Hipovitaminosis D y obesidad. Relación con el grado de obesidad y el síndrome metabólico.

En 343 sujetos con sobrepeso u obesidad demostramos la existencia de una relación inversa entre los niveles (r -0,403, p & 0,001) y el estado de la vitamina D con el grado de obesidad, especialmente para IMC& 40 Kg/m2. Asimismo, los pacientes con síndrome metabólico tenían niveles de calcidiol inferiores (43,35 ± 29,01 nmol/L y 55,26 ± 29,6 nmol/L) y presentaban una mayor prevalencia de hipovitaminosis D, independientemente del grado de obesidad. Estos datos sugieren, que como ocurre para otras comorbilidades asociadas con la obesidad, la distribución de la adiposidad parece desarrollar un papel en el estado de la vitamina D.

Estacionalidad de la neumonía adquirida en la comunidad (NAC) y su influencia con el clima

La pneumònia adquirida a la comunitat (PAC) és una patologia molt prevalent, l´etiologia de la qual ve donada per les característiques de la regió geogràfica, de l'agent causal i del pacient. L'estudi de cadascuna d'elles és fonamental per al seu correcte abordatge terapèutic. Ens vam proposar estudiar els canvis de l'agent causal de la PAC en funció de l'estacionalitat i la influència dels canvis climàtics de la nostra àrea geogràfica. Material i mètode: Estudi prospectiu longitudinal de pacients ingressats per PAC des de Gener de 2008 a Desembre de 2009. Analitzem dades sociodemogràfiques, comorbiditat, gravetat, agent etiològic, complicacions i mortalitat. Correlacionem la temperatura mitjana, la precipitació acumulada mitjana i el caràcter de la precipitació per S. pneumoniae i Legionella pneumophila en cada estació de l'any. Anàlisi estadística: Xi quadrat, t de Student per mostres independents, anàlisi de la variància i correlació de Spearman. Resultats: Incloem 155 pacients, 63.9% homes i 54.8% majors de 65 anys. La major incidència de PAC va ser a l'hivern. Streptococcus pneumoniae va ser l'agent causal més freqüent en totes les estacions de l'any a excepció de l'estiu, que va ser Legionella pneumophila. Observem una correlació significativa entre la menor temperatura mitjana estacional i l'etiologia pneumocòccica i al revés quan l'agent causal va ser Legionella pneumophila. No obstant això, no trobem diferències etiològiques per estacions en relació amb la humitat ambiental. Conclusions: En la nostra àrea, Streptococcus pneumoniae és l'agent etiològic més freqüent a l'hivern amb baixes temperatures mentre que a l'estiu, amb altes temperatures, és Legionella pneumophila.

Efecto de la magnitud y la probabilidad de la pérdida en el riesgo asumido por los conductores

Se analiza el efecto de la magnitud de la probabilidad de la pérdida en el riesgo asumido por 60 conductores, de edades comprendidas entre los 19 y los 44 años (Media = 23.38; SD = 4.78), en un programa de simulación de conducción. Tanto las teorías basa as en la utilidad esperada, como los modelos basados en la Teoría del Aprendizaje, predicen una relación inversa entre dichas variables y el riesgo asumido. Los resultados de nuestro estudio corroboran tales predicciones en cuanto a la probabilidad de la pérdida: el riesgo asumido disminuye a medida que aumenta la probabilidad de la pérdida. El riesgo asumido, en cambio, parece ser independiente de la magnitud de la probabilidad de la pérdida. De acuerdo con estos resultados, resultaría más efectivo aumentar el control para garantizar el cumplimiento de las normas de circulación que incrementar la cuantía de las sanciones por su incumplimiento

Disseny i implementació d'un dispositiu de localització GPS

L'objectiu final d'aquest projecte ha estat el de fer un localitzador GPS.Inicialment es parteix d'un mòdul LCD amb retroil•luminació Optrex DMF-5005Ni un mòdul GPS Connexant TU30. De la unió d'aquests dos, més la circuiteriadissenyada, en sorgeix un sistema capaç de proporcionar dades fiables i útilsper a l'usuari, com són les coordenades, la velocitat, l'alçada, la data i l'hora,entre d'altres. El resultat final del projecte està contingut en una carcassa al frontal de la qual, hi podem veure el panell LCD, un pulsador per canvi de pantalla i un altre per variar la velocitat de quilòmetres per hora a nusos i a la inversa

Modelización de procesos de membranas aplicados a alimentos modelos y derivados

El presente grupo ha recorrido ya un largo camino trabajando en el estudio de sistemas enzimáticos, diseño y simulación de biorreactores con enzimas en soluble e inmovilizadas, comprobando la seria dificultad de separación y eliminación de las mismas en la etapa final del proceso, así como las problemáticas de preparación y uso de las enzimas inmovilizadas en los mas diversos tipos de soportes. En este estudio se investigo la aplicación de ultrafiltración y ósmosis inversa en soluciones modelo de zumos para su clarificación y concentración, también en la eliminación de melanoidinas en concentrados de zumos. A partir de esta investigación se elaboraron membranas con enzimas pectinoliticas inmovilizadas. Al igual que se determino las condiciones óptimas de aplicación en sistemas modelo a escala de laboratorio y planta piloto.

Controladores PI con acción de reset

El control automàtic exerceix un paper important en molts processos de la industria. Cada un dels sistemes de control requereix d’un controlador, la majoria dels quals són del tipus PI. L’objectiu d’aquest projecte es investigar tècniques que permetin superar les limitacions que tenen els controladors PI lineals. En la resposta d’un sistema de control es poden distingir dues tasques diferents: El seguiment a un canvi d’entrada o consigna correspon a la tasca de servo, mentre que el rebuig a pertorbacions correspon a la tasca de regulatori. Al típic esquema de control realimentat, aquestes dues tasques estan enfrontades, és a dir, una millora a la tasca de servo implica un empitjorament a la tasca de regulatori i a l’inversa. Això suposa un problema al rendiment del sistema, així com la necessitat d’establir un cert compromís entre les dues tasques. El que es pretén en aquest projecte es implementar senzilles regles de control no lineal amb la finalitat de millorar el rendiment del sistema i evitar la necessitat d’establir un compromís entre les dues tasques. Així, es pretén superar les limitacions que aquest té, obtenint controladors PI alternatius fàcilment sintetitzables.

Appropriation of technology in "non-western" societies: an approximation to the case of Bulgaria

The principal focus of the PhD thesis lies in the Social Software area and the appropriation of technology in "non-Western" societies taking the example of Bulgaria. The term "non-Western" is used to explain places considered technologically underdeveloped. The aims have been to capture how Bulgarian users creatively interpret and appropriate Internet identifying the sociocultural, political and subjective conditions in which that appropriation occurs, to identify emerging practices based on the interpretation and use of Internet and the impact they had on society and what conditions could influence the technological interpretation and the meaning these practices had for both users and social configuration of Internet as media in Bulgaria. An ethnographic approach has been used simultaneously in different online and offline contexts. On the one hand, this study is based on exploration of the Bulgarian Internet Space through online participant observation in forums and websites reviews and on the other hand, on semi-structured interviews with different types of users of the virtual platforms found, made both face to face and online and finally online participant observation at the same platforms. It is based on some contributions of the ethnographic work of Christine Hine in virtual environments and the notions of time and space of Barbara Czarniawska contextualized in the modern form of organization that occurs in a network of multiple and fragmented contexts across many movements.

Implantació d'un sistema SAP R/3 en una empresa química farmacèutica

Projecte d'implantació d'un sistema de gestió ERP SAP R/3.

Comparative gene finding in chicken indicates that we are closing in on the set of multi-exonic widely-expressed human genes

The recent availability of the chicken genome sequence poses the question of whether there are human protein-coding genes conserved in chicken that are currently not included in the human gene catalog. Here, we show, using comparative gene finding followed by experimental verification of exon pairs by RT–PCR, that the addition to the multi-exonic subset of this catalog could be as little as 0.2%, suggesting that we may be closing in on the human gene set. Our protocol, however, has two shortcomings: (i) the bioinformatic screening of the predicted genes, applied to filter out false positives, cannot handle intronless genes; and (ii) the experimental verification could fail to identify expression at a specific developmental time. This highlights the importance of developing methods that could provide a reliable estimate of the number of these two types of genes.

Origin and genetic differentiation of Three Mexican Native Groups (Purépechas, Triquis and Mayas): contribution of CODIS-STRs to the history of human populations of Mesoamerica

BACKGROUND: CODIS-STRs in Native Mexican groups have rarely been analysed for human identification and anthropological purposes. AIM:To analyse the genetic relationships and population structure among three Native Mexican groups from Mesoamerica.SUBJECTS AND METHODS: 531 unrelated Native individuals from Mexico were PCR-typed for 15 and 9 autosomal STRs (Identifiler™ and Profiler™ kits, respectively), including five population samples: Purépechas (Mountain, Valley and Lake), Triquis and Yucatec Mayas. Previously published STR data were included in the analyses. RESULTS:Allele frequencies and statistical parameters of forensic importance were estimated by population. The majority of Native groups were not differentiated pairwise, excepting Triquis and Purépechas, which was attributable to their relative geographic and cultural isolation. Although Mayas, Triquis and Purépechas-Mountain presented the highest number of private alleles, suggesting recurrent gene flow, the elevated differentiation of Triquis indicates a different origin of this gene flow. Interestingly, Huastecos and Mayas were not differentiated, which is in agreement with the archaeological hypothesis that Huastecos represent an ancestral Maya group. Interpopulation variability was greater in Natives than in Mestizos, both significant.CONCLUSION: Although results suggest that European admixture has increased the similarity between Native Mexican groups, the differentiation and inconsistent clustering by language or geography stresses the importance of serial founder effect and/or genetic drift in showing their present genetic relationships.

Crecimiento de las regiones españolas: estructura sectorial, dinámica regional y distribución de rentas.

El análisis de las regiones españolas en el período 1980-1995 indicaque la composición sectorial explica la mayor parte de la evolución del empleo y de las diferencias en productividad, salarios medios y participación de las rentas del trabajo. Para el VAB el componenteregional es más importante que el sectorial, aunque éste no esdespreciable. Nuestro análisis permite identificar a lo largo del tiempo aquellas regiones que han crecido más (menos) que lo esperado dada su composición sectorial. Identificamos una clara relación inversa entre la participación de las rentas del trabajo en el producto y el componente puramente regional del crecimiento del empleo. Sin embargo no observamos relación entre la tasa de paro y la distribución del producto. Ello sugiere que los salarios son poco elásticos a las condiciones del mercado de trabajo, pero el crecimiento del empleo sí lo es a la evolución de las rentas del capital de la región.

La zonación estructural del hercínico del Pirineo Central en el anticlinorio de la Pallaresa

The Pyrenees are an alpine chain with hercynian basement rocks that outcrop in a large area called the Axial Zone. These rocks have been involved in the alpine deformation events although their main structural features resulted from the Hercynian orogeny. A relevant characteristic of the Hercynian basement is a change in structural style in depth which has been commonly studied and interpreted in the Pallaresa Anticlinorium, in the Central Pyrenees. This anticlinorium is a complex hercynian structural unit whose southern part belongs to the suprastructure whereas the northern part corresponds mostly to a transition zone between the infrastructure and the suprastructure. Rocks of the suprastructure show a steeply dipping slaty cleavage as the dominant structure, which is overprinting folds and thrusts rarely going with pervasive deformation. The transition zone results from a slaty cleavage, very often close to the bedding, overprinted by one or two steep crenulation cleavages. A gradual boundary exists between both structural levels and it can be observed that the deformation developing slaty cleavage in the suprastructure grades to a crenulation foliation in the transition zone. The gradual character of that boundary, as seen in the northern end of the transition zone, suggests that the southern sharp boundary is not original. That boundary is interpreted as a northward dipping inverse fault, possibly with Alpine age. That fault causes a relative uplift of the rocks of the transition zone and gives this sharp boundary with the suprastructural levels. It provokes the asymmetry in the Pallaresa anticlinorium

Errors congènits del metabolisme (ECM).

La terminologia i el concepte d'Error Congènit del Metabolisme (ECM), van ser establerts per A. Garrod a principis de segle. Avui día sabem que estan causats per errors o mutacions en els gens. Degut a la naturalesa del nostre codi genètic, segons el qual les instruccions del DNA són traduïdes a un producte gènic, les proteïnes, que seran les encarregades d'executar-lo; les mutacions del DNA es tradueixen en proteïnes anòmales amb la corresponent...

Deficit, human capital and economic growth dynamics

Long-run economic growth arouses a great interest since it can shed light on the income-path of an economy and try to explain the large differences in income we observe across countries and over time. The neoclassical model has been followed by several endogenous growth models which, contrarily to the former, seem to predict that economies with similar preferences and technological level, do not necessarily tend to converge to similar per capita income levels. This paper attempts to show a possible mechanismthrough which macroeconomic disequilibria and inefficiencies, represented by budget deficits, may hinder human capital accumulation and therefore economic growth. Using a mixed education system, deficit is characterized as a bug agent which may end up sharply reducing the resources devoted to education and training. The paper goes a step further from the literature on deficit by introducing a rich dynamic analysis of the effects of a deficit reduction on different economic aspects.Following a simple growth model and allowing for slight changes in the law of human capital accumulation, we reach a point where deficit might sharply reduce human capital accumulation. On the other hand, a deficit reduction carried on for a long time, taking that reduction as a more efficient management of the economy, may prove useful in inducing endogenous growth. Empirical evidence for a sample of countries seems to support the theoretical assumptions in the model: (1) evidence on an inverse relationship betweendeficit and human capital accumulation, (2) presence of a strongly negative associationbetween the quantity of deficit in the economy and the rate of growth. They may prove a certain role for budget deficit in economic growth

Deficit, human capital and economic growth dynamics

Long-run economic growth arouses a great interest since it can shed light on the income-path of an economy and try to explain the large differences in income we observe across countries and over time. The neoclassical model has been followed by several endogenous growth models which, contrarily to the former, seem to predict that economies with similar preferences and technological level, do not necessarily tend to converge to similar per capita income levels. This paper attempts to show a possible mechanismthrough which macroeconomic disequilibria and inefficiencies, represented by budget deficits, may hinder human capital accumulation and therefore economic growth. Using a mixed education system, deficit is characterized as a bug agent which may end up sharply reducing the resources devoted to education and training. The paper goes a step further from the literature on deficit by introducing a rich dynamic analysis of the effects of a deficit reduction on different economic aspects.Following a simple growth model and allowing for slight changes in the law of human capital accumulation, we reach a point where deficit might sharply reduce human capital accumulation. On the other hand, a deficit reduction carried on for a long time, taking that reduction as a more efficient management of the economy, may prove useful in inducing endogenous growth. Empirical evidence for a sample of countries seems to support the theoretical assumptions in the model: (1) evidence on an inverse relationship betweendeficit and human capital accumulation, (2) presence of a strongly negative associationbetween the quantity of deficit in the economy and the rate of growth. They may prove a certain role for budget deficit in economic growth