51 research outputs found
Valoración de la Actividad de Modelos Anatómicos en el Desarrollo de Competencias en Alumnos Universitarios y su Relación con Estilos de Aprendizaje, Carrera y Sexo
Farias, BL (reprint author), Univ Talca, Fac Ciencias Salud, Dept Ciencias Basicas & Biomed, Ave Lircay S-N,Oficina 104, Talca, Chile.Considering the difficulty in obtaining human cadavers, the use of anatomical models is carried out in some Chilean universities in order to facilitate learning in anatomy, A survey was designed to assess the opinion of kinesiology and phonology students who realized activities and use of anatomical models in the fist year of their careers at the Universidad de Talca. The survey referred to whether this activity is favorable as a learning tool and whether it was possible to develop cognitive, procedural and attitudinal abilities. The results obtained show that the activity was valued positively by students as a learning activity, and that competences, attitudes and values such as teamwork, responsibility, respect and creativity are encouraged. No significant statistical difference was found between competence development and career, sex, or learning style variables
Discrete wetland groundwater discharges revealed with a three-dimensional temperature model and botanical indicators (Boxford, UK)
Wetlands provide unique goods and services, as habitats of high biodiversity. Hydrology is the principal control on wetland functioning; hence, understanding the water source is fundamental. However, groundwater inflows may be discrete and easily missed. Research techniques are required with low cost and minimal impact in sensitive settings. In this study, the effectiveness of using a three-dimensional (3D) temperature model and botanical indicators to characterise groundwater discharge is explored at the CEH (Centre for Ecology and Hydrology) River Lambourn Observatory, Boxford, UK. This comprises a 10 ha lowland riparian wetland, designated for its scientific interest and conservation value. Temperature data were collected in winter at multiple depths down to 0.9 m over approximately 3.6 ha and transformed into a 3D model via ordinary kriging. Anomalous warm zones indicated distinct areas of groundwater upwelling which were concurrent with relic channel structures. Lateral heat propagation from the channels was minimal and restricted to within 5–10 m. Vertical temperature sections within the channels suggest varying degrees of groundwater discharge along their length. Hydrochemical analysis showed that warmer peat waters were akin to deeper aquifer waters, confirming the temperature anomalies as areas of groundwater discharge. Subsequently, a targeted vegetation survey identified Carex paniculata as an indicator of groundwater discharge. The upwelling groundwater contains high concentrations of nitrate which is considered to support the spatially restricted growth of Carex paniculata against a background of poor fen communities located in reducing higher-phosphate waters
A five year longitudinal study investigating the prevalence of childhood obesity: comparison of BMI and waist circumference.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of obesity over time in the same individuals comparing body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and waist to height ratio (WHtR).
Study design: Five year longitudinal repeated measures study (2005–2010). Children were aged 11–12 (Y7) years at baseline and measurements were repeated at age 13–14 (Y9) years and 15–16 (Y11) years.
Methods: WC and BMI measurements were carried out by the same person over the five years and raw values were expressed as standard deviation scores (sBMI and sWC) against the growth reference used for British children.
Results: Mean sWC measurements were higher than mean sBMI measurements for both sexes and at all assessment occasions and sWC measurements were consistently high in girls compared to boys. Y7 sWC = 0.792 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.675–0.908], Y9 sWC = 0.818 (95%CI 0.709–0.928), Y11 sWC = 0.943 (95%CI 0.827–1.06) for boys; Y7 sWC = 0.843 (0.697–0.989), Y9 sWC = 1.52 (95%CI 1.38–0.67), Y11 sWC = 1.89 (95%CI 1.79–2.04) for girls. Y7 sBMI = 0.445 (95%CI 0.315–0.575), Y9 sBMI = 0.314 (95%CI 0.189–0.438), Y11 sBMI = 0.196 (95%CI 0.054–0.337) for boys; Y7 sBMI = 0.353 (0.227–0.479), Y9 sBMI = 0.343 (95%CI 0.208–0.478), Y11 sBMI = 0.256 (95%CI 0.102–0.409) for girls. The estimated prevalence of obesity defined by BMI decreased in boys (18%, 12% and 10% in Y 7, 9 and 11 respectively) and girls (14%, 15% and 11% in Y 7, 9 and 11). In contrast, the prevalence estimated by WC increased sharply (boys; 13%, 19% and 23%; girls, 20%, 46% and 60%).
Conclusion: Central adiposity, measured by WC is increasing alongside a stabilization in BMI. Children appear to be getting fatter and the additional adiposity is being stored centrally which is not detected by BMI. These substantial increases in WC are a serious concern, especially in girls
To Determine if Changing to White Light Street Lamps Reduces Crime: A Multilevel Longitudinal Analysis of Crime Occurrence during the Relighting of Leeds, a UK City
This confirmatory study estimates the effect on Police Recorded Crimes (PRCs) of a relighting programme that installed nearly 80,000 white-light lamps, replacing predominantly orange ones, in the years 2005 to 2013, throughout the UK city of Leeds. Time series of weekly PRCs in all 107 Middle-layer Super Output Areas, while road lighting was being almost completely relit, were analysed using multilevel modelling. The background change in PRCs in each area, when and where no lighting was changed, was separated from that associated with when and where replacement white lamps were installed, by including a polynomial for the underlying time-trend. The key interest is how the replacement by new white lamps affects the rate of crime, from the start to the finish of the relighting. The results show that over the period, there was an estimated 2% rise in daylight adjusted darkness crime associated with relighting, 95% confidence interval (CI) (−3% to +7%). Similarly associated with relighting, (unadjusted) darkness crime showed a rise of 3%, 95% CI (−1% to +8%) and the round-the-clock measure of crime (the sum of darkness and daylight crime) gave an estimated rise of 3%, 95% CI (0% to +6%). Many checks were made, all giving consistent null results; that is, giving narrow confidence intervals around zero of only a few percent wide after relighting. Therefore, no evidence was found for an improvement (or detriment) in the city’s level of crime by relighting, contrary to the substantial reduction anticipated by the city council
EUV Spectra of the Full Solar Disk: Analysis and Results of the Cosmic Hot Interstellar Plasma Spectrometer (CHIPS)
We analyze EUV spectra of the full solar disk from the Cosmic Hot
Interstellar Plasma Spectrometer (CHIPS) spanning a period of two years. The
observations were obtained via a fortuitous off-axis light path in the 140 --
270 Angstrom passband. The general appearance of the spectra remained
relatively stable over the two-year time period, but did show significant
variations of up to 25% between two sets of Fe lines that show peak emission at
1 MK and 2 MK. The variations occur at a measured period of 27.2 days and are
caused by regions of hotter and cooler plasma rotating into, and out of, the
field of view. The CHIANTI spectral code is employed to determine plasma
temperatures, densities, and emission measures. A set of five isothermal
plasmas fit the full disk spectra well. A 1 -- 2 MK plasma of Fe contributes
85% of the total emission in the CHIPS passband. The standard Differential
Emission Measures (DEMs) supplied with the CHIANTI package do not fit the CHIPS
spectra well as they over-predict emission at temperatures below log(T) = 6.0
and above log(T) = 6.3. The results are important for cross-calibrating TIMED,
SORCE, SOHO/EIT, and CDS/GIS, as well as the recently launched Solar Dynamics
Observatory.Comment: 27 Pages, 13 Figure
A measurement of the tau mass and the first CPT test with tau leptons
We measure the mass of the tau lepton to be 1775.1+-1.6(stat)+-1.0(syst.) MeV
using tau pairs from Z0 decays. To test CPT invariance we compare the masses of
the positively and negatively charged tau leptons. The relative mass difference
is found to be smaller than 3.0 10^-3 at the 90% confidence level.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, Submitted to Phys. Letts.
Mainstreaming nature-based solutions for climate resilient infrastructure in peri-urban sub-Saharan Africa
Despite a growing recognition of the importance of designing, rehabilitating, and maintaining green infrastructure to provide essential ecosystem services and adapt to climate change, many decision makers in sub-Saharan Africa continue to favour engineered solutions and short term economic growth at the expense of natural landscapes and longer term sustainability agendas. Existing green infrastructure is typically maintained in more affluent suburbs, inadvertently perpetuating historic inequalities. This is in part because there remains a lack of fine-grained, comparative evidence on the barriers and enablers to mainstreaming green infrastructure in peri-urban areas. Here, we developed an analytical framework based on a review of 155 studies, screened to include 29 studies in 24 countries. Results suggest eight overarching categories of interconnected barriers to green infrastructure in peri-urban areas. Using a combinatorial mixed method approach, we then surveyed households in nine settlements in drought-prone Windhoek (n=330) and seven settlements in flood-prone Dar es Salaam (n=502) and conducted key informant interviews (n=118). Peri-urban residents in Windhoek and Dar es Salaam indicated 18 forms of green infrastructure and 47 derived ecosystem services. The most frequently reported barriers were financial (40.8%), legal and institutional barriers (35.8%) followed by land use change and spatial trade-offs (33%) and finally ecosystem disservices (30.6%). The most significant barriers in Dar es Salaam were legal and institutional (22.7%) and in Windhoek were land use change and spatial trade-offs (24.4%). At the household level, the principal barrier was financial; at community and municipal levels the main barriers were related to design, performance, and maintenance; while at the national level, the main barriers were legal and institutional. Embracing institutional cultures of adaptive policymaking, equitable partnerships, co-designing futures, integrated landscape management and experimental innovation have potential to scale long term maintenance for urban green infrastructure and foster agency, creativity and more transformative relationships and outcomes
Measurements of , and in Collisions at 130-189 GeV
The cross-section ratio Rb=sigma(e+e- to b-antib)/sigma(e+e- to q-antiq) andthe bottom and charm forward-backward asymmetries AFB^b and AFB^c are measuredusing event samples collected by the OPAL detector at centre-of-mass energiesbetween 130 and 189 GeV. Events with bottom quark production are selected witha secondary vertex tag, and a hemisphere charge algorithm is used to extractAFB^b. In addition, the bottom and charm asymmetries are measured using leptonsfrom semileptonic decays of heavy hadrons and pions from D*+ to D0pi+ decays.The results are in agreement with the Standard Model predictions.The cross-section ratio Rb=sigma(e+e- to b-antib)/sigma(e+e- to q-antiq) and the bottom and charm forward-backward asymmetries AFB^b and AFB^c are measured using event samples collected by the OPAL detector at centre-of-mass energies between 130 and 189 GeV. Events with bottom quark production are selected with a secondary vertex tag, and a hemisphere charge algorithm is used to extract AFB^b. In addition, the bottom and charm asymmetries are measured using leptons from semileptonic decays of heavy hadrons and pions from D*+ to D0pi+ decays. The results are in agreement with the Standard Model predictions
The influence of groundwater abstraction on interpreting climate controls and extreme recharge events from well hydrographs in semi-arid South Africa
There is a scarcity of long-term groundwater hydrographs from sub-Saharan Africa to investigate groundwater sustainability, processes and controls. This paper presents an analysis of 21 hydrographs from semi-arid South Africa. Hydrographs from 1980 to 2000 were converted to standardised groundwater level indices and rationalised into four types (C1–C4) using hierarchical cluster analysis. Mean hydrographs for each type were cross-correlated with standardised precipitation and streamflow indices. Relationships with the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) were also investigated. The four hydrograph types show a transition of autocorrelation over increasing timescales and increasingly subdued responses to rainfall. Type C1 strongly relates to rainfall, responding in most years, whereas C4 notably responds to only a single extreme event in 2000 and has limited relationship with rainfall. Types C2, C3 and C4 have stronger statistical relationships with standardised streamflow than standardised rainfall. C3 and C4 changes are significantly (p < 0.05) correlated to the mean wet season ENSO anomaly, indicating a tendency for substantial or minimal recharge to occur during extreme negative and positive ENSO years, respectively. The range of different hydrograph types, sometimes within only a few kilometres of each other, appears to be a result of abstraction interference and cannot be confidently attributed to variations in climate or hydrogeological setting. It is possible that high groundwater abstraction near C3/C4 sites masks frequent small-scale recharge events observed at C1/C2 sites, resulting in extreme events associated with negative ENSO years being more visible in the time series
RICORS2040 : The need for collaborative research in chronic kidney disease
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a silent and poorly known killer. The current concept of CKD is relatively young and uptake by the public, physicians and health authorities is not widespread. Physicians still confuse CKD with chronic kidney insufficiency or failure. For the wider public and health authorities, CKD evokes kidney replacement therapy (KRT). In Spain, the prevalence of KRT is 0.13%. Thus health authorities may consider CKD a non-issue: very few persons eventually need KRT and, for those in whom kidneys fail, the problem is 'solved' by dialysis or kidney transplantation. However, KRT is the tip of the iceberg in the burden of CKD. The main burden of CKD is accelerated ageing and premature death. The cut-off points for kidney function and kidney damage indexes that define CKD also mark an increased risk for all-cause premature death. CKD is the most prevalent risk factor for lethal coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the factor that most increases the risk of death in COVID-19, after old age. Men and women undergoing KRT still have an annual mortality that is 10- to 100-fold higher than similar-age peers, and life expectancy is shortened by ~40 years for young persons on dialysis and by 15 years for young persons with a functioning kidney graft. CKD is expected to become the fifth greatest global cause of death by 2040 and the second greatest cause of death in Spain before the end of the century, a time when one in four Spaniards will have CKD. However, by 2022, CKD will become the only top-15 global predicted cause of death that is not supported by a dedicated well-funded Centres for Biomedical Research (CIBER) network structure in Spain. Realizing the underestimation of the CKD burden of disease by health authorities, the Decade of the Kidney initiative for 2020-2030 was launched by the American Association of Kidney Patients and the European Kidney Health Alliance. Leading Spanish kidney researchers grouped in the kidney collaborative research network Red de Investigación Renal have now applied for the Redes de Investigación Cooperativa Orientadas a Resultados en Salud (RICORS) call for collaborative research in Spain with the support of the Spanish Society of Nephrology, Federación Nacional de Asociaciones para la Lucha Contra las Enfermedades del Riñón and ONT: RICORS2040 aims to prevent the dire predictions for the global 2040 burden of CKD from becoming true
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