Non-invasive imaging in congenital heart disease

The care of the adult patient with congenital heart disease is becoming increasingly complex. In many of these patients re-intervention, heart failure and arrhythmias are inevitable consequences of successful repair in childhood. Specialist imaging is integral to accurate diagnosis and in establishing optimal management plans for these long-term complications. Fortunately there are now a whole series of imaging techniques available to the clinician – each with its own inherent strengths and limitations. These modalities are complementary and offer fresh insight into the unique anatomy and physiology of these conditions. This paper reviews the most commonly employed imaging techniques and their contribution to assessing a patient with a congenital heart lesion

Synthesis of Propargylamines by Cross-Dehydrogenative Coupling

Propargylamines are versatile compounds for heterocyclic synthesis, some of which are current drugs prescribed to treat patients with Parkinson’s disease. There are different methods to synthesize propargylamines, however, modern chemistry has moved progressively to rely on new strategies that meet the principles of Green Chemistry. In this context, propargylamines are readily accessible by the cross-dehydrogenative coupling (CDC) of two C-H bonds (i.e., NCsp3-H and Csp-H bonds); surely, CDC can be considered the most atom-economic and efficient manner to form C-C bonds. The aim of this review is to provide a comprehensive survey on the synthesis of propargylamines by the CDC of amines and terminal alkynes from three fronts: (a) transition-metal homogeneous catalysis, (b) transition-metal heterogeneous catalysis and (c) photoredox catalysis. A section dealing with the asymmetric synthesis of chiral propargylamines is also included. Special attention is also devoted to the proposed reaction mechanisms.This work was generously supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (MICIU; grant no. CTQ2017-88171-P), the Generalitat Valenciana (GV; grant no. AICO/2017/007) and the Instituto de Síntesis Orgánica (ISO). I.B. is also grateful to the Spanish MICIU for a Juan de la Cierva-incorporación grant (no. IJCI-2017-33706)

Modeling dominant height growth including site attributes in the GADA approach for Quercus faginea Lam. in Spain

Aim of the study: To develop a site index model for Quercus faginea Lam. stands.Area of study: SpainMaterial and Methods: Data from 81 growth series collected in plots where Q. faginea was the main species were used for modelling. Different generalized algebraic difference equations (GADA) were fitted from traditionally used models. Richards model was selected and used to expand the parameters with environmental variables.Research highlights: Winter rainfall (WR), annual potential evapotranspiration (PET) and pH were introduced increasing the prediction ability of the GADA. It is strongly recommended to apply the model with ages lower than 80 years because the lack of data above that age makes bias increase and efficiency decrease.Keywords: Site index; Lusitanian oak; environmental variables

Stabilization of phenolic compounds from opuntia oligacantha först by microencapsulation with agave sap (aguamiel)

The aim of this research was to determine the stability of phenolic compounds from Opuntia oligacantha Forst (xoconostle) ¨ by microencapsulation with a blend of biopolymers (maltodextrin and gum arabic) and agave sap (aguamiel) as a thermoprotector. The particle size distribution, morphology, stability during storage at different temperatures and water activity of the microcapsules were determined. The results showed significant differences (P<0.05) among the microcapsules. Higher protection was found in the microcapsules containing aguamiel. The microcapsules had a spherical shape with an average diameter of 7.72 µm. It was observed that the microcapsules containing aguamiel had a minor change in colour independent of the drying temperature and preserved the phenolic compounds for more than 1467 days at a storage temperature of 25 °C. These results suggest the application of microencapsulation with phenolic compounds from xoconostle for food products. Keywords: biopolymers, xoconostle, stability, spray drying

Radium-223 for patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer with asymptomatic bone metastases progressing on first-line abiraterone acetate or enzalutamide: A single-arm phase II trial

Bone metastases; Metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancerMetástasis óseas; Cáncer de próstata metastásico resistente a la castraciónMetàstasis òssies; Càncer de pròstata resistent a la castració metastàticPurpose The paper aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of 223Ra in patients who progressed after first-line androgen deprivation therapy. Patients and methods EXCAAPE (NCT03002220) was a multicentre, single-arm, open-label, non-controlled phase IIa trial in 52 patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer and asymptomatic bone metastases who have progressed on abiraterone acetate or enzalutamide, up to six doses of 223Ra (55 kBq/kg of body weight per month). The primary end-point was radiographic progression-free survival (rPFS). Secondary end-points included rPFS based on androgen receptor splice variant 7 (AR-V7) expression in circulating tumour cells (CTCs), overall survival, and safety. Results Median rPFS was 5.5 months (95% CI 5.3–5.5). Median rPFS of patients with AR-V7(−) CTCs was longer than that of patients with AR-V7(+) CTCs (5.5 versus 2.2 months, respectively; P = 0.056). Median overall survival was 14.8 months (95% CI 11.2–not reached) and was significantly greater for AR-V7(−) patients than for AR-V7(+) patients (14.8 months versus 3.5 months, respectively; P < 0.01). 223Ra was well tolerated; anaemia and thrombocytopenia were the most common grade 3/4 adverse events (5.8% and 11.5%, respectively). Conclusions 223Ra seems to be a reasonable treatment for patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer and asymptomatic bone metastases progressing on novel hormonal therapy and had an acceptable safety profile.The study was conceived and designed by Joan Carles in collaboration with Medica Scientia Innovation Research (MEDSIR). MEDSIR, as legal sponsor of the study, is responsible for compliance with all clinical and regulatory procedures and adherence to the study protocol. MEDSIR had a role in study design, collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data and writing of the report. Bayer Inc. funded the study and provided 223Ra. The funder of the study had no role in data collection, management, data analysis, data interpretation, writing of the report, or decision to submit the manuscript for publication. All authors had full access to the data used to prepare the manuscript and participated in writing, editing, and/or critically reviewing the manuscript. The manuscript was written with editorial support from a medical writer, funded by MEDSIR. The corresponding author had final responsibility for the decision to submit for publication

DGTD for a Class of Low-Observable Targets: A Comparison With MoM and (2, 2) FDTD

The simulation of low-observable targets requires high accuracy, both in the geometrical discretization as well as in the numerical solution of the electromagnetic problem. In this letter, we employ the well-known NASA almond, to illustrate the accuracy of the Leap-Frog Discontinuous Galerkin method, combined with a local time stepping algorithm, comparing it with the MoM and the (2,2) FDTD methods.The work described in this paper and the research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme FP7/2007-2013, under grant agreement no 205294 (HIRF SE project), and from the Spanish National Projects TEC2010-20841-C04-04, CSD2008-00068, and the Junta de Andalucia Project P09-TIC-

Proyecto de laboratorios remotos para la enseñanza de la Física

Los laboratorios remotos son espacios físicos reales que contienen dispositivos experimentales a los que se puede acceder y manipular desde sitios remotos a través de internet. Se utilizan para realizar prácticas de laboratorio en tiempo real. En este trabajo se presenta el proyecto de diseño e implementación de un laboratorio remoto de física para el abordaje de las ondas mecánicas en las etapas iniciales de los estudios universitarios en carreras de ingeniería.Eje: Tecnología Informática Aplicada en Educación.Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informátic

Proyecto de laboratorios remotos para la enseñanza de la Física

Los laboratorios remotos son espacios físicos reales que contienen dispositivos experimentales a los que se puede acceder y manipular desde sitios remotos a través de internet. Se utilizan para realizar prácticas de laboratorio en tiempo real. En este trabajo se presenta el proyecto de diseño e implementación de un laboratorio remoto de física para el abordaje de las ondas mecánicas en las etapas iniciales de los estudios universitarios en carreras de ingeniería.Eje: Tecnología Informática Aplicada en Educación.Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informátic

Proyecto de laboratorios remotos para la enseñanza de la Física

Los laboratorios remotos son espacios físicos reales que contienen dispositivos experimentales a los que se puede acceder y manipular desde sitios remotos a través de internet. Se utilizan para realizar prácticas de laboratorio en tiempo real. En este trabajo se presenta el proyecto de diseño e implementación de un laboratorio remoto de física para el abordaje de las ondas mecánicas en las etapas iniciales de los estudios universitarios en carreras de ingeniería.Eje: Tecnología Informática Aplicada en Educación.Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informátic

Large Nc QCD and Harmonic Sums

In the Large-Nc limit of QCD, two--point functions of local operators become Harmonic Sums. I review some properties which follow from this fact and which are relevant for phenomenological applications. This has led us to consider a class of Analytic Number Theory Functions as toy models of Large-Nc QCD which I also discuss.Comment: Based on my talk at "Raymond Stora's 80th Birthday Party", LAPP, July 11th 201