Pulsating Strings in Deformed Backgrounds

This is a brief summary on pulsating strings in beta deformed backgrounds found recently.Comment: 8 pages. Talk presented at Quantum Theory and Symmetries 7, Prague, August 7-13, 201

Sustainability Analysis on a Small Farm with Crop and Livestock

A small farm affiliated to a credit-and-service cooperative collective venture in Camagüey, Cuba, was studied to determine its sustainability under a system integrating cattle raising and agronomy. Data from January 2009 to April 2010 were collected and the Logical Operation Schedule for Sustainability Evaluation (ECOFAS) by Funes-Monzote et al. (2002) was applied. Findings indicate an increase in incomes from sales compared to expenses. This evidence, therefore, shows that sustainability can be attained at short and median terms, but not at a long term, by implement- ing this system. Energy, nitrogen, and phosphorus balances confirm these results

Las TIC (Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación) en el desarrollo de una educación inclusiva de calidad

El uso de las TICs (Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación) en el ámbito educativo genera un impacto, ansiedad y gran atención por parte de los distintos actores (docentes, alumnos, directivos, padres, etc.). A todas luces, implica un desafío pedagógico. Tanto viejos como nuevos interrogantes se ponen en el tapete:¿Afecta el aprendizaje de los alumnos? ¿Contribuye a la enseñanza? ¿De qué manera? ¿Modifica el contenido? Son solo algunas de las múltiples preguntas que pueden llegar a surgir. Enmarcar las estrategias y propuestas didácticas para la incorporación de TIC en el trabajo del aula dentro del concepto de educación inclusiva supone repensar la práctica docente a fin de que sea innovadora. Partimos de la base según la cual la introducción de las TICs al ámbito áulicocobra sentido en tanto propicia la innovación y mejora en los procesos de enseñanza-aprendizaje. En ese caso… ¿Cuáles deberían ser las cuestiones a tener en cuenta para que su incorporación sea exitosa? ¿Por dónde empezar? ¿Cuál será el nudo de la cuestión? En el siguiente trabajo intentaremos dar respuesta a estas y otras cuestiones; en tanto, se indagará sobre la relación entre TICs, ambientes de aprendizajes significativos y secuencias didácticas como marco teórico-metodológico a fin de pensarla incorporación de las netbooks (del programa Conectar-Igualdad) en la escuela

Análisis de sostenibilidad de una finca pequeña con integración ganadería-agricultura

A small farm affiliated to a credit-and-service cooperative collective venture in Camagüey, Cuba, was studied to determine its sustainability under a system integrating cattle raising and agronomy. Data from January 2009 to April 2010 were collected and the Logical Operation Schedule for Sustainability Evaluation (ECOFAS) by Funes-Monzote et al. (2002) was applied. Findings indicate an increase in incomes from sales compared to expenses. This evidence, therefore, shows that sustainability can be attained at short and median terms, but not at a long term, by implement- ing this system. Energy, nitrogen, and phosphorus balances confirm these results.Se analizó la sostenibilidad de una finca pequeña perteneciente a una cooperativa de créditos y servicios, en Ca- magüey, Cuba, donde se desarrolla un sistema integrado de producción ganadería-agricultura. Los datos se tomaron desde enero de 2009 hasta abril de 2010. Se utilizó el Esquema Operativo Lógico para Evaluación de Sostenibilidad (ECOFAS), propuesto por Funes-Monzote et al. (2002). Los ingresos por concepto de ventas superaron los gastos, por tanto, el sistema es sostenible a corto y mediano plazo, no así a largo plazo; esto se corroboró con los resultados de los balances de energía, nitrógeno y fósforo

The Determination of Total Testosterone and Free Testosterone (RIA) are not Applicable to the Evaluation of Gonadal Function in HIV-Infected Males

Introduction: Hypogonadism is common in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected men; the high concentration of sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) in this population, induces a "false increase" in total testosterone (TT) values.Aims: To validate the determination of TT and measured free testosterone (FT [radioimmunoassay {RIA}]) for hypogonadism diagnosis in an HIV-infected population using calculated free testosterone (CFT) as reference method; and also to determine the prevalence and identify the risks factors of hypogonadism.Methods: Cross-sectional, observational study. Ninety HIV-infected males (42 ± 8.2 years), not HCV coinfected, antiretroviral therapy (ART)-naive (14 patients), on current ART with enhanced protease inhibitor (PI) (39 patients), or patients on PI-naive ART (NN) (37 patients).Main outcome measures: CFT was calculated by determining TT, SHBG, and albumin (Vermeulen's formula); hypogonadism was defined as CFT <0.22 nmol/L (reference range for young healthy males in our laboratory); sensitivity of TT and FT (RIA) for hypogonadism diagnosis was calculated.Results: Twelve patients (13.3%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 7.8-21.9) by CFT presented hypogonadism. TT and FT (RIA) presented a sensitivity of less than 30% in the diagnosis of hypogonadism. Logistic regression multivariate analysis confirmed an independent association between hypogonadism, the patient's age per decade, odds ratio (OR) 6.9 (CI 1.9-24.8; P = 0.003), and longer duration of HIV infection per decade, OR 13.1 (CI 1.3-130.6; P = 0.02). Hypogonadism was associated with erectile dysfunction.Conclusions: TT and FT (RIA) are not useful in the differential diagnosis of hypogonadism in HIV-infected males. There is a significant prevalence of hypogonadism in HIV-infected males, with the patient's age and duration of the disease being the only identifiable risk factors

Pulsating Strings in Lunin-Maldacena Backgrounds

We consider pulsating strings in Lunin-Maldacena backgrounds, specifically in deformed Minkowski spacetime and deformed AdS_5xS^5. We find the relation between the energy and the oscillation number of the pulsating string when the deformation is small. Since the oscillation number is an adiabatic invariant it can be used to explore the regime of highly excited string states. We then quantize the string and look for such a sector. For the deformed Minkowski background we find a precise match with the classical results if the oscillation number is quantized as an even number. For the deformed AdS_5xS^5 we find a contribution which depends on the deformation parameter.Comment: 16 pages, 2 figures, typos fixe

Algorithmic methods to infer the evolutionary trajectories in cancer progression

The genomic evolution inherent to cancer relates directly to a renewed focus on the voluminous next generation sequencing (NGS) data, and machine learning for the inference of explanatory models of how the (epi)genomic events are choreographed in cancer initiation and development. However, despite the increasing availability of multiple additional -omics data, this quest has been frustrated by various theoretical and technical hurdles, mostly stemming from the dramatic heterogeneity of the disease. In this paper, we build on our recent works on "selective advantage" relation among driver mutations in cancer progression and investigate its applicability to the modeling problem at the population level. Here, we introduce PiCnIc (Pipeline for Cancer Inference), a versatile, modular and customizable pipeline to extract ensemble-level progression models from cross-sectional sequenced cancer genomes. The pipeline has many translational implications as it combines state-of-the-art techniques for sample stratification, driver selection, identification of fitness-equivalent exclusive alterations and progression model inference. We demonstrate PiCnIc's ability to reproduce much of the current knowledge on colorectal cancer progression, as well as to suggest novel experimentally verifiable hypotheses

Clinical implications of heterogeneity in PD-L1 immunohistochemical detection in hepatocellular carcinoma: the Blueprint-HCC study

Programmed cell death ligand-1 immunohistochemical detection (PD-L1 IHC) is a putative predictor of response to PD-1/PD-L1-targeted checkpoint inhibitors. However, there is no gold standard assay in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We evaluated 5 PD-L1 IHC assay platforms (E1LN3, 28-8, 22c3, SP263 and SP142) in 100 HCCs reporting PD-L1 expression in malignant (M) and tumour-infiltrating immune cells (TICs) and non-tumorous cirrhotic tissues (NTICs). We found substantial inter-assay heterogeneity in detecting PD-L1 expression in M (R2 = 0.080-0.921), TICs (Cohen's  κ = 0.175-0.396) and NTICs (κ = 0.004-0.505). Such diversity may impact on the reliability and reproducibility of PD-L1 IHC assays as a predictor of response to immune checkpoint inhibitors

Impact of different guidewires on the implantation depth using the largest self-expandable TAVI device

BackgroundThe deployment process of the largest self-expandable device (STHV-34) during transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) might be challenging due to stabilization issues. Whether the use of different TAVI-guidewires impact the procedural success and outcome is not well-known. Therefore, we sought to evaluate the impact of non-Lunderquist (NLu) vs. the Lunderquist (Lu) guidewires during TAVI using the STHV-34 on the procedural and 30-day outcomes.MethodsThe primary study endpoint was defined as the final implantation depth (ID) depending on the selected guidewire strategy. Key secondary endpoints included VARC-3-defined complications.ResultsThe study cohort included 398 patients of four tertiary care institutions, of whom 79.6% (317/398) had undergone TAVI using NLu and 20.4% (81/398) using Lu guidewires. Baseline characteristics did not substantially differ between NLu and Lu patients. The average ID was higher in the Lu cohort (NLu vs. Lu: −5.2 [−7.0–(−3.5)] vs. −4.5 [−6.0–(−3.0)]; p = 0.022*). The optimal ID was reached in 45.0% of patients according to former and only in 20.1% according to nowadays best practice recommendations. There was no impact of the guidewire use on the 30-day outcomes, including conduction disturbances and pacemaker need (NLu vs. Lu: 15.1 vs. 18.5%; p = 0.706).ConclusionThe use of the LunderquistTM guidewire was associated with a higher ID during TAVI with the STHV-34 without measurable benefits in the 30-day course concerning conduction disturbances and associated pacemaker need. Whether using different guidewires might impact the outcome in challenging anatomies should be further investigated in randomized studies under standardized conditions