Addressing Diversity in Academia

How do we eliminate, or at list limit, students’ experiences of marginalization and at the same time help them understand that individual experiences, values, and perspectives influence how we all construct knowledge in our field

Simposio RILEM sobre prácticas corrientes de control de calidad del hormigón en los países de Latinoamérica

Se analizan los métodos empleados para controlar la calidad del agua, cemento, aditivos y áridos, para realizr la toma de muestras del hormigón fresco y los métodos de ensayo usados para determinar su consistencia, trabajabilidad, % de aire, exudación y peso de la unidad de volumen, y de los procedimientos de moldeo de probetas. Se hace referencia al contenido de álcalis de los cementos y a los áridos reactivos, durabilidad del hormigón, extracción de testigos de estructuras y determinación aproximada de los contenidos de agua, aire y cemento, a partir de una muestra de hormigón endurecido. Se destaca que en las obras públicas se realiza el control de calidad del hormigón de obra, cosa que, en general no ocurre en las obras de carácter privado.Methods used in Argentina in order to control water, cement, admixtures and aggregates quality are described, as well as methods used for sampling fresh concrete, and for determining slump, workability, air content, bleeding and unit weight. Procedures for molding of specimens used to determine strength* modulus of elasticity, volume changes, etc. are explained. Reference is made to alkalies content of cements, reactive aggregates, concrete durability, sampling of hardened concrete and methods of test used to determine approximate unit water and cement contents, as well as air content, from samples of hardened concrete. Quality control of concrete is performed in public works, but this is not the case in nearly all private building structures

Las condiciones de elaboración y el control de calidad del hormigón de obra

Se analizan algunas de las causas principales a las que pueden atribuirse los recientes colapsos de estructuras, destacándose que por inteligente que sea un proyecto y por elaborados y cuidadosos que sean los cálculos, si el hormigón de obra no reúne las características ni la calidad previstas por el proyectista, todos los refinamientos de cálculo carecerán totalmente de sentido y de interés práctico. Como en nuestro medio y en el ámbito de las obras de carácter privado, prácticamente no se realizan ensayos para controlar la calidad del hormigón durante el periodo de construcción de las estructuras, se hace notar la importancia de dichos ensayos como único medio para conocer y prever la calidad de aquél con tiempo suficiente como para adoptar las medidas necesarias que aseguren la calidad deseada y con ello la estabilidad, durabilidad y seguridad de dichas estructuras. Se resumen las recomendaciones tendientes a evitar la repetición de los hechos producidas.Some of the main probable causes of recent collapses of reinforced concrete building structures are analized. Inferior concrete quality being one of them. It is pointed out that no matter how perfect the structure design is and how careful and refined the calculations are, if concrete has not the quality and strength assumed by the designer, all the refinements will be useless and lacking of practical sense and interest. As in this country, generally, and specially in the field of private concrete structures, concrete is not subject to quality control during the construction period, the importance of making tests is emphasized as the only possible mean to know and forsee concrete quality with time enough to adopt measures that will allow to obtain the assumed quality and with it the stability and structural safety. Recommended practices to be adopted in order to avoid the repetition of concrete structure failures are described

Chronic myelogenous leukemia: the present and the future of the TKI therapy

Impressive response rates and the good tolerability have allowed imatinib to become the gold standard frontline therapy for all CML patients in the early chronic phase. Optimal outcomes are attained with more than two thirds of the CML cases treated with standard dose imatinib (400 mg daily). Criteria to establish failure and suboptimal responses to imatinib have been defined. Treatment guidelines have also suggested imatinib dose escalation based on clinical assessments of disease response. However, despite all the effort to optimize therapy with imatinib, cases of real resistance exist. For imatinib resistant and intolerant cases, second generation powerful tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have been developed and registered. Sequential kinase inhibitor therapy is used to overcome resistance however, a future strategy might be a combination therapy with different ABL kinase inhibitors in the same therapeutic scheme, used sequentially or simultaneousl.Respostas impressionantes e boa tolerância transformaram o imatinibe no "padrão ouro" de tratamento de primeira linha na LMC em fase crônica precoce. Evolução favorável em mais de 2/3 dos pacientes com LMC é obtida com dose standard de 400 mg por dia. Critérios para estabelecer falha de tratamento e resposta "sub-ótima" têm sido definidos. Guidelines têm sugerido que o escalonamento da dose do imatinibe possa melhorar a resposta em subgrupo de pacientes. Entretanto, a despeito de todos os esforços para otimizar a resposta ao imatinibe, casos de resistência realmente existem. Para os casos de intolerância ou resistência ao imatinibe, inibidores potentes de segunda geração foram desenvolvidos e registrados (nilotinibe e dasatinibe). Além disto, terapêutica sequencial de inibidores podem ultrapassar a resistência, e a terapia combinada usada sequencialmente ou simultaneamente pode ser usada como estratégia futura

ABUNDANCIA Y DIVERSIDAD DE AVES EN AMBIENTES CON DIFERENTE GRADO DE PERTURBACIÓN EN EL MONTE DE ARGENTINA

RESUMEN ∙ Las modificaciones antrópicas en el ecosistema suelen tener un impacto importante en su fauna. Estudios ecológicos consideran a las aves como buenas indicadoras de estos cambios. Sin embargo, en ambientes áridos y semiáridos de América del Sur estos estudios son limitados. En este trabajo analizamos los cambios en la riqueza y abundancia de aves en función de ambientes con diferente grado de perturbación antrópica, de las estaciones del año y de la velocidad del viento. El área de estudio está ubicada en la localidad Villa Aberastain, Pocito, San Juan, Argentina. Los muestreos se realizaron en transectas en tres ambientes contrastantes (Zona Rural, Llanura Pedemontana y Quebrada Precordillerana) y en tres momentos de las estaciones del año (otoño–invierno, primavera y verano). Detectamos 41 especies de aves, pertenecientes a 22 familias. La riqueza y la abundancia de aves fueron mayores en el ambiente más perturbado (Zona Rural). La abundancia de aves fue mayor durante la primavera, mientras que la riqueza no varió de manera significativa a lo largo del tiempo. El gremio de aves granívoras fue el más abundante y junto con las aves insectívoras de sustrato presentaron el mayor número de especies. Las aves nectarívoras mostraron una mayor abundancia y riqueza en ambientes de quebradas precordillerana, mientras que las insectívoras de sustrato lo fueron en ambientes con mayor perturbación (Zona Rural). En todos los casos, la abundancia de aves fue menor a mayor intensidad de viento. Al igual que en otros estudios, los ambientes con modificaciones antrópicas del desierto del Monte presentan comunidades de aves diferentes a los ambientes naturales circundantes, con mayor riqueza pero también con mayor abundancia de especies introducidas (Columba livia y Passer domesticus).ABSTRACT ∙ Abundance and diversity of birds in environments with different degrees of human disturbance in the Argentine Monte Anthropic ecosystem modifications usually have considerable impact on the resident fauna. Ecological studies have recognized birds as good indicators of these changes; nevertheless, little research has been conducted regarding the consequences of disturbance specifically on arid and semi‐arid environments of South America. This study analyzes how various parameters, including differing degrees of anthropic modification, seasonal variation, and wind velocity, affect richness and abundance of bird species as well as trophic guilds in the Monte ecoregion of San Juan, Argentina. We recorded 41 bird species during our surveys, belonging to 22 families. The most human‐modified environments had the highest levels of richness and abundance. Bird abundance was highest in spring, while richness did not vary significantly with season. The granivorous guild was the most abundant and, together with the ground‐foraging insectivores and granivorous‐insectivores, represented the majority of the species (58.5%). Aerial‐feeding insectivores and nectarivores were more common in mountain ravines while ground‐foraging insectivorous species were mainly found in human‐modified areas. In all cases, higher wind speed correlated with reduced bird abundance. Even though bird richness and abundance were highest in modified environments, these habitats harbored bird communities that differed substantially from surrounding natural environments, and with dominance of introduced species (Columbia livia, Passer domesticus)

Social contact structures and time use patterns in the Manicaland Province of Zimbabwe.

BACKGROUND: Patterns of person-to-person contacts relevant for infectious diseases transmission are still poorly quantified in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where socio-demographic structures and behavioral attitudes are expected to be different from those of more developed countries. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We conducted a diary-based survey on daily contacts and time-use of individuals of different ages in one rural and one peri-urban site of Manicaland, Zimbabwe. A total of 2,490 diaries were collected and used to derive age-structured contact matrices, to analyze time spent by individuals in different settings, and to identify the key determinants of individuals' mixing patterns. Overall 10.8 contacts per person/day were reported, with a significant difference between the peri-urban and the rural site (11.6 versus 10.2). A strong age-assortativeness characterized contacts of school-aged children, whereas the high proportion of extended families and the young population age-structure led to a significant intergenerational mixing at older ages. Individuals spent on average 67% of daytime at home, 2% at work, and 9% at school. Active participation in school and work resulted the key drivers of the number of contacts and, similarly, household size, class size, and time spent at work influenced the number of home, school, and work contacts, respectively. We found that the heterogeneous nature of home contacts is critical for an epidemic transmission chain. In particular, our results suggest that, during the initial phase of an epidemic, about 50% of infections are expected to occur among individuals younger than 12 years and less than 20% among individuals older than 35 years. CONCLUSIONS: With the current work, we have gathered data and information on the ways through which individuals in SSA interact, and on the factors that mostly facilitate this interaction. Monitoring these processes is critical to realistically predict the effects of interventions on infectious diseases dynamics

Persistência e memória longa sazonal na série de desemprego da região metropolitana de São Paulo

Este artigo aborda o tema da persistência na taxa de desemprego da região metropolitana de São Paulo. Foram utilizados modelos SARFIMA de integração fracionária para avaliar a dinâmica de absorção dos choques econômicos pela série de desemprego. A hipótese de histerese no desemprego foi avaliada usando os modelos de memória longa. Os resultados obtidos pelo arcabouço fracionário foram contrapostos aos do paradigma I(1) -I (0) e revelaram a incapacidade dos modelos tradicionais SARIMA de extrair corretamente o comportamento de baixa frequência da série temporal. Verificou-se que o modelo sazonal tradicional induz à superavaliação da persistência na série de tempo estudada.This paper deals with the persistence theme in the unemployment rate of São Paulo metropolitan region. SARFIMA fractional integration models were used to evaluate the dynamics of economic shock absorption by the unemployment series. The hysteresis hypothesis in the unemployment rate was evaluated using long-memory models. The results found using the fractional framework were compared with those of the I(0) -I (0) paradigm, and they showed the inability of the traditional SARIMA models to correctly extract the low-frequency behavior of the time series. It was shown that traditional seasonal model leads to an overvaluation of the persistence in the series

Shelf Life Extension and Nutritional Quality Preservation of Sour Cherries through High Pressure Processing

The present study assessed the effectiveness of high pressure processing (HPP) for the quality maintenance of pitted sour cherries, with special regard to microbial stabilization and the maintenance of color and of chemical–nutritional properties. The HPP treatment (600 MPa for 3 min at 4 °C) was effective at minimizing the initial microbial load, which remained at negligible levels throughout 5 months of refrigerated storage. The color and total phytochemical content of sour cherries were not influenced by the HPP treatment and were maintained at levels comparable with the fresh product for 3 months of refrigerated storage. For longer storage periods, the typical red color decreased, in agreement with the content of total anthocyanins, which showed a significant decrease (up to 65% after 5 months). The antioxidant activity, measured by the ABTS and DPPH assays, was not affected by the HPP treatment, but slightly reduced during refrigerated storage. The study suggests that HPP may be exploited to extend the shelf life, while maintaining the fresh-like features of sour cherries, thus offering an alternative option to current preservation techniques (based on freezing or heating) commonly applied to this product