Movement representation strategies as a tool for educational innovation in physiotherapy students: a randomized single-blind controlled-pilot trial

Physiotherapy has a strictly theoretical body of knowledge, but for the most part, the physiotherapist’s learning is practical. The practical part is fundamental to acquire clinical skills that the physiotherapist will later use in professional practice. The main aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of movement representation strategies (MRS) in the improvement of manual skills of physiotherapy students as an educational innovation strategy. We randomly assigned 30 participants to an action observation practice (AOP), motor imagery practice (MIP), or sham observation (SO) group. A high velocity, low amplitude lumbar manipulation technique that is widely used in clinical physiotherapy practice was taught in one session. The primary outcomes were required time and test score. The secondary outcomes were perceived mental fatigue and perceived difficulty for learning. The outcomes were assessed preintervention and immediately after the intervention (postintervention). The main results showed that both AOP and MIP improved the total time required and the test score, as well as entailed less perceived difficulty for learning. However, both strategies showed a higher level of mental fatigue after the intervention, which was higher in the MIP group. Based on the results obtained, it seems that the application of MRS promotes greater learning of manual motor tasks in physiotherapy students and could be used as educational innovation strategies

Shell Technology, Rock Art, and the Role of Marine Resources during the Upper Paleolithic

During the Upper Paleolithic, marine resources have traditionally been considered to be low-efficiency resources. However, in recent years, new data have emerged to demonstrate that their importance for human utilization was probably greater than previously thought. The assessment of their value has generally been from the perspective of their nutritional or ornamental value, not from the technological potential that these resources might have. A use-wear analysis of shells from the Gravettian levels of Fuente del Salín, a cave in northern Spain, has documented their use for a diverse range of production activities, most notably the processing of the red pigments used in artistic representations on the cave walls, as well as for tanning hide. This technological use of shells demonstrates that marine resources were of greater importance to the hunters and gatherers of the Upper Paleolithic and that their utility was more diverse than previously understood.This research was funded by the University of Cantabria through pre- and postdoctoral contract to David Cuenca-Solana and Alejandro Garcı´a-Moreno. Igor Gutierrez-Zugasti is currently funded by the Newton International Fellowships scheme. Parts of the analyses that support this research have been carried out as part of the project Human Response to Global Climate Change in a Littoral Zone: the Case of the Transition to the Holocene on the Cantabrian Coast (10,000–5,000 cal B.C.) (HAR2010-22115-C02-01), funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation

SK channels contribution to ventricular electrophysiology in heart failure patients

Heart failure (HF) is characterized by deterioration of the electrical and contractile function of the heart due to structural and functional remodelling, leading to development of arrhythmias and increased sudden cardiac death risk. SK channels are a type of calcium-activated potassium channels that do not play a relevant role in normal ventricular electrophysiology. However, it has been hypothesized that these channels become more relevant in pathologies such as HF. Nontheless, their role in human ventricular electrophysiology is not fully characterized

Climate changes and exploitation of coastal resources during the upper Palaeolithic and the Mesolithic: a decade of investigations in Cantabria

RESUMEN: Tradicionalmente, las actividades relacionadas con la explotación de recursos marinos han sido consideradas como secundarias dentro de las estrategias de subsistencia de las poblaciones de cazadores-recolectores-pescadores de la región. En los últimos diez años se han desarrollado varios proyectos de investigación coordinados desde el Instituto Internacional de Investigaciones Prehistóricas de Cantabria (IIIPC) cuyos objetivos generales son la reconstrucción de las condiciones climáticas y medioambientales del pasado, el establecimiento de los patrones de ocupación de la costa, y el papel de los recursos costeros en las estrategias económicas y sociales de las poblaciones humanas del Paleolítico superior y el Mesolítico. En este artículo se realiza un repaso a los resultados obtenidos en dichos proyectos a partir del estudio de los moluscos, equinodermos y crustáceos. Los resultados obtenidos hasta la fecha reflejan una continuada y variada utilización de estos recursos a lo largo de todo el periodo, y sugieren que su importancia fue mayor de lo que se pensaba.ABSTRACT: Traditionally, activities related to the exploitation of marine resources have been considered secondary within the subsistence strategies of populations of hunter-gatherer-fishers in the region. In the last ten years we have developed several research projects coordinated by the International Institute of Prehistoric Research of Cantabria (IIIPC), aiming to reconstruct past climatic and environmental conditions, establish coastal settlement patterns and to assess the role of coastal resources in economic and social strategies of Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic human populations. This article reviews the results of these projects through the study of molluscs, echinoderms and crustaceans. The results to date reflect a continued and varied use of marine resources throughout the entire period, and suggest that their importance was greater than previously thought.Las investigaciones descritas en este artículo se han desarrollado en el marco de los proyectos HUM 2006-13729, HAR2010-22115-C02-01 y HAR2013- 46802-P financiados por el Gobierno de España, el proyecto NF100413 financiado por la British Academy y la Royal Society a través del programa Newton International Fellowships, y el proyecto UFG54/Proyecto1470 financiado por la Fundación Marcelino Botín. IGZ y DCS disfrutan de sendos contratos del programa Juan de la Cierva (JCI-2012-12094 e IJCI-2014- 20590, respectivamente) financiado por el Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO). AGE disfruta de un contrato predoctoral de la Universidad de Cantabria y RSR cuenta con el apoyo de una ayuda para contratos predoctorales para la formación de doctores (BES-2014-070075) financiada por el MINECO

Low-Complexity TTCM Based Distributed Video Coding Architecture

Abstract. Distributed Video Coding (DVC) is a promising coding solution for some emerging applications, where the encoder complexity, power consumption or memory requirements are constraint the system resources. Current approaches to DVC focus on improving the performance of the WynerZiv coding by improving the quality of the reconstructed side information or by improving the quality of channel codes. Up to date, no attention has been paid to the problem of key frames coding where a low-encoding complexity scenario is also needed. This work focuses on key frames coding in its effect to the Wyner-Ziv frames decoding aiming to implement a very low-complexity Turbo Trellis Coded Modulation (TTCM) based DVC architecture. In this paper, we propose a new key frame coding scheme which has very low complexity and memory requirements for the TTCM based distributed video codec. Results show that the proposed intra frame codec for key frame coding outperforms the JPEG2000 and the Intra H.264 AVC codecs in terms of encoding-time and memory requirements, with better RD performance

Postcranial morphology of the middle Pleistocene humans from Sima de los Huesos, Spain

Current knowledge of the evolution of the postcranial skeleton in the genus Homo is hampered by a geographically and chronologically scattered fossil record. Here we present a complete characterization of the postcranium of the middle Pleistocene paleodeme from the Sima de los Huesos (SH) and its paleobiological implications. The SH hominins show the following: (i) wide bodies, a plesiomorphic char- acter in the genus Homo inherited from their early hominin ancestors; (ii) statures that can be found in modern human middle-latitude pop- ulations that first appeared 1.6–1.5 Mya; and (iii) large femoral heads in some individuals, a trait that first appeared during the middle Pleistocene in Africa and Europe. The intrapopulational size variation in SH shows that the level of dimorphism was similar to modern humans (MH), but the SH hominins were less encephalized than Ne- andertals. SH shares many postcranial anatomical features with Ne- andertals. Although most of these features appear to be either plesiomorphic retentions or are of uncertain phylogenetic polarity, a few represent Neandertal apomorphies. Nevertheless, the full suite of Neandertal-derived features is not yet present in the SH popula- tion. The postcranial evidence is consistent with the hypothesis based on the cranial morphology that the SH hominins are a sister group to the later Neandertals. Comparison of the SH postcranial skeleton to other hominins suggests that the evolution of the postcranium oc- curred in a mosaic mode, both at a general and at a detailed level

Recommendations of the Spanish Antibiogram Committee (COESANT) for selecting antimicrobial agents and concentrations for in vitro susceptibility studies using automated systems

Automated antimicrobial susceptibility testing devices are widely implemented in clinical microbiology laboratories in Spain, mainly using EUCAST (European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing) breakpoints. In 2007, a group of experts published recommendations for including antimicrobial agents and selecting concentrations in these systems. Under the patronage of the Spanish Antibiogram Committee (Comité Español del Antibiograma, COESANT) and the Study Group on Mechanisms of Action and Resistance to Antimicrobial Agents (GEMARA) from the Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology (SEIMC), and aligned with the Spanish National Plan against Antimicrobial Resistance (PRAN), a group of experts have updated this document. The main modifications from the previous version comprise the inclusion of new antimicrobial agents, adaptation of the ranges of concentrations to cover the EUCAST breakpoints and epidemiological cut-off values (ECOFFs), and the inference of new resistance mechanisms. This proposal should be considered by different manufacturers and users when designing new panels or cards. In addition, recommendations for selective reporting are also included. With this approach, the implementation of EUCAST breakpoints will be easier, increasing the quality of antimicrobial susceptibility testing data and their microbiological interpretation. It will also benefit epidemiological surveillance studies as well as the clinical use of antimicrobials aligned with antimicrobial stewardship programs

Search for the Higgs boson in events with missing transverse energy and b quark jets produced in proton-antiproton collisions at s**(1/2)=1.96 TeV

We search for the standard model Higgs boson produced in association with an electroweak vector boson in events with no identified charged leptons, large imbalance in transverse momentum, and two jets where at least one contains a secondary vertex consistent with the decay of b hadrons. We use ~1 fb-1 integrated luminosity of proton-antiproton collisions at s**(1/2)=1.96 TeV recorded by the CDF II experiment at the Tevatron. We find 268 (16) single (double) b-tagged candidate events, where 248 +/- 43 (14.4 +/- 2.7) are expected from standard model background processes. We place 95% confidence level upper limits on the Higgs boson production cross section for several Higgs boson masses ranging from 110 GeV/c2 to 140 GeV/c2. For a mass of 115 GeV/c2 the observed (expected) limit is 20.4 (14.2) times the standard model prediction.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Molecular profiling of immunoglobulin heavy-chain gene rearrangements unveils new potential prognostic markers for multiple myeloma patients

Altres ajuts: This work was partially supported by[...] , CIBERONC-CB16/12/00233, and "Una manera de hacer Europa" (Innocampus; CEI-2010-1-0010)". M.G.-A., I.P.-C., and C.J. are supported by the Fundación Española de Hematología y Hemoterapia (FEHH, co-funded by Fundación Cris in the latter case), A.M. by the European Social Fund and the Spanish Education Council through the University of Salamanca, [...]. All Spanish funding is co-sponsored by the European Union FEDER program.Multiple myeloma is a heterogeneous disease whose pathogenesis has not been completely elucidated. Although B-cell receptors play a crucial role in myeloma pathogenesis, the impact of clonal immunoglobulin heavy-chain features in the outcome has not been extensively explored. Here we present the characterization of complete heavy-chain gene rearrangements in 413 myeloma patients treated in Spanish trials, including 113 patients characterized by next-generation sequencing. Compared to the normal B-cell repertoire, gene selection was biased in myeloma, with significant overrepresentation of IGHV3, IGHD2 and IGHD3, as well as IGHJ4 gene groups. Hypermutation was high in our patients (median: 8.8%). Interestingly, regarding patients who are not candidates for transplantation, a high hypermutation rate (≥7%) and the use of IGHD2 and IGHD3 groups were associated with improved prognostic features and longer survival rates in the univariate analyses. Multivariate analysis revealed prolonged progression-free survival rates for patients using IGHD2/IGHD3 groups (HR: 0.552, 95% CI: 0.361−0.845, p = 0.006), as well as prolonged overall survival rates for patients with hypermutation ≥7% (HR: 0.291, 95% CI: 0.137−0.618, p = 0.001). Our results provide new insights into the molecular characterization of multiple myeloma, highlighting the need to evaluate some of these clonal rearrangement characteristics as new potential prognostic markers

Search for Third Generation Vector Leptoquarks in p anti-p Collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV

We describe a search for a third generation vector leptoquark (VLQ3) that decays to a b quark and tau lepton using the CDF II detector and 322 pb^(-1) of integrated luminosity from the Fermilab Tevatron. Vector leptoquarks have been proposed in many extensions of the standard model (SM). Observing a number of events in agreement with SM expectations, assuming Yang-Mills (minimal) couplings, we obtain the most stringent upper limit on the VLQ3 pair production cross section of 344 fb (493 fb) and lower limit on the VLQ3 mass of 317 GeV/c^2 (251 GeV/c^2) at 95% C.L.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, submitted to PR