Storytelling and teamwork in the bilingual classroom at university: Impressions and satisfaction from pre-service teachers in the Kamishibai project

The storytelling technique Kamishibai has shown multiple advantages in educational settings. However, there is a lack of studies that deepen on its implementation in teacher training. A total of 114 pre-service teachers (mean age = 20.76 years), enrolled in the Degree of Primary Education at the University of Málaga, participated in a project where they had to design and perform a paper-based theatre for primary-education pupils as a target audience. A semi-structured online survey was administered to determine pre-service teachers’ satisfaction and perceptions towards their Kamishibai and the work in teams. The results revealed that most of the pre-service teachers were satisfied with the team experience. Besides, some benefits were listed: fostering creativity, at university; catching pupils’ attention, fostering creativity and promoting reading, in primary-school context. The Kamishibai implementation goes beyond promoting reading and other linguistic skills in both mother tongue and foreign language; it may be considered a multidisciplinary educative resource to strengthen further cross-curricular competences.Funding for open access charge: Universidad de Málaga / CBUA

Eventos estresantes, espiritualidad y consumo de alcohol en participantes del programa de 12 pasos de AA

This work sought to determine the association between stressful events, spirituality, program participation and alcohol consumption in participants of the AA 12-step program. The study used a descriptive correlation and predictive method. The population was comprised by members from AA, Mexico. A simple random sampling by clusters was performed, the sample consisted of 72 AA participants with 95% CI. The Spiritual Perspective Scale and the Social Readjustment Rating Scale were used. Stressful events are negatively and significantly related to alcohol consumption (rs = -0.316, p = 0.007), this indicates that the higher the number of stressors, the lower the number of days without alcohol consumption; participation in the program was positively and significantly related to alcohol consumption (rs = 0.776, p = 0.001), which indicates that greater years of participation means greater number of days without alcohol consumption. Spirituality showed no significant relationship (p > 0.05), there is also a significant effect of participation in the program and age on alcohol consumption (R2 = 65.2%, p = 0.001). Participation in the AA program is related to and has an effect on the number of days without alcohol consumption

Superplastic deformation of directionally solidified nanofibrillar Al2O3-Y3Al5O12-ZrO2 eutectics

Nanofibrillar Al2O3–Y3Al5O12–ZrO2 eutectic rods were manufactured by directional solidification from the melt at high growth rates in an inert atmosphere using the laser-heated floating zone method. Under conditions of cooperative growth, the ternary eutectic presented a homogeneous microstructure, formed by bundles of single-crystal c-oriented Al2O3 and Y3Al5O12 (YAG) whiskers of ≈100 nm in width with smaller Y2O3-doped ZrO2 (YSZ) whiskers between them. Owing to the anisotropic fibrillar microstructure, Al2O3–YAG–YSZ ternary eutectics present high strength and toughness at ambient temperature while they exhibit superplastic behavior at 1600 K and above. Careful examination of the deformed samples by transmission electron microscopy did not show any evidence of dislocation activity and superplastic deformation was attributed to mass-transport by diffusion within the nanometric domains. This combination of high strength and toughness at ambient temperature together with the ability to support large deformations without failure above 1600 K is unique and shows a large potential to develop new structural materials for very high temperature structural applications

Towards precision medicine: defining and characterizing adipose tissue dysfunction to identify early immunometabolic risk in symptom-free adults from the GEMM family study

Interactions between macrophages and adipocytes are early molecular factors influencing adipose tissue (AT) dysfunction, resulting in high leptin, low adiponectin circulating levels and low-grade metaflammation, leading to insulin resistance (IR) with increased cardiovascular risk. We report the characterization of AT dysfunction through measurements of the adiponectin/leptin ratio (ALR), the adipo-insulin resistance index (Adipo-IRi), fasting/postprandial (F/P) immunometabolic phenotyping and direct F/P differential gene expression in AT biopsies obtained from symptom-free adults from the GEMM family study. AT dysfunction was evaluated through associations of the ALR with F/P insulin-glucose axis, lipid-lipoprotein metabolism, and inflammatory markers. A relevant pattern of negative associations between decreased ALR and markers of systemic low-grade metaflammation, HOMA, and postprandial cardiovascular risk hyperinsulinemic, triglyceride and GLP-1 curves was found. We also analysed their plasma non-coding microRNAs and shotgun lipidomics profiles finding trends that may reflect a pattern of adipose tissue dysfunction in the fed and fasted state. Direct gene differential expression data showed initial patterns of AT molecular signatures of key immunometabolic genes involved in AT expansion, angiogenic remodelling and immune cell migration. These data reinforce the central, early role of AT dysfunction at the molecular and systemic level in the pathogenesis of IR and immunometabolic disorders

Clonal chromosomal mosaicism and loss of chromosome Y in elderly men increase vulnerability for SARS-CoV-2

The pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19) had an estimated overall case fatality ratio of 1.38% (pre-vaccination), being 53% higher in males and increasing exponentially with age. Among 9578 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in the SCOURGE study, we found 133 cases (1.42%) with detectable clonal mosaicism for chromosome alterations (mCA) and 226 males (5.08%) with acquired loss of chromosome Y (LOY). Individuals with clonal mosaic events (mCA and/or LOY) showed a 54% increase in the risk of COVID-19 lethality. LOY is associated with transcriptomic biomarkers of immune dysfunction, pro-coagulation activity and cardiovascular risk. Interferon-induced genes involved in the initial immune response to SARS-CoV-2 are also down-regulated in LOY. Thus, mCA and LOY underlie at least part of the sex-biased severity and mortality of COVID-19 in aging patients. Given its potential therapeutic and prognostic relevance, evaluation of clonal mosaicism should be implemented as biomarker of COVID-19 severity in elderly people. Among 9578 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in the SCOURGE study, individuals with clonal mosaic events (clonal mosaicism for chromosome alterations and/or loss of chromosome Y) showed an increased risk of COVID-19 lethality

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

4to. Congreso Internacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación para la Sociedad. Memoria académica

Este volumen acoge la memoria académica de la Cuarta edición del Congreso Internacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación para la Sociedad, CITIS 2017, desarrollado entre el 29 de noviembre y el 1 de diciembre de 2017 y organizado por la Universidad Politécnica Salesiana (UPS) en su sede de Guayaquil. El Congreso ofreció un espacio para la presentación, difusión e intercambio de importantes investigaciones nacionales e internacionales ante la comunidad universitaria que se dio cita en el encuentro. El uso de herramientas tecnológicas para la gestión de los trabajos de investigación como la plataforma Open Conference Systems y la web de presentación del Congreso http://citis.blog.ups.edu.ec/, hicieron de CITIS 2017 un verdadero referente entre los congresos que se desarrollaron en el país. La preocupación de nuestra Universidad, de presentar espacios que ayuden a generar nuevos y mejores cambios en la dimensión humana y social de nuestro entorno, hace que se persiga en cada edición del evento la presentación de trabajos con calidad creciente en cuanto a su producción científica. Quienes estuvimos al frente de la organización, dejamos plasmado en estas memorias académicas el intenso y prolífico trabajo de los días de realización del Congreso Internacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación para la Sociedad al alcance de todos y todas

Multiple Scenario Generation of Subsurface Models:Consistent Integration of Information from Geophysical and Geological Data throuh Combination of Probabilistic Inverse Problem Theory and Geostatistics

Neutrinos with energies above 1017 eV are detectable with the Surface Detector Array of the Pierre Auger Observatory. The identification is efficiently performed for neutrinos of all flavors interacting in the atmosphere at large zenith angles, as well as for Earth-skimming \u3c4 neutrinos with nearly tangential trajectories relative to the Earth. No neutrino candidates were found in 3c 14.7 years of data taken up to 31 August 2018. This leads to restrictive upper bounds on their flux. The 90% C.L. single-flavor limit to the diffuse flux of ultra-high-energy neutrinos with an E\u3bd-2 spectrum in the energy range 1.0 7 1017 eV -2.5 7 1019 eV is E2 dN\u3bd/dE\u3bd &lt; 4.4 7 10-9 GeV cm-2 s-1 sr-1, placing strong constraints on several models of neutrino production at EeV energies and on the properties of the sources of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays

Centrality evolution of the charged-particle pseudorapidity density over a broad pseudorapidity range in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=2.76TeV

Peer reviewe

Información demográfica de Bradypus Variegatus, Choloepus Hoffmanni y Cyclopes Didactylus (Xenarthra: pilosa) en un bosque húmedo tropical secundario de Santander, Colombia

Durante cinco meses (febrero-junio 2014) se rescató y reubicó fauna como parte de las labores de adecuación del vaso del embalse del Proyecto Hidroeléctrico Sogamoso (Santander-Colombia). Se realizaron 71 capturas de especies del orden Pilosa, que correspondieron a densidades de 0.4, 0.35 y 0.06 (ind/ha) para Bradypus variegatus, Choloepus hoffmanni y Cyclopes didactylus, respectivamente. La proporción de sexos fue 1♂:1♀ para B. variegatus y 1♂:2.2♀ para C. hoffmanni. El cuidado de crías se observó entre marzo y junio para B. variegatus y C. hoffmanni, mientras que la gestación solo en mayo para C. hoffmanni. Se recomienda documentar los rescates de fauna, minimizando la pérdida de datos biológicos valiosos de las especies afectadas.During five months (February-June 2014), wild species were rescued and relocated in preparation for the flooding of the reservoir of the Sogamoso Hydroelectric Project (Santander-Colombia). Seventy one captures of species of the order Pilosa were obtained, corresponding to the densities 0.4, 0.35 and 0.06 (ind/ha) for Bradypus variegatus, Choloepus hoffmanni and Cyclopes didactylus, respectively. The sex ratio was 1♂:1♀ for B. variegatus and 1♂:2.2♀ for C. hoffmanni. Parental care was observed from March to June for B. variegatus and C. hoffmanni, while gestation was detected only in May for C. hoffmanni. We recommend documenting wildlife rescue, minimizing the loss of valuable biological data pertaining to the affected species.Fil: Reyes Amaya, Nicolás Rafael. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico - Tucumán. Unidad Ejecutora Lillo; ArgentinaFil: Gutiérrez Sanabria, Diego Rolando. Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica; Costa RicaFil: Castillo Navarro, Yeimy. Universidad Industrial Santander. Facultad de Ciencias; ColombiaFil: Rodriguez Moreno, Raúl. Universidad Industrial Santander. Facultad de Ciencias; ColombiaFil: Plese, Tinka. Fundación Aiunau; Colombi