Polymer reinforcement with nanoparticles

The Polymers and Composites research group belongs to the Materials Science and Engineering and Chemical Engineering Department of the University Carlos III of Madrid, Spain. Its objective is the development and characterization of polymeric materials, focussed in their reinforcement through the dispersion of nanoparticles. Following this method, very small additions of nanoreinforcements usually improve mechanical, electrical and optical properties, as well as the service performance of these materials. The research group is looking for companies interested in applying nanotechnologies to polymers of industrial interest

Analysis of reproductive performances during the formation of a synthetic rabbit strain

[EN] In 1995, a synthetic rabbit strain ('2666') was formed at INRA for commercial meat purposesby crossing the INRA '2066' strain and the 'V' strain from the Polytechnical University of Valencia (Spain).The development of some reproductive traits and body weight at palpation of the '2666' does was studiedfrom the F1 (first generation cross) to the F4 generation in comparison with the 'V' does. This developmentwas quantified in terms of Dickerson's crossbreeding parameters. The base strains did not differ significantlyfor any of the studied traits, either overall or in their direct and maternal genetic value. F1 does exhibitedsignificant individual heterosis for body weight (5.5% of the parental average), pregnancy rate (13.3%),total born (18.3%), born alive (24.4%) and weaned (21.0%) per litter born. Concerning body weight, asignificant crossbred superiority over the 'V' line was retained in the F2 but not thereafter. The rate ofpregnancy showed no crossbred advantage from the F2 on. Concerning litter size traits, the benefit ofcrossbreeding was maintained until the F4, but at a lower magnitude than in the F1. Body weight andpregnancy rate exhibited maternal heterosis, while litter size did not. Direct epistatic losses were significantfor body weight, tended towards significance for pregnancy rate, but did not affect litter size. Overall, thecomparison between the synthetic strain and the founders was favourable to the synthetics.Brun, J.; Baselga, M. (2005). Analysis of reproductive performances during the formation of a synthetic rabbit strain. World Rabbit Science. 13. doi:10.4995/wrs.2005.514SWORD1

The Philadelphia Syndrome, or an insurmountable cultural trauma: Outdated mainstream visual representations of HIV in times of undetectability

In 1981, the first case of AIDS was diagnosed in the US. Almost forty years later, the biomedical situation of people living with HIV (PLWH) in Western countries has significantly improved, and today, PLWH have a normal lifespan with few physical comorbidities. Nevertheless, current media representations of HIV do not seem to have moved past the AIDS epidemic of the 1990s. The film Philadelphia, directed by Jonathan Deeme in 1993, has had a huge cultural impact in how society perceives HIV, and many contemporary films and fiction series portraying HIV still represent the condition in the same narrative terms. This analysis sets out to define what could be referred to as the Philadelphia Syndrome, a concept intended to describe the outdated, nostalgic representations of HIV in mainstream cultural productions in the last decade, a period marked in biomedical terms by the success of antiretroviral drugs, chronification, the importance of undetectability, and the increasingly widespread use of the prophylaxis pre-exposition (PrEP). By analyzing ten mainstream blockbuster films and fiction series produced from 2013 to 2022, this study examines the main characteristics of the Philadelphia Syndrome: nostalgia and melodramatic use of the 1980s and 1990s, high stigmatization of gay sexualities, and a neglect of women with HIV

Prolonged survival of patients receiving trastuzumab beyond disease progression for HER2 overexpressing metastatic breast cancer (MBC)

Background: The aim of this retrospective analysis was to evaluate the impact of trastuzumab-based regimens on the survival of patients with HER2-overexpressing metastatic breast cancer (MBC). The study specifically focussed on the influence of the continuation of trastuzumab-based treatment despite tumor progression on survival. Patients and Methods: Patients with HER2 overexpressing MBC were included in this retrospective analysis. HER2 overexpression was determined by the immunohistochemical staining score (DAKO Hercep Test (TM)). Trastuzumab was applied at a loading dose of 4 mg/kg and a maintenance dose of 2 mg/kg. Results: Among 136 HER2 overexpressing patients (DAKO score 3+), 66 patients received first-line trastuzumab, 47 patients received trastuzumab as second-line therapy and 23 patients received trastuzumab beyond disease progression. There was no significant difference regarding the duration of trastuzumab-based treatment (first-line: 29.5 weeks vs. second-line: 25 weeks). Moreover, there was no difference in the response rate (first-line: 37.9% vs. second-line: 35.7%) or the median survival (p = 0.47 log rank). Patients who received >= 2 trastuzumab-based regimens for MBC survived significantly longer compared to those who had received only 1 regimen (>= 2 regimens: 62.4 months vs. 1 regimen: 38.5 months; p = 0.01 log rank). Conclusions: Trastuzumab is highly effective in the treatment of HER2 overexpressing MBC. Compared to historical controls, overall survival appears to be markedly prolonged, particularly in patients who received sequential trastuzumab-based treatment beyond disease progression

Interactive documentaries and health: combating HIV-related stigma and cultural trauma

Interactive documentaries have been growing in number and importance on the international scene in numerous fields and markets. Interactive documentaries entered the field of health about a decade ago, and since then they have proven to be a worthwhile tool for exploring various health issues, such as living with HIV. More recently, experts and academics have started to explore interactive documentaries dealing with a newly emerging topic: stigma. Stigma can be defined as the establishment of a 'mark' or characteristic identified as deviant and rejected by society. Stigma has negative consequences in every aspect of a person's life. When it comes to health, people with stigmatised conditions have the worst outcomes, a problem ultimately related to their own power and agency. There are many sources of stigma, but the structural sources are the least studied and have the biggest impact on health. The media and culture are two of these structural sources of stigmatization, and cultural trauma has been suggested as one of its mediators. This study seeks to examine interactive documentaries as a tool for raising awareness of the impact of HIV-related stigma and cultural trauma. To this end, it analyses two interactive documentaries, Vertical/Horizontal and The Graying of AIDS, focusing on the device, narrative, and textual elements used by these documentaries to deal with the impact of stigma in health, and elaborating on how these filmic pieces represent people living with stigma and whether that representation challenges or reinforces stigmatization

Refuerzo de polímeros con nanopartículas

El grupo de investigación Polímeros y Composites pertenece al Departamento de Ciencia e Ingeniería de Materiales e Ingeniería Química de la Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Se dedica al desarrollo y caracterización de materiales poliméricos, centrándose en su refuerzo mediante la dispersión de nanopartículas. Por este método, con adiciones muy pequeñas de nanorrefuerzo se suelen mejorar las propiedades mecánicas, eléctricas y ópticas, así como el comportamiento en servicio de estos materiales. El equipo de investigación busca empresas interesadas en aplicar las nanotecnologías a polímeros de interés industrial

Spanish Civil war in the construction of Neorealist Greek Cinema: an introductory study of Nikos Koundouros' To Potami

The film director Nikos Koundouros is one of the most important representatives of the Neorealist Cinema that bloomed after the end of the Greek Civil War (1946-1949). This film movement was highly influenced by another conflict that took place in the previous decade: the Spanish Civil War. This brief research overview will examine, through pictorial and semiotic analyses, the film To Potami/The River by Nikos Koundouros in order to discover the extent to which this film-maker was influenced by the Spanish conflict. Therefore, this project will shed light on the study of the common historical grounds of Greece and Spain and, at the same time, on the emergent field of Southern Europe cultural studies

Fibonacci lattices for the evaluation and optimization of map projections

[EN] Latitude-longitude grids are frequently used in geosciences for global numerical modelling although they are remarkably inhomogeneous due to meridian convergence. In contrast, Fibonacci lattices are highly isotropic and homogeneous so that the area represented by each lattice point is virtually the same. In the present paper we show the higher performance of Fibonacci versus latitude-longitude lattices for evaluating distortion coefficients of map projections. In particular, we obtain first a typical distortion for the Lambert Conformal Conic projection with their currently defined parameters and geographic boundaries for Europe that has been adopted as standard by the INSPIRE directive. Further, we optimize the defining parameters of this projection, lower and upper standard parallel latitudes, so that the typical distortion for Europe is reduced a 10% when they are set to 36 degrees and 61.5 degrees, respectively. We also apply the optimization procedure to the determination of the best standard parallels for using this projection in Spain, whose values remained unspecified by the National decree that commanded its official adoption, and obtain optimum values of 37 degrees and 42 degrees and a resulting typical distortion of 828 ppm.Baselga Moreno, S. (2018). Fibonacci lattices for the evaluation and optimization of map projections. Computers & Geosciences. 117:1-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cageo.2018.04.012S1811

Optimising 2-parameter Lambert Conformal Conic projections for ground-to-grid distortions

[EN] A Lambert Conformal Conic (LCC) projection with two true-scale parallels of latitudes phi(l)and phi(u)can be recast in a LCC projection with one standard parallel of latitude phi(0)and scalek(0), having the practical advantage that the same type of definition can be used for the two conformal projections universally used: LCC and Transverse Mercator (TM). While equations giving phi(0)andk(0)in terms phi(l)and phi(u)can be found in the literature, inverse relationships are not readily found. They are derived in the present paper. These may be necessary in views of the planned future definition of the United States State Plane Coordinate System (SPCS) 2022 for the users of particular mapping software requiring to specify the two latitude values instead of the central latitude and central scale. While map projection parameters are customary selected to minimise ellipsoid-to-grid distortions for a region, in some cases it could be more convenient to study and minimise ground-to-grid distortions. Also bearing in mind the design of SPCS 2022, we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of working with each type of distortion definition.Baselga Moreno, S. (2021). Optimising 2-parameter Lambert Conformal Conic projections for ground-to-grid distortions. Survey Review. 53(380):415-421. https://doi.org/10.1080/00396265.2020.17973394154215338