Corrections and crime in Spain and Portugal during the COVID-19 pandemic: impact, prevention and lessons for the future

This paper analyzes the impact that the Covid-19 pandemic has had on corrections and crime in the southern region of Europe formed by Spain and Portugal. The main mechanisms of transmission of Covid-19 are the physical proximity between people and the fact of sharing eventually infected targets. In prisons and other correctional contexts people live in close proximity and share the same facilities. As a result, the correctional context has proven to be a critical “hot spot” for the transmission of the Covid-19 pandemic in inmates and correctional staff. First, the magnitude of the infection and their associated health and psychosocial problems (prison incidents, social isolation…) are described. Second, the main sanitary, social, and correctional measures applied to prevent contagion and their related damages are presented (lockdown, use of communication technologies with families, etc.). Third, it is analyzed whether there has been a relationship between the confinement caused by the pandemic and the crime rates observed in Spain and Portugal during this same period. Finally, from the impact in corrections of pandemic and the actions taken to fight it, several important lessons are derived for the future improvement of correctional systems

Simulation of a non-invasive glucometer based on a microwave resonator sensor

In this paper a simulation of a microwave resonator sensor for constructing a noninvasive blood glucose meter is presented. A relationship between changes of the dielectric permittivity of the blood and the frequency response of S parameters of the sensor is observed. This can lead to a measuring procedure in which the glucose level present has a correlation with the value of the frequency resonance of the sensor. The test bank consists of a planar spiral microwave resonator over which the individual under test places his/her finger. This modifies the initial frequency resonance of the resonator because of the change produced in the measuring procedure over the dielectric permittivity of the resonator. Simulations show a correlation between dielectric permittivity blood changes, and changes in the value of the frequency resonance, in the frequency response of S parameters of the resonatorFil: Pimentel, Santiago. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Departamento de Electrónica. Laboratorio de Comunicaciones; ArgentinaFil: Aguero, Pablo Daniel. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Departamento de Electrónica. Laboratorio de Comunicaciones; ArgentinaFil: Uriz, Alejandro José. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Departamento de Electrónica. Laboratorio de Comunicaciones; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Bonadero, Juan Carlos. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Departamento de Electrónica. Laboratorio de Comunicaciones; ArgentinaFil: Liberatori, Mónica Cristina. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Departamento de Electrónica. Laboratorio de Comunicaciones; ArgentinaFil: Castiñeira Moreira, Jorge. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Departamento de Electrónica. Laboratorio de Comunicaciones; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Challenges and Promises of Radiomics for Rectal Cancer

Moreira, J. M., Santiago, I., Santinha, J., Figueiredo, N., Marias, K., Figueiredo, M., ... Papanikolaou, N. (2019). Challenges and Promises of Radiomics for Rectal Cancer. Current Colorectal Cancer Reports, 15(6), 175-180. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11888-019-00446-yPurpose of Review: This literature review aims to gather the relevant works published on the topic of Radiomics in Rectal Cancer. Research on this topic has focused on finding predictors of rectal cancer staging and chemoradiation treatment response from medical images. The methods presented may, in principle, aid clinicians with the appropriate treatment planning options. Finding appropriate automatic tools to help in this task is very important, since rectal cancer has been considered one of the most challenging oncological pathologies in recent years. Recent Findings: Radiomics is a class of methods based on the extraction of mineable, high-dimensional data/features from the routine, standard-of-care medical imaging. This data is then fed to machine learning algorithms, with the goal of automatically obtaining predictions regarding disease stage and therapeutic response. Summary: The literature reviewed suggests that Radiomics will continue to be a part of the body of research in oncology in the upcoming years. However, and excluding very few studies, proper validation on the performance of the methods (mainly with external datasets) is still one of the main limitations of the field, which strongly limits their clinical applicability. Progress will only occur if the community opens itself to collaborate with different groups, as data availability and limited shareability continues to be the barrier for its development. Nowadays, Radiomics is used for nearly every type of cancer. In particular, for rectal cancer, the need for predicting treatment response will continue to demand and boost research in this field.authorsversionpublishe

Corrections and Crime in Spain and Portugal during the Covid-19 Pandemic: Impact, Prevention and Lessons for the Future

This paper analyzes the impact that the Covid-19 pandemic has had on corrections and crime in the southern region of Europe formed by Spain and Portugal. The main mechanisms of transmission of Covid-19 are the physical proximity between people and the fact of sharing eventually infected targets. In prisons and other correctional contexts people live in close proximity and share the same facilities. As a result, the correctional context has proven to be a critical “hot spot” for the transmission of the Covid-19 pandemic in inmates and correctional staff. First, the magnitude of the infection and their associated health and psychosocial problems (prison incidents, social isolation. . .) are described. Second, the main sanitary, social, and correctional measures applied to prevent contagion and their related damages are presented (lockdown, use of communication technologies with families, etc.). Third, it is analyzed whether there has been a relationship between the confinement caused by the pandemic and the crime rates observed in Spain and Portugal during this same period. Finally, from the impact in corrections of pandemic and the actions taken to fight it, several important lessons are derived for the future improvement of correctional systems

Técnicas para el tratamiento del queratoquiste, revisión de la literatura y presentación de un caso

The odontogenic keratocystic tumor (OKT) or also currently known as odontogenic keratocyst (OK) is a benign pathology derived from the remains of the dental lamina characteristic for possessing variable amounts of desquamated keratin. It usually rises as solitary or with the presence of satellite cysts, the appearance of these satellite cysts is frequently related to the possible recurrence of OK, according to the literature, this recurrence can vary between 0 - 50%. As for the treatment stage of (OKT), it can be mentioned that at present there is a well-defined histological and clinical criterion, which facilitates its recognition and therefore its treatment. According to the literature, there are several treatment procedures that can be classified into non-conservative or radical treatments and conservative treatments accompanied by adjuvant methods. Within the nonconservative or radical treatments, we find en bloc resection, which is the most aggressive way to treat a keratocyst; however, it is the most effective way to avoid recurrence. Within the conservative treatments, marsupialization, decompression, and enucleation with or without adjuvant therapy are described. It is paramount to know how to recognize the different types of treatment for (OKT) since this will be conditioned by multiple factors, such as the location of nearby bone structures and the size of the lesion considering the possible involvement of dental structures. The objective is to seek the lowest-risk treatment possible, which avoids recurrence and finally puts an end to this pathology.El tumor queratoquístico odontogénico (TQO), también conocido actualmente como queratoquiste odontogénico (QQO), es una patología benigna derivada de los restos de la lámina dental, caracterizada por poseer cantidades variables de paraqueratina descamada y se presenta de forma solitaria o con quistes satélite. La aparición de estos quistes suele estar relacionada con la posible recurrencia del QQO y, según la literatura, esta recidiva puede variar entre el 0% y el 50%. En cuanto a la etapa de tratamiento del QQO, se puede mencionar que, en la actualidad, existe un criterio histológico y clínico bien definido, lo que facilita su reconocimiento y, por ende, su tratamiento. Existen varias modalidades de tratamiento, las cuales pueden ser clasificadas en tratamientos no conservadores o radicales, y conservadores acompañados de métodos adyuvantes. Entre los tratamientos no conservadores o radicales encontramos la resección en bloque, que es la forma más agresiva de tratar un queratoquiste; sin embargo, se ha demostrado que es la forma más eficaz para evitar la recidiva. Por su parte, entre los tratamientos conservadores se describe a la marsupialización, descompresión y enucleación, con o sin terapia adyuvante. Es importante reconocer los distintos tipos de tratamientos para el QQO, ya que este estará condicionado por múltiples factores como la localización en relación con sus estructuras óseas cercanas y el tamaño de la lesión teniendo en cuenta la posible afección de estructuras dentales. El objetivo es buscar el tratamiento de menor riesgo posible, que evite recurrencia y, finalmente, acabe con esta patología

Imbalance-voltage mitigation in an inverter-based distributed generation system using a minimum current-based control strategy

©2020 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes,creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.Voltage imbalances are one of the most severe challenges in electrical networks, which negatively affect their loads and other connected equipment. This paper proposes a voltage support control strategy to mitigate the voltage imbalance in inverter-based low voltage distribution networks. The control scheme is derived taking in mind the following control objectives: a) to increase the positive sequence voltage as much as possible, b) to decrease the negative sequence voltage as much as possible, c) to inject the power generated by the primary source, and d) to minimize the output current of the inverter. The innovative contribution of the proposed solution is based on the design of a control algorithm that meets the aforementioned objectives without resorting to communications with other grid components. The theoretical results are experimentally validated by selected tests on a laboratory setup with X/R ratio close to one.This work was supported in part by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of Spain and in part by the European Regional Development Fund under Project RTI2018-100732-B-C22.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Improving the sustainability of heterogeneous Fenton-based methods for micropollutant abatement by electrochemical coupling

Advanced oxidation processes such as Fenton reaction-based processes have attracted great interest in recent years as a promising alternative for the removal of persistent pollutants in wastewater. The use of nanocatalysts in advanced oxidation processes overcomes the limitations of homogeneous Fenton processes, where acidic pH values are required, and a large amount of sludge is generated after treatment. Aiming at maximizing the catalytic potential of the process, different configurations include coupling photocatalysis or electrochemistry to Fenton reactions. This manuscript presents a comparative environmental and economic analysis of different heterogeneous Fenton-based process using magnetic nanoparticles: Fenton, photo-Fenton, electro-Fenton and photoelectron-Fenton. These alternatives encompass not only different reaction conditions but also varying degradation kinetics, which control the treatment capability in each specific case. It is not only important to determine the technological feasibility of the proposal based on the removal performance of the target compounds, but also to identify the environmental profile of each configuration. In this regard, the Life Cycle Assessment methodology was applied considering a combination of primary and secondary data from process modeling. Moreover, and aiming towards the future large-scale implementation of the technology, an economic analysis of each configuration was also performed to provide a better understanding about the costs associated to the operation of Fenton-based wastewater treatmentsThis research was supported by HP-NANOBIO (PID2019-111163RB-I00), funded by Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI), and SPOTLIGHT (PDC2021-121540-I00) projects, funded by Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) and European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR. J.J.C. acknowledges Xunta de Galicia financial support through a postdoctoral fellowship (Grant reference ED481B-2021/015). S.E. and J.G.-R. predoctoral fellowships were funded by Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) and by “ESF Investing in your future” (Grant references PRE2020-092074 and FPU19/004612, respectively). The authors belong to the Galician Competitive Research Group (GRC) ED432C-2021/37S

Reliability Study of Thin-Oxide Zero-Ionization, Zero-Swing FET 1T-DRAM Memory Cell

The experimental time-dependent dielectric breakdown and ON voltage reliability of advanced FD-SOI Z2-FET memory cells are characterized for the first time. The front-gate stress time is shown to significantly modulate the ON voltage and, hence, the memory window. The Weibull slope, β, indicating the device variability to breakdown, and the time to soft breakdown, α, present different trends depending on the cell geometry. This fact highlights the tradeoff between variability and reliability to account for in Z2-FET designs.H2020 REMINDER project (grant agreement No 687931) and TEC2017-89800-R are thanked for financial support