Plans for laser spectroscopy of trapped cold hydrogen-like HCI

Laser spectroscopy studies are being prepared to measure the 1s ground state hyperfine splitting in trapped cold highly charged ions. The purpose of such experiments is to test quantum electrodynamics in the strong electric field regime. These experiments form part of the HITRAP project at GSI. A brief review of the planned experiments is presented.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication (NIMB

Plans for laser spectroscopy of trapped cold hydrogen-like HCI

Laser spectroscopy studies are being prepared to measure the 1s ground state hyperfine splitting in trapped cold highly charged ions. The purpose of such experiments is to test quantum electrodynamics in the strong electric field regime. These experiments form part of the HITRAP project at GSI. A brief review of the planned experiments is presented.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication (NIMB

Plans for laser spectroscopy of trapped cold hydrogen-like HCI

Laser spectroscopy studies are being prepared to measure the 1s ground state hyperfine splitting in trapped cold highly charged ions. The purpose of such experiments is to test quantum electrodynamics in the strong electric field regime. These experiments form part of the HITRAP project at GSI. A brief review of the planned experiments is presented.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication (NIMB

Some Recent Advances in Bound-State Quantum Electrodynamics

We discuss recent progress in various problems related to bound-state quantum electrodynamics: the bound-electron g factor, two-loop self-energy corrections and the laser-dressed Lamb shift. The progress relies on various advances in the bound-state formalism, including ideas inspired by effective field theories such as Nonrelativistic Quantum Electrodynamics. Radiative corrections in dynamical processes represent a promising field for further investigations.Comment: 12 pages, nrc1 LaTeX styl

Trends in arsenic levels in PM10 and PM2.5 aerosol fractions in an industrialized area

Arsenic is a toxic element that affects human health and is widely distributed in the environment. In the area of study, the main Spanish and second largest European industrial ceramic cluster, the main source of arsenic aerosol is related to the impurities in some boracic minerals used in the ceramic process. Epidemiological studies on cancer occurrence in Spain points out the study region as one with the greater risk of cancer. Concentrations of particulate matter and arsenic content in PM10 and PM2.5 were measured and characterized by ICP-MS in the area of study during the years 2005-2010. Concentrations of PM10 and its arsenic content range from 27 to 46 mu g/m(3) and from 0.7 to 6 ng/m(3) in the industrial area, respectively, and from 25 to 40 mu g/m(3) and from 0.7 to 2.8 ng/m(3) in the urban area, respectively. Concentrations of PM2.5 and its arsenic content range from 12 to 14 mu g/m(3) and from 0.5 to 1.4 ng/m(3) in the urban background area, respectively. Most of the arsenic content is present in the fine fraction, with ratios of PM2.5/PM10 in the range of 0.65-0.87. PM10, PM2.5, and its arsenic content show a sharp decrease in recent years associated with the economic downturn, which severely hit the production of ceramic materials in the area under study. The sharp production decrease due to the economic crisis combined with several technological improvements in recent years such as substitution of boron, which contains As impurities as raw material, have reduced the concentrations of PM10, PM2.5, and As in air to an extent that currently meets the existing European regulations.The authors are grateful to Ilmo. Ayuntamiento de L'Alcora for the financial support through the 07I055 project, Generalitat Valenciana for their support and collaboration, and Miss Miriam Rubio Renau for her assistance in the laboratory work. 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CIBERER : Spanish national network for research on rare diseases: A highly productive collaborative initiative

Altres ajuts: Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII); Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación.CIBER (Center for Biomedical Network Research; Centro de Investigación Biomédica En Red) is a public national consortium created in 2006 under the umbrella of the Spanish National Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII). This innovative research structure comprises 11 different specific areas dedicated to the main public health priorities in the National Health System. CIBERER, the thematic area of CIBER focused on rare diseases (RDs) currently consists of 75 research groups belonging to universities, research centers, and hospitals of the entire country. CIBERER's mission is to be a center prioritizing and favoring collaboration and cooperation between biomedical and clinical research groups, with special emphasis on the aspects of genetic, molecular, biochemical, and cellular research of RDs. This research is the basis for providing new tools for the diagnosis and therapy of low-prevalence diseases, in line with the International Rare Diseases Research Consortium (IRDiRC) objectives, thus favoring translational research between the scientific environment of the laboratory and the clinical setting of health centers. In this article, we intend to review CIBERER's 15-year journey and summarize the main results obtained in terms of internationalization, scientific production, contributions toward the discovery of new therapies and novel genes associated to diseases, cooperation with patients' associations and many other topics related to RD research

Differential clinical characteristics and prognosis of intraventricular conduction defects in patients with chronic heart failure

Intraventricular conduction defects (IVCDs) can impair prognosis of heart failure (HF), but their specific impact is not well established. This study aimed to analyse the clinical profile and outcomes of HF patients with LBBB, right bundle branch block (RBBB), left anterior fascicular block (LAFB), and no IVCDs. Clinical variables and outcomes after a median follow-up of 21 months were analysed in 1762 patients with chronic HF and LBBB (n = 532), RBBB (n = 134), LAFB (n = 154), and no IVCDs (n = 942). LBBB was associated with more marked LV dilation, depressed LVEF, and mitral valve regurgitation. Patients with RBBB presented overt signs of congestive HF and depressed right ventricular motion. The LAFB group presented intermediate clinical characteristics, and patients with no IVCDs were more often women with less enlarged left ventricles and less depressed LVEF. Death occurred in 332 patients (interannual mortality = 10.8%): cardiovascular in 257, extravascular in 61, and of unknown origin in 14 patients. Cardiac death occurred in 230 (pump failure in 171 and sudden death in 59). An adjusted Cox model showed higher risk of cardiac death and pump failure death in the LBBB and RBBB than in the LAFB and the no IVCD groups. LBBB and RBBB are associated with different clinical profiles and both are independent predictors of increased risk of cardiac death in patients with HF. A more favourable prognosis was observed in patients with LAFB and in those free of IVCDs. Further research in HF patients with RBBB is warranted

Use of Quercus Acorns and Leaf Litter by North African Thorectes Species (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea: Geotrupidae)

Acorn burial and consumption by geotrupid dung beetles is an interesting trophic interaction recently reported for Iberian Thorectes and North American Mycotrupes species. In Iberian Thorectes species, this interaction provides not only ecophysiological and reproductive advantages to the beetles but also more effective dispersal for Quercus acorns. The genus Thorectes is particularly diverse in the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa, where most species of the genus occur. Due to the high diversity of Thorectes in North Africa, especially in Morocco, where Quercus forests are widely distributed, we investigated whether acorn burial and consumption by Thorectes beetles also occurred in this region. For this, field sampling was conducted in northern Morocco by searching for beetles buried and consuming acorns within 1 m quadrats in areas where Thorectes species and Quercus forests occur jointly. Three beetle species (T. distinctus, T. laevigatus and T.Trituberculatus) were found consuming buried acorns of Q. suber in the field. Most of the beetles were found feeding on acorns, while only 20% were found in dung-provisioned burrows. These results suggest that acorns constitute the staple food of some North African Thorectes species. In addition, we found T.Trituberculatus and T. distinctus burrows and nests provisioned with oak leaf litter. Burrows and nests provisioned with Quercus litter also suggest a tighter interaction of Thorectes beetles with oaks. Feeding and nesting with relatively predictable and abundant resources in oak forests, such as acorns and leaf litter, may be especially important to explain the diversification and success of flightless Thorectes species in Mediterranean ecosystems such as those of the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa.This study was funded by research grant IEC-048-05/06/2013 from the Instituto de Estudios Ceutíes (Ciudad Autónoma de Ceuta, Spain)

The classification and phylogenetic status of Jekelius (Reitterius) punctulatus (Jekel, 1866) and Jekelius (Jekelius) brullei (Jekel, 1866) (Coleoptera: Geotrupidae) using molecular data

The phylogenetic placement of Jekelius brullei (Jekel, 1866) and J. punctulatus (Jekel, 1866) (Coleoptera: Geotrupidae) was assessed using mitochondrial and nuclear molecular data to discern contrasting nomenclatural views provided by López-Colón (1996) and the Catalogue of Palaearctic Coleoptera (Löbl et al. 2006). Our results support both the monophyletic and classification status of the genus Jekelius López-Colón, 1989; and the splitting of the genus into the subgenera Jekelius López-Colón, 1989 and Reitterius López-Colón, 1996. The basal phylogenetic placement of these two species also suggests an oriental origin for Jekelius within the western Palaearctic region. Finally, we include a potential distributional map of Jekelius (Reitterius) punctulatus (Jekel, 1866) based on an exhaustive search of occurrence data.Financial support provided by the project CGL2011-25544 of the Secretaría de Estado de Investigación, Ministerio de Educación, Ciencia e Innovación, Spain.Peer Reviewe