Prepulse inhibition predicts spatial working memory performance in the inbred Roman high- and low-avoidance rats and in genetically heterogeneous NIH-HS rats: relevance for studying pre-attentive and cognitive anomalies in schizophrenia

Animal models of schizophrenia-relevant symptoms are increasingly important for progress in our understanding of the neurobiological basis of the disorder and for discovering novel and more specific treatments. Prepulse inhibition (PPI) and working memory, which are impaired in schizophrenic patients, are among the symptoms/processes modeled in those animal analogues. We have evaluated whether a genetically-selected rat model, the Roman high-avoidance inbred strain (RHA-I), displays PPI deficits as compared with its Roman low-avoidance (RLA-I) counterpart and the genetically heterogeneous NIH-HS rat stock. We have investigated whether PPI deficits predict spatial working memory impairments (in the Morris water maze; MWM) in these three rat types (Experiment 1), as well as in a separate sample of NIH-HS rats stratified according to their extreme (High, Medium, Low) PPI scores (Experiment 2). The results from Exp. 1 show that RHA-I rats display PPI and spatial working memory deficits compared to both RLA-I and NIH-HS rats. Likewise, in Exp. 2, “Low-PPI” NIH-HS rats present significantly impaired working memory with respect to “Medium-PPI” and “High-PPI” NIH-HS subgroups. Further support to these results comes from correlational, factorial and multiple regression analyses, which reveal that PPI is positively associated with spatial working memory performance. Conversely, cued learning in the MWM was not associated with PPI.Thus, using genetically-selected and genetically heterogeneous rats, the present study shows, for the first time, that PPI is a positive predictor of performance in a spatial working memory task. These results may have translational value for schizophrenia symptom research in humans, as they suggest that either by psychogenetic selection or by focusing on extreme PPI scores from a genetically heterogeneous rat stock, it is possible to detect a useful (perhaps “at risk”) phenotype to study cognitive anomalies linked to schizophrenia

A recreational carrying capacity assessment of the 16th century Spanish Fort of Santiago on the Island of Chikly, Tunisia

The increase in cultural tourism has revealed the vulnerability of the heritage resources during the phase of tourism exploitation and, thus, the need to set limits and to establish visitor management tools to ensure the conservation of the heritage resources and the visitors’ satisfaction. This work focuses on the determination of the recreational carrying capacity of the Fort of Santiago monument located on the Island of Chikly (Tunisia), situated in the Northern Lagoon of Tunis, which is declared a Nature Reserve for its ornithological interest. Furthermore, it has always attracted people from many civilisations, as evidenced by the Phoenician, Punic, Roman, Byzantine, Arab, Spanish and Turkish remains discovered there. The Fort of Santiago is one of the most important monuments of 16th century. Emperor Charles I of Spain ordered the construction of the fort in 1535. A few years later, the fort passed into Turkish hands. Subsequent to transformation processes and changes of use, it was abandoned in the 19th century. In the 21st century, the monument was restored for tourism purposes. The results of this assessment specifically highlight the greater fragility of the island in relation to the Fort of Santiago, and the need to control the visitor use level. Thus, one group of 20 people per day would be an acceptable volume of visitors. Tourism management guidelines and environmental, cultural and social performance standards and monitoring indicators are also identified to guarantee the conservation and wise use of this valuable heritage site.Viñals Blasco, MJ.; Martínez, I.; Abdennadher, A.; Teruel Serrano, MD. (2014). A recreational carrying capacity assessment of the 16th century Spanish Fort of Santiago on the Island of Chikly, Tunisia. WIT Transactions on the Built Environment. 143:185-196. doi:10.2495/DSHF140161S18519614

Modelado computacional del comportamiento hidrodinámico de elementos combustibles nucleares

La capacidad de generación de potencia de una central nuclear está limitada por el mecanismo de refrigeración del núcleo. El fenómeno termohidráulico denominado "Flujo Crítico de Calor" disminuye la capacidad de extracción de calor del sistema de refrigeración modificando abruptamente la transferencia térmica entre el elemento combustible y el refrigerante. En este trabajo se modela el comportamiento hidrodinámico de elementos combustibles nucleares con el objetivo de analizar lospatrones de turbulencia y mezclado entre subcanales. El modelado se centra alrededor de los separadoresde vainas combustibles y el efecto que estos tienen sobre el flujo. Para realizar estas simulaciones seutiliza la herramienta computacional denominada OpenFOAM.Publicado en: Mecánica Computacional vol. XXXV no.32Facultad de Ingenierí

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on a Cancer Fast-Track Programme

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted many aspects of clinical practice in oncology, particularly regarding early cancer diagnosis, sparking public health concerns that possible delays could increase the proportion of patients diagnosed at advanced stages. In 2009, a cancer fast-track program (CFP) was implemented at the Clinico-Malvarrosa Health Department in Valencia, Spain with the aim of shortening waiting times between suspected cancer symptoms, diagnosis and therapy initiation. Objectives: The study aimed to explore the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on our cancer diagnosis fast-track program. Methods: The program workflow (patients included and time periods) was analysed from the beginning of the state of alarm on March 16th, 2020 until March 15th, 2021. Data was compared with data from the same period of time from the year before (2019). Results: During the pandemic year, 975 suspected cancer cases were submitted to the CFP. The number of submissions only decreased during times of highest COVID-19 incidence and stricter lockdown, and overall, referrals were slightly higher than in the previous 2 years. Cancer diagnosis was confirmed in 197 (24.1%) cases, among which 33% were urological, 23% breast, 16% gastrointestinal and 9% lung cancer. The median time from referral to specialist appointment was 13 days and diagnosis was reached at a median of 18 days. In confirmed cancer cases, treatment was started at around 30 days from time of diagnosis. In total, 61% of cancer disease was detected at early stage, 20% at locally advanced stage, and 19% at advanced stage, displaying time frames and case proportions similar to pre-pandemic years. Conclusions: Our program has been able to maintain normal flow and efficacy despite the challenges of the current pandemic, and has proven a reliable tool to help primary care physicians referring suspected cancer patients.S

Costs and benefits of automation for astronomical facilities

The Observatorio Astrof\'isico de Javalambre (OAJ{\dag}1) in Spain is a young astronomical facility, conceived and developed from the beginning as a fully automated observatory with the main goal of optimizing the processes in the scientific and general operation of the Observatory. The OAJ has been particularly conceived for carrying out large sky surveys with two unprecedented telescopes of unusually large fields of view (FoV): the JST/T250, a 2.55m telescope of 3deg field of view, and the JAST/T80, an 83cm telescope of 2deg field of view. The most immediate objective of the two telescopes for the next years is carrying out two unique photometric surveys of several thousands square degrees, J-PAS{\dag}2 and J-PLUS{\dag}3, each of them with a wide range of scientific applications, like e.g. large structure cosmology and Dark Energy, galaxy evolution, supernovae, Milky Way structure, exoplanets, among many others. To do that, JST and JAST are equipped with panoramic cameras under development within the J-PAS collaboration, JPCam and T80Cam respectively, which make use of large format (~ 10k x 10k) CCDs covering the entire focal plane. This paper describes in detail, from operations point of view, a comparison between the detailed cost of the global automation of the Observatory and the standard automation cost for astronomical facilities, in reference to the total investment and highlighting all benefits obtained from this approach and difficulties encountered. The paper also describes the engineering development of the overall facilities and infrastructures for the fully automated observatory and a global overview of current status, pinpointing lessons learned in order to boost observatory operations performance, achieving scientific targets, maintaining quality requirements, but also minimizing operation cost and human resources.Comment: Global Observatory Control System GOC

Зависимость свойств толстопленочных терморезисторов от состава базовой шпинели

Изменением соотношения компонентов шпинели Cu1-x-yCo2yMn2-yO4 получены толстопленочные терморезисторы с удельным объемным электросопротивлением 1,5-33 Омм и тепловой константой В25/85 2980-3690 К

miR-146a rs2431697 identifies myeloproliferative neoplasm patients with higher secondary myelofibrosis progression risk

Myelofibrosis (MF) occurs as part of the natural history of polycythemia vera (PV) and essential thrombocythemia (ET), and remarkably shortens survival. Although JAK2V617F and CALR allele burden are the main transformation risk factors, inflammation plays a critical role by driving clonal expansion toward end-stage disease. NF-κB is a key mediator of inflammation-induced carcinogenesis. Here, we explored the involvement of miR-146a, a brake in NF-κB signaling, in MPN susceptibility and progression. rs2910164 and rs2431697, that affect miR-146a expression, were analyzed in 967 MPN (320 PV/333 ET/314 MF) patients and 600 controls. We found that rs2431697 TT genotype was associated with MF, particularly with post-PV/ET MF (HR = 1.5; p < 0.05). Among 232 PV/ET patients (follow-up time=8.5 years), 18 (7.8%) progressed to MF, being MF-free-survival shorter for rs2431697 TT than CC + CT patients (p = 0.01). Multivariate analysis identified TT genotype as independent predictor of MF progression. In addition, TT (vs. CC + CT) patients showed increased plasma inflammatory cytokines. Finally, miR-146a−/− mice showed significantly higher Stat3 activity with aging, parallel to the development of the MF-like phenotype. In conclusion, we demonstrated that rs2431697 TT genotype is an early predictor of MF progression independent of the JAK2V617F allele burden. Low levels of miR-146a contribute to the MF phenotype by increasing Stat3 signaling

Employment and SMEs during crises

The persistent increasing duration of unemployment has become an issue during economic crises. Although lay-offs at large firms normally make headlines during crises, we still know little about the potential impact of firm size on adjustment behavior in a crisis. We studied effects of firm size on employment growth during economic slowdowns using a rich microeconomic database for the 1988-2007 period in Portuguese manufacturing industry. The results show that economic downturns affect firm growth negatively. This negative effect is found to be higher for larger firms, both during and immediately following crisis periods. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) emerge as potential stabilizers in downturn periods. However, larger firms seem to be able to quickly recover from downturn periods. Our results contribute to the scarce literature and to the understanding of the Portuguese case, where many SMEs secure most jobs. These first results may be useful, because SMEs play a determinant role in other European Union economies

Realising superoscillations: A review of mathematical tools and their application

Superoscillations are making a growing impact on an ever-increasing number of real-world applications, as early theoretical analysis has evolved into wide experimental realisation. This is particularly true in optics: the first application area to have extensively embraced superoscillations, with much recent growth. This review provides a tool for anyone planning to expand the boundaries in an application where superoscillations have already been used, or to apply superoscillations to a new application. By reviewing the mathematical methods for constructing superoscillations, including their considerations and capabilities, we lay out the options for anyone wanting to construct a device that uses superoscillations. Superoscillations have inherent trade-offs: as the size of spot reduces, its relative intensity decreases as high-energy sidebands appear. Different methods provide solutions for optimising different aspects of these trade-offs, to suit different purposes. Despite numerous technological ways of realising superoscillations, the mathematical methods can be categorised into three approaches: direct design of superoscillatory functions, design of pupil filters and design of superoscillatory lenses. This categorisation, based on mathematical methods, is used to highlight the transferability of methods between applications. It also highlights areas for future theoretical development to enable the scientific and technological boundaries to be pushed even further in real-world applications