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Abstract Objective The aim of this study is to evaluate treatment patterns and long‐term oncological outcomes of patients with locally advanced prostate cancer (LAPCa). Patients and methods This is a population‐based study including LAPC (cT3‐4, M0) patients from the Stockholm region (Sweden). A sub‐analysis was performed in men treated with primary cystoprostatectomy or total pelvic exenteration (TPE) for cT4 prostate cancer (PCa). Cox regression was used to identify predictors of overall mortality (OM) and cancer‐specific mortality (CSM). Biochemical progression‐free survival (BPFS) and 90 days complications were reported for the radical surgery subgroup. Results We included 2921 patients with cT3(N = 2713) or cT4(N = 208), M0 PCa diagnosed between 2003 and 2019. Out of these, 249(9%), 1497(51%) and 1175(40%) underwent radical prostatectomy, RT + ADT and androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), respectively. Survival rates were 76% (IQR: 68, 83), 47% (IQR: 44, 50) and 23% (IQR: 20, 27), respectively at 10 years. Irrespective of treatment modalities, cT4 patients had worse survival compared to cT3 patients (OM: HR1.44, IQR:1.17,1.77; PCSM: HR1.39, IQR:1.06,1.82). Twenty‐seven patients with cT4, N0‐1, M0 were treated with cystoprostatectomy or TPE. Twenty‐two patients (81.5%) received neoadjuvant ADT. The 5‐year BPFS, CSS and OS rates were 39.6%, 68.8% and 63.8%, respectively. Nine patients (33.3%) had Clavien‐Dindo grade III and 1 (3.7%) grade IV complication within 90 days after surgery. Conclusions Pelvic surgery with radical intent as part of a multidisciplinary management may be an effective alternative for selected patients with locally advanced PCa leading to local tumour control and an acceptable morbidity.

Numerous surveys and three excavation and surface collection field seasons resulted in the discovery of numerous megafaunal remains and that of a medium-sized felid in a new site located on the coastal plain of the Gulf of Venezuela, in Western Falcón State. The faunal assemblage is represented by South American natives such as megatheres (cf. Eremotherium laurillardi), an indeterminate mylodontid and a glyptodont (probably related to Glyptotherium) and Nearctic representatives such as gomphotheres (Notiomastodon platensis), equids (Equus sp.) and a feline (Felidae cf. Leopardus pardalis), providing novel information for the distribution of some of these mammals. Radiocarbon indicates that this deposit is at least 40,000 years old. Lithic artefacts of a kind reported for other Pleistocene sites in the region document the presence of humans in Cauca, but as these cultural remains were found on the surface, their association with the fauna is uncertain.

The increasing demand for higher steel inclusion cleanliness has motivated control over the formation and evolution of inclusions during the production process. To generate knowledge of the formation and evolution of inclusions during the production of Al-killed steel slabs, the evolution of the chemical composition and size distribution of inclusions throughout the process, including ladle furnace (LF) treatment and continuous casting (CC), was studied. Liquid steel sampling was conducted throughout the process. The chemical composition was measured using the EDS technique, and the size distribution analysis was performed with the population density function (PDF) approach. The upper tail of the size distributions was analyzed by generalized extreme value (GEV) theory. Evolution of the chemical composition of inclusions involved the following path: solid Al2O3 solid Al2O3-MgO partly liquid Al2O3–MgO–CaO fully liquid Al2O3–MgO–CaO. The PDF analysis accounted for the evolution of the size distribution, which was supposed to be driven by the balance of the coalescence/growth and collision/breakage of inclusions and their removal. Finally, the GEV approach allowed us to describe the evolution of large inclusions and compare inclusion populations in terms of survival probability.

Abstract The Pliocene–Pleistocene transition in the Neotropics is poorly understood despite the major climatic changes that occurred at the onset of the Quaternary. The San Gregorio Formation, the younger unit of the Urumaco Sequence, preserves a fauna that documents this critical transition. We report stingrays, freshwater bony fishes, amphibians, crocodiles, lizards, snakes, aquatic and terrestrial turtles, and mammals. A total of 49 taxa are reported from the Vergel Member (late Pliocene) and nine taxa from the Cocuiza Member (Early Pleistocene), with 28 and 18 taxa reported for the first time in the Urumaco sequence and Venezuela, respectively. Our findings include the first fossil record of the freshwater fishes Megaleporinus, Schizodon, Amblydoras, Scorpiodoras, and the pipesnake Anilius scytale, all from Pliocene strata. The late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene ages proposed here for the Vergel and Cocuiza members, respectively, are supported by their stratigraphic position, palynology, nannoplankton, and 86Sr/88Sr dating. Mammals from the Vergel Member are associated with the first major pulse of the Great American Biotic Interchange. In contrast to the dry conditions prevailing today, the San Gregorio Formation documents mixed open grassland/forest areas surrounding permanent freshwater systems, following the isolation of the northern South American basin from western Amazonia. These findings support the hypothesis that range contraction of many taxa to their current distribution in northern South America occurred rapidly during at least the last 1.5 million years.

Abstract The dense Miocene record of cetaceans is known from localities along the coasts of all continents, mostly in the northern Atlantic or the eastern Pacific regions, but Antarctica. Fossils from the Caribbean region are few and include of a couple of findings from Panama and Venezuela. Here, we report a partly complete skull from the Caujarao Formation (middle Miocene), Falcon State, Caribbean region of Venezuela. Our phylogenetic analyses indicate that the Caujarao specimen is a ‘stem delphinidan’, a group that includes several taxa of early diverging odontocetes whose phylogenetic affinities remain a matter of debate. The fossil record has shown that this group of stem delphinidans was taxonomically diverse, but displayed a somewhat homogeneous cranial patterning, with most of the variations being found within the mandible or tympanoperiotic characters. As other stem delphinidans the Caujarao odontocete displays an enlarged temporal fossa and a fairly symmetrical cranium. Because the skull is missing several key diagnostic characters due to the preservation state of the specimen, a more precise taxonomic identification is not possible. Despite this, the finding of this specimen highlights the importance of the fossil record from the Neogene of Venezuela, and the importance of the area to understand cetacean evolution in the proto-Caribbean.

An improved moveable in vacuo XUV fluorescence detection system was employed for the laser cooling of bunched relativistic (β = 0.47) carbon ions at the Experimental Storage Ring (ESR) of GSI Helmholtzzentrum Darmstadt, Germany. Strongly Doppler boosted XUV fluorescence (∼90 nm) was emitted from the ions in a forward light cone after laser excitation of the 2s–2p transition (∼155 nm) by a new tunable pulsed UV laser system (257 nm). It was shown that the detected fluorescence strongly depends on the position of the detector around the bunched ion beam and on the delay (∼ns) between the ion bunches and the laser pulses. In addition, the fluorescence information could be directly combined with the revolution frequencies of the ions (and their longitudinal momentum spread), which were recorded using the Schottky resonator at the ESR. These fluorescence detection features are required for future laser cooling experiments at highly relativistic energies (up to γ∼ 13) and high intensities (up to 1011 particles) of ion beams in the new heavy ion synchrotron SIS100 at FAIR.

Collinear laser spectroscopy in the 1s2s3S1→1s2p3P0,2 transitions of helium-like 11B3+ was performed using the HITRAP beamline at the GSI Helmholtz Centre. The ions were produced in an electron beam ion source, extracted, and accelerated to a beam energy of 4 keV/q. Results agree with previous measurements within uncertainty. Thus, it was demonstrated that the metastable state in He-like ions is sufficiently populated to carry out collinear laser spectroscopy. The measurement is a pilot experiment for a series of measurements that will be performed at a dedicated collinear laser spectroscopy setup at TU Darmstadt with light helium-like ions.

This article documents the design, manufacture, and testing of a silicon inertial optical sensor for low-frequency (lower than 2 kHz) applications. Three accelerometer designs optimized by parameterization using Finite Element Analysis were considered. The accelerometers were manufactured and the one with the highest performance at low frequency was chosen for testing, which was attached to a steel package. The feasibility of using probes, based on micro-machined sensing elements, to measure mechanical vibrations with high resolution was also studied. The detection is performed with an air interferometer, eliminating the need for electric signals that are susceptible to electromagnetic interference and large temperature variations. From the fabrication technology using only a silicon wafer with both sides etched, the frequency response of the sensor, temperature operation (higher than 85 °C) and with a resolution of 17.5 nm, it was concluded that is achievable and feasible to design and manufacture an optical vibration sensor for potential harsh environments with a low cost.

Precision measurements provide a sensitive test of fundamental constants and their uncertainties. Here the authors precisely measure the hyperfine structure splitting in bismuth ions, and report significant discrepancy with the theoretical prediction of quantum electrodynamics.

The number of precaudal vertebrae in all extant crocodylians is remarkably conservative, with nine cervicals, 15 dorsals and two sacrals, a pattern present also in their closest extinct relatives. The consistent vertebral count indicates a tight control of axial patterning by Hox genes during development. Here we report on a deviation from this pattern based on an associated skeleton of the giant caimanine Purussaurus, a member of crown Crocodylia, and several other specimens from the Neogene of the northern neotropics. P. mirandai is the first crown-crocodylian to have three sacrals, two true sacral vertebrae and one non-pathological and functional dorsosacral, to articulate with the ilium (pelvis). The giant body size of this caiman relates to locomotory and postural changes. The iliosacral configuration, a more vertically oriented pectoral girdle, and low torsion of the femoral head relative to the condyles are hypothesized specializations for more upright limb orientation or weight support.

Este artículo examina las principales miradas que subsisten sobre la posibilidad de una vida ultraterrena, más allá de la muerte. El autor tiene una posición definida al respecto que, en muchos sentidos, sintoniza con la cosmovisión elaborada por el hombre andino a lo largo de los miles de años comprendidos en su desarrollo cultural. A pesar de la forzada evangelización cristiana soportada del siglo XVI en adelante, una buena parte del discurso andino prehispánico sobre los muertos continúa dando sentido a la existencia humana y al orden social en muchas comunidades quechuas y aimaras de los Andes centrales y meridionales. El hombre andino no está afectado de angustia ante la muerte, y establece, por el contrario, relaciones de reciprocidad con sus ancestros. Por sobre la costumbre de conservación a la espera de un día en que los cuerpos resuciten, los andinos tienen el convencimiento de que los muertos, de cualquier tiempo o espacio, tienen la misma vida que anima al cosmos en su conjunto.

En los sistemas de transmisión [1] actuales es de vital importancia garantizar la integridad de la información y a su vez, que ésta se encuentre protegida de cualquier ambiente externo que exponga la misma a fuentes no deseadas. Por esto la codificación se ha convertido en una de las herramientas más importantes para garantizar la seguridad y exclusividad de la información entre su origen y destino; frecuentemente encontramos que las señales que involucran información son de tamaños mayores y, por lo tanto, su procesamiento y transmisión es más complicado, por esto la alternativa de utilizar métodos de compresión de datos también es usada frecuentemente; en este artículo es utilizada la técnica de cuantización vectorial no determinística para codificar y comprimir la información. De la misma forma, es posible encontrar que al elevar el grado de compresión e implementar algoritmos de codificación se encuentran problemas que comprometen la calidad de la información, es posible que al querer recuperar los datos originales características propias del procesamiento de datos generan pérdidas en la inteligibilidad de la señal original, para esto son utilizadas técnicas diversas como el algoritmo LMS de filtrado adaptativo y así obtener un aprovechamiento significativo.

The Urumaco stratigraphic sequence, western Venezuela, preserves a variety of paleoenvironments that include terrestrial, riverine, lacustrine and marine facies. A wide range of fossil vertebrates associated with these facies supports the hypothesis of an estuary in that geographic area connected with a hydrographic system that flowed from western Amazonia up to the Proto-Caribbean Sea during the Miocene. Here the elasmobranch assemblages of the middle Miocene to middle Pliocene section of the Urumaco sequence (Socorro, Urumaco and Codore formations) are described. Based on new findings, we document at least 21 taxa of the Lamniformes, Carcharhiniformes, Myliobatiformes and Rajiformes, and describe a new carcharhiniform species (†Carcharhinus caquetius sp. nov.). Moreover, the Urumaco Formation has a high number of well-preserved fossil Pristis rostra, for which we provide a detailed taxonomic revision, and referral in the context of the global Miocene record of Pristis as well as extant species. Using the habitat preference of the living representatives, we hypothesize that the fossil chondrichthyan assemblages from the Urumaco sequence are evidence for marine shallow waters and estuarine habitats.

Este artículo explora las dimensiones de la identidad cultural, identificando las actuales demandas de interculturalidad, consideradas cruciales para los pueblos sudamericanos que participan de una herencia cultural andino amazónica. Dado que la falta de sentimientos de identidad etnocultural es una limitante para la construcción de un proyecto común de alcances supra individuales, propone conjurar la ausencia de un sujeto colectivo mediante la operacionalización de propuestas educativas que permitan superar toda forma de discriminación cultural. Asumiendo que el reconocimiento y afirmación de las identidades son procesos que requieren una larga maduración constructiva, tanto individual cuanto colectiva, se procura mostrar el modo en que las personas adquieren progresivamente una identidad consigo mismo, con el entorno socio cultural y con la historia colectiva. El planteamiento gira en torno a la función locativa, integradora y selectiva de la identidad con el entorno socio cultural, que hace posible el posicionamiento cabal de los individuos en la sociedad. Según esto, los patrones culturales de crianza tienen importancia en la asunción de modelos de pensar, sentir y actuar. La conciencia histórica hace posible, por otra parte, la apropiación del pasado y al par el diseño de nuevas posibilidades para el futuro.

Bamboos are important crops based on their potential for environmental services, carbon dioxide sequestration and timber production in a short period of time. In this study, eight variables associated with the productivity of Bambusa vulgaris var. vulgaris were evaluated and an estimate of the carbon dioxide sequestered was calculated. The total number of culms per plant was 16.53; the length of the culms was 12.35 m. The outer diameter of the culm in the basal, middle and distal was of 7.10 cm, 6.48 cm and 3.05 cm, while the inner diameter of the culm was 4.16 cm, 5.12 cm and 1.95 cm respectively. Fresh mass in the basal, middle and distal was 1.15 kg, 0.59 kg and 0.18 kg, while the dry mass was 0.63 kg, 0.33 kg and 0.11 kg. The net volume of the section of the culm basal, middle and distal was 0.12 m3, 0.056 m3, 0.045 m3, while the apparent volume of the culm was 0.29 m3, 0.27 m3, 0.13 m3. The carbon sequestered estimate per culm was 3.25 kg per culm and 53.68 kg per rally. These variables can be used for more accurate measures of productivity growth and Bambusa vulgaris var. vulgaris under field conditions, as well as for estimating environmental contributions by estimating the CO2 sequestration of this species in Cubans agroecosystems. Keywords: bamboo, climatic change, CO2 sequestration, mitigation, reforestation

Los animales son seres vivos con los que habitamos y compartimos este planeta llamado Tierra. Las relaciones entre el hombre y el animal se rigieron durante mucho tiempo bajo la ley de la selva, es decir, la ley del más fuerte en la lucha por la supervivencia. Cuando el hombre alcanza, jurídicamente, la racionalidad como principio regente de las relaciones entre humanos, esta guía de comportamiento es vetada para nuestro trato con los animales, con los que mantenemos un régimen atávico de crueldad, aprovechado e intensificado por las nuevas tecnologías que nos han permitido colocarnos de forma contundente sobre todas las especies. La racionalidad, emblema de nuestra superioridad sobre los animales, no sólo nos dota de derechos sino muy especialmente de obligaciones y responsabilidades. El trato hacia los animales es una de ellas. Un reconocimiento de la dignidad de los animales en base a la posesión de un telos animal, debería ser el eje sobre el cual se dispongan las legislaciones al respecto. Sólo de ese modo, nos demostraremos a nosotros mismos que efectivamente somos seres racionales, y contribuiremos a construir un mundo más pacífico.

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