Teachers’ voice use in teaching environment. Aspects on speakers’ comfort

AbstractTeachers have high occupational voice demands. The voice load of teachers is both environmental and individual. Little is known about the teachers’ own view of the contribution from the environment and about the teachers’ voice use at their work-place. Aim: The purpose was to investigate the voice use and prevalence of voice problems in teachers and to explore their ratings of vocally loading aspects of their working environment. Method: A questionnaire-survey in 467 teachers aiming to explore the prevalence of voice problems in teaching staff identified teachers with voice problems and vocally healthy colleagues separated in two groups, teachers with self-assessed voice problems and vocally healthy teachers. Teachers with voice problems were further, matched to a voice healthy colleague from the same school. The pairs were investigated and compared for clinical findings and for vocal behavior in the teaching environment and aspects of the classroom environment were also measured. Results: Teachers with voice problems were more affected by any loading factor in the work-environment and were more perceptive of the room acoustics. Differences between the groups were found during field-measurements of the voice, while there were no differences in the findings from the clinical examinations of larynx and voice. Conclusion: Teachers suffering from voice problems react stronger to loading factors in the teaching environment. It is in the interplay between the individual and the work environment that voice problems emerge

Study by gender of the impact of contextual factors on Spanish students’ mathematical performance in PISA 2018

El estudio PISA ha puesto de manifiesto una brecha de género en el rendimiento matemático del alumnado español. Este trabajo tiene como objetivo determinar el diferente impacto en el rendimiento en matemáticas en función del género de variables relacionadas con características de los estudiantes y de los centros educativos a los que asisten. Se considera la muestra española de la edición del año 2018 de PISA que, al presentar una estructura jerárquica, permite aplicar una metodología basada en la regresión multinivel a dos niveles. Los resultados obtenidos indican que el hecho de hablar en casa un idioma que no sea el castellano ni ninguna otra lengua cooficial y la disminución de la tasa de alumnos por profesor influyen negativamente, en exclusiva, en el rendimiento en matemáticas de los chicos, mientras que la condición de inmigrante y la titularidad pública del centro educativo afectan, también en sentido negativo, solo al desempeño matemático de las chicas. A partir de estos resultados se podrían plantear medidas específicas por género para paliar el efecto de las variables que merman el rendimiento matemático de los estudiantes en España.The PISA study has revealed a gender gap in the mathematical performance of Spanish students. The aim of this paper is to determine the different impact of variables related to student characteristics and the schools they attend on mathematics performance by gender. We consider the Spanish sample of the 2018 edition of PISA which, by presenting a hierarchical structure, allows us to apply a methodology based on multilevel regression at two levels. The results obtained indicate that speaking a language other than Spanish or any other co-official language at home and the decrease in the student-teacher ratio have a negative influence, exclusively, on the mathematics performance of boys, while immigrant status and public ownership of the school affect, also negatively, only the mathematics performance of girls. On the basis of these results, gender-specific measures could be proposed to mitigate the effect of the variables that undermine the mathematical performance of students in Spain

Cell-level anatomy explains leaf age-dependent declines in mesophyll conductance and photosynthetic capacity in the evergreen Mediterranean oak Quercus ilex subsp. rotundifolia

Leaves of Mediterranean evergreen tree species experience a reduction in net CO2 assimilation (A(N)) and mesophyll conductance to CO2 (g(m)) during aging and senescence, which would be influenced by changes in leaf anatomical traits at cell level. Anatomical modifications can be accompanied by the dismantling of photosynthetic apparatus associated to leaf senescence, manifested through changes at the biochemical level (i.e., lower nitrogen investment in photosynthetic machinery). However, the role of changes in leaf anatomy at cell level and nitrogen content in g(m) and A(N) decline experienced by old non-senescent leaves of evergreen trees with long leaf lifespan is far from being elucidated. We evaluated age-dependent changes in morphological, anatomical, chemical and photosynthetic traits in Quercus ilex subsp. rotundifolia Lam., an evergreen oak with high leaf longevity. All photosynthetic traits decreased with increasing leaf age. The relative change in cell wall thickness (T-cw) was less than in chloroplast surface area exposed to intercellular air space (S-c/S), and S-c/S was a key anatomical trait explaining variations in g(m) and A(N) among different age classes. The reduction of S-c/S was related to ultrastructural changes in chloroplasts associated to leaf aging, with a concomitant reduction in cytoplasmic nitrogen. Changes in leaf anatomy and biochemistry were responsible for the age-dependent modifications in g(m) and A(N). These findings revealed a gradual physiological deterioration related to the dismantling of the photosynthetic apparatus in older leaves of Q. ilex subsp. rotundifolia

Spatial distribution and risk factors of Brucellosis

Background: The role of wildlife as a brucellosis reservoir for humans and domestic livestock remains to be properly established. The aim of this work was to determine the aetiology, apparent prevalence, spatial distribution and risk factors for brucellosis transmission in several Iberian wild ungulates. Methods: A multi-species indirect immunosorbent assay (iELISA) using Brucella S-LPS antigen was developed. In several regions having brucellosis in livestock, individual serum samples were taken between 1999 and 2009 from 2,579 wild bovids, 6,448 wild cervids and4,454 Eurasian wild boar (Sus scrofa), and tested to assess brucellosis apparent prevalence. Strains isolated from wild boar were characterized to identify the presence of markers shared with the strains isolated from domestic pigs. Results: Mean apparent prevalence below 0.5% was identified in chamois (Rupicapra pyrenaica), Iberian wild goat (Capra pyrenaica), and red deer (Cervus elaphus). Roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), fallow deer (Dama dama), mouflon (Ovis aries) and Barbary sheep (Ammotragus lervia) tested were seronegative. Only one red deer and one Iberian wild goat resulted positive in culture, isolating B. abortus biovar 1 and B. melitensis biovar 1, respectively. Apparent prevalence in wild boar ranged from 25% to 46% in the different regions studied, with the highest figures detected in South-Central Spain. The probability of wild boar being positive in the iELISA was also affected by age, age-by-sex interaction, sampling month, and the density of outdoor domestic pigs. A total of 104 bacterial isolates were obtained from wild boar, being all identified as B. suis biovar 2. DNA polymorphisms were similar to those found in domestic pigs. Conclusions: In conclusion, brucellosis in wild boar is widespread in the Iberian Peninsula, thus representing an important threat for domestic pigs. By contrast, wild ruminants were not identified as a significant brucellosis reservoir for livestock

Treatment with tocilizumab or corticosteroids for COVID-19 patients with hyperinflammatory state: a multicentre cohort study (SAM-COVID-19)

Objectives: The objective of this study was to estimate the association between tocilizumab or corticosteroids and the risk of intubation or death in patients with coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) with a hyperinflammatory state according to clinical and laboratory parameters. Methods: A cohort study was performed in 60 Spanish hospitals including 778 patients with COVID-19 and clinical and laboratory data indicative of a hyperinflammatory state. Treatment was mainly with tocilizumab, an intermediate-high dose of corticosteroids (IHDC), a pulse dose of corticosteroids (PDC), combination therapy, or no treatment. Primary outcome was intubation or death; follow-up was 21 days. Propensity score-adjusted estimations using Cox regression (logistic regression if needed) were calculated. Propensity scores were used as confounders, matching variables and for the inverse probability of treatment weights (IPTWs). Results: In all, 88, 117, 78 and 151 patients treated with tocilizumab, IHDC, PDC, and combination therapy, respectively, were compared with 344 untreated patients. The primary endpoint occurred in 10 (11.4%), 27 (23.1%), 12 (15.4%), 40 (25.6%) and 69 (21.1%), respectively. The IPTW-based hazard ratios (odds ratio for combination therapy) for the primary endpoint were 0.32 (95%CI 0.22-0.47; p < 0.001) for tocilizumab, 0.82 (0.71-1.30; p 0.82) for IHDC, 0.61 (0.43-0.86; p 0.006) for PDC, and 1.17 (0.86-1.58; p 0.30) for combination therapy. Other applications of the propensity score provided similar results, but were not significant for PDC. Tocilizumab was also associated with lower hazard of death alone in IPTW analysis (0.07; 0.02-0.17; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Tocilizumab might be useful in COVID-19 patients with a hyperinflammatory state and should be prioritized for randomized trials in this situatio

Expression of Interest: The Canfranc Axion Detection Experiment (CADEx)

Trabajo presentado al 29th Meeting of the LSC Scientific Committee, celebrado online del 30 de noviembre al 1 de diciembre de 2021.Peer reviewe

Discrimination of 2D wall textures by passive echolocation for different reflected-to-direct level difference configurations.

In this work, we study people's ability to discriminate between different 2D textures of walls by passive listening to a pre-recorded tongue click in an auralized echolocation scenario. In addition, the impact of artificially enhancing the early reflection magnitude by 6dB and of removing the direct component while equalizing the loudness was investigated. Listening test results for different textures, ranging from a flat wall to a staircase, were assessed using a 2 Alternative-Forced-Choice (2AFC) method, in which 14 sighted, untrained participants were indicating 2 equally perceived stimuli out of 3 presented stimuli. The average performance of the listening subjects to discriminate between different textures was found to be significantly higher for walls at 5m distance, without overlap between the reflected and direct sound, compared to the same walls at 0.8m distance. Enhancing the reflections as well as removing the direct sound were found to be beneficial to differentiate textures. This finding highlights the importance of forward masking in the discrimination process. The overall texture discriminability was found to be larger for the walls reflecting with a higher spectral coloration

Speakers’ comfort and voice level variation in classrooms: Laboratory research

Teachers adjust their voice levels under different classroom acoustics conditions, even in the absence of background noise. Laboratory experiments have been conducted in order to understand further this relationship and to determine optimum room acoustic conditions for speaking. Under simulated acoustic environments, talkers do modify their voice levels linearly with the measure voice support, and the slope of this relationship is referred to as room effect. The magnitude of the room effect depends highly on the instruction used and on the individuals. Group-wise, the average room effect ranges from -0.93 dB/dB, with free speech, to -0.1 dB/dB with other less demanding communication tasks as reading and talking at short distances. The room effect for some individuals can be as strong as -1.7 dB/dB. A questionnaire investigation showed that the acoustic comfort for talking in classrooms, in the absence of background noise, is correlated to the decay times derived from an impulse response measured from the mouth to the ears of a talker, and that there is a maximum of preference for decay times between 0.4 and 0.5 s. Teachers with self-reported voice problems prefer higher decay times to speak in than their healthy colleagues.status: publishe