Showing papers by "University of Oviedo published in 2007"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a detailed analysis of the performance of the Large Hadron Collider (CMS) at 14 TeV and compare it with the state-of-the-art analytical tools.
Abstract: CMS is a general purpose experiment, designed to study the physics of pp collisions at 14 TeV at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). It currently involves more than 2000 physicists from more than 150 institutes and 37 countries. The LHC will provide extraordinary opportunities for particle physics based on its unprecedented collision energy and luminosity when it begins operation in 2007. The principal aim of this report is to present the strategy of CMS to explore the rich physics programme offered by the LHC. This volume demonstrates the physics capability of the CMS experiment. The prime goals of CMS are to explore physics at the TeV scale and to study the mechanism of electroweak symmetry breaking--through the discovery of the Higgs particle or otherwise. To carry out this task, CMS must be prepared to search for new particles, such as the Higgs boson or supersymmetric partners of the Standard Model particles, from the start-up of the LHC since new physics at the TeV scale may manifest itself with modest data samples of the order of a few fb−1 or less. The analysis tools that have been developed are applied to study in great detail and with all the methodology of performing an analysis on CMS data specific benchmark processes upon which to gauge the performance of CMS. These processes cover several Higgs boson decay channels, the production and decay of new particles such as Z' and supersymmetric particles, Bs production and processes in heavy ion collisions. The simulation of these benchmark processes includes subtle effects such as possible detector miscalibration and misalignment. Besides these benchmark processes, the physics reach of CMS is studied for a large number of signatures arising in the Standard Model and also in theories beyond the Standard Model for integrated luminosities ranging from 1 fb−1 to 30 fb−1. The Standard Model processes include QCD, B-physics, diffraction, detailed studies of the top quark properties, and electroweak physics topics such as the W and Z0 boson properties. The production and decay of the Higgs particle is studied for many observable decays, and the precision with which the Higgs boson properties can be derived is determined. About ten different supersymmetry benchmark points are analysed using full simulation. The CMS discovery reach is evaluated in the SUSY parameter space covering a large variety of decay signatures. Furthermore, the discovery reach for a plethora of alternative models for new physics is explored, notably extra dimensions, new vector boson high mass states, little Higgs models, technicolour and others. Methods to discriminate between models have been investigated. This report is organized as follows. Chapter 1, the Introduction, describes the context of this document. Chapters 2-6 describe examples of full analyses, with photons, electrons, muons, jets, missing ET, B-mesons and τ's, and for quarkonia in heavy ion collisions. Chapters 7-15 describe the physics reach for Standard Model processes, Higgs discovery and searches for new physics beyond the Standard Model
973 citations
TL;DR: Proteases have long been associated with cancer progression because of their ability to degrade extracellular matrices, which facilitates invasion and metastasis, but post-trial studies have also revealed proteases with tumour-suppressive effects.
Abstract: Proteases have long been associated with cancer progression because of their ability to degrade extracellular matrices, which facilitates invasion and metastasis. However, recent studies have shown that these enzymes target a diversity of substrates and favour all steps of tumour evolution. Unexpectedly, the post-trial studies have also revealed proteases with tumour-suppressive effects. These effects are associated with more than 30 different enzymes that belong to three distinct protease classes. What are the clinical implications of these findings?
758 citations
TL;DR: A fuzzy ranking method is used to rank the fuzzy objective values and to deal with the inequality relation on constraints in linear programming problems where all the coefficients are, in general, fuzzy numbers.
544 citations
TL;DR: Risks associated with the estimates of toxicity values and exposure factors should be reduced before any definite conclusions regarding potential health effects are drawn, risk assessment has proven to be a very useful tool to identify the contaminants and exposure pathways of most concern in urban environments.
519 citations
TL;DR: The Neandertals, the authors' closest extinct relatives, share with modern humans two evolutionary changes in FOXP2, a gene that has been implicated in the development of speech and language, and these changes lie on the common modern human haplotype, which previously was shown to have been subject to a selective sweep.
495 citations
TL;DR: It is proposed that Atg4C is not essential for autophagy development under normal conditions but is required for a proper autophagic response under stressful conditions such as prolonged starvation, and that this enzyme could play an in vivo role in events associated with tumor progression.
417 citations
TL;DR: A systematic approach to the analysis of agile manufacturing is adopted, considering various agility practices or enablers in an integrated way and relating them not only to environmental characteristics but also to business performance.
Abstract: – Despite the fact that agile manufacturing has been frequently promoted as a means of improving business competitiveness, little empirical evidence exists in the literature validating its positive link with business performance. The purpose of this research paper is to analyse agile manufacturing in Spain and study whether it is a critical factor for success in different industries., – A conceptual model is drawn up, based on the literature and a previous case study, to relate turbulence in the environment with agile manufacturing practices and business performance. The model is tested on a large sample of Spanish manufacturers using a survey methodology to obtain information and a structural equation model to analyse the data., – The results obtained show that, in turbulent environments, the integrated use of agile manufacturing practices promotes manufacturing competitive strength, leading to better operational, market and financial performance., – This study has two main limitations. First, it is difficult to determine the most suitable unit of analysis when studying agile manufacturing. Second, single respondent bias may be considered a limitation., – Managers should consider the integrated implementation of agile manufacturing practices in order to develop manufacturing strength and to outperform competitors in turbulent business environments., – This study adopts a systematic approach to the analysis of agile manufacturing, considering various agility practices or enablers in an integrated way and relating them not only to environmental characteristics but also to business performance. This approach is especially interesting because most of the literature on agile manufacturing deals with agility strategies or techniques in an isolated way. The study also tests the suitability of agile manufacturing in real organisations – for the first time in the Spanish context.
392 citations
TL;DR: A molecular mechanism whereby domain-specific deconstruction regulates MICA protein shedding is uncovered, thereby promoting tumour immune evasion, and identifying surface ERp5 as a strategic target for therapeutic intervention is identified.
Abstract: Tumour-associated ligands of the activating NKG2D (natural killer group 2, member D; also called KLRK1) receptor-which are induced by genotoxic or cellular stress-trigger activation of natural killer cells and co-stimulation of effector T cells, and may thus promote resistance to cancer. However, many progressing tumours in humans counter this anti-tumour activity by shedding the soluble major histocompatibility complex class-I-related ligand MICA, which induces internalization and degradation of NKG2D and stimulates population expansions of normally rare NKG2D+CD4+ T cells with negative regulatory functions. Here we show that on the surface of tumour cells, MICA associates with endoplasmic reticulum protein 5 (ERp5; also called PDIA6 or P5), which, similar to protein disulphide isomerase, usually assists in the folding of nascent proteins inside cells. Pharmacological inhibition of thioreductase activity and ERp5 gene silencing revealed that cell-surface ERp5 function is required for MICA shedding. ERp5 and membrane-anchored MICA form transitory mixed disulphide complexes from which soluble MICA is released after proteolytic cleavage near the cell membrane. Reduction of the seemingly inaccessible disulphide bond in the membrane-proximal alpha3 domain of MICA must involve a large conformational change that enables proteolytic cleavage. These results uncover a molecular mechanism whereby domain-specific deconstruction regulates MICA protein shedding, thereby promoting tumour immune evasion, and identify surface ERp5 as a strategic target for therapeutic intervention.
361 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the capabilities of the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiment to explore the rich heavy-ion physics program offered by the LHC are presented, and the potential of the CMS experiment to carry out a series of representative Pb-Pb measurements.
Abstract: This report presents the capabilities of the CMS experiment to explore the rich heavy-ion physics programme offered by the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The collisions of lead nuclei at energies , will probe quark and gluon matter at unprecedented values of energy density. The prime goal of this research is to study the fundamental theory of the strong interaction ? Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) ? in extreme conditions of temperature, density and parton momentum fraction (low-x).This report covers in detail the potential of CMS to carry out a series of representative Pb-Pb measurements. These include bulk observables, (charged hadron multiplicity, low pT inclusive hadron identified spectra and elliptic flow) which provide information on the collective properties of the system, as well as perturbative probes such as quarkonia, heavy-quarks, jets and high pT hadrons which yield tomographic information of the hottest and densest phases of the reaction.
361 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyzed the contribution of TQM implementation to the firms' innovative culture and their overall innovation effort in the technical and administrative organizational domains, and they found that the mediating role of innovativeness is required for TQMs to achieve this impact on technical innovation.
358 citations
TL;DR: The key dimensions of safety culture are identified and it is stressed that managers need to be wholly committed to and personally involved in safety activities, thereby conveying the importance the firm attaches to these issues.
TL;DR: Bond paths, both at and out of equilibrium geometries, are endowed with a specific energetic meaning that should contribute to reconcile the orthodox QTAIM interpretation with other widely accepted views, and to settle recent controversies questioning the meaning of hydrogen-hydrogen bonding.
Abstract: Evidence that the bond paths of the quantum theory of atoms-in-molecules (QTAIM) signal preferred quantum-mechanical exchange channels is presented. We show how bond paths between an atom A and the atoms B in its environment appear to be determined by competition among the A-B exchange-correlation energies that always contribute to stabilize the A-B interactions. These pairwise additive stabilizations depend neither on the attractive or repulsive nature of the classical electrostatic interaction between the atoms' charge densities, nor on the change in the self energies of the atoms involved. These other terms may well cause an overall molecular-energy increase in spite of a possibly large A-B exchange-correlation stabilization. After our proposal, bond paths, both at and out of equilibrium geometries, are endowed with a specific energetic meaning that should contribute to reconcile the orthodox QTAIM interpretation with other widely accepted views, and to settle recent controversies questioning the meaning of hydrogen-hydrogen bonding and the nature of the so-called "steric interactions", the role of bond paths in endohedral complexes, and the generality of the results provided by the QTAIM. Implications for the nature of more general closed-shell interactions are also briefly discussed.
TL;DR: This article investigated empirically the determinants of individuals' attitudes towards preventing environmental damage in Spain using data from the World Values Survey and European Values Survey for the periods 1990, 1995 and 1999/2000.
TL;DR: Data indicate that MMP‐8 participates in wound repair by contributing to the resolution of inflammation and open the possibility to develop new strategies for treating wound healing defects.
Abstract: Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) have been implicated in numerous tissue-remodeling processes. The finding that mice deficient in collagenase-2 (MMP-8) are more susceptible to develop skin cancer, prompted us to investigate the role of this protease in cutaneous wound healing. We have observed a significant delay in wound closure in MMP8-/- mice and an altered inflammatory response in their wounds, with a delay of neutrophil infiltration during the first days and a persistent inflammation at later time points. These changes were accompanied by alterations in the TGF-beta1 signaling pathway and by an apoptosis defect in MMP8-/- mice. The delay in wound healing observed in MMP8-/- mice was rescued by bone marrow transplantation from wild-type mice. Analysis of other MMPs showed that MMP8-/- mice had a significant increase in the expression of MMP-9, suggesting that both proteases might act coordinately in this process. This possibility was further supported by the novel finding that MMP-8 and MMP-9 form specific complexes in vivo. Taken together, these data indicate that MMP-8 participates in wound repair by contributing to the resolution of inflammation and open the possibility to develop new strategies for treating wound healing defects.
TL;DR: Social, economic and cultural factors, such as poor communications, fads and direct contact with nature in everyday life should be taken into account in determining why some wild foods and traditional vegetables have been consumed, but others not.
Abstract: Background
We compare traditional knowledge and use of wild edible plants in six rural regions of the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula as follows: Campoo, Picos de Europa, Pilona, Sanabria and Caurel in Spain and Parque Natural de Montesinho in Portugal.
TL;DR: In this article, two underground coal mines in the Riosa-Olloniego coalfield, in the Asturias Central Basin, Spain, were used for mine control and monitoring, and a gas-measurement-tube set has been designed for measuring gas pressure as well as its variation over time as a result of nearby workings.
TL;DR: In this article, exploratory factor analyses and confirmatory factor analysis are conducted, using structural equation models, on a sample of 455 Spanish companies, with the aim of developing a measurement scale operationalising the safety management system concept, and subsequently calculating its reliability and validity.
Abstract: The literature has recognised that implementing a safety management system is the most efficient way of allocating resources for safety, since it not only improves working conditions, but also positively influences employees’ attitudes and behaviours with regards safety, consequently improving the safety climate. The safety climate and the safety management system are considered basic components of the firm's safety culture in various models. However, the literature has focused more on measuring the safety climate, while few studies have correctly tested the psychometric properties of the instruments used to measure how advanced the firm's safety management system is. This paper reviews the most important works on safety management, with the aim of developing a measurement scale operationalising the safety management system concept, and subsequently calculating its reliability and validity. For this purpose, exploratory factor analyses and confirmatory factor analyses are conducted, using structural equation models, on a sample of 455 Spanish companies. This scale provides organisations with a tool for evaluating their situation with regards safety management, as well as guidance about which areas they must improve if they wish to reduce occupational accidents.
TL;DR: A review of the progress of the understanding of the molecular recognition binding sites beyond the usual description of adsorption isotherms is given in this article, where analytical and numerical methods used for calculating the adsorbing isotherm and the adsoreption energy distribution, as a quantitative measure of the imprinted polymer heterogeneity, are also discussed.
Abstract: In recent years interest has grown in a deeper understanding of the heterogeneity nature of binding sites in molecularly imprinted polymers, purposively designed artificial receptor materials. This article reviews the progress of the understanding of the molecular recognition binding sites beyond the usual description of adsorption isotherms. Analytical and numerical methods used for calculating the adsorption isotherms and the adsorption energy distribution, as a quantitative measure of the imprinted polymer heterogeneity, are included. Advantages and limitations of the different approaches are also discussed.
TL;DR: CHD risk and MS prevalences among patients with schizophrenia treated with antipsychotics were in the same range as the Spanish general population 10 to 15 years older.
TL;DR: The identification of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-8, the polymorphonuclear (PMN) leukocyte collagenase, as a critical mediator initiating lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-responsiveness in vivo identifies MMP-8 as a key mediator in the regulation of innate immunity.
Abstract: We identify matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-8, the polymorphonuclear (PMN) leukocyte collagenase, as a critical mediator initiating lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-responsiveness in vivo. PMN infiltration towards LPS is abrogated in Mmp8-null mice. MMP-8 cleaves LPS-induced CXC chemokine (LIX) at Ser4∼Val5 and Lys79∼Arg80. LIX bioactivity is increased upon N-terminal cleavage, enhancing intracellular calcium mobilization and chemotaxis upon binding its cognate receptor, CXCR2. As there is no difference in PMN chemotaxis in Mmp8-null mice compared with wild-type mice towards synthetic analogues of MMP-8-cleaved LIX, MMP-8 is not essential for extravasation or cell migration in collagenous matrices in vivo. However, with biochemical redundancy between MMPs 1, 2, 9, and 13, which also cleave LIX at position 4∼5, it was surprising to observe such a markedly reduced PMN infiltration towards LPS and LIX in Mmp8-/- mice. This lack of physiological redundancy in vivo identifies MMP-8 as a key mediator in the regulation of innate immunity. Comparable results were found with CXCL8/IL-8 and CXCL5/ENA-78, the human orthologues of LIX. MMP-8 cleaves CXCL8 at Arg5-Ser6 and at Val7-Leu8 in CXCL5 to activate respective chemokines. Hence, rather than collagen, these PMN chemoattractants are important MMP-8 substrates in vivo; PMN-derived MMP-8 cleaves and activates LIX to execute an in cis PMN-controlled feed-forward mechanism to orchestrate the initial inflammatory response and promote LPS responsiveness in tissue.
TL;DR: Constraints on spin, parity, and charge conjugation parity of the X(3872) particle are derived by comparing measured angular distributions of the decay products with predictions for different J(PC) hypotheses.
Abstract: The authors present an analysis of angular distributions and correlations of the X(3872) in the exclusive decay mode X(3872) {yields} J/{psi}{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -} with J/{psi} {yields} {mu}{sup +}{mu}{sup -}. They use 780 pb{sup -1} of data from p{bar p} collisions at {radical}s = 1.96 TeV collected with the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron. They derive constraints on spin, parity, and charge conjugation parity of the X(3872) by comparing measured angular distributions of the decay products with predictions for different J{sup PC} hypotheses. The assignments J{sup PC} = 1{sup ++} and 2{sup -+} are the only ones consistent with the data.
TL;DR: It is found that phosphorylation of serine 311 of Mig1 by Snf1 kinase is essential for Mig1 protein nuclear export and derepression of the SUC2 gene in glucose-limited cells.
TL;DR: A range of interesting polysubstituted furans can easily be synthesized in a one-pot procedure thanks to the efficient catalyzing of the hydroxyl group in propargylic alcohols with 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors evaluate sediment-trap flux data from an array of 13 moorings (15 traps) situated in diverse conditions and with global coverage, all for organic carbon flux, calculated coccolith-carbonate flux, and fine fraction flux (when available).
Abstract: There exists a great need to better understand the controls on organic carbon sequestration to the deep sea, by virtue of its role in modulating atmospheric CO 2 concentrations. Recent studies suggest that organic fluxes to the oceanic interior are higher in regions dominated by carbonate sedimentation, thus also concluding that relatively heavy carbonate particles are an effective mineral ballast for organic carbon. CaCO 3 production in the pelagic ocean is mainly mediated by foraminifera and coccolithophores, but the precise role of these carbonate producers as mineral ballast for organic carbon in the ocean has not yet been tested. Here we evaluate sediment-trap flux data from an array of 13 moorings (15 traps) situated in diverse conditions and with global coverage, all for organic carbon flux, calculated coccolith-carbonate flux, and fine fraction flux (when available). Discrepancies are recorded between the amount of carbonate fine fraction and calculated coccolith carbonate, and there is the need to determine the origin of the unknown CaCO 3 in the fine fraction. The coccolith-carbonate flux magnitude is determined not only by the coccolith flux number but also by the carbonate mass of the key species. For example, very abundant coccolithophore species such as Emiliania huxleyi have a very low species-specific carbonate mass, and are therefore of lower carbonate flux significance than expected intuitively. Among the main coccolith carbonate species contributors in our sediment-trap sites are Calcidiscus leptoporus and Helicosphaera carteri, in that these are all relatively massive compared to their numerical abundances. We observed generally positive correlations between calculated coccolith carbonate and organic carbon daily fluxes, suggesting that on a global basis there is a ballasting mechanism at work, seemingly most efficiently with C. leptoporus in the carbonate-dominated North Atlantic. A fairly constant global relationship between annual fluxes of calculated coccolith carbonate and organic carbon implies some uniformity in the PIC/POC “rain ratio”. However, improvements in coccolith carbonate estimation are needed to not only understand this ratio currently, but also to help understand future sequestration of organic carbon to the oceanic interior.
TL;DR: The association between XPC, XPD, XRCC1, andXRCC3 polymorphisms and the individual susceptibility to develop lung cancer in the Spanish population, specifically with a highly tobacco exposed population is analysed.
Abstract: Polymorphisms in DNA repair genes have been associated to repair DNA lesions, and might contribute to the individual susceptibility to develop different types of cancer. Nucleotide excision repair (NER), base excision repair (BER), and double-strand break repair (DSBR) are the main DNA repair pathways. We investigated the relationship between polymorphisms in two NER genes, XPC (poly (AT) insertion/deletion: PAT-/+) and XPD (Asp312Asn and Lys751Gln), the BER gene XRCC1 (Arg399Gln), and the DSBR gene XRCC3 (Thr241Met) and the risk of developing lung cancer. A hospital-based case-control study was designed with 516 lung cancer patients and 533 control subjects, matched on ethnicity, age, and gender. Genotypes were determined by PCR-RFLP and the results were analysed using multivariate unconditional logistic regression, adjusting for age, gender and pack-years. Borderline association was found for XPC and XPD NER genes polymorphisms, while no association was observed for polymorphisms in BER and DSBR genes. XPC PAT+/+ genotype was associated with no statistically significant increased risk among ever smokers (OR = 1.40; 95%CI = 0.94–2.08), squamous cell carcinoma (OR = 1.44; 95%CI = 0.85–2.44), and adenocarcinoma (OR = 1.72; 95%CI = 0.97–3.04). XPD variant genotypes (312Asn/Asn and 751Gln/Gln) presented a not statistically significant risk of developing lung cancer (OR = 1.52; 95%CI = 0.91–2.51; OR = 1.38; 95%CI = 0.85–2.25, respectively), especially among ever smokers (OR = 1.58; 95%CI = 0.96–2.60), heavy smokers (OR = 2.07; 95%CI = 0.74–5.75), and adenocarcinoma (OR = 1.88; 95%CI = 0.97–3.63). On the other hand, individuals homozygous for the XRCC1 399Gln allele presented no risk of developing lung cancer (OR = 0.87; 95%CI = 0.57–1.31) except for individuals carriers of 399Gln/Gln genotype and without family history of cancer (OR = 0.57; 95%CI = 0.33–0.98) and no association was found between XRCC3 Thr241Met polymorphism and lung cancer risk (OR = 0.92; 95%CI = 0.56–1.50), except for the 241Met/Met genotype and squamous cell carcinoma risk (OR = 0.47; 95%CI = 0.23–1.00). In conclusion, we analysed the association between XPC, XPD, XRCC1, and XRCC3 polymorphisms and the individual susceptibility to develop lung cancer in the Spanish population, specifically with a highly tobacco exposed population. We attempt to contribute to the discovery of which biomarkers of DNA repair capacity are useful for screening this high-risk population for primary preventing and early detection of lung cancer.
01 Jan 2007
TL;DR: Among the different adsorbates tested, benzene exhibits the highest adsorption capacity, and the same trend is observed in the enthalpy of adsorptive properties, as was deduced also from the entropy parameter.
Abstract: The adsorption of different alkanes (linear and cyclic), aromatics, and chlorohydrocarbons onto different nonmicroporous carbons—multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNTs), carbon nanofibers (CNFs), and high-surface-area graphites (HSAGs)—is studied in this work by inverse gas chromatography (IGC). Capacity of adsorption was derived from the isotherms of adsorption, whereas thermodynamic properties (enthalpy of adsorption, surface free energy characteristics) have been determined from chromatographic retention data. HSAGs present the highest adsorption capacity, followed by CNTs and CNFs (although CNTs present an intermediate surface area between the two HSAG studied). Among the different adsorbates tested, benzene exhibits the highest adsorption capacity, and the same trend is observed in the enthalpy of adsorption. From surface free energy data, enthalpies of adsorption of polar compounds were divided into dispersive and specific contributions. The interactions of cyclic (benzene and cyclohexane) and chlorinated compounds (trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene, and chloroform) with the surfaces are mainly dispersive over all the carbons tested, CNTs being the material with the highest dispersive contribution, as was deduced also from the entropy parameter. Adsorption parameters were correlated with morphological and chemical properties of the materials.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors evaluate a laser technique as an alternative to the more traditional flame remelting of flame spray layers, using grey cast iron (DIN GG30) as the substrate and a NiCrBSi alloy as the coating material.
15 Oct 2007
TL;DR: Effects of magnetic saturation, including cross-saturation and secondary saliencies, on saliency- based sensorless control of interior PM synchronous machines are analyzed by adaptively decoupling saturation induced-saliencies via a structured neural network.
Abstract: This paper analyzes the effects of magnetic saturation, including cross-saturation and secondary saliencies, on the saliency-based sensorless control of interior permanent magnet synchronous machines. These effects are mitigated by adaptively decoupling saturation-induced saliencies via a structured neural network. This paper includes the identification of the dominant saturation-induced components of the carrier-signal current interfering with the rotor-position-dependent component being tracked, characterization of these components, and implementation of a nonlinear adaptive saturation-induced-component structured neural network model to perform their decoupling.
TL;DR: The removal of phenols and COD from coke wastewater subjected to biological treatment was studied, using granular activated carbon and the resins XAD-2, AP-246 and OC-1074 to study the adsorption capacities of these compounds.