsp

A method for detection of muon induced electromagnetic showers with the ANTARES detector

The primary aim of ANTARES is neutrino astronomy with upward going muons created in charged current muon neutrino interactions in the detector and its surroundings. Downward going muons are background for neutrino searches. These muons are the decay products of cosmic-ray collisions in the Earth's atmosphere far above the detector. This paper presents a method to identify and count electromagnetic showers induced along atmospheric muon tracks with the ANTARES detector. The method is applied to both cosmic muon data and simulations and its applicability to the reconstruction of muon event energies is demonstrated.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figure

Effects of hospital facilities on patient outcomes after cancer surgery: an international, prospective, observational study

Background Early death after cancer surgery is higher in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) compared with in high-income countries, yet the impact of facility characteristics on early postoperative outcomes is unknown. The aim of this study was to examine the association between hospital infrastructure, resource availability, and processes on early outcomes after cancer surgery worldwide.Methods A multimethods analysis was performed as part of the GlobalSurg 3 study-a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study of patients who had surgery for breast, colorectal, or gastric cancer. The primary outcomes were 30-day mortality and 30-day major complication rates. Potentially beneficial hospital facilities were identified by variable selection to select those associated with 30-day mortality. Adjusted outcomes were determined using generalised estimating equations to account for patient characteristics and country-income group, with population stratification by hospital.Findings Between April 1, 2018, and April 23, 2019, facility-level data were collected for 9685 patients across 238 hospitals in 66 countries (91 hospitals in 20 high-income countries; 57 hospitals in 19 upper-middle-income countries; and 90 hospitals in 27 low-income to lower-middle-income countries). The availability of five hospital facilities was inversely associated with mortality: ultrasound, CT scanner, critical care unit, opioid analgesia, and oncologist. After adjustment for case-mix and country income group, hospitals with three or fewer of these facilities (62 hospitals, 1294 patients) had higher mortality compared with those with four or five (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 3.85 [95% CI 2.58-5.75]; p<0.0001), with excess mortality predominantly explained by a limited capacity to rescue following the development of major complications (63.0% vs 82.7%; OR 0.35 [0.23-0.53]; p<0.0001). Across LMICs, improvements in hospital facilities would prevent one to three deaths for every 100 patients undergoing surgery for cancer.Interpretation Hospitals with higher levels of infrastructure and resources have better outcomes after cancer surgery, independent of country income. Without urgent strengthening of hospital infrastructure and resources, the reductions in cancer-associated mortality associated with improved access will not be realised

A HCMV pp65 polypeptide promotes the expansion of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells across a wide range of HLA specificities

Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) can cause life threatening disease in infected hosts. Immunization with HLA-restricted immunodominant synthetic peptides and adoptive transfer of epitope specific T cells have been envisaged to generate or boost HCMV specific cellular immunity, thereby preventing HCMV infection or reactivation. However, induction or expansion of T cells effective against HCMV are limited by the need of utilizing peptides with defined HLA restrictions. We took advantage of a combination of seven predictive algorithms to identify immunogenic peptides of potential use in the prevention or treatment of HCMV infection or reactivation. Here we describe a pp65 derived peptide (pp65(340-355), RQYDPVAALFFFDIDL: RQY16-mer), characterized by peculiar features. First, RQY-16mer is able to stimulate HCMV pp65 specific responses in both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, restricted by a wide range of HLA class I and class II determinants. Second, RQY-16mer is able to induce an unusually wide range of effector functions in CD4+ T cells, including proliferation, killing of autologous HCMV infected target cells and cytokine production. Third, and most importantly, the RQY-16mer is able to stimulate CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses in pharmacologically immunosuppressed patients. These data suggest that a single reagent might qualify as synthetic immunogen for potentially large populations exposed to HCMV infection or reactivation