Oceanic adults, coastal juveniles: tracking the habitat use of whale sharks off the Pacific coast of Mexico

Eight whale sharks tagged with pop-up satellite archival tags off the Gulf of California, Mexico, were tracked for periods of 14–134 days. Five of these sharks were adults, with four females visually assessed to be pregnant. At least for the periods they were tracked, juveniles remained in the Gulf of California while adults moved offshore into the eastern Pacific Ocean. We propose that parturition occurs in these offshore waters. Excluding two juveniles that remained in the shallow tagging area for the duration of tracking, all sharks spent 65 ± 20.7% (SD) of their time near the surface, even over deep water, often in association with frontal zones characterized by cool-water upwelling. While these six sharks all made dives into the meso- or bathypelagic zones, with two sharks reaching the maximum depth recordable by the tags (1285.8 m), time spent at these depths represented a small proportion of the overall tracks. Most deep dives (72.7%) took place during the day, particularly during the early morning and late afternoon. Pronounced habitat differences by ontogenetic stage suggest that adult whale sharks are less likely to frequent coastal waters after the onset of maturity

Niñez e interpretación ambiental en el proyecto jardín botánico de la Universidad del Cauca Álvaro José Negret (UCAJN)

La evaluación cualitativa mediante la técnica de mapas conceptuales, realizada en el espacio Jardín Botánico-UCAJN con un grupo de niños de cuarto y quinto grado de las instituciones educativas: Comercial del Norte Francisco José Chaux Ferrer (CNFJCF) de la vereda La Rejoya y Rafael Pombo (RP) de la ciudad de Popayán a través de tres fases consecutivas (exploración, validación y aplicación), permitió evidenciar un aprendizaje significativo ascendente, reflejado en la asimilación progresiva de conceptos, tanto en la estructuración de los mapas conceptuales como en la adquisición de valores ético-ambientales (estético, ecológico, económico, humanístico, moral, recreativo y científico) hacia el entorno. A lo largo de la investigación, esta progresión condujo a estructurar una charla modelo de interpretación ambiental para niños en edad escolar y a soportar posteriormente el plan de interpretación ambiental para el proyecto de Jardín Botánico-UCAJN. ABSTRACTThe qualitative evaluation by means of the conceptual maps technique carried out in the UCAJN botanical garden space with a group of fourth and fifth grade children from the educational institutions North Commercial Chaux Francisco José Ferrer (CNFJCF) of La Rejoya and Rafael Pombo (RP) in the city of Popayán through three consecutive phases (exploration, validation and  mplementation), allowed to demonstrate an increasingly significant learning process reflected in the gradual assimilation of concepts, both in the structure of conceptual maps and the acquisition of ethical and environmental values (aesthetic, ecological, economic, humanistic, moral, recreational, and scientific) towards the environment. Throughout the investigation, this progression led to the structure of an environmental interpretation talk model for school children and then to support the environmental interpretation plan for the UCAJN Botanical Garden project. La evaluación cualitativa mediante la técnica de mapas conceptuales, realizada en el espacio Jardín Botánico-UCAJN con un grupo de niños de cuarto y quinto grado de las instituciones educativas: Comercial del Norte Francisco José Chaux Ferrer (CNFJCF) de la vereda La Rejoya y Rafael Pombo (RP) de la ciudad de Popayán a través de tres fases consecutivas (exploración, validación y aplicación), permitió evidenciar un aprendizaje significativo ascendente, reflejado en la asimilación progresiva de conceptos, tanto en la estructuración de los mapas conceptuales como en la adquisición de valores ético-ambientales (estético, ecológico, económico, humanístico, moral, recreativo y científico) hacia el entorno. A lo largo de la investigación, esta progresión condujo a estructurar una charla modelo de interpretación ambiental para niños en edad escolar y a soportar posteriormente el plan de interpretación ambiental para el proyecto de Jardín Botánico-UCAJN. ABSTRACTThe qualitative evaluation by means of the conceptual maps technique carried out in the UCAJN botanical garden space with a group of fourth and fifth grade children from the educational institutions North Commercial Chaux Francisco José Ferrer (CNFJCF) of La Rejoya and Rafael Pombo (RP) in the city of Popayán through three consecutive phases (exploration, validation and  mplementation), allowed to demonstrate an increasingly significant learning process reflected in the gradual assimilation of concepts, both in the structure of conceptual maps and the acquisition of ethical and environmental values (aesthetic, ecological, economic, humanistic, moral, recreational, and scientific) towards the environment. Throughout the investigation, this progression led to the structure of an environmental interpretation talk model for school children and then to support the environmental interpretation plan for the UCAJN Botanical Garden project.

Noncommutative Quantum Cosmology

We propose a model for noncommutative quantum cosmology by means of a deformation of minisuperspace. For the Kantowski-Sachs metric we are able to find the exact wave function. We construct wave packets and show that new quantum states that ``compete'' to be the most probable state appear, in clear contrast with the commutative case. A tunneling process could be possible among these states.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, revtex4 file, major style changes, to be published in PR

Cryo-EM and single-particle analysis with Scipion

Cryo-electron microscopy has become one of the most important tools in biological research to reveal the structural information of macromolecules at near-atomic resolution. In single-particle analysis, the vitrified sample is imaged by an electron beam and the detectors at the end of the microscope column produce movies of that sample. These movies contain thousands of images of identical particles in random orientations. The data need to go through an image processing workflow with multiple steps to obtain the final 3D reconstructed volume. The goal of the image processing workflow is to identify the acquisition parameters to be able to reconstruct the specimen under study. Scipion provides all the tools to create this workflow using several image processing packages in an integrative framework, also allowing the traceability of the results. In this article the whole image processing workflow in Scipion is presented and discussed with data coming from a real test case, giving all the details necessary to go from the movies obtained by the microscope to a high resolution final 3D reconstruction. Also, the power of using consensus tools that allow combining methods, and confirming results along every step of the workflow, improving the accuracy of the obtained results, is discussed

Homophobia and heterosexism: Spanish Physical Education teachers’ perceptions

Physical education is traditionally a heteronormative environment, despite current studies highlighting the existence of positive changes in sport towards sexual diversity. In Spain, physical education teachers’ attitudes towards sexual minorities are an under-researched area. The current study identifies physical education teachers’ perceptions towards homophobia and heterosexism in their lessons, raising questions as to whether societies are hostile or more tolerant in regards to gays and lesbians in sport. This experimental and cross-sectional descriptive research involved 170 Physical Education teachers from mixed schools, using a modified version of the original questionnaire of homophobia and heterosexism perceptions by Morrow and Gill (2003). Results show heterosexist and homophobic behavior is apparent in physical education lessons, with teachers aware of these behaviours. Furthermore, it is highlighted that students use homosexually-themed language as an instrument to discriminate against gays and lesbians. This language use is not common among teachers, although when it is present, it is clearer and more frequent amongst male teachers

Sports, morality and body. The voices of sportswomen under Franco's dictatorship

The aim of this research is to study sportswomen's perceptions and experiences of women's sport in Francoist Spain (1939-1975). The main objective is to analyse the social, moral and aesthetic elements that are present in the experience of these athletes. This study was carried out with an intentional sample of 24 women from Andalusia, Aragon, Asturias, Basque Country, Catalonia and Valencia. They were interviewed by a network of researchers from six universities. Outstanding results show the existence of social limitations to start sports practice (particularly in the post-war period); the importance of sport as a character-building aspect; sport's remarkable influence on their body self-concept; and the incidence on sports of the mainstream moral discourse, which created a female model that even affected sports clothing. The main conclusion is that sportswomen in that period were pioneers and had to fight against most of society in order to develop their facet as athletes, as they would not follow the established model