A transversal study on the way of acquisition of the interrogative in english in a group of students in the second cycle of compulsory secondary education (ESO). Educational implications

Este artículo comienza con una revisión general sobre algunos de los aspectos y hallazgos más importantes en el campo de la adquisición de segundas lenguas (SLA) desde una doble perspectiva psicolingüística y didáctica. Nos referiremos a las dicotomías cognición / automatización, inducción / deducción y adquisición / aprendizaje, junto al papel de las interrogativas en la lengua hablada a través de las principales corrientes de influencia. También estudiaremos la relación entre los conceptos de construcciones transicionales e interlengua y las etapas de desarrollo de las interrogativas en conversación. Seguidamente, comentaremos la relación existente entre las interrogativas y el texto narrativo. Más tarde procederemos al análisis y descripción de la producción verbal de interrogativas por parte de un grupo de estudiantes de inglés como lengua extranjera. Nuestro estudio está basado en un corpus de 69 preguntas producidas por 63 estudiantes en el segundo ciclo de Educación Secundaria. Nuestro análisis corrobora algunas de las hipótesis actuales sobre la adquisición de las interrogativas: a) el uso de fórmulas por parte de nuestros estudiantes, y b) la coherencia de su proceso de adquisición de la interrogativa con las etapas naturales en el desarrollo de dicha estructura. Para terminar, intentaremos establecer algunas implicaciones educativas para la enseñanza de las interrogativas en Educación Secundaria.This paper starts with a general revision on some of the most important aspects and findings in the field of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) from both a psycholinguistic and a didactic perspective. We will refer to the dichotomies cognition / automation, induction / deduction and acquisition / learning, together with the role of the interrogative in the spoken language throughout the main influential currents. We will also study the relationship between the concepts of transitional constructions and interlanguage and the stages of development of interrogatives in conversation. After that, we will comment on the relationship between the interrogatives and the narrative text. Later, we will go on with the analysis and description of the verbal production of interrogatives on the part of a group of students of English as a Foreign Language. Our study is based on a corpus of 69 questions produced by 63 students in the second cycle of Secondary Education. Our analysis corroborates some of the current hypotheses on the acquisition of interrogatives: a) the use of formulas on the part of our students, and b) the coherence of their process of acquisition of the interrogative with the natural stages in the development of this structure. To finish, we will try to set some educational implications for the teaching of interrogatives in Secondary Education.          

Recovering long-term aerosol optical depth series (1976–2012) from an astronomical potassium-based resonance scattering spectrometer

A 37-year long-term series of monochromatic aerosol optical depth (AOD) has been recovered from solar irradiance measurements performed with the solar spectrometer Mark-I, deployed at Izaña mountain since 1976. The instrument operation is based on the method of resonant scattering, which affords wavelength absolute reference and stability (long-term stability and high precision) in comparison to other instruments based purely on interference filters. However, it has been specifically designed as a reference instrument for helioseismology, and its ability to determine AOD from transmitted and scattered monochromatic radiation at 769.9 nm inside a potassium vapour cell in the presence of a permanent magnetic field is evaluated in this paper. Particularly, the use of an exposed mirror arrangement to collect sunlight as well as the Sun–laboratory velocity dependence of the scattered component introduces some important inconveniences to overcome when we perform the instrument's calibration. We have solved this problem using a quasi-continuous Langley calibration technique and a refinement procedure to correct for calibration errors as well as for the fictitious diurnal cycle on AOD data. Our results showed similar calibration errors retrieved by means of this quasi-continuous Langley technique applied in different aerosol load events (from 0.04 to 0.3), provided aerosol concentration remains constant throughout the calibration interval.The AERONET sun photometers at Izaña have been calibrated within AERONET-Europe TNA supported by the European Community-Research Infrastructure Action under the FP7 “Capacities” specific programme for Integrating Activities, ACTRIS grant agreement no. 262254. The GAW-PFR network for AOD at WMO-GAW global observatories has been implemented by the World Optical Depth Research and Calibration Center (WORCC). Mark-I operation was supported by the Spanish National Plan of Research and Development under grant no. AYA2012–17803

A New Methodology to Simulate Three-Dimensional Hydraulic Loads on a Vertical Breakwater along its Life Cycle

This work has been part of the research project DOVICAIM (RTC-2014-3077-4), which was financially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (MINECO) within the National Program for Research Aimed at the Challenges of Society

Psychosocial and biological predictors of resident physician burnout

Background A high proportion of health professionals in training suffer from work-related stress and may develop a burnout syndrome. Objectives To study the incidence of burnout after the first year of residency in a teaching hospital and to identify baseline psychological, psychosocial work conditions, and biological risk factors. Methodology We assessed the following in a prospective cohort of residents at baseline (first month residence) and after 1 year: background factors (socio-demographics, psychiatric history), perceived stress score (Perceived Stress Scale), Maslach Burnout Inventory score, and psychosocial factors (Job Content Questionnaire). Blood samples were obtained to study serum cortisol, IL-6, and TNF-a concentrations. The cumulative incidence was modelled by multivariate log-binomial regression analysis. Results We included 71 participants with a female majority (64.8%), age 26.4 (2.65) years, psychiatric history in 20%, and burnout in 13%. Among those without burnout initially (N = 59), it had developed by 1 year in 22% of residents. Increased job demand (RR = 1.259, 95%CI = 1.019–1.556, p = 0.033) and decreased cortisol levels (RR = 0.877, 95%CI = 0.778–0.989, p = 0.032) predicted burnout after 1 year of residency among medical trainees. Conclusion Burnout syndrome develops in 22% of residents by 1 year of training and can be predicted by increased work demands and decreased cortisol levels.This research was carried out, in part, thanks to grants from PREVENT XI (DN040611; VO and RN)Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

A new method for nocturnal aerosol measurements with a lunar photometer prototype

This paper presents the preliminary results of nocturnal Aerosol Optical Depth (τa) and Angström Exponent (α) obtained from a new lunar photometer prototype, trade name Cimel CE-318U. Due to the variation of the moon's illumination inherent to the lunar cycle, the typical Langley-plot Method used in solar photometry to calibrate these instruments cannot be applied. In this paper, we propose three different methods to carry out the lunar-photometer calibration. In order to validate the results, we have selected three events which encompass seven nights and ten days under different atmospheric conditions, including several saharan dust intrusions episodes. Method#1 is introduced in this work as a modification of the usual Langley Method.The Aeronet sunphotometer at Izana has been calibrated within ˜ AERONET-EUROPE TNA supported by the European Community – Research Infrastructure Action under the FP7 “Capacities” specific programme for Integrating Activities, ACTRIS Grant Agreement no. 262254

Long-term moderate treadmill exercise promotes stress-coping strategies in Male and female rats

This study has been supported by Spanish grants from Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad to LC (PSI2011-29807-C02-01) and AA (SAF2011-28313); and from Instituto de Salud Carlos III (RD12/0028/0014, Redes Temáticas de Investigación Cooperativa en Salud, Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo), and Generalitat de Catalunya (SGR2014-1020) to AA. JFL was supported by a pre-doctoral fellowship from the Generalitat de Catalunya (FI-DGR 2011). IC was supported by a pre-doctoral fellowship from Universidad Santo Tomás, Chile and a fellowship from CONYCYT/BECA CHILE/PAI 72150035. SF was a recipient of a PTA-MICINN fellowship (PTA 2010-3472-I). We would like to thank Juan Ramón Garcia Milla, Rafaela Gascón Palomar, Carlos Baldellou Estrada, Maria del Mar López González and all Servei d'Estabulari staff (UAB) for their help with animal care.Recent evidence has revealed the impact of exercise in alleviating anxiety and mood disorders; however, the exercise protocol that exerts such benefit is far from known. The current study was aimed to assess the effects of long-term moderate exercise on behavioural coping strategies (active vs. passive) and Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal response in rats. Sprague-Dawley male and female rats were exposed to 32-weeks of treadmill exercise and then tested for two-way active avoidance learning (shuttle-box). Two groups were used as controls: a non-handled sedentary group, receiving no manipulation, and a control group exposed to a stationary treadmill. Female rats displayed shorter escape responses and higher number of avoidance responses, reaching criterion for performance earlier than male rats. In both sexes, exercise shortened escape latencies, increased the total number of avoidances and diminished the number of trials needed to reach criterion for performance. Those effects were greater during acquisition in female rats, but remained over the shuttle-box sessions in treadmill trained male rats. In females, exercise did not change ACTH and corticosterone levels after shuttle-box acquisition. Collectively, treadmill exercise improved active coping strategies in a sex-dependent manner. In a broader context, moderate exercise could serve as a therapeutic intervention for anxiety and mood disorders

Assessment of nocturnal aerosol optical depth from lunar photometry at the Izaña high mountain observatory

This work involves a first analysis of the systematic errors observed in the AOD retrieved at nighttime using the Sun–sky–lunar CE318-T photometer. In this respect, this paper is a first attempt to correct the AOD uncertainties that currently affect the lunar photometry by means of an empirical regression model. We have detected and corrected an important bias correlated to the Moon's phase and zenith angles, especially at longer wavelength channels.AERONET Sun photometers at Izaña have been calibrated within the AERONET Europe TNA, supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement no. 654109 (ACTRIS-2)

Desert dust remote sensing with the new zenith looking narrow‐band radiometer based system (ZEN)

Comunicación presentada en: TECO-2016 (Technical Conference on Meteorological and Environmental Instruments and Methods of Observation) celebrada en Madrid, del 27 al 30 de septiembre de 2016.This work has been developed within the framework of the activities of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Commission for Instruments and Methods of Observations (CIMO) Izaña Testbed for Aerosols and Water Vapor Remote Sensing Instruments. AERONET sun photometers at Izaña have been calibrated within the AERONET Europe TNA, supported by the European Community ‐ Research Infrastructure Action under the FP7 ACTRIS grant agreement no. 262254

Aerosol optical depth comparison between GAW-PFR and AERONET-Cimel radiometers from long-term (2005–2015) 1 min synchronous measurements

A comprehensive comparison of more than 70 000 synchronous 1 min aerosol optical depth (AOD) data from three Global Atmosphere Watch precision-filter radiometers (GAW-PFR), traceable to the World AOD reference, and 15 Aerosol Robotic Network Cimel radiometers (AERONET-Cimel), calibrated individually with the Langley plot technique, was performed for four common or “near” wavelengths, 380, 440, 500 and 870 nm, in the period 2005–2015. The goal of this study is to assess whether, despite the marked technical differences between both networks (AERONET, GAW-PFR) and the number of instruments used, their long-term AOD data are comparable and consistent. The percentage of data meeting the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) traceability requirements (95 % of the AOD differences of an instrument compared to the WMO standards lie within specific limits) is >92 % at 380 nm, >95 % at 440 nm and 500 nm, and 98 % at 870 nm, with the results being quite similar for both AERONET version 2 (V2) and version 3 (V3). For the data outside these limits, the contribution of calibration and differences in the calculation of the optical depth contribution due to Rayleigh scattering and O3 and NO2absorption have a negligible impact. For AOD >0.1, a small but non-negligible percentage (∼1.9 %) of the AOD data outside the WMO limits at 380 nm can be partly assigned to the impact of dust aerosol forward scattering on the AOD calculation due to the different field of view of the instruments. Due to this effect the GAW-PFR provides AOD values, which are ∼3 % lower at 380 nm and ∼2 % lower at 500 nm compared with AERONET-Cimel. The comparison of the Ångström exponent (AE) shows that under non-pristine conditions (AOD >0.03 and AE <1) the AE differences remain <0.1. This long-term comparison shows an excellent traceability of AERONET-Cimel AOD with the World AOD reference at 440, 500 and 870 nm channels and a fairly good agreement at 380 nm, although AOD should be improved in the UV range.The Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss International Affairs Division, Swiss GCOS Office, has funded the project “The Global Atmosphere Watch Precision Filter Radiometer (GAW-PFR) Network for Aerosol Optical Depth long term measurements”, and specifically the GAW-PFR program at the Izaña Observatory. AEMET has funded the AERONET programme at the Izaña Observatory. Some of the AERONET-Cimel radiometers have been calibrated at Izaña Observatory by the AERONET Europe Calibration Service, financed by specific European Community programmes for integrating activities: Research Infrastructure Action under the Seventh Framework Programme (grant no. FP7/2007-2013) and ACTRIS (grant no. 45 262254). This research has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (grant no. 654109) (ACTRIS-2). Funding from MINECO (grant no. CTM2015-66742-R) and Junta de Castilla y León (grant no. VA100P17) is also gratefully acknowledged. Much of this study has been performed in the frame of the WMO CIMO Izaña test bed for aerosols and water vapour remote-sensing instruments funded by AEMET

Aerosol Optical Depth comparison between GAW-PFR and AERONET-Cimel radiometers from long term (2005–2015) 1-minute synchronous measurements [Discussion paper]

A comprehensive comparison of more than 70000 synchronous 1-minute aerosol optical depth (AOD) data from three Global Atmosphere Watch-Precision Filter Radiometer (GAW-PFR) and 15 Aerosol Robotic Network-Cimel (AERONET-Cimel) radiometers was performed for the four nearby wavelengths (380, 440, 500 and 870nm) in the period 2005–2015. The goal of this study is to assess whether, despite the marked differences between both networks and the number of instruments used, their long term AOD data are comparable and consistent. AOD traceability established by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) consists in determining the percentage of synchronous data within specific limits. If, at least, 95% of the AOD differences of an instrument compared to the WMO standards lie within these limits, both data populations are considered equivalent. The percentage of traceable data is 92.7% (380nm), 95.7% (440nm), 95.8% (500nm) and 98.0% (870nm). When small misalignments in GAW-PFR sun-pointing were fixed (period 2010–2015), the percentage of traceable data increased. The contribution of calibration related aspects to comparison outside the 95% traceability limits is insignificant in all channels, except in 380nm. The simultaneous failure of both cloud screening algorithms might occur only under the presence of cirrus, or altostratus clouds on the top of a dust-laden Saharan air layer. Differences in the calculation of the optical depth contribution due to Rayleigh scattering, and O3 and NO2 absorption have a negligible impact. For AOD >0.1, a non-negligible percentage (≈1.9%) of the AOD data outside the 95% traceability limits at 380nm can be partly assigned to the different field of view of the instruments. The comparison of the Angström exponent (AE) shows that under non-pristine conditions (AOD >0.03 and AE <1) the AE differences remain <0.1. The excellent traceability in this study has been obtained using well calibrated Master instruments.The work was supported by the project “The Global Atmosphere Watch Precision Filter Radiometer (GAW-PFR) Network for Aerosol Optical Depth long term measurements” supported by Bundesamt für Meteorologie und Klimatologie MeteoSchweiz – GCOS Swiss Office. Part of the AERONET-Cimel radiometers have been calibrated at Izaña Observatory by AERONETEUROPE Calibration Service, financed by the European Community specific programs for Integrating Activities: Research Infrastructure Action under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013), ACTRIS grant agreement No. 262254, and Horizon 2020 Research 25 and Innovation Program, ACTRIS-2 grant agreement No. 654109. This research has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under grant agreement No. 654109 (ACTRIS-2).The funding by MINECO (CTM2015-66742-R) and Junta de Castilla y León (VA100P17) is also gratefully acknowledge