Constraints on the Abundance of Primordial Black Holes from X-Ray Quasar Microlensing Observations: Substellar to Planetary Mass Range

We thank the anonymous referee for the valuable comments that helped improve this paper. This research was supported by the Spanish projects PID2020-118687GB-C33, PID2020-118687GB-C32 and PID2020-118687GB-C31 financed by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. J.J.V. is also supported by projects FQM-108, P20_00334 and A-FQM-510-UGR20/FEDER financed by Junta de Andalucía. J.A.M. is also supported by the Generalitat Valenciana with the project of excellence Prometeo/2020/085. A.E.G. thanks the support from grant FPI-SO from the Spanish MINECO (research project SEV-2015-0548-17-4 and predoctoral contract BES-2017-082319) and acknowledges support from ANID Fondecyt Postdoctorado with grant No. 3230554.We use X-ray observations of quasar microlensing (sensitive to smaller compact objects than in the optical) to study the possible presence of a population of low mass black holes (BHs; from ∼10−3 M ⊙ to 10−1 M ⊙) in lens galaxies. We compare these observations with microlensing magnification simulations of a mixed population of stars and BHs plus a smooth matter component. We estimate the individual mass fractions of both stars and BHs for three different BH masses in the range of substellar to planetary masses. Our Bayesian analysis indicates that the contribution of BHs is negligible in the substellar mass range but that a population of BHs of planetary mass (M ≲ 10−3 M ⊙) could pass unnoticed to X-ray microlensing. We provide new upper limits to the contribution of BHs to the fraction of dark matter based on both, the quasar microlensing data in the X-ray band, and our previous estimates in the optical of intermediate-mass BHs with an additional upper limit at M = 3M ⊙MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033: PID2020-118687GB-C33, PID2020-118687GB-C32, PID2020-118687GB-C31Junta de Andalucía FQM-108, P20_00334, A-FQM-510-UGR20/FEDERGeneralitat Valenciana Prometeo/2020/085Spanish MINECO FPI-SO: SEV-2015-0548-17-4, BES-2017-082319ANID Fondecyt Postdoctorado 323055

The Effect of Balance Training on Postural Control in Patients with Parkinson s Disease Using a Virtual Rehabilitation System

[EN] Objectives: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motor clinical alterations among others. Postural problems have serious consequences for patients, not only limiting their daily life but also increasing some risks, like the risk of fall. Inadequate postural control and postural instability is a major problem in PD patients. A Virtual Motor Rehabilitation System (VMR) has been tested in patients with PD in the intervention period. Our pur-pose was to analyze the evolution of the spatial postural control during the intervention period, to see if there are any changes caused precisely by this intervention. Methods: Ten people with PD carried out 15 virtual rehabilitation sessions. We tested a groundbreaking system based on Virtual Motor Rehabilitation in two periods of time (baseline evaluation and final evaluation). In the training sessions, the participants performed a customizable treatment using a low-cost system, the Active Balance Rehabilitation system (ABAR). We stored the pressure performed by the participants every five hundredths of a second, and we analyzed the patients' pressure when they maintained their body on the left, on the right, and in the center in sitting position. Our system was able to measure postural control in every patient in each of the virtual rehabilitation sessions. Results: There are no significant differences in the performance of postural control in any of the positions evaluated throughout the sessions. Moreover, the results show a trend to an improvement in all positions. This improvement is especially remarkable in the left/right positions, which are the most important positions in order to avoid problems such as the risk of fall. With regard to the suitability of the ABAR system, we have found outstanding results in enjoyment, success, clarity, and helpfulness. Conclusions: Although PD is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder, the results demonstrate that patients with PD maintain or even improve their postural control in all positions. We think that the main factor influencing these results is that patients use more of their available cognitive processing to improve their postural control. The ABAR system allows us to make this assumption because the system requires the continuous attention of patients, promoting cognitive processing.This contribution was partially funded by the Gobierno de Aragon, Departamento de Industria e Innovacion, y Fondo Social Europeo "Construyendo Europa desde Aragon" and by the Programa Ibercaja-CAI de Estancias de Investigacion.Albiol-Perez, S.; Gil-Gómez, J.; Muñoz-Tomás, M.; Gil Gómez, H.; Vial Escolano, R.; Lozano Quilis, JA. (2017). The Effect of Balance Training on Postural Control in Patients with Parkinson s Disease Using a Virtual Rehabilitation System. Methods of Information in Medicine. 56(2):138-144. https://doi.org/10.3414/ME16-02-0004S138144562Schwartze, M., & Kotz, S. A. (2016). Regional Interplay for Temporal Processing in Parkinson’s Disease: Possibilities and Challenges. Frontiers in Neurology, 6. doi:10.3389/fneur.2015.00270Nussbaum RL, Ellis CE. Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. N Engl J Med. 2003; 348(14): 1356-1364. Erratum in: N Engl J Med. 2003; 348(25): 2588Pringsheim, T., Jette, N., Frolkis, A., & Steeves, T. D. L. (2014). The prevalence of Parkinson’s disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Movement Disorders, 29(13), 1583-1590. doi:10.1002/mds.25945De Lau, L. M., & Breteler, M. M. (2006). Epidemiology of Parkinson’s disease. The Lancet Neurology, 5(6), 525-535. doi:10.1016/s1474-4422(06)70471-9King, L. A., Priest, K. C., Nutt, J., Chen, Y., Chen, Z., Melnick, M., & Horak, F. (2014). Comorbidity and Functional Mobility in Persons with Parkinson Disease. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 95(11), 2152-2157. doi:10.1016/j.apmr.2014.07.396Von Campenhausen, S., Bornschein, B., Wick, R., Bötzel, K., Sampaio, C., Poewe, W., … Dodel, R. (2005). Prevalence and incidence of Parkinson’s disease in Europe. European Neuropsychopharmacology, 15(4), 473-490. doi:10.1016/j.euroneuro.2005.04.007Muangpaisan, W., Hori, H., & Brayne, C. (2009). Systematic Review of the Prevalence and Incidence of Parkinson’s Disease in Asia. Journal of Epidemiology, 19(6), 281-293. doi:10.2188/jea.je20081034Dorsey, E. R., Constantinescu, R., Thompson, J. P., Biglan, K. M., Holloway, R. G., Kieburtz, K., … Tanner, C. M. (2006). Projected number of people with Parkinson disease in the most populous nations, 2005 through 2030. Neurology, 68(5), 384-386. doi:10.1212/01.wnl.0000247740.47667.03Chaudhuri, K. 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IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics, 18(1), 391-398. doi:10.1109/jbhi.2013.2272101Forcano-García, M., Muñoz-Tomás, M. T., Manzano-Fernández, P., Solsona-Hernández, S., Mashat, M. A., Gil-Gómez, J. A., & Albiol-Pérez, S. (2015). A Novel Virtual Motor Rehabilitation System for Guillain-Barré Syndrome. Methods of Information in Medicine, 54(02), 127-134. doi:10.3414/me14-02-0002Gil-Gómez, J.-A., Lloréns, R., Alcañiz, M., & Colomer, C. (2011). Effectiveness of a Wii balance board-based system (eBaViR) for balance rehabilitation: a pilot randomized clinical trial in patients with acquired brain injury. Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation, 8(1), 30. doi:10.1186/1743-0003-8-30Muñoz Tomás, M. T., Gil Gómez, J. A., Gil Gómez, H., Lozano Quillis, J. A., Albiol-Pérez, S., & Forcano García, M. (2013). Suitability of virtual rehabilitation for elderly: A study of a virtual rehabilitation system using the SEQ. 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New Image Recognition Technique for Intuitive Understanding in Class of the Dynamic Response of High-Rise Buildings.

In the last years, more and more studies have highlighted the advantages of complementing traditional master classes with additional activities that improve students’ learning experience. This combination of teaching techniques is specially advised in the field of structural engineering, where intuition of the structural response it is of vital importance to understand the studied concepts. This paper deals with the introduction of a new (and more encouraging) educational tool to introduce students intuitively to the dynamic response of structures excited with an educational shaking table. Most of the educational structural health monitoring systems use sensors to determine the dynamic response of the structure. The proposed tool is based on a radically different approach, as it is based on low-cost image-recognition techniques. In fact, it only requires the use of an amateur camera, a black background, and a computer. In this study, the effects of both the camera location and the image quality are also evaluated. Finally, to validate the applicability of the proposed methodology, the dynamic response of small-scale buildings with different typologies is analyzed. In addition, a series of surveys were conducted in order to evaluate the activity based on student´s satisfaction and the actual acquisition and strengthening of knowledgepost-print8992 K

Electrodeposition of Co-Sb Thick Films and their Thermoelectric Properties in DMSO

Póster presentado en la 11th European Conference on Thermoelectrics (ECT2013), celebrada en Noordwijk (Holanda) del 18 al 20 de noviembre de 2013.In the last decade there has been an increasingly interest in the Skutterudites in the field of thermoelectricity 1. This interest is based on the fact that the highest performance of this material happens at 400ºC, which makes it ideal for multiple applications as energy harvesting devices. Generally, most of the actual compounds working under these conditions are unstable or presents a low figure of merit 2. However, Skutterudites have usually good values of the power factor, but also they offer the possibility of an enhancement of their efficiency due to the reduction of the thermal conductivity via doping the structure 3 or filling of the voids 3 of the structure with heavy atoms. Nevertheless, to obtain the right phase by electrodeposition is still not a solve question. 4 This work deals the electrodeposition of Skutterudite (CoSb3). We have been able to grow CoSb3 films via electrochemical deposition in an organic solvent (DMSO). After studying different parameters such as temperature, stirring, time of deposition or potential, we have been able to obtain quite homogeneously films with 1:3 ratio. For the first time, thermoelectric properties have been measured in different labs, to measure the Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity of the films in plane, and using a Seebeck microprobe system, to measure and make a map of the Seebeck coefficient in cross-plane. We determine the Seebeck coefficient to be -12 µV/K in plane and -37 µV/K out of plane, and an electrical conductivity of around 9 S/cm in plane.The research work is supported by the European Commission under FP7-NEXTEC project, Grant # 263167 [FP7/2011-2013].Peer Reviewe

Spraying agro-industrial compost tea on baby spinach crops: Evaluation of yield, plant quality and soil health in field experiments

Compost tea is a liquid fraction extracted from composts, and it is of great interest in sustainable agriculture because it reduces the unsustainable use of chemical-based pesticides and fertilizers. In this study, during two spinach field cycles, we evaluated the potential beneficial e_ect of the foliar application of a compost tea made from onion and vineyard composts either by itself (CT) or implemented with the beneficial microorganism Trichoderma harzianum T78 (CT + Th) on the “healthy quality” and yield of baby spinach. Results showed that both the CT and CT + Th treatments produced a higher spinach yield than the control, but these treatments did not result in an increase in soil dehydrogenase activity (DHA) or soil nutrient content. Furthermore, CT + Th treatment showed the highest yield, phenolic content, antioxidant capacity and flavonoid levels. Nitrate levels were below legal amounts, and they were significantly (p _ 0.05) lower in the CT and CT + Th treatments than in the control. Data suggest that compost tea extracts from onion waste and vineyard compost and/or enriched with T. harzianum can be used in a sustainable agriculture to increase yield and quality of baby spinach.This work was supported by projects AGL-2014-52732-C2–1-R and AGL-2014-52732-C2-2-R from the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of Spain

Effects of solarisation combined with compost on soil pathogens and the microbial community in a spinach cropping system

This study compares the effects of solarization combined with compost (72% vineyard prunings and 28% leek residues) (CAS) versus solarization (NAS) in soils used for intensive spinach cultivation in the Mediterranean area. The objective was to study the beneficial effects of the compost on the soil microbial community, soil fertility and soil functionality related to C and N cycling during solarization, during the spinach crop growth period and after harvesting. CAS did increase soil fertility and microbial activity, in addition, CAS increased the microbial alpha diversity in the soil to a greater extent than NAS, and the Principal Coordinate Analysis (PCoA) of the beta diversity in the soil revealed changes in the bacterial and fungal community at the different sampling times, except after the plastic was lifted. During solarization and after harvesting, different beneficial bacteria and fungi related to C and N cycling were more abundant in CAS than in NAS, in the same way as the genera involved in plant defense and plant growth (Pseudomonas, Sphingomonas, Bacillus, Thermomyces, Streptomyces, NMD1 or Nitrospira). CAS also had a notable effect on the abundance of predictive genes involved in the C and N cycles. The functional genes showed their lowest activity level a week after covering the soil with plastic, but they increased after lifting the plastic and after harvesting. Compared to NAS, CAS also showed higher N2-fixation and greater conversion of N2O to N2. Moreover, the abundance of several predictive genes involved in hemicellulose, lignin and cellulose degradation suggested that CAS produced an increase in nutritional availability. From this study, it can be concluded that the combination of solarization and compost increased soil fertility, microbial activity, microbial diversity and functionality. Compost could provide added value by stimulating the microbiological community in the soil until harvest.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and with European Regional Development Funds (ERDF, “Una manera de hacer Europa”) in the framework of the project “Compoleaf” (Compost as biofertilizer, resistance inductor against plant pathogens and healthy property promoter under a crop intensive sustainable production). Project (AGL2017–84085-C3–1-R, C3–2-R and C3–3-R) and grant (PRE2018–085802). Thanks to Ansley Evans for having made the corrections of this work in English

Avoidance of carnivore carcasses by vertebrate scavengers enables colonization by a diverse community of carrion insects

Enemérito Muñiz and Fernando Escribano helped during fieldwork. Dirección General del Medio Natural (Consejería de Agua, Agricultura y Medio Ambiente. Comunidad Autónoma de la Región de Murcia) and Sierra Espuña Regional Park provided help with logistics and permissions. Stefano Vanin and an anonymous reviewer provided useful comments and suggestions on the present manuscript.Carrion resources sustain a complex and diverse community of both vertebrate and invertebrate scavengers, either obligate or facultative. However, although carrion ecology has received increasing scientific attention in recent years, our understanding of carrion partitioning in natural conditions is severely limited as most studies are restricted either to the vertebrate or the insect scavenger communities. Moreover, carnivore carcasses have been traditionally neglected as study model. Here, we provide the first data on the partitioning between vertebrate and invertebrate scavengers of medium-sized carnivore carcasses, red fox (Vulpes vulpes (Linnaeus)), in two mountainous Mediterranean areas of south-eastern Spain. Carcasses were visited by several mammalian and avian scavengers, but only one carcass was partially consumed by golden eagle Aquila chrysaetos (Linnaeus). These results provide additional support to the carnivore carrion-avoidance hypothesis, which suggests that mammalian carnivores avoid the consumption of carnivore carcasses to prevent disease transmission risk. In turn, the absence of vertebrate scavengers at carnivore carcasses enabled a diverse and well-structured successional community of insects to colonise the carcasses. The observed richness and abundance of the most frequent families was more influenced by the decomposition time than by the study area. Overall, our study encourages further research on carrion resource partitioning in natural conditions.D.M.-V. was supported by an EC funded Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IEF-624575) and a research contract from the University of Alcalá (Ayudas Postdoctorales UAH), Z.M.-R. by a pre-doctoral grant (FPU12/00823), and M.M. by a research contract Ramón y Cajal from the MINECO (RYC-2015-19231). This study was partly funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness and EU ERDF funds through the projects CGL2015-66966-C2-1-2-R and CGL2017-89905-R

Nasal Spray Formulations Based on Combined Hyalurosomes and Glycerosomes Loading Zingiber officinalis Extract as Green and Natural Strategy for the Treatment of Rhinitis and Rhinosinusitis

A total green nanotechnological nasal spray has been manufactured and proposed as an alternative treatment of rhinitis and rhinosinusitis. It was obtained by combining the strengthening effect of liposomes on barrier function, the hydrating and lubricating properties of sodium hyaluronan and the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities of the extract of Zingiber officinalis. To this purpose, the extract was loaded in special phospholipid vesicles immobilized with hyaluronic acid (hyalurosomes), which were further enriched with glycerol in the water phase. Liposomes and glycerosomes were prepared as well and used as reference. Vesicles were oligolamellar and multicompartment, as confirmed by cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM) observation, small in size (~140 nm) and negatively charged (~−23 mV). Spray characteristics were evaluated by using the Spraytec® and instant images, from which the plume angle was measured. The range of the droplet size distribution and the narrow spray angle obtained suggest a good nebulization and a possible local deposition in the nasal cavity. In vitro studies performed by using human keratinocytes confirmed the high biocompatibility of vesicles and their ability to effectively counteract oxidative damage on cells induced by hydrogen peroxide. The overall collected data suggest that our vesicles are suitable as nasal spray

Adrenoleucodistrofia ligada al X: presentación de tres casos. Importancia del diagnóstico precoz

X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy is the most common peroxisomal disorder. This disease is caused by a defect in the ABCD1 gen. Saturated very long chain fatty acids are accumulated in serum, adrenal cortex and central nervous system white matter. The clinical spectrum is characterized by progressive neurological dysfunction and adrenal insufficiency with a devastating prognosis. We report a first case of X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy with fatal evolution which identified two asymptomatic family members and established a preventive treatment. Although there is no definitive cure, we stress the importance of family study and evaluation of the individual in situation of risk to establish an early preventive treatment and to give in each particular situation suitable professional advice