717 research outputs found
Loneliness and health indicators in middle-aged and older females and males
Loneliness is a complex and uncomfortable feeling that results from the perception of a lack of desired personal and social ties. Loneliness is accentuated with aging. It has been related to a wide range of objective and subjective health indicators and is a risk factor for morbidity and mortality. One of the proposed underlying mechanisms through which loneliness affects health is the dysregulation of the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis. However, the relationship between loneliness and cortisol, the main product of the HPA axis, is unclear and requires more research. The aims of this cross-sectional study were to investigate the relationships between loneliness, subjective health, and cortisol indexes, taking the sex into account, and investigate whether the HPA axis mediates the relationship between loneliness and subjective health. For this purpose, 79 participants (between 55 and 75 years old) completed several scales on loneliness, depression, perceived stress, psychological and physical health, and social relationships. Various salivary cortisol measurements were obtained on two consecutive days. The initial results showed that loneliness was related to psychological and physical health in the mixed-sex sample. However, when covariates were introduced, loneliness was only associated with psychological health in males. In addition, the cortisol indexes employed were not related to loneliness and did not mediate the relationship between loneliness and subjective health. Hence, we did not find a relevant role of the HPA axis in the association between loneliness and subjective health. More severe perceptions of loneliness would probably be necessary to detect this role. Overall, these results also show that the expected negative outcomes of loneliness associated with aging can be countered by an active life that can compensate for the natural losses experienced with age or at least delay these negative outcomes. Finally, some sex differences were found, in line with other studies, which warrants further examination of social variables and dimensions related to gender in future research. Copyright © 2022 Crespo-Sanmiguel, Zapater-Fajarí, Garrido-Chaves, Hidalgo and Salvador
Sensitivities of the Proton-Nucleus Elastical Scattering Observables of 6He and 8He at Intermediate Energies
We investigate the use of proton-nucleus elastic scattering experiments using
secondary beams of 6He and 8He to determine the physical structure of these
nuclei. The sensitivity of these experiments to nuclear structure is examined
by using four different nuclear structure models with different spatial
features using a full-folding optical potential model. The results show that
elastic scattering at intermediate energies (<100 MeV per nucleon) is not a
good constraint to be used to determine features of structure. Therefore
researchers should look elsewhere to put constraints on the ground state wave
function of the 6He and 8He nuclei.Comment: To be published in Phys. Rev.
Origin and fate of a bloom of Skeletonema costatum during a winter upwelling/downwelling sequence in the Ría de Vigo (NW Spain)
Original research paperThe onset, development and decay of a winter bloom of the marine diatom Skeletonema costatum
was monitored during a 10 d period in the coastal upwelling system of the Rı´a de Vigo (NW Spain).
The succession of upwelling, relaxation and downwelling-favorable coastal winds with a frequency
of 10 –20 d is a common feature of the NW Iberian shelf. The onset of the bloom occurred during an
upwelling-favorable 1⁄2 wk period under winter thermal inversion conditions. The subsequent 1⁄2 wk
coastal wind relaxation period allowed development of the bloom (gross primary production reached
8gCm–2 d–1) utilizing nutrients upwelled during the previous period. Finally, downwelling during
the following 1⁄2 wk period forced the decay of the bloom through a combination of cell sinking and
downward advection.Financial support came from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnologı´a (MCyT) grant REN2000-0880-C02-01 and Xunta de Galicia grant PGIDT01MAR40201PN; a fellowship from the MCyT and the I3P-CSIC Program.Versión del editor0,98
Projecte campus multimodal: pilotatge del suport de veu en lectura. Memòria final
El projecte va ser acceptat a la convocatòria PID 2011-2012Memòria final del projecte d'innovació docent "Campus multimodal" en el què es va experimentar amb dues eines de suport de veu en la lectura en una assignatura de Tècniques de Treball en diverses carreres associades amb Dret. Les eines van ser ClaroRead, un programari de PC que llegeix en veu alta tot el contingut de l'ordinador ressaltant la paraula llegida i amb altres utilitats de resum i creació de mapes conceptuals; i ReadSpeaker, una eina instal.lada al campus virtual que llegeix en veu alta el contingut web i contingut dels fitxers PDF. S'explica l'experiència i els resultats. Es conclou amb la necessitat de facilitar eines de suport a la lectura per als alumnes amb necessitats especials.ReadSpeaker, Integrate
Search for CP Violation in the Decay Z -> b (b bar) g
About three million hadronic decays of the Z collected by ALEPH in the years
1991-1994 are used to search for anomalous CP violation beyond the Standard
Model in the decay Z -> b \bar{b} g. The study is performed by analyzing
angular correlations between the two quarks and the gluon in three-jet events
and by measuring the differential two-jet rate. No signal of CP violation is
found. For the combinations of anomalous CP violating couplings, and , limits of \hat{h}_b < 0.59h^{\ast}_{b} < 3.02$ are given at 95\% CL.Comment: 8 pages, 1 postscript figure, uses here.sty, epsfig.st
Search for the glueball candidates f0(1500) and fJ(1710) in gamma gamma collisions
Data taken with the ALEPH detector at LEP1 have been used to search for gamma
gamma production of the glueball candidates f0(1500) and fJ(1710) via their
decay to pi+pi-. No signal is observed and upper limits to the product of gamma
gamma width and pi+pi- branching ratio of the f0(1500) and the fJ(1710) have
been measured to be Gamma_(gamma gamma -> f0(1500)). BR(f0(1500)->pi+pi-) <
0.31 keV and Gamma_(gamma gamma -> fJ(1710)). BR(fJ(1710)->pi+pi-) < 0.55 keV
at 95% confidence level.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure
Search for supersymmetry with a dominant R-parity violating LQDbar couplings in e+e- collisions at centre-of-mass energies of 130GeV to 172 GeV
A search for pair-production of supersymmetric particles under the assumption
that R-parity is violated via a dominant LQDbar coupling has been performed
using the data collected by ALEPH at centre-of-mass energies of 130-172 GeV.
The observed candidate events in the data are in agreement with the Standard
Model expectation. This result is translated into lower limits on the masses of
charginos, neutralinos, sleptons, sneutrinos and squarks. For instance, for
m_0=500 GeV/c^2 and tan(beta)=sqrt(2) charginos with masses smaller than 81
GeV/c^2 and neutralinos with masses smaller than 29 GeV/c^2 are excluded at the
95% confidence level for any generation structure of the LQDbar coupling.Comment: 32 pages, 30 figure
Effectiveness of a strategy that uses educational games to implement clinical practice guidelines among Spanish residents of family and community medicine (e-EDUCAGUIA project):A clinical trial by clusters
This study was funded by the Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias FIS Grant Number PI11/0477 ISCIII.-REDISSEC Proyecto RD12/0001/0012 AND FEDER Funding.Background: Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) have been developed with the aim of helping health professionals, patients, and caregivers make decisions about their health care, using the best available evidence. In many cases, incorporation of these recommendations into clinical practice also implies a need for changes in routine clinical practice. Using educational games as a strategy for implementing recommendations among health professionals has been demonstrated to be effective in some studies; however, evidence is still scarce. The primary objective of this study is to assess the effectiveness of a teaching strategy for the implementation of CPGs using educational games (e-learning EDUCAGUIA) to improve knowledge and skills related to clinical decision-making by residents in family medicine. The primary objective will be evaluated at 1 and 6months after the intervention. The secondary objectives are to identify barriers and facilitators for the use of guidelines by residents of family medicine and to describe the educational strategies used by Spanish teaching units of family and community medicine to encourage implementation of CPGs. Methods/design: We propose a multicenter clinical trial with randomized allocation by clusters of family and community medicine teaching units in Spain. The sample size will be 394 residents (197 in each group), with the teaching units as the randomization unit and the residents comprising the analysis unit. For the intervention, both groups will receive an initial 1-h session on clinical practice guideline use and the usual dissemination strategy by e-mail. The intervention group (e-learning EDUCAGUIA) strategy will consist of educational games with hypothetical clinical scenarios in a virtual environment. The primary outcome will be the score obtained by the residents on evaluation questionnaires for each clinical practice guideline. Other included variables will be the sociodemographic and training variables of the residents and the teaching unit characteristics. The statistical analysis will consist of a descriptive analysis of variables and a baseline comparison of both groups. For the primary outcome analysis, an average score comparison of hypothetical scenario questionnaires between the EDUCAGUIA intervention group and the control group will be performed at 1 and 6months post-intervention, using 95% confidence intervals. A linear multilevel regression will be used to adjust the model. Discussion: The identification of effective teaching strategies will facilitate the incorporation of available knowledge into clinical practice that could eventually improve patient outcomes. The inclusion of information technologies as teaching tools permits greater learning autonomy and allows deeper instructor participation in the monitoring and supervision of residents. The long-term impact of this strategy is unknown; however, because it is aimed at professionals undergoing training and it addresses prevalent health problems, a small effect can be of great relevance. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02210442.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe
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