Optimized beam shaping assembly for a 2.1‑MeV proton‑accelerator‑based neutron source for boron neutron capture therapy

Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) is facing a new era where diferent projects based on accelerators instead of reactors are under development. The new facilities can be placed at hospitals and will increase the number of clinical trials. The therapeutic efect of BNCT can be improved if a optimized epithermal neutron spectrum is obtained, for which the beam shape assembly is a key ingredient. In this paper we propose an optimal beam shaping assembly suited for an afordable low energy accelerator. The beam obtained with the device proposed accomplishes all the IAEA recommendations for proton energies between 2.0 and 2.1 MeV. In addition, there is an overall improvement of the fgures of merit with respect to BNCT facilities and previous proposals of new accelerator-based facilities.Junta de Andalucía (Andalusian Regional Government, Programa Operativo FEDER Andalucia 2014–2020 under contract A-FQM-371-UGR18)University Chair “Neutrons for Medicine”: Spanish Fundación ACS, Capitán Antonio, La Kuadrilla de Iznalloz and Sonriendo se Puede GanarSpanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities - FPU grant FPU17/0230

Gestión del conocimiento

This paper reviews the concept of knowledge and definition of knowledge management as a process with which organizations produce and gain value thanks to the knowledge their employees have. The type of knowledge on which knowledge management is based is reviewed: explicit and tacit. The benefits and challenges are considered, as well as the procedures: applications, functions and processes that contribute to the improvement through learning, to the appropriate decision making in an organization and to the organizational culture. Finally, the advantages of implementing knowledge management are valued.En el presente artículo se hace una revisión del concepto de conocimiento y la definición de la gestión del conocimiento como un proceso con el cual las organizaciones producen y ganan valor gracias al conocimiento que tienen sus empleados. Se revisa el tipo de conocimientos en que se basa la gestión del conocimiento: explícitos y tácitos. Se consideran los beneficios y los desafíos, así como los procedimientos: aplicaciones, funciones y procesos que contribuyen a la mejora mediante el aprendizaje, a la adecuada la toma de decisiones en una organización y a la cultura de organización. Finalmente se valoran las ventajas de implementar la gestión del conocimiento.  &nbsp

ALC1/eIF4A1-mediated regulation of CtIP mRNA stability controls DNA end resection

During repair of DNA double-strand breaks, resection of DNA ends influences how these lesions will be repaired. If resection is activated, the break will be channeled through homologous recombination; if not, it will be simply ligated using the non-homologous end-joining machinery. Regulation of resection relies greatly on modulating CtIP, which can be done by modifying: i) its interaction partners, ii) its post-translational modifications, or iii) its cellular levels, by regulating transcription, splicing and/or protein stability/degradation. Here, we have analyzed the role of ALC1, a chromatin remodeler previously described as an integral part of the DNA damage response, in resection. Strikingly, we found that ALC1 affects resection independently of chromatin remodeling activity or its ability to bind damaged chromatin. In fact, it cooperates with the RNA-helicase eIF4A1 to help stabilize the most abundant splicing form of CtIP mRNA. This function relies on the presence of a specific RNA sequence in the 5' UTR of CtIP. Therefore, we describe an additional layer of regulation of CtIP-at the level of mRNA stability through ALC1 and eIF4A1

Evaluation of Early Cholecystectomy versus Delayed Cholecystectomy in the Treatment of Acute Cholecystitis

Objective. To evaluate if early cholecystectomy (EC) is the most appropriate treatment for acute cholecystitis compared to delayed cholecystectomy (DC). Patients and Methods. A retrospective cohort study of 1043 patients was carried out, with a group of 531 EC cases and a group of 512 DC patients. The following parameters were recorded: (1) postoperative hospital morbidity, (2) hospital mortality, (3) days of hospital stay, (4) readmissions, (5) admission to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), (6) type of surgery, (7) operating time, and (8) reoperations. In addition, we estimated the direct cost savings of implementing an EC program. Results. The overall morbidity of the EC group (29.9%) was significantly lower than the DC group (38.7%). EC demonstrated significantly better results than DC in days of hospital stay (8.9 versus 15.8 days), readmission percentage (6.8% versus 21.9%), and percentage of ICU admission (2.3% versus 7.8%), which can result in reducing the direct costs. The patients who benefited most from an EC were those with a Charlson index > 3. Conclusions. EC is safe in patients with acute cholecystitis and could lead to a reduction in the direct costs of treatmen

Measurements of the S-33 (n, α)Si-30 cross-section at n_TOF and ILL: Implications in neutron capture therapy

This work has been supported by the Spanish projects FIS2015-69941-C2-1-P (MINECO-FEDER, EU), A-FQM-371-UGR18 (FEDER Andalucia 2014-2020), Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC) (Grant PS16163811PORR), and the sponsors of the University of Granada Chair Neutrons for Medicine: Fundacion ACS, Capitan Antonio and La Kuadrilla.Up to a couple of years ago, the S-33 (n, alpha)Si-30 cross-section data had been limited and scarce. The origin in the solar system of S-36 had been the only motivation to study that cross-section. However, a few years ago, the S-33 (n, alpha)Si-30 reaction was proposed as a possible target in neutron capture therapy (NCT) due to the excellent bio-properties of S-33 and the significant resonance at 13.45 keV of the cross-section for which a high-energy alpha is emitted. Prior to the experiments carried out at n_TOF-CERN and at the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) facilities, the data situation was: no data from the thermal point up to 10 keV; from 10 keV to 300 keV, there was only one (n, alpha) measurement able to resolve the resonances with a questionable value of the 13.45-keV resonance; and the thermal point did not have a consistent value. Here we summarize three experiments that have been performed covering the whole energy range of interest in NCT and astrophysics. These experiments have solved the most important issues. The data of the present work and the evaluated data are used to calculate the dose rate in the tissue.MINECO-FEDER, EU FIS2015-69941-C2-1-PFEDER Andalucia 2014-2020 A-FQM-371-UGR18Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC) PS16163811PORRUniversity of Granada Chair Neutrons for Medicine: Fundacion AC

C Secure Coding Standards Performance: CMU SEI CERT vs MISRA

We present a prospective study for performance comparison between programs written in C language and the same programs reviewed and modified to be compliant with CMU SEI CERT C Secure Coding Standard and with MISRA C, the most relevant Secure Coding Standards in existence nowadays. Our initial results show that, as expected, any of the Secure Coding Standards is susceptible to have a negative impact on performance, increasing program running time. We have also found that MISRA C Standard may be less likely to affect code performance than SEI CERT C Standard is, and that it may produce a more optimal code than SEI CERT Standard does; however, further research is needed for proper confirmation of these results

Missing data imputation of solar radiation data under different atmospheric conditions

[Abstract] Global solar broadband irradiance on a planar surface is measured at weather stations by pyranometers. In the case of the present research, solar radiation values from nine meteorological stations of the MeteoGalicia real-time observational network, captured and stored every ten minutes, are considered. In this kind of record, the lack of data and/or the presence of wrong values adversely affects any time series study. Consequently, when this occurs, a data imputation process must be performed in order to replace missing data with estimated values. This paper aims to evaluate the multivariate imputation of ten-minute scale data by means of the chained equations method (MICE). This method allows the network itself to impute the missing or wrong data of a solar radiation sensor, by using either all or just a group of the measurements of the remaining sensors. Very good results have been obtained with the MICE method in comparison with other methods employed in this field such as Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) and Multiple Linear Regression (MLR). The average RMSE value of the predictions for the MICE algorithm was 13.37% while that for the MLR it was 28.19%, and 31.68% for the IDW.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad; AYA2010-1851

On the Stiffness of Gold at the Nanoscale

The density and compressibility of nanoscale gold (both nanospheres and nanorods) and microscale gold (bulk) were simultaneously studied by X-ray diffraction with synchrotron radiation up to 30 GPa. Colloidal stability (aggregation state and nanoparticle shape and size) in both hydrostatic and nonhydrostatic regions was monitored by small-angle X-ray scattering. We demonstrate that nonhydrostatic effects due to solvent solidification had a negligible influence on the stability of the nanoparticles. Conversely, nonhydrostatic effects produced axial stresses on the nanoparticle up to a factor 10× higher than those on the bulk metal. Working under hydrostatic conditions (liquid solution), we determined the equation of state of individual nanoparticles. From the values of the lattice parameter and bulk modulus, we found that gold nanoparticles are slightly denser (0.3%) and stiffer (2%) than bulk gold: V0 = 67.65(3) Å3 , K0 = 170(3)GPa, at zero pressure

Carbon nanofiber-based palladium/zinc catalysts for the hydrogenation of carbon dioxide to methanol at atmospheric pressure

Palladium/zinc catalysts supported on carbon nanofibers (CNFs) have been used to study the catalytic performance in the hydrogenation of CO2 to obtain methanol at atmospheric pressure. The carbon nanofiber support has an influence on the nature of the PdZn alloy formed. The effect of the Pd/Zn molar ratio on the PdZn alloy particle size was analyzed. Lower Pd/Zn molar ratio leads to higher PdZn alloy particle size, which was associated with higher selectivity toward methanol. The influence of the type of nanofiber (platelet or fishbone) on the catalytic behavior was also studied and compared with that of a conventional Pd/ZnO catalyst. The palladium/zinc catalyst supported on platelet nanofiber was considered to be a good candidate for the hydrogenation of carbon dioxide to methanol.Se han utilizado catalizadores de paladio/zinc soportados sobre nanofibras de carbono (CNFs) para estudiar el rendimiento catalítico en la hidrogenación de CO 2 para obtener metanol a presión atmosférica. El soporte de nanofibras de carbono influye en la naturaleza de la aleación de PdZn formada. Se analizó el efecto de la relación molar Pd/Zn sobre el tamaño de partícula de la aleación de PdZn. Una relación molar más baja de Pd/Zn conduce a un tamaño de partícula de aleación de PdZn más alto, lo que se asoció con una mayor selectividad hacia el metanol. También se estudió la influencia del tipo de nanofibra (plaqueta o espina de pescado) en el comportamiento catalítico y se comparó con el de un catalizador convencional de Pd/ZnO. El catalizador de paladio/zinc soportado sobre nanofibras de plaquetas se consideró un buen candidato para la hidrogenación de dióxido de carbono a metanol

Simultaneous inhibition of pan-phosphatidylinositol-3-kinases and MEK as a potential therapeutic strategy in peripheral T-cell lymphomas

Obtained from Haematologica/the Hematology Journal website http://www.haematologica.orgPeripheral T-cell lymphomas are very aggressive hematologic malignancies for which there is no targeted therapy. New, rational approaches are necessary to improve the very poor outcome in these patients. Phosphatidylinositol- 3-kinase is one of the most important pathways in cell survival and proliferation. We hypothesized that phosphatidylinositol- 3-kinase inhibitors could be rationally selected drugs for treating peripheral T-cell lymphomas. Several phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase isoforms were inhibited genetically (using small interfering RNA) and pharmacologically (with CAL-101 and GDC-0941 compounds) in a panel of six peripheral and cutaneous T-cell lymphoma cell lines. Cell viability was measured by intracellular ATP content; apoptosis and cell cycle changes were checked by flow cytometry. Pharmacodynamic biomarkers were assessed by western blot. The PIK3CD gene, which encodes the δ isoform of phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase, was overexpressed in cell lines and primary samples, and correlated with survival pathways. However, neither genetic nor specific pharmacological inhibition of phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase δ affected cell survival. In contrast, the pan-phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase inhibitor GDC-0941 arrested all T-cell lymphoma cell lines in the G1 phase and induced apoptosis in a subset of them. We identified phospho-GSK3b and phospho-p70S6K as potential biomarkers of phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase inhibitors. Interestingly, an increase in ERK phosphorylation was observed in some GDC-0941-treated T-cell lymphoma cell lines, suggesting the presence of a combination of phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase and MEK inhibitors. A highly synergistic effect was found between the two inhibitors, with the combination enhancing cell cycle arrest at G0/G1 in all T-cell lymphoma cell lines, and reducing cell viability in primary tumor T cells ex vivo. These results suggest that the combined treatment of pan-phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase + MEK inhibitors could be more effective than single phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase inhibitor treatment, and therefore, that this combination could be of therapeutic value for treating peripheral and cutaneous T-cell lymphomas.This work was supported by grants from the Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer, Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias (PI051623, PI052800 and PI080856), RTICC (RD06/0020/0107) and Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (SAF2008-0387-1). EMS is supported by a grant from the Department of Education, Universities and Research of the Basque Government (BFI08.207). MSB is supported by a Contract Miguel Servet from Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias (CP11/00018