Oral Health Program Assessment

The Local Oral Health Program is a chronic disease prevention program focusing on providing educational workshops to parents who have children enrolled in schools with rates of 80% or higher of free or reduced lunch. Studies and surveys have revealed that low-income children have more cavities than those children in moderate and high-income families and they are not being addressed. The purpose of this project is to assess the effectiveness of the Oral Health Program which provides parents with educational workshops regarding dental services, government assistance, oral hygiene, and nutritional information. Post-surveys were distributed and collected after each workshop by the program intern and then evaluated collectively. Over 60% of the participants reported that they learned a lot regarding oral health and hygiene. Participants also stated that they would like these workshops to be reoccurring. Recommendations for the program include the development of an online resource guide that includes access to online informational resources about topics discussed in the workshops

Bacterias del Ácido Láctico un Potencial para la Producción de Alimentos Probióticos Fermentados en la Industria Láctea de Panamá

The lactic acid bacteria known by their initials (BAL) are microorganisms that in the absence of oxygen degrade carbohydrates like lactose (milk sugar), to synthesize lactic acid and energy, through a process known as lactic fermentation. In the dairy industry these microorganisms are used as lactic ferments or initiators of the lactic fermentation process for the manufacture of cheeses, yogurt, fermented milk and other products derived from milk. The type of bacterial species used as an initiator in the fermentation process is a determining factor in the nutritional quality and sensorial characteristics of the final product. The main objective of the investigation is to carry out an evaluation on the potential of sources and milk production in Panama, specifically in the Chiriquí Highlands. Regarding the scope of the research, its perspective is to continue research on the biological diversity of lactic acid bacteria present in dairy sources, for their isolation and use in the dairy industries. It is important to highlight the high production of cattle, sources and milk production in the Highlands, which represents a potential diversity of lactic acid bacteria.Keywords: Lactic acid bacteria, lactic fermentation, probiotic foods, genetic markers, phenotype

An Active helideck testbed for floating structures based on a Stewart-Gough platform

A parallel robot testbed based on Stewart-Gough platform called Active-helideck is designed, developed and tested as a helicopter floating helideck. The objective of this testbed is to show the advantages of helicopters that use an active helideck upon landing on and taking off from ships or from offshore structures. Active-helideck compensates simulated movements of a ship at sea. The main goal of this study is to maintain the robot’s end effector (helideck) in a quasi-static position in accordance to an absolute inertial frame. Compensation is carried out through the coordinate action of its six prismatic actuators in function of an inertial measurement unit. Moreover, the simulation of the sea movement is done by a parallel robot called ship platform with three degrees of freedom. The ship platform is built with a vertical oscillation along the z axis, i.e. heave, and rotates on remaining axes, i.e. roll and pitch. Active helideck is able to compensate simulated movements by considering the ship as an inertial frame as observed in the experiment

Decision-Making as a Latent Construct and its Measurement Invariance in a Large Sample of Adolescent Cannabis Users

OBJECTIVE: Relative to the vast literature that employs measures of decision-making (DM), rigorous examination of their psychometric properties is sparse. This study aimed to determine whether three measures of DM assess the same construct, and to measure invariance of this construct across relevant covariates. METHOD: Participants were 372 adolescents at risk of escalation in cannabis use. DM was assessed via four indices from the Cups Task, Game of Dice Task (GDT), and Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). We used confirmatory factor analysis to assess unidimensionality of the DM construct, and moderated nonlinear factor analysis (MNLFA) to examine its measurement invariance. RESULTS: The unidimensional model of DM demonstrated good fit. MNLFA results revealed that sex influenced mean DM scores, such that boys had lower risk-taking behaviors. There was evidence of differential item functioning (DIF), such that IQ and age moderated the IGT intercept and GDT factor loading, respectively. Significant effects were retained in the final model, which produced participant-specific DM factor scores. These scores showed moderate stability over time. CONCLUSIONS: Indices from three DM tasks loaded significantly onto a single factor, suggesting that these DM tasks assess a single underlying construct. We suggest that this construct represents the ability to make optimal choices that maximize rewards in the presence of risk. Our final DM factor accounts for DIF caused by covariates, making it comparable across adolescents with different characteristics. (JINS, 2019, 25, 661-667)

Soporte para personas con movilidad reducida, basado en BCI

Este documento tiene como objetivo presentar lametodología que se aplicará para el desarrollo de un prototipo desistema domótico basado en una interfaz cerebro máquina (BCI),para dar soporte a personas con movilidad reducida

El líder comunitario del siglo XXI: un verdadero gestor social

El líder del siglo XXI como gestor social, resalta la labor del líder comunitario del barrio Carrizal, ubicado en el sur occidente de Barranquilla, y su participación como elemento generador de cambio y de transformación. Este es un líder comprometido, participativo, dinámico, que maneja canales de comunicación, solidario, constante y cooperativo. Aquí se encaran las diferentes clases de líderes. Se hace un análisis de cómo el mismo estado, y las entidades gubernamentales tienen en el olvido a los barrios más vulnerables, y cómo desde estos barrios existen personas con capacidad de liderazgo que mitigan ciertas problemáticas sociales, haciendo un llamado a la escuela, a la educación y a la sociedad, para que transforme y posibilite al individuo.The XXI Century leader as a social manager highlights the communitarian leader labor in Carrizal neighborhood, located at the southwest part of the City of Barranquilla, and his participation as a generating element of change and transformation. This is a compromised, active and dynamic leader, entitled to handle communication channels at the same time of being very supportive, persistent and cooperative. Here the different types of leader are faced. An analysis of how the very same State and the governmental entities have forgotten the most vulnerable neighborhoods and how from the same neighborhoods there are people with leadership capabilities that they mitigate certain social matters, making a call to the school system, education and society, in order to transform and allow the conditions for the individual leader to face the various challenges of the modern and post modern reach out

La robótica educativa, una herramienta para la enseñanza-aprendizaje de las ciencias y las tecnologías

En este artículo se presenta y analiza la robótica educativa como una herramienta de apoyo al proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje, a nivel de pre-media, orientada principalmente a asignaturas complejas como la matemática, física e informática, entre otras. El estudio se limita a los colegios secundarios de la Provincia de Chiriquí, República de Panamá; se tomó una muestra de seis colegios de la provincia y por cada colegio participaron tanto estudiantes como docentes. El objetivo principal del proyecto fue demostrar como la robótica aplicada a la educación, facilita y motiva la enseñanza-aprendizaje de las ciencias y las tecnologías. Los resultados demostraron que la robótica se puede convertir en una herramienta excelente para comprender conceptos abstractos y complejos en asignaturas del área de las ciencias y las tecnologías; así como también permite desarrollar competencias básicas tales como trabajar en equipo.En este artículo se presenta y analiza la robótica educativa como una herramienta de apoyo al proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje, a nivel de pre-media, orientada principalmente a asignaturas complejas como la matemática, física e informática, entre otras. El estudio se limita a los colegios secundarios de la Provincia de Chiriquí, República de Panamá; se tomó una muestra de seis colegios de la provincia y por cada colegio participaron tanto estudiantes como docentes. El objetivo principal del proyecto fue demostrar como la robótica aplicada a la educación, facilita y motiva la enseñanza-aprendizaje de las ciencias y las tecnologías. Los resultados demostraron que la robótica se puede convertir en una herramienta excelente para comprender conceptos abstractos y complejos en asignaturas del área de las ciencias y las tecnologías; así como también permite desarrollar competencias básicas tales como trabajar en equipo

Physico-chemical characterization and antioxidant capacity of the colombian berry (Vaccinium meridionale Swartz) with a high-polyphenol content: potential effects in people with metabolic syndrome

ABSTRACT: Colombian berry (agraz) has demonstrated a high antioxidant content in vitro. In the present study, it was elaborated and characterized an agraz nectar, designed a placebo with similar physicochemical and sensorial characteristics of the agraz nectar, but without polyphenols; and evaluated their antioxidant capacity both in vitro and in vivo in adults with cardiovascular risk factors. The polyphenolic concentration of the agraz nectar and its antioxidant capacity was superior than other reported for this fruit. A high content of total cyanidins was observed in the freeze-dried agraz, but not delphinin was detected by HPLC. For the intervention study, sixty-six subjects, with at least three cardiometabolic risk factors, consumed agraz nectar or placebo daily during 4 weeks each, separated by a 4-week washout period. Total phenol concentration and antioxidant capacity in the participants’ serum were not statistically different after consuming agraz nectar and placebo. However, women increased significantly their serum DPPH scavenging capacity after consuming agraz nectar, compared to placebo. This is one of the first studies showing data about the effects of this colombian berry on the antioxidant capacity in people with metabolic syndrome