A singular structure: Monopost made in composites

p. 3002-3012This work presents the design process, the analysis, and the performance of a cylindrical hollow monopost, made entirely in composites. It is about a translucent structure of height 40m, external diameter 1.60m and the average wall-thickness 11mm. The material is a polymer made up of vinylster resin and reinforced by glass fiber (GFRP). The manufactured processing used is filament winding. Moreover, due to geographical emplacement where it is situated, the structure has to support wind velocity value above 180Km/h and its elastic modulus of the material does not exceed 25GPa. Eventually, we was able to achieve an optimum solution and strentgh structure, considering and developing differents types of approaches and analysis, such as linear, non-linear and buckling.Rovira, JA.; Martin, P.; Pons, D.; Almerich Chulia, AI. (2009). A singular structure: Monopost made in composites. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/670

Tidally Heated Exomoons around ϵ\epsilon Eridani b: Observability and prospects for characterization

Exomoons are expected to orbit gas giant exoplanets just as moons orbit solar system planets. Tidal heating is present in solar system satellites and it can heat up their interior depending on their orbital and interior properties. We aim to identify a Tidally Heated Exomoon's (THEM) orbital parameter space that would make it observable in infrared wavelengths with MIRI/JWST around $\epsilon$ Eridani b. We study the possible constraints on orbital eccentricity and interior properties that a successful THEM detection in infrared wavelengths can bring. We also investigate what exomoon properties need to be independently known in order to place these constraints. We use a coupled thermal-tidal model to find stable equilibrium points between the tidally produced heat and heat transported within a moon. For the latter, we consider a spherical and radially symmetric satellite with heat being transported via magma advection in a sub-layer of melt (asthenosphere) and convection in the lower mantle. We incorporate uncertainties in the interior and tidal model parameters to assess the fraction of simulated moons that would be observable with MIRI. We find that a $2 R_{Io}$ THEM orbiting $\epsilon$ Eridani b with an eccentricity of 0.02, would need to have a semi-major axis of 4 planetary Roche-radii for 100% of the simulations to produce an observable moon. These values are comparable with the orbital properties of gas giant solar system satellites. We place similar constraints for eccentricities up to 0.1. We conclude that if the semi-major axis and radius of the moon are known (eg. with exomoon transits), tidal dissipation can constrain the orbital eccentricity and interior properties of the satellite, such as the presence of melt and the thickness of the melt containing sub-layer

T2 lesion location really matters: a 10 year follow-up study in primary progressive multiple sclerosis

Objectives: Prediction of long term clinical outcome in patients with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) using imaging has important clinical implications, but remains challenging. We aimed to determine whether spatial location of T2 and T1 brain lesions predicts clinical progression during a 10-year follow-up in PPMS. Methods: Lesion probability maps of the T2 and T1 brain lesions were generated using the baseline scans of 80 patients with PPMS who were clinically assessed at baseline and then after 1, 2, 5 and 10 years. For each patient, the time (in years) taken before bilateral support was required to walk (time to event (TTE)) was used as a measure of progression rate. The probability of each voxel being ‘lesional’ was correlated with TTE, adjusting for age, gender, disease duration, centre and spinal cord cross sectional area, using a multiple linear regression model. To identify the best, independent predictor of progression, a Cox regression model was used. Results: A significant correlation between a shorter TTE and a higher probability of a voxel being lesional on T2 scans was found in the bilateral corticospinal tract and superior longitudinal fasciculus, and in the right inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (p<0.05). The best predictor of progression rate was the T2 lesion load measured along the right inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (p=0.016, hazard ratio 1.00652, 95% CI 1.00121 to 1.01186). Conclusion: Our results suggest that the location of T2 brain lesions in the motor and associative tracts is an important contributor to the progression of disability in PPMS, and is independent of spinal cord involvement

Outcomes of elective head and neck confirmed or suspected cancer surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic.

PURPOSE: To analyse the complication outcomes of COVID-19 negative patients undergoing elective head and neck surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: This was a retrospective case review of all patients undergoing elective head and neck surgery for confirmed or suspected head and neck cancer. RESULTS: There were no mortalities recorded in the cohort of patients analysed. At 30 days, pulmonary complications had occurred in 4 patients (9%). None of these were related to COVID infection. CONCLUSION: With careful pre-operative screening of patients for COVID-19 and post-operative care in a COVID-19 clean ward, head and neck surgery can proceed safely during the epidemic. This data could help to minimise delay in treatment by allowing a greater number of elective head and neck cancer operations to proceed

Fitting in a complex chi^2 landscape using an optimized hypersurface sampling

Fitting a data set with a parametrized model can be seen geometrically as finding the global minimum of the chi^2 hypersurface, depending on a set of parameters {P_i}. This is usually done using the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm. The main drawback of this algorithm is that despite of its fast convergence, it can get stuck if the parameters are not initialized close to the final solution. We propose a modification of the Metropolis algorithm introducing a parameter step tuning that optimizes the sampling of parameter space. The ability of the parameter tuning algorithm together with simulated annealing to find the global chi^2 hypersurface minimum, jumping across chi^2{P_i} barriers when necessary, is demonstrated with synthetic functions and with real data

Fundamentos científicos de la rehabilitación tras la sustitución intraarticular del ligamento cruzado anterior

Hay pocos aspectos de la rehabilitación en nuestra especialidad que sean tan complejos y controvertidos como la rehabilitación después de la sustitución intraarticular del ligamento cruzado anterior (LCA). La tendencia actual es utilizar protocolos de rehabilitación acelerada y rápido funcionalismo, todo lo cual está en relación directa con el avance en la investigación sobre el comportamiento biológico de los implantes, una mayor sofisticación en la técnica quirúrgica y los adelantos en las técnicas de rehabilitación. El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar no protocolos concretos, sino los problemas que plantea la cirugía del LCA y como minimizarlos en la medida de lo posible, protegiendo al mismo tiempo la plastia.There are few aspects of rehabilitation in our speciality which are so complex and controversial like rehabilitation after intraarticular replacement of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Nowadays there is a trend to use protocols of accelerated rehabilitation and rapid functioning, and all this is related to the advances in research on the biological behavior of the grafts, a major sophistication in surgical technique and advances in rehabilitation techniques. The objective of this paper is not to analyze concrete protocols but rather the problems that state the surgery of the ACL, and how to diminish them to maximum, protecting at the same time the graft

The development of bronchiectasis on chest computed tomography in children with cystic fibrosis: can pre-stages be identified?

Objective: Bronchiectasis is an important component of cystic fibrosis (CF) lung disease but little is known about its development. We aimed to study the development of bronchiectasis and identify determinants for rapid progression of bronchiectasis on chest CT. Methods: Forty-three patients with CF with at least four consecutive biennial volumetric CTs were included. Areas with bronchiectasis on the most recent CT were marked as regions of interest (ROIs). These ROIs were generated on all preceding CTs using deformable image registration. Observers indicated whether: bronchiectasis, mucus plugging, airway wall thickening, atelectasis/consolidation or normal airways were present in the ROIs. Results: We identified 362 ROIs on the most recent CT. In 187 (51.7 %) ROIs bronchiectasis was present on all preceding CTs, while 175 ROIs showed development of bronchiectasis. In 139/175 (79.4 %) no pre-stages of bronchiectasis were identified. In 36/175 (20.6 %) bronchiectatic airways the following pre-stages were identified: mucus plugging (17.7 %), airway wall thickening (1.7 %) or atelectasis/consolidation (1.1 %). Pancreatic insufficiency was more prevalent in the rapid progressors compared to the slow progressors (p = 0.05). Conclusion: Most bronchiectatic airways developed within 2 years without visible pre-stages, underlining the treacherous nature of CF lung disease. Mucus plugging was the most frequent pre-stage. Key Points: • Development of bronchiectasis in cystic fibrosis lung disease on CT.• Most bronchiectatic airways developed within 2 years without pre-stages.• The most frequently identified pre-stage was mucus plugging.• This study underlines the treacherous nature of CF lung disease

Allelochemicals from 'Brassica' SPP. (Canola) Residues: Effects on Other Plants and Cereal Fungal Pathogens

'Brassica' spp. have been reported as showing allelopathic activity against other plants and fungi, with both living material and residues shown to be active. Glucosinolate breakdown products have been implicated in many of these allelopathic effects. Canola is a popular crop in Australia, with evidence of increased crop yields and freedom from fungal root diseases in cereals grown following canola. This supports canola's potential as an inhibitor of pathogens. It was hypothesised that allelopathic activity against other plants and fungi is due to compounds produced from canola residues, notably glucosinolate breakdown products. The experiments reported here supported the hypothesis that glucosinolate breakdown products can be phytotoxic to a number of indicator plant species. Indoleacetylnitrile (IAN), indoleacetylmethanol (IAM) and phenylethylamine (PEA) were shown to inhibit germination and early growth, with IAN being the most active. These compounds were found, using HPLC, to be present in canola residue leachates and their concentration estimated