Interpretación genética de las mineralizaciones de Pb-Zn del Ordovicico superiro de La Vall d'Aran (Lérida)

Las mineralizaciones de PbZn del Ordovícico superior de La Vall d'Aran son de tipo estratiforme, asociadas a facies calcáreo-detríticas. La mena está constituida mayoritariamente por esfalerita, pirrotina y galena, habiéndose detectado además 12 especies minerales secundarias.El área estudiada se ha dividido en dos zonas: Bossost y el valle del río Unyola. En total se han investigado ocho afloramientos de mineralización, formando parte todos ellos del mismo tipo, tanto morfológico como mineralógico, de yacimiento.A partir del estudio macro y microscópico de las mineralizaciones, se hapodido determinar que éstas han sufrido un metamorfismo el cual ha dado lugar a una serie de texturas de deformación y recristalización en los minerales. En algunos puntos, sin embargo, donde las mineralizaciones se han visto menos afectadas por la deformación, se han observado estructuras sedimentarias en los sulfuros.Por todo ello, se puede deducir que las mineralizaciones estudiadas son de origen sedimentario, anteriores al metamorfismo herciniano que las ha afectado y que no están relacionadas con el hidrotermalismo tardihercinico asociado a la intrusión de las granodioritas de la zona axial pirenaica

Low order modes in microcavities based on silicon colloids

[EN] Silicon colloids based microcavities, with sphere size between 1 and 3 micrometers, have been synthesized and optically characterized. Due to both the small cavity volume and the high refractive index of silicon we are able to tune resonances with extremely low mode index, whose electric field distribution resembles those of electronic orbitals. The value of some parameters such as quality factor Q, effective mode volume, and evanescent field have been calculated for several modes. This calculation indicates silicon colloids can be a serious strategy for developing optical microcavities where may coexist both optical modes with large evanescent fields useful for sensing applications, as well as modes with high Q/V ratio values, of the order of 10(9)(lambda/n)(-3). (C) 2011 Optical Society of AmericaThe authors acknowledge financial support from projects Apoyo a la investigacion 2009 from Universidad Politecnica de Valencia, no reg. 4325, FIS2009-07812, Consolider 2007-0046 Nanolight, PROMETEO/2010/043. E. Xifre-Perez acknowledges the financial support from the program Juan de la Cierva (Spanish Ministerio de Educacion y Ciencia). Finally, we thank Prof. J. Garcia de Abajo for providing us with the MESME theoretical program we have used in the calculation of electric field distribution of the Mie modes.Xifre Perez, E.; Fenollosa Esteve, R.; Meseguer Rico, FJ. (2011). Low order modes in microcavities based on silicon colloids. Optics Express. 19(4):3455-3463. https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.19.003455S34553463194Muller, D. A. (2005). A sound barrier for silicon? Nature Materials, 4(9), 645-647. doi:10.1038/nmat1466Song, B.-S., Noda, S., Asano, T., & Akahane, Y. (2005). Ultra-high-Q photonic double-heterostructure nanocavity. Nature Materials, 4(3), 207-210. doi:10.1038/nmat1320Blanco, A., Chomski, E., Grabtchak, S., Ibisate, M., John, S., Leonard, S. W., … van Driel, H. M. (2000). Large-scale synthesis of a silicon photonic crystal with a complete three-dimensional bandgap near 1.5 micrometres. Nature, 405(6785), 437-440. doi:10.1038/35013024Song, B.-S. (2003). Photonic Devices Based on In-Plane Hetero Photonic Crystals. Science, 300(5625), 1537-1537. doi:10.1126/science.1083066Ashkin, A., & Dziedzic, J. M. (1977). Observation of Resonances in the Radiation Pressure on Dielectric Spheres. Physical Review Letters, 38(23), 1351-1354. doi:10.1103/physrevlett.38.1351Ashkin, A., & Dziedzic, J. M. (1981). Observation of optical resonances of dielectric spheres by light scattering. Applied Optics, 20(10), 1803. doi:10.1364/ao.20.001803Painter, O. (1999). Two-Dimensional Photonic Band-Gap Defect Mode Laser. Science, 284(5421), 1819-1821. doi:10.1126/science.284.5421.1819Armani, D. K., Kippenberg, T. J., Spillane, S. M., & Vahala, K. J. (2003). Ultra-high-Q toroid microcavity on a chip. Nature, 421(6926), 925-928. doi:10.1038/nature01371Inoue, K., Sasaki, H., Ishida, K., Sugimoto, Y., Ikeda, N., Tanaka, Y., … Asakawa, K. (2004). InAs quantum-dot laser utilizing GaAs photonic-crystal line-defect waveguide. Optics Express, 12(22), 5502. doi:10.1364/opex.12.005502Fenollosa, R., Meseguer, F., & Tymczenko, M. (2008). Silicon Colloids: From Microcavities to Photonic Sponges. Advanced Materials, 20(1), 95-98. doi:10.1002/adma.200701589Stöber, W., Fink, A., & Bohn, E. (1968). Controlled growth of monodisperse silica spheres in the micron size range. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 26(1), 62-69. doi:10.1016/0021-9797(68)90272-5Conwell, P. R., Barber, P. W., & Rushforth, C. K. (1984). Resonant spectra of dielectric spheres. Journal of the Optical Society of America A, 1(1), 62. doi:10.1364/josaa.1.000062Ng, J., Chan, C. T., Sheng, P., & Lin, Z. (2005). Strong optical force induced by morphology-dependent resonances. Optics Letters, 30(15), 1956. doi:10.1364/ol.30.001956Vahala, K. J. (2003). Optical microcavities. Nature, 424(6950), 839-846. doi:10.1038/nature01939García de Abajo, F. J. (1999). Interaction of Radiation and Fast Electrons with Clusters of Dielectrics: A Multiple Scattering Approach. Physical Review Letters, 82(13), 2776-2779. doi:10.1103/physrevlett.82.2776Xifré-Pérez, E., García de Abajo, F. J., Fenollosa, R., & Meseguer, F. (2009). Photonic Binding in Silicon-Colloid Microcavities. Physical Review Letters, 103(10). doi:10.1103/physrevlett.103.103902Tanaka, Y., Asano, T., & Noda, S. (2008). Design of Photonic Crystal Nanocavity With $Q$-Factor of ${{\sim}10^{9}}$. Journal of Lightwave Technology, 26(11), 1532-1539. doi:10.1109/jlt.2008.923648Takahashi, Y., Tanaka, Y., Hagino, H., Sugiya, T., Sato, Y., Asano, T., & Noda, S. (2009). Design and demonstration of high-Q photonic heterostructure nanocavities suitable for integration. Optics Express, 17(20), 18093. doi:10.1364/oe.17.018093Kippenberg, T. J., Spillane, S. M., & Vahala, K. J. (2004). Demonstration of ultra-high-Q small mode volume toroid microcavities on a chip. Applied Physics Letters, 85(25), 6113-6115. doi:10.1063/1.1833556Braginsky, V. B., Gorodetsky, M. L., & Ilchenko, V. S. (1989). Quality-factor and nonlinear properties of optical whispering-gallery modes. Physics Letters A, 137(7-8), 393-397. doi:10.1016/0375-9601(89)90912-

Comparing climatic suitability and niche distances to explain populations responses to extreme climatic events

Habitat suitability calculated from Species Distribution Models (SDMs) has been used to assess population performance, but empirical studies have provided weak or inconclusive support to this approach. Novel approaches measuring population distances to niche centroid and margin in environmental space have been recently proposed to explain population performance, particularly when populations experience exceptional environmental conditions that may place them outside of the species niche. Here, we use data of co-occurring species’ decay, gathered after an extreme drought event occurring in the SE of the Iberian Peninsula which highly affected rich semiarid shrubland communities, to compare the relationship between population decay (mortality and remaining green canopy) and (1) distances between populations’ location and species niche margin and centroid in the environmental space, and (2) climatic suitability estimated from frequently used SDMs (here MaxEnt) considering both the extreme climatic episode and the average reference climatic period before this. We found that both SDMs-derived suitability and distances to species niche properly predict populations performance when considering the reference climatic period; but climatic suitability failed to predict performance considering the extreme climate period. In addition, while distance to niche margins accurately predict both mortality and remaining green canopy responses, centroid distances failed to explain mortality, suggesting that indexes containing information about the position to niche margin (inside or outside) are better to predict binary responses. We conclude that the location of populations in the environmental space is consistent with performance responses to extreme drought. Niche distances appear to be a more efficient approach than the use of climate suitability indices derived from more frequently used SDMs to explain population performance when dealing with environmental conditions that are located outside the species environmental niche. The use of this alternative metrics may be particularly useful when designing conservation measures to mitigate impacts of shifting environmental conditions

Network Service Orchestration: A Survey

Business models of network service providers are undergoing an evolving transformation fueled by vertical customer demands and technological advances such as 5G, Software Defined Networking~(SDN), and Network Function Virtualization~(NFV). Emerging scenarios call for agile network services consuming network, storage, and compute resources across heterogeneous infrastructures and administrative domains. Coordinating resource control and service creation across interconnected domains and diverse technologies becomes a grand challenge. Research and development efforts are being devoted to enabling orchestration processes to automate, coordinate, and manage the deployment and operation of network services. In this survey, we delve into the topic of Network Service Orchestration~(NSO) by reviewing the historical background, relevant research projects, enabling technologies, and standardization activities. We define key concepts and propose a taxonomy of NSO approaches and solutions to pave the way towards a common understanding of the various ongoing efforts around the realization of diverse NSO application scenarios. Based on the analysis of the state of affairs, we present a series of open challenges and research opportunities, altogether contributing to a timely and comprehensive survey on the vibrant and strategic topic of network service orchestration.Comment: Accepted for publication at Computer Communications Journa

Chronic Kidney Disease-Associated Pruritus and Quality of Life: Learning from Our Patients

Chronic kidney disease; Haemodialysis; Opioid system; PruritusEnfermedad renal crónica; Hemodiálisis; Sistema opioide; PruritoMalaltia renal crònica; Hemodiàlisi; Sistema opioide; PruritChronic kidney disease-associated pruritus is itching directly related to kidney disease that cannot be explained by any other condition. Despite technological advances in the different aspects of dialysis sessions and the best treatment for chronic kidney disease patients, it is still a common problem in our patients. The many complex physiological mechanisms involved, the different hypotheses made over the years on the aetiology of the condition, and the great clinical variability may partially explain the limited knowledge about this problem and the difficulties in treating it. The presence of all these factors leads to the persistence of unpleasant symptoms, which must affect the disease burden and quality of life of kidney patients. Through the presentation of an illustrative clinical case, the aim of this review article is to highlight the need for adequate diagnosis and an improved approach to all aspects of chronic kidney disease-associated pruritus, in view of the heavy burden of the disease and the huge impact on the patient's quality of life

Bioinformatic approaches for the genetic and phenotypic characterization of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae wine yeast collection

The objective of the present study was to compare genetic and phenotypic variation of 103 Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains isolated from winemaking environments. We used bioinformatics approaches to identify genetically similary strains with specific phenotypes and to estimate a strain's biotechnological potential. 
A S. cerevisiae collection, comprising 440 strains that were obtained from winemaking environments in Portugal has been constituted during the last years. All strains were genetically characterized by a set of eleven highly polymorphic microsatellites and showed unique allelic combinations. Using neural networks, a subset of 103 genetically most diverse strains was chosen for phenotypic analysis, that included growth in synthetic must media at various temperatures, utilization of carbon sources (glucose, ribose, arabinose, xylose, saccharose, galactose, rafinose, maltose, glycerol, potassium acetate and pyruvic acid), growth in ethanol containing media, evaluation of osmotic and oxidative stress resistance, H2S production and utilization of different nitrogen sources. Using supervised data mining approaches we have found that genotype represented with presence/absence of eleven microsatellites relates well with geographical location (performance evaluation using leave-out-out technique resulted in high performance scores; e.g., area under ROC curve was above 0.8 for a number of standard machine learning approaches tested). To find relations between phenotypes and genotypes, we used a two-step approach which first hierarchically clusters the strains according to their phenotype, and then tests if the resulting sub-clusters are identifiable using strain’s genetic data. Several groups of strains with similar phenotype profiles and common features in genotype were identified this way, and they are subject to further investigations. 

Financially supported by the programs POCI 2010 (FEDER/FCT, POCTI/AGR/56102/2004) and AGRO (ENOSAFE, Nº 762).
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Electronic Patient-Reported Outcomes in Nephrology: Focus on Hemodialysis

Hemodialysis; ePRO; PROMs; PREMsHemodiàlisi; ePRO; PROMs; PREMsHemodiálisis; ePRO; PROMs; PREMsThe success of hemodialysis (HD) treatments has been evaluated using objective measures of analytical parameters, or machine-measured parameters, despite having available validated instruments that assess patient perspective. There is an emerging interest regarding the use and relevance of patient-related outcomes (PROs). Electronic PROs (ePROs) involve the use of electronic technology, provide rapid access to this information, and are becoming more widely used in clinical trials and studies to evaluate efficacy and safety. Despite the scarce literature, this review suggests that ePROs are useful in providing a more customized and multidimensional approach to patient management and in making better clinical decisions in relevant aspects such as vascular access, duration and frequency of dialysis sessions, treatment of anemia, mental health, fatigue, and quality of life. The purpose of this review is to raise interest in the systematic use of ePROs in HD and to promote the development of studies in this field, which can respond to the gaps in knowledge and contribute to the implementation of the use of ePROs through new technologies, helping to improve the quality of health care

Shewanella putrefaciens Fish pathogenic strains contain plasmids that are absent in the probiotic strain s. Putrefaciens pdp11

Probiotics are live microorganisms that confer a health benefit to the host when administered in adequate amounts. Shewanella putrefaciens Pdp11 has been described as a probiotic for farmed fish species such as Solea senegalensis and Sparus aurata. In contrast, other strains of S. putrefaciens have been described as pathogenic for other cultured fish damage of the mouth, extensive skin discoloration, exophthalmia, ascites and bad odour. The S. putrefaciens group was recovered from freshwater samples taken at the L′Albufera system, along autumn– winter 2015. Its counts significantly increased in freshwater parallel to hypoxia and temperature rising. Shewanellae strains were identified as S. putrefaciens and S. xiamenensis by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. These isolates recovered from sick eels or freshwater were virulent for European eel by IP challenge (LD50 106 CFU g−1 body weight. The plasmids plays an important role in the genes transfer and insertion then there can been implicated in antibiotics resistance, degradative pathway and pathogenicity characteristics. The genetic variation conducted by plasmid could induce an impact in probiotic proprieties. In this research, we searched the present or absent of plasmids in pathogenic and probiotic strains of S. putrefaciens. As well as, this plasmids implication in development of virulence factors. The probiotic strain S. putrefaciens Pdp11 did not present plasmid, which was only found in two of the five pathogenic strains. The results allowed us to discard the probiotic Pdp11 could present a pathogenic characteristic as the TA type II system as a virulence factor and its self-regulating characteristics, which may be behind its probiotic nature, making the Pdp11 strain unique in comparison to other S. putrefaciens strains