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Visual art has been used to revamp the portrayal of climate change with the aims of engaging emotions and expanding nonexperts’ psychological capacity to perceive its relevance. However, empirical evidence supporting the effectiveness of artistic representation of data as a tool for public communication is lacking. Using controlled experiments with two national samples of U.S. adults (total N = 671), here we found that artistic visualizations elicited stronger positive emotions than informationally equivalent data graphs but did not differ in their perceived credibility or effectiveness as visual aids for learning. When used to prompt individual reflection, artistic visualizations appeared to mitigate the political division in viewers’ perceived relevance of climate change that could otherwise be exacerbated by exposure to data graphs.

Les escriptures experimentals ens obliguen a tornar a aprendre a llegir. Habituats a concebre la literatura com una comunicació entre l'escriptor i el lector, com a manifestació d'un subjecte (dogma de l'expressió) o com a descripció d'una societat concreta (dogma de la representació), els textos que creen un univers nou a partir del llenguatge apareixen, sovint, com a il·legibles. És el cas dels textos de Julián Ríos. Però si el lector accepta de considerar la literatura com una reflexió i com una comunicació amb altres textos que l'han precedit, la complexitat apareix com una condició perquè el lector esdevingui actiu i recreï els passos de l'autor per a descobrir un sentit que sempre és fugisser. El nostre article proposa, a partir d'alguns dels textos de Julián Ríos, mostrar la singularitat d'una escriptura que funciona en espiral. Experimental writings force us to re-learn how to read. Accustomed to conceiving literature as way of communication between the writer and the reader, as a manifestation of a subject (dogma of expression) or as a description of a specific society (dogma of representation), those texts that create a new universe from language often appear as illegible. That is the case of the texts of Julián Ríos. However, if the reader agrees to consider literature as a reflection and as a way of communicating with other texts that have preceded it, complexity appears as a condition for the reader to become active and to recreate the author's steps to discover a meaning that is always fugitive. Our article aims, based on some of Julián Ríos' texts, to suggest the uniqueness of a writing that works as a spiral.

Background Tetralogy of Fallot (ToF) remains associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Artificial intelligence (AI) is a viable tool for identifying markers: deep learning (DL) can be used to automate measurements on the ECG trace and dimensionality reduction (DR) algorithms can be used for grouping patients based on ECG, imaging and genetic markers. Such an AI-based pipeline can aid in phenotyping by identifying ECG characteristics that correlate with outcome. Methods A cohort of patients with ToF were recruited for the study (n=388). All patients underwent echo- and electrocardiographic exams, and had recorded information on outcome (death, heart failure [HF], history of ventricular tachycardia [VT] or atrial fibrillation [AF]), lifestyle and imaging markers (left ventricular ejection fraction [LVEF] or NYHA score, among others). The analysis of the population consisted in three steps (Figure 1A). Firstly, the ECG was delineated using a DL model to obtain the P, QRS and T onsets/offsets for all cardiac cycles [1]. Secondly, the most stable heartbeat was selected, based on their morphology, for their usage into a DR algorithm [2]. This algorithm allowed combining the information of the different ECG leads, to automatically assess inter-patient similarities. Thirdly, patients were clustered with respect to ECG morphology, as extracted in the previous step, and said clusters were correlated with outcome. Results AI allowed to identify a subset of patients with higher outcome risk (Figure 1A). The blue, green and red clusters contained patients with right bundle branch block (RBBB) but with different morphologies, whereas the orange cluster had a relatively normal morphology (no RBBB) and the lowest QRS width (Figure 1B). With respect to events (Table 1), the red cluster was correlated with a significantly increased risk of all-type negative outcome (36.94%, p-value Conclusion AI can help identify clinical markers of interest in patients with ToF, given its ability to agglomerate all morphological information in the different ECG leads. In this work, the ECG markers correlated with clinical data, allowing the identification of a subgroup with increased risk of outcome (death, VT, AF, HF). The analysis shows that a RBBB pattern and increased QRS width are not the sole factors that might affect outcome. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: Public grant(s) – National budget only. Main funding source(s): Fundaciό La Maratό de TV3

Presidential debates are a source of political learning for those who watch them. This study examines how learning from debates cultivates intentions for political engagement by increasing individu...

Background Short-term forecasts of infectious disease burden can contribute to situational awareness and aid capacity planning. Based on best practice in other fields and recent insights in infectious disease epidemiology, one can maximise the predictive performance of such forecasts if multiple models are combined into an ensemble. Here we report on the performance of ensembles in predicting COVID-19 cases and deaths across Europe between 08 March 2021 and 07 March 2022. Methods We used open-source tools to develop a public European COVID-19 Forecast Hub. We invited groups globally to contribute weekly forecasts for COVID-19 cases and deaths reported from a standardised source over the next one to four weeks. Teams submitted forecasts from March 2021 using standardised quantiles of the predictive distribution. Each week we created an ensemble forecast, where each predictive quantile was calculated as the equally-weighted average (initially the mean and then from 26th July the median) of all individual models’ predictive quantiles. We measured the performance of each model using the relative Weighted Interval Score (WIS), comparing models’ forecast accuracy relative to all other models. We retrospectively explored alternative methods for ensemble forecasts, including weighted averages based on models’ past predictive performance. Results Over 52 weeks we collected and combined up to 28 forecast models for 32 countries. We found a weekly ensemble had a consistently strong performance across countries over time. Across all horizons and locations, the ensemble performed better on relative WIS than 84% of participating models’ forecasts of incident cases (with a total N=862), and 92% of participating models’ forecasts of deaths (N=746). Across a one to four week time horizon, ensemble performance declined with longer forecast periods when forecasting cases, but remained stable over four weeks for incident death forecasts. In every forecast across 32 countries, the ensemble outperformed most contributing models when forecasting either cases or deaths, frequently outperforming all of its individual component models. Among several choices of ensemble methods we found that the most influential and best choice was to use a median average of models instead of using the mean, regardless of methods of weighting component forecast models. Conclusions Our results support the use of combining forecasts from individual models into an ensemble in order to improve predictive performance across epidemiological targets and populations during infectious disease epidemics. Our findings further suggest that median ensemble methods yield better predictive performance more than ones based on means. Our findings also highlight that forecast consumers should place more weight on incident death forecasts than incident case forecasts at forecast horizons greater than two weeks. Code and data availability All data and code are publicly available on Github: covid19-forecast-hub-europe/euro-hub-ensemble.

Accurate short-term prediction of Covid19 cases with empirical models allow Health Officials to prepare for hospital contingencies in a two-three week window given the delay between case reporting and the admission of patients in a hospital. We investigate the ability of Gompertz-type empiric models to provide accurate prediction up to two and three weeks to give a large window of preparation in case of a surge in virus transmission. We investigate the stability of the prediction and its accuracy using bi-weekly predictions during the last trimester of 2020 and 2021. Using data from 2020, we show that understanding and correcting for the daily reporting structure of cases in the different countries is key to accomplish accurate predictions. Furthermore, we found that filtering out predictions that are highly unstable to changes in the parameters of the model, which are roughly 20%, reduces strongly the number of predictions that are way-off. The method is then tested for robustness with data from 2021. We found that, for this data, only 1-2% of the one-week predictions were off by more than 50%. This increased to 3% for two-week predictions, and only for three-week predictions it reached 10%.

Novel phenoxy ring-substituted 2-methoxyethyl phenylcyanoacrylates, RPhCH=C(CN)CO2CH2CH2OCH3 (where R is 3-phenoxy, 3-(4-chlorophenoxy), 4-(4-chlorophenoxy), 2-(4-fluorophenoxy), 4-(4-fluorophenoxy), 2-(3-methoxyphenoxy), 2-(4-methoxyphenoxy), 3-(4-methoxyphenoxy), 4-(4-methoxyphenoxy), 3-(4-methylphenoxy), 4-(4-methylphenoxy), 3-(3,5-dichlorophenoxy), 4-(2,4-dichlorophenoxy), 3-(3-trifluoromethyl)phenoxy) were prepared and copolymerized with styrene. The acrylates were synthesized by the piperidine catalyzed Knoevenagel condensation of ring-substituted benzaldehydes and 2-methoxyethyl cyanoacetate, and characterized by CHN analysis, IR, 1H and 13C NMR. All the ethylenes were copolymerized with styrene in solution with radical initiation (ABCN) at 70C. The compositions of the copolymers were calculated from nitrogen analysis.

Aquest treball es basa en la necessitat de fer recerca per millorar l’eficàcia del compostatge de residu orgànic a través de la utilització de les larves d’Hermetia illucens. La situació actual promou la cerca de possibles solucions a l’acumulació de residus sense aprofitament, i d’aquesta manera evitar que s’aboquin o incinerin. El treball és un estudi que es basa en avaluar l’efecte descomponedor del substrat de porro amb tres percentatges d’humitats diferents (85%, 78% i 70%) per l’acció de les larves d’Hermetia illucens a dues densitats diferents 150 L1 i 350 L1. La larva utilitzada l’Hermetia illucens és un dípter estratiomid (Diptera, Stratiomyidae) vulgarment conegut com a “mosca soldat negra”. Els estadis larvaris d’aquesta, poden alimentar-se de multitud de restes orgàniques de diversos orígens, és per això que aquesta espècie presenta molt d’interès a ser usada en la descomposició d’aquests materials. Els assajos per dur a terme aquest treball es van realitzar en les instal·lacions de l’IRTA de Cabrils. Les restes de porro emprades procedien de la Cooperativa Conca de la Tordera. L’assaig es va desenvolupar des de principis de març fins a finals de maig de 2022. Segons els resultats obtinguts, l’ús de les larves va assolir resultats positius en ajudar a reduir el volum de porro. Assolint que com a major fos el nombre de larves sembrades, major era la reducció. Això sempre era així, menys quan el substrat era molt sec. Important saber que va ser necessari disminuir el contingut de líquid de la mostra inicial, per tal que les larves es poguessin desenvolupar. Finalment, les larves d’Hermetia illucens, van exercir una molt bona acció en la bioconversió del porro, obtenint un producte final, utilitzable com a compost

Introduction Transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis (ATTR) can be reliably diagnosed in the absence of histology if grade 2 or 3 cardiac uptake is demonstrated on 99mTc-DPD scan (DPD) in the absence of a detectable monoclonal component. Diagnosis requires a high degree of clinical suspicion in the presence of often non-specific findings and that it may be one of the reasons to under-diagnose ATTR. The aim of the study is to identify clinical, analytical and ECG variables that best predict a positive DPD result. Methods This is a multicentre retrospective study including all patients undergoing consecutive 99mTc-DPD scintigraphy in a reference area of 750,000 inhabitants between January 2016 and January 2021 for suspected ATTR. AL amyloidosis patients were excluded. Clinical, analytical, ECG and echocardiographic data were analyzed. We identified variables that independently predicted a positive DPD study using a multivariable logistic regression analysis. Receiver Operating Curve (ROC) analysis and the Area under the Curve (AUC) were calculated to assess the discrimination capacity of the model to predict a positive DPD study. Results DPD scans from a total of 181 patients were analyzed. Mean age of the sample: 78 years (42–96), 100% caucasians, 77% male. 54.7% (N=99) had a positive DPD study (defined as grade 2 or 3 Perugini uptake) and 45.3% (N=82) were negative. Independent predictors of a positive study were age, male gender, left ventricular septum thickness, any grade of atrioventricular block, low QRS voltage, Carpal tunnel syndrome, history of hypotension or need to lower antihypertensive drugs and a NT-proBNP value above 1800 pg/ml (See Table 1). The diagnostic accuracy of the model was excellent, with an AUC of 0.92 (IC 95% 0.87–0.96) (see Figure 1). Conclusions There are clinical-analytical factors and ECG and echocardiogram findings accessible in daily clinical practice that are able to predict a positive result on cardiac scintigraphy requested for suspected ATTR. Identifying these factors may improve the non-invasive diagnosis of ATTR. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: None. Table 1. Multivariable logistic regression analysFigure 1. ROC curve

Large debris flows in steep-sloped ravines debouching to the Rimac River, in metropolitan Lima (Peruvian capital), have resulted in considerable loss of life and property adversely impacting commun...

El grup OULIPO -OUvroir de LIttérature POtentielle (Obridor de literatura potencial)- va néixer el novembre de 1960. "Ouvroir" significa taller, és a dir un espai on la creació col·lectiva permet de crear nous textos. Literatura potencial significa que, a partir de tècniques variades, es pot ampliar el camp de la creació artística. L'OULIPO proposa com a tècnica privilegiada la constricció o trava, que consisteix a crear una dificultat per intentar superar-la. Segons paraules de Raymond Queneau l'escriptor oulipià crea el laberint del qual haurà de sortir després. Així doncs la trava, en lloc de bloquejar la creativitat o de reduir-la, l'allibera.

Rimbaud és, sens dubte, el poeta més comentat: "vident" per a Rolland de Renéville, un "sistema solar o forat negre" per a Étiemble, "esclatant desastre" segons Pierre Brunel, l'exemple de "poeta maleït" per a Verlaine, "un meteor encès sense cap altre motiu que la seva presència" segons la definició de Mallarmé, "l'ull de la catàstrofe" per a Pierre-Jean Jouve, "un poeta armat" per a Alain Borer, "surrealista en la pràctica de la vida i arreu" com el definí André Breton, "l'home de les soles de vent" segons la bella sentència de Verlaine, "un místic a l'estat salvatge" per a Paul Claudel o "un monstre de puresa" segons Jacques Rivière"... I la llista seria molt més llarga, entre definicions de genialitat i, també, frases de menyspreu. Rimbaud no deixa mai indiferent.

The reaction of dehydration of glucose and fructose was studied over solid acid catalysts (zirconium hydrogen phosphates, and sulfonated and carboxylated activated carbons) in water at 125, 135 and 145 °C. Zirconium hydrogen phosphate enhanced their activity and selectivity toward 5-HMF from glucose or fructose after being calcined at 700 °C (ZrPO-700). The activation energy of the first step of the dehydration of fructose (formation of an intermediary) was higher than the one of the second step (formation of 5-HMF from intermediary), 209 and 25 kJ/mol, respectively. Additionally, the activation energy of glucose isomerization to fructose was 97 kJ/mol. Overall; the formation of intermediary between fructose and 5-HMF was the limiting step in the formation of 5-HMF from glucose or fructose. Fitting simulations of experimental data estimated maximum yield and selectivity toward 5-HMF from glucose using ZrPO-700 at 125, 135 and 145 °C. These predictions help investigators to estimate conversions and selectivity when pilot plants need to be simulated.

4 figures, It has recently been established that 1-octanethiol in the electrolyte can allow iron electrodes to be discharged at higher rates. However, the effect of thiol additives on the air electrode has not yet been studied. The effect of solvated thiols on the surface positive electrode reaction is of prime importance if these are to be used in an iron-air battery. This work shows that the air-electrode catalyst is poisoned by the presence of octanethiol, with the oxygen reduction overpotential at the air electrode increasing with time of exposure to the solution and increased 1-octanethiol concentration in the range 0–0.1 mol dm−3. Post-mortem XPS analyses were performed over the used air electrodes suggesting the adsorption of sulphur species over the catalyst surface, reducing its performance. Therefore, although sulphur-based additives may be suitable for nickel-iron batteries, they are not recommended for iron-air batteries except in concentrations well below 10 × 10−3 mol dm−3., This work was enabled by an EU grant FP7 (NECOBAUT grant agreement no. 314159). H.A.F-R. acknowledges financial support from CONACYT, Mexico. CNR-ITAE authors acknowledge funding from the “Accordo di Programma CNR-MiSE, Gruppo tematico Sistema Elettrico Nazionale – Progetto: Sistemi elettrochimici per l’accumulo di energia”. C.A. thanks the Short-Term Mobility project of CNR and for her Juan de la Cierva contract (FJCI-2015-25560). The authors also acknowledge financial support given by Aragon Government to the Fuel Conversion Group (T06_17R).

Knowledge of seed dormancy and optimal propagation techniques is crucial for successful ex situ restoration and reintroduction projects, and determining the seed storage behaviour of a species is critical for the long-term conservation of seeds, further supporting future ex situ efforts. Eryngium sparganophyllum (Apiaceae) is a globally critically endangered plant species endemic to ciénega wetlands of southwest North America. To support in situ and ex situ conservation efforts of E. sparganophyllum, we asked (i) how does the embryo: seed (E:S) ratio change over time once imbibed, (ii) how does germination respond with varying periods of exposure to cold (5°C) and warm (25°C) stratification, and concentrations of gibberellic acid (GA3). By answering these questions, (iii) can dormancy class be inferred, and (iv) what storage behaviour category is exhibited? To answer these questions, we collected seeds in Southern Arizona from one of the few remaining wild populations. We measured embryo growth and tested the effects of cold (0–18 weeks) and warm (0 and 4 weeks) stratification, and 0–1000 ppm gibberellic acid on germination. We also tested the effects of cold (−80°C) dry (~20% equilibrium relative humidity) storage on germination. We found that (i) embryos grow inside seeds prior to germination; (ii) compared to control, cold stratification for at least 6 weeks increased germination and warm stratification had no effect; (iii) 1000-ppm GA3 had the highest germination success; (iv) therefore this species exhibits morphophysiological dormancy; and (v) seeds are orthodox and can therefore be conserved using conventional storage methods. This information will aid managers in the propagation of E. sparganophyllum that is crucial for in situ reintroduction and restoration projects, and seed banking represents a critical ex situ conservation strategy for the preservation of this species., Arizona eryngo (Eryngium sparganophyllum) is an imperilled plant species. For optimal propagation by seed and to overcome morphophysiological dormancy, E. sparganophyllum requires either 6 weeks imbibed at refrigerated conditions (around 5°C) or application of 1000 ppm gibberellic acid. Seeds are orthodox and can be conserved long-term using conventional storage methods.

Purpose To show an organizational approach which solved access to lung transplantation. Methods In 2003 and through the ministries of health and national organ procurement organizations, Uruguay and Argentina, countries with geographical and cultural proximity, initiated a framework agreement in lung transplantation, a growing activity in Argentina not developed in Uruguay. In this agreement, the lung implant would be carried out in Argentina and the pre and post-transplant management and assistance on the waiting list in Uruguay. In order to provide quality care, a training program was started in world reference centers. The groundwork for the establishment of an Uruguayan procurement team was also started. This approach was simple but clever. In Uruguay, with 3.3 million inhabitants and no experience in the area of ​​lung transplantation, the organizational aspects and the training of human resources would have required a lot of time and financial resources. The number of transplants/year (Tx/y) would have been limited, which is strongly correlated with morbidity and mortality. Currently, with the incorporation of Uruguayan transplants, Fundacion Favaloro exceeds 30 Tx/y with improved results. Results Since 2003, more than 250 patients were evaluated and 93 listed. 42 transplants were performed, more than a half of them in the last 4 years. The underlying pulmonary diseases is similar to international registries, 3 were retransplantations. Nowadays, Uruguay has the higgest lung transplant rate of the region with 1,8 transplant/pmp each year, more than Argentina (0,98), Brasil (0,62) or Chile (0,83). Unfortunately waiting time remains excessively long (19.4 ± 17,6 months) and mortality on the waiting list is still high (30%). Taking into account the entire cohort of patients, adult and pediatric, uni- or bipulmonary, the median post-transplant conditional survival observed in Uruguay is 7.5 ± 2.5 years. 95% of transplant patients achieved total reintegration to work and/or educational tasks with a great positive impact on the quality of life measured using Likert scale. Conclusion This “satellite strategy” allowed the development of a lung transplantation program helping Uruguayan population to access this complex procedure, improving results for both countries. This organizational approach, based on solidarity and teamwork, could be transferred to other situations.

Some of the most characteristic communities of well-lit backgrounds of temperate oceans are macroalgae forests. In the Mediterranean these forests are formed by algae of the genus Cystoseira. These are the main habitat-forming species in Mediterranean deep-sea rocky beds. Currently, Cystoseira forests are experiencing a significant decline that is affecting the services offered by these ecosystems, due to various impacts, such as habitat destruction, eutrophication or the rise in temperatures due to climate change. This study has focused on a specific species of the genus Cystoseira: Cystoseira crinita, a relict species on the Catalan coast that inhabits in shallow waters of environments with small wave action and high intensity of light. The first objective of the project was to study the dynamics and reproduction of a population of Cystoseira crinita during the year 2017, which lives in a coastal basin of half a meter deep in Port de la Selva. A monthly sampling of this population was carried out during the years 2017 and 2018, where a seasonal variation marked by the intensity of light and temperature was observed, with peaks in spring and falls in winter. The second objective was to study, on the one hand, the effect of a punctual impact produced in July of 2018 in this population, where the basin was in a state of anoxia and caused the mortality of a Much of the population, and on the other hand, the possible causes of this disturbance. In general, there was a significant decrease in the density of individuals in the months after the impact, but no variation in the size structure of the population, as a result of the surviving individuals located at the ends of the cuvette. Thanks to a record of the temperatures inside and outside the cuvette that was carried out during the year 2017 and 2018 it was observed that the mortality detected coincided with an increase in extreme temperatures due to climate change, coinciding with the increase in the concentration of nutrients and the little renovation of the water were the causes of the impact. Finally, in order to see how the population will evolve in the future, there has been a forecast of how it could harm a climate change scenario in which we find the species studied, and the whole of marine biodiversity

Currently LED technology for lighting has a great boom in the automotive industry. In this industry it is required that the main headlights change luminosity instantaneously; this is achieved using LED arrays. In this type of power LED arrays can be controlled independently using a dc-dc converter for each of the arrays, or using a converter that controls the voltage or series depending on the change in brightness. An important factor in determining what type of strategy to implement is the failure rate of the system, as it is known that the greater the number of components or stages, the system will be more likely to fail in a certain time. In this article we analyzed the conditions of the Flyback converter for five power levels, it was established that the element with the highest failure rates is the switching MOSFET, this element was also the one that increased its temperature more in the last power interval. Therefore the study of this case determines that to have a lower failure rate it is recommended to have several converters of less power than a larger one.

Tras varias décadas de constantes intentos y recomendaciones de parte de los diversos entes nacionales e internacionales, nos encontramos en una situación de desaparición constante de los oficios artísticos del patrimonio arquitectónico. Fíjense que no utilizo la palabra “artesanos” la cual dispersa en un mundo de confusiones la especialidad de cada uno de estos oficios cuyo conocimiento, transmisión por enseñanza oral (teórica) y práctica puede calificarse en sí de patrimonio inmaterial y material de la humanidad al ver realizadas las obras.

Within the residential mobility process, household structure is one of the main explanatory variables of location choice. In large metropolitan areas, such as the Barcelona Metropolitan Region (BMR), there are presently clearly new divergent residence settlement trends. While family households move to new suburbs, single- person ones and couples with no children go to urban centers or remain in them. Therefore metropolitan municipalities tend to be demographically segregated. Residential mobility is also one of the most important factors in metropolitan municipality growth, and household structure directly affects housing demand characteristics. Results show strong residential dispersion and a household structure territorial specialization.

Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) complex is a key regulator of autophagy, cell growth and proliferation. Here, we studied the effects of arginine vasopressin (AVP) on mTOR activation in vascular smooth muscle cells cultured in high glucose concentration. AVP induced the mTOR phosphorylation in A-10 cells grown in high glucose, in contrast to cells cultured in normal glucose; wherein, only basal phosphorylation was observed. The AVP-induced mTOR phosphorylation was inhibited by a PI3K inhibitor. Moreover, the AVP-induced mTOR activation inhibited autophagy and increased thymidine incorporation in cells grown in high glucose. This increase was abolished by rapamycin which inhibits the mTORC1 complex formation. Our results suggest that AVP stimulates mTOR phosphorylation by activating the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway and, subsequently, inhibits autophagy and raises cell proliferation in A-10 cells maintained in high glucose concentration.

ResumenProporcionamos 2 nuevos registros de la martucha Potos flavus para Michoacán, obtenidos en el municipio de Arteaga. Los registros constituyen ahora la única evidencia biológica y fotográfica que confirma su presencia en el estado, ya que la información proveniente de la literatura sólo corresponde a registros anecdóticos. Los nuevos registros se obtuvieron mediante transectos diurnos y nocturnos efectuados entre marzo de 2010 y marzo de 2011. El primer registro fue de una hembra, que es el primer ejemplar de la especie proveniente de Michoacán depositado en colección científica. El segundo corresponde a una serie de registros fotográficos de un macho obtenidos en bosque tropical subcaducifolio. Estos 2 registros son además, los más norteños en el continente por el Pacífico.AbstractWe provide 2 new records of the threatened kinkajou, Potos flavus for Michoacán state, which were obtained on the Arteaga municipality. The records constitute the only biological and photographic evidence that confirm the species presence on the state, as the existing information corresponded to anecdotic records. The new records were obtained along diurnal and nocturnal transects carried out during the period march 2010 to march 2011. The first record corresponds to a female that constitute the first specimen of the species from Michoacán that is deposited in a scientific collection. The second record corresponded to a set of photographic records obtained from a male located on tropical semideciduous forest. These 2 records are the northernmost records of the species on the Pacific.

Resumen Objetivo Clozapina es el farmaco de eleccion en el tratamiento de la esquizofrenia resistente, pero genera importantes cambios ponderales que pueden disuadir al clinico de utilizarlo, preocupado por los posibles riesgos para la salud del paciente. Para valorar estos aspectos evaluamos los cambios producidos en el indice de masa corporal (IMC) a las 18 y 56 semanas de tratamiento con clozapina. Metodo En una muestra de pacientes diagnosticados de esquizofrenia, el peso y la estatura fueron medidos a nivel basal y posteriormente de forma semanal durante las primeras 18 semanas de tratamiento con clozapina. Posteriormente la evaluacion fue mensual. Se registraron asi mismo las dosis regulares de clozapina, los niveles plasmaticos de clozapina y norclozapina, la medicacion concomitante, el genero y la edad. Resultados A las 18 semanas (n = 76) el incremento medio en IMC era de 1,83 kg/m 2 . El IMC basal se correlacionaba de forma inversa con el incremento en IMC. A las 56 semanas (n = 57) el incremento medio en IMC era 2,67 kg/m 2 y se correlacionaba de forma inversa con el IMC basal. Analisis de regresion multiple replicaron estos resultados. Considerando categorias diferentes segun el IMC basal, los pacientes que partian de un sobrepeso tenian menor riesgo de incremento ponderal continuado. Conclusiones La presencia de sobrepeso no debiera disuadir al clinico de considerar el tratamiento con clozapina en pacientes con esquizofrenia resistente.

Objective Clozapine is the first choice in drug-resistant schizophrenia but also causes important weight changes. This might discourage clinicians who are concerned about the risk of developing health problems. To assess this issue we measured change in body mass index (cBMI) induced by clozapine at 18 and 56 weeks. Methods Baseline body weight and height were measured and weight weekly thereafter during the first 18 weeks of treatment. After that, measurements were made monthly. Steady clozapine dose, clozapine and norclozapine blood concentrations, concomitant medication, gender and age were recorded. Results At 18 weeks (n = 76) mean cBMI was 1.83 kg/m 2 . Baseline BMI was inversely correlated with cBMI. At 56 weeks (n = 57) cBMI was 2.67 kg/m 2 and was inversely correlated with basal BMI. Multiple regression analysis replicated the results. When split with BMI categories, obese patients had lesser risk for further weight gain. Conclusions Obesity should not discourage clinicians from starting clozapine in drug-resistant patients.

In this paper presents the study and implementation of a model for an ultraviolet light-emitting diode (UV LED). This model is used to characterize series and parallel UV LED arrangements. The proposed model can be used for different power LED. An exponential expression of a term that describes the electrical characteristics of the V-I curve of a UV LED is used. The principle of implementation of UV LED is described, and in this way they can be used in simulation software. The proposed model this designed for any number of LED in series or parallel. To perform the proposed model radiation is analyzed in terms of temperature and power.

Glutamate excitotoxicity, a major component of many neurodegenerative disorders, is characterized by excessive calcium influx selectively through NMDA receptors (NMDARs). However, there is a substantial uncertainty concerning why other known routes of significant calcium entry, in particular voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCCs), are not similarly toxic. Here, we report that in the majority of neurons in rat hippocampal and cortical cultures, maximal L-type VGCC activation induces much lower calcium loading than toxic NMDAR activation. Consequently, few depolarization-activated neurons exhibit calcium deregulation and cell death. Activation of alternative routes of calcium entry induced neuronal death in proportion to the degree of calcium loading. In a small subset of neurons depolarization evoked stronger calcium elevations, approaching those induced by toxic NMDA. These neurons were characterized by elevated expression of VGCCs and enhanced voltage-gated calcium currents, mitochondrial dysfunction and cell death. Preventing VGCC-dependent mitochondrial calcium loading resulted in stronger cytoplasmic calcium elevations, whereas inhibiting mitochondrial calcium clearance accelerated mitochondrial depolarization. Both observations further implicate mitochondrial dysfunction in VGCC-mediated cell death. Results indicate that neuronal vulnerability tracks the extent of calcium loading but does not appear to depend explicitly on the route of calcium entry.

Activation of V 1a receptor triggers the expression of growth-related immediate-early genes (IEGs), including c-Fos and Egr-1. We found that pre-treatment of rat vascular smooth muscle A-10 cell line with the EGF receptor inhibitor AG1478 or the over-expression of an EGFR dominant negative mutant (HEBCD533) blocked the vasopressin-induced expression of IEGs, suggesting that activation of these early genes mediated by V 1a receptor is via transactivation of the EGF receptor. Importantly, the inhibition of the metalloproteinases, which catalyzed the shedding of the EGF receptor agonist HB-EGF, selectively blocked the vasopressin-induced expression c-Fos. On the other hand, the inhibition of c-Src selectively blocked the vasopressin-induced expression of Egr-1. Interestingly, in contrast to the expression of c-Fos, the expression of Egr-1 was mediated via the Ras/MEK/MAPK-dependent signalling pathway. Vasopressin-triggered expression of both genes required the release of intracellular calcium, activation of PKC and β-arrestin 2. These findings demonstrated that vasopressin up-regulated the expression of c-Fos and Erg-1 via transactivation of two distinct EGF receptor-dependent signalling pathways.

This paper presented a comparative study in function reliability between dc-dc converters used in power LED. Between dc-dc converters more used to power LED are the Buck and Flyback converter, because the Buck provides a lower output voltage than the input, and in the case of flyback has galvanic isolation. The study has objetive to determine the reliability obtaining the failure rate of the system and the average time when failures occurs, because the LED driver must have an average life similar to the LED lamp. The reliability analysis is based in the standard MIL-HDBK-217, for this study performed was used a LED load of 54.6 W in both converters. The results have shown that the buck converter has a lower failure rate and a higher mean time between failures, therefore has a longer useful life.

Pacientes y metodos: Estudio prospectivo, multicentrico, no controlado con 6 meses de seguimiento. Se incluyo a 111 pacientes ambulatorios diagnosticados de artrosis de rodilla segun criterios clinicos y radiologicos (excepto grado IV de Kellgren). A los pacientes se les administraron 5 inyecciones intraarticulares de AH (Adant®, Tedec-Meiji Farma S.A.) con cadencia semanal. La eficacia se evaluo a las 2, 12 y 24 postratamiento respecto del dolor global (EVA), indice Lequesne, indice WOMAC, valoracion global por el paciente y el investigador (escala tipo Likert), rango de movimiento de flexion y extension, y consumo de analgesicos. Se realizo ecografia de rodilla al inicio y al final del estudio. La seguridad se valoro mediante registro sistematico de acontecimientos adversos. Resultados: Los pacientes mostraron mejoria estadisticamente significativa en todos los parametros respecto a los valores basales (p ? 0,01). A los 6 meses, el 68% de los pacientes valoro su situacion como mejor o mucho mejor. La presencia y cantidad de derrame sinovial en la articulacion de la rodilla disminuyo de forma considerable tras el tratamiento. Los acontecimientos adversos fueron, sobre todo, locales y debidos mayoritariamente a la tecnica de administracion, y aparecieron reacciones por inyeccion en el 2,4% de los casos. Conclusion: La administracion de AH intraarticular es una alternativa eficaz y bien tolerada para el tratamiento de la artrosis de rodilla leve a moderada, con mejoria sintomatica de hasta 6 meses.

Morphology and vertical distribution patterns of spruce and beech live fine roots (diameter ≤2 mm) were studied using a soil core method in three comparable mature stands in the Solling: (1) pure beech, (2) pure spruce and (3) mixed spruce–beech. This study was aimed at determining the effects of interspecific competition on fine root structure and spatial fine root distribution of both species. A vertical stratification of beech and spruce fine root systems was found in the mixed stand due to a shift in beech fine roots from upper to lower soil layers. Moreover, compared to pure beech, a significantly higher specific root length (SRL, P 0.10; SSA 225/212 cm2 g−1, P>0.10). Symmetric competition belowground between mixed beech and spruce was observed since live fine roots of both species were under-represented compared to pure stand. However, the higher space sequestration efficiency suggests a higher competitive ability of beech belowground.

This paper presents a self-oscillating electronic ballast for a 36 W LED string. The design consists of a simple control that reduces the component number and cost of the ballast. Self-oscillating converters are popular in compact fluorescent lamps; therefore, it is proposed the use of this self-oscillating control technique for the LED lamp. The self-oscillating LED driver represents a very suitable solution in compact LED products. This paper describes the design of a self-oscillating electronic ballast at high frequency. The output of the sine wave of the resonant inverter is rectified and, then its high frequency yields a reduction in the value of output capacitor.

Our goal is to analyze the images to try to deduce what are the social and cultural patterns that persist in our society and which hold ideas associated with anorexia (creating a visual cultural criticism focused on the visual forms of the body and of the photographic ones of the mass-media, that allow us to certain clues in the social construction of these physical stereotypes), in an interpretative approach, from which it derives a qualitative methodology and of Photography-Based Educational Research (allows to debate and evaluate the possibilities of the images in the research activity). The image constructed about the own body by a person evolves during the whole vital cycle, then, in the configurations elaborated in the early stages of life, is fundamental to influence in some competences that allow children properly interpret visual messages provided by the sociocultural environment. Art Education could play a significant labor in the development of individual skills relating to the interpretation of such messages: increases the capacity reflexive and critical toward the images that the everyday constantly gives us, and would allow to ponder these messages as cultural constructions that work symbolically at different levels, making us conscious of its ambiguity and scope

In this paper a new model for the prediction of the Cumulative Distribution Function (CDF) of fatigue life of structural elements during the crack propagation stage is described. This problem is considered as a cumulative damage process following the probabilistic approach of Bogdanoff and Kozin [1] (B-models). The initial and final crack lengths, the crack propagation angle, the material fracture and elastic parameters and the external loads may be considered as random variables. In this initial approach, a linear approximation of the random variable ‘fatigue life’ and a truncated uniform distribution for the crack length variable are considered. Two corrections to this model are discussed: a second-order approximation of the fatigue life to compute its variance, and a modification of the Probability Density Distribution (PDD) of the crack length, which is now derived from the truncated uniform distributions of the initial and final crack lengths. Some examples for mode I are compared to the ones obtained using a Monte Carlo scheme with 400 000 samples, showing a good agreement and a much better performance of the corrected version of the model, specially for big standard deviations. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Treballs Finals del Màster d’Energies Renovables i Sostenibilitat Energètica, Facultat de Física, Universitat de Barcelona, Curs: 2013-2014, Tutor: Pere Lluís Cabot, Des de principis del S. XIX, la humanitat ha anat incrementant el consum de combustibles fòssils destinats al funcionament de la indústria en general i més concretament al transport, sector que consumeix aproximadament el 40% de l’energia primària generada (IDAE, 2014) (WWF, 2014). Aquest consum sempre ha estat estretament lligat a l’extracció i producció de manera exponencial de carbó, petroli i gas natural (BP, 2013) demostrant així que el model energètic actual té una dependència gairebé total de les fonts d’energia no renovables i va en augment amb una taxa mitjana de creixement d’un 2% (ICAEN, 2014). Aquesta dependència comporta certs problemes que es van agreujant amb el temps. Un dels problemes més tangibles és el fet que amb les tecnologies i sistemes d’obtenció de combustibles fòssils actuals, les reserves són finites i, a més a més, en la dècada actual s’ha arribat al pic màxim de producció fent que el preu del petroli s’hagi disparat a valors inesperats i segueixi incrementant any rere any (Peak Oil Association)...

El grup OULIPO -OUvroir de LIttérature POtentielle (Obridor de literatura potencial)- va néixer el novembre de 1960. "Ouvroir" significa taller, és a dir un espai on la creació col·lectiva permet de crear nous textos. Literatura potencial significa que, a partir de tècniques variades, es pot ampliar el camp de la creació artística. L'OULIPO proposa com a tècnica privilegiada la constricció o trava, que consisteix a crear una dificultat per intentar superar-la. Segons paraules de Raymond Queneau l'escriptor oulipià crea el laberint del qual haurà de sortir després. Així doncs la trava, en lloc de bloquejar la creativitat o de reduir-la, l'allibera.