The GRAAL Project

26th International Cosmic Ray Conference Salt Lake City, Utah August 17-25,1999The GRAAL Project (Gamma Ray Astronomy at ALmeria) makes use of the CESA-1 heliostat field at the “Plataforma Solar de Almeria” (Spain) as a gamma-ray telescope with an energy threshold of about 100 GeV. Cherenkov light generated by EAS is reflected by the heliostats and collected into photomultipliers (PMTs) with nonimaging secondary optics. Each PMT collects the light reflected by 13 - 18 heliostats of 40 m2 using a Winston cone. After successful tests with two collecting cones, a more advanced setup on a dedicated platform, using four collectors and 63 heliostats (total reflecting area of about 2500 m2 ) is being installed. A description of this setup together with Monte Carlo results about its excellent capabilities in the precise determination of pulse arrival times are presented

Comparación de los anchos de los arcos dentarios en sujetos con y sin sobrepeso

Objective: To compare the width of the dental arches between overweight and non-overweight subjects . Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional comparative study was carried out with 54 subjects from 8 to 13 years of age, 27 normal-weight and 27 overweight. The presence of overweight was assessed according to the Quetelet index. To determine the width of the dental arches, measurements of the upper and lower intercanine and intermolar width were obtained with a digital calibrated Vernier caliper. The comparison between the dental arch width of normal-weight and overweight subjects was performed using the Mann-Whitney U test. Results: Statistically significant differences were found in the intercanine and intermolar widths between overweight and non-overweight subjects (p<0.05). Conclusion: The dental arches were wider in overweight subjects compared to those of normal-weight.Comparar los anchos de los arcos dentarios en sujetos con sobrepeso y sin sobrepeso. Materiales y Método: Se realizó un estudio transversal comparativo. Se evaluaron 54 sujetos de 8 a 13 años de edad, 27 sin sobrepeso y 27 con sobrepeso. La presencia de sobrepeso se evaluó según el índice de Quetelet. Para determinar los anchos de los arcos dentarios, se analizaron, en los modelos de estudio de cada grupo, las medidas de los anchos intercanino e intermolar superior e inferior con un vernier calibrado digital. La comparación de los anchos de los arcos dentarios de los sujetos con sobrepeso y sin sobrepeso se realizó mediante la prueba U de Mann-Whitney. Resultados: Se encontraron diferencias estadísticamente significativas en los anchos intercanino e intermolar entre los sujetos con sobrepeso y sin sobrepeso (p<0.05). Conclusión: Los anchos de los arcos dentarios fueron mayores en sujetos con sobrepeso que en sujetos sin sobrepeso

Design of financial incentive interventions to improve lifestyle behaviors and health outcomes: A systematic review [version 2; peer review: 1 approved, 1 approved with reservations]

Background: Financial incentives may improve the initiation and engagement of behaviour change that reduce the negative outcomes associated with non-communicable diseases. There is still a paucity in guidelines or recommendations that help define key aspects of incentive-oriented interventions, including the type of incentive (e.g. cash rewards, vouchers), the frequency and magnitude of the incentive, and its mode of delivery. We aimed to systematically review the literature on financial incentives that promote healthy lifestyle behaviours or improve health profiles, and focused on the methodological approach to define the incentive intervention and its delivery. The protocol was registered at PROSPERO on 26 July 2018 (CRD42018102556). Methods: We sought studies in which a financial incentive was delivered to improve a health-related lifestyle behaviour (e.g., physical activity) or a health profile (e.g., HbA1c in people with diabetes). The search (which took place on March 3rd 2018) was conducted using OVID (MEDLINE and Embase), CINAHL and Scopus. Results: The search yielded 7,575 results and 37 were included for synthesis. Of the total, 83.8% (31/37) of the studies were conducted in the US, and 40.5% (15/37) were randomised controlled trials. Only one study reported the background and rationale followed to develop the incentive and conducted a focus group to understand what sort of incentives would be acceptable for their study population. There was a degree of consistency across the studies in terms of the direction, form, certainty, and recipient of the financial incentives used, but the magnitude and immediacy of the incentives were heterogeneous. Conclusions: The available literature on financial incentives to improve health-related lifestyles rarely reports on the rationale or background that defines the incentive approach, the magnitude of the incentive and other relevant details of the intervention, and the reporting of this information is essential to foster its use as potential effective interventions

Design of financial incentive interventions to improve lifestyle behaviors and health outcomes: A systematic review [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]

Background: Financial incentives may improve the initiation and engagement of behaviour change that reduce the negative outcomes associated with non-communicable diseases. There is still a paucity in guidelines or recommendations that help define key aspects of incentive-oriented interventions, including the type of incentive (e.g. cash rewards, vouchers), the frequency and magnitude of the incentive, and its mode of delivery. We aimed to systematically review the literature on financial incentives that promote healthy lifestyle behaviours or improve health profiles, and focused on the methodological approach to define the incentive intervention and its delivery. The protocol was registered at PROSPERO on 26 July 2018 (CRD42018102556). Methods: We sought studies in which a financial incentive was delivered to improve a health-related lifestyle behaviour (e.g., physical activity) or a health profile (e.g., HbA1c in people with diabetes). The search (which took place on March 3rd 2018) was conducted using OVID (MEDLINE and Embase), CINAHL and Scopus. Results: The search yielded 7,575 results and 37 were included for synthesis. Of the total, 83.8% (31/37) of the studies were conducted in the US, and 40.5% (15/37) were randomised controlled trials. Only one study reported the background and rationale followed to develop the incentive and conducted a focus group to understand what sort of incentives would be acceptable for their study population. There was a degree of consistency across the studies in terms of the direction, form, certainty, and recipient of the financial incentives used, but the magnitude and immediacy of the incentives were heterogeneous. Conclusions: The available literature on financial incentives to improve health-related lifestyles rarely reports on the rationale or background that defines the incentive approach, the magnitude of the incentive and other relevant details of the intervention, and the reporting of this information is essential to foster its use as potential effective interventions

Manejo de solo, água, planta e resíduo para o controle da erosão e recuperação de áreas degradadas

O aumento de áreas degradadas em regiões anteriormente produtivas tem sido constatado em diferentes regiões do Brasil. A erosão tem se apresentado sob todas as suas formas (laminar, sulcos e voçorocas) comprometendo a capacidade de produção vegetativa do solo e provocando o assoreamento e a contaminação dos recursos hídricos. O presente trabalho visa apresentar, de forma sintetizada, ações de pesquisa em tecnologias para recuperação e monitoramento de diferentes ambientes degradados do Estado do Rio de Janeiro em desenvolvimento através de projetos financiados pela FAPERJ, CNPq e Programa Rio Rural. Busca-se selecionar, analisar e interpretar atributos que possam ser utilizados para classificar o estado de degradação das terras com vistas à elaboração de um protocolo para normatizar esses diagnósticos e facilitar o planejamento das ações de recuperação. Têm sido realizadas caracterizações pedológicas e geotécnicas das áreas de estudo, medições de altura, diâmetro e biomassa aérea e radicular das plantas utilizadas para revegetação, assim como coletadas amostras de sedimentos e água para avaliação das perdas por erosão superficial em parcelas modelo Wischemeyer. Foram instalados sensores com vistas ao desenvolvimento de um sistema para o monitoramento automatizado das perdas de solo e água por erosão

Family Support and Diabetes: Patient's Experiences From a Public Hospital in Peru.

Family support is crucial for managing chronic conditions but it is often overlooked when designing behavioral interventions in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). As part of the formative phase of a feasibility randomized control trial (RCT), we conducted 20 semistructured interviews with people with T2DM from Lima, Peru. Based on such results, we describe the support people with T2DM receive from their families and the role that such support has in their efforts to implement diabetes management practices. We learned that participants receive support from family members, but mostly from their spouses and children. Their relatives encourage them and motivate them to fight for their health, they also provide instrumental support by preparing healthy meals, reminding them to take medications, and sharing physical activity. Participants also reported controlling actions which were not always "well received." Thus, any intervention supporting self-management practices need to work with key family members. We support the literature that suggests that interventions should target family members to ensure improved T2DM self-management practices

Limits to the energy resolution of a single Air Cherenkov Telescope at low energies

The photon density on the ground is a fundamental quantity in all experiments based on Cherenkov light measurements, e.g. in the Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescopes (IACT). IACT's are commonly and successfully used in order to search and study Very High Energy (VHE) gamma-ray sources. Difficulties with separating primary photons from primary hadrons (mostly protons) in Cherenkov experiments become larger at lower energies. I have calculated longitudinal and lateral density distributions and their fluctuations at low energies basing on Monte Carlo simulations (for vertical gamma cascades and protonic showers) to check the influence of the detector parameters on the possible measurement. Relative density fluctuations are significantly higher in proton than in photon induced showers. Taking into account the limited detector field of view (FOV) implies the changes of these calculated distributions for both types of primary particles and causes an enlargement in relative fluctuations. Absorption due to Rayleigh and Mie scattering has an impact on mean values but does not change relative fluctuations. The total number of Cherenkov photons is more sensitive to the observation height in gamma cascades than in proton showers at low primary energies. The relative fluctuations of the density do not depend on the reflector size in the investigated size range (from 240 m^2 up to 960 m^2). This implies that a single telescope with a mirror area larger than that of the MAGIC telescope cannot achieve better energy resolution than estimated and presented in this paper. The correlations between longitudinal and lateral distributions are much more pronounced for primary gamma-ray than for primary proton showers.Comment: 21 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in Journal of Physics

Efecto del resveratrol en el porcentaje y calidad de embriones in vitro generados por separación de blastómeras en bovinos

The oxidative state is an important factor that determines the development of bovine embryos. The objective in this study was to evaluate the effect of resveratrol on the quality of in vitro embryos generated by separation of blastomeres in cattle. Oocytes from the slaughterhouse were matured and fertilized in vitro by the conventional method. After 18 hours of fertilization, the zygotes were cultured for 3 days in synthetic oviductual fluid medium (SOF) for control and supplemented with 2 μM and 0.5 μM for the treatments. On day 3 they were stripped of their zona pellucida (ZP) to be cultivated at a rate of four blastomeres in well of the well (WOW) for 6 days in medium SOF supplemented with resveratrol. We evaluated percentage data of cleavage and embryonic division (8 to 10 blastomeres) after 3 days of culture, finding a significant difference p<0.05 with supplementation with 0.5 μM of resveratrol. At 6 days after blastomeres separation, percentage of embryos, number of total cells, live cells and dead cells were evaluated using Hoechst, FDA and PI staining respectively. There were no differences in the percentage of blastocysts between treatments; however, supplementation with 0.5 μM of resveratrol to the SOF medium had a greater amount of total cells and living cells (p<0.05). In conclusion, supplementation with resveratrol in the SOF medium does not increase the percentage of blastocysts but improves its quality using a concentration of 0.5 μM.El estado oxidativo es un factor importante que determina el desarrollo de embriones bovinos. El objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar el efecto del resveratrol en el porcentaje y calidad de embriones in vitro generados por separación de blastómeras en ganado bovino. Ovocitos provenientes de matadero fueron madurados y fecundados in vitro por el método convencional. Terminada las 18 horas de fecundación, los cigotos se cultivaron por 3 días en medio fluido oviductual sintético (SOF) para el control y suplementado con 2 µM y 0,5 µM para los tratamientos. Al día 3 se despojaron de su zona pelúcida (ZP) para ser cultivados a razón de cuatro blastómeras en well of thewell (WOW) por 6 días en medio SOF suplementado con resveratrol. Se evaluaron datos porcentuales de clivaje y división embrionaria (8 a 10 blastómeros) a los 3 días de cultivo superando la suplementación con 0.5µM de resveratrol (p<0,05). A los 6 días post separación de blastómeras se evaluó porcentaje de embriones, cantidad de células totales, células vivas y células muertas, utilizando la tinción Hoechst, FDA y PI respectivamente. No hubo diferencias en el porcentaje de blastocistos entre tratamientos; sin embargo, la suplementación con 0,5 µM de resveratrol al medio SOF tuvo mayor cantidad de células totales y células vivas (p<0,05). Finalmente la suplementación con resveratrol al medio SOF no aumenta el porcentaje de blastocistos pero sí mejora su calidad usando una concentración de 0,5 µM

Basic theory behind parameterizing atmospheric convection

Last fall, a network of the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST), called “Basic Concepts for Convection Parameterization in Weather Forecast and Climate Models” (COST Action ES0905; see http://w3.cost.esf.org/index.php?id=205&action_number=ES0905), organized a 10-day training course on atmospheric convection and its parameterization. The aim of the workshop, held on the island of Brac, Croatia, was to help young scientists develop an in-depth understanding of the core theory underpinning convection parameterizations. The speakers also sought to impart an appreciation of the various approximations, compromises, and ansatz necessary to translate theory into operational practice for numerical models