A compact high-resolution spectrometer based on a segmented conical crystal analyzer

In this work, the design, fabrication, and evaluation of a compact, one-shot spectrometer based on a segmented conically bent crystal analyzer are described. The system is a “one-shot” wavelength dispersive spectrometer, which has a crystal analyzer with an innovative geometry. It reaches an energy resolution of around 8 eV for Mn Kα1 line, which is at least an order of magnitude better than the commonly used energy dispersive spectrometers for fluorescence, and is comparable to current wavelength dispersive spectrometers. The prototype spectrometer fabricated in this work avoids angle scans that most wavelength dispersive spectrometers require, has the advantage of a sample–detector distance of only 146 mm, and allows for the simultaneous measurement of approximately a 2 keV window. This system is suitable to be used at synchrotron radiation facilities and free electron lasers, and it can even be adapted to an x-ray tube in any conventional x-ray laboratory.Fil: Robledo, José Ignacio. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Gerencia de Área de Investigaciones y Aplicaciones No Nucleares. Gerencia de Física (CAB); Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte; ArgentinaFil: Pérez, Carlos A.. Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials; BrasilFil: Sanchez, Hector Jorge. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola; Argentin

Total reflection X-ray fluorescence analysis using polycapillaries. A comparison with conventional setups

The possibility of producing parallel X-ray beams with low divergence by means of half monolithic polycapillaries gives the impression to be useful in total reflection X-ray fluorescence (TXRF) experiments. On one hand, the use of polycapillaries facilitates the alignment and the setup of the experiment. As expected, the spectra registered in the experiment shown low background and good signal-noise ratio. On the other hand, the intensity of photons on the samples when polycapillaries are employed is lower than in other configurations, which produces a loss of efficiency for the excitation of the sample mainly for light elements. In this work, different TXRF experiments were carried out and the minimum detection limits attained were compared with the ones obtained from TXRF using polycapillaries. The results indicate that the decrease of intensity produced by polycapillaries is imposing when detection limits are analyzed. Nevertheless, detection limits are better than conventional XRF. The possibility of employing non-symmetrical polycapillaries could eventually improve the detection limits so as to be equivalent to the conventional TXRF setups. © 2010 Elsevier B.V.Fil: Sanchez, Hector Jorge. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía y Física; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola; ArgentinaFil: Perez, Roberto Daniel. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía y Física; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola; ArgentinaFil: Carvalho, Maria Luisa. Universidad de Lisboa; PortugalFil: Rubio, Marcelo Enrique. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola; Argentin

Descripción de la situación actual de la propiedad y el control en las microempresas familiares del sector textil de Gamarra : un estudio descriptivo de 4 microempresas

El estudio de las microempresas familiares y la relación “familia, propiedad y empresa” que se genera entre ellas representan una oportunidad única de investigación, en la cual se pueden analizar y estudiar los diferentes procesos e interacciones creados por la mezcla de esos tres ámbitos; siendo el presente estudio una excelente fuente para ampliar los conocimientos sobre la gestión de empresas familiares. En este contexto, la presente investigación analiza una característica particular e intrínseca de las empresas familiares, conocida como concentración de la propiedad y el control en la familia; y los efectos que esta produce en las organizaciones familiares, posibles fortalezas o debilidades. Para ello, se han estudiado cuatro casos de microempresas familiares del rubro textil de Gamarra, considerado como un sector altamente dinámico y representativo dentro del escenario y economía nacional, en base a los cuales se identificarán las diferentes fortalezas o debilidades presentes en cada organización, en relación a la concentración de la propiedad y el control. En ese sentido, la presente tesis utiliza la descripción cualitativa como herramienta de investigación. El acercamiento al tema de estudio se da mediante 16 encuestas a empresarios y, luego, el entendimiento a profundidad de cuatro casos permite que la investigación sea consistente por el cruce de información entre herramientas utilizadas, encuestas y entrevistas. De esta forma, la investigación permitió identificar que la concentración de la propiedad y el control en las microempresas del presente estudio, generaron debilidades y fortalezas en igual cantidad, siendo comprobada la hipótesis central. Así mismo, se identificó la concentración del control y la propiedad en la familia; y la preferencia de determinadas áreas funcionales (técnica, comercial y administrativa) por parte de los propietarios, siendo precisamente sobre estas áreas en las cuales se ejercía el mayor control.Tesi

The Transformative Potential of Agroecological Farmers: An Analysis of Food System Strategies Developed through Participatory Processes in Nicaragua and the UK

Short paper submission for 8th AESOP-Sustainable Food Planning Conference, Coventry (UK) 2017: Re-imagining sustainable food planning, building resourcefulness: Food movements, insurgent planning and heterodox economics. A longer version of this paper can be submitted upon request.In the current social system which tends to marginalise small scale producers, frame the interests of consumers as antithetical to those of producers, and force producers to compete against one another, there are questions about the extent to which strategies and alliances identified by agroecological farmers would be sufficiently transformative (or ‘radical’ according to Holt-Giménez and Shattuck, 2011) to address the problems of our existing food systems. In the context of our globalised and unequal food system, there are also questions about the extent to which strategies of farmers in the so-called global south might complement or contradict those of farmers in the so-called global north. Building on a participatory farmer-led research initiative, this paper analyses the strategies developed by small-scale agroecological producers in the global south (Nicaragua) and north (UK), and the extent to which they might sufficient for transforming food systems to become socially and ecologically regenerative

Procedimiento alternativo para premedicación y anestesia de primates (no humanos). Uso de ketamina y halotano

Every time is more frequent the presence of wild fauna in veterinary centers. Lack of studies about medical aproach and the poor availability of research reports in this species, imply the necesity to propose empiric protocols, including anesthetics. A primate (Cebus albifrons) with hind limb fracture, was exposed to surgical management of anesthetics including acerpomacine maleate, morphine hydrochlorate and ketamina hydrochlorate as well as halotane at maintenance doses according to literature recommendations to other species. No undesirable effects were observed during surgical or post-surgical procedure.La presencia frecuente de fauna silvestre en los centros de atención médico-veterinaria generan la necesidad de conocer o establecer protocolos farmacológicos acordes con la especie; la literatura en estos tópicos es limitada o escasa, lo que lleva a que el médico veterinario plantee de forma empírica o basado en su experiencia el uso de varios medicamentos. Los protocolos de anestesia requieren un manejo preciso para evitar un efecto marcado sobre el sistema nervioso. Se recibió un paciente primate no humano con fractura en miembro posterior izquierdo, la cual se redujo de forma quirúrgica; se utilizó un protocolo basado en maleato de acepromazina, morfina y ketamina para la inducción anestésica y halotano para el mantenimiento durante el procedimiento. No se observaron efectos indeseables

Identifying different states of lithiation of Li4Ti5O12spinel by energy-dispersive inelastic X-ray scattering (EDIXS) spectroscopy

The Li4Ti5O12 (LTO) compound has been investigated as an alternative negative electrode material for lithium ion batteries (LIBs), which are being used as energy storage devices in stationary systems as well as for electric vehicles due to their many interesting features. The LTO compound has shown remarkable Li-ion intercalation/de-intercalation reversibility, demonstrating also zero-strain volume change during the cycling process along with notable safety performance. Furthermore, LTO has a high voltage plateau in comparison with other negative material candidates, helping to avoid the deposition of metallic lithium in the dendrite form. Due to its performance and potential application in LIBs, a deep knowledge regarding the behavior of this LTO compound is of high interest. In this work, energy-dispersive resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (EDIXS) is used to fulfill this need. In addition, XANES measurements were carried out as complementary methodology. The results indicate that EDIXS can differentiate LTO chemical compounds (lithiated and de-lithiated) with high sensitivity, and is a reliable tool to perform chemical speciation analysis on such samples. In addition, the results confirm theoretical predictions regarding the composition of different oxidation states of titanium associated with different states of charge/lithiation of the LTO-spinel also. The proposed methodology can be easily applied to other lithium-based materials and beyond them, such as those based on sodium and novel technologies based on polyvalent cations including magnesium and aluminium. This journal isFil: Robledo, José Ignacio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola; ArgentinaFil: Leani, Juan José. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola; ArgentinaFil: Chauque, Susana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Físico-química de Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Físico-química de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Camara, Osvaldo Raul. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Físico-química de Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Físico-química de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Sanchez, Hector Jorge. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola; ArgentinaFil: Oliva, Fabiana Yolanda. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Físico-química de Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Físico-química de Córdoba; Argentin

Anticipated Notification of Sexual Partners following STD Diagnosis among Men Who Have Sex with Men and Transgender Women in Lima, Peru: A Mixed Methods Analysis

Background: New strategies to support partner notification (PN) are critical for STD control and require detailed understanding of how specific individual and partnership characteristics guide notification decisions. Methods: From 2011 to 2012, 397 MSM and TW recently diagnosed with HIV, syphilis, or another STD completed a survey on anticipated notification of recent sexual partners and associated factors. Qualitative interviews were conducted with a subset of participants to provide further depth to quantitative findings. Prevalence ratios and generalized estimating equation (GEE) models were used to analyze participant- and partner-level factors associated with anticipated PN. Results: Among all partners reported, 52.5% were described as “Very Likely” or “Somewhat Likely” to be notified. Anticipated notification was more likely for main partners than casual (adjusted Prevalence Ratio [aPR], 95% CI: 0.63, 0.54–0.75) or commercial (aPR, 95% CI: 0.44, 0.31–0.62) partners. Other factors associated with likely notification included perception of the partner as an STD source (aPR, 95% CI: 1.27, 1.10–1.48) and anticipated future sexual contact with the partner (aPR, 95% CI: 1.30, 1.11–1.52). An HIV diagnosis was associated with a lower likelihood of notification than non-HIV STDs (aPR: 0.68, 0.55–0.86). Qualitative discussion of the barriers and incentives to PN reflected a similar differentiation of anticipated notification according to partnership type and type of HIV/STD diagnosis. Discussion: Detailed attention to how partnership characteristics guide notification outcomes is essential to the development of new PN strategies. By accurately and thoroughly assessing the diversity of partnership interactions among individuals with HIV/STD, new notification techniques can be tailored to partner-specific circumstances

Traditional and Web-Based Technologies to Improve Partner Notification Following Syphilis Diagnosis Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in Lima, Peru: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Patient-initiated partner notification (PN) following the diagnosis of a sexually transmitted infection is a critical component of disease control in men who have sex with men (MSM) sexual networks. Both printed and internet-based technologies offer potential tools to enhance traditional partner notification approaches among MSM in resource-limited settings. Objective: This randomized controlled trial aimed to evaluate the effect of 2 different PN technologies on notification outcomes following syphilis diagnosis among MSM in Peru: A Web-based notification system and patient-delivered partner referral cards. Methods: During 2012-2014, we screened 1625 MSM from Lima, Peru, for syphilis infection and enrolled 370 MSM with symptomatic primary or secondary syphilis (n=58) or asymptomatic latent syphilis diagnosed by serology (rapid plasma reagin, RPR, and Microhemagglutination assay for Treponema pallidum antibody; n=312). Prior to enrollment, potential participants used a computer-based self-interviewing system to enumerate their recent sexual partnerships and provide details of their 3 most recent partners. Eligible participants were randomly assigned to one of 4 intervention arms: (1) counseling and patient-initiated Web-based PN (n=95), (2) counseling with Web-based partner notification and partner referral cards (n=84), (3) counseling and partner referral cards (n=97), and (4) simple partner notification counseling (control; n=94). Self-reported partner notification was assessed after 14 days among 354 participants who returned for the follow-up assessment. Results: The median age of enrolled participants was 27 (interquartile range, IQR 23-34) years, with a median of 2 partners (IQR 1-5) reported in the past month. Compared with those who received only counseling (arm 4), MSM provided with access to Web-based partner notification (arms 1 and 2) or printed partner referral cards (arms 2 and 3) were more likely to have notified one or more of their sexual partners (odds ratio, OR, 2.18, 95% CI 1.30-3.66; P=.003 and OR 1.68, 95% CI 1.01-2.79; P=.045, respectively). The proportion of partners notified was also higher in both Web-based partner notification (241/421, 57.2%; P<.001) and referral card (240/467, 51.4%; P=.006) arms than in the control arm (82/232, 35.3%). Conclusions: Both new Web-based technologies and traditional printed materials support patient-directed notification and improve self-reported outcomes among MSM with syphilis. Additional research is needed to refine the use of these partner notification tools in specific partnership contexts.Revisión por paresRevisión por pare

Learning from Participatory Research and Action Approaches to Transforming Food Systems

Now more than ever, evidence overwhelmingly concludes that our food systems are not currently working to nourish our populations, ecosystems, economies, or social connectionNow more than ever, evidence overwhelmingly concludes that our food systems are not currently working to nourish our populations, ecosystems, economies, or social connections. Agroecological approaches have been shown as having potential to address many of these problems in the mainstream food system, particularly when combined with concepts of food sovereignty, which localise control, and place producers and consumers at the centre of decision-making (Pretty et al 2006, Chappell and LaValle 2009, Sevilla Guzman and Woodgate 2003). However, knowing the principles and the end goals, while invaluable, is not enough. We need to transition from the food systems we currently have to the food systems we envision for future generations. Where do we begin and who should lead that process? In line with principles of food sovereignty, that transition needs to be led and owned not by outside experts or researchers but by the people most directly affected by and typically excluded from decision making within the current food system (i.e. small- and medium -scale farmers, workers involved in harvesting and food processing, cottage manufacturers and consumers across socioeconomic classes). It must also respond to the current level of globalisation of our food systems. For example, a decision to localise consumption in one country can greatly affect export-focused producers and economies in another