Evidence that fin whales respond to the geomagnetic field during migration

We challenge the hypothesis that fin whales use a magnetic sense to guide migration by testing for associations between geophysical parameters and the positions where fin whales were observed over the continental shelf off the northeastern United States. Monte Carlo simulations estimated the probability that the distribution of fin whale sighting was random with respect to bottom depth, bottom slope and the intensity and gradient of the geomagnetic field. The simulations demonstrated no overall association of sighting positions with any of these four geophysical parameters. Analysis of the data by season, however, demonstrated statistically reliable associations of sighting positions with areas of low geomagnetic intensity and gradient in winter and fall, respectively, but no association of sighting positions with bathymetric parameters in any season. An attempt to focus on migrating animals by excluding those observed feeding confirmed the associations of sighting positions with low geomagnetic intensity and gradient in winter and fall, respectively, and revealed additional associations with low geomagnetic gradients in winter and spring. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that fin whales, and perhaps other mysticete species, possess a magnetic sense that they use to guide migration

The effect of space flight on a camera lens

The effect of space flight on a camera len

Credit Access of Rice Farmer-Borrowers and Financial Performance of Banca Banca Primary Multipurpose Cooperative under the Laguna Credit Surety Fund Program in Victoria and Pila, Laguna, Philippines: 2010–2014

The province of Laguna and BSP launched the LCSF to help the mSMEs and most especially the cooperatives in increasing their worthiness to formal institutions. LCSF is a trust fund designed to enhance the credit worthiness and mitigate the risk of banks in extending credit to mSMEs. This program was pursued by the local government to facilitate credit access among small farmers and other small scale borrowers. BBPMPC was one of the 15 member-cooperatives of LCSF which contributed PhP100,000 to the program. The cooperative also availed loan through DBP’s credit line that was secured by LCSF, which was used to provide cash and inputs to its rice farmer-borrowers on credit.This study analyzed credit access of rice farmer-borrowers and the financial performance of Banca Banca Primary Multi-Purpose Cooperative under the Laguna Credit Surety Fund Program in Laguna covering the period 2010 to 2014.  Thirty five rice farmer-borrowers of BBPMPC in the municipalities of Victoria and Pila in Laguna were interviewed during the conduct of the study.The result of the study showed that the rice farmer-borrowers reduced their borrowing from other sources after the cooperative availed LCSF. It was due to increased amount of loan granted to the rice farmer-borrowers. As for the loan utilization and repayment performance of the rice farmer-borrowers, most of them utilized funds only for farm operations and had fully paid their loans from the cooperative. The rice farmer-borrowers were also very satisfied with the lending operation of the cooperative.  In general, it was found out that: LCSF was seen to be beneficial to BBPMPC because it provided the rice farmer-borrowers easier access to credit and LCSF helped improve the financial standing of BBPMPC.    Therefore, LCSF should improve information dissemination to encourage more cooperatives into their program. This would further extend credit to farmers and provide technical assistance to its members.

Design and Development of RC Railed Robot for Coffee Nursery Logistics

The Remote Controlled (RC) Railed Robot was designed and developed to transfer polybags from manual operation to an automated logistic system. Gizduino microcontroller was used to read and interpret commands sent and received by the transceivers to the robot and a remote to command instructions to the robot.The project was tested and evaluated at the Coffee Nursery of Cavite State University by determining the speed of the robot, the effectiveness of the remote control and the accuracy of the robot to lift a pallet and place it into an empty space.Results showed that the robot was able to receive and interpret commands provided by the remote control as well as perform the tasks successfully.The most significant recommendation was to use a counterweight at the rear side of the robot to avoid unnecessary derailments of the robot if lifting heavier or greater number of pallets is desired

The Preschool Kitchen Task Assessment (PKTA): A Pilot Study Exploring Executive Functioning in Children Ages 3 to 6 Years

Background and purpose. The Preschool Kitchen Task Assessment (PKTA) is a newly developed assessment tool based on the principles of the Kitchen Task Assessment (KTA) and may be a valuable tool for assessing executive function (EF). There is a lack of age-appropriate assessments for EF in occupational therapy. The purpose of this study was to examine the use of the PKTA as a new assessment and determine if it is a valid measure of EF in preschool children. Subjects. The total sample consisted of 11 willing preschool-aged children and their parents, with a female to male ratio of 8:3 and a mean age of 4.5 years. Methods. A non-experimental exploratory design was utilized to examine the relationship between the PKTA and other neuropsychological assessments. A series Pearson’s correlation coefficients were calculated to examine the relationship between the PKTA and two other neuropsychological tests: BRIEF-P and a modified Digit Span Backward. Results. A low, non significant correlation between PKTA total score and BRIEF-P GEC score (r = .12). A moderate to good correlation between the PKTA time and BRIEF-P GEC score (r = .68). Little to fair correlations between PKTA total score and the BRIEF-P clinical scales with a range of .17 to .41. A correlation could not be found between PKTA and Digit Span Backward. A moderate, negative correlation found between age in months and PKTA total scores (r = .74). Through qualitative observations, the PKTA was found to be ecologically valid. Discussion and conclusion. Results revealed weak support that the PKTA is a valid measure in assessing EF in preschoolers. The PKTA is developmentally sensitive to age with support that it is an ecologically valid assessment. The PKTA may be a beneficial tool in order to gain a complete understanding of a child’s needs

The 2017 Housing Occupation in the Philippines: A Counter-Project for Livable Homes and an Alternative Lifeworld

On 8 March 2017, in what would become known as ‘Occupy Bulacan,’ the urban poor group KADAMAY and thousands of its organized members from different cities and towns occupied 5,300 idled government-built socialized housing units in Bulacan, a province immediately north of the Philippine capital of Manila

Patterns of Cellular Distribution with the Sentinel Node Positive for Breast Cancer

Background. Sentinel node biopsy (SNB) represents the standard of care in breast cancer axillary evaluation. Our study aims to characterize the patterns of malignant cell distribution within the sentinel nodes (SN). Methods. In a retrospective IRB-approved study, we examined the anatomic location of the nodal area with the highest radioactive signal or most intense blue staining (hot spot) and its distance from the metastatic foci. Results. 58 patients underwent SNB between January 2006 and February 2007. 12 patients with 19 positive SN were suitable for analysis. 4 (21%) metastases were located in the nodal hilum and 15 (79%) in the cortex. 6 (31%) metastases were found adjacent to the hotspot, and 9 (47%) within 4 mm of the hotspot. Conclusions. In our pilot series, SN metastases were within 4 mm of the hotspot in 78% of the cases. Pathologic analysis focused in that area may contribute to the more accurate identification of nodal metastases

Building capacity for development and implementation of clinical practice guidelines

Robust, reliable and transparent methodologies are necessary to ensure that clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) meet international criteria. In South Africa (SA) and other low- and middle-income countries, upskilling and training of individuals in the processes of CPG development is needed. Since de novo CPG development is time-consuming and expensive, new emerging CPG-development approaches (adopting, contextualising, adapting and updating existing good-quality CPGs) are potentially more appropriate for our context. These emerging CPG-development methods are either not included or sparsely covered in existing training opportunities. The SA Guidelines Excellence (SAGE) team has responded innovatively to the need for CPG training in SA. We have revised an existing SA course and developed an online, open-access CPG-development toolkit. This Guideline Toolkit is a comprehensive guideline resource designed to assist individuals who are interested in knowing how to develop CPGs. Findings from the SAGE project can now be implemented with this innovative CPG training programme. This level of CPG capacity development has the potential to influence CPG knowledge, development, practices and uptake by clinicians, managers, academics and policy-makers around the country

Standardized Patients in Occupational Therapy Education

The use of standardized patients (SPs) in occupational therapy (OT) education has greatly increased in recent years; however, there is limited research on the perceptions of student’s clinical readiness utilizing SPs and whether or not the utilization of SPs prepare students for fieldwork. The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of SPs in OT education and the perceived clinical readiness of students. The use of SPs has been thoroughly researched in other healthcare related fields. It is important that the same critical attention be given to their use in our own field, which emphasizes the importance of clinical readiness in the development of future professionals. A survey was given to the OT students of Dominican University of California who have had experience with the curriculum, which utilizes SPs. Students were asked to rate their own perceptions of readiness in a number of skills, which were practiced using SPs. Students were also asked to answer qualitative questions regarding their experiences in the simulated environment with SPs. Results indicated that four common themes emerged to the perceptions on the effectiveness of SPs. The use of SPs helped implement observational skills, bring classroom information to practical experience, identified the impact of secondary health conditions/comorbidity, and had effect on student performance due to anxiety. Further studies should be conducted to support this growing area of OT education