Preschool ministries and churches that house them : a study to develop best practices to promote healthy collaborative relationships

https://place.asburyseminary.edu/ecommonsatsdissertations/2438/thumbnail.jp

Diagnóstico y propuesta de mejora en la planta justo a tiempo

El objetivo de esta investigación fue realizar un diagnóstico para detectar los problemas más importantes de la empresa “Justo A Tiempo” con respecto a su área comercial, área financiera, área de operaciones y área de recursos humanos y de esta manera, recomendar propuestas de solución en busca de una mejora continua dentro de la empresa. La investigación empleo la metodología de Thibaut para entender los problemas de cada área de la empresa y así poder llegar a las causas raíz del problema priorizado para plantear propuestas de solución. Como resultados se pudo concluir que la empresa debería abrir un área comercial para optimizar los costos, se debe impulsar el apetito de innovación en todos los niveles de la empresa, sobre todo los más altos, y es necesario un seguimiento y control continuo de todas las propuestas de solución planteadas.The objective of this research was to carry out a diagnosis to detect the most important problems of the company "Just In Time" with respect to its commercial, financial, operations and human resources area and, recommend solution proposals in search of continuous improvement within the company. The research used the Thibaut methodology to understand the problems of each area of the company and thus be able to reach the root causes of the prioritized problem to recommend solution proposals. As a result, it was concluded that the company should open a commercial area to optimize costs, the appetite for innovation should be boosted at all levels of the company, especially the highest, and continuous monitoring and control of all the proposed solutions

Identification of Defensive Performance Factors in the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa

The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of defensive play in elite football, to identify variables associated with the direct recovery of ball possession, and to propose a model for predicting the success of defensive transitions. We analyzed 804 transitions in the final stages of the Fedération Internationale Football Association (FIFA) World Cup 2010, and investigated the following variables using univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analyses: duration of defensive transition, possession loss zone, position of players at the start and end of the defensive transitions, defensive organization, general defensive approach, time of the match, position of defense, zone in which the offensive transition ends, match status, and outcome of the defensive transition. We found that the defensive transitions started most frequently in the middle offensive zone (48.9%), with an organized defense set-up (98.8%), and were unsuccessful on 57.2% of occasions. The bivariate analysis showed that the variable most strongly associated with direct recovery of the possession of the ball ( p = 0.018) is the area in which the ball is lost, and the multivariate analysis showed that the duration of the defensive transition can be used as a performance indicator, with transitions lasting between 0 and 15 s associated with a higher likelihood of directly recovering the ball. This work has allowed us to identify a pattern of tactical-strategic behavior with major probabilities of success in the defensive transitions. These results will be able to be used by coaches to improve the performance of their teams in this type of situation in the game

Minería del cobre en Perú: análisis de las variables exógenas y endógenas para gestionar su desarrollo

A pesar de tener una economía emergente, Perú es uno de los principales productores cupríferos del mundo, sosteniendo gran parte de su desarrollo sobre la base de esta industria. En tal sentido, el objetivo de esta investigación fue analizar el sistema industrial de la minería de cobre en Perú a partir de sus variables exógenas y endógenas. Con ayuda de un diseño exploratorio y descriptivo, se realizó un análisis estructural (técnica de la prospectiva estratégica francesa) con la participación de un panel de 20 expertos conocedores de la industria minera y de la herramienta Matriz de Impactos Cruzados y Multiplicación Aplicada a una Clasificación. Los resultados identificaron como variables clave al atractivo de inversión, a los conflictos socioambientales y al manejo político; los cuales representan el carácter exógeno de la industria cuprífera peruana. Variables endógenas al sistema, como la eficiencia productiva, la logística del transporte, la generación de empleos y el suministro de energía; se caracterizaron como exclusivamente dependientes de la evolución de las variables exógenas mencionadas. Este estudio constituye un punto de partida importante para la gestión de posibles escenarios futuros de la minería de cobre en Perú; así como para la inversión en su desarrollo económico, social y ambiental a nivel local y regional.Despite having an emerging economy, Peru is one of the main copper producers in the world, sustaining much of its development on the basis of this industry. In this sense, the objective of this research was to analyze the industrial system of copper mining in Peru from its exogenous and endogenous variables. With the help of an exploratory and descriptive design, a structural analysis (French strategic foresight technique) was carried out with the participation of a panel of 20 experts familiar with the mining industry and the MICMAC tool (Matrix of Crossed Impacts and Multiplication Applied to a Classification). The results identified as key variables the attractiveness of investment, socio-environmental conflicts and political management; which represent the exogenous character of the Peruvian copper industry. Variables endogenous to the system, such as productive efficiency, transport logistics, job creation and energy supply; they were characterized as exclusively dependent on the evolution of the aforementioned exogenous variables. This study constitutes an important starting point for the management of possible future scenarios for copper mining in Peru; as well as for investment in its economic, social and environmental development at the local and regional level

Multivariate analysis of defensive phase in football: Identification of successful behavior patterns of 2014 Brazil FIFA World Cup

The aim of this study was to identify variables associated with direct recovery of the ball during defensive transitions in elite soccer and to propose a model with certain guarantees of success based on a multivariate analysis in which binary logistic regression was used to explore interaction between variables. 1,722 defensive transitions were analysed in the final stages of the FIFA World Cup 2014 in Brazil and investigated the following variables: duration of defensive transition; possession loss zone; position of players at the start and end of the defensive transitions, defensive organization, general defensive approach, period of the match, position of defence line, zone in which the offensive transition ends, match status, and outcome of the defensive transition. The variables found to significantly associated with ball recovery were the area of the pitch in which the ball is lost prior to the transition (p < .05), the duration of the transition (p < .01), the position of the defence lines (p < .01), the zone in which the transition ends (p < .001), and end spatial interaction configuration (p < .001). The model that provided the best guarantees of recovering possession was characterized by a defensive transition lasting 15 seconds or less that ends in the holding midfield with the attacking team under pressure.We gratefully acknowledge the support of Generalitat Valenciana project: análisis observacional de la acción de juego en el fútbol de élite (Consellería d´Educació, Investigació, Cultura i Esport) during the period: 2017-2019 (GV2017/044). We also acknowledge the support of Universidad Católica de Valencia “San Vicente Mártir” project: Estudios en el deporte de élite desde los Mixed Methods: técnicas de análisis de estudios comparativos, during the period 2018 [Grant UCV2017/230-002]

The nuclear receptor LXRα controls the functional specialization of splenic macrophages.

Macrophages are professional phagocytic cells that orchestrate innate immune responses and have considerable phenotypic diversity at different anatomical locations. However, the mechanisms that control the heterogeneity of tissue macrophages are not well characterized. Here we found that the nuclear receptor LXRα was essential for the differentiation of macrophages in the marginal zone (MZ) of the spleen. LXR-deficient mice were defective in the generation of MZ and metallophilic macrophages, which resulted in abnormal responses to blood-borne antigens. Myeloid-specific expression of LXRα or adoptive transfer of wild-type monocytes restored the MZ microenvironment in LXRα-deficient mice. Our results demonstrate that signaling via LXRα in myeloid cells is crucial for the generation of splenic MZ macrophages and identify an unprecedented role for a nuclear receptor in the generation of specialized macrophage subsets

Conventional microscopy versus FISH in the identification and quantification of the morphotypes 0803, 0914 and 0092 in activated sludges

[ES] El crecimiento excesivo de bacterias filamentosas en fangos activos origina problemas de explotación en las estaciones depuradoras de aguas residuales (EDAR). Por ello, su identificación y cuantificación correcta es primordial en el control del proceso de las EDAR. Algunas bacterias filamentosas que pertenecen al phylum Chloroflexi son muy comunes y abundantes en las EDAR urbanas e industriales, como por ejemplo los morfotipos 0803, 0914 y 0092. Debido a la escasa especificidad de la microscopía convencional se pueden producir, en algunas ocasiones, errores en la identificación y cuantificación de bacterias filamentosas. Por ello, el objetivo de este estudio fue comparar la abundancia de los morfotipos 0803, 0092 y 0914 obtenida con la microscopía convencional y la técnica de hibridación in situ con sondas marcadas con fluoróforos (FISH) en muestras procedentes de 4 EDAR. Los resultados obtenidos han permitido establecer que existen diferencias significativas al comparar los resultados de identificación y cuantificación entre ambas técnicas. Además, la técnica FISH permitio diferenciar los morfotipos 0914 y 0803.[EN] Excessive growth of filamentous bacteria in activated sludge wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) causes serious operational problems. Therefore, their identification and quantification is essential in the process control. Some filamentous bacteria that belong to the phylum Chloroflexi are very common and abundant in urban and industrial WWTP, as for example the morphotypes 0803, 0914 and 0092. Due to the low specificity of conventional microscopy, occasionally may produce errors in the identification and quantification of filamentous bacteria. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the abundance of morphotypes 0803, 0092 and 0914 obtained by conventional microscopy and fluorescence in situ hybridization using 16S rRNA-targeted oligonucleotides (FISH) in samples from four WWTP. The results have established that there are significant differences when comparing the results of identification and quantification between both techniques. Besides, the FISH technique allowed differentiate the morphotypes 0914 and 0803.Este estudio forma parte del proyecto de investigación 'Estudio integrado del proceso de fangos activos', financiado por la Entidad Pública de Saneamiento de Aguas Residuales de la Comunidad Valenciana (EPSAR). Agradecer la colaboración de las empresas de explotación AVSAEgevasa, DAM, Facsa, OMS-Sacede y del Subprograma MICINN PTA-2011.Andujar Gonzalez, AB.; Zornoza-Zornoza, AM.; Lledías Aparici, M.; Alonso Molina, JL. (2013). Microscopía convencional versus FISH en la identificación y abundancia de los morfotipos filamentosos 0803, 0914 y 0092 en fangos activos. Tecnoaqua. 4:70-79. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/98065S7079

Circulating tumor DNA tracking through driver mutations as a liquid biopsy-based biomarker for uveal melanoma

© The Author(s). 2021 Open Access. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.Background: Uveal melanoma (UM) is the most common intraocular tumor in adults. Despite good primary tumor control, up to 50% of patients develop metastasis, which is lethal. UM often presents asymptomatically and is usually diagnosed by clinical examination and imaging, making it one of the few cancer types diagnosed without a biopsy. Hence, alternative diagnostic tools are needed. Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) has shown potential as a liquid biopsy target for cancer screening and monitoring. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and clinical utility of ctDNA detection in UM using specific UM gene mutations. Methods: We used the highly sensitive digital droplet PCR (ddPCR) assay to quantify UM driver mutations (GNAQ, GNA11, PLCβ4 and CYSTLR2) in cell-free DNA (cfDNA). cfDNA was analyzed in six well established human UM cell lines with known mutational status. cfDNA was analyzed in the blood and aqueous humor of an UM rabbit model and in the blood of patients. Rabbits were inoculated with human UM cells into the suprachoroidal space, and mutated ctDNA was quantified from longitudinal peripheral blood and aqueous humor draws. Blood clinical specimens were obtained from primary UM patients (n = 14), patients presenting with choroidal nevi (n = 16) and healthy individuals (n = 15). Results: The in vitro model validated the specificity and accuracy of ddPCR to detect mutated cfDNA from UM cell supernatant. In the rabbit model, plasma and aqueous humor levels of ctDNA correlated with tumor growth. Notably, the detection of ctDNA preceded clinical detection of the intraocular tumor. In human specimens, while we did not detect any trace of ctDNA in healthy controls, we detected ctDNA in all UM patients. We observed that UM patients had significantly higher levels of ctDNA than patients with nevi, with a strong correlation between ctDNA levels and malignancy. Noteworthy, in patients with nevi, the levels of ctDNA highly correlated with the presence of clinical risk factors. Conclusions: We report, for the first time, compelling evidence from in vitro assays, and in vivo animal model and clinical specimens for the potential of mutated ctDNA as a biomarker of UM progression. These findings pave the way towards the implementation of a liquid biopsy to detect and monitor UM tumors.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Mild hypophosphatasia may be twice as prevalent as previously estimated: an effective clinical algorithm to detect undiagnosed cases

Objectives: Since the prevalence of hypophosphatasia (HPP), a rare genetic disease, seems to be underestimated in clinical practice, in this study, a new diagnostic algorithm to identify missed cases of HPP was developed and implemented. Methods: Analytical determinations recorded in the Clinical Analysis Unit of the Hospital Universitario Clínico San Cecilio in the period June 2018 – December 2020 were reviewed. A new clinical algorithm to detect HPP-misdiagnosed cases was used including the following steps: confirmation of persistent hypophosphatasemia, exclusion of secondary causes of hypophosphatasemia, determination of serum pyridoxal- 5′-phosphate (PLP) and genetic study of ALPL gene. Results: Twenty-four subjects were selected to participate in the study and genetic testing was carried out in 20 of them following clinical algorithm criteria. Eighty percent of patients was misdiagnosed with HPP following the current standard clinical practice. Extrapolating these results to the current Spanish population means that there could be up to 27,177 cases of undiagnosed HPP in Spain. In addition, we found a substantial proportion of HPP patients affected by other comorbidities, such as autoimmune diseases (∼40 %). Conclusions: This new algorithm was effective in detecting previously undiagnosed cases ofHPP, which appears to be twice as prevalent as previously estimated for the European population. In the near future, our algorithm could be globally applied routinely in clinical practice to minimize the underdiagnosis of HPP. Additionally, some relevant findings, such as the high prevalence of autoimmune diseases in HPP-affected patients, should be investigated to better characterize this disorder.Instituto de Salud Carlos III grants PI21-01069 co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) and by Junta de Andalucía grant PI-0268-2019Operational Programme for Youth Employment of the Junta de Andalucía with Ref: POEJ_04/2022-12Instituto de Salud Carlos III with co-funding by FEDER (CD20/00022)(FI19/00118 and CM21/00221) from Instituto de Salud CarlosPostdoctoral fellowship from the Junta de Andalucía (RH-0141-2020

Prevalence and genotype distribution of cervical human papilomavirus infection in the pre-vaccination era: a population-based study in the Canary Islands

Objective: National Spanish studies show that prevalence of cervical human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in the female population is increasingly frequent, with an overall estimate of 14% in women aged 18-65 years. The objective of this study is to know the prevalence and distribution of HPV types in the female population of the Canary Islands prior to the introduction of HPV vaccines and to investigate the associated clinical and sociodemographic factors. Methods: Based on the Primary Health Care database, a sample of adult women (aged 18-65 years) of Gran Canaria (GC) and Tenerife (TF) stratified into nine age groups was carried out between 2002 and 2007. Women were contacted by postal letter and telephone call and were visited in their primary care centre. A clinical-epidemiological survey was completed and cervical samples were taken for cytological study and HPV detection. HPV prevalence and its 95% CI were estimated, and multivariate analyses were performed using logistic regression to identify factors associated with the infection. Results: 6010 women participated in the study, 3847 from GC and 2163 from TF. The overall prevalence of HPV infection was 13.6% (CI 12.8%-14.5%) and 11.1% (CI 10.3%-11.9%) for high-risk types. The most frequent HPV type was 16 followed by types 51, 53, 31, 42 and 59. HPV types included in the nonavalent vaccine were detected in 54.1% of infected women. Factors associated with an increased risk of infection were: young ages (18-29 years), the number of sexual partners throughout life, not being married, being a smoker, and having had previous cervical lesions or genital warts. Conclusions: It is confirmed that prevalence of HPV infection in the female population of the Canary Islands is high, but similar to that of Spain, HPV 16 being the most frequent genotype. The determinants of infection are consistent with those of other populations