Key indicators for linguistic action perspective in the last planner® system

Indexación: Scopus.Since 2001, a link has been established between the Last Planner® System (LPS) and Linguistic Action Perspective (LAP). However, to date, it has not been studied in sufficient depth. This research developed a system of indicators to measure and control the management of commitments, through the Design Science Research (DSR) methodology, and thus contribute to the development of the social dimension of sustainability that is often neglected in construction management research. The main contributions of this paper are a proposal of five main activities to apply the DSR method, a checklist to analyze the engagement of meeting participants, a notebook for last planners, delve into the variations that can occur to the basic movements of LAP, and the creation of a system of indicators hence updating the Percent Plan Complete (PPC) with a reliability indicator. The main limitation of this research is that the system was only validated in two South American countries that implemented LPS. In future studies, we propose to apply case studies in weekly planning meetings in other industries worldwide and to determine the recommended values to improve communication and achieve the proper implementation of LAP with LPS and without LPS. © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/20/872

Overexpression of wild-type human APP in mice causes cognitive déficits and pathological features unrelated to Abeta levels

Transgenic mice expressing mutant human amyloid precursor protein (APP) develop an age-dependent amyloid pathology and memory deficits, but no overt neuronal loss. Here, in mice overexpressing wild-type human APP (hAPPwt) we found an early memory impairment, particularly in the water maze and to a lesser extent in the object recognition task, but β-amyloid peptide (Aβ42) was barely detectable in the hippocampus. In these mice, hAPP processing was basically non-amyloidogenic, with high levels of APP carboxy-terminal fragments, C83 and APP intracellular domain. A tau pathology with an early increase in the levels of phosphorylated tau in the hippocampus, a likely consequence of enhanced ERK1/2 activation, was also observed. Furthermore, these mice presented a loss of synapse-associated proteins: PSD95, AMPA and NMDA receptor subunits and phosphorylated CaMKII. Importantly, signs of neurodegeneration were found in the hippocampal CA1 subfield and in the entorhinal cortex that were associated to a marked loss of MAP2 immunoreactivity. Conversely, in mice expressing mutant hAPP, high levels of Aβ42 were found in the hippocampus, but no signs of neurodegeneration were apparent. The results support the notion of Aβ- independent pathogenic pathways in Alzheimer's disease

FTO gene: Historic background and its relationship with chronic-degenerative diseases

Indexación: Scopus; Latindex.Alteraciones en el desarrollo de la atención y la organización conductual pueden configurar cuadros clínicos como el trastorno déficit de atención (TDA) que puede estar acompañado o no de hiperactividad (TDAH), este último parece tener una relación directa con otros diagnósticos de tipo endocrino como la obesidad. El objetivo del estudio es analizar la relación que existe entre el TDAH y la obesidad. Es por ello que se realiza una revisión sistemática de estudios científicos revelando relaciones y diferencias entre ambos trastornos desde una mirada fisiológica, cognoscitiva y comportamental. Se concluye que la relación entre el TDAH y la obesidad se da por factores genéticos, por variaciones dopaminérgicas, cambios en patrones de sueño, desajustes emocionales y por alteraciones en la regulación de la conducta; igualmente influyen factores sociales relacionados con el cuidado en el embarazo y la alimentación de las mujeres antes y durante la gestación.http://www.revhipertension.com/rlh_2_2018/5_fto_gene.pd

Anisotropy studies around the galactic centre at EeV energies with the Auger Observatory

Data from the Pierre Auger Observatory are analyzed to search for anisotropies near the direction of the Galactic Centre at EeV energies. The exposure of the surface array in this part of the sky is already significantly larger than that of the fore-runner experiments. Our results do not support previous findings of localized excesses in the AGASA and SUGAR data. We set an upper bound on a point-like flux of cosmic rays arriving from the Galactic Centre which excludes several scenarios predicting sources of EeV neutrons from Sagittarius $A$. Also the events detected simultaneously by the surface and fluorescence detectors (the `hybrid' data set), which have better pointing accuracy but are less numerous than those of the surface array alone, do not show any significant localized excess from this direction.Comment: Matches published versio

Evidence for a mixed mass composition at the `ankle' in the cosmic-ray spectrum

We report a first measurement for ultra-high energy cosmic rays of the correlation between the depth of shower maximum and the signal in the water Cherenkov stations of air-showers registered simultaneously by the fluorescence and the surface detectors of the Pierre Auger Observatory. Such a correlation measurement is a unique feature of a hybrid air-shower observatory with sensitivity to both the electromagnetic and muonic components. It allows an accurate determination of the spread of primary masses in the cosmic-ray flux. Up till now, constraints on the spread of primary masses have been dominated by systematic uncertainties. The present correlation measurement is not affected by systematics in the measurement of the depth of shower maximum or the signal in the water Cherenkov stations. The analysis relies on general characteristics of air showers and is thus robust also with respect to uncertainties in hadronic event generators. The observed correlation in the energy range around the `ankle' at $\lg(E/{\rm eV})=18.5-19.0$ differs significantly from expectations for pure primary cosmic-ray compositions. A light composition made up of proton and helium only is equally inconsistent with observations. The data are explained well by a mixed composition including nuclei with mass $A > 4$. Scenarios such as the proton dip model, with almost pure compositions, are thus disfavoured as the sole explanation of the ultrahigh-energy cosmic-ray flux at Earth.Comment: Published version. Added journal reference and DOI. Added Report Numbe

Key changes in gene expression identified for different stages of C4 evolution in Alloteropsis semialata.

C4 photosynthesis is a complex trait that boosts productivity in tropical conditions. Compared to C3 species, the C4 state seems to require numerous novelties, but species comparisons can be confounded by long divergence times. Here, we exploit the photosynthetic diversity that exists within a single species, the grass Alloteropsis semialata, to detect changes in gene expression associated with different photosynthetic phenotypes. Phylogenetically-informed comparative transcriptomics show that intermediates with a weak C4 cycle are separated from the C3 phenotype by increases in the expression of 58 genes (0.22% of genes expressed in the leaves), including those encoding just three core C4 enzymes: ASP-AT, PCK, and PEPC. The subsequent transition to full C4 physiology was accompanied by increases in another 15 genes (0.06%), including only the core C4 enzyme PPDK. These changes likely created a rudimentary C4 physiology, and isolated populations subsequently improved this emerging C4 physiology, resulting in a patchwork of expression for some C4-accessory genes. Our work shows how C4 assembly in A. semialata happened in incremental steps, each requiring few alterations over the previous one. These create short bridges across adaptive landscapes that likely facilitated the recurrent origins of C4 photosynthesis through a gradual process of evolution

On the sensitivity of the HAWC observatory to gamma-ray bursts

We present the sensitivity of HAWC to Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs). HAWC is a very high-energy gamma-ray observatory currently under construction in Mexico at an altitude of 4100 m. It will observe atmospheric air showers via the water Cherenkov method. HAWC will consist of 300 large water tanks instrumented with 4 photomultipliers each. HAWC has two data acquisition (DAQ) systems. The main DAQ system reads out coincident signals in the tanks and reconstructs the direction and energy of individual atmospheric showers. The scaler DAQ counts the hits in each photomultiplier tube (PMT) in the detector and searches for a statistical excess over the noise of all PMTs. We show that HAWC has a realistic opportunity to observe the high-energy power law components of GRBs that extend at least up to 30 GeV, as it has been observed by Fermi LAT. The two DAQ systems have an energy threshold that is low enough to observe events similar to GRB 090510 and GRB 090902b with the characteristics observed by Fermi LAT. HAWC will provide information about the high-energy spectra of GRBs which in turn could help to understanding about e-pair attenuation in GRB jets, extragalactic background light absorption, as well as establishing the highest energy to which GRBs accelerate particles