Teleasistencia publica en España: consideraciones de sus efectos en los servicios sociales y sanitarios

L’article analitza un servei destinat a l’assistència domiciliària a la gent gran implementat a Espanya al llarg de la dècada dels noranta: la teleassistència. L’objectiu és esmentar alguns efectes de la seva oferta pública sobre els serveis socials i sanitaris, tot cridant l’atenció a formuladors de polítiques i gestors sobre aspectes clau pel que fa a l’organització d’aquests serveis a la cartera de prestacions sociosanitàries. Per tal de perfeccionar l’actual model de telecura i identificar possibles conseqüències no previstes en els sistemes social i sanitari, se suggereix l’ampliació del debat públic i l’adopció de models participatius d’avaluació d’aquestes tecnologies.The article analyzes the home health assistance for the elderly implemented in Spain during the 1990s: the virtual home health assistance. The aim is to state its impact on the social and health service public offer, underlining key aspects to policy makers and managers about the organization of those services in social and health benefits. In order to improve the existing virtual home health assistance and being able to identify unexpected impact in the social and health system, we recommend developing public debate and to implement participatory models for the evaluation of those technologies.El artículo analiza un servicio destinado a la asistencia domiciliaria a la gente mayor implementado en España a lo largo de la década de los noventa: la teleasistencia. El objetivo es hacer constar algunos efectos de su oferta pública sobre los servicios sociales y sani tarios, llamando la atención a formuladores de políticas y gestores sobre aspectos clave respecto a la organización de esos servicios en la cartera de prestaciones sociosanitarias. Para perfeccionar el actual modelo de telecuidado e identificar posibles consecuencias no previstas en los sistemas social y sanitario, se sugiere la ampliación del debate público y la adopción de modelos participativos de evaluación de esas tecnología

Anharmonic phonon decay in cubic GaN

We present a Raman scattering study of optical phonons in zincblende (cubic) GaN for temperatures ranging from 80 to 750 K. The experiments were performed on high quality, cubic GaN films grown by molecular beamepitaxy on GaAs (001) substrates. The observed temperature dependence of the optical phonon frequencies and linewidths is analyzed in the framework of anharmonic decay theory, and possible decay channels are discussed in the light of density-functional theory calculations. The LO mode relaxation is found to occur via asymmetric decay into acoustic phonons, with an appreciable contribution of higher order processes. The TO mode linewidth shows a weak temperature dependence and its frequency downshift is primarily determined by the lattice thermal expansion. The LO phonon lifetime is derived from the observed Raman linewidth and an excellent agreement with previous theoretical predictions is foun

Distribution of monocarboxylate transporters in the peripheral nervous system suggests putative roles in lactate shuttling and myelination.

Lactate, a product of glycolysis, has been shown to play a key role in the metabolic support of neurons/axons in the CNS by both astrocytes and oligodendrocytes through monocarboxylate transporters (MCTs). Despite such importance in the CNS, little is known about MCT expression and lactate function in the PNS. Here we show that mouse MCT1, MCT2, and MCT4 are expressed in the PNS. While DRG neurons express MCT1, myelinating Schwann cells (SCs) coexpress MCT1 and MCT4 in a domain-specific fashion, mainly in regions of noncompact myelin. Interestingly, SC-specific downregulation of MCT1 expression in rat neuron/SC cocultures led to increased myelination, while its downregulation in neurons resulted in a decreased amount of neurofilament. Finally, pure rat SCs grown in the presence of lactate exhibited an increase in the level of expression of the main myelin regulator gene Krox20/Egr2 and the myelin gene P0. These data indicate that lactate homeostasis participates in the regulation of the SC myelination program and reveal that similar to CNS, PNS axon-glial metabolic interactions are most likely mediated by MCTs

Cancellariidae Gray, 1853 del Plioceno de la provincia de Málaga, España

Se ha realizado un estudio sistemático de la familia Cancellariidae Gray, 1853 del Plioceno de la provincia de Málaga con el objeto de catalogar la malacofauna perteneciente a dicha familia y la consecuente revisión de las categorías taxonómicas supraespecíficas. Se citan 12 especies: una perteneciente a la subfamilia Admetulinae Troschel, 1869: Admetula sp., y 11 pertenecientes a la subfamilia Cancellariinae Gray, 1853: Cancellaria (Bivetiella) cancellata (Linné, 1766); Sveltia lyrata (Brocchi, 1814); Sveltia varricosa (Brocchi, 1814); Calcarata calcarata (Brocchi, 1814); Trigonostoma (Trigonostoma) umbilicaris (Brocchi, 1814); Trigonostoma (Trigonostoma) bellardii (De Stefani & Pantanelli, 1880); Trigonostoma (Ventrilia) cassidea (Brocchi, 1814); Tribia tribulus (Brocchi, 1814); Bonellitia serrata (Bronn, 1831); Bonellitia bonellii (Bellardi, 1841) y Brocchinia mitraeformis (Brocchi, 1814). Palabras clave: Cancellariidae, Gastropoda, Mollusca, Plioceno, Málaga, España

Emergent Gauge Fields in Holographic Superconductors

Holographic superconductors have been studied so far in the absence of dynamical electromagnetic fields, namely in the limit in which they coincide with holographic superfluids. It is possible, however, to introduce dynamical gauge fields if a Neumann-type boundary condition is imposed on the AdS-boundary. In 3+1 dimensions, the dual theory is a 2+1 dimensional CFT whose spectrum contains a massless gauge field, signaling the emergence of a gauge symmetry. We study the impact of a dynamical gauge field in vortex configurations where it is known to significantly affect the energetics and phase transitions. We calculate the critical magnetic fields H_c1 and H_c2, obtaining that holographic superconductors are of Type II (H_c1 < H_c2). We extend the study to 4+1 dimensions where the gauge field does not appear as an emergent phenomena, but can be introduced, by a proper renormalization, as an external dynamical field. We also compare our predictions with those arising from a Ginzburg-Landau theory and identify the generic properties of Abrikosov vortices in holographic models.Comment: 19 pages, 14 figures, few comments added, version published in JHE

Overconfidence, incentives and digit ratio

This paper contributes to a better understanding of the biological underpinnings of overconfidence by analyzing performance predictions in the Cognitive Reflection Test with and without monetary incentives. In line with the existing literature we find that the participants are too optimistic about their performance on average; incentives lead to higher performance; and males score higher than females on this particular task. The novelty of this paper is an analysis of the relation between participants’ performance prediction accuracy and their second to fourth digit ratio. It has been reported that the digit ratio is a negatively correlated bio-marker of prenatal testosterone exposure. In the un-incentivized treatment, we find that males with low digit ratios, on average, are significantly more overconfident about their performance. In the incentivized treatment, however, we observe that males with low digit ratios, on average, are less overconfident about their performance. These effects are not observed in females. We discuss how these findings fit into the literature on testosterone and decision making and how they might help to explain seemingly opposing evidence

Assessment of the evolution of the redox conditions in a low and intermediate level nuclear waste repository (SFR1, Sweden)

The evaluation of the redox conditions in an intermediate and low level radioactive waste repository such as SFR1 (Sweden) is of high relevance in the assessment of its future performance. The SFR1 repository contains heterogeneous types of wastes, of different activity levels and with very different materials, both in the waste itself and as immobilisation matrices and packaging. The level of complexity also applies to the different reactivity of the materials, so that an assessment of the uncertainties in the study of how the redox conditions would evolve must consider different processes, materials and parameters. This paper provides an assessment of the evolution of the redox conditions in the SFR1. The approach followed is based on the evaluation of the evolution of the redox conditions and the reducing capacity in 15 individual waste package types, selected as being representative of most of the different waste package types present or planned to be deposited in the SFR1. The model considers different geochemical processes of redox relevance in the system. The assessment of the redox evolution of the different vaults of the repository is obtained by combining the results of the modelled individual waste package types. According to the model results, corrosion of the steel-based material present in the repository keeps the system under reducing conditions for long time periods. The simulations have considered both the presence and the absence of microbial activity. In the initial step after the repository closure, the microbial mediated oxidation of organic matter rapidly causes the depletion of oxygen in the system. The system is afterwards kept under reducing conditions, and hydrogen is generated due to the anoxic corrosion of steel. The times for exhaustion of the steel contained in the vaults vary from 5 ky to more than 60 ky in the different vaults, depending on the amount and the surface area of steel. After the complete corrosion of steel, the system still keeps a high reducing capacity, due to the magnetite formed as steel corrosion product. The redox potential in the vaults is calculated to evolve from oxidising at very short times, due the initial oxygen content, to very reducing at times shorter than 5 years after repository closure. The redox potential imposed by the anoxic corrosion of steel and hydrogen production is on the order of -0.75 V at pH 12.5. In case of assuming that the system responds to the Fe(III)/Magnetite system, and considering the uncertainty in the pH due to the degradation of the concrete barriers, the redox potential would be in the range -0.7 to -0.01V. A Monte-Carlo probabilistic analysis on the rate of corrosion of steel shows that the reducing capacity of the system provided by magnetite is not exhausted at the end of the assessment period, even assuming the highest corrosion rates for steel. Simulations assuming presence of oxic water due to glacial melting, intruding the system 60 ky after repository closure, indicate that magnetite is progressively oxidised, forming Fe(III) oxides. The time at which magnetite is completely oxidised varies depending on the amount of steel initially present in the waste package. The behaviour of Np, Pu, Tc and Se under the conditions foreseen for this repository is discussed