300 research outputs found
Towards a FPGA-controlled deep phase modulation interferometer
Deep phase modulation interferometry was proposed as a method to enhance
homodyne interferometers to work over many fringes. In this scheme, a
sinusoidal phase modulation is applied in one arm while the demodulation takes
place as a post-processing step. In this contribution we report on the
development to implement this scheme in a fiber coupled interferometer
controlled by means of a FPGA, which includes a LEON3 soft-core processor. The
latter acts as a CPU and executes a custom made application to communicate with
a host PC. In contrast to usual FPGA-based designs, this implementation allows
a real-time fine tuning of the parameters involved in the setup, from the
control to the post-processing parameters.Comment: Proceedings of the X LISA Symposium, Gainesville, May 18-23, 201
Culture: Not just Burns – what about the poet Robert Fergusson?
No abstract available
Safety assessment of chronic oral exposure to iron oxide nanoparticles
Iron oxide nanoparticles with engineered physical and biochemical properties are finding a rapidly increasing number of biomedical applications. However, a wide variety of safety concerns, especially those related to oral exposure, still need to be addressed for iron oxide nanoparticles in order to reach clinical practice. Here, we report on the effects of chronic oral exposure to low doses of γ-Fe2O3 nanoparticles in growing chickens. Animal observation, weight, and diet intake reveal no adverse signs, symptoms, or mortality. No nanoparticle accumulation was observed in liver, spleen, and duodenum, with feces as the main excretion route. Liver iron level and duodenal villi morphology reflect the bioavailability of the iron released from the partial transformation of γ-Fe2O3 nanoparticles in the acid gastric environment. Duodenal gene expression studies related to the absorption of iron from γ-Fe2O3 nanoparticles indicate the enhancement of a ferric over ferrous pathway supporting the role of mucins. Our findings reveal that oral administration of iron oxide nanoparticles is a safe route for drug delivery at low nanoparticle doses.Peer Reviewe
Axially symmetric Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov Calculations for Nuclei Near the Drip-Lines
Nuclei far from stability are studied by solving the Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov
(HFB) equations, which describe the self-consistent mean field theory with
pairing interaction. Calculations for even-even nuclei are carried out on
two-dimensional axially symmetric lattice, in coordinate space. The
quasiparticle continuum wavefunctions are considered for energies up to 60 MeV.
Nuclei near the drip lines have a strong coupling between weakly bound states
and the particle continuum. This method gives a proper description of the
ground state properties of such nuclei. High accuracy is achieved by
representing the operators and wavefunctions using the technique of
basis-splines. The detailed representation of the HFB equations in cylindrical
coordinates is discussed. Calculations of observables for nuclei near the
neutron drip line are presented to demonstrate the reliability of the method.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures. Submitted to Physical Review C on 05/08/02.
Revised on Dec/0
Life Cycle Analysis of the panela agroindustry: Intensification for its development
The research made it possible to identify sensitive environmental factors generated in all the operations carried out in an intensified panela agroindustry for the purposes of diversification, productivity, quality and safety. Results of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), according to the Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) methodology show that in all impact categories, the industrial stage of the production of honey, panela and sugar, cause greater environmental impact, being the two latter the most representative. However, according to the Ecuadorian environmental legislation, the impacts of the panela agroindustry are considered to be moderate and cataloged type II, therefore it does not require intensive corrective practices. However, it requires preventive actions aimed to mitigate impacts, considering that it is a subsector of the sugar cane industry that is present as production units throughout the country, where there are favorable conditions for the cultivation of sugar cane
Compilation of a social network lexicon for determining the profile of authors
The use of social networks is steadily increasing worldwide. Hundreds of users daily register in the different existing platforms, therefore, the content extracted from the social networks is fundamental for tasks such as sentiment analysis, detection of author profiles, identification of authors, opinions mining, plagiarism detection, calculation of similarity between texts and to develop robust systems that help to make decisions in related areas such as politics, education, economy, among others. This paper provides a lexical aid for the pre-processing of texts posted in social networks evolved for the subsequent languages: English, Spanish, Dutch and Italian
The QUIJOTE experiment: project overview and first results
QUIJOTE (Q-U-I JOint TEnerife) is a new polarimeter aimed to characterize the
polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background and other Galactic and
extragalactic signals at medium and large angular scales in the frequency range
10-40 GHz. The multi-frequency (10-20~GHz) instrument, mounted on the first
QUIJOTE telescope, saw first light on November 2012 from the Teide Observatory
(2400~m a.s.l). During 2014 the second telescope has been installed at this
observatory. A second instrument at 30~GHz will be ready for commissioning at
this telescope during summer 2015, and a third additional instrument at 40~GHz
is now being developed. These instruments will have nominal sensitivities to
detect the B-mode polarization due to the primordial gravitational-wave
component if the tensor-to-scalar ratio is larger than r=0.05.Comment: To appear in "Highlights of Spanish Astrophysics VIII", Proceedings
of the XI Scientific Meeting of the Spanish Astronomical Society, Teruel,
Spain (2014
QUIJOTE Experiment: status of telescopes and instrumentation
The QUIJOTE Experiment (Q-U-I JOint TEnerife) is a combined operation of two telescopes and three instruments working in the microwave band to measure the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) from the northern hemisphere, at medium and large angular scales. The experiment is located at the Teide Observatory in Tenerife, one of the seven Canary Islands (Spain). The project is a consortium maintained by several institutions: the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), the Instituto de Física de Cantabria (IFCA), the Communications Engineering Department (DICOM) at Universidad de Cantabria, and the Universities of Manchester and Cambridge. The consortium is led by the IAC
QUIJOTE-CMB experiment: a technical overview
The QUIJOTE-CMB experiment (Q-U-I JOint TEnerife CMB experiment) is an ambitious project to obtain polarization measurements of the sky microwave emission in the 10 to 47 GHz range. With this aim, a pair of 2,5m telescopes and three instruments are being sited at the Teide Observatory, in Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain). The first telescope and the first instrument (the MFI: Multi Frequency Instrument) are both already operating in the band from 10 to 20 GHz, since November 2012. The second telescope and the second instrument (TGI: Thirty GHz instrument) is planned to be in commissioning by the end of summer 2014, covering the range of 26 to 36 GHz. After that, a third instrument named FGI (Forty GHz instrument) will be designed and manufactured to complete the sky survey in the frequency range from 37 to 47 GHz. In this paper we present an overview of the whole project current status, from the technical point of view
Mental impact of Covid-19 among Spanish healthcare workers. A large longitudinal survey
Aims: Longitudinal data on the mental health impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic in healthcare workers is limited. We estimated prevalence, incidence and persistence of probable mental disorders in a cohort of Spanish healthcare workers (Covid-19 waves 1 and 2) -and identified associated risk factors. Methods: 8996 healthcare workers evaluated on 5 May-7 September 2020 (baseline) were invited to a second web-based survey (October-December 2020). Major depressive disorder (PHQ-8 ≥ 10), generalised anxiety disorder (GAD-7 ≥ 10), panic attacks, post-traumatic stress disorder (PCL-5 ≥ 7), and alcohol use disorder (CAGE-AID ≥ 2) were assessed. Distal (pre-pandemic) and proximal (pandemic) risk factors were included. We estimated the incidence of probable mental disorders (among those without disorders at baseline) and persistence (among those with disorders at baseline). Logistic regression of individual-level [odds ratios (OR)] and population-level (population attributable risk proportions) associations were estimated, adjusting by all distal risk factors, health care centre and time of baseline interview. Results: 4809 healthcare workers participated at four months follow-up (cooperation rate = 65.7%; mean = 120 days s.d. = 22 days from baseline assessment). Follow-up prevalence of any disorder was 41.5%, (v. 45.4% at baseline, p < 0.001); incidence, 19.7% (s.e. = 1.6) and persistence, 67.7% (s.e. = 2.3). Proximal factors showing significant bivariate-adjusted associations with incidence included: work-related factors [prioritising Covid-19 patients (OR = 1.62)], stress factors [personal health-related stress (OR = 1.61)], interpersonal stress (OR = 1.53) and financial factors [significant income loss (OR = 1.37)]. Risk factors associated with persistence were largely similar. Conclusions: Our study indicates that the prevalence of probable mental disorders among Spanish healthcare workers during the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic was similarly high to that after the first wave. This was in good part due to the persistence of mental disorders detected at the baseline, but with a relevant incidence of about 1 in 5 of HCWs without mental disorders during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. Health-related factors, work-related factors and interpersonal stress are important risks of persistence of mental disorders and of incidence of mental disorders. Adequately addressing these factors might have prevented a considerable amount of mental health impact of the pandemic among this vulnerable population. Addressing health-related stress, work-related factors and interpersonal stress might reduce the prevalence of these disorders substantially. Study registration number: NCT04556565.Instituto de Salud Carlos III/ Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación/ FEDER (J. A., grant number COV20/00711); Project “PI17/00521”, funded by Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) and co-funded by the European Union, PERIS, Health Dpt, Generaliat de Catalunya (I. A., grant number SLT017/20/000009); ISCIII-FSE+, Miguel Servet (P. M., grant number CP21/00078); ISCIII-FSE, Sara Borrell (P. M., grant number CD18/00049), Generalitat de Catalunya (2017SGR452). Additional partial funding was received from the Gerencia Regional de Salud de Castilla y León (SACYL) (J. M. P. T., grant number GRS COVID 32/A/20).S
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