Infrared imaging spectroscopy of skin cancer lesions

Skin cancer is a disease of the twenty-first century since, unfortunately, being tan is associated to be healthy and good looking. UV radiation produces one of the most aggressive kinds of skin cancer: melanoma; once the damage is done there is no other solution that a rapid and effective diagnosis. Clinical examination and biopsies have shown to be slow and costly in many ways, so the possibility of getting a non-invasive optical detection of skin melanomas became a hot topic in biophotonics. In this context, multispectral imaging systems have approached the problem, but none of them worked inside the infrared range. Hence, this work has been proposed as an interesting, long-term project to further investigate about the possibilities of infrared imaging spectroscopy for the early detection of skin cancer through the development of such a system based on an InGaAs camera

Competition between public and private universities: quality, prices and exams

The rapid growth of private higher education in response to high demand is a recent phenomenon in most European countries. This paper provides a theoretical model of the higher education market in which a public and a private university compete for students in the presence of borrowing constraints. We find that there exists a unique equilibrium in which the public institution is of higher quality than the private institution. This result supports the observation across many European countries that public universities have usually higher quality and admission standards than their private competitors

COMPETITION BETWEEN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES: QUALITY, PRICES AND EXAMS

The rapid growth of private higher education in response to high demand is a recent phenomenon in most European countries. This paper provides a theoretical model of the higher education market in which a public and a private university compete for students in the presence of borrowing constraints. We find that there exists a unique equilibrium in which the public institution is of higher quality than the private institution. This result supports the observation across many European countries that public universities have usually higher quality and admission standards than their private competitors.

Prices versus Exams as Strategic Instruments for Competing Universities

In this paper we investigate the optimal choice of prices and/or exams by universities in the presence of credit constraints. We first compare the optimal behavior of a public, welfare maximizing, monopoly and a private, profit maximizing, monopoly. Then we model competition between a public and a private institution and investigate the new role of exams/prices in this environment. We find that, under certain circumstances, the public university may have an interest to rise tuition fees from minimum levels if it cares for global welfare. This will be the case provided that (i) the private institution has higher quality and uses only prices to select applicants, or (ii) the private institution has lower quality and uses also exams to select students. When this is the case, there are efficiency grounds for raising public prices.Analysis of Education

An inquiry into autobiography to promote beginner EFL reflective writing

Esta investigación se lleva a cabo en un Colegio público en Bogotá, con estudiantes de sexto grado. El estudio propone una estrategia basada en autobiografías para promover la escritura reflexiva para principiantes en inglés como lengua extranjera (EFL) como una forma de mejorar la producción escrita de los estudiantes, implementando el Enfoque del Proceso de Escritura. La investigación se llevó a cabo en un proceso de cuatro pasos: planificación, redacción, edición y la versión final. El mejoramiento de los participantes en la escritura fue revelada por medio de las pruebas, los artefactos de los estudiantes y las notas de campo del docente. El paradigma de investigación seleccionado para este análisis es cualitativo, el método de investigación a aplicar corresponde a un tipo de investigación Holística y dentro de sus tipos de investigación se encuentra en la investigación proyectiva; el análisis de datos se basa en La Teoría Fundamentada de Datos. Los constructos teóricos son el enfoque del proceso de escritura, la autobiografía y la competencia socio-afectiva. Con respecto a los hallazgos de esta investigación, fue evidente que con la aplicación del enfoque mencionado utilizando autobiografías el proceso de aprendizaje de la escritura en inglés mejoró. Los estudiantes también reflexionaron y aprendieron sobre sí mismos y desarrollaron la autoexpresión. Con respecto al idioma inglés, los estudiantes usaron el tiempo gramatical de acuerdo con el tema que estaban estudiando. El enfoque de escritura sirvió como un trampolín en el desarrollo del idioma inglés y la autobiografía hizo que el aprendizaje del idioma inglés fuera significativo.This research is carried out in a public school in Bogotá, with sixth graders. The study proposes a strategy based on autobiographies to promote beginner English as a Foreign Language (EFL) reflective writing, as a way to enhance students’ written production, implementing the Writing Process Approach. The research was carried out in a four-step process: planning, drafting, editing and the final version. Tests, student’s artifacts and teacher´s field notes revealed participants’ improvement in writing. The research paradigm selected forth is analysis is a qualitative one, the research method corresponds to a type of Holistic research and within its types of the holistic research is in the Projective research; the data analysis is based on The Grounded Theory. The theoretical constructs are The Writing Process Approach, the autobiography, and the socio affective competence. Regarding the findings of this research it was evident that the application of the mentioned approach using autobiographies enhanced the English writing learning process. Students also reflected, and learned about themselves and developed self-expression. Concerning to English language, students used the grammatical tense according to the topic they were studying. The Writing Approach served as a stepping stone in English language development and autobiography made English language learning meaningful

Organogenesis and plant regeneration of Arachis villosa Benth. (Leguminosae) through leaf culture

With the aim of developing an efficient plant regeneration protocol, leaflet explants of three accessions of Arachis villosa Benth. (S2866, S2867 and L97) were cultured on basic Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with different combinations of plant growth regulators: α-naphthalenacetic acid, indole-3-butyric acid, 6-benzylaminopurine, kinetin and thidiazuron. The accession L97 was the only one able to differentiate buds through indirect organogenesis. The most suitable combination for bud regeneration was the basic medium added with 13.62 μM thidiazuron and 4.44 μM 6-benzylaminopurine. These results show the important role of the genotype in morphogenetic responses and the organogenetic effect of thidiazuron in Arachis villosa accession L97. A thidiazuron lacking media (only 0.54 μM α-naphthalenacetic acid, 13.95 μM kinetin and 13.32 μM 6-benzylaminopurine were added) promoted the elongation of the regenerated buds. Adventitious rooting was achieved 90 days after the isolated shoots were transferred to a rooting medium containing 0.54 μM α-naphthalenacetic acid.Fil: Fontana, María Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de Botánica del Nordeste. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Botánica del Nordeste; ArgentinaFil: Mroginski, Luis Amado. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de Botánica del Nordeste. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Botánica del Nordeste; ArgentinaFil: Rey de Badaró, Hebe Yolanda. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de Botánica del Nordeste. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Botánica del Nordeste; Argentin

There’s an App for That: Information Resources for Disaster Preparedness and Response

Background: Quick and easy access to disaster health information is needed during all four phases of the emergency management cycle: Preparedness, Response, Recovery, and Mitigation.1 Health professionals and responders need to be fully aware of the best disaster health information resources and tools. Several organizations, including the National Library of Medicine (NLM), develop and provide authoritative, high-quality health information and tools for disaster preparation and response.2 Purpose: To develop and provide access to health information resources and technology for disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. Description: The Texas A&M University’s Medical Sciences Library and the College of Nursing developed a web page (http://tamu.libguides.com/redirect) that categorizes high-quality health information resources and disaster preparedness/response tools according to disaster response roles. Categories include: First Responders/EMS; Healthcare Providers; Public Health/Planner; and General Public. The page is formatted to fit screen sizes of various devices, including phones and tablets. Impact or Results: Disaster responders and preparedness teams can easily access a focused set of apps and other resources with multiple functions. For example, WISER advises on hazardous substances, including substance identification, containment and suppression advice, radiological tools, and medical treatment information. The public can download preparedness tools to their devices and develop their digital “go-kits”. Apps are mapped to their corresponding emergency management cycle phase(s). Health professionals, responders, policymakers, and the public can access the right information at the right time to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters. References 1. Grand Traverse County Emergency Management. (2019). What is emergency management? Retrieved from https://www.grandtraverse.org/379/What-is-Emergency-Management 2. Love C, Arnesen S, Phillips S, Windom R. National Library of Medicine Disaster Information Management Research Center: Achieving the vision, 2010–2013. Inf Serv Use. 2014;34(1-2):149-170. doi:10.3233/isu-140731ReDiReCT: Integrating NLM Resources into Disaster Preparedness and Response Cross-Disciplinary Training, has been supported in part or in full by Federal funds through the National Library of Medicine of the National Institute of Health under award number UG4LM012345 with the University of North Texas Health Science Center. The content is the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH

Effective Disclosure in the Fast-Fashion Industry: from Sustainability Reporting to Action

[Abstract]: This work, set in the context of the apparel industry, proposes an action-oriented disclosure tool to help solve the sustainability challenges of complex fast-fashion supply chains (SCs). In a search for effective disclosure, it focusses on actions towards sustainability instead of the measurements and indicators of its impacts. We applied qualitative and quantitative content analysis to the sustainability reporting of the world’s two largest fast-fashion companies in three phases. First, we searched for the challenges that the organisations report they are currently facing. Second, we introduced the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) framework to overcome the voluntary reporting drawback of ‘choosing what to disclose’, and revealed orphan issues. This broadened the scope from internal corporate challenges to issues impacting the ecosystems in which companies operate. Third, we analysed the reported sustainability actions and decomposed them into topics, instruments, and actors. The results showed that fast-fashion reporting has a broadly developed analysis base, but lacks action orientation. This has led us to propose the ‘Fast-Fashion Sustainability Scorecard’ as a universal disclosure framework that shifts the focus from (i) reporting towards action; (ii) financial performance towards sustainable value creation; and (iii) corporate boundaries towards value creation for the broader SC ecosystem