Pump polarization-state preservation of picosecond generated white-light supercontinuum

Supercontinuum (SC) generation is among the most interesting nonlinear optical effects lately discovered, due to the complexity of the mechanisms responsible for its generation. This phenomenon, first demonstrated by Alfano and Shapiro using picosecond pulses in condensed phase, has found novel applications in optical pulse compression, timeresolved spectroscopy and material characterization among many others. Here, we demonstrate that picosecond generated SC white-light in water preserves the polarization state: linear, elliptical and circular of the pump source. Moreover, we were able to determine the SC polarization rotation direction in the circular case. With the generation of pulsed circularly polarized SC, new studies and applications are envisaged in the biological, medical and pharmaceutical field. Amino acids, involved in the origin of life, and other chiral structures represent an attractive target for this type of study

Physiological profile, metabolic response, and temporal structure in elite individual table tennis: differences according to gender

No research that has analyzed the structural characteristics, physiological profile, and energy demands in the game of table tennis as played by women is available. The present study aimed to evaluate the physiological, metabolic, and temporal variables of table tennis players and to observe gender differences. Forty-eight elite table tennis players participated in this study: 24 men (25.3 ± 4.07 years) and 24 women (22.3 ± 3.8 years). During simulated competition, temporal structure, heart rate (HR), and lactate (LA) were evaluated. The maximum ergospirometric evaluations were performed in a laboratory. The total table tennis (TT) time and the total resting time (TRT) were longer for men (p < 0.05), but game density was higher for women (p < 0.05). During rallies, the real playing time (RPT) was longer for women, while the TRT was longer for men (p < 0.05). The maximum HR, minimum HR, and maximum LA concentrations were higher for men (p < 0.05). The obtained data reveal gender differences in the physiological, metabolic, structural, and temporal variables in table tennis players. The analysis of the studied variables could allow training sessions to be planned and organized according to table tennis players’ gender

Prevalence of osteoporosis, estimation of probability of fracture and bone metabolism study in patients with newly diagnosed prostate cancer in the health area of Lugo

Este trabajo ha sido parcialmente presentado como póster con defensa en el 34.o Congreso de la Sociedad Española de Medicina Familiar y Comunitaria (semFYC).[Resumen] Objetivo. Estudiar la prevalencia de osteoporosis y probabilidad de fractura en pacientes diagnosticados de cáncer de próstata. Diseño. Estudio observacional, descriptivo y transversal. Emplazamiento. Estudio realizado desde atención primaria del área sanitaria de Lugo en colaboración con los servicios de Reumatología y Urología de nuestro hospital de referencia. Participantes. Pacientes diagnosticados de cáncer de próstata sin enfermedad metastásica ósea, desde enero a diciembre del año 2012. Mediciones principales. Se recogieron variables epidemiológicas, clínicas, analíticas y densitométricas implicadas en la osteoporosis. Se estimó la probabilidad de fractura mediante la herramienta FRAX®. Resultados. Ochenta y tres pacientes cumplieron los criterios de inclusión. Ninguno fue excluido. La edad media fue de 67 años. El índice de masa corporal fue de 28,28. Veinticinco pacientes (30,1%) presentaban fracturas osteoporóticas previas. Otros factores de riesgo prevalentes fueron el alcohol (26,5%) y el tabaco (22,9%). Ochenta y dos sujetos presentaban valores de vitamina D por debajo de lo normal (98,80%). La densitometría de cuello femoral mostró que el 8,9% presentaron osteoporosis y el 54% osteopenia. La media del riesgo de fractura en esta población, estimado con la herramienta FRAX®, fue del 2,63% para fractura de cuello femoral y del 5,28% para fractura principal. Utilizando los puntos de corte para el riesgo de fractura propuestos por Azagra et al., 24 pacientes (28,92%) tuvieron un valor de FRAX® para fractura principal sin DXA de más del 5%, y 8 sujetos (9,64%), ≥ 7,5%. Conclusiones. La prevalencia de osteoporosis en esta población fue muy elevada. Los factores de riesgo asociados a osteoporosis más frecuentes fueron: fractura osteoporótica previa, consumo de alcohol, hábito tabáquico y antecedente familiar de fractura previa. La probabilidad de fractura mediante la herramienta FRAX® de cuello femoral fue baja. La hipovitaminosis D fue muy frecuente (98,8%).[Abstract] Objective. To study the prevalence of osteoporosis and fracture probability in patients diagnosed with prostate cancer. Design. Observational descriptive transversal study. Site. Study performed from Primary Care of Lugo in collaboration with Rheumatology and Urology Services of our referral hospital. Participants. Patients diagnosed with prostate cancer without bone metastatic disease from January to December 2012. Main measurements. Epidemiologic, clinical, laboratory and densitometric variables involved in osteoporosis were collected. The likelihood of fracture was estimated by FRAX® Tool. Results. Eighty-three patients met the inclusion criteria. None was excluded. The average age was 67 years. The Body Mass Index was 28.28. Twenty-five patients (30.1%) had previous osteoporotic fractures. Other prevalent risk factors were alcohol (26.5%) and smoking (22.9%). Eighty-two subjects had vitamin D below normal level (98.80%). Femoral Neck densitometry showed that 8.9% had osteoporosis and 54% osteopenia. The average fracture risk in this population, estimated by FRAX®, was 2.63% for hip fracture and 5.28% for major fracture. Cut level for FRAX® major fracture value without DXA > 5% and ≥ 7.5% proposed by Azagra et al. showed 24 patients (28.92%) and 8 patients (9.64%) respectively. Conclusions. The prevalence of osteoporosis in this population was very high. The more frequent risk factors associated with osteoporosis were: previous osteoporotic fracture, alcohol consumption, smoking and family history of previous fracture. The probability of fracture using femoral neck FRAX® tool was low. Vitamin D deficiency was very common (98.8%)

Multimedia Smart Process (MSP)

Traditional development processes do not include dynamic and creative aspects that exist in multimedia development environments. In these domains, creativity, design and animation are non-functional requirements that have great relevance in the final product and are often not considered in the implementation of traditional software. In this article, we make a comparison of the main traditional development processes and their suitability to the domains of multimedia software, proposing as an alternative Multimedia Smart Process (MSP)

Anàlisi del Microsoft Robotics Studio

Cada cop més s'utilitzen robots en molts àmbits de la vida, els quals han de ser programats, i el fet que Microsoft s'impliqui aportant una eina de programació resulta interessant. Aprendre a programar robots i colònies de robots amb aquesta eina, la qual està tenint una bona acollida, és molt important, per això en aquest projecte s'ha fet una anàlisi crítica de MRS i del material docent associat a l'aplicació. Els resultats i conclusions obtinguts han estat, d'una banda, que és la millor eina de programació de robots, en termes generals, i d'altra, una guia iniciativa a l'entorn MRS, accessible a la direcció: http://shades.uab.cat/MSRS.Cada vez más se utilizan robots en muchos ámbitos de la vida, los cuales han de ser programados, y el hecho de que Microsoft se implique aportando una herramienta de programación resulta interesante. Aprender a programar robots y colonias de robots con esta herramienta, la cual está teniendo una buena acogida, es muy importante, es por esto que en este proyecto se ha hecho un análisis crítico de MRS y del material docente asociado a la aplicación Los resultados y conclusiones obtenidos han sido, por un lado que es la mejor aplicación de programación de robots, en términos generales, y por otro, una guía iniciativa en el entorno MRS, accesible desde la dirección: http://shades.uab.cat/MSRS.Every time more robots are used in many areas of the life, which have to be programmed, and the fact that Microsoft is implied bringing a tool of programming is interesting. To learn to program robots and colonies of robots with this tool, which is having a good reception, is very important, in this project a critical analysis of MRS and of the educational material associated with the application has been made because of that. The results and conclusions obtained in the analysis have been, on the one hand, that MRS is the best tool of robots programming, in general terms, and of another, an initiative guide in the environment MRS, accessible to the direction: http://shades.uab.cat/MSRS.Nota: Aquest document conté originàriament altre material i/o programari només consultable a la Biblioteca de Ciència i Tecnologia

Effects of Ultratrail Running on neuromuscular function, muscle damage and hydration status. Differences according to training level

The status of trail running races has exponentially grown in recent years. The present study aimed to: (a) evaluate the acute response of ultratrail racing in terms of neuromuscular function, muscle damage and hydration status; (b) analyze if responses could differ according to training levels. Twenty runners participated in the present study. The participants were divided into amateur training level (n = 10; 43.30 ± 4.52 years) or high level competitors (n = 10; 41.40 ± 6.18). Neuromuscular response (squat jump, countermovement jump and Abalakov jump), muscle damage (alanine aminotransferase, bilirubin, creatine kinase and leukocytes) and hydration status (sodium and creatinine) were evaluated before and after the Guara Somontano Ultratrail Race (108 km distance, with an accumulated slope of 5800 m). The height and power achieved by vertical jumps were lower after the race (p < 0.001). The post-race muscle damage and creatinine parameters increased in both groups (p < 0.001). The high-level group obtained lower percentages of change in squat jump and countermovement jump than the amateur-level group (p < 0.05). However, the increase in creatinine was greater for the high-level group (p < 0.05). Ultratrail racing reduces neuromuscular function and increases muscle damage. High-level runners showed less neuromuscular fatigue compared to amateur ones

HIV-1 Infection in Persistently HIV-1-Seronegative Individuals: More Reasons for HIV RNA Screening

Producción CientíficaThe World Health Organization (WHO) has recently released updated guidelines for HIV diagnosis that recommend serum antibody testing by either EIAs or rapid tests and that encourage the identification of unrecognized HIV infections [1]. However, this approach may fail to identify subjects with acute infection. In consideration of the potential public health benefits of not missing individuals in the most contagious phase of infection, implementation of routine HIV RNA screening has been suggested [2]. We want to stress that there are other situations in which viral load is detectable in the absence of reactive antibody tests and in which the introduction of nucleic acid testing may be beneficial. This is the case for HIV-infected subjects in whom specific antibody responses are absent, as for the case reported here.Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias (project CP05/00300)Fundación para la Investigación y Prevención del Sida en España (project 36483/05)Fundación Investigación y Educación en Sida.RIS (project ISCIII-RETIC RD06

Waste to Energy from Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants: A Science Mapping

Energy recovery, according to circular economy and sustainable principles, has established itself as an inevitable field of action in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Energy costs are forcing the optimization of processes and increases in the development of applicable waste-to-energy (WtE) technologies. This study aims to analyze the existing knowledge on WtE research in municipal WWTPs using a systematic literature review and a bibliometric analysis from 1979 to 2021. For this purpose, Science Mapping Analysis Tool (SciMAT) and VosViewer, two softwares for analyzing performance indicators and visualizing scientific maps, were used to identify the most relevant figures in the research. The results show an exponential increase in the number of publications over time, which has yet to reach a stage of maturity. The analysis of the evolution of the topics exposes variability in the keywords over the years. The main field of WtE research has focused on sludge treatment, with technologies ranging from anaerobic digestion to more recently-emerging ones such as microalgae or membrane technologies. The analysis also identified the need for more publications on other wastes in WWTPs, which are necessary to achieve zero waste.EMASAGRA S.A 432

Análisis computacional integrado de fotoelasticidad digital y análisis termoelástico de esfuerzos

Stress measurement is useful to identify the operating conditions that can produce the failure of a structure. Among the strategies for stress measurement, the integration between digital photoelasticity and thermoelastic stress analysis has been extensively explored, because it is useful to determine the individual stresses, and because of its full-field capabilities. However, due to the experimental complexity of both techniques, their integration is often limited to semi-static cases, where the calibration of the thermal parameters is usually done independently of the photoelasticity experiment. This paper describes a computational integration of digital photoelasticity and thermoelastic stress analysis. The main contribution of the paper is to show that, under controlled conditions, the application of variable load can be used to determine the stress and temperature fields of a birefringent model. The results achieved of this paper could be useful in industrial environments, where the complexity of the experiments limits the range of applications that require stress field analysis.La medición de los esfuerzos mecánicos es importante en múltiples aplicaciones de ingeniería, porque permite identificar las condiciones de operación que hacen que las piezas fallen. Dentro de las estrategias para medir esfuerzos mecánicos, la integración de la fotoelasticidad digital y el análisis termoelástico de esfuerzos ha sido ampliamente explorada, porque permite obtener información de esfuerzos individuales y no solo de su suma o diferencia; y porque permite análisis no invasivos y de campo completo. Sin embargo, dada la complejidad experimental de ambas técnicas, su integración suele limitarse a casos semi-estáticos, donde la calibración de los parámetros térmicos se suele hacer independientemente al montaje de fotoelasticidad. Este trabajo explora una integración computacional de la fotoelasticidad digital y el análisis termográfico de esfuerzos, mediante la aplicación de carga variable a un modelo birrefringente. Los resultados obtenidos indican que, bajo condiciones controladas, es posible obtener simultáneamente los campos de esfuerzos y de temperaturas del modelo inspeccionado. Estos resultados podrían ser de útiles entornos industriales, donde la complejidad de los experimentos limita el rango de aplicaciones que requieren análisis de campos de esfuerzos