A Method for Sky-Condition Classification from Ground-Based Solar Radiation Measurements

Identification of clouds from satellite images is now a routine task. Observation of clouds from the ground, however, is still needed to acquire a complete description of cloud conditions. Among the standard meteorologicalvariables, solar radiation is the most affected by cloud cover. In this note, a method for using global and diffuse solar radiation data to classify sky conditions into several classes is suggested. A classical maximum-likelihood method is applied for clustering data. The method is applied to a series of four years of solar radiation data and human cloud observations at a site in Catalonia, Spain. With these data, the accuracy of the solar radiation method as compared with human observations is 45% when nine classes of sky conditions are to be distinguished, and it grows significantly to almost 60% when samples are classified in only five different classes. Most errors are explained by limitations in the database; therefore, further work is under way with a more suitable database

Redrawing Tarraco

The city of Tarragona houses an important architectural heritage mainly from its past as ‘Tarraco’, capital of the Roman province of Hispania Citerior, but also from its medieval and late 19th century history. The archaeological ensemble of Tarraco was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000, but although many efforts have been devoted by archaeologists and historians to unveil and understand the history and aspect of the Roman city, many aspects remain unknown. This is largely caused by the absence of a coherent body of historiographical material, which is todays cattered across several institutions and, specially, the lack of precise and useful graphical representations of the remains and of the existing city that allows in-depth analysis and interpretations of future findings. In recent years, researchers from the Catalan Institute of Classical Archaeology (ICAC) and the Architecture School of the URV (ETSA) have teamed up to produce comprehensive, detailed graphic materials, including a new set of plans and sections of the old city, of the grandiose areas of representation of the Provincial capital, and of the hidden structures beneath the city’s surface. These have been executed with the latest technologies (fotogrammetry, laser scanning) but also with traditional methods (measurement, topography), on t op of a mixture of existing materials (hand-drafted cartography from municipal master plans) and of historical and archaeological documentation.

Impact of maternity care policy in Catalonia: a retrospective cross-sectional study of service delivery in public and private hospitals

Background: As a result of the growing number of interventions that are now performed in the context of maternity care, health authorities have begun to examine the possible repercussions for service provision and for maternal and neonatal health. In Spain the Strategy Paper on Normal Childbirth was published in 2008, and since then the authorities in Catalonia have sought to implement its recommendations. This paper reviews the current provision of maternity care in Catalonia. Methods: This was a descriptive study. Hospitals were grouped according to their source of funding (public or private) and were stratified (across four strata) on the basis of the annual number of births recorded within their respective maternity service. Data regarding the distribution of obstetric professionals were taken from an official government survey of hospitals published in 2010. The data on obstetric interventions (caesarean, use of forceps, vacuum or non-specified instruments) performed in 2007, 2010 and 2012 were obtained by consulting discharge records of 44 public and 20 private hospitals, which together provide care in 98% of all births in Catalonia. Proportions and confidence intervals were calculated for each intervention performed in all full-term (3742 weeks) singleton births. Results: Analysis of staff profiles according to the stratification of hospitals showed that almost all the hospitals had more obstetricians than midwives among their maternity care staff. Public hospitals performed fewer caesareans [range between 19.20% (CI 18.84-19.55) and 28.14% (CI 27.73-28.54)] than did private hospitals [range between 32.21% (CI 31.78-32.63) and 39.43% (CI 38.98-39.87)]. The use of forceps has decreased in public hospitals. The use of a vacuum extractor has increased and is more common in private hospitals. Conclusions: Caesarean section is the most common obstetric intervention performed during full-term singleton births in Catalonia. The observed trend is stable in the group of public hospitals, but shows signs of a rise among private institutions. The number of caesareans performed in accredited public hospitals covers a limited range with a stable trend. Among public hospitals the highest rate of caesareans is found in non-accredited hospitals with a lower annual number of births.

Impact of maternity care policy in Catalonia: a retrospective cross-sectional study of service delivery in public and private hospitals

Background: As a result of the growing number of interventions that are now performed in the context of maternity care, health authorities have begun to examine the possible repercussions for service provision and for maternal and neonatal health. In Spain the Strategy Paper on Normal Childbirth was published in 2008, and since then the authorities in Catalonia have sought to implement its recommendations. This paper reviews the current provision of maternity care in Catalonia. Methods: This was a descriptive study. Hospitals were grouped according to their source of funding (public or private) and were stratified (across four strata) on the basis of the annual number of births recorded within their respective maternity service. Data regarding the distribution of obstetric professionals were taken from an official government survey of hospitals published in 2010. The data on obstetric interventions (caesarean, use of forceps, vacuum or non-specified instruments) performed in 2007, 2010 and 2012 were obtained by consulting discharge records of 44 public and 20 private hospitals, which together provide care in 98% of all births in Catalonia. Proportions and confidence intervals were calculated for each intervention performed in all full-term (3742 weeks) singleton births. Results: Analysis of staff profiles according to the stratification of hospitals showed that almost all the hospitals had more obstetricians than midwives among their maternity care staff. Public hospitals performed fewer caesareans [range between 19.20% (CI 18.84-19.55) and 28.14% (CI 27.73-28.54)] than did private hospitals [range between 32.21% (CI 31.78-32.63) and 39.43% (CI 38.98-39.87)]. The use of forceps has decreased in public hospitals. The use of a vacuum extractor has increased and is more common in private hospitals. Conclusions: Caesarean section is the most common obstetric intervention performed during full-term singleton births in Catalonia. The observed trend is stable in the group of public hospitals, but shows signs of a rise among private institutions. The number of caesareans performed in accredited public hospitals covers a limited range with a stable trend. Among public hospitals the highest rate of caesareans is found in non-accredited hospitals with a lower annual number of births.

La terra sigillata hispánica tardía (TSHT) en la costa este de Hispania. Una aproximación general

Se recopila la información existente sobre la difusión de la terra sigillata hispánica tardía (TSHT) en el litoral mediterráneo de Hispania, concretamente en las actuales Cataluña, Comunidad Valenciana y Baleares. Se analizan los contextos arqueológicos conocidos con la finalidad de determinar la cronología y la presencia porcentual de este tipo cerámico en le levante peninsular.

1,2,3,4-Tetrahydrobenzo[h][1,6]naphthyridines as a new family of potent peripheral-to-midgorge-site inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase: synthesis, pharmacological evaluation and mechanistic studies

A series of 1,2,3,4-tetrahydrobenzo[h][1,6]naphthyridines differently substituted at positions 1, 5, and 9 have been designed from the pyrano[3,2-c]quinoline derivative 1, a weak inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) with predicted ability to bind to the AChE peripheral anionic site (PAS), at the entrance of the catalytic gorge. Fourteen novel benzonaphthyridines have been synthesized through synthetic sequences involving as the key step a multicomponent Povarov reaction between an aldehyde, an aniline and an enamine or an enamide as the activated alkene. The novel compounds have been tested against Electrophorus electricus AChE (EeAChE), human recombinant AChE (hAChE), and human serum butyrylcholinesterase (hBChE), and their brain penetration has been assessed using the PAMPA-BBB assay. Also, the mechanism of AChE inhibition of the most potent compounds has been thoroughly studied by kinetic studies, a propidium displacement assay, and molecular modelling. We have found that a seemingly small structural change such as a double O → NH bioisosteric replacement from the hit 1 to 16a results in a dramatic increase of EeAChE and hAChE inhibitory activities (>217- and >154-fold, respectively), and in a notable increase in hBChE inhibitory activity (> 11-fold), as well. An optimized binding at the PAS besides additional interactions with AChE midgorge residues seem to account for the high hAChE inhibitory potency of 16a (IC50 = 65 nM), which emerges as an interesting anti-Alzheimer lead compound with potent dual AChE and BChE inhibitory activities.

1,2,3,4-Tetrahydrobenzo[h][1,6]naphthyridines as a new family of potent peripheral-to-midgorge-site inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase: synthesis, pharmacological evaluation and mechanistic studies

A series of 1,2,3,4-tetrahydrobenzo[h][1,6]naphthyridines differently substituted at positions 1, 5, and 9 have been designed from the pyrano[3,2-c]quinoline derivative 1, a weak inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) with predicted ability to bind to the AChE peripheral anionic site (PAS), at the entrance of the catalytic gorge. Fourteen novel benzonaphthyridines have been synthesized through synthetic sequences involving as the key step a multicomponent Povarov reaction between an aldehyde, an aniline and an enamine or an enamide as the activated alkene. The novel compounds have been tested against Electrophorus electricus AChE (EeAChE), human recombinant AChE (hAChE), and human serum butyrylcholinesterase (hBChE), and their brain penetration has been assessed using the PAMPA-BBB assay. Also, the mechanism of AChE inhibition of the most potent compounds has been thoroughly studied by kinetic studies, a propidium displacement assay, and molecular modelling. We have found that a seemingly small structural change such as a double O → NH bioisosteric replacement from the hit 1 to 16a results in a dramatic increase of EeAChE and hAChE inhibitory activities (>217- and >154-fold, respectively), and in a notable increase in hBChE inhibitory activity (> 11-fold), as well. An optimized binding at the PAS besides additional interactions with AChE midgorge residues seem to account for the high hAChE inhibitory potency of 16a (IC50 = 65 nM), which emerges as an interesting anti-Alzheimer lead compound with potent dual AChE and BChE inhibitory activities.

1,2,3,4-Tetrahydrobenzo[h][1,6]naphthyridines as a new family of potent peripheral-to-midgorge-site inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase: synthesis, pharmacological evaluation and mechanistic studies

A series of 1,2,3,4-tetrahydrobenzo[h][1,6]naphthyridines differently substituted at positions 1, 5, and 9 have been designed from the pyrano[3,2-c]quinoline derivative 1, a weak inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) with predicted ability to bind to the AChE peripheral anionic site (PAS), at the entrance of the catalytic gorge. Fourteen novel benzonaphthyridines have been synthesized through synthetic sequences involving as the key step a multicomponent Povarov reaction between an aldehyde, an aniline and an enamine or an enamide as the activated alkene. The novel compounds have been tested against Electrophorus electricus AChE (EeAChE), human recombinant AChE (hAChE), and human serum butyrylcholinesterase (hBChE), and their brain penetration has been assessed using the PAMPA-BBB assay. Also, the mechanism of AChE inhibition of the most potent compounds has been thoroughly studied by kinetic studies, a propidium displacement assay, and molecular modelling. We have found that a seemingly small structural change such as a double O → NH bioisosteric replacement from the hit 1 to 16a results in a dramatic increase of EeAChE and hAChE inhibitory activities (>217- and >154-fold, respectively), and in a notable increase in hBChE inhibitory activity (> 11-fold), as well. An optimized binding at the PAS besides additional interactions with AChE midgorge residues seem to account for the high hAChE inhibitory potency of 16a (IC50 = 65 nM), which emerges as an interesting anti-Alzheimer lead compound with potent dual AChE and BChE inhibitory activities.

Size distribution of atmospheric particulate ionic species at a coastal site in Portugal

A Berner impactor was used to collect size-differentiated aerosol samples from March to August 2003 in the city of Aveiro, on the Portuguese west coast. The samples were analysed for the main water-soluble ion species. The average concentration of sulphate, nitrate, chloride and ammonium was 6.38, 3.09, 1.67 and 1.27 µg m-3, respectively. The results show that SO4(2-) and NH4+ were consistently present in the fine fraction < 1 µm, which represents, on average, 72 and 89% of their total atmospheric concentrations, respectively. The NO3-particles were concentrated in the coarse size. Chloride presented the characteristic coarse mode for marine aerosols. During some spring/summer events, an ammonium surplus was observed (NH4+/SO4(2-) molar ratios > 2), possibly due to greater availability of ammonia coming from agricultural activities or from the neighbouring chemical industrial complex. During the remaining periods, the aerosol was found to be somewhat acidic and predominantly in the form of ammonium bisulphate (NH4+/SO4(2-) molar ratios = 0.5-1.25). Samples collected under a major or exclusive influence of maritime air masses were essentially constituted by coarse particles with enrichment in sea salt, while for air masses of continental origin the contribution of water-soluble ionic species in the fine mode was more pronounced.

Un estudio transversal sobre la percepción de la vitalidad etnolingüística en jóvenes y adultos de Catalunya = A cross-sectional study on ethnolinguistic vitality perception in young and adulthood people from Catalonia

El estudio utiliza un diseño transversal en el campo de la percepción de la vitalidad etnolingüística. Es el primero que compara la percepción de la vitalidad etnolingüística, así como los factores asociados, entre adultos jóvenes y adultos, en relación con los grupos castellanohablantes y catalanohablantes de la Comunidad Autónoma de Cataluña. Para ello, se aplicó el 'Cuestionario de vitalidad etnolingüística subjetiva' (CVS) a una muestra de 527 participantes, 268 jóvenes y 259 adultos, de los cuales se seleccionó una submuestra de individuos que tenían el catalán como lengua materna y se identificaban como catalanes (n=301). En ambas muestras se aduce una tendencia a descriminar favorablemente la vitalidad percibida por el grupo catalán, aspecto que se acentúa significativa en el grupo de jóvenes estudiados en relación al grupo de edad de los adultos. Se discuten los resultados según las repercusiones teóricas y pragmáticas de los estudios realizados en el ámbito de la comunicación intergrupal

Alargamento da distribuição de massa molar de polímeros sintetizados com catalisadores metalocênicos dual-site

The main topics related to the use of dual-site catalysts in the production of polymers with broad molecular weight distribution are reviewed. The polymerization using dual-site catalysts is more economical and allows to produce a higher quality product than other processes, such as polymer blend and multistage reactors. However, the formulation of these catalysts is quite complicated since the same catalyst must produce distinct polymer grades. In addition, the release of patents concerning the combination of metallocenes and new technologies for polymerization shows that polymerization processes using dual-site catalysts are of current industrial interest.

El plan de lengua y cohesión social en Catañunya: primeros datos de una investigación = Language and Social Cohesion Plan in Catalonia: Initial research data

Los programas de inmersión lingüística han constituido y constituyen dentro del Sistema Educativo catalánla principal forma para que el alumnado de lengua familiar no-catalana aprenda una nueva lengua, el catalán,sin que, en su proceso de aprendizaje, vea mermado ni el desarrollo de su propia lengua ni su rendimientoacadémico. El éxito de la inmersión lingüística en las décadas anteriores ha sido frecuentemente utilizado comouno de los argumentos orientativos para justificar la política lingüística que se sigue en la escolarización de lainfancia extranjera. Sin embargo, los resultados obtenidos por investigaciones recientes parece que no avalanempíricamente dicho argumento. Este artículo analiza dichos resultados y expone, a partir del Plan para laLengua y Cohesión Social puesto en marcha por el Departamento de Educación de la Generalitat de Cataluña,cuáles son los retos que se presentan a su Sistema Educativo dentro del nuevo marco que supone el aumento de ladiversidad cultural y lingüística en la actual sociedad catalana

Implementing a Cancer Fast-track programme between primary and specialised care in Catalonia(Spain): amixed methods study

BACKGROUND: The Cancer Fast-track Programme's aim was to reduce the time that elapsed between well-founded suspicion of breast, colorectal and lung cancer and the start of initial treatment in Catalonia (Spain). We sought to analyse its implementation and overall effectiveness. METHODS: A quantitative analysis of the programme was performed using data generated by the hospitals on the basis of seven fast-track monitoring indicators for the period 2006-2009. In addition, we conducted a qualitative study, based on 83 semistructured interviews with primary and specialised health professionals and health administrators, to obtain their perception of the programme's implementation. RESULTS: About half of all new patients with breast, lung or colorectal cancer were diagnosed via the fast track, though the cancer detection rate declined across the period. Mean time from detection of suspected cancer in primary care to start of initial treatment was 32 days for breast, 30 for colorectal and 37 for lung cancer (2009). Professionals associated with the implementation of the programme showed that general practitioners faced with suspicion of cancer had changed their conduct with the aim of preventing lags. Furthermore, hospitals were found to have pursued three specific implementation strategies (top-down, consensus-based and participatory), which made for the cohesion and sustainability of the circuits. CONCLUSION: The programme has contributed to speeding up diagnostic assessment and treatment of patients with suspicion of cancer, and to clarifying the patient pathway between primary and specialised care.

Estimation of lung cancer diagnosis and treatment costs based on a patient-level analysis in Catalonia (Spain)

Background: Assessing of the costs of treating disease is necessary to demonstrate cost-effectiveness and to estimate the budget impact of new interventions and therapeutic innovations. However, there are few comprehensive studies on resource use and costs associated with lung cancer patients in clinical practice in Spain or internationally. The aim of this paper was to assess the hospital cost associated with lung cancer diagnosis and treatment by histology, type of cost and stage at diagnosis in the Spanish National Health Service. Methods: A retrospective, descriptive analysis on resource use and a direct medical cost analysis were performed. Resource utilisation data were collected by means of patient files from nine teaching hospitals. From a hospital budget impact perspective, the aggregate and mean costs per patient were calculated over the first three years following diagnosis or up to death. Both aggregate and mean costs per patient were analysed by histology, stage at diagnosis and cost type. Results: A total of 232 cases of lung cancer were analysed, of which 74.1% corresponded to non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and 11.2% to small cell lung cancer (SCLC); 14.7% had no cytohistologic confirmation. The mean cost per patient in NSCLC ranged from 13,218 Euros in Stage III to 16,120 Euros in Stage II. The main cost components were chemotherapy (29.5%) and surgery (22.8%). Advanced disease stages were associated with a decrease in the relative weight of surgical and inpatient care costs but an increase in chemotherapy costs. In SCLC patients, the mean cost per patient was 15,418 Euros for limited disease and 12,482 Euros for extensive disease. The main cost components were chemotherapy (36.1%) and other inpatient costs (28.7%). In both groups, the Kruskall-Wallis test did not show statistically significant differences in mean cost per patient between stages. Conclusions: This study provides the costs of lung cancer treatment based on patient file reviews, with chemotherapy and surgery accounting for the major components of costs. This cost analysis is a baseline study that will provide a useful source of information for future studies on cost-effectiveness and on the budget impact of different therapeutic innovations in Spain.