Analysis of the Pre-Service Teachers’ Academic Stress Based on Their Self-Concept and Personality

Self-concept is a key factor in any teaching–learning process in pre-service teachers. However, it could be negatively affected by academic stress, which is constituted by stressors, stress symptoms, and coping strategies. The aim of the study was to determine the relationship between academic stress and self-concept in this population. This was a descriptive, correlational, and crosssectional study. The sample consisted of 1020 university students in education degrees. In relation to sex, it was found that 75.78% were women and 24.21% were men. The following instruments were used: Self-concept Form 5 (AF-5), the Big Five Inventory-44 (BFI-44), and the SISCO Inventory of Academic Stress. The results indicated that academic stress increases and self-concept decreases as studies progress; likewise, most of the students perceived high levels of stress. It was concluded that academic stress is inversely related to self-concept in pre-service teachers, a fact that should be taken into account in their initial training. Social-emotional factors and neuroticism have a decisive influence on the future teachers’ academic stress

Automatic calculation of pelvis morphology from CT images

Pelvimetry is the study of the pelvis morphology in women for labor planning and medical assessment. This can be achieved by manually annotating pelvic CT images for extracting several measures of interest, which can be both time-consuming and subjective. While machine learning has achieved significant success in 2D landmarking applications, results in pelvic CT images are still limited, particularly with small datasets. This paper presents a two-step approach for detecting 3D landmarks in pelvic CT images. First, a simple CNN coarsely estimates landmark locations, serving as a starting point for further refinement. Then, higher resolution 3D patches and independent neural networks are used to obtain the final position for each landmark. Our model has shown promising results, obtaining an average distance error of 6.71 mm across 7 landmarks. These values allowed the calculation of the morphological measurements, demonstrating a strong correlation with the manual values. The proposed model has shown promising results, offering efficient and accurate predictions of the anatomical landmarks in CT examinations

Identification and functional analysis of novel phosphorylation sites in the RNA surveillance protein Upf1.

One third of inherited genetic diseases are caused by mRNAs harboring premature termination codons as a result of nonsense mutations. These aberrant mRNAs are degraded by the Nonsense-Mediated mRNA Decay (NMD) pathway. A central component of the NMD pathway is Upf1, an RNA-dependent ATPase and helicase. Upf1 is a known phosphorylated protein, but only portions of this large protein have been examined for phosphorylation sites and the functional relevance of its phosphorylation has not been elucidated in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Using tandem mass spectrometry analyses, we report the identification of 11 putative phosphorylated sites in S. cerevisiae Upf1. Five of these phosphorylated residues are located within the ATPase and helicase domains and are conserved in higher eukaryotes, suggesting a biological significance for their phosphorylation. Indeed, functional analysis demonstrated that a small carboxy-terminal motif harboring at least three phosphorylated amino acids is important for three Upf1 functions: ATPase activity, NMD activity and the ability to promote translation termination efficiency. We provide evidence that two tyrosines within this phospho-motif (Y-738 and Y-742) act redundantly to promote ATP hydrolysis, NMD efficiency and translation termination fidelity

Recent histories of six productive lakes in the Irish Ecoregion based on multiproxy palaeolimnological evidence

This version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review (when applicable) and is subject to Springer Nature’s AM terms of use, but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10750-006-0243-8Palaeolimnological data from six mesotrophic, eutrophic and hypertrophic lakes in the Irish Ecoregion, in the form of microfossil (cladocera, diatoms and pollen) and sediment chemistry data from radiometrically dated sediment cores, were used to reconstruct past variations in lake water quality and catchment conditions. Basal sediments from sediment cores from the six sites ranged in age from the late 18th century to the early 20th century. A weighted averaging partial least squares regression model was developed to reconstruct past epilimnetic total phosphorus concentrations. The results indicate that all but one of the study sites currently are in a far more productive state compared with the beginning of the sediment core record and that those same five lakes have experienced accelerated enrichment post c. 1980. Two of the sites demonstrated long-term enrichment, in one case beginning in the late 19th century, while both eutrophication and oligotrophication have occurred at three sites. The results highlight the difficulties in applying a general temporal end-point for reference conditions and demonstrate that productive lakes in the Irish Ecoregion have complex, locally specific and often long histories of enrichment. These may not be responsive to reduced external loadings of phosphorus and, as a result, restoration could prove particularly challenging. The results also provide evidence of the ways in which palaeolimnological techniques can assist implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive.Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) project # 2002-W-LS/7S

Radiación solar instantánea y horaria sobre planos inclinados : Predicciones teóricas y determinaciones experimentales

Se emplean modelos teóricos en la predicción de la radiación solar incidente sobre superficies inclinadas para la ciudad de Santa Fe, Argentina en días de cielo sin nubes. Los resultados de la aplicación de cuatro modelos para estimar la radiación global y difusa sobre las superficies inclinadas se comparan con funciones que aproximan las determinaciones experimentales. Las comparaciones se efectúan con datos de la radiación solar instantáneos e integrados en una hora. Se calculan errores absolutos y relativos para testear los modelos teóricos. Con ángulos de inclinación a 15° y 30° el modelo isotrópico subestima en forma significativa valores de la radiación, mientras que los modelos anisotrópicos presentan en general un buen acuerdo con las mediciones. El modelo de Hay y Davies tiene mínimo valor de la raíz cuadrada del error cuadrático medio para la radiación solar global y difusa, evaluadas tanto en forma instantánea como horaria.Asociación Argentina de Energías Renovables y Medio Ambiente (ASADES

Improvement of arrival and departure times in a mass public transport system applying a computational model and Monte Carlo Simulation

The objective of this work is to simulate the arrival and departure of transport units in order to improve the quality of the service and the waiting time that each public transport unit takes to complete the entire route by applying the Monte Carlo simulation method. Due to the lack of buses to supply the entire community that uses this means of transport and the recent complaints from residents due to the fact that there is no bus that circulates through that place, the acquisition of new units will be proposed, to meet this demand. In this project, the departure time of the buses from “Cooperativa Albosau” line 47 is simulated. In order to carry out this simulation, a uniform distribution is used, in which the average departure time of each bus will be taken on a Friday. at the bus station. In order to obtain the waiting time between each bus departure, the Monte Carlo Method is used, where random numbers are generated in a program prepared in Python, in order to know the estimated time of the process and to know if it is convenient to acquire new units. As a result, the average arrival and departure times of the buses of this cooperative were reduced. Likewise, it was possible to determine, through a uniform distribution, the average times in each of the departure and arrival processes of all buses, including those already provided by the transport cooperative.El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo simular el arribo y salida de las unidades de transporte para poder mejorar la calidad del servicio y el tiempo de espera que toma cada unidad de transporte público para realizar el recorrido completo aplicando el método de simulación de Montecarlo. Debido a la falta de buses para poder abastecer a toda la comunidad que utiliza este medio de transporte y las recientes quejas de los moradores debido a que no hay un bus que circule por ese lugar, se propondrá la adquisición de nuevas unidades, para cumplir esta demanda. En este proyecto se simula el tiempo de salida de los buses de la Cooperativa Albosau línea 47. Para poder realizar esta simulación, se utiliza una distribución uniforme, en la cual el tiempo medio de salida de cada bus va a ser tomado un viernes en la estación del bus. Para poder obtener el tiempo de espera entre cada salida de bus, se utiliza el Método de Montecarlo, en donde se genera números aleatorios en programa elaborado en Python, para de esta manera conocer el tiempo estimado del proceso y para saber si es conveniente adquirir unidades nuevas. Como resultado, se redujeron los tiempos promedios de llegada y salidas de los buses de esta cooperativa. Así mismo se pudo determinar, mediante una distribución uniforme, los tiempos promedios en cada uno de los procesos de salida y llegada de todos los buses, incluyendo los que ya cuenta la cooperativa de transporte

Influence of cerebral vasodilation on blood reelin levels in growth restricted fetuses

Fetal growth restriction (FGR) is one of the most important obstetric pathologies. It is frequently caused by placental insufficiency. Previous studies have shown a relationship between FGR and impaired new-born neurodevelopment, although the molecular mechanisms involved in this association have not yet been completely clarified. Reelin is an extracellular matrix glycoprotein involved in development of neocortex, hippocampus, cerebellum and spinal cord. Reelin has been demonstrated to play a key role in regulating perinatal neurodevelopment and to contribute to the emergence and development of various psychiatric pathologies, and its levels are highly influenced by pathological conditions of hypoxia. The purpose of this article is to study whether reelin levels in new-borns vary as a function of severity of fetal growth restriction by gestational age and sex. We sub-grouped fetuses in: normal weight group (Group 1, n = 17), FGR group with normal umbilical artery Doppler and cerebral redistribution at middle cerebral artery Doppler (Group 2, n = 9), and FGR with abnormal umbilical artery Doppler (Group 3, n = 8). Our results show a significant association of elevated Reelin levels in FGR fetuses with cerebral blood redistribution compared to the normal weight group and the FGR with abnormal umbilical artery group. Future research should focus on further expanding the knowledge of the relationship of reelin and its regulated products with neurodevelopment impairment in new-borns with FGR and should include larger and more homogeneous samples and the combined use of different in vivo techniques in neonates with impaired growth during their different adaptive phases. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Respuesta de la cebada (Hordeum vulgare) a diferentes dosis de fertilizantes en suelos influenciados por cenizas volcánicas en Nariño.

Entre 1956 y 1968 se establecieron 12 pruebas de fertilización en cebada en suelos influenciados por deposiciones de cenizas volcánicas, en el Departamento de Nariño. Estos experimentos se efectuaron con el propósito de establecer las dosis y combinaciones de N, P, K y más adecuadas para cebada. Se usaron las variedades mejoradas Funza y Galeras, con una densidad de siembra que osciló entre 60 y 80 kg/ha de semilla. Los resultados de los análisis de suelos indican en promedio, suelos fuertemente ácidos (pH 5.5), altos en materia orgánica (M.O. 12.4 por ciento) en K intercambiable (0.73 meq/100 gr de suelo) y con un contenido muy variable en P aprovechable que oscila entre 8.5 y 37.6 ppm con un promedio de 22.6 ppm de P (Bray II). De acuerdo a los resultados de campo, las aplicaciones más aconsejables de los diferentes nutrimentos varían entre 30 y 60 kg/ha de N en combinación con 75-150 kg/ha de P2O5 y 0 a 30 kg/ha de K2O. Lo anterior equivaldría, aproximadamente a grados comerciales 10-30-0, 10-30-5, 10-30-5, 10-25-0, 10-25-5. Las escorias thomas, aplicadas al momento de la siembra fueron una buena fuente de P para la cebada.Cebada-Hordeum vulgar

The Interactive Role of Hydrocarbon Seeps, Hydrothermal Vents and Intermediate Antarctic/Mediterranean Water Masses on the Distribution of Some Vulnerable Deep-Sea Habitats in Mid Latitude NE Atlantic Ocean

In this work, we integrate five case studies harboring vulnerable deep-sea benthic habitats in different geological settings from mid latitude NE Atlantic Ocean (24–42° N). Data and images of specific deep-sea habitats were acquired with Remoted Operated Vehicle (ROV) sensors (temperature, salinity, potential density, O2, CO2, and CH4). Besides documenting some key vulnerable deep-sea habitats, this study shows that the distribution of some deep-sea coral aggregations (including scleractinians, gorgonians, and antipatharians), deep-sea sponge aggregations and other deep-sea habitats are influenced by water masses’ properties. Our data support that the distribution of scleractinian reefs and aggregations of other deep-sea corals, from subtropical to north Atlantic could be dependent of the latitudinal extents of the Antarctic Intermediate Waters (AAIW) and the Mediterranean Outflow Waters (MOW). Otherwise, the distribution of some vulnerable deep-sea habitats is influenced, at the local scale, by active hydrocarbon seeps (Gulf of Cádiz) and hydrothermal vents (El Hierro, Canary Island). The co-occurrence of deep-sea corals and chemosynthesis-based communities has been identified in methane seeps of the Gulf of Cádiz. Extensive beds of living deep-sea mussels (Bathymodiolus mauritanicus) and other chemosymbiotic bivalves occur closely to deep-sea coral aggregations (e.g., gorgonians, black corals) that colonize methane-derived authigenic carbonates.Versión del edito