Search

The glass ionomer cements have been used successfully in dentistry for more than 20 years. A problem of these cements is the release of Al3+ ions to the physiological medium, being able to cause irreversible health problems to the patients. With the purpose of avoiding this problem, cements, from the reaction between the polyacrylic acid and wollastonita (CaSiO3) in a water solution of tartaric acid, have been obtained and characterized. The results have shown that these cements reach compression strength values similar to those of the conventional cements of vitreous polyalqueonate. Additionally, the obtained cements are biocompatibles and bioactives.Los cementos de polialcanoatos o iomómeros de vidrio son materiales que han sido utilizados con éxito durante más de 20 años en trabajos de odontología. Un problema que presentan dichos cementos es la liberación de iones Al3+ al medio fisiológico, lo que puede dar lugar a daños irreversibles en los pacientes. Con el propósito de evitar dicha liberación, se han preparado y caracterizado cementos obtenidos a partir de la reacción entre el ácido poliacrílico y la wollastonita (CaSiO3) en una solución acuosa de ácido tartárico. Los resultados obtenidos han puesto de manifiesto que estos cementos alcanzan resistencias a la compresión similares a las de los cementos de polialcanoato o ionómeros convencionales. Adicionalmente, los cementos resultantes son biocompatibles y bioactivos.

The presence of arbuscular mycorrhizae and communities of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) associated to four grasses established in areas of livestock basin “El Tablón”, belonging to the Estación Experimental "Escambray", Cumanayagua municipality, Cienfuegos province, was determined. Megathyrsus maximusscv. Likoni, Pennisetum purpureum cv. king grass, Brachiaria decumbens cv. CIAT-606 and Cynodon nlemfuensis vc. Jamaicano grasses were evaluated. A random block design was applied, with four treatments and 15 repetitions. All species showed arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization. The highest value was obtained in Brachiaria decumbens vc. CIAT-606, with 66.27%, while the rootlets of Pennisetum purpureum vc. king grass showed the lowest levels of this variable, with 48.80%. Eight species and five morphotypes of AMF, belonging to eight genera, were observed. The highest density of mycorrhizal fungi spores was associated with Pennisetum purpureum cv. king grass, with 3399 spores/100 g of soil, while the lowest corresponded to Brachiaria decumbens cv. CIAT-606, with only 195 spores/100 g. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi communities were more populated by species belonging to Glomus genus in the four studied pastures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On a Grayish Brown soil, a study was conducted to determine the presence of arbuscular mycorrhizae associated to the roots of the species: Leucaena leucocephala cv. Perú, Centrosema pubescens IH-129, Centrosema pubescens CIAT-482, Centrosema macrocarpum CIAT-5434, Canavalia ensiformis and Desmodium sp., in natural areas of the dairy laboratory farm No. 3 of the Livestock Production Enterprise El Tablón (Cumanayagua, Cienfuegos province, Cuba). An efficiency test was also made on the native arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), under semicontrolled conditions (glass house), and with a randomized block design for each species, two treatments and three replications. Under these conditions, the forage legumes were naturally colonized by mycorrhizae, but with low colonization: between 21 and 34 % in the first sampling, and between 14 and 20 % in the second one. When the native AMF were inoculated in an indicator crop (forage sorghum) there were no significant differences regarding the leaf content of phosphorus and the colonization; while the DM yield was slightly benefited in Desmodium sp. in the two variants; therefore, it cannot be ascribed to the effects of AMF. Such results showed the need to test commercial AMF strains in legume species under these conditions and soil type. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Educational Need: The interdisciplinary course: Clinical and Translational Research (CTR) (INTD 5998) responds to the need to provide undergraduate and graduate students of higher education institutions in Puerto Rico (PR), the knowhow in CTR. Method: INTD 5998 is a two-credit course, designed in the hybrid modality, as part of the RCM-UCC Cooperative Title V Project. The course presents the main concepts underlying the performance of CTR through lectures, workshops, and presentations. It was offered from January to May in 2020 and 2021, in a virtual modality responding to the restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This distance learning mode provided greater accessibility to students from distant geographic areas, including students from other UPR campuses; and allowed for continuity to the teaching and learning process. The learning management system Blackboard Ultra and Teams were used as alternative platforms. Results: 100% of the students (n=23) who completed the course indicated that the course was a good learning experience, it helped them increase their knowledge In CTR, it met their expectations, and that they would recommend other students to take it. Conclusion: INTD 5998 offers a valuable interprofessional experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Quebrada. Las cordilleras en andas" examines the issue of the artwork's diminished status within a landscape dominated by the entertainment industry. From this knowledge and the vanguard design of the book itself-as an instrument of the real- arises a tension that is characteristic of contemporary art. This tension has been compared to the point of hysteresis of an element, in which like a magnetic material it, the work of art, preserves one of its properties in the absence of its stimulus. This essay examines how this tension is produced in the work by Guadalupe Santa Cruz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

El artículo habla del reboso de la identidad en la novela "Vaca sagrada," de la escritora chilena Diamela Eltit. La novela es señalada por la violencia dictatorial durante el régimen de Augusto Pinochet. Eltit participó en el Colectivo Acciones de Arte (CADA), un grupo dedicado al deconstructivismo crítico de la posmodernidad. El artículo ofrece un análisis del libro a través de la influencia del CADA.

We have studied biopsies of lesional skin with monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies to determine the nature of the infiltrate in different forms of psoriasis. In guttate psoriasis the number of Langerhans cells (LC) was not increased and CD8+ cells predominated, however, most CD4+ cells were activated. In erythrodermal psoriasis some CD1+ cells were found in the dermis although CD8+ cells predominated and were activated. In palmo-plantar psoriasis LC were found in the epidermis and superficial dermis and CD4+ cells were more numerous than CD8+ cells, some in turn expressing HLA-DR. In flexural psoriasis the LC formed clusters in the epidermis, and activated CD4 -I- cells predominated. In psoriasis vulgaris CD4+ cells predominated over CD8+ although the latter were activated. Our observations tend to support Valdimarsson's hypothesis on the immune basis of psoriasis, but we believe that two cycles coexist in psoriasis—one inflammatory and the other immunological—and that interaction between these leads to epidermal hyperproliferation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has enforced the restructuring of inpatient psychiatric services. In the UK, the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust has introduced a triage ward system to ensure all patients have a COVID test prior to admission to the general ward with the aim to reduce COVID transmission amongst psychiatric inpatients. Objectives: To characterise the flow of patients through a COVID-19 psychiatric triage ward and the protocol of assessment and management used. Methods: Descriptive analysis of patients admitted to a COVID-19 triage ward since its creation. Results: The caseload of patients admitted to the COVID-19 triage ward since its inception will be presented. This will include the profile of patients admitted, their status (formal/informal) and their acceptance of COVID-19 tests. The protocol followed at this COVID-19 triage ward will be presented, and the challenges faced and suggestions to overcome them will be discussed. Conclusions: This presentation aims to share the workflow and protocols adopted at a COVID-19 triage ward in the UK, discussing challenges experienced as well as good practices. Conflict of interest: No significant relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microclimate and geophysical studies are commonly applied to the characterization of karst systems although they are usually used separately. The main purpose of this manuscript is to show how the analysis of the data from both these research methods is a useful tool in the characterization of karst systems and we present the analysis of a specific case study: the Nerja- Pintada caves system. The joint analysis of the Nerja Cave and external air data (mainly temperatures) and the pre-existing gravimetric data of its surroundings (residual gravity anomaly map) have allowed us: 1) to postulate the existence of an unknown great cavity located near to the Nerja Cave and with direct influence in its ventilation and 2) to propose a new model of the Nerja-Pintada caves ventilation based on the changing connection between a "main cavity" system (Nerja Cave), with basically a transmissive function of airflows and an "annex cavities" sub-system, with different functioning as far as the airflow is concerned: transmissive in the case of Pintada Cave and capacitive in the case of the geophysically-located cave. Unlabelled Image • The study links gravimetric and thermal anomalies in a karst system. • A large cavity near the Nerja Cave exists which influences its ventilation. • Thermal anomalies allow to propose a ventilation model based on a hydrodynamic analogue. • Transmissive and capacitive voids coupled together may explain airflow in caves. • The temperature differences drive the change between the DAF-UAF ventilation modes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green School Bali, an international school which provides education for sustainability through entrepreneurial learning and natural environment won the Zayed Future Energy Prize for developing the new renewable energy projects. Currently, Green School is supported by 2 main power sources which come from Indonesian State Electricity Company (PLN) and Photovoltaics (PV) system electricity with power reach 23.1 kW and 21.6 kWp respectively. Both of the sources are distributed to the load based on the manual balancing and daily manual switching, which create the unbalanced load and high power loss. The key to achieving sustainable energy management is the availability of accurate measurement, recording, and analysis system of the power quality in the whole buildings. To meet the requirement of the sustainable energy management system at Green School, the monitoring system of the power and energy at Green School is developed. This system contains 2 data loggers and an Internet of Things (IoT) platform. The fixed data logger provides routine measurement and recording of power quality at the PLN meter, whereas the portable data logger provides the same function for each electricity panel. The monitoring system and human interface system integrate the intelligent humanmachine interface to an Ubidots platform and completed with online and offline data storage. This system is useful for supporting the sustainable energy management goal of Green School and the daily energy practitioner’s work with providing a proper advance power monitoring system that has low cost and compatible with Green School system’s demand. This project will also be used as a platform and teaching tool for students to develop similar projects and learn about IoT and cloud-based monitoring solutions with other measurements in the classroom.

[Display omitted] • Bi 2 Ti 2-x Zr x O 7 :Er3+,Yb3+ phosphors (X = 0–1.5) were synthesized by combustion method. • The color emission was tuned from green to yellow–red by increasing the content of Zr in the phosphors. • Increasing the synthesis temperature from 550 to 1000 °C tuned the color emission from green to yellow–red or viceversa. • Increasing the content of OH groups on the phosphors' surface enhanced their NIR/red emissions. Bi 2 Ti 2-x Zr x O 7 :Er3+,Yb3+ phosphors were synthesized with different content of Zr (X = 0–1.5) by combustion method at 550 °C, producing a mixture of Bi 2 Ti 2 O 7 /Bi 4 Ti 3 O 12 phases. After increasing the synthesis temperature to 1000 °C, a pure Bi 2 Ti 2 O 7 (BiTiO) phase was obtained as well as porous coalesced microparticles (2–10 µm) with pore sizes of 110–420 nm. Those samples produced green (548 nm)/red (655 nm) and NIR (1530 nm) emission bands after excitation with 980 nm and their color emission was tuned from green to yellow–red or viceversa using two strategies: i) by increasing the Zr content in the Bi 2 Ti 2-x Zr x O 7 :Er3+,Yb3+ host (from X = 0 to 1) or ii) by increasing the synthesis temperature from 550 to 1000 °C. Interestingly, the intensity of the NIR and red emission bands was enhanced with the content of OH groups on the surface of the BiTiO:Yb,Er phosphors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study shows the utilization of the air CO 2 exhaled by a very high number of visitors in the Nerja Cave as both a tracer and an additional tool to precisely evaluate the air circulation through the entire karst system, which includes non-touristic passages, originally free of anthropogenic CO 2 . The analysis of the temporal - spatial evolution of the CO 2 content and other monitoring data measured from January 2015 to December 2016 in the Nerja-Pintada system, including air microbiological controls, has allowed us to define a new general ventilation model, of great interest for the conservation of the subterranean environment. During the annual cycle four different ventilation regimes and two ventilation modes ( UAF-mode and DAF-mode ) exist which determine the significance of the anthropogenic impact within the caves. During the winter regime, the strong ventilation regime and the airflow directions from the lowest to the highest entrance ( UAF-mode ) contribute to the rapid elimination of anthropogenic CO 2 , and this affects the whole karstic system. During the summer regime the DAF-mode ventilation (with airflows from the highest to the lowest entrances) is activated. Although the number of visitors is maximum and the natural ventilation of the karstic system is the lowest of the annual cycle, the anthropogenic impact only affects the Tourist Galleries . The transitional ventilation regimes - spring and autumn - are the most complex of the annual cycle, with changing air-flow directions (from UAF-mode to DAF-mode and vice versa ) at diurnal and poly diurnal scale, which conditions the range of the anthropogenic impact in each sector of the karst system. The activation of the DAF-mode has been observed when the temperature difference between the external and air cave is higher than 5 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]