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•A composite material with fly ash, alkali, sol-gel solution and heat treated was prepared.•A cellular cement-like light material was obtained.•Sol-gel solution had waterglass plus ...silica nanoparticles to be geopolymerized with fly ash.•Cenospheres were dissolved with an alkali and the resulting material used as pozzolan material.•This light-concrete type material did not included cement.
The rise of sustainability marks a trend towards the formulation of alternative materials that allow the production of eco-friendly cementitious mixtures, thus preserving natural resources. Therefore, this work proposes the elaboration of composite materials based on fly ash with cementitious characteristics when using an alkaline sol-gel solution in a process with thermal treatment. The sol-gel solution was distinctive to be composed of sodium silicate in water or waterglass and a component of silica nanoparticles. The dissolution reaction that sodium hydroxide or some other, effects on the thermally treated fly ash generates a composite material characterized by a great porosity at the same time of cohesion in its structure that gives it rigidity. The materials obtained were characterized by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy (LSCM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and mechanical compression resistance tests. The results of the tests of resistance and the elaborated analyzes reflect that it is possible to form a light material with the properties similar to those of the ordinary Portland cement.
Mutations in TANK binding kinase 1 (TBK1) have been linked to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Some TBK1 variants are nonsense and are predicted to cause disease through haploinsufficiency; however, ...many other mutations are missense with unknown functional effects. We exome sequenced 699 familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients and identified 16 TBK1 novel or extremely rare protein-changing variants. We characterized a subset of these: p.G217R, p.R357X, and p.C471Y. Here, we show that the p.R357X and p.G217R both abolish the ability of TBK1 to phosphorylate 2 of its kinase targets, IRF3 and optineurin, and to undergo phosphorylation. They both inhibit binding to optineurin and the p.G217R, within the TBK1 kinase domain, reduces homodimerization, essential for TBK1 activation and function. Finally, we show that the proportion of TBK1 that is active (phosphorylated) is reduced in 5 lymphoblastoid cell lines derived from patients harboring heterozygous missense or in-frame deletion TBK1 mutations. We conclude that missense mutations in functional domains of TBK1 impair the binding and phosphorylation of its normal targets, implicating a common loss of function mechanism, analogous to truncation mutations.
The present work aims to propose a methodology for quantifying the sources of acid mine drainage (AMD) and to characterize the magnitude of the affected areas in the Iberian Pyrite Belt (SW Spain). ...Such an approach allows the creation of a support tool for managing land and natural resources valorization, which may be easily applied in similar mining regions. The motivation and usefulness of this work can be realized by focusing on two main emerging strategic issues: (1) water resources management, with the example of Alcolea dam that will receive water from affected areas in the Iberian Pyrite Belt; and (2) mineral resources valorization, especially, regarding copper exploration due to increasing market prices. The used methodology included the following general steps: it started with an inventory of the mines in the Iberian Pyrite Belt, followed by field cartography campaigns and finally the quantification of affected areas and contaminant discharges. The results of the present work serve to confirm and quantify the magnitude of the AMD pollution in the Pyrite Belt. A total affected area of about 4,847 ha was estimated. Taking into account this figure and combining it with the annual average precipitation (650 L/m²) results in an estimation of 31,503,680 m³/year of discharging water affected by the presence of sulphides. In this scenario, a total annual contribution of 260,056 tonnes/year was obtained for sulphates, which means more than 712 tonnes a day. In the case of arsenic, a toxic element, the total annual contribution is more than 20 tonnes, or close to 55 kg/day. Regarding copper, this economically interesting metal translates into total contributions of 10,364 tonnes/year in the generating medium. This gave more than 28 tonnes/day, which today sits at 8,200 dollars/tonne. This result suggests that solutions aimed at recovering this resource should be searched. It may represent a financial return at the same time that it would mean overcome environmental liabilities.
Hand-drawn gray matter regions of interest (ROI) are often used to guide the estimation of white matter tractography, obtained from diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI), in healthy and ...in patient populations. However, such ROIs are vulnerable to rater bias of the individual segmenting the ROIs, scan variability, and individual differences in neuroanatomy. In this report, a “majority rule” approach is introduced for ROI segmentation used to guide streamline tractography in white matter structures. DWI of one healthy participant was acquired in ten separate sessions using a 3 T scanner over the course of a month. Four raters identified ROIs within the left hemisphere Cerebral Peduncle (CPED); Internal Capsule (IC); Hand Portion of the Motor Cortex, or Hand Bump, (HB) using a group-established standard operating procedure for ROI definition to guide the estimation of streamline tracts within the corticospinal tract (CST). Each rater traced the ROIs twice for each scan session. The overlap of each rater’s two ROIs was used to define a representative ROI for each rater. These ROIs were combined to create a “majority rules” ROI, in which the rule requires that each voxel is selected by at least three of four raters. Reproducibility for ROIs and CST segmentations were analyzed with the Dice Similarity Coefficient (DSC). Intra-rater reliability for each ROI was high (DSCs ≥ 0.83). Inter-rater reliability was moderate to adequate (DSC range 0.54–0.75; lowest for IC). Using intersected majority rules ROIs, the resulting CST showed improved overlap (DSC = 0.82) in the estimated streamline tracks for the ten sessions. Despite high intra-rater reliability, there was lower inter-rater reliability consistent with the expectation of rater bias. Employing the majority rules method improved reliability in the overlap of the CST.
Invasive meningococcal disease remains a rare infectious disease not only with high mortality but also with important morbidity. Until recently no universal vaccine existed against serogroup B, which ...explains most of the cases in settings like Europe. The objective of this study was to analyze the clinical course and sequelae of meningococcal disease in Spain.
Retrospective review of all children younger than 15 years admitted to any of the 36 hospitals in the MENDICOS Spanish network (www.mendicos.org) with confirmed or probable invasive meningococcal disease in children between January 2008 and December 2013.
A total of 458 cases were identified across the country, most of them occurring in previously healthy children (91.5%; n = 419/458). Median (interquartile range) age was 1.7 (0.7 and 4.6) years, with 53.1% of the cases occurring in children younger than 2 years; 82.1% (n = 368) were laboratory confirmed cases; 95.2% (n = 256) of those serogrouped were serogroup B. The diagnosis was meningitis in 24.9% (n = 114) of the cases, sepsis in 37.1% (n = 170) and both in 38.0% (n = 174). Mean hospital length of stay was 11.6 (10.9) days; 79.2% (n = 354) of the patients required pediatric intensive care unit admission, with a mean pediatric intensive care unit stay of 3.9 (4.9) days; 3.5% (n = 16) died; 12.9% (n = 59) of the survivors were discharged with some kind of physical sequelae, mainly neurological (n = 23).
Serogroup B invasive meningococcal infection explains substantial morbidity and mortality in Spain, occurring mainly in infants. The recent availability of a vaccine against serogroup B may change this scenario. Given that the vast majority of the cases occur in otherwise healthy children, inclusion of the meningococcal B vaccine in the national immunization program should be carefully considered.
In certain applications copolymer P123 (E21P67E21) is dissolved in water−ethanol mixtures, initially to form micellar solutions and eventually to gel. For P123 in 10, 20, and 30 wt % aqueous ethanol ...we used dynamic light scattering from dilute solutions to confirm micellization, oscillatory rheometry, and visual observation of mobility (tube inversion) to determine gel formation in concentrated solutions and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) to determine gel structure. Except for solutions in 30 wt % aqueous ethanol, a clear−turbid transition was encountered on heating dilute and concentrated micellar solutions alike, and as for solutions in water alone (Chaibundit et al. Langmuir 2007, 23, 9229) this could be ascribed to formation of wormlike micelles. Dense clouding, typical of phase separation, was observed at higher temperatures. Regions of isotropic and birefringent gel were defined for concentrated solutions and shown (by SAXS) to have cubic (fcc and hcp) and hexagonal structures, consistent with packed spherical and elongated micelles, respectively. The cubic gels (0, 10, and 20 wt % ethanol) were clear, while the hex gels were either turbid (0 and 10 wt % ethanol), turbid enclosing a clear region (20 wt % ethanol), or entirely clear (30 wt % ethanol). The SAXS profile was unchanged between turbid and clear regions of the 20 wt % ethanol gel. Temperature scans of dynamic moduli showed (as expected) a clear distinction between high-modulus cubic gels (G′ max ≈ 20−30 kPa) and lower modulus hex gels (G′ max < 10 kPa).
Retrospective cohort study.
To assess the rate, injury site, aetiology and outcomes in elective spinal surgery patients who sustained a spinal cord injury (SCI).
SCI national centre Toledo, Spain.
...The study sample included patients who sustained an SCI after elective spinal surgery from 2013 to 2017. Oncological patients and patients receiving interventional therapies were excluded. Data collected included: demographics, aetiology, precipitating cause, injury mechanism, injury site, neurological status (AIS), SCIMIII at admission and discharge, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, obesity, dyslipidemia, depression and hospital length of stay.
One thousand two hundred and eighty-two patients were admitted in this period of whom 114 met the inclusion criteria with a median (IQR) age of 58 (45-69) years; 46% female. The prevalence of SCI as a complication following spinal surgery in the total number of patients admitted to our centre was 9%. In 43%, the injury was to the dorsal spine with T12 being the most common neurological level of injury (20% of cases following laminectomy secondary to spinal canal stenosis). The most frequent precipitating cause was epidural haematoma (38% of cases). The median (IQR) SCIMIII scores at admission and discharge were (31) points (20-54) and (67) points (34-81), respectively. General AIS at admission were C (35%) and D at discharge (54%). The presence of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, obesity and dyslipidemia adjusted by age was not linked to a higher complication rate. The median (IQR) hospital length of stay was 120 days (60-189).
In total 8.9% of patients admitted with SCI were the result of elective spinal surgery.
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