COSMOSOMAS Observations of the CMB and Galactic Foregrounds at 11 GHz: Evidence for anomalous microwave emission at high Galactic Latitude

We present observations with the new 11 GHz radiometer of the COSMOSOMAS experiment at the Teide Observatory (Tenerife). The sky region between 0 deg <= RA <= 360 deg and 26 deg <= DEC 49 deg (ca. 6500 square degrees) was observed with an angular resolution of 0.9 deg. Two orthogonal independent channels in the receiving system measured total power signals from linear polarizations with a 2 GHz bandwidth. Maps with an average sensitivity of 50 microK per beam have been obtained for each channel. At high Galactic latitude (|b|>30deg) the 11 GHz data are found to contain the expected cosmic microwave background as well as extragalactic radiosources, galactic synchrotron and free-free emission, and a dust-correlated component which is very likely of galactic origin. At the angular scales allowed by the window function of the experiment, the dust-correlated component presents an amplitude \Delta T aprox. 9-13 microK while the CMB signal is of order 27 microK. The spectral behaviour of the dust-correlated signal is examined in the light of previous COSMOSOMAS data at 13-17 GHz and WMAP data at 22-94 GHz in the same sky region. We detect a flattening in the spectral index of this signal below 20 GHz which rules out synchrotron radiation as being responsible for the emission. This anomalous dust emission can be described by a combination of free-free emission and spinning dust models with a flux density peaking around 20 GHz.Comment: 17 pages, 10 tables, 20 figures. Details on the COSMOSOMAS experiment can be found at http://www.iac.es/project/cmb/cosmosomas

Evaluation and optimization of the Sysmex UF1000i system for the screening of urinary tract infection in primary health care elderly patients

Objective Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are a common problem in the elderly population. Urine culture is still considered the "gold standard" to diagnose infection in this population. However, urine cultures are laborious and costly, and most samples will yield no growth. Methods An evaluation was made of the Sysmex UF-1000i flow cytometer as a screening tool for UTI in an elderly population older than 65 years who lived in the community, using 346 urine samples submitted for culture. Results The Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis showed a significant difference (P < 0.01) between 0.98 bacteria area under the curve value and 0.82 of white blood cells (WBC). The combination of both counts for screening did not show any improvement in specificity or sensitivity. According to our data, the use of a single cut-off point of 200 bacteria/μL is suggested, in which the sensitivity and specificity were 99.11% and 91.59%, respectively, with a NPV of 99.49%. Moreover, this cut-off value could avoid 60.24% of the samples to be cultured, with a minimal false negative results rate of 0.87%. Conclusions The stratification of age groups stratification helps in selecting a more adjusted Sysmex UF1000i cut-off limit, leading to an improvement in the screening parameters that would imply a better management of these infections, as well as a high reduction in the workload and cost savings

A Practical Environment to Apply Model-Driven Web Engineering

The application of a model-driven paradigm in the development of Web Systems has yielded very good research results. Several research groups are defining metamodels, transformations, and tools which offer a suitable environment, known as model-driven Web engineering (MDWE). However, there are very few practical experiences in real Web system developments using real development teams. This chapter presents a practical environment of MDWE based on the use of NDT (navigational development techniques) and Java Web systems, and it provides a practical evaluation of its application within a real project: specialized Diraya.Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia TIN2007-67843-C06-03Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia TIN2007-30391-

A PLS multigroup analysis of the role of businesswomen in the tourism sector in Andalusia

The objective of this study is to determine the factors that influ-ence “business performance” or the “role of entrepreneurs”, as well as to analyse whether gender functions as a moderating variable, based on a survey conducted on a sample of 127 com-panies. Most of the literature in the tourism sector only considers hotel accommodation; thus, it is still limited in the case of non-hotel accommodation. Our research fills this gap by focusing on both types of establishments. An explanatory and confirmatory model has been carried out based on a PLS-SEM approach, taking the factors that determine business performance into ac-count. Moreover, a MICOM and a multi-group analysis have been undertaken in order to check whether gender acts as a modera-tor. Our findings reveal that there are no significant differences between tourist accommodation companies run by women and men in Andalusia; hence, gender is not a moderating variable regarding business performance. Furthermore, as full measure-ment invariance has been established, a comparison between groups emphasises that the influence of the environment, and the resources and capabilities of the entrepreneur, are factors that affect women more than men, and the number of employ-ees, work experience, and the occupancy rate are more impor-tant for businesswomen, whereas the distance to the nearest airport, check-in, and the occupancy rate are more important for businessmen. This empirical study has practical implications for hospitality industry professionals and concerned authorities which are responsible for designing strategies and policies related to this sector in Andalusia

Retos y oportunidades de la implantación de los bancos de agua en España

Con el fin de conseguir una buena gobernanza del agua, que trate de alcanzar un equilibrio entre los objetivos de eficiencia económica y sostenibilidad ambiental, durante las últimas décadas se ha potenciado el uso de instrumentos económicos para una mejor gestión de la demanda de los recursos hídricos, dada la dificultad de seguir aumentando la oferta de los mismos. En este contexto, este trabajo se centra en los bancos de agua como mecanismo de mercado que aporta la necesaria flexibilidad institucional en la asignación de los recursos hídricos entre los diferentes usuarios. La investigación realizada en este sentido ha permitido desarrollar una tipología de los bancos de agua que actualmente operan a nivel mundial en base a sus características operativas. Esta caracterización ha permitido igualmente realizar un análisis crítico de las experiencias de bancos de agua implementadas hasta la fecha, con el fin poder valorar el desempeño de este instrumento económico para la mejora de la gestión pública del agua. La investigación llevada a cabo revela que los bancos de agua son un instrumento útil para la gestión de los recursos hídricos, aportando sugerencias para la mejora de su implementación operativa en España mediante la correspondiente reforma de la Ley de Aguas.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO) AGL2013-48080-C2-1-RFondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) AGL2013-48080-C2-1-

Bilateral anterior ischemic optic neuropathy after bilateral neck dissection

Mar&amp;iacute;a J Su&amp;aacute;rez-Fern&amp;aacute;ndez, Antonio Clariana-Mart&amp;iacute;n, Enrique Menc&amp;iacute;a-Guti&amp;eacute;rrez, Esperanza Guti&amp;eacute;rrez-D&amp;iacute;az, Teresa Gracia-Garc&amp;iacute;a-MiguelOphthalmology Department, 12 de Octubre Hospital, Complutense University, Madrid, SpainPurpose: The risk of visual loss after nonocular surgeries is very low, between 0.2% and 4.5%. According to the American Society of Anesthesiologists, ischemic optic neuropathy has been reported mostly after spinal surgery (54.2%), followed by cardiac surgery and radical neck dissection (13.3%). It may occur in association with some conditions that include systemic hypotension, acute blood loss and hypovolemia.Case report: A 46-year-old woman, whose diagnosis was laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma, complained of visual loss in her right eye two days after surgery (laryngectomy with bilateral radical neck dissection and left jugular ligature) and one day later in her left eye. The diagnosis was nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy.Conclusion: Anterior ischemic optic neuropathy related to nonocular surgery is usually bilateral and its prognosis is very poor, resulting in blindness or severe visual loss. Although rare, patients should be warned about this complication, which has a profound impact on quality of life, since no therapeutic measure, including correction of hypotension and anemia, seems to improve the prognosis of this complication.Keywords: ischemic optic neuropathy, visual loss, radical neck dissection, blood los

Long-Span Wooden Structural Floors with Self-Tensioning System: Performance under Asymmetrical Loads

This study analyzes the performance of wooden structural floors equipped with the self-tensioning system patented by the authors, consisting of a force multiplying mechanism connected to a self-tensioning tendon, which is activated automatically when the load is applied to the structural element. The paper describes the system’s difficulties when the structural floor is subjected to asymmetrical loads. The proposed solution consists of anchoring the tendon by an adhesive connection in the central part of the piece yielding a favorable redistribution of the bending moments and an effective performance in terms of deformations. The comparative study focuses on π-shape cross section pieces with spans of 12 m and 15 m, using sections without prestressing and with initial prestressing and self-tensioning system