Absolute reliability and concurrent validity of hand held dynamometry and isokinetic dynamometry in the hip, knee and ankle joint: Systematic review and meta-analysis

Indexación: Scopus.The purpose of the study is to establish absolute reliability and concurrent validity between hand-held dynamometers (HHDs) and isokinetic dynamometers (IDs) in lower extremity peak torque assessment. Medline, Embase, CINAHL databases were searched for studies related to psychometric properties in muscle dynamometry. Studies considering standard error of measurement SEM (%) or limit of agreement LOA (%) expressed as percentage of the mean, were considered to establish absolute reliability while studies using intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) were considered to establish concurrent validity between dynamometers. In total, 17 studies were included in the meta-analysis. The COSMIN checklist classified them between fair and poor. Using HHDs, knee extension LOA (%) was 33.59%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 23.91 to 43.26 and ankle plantar flexion LOA (%) was 48.87%, CI 35.19 to 62.56. Using IDs, hip adduction and extension; knee flexion and extension; and ankle dorsiflexion showed LOA (%) under 15%. Lower hip, knee, and ankle LOA (%) were obtained using an ID compared to HHD. ICC between devices ranged between 0.62, CI (0.37 to 0.87) for ankle dorsiflexion to 0.94, IC (0.91to 0.98) for hip adduction. Very high correlation were found for hip adductors and hip flexors and moderate correlations for knee flexors/extensors and ankle plantar/dorsiflexors.https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/med.2017.12.issue-1/med-2017-0052/med-2017-0052.xm

Actitudes de los estudiantes de ingeniería hacia la química.

This study uses a mixed methods approach —quantitative followed by qualitative— to explore engineering students’ attitudes towards chemistry (N=115). The first phase used a questionnaire to ascertain the perspectives of students and their peers about the chemistry course, course’s relevant aspects, and factors contributing to course difficulty. Contrary to findings reported in other studies, results indicated that most participants had a neutral attitude towards the discipline. The second phase used interviews to explore students’ reasons for having a particular attitude towards chemistry. Participants focused their attention on factors that contribute to their success or failure in the course: time, professor, motivation, academic term, and schedule. How to Cite: Olivo-Delgado, C. J., & Bonilla-Rodríguez, V. E. (2009). Engineering Students’ Attitudes Towards Chemistry. Cuaderno de Investigación en la Educación, 24, 183-212. Retrieved from https://revistas.upr.edu/index.php/educacion/article/view/13555Este estudio utilizó una metodología mixta —cuantitativa seguida por cualitativa— para explorar las actitudes de los estudiantes de ingeniería hacia la química (N=115). La primera fase utilizó un cuestionario para examinar las perspectivas de los estudiantes y sus compañeros acerca del curso de química, aspectos relevantes del curso y factores que contribuyen al nivel de dificultad del mismo. Contrario a los hallazgos de otros estudios, los resultados indicaron que la mayoría de los participantes posee una actitud neutral hacia la disciplina. La segunda fase utilizó entrevistas para explorar las razones de los estudiantes para tener una actitud determinada. Los participantes centraron su atención en factores que contribuyen al éxito o fracaso en el curso: tiempo, profesor, motivación, trimestre y horario. Cómo citar: Olivo-Delgado, C. J., & Bonilla-Rodríguez, V. E. (2009). Engineering Students’ Attitudes Towards Chemistry. Cuaderno de Investigación en la Educación, 24, 183-212. Recuperado de https://revistas.upr.edu/index.php/educacion/article/view/1355

Thyrotropin receptor blocking antibodies

Autoantibodies (Ab) against the thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor (TSHR) are frequently found in autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD). Autoantibodies to the TSHR (anti-TSHR-Ab) may mimic or block the action of TSH or be functionally neutral. Measurement of anti-TSHR-Ab can be done either via competitive-binding immunoassays or with functional cell-based bioassays. Antibody-binding assays do not assess anti-TSHR-Ab functionality, but rather measure the concentration of total anti-TSHR binding activity. In contrast, functional cell-based bioassays indicate whether anti-TSHR-Ab have stimulatory or blocking activity. Historically bioassays for anti-TSHR-Ab were research tools and were used to study the pathophysiology of Graves\u27 disease and Hashimoto\u27s thyroiditis. In the past, bioassays for anti-TSHR-Abs were laborious and time-consuming and varied widely in performance from laboratory to laboratory. Recent advances in the development of cell-based assays, including the application of molecular engineering, have led to significant improvements that have enabled bioassays to be employed routinely in clinical laboratories. The prevalence and functional significance of TSHR blocking autoantibodies (TBAb) in autoimmune hypothyroidism has been less well investigated compared to TSHR stimulating Ab. There is an increasing body of data, however, that demonstrate the clinical utility and relevance of TBAb, and thus the importance of TBAb bioassays, in the diagnosis and management of patients with AITD. In the present review, we summarize the different methods used to measure TBAb, and discuss their prevalence and clinical relevance

Digital Correlation of Ion and Optical Microscopic Images: Application to the Study of Thyroglobulin Chemical Modification

A method has been developed in order to digitally correlate ion and optical microscopic images of the same sample areas. Serial cross-sections of human thyroid tissue were analyzed by secondary ion mass microscopy and by light microscopy. The resulting chemical and immunochemical map images were superimposed and correlated by means of a two-pass registration algorithm which allows to correct for geometrical distortions introduced by the ion microscope. Results are presented for the study of thyroglobulin chemical modification in pathological thyroid tissue that demonstrates heterogeneous molecular activity

Spatial modulation of the electromagnetic energy transfer by excitation of graphene waveguide surface plasmons

We theoretically study the electromagnetic energy transfer between donor and acceptor molecules near a graphene waveguide (WG). The surface plasmons (SPs) supported by the structure provide decay channels which lead to an improvement in the energy transfer rate when the donor and acceptor are localized on the same side or even on opposite sides of the WG. The modification of the energy transfer rate compared to its value in absence of the WG are calculated by deforming the integration path into a suitable path in the complex plane. Our results show that this modification is dramatically enhanced when the symmetric and antisymmetric SPs are excited. Notable effects on the spatial dependence of the energy transfer due to the coherent interference between these SP channels, which can be tuned by chemical potential variations, are highlighted and discussed in terms of SP propagation characteristics.Fil: Olivo, Julieta Verónica. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Zapata Rodríguez, Carlos J.. Universidad de Valencia; EspañaFil: Cuevas, Mauro. Universidad de Belgrano; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Source detection using a 3D sparse representation: application to the Fermi gamma-ray space telescope

The multiscale variance stabilization Transform (MSVST) has recently been proposed for Poisson data denoising. This procedure, which is nonparametric, is based on thresholding wavelet coefficients. We present in this paper an extension of the MSVST to 3D data (in fact 2D-1D data) when the third dimension is not a spatial dimension, but the wavelength, the energy, or the time. We show that the MSVST can be used for detecting and characterizing astrophysical sources of high-energy gamma rays, using realistic simulated observations with the Large Area Telescope (LAT). The LAT was launched in June 2008 on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope mission. The MSVST algorithm is very fast relative to traditional likelihood model fitting, and permits efficient detection across the time dimension and immediate estimation of spectral properties. Astrophysical sources of gamma rays, especially active galaxies, are typically quite variable, and our current work may lead to a reliable method to quickly characterize the flaring properties of newly-detected sources.Comment: Accepted. Full paper will figures available at http://jstarck.free.fr/aa08_msvst.pd

The economic geography of foreign direct investment and human capital in Mexican regions

Economies around the globe are increasingly interconnected. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has become one of the main drivers of economic interdependence among regions across the world. FDI as a flow of capital across international boundaries is bound to have distinctive effects on the human capital accumulation process in both home and host economies, with important consequences for economic development. The aim of this thesis is to improve our understanding on the geography of two interrelated economic phenomena for Mexican subnational regions: FDI and Human Capital. Mexico has been an important recipient of inward FDI, but in the last two decades the services sector has been gaining importance over manufacturing, while the country has been increasingly sending flows of outward FDI to the rest of the world. Concurrently, wage inequalities persist, educational outcomes are lagging behind, and demand for skilled workers is decreasing. These changing trends and shifting balance have important implications for wages and the incentives to develop human capital at the local and regional scale in Mexico. Moreover, the aforementioned changes in FDI patterns, wages and human capital have occurred in a country where territorial disparities are still commonplace. Against this background, these papers explore several relationships between FDI and three dimensions of human capital accumulation, namely; wages, educational attainment, and skills. The first paper examines the effect of inward FDI on the wage gap between skilled and unskilled workers. Departing from these findings, the second paper analyses the effect of higher wages offered by multinationals on youth educational choices. The third paper explores the regional determinants of the recent internationalisation of Mexican firms, with particular attention to skills, productivity and innovation. Finally, the fourth paper explores the effects of outward FDI on the relative demand for skilled and unskilled workers. In order to empirically investigate the aforementioned relationships, I deploy a wide array of econometric techniques that allow me to provide quantitative estimates of the associations at hand. Particular attention is placed on endogeneity concerns that may lead to statistical biases on the evidence provided. By adopting a regional- and industry-level perspective, the present thesis hopes to shed some light on the effects of bidirectional FDI on various Human Capital dimensions. Policy implications drawn from the findings herein, are of paramount importance. Mexico has taken significant strides towards development; however, it still has a sizeable untapped economic potential. This and other empirical evidence should be duly considered if Mexico is to escape the middle-income trap

The Intertwined Successional Development of the Lamb Gut Microbiota And Immune System (Poster)

Gastrointestinal tract (GIT) microbes play critical roles in host nutrition, health and immunological development. For adult ruminants, GIT-dwelling microbes provide ~70% of daily energy requirements. The GIT also houses 70 % of the animal’s immune system in the form of the Gut-associated Lymphatic Tissue (GALT), which houses 80% of all plasma cells and depends on microbial stimulation for maturation. Because nutrition and disease are two major factors in the economic sustainability of livestock production, our group set out to characterize the successional development of GIT microbiota and immune activity. Blood and GIT samples were collected from lambs immediately at birth through one-year of age, and from the dam’s vagina, mouth, and rectum at parturition. Blood samples were profiled for serum titers of IgM, IgA and IgG, while microbiota were profiled in GIT samples by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Lamb GIT microbiota initially resembled the dam’s vaginal microbiota but following exposure to the dam, became rapidly more similar to the dam’s teat. GIT samples eventually formed stable climax communities similar to the dams around 180 days of age. This corresponded to the peak serum titers for each immunoglobin, which, aside from a peak in IgG at birth (likely colostral transfer), had gradually increased prior to this time. Immunoglobins peaked and then return to a sub peak level between 180 and 365 days. These results indicate dam vaginal microbiota have a short-lived impact on the neonatal microbiota, with the GIT microbiota going through a dynamic successional development to 180 d when immune function appears to peak

Regulatory Impact Assessment: A survey of selected developing and emerging economies

Regulatory impact assessment (RIA) involves a systematic appraisal of the social, economic and environmental impacts of proposed regulations and other kinds of policy instruments before they are adopted. A vast amount of academic literature in the last decade has charted the diffusion of RIA in OECD countries and EU member states. However, relatively little is known about the extent to which RIA has been adopted and implemented in developing countries. The last research attempting to shed light on this issue over a decade ago found that a number of were beginning to apply some form of regulatory assessment but that its development was at an early stage. Since then RIA has become almost universally adopted in OECD and EU member states as well as promoted as a tool for good (regulatory) governance in developing countries by international donors and organizations such as OECD, the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank Group (IFC). What, then, is the extent of RIA adoption and implementation in these countries today? This working paper addresses this question through a survey of RIA in 14 developing and emerging economies based on documentary analysis as well as semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders. The survey explores topics such as the legal and institutional framework of RIA, organizational capacity, and use of tools and methods (e.g. Cost Benefit Analysis). The results suggest that while an increasing number of developing countries have made efforts to introduce RIA in their decision making processes, these efforts have not yet led to a sustainable RIA system which significantly contributes to the good regulatory governance of these countries