Discovery of distant RR Lyrae stars in the Milky Way using DECam

We report the discovery of distant RR Lyrae stars, including the most distant known in the Milky Way, using data taken in the $g-$band with the Dark Energy Camera as part of the High cadence Transient Survey (HiTS; 2014 campaign). We detect a total of 173 RR Lyrae stars over a ~120 deg^2 area, including both known RR Lyrae and new detections. The heliocentric distances d_H of the full sample range from 9 to >200 kpc, with 18 of them beyond 90 kpc. We identify three sub-groups of RR Lyrae as members of known systems: the Sextans dwarf spheroidal galaxy, for which we report 46 new discoveries, and the ultra-faint dwarf galaxies Leo IV and Leo V. Following an MCMC methodology, we fit spherical and ellipsoidal profiles of the form rho(R) ~ R^n to the radial density distribution of RR Lyrae in the Galactic halo. The best fit corresponds to the spherical case, for which we obtain a simple power-law index of n=-4.17^{+0.18}_{-0.20}, consistent with recent studies made with samples covering shorter distances. The pulsational properties of the outermost RR Lyrae in the sample (d_H>90 kpc) differ from the ones in the halo population at closer distances. The distribution of the stars in a Period-Amplitude diagram suggest they belong to Oosterhoff-intermediate or Oosterhoff II groups, similar to what is found in the ultra-faint dwarf satellites around the Milky Way. The new distant stars discovered represent an important addition to the few existing tracers of the Milky Way potential in the outer halo.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa

Surgical Treatment of Hepatic Hydatidosis

Hepatic hydatid disease has been reported from ancient times. It is a zoonotic infection caused by nine recognized species of tapeworms of the genus Echinococcus. Some of them are known to cause human echinococcosis, and there is reasonable doubt regarding the others. Diagnosis is supported by epidemiological history, clinical presentation, radiological imaging, and serological tests. Various pathological forms may become life-threatening, and in those cases, the treatment is extremely complex. The main objective of the treatment is to completely cure the illness in order to avoid further complications and recurrences. Hepatic surgery, using different techniques, achieves best results with acceptable morbidity and mortality rates. In the South of Chile, the geographical location in which we work, this illness is endemic with high incidence and prevalence. The hepatobiliopancreatic units of the regional surgical centers of Temuco have plenty of experience treating liver hydatid disease. In this chapter we shall focus especially on epidemiology, etiopathogenesis, diagnosis, and surgical treatment of hepatic hydatidosis

Serendipitous discovery of RR Lyrae stars in the Leo V ultra-faint galaxy

During the analysis of RR Lyrae stars discovered in the High cadence Transient Survey (HiTS) taken with the Dark Energy Camera at the 4-m telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, we found a group of three very distant, fundamental mode pulsator RR Lyrae (type ab). The location of these stars agrees with them belonging to the Leo V ultra-faint satellite galaxy, for which no variable stars have been reported to date. The heliocentric distance derived for Leo V based on these stars is 173 +/- 5 kpc. The pulsational properties (amplitudes and periods) of these stars locate them within the locus of the Oosterhoff II group, similar to most other ultra-faint galaxies with known RR Lyrae stars. This serendipitous discovery shows that distant RR Lyrae stars may be used to search for unknown faint stellar systems in the outskirts of the Milky Way.Comment: Accepted in ApJ Letter

Velocity-Based Heuristic Evaluation for Path Planning and Vehicle Routing for Victim Assistance in Disaster Scenarios

Published in "Robot 2019: Fourth Iberian Robotics Conference. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, Vol 1093. Silva M., Luís Lima J., Reis L., Sanfeliu A., Tardioli D. (eds)" published by Springer, Cham. Avalaible online at: https://doi.org/10.1007.987-3-030-36150-1_10Natural and human-made disasters require effective victim assistance and last-mile relief supply operations with teams of ground vehicles. In these applications, digital elevation models (DEM) can provide accurate knowledge for safe vehicle motion planning but grid representation results in very large search graphs. Furthermore, travel time, which becomes a crucial cost optimization criterion, may be affected by inclination and other challenging terrain characteristics. In this paper, our goal is to evaluate a search heuristic function based on anisotropic vehicle velocity restrictions for building the cost matrix required for multi-vehicle routing on natural terrain and disaster sites. The heuristic is applied to compute the fastest travel times between every pair of matrix elements by means of a path planning algorithm. The analysis is based on a case study on the ortophotographic-based DEM of natural terrain with different target points, where theUniversidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech. This work has received funding from the national project RTI2018-093421-B-I00 (Spanish Government), the University of Malaga (Andalucía Tech) and the grant BES-2016-077022 of the European Social Fund

Planificación y diseño de recursos para poner en marcha la versión on-line del Máster oficial las TIC en Educación

Memoria ID-0180. Ayudas de la Universidad de Salamanca para la innovación docente, curso 2014-2015

Healthcare workers hospitalized due to COVID-19 have no higher risk of death than general population. Data from the Spanish SEMI-COVID-19 Registry

Aim To determine whether healthcare workers (HCW) hospitalized in Spain due to COVID-19 have a worse prognosis than non-healthcare workers (NHCW). Methods Observational cohort study based on the SEMI-COVID-19 Registry, a nationwide registry that collects sociodemographic, clinical, laboratory, and treatment data on patients hospitalised with COVID-19 in Spain. Patients aged 20-65 years were selected. A multivariate logistic regression model was performed to identify factors associated with mortality. Results As of 22 May 2020, 4393 patients were included, of whom 419 (9.5%) were HCW. Median (interquartile range) age of HCW was 52 (15) years and 62.4% were women. Prevalence of comorbidities and severe radiological findings upon admission were less frequent in HCW. There were no difference in need of respiratory support and admission to intensive care unit, but occurrence of sepsis and in-hospital mortality was lower in HCW (1.7% vs. 3.9%; p = 0.024 and 0.7% vs. 4.8%; p<0.001 respectively). Age, male sex and comorbidity, were independently associated with higher in-hospital mortality and healthcare working with lower mortality (OR 0.211, 95%CI 0.067-0.667, p = 0.008). 30-days survival was higher in HCW (0.968 vs. 0.851 p<0.001). Conclusions Hospitalized COVID-19 HCW had fewer comorbidities and a better prognosis than NHCW. Our results suggest that professional exposure to COVID-19 in HCW does not carry more clinical severity nor mortality

Effectiveness of an intervention for improving drug prescription in primary care patients with multimorbidity and polypharmacy:Study protocol of a cluster randomized clinical trial (Multi-PAP project)

This study was funded by the Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias ISCIII (Grant Numbers PI15/00276, PI15/00572, PI15/00996), REDISSEC (Project Numbers RD12/0001/0012, RD16/0001/0005), and the European Regional Development Fund ("A way to build Europe").Background: Multimorbidity is associated with negative effects both on people's health and on healthcare systems. A key problem linked to multimorbidity is polypharmacy, which in turn is associated with increased risk of partly preventable adverse effects, including mortality. The Ariadne principles describe a model of care based on a thorough assessment of diseases, treatments (and potential interactions), clinical status, context and preferences of patients with multimorbidity, with the aim of prioritizing and sharing realistic treatment goals that guide an individualized management. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a complex intervention that implements the Ariadne principles in a population of young-old patients with multimorbidity and polypharmacy. The intervention seeks to improve the appropriateness of prescribing in primary care (PC), as measured by the medication appropriateness index (MAI) score at 6 and 12months, as compared with usual care. Methods/Design: Design:pragmatic cluster randomized clinical trial. Unit of randomization: family physician (FP). Unit of analysis: patient. Scope: PC health centres in three autonomous communities: Aragon, Madrid, and Andalusia (Spain). Population: patients aged 65-74years with multimorbidity (≥3 chronic diseases) and polypharmacy (≥5 drugs prescribed in ≥3months). Sample size: n=400 (200 per study arm). Intervention: complex intervention based on the implementation of the Ariadne principles with two components: (1) FP training and (2) FP-patient interview. Outcomes: MAI score, health services use, quality of life (Euroqol 5D-5L), pharmacotherapy and adherence to treatment (Morisky-Green, Haynes-Sackett), and clinical and socio-demographic variables. Statistical analysis: primary outcome is the difference in MAI score between T0 and T1 and corresponding 95% confidence interval. Adjustment for confounding factors will be performed by multilevel analysis. All analyses will be carried out in accordance with the intention-to-treat principle. Discussion: It is essential to provide evidence concerning interventions on PC patients with polypharmacy and multimorbidity, conducted in the context of routine clinical practice, and involving young-old patients with significant potential for preventing negative health outcomes. Trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov, NCT02866799Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

¿Quién se ha sentido así? Fomentando la vulnerabilidad y la esperanza transformadora en el conocimiento activista del Grado de Estudios Ingleses

Memoria ID2022-112. Ayudas de la Universidad de Salamanca para la innovación docente, curso 2022-2023

All-cause mortality in the cohorts of the Spanish AIDS Research Network (RIS) compared with the general population: 1997Ł2010

Abstract Background: Combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) has produced significant changes in mortality of HIVinfected persons. Our objective was to estimate mortality rates, standardized mortality ratios and excess mortality rates of cohorts of the AIDS Research Network (RIS) (CoRIS-MD and CoRIS) compared to the general population. Methods: We analysed data of CoRIS-MD and CoRIS cohorts from 1997 to 2010. We calculated: (i) all-cause mortality rates, (ii) standardized mortality ratio (SMR) and (iii) excess mortality rates for both cohort for 100 personyears (py) of follow-up, comparing all-cause mortality with that of the general population of similar age and gender. Results: Between 1997 and 2010, 8,214 HIV positive subjects were included, 2,453 (29.9%) in CoRIS-MD and 5,761 (70.1%) in CoRIS and 294 deaths were registered. All-cause mortality rate was 1.02 (95% CI 0.91-1.15) per 100 py, SMR was 6.8 (95% CI 5.9-7.9) and excess mortality rate was 0.8 (95% CI 0.7-0.9) per 100 py. Mortality was higher in patients with AIDS, hepatitis C virus (HCV) co-infection, and those from CoRIS-MD cohort (1997. Conclusion: Mortality among HIV-positive persons remains higher than that of the general population of similar age and sex, with significant differences depending on the history of AIDS or HCV coinfection