Toward reliable hybrid WDM/TDM passive optical networks

Individual users and enterprises are increasingly relying on the access to internet services and cannot accept long interruption time as easily as before. Moreover, the main characteristics of next generation optical access (NGOA) networks, such as long reach and a large number of users per feeder line, turn the network reliability to an important design parameter to offer uninterrupted service delivery. In this regard, protection mechanisms become one of the crucial aspects that need to be considered in the design process of access networks. On the other hand, it should be noted that not all users can afford to pay a high extra cost for protection; hence, it is important to provide resilience in a cost-efficient way. A PON combining WDM and TDM technologies, referred to as hybrid WDM/TDM PON or HPON, is one of the most promising candidates for NGOA networks due to its ability to serve a large number of subscribers and offer high capacity per user. For these reasons, in this article, we propose HPON architecture offering different degrees of resilience depending on the user profiles (i.e., partial and full protection for residential and business access, respectively). Also, the investment cost of providing resilience for the proposed schemes is investigated considering various protection upgrade road maps. Our results confirm that protecting the shared part of network with a large number of users is required in order to keep the failure impact at an acceptable level, with less than 5 percent increase of investment cost compared to the unprotected case. Meanwhile, the proposed end-to-end protection for business users considerably reduces the risk of service interruption for this type of demanding user without a need to duplicate the deployment cost of an unprotected connection. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis is performed to investigate the impact of changes in business user percentage and protection upgrade time on the deployment cost. The results may be used as advice on cost-efficient deployment of reliable fiber access networks

Metabolomic Heterogeneity of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

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La información escrita del farmacéutico mejora el cumplimiento de la antibioterapia

Non-compliance with therapeutic guidelines represents a potential public health risk, given that it contributes to bacterialresistance. One of the strategies used to improve compliance to such guidelines is to provide the patient with betterinformation in written form. The objectives of the present investigation were the following; To evaluate the influencethat written information, provided by the community pharmacist, has on compliance with antibiotic therapy, to verify theconsequences of degree of compliance on patient health, and to discover other factors influencing patient compliance.The experimental study was carried on patients that attend a community pharmacy for antibiotic prescriptions. Membersof the control group were given information in verbal form only, while members of the experimental group were giventhe same information in both verbal and written form. The degree of compliance was determined through telephoneinterviews, carried out the day after having finished treatment. 214 patients completed the study. A 14% increase incompliance among members of the experimental group was achieved. Patients that had completed treatment, had a betterperception of their own health than those that had not. Another factor found to have a significant influence oncompliance was the number of daily dosages.In conclusion, the written information provided by the pharmacist improves therapeutic compliance. Therapeutic complianceimproves patients’ perception of their state of health. The number of daily dosages also have an influence to bear, butcontradict appropriate antibiotic administration policies.El incumplimiento terapéutico es un riesgo potencial para la salud pública al contribuir al incremento de lasresistencias bacterianas. Una de las estrategias utilizadas para mejorar el cumplimiento terapéutico es el de mejorarla información del paciente mediante información escrita. Los objetivos fueron evaluar la influencia de la informaciónescrita del farmacéutico comunitario sobre el cumplimiento antibiótico, verificar sus consecuencias sobre lasalud y descubrir otros factores que influyan en el cumplimiento. Se trata de un estudio experimental en pacientesque acuden a una farmacia comunitaria con una prescripción antibiótica. Al grupo control se le da informaciónverbal sobre su tratamiento, y al grupo de intervención la misma información, pero también por escrito. Se mideel cumplimiento mediante encuesta telefónica al día siguiente de haber tenido que finalizar el tratamiento. 214pacientes finalizaron el estudio. Los pacientes del grupo de intervención incrementaron el cumplimiento terapéuticoen un 14,2%. Los pacientes que cumplen el tratamiento tienen una mejor percepción de salud respecto de losincumplidores. Otro factor que influye significativamente en el cumplimiento es la pauta posológica diaria. Estetrabajo concluye que la información escrita del farmacéutico mejora el cumplimiento terapéutico. El cumplimientoterapéutico mejora la percepción de salud de los pacientes

The effect of written information provided by pharmacists on compliance with antibiotherapy

El incumplimiento terapéutico es un riesgo potencial para la salud pública al contribuir al incremento de las resistencias bacterianas. Una de las estrategias utilizadas para mejorar el cumplimiento terapéutico es el de mejorar la información del paciente mediante información escrita. Los objetivos fueron evaluar la influencia de la información escrita del farmacéutico comunitario sobre el cumplimiento antibiótico, verificar sus consecuencias sobre la salud y descubrir otros factores que influyan en el cumplimiento. Se trata de un estudio experimental en pacientes que acuden a una farmacia comunitaria con una prescripción antibiótica. Al grupo control se le da información verbal sobre su tratamiento, y al grupo de intervención la misma información, pero también por escrito. Se mide el cumplimiento mediante encuesta telefónica al día siguiente de haber tenido que finalizar el tratamiento. 214 pacientes finalizaron el estudio. Los pacientes del grupo de intervención incrementaron el cumplimiento terapéutico en un 14,2%. Los pacientes que cumplen el tratamiento tienen una mejor percepción de salud respecto de los incumplidores. Otro factor que influye significativamente en el cumplimiento es la pauta posológica diaria. Este trabajo concluye que la información escrita del farmacéutico mejora el cumplimiento terapéutico. El cumplimiento terapéutico mejora la percepción de salud de los pacientes.Non-compliance with therapeutic guidelines represents a potential public health risk, given that it contributes to bacterial resistance. One of the strategies used to improve compliance to such guidelines is to provide the patient with better information in written form. The objectives of the present investigation were the following; To evaluate the influence that written information, provided by the community pharmacist, has on compliance with antibiotic therapy, to verify the consequences of degree of compliance on patient health, and to discover other factors influencing patient compliance. The experimental study was carried on patients that attend a community pharmacy for antibiotic prescriptions. Members of the control group were given information in verbal form only, while members of the experimental group were given the same information in both verbal and written form. The degree of compliance was determined through telephone interviews, carried out the day after having finished treatment. 214 patients completed the study. A 14% increase in compliance among members of the experimental group was achieved. Patients that had completed treatment, had a better perception of their own health than those that had not. Another factor found to have a significant influence on compliance was the number of daily dosages. In conclusion, the written information provided by the pharmacist improves therapeutic compliance. Therapeutic compliance improves patients’ perception of their state of health. The number of daily dosages also have an influence to bear, but contradict appropriate antibiotic administration policies

Toward a Fundamental Understanding of Geological Hydrogen Storage

Geological H2 storage plays a central role to enable the successful transition to the renewable H2 economy and achieve net-zero emission in the atmosphere. Depleted oil and gas reservoirs are already explored with extensive reservoir and operational data. However, residual hydrocarbons can mix with injected H2 in the reservoirs. Furthermore, low density and high diffusivity of H2 may establish H2 leakage from the reservoirs via fault pathways. Interestingly, H2 can be consumed by microorganisms, which results in pore-network precipitation, plugging, and partial permeability impairment. Therefore, stored H2 may be lost in the formations if the storage scenario is not planned cautiously. While salt caverns are safe and commercially proven geo-rock for H2 storage, they have low-storage capacity compared to depleted gas reservoirs. Moreover, salt structures (e.g., domel, bedded) and microorganisms activities in the salt cavern are limiting factors, which can influence the storage process. Accordingly, we discuss challenges and future perspectives of hydrogen storage in different geological settings. We also highlight geographical limitations with diverse microbial communities and theoretical understanding of abiotic transformation (in terms of rock’s minerals, i.e., mica and calcite) for geological H2 storage. Regarding the fundamental behavior of H2 in the geological settings, it is less soluble in formation water; therefore, it may achieve less solubility trapping compared to CO2 and CH4. Furthermore, H2 gas could attain higher capillary entrance pressures in porous media over CH4 and CO2 due to higher interfacial tension. Additionally, the low viscosity of H2 may facilitate its injection and production but H2 may establish the secondary trapping and viscous fingering. Thus, this review documents a blend of key information for the amendment of subsurface H2 storage at the industrial scale

Integration of Transcriptomics and Metabolomics to Reveal the Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Rhodium Nanoparticles-Based Photodynamic Cancer Therapy

Rhodium nanoparticles have recently been described as promising photosensitizers due to their low toxicity in the absence of near-infrared irradiation, but their high cytotoxicity when irradiated. Irradiation is usually carried out with a laser source, which allows the treatment to be localized in a specific area, thus avoiding undesirable side effects on healthy tissues. In this study, a multi-omics approach based on the combination of microarray-based transcriptomics and mass spectrometry-based untargeted and targeted metabolomics has provided a global picture of the molecular mechanisms underlying the anti-tumoral effect of rhodium nanoparticle-based photodynamic therapy. The results have shown the ability of these nanoparticles to promote apoptosis by suppressing or promoting anti- and pro-apoptotic factors, respectively, and by affecting the energy machinery of tumor cells, mainly blocking the β-oxidation, which is reflected in the accumulation of free fatty acids and in the decrease in ATP, ADP and NAD+ levels.Depto. de Química AnalíticaFac. de Ciencias QuímicasTRUEMinisterio de Ciencia, Innovaciónpu

Pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate administered during ex-vivo lung perfusion promotes rehabilitation of injured donor rat lungs obtained after prolonged warm ischemia.

Damaged lung grafts obtained after circulatory death (DCD lungs) and warm ischemia may be at high risk of reperfusion injury after transplantation. Such lungs could be pharmacologically reconditioned using ex-vivo lung perfusion (EVLP). Since acute inflammation related to the activation of nuclear factor kappaB (NF-κB) is instrumental in lung reperfusion injury, we hypothesized that DCD lungs might be treated during EVLP by pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC), an inhibitor of NF-κB. Rat lungs exposed to 1h warm ischemia and 2 h cold ischemia were subjected to EVLP during 4h, in absence (CTRL group, N = 6) or in presence of PDTC (2.5g/L, PDTC group, N = 6). Static pulmonary compliance (SPC), peak airway pressure (PAWP), pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR), and oxygenation capacity were determined during EVLP. After EVLP, we measured the weight gain of the heart-lung block (edema), and the concentration of LDH (cell damage), proteins (permeability edema) and of the cytokines IL-6, TNF-α and CINC-1 in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), and we evaluated NF-κB activation by the degree of phosphorylation and degradation of its inhibitor IκBα in lung tissue. In CTRL, we found significant NF-κB activation, lung edema, and a massive release of LDH, proteins and cytokines. SPC significantly decreased, PAWP and PVR increased, while oxygenation tended to decrease. Treatment with PDTC during EVLP inhibited NF-κB activation, did not influence LDH release, but markedly reduced lung edema and protein concentration in BAL, suppressed TNFα and IL-6 release, and abrogated the changes in SPC, PAWP and PVR, with unchanged oxygenation. In conclusion, suppression of innate immune activation during EVLP using the NF-κB inhibitor PDTC promotes significant improvement of damaged rat DCD lungs. Future studies will determine if such rehabilitated lungs are suitable for in vivo transplantation

Degradation and lifetime prediction of plastics in subsea and offshore infrastructures

Engineering and civil developments have relied on synthetic polymers and plastics (including polyethylene, polypropylene, polyamide, etc.) for decades, especially where their durability protects engineering structures against corrosion and other environmental stimuli. Offshore oil and gas infrastructure and renewable energy platforms are typical examples, where these plastics (100, 000 s of metric tonnes worldwide) are used primarily as functional material to protect metallic flowlines and subsea equipment against seawater corrosion. Despite this, the current literature on polymers is limited to sea-surface environments, and a model for subsea degradation of plastics is needed. In this review, we collate relevant studies on the degradation of plastics and synthetic polymers in marine environments to gain insight into the fate of these materials when left in subsea conditions. We present a new mathematical model that accounts for various physicochemical changes in the oceanic environment as a function of depth to predict the lifespan of synthetic plastics and the possible formation of plastic debris, e.g., microplastics. We found that the degradation rate of the plastics decreases significantly as a function of water depth and can be estimated quantitatively by the mathematical model that accounts for the effect (and sensitivity) of geographical location, temperature, light intensity, hydrostatic pressure, and marine sediments. For instance, it takes a subsea polyethylene coating about 800 years to degrade on ocean floor (as opposed to <400 years in shallow coastal waters), generating 1000s of particles per g of degradation under certain conditions. Our results demonstrate how suspended sediments in the water column are likely to compensate for the decreasing depth-corrected degradation rates, resulting in surface abrasion and the formation of plastic debris such as microplastics. This review, and the complementing data, will be significant for the environmental impact assessment of plastics in subsea infrastructures. Moreover, as these infrastructures reach the end of their service life, the management of the plastic components becomes of great interest to environmental regulators, industry, and the community, considering the known sizeable impacts of plastics on global biogeochemical cycles

Molecular structure and developmental expression of zebrafish atp2a genes

[[abstract]]We isolated two atp2a genes, atp2a1 and atp2a2a, from embryonic zebrafish. Amino acid sequences deduced from zebrafish atp2a genes are aligned with orthologue proteins from other species, the results showed that they share high percentage of identities (82%–94%) and acidic pIs (5.03–5.33). Whole mount in situ hybridization experiments showed that atp2a1 and atp2a2a are maternal inherited genes which can be detected at 1-cell stage embryos and express in the entire animal pole from 6 hours post-fertilization (hpf) to 12 hpf. At the later stages (48–96 hpf), expression of atp2a1 was restricted in head and trunk muscles as well as in some neurons. In contrast to the strongly expression of atp2a1 in head muscle, expression of atp2a2a was detected in head muscle in a fainter manner. In addition, transcripts of atp2a2a were observed in the developing heart during early cardiogenesis. The present studies not only help us to comparatively analyze atp2a genes across species, but also provide useful information about expressions during early embryogenesis that will help in further investigations of functional studies of Atp2a in the future.[[incitationindex]]SCI[[booktype]]紙

Precarious environmental balance of high-altitude arid wetlands in Chile

La información obtenida en más de 3 décadas de trabajo en tres Humedales áridos de altura (HAA) (salar de Surire, salar de Atacama y laguna Santa Rosa) se utiliza para realizar una relación de ecología y economía. La primera entrega evidencia sobre aspectos físicos químicos, hídricos y de ciertas comunidades biológicas tales como flamencos y fitobentos, mientras que, en la segunda se explica como la explotación de los recursos naturales no renovables en el mismo territorio, determinan riesgo ambiental para estos humedales. Exploramos el funcionamiento de este sistema socio-ecológico del altiplano, con procesos de distinta índole como problemáticas, acciones socioeconómicas que impactan en el paisaje fluvial y al conjunto de hábitats integrados en los HAA son integrantes. Conocer este funcionamiento tiene por objetivo evidenciar el riesgo (por la variabilidad del territorio) en sus seres vivos, típicos de sistemas abiertos, incluyendo en ellos a los humanos. Afirmamos que los HAA son ecológicamente sistemas frágiles y abiertos a los intercambios de energía de origen antrópico, normalmente tratados como sistemas cerrados. Relacionamos la disminución del recurso hídrico como fuente de impacto cuantitativo en el sistema, utilizando bioindicadores para ello: géneros de microflora y poblaciones de flamencos (tres especies). Proponemos un modelo para los HAA, donde el biomonitoreo y la vigilancia ambiental pueden contribuir a su conservación.Information obtained in more than 3 decades of work in three arid high-altitude wetlands (HAA) (Salar de Surire, Salar de Atacama and Laguna Santa Rosa) is used to make a relationship of ecology and economy. First provides evidence on physical, chemical, water and certain biological communities such as flamingos and phytobenthos, second explains how exploitation of non-renewable natural resources in same territory determines environmental risk for these wetlands. We explore the functioning of this socio-ecological system of the highlands, with processes of different kinds such as problems, socio-economic actions that impact the river landscape and the set of habitats integrated in the HAA are integral. Through this, we propose a way to considerate enviromental risk (due to the variability of the territory) in their living beings, typical of open systems, including humans, since HAA are ecologically fragile systems, open to energy exchanges normally treated as closed systems. Water decrease is our key issue on resources as a source of quantitative impact on the system, using bioindicators for this: microflora genera and flamingo populations (three species). We propose a model for HAA, where biomonitoring and environmental surveillance can contribute to their conservation