Simulación del crecimiento urbano de la ciudad de Tandil (Argentina) aplicando el modelo SLEUTH

Las áreas urbanas son las regiones más dinámicas del planeta. Su tamaño ha aumentado constantemente durante el pasado y este proceso continuará en el futuro, especialmente en los países menos desarrollados (Martine, 2007). Monitorear el crecimiento urbano y, en consecuencia, anticipar el alcance de éste, siempre se reconoce como un tema de primera necesidad para cualquier organismo de gobierno responsable de la toma de decisiones sobre la planificación urbana…Fil: Linares, Santiago. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Instituto de Geografía, Historia y Ciencias Sociales. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Geografía, Historia y Ciencias Sociales; ArgentinaFil: Clarke, Keith C.. University of California; Estados UnidosV Jornadas Nacionales de Investigación en Geografía Argentina y XI Jornadas de Investigación y Extensión del Centro de Investigaciones GeográficasTandilArgentinaAgencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y TecnológicaProvincia de Buenos Aires. Comisión de Investigaciones CientíficasUniversidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Humanas. Centro de Investigaciones GeográficasInstituto de geografía, Historia y Ciencias Sociale

Lee Silverman voice treatment versus standard NHS speech and language therapy versus control in Parkinson's disease (PD COMM pilot):study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Background: Parkinson’s disease is a common movement disorder affecting approximately 127,000 people in the UK, with an estimated two thirds having speech-related problems. Currently there is no preferred approach to speech and language therapy within the NHS and there is little evidence for the effectiveness of standard NHS therapy or Lee Silverman voice treatment. This trial aims to investigate the feasibility and acceptability of randomizing people with Parkinson’s disease-related speech or voice problems to Lee Silverman voice treatment or standard speech and language therapy compared to a no-intervention control. Methods/Design: The PD COMM pilot is a three arm, assessor-blinded, randomized controlled trial. Randomization will be computer-generated with participants randomized at a ratio of 1:1:1. Participants randomized to intervention arms will be immediately referred to the appropriate speech and language therapist. The target population are patients with a confirmed diagnosis of idiopathic Parkinson’s disease who have problems with their speech or voice. The Lee Silverman voice treatment intervention group will receive the standard regime of 16 sessions between 50 and 60 minutes in length over four weeks, with extra home practice. The standard speech and language therapy intervention group will receive a dose determined by patients’ individual needs, but not exceeding eight weeks of treatment. The control group will receive standard care with no speech and language therapy input for at least six months post-randomization. Outcomes will be assessed at baseline (pre-randomization) and post- randomization at three, six, and 12 months. The outcome measures include patient-reported voice measures, quality of life, resource use, and assessor-rated speech recordings. The recruitment aim is at least 60 participants over 21 months from 11 sites, equating to at least 20 participants in each arm of the trial. This trial is ongoing and recruitment commenced in May 2012. Discussion: This study will provide information on the feasibility and acceptability of randomizing participants to different speech and language therapies or control/deferred treatment. The findings relating to recruitment, treatment compliance, outcome measures, and effect size will inform a future phase III randomized controlled trial

Enhancement of dye regeneration kinetics in dichromophoric porphyrin-carbazole triphenylamine dyes influenced by more exposed radical cation orbitals

Reduction kinetics of oxidized dyes absorbed on semiconductor surfaces and immersed in redox active electrolytes has been mainly modeled based on the free energy difference between the oxidation potential of the dye and the redox potential of the electrolyte. Only a few mechanisms have been demonstrated to enhance the kinetics by other means. In this work, the rate constant of the reduction of oxidized porphyrin dye is enhanced by attaching non-conjugated carbazole triphenylamine moiety using iodine/triiodide and tris(2,2′-bispyridinium)cobalt II/III electrolytes. These results are obtained using transient absorption spectroscopy by selectively probing the regeneration kinetics at the porphyrin radical cation and the carbazole triphenylamine radical cation absorption wavelengths. The enhancement in the reduction kinetics is not attributed to changes in the driving force, but to the more exposed dye cation radical orbitals of the dichromophoric dye. The results are important for the development of high efficiency photo-electrochemical devices with minimalized energy loss at electron transfer interfaces

Evaluating drug treatments for Parkinson's disease: how good are the trials?

The prevalence of Parkinson's disease will increase as the population ages, making it important to identify reliably the most effective drug therapy Although many randomised controlled trials have evaluated the efficacy of different classes of drugs in both early and later Parkinson's disease, uncertainty about best treatment remains because of small numbers, inadequate follow up, and inappropriate end points Much larger trials are needed with long term follow up and end points of relevance to patients Large simple pragmatic trials have improved treatment of heart disease, stroke, and cancer and their methods should be applied to Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative disease