A previous note regarding the influence of a 6-weeks mixed protocol on plasmatic carbonyl groups in high-performance athletes with mental retardation

It is widely accepted that high physical performance may be associated to oxidative damage. The present study was undertaken to ascertain the influence of a mixed protocol based on regular exercise and antioxidant supplementation in plasmatic carbonyl group content in athletes with mental retardation. Mainly if we take into account individuals with mental retardation generally present high levels of oxidative damage. Fifty-five high-performance athletes with mental retardation from Special Olympics volunteered for this study (21.6±1.8 years-old). Fourty were randomly included in experimental group to perform a 6-weeks protocol including exercise (low-moderate intensity aerobic exercise before breakfast 3 times per week) and supplementation (1g ascorbic acid + 400 UI α-tocopherol 6 times per week). Control group included 15 age, sex, trained and BMI-matched athletes with mental retardation who did not perform the mixed protocol. Written informed consent was obtained. Further the protocol was approved by an institutional ethic committee. Protein oxidation expressed in terms of plasmatic carbonyl group levels were determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorimetric detection as described elsewhere, 72-hours before starting the protocol (pre-test) and after its ending (post-test). When compared to baseline carbonyl group levels were decreased significantly after the 6-weeks protocol (1.98±0.2 vs 1.16 ±0.1; p\u3c0.001). No changes were reported in controls. It was concluded that a 6-weeks mixed protocol reduced carbonyl group levels in athletes with mental retardation. Further studies on this topic are highly required

Evaluation of

The use of software in the educational system has significantly improve the process of learning of the students. Today most schools adopt their curriculum model using software; oriented application that educational improvements and bonding of the technological world with education. In this article the JAWS tool is evaluated at the Basic Education School Specialized Blind and Deaf of Machala city, in which we will present the educational contribution that has provided the JAWS software, Job Access With Speech to students with disabilities visual. The research was conducted within the framework of a quantitative study, obtaining data through surveys and the application of standard ISO/IEC 9126 quality based on the characteristics of software USAbility. The result of the research showed that students have improved their skills by using this system

Volatile Organic Compounds in the Po Basin. Part A: Anthropogenic VOCs

Measurements of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were performed in the Po Basin, northern Italy in early summer 1998 within the PIPAPO project as well as in summer 2002 and autumn 2003 within the FORMAT project. During the three campaigns, trace gases and meteorological parameters were measured at a semi-rural station, around 35 km north of the city center of Milan. Low toluene and benzene concentrations and lower toluene to benzene ratios on weekends, on Sundays, and in August enabled the identification of a ‘weekend' and a ‘vacation' effect when anthropogenic emissions were lower due to less traffic and reduced industrial activities, respectively. Recurrent nighttime cyclohexane peaks suggested a periodical short-term release of cyclohexane close to the semi-rural sampling site. A multivariate receptor model analysis resulted in the distinction of different characteristic concentration profiles attributed to natural gas, biogenic impact, vehicle exhaust, industrial activities, and a single cyclohexane sourc

Low Energy Theorems For Nucleon-Nucleon Scattering

Low energy theorems are derived for the coefficients of the effective range expansion in s-wave nucleon-nucleon scattering valid to leading order in an expansion in which both $m_\pi$ and $1/a$ (where $a$ is the scattering length) are treated as small mass scales. Comparisons with phase shift data, however, reveal a pattern of gross violations of the theorems for all coefficients in both the $^1S_0$ and $^3S_1$ channels. Analogous theorems are developed for the energy dependence $\epsilon$ parameter which describes $^3S_1 - ^3D_1$ mixing. These theorems are also violated. These failures strongly suggest that the physical value of $m_\pi$ is too large for the chiral expansion to be valid in this context. Comparisons of $m_\pi$ with phenomenological scales known to arise in the two-nucleon problem support this conjecture.Comment: 12 pages, 1 figure, 1 table; appendix added to discuss behavior in chiral limit; minor revisions including revised figure reference to recent work adde

DEVELOPMENT OF AN AIR HEATING AND HUMIDIFYING SYSTEM FOR MECHANICAL VENTILATION OF INTENSIVE CARE UNIT PATIENTS

The mechanical ventilators, also named artificial ventilators, are devices used in Intensive Care Units (ICU) for clinically critical patients. The equipment provides artificial breathing for the patient, creating favorable conditions for the patient recovery. It works as a system that is connected to the electric grid and two other networks, one supplies compressed air and the other supplies pure oxygen. Inside the equipment the gases are mixed, and then warmed up and humidified to be finally delivered to the patient. The existing system for treatment of the mixture is not effective, since it delivers the breathing air to the patient out of the normal physiology recommended range, i.e., temperature ~32-34°C and relative humidity ~80-95%. The objective of this work was to develop a new air heating and humidifying system for mechanical ventilation. First, it was built an air feeding system, composed by a compressor and an electronically controlled valve to simulate an actual mechanical ventilation system in the laboratory. A device for conditioning the air (temperature and humidity) was conceived and built for treating the air feeding system output air. The results of the laboratory measurements show that the developed equipment was capable of making the breathing air to reach the recommended ranges by the normal physiology

Near-Earth asteroids spectroscopic survey at Isaac Newton Telescope

The population of near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) shows a large variety of objects in terms of physical and dynamical properties. They are subject to planetary encounters and to strong solar wind and radiation effects. Their study is also motivated by practical reasons regarding space exploration and long-term probability of impact with the Earth. We aim to spectrally characterize a significant sample of NEAs with sizes in the range of $\sim$0.25 - 5.5 km (categorized as large), and search for connections between their spectral types and the orbital parameters. Optical spectra of NEAs were obtained using the Isaac Newton Telescope (INT) equipped with the IDS spectrograph. These observations are analyzed using taxonomic classification and by comparison with laboratory spectra of meteorites. A total number of 76 NEAs were observed. We classified 44 of them as Q/S-complex, 16 as B/C-complex, eight as V-types, and another eight belong to the remaining taxonomic classes. Our sample contains 27 asteroids categorized as potentially hazardous and 31 possible targets for space missions including (459872) 2014 EK24, (436724) 2011 UW158, and (67367) 2000 LY27. The spectral data corresponding to (276049) 2002 CE26 and (385186) 1994 AW1 shows the 0.7 $\mu$m feature which indicates the presence of hydrated minerals on their surface. We report that Q-types have the lowest perihelia (a median value and absolute deviation of $0.797\pm0.244$ AU) and are systematically larger than the S-type asteroids observed in our sample. We explain these observational evidences by thermal fatigue fragmentation as the main process for the rejuvenation of NEA surfaces. In general terms, the taxonomic distribution of our sample is similar to the previous studies and matches the broad groups of the inner main belt asteroids. Nevertheless, we found a wide diversity of spectra compared to the standard taxonomic types.Comment: Accepted in Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A

Volatile Organic Compounds in the Po Basin. Part B: Biogenic VOCs

Measurements of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were performed in the Po Basin, northern Italy in early summer 1998, summer 2002, and autumn 2003. During the three campaigns, trace gases and meteorological parameters were measured at a semi-rural station, around 35 km north of the city center of Milan. Bimodal diurnal cycles of isoprene with highest concentrations in the morning and evening were found and could be explained by the interaction of emissions, chemical reactions, and vertical mixing. The diurnal cycle could be qualitatively reproduced by a three-dimensional Eulerian model. The nighttime decay of isoprene could be attributed mostly to reactions with NO3, while the decay of the isoprene oxidation products could not be explained with the considered chemical reactions. Methanol reached very high mixing ratios, up to 150 ppb. High concentrations with considerable variability occurred during nights with high relative humidities and low wind speeds. The origin of these nighttime methanol concentrations is most likely local and biogenic but the specific source could not be identifie