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An atmospheric corrosion degradation model for steel and zinc used in the transmission system of electric power in Colombia is developed. Three important aspects are identified: the definition of corrosion rate, the probability distribution function of useful life and the inspection/maintenance plan that favours a longer useful life. The model identifies mass loss and thickness loss functions, defining limits for degradation and fault modes which are simulated using Markov chains to evaluate the structure availability and the optimal inspection and maintenance frequency. The results allow establishing zones with lower service life and their impact on the regulatory life. It is concluded that knowledge of degradation mechanisms allows a better definition of inspection and maintenance frequencies under a regulatory life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: We carried out a bibliometric study on the scientific publications in relation to atypical antipsychotic drugs (AADs) in Spain. Methods: We used the EMBASE and MEDLINE databases and we applied some bibliometric indicators of paper production and dispersion (Price's law and Bradford's law, respectively). We also calculated the participation index of the different countries and correlated the bibliometric data with some social and health data (total per capita expenditure on health and gross domestic expenditure on research and development). Results: We collected 656 original papers published between 1988 and 2011. Our study results fulfilled Price's law with scientific production on AADs showing exponential growth (correlation coefficient r = 0.9693, vs. r = 0.9177 after linear adjustment). The most widely studied drugs were risperidone (181 papers), olanzapine (143), clozapine (94), and quetiapine (74). Division into Bradford zones yielded a nucleus occupied by the European Psychiatry and European Neuropsychopharmacology (70 articles). Totally 194 different journals were published, with 5 of the first 10 used journals having an impact factor being greater than 4. Conclusion: The publications on AADs in Spain have undergone exponential growth over the studied period, without evidence of reaching a saturation point. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A forecasting model for the price of electricity in Colombia using neurofuzzy networks is proposed. Two network structures including the price series in the first and the price series plus the reserve water levels in the latter are used. The results are compared with two neural networks structures and a Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedasticity model (GARCH). Historical data were supplied by the Company XM of the ISA Group; data for 120 days were used as for training the network and the following 31 days were used for testing the predictive capabilities of the model. The GARCH model shows better adjustment within the training period for the prices series as input, but the neurofuzzy networks have better forecasting performance for one and for two input variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. To describe if there are differences in the prescription of psychodrug at discharge between bipolar disorder patients with or without addiction. Methods. We review all the psychotropic drugs dispensed to inpatients of a brief hospitalization psychiatric unit diagnosed as having bipolar disorder at time of discharge. We recluted 225 patients over 18 years old on their last manic episode, between the year 2000 and 2010. We classify them according to the comorbid presence or not of a substance abuse or dependence disorder. Results. Prevalence of addiction was 24%. We found no differences between groups in the number of psychotropic drugs prescribed at discharge. The prescription pattern of mood stabilizers and benzodiazepines was similar in both groups. We detect differences in the total daily dose of antipsychotic, expressed as risperidone equivalents (5.86 ± 4.62 mg in addictions group versus 4.67 ± 3.20 mg in control group, p=0.042) and in the total daily dose of biperideno (4.80 ± 1.78 mg in addictions group versus 3.20 ± 1.03 mg in the control group, p=0.044). Conclusions. Contrary to our expectations, both groups were similar in psychopharmacological prescription patterns at discharge. However, those patients with substance abuse disorder had higher doses of antipsychotics and higher dose biperiden at discharge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]