Voces - Drama in One Act

This thesis consists of a chamber-staged composition for soprano, baritone, modified Pierrot ensemble (flute, clarinet, piano, violin, viola and cello), Colombian tiple, and fixed media, together with an analytical paper in which I discuss my compositional techniques and their historical antecedents. The composition is an interpretation of an acute schizophrenic episode of a young female patient that is committed to a mental health facility. It was inspired by the need to bring awareness about mental illness and the struggles that these patients experience every day. In this work, I explore the inclusion of a folkloric instrument, the Colombian tiple, within a classical chamber ensemble to expand the color and timbre of the sound world of the composition. In addition, I use different compositional techniques including set theory, unordered pitch collections, and choral-like polyphonic texture. The work is composed in a twenty-first century expressionistic style

Size and shape of supported zirconia nanoparticles determined by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

6 pages, 7 figures, 1 table.-- PACS: 68.55.Ac; 68.55.Jk; 79.60.DpThe initial stages of growth of zirconia nanoparticles deposited on SiO2, Y2O3, and CeO2 substrates have been studied by the x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy peak shape analysis. ZrO2 was deposited by plasma decomposition of a volatile Zr(OtBu)4 precursor. The electronic interactions at each particular interface formed have been followed by means of the modified Auger parameter of the deposited Zr cations. They were quantified by means of Wagner plots and the chemical state vectors of the systems. The observed changes in these local electronic probes as the amount of deposit was increased have been correlated to the particular ZrO2 nanostructures identified on each substrate considered. A Volmer-Weber (islands) growth mechanism has been found for all the substrates considered. Moreover, clear indications have been found of a columnar growth for the case of ZrO2 deposited on SiO2.We thank the Spanish Ministry of Science and Education (MAT2004-01558) for financial support.Peer reviewe

Development and implementation of a virtual laboratory for training process improvement in the mechanics of continuous media

The project arises from the need to develop improved teaching methodologies in field of the mechanics of continuous media. The objective is to offer the student a learning process to acquire the necessary theoretical knowledge, cognitive skills and the responsibility and autonomy to professional development in this area. Traditionally the teaching of the concepts of these subjects was performed through lectures and laboratory practice. During these lessons the students attitude was usually passive, and therefore their effectiveness was poor. The proposed methodology has already been successfully employed in universities like University Bochum, Germany, University the South Australia and aims to improve the effectiveness of knowledge acquisition through use by the student of a virtual laboratory. This laboratory allows to adapt the curricula and learning techniques to the European Higher Education and improve current learning processes in the University School of Public Works Engineers -EUITOP- of the Technical University of Madrid -UPM-, due there are not laboratories in this specialization. The virtual space is created using a software platform built on OpenSim, manages 3D virtual worlds, and, language LSL -Linden Scripting Language-, which imprints specific powers to objects. The student or user can access this virtual world through their avatar -your character in the virtual world- and can perform practices within the space created for the purpose, at any time, just with computer with internet access and viewfinder. The virtual laboratory has three partitions. The virtual meeting rooms, where the avatar can interact with peers, solve problems and exchange existing documentation in the virtual library. The interactive game room, where the avatar is has to resolve a number of issues in time. And the video room where students can watch instructional videos and receive group lessons. Each audiovisual interactive element is accompanied by explanations framing it within the area of knowledge and enables students to begin to acquire a vocabulary and practice of the profession for which they are being formed. Plane elasticity concepts are introduced from the tension and compression testing of test pieces of steel and concrete. The behavior of reticulated and articulated structures is reinforced by some interactive games and concepts of tension, compression, local and global buckling will by tests to break articulated structures. Pure bending concepts, simple and composite torsion will be studied by observing a flexible specimen. Earthquake resistant design of buildings will be checked by a laboratory test video

Aportaciones al conocimiento de la evolución paleoclimática y paleoambiental en la Península Ibérica durante los dos ultimos millones de años a partir del estudio de trasvertinos y espeleotemas

En este trabajo se contemplan los resultados principales del Proyecto" Reconstrucción Paleoclimática desde el Pleistoceno Medio a partir de análisis geocronológicos e isotópicos de travertinos españoles" (P. CEC FI2W-CT91-0075 " Paleoclimatological revision of climate evolution in the Western Mediterranean Region, Evaluation of altered scenarios) . Se seleccionaron cuatro áreas de depósitos travertínicos de carácter fluvial (Priego, Río Blanco), lacustre (Río Blanco, Banyoles) y aluvial (Tolox) así como una zona con depósitos espeleotémicos (Karst de la Cueva del Reguerillo). En ellas se obtuvieron datos sobre la evolución del paisaje y del clima, los travertinos y espeleotemas son indicadores de clima cálido s.l. que de forma abreviada son: O Mediante la geomorfología y dataciones (paleomagnetismo, U/Th, Resonancia de espín Resumen electrónico y racemización de aminoácidos), se determinó las historia fluvial de los travertinos de Priego y Río Blanco así como del Karst de la Cueva del Reguerillo donde, además, se dataron un paleosismo y fenómenos de neotectónica. La data más antigua obtenida mediante Resonancia de espín electrónico fue 950ka, mientras que mediante racemización de aminoácidos se dataron depósitos de más de 750ka. Mediante dataciones, sedimentología, análisis de isótopos estables y palinología se determinaron aspectos de la evolución climática de algunas áreas de la Península Ibérica. La correlación entre palinología e isotopía permitió la validación de algunos de los resultados. También se obtuvieron datos cualitativos sobre input hidraúlicos a los sistemas fluviales o kársticos

Integrating Ecology and Environmental Ethics: Earth Stewardship in the Southern End of the Americas

This article discusses integrating ecology and environmental ethics

Heterologous expression of a thermophilic diacylglycerol acyltransferase triggers triglyceride accumulation in Escherichia coli

Triglycerides (TAGs), the major storage molecules of metabolic energy and source of fatty acids, are produced as single cell oil by some oleogenic microorganisms. However, these microorganisms require strict culture conditions, show low carbon source flexibilities, lack efficient genetic modification tools and in some cases pose safety concerns. TAGs have essential applications such as behaving as a source for added-value fatty acids or giving rise to the production of biodiesel. Hence, new alternative methods are urgently required for obtaining these oils. In this work we describe TAG accumulation in the industrially appropriate microorganism Escherichia coli expressing the heterologous enzyme tDGAT, a wax ester synthase/triacylglycerol:acylCoA acyltranferase (WS/DGAT). With this purpose, we introduce a codon-optimized gene from the thermophilic actinomycete Thermomonospora curvata coding for a WS/DGAT into different E. coli strains, describe the metabolic effects associated to the expression of this protein and evaluate neutral lipid accumulation. We observe a direct relation between the expression of this WS/DGAT and TAG production within a wide range of culture conditions. More than 30% TAGs were detected within the bacterial neutral lipids in 90 minutes after induction. TAGs were observed to be associated with the hydrophobic enzyme while forming round intracytoplasmic bodies, which could represent a bottleneck for lipid accumulation in E. coli. We detected an increase of almost 3- fold in the monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) occurring in the recombinant strains. These MUFA were predominant in the accumulated TAGs achieving 46% of the TAG fatty acids. These results set the basis for further research on the achievement of a suitable method towards the sustainable production of these neutral lipids

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

Dental Health and Mortality in People With End-Stage Kidney Disease Treated With Hemodialysis: A Multinational Cohort Study

Background Dental disease is more extensive in adults with chronic kidney disease, but whether dental health and behaviors are associated with survival in the setting of hemodialysis is unknown. Study Design Prospective multinational cohort. Setting & Participants 4,205 adults treated with long-term hemodialysis, 2010 to 2012 (Oral Diseases in Hemodialysis [ORAL-D] Study). Predictors Dental health as assessed by a standardized dental examination using World Health Organization guidelines and personal oral care, including edentulousness; decayed, missing, and filled teeth index; teeth brushing and flossing; and dental health consultation. Outcomes All-cause and cardiovascular mortality at 12 months after dental assessment. Measurements Multivariable-adjusted Cox proportional hazards regression models fitted with shared frailty to account for clustering of mortality risk within countries. Results During a mean follow-up of 22.1 months, 942 deaths occurred, including 477 cardiovascular deaths. Edentulousness (adjusted HR, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.10-1.51) and decayed, missing, or filled teeth score ≥ 14 (adjusted HR, 1.70; 95% CI, 1.33-2.17) were associated with early all-cause mortality, while dental flossing, using mouthwash, brushing teeth daily, spending at least 2 minutes on oral hygiene daily, changing a toothbrush at least every 3 months, and visiting a dentist within the past 6 months (adjusted HRs of 0.52 [95% CI, 0.32-0.85], 0.79 [95% CI, 0.64-0.97], 0.76 [95% CI, 0.58-0.99], 0.84 [95% CI, 0.71-0.99], 0.79 [95% CI, 0.65-0.95], and 0.79 [95% CI, 0.65-0.96], respectively) were associated with better survival. Results for cardiovascular mortality were similar. Limitations Convenience sample of clinics. Conclusions In adults treated with hemodialysis, poorer dental health was associated with early death, whereas preventive dental health practices were associated with longer survival