RELIABILITY OF LOW-COST PORTABLE FORCE PLATFORMS FOR MEASURING VERTICAL STIFFNESS DURING RUNNING

Ground reaction force (GRF) can provide useful information such as vertical stiffness (Kvert) to practitioners working with runners and sprinters, but high equipment costs are hindering applied research. Low-cost portable force platforms may be a useful alternative to traditional biomechanical equipment. Moderately trained runners (n = 9) completed overground running trials at various speeds (2.15-5.78 m/s), Kvert was determined, and a linear regression was used to characterize the relationship between Kvert and running speed. The results showed moderate to high correlation (r2 = 0.54 to 0.87). At 3.9 m/s (14 km/h), the widest regression model confidence interval was 4.4%, which shows this procedure likely provides adequate reliability. Future research should continue to investigate the use of low-cost portable force platforms for measuring running GRF

Parthenolide Blocks Cocaine’s Effect on Spontaneous Firing Activity of Dopaminergic Neurons in the Ventral Tegmental Area

Chronic cocaine administration leads to catecholamine reuptake inhibition which enhances reward and motivational behaviors. Ventral Tegmental Area dopaminergic (VTA DA) neuronal firing is associated with changes in reward predictive signals. Acute cocaine injections inhibit putative VTA DA cell firing in vertebrates. Parthenolide, a compound isolated from the feverfew plant (Tanacetum parthenium), has been shown to substantially inhibit cocaine’s locomotion effects in a planarian animal model (Pagán et al., 2008). Here we investigated the effects of parthenolide on the spontaneous firing activity of putative VTA DA neurons in anesthetized male rats (250-300g). Single-unit recordings were analyzed after intravenous (i.v.) parthenolide administration followed by 1mg/kg i.v. cocaine injection. Results showed that parthenolide at 0.125 mg/kg and 0.250mg/kg significantly blocked cocaine’s inhibitory effect on DA neuronal firing rate and bursting activity (p\u3c 0.05, two way ANOVA). We propose that parthenolide might inhibit cocaine’s effects on VTA DA neurons via its interaction with a common binding site at monoamine transporters. It is suggested that parthenolide could have a potential use as an overdose antidote or therapeutic agent to cocaine intoxication

Curricular strategy of environmental education for the students of the career degree in education. Pedagogy-psychology

La educación ambiental es un objetivo priorizado de la educación; en las universidades es esencial por el encargo social de formar profesionales. La carrera Licenciatura en Educación, Pedagogía-Psicología tiene este objetivo definido a partir del modelo del profesional; sin embargo, el Plan del Proceso Docente no incluye asignaturas dentro del currículo base, ni existen documentos que expliciten cómo hacerlo. Por ello, en el presente trabajo se propone el diseño e implementación de la estrategia curricular para la educación ambiental de los estudiantes de esta carrera para que contribuya a perfeccionar la formación inicial hacia este objetivo educativo. La misma se elabora a partir de los resultados obtenidos con la aplicación de métodos empíricos como el análisis de documentos, la encuesta y la prueba pedagógica, los cuales arrojan resultados que muestran el déficit de conocimientos de los estudiantes hacia la educación ambiental y cómo desde sus funciones como educadores deben desarrollarla. Se concluye que el diagnóstico de la preparación de los estudiantes de la carrera Licenciatura en Educación, Pedagogía-Psicología arrojó que presentan dificultades cognitivas, actitudinales y procedimentales sobre la educación ambiental, teniendo en cuenta las particularidades propias de la futura profesión. El análisis de los documentos normativos sobre la educación ambiental, así como los referentes teóricos permitió el diseño de la Estrategia Curricular de Educación Ambiental para la carrera Licenciatura en Educación, Pedagogía-Psicología a partir del modelo del profesional. Esta transita por el currículo y atraviesa los componentes de la formación: académico, laboral-investigativo y extensionista. La implementación se ha realizado a lo largo de ocho años, obteniéndose resultados muy positivos. La valoración de la efectividad de la misma se evidencia en los conocimientos, habilidades y actitudes adquiridos por los estudiantes.The Environmental Education is a prioritized objective of the education; in the universities it is essential for the social responsibility of forming professionals. The career Degree in Education, Pedagogy-Psychology has this defined objective starting from the professional's pattern, however, the Plan of the Educational Process, doesn't include subjects inside the curriculum it bases, neither they exist documents that they explain how to make it. For it, presently work intends the design and implementation of the curricular strategy for the environmental education of the students of this career so that it contributes to perfect the initial formation toward this educational objective. The same one is elaborated starting from the results obtained with the application of empiric methods as the analysis of documents, the survey and the pedagogic test, which throw results that they show the deficit of the students' knowledge toward the environmental education and how from their functions as educators should develop it. You conclude that the diagnosis of the preparation of the students of the career Degree in Education, Pedagogy-Psychology, threw that they present difficulties knowledge, of the attitudes and procedural on the environmental education, keeping in mind the particularities characteristic of the future profession. The analysis of the normative documents on the environmental education, as well as the relating ones theoretical it allowed the design of the Curricular Strategy of Environmental Education for the career Degree in Education, Pedagogy-Psychology starting from the professional's pattern. This traffics for the curriculum and it crosses the components of the formation: academic, labor-investigative and extension. The implementation has been carried out along eight years, obtaining you very positive results. The valuation of the effectiveness of the same one is evidenced in the knowledge, abilities and attitudes acquired by the students

RangeShiftR : an R package for individual-based simulation of spatial eco-evolutionary dynamics and species' responses to environmental changes

Acknowledgements – We are grateful for valuable feedback from many users who tested previous versions of the package. The Figures 1 and 2 were created using the draw.io app. We acknowledge the support of the Open Access Publishing Fund of the Univ. of Potsdam. Funding – AM and DZ were supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) under grant agreement No. ZU 361/1-1. GB was supported by a Royal Society University Research Fellowship (UF160614).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Medicinal leeches and the microsurgeon: A four-year study, clinical series and risk benefit review

Background: There are case reports and small series in the literature relating to the use of medicinal leeches by plastic surgeons; however, larger series from individual units are rare. The aim of this article is to present a comprehensive 4-year case series of the use of medicinal leeches, discuss the current evidence regarding indications, risks, and benefits and highlight the recent updates regarding leech speciation. Methods: Patients prescribed leeches in a 4-year period (July 2004–2008) were collated from hospital pharmacy records (N = 35). The number of leeches used, demographic, clinical, and microbiological details were retrospectively analyzed. Results: Thirty-five patients were treated with leeches. The age range was 2 to 98 years (mean = 49.3). Leeches were most commonly used for venous congestion in pedicled flaps and replantations. Blood transfusions were necessary in 12 cases (34%) [mean = 2.8 units, range 2–5 units]. Our infection rate was 20% (7/35) including five infections with Aeromonas spp. (14.2%). The proportion of patients becoming infected after leech therapy was significantly greater in the group of patients that did not receive prophylactic antibiotic treatment (Fisher's Exact test P = 0.0005). In total, 14 cases (40%) were salvaged in entirety, in 7 cases 80% or more, in 2 cases 50 to 79%, and in 1 case less than 50% of the tissues were salvaged. In 11 cases (31%), the tissues were totally lost. Conclusion: Our study highlights both the benefits and the risks to patients in selected clinical situations and also the potential risks. The routine use of antibiotic prophylaxis is supported. In view of the emerging evidence that Hirudo verbana are now used as standard leech therapy, and the primary pathogen is Aeromonas veronii, until a large prospective multicenter study is published, large series of patients treated with leeches should be reported. © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc. Microsurgery, 2011

The perceived advantages of e-participation and its impact on citizens’ willingness to engage : findings from the Canton of Zurich

The aim of this study is to contribute to the growing literature on electronic participation (e-participation), by analysing various scenarios of participation. The main goal is to gain further insight into the role of perceived advantages concerning citizens’ willingness to engage in digital and non-digital participation. While several studies have identified advantages of e-participation compared to traditional, non-digital alternatives, little research has been conducted into how the perception of these advantages influences citizen willingness to engage in e-participation. This study examines three participation scenarios with different levels of citizen participation. We use a logistic regression model to analyse our data. The findings reveal new insights for both research and practice. First, the results show that simplicity, time savings, location independence, and cost reduction are generally considered to be advantages of e-participation. By comparison, data security and data protection are seen to be advantages of non-digital participation. However, only cost reduction and simplicity have a positive influence on citizens’ willingness to engage in all three scenarios. Additionally, when data security was perceived as an advantage of e-participation, the likelihood of preferring digital over non-digital participation was higher. This is true for the two scenarios with higher participation levels. These findings differ from those in previous studies and raise questions regarding the impact that the participation level has on the results. By studying this topic further, valuable insights can be gained into how governments can use and promote e-participation

ANALISIS CAPITAL ADEQUACY RATIO (CAR) DANA PIHAK KETIGA (DPK) DAN LOAN TO DEPOSIT RATIO (LDR) TERHADAP PENYALURAN KREDIT PERBANKAN ( STUDI KASUS PADA PT. BPR CHRISTA JAYA PERDANA)

The purpose of the research was to find out and to analyze the Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR), Third Party Fund (DPK), and Loan to Deposit Ratio (LDR) to credit distribution, and to compare the application of the principle of credit distribution. Analysis techniques used in this research is financial theories based on basic assumptions. Based the research, the Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR), Loan to Deposit Ratio (LDR) does not affect the credit distribution and Third Party Fund (DPK) significantly influences toward credit distribution of the bank. Analysis of the application of credit distribution from the bank to debtor, there are 2 principles that have not been implemented effectively. Keywords : Credit Distribution, Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR), Loan to Deposit Ratio(LDR), Third Party Fund (DPK

Reading and Phonological Awareness in Africa

Literacy levels in Africa are low, and school instruction outcomes are not promising. Africa also has a disproportionate number of unschooled children. Phonological awareness (PA), especially phoneme awareness, is critically associated with literacy, but there is little evidence about whether PA is gained through literacy, schooling, or both, because most children studied are in education and can read at least letters. Our previous study of PA and reading in children in and out of school in Tanzania found that PA was associated with reading ability, not schooling or age, and many unschooled children learned to read. We retested 85 children from the baseline study, on measures of PA and literacy, approximately 2 years later. We found that more unschooled children had now learned to read but PA had generally not improved for these children. Unschooled children were still poorer at PA than schooled children. At 2 years, schooling now independently predicted PA and literacy. PA also predicted literacy and vice versa. Explicit phoneme awareness was again poor, even in accurate readers. More unschooled children have now learned to read, possibly because local literacy is in their first language; however, schooling improves reading and PA

“Fantasmas” na mecânica quântica

CNPQ - CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICOCAPES - COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIORFAPESP - FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULOCan you pick a complex subject in quantum mechanics and discuss it with a minimum number of equations, in a simplified form that the general scientific public could understand? This was a question presented to graduate students of the one-year Quantum Mechanics course based on the text book Modern Quantum Mechanics by J. J. Sakurai and Jim Napolitano, at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil. The first seven authors of this paper are graduate students (alphabetical order) that accepted to try it. The chosen subject was "delocalized quantum states", and it will be discussed using colloquial terms like quantum ghosts, spooky action, splitting beings and invisibility cloak. © Sociedade Brasileira de Física. Printed in Brazil.Can you pick a complex subject in quantum mechanics and discuss it with a minimum number of equations, in a simplified form that the general scientific public could understand? This was a question presented to graduate students of the one-year Quantum Mechanics course based on the text book Modern Quantum Mechanics by J. J. Sakurai and Jim Napolitano, at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil. The first seven authors of this paper are graduate students (alphabetical order) that accepted to try it. The chosen subject was "delocalized quantum states", and it will be discussed using colloquial terms like quantum ghosts, spooky action, splitting beings and invisibility cloak.383111CNPQ - CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICOCAPES - COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIORFAPESP - FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULOCNPQ - CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICOCAPES - COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIORFAPESP - FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULOSem informaçãoSem informaçãoSem informaçãoPode-se escolher um topico complexo em mecanica quantica e discuti-lo com um numero mınimo de equações, e de forma simplificada para que um publico com apenas conhecimento basico em fısica possa entender? Essa foi a pergunta apresentada aos alunos de pos-graduação das disciplinas de um ano de Mecanica Quantica I e II da Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), baseadas no livro “Quantum Mechanics” de J. J. Sakurai e Jim Napolitano. Os primeiros sete autores desse artigosão os alunos de pos-graduação (em ordem alfabetica) que aceitaram o desafio. O topico escolhido foi estados quanticos delocalizados, e sera discutido utilizando termos coloquiais como fantasmas quanticos, ações fantasmagoricas, entidades divididas e capa de invisibilidade.G.M.A., D.T.M, M.M. and M.A.P.L acknowledge support from the Brazilian agency “Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico” (CNPq). D.Q.A., L.F.M.C, and S.I.C.G acknowledge support from the Brazilian agency “Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior” (CAPES), and L.F.C.F acknowledges support from the Brazilian state of São Paulo agency “Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo” (FAPESP). The authors thank Amanda A. R. Lima for drawing the inspiring figure 2. The authors are grateful to Profs. Michael Brunger, Prof. Amir Caldeira and Prof. José A. Roversi for their critical reading of the manuscript and constructive comments and suggestions. The authors also thank for critical reading of this manuscript, the following group of people of the aimed public target: Paulo S. P. Lima (Mechanical Engineer), Martín E. Navarro Maldonado (Chemical Engineer), and Luis Quesada (Professor of Computer Science and Informatics)

Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2-NPs) effect on germination and morphological parameters in alfalfa, tomato, and pepper

Titanium dioxide nanoparticles are used in different processes, derived from this their presence in wastewater is common, concentrating in residual sludge. These residues are used as agricultural soil improvers, being a source of crop exposure. In this study, the effect of TiO2-NPs (450, 900, and 1800 mg L-1) on the germination of alfalfa, tomato, and pepper seeds was evaluated. The germination parameters were not different (p > 0.05) except for, the seed vigor index in alfalfa and pepper, and the mean germination time in tomato. The germination index was below 80% in 450 mg L-1 in tomato, which showed moderate phytotoxicity. Morphological modifications with differences (p < 0.05) were found in the three crops, mainly in the root. In tomatoes, the length of the main root, root hairs, and the width of the root tip were reduced but increased the width of the main root, piliferous zone, and the length of root hairs were. For alfalfa, root length and number of secondary roots augment. However, the stem, root tip width, and root villi were reduced. Finally, for pepper, the length, and width of the root and the piliferous zone were modified. Additionally, a concerning trend has been observed in the length of root hairs. TiO2-NPs affected germination and morphology in alfalfa, tomato and pepper seeds differently. Tomato was most negatively affected, with reduced root length and width. Alfalfa showed mixed effects, with positive impacts on some parameters but negatives on others. Pepper seeds responded positively overall, with improved germination and root length, despite some impacts on root morphology.