Development, initial validation and reliability testing of a web-based, generic feline health-related quality of life instrument

Objectives: The objective of this study was to develop a valid, reliable web-based, generic feline health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) questionnaire instrument to measure the affective impact of chronic disease. Methods: A large initial item pool, obtained through interviews with cat owners, was reduced using predetermined criteria, survey scores for relevance and clarity, and the ability of individual items to discriminate between healthy and sick cats when owners completed a prototype questionnaire. Using these data, factor analysis was used to derive a scoring algorithm and provide evidence for factorial validity. Validity was demonstrated further in a field trial using a ‘known groups’ approach (sick vs healthy cats will have a different HRQoL profile, and the HRQoL profile of cats will deteriorate as comorbidities increase). Test–retest reliability was assessed using intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC). Results: In total, 165 items were reduced to 20 and, on the basis of a factor analysis that explained 72.3% of the variation in scores input by 71 owners of 30 healthy and 41 sick cats using the prototype, these were allocated to three domains (vitality, comfort and emotional wellbeing [EWB]) with a scoring algorithm derived using item loadings. Subsequently, the owners of 36 healthy and 58 sick cats completed one or two (n = 48) assessments. Median scores (healthy vs sick) for all domains were significantly different (P <0.001), 78% of cats were correctly classified as healthy or sick and for comorbidities the correlation coefficients were moderate (vitality 0.64; comfort 0.63; EWB 0.50). Test–retest reliability was good (ICC vitality 0.635; comfort 0.716; EWB 0.853). Conclusions and relevance: This study provides initial evidence for the validity and reliability of a novel HRQoL instrument to aid the assessment and management of chronic diseases of cats

PHYSICAL POWER, TECHNICAL AND AESTHETIC EXECUTION QUALITIES IN DRESSAGE RIDING -A PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION

The current study examined the anthropometric and physical performance qualities of Dressage riders both off and on the horse. Each rider (n = 10) completed an Intermediate competition test on their own horse, and a 10 min strange horse test where they were asked to work the horse through extended and collected gaits. Both tests were graded by two Grade A trainers using four observation categories. All tests were filmed using a 50 Hz camera to obtain a qualitative assessment of the riders' posture during each of the gaits, and a measure of the collected trot and canter velocities during the strange horse test. The riders also had their anthropometric measurements taken and completed strength and power tests. The key qualities that indicated Dressage riding aptitude were a lower brachial index, high concentric leg strength, and reduced tricep strength

Los aportes de Friedrich Ratzel (1844- 1904) a la Geografía

Contexto de la obra de Friedrich Ratzel El siglo XIX es el siglo de la consolidación del capitalismo y el triunfo de la burguesía liberal en las sociedades de Europa Occidental y los Estados Unidos. La historia de este proceso comenzó con un doble hito: la primera revolución industrial en Inglaterra, que estableció la capacidad ilimitada del sistema productivo para el desarrollo económico y la expansión mundial del capitalismo, y las revoluciones políticas francesa y norteamericana, que establecieron los modelos de las instituciones públicas y de gobiernos de las sociedades burguesas. Sobre estas bases, las burguesías de Europa y de los Estados Unidos se lanzaron confiadas a la “conquista del mundo”. Es el largo siglo XIX, unos historiadores lo analizan como el siglo de la expansión de la ideología liberal acompañada del progreso material prometido a todas las sociedades que se “convirtieran” y aceptaran sus principios; otros historiadores lo analizan como el de la conquista y reparto imperialista del mundo. Solo resta observar el mapa actual del continente africano, cuyos límites rectilíneos son productos del reparto que acordaron estados europeos en la Conferencia de Berlín en 1885. Ambas visiones se complementan y muestran que el capitalismo, su evolución y expansión, modificaron la vida de las sociedades en todos los planos. Es este siglo el de los “ismos”, época fecunda en ideologías que estructuran y definen el mundo actual, tales como: nacionalismo, materialismo, idealismo, liberalismo, marxismo, anarquismo, tan llenos de contradicciones como de conquistas

Pasos Hacia La Salud: a randomized controlled trial of an internet-delivered physical activity intervention for Latinas.

BackgroundInternet access has grown markedly in Latinos during the past decade. However, there have been no Internet-based physical activity interventions designed for Latinos, despite large disparities in lifestyle-related conditions, such as obesity and diabetes, particularly in Latina women. The current study tested the efficacy of a 6-month culturally adapted, individually tailored, Spanish-language Internet-based physical activity intervention.MethodsInactive Latinas (N = 205) were randomly assigned to the Tailored Physical Activity Internet Intervention or the Wellness Contact Control Internet Group. Participants in both groups received emails on a tapered schedule over 6 months to alert them to new content on the website. The primary outcome was minutes/week of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) at 6 months as measured by the 7-Day Physical Activity Recall; activity was also measured by accelerometers. Data were collected between 2011 and 2014 and analyzed in 2015 at the University of California, San Diego.ResultsIncreases in minutes/week of MVPA were significantly greater in the Intervention Group compared to the Control Group (mean difference = 50.00, SE = 9.5, p < 0.01). Increases in objectively measured MVPA were also significantly larger in the Intervention Group (mean differences = 31.0, SE = 10.7, p < .01). The Intervention Group was also significantly more likely to meet national physical activity guidelines at 6 months (OR = 3.12, 95% CI 1.46-6.66, p < .05).ConclusionFindings from the current study suggest that this Internet-delivered individually tailored intervention successfully increased MVPA in Latinas compared to a Wellness Contact Control Internet Group.Trial registrationNCT01834287

Propuesta desde la Gestión Asociada para la implementación de un proceso formativo en educación sexual a estudiantes de la Institución Educativa Departamental Agropecuaria Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta del Municipio de Fundación en el Departamento del Magdalena

Generar un proceso participativo desde la Gestión Asociada, específicamente desde la metodología de Prospectiva Participativa para el diseño y desarrollo de una propuesta formación en Educación Sexual a estudiantes de IEDA Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta del Municipio de Fundación en el Departamento del MagdalenaEn este documento de monografía como trabajo de grado para obtener el título de Especialistas en Gestión Asociada, las autoras realizaron un trabajo de campo en la Institución educativa Agropecuaria Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta del Municipio de Fundación del Departamento del Magdalena para recolectar información que permitiera evidenciar las necesidades de formación en educación sexual de los adolescentes del colegio quienes viven problemáticas como: la deserción escolar por embarazo precoz, maternidad y paternidad a temprana edad, violencia de género, enfermedades de transmisión sexual entre otras. Ante estas problemáticas, es una oportunidad desde la Gestión Asociada y su metodología de Prospectiva Participativa generar un escenario que permita a actores d el municipio sentirse corresponsables en la solución de estas problemáticas que viven los adolescentes y contribuir a transformar su realidad. Para ello, se ha diseñado una propuesta desde la Gestión Asociada, de abrir un escenario participativo que permita promover la articulación de diversos actores del territorio para que de manera colectiva se piensen y actúen el beneficio de los jóvenesIn this monograph document as a degree work to obtain the title of Specialists in Associated Management, the authors carried out fieldwork at the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta Agricultural Educational Institution of the Fundación Municipality of the Department of Magdalena to collect information that would allow evidence the training needs in sexual education of adolescents at school who experience problems such as: school dropout due to early pregnancy, early maternity and paternity, gender violence, sexually transmitted diseases, among others. Faced with these problems, it is an opportunity from the Associated Management and its Participatory Prospective methodology to generate a scenario that allows the actors of the municipality to feel co-responsible in solving these problems that adolescents experience and contribute to transforming their reality. For this, a proposal has been designed from the Associated Management, to open a participatory scenario that allows promoting the articulation of various actors in the territory so that collectively they think and act for the benefit of young peopl

Structure and Oxygen Affinity of Crystalline des-His-146β Human Hemoglobin in the T State *

To correlate directly structure with function, the oxygen affinity and the three-dimensional structure of crystals of the T quaternary state of des-His-146beta human hemoglobin have been determined by polarized absorption microspectrophotometry and x-ray diffraction crystallography. In des-His-146beta, the COOH-terminal histidine residues of the beta chains of hemoglobin A have been removed. Oxygen binding to crystalline des-His hemoglobin is non-cooperative and independent of pH. The oxygen affinity is 1.7-fold greater than that of the crystalline state of hemoglobin A. Removal of His-146beta results in a small movement of the truncated COOH-terminal peptide and in a very small change in quaternary structure. Previously, similar studies on T state crystals of des-Arg-141alpha hemoglobin showed that removal of the COOH termini of the alpha chains results in much larger effects on oxygen affinity and on quaternary structure. Kinetic studies in solution reveal that at pH 7.0, the rates of CO combination with deoxygenated des-His-146beta in the absence and presence of inositol hexaphosphate are 2.5- and 1.3-fold, respectively, more rapid than for hemoglobin A. The values for des-Arg are 7.6- and 3.9-fold. The properties of the T state of hemoglobin both in the crystal and in solution are influenced to a greater degree by the interactions associated with Arg-141alpha than those associated with His-146beta

Regulation of Memory Function by Feeding-Relevant Biological Systems: Following the Breadcrumbs to the Hippocampus

The hippocampus (HPC) controls fundamental learning and memory processes, including memory for visuospatial navigation (spatial memory) and flexible memory for facts and autobiographical events (declarative memory). Emerging evidence reveals that hippocampal-dependent memory function is regulated by various peripheral biological systems that are traditionally known for their roles in appetite and body weight regulation. Here, we argue that these effects are consistent with a framework that it is evolutionarily advantageous to encode and recall critical features surrounding feeding behavior, including the spatial location of a food source, social factors, post-absorptive processing, and other episodic elements of a meal. We review evidence that gut-to-brain communication from the vagus nerve and from feeding-relevant endocrine systems, including ghrelin, insulin, leptin, and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), promote hippocampal-dependent spatial and declarative memory via neurotrophic and neurogenic mechanisms. The collective literature reviewed herein supports a model in which various stages of feeding behavior and hippocampal-dependent memory function are closely linked

Ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence elastography through a micro-endoscope: towards in vivo imaging of cellular-scale mechanics

In this paper, we describe a technique capable of visualizing mechanical properties at the cellular scale deep in living tissue, by incorporating a gradient-index (GRIN)-lens micro-endoscope into an ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence elastography system. The optical system, after the endoscope, has a lateral resolution of 1.6 µm and an axial resolution of 2.2 µm. Bessel beam illumination and Gaussian mode detection are used to provide an extended depth-of-field of 80 µm, which is a 4-fold improvement over a fully Gaussian beam case with the same lateral resolution. Using this system, we demonstrate quantitative elasticity imaging of a soft silicone phantom containing a stiff inclusion and a freshly excised malignant murine pancreatic tumor. We also demonstrate qualitative strain imaging below the tissue surface on in situ murine muscle. The approach we introduce here can provide high-quality extended-focus images through a micro-endoscope with potential to measure cellular-scale mechanics deep in tissue. We believe this tool is promising for studying biological processes and disease progression in vivo.This research was supported by grants and fellowships from the Australian Research Council, the National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia), the National Breast Cancer Foundation (Australia), the Department of Health, Western Australia, and the Cancer Council, Western Australia