Transnational activist networks and rising powers: transparency and environmental concerns in the Brazilian National Development Bank

This article studies how transnational advocacy networks can influence international development finance. Transnational activists shaped the World Bank's lending by increasing its transparency and limiting its socioenvironmental impacts. Developing countries can now look toward rising powers’ national development banks to finance their infrastructure and energy projects. The national development banks’ weak transparency and socioenvironmental standards pose a new challenge for transnational activism. Can activists leverage strategies used in World Bank reform to influence emerging power national development banks? We argue that whether a target is a supranational or national institution shapes the deployment and effectiveness of the strategies activists can use for influence. A supranational mandate and structure facilitates the deployment and effectiveness of a direct strategy focused on the transnational level, targeting the bank itself, and an indirect strategy focused on the national contexts of the bank's shareholders and borrowers. In contrast, a national mandate and structure encourages activists to deploy influence strategies solely in the context of the lending state. They furthermore make indirect strategies more effective than direct ones. We illustrate our argument by exploiting variation in the success across campaigns of a transnational network created to reform the Brazilian National Development Bank

Generation of a simulation scenario from medical data: Carto and MRI

Multiphysic cardiac models give accurate simulations of normal and pathologic behavior of the heart. It can help to develop new treatments and medical devices. The complexity relies on both mathematical and geometrical models, so that HPC is needed to obtain accurate results using finite element method. From Magnetic Resonance Imaging a complete geometry, including atria and ventricles, is obtained through segmentation. Then the corresponding CAD is generated, where boundary conditions and properties of each heart region are fixed. Finally the volume mesh is built, essential to run simulations

Factores que influyen al abuso de la medida cautelar de prisión preventiva en el 2º juzgado de investigación preparatoria de Huancayo 2017 – 2019

El título de la tesis es “Factores Que Influyen En El Abuso De La Medida Cautelar De Prisión Preventiva En Los Juzgados De Investigación Preparatoria De Huancayo 2017 -2019” : En la que se busca establecer de manera precisa si existe algunos criterios que influyen de manera concreta en la aplicación de la prisión preventiva frente a esa situación nos planteamos la siguiente problemática ¿Cuáles son los factores de carácter jurídico y mediático que intervienen en la aplicación arbitraria de la medida cautelar de prisión preventiva en los juzgados de investigación preparatoria en la provincia de Huancayo 2017-2019” que tuvo como objetivo. Describir de qué manera los factores jurídicos y mediático interviene en la aplicación arbitraria de la medida cautelar de la prisión preventiva en los juzgados de investigación preparatoria de Huancayo 2017-2019. Llegando a la hipótesis Los factores jurídicos y mediáticos intervienen significativamente al momento de aplicar la prisión preventiva en los juzgados de investigación preparatoria de Huancayo al 2017-2019.La investigación es de carácter jurídico social, tipo básico, nivel explicativo, Método explicativo, con un diseño no experimental transversal - explicativo , la población está constituida por una población de abogados especialistas en derecho penal, fiscales, docentes de derecho penal, para la recolección de información se utilizará la encuesta y cuestionario, considerando al cuestionario y llegándose a la conclusión de establecimiento de sanciones a los jueces por las determinaciones que afectan el derecho fundamental de presunción de inocencia y libertad

Left Ventricular Trabeculations Decrease the Wall Shear Stress and Increase the Intra-Ventricular Pressure Drop in CFD Simulations

The aim of the present study is to characterize the hemodynamics of left ventricular (LV) geometries to examine the impact of trabeculae and papillary muscles (PMs) on blood flow using high performance computing (HPC). Five pairs of detailed and smoothed LV endocardium models were reconstructed from high-resolution magnetic resonance images (MRI) of ex-vivo human hearts. The detailed model of one LV pair is characterized only by the PMs and few big trabeculae, to represent state of art level of endocardial detail. The other four detailed models obtained include instead endocardial structures measuring ≥1 mm2 in cross-sectional area. The geometrical characterizations were done using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations with rigid walls and both constant and transient flow inputs on the detailed and smoothed models for comparison. These simulations do not represent a clinical or physiological scenario, but a characterization of the interaction of endocardial structures with blood flow. Steady flow simulations were employed to quantify the pressure drop between the inlet and the outlet of the LVs and the wall shear stress (WSS). Coherent structures were analyzed using the Q-criterion for both constant and transient flow inputs. Our results show that trabeculae and PMs increase the intra-ventricular pressure drop, reduce the WSS and disrupt the dominant single vortex, usually present in the smoothed-endocardium models, generating secondary small vortices. Given that obtaining high resolution anatomical detail is challenging in-vivo, we propose that the effect of trabeculations can be incorporated into smoothed ventricular geometries by adding a porous layer along the LV endocardial wall. Results show that a porous layer of a thickness of 1.2·10−2 m with a porosity of 20 kg/m2 on the smoothed-endocardium ventricle models approximates the pressure drops, vorticities and WSS observed in the detailed models.This paper has been partially funded by CompBioMed project, under H2020-EU.1.4.1.3 European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, grant agreement n◦ 675451. FS is supported by a grant from Severo Ochoa (n◦ SEV-2015-0493-16-4), Spain. CB is supported by a grant from the Fundació LaMarató de TV3 (n◦ 20154031), Spain. TI and PI are supported by the Institute of Engineering in Medicine, USA, and the Lillehei Heart Institute, USA.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Effects of detailed ventricular anatomy on the blood flow

The presented study is a preliminary test and analysis of the role of trabeculae and papillary muscles in the hemodynamics of the left ventricle (LV)

A 3D-1D cardiac-vascular computational feedbacked model

A first version of a cardiovascular coupled model is presented. The modelling tools are Alya, the BSC tool for biomechanical simulations; and ADAN55, the LNCC model of the arterial blood flow. The former solves the heartbeat by Finite Element Method (FEM). The latter is a 1D model of the arterial blood flow in a 55-branched geometry. Previous generations of the involved models had fixed boundary conditions. With this novel tool a feedbacked cardiac-vascular model is obtained, offering more physiological boundary conditions and providing further insight in the cardiac-systemic interactions

Evaluating the roles of detailed endocardial structures on right ventricular haemodynamics by means of CFD simulations

Computational modelling plays an important role in right ventricular (RV) haemodynamic analysis. However, current approaches use smoothed ventricular anatomies. The aim of this study is to characterise RV haemodynamics including detailed endocardial structures like trabeculae, moderator band, and papillary muscles. Four paired detailed and smoothed RV endocardium models (2 male and 2 female) were reconstructed from ex vivo human hearts high‐resolution magnetic resonance images. Detailed models include structures with ≥1 mm2 cross‐sectional area. Haemodynamic characterisation was done by computational fluid dynamics simulations with steady and transient inflows, using high‐performance computing. The differences between the flows in smoothed and detailed models were assessed using Q‐criterion for vorticity quantification, the pressure drop between inlet and outlet, and the wall shear stress. Results demonstrated that detailed endocardial structures increase the degree of intra‐ventricular pressure drop, decrease the wall shear stress, and disrupt the dominant vortex creating secondary small vortices. Increasingly turbulent blood flow was observed in the detailed RVs. Female RVs were less trabeculated and presented lower pressure drops than the males. In conclusion, neglecting endocardial structures in RV haemodynamic models may lead to inaccurate conclusions about the pressures, stresses, and blood flow behaviour in the cavity.The DICOMdatasetswere provided by the Visible Heart R Laboratory, obtained byMRI scanning of perfusion fixed hearts that were graciously donated by the organ donors and their families through LifeSource. Part of the simulation hours were provided by the CompBioMed project in the Archer supercomputer, EPCC, UK.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

The Academic, Affective and Linguistic Factors that influence the level of English Achieved by EFL Learners majoring in the B.A. in English Teaching Option and the B.A in Modern Languages Specialization in French and English at the Foreign Languages

The present research is focused on the study of the academic, affective, and linguistic factors that influence the level of English achieved by EFL learners at the FLD of the University of El Salvador. This work has been conducted as a bibliographical research. For instance, the data has been collected through investigating other studies carried out at the FLD. The findings of this research are shown by using graphs and tables taken from previous studies to have a clear understanding of the phenomenon. Therefore, the team expects the results obtained from the sources consulted will be helpful to find the impact of academic, affective, and linguistic factors in the level of English achieved by students from the FLD. Based Words: Grade point average (GPA), Academic background, socioeconomic status (SES), study habits, attitude, anxiety, shyness, motivation, vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary, and phonetics

Study protocol: MyoFit46-the cardiac sub-study of the MRC National Survey of Health and Development

BACKGROUND: The life course accumulation of overt and subclinical myocardial dysfunction contributes to older age mortality, frailty, disability and loss of independence. The Medical Research Council National Survey of Health and Development (NSHD) is the world's longest running continued surveillance birth cohort providing a unique opportunity to understand life course determinants of myocardial dysfunction as part of MyoFit46-the cardiac sub-study of the NSHD. METHODS: We aim to recruit 550 NSHD participants of approximately 75 years+ to undertake high-density surface electrocardiographic imaging (ECGI) and stress perfusion cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR). Through comprehensive myocardial tissue characterization and 4-dimensional flow we hope to better understand the burden of clinical and subclinical cardiovascular disease. Supercomputers will be used to combine the multi-scale ECGI and CMR datasets per participant. Rarely available, prospectively collected whole-of-life data on exposures, traditional risk factors and multimorbidity will be studied to identify risk trajectories, critical change periods, mediators and cumulative impacts on the myocardium. DISCUSSION: By combining well curated, prospectively acquired longitudinal data of the NSHD with novel CMR-ECGI data and sharing these results and associated pipelines with the CMR community, MyoFit46 seeks to transform our understanding of how early, mid and later-life risk factor trajectories interact to determine the state of cardiovascular health in older age. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Prospectively registered on ClinicalTrials.gov with trial ID: 19/LO/1774 Multimorbidity Life-Course Approach to Myocardial Health- A Cardiac Sub-Study of the MCRC National Survey of Health and Development (NSHD)