Interplay between excitation kinetics and reaction-center dynamics in purple bacteria

Photosynthesis is arguably the fundamental process of Life, since it enables energy from the Sun to enter the food-chain on Earth. It is a remarkable non-equilibrium process in which photons are converted to many-body excitations which traverse a complex biomolecular membrane, getting captured and fueling chemical reactions within a reaction-center in order to produce nutrients. The precise nature of these dynamical processes -- which lie at the interface between quantum and classical behaviour, and involve both noise and coordination -- are still being explored. Here we focus on a striking recent empirical finding concerning an illumination-driven transition in the biomolecular membrane architecture of {\it Rsp. Photometricum} purple bacteria. Using stochastic realisations to describe a hopping rate model for excitation transfer, we show numerically and analytically that this surprising shift in preferred architectures can be traced to the interplay between the excitation kinetics and the reaction center dynamics. The net effect is that the bacteria profit from efficient metabolism at low illumination intensities while using dissipation to avoid an oversupply of energy at high illumination intensities.Comment: 21 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in New Journal of Physic

Los principios del sistema liberal de medios ante la crisis de la comunicación pública. Una aproximación crítica

Ante el panorama actual de abandono de la función política de los medios y la situación crítica que se cierne sobre el periodismo, consideramos necesaria una reflexión acerca de los primigenios principios normativos sobre los que los medios se desarrollaron vinculándose al progreso de la democracia. En este trabajo realizamos una aproximación a los principios clásicos que alentaron el modelo liberal de los medios. Atendiendo al cambio de mentalidad, a las ideas que sobre la libertad de expresión y la prensa desarrollaron sus principales inspiradores, para esbozar los principios normativos del modelo. Posteriormente desarrollamos una crítica en la que consideramos que el individualismo ha sido uno de los principales causantes de esta crisis, lo que plantea a los medios la urgencia de que el público recupere el sentido comunitario

Current and future multimodal learning analytics data challenges

Multimodal Learning Analytics (MMLA) captures, integrates and analyzes learning traces from different sources in order to obtain a more holistic understanding of the learning process, wherever it happens. MMLA leverages the increasingly widespread availability of diverse sensors, highfrequency data collection technologies and sophisticated machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques. The aim of this workshop is twofold: first, to expose participants to, and develop, different multimodal datasets that reflect how MMLA can bring new insights and opportunities to investigate complex learning processes and environments; second, to collaboratively identify a set of grand challenges for further MMLA research, built upon the foundations of previous workshops on the topic

Relación entre calidad y coste de la prescripción farmacológica en atención primaria

ObjetivoAnalizar la prescripcion farmaceutica de los medicos generales (MG) segun un sistema de indicadores cualitativos y evaluar la relacion de estos con el gasto global de prescripcion farmaceutica por habitante.DisenoEstudio descriptivo, retrospectivo.EmplazamientoAtencion primaria.Mediciones y resultados principalesSe evalua la prescripcion farmaceutica de 285 MG de 32 equipos de atencion primaria, siendo la prescripcion individual de cada medico la unidad de analisis. La prescripcion se clasifico en 3 categorias segun su valor intrinseco (%VIF): bajo (. 75%), medio (76–79%) y alto (. 80%). Como trazadores de hiperprescripcion fueron seleccionados: DHD antibioticos (AB), DHD antiinflamatorios no esteroides (AINE) y DHD antiulcerosos (ULC), y como trazadores de seleccion: %DHD cefalosporinas tercera generacion/DHD cefalosporinas totales (CEF3.aG), %DHD quinolonas amplio espectro/DHD quinolonas totales (QAP), %DHD AINE/DHD (AINE + analgesicos) (ANAL). Los indicadores cuantitativos estudiados fueron: gasto total/poblacion asignada (GPA), coste/receta farmacos de eficacia dudosa y coste/DDD de AB, AINE y ULC. Se aplico el analisis de variancia, incluyendo la prueba de Scheffe para comparaciones multiples y la correlacion lineal de Pearson. Un 26% de las prescripciones tenia un %VIF < 75%, mientras que el 34% lo tenia > 80%. Las medias de DHD AB entre las categorias de VIF eran diferentes (p < 0,0001), al igual que las de DHD de AINE (p < 0,0001) y ULC (p = 0,007), observandose un menor consumo de AB, AINE y ULC en las prescripciones con VIF mas alto. Las CEF3aG, asi como ANAL presentan diferencias significativas con las 3 categorias de VIF (p < 0,0001 y p = 0,041) a diferencia del QAP (p = 0,18). El GPA es menor entre los MG cuyas prescripciones tenian el %VIF mas alto; en cambio, el coste/receta y el coste DDD no presentaron diferencias significativas segun categorias de %VIF.ConclusionesLos medicos con mejor perfil cualitativo segun estos indicadores presentan un menor gasto por habitante. En cambio, no se observan diferencias en el coste por receta ni en el coste/tratamiento entre los distintos medicos. Por tanto, las intervenciones deben priorizar la mejora de la calidad de la prescripcion farmaceutica antes que promover unicamente el cambio al farmaco de menor coste.ObjectivesWith a system of qualitative indicators, to analyse the pharmaceutical prescription of general practitioners (GPs), and to evaluate the relationship of these indicators to the overall pharmaceutical prescription expenditure per inhabitant.DesignRetrospective descriptive study.SettingPrimary care.Measurements and main resultsThe drugs prescription of 285 GPs from 32 primary care teams was evaluated, with the individual prescription of each doctor as the unit of analysis. The prescription was classified in 3 categories according to its intrinsic value (IV): low (. 75%), medium (76–79%) and high (. 80%). Selected as tracers of over-prescription were: daily dose per inhabitant (DDI) of antibiotics (AB), DDI of non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID), and DDI of ulcer drugs (ULC). Selected as tracers of selection were: % DDI third-generation cephalosporins/DDI total cephalosporins; % DDI broad-spectre quinolones/DDI total quinolones; and % DDI NSAID/DDI NSAID plus analgesics. Quantitative indicators studied were: total expenditure per allocated population, cost per drugs prescription of doubtful efficacy, and cost per daily dose of AB, NSAID and ULC. Variance analysis, including the Scheffe test for multiple comparisons and Pearson's linear correlation, was applied. 26% of the prescriptions had an IV below 75%, and 34% had an IV above 80%. The means of DDI of AB among the categories of IV were different (p < 0.0001), as were those of DDI of NSAID (p < 0.0001) and of ULC (p = 0.007). Lower consumption of AB, NSAID and ULC was found in prescriptions with the highest IV %. The third-generation cephalosporins and the NSAID + analgesics showed significant differences in the three IV categories (p < 0.0001 and p = 0.041), unlike broad-spectrum quinolones (p = 0.18). The total expenditure per allocated population was less for GPs whose prescriptions had the highest IV %; whereas the cost per prescription and cost per daily dose showed no significant differences for IV categories.ConclusionsThe doctors with the best qualitative profile on these indicators had less expenditure per inhabitant. However, no differences were found in the cost per prescription or cost per treatment between doctors. Therefore, interventions must prioritise improving drug prescription quality rather than just promoting changes to lower-cost drugs

Potential applications of biosurfactant extract obtained from corn steep liquor in hair formulations

[Excerpt] Biosurfactants (BS) have great advantages as an eco-friendly alternative to synthetic surfactants used in hair formulations. Human hair contains fatty acids (palmitic, palmitoleic, oleic and stearic acid) that prevent hair dryness and avoid the lower scalp hair density. These fatty acids are included in the composition of biosurfactant extract obtained from corn steep liquor (CSL) (Vecino et al., 2015). The adsorption of surfactants on hair depends on its ionic charge. Normally, hair surface has a negative charge, so it adsorbs cationic surfactants. For this reason, hair conditioners and also hair sunscreens contain cationic surfactants, mainly quaternary ammonium salts, which absorb UV light, protecting hair surface from dryness and oxidation. Contrarily, shampoo formulations are composed by anionic surface-active agents, which can induce, in many cases, hair protein loss, hair dryness, opacity and difficulty of handling. In order to know if biosurfactant extract, obtained from CSL, could be adsorbed on hair, its ionic behavior was evaluated by using anionic and cationic resins using a solid/liquid ratio of 1:10 at room temperature. After that, adsorption experiments using human hair were established at room temperature with hair/biosurfactant solution ratio of 1:50. [...]The financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (FEDER funds under the project CTM2015-68904) and L. Rodríguez-López is grateful for her predoctoral fellowship supported by the University of Vigo (Spain)