Losses for microwave transmission in metamaterials for producing left-handed materials: The strip wires

This paper shows that the effective dielectric permitivity for the metamaterials used so far to obtain left-handed materials, with strip wires 0.003cm thick, is dominated by the imaginary part at 10.6- 11.5 GHz frequencies, where the band pass filter is, and therefore there is not propagation and the wave is inhomogeneous inside the medium. This is shown from finite-differences time-domain calculations using the real permitivity values for the Cu wires. For thicker wires the losses are reduced and the negative part of the permitivity dominates. As the thickness of the wires is critical for the realization of a good transparent left- handed material we propose that the strip wires should have thickness of 0.07-0.1cm and the split ring resonators 0.015-0.03c

Specific gene correction of the AGXT gene and direct cell reprogramming for the treatment of Primary Hyperoxaluria Type 1

P428 Primary Hyperoxaluria Type 1 (PH1) is an inherited rare metabolic liver disease caused by the deficiency in the alanine: glyoxylate aminotransferase enzyme (AGXT), involved in the glyoxylate metabolism. The only potentially curative treatment is organ transplantation. Thus, the development of new therapeutic approaches for the treatment of these patients appears as a priority.We propose the combination of site-specific gene correction and direct cell reprogramming for the generation of autologous phenotypically healthy induced hepatocytes (iHeps) from skin-derived fibroblast of PH1 patients. For the correction of AGXT mutations, we have designed specific gene editing tools to address gene correction by two different strategies, assisted by CRISPR/Cas9 system. Accurate specific point mutation correction (c.853T-C) has been achieved by homologydirected repair (HDR) with ssODN harbouring wild-type sequence. In the second strategy, an enhanced version ofAGXTcDNAhas been inserted near the transcription start codon of the endogenous gene, constituting an almost universal correction strategy for PH1 mutations. Direct reprogramming of fibroblasts has been conducted by overexpression of hepatic transcription factors and in vitro culture in defined media. In vitro characterization of healthy induced hepatocytes (iHeps) has demonstrated hepatic function of the reprogrammed cells. PH1 patient fibroblasts and , ,

Biocatalytic synthesis of oxygenated biofuels through the technologies of ionic liquids and supercritical carbon dioxide

Póster presentado en el Congreso Nacional de Biotecnologia (BIOTEC 2019), celebrado en Vigo (España) entre los días 10 y 13 de junio de 2019.The increase in the production of biofuels has generated in the market an excess of glycerol as a byproduct. Some glycerol derivatives, such as solketal (1,2-isopropylidene glycerol), have been used successfully to synthesize new oxygenated fuels, such as fatty acid solketal esters (FASE), in order to increase the octane number of the gasolines. Biodiesel exhibits an excellent suitability as a liquid fuel (adiabatic flame temperature, viscosity, etc.), blending up to 20% volume fraction of ASE

Depictions of Thailand in Australian and Thai writings:Reflections of the Self and Other

This thesis offers both an examination of the depiction of Thailand in Australian novels, short stories and poems written in the 1980s and after, and an analysis of modern Thai novels and short stories that reflect similar themes to those covered in the Australian literature. One Australian film is also examined as the film provides an important framework for the analysis of some of the short stories and novels under consideration. The thesis establishes a dialogue between Thai and Australian literatures and demonstrates that the comparison of Australian representations of Thailand with Thai representations challenges constructively certain dominant political and social ideologies that enhance conservatism and the status quo in Thailand. The author acknowledges that the discussion of the representations of Thailand in contemporary Australian novels and short stories needs to take into account the colonial legacy and the discourse of Orientalism that tends to posit the ‘East’ as the ‘West’’s ‘Other’. Textual analysis is thus informed by post-colonial and cross-cultural theories, starting from Edward Said’s powerful and controversial critique of Western representation of the East in Orientalism. The first part of the thesis examines Australian crime stories and shows how certain Orientalist images and perceptions persist and help reinforce the image of the East and its people as the antithesis of the West. From Chapters Three through Six, however, more literary works by Australian authors are examined. The important finding is that most of the Australian authors under consideration attempt, though not always successfully, to resist and challenge the Eurocentric stereotypes of Asia and Asians that dominated Australian literature in earlier periods. This difference between contemporary Australian authors and their predecessors seems to reflect modern Australia’s endeavor to distinguish itself from the rest of the Western world and to redefine its relationship with Asia. As literary representations cannot be separated from socio-political contexts, the thesis also includes discussion of the Thai social and political history and, where appropriate, shows how colonialism and neo-colonialism exert their impact on modern Thailand

Dynamics of Weyl Scale Invariant non-BPS p=3 Branes

In this paper a Weyl scale invariant $p=3$ brane scenario is introduced, with the brane embedded in a higher dimensional bulk space with $N=1, 5D$ Super--Weyl symmetry. Its action, which describes its long wave oscillation modes into the ambient superspace and breaks the target symmetry down to the lower dimensional Weyl W(1,3) symmetry, is constructed by the approach of coset method.Comment: 12 pages, modified versio

Iso-spectral potential and inflationary quantum cosmology

Using the factorization approach of quantum mechanics, we obtain a family of isospectral scalar potentials for power law inflationary cosmology. The construction is based on a scattering Wheeler-DeWitt solution. These iso-spectrals have new features, they give a mechanism to end inflation, as well as the possibility to have new inflationary epochs. The procedure can be extended to other cosmological models.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figure

Potential Use of Near-Infrared Spectroscopy to Predict Fatty Acid Profile of Meat from Different European Autochthonous Pig Breeds

Autochthonous pig breeds provide products of differentiated quality, among which quality control is difficult to perform and insufficient for current market requirements. The present research evaluates the predictive ability of near‐infrared (NIR) spectroscopy, combined with chemometric methods as a rapid and affordable tool to assure traceability and quality control. Thus, NIR technology was assessed for intact and minced muscle Longissimus thoracis et lumborum samples collected from 12 European autochthonous pig breeds for the quantification of lipid content and fatty acid composition. Different tests were performed using different numbers of samples for calibration and validation. The best predictive ability was found using minced presentation and set with 80% of the samples for the calibration and the remaining 20% for the external validation test for the following traits: lipid content and saturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, which attained both the highest determination coefficients (0.89, 0.61, and 0.65, respectively) and the lowest root mean square errors in external validation (0.62, 1.82, and 1.36, respectively). Lower predictive ability was observed for intact muscles. These results could contribute to improve the management of autochthonous breeds and to ensure quality of their products by traditional meat industry chains

Clinical and ultrasound thyroid nodule characteristics and their association with cytological and histopathological outcomes: A retrospective multicenter study in high-resolution thyroid nodule clinics

Introduction: Thyroid nodules are a common finding. A high-resolution thyroid nodule clinic (HR-TNC) condenses all tests required for the evaluation of thyroid nodules into a single appointment. We aimed to evaluate the clinical outcomes at HR-TNCs. Design and Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional multicenter study including data from four HR-TNCs in Spain. We evaluated fine-needle aspiration (FNA) indications and the association between clinical and ultrasound characteristics with cytological and histopathological outcomes. Results: A total of 2809 thyroid nodules were included; FNA was performed in 82.1%. Thyroid nodules that underwent FNA were more likely larger, isoechoic, with microcalcifications, and in younger subjects. The rate of nondiagnostic FNA was 4.3%. A solid component, irregular margins or microcalcifications, significantly increased the odds of Bethesda IV-V-VI (vs. Bethesda II). Irregular margins and a solid component were independently associated with increased odds of malignancy. Thyroid nodules <20 mm and ≥20–<40 mm had a 6.5-fold and 3.3-fold increased risk for malignancy respectively in comparison with those ≥40 mm. Conclusion: In this large multicenter study, we found that the presence of a solid component and irregular margins are factors independently related to malignancy in thyroid nodules. Since nodule size ≥40 mm was associated with the lowest odds of malignancy, this cut-off should not be a factor leading to indicate thyroid surgery. HR-TNCs were associated with a low rate of nondiagnostic FNA