Tendencies in medical publications

AbstractObjectivesTo describe the trends of research design in publications from high-impact medical journals.MethodsA cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted by searching the 2011 electronic publications of the journals: New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association, The Lancet, British Medical Journal, and Annals of Internal Medicine. Studies were classified as primary and secondary. The journal impact factor was taken from the Journal Citation Report website. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze and interpret the data.ResultsWe analyzed 1130 publications: 804 primary and 326 secondary studies, which represented 71.2% and 28.8% of the total publications, respectively. Among the primary studies, randomized clinical trials (30.4%) were the most prevalent, followed by cohort studies (21.9%) and case reports (9.0%).ConclusionsThese findings can have implications in Evidence-Based Medicine programs. Literature review should focus on reviewing secondary articles first, then experimental studies and finally, observational studies

A multi-wavelength view of the cosmic ray confinement in star-forming galaxies

Cosmic rays (CRs) are responsible for a tight correlation between the star formation rate (SFR)and the radio/W-ray luminosity observed in star-forming galaxies (SFGs). This correlation canbe explained by a linear scaling between the SFR and the number of CR acceleration sites, suchas supernova remnants, coupled to the dependence of particle escape with galaxy properties.Observations in radio and W-rays are important tools to probe CR activity, but they may not besufficient to fully characterise the confinement properties of galaxies. For instance, CR calorimetryis one of the most intriguing unanswered aspects in star-forming regions that could result not onlyin emission through the neutrino channel but possibly also in the hard X-ray and MeV energybands. We perform a multi-wavelength investigation of the CR population and the effective fieldsaffecting their transport within SFGs with different levels of activity. In particular, we focus on thepossibility of testing proton confinement in the X-ray and MeV bands. With this goal, we developa model describing the CR transport in SFGs for a broad range of SFRs. Hadronic byproducts, pairproduction and leptonic emission are computed self-consistently in a multi-wavelength contextranging from radio up to X-rays and W-rays. We conclude that a panchromatic view of the SFR?luminosity correlations in SFGs is key to place strong constraints on the physical processes thatgovern the non-thermal physics of these sources.Fil: Kornecki, Paula. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto Argentino de Radioastronomía. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto Argentino de Radioastronomía; ArgentinaFil: Peretti, E.. Universidad de Copenhagen; DinamarcaFil: del Palacio, Santiago. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto Argentino de Radioastronomía. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto Argentino de Radioastronomía; ArgentinaFil: Benaglia, Paula. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto Argentino de Radioastronomía. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto Argentino de Radioastronomía; ArgentinaFil: Pellizza González, Leonardo Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio. - Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio; ArgentinaFil: Romero, Gustavo Esteban. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto Argentino de Radioastronomía. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto Argentino de Radioastronomía; Argentina37th International Cosmic Ray ConferenceBerlinAlemaniaInternational Union of Pure and Applied Physic

Los medios en la gestión de la comunicación de las ONG en tiempos de crisis: oportunidades para el cambio social

El artículo estudia cómo ha influido la crisis económica en la gestión de la comunicación entre las ONG y los medios. También analiza las oportunidades informativas generadas, que estas entidades podrían utilizar para contribuir al cambio social: visibilizar el aumento producido en las necesidades a cubrir; evidenciar la reducción de ingresos a la que se han visto sometidas, y denunciar las desigualdades sociales para conseguir el apoyo de la opinión pública. El estudio se centra en la Comunidad Valenciana -una de las más castigadas por la crisis- y desarrolla una triple metodología: entrevistas a los responsables de comunicación de una muestra representativa de ONG que atienden a sectores de población vulnerables en Valencia; análisis del tratamiento periodístico que han recibido en 2008 (inicio de la crisis) y 2012 (consolidación de la crisis) en los cinco diarios de referencia de Valencia; y entrevistas a los cinco periodistas responsables de la cobertura de temas sociales y ONG en los diarios analizados. Los resultados obtenidos permitirán comprobar la influencia de la crisis en la gestión de la comunicación de las ONG y en el tratamiento periodístico de estas entidades. Además han facilitado la identificación de buenas prácticas entre ONG y medios de comunicación, encontrando un mayor compromiso en los medios hacia la denuncia de las injusticias potenciadas por la crisis, mientras que las ONG se han centrado más en la divulgación de su labor

Análisis del modelo de gestión de la comunicación y las RRPP de las ONG en Valencia, en una sociedad en crisis (2012)

Este artículo se orienta a conocer la gestión de la comunicación realizada por las organizaciones del Tercer Sector durante la crisis económica, que ha puesto en valor el trabajo de estas entidades en un momento de défcit de confanza y pérdida de credibilidad en las instituciones. El trabajo trata de analizar el modelo de gabinete y la gestión de la comunicación desarrollada por seis ONG de diferente perfl que trabajan con colectivos en riesgo de exclusión social en Valencia (Cruz Roja, Cáritas, Casa Caridad, CEARPV, COCEMFECV y FEAPSCV), abordando la situación en una comunidad especialmente castigada por la crisis

Las relaciones con los medios en la gestión de la comunicación y las RRPP de las ONGs en tiempos de crisis

El presente trabajo se orienta a conocer si la gestión de las relaciones con los medios de comunicación en algunas organizaciones del Tercer Sector ha sido considerada un elemento clave para estas entidades, especialmente en momentos de crisis económica, en los que la labor de las ONGs puede ser más valorada por la sociedad, generándose oportunidades informativas que podrían rentabilizarse con una adecuada gestión las mismas. Por otra parte, hemos pretendido conocer la visión que los profesionales de los medios tienen sobre el trabajo de los Gabinetes, y si las entidades con una gestión más profesionalizada de su área de relaciones con los medios podrían aprovechar esta oportunidad para favorecer la consecución de los objetivos de sus organizaciones durante la crisis

Carbon dioxide enrichment: a technique to mitigate the negative effects of salinity on the productivity of high value tomatoes

The present study was conducted to determine the mitigating influence of greenhouse CO2 enrichment on the negative effects of salinity in Mediterranean conditions. Hybrid Raf (cv. Delizia) tomato plants were exposed to two salinity levels of the nutrient solution (5 and 7 dS/m) obtained by adding NaCl, and two CO2 concentrations (350 and 800 μmol/mol) in which CO2 enrichment was applied during the daytime according to a strategy linked to ventilation. Increasing water salinity negatively affected the leaf area index (LAI), the specific leaf area (SLA), the water use efficiency (WUE), the radiation use efficiency (RUE) and dry weight (DW) accumulation resulting in lower marketable yield. The high salinity treatment (7 dS/m) increased fruit firmness (N), total soluble solids content (SSC) and titratable acidity (TA), whereas pH was reduced in the three ripening stages: mature green/breaker (G), turning (T), and pink/light red (P). Also, the increase in electrical conductivity of the nutrient solution led to a general change in intensity of the sensory characteristics of tomato fruits. On the other hand, CO2 enrichment did not affect LAI although SLA was reduced. RUE and DW accumulation were increased resulting in higher marketable yield, through positive effects on fruit number and their average weight. WUE was enhanced by CO2 supply mainly through increased growth and yield. Physical-chemical quality parameters such as fruit firmness, TA and pH were not affected by CO2 enrichment whereas SSC was enhanced. Greenhouse CO2 enrichment did mitigate the negative effect of saline conditions on productivity without compromising organoleptic and sensory fruit quality

Influencia de la supervisión educativa en el mejoramiento cualitativo del proceso educativo de las escuelas con aulas multigrado de las áreas de difícil acceso de la Provincia de Veraguas.

En el presente trabajo se esboza la panorámica actual de la Supervisión Educativa en las escuelas multigrado de las áreas de difícil acceso de la región escolar de Veraguas. La información fue obtenida a través de encuestas aplicadas a docentes y supervisores que laboran en diferentes escuelas multigrado y zonas de difícil acceso. La investigación se proyectó a verificar cómo influye la Supervisión Educativa en la Calidad de la Educación de estos centros escolares, especialmente en los aspectos técnico-docente, administrativo y socio-cultural. El análisis objetivo de los resultados obtenidos evidenció que la supervisión educativa que se ofrece en las escuelas multigrado ya especificadas, no es la más adecuada, niefectiva, en virtud de lo cual se estructuró una propuesta de un Sistema de Supervisión Educativa Regional, integral y flexible, más consecuente con la creciente necesidad de elevar la calidad de los servicios educativos que se ofrecen en estos planteles de enseñanza

Operational considerations to improve total ozone measurements with a Microtops II ozone monitor

A Microtops II 'ozone monitor' with UV channels centered at 305.5, 312.5, and 320 nm has been used routinely in six experimental campaigns carried out in several geographic locations and seasons, covering latitudes from 35 to 68° N during the last ten years (2001-2011). The total ozone content is retrieved by Microtops II by using different combinations (Channel I, 305.5/312.5 nm; Channel II, 312.5/320 nm; and Channel III, 305.5/312.5/320 nm) of the signals at the three ultraviolet wavelengths. The long-term performance of the total ozone content determination has been studied taking into account the sensitivities to the calibration, airmass, temperature and aerosols. When a calibration was used and the airmass limit was fixed to 3, the root mean square deviations of the relative differences produced by Microtops II with respect to several Brewers are 0.9, 2, and 2% respectively for the Channel I, Channel II, and Channel III retrieval. The performance of the Microtops retrieval has been stable during the last ten years. Channel I represents the best option to determine the instantaneous total ozone content. Channels II and III values appear weakly sensitive to temperature, ozone content, and aerosols. Channel II is more stable than Channel I for airmasses larger than 2.6. The conclusions do not show any dependence on latitude and season

Biscay AGL. An observatory for state of the art operational oceanography at IEO. Derived products, sensor networks and future developments.

Since 1991, shelf and slope waters of the Southern Bay of Biscay are regularly sampled in a monthly hydrographical section north of Santander. From 2003, a deep hydrological standard section was included and on June 2007, an ocean-meteorological buoy was moored at the end of Santander Section (www.boya_agl.st.ieo.es). All of three are part of IEOOS (IEO Observing System). Biscay AGL is one observatory for the EU FixO3 project. The combination of these resources leads to a powerful tool, Biscay AGL, which is more than the combination of the AGL Buoy and the hydrographical samplings. This tool produces not only time series of several parameters at different time resolutions but also derived products, both real and delayed time. Derived products from this buoy include, annual cycles as well as anomalous values. In particular ones such as air-sea heat fluxes, salinity and water temperatures anomalies, sub inertial currents series, chlorophyll surface series, estimate of the mixed layer depth and wind and currents roses. Many sensor networks have been deployed to monitor marine environment, and more will follow in the future. Due to the large number of sensor manufacturers, integrating diverse sensors into observation systems is not straightforward. By defining standardized service interfaces it is possible to enable access to sensor networks and archived sensor data that can be discovered and accessed using standard protocols and application programming interfaces. Future developments include the deployment of a full sensor network as well as adding new devices to the Biscay AGL tool in order to achieve deeper knowledge of the ocean

Contribution of the single photon emission computed tomography with 99mTc red blood cells in splenosis

The term splenosis refers to the presence of auto-transplanted splenic tissue in a heterotopic location. These foci can be localized to the liver simulating a malignant lesion. Sometimes these lesions are difficult to identify using conventional imaging techniques (ultrasound, CT and MR). Then, a scan with denatured erythrocytes marked with 99mTc has proven to be an effective technique to confirm the diagnosis of splenosis and to establish its extension. The incorporation of hybrid imaging techniques (SPECT-CT) into usual clinical practice has increased the precision of the localization of these foci of splenosis. We hereby report the cases of two patients diagnosed with splenosis, the first by laparotomy and the second after performing scintigraphy with red blood cells labeled with 99mTc. In the first case, the laparotomy revealed numerous reticulated nodules on the diaphragmatic peritoneal surface, the transverse colon and the right kidney. Finally, the anatomopathological diagnosis confirmed a case of splenosis. In the second case, the results of the 99mTc marked red blood cell gammagraphy and SPECT-CT were consistent with the diagnosis of splenosis in the patient. To obtain correct information in cases of lesions highly suspicious of splenosis, 99mTc marked red blood cell gammagraphy should be performed due to the high sensitivity and specificity of the test. Combined diagnostic imaging (SPECT-CT), have increased the specificity of this test due to improvements in the characterization of lesions. We believe that the use of this technique will help avoid unnecessary surgical procedures