Free Form of the Foldy-Wouthuysen Transformation in External Electromagnetic Fields

We derive the exact Foldy-Wouthuysen transformation for Dirac fermions in a time independent external electromagnetic field in the basis of the Ritus eigenfunctions, namely the eigenfunctions of the operator $(\gamma \cdot \Pi)^2$, with $\Pi^\mu = p^\mu - e A^\mu$. In this basis, the transformation acquires a free form involving the dynamical quantum numbers induced by the field.Comment: 8 pages. Accepted in J. Phys. A: Math. and Theo. (Fast Track Communication

Threading Through Macrocycles Enhances the Performance of Carbon Nanotubes as Polymer Fillers

In this work we study the reinforcement of polymers by mechanically interlocked derivatives of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). We compare the mechanical properties of fibers made of polymers and of composites with pristine single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), mechanically interlocked derivatives of SWNTs (MINTs) and the corresponding supramolecular models. Improvements of both Young's modulus and tensile strength of up to 200 % were observed for the polystyrene-MINTs samples with an optimized loading of just 0.01 wt.%, while the supramolecular models with identical chemical composition and loading showed negligible or even detrimental influence. This behavior is found for three different types of SWNTs and two types of macrocycles. Molecular dynamics simulations show that the polymer adopts an elongated conformation parallel to the SWNT when interacting with MINT fillers, irrespective of the macrocycle chemical nature, whereas a more globular structure is taken upon facing with either pristine SWNTs or supramolecular models. The MINT composite architecture thus leads to a more efficient exploitation of the axial properties of the SWNTs and of the polymer chain at the interface, in agreement with experimental results. Our findings demonstrate that the mechanical bond imparts distinctive advantageous properties to SWNT derivatives as polymer fillers.Comment: 39 pages, 19 figure

Diffusion dynamics on multiplex networks

We study the time scales associated to diffusion processes that take place on multiplex networks, i.e. on a set of networks linked through interconnected layers. To this end, we propose the construction of a supra-Laplacian matrix, which consists of a dimensional lifting of the Laplacian matrix of each layer of the multiplex network. We use perturbative analysis to reveal analytically the structure of eigenvectors and eigenvalues of the complete network in terms of the spectral properties of the individual layers. The spectrum of the supra-Laplacian allows us to understand the physics of diffusion-like processes on top of multiplex networks.Comment: 6 Pages including supplemental material. To appear in Physical Review Letter

Critical appraisal of pralatrexate in the management of difficult-to-treat peripheral T cell lymphoma

Aggressive T cell lymphomas are a subgroup of lymphomas with a particularly poor prognosis. This is especially true for patients with recurrent or refractory disease, who typically have limited response to salvage therapy and extremely poor overall survival. For this reason, there is a strong need to develop potentially active drugs for these malignancies. Pralatrexate is a novel antifolate designed to have high affinity for reduced folate carrier type 1. Preclinical and clinical studies have demonstrated that pralatrexate has significant activity against T cell lymphomas. The dose-limiting toxicity for pralatrexate is mucositis, which can be abrogated with folic acid and vitamin B12 supplementation. Pralatrexate is the first single agent approved for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory peripheral T cell lymphoma. This approval was based on an overall objective response rate observed in the pivotal study. The overall response rate was 29%, with a median duration of 10.1 months. This article reviews the biochemistry, preclinical experience, metabolism, and pharmacokinetics of pralatrexate, including the clinical experience with this agent in lymphoma. Future areas of development are now focused on identifying synergistic combinations of pralatrexate with other agents and the evaluation of predictive markers for clinical benefit

Estudio descriptivo de los hábitos alimenticios y del consumo de alcohol en una muestra de estudiantes de la Universidad de Alicante

Objetivo. Describir la frecuencia de consumo de determinados alimentos y bebidas alcohólicas en una muestra de estudiantes de la Universidad de Alicante. Material y métodos. El instrumento utilizado para la recogida de datos fue un cuestionario de frecuencias de consumo, aplicado mediante entrevista personal a una muestra accidental de 1250 personas, (692 mujeres y 488 hombres), con un rango de edad de 17-40 años. Constaba de cuatro secciones: 1ª) número de comidas y lugar donde se realizan; 2ª) patrones de consumo de los distintos grupos de alimentos; 3ª) patrones de consumo de bebidas alcohólicas, diferenciando lo bebido de lunes a jueves y de viernes a domingo; y 4ª) datos de identificación y demográficos. Resultados. Los datos obtenidos coinciden con los expuestos por otros autores, y muestran que nuestro modelo alimentario se caracteriza por un alto consumo de carnes (=4 veces/semana), adecuada ingesta de huevos (=2,5 v/sem.) e hidratos de carbono complejos (arroz y pastas =4,2 v/sem.), consumo ligeramente inferior al recomendado de frutas (=5,3 v/sem.) e insuficiente de legumbres (=2,2 v:/sem.), verduras y hortalizas frescas (=3,9 v/sem.), y pescados (=2 v/sem.). El consumo de bebidas alcohólicas fue: 2,6 vasos/semana de cerveza, 2,1 v/sem. de combinados, 1,2 v/sem. de licores y 0,8 v/sem. de vino. Los porcentajes de consumidores fueron para la cerveza del 51,1 %, para los combinados del 61,4%, para los licores del 40,9%, y para el vino 18,7%. Los datos señalan que los hombres consumen más bebidas alcohólicas que las mujeres (t=7,79 p<0,001) y que quienes empiezan antes a consumirlas son quienes en mayor cantidad lo hacen (t=-3,17 p<0,001). Conclusiones. Pese a la diferencia existente entre medias de edad y nivel cultural, existe una similitud entre los datos obtenidos en este estudio y el realizado sobre la población de la ciudad de Alicante. Las encuestas alimentarias y de consumo de alcohol realizadas en España son escasas y con diversa metodología, lo que dificulta la comparación de los resultados obtenidos con otros estudios previos

Characterising PvRBSA: an exclusive protein from Plasmodium species infecting reticulocytes

Background: Plasmodium vivax uses multiple ligand-receptor interactions for preferential invasion of human reticulocytes. Several of these ligands have been identified by in silico approaches based on the role displayed by their orthologs in other Plasmodium species during initial adhesion or invasion. However, the cell adhesion role of proteins that are exclusive to species that specifically invade reticulocytes (as P. vivax and P. cynomolgi) has not been evaluated to date. This study aimed to characterise an antigen shared between Plasmodium species that preferentially infect reticulocytes with a focus on assessing its binding activity to target cells. Results: An in silico analysis was performed using P. vivax proteome data to identify and characterise one antigen shared between P. vivax and P. cynomolgi. This led to identification of the pvrbsa gene present in the P. vivax VCG-I strain genome. This gene is transcribed in mature schizonts and encodes a protein located on the parasite surface. rPvRBSA was antigenic and capable of binding to a population of reticulocytes with a different Duffy phenotype. Interestingly, the molecule showed a higher percentage of binding to immature human reticulocytes (CD71hi). Conclusions: This study describes for the first time, a molecule involved in host cell binding that is exclusive in reticulocyte-infecting Plasmodium species. This suggest that PvRBSA is an antigenic adhesin that plays a role in parasite binding to target cells. © 2017 The Author(s)

Dimensional regularization vs methods in fi xed dimension with and without y5

We study the Lorentz and Dirac algebra, including the antisymmetric e tensor and the y 5 matrix, in implicit gauge-invariant regularization/renormalization methods de ned in xed integer dimensions. They include constrained differential, implicit and four-dimensional renormalization. We nd that these xed-dimension methods face the same di culties as the different versions of dimensional regularization. We propose a consistent procedure in these methods, similar to the consistent version of regularization by dimensional reduction.The work of A.M.B. and M.P.V. has been supported by the Spanish MINECO project FPA2016-78220-C3-1-P (Fondos FEDER) and the Junta de Andalucía grant FQM101. The work of M.P.V. has also been supported by the European Commission, through the contract PITN-GA-2012-316704 (HIGGSTOOLS). A.L.C. acknowledges nancial support from CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior), Brazil, as well as networking support by the COST Action CA16201

Evaluacion economica del paso Internacional Pehuenche

141 p.La presente memoria ha considerado relevante calcular los costos de transporte caminero para las dos variantes que actualmente posee el Paso Pehuenche ( Los Cóndores y El Campanario ), esta importante información ayudara a decidir acerca de la conveniencia de optar por una u otra alternativa. Dentro de los principales costos a determinar están los costos de transporte y costos de tiempo para las personas, estos costos se determinaran para las dos variantes: Los Cóndores y El Campanario. En el calculo se asume que la calidad de las variantes no influirá en la decisión de utilizar el Paso Pehuenche, además el transito actual y proyectado será el mismo para ambas alternativas; es decir, supondremos que cualquier vehículo que llegue al Paso Pehuenche cruzara la cordillera utilizando la ruta de la Cuesta Los Cóndores o de la Variante Campanario ( se ha considerado este supuesto incluso aunque existan casi 7 Km. de diferencia, ya que así se podrá realizar una comparación de los costos en que las diferencias se produzcan no solo por distancias, sino también por las características técnicas de los caminos). De esta manera se podrá determinar cual variante posee menores costos de transporte (costos de operación y tiempo de viaje) para una demanda de transito igual. Para determinar los costos de ambas vías se utilizara el modelo HDM3, que actualmente usa el Ministerio de Obras Publicas en la Evaluación Social de Proyectos Camineros. La presente memoria pretende contribuir en las decisiones económicas de este proyecto, decisiones que afectaran la competitividad de empresas Chilenas que exportan hacia países del conosur; también se debe mencionar que Chile generaría una Buena imagen como Pals al tener un paso internacional complementario al paso Los Libertadores Conclusiones y Recomendaciones: En base a los resultados que arrojo este estudio se pudo concluir que en el corto y el mediano plazo la construcción del paso El Pehuenche, se debería realizar por la Cuesta Los Cóndores la cual posee para 20 anos un VAN (12%) de $-18.654.473.447 , en cambio el VAN (12$ - 20.494.310.302. La mejor o la menos mala de las alternativas es la Cuesta Los Cóndores; en cambio si consideramos un horizonte de tiempo mas lejano esta decisión podría cambiar porque la alternativa Variante Campanario posee ahorros de costos crecientes, lo que podría cubrir la mayor inversión que implica la construcción de la alternativa Variante Campanario. Considerando el valor actual neto de ambas alternativas, se recomienda la creación de un peaje, el cual generaría ingresos y permitiría que el proyecto a un mediano y largo plazo sea rentable. Se determine un peaje de equilibrio, es decir un valor de peaje por tipo de automóvil que cubriera los montos de Inversión y los costos operacionales de cada alternativa. Se calculo que el peaje de equilibrio para 30 años, de la Cuesta Los Cóndores seria de $10.866 para automóviles y$21.733 para buses y camiones ( Considerando como ano 1 el ano 2003 ), en cambio para la Variante Campanario el valor de peaje seria de $11.677 y$23.353 respectivamente. El mayor valor de peaje para la Variante Campanario se explica principalmente por el mayor monto de inversión que posee esta alternativa en relación a la Cuesta Los Cóndores. De acuerdo a los resultados mencionados se concluyo que para el proyecto de 30 anos el peaje de la Variante Campanario es un 7,45% mayor que de la Cuesta Los Cóndores, sin embargo, si el proyecto tuviera una duración de 40 anos, la variación entre los valores de peaje de ambas alternativas seria de 6,3%, es decir, a medida que el proyecto aumenta su duración , la variación mencionada bajara aún mas; por lo tanto a un largo plazo la Variante Campanario disminuirá su desventaja en relación a la Cuesta Los Cóndores respecto del valor de peaje

Spanish Initiative for the Automation in Urban Transport: AutoMOST

The progressive automation of transport will imply a new paradigm in mobility, which will profoundly affect people, logistics of goods, as well as other sectors dependent on transport. It is precise within this automation where the development of new driving technologies is going to cause a great impact on the mobility of the near future, and that will have an effect on the economic, natural and social environment. It is therefore a primary issue at the global level, as it is reflected in the work programs of the European Commission in relation to the road transport [1] [2]. Thus, the size impact is caused by the following novelties and advantages: 1) Safety: Accidents reduction caused by human error; 2) Efficiency increase in transportation, both in energy consumption and time; 3) Comfort for users and professionals who will increase their operational availability to execute other more valuable tasks, both for them and enterprises; 4) Social Inclusion: enabling mobility easily for everybody during more time; 5) Accessibility, to get to city centers and other difficult reach places. It should be noted that the economic impact projected for automated driving for the years to come ranges up to €71 bn in 2030, when estimated global market for automated vehicles is 44 million vehicles, as is reflected in document Automated Driving Roadmap by ERTRAC [3], European Road Transport Research Advisory Council (http://www.ertrac.org/uploads/documentsearch/id38/ERTRAC_Automated-Driving-2015.pdf). As background that already anticipates these im-provements, the Advance Driver Assistance System (ADAs) have already showed the safety increase in the last ten years, but always maintain a leading role for the driver. Related to the efficiency increase, automated driving offers great opportunities for those companies where mobility is a key factor in operating costs, and affects the whole value chain. The project opportunity is consistent with ERTRAC vision, especially in applications focused on the urban environment [4], where it is expected a deployment of the technology of high level automation in an immediate future. This is possible by the potential to incorporate smart infrastructure to improve guidance and positioning, as well as lower speed, which eases its progressive deployment. The objective of AutoMOST is developing technologies for the automation of vehicles in urban transport and industrial applications, to increase significantly the efficiency, safety and environmental sustainability. More specifically, AutoMOST will allow the implementation of shared control systems (Dual-Mode) [5] for future automated vehicles that allow the services operate more efficiently and flexibly, in a context of intelligent and connected infrastructures.This work is supported by the Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI) through the CIEN (Consorcios de Investigación Empresarial Nacional) Spanish program. So, the authors would like to thank the CDTI which is a Public Business Entity, answering to the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness in Spain, which fosters the technological development and innovation of Spanish companies. It is the entity that channels the funding and support applications for national and international R&D&I projects of Spanish companies

Oestrid myiasis in European Mouflon from Spain

From February 1992 to March 1997, 245 European mouflon (Ovis orientalis musimon) from Sierras de Cazorla, Segura y Las Villas Natural Park (southern Spain) were surveyed for oestrid larvae in order to estimate prevalence and mean intensity of parasitism by Oestrus ovis. Over 46 percent of the animals surveyed were infected, with a mean intensity of 9.6 larvae/host parasitized. No significant differences in prevalence rates between host sexes were observed, but older mouflons were infected with more larvae than younger ones.Peer Reviewe