Species identification of a suspected bone found in blood sausage

The case of an identification for a small bone found in a blood sausage is described. The similitude with a rodent bone leads the consumer to demand the government organism responsible of food quality control. Bone and blood sausage DNA analysis was performed in order to determinate the origin species and the possibility of food contamination and/or adulteration. DNA sequence analysis confirmed the pig origin of both samples with an identity higher than 98%.Fil: Posik, Diego Manuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico CONICET- La Plata. Instituto de Genética Veterinaria "Ing. Fernando Noel Dulout". Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Instituto de Genética Veterinaria; Argentina. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas; ArgentinaFil: Bustamante, Ana Victoria. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Departamento de Sanidad Animal y Medicina Preventiva. Laboratorio de Inmunoquímica y Biotecnología; ArgentinaFil: Lyall, V. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico CONICET- La Plata. Instituto de Genética Veterinaria "Ing. Fernando Noel Dulout". Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Instituto de Genética Veterinaria; ArgentinaFil: Peral Garcia, Pilar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico CONICET- La Plata. Instituto de Genética Veterinaria "Ing. Fernando Noel Dulout". Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Instituto de Genética Veterinaria; ArgentinaFil: Padola, Nora Lía. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Departamento de Sanidad Animal y Medicina Preventiva. Laboratorio de Inmunoquímica y Biotecnología; ArgentinaFil: Giovambattista, Guillermo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico CONICET- La Plata. Instituto de Genética Veterinaria "Ing. Fernando Noel Dulout". Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Instituto de Genética Veterinaria; Argentin

Mediation Analysis of a Broader Conceptualization of the Three-Step Theory of Suicidality

Unsatisfactory results for the aim of reducing suicide rates have motivated the creation of new models to predict suicide, such as the ideation-to-action framework, which focuses on differentiating those with suicidal ideation and those who attempt suicide. The most recently published theory on the ideation-to-action framework is the Three-Step Theory (3ST). Step 1 proposes that the combination of pain and hopelessness causes suicidal ideation, step 2 proposes that ideation increases when pain and hopelessness surpass connectedness, and step 3 proposes that strong suicidal ideation escalates to action when the person has the capacity to attempt suicide. The theory’s concepts are intentionally conceptualized very broadly. The current study aims to compare the traditional conceptualization measurements of the Three-Step Theory with a broader range of predictors. We aim to test the first two steps of the theory through a mediation model and examine if connectedness serves as a mediator in the relationship between psychological pain and hopelessness in predicting the severity of suicidal ideation. We hypothesized that adding a broader conceptualization of pain (i.e., physical pain) and connectedness (i.e., perceived meaning of life, social pleasure, affective empathy) will better account for the level of suicidal ideation. We also hypothesized that connectedness serves as a mediator in the relationship between psychological pain and hopelessness in predicting suicide ideation severity. Following exclusions and removing missing data, 97 participants were available for analysis. Results showed that one of our novel measurements of connectedness, perceived burdensomeness, mediated the relationship between psychological pain and suicidal ideation severity

Visualization of electric field lines in an engineering education context

The electromagnetic theory presents a unifying explanation of electric and magnetic phenomena underlying our technological society. It is a fundamental physical theory taught in engineering schools at university level. In this theory the electromagnetic field is a vector field permeating space. An important aspect relating to students difficulties and misconceptions is the difficulty in visualizing vector fields. With the goal of enhancing student understanding and studying student engagement we have developed high quality 3D visualizations of electromagnetic situations. These make use of accurate computation of the field lines, together with realistic rendering using the open source software Blender. We present examples of electrostatic situations with both an assessment of the student understanding and an evaluation of the students' perceptions of the importance of the visualizations. Complex interplay between visualization specific issues and the abstract notion of the field is identified in the students' conceptions. It is found that the visualizations are not used as substitutes of other learning resources. They are perceived as allowing a quick access to content and prompting motivation. The adequacy of the visualization to the subject content as well as the capacity to use it as self-assessment is valued by the students

Microbial diversity and metabolic networks in acid mine drainage habitats

Acid mine drainage (AMD) emplacements are low-complexity natural systems. Low-pH conditions appear to be the main factor underlying the limited diversity of the microbial populations thriving in these environments, although temperature, ionic composition, total organic carbon, and dissolved oxygen are also considered to significantly influence their microbial life. This natural reduction in diversity driven by extreme conditions was reflected in several studies on the microbial populations inhabiting the various micro-environments present in such ecosystems. Early studies based on the physiology of the autochthonous microbiota and the growing success of omics-based methodologies have enabled a better understanding of microbial ecology and function in low-pH mine outflows; however, complementary omics-derived data should be included to completely describe their microbial ecology. Furthermore, recent updates on the distribution of eukaryotes and archaea recovered through sterile filtering (herein referred to as filterable fraction) in these environments demand their inclusion in the microbial characterization of AMD systems. In this review, we present a complete overview of the bacterial, archaeal (including filterable fraction), and eukaryotic diversity in these ecosystems, and include a thorough depiction of the metabolism and element cycling in AMD habitats. We also review different metabolic network structures at the organismal level, which is necessary to disentangle the role of each member of the AMD communities described thus far

Chemical Abundances in Field Red Giants from High-Resolution H-Band Spectra using the APOGEE Spectral Linelist

High-resolution H-band spectra of five bright field K, M, and MS giants, obtained from the archives of the Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS), are analyzed to determine chemical abundances of 16 elements. The abundances were derived via spectrum synthesis using the detailed linelist prepared for the SDSS III Apache Point Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE), which is a high-resolution near-infrared spectroscopic survey to derive detailed chemical abundance distributions and precise radial velocities for 100,000 red giants sampling all Galactic stellar populations. Measured chemical abundances include the cosmochemically important isotopes 12C, 13C, 14N, and 16O, along with Mg, Al, Si, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, and Cu. A comparison of the abundances derived here with published values for these stars reveals consistent results to ~0.1 dex. The APOGEE spectral region and linelist is, thus, well-suited for probing both Galactic chemical evolution, as well as internal nucleosynthesis and mixing in populations of red giants using high-resolution spectroscopy.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal. 42 pages, 12 figure

Development of a dynamic framework to explain population patterns of leisure-time physical activity through agent-based modeling.

Despite the increasing body of evidences on the factors influencing leisure-time physical activity, our understanding of the mechanisms and interactions that lead to the formation and evolution of population patterns is still limited. Moreover, most frameworks in this field fail to capture dynamic processes. Our aim was to create a dynamic conceptual model depicting the interaction between key psychological attributes of individuals and main aspects of the built and social environments in which they live. This conceptual model will inform and support the development of an agent-based model aimed to explore how population patterns of LTPA in adults may emerge from the dynamic interplay between psychological traits and built and social environments. We integrated existing theories and models as well as available empirical data (both from literature reviews), and expert opinions (based on a systematic expert assessment of an intermediary version of the model). The model explicitly presents intention as the proximal determinant of leisure-time physical activity, a relationship dynamically moderated by the built environment (access, quality, and available activities) - with the strength of the moderation varying as a function of the person's intention- and influenced both by the social environment (proximal network's and community's behavior) and the person's behavior. Our conceptual model is well supported by evidence and experts' opinions and will inform the design of our agent-based model, as well as data collection and analysis of future investigations on population patterns of leisure-time physical activity among adults

Chemical abundance gradients from open clusters in the Milky Way disk: results from the APOGEE survey

Metallicity gradients provide strong constraints for understanding the chemical evolution of the Galaxy. We report on radial abundance gradients of Fe, Ni, Ca, Si, and Mg obtained from a sample of 304 red-giant members of 29 disk open clusters, mostly concentrated at galactocentric distances between ~8 - 15 kpc, but including two open clusters in the outer disk. The observations are from the APOGEE survey. The chemical abundances were derived automatically by the ASPCAP pipeline and these are part of the SDSS III Data Release 12. The gradients, obtained from least squares fits to the data, are relatively flat, with slopes ranging from -0.026 to -0.033 dex/kpc for the alpha-elements [O/H], [Ca/H], [Si/H] and [Mg/H] and -0.035 dex/kpc and -0.040 dex/kpc for [Fe/H] and [Ni/H], respectively. Our results are not at odds with the possibility that metallicity ([Fe/H]) gradients are steeper in the inner disk (R_GC ~7 - 12 kpc) and flatter towards the outer disk. The open cluster sample studied spans a significant range in age. When breaking the sample into age bins, there is some indication that the younger open cluster population in our sample (log age < 8.7) has a flatter metallicity gradient when compared with the gradients obtained from older open clusters.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, To appear in Astronomische Nachrichten, special issue "Reconstruction the Milky Way's History: Spectroscopic surveys, Asteroseismology and Chemo-dynamical models", Guest Editors C. Chiappini, J. Montalb\'an, and M. Steffen, AN 2016 (in press)

¿Qué preguntar, cómo explorar y qué escalas usar en el paciente con cefalea? Recomendaciones del Grupo de Estudio de Cefalea de la Sociedad Española de Neurología

Cefalea; Anamnesis; ExploraciónCefalea; Anamnesi; ExploracióHeadache; Anamnesis; ExplorationIntroduction Headache is the most common neurological complaint at the different levels of the healthcare system, and clinical history and physical examination are essential in the diagnosis and treatment of these patients. With the objective of unifying the care given to patients with headache, the Spanish Society of Neurology’s Headache Study Group (GECSEN) has decided to establish a series of consensus recommendations to improve and guarantee adequate care in primary care, emergency services, and neurology departments. Methods With the aim of creating a practical document, the recommendations follow the dynamics of a medical consultation: clinical history, physical examination, and scales quantifying headache impact and disability. In addition, we provide recommendations for follow-up and managing patients’ expectations of the treatment. Conclusions With this tool, we aim to improve the care given to patients with headache in order to guarantee adequate, homogeneous care across Spain.Introducción La cefalea es el motivo de consulta neurológico más prevalente en los distintos niveles asistenciales, donde la anamnesis y exploración son primordiales para realizar un diagnóstico y tratamiento adecuados. Con la intención de unificar la atención de esta patología, el Grupo de Estudio de Cefalea de la Sociedad Española de Neurología (GECSEN) ha decidido elaborar unas recomendaciones consensuadas para mejorar y garantizar una adecuada asistencia en Atención Primaria, Urgencias y Neurología. Metodología El documento es práctico, sigue el orden de la dinámica de actuación durante una consulta: anamnesis, escalas que cuantifican el impacto y la discapacidad y exploración. Además, finaliza con pautas para realizar un seguimiento adecuado y un manejo de las expectativas del paciente con el tratamiento pautado. Conclusiones Esperamos ofrecer una herramienta que mejore la atención al paciente con cefalea para garantizar una asistencia adecuada y homogénea a nivel nacional