Spanish validation of the revised depression attitude questionnaire (R-daq)

Purpose: The aim of the study was to develop and validate a Spanish version of the Revised Depression Attitude Questionnaire (R-DAQ). Methods: The R-DAQ was used as a baseline for the study. It was translated and tested to ensure the instrument was appropriate for the target population. 537 Ecuadorian healthcare professionals completed the revised Spanish version of the R-DAQ (SR-DAQ). Statistical and exploratory factor analyses were performed to examine construct validity, internal consistency, readability and floor and ceiling effects. Results: Three factors were obtained: “Professional confidence in depression care”; “Therapeutic optimism about depression”; and “Generalist perspective about depression occurrence, recognition, and management”. The internal consistency of the SR-DAQ was determined by means of Cronbach’s α coefficient, with values ranging between 0.61–0.8. The correlations with the English version reflected adequate validity. The model explained 39% of the variance. Subsequent analysis with a sample restricted to those who had received training in depression produced a model that explained 42% of the variance. Conclusion: The SR-DAQ meets the psychometric requirements for measuring depression attitude in a Spanish-speaking population and shows adequate internal consistency and validity

Multisource data verification of a weather radar surface precipitation type product

Póster presentado en: 10th European Conference on Radar in Meteorology and Hydrology celebrado en Wageningen, Países Bajos, del 1 al 6 de julio de 2018.This study was partly supported by projects CGL2015-65627-C3-2-R (MINECO/FEDER), CGL2016-81828-REDT (MINECO) and DI065/2017 (Industrial Doctorate Programme of the Regional Government of Catalonia

Improving QPF by blending techniques at the Meteorological Service of Catalonia

The current operational very short-term and short-term quantitative precipitation forecast (QPF) at the Meteorological Service of Catalonia (SMC) is made by three different methodologies: Advection of the radar reflectivity field (ADV), Identification, tracking and forecasting of convective structures (CST) and numerical weather prediction (NWP) models using observational data assimilation (radar, satellite, etc.). These precipitation forecasts have different characteristics, lead time and spatial resolutions. The objective of this study is to combine these methods in order to obtain a single and optimized QPF at each lead time. This combination (blending) of the radar forecast (ADV and CST) and precipitation forecast from NWP model is carried out by means of different methodologies according to the prediction horizon. Firstly, in order to take advantage of the rainfall location and intensity from radar observations, a phase correction technique is applied to the NWP output to derive an additional corrected forecast (MCO). To select the best precipitation estimation in the first and second hour (t+1 h and t+2 h), the information from radar advection (ADV) and the corrected outputs from the model (MCO) are mixed by using different weights, which vary dynamically, according to indexes that quantify the quality of these predictions. This procedure has the ability to integrate the skill of rainfall location and patterns that are given by the advection of radar reflectivity field with the capacity of generating new precipitation areas from the NWP models. From the third hour (t+3 h), as radar-based forecasting has generally low skills, only the quantitative precipitation forecast from model is used. This blending of different sources of prediction is verified for different types of episodes (convective, moderately convective and stratiform) to obtain a robust methodology for implementing it in an operational and dynamic wa

Potenciales causas de pérdidas reproductivas en llamas (Lama glama) de Jujuy, Argentina

La cría de llamas es una importante actividad de impacto socioeconómico en la región Puna de la Provincia de Jujuy, sin embargo, la misma tiene una baja tasa de procreo. Con el objetivo de estudiar potenciales causas de pérdidas reproductivas y perinatales, se controló una tropa nativa de llamas durante toda la etapa gestacional y se establecieron los índices de preñez, abortos, natimortos, teratogenia y muerte perinatal. Además, se realizaron estudios serológicos de brucelosis, leptospirosis, diarrea viral bovina, herpes virus bovino, neosporosis, sarcocystosis y toxoplasmosis en las hembras que presentaron pérdidas de gestación. El 82,8% (24/29) de las pérdidas reproductivas no pudieron asociarse a la infección con los agentes virales y bacterianos investigados. Los niveles de anticuerpos contra N. caninum, T. gondii y diferentes serovares de Leptospira sp podrían sugerir infecciones crónicas con baja relación con las pérdidas reproductivas detectadas. Astragalus garbancillo fue identificado entre la vegetación de pastoreo, y su consumo podría estar asociado a la presentación de crías con deformaciones y posiblemente abortos y mortalidad de crías débiles, siendo que los animales con mayor exposición a su consumo, tuvieron más de 4 veces mayor riesgo de padecer pérdidas peri-post-natales que los menos expuestos. Se requieren mayores estudios para establecer la asociación de estas potenciales causas con las pérdidas reproductivas, principalmente abortos y teratogenia en llamas

Theory of x-ray absorption by laser-dressed atoms

An ab initio theory is devised for the x-ray photoabsorption cross section of atoms in the field of a moderately intense optical laser (800nm, 10^13 W/cm^2). The laser dresses the core-excited atomic states, which introduces a dependence of the cross section on the angle between the polarization vectors of the two linearly polarized radiation sources. We use the Hartree-Fock-Slater approximation to describe the atomic many-particle problem in conjunction with a nonrelativistic quantum-electrodynamic approach to treat the photon-electron interaction. The continuum wave functions of ejected electrons are treated with a complex absorbing potential that is derived from smooth exterior complex scaling. The solution to the two-color (x-ray plus laser) problem is discussed in terms of a direct diagonalization of the complex symmetric matrix representation of the Hamiltonian. Alternative treatments with time-independent and time-dependent non-Hermitian perturbation theories are presented that exploit the weak interaction strength between x rays and atoms. We apply the theory to study the photoabsorption cross section of krypton atoms near the K edge. A pronounced modification of the cross section is found in the presence of the optical laser.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, 1 table, RevTeX4, corrected typoe

Alluvial record of an early Eocene hyperthermal within the Castissent Formation, the Pyrenees, Spain

The late Palaeocene to the middle Eocene (57.5 to 46.5 Ma) recorded a total of 39 hyperthermals – periods of rapid global warming documented by prominent negative carbon isotope excursions (CIEs) as well as peaks in iron content – have been recognized in marine cores. Documenting how the Earth system responded to rapid climatic shifts during hyperthermals provides fundamental information to constrain climatic models. However, while hyperthermals have been well documented in the marine sedimentary record, only a few have been recognized and described in continental deposits, thereby limiting our ability to understand the effect and record of global warming on terrestrial systems. Hyperthermals in the continental record could be a powerful correlation tool to help connect marine and continental deposits, addressing issues of environmental signal propagation from land to sea. In this study, we generate new stable carbon isotope data (δ13C values) across the well-exposed and time-constrained fluvial sedimentary succession of the early Eocene Castissent Formation in the south central Pyrenees (Spain). The δ13C values of pedogenic carbonate reveal – similarly to the global records – stepped CIEs, culminating in a minimum δ13C value that we correlate with the hyperthermal event “U” at ca. 50 Ma. This general trend towards more negative values is most probably linked to higher primary productivity leading to an overall higher respiration of soil organic matter during these climatic events. The relative enrichment in immobile elements (Zr, Ti, Al) and higher estimates of mean annual precipitation together with the occurrence of small iron oxide and iron hydroxide nodules during the CIEs suggest intensification of chemical weathering and/or longer exposure of soils in a highly seasonal climate. The results show that even relatively small-scale hyperthermals compared with their prominent counterparts, such as PETM, ETM2, and ETM3, can leave a recognizable signature in the terrestrial stratigraphic record, providing insights into the dynamics of the carbon cycle in continental environments during these events

Multiagent cooperation for solving global optimization problems: an extendible framework with example cooperation strategies

This paper proposes the use of multiagent cooperation for solving global optimization problems through the introduction of a new multiagent environment, MANGO. The strength of the environment lays in itsflexible structure based on communicating software agents that attempt to solve a problem cooperatively. This structure allows the execution of a wide range of global optimization algorithms described as a set of interacting operations. At one extreme, MANGO welcomes an individual non-cooperating agent, which is basically the traditional way of solving a global optimization problem. At the other extreme, autonomous agents existing in the environment cooperate as they see fit during run time. We explain the development and communication tools provided in the environment as well as examples of agent realizations and cooperation scenarios. We also show how the multiagent structure is more effective than having a single nonlinear optimization algorithm with randomly selected initial points

The geometry of nonlinear least squares with applications to sloppy models and optimization

Parameter estimation by nonlinear least squares minimization is a common problem with an elegant geometric interpretation: the possible parameter values of a model induce a manifold in the space of data predictions. The minimization problem is then to find the point on the manifold closest to the data. We show that the model manifolds of a large class of models, known as sloppy models, have many universal features; they are characterized by a geometric series of widths, extrinsic curvatures, and parameter-effects curvatures. A number of common difficulties in optimizing least squares problems are due to this common structure. First, algorithms tend to run into the boundaries of the model manifold, causing parameters to diverge or become unphysical. We introduce the model graph as an extension of the model manifold to remedy this problem. We argue that appropriate priors can remove the boundaries and improve convergence rates. We show that typical fits will have many evaporated parameters. Second, bare model parameters are usually ill-suited to describing model behavior; cost contours in parameter space tend to form hierarchies of plateaus and canyons. Geometrically, we understand this inconvenient parametrization as an extremely skewed coordinate basis and show that it induces a large parameter-effects curvature on the manifold. Using coordinates based on geodesic motion, these narrow canyons are transformed in many cases into a single quadratic, isotropic basin. We interpret the modified Gauss-Newton and Levenberg-Marquardt fitting algorithms as an Euler approximation to geodesic motion in these natural coordinates on the model manifold and the model graph respectively. By adding a geodesic acceleration adjustment to these algorithms, we alleviate the difficulties from parameter-effects curvature, improving both efficiency and success rates at finding good fits.Comment: 40 pages, 29 Figure

Distribución espacial de la incertidumbre en mapas de cubiertas obtenidos mediante teledetección

When combining remote sensing imagery with statistical classifiers to obtain categorical thematic maps it is not usual to provide data about the spatial distribution of the error and uncertainty of the resulting maps. This paper describes, in the context of GeoViQua FP7 project, feasible approaches for methods based on several steps such as hybrid classifiers. Both for “per pixel” and “per polygon” strategies, the proposal is based on the use of the available ground truth, which is used to properly model the spatial distribution of the errors. Results allow mapping the classification success with a very high level of reliability (R2>0,94), providing users a sound knowledge of the accuracy at every area of the map

Un modelo para la incorporación de la educación ambiental para el desarrollo sostenible al proceso pedagógico

The insufficient attention to the incorporation of the environmental education for the sustainable development to the pedagogic process in the different subsystems of the National System of Education of the county of Villa Clara, this becomes the motive of the present study. In the investigation detailed the process that drives to the construction of a model for the incorporation of the environmental education for the sustainable development to the pedagogic process in the different subsystems of the National System of Education, presently of the county of Villa Clara. This constitutes a modest contribution to the execution of an action of the National Strategy of Environmental Education, 2010-2015, related with the construction of a theoretical-methodological model for the environmental education in Cuba.La insuficiente atención a la incorporación de la educación ambiental para el desarrollo sostenible al proceso pedagógico en los diferentes subsistemas del Sistema Nacional de Educación de la provincia de Villa Clara, se convierte en el móvil del presente estudio/investigación. En él se detalla el proceso que conduce a la construcción de un modelo para la incorporación de la educación ambiental para el desarrollo sostenible al proceso pedagógico en los diferentes subsistemas del Sistema Nacional de Educación, de la provincia de Villa Clara. Este constituye un modesto aporte al cumplimiento de una acción de la Estrategia Nacional de Educación Ambiental, 2010-2015, relacionada con la construcción de un modelo teórico-metodológico para la educación ambiental en Cuba