Upper body motor function and swallowing impairments and its association in survivors of head and neck cancer: A cross-sectional study

Background Upper body motor function and swallowing may be affected after curative treatment for head and neck cancer. The aims of this study are to compare maximum mouth opening (MMO), temporomandibular dysfunction (TMD), cervical and shoulder active range of motion (AROM) and strength, and swallowing difficulty between survivors of head and neck cancer (sHNC) and healthy matched controls (HMC) and to examine the correlations between these outcomes in sHNC. Methods Thirty-two sHNC and 32 HMC participated on the study. MMO, TMD, cervical and shoulder AROM, cervical and shoulder strength, the SPADI shoulder pain and disability indices, the Eating Assessment Tool (EAT-10) score, swallowing difficulty as determined using a visual analogue scale (VAS), and the location of disturbances in swallowing, were recorded. Results MMO and cervical and shoulder AROM and strength were significantly lower in sHNC, whereas FAI, SPADI score, EAT-10 and VAS were higher. The MMO, TMD, cervical and shoulder AROM, and cervical shoulder strength values showed significant correlations (some direct, others inverse) with one another. Swallowing difficulty was inversely associated with the MMO, cervical AROM and shoulder strength. Conclusion Compared with controls, sHNC present smaller MMO, lower cervical and shoulder AROM, lower cervical and shoulder strength and higher perception of TMD, shoulder pain and disability and swallowing difficulty. sHNC suffer impaired swallowing related to lower MMO, presence of TMD, cervical AROM and shoulder strength values. Improving these variables via physiotherapy may reduce the difficulty in swallowing experienced by some sHNC.Fondos Estructurales de la Union Europea (FEDER)Unit of Excellence on Exercise and Health (UCEES), University of Granad

Effects of the Argon Pressure on the Optical Band Gap of Zinc Oxide Thin Films Grown by Nonreactive RF Sputtering

Zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films were grown by nonreactive RF sputtering at room temperature under varying argon pressures (PAr). Their optical band gap was found to increase from 3.58 to 4.34 eV when the argon pressure increases from 2.67 to 10.66 Pa. After annealing at 200°C and 500°C, optical band gaps decrease considerably. The observed widening of the band gap with increasing PAr can be understood as being a consequence of the poorer crystallinity of films grown at higher pressures. Measurements of morphological and electrical properties of these films correlate well with this picture. Our main aim is to understand the effects of PAr on several physical properties of the films, and most importantly on its optical band gap

A simulational and theoretical study of the spherical electrical double layer for a size-asymmetric electrolyte: the case of big coions

Monte Carlo simulations of a spherical macroion, surrounded by a size-asymmetric electrolyte in the primitive model, were performed. We considered 1:1 and 2:2 salts with a size ratio of 2 (i.e., with coions twice the size of counterions), for several surface charge densities of the macrosphere. The radial distribution functions, electrostatic potential at the Helmholtz surfaces, and integrated charge are reported. We compare these simulational data with original results obtained from the Ornstein-Zernike integral equation, supplemented by the hypernetted chain/hypernetted chain (HNC/HNC) and hypernetted chain/mean spherical approximation (HNC/MSA) closures, and with the corresponding calculations using the modified Gouy-Chapman and unequal-radius modified Gouy-Chapman theories. The HNC/HNC and HNC/MSA integral equations formalisms show good concordance with Monte Carlo "experiments", whereas the notable limitations of point-ion approaches are evidenced. Most importantly, the simulations confirm our previous theoretical predictions of the non-dominance of the counterions in the size-asymmetric spherical electrical double layer [J. Chem. Phys. 123, 034703 (2005)], the appearance of anomalous curvatures at the outer Helmholtz plane and the enhancement of charge reversal and screening at high colloidal surface charge densities due to the ionic size asymmetry.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure

Phase diagram and influence of defects in the double perovskites

The phase diagram of the double perovskites of the type Sr_{2-x} La_x Fe Mo O_6 is analyzed, with and without disorder due to antisites. In addition to an homogeneous half metallic ferrimagnetic phase in the absence of doping and disorder, we find antiferromagnetic phases at large dopings, and other ferrimagnetic phases with lower saturation magnetization, in the presence of disorder.Comment: 4 pages, 3 postscript figures, some errata correcte

Plant and animal endemism in the eastern Andean slope: challenges to conservation

Andean slope: challenges to conservatio

Impacts of the volcanic eruption in La Palma (Canary Islands) on the nearby marine bacterioplankton communities

Trabajo presentado en ASLO Aquatic Sciences Meeting 2023, celebrado en Palma de Mallorca (España), entre el 4 y el 9 de mayo de 2023.The volcanic eruption that occurred in La Palma Island (Canary Islands, Spain) in 2021 resulted in molten lava flowing into the ocean and forming a delta in the coastline, besides the emission of large amounts of ashes being deposited in a vast area around the Canary Islands. In order to assess the effects of the eruption on seawater, two oceanographic cruises were carried out, one at the beginning of the eruption and a second one a month later. We used an oceanographic CTD rosette sampler for collecting seawater in different areas of La Palma coastline together with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) equipped with a sampling device to collect surface samples near the delta newly formed on the coastal fringe. We sequenced the 16S rRNA gene in order to assess the response of bacterioplankton to such natural disturbance. The results show that the abundance of Thiomicrospirales, Gammaproteobacteria capable of oxidizing poly-metal sulfides, increased significantly in UAV samples collected near the lava delta. Moreover, in stations where the largest physical-chemical anomalies were recorded with the CTD, sequence data showed drastic changes in the prokaryotic community structure; cyanobacterial abundance decreased while the ammonia-oxidizing archeon Nitrosopelagicus and the bacterial SAR324 clade, with potential sulfur-based chemolithoautotrophic lifestyle, dominated the communities. The combined used of shipboard operations and UAVs provided a unique opportunity to study the prokaryotic response to a massive lava input, an event that is rarely observed and sampled in real time

Lateral variability of ichnological content in muddy contourites: Weak bottom currents affecting organisms’ behavior

Although bioturbation is commonly recognized in contourites, only a few studies have analyzed the ichnological content of these deposits in detail. These studies have mainly focused on meso-scale bigradational sequence (a coarsening upward followed by a fining-upward sequence resulting from variations in current velocity). Here we present data from gravitational cores collected along the NW Iberian Margin showing systematic variation in ichnological content across proximal to distal depocenters within a large-scale elongated contourite drift. Data demonstrate that tracemakers’ behavior varies depending on the distance relative to the bottom current core. Trace fossils are already known to be a useful tool for studying of contouritic deposits and are even used as criterion for differentiating associated facies (e.g., turbidites, debrites), though not without controversy. We propose a mechanism by which the distance to the bottom current core exerts tangible influence on specific macro-benthic tracemaker communities in contourite deposits. This parameter itself reflects other bottom current features, such as hydrodynamic energy, grain size, nutrient transport, etc. Ichnological analysis can thus resolve cryptic features of contourite drift depositional settings.The contribution and research by JD was funded through the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 792314 (ICON-SE). The research of FJR-T was funded by project CGL2015-66835-P (Secretaría de Estado de Investigacion, Desarrollo e Innovacion, Spain), Research Group RNM-178 (Junta de Andalucía), and Scientific Excellence Unit UCE-2016- 05 (Universidad de Granada). AM’s research is funded by the I2C program of the Xunta de Galicia Postdoctoral programme (ED481B 2016/029-0). The research was conducted as part of “The Drifters Research Group” (RHUL) and “Ichnology and Palaeoenvironment Research Group” (UGR) programs