The intergenerational relationship between conditional cash transfers and newborn health

BACKGROUND: Lack of nutrition, inadequate housing, low education and limited access to quality care can negatively affect children's health over their lifetime. Implemented in 2003, the Bolsa Familia ("Family Stipend") Program (PBF) is a conditional cash transfer program targeting poor households in Brazil. This study investigates the long-term benefits of cash transfers through intergenerational transmission of health and poverty by assessing the early life exposure of the mother to the PBF. METHODS: We used data from the 100M SINASC-SIM cohort compiled and managed by the Center for Data and Knowledge Integration for Health (CIDACS), containing information about participation in the PBF and socioeconomic and health indicators. We analyzed five measures of newborn health: low (less than 2,500 g) and very low (less than 1,500 g) birth weight, premature (less than 37 weeks of gestation) and very premature (less than 28 weeks of gestation) birth, and the presence of some type of malformation (according to ICD-10 codes). Furthermore, we measured the early life exposure to the PBF of the mother as PBF coverage in the previous decade in the city where the mother was born. We applied multilevel logistic regression models to assess the associations between birth outcomes and PBF exposures. RESULTS: Results showed that children born in a household where the mother received BF were less likely to have low birth weight (OR 0.93, CI; 0.92-0.94), very low birth weight (0.87, CI; 0.84-0.89), as well as to be born after 37 weeks of gestation (OR 0.98, CI; 0.97-0.99) or 28 weeks of gestation (OR 0.93, CI; 0.88-0.97). There were no significant associations between households where the mother received BF and congenital malformation. On average, the higher the early life exposure to the PBF of the mother, the lower was the prevalence of low birth weight, very low birth weight and congenital malformation of the newborn. No trend was noted for preterm birth. CONCLUSION: The PBF might have indirect intergenerational effects on children's health. These results provide important implications for policymakers who have to decide how to effectively allocate resources to improve child health

Simple model for the vibrations of embedded elastically cubic nanocrystals

The purpose of this work is to calculate the vibrational modes of an elastically anisotropic sphere embedded in an isotropic matrix. This has important application to understanding the spectra of low-frequency Raman scattering from nanoparticles embedded in a glass matrix. First some low frequency vibrational modes of a free cubically elastic sphere are found to be nearly independent of one combination of elastic constants. This is then exploited to obtain an isotropic approximation for these modes which enables to take into account the surrounding isotropic matrix. This method is then used to quantatively explain recent spectra of gold and copper nanocrystals in glasses.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure

Automatic construction of mobile social networks on Moodle

The traditional teaching methods of Learning Management Systems (or LMS) are rigid in nature and impose limitations on the teaching process. By having a closed pattern, these tools end up hurting the students, by preventing them from interacting with anyone who shares the same interests. For example, a student posts a question about a particular topic in the forum and sometimes waits days, weeks, without getting any return. As a result, the concepts of community, relationship and interaction between users are required in order to overcome these limitations. Currently Moodle does not provide tools that support the creation of a social network that can be articulated by the participants. The purpose of this study is to develop a software that automatically enables the creation and articulation of online social networking in Moodle. From this, it is expected that each student will be able to have their own space, with virtual communities of practice specific to their needs, and add new people to these communities, that can be anywhere, that is, in any Moodle course, group or forum, extending besides the social networking, the educational possibilities that collaborative learning provides.The traditional teaching methods of Learning Management Systems (or LMS) are rigid in nature and impose limitations on the teaching process. By having a closed pattern, these tools end up hurting the students, by preventing them from interacting with anyone who shares the same interests. For example, a student posts a question about a particular topic in the forum and sometimes waits days, weeks, without getting any return. As a result, the concepts of community, relationship and interaction between users are required in order to overcome these limitations. Currently Moodle does not provide tools that support the creation of a social network that can be articulated by the participants. The purpose of this study is to develop a software that automatically enables the creation and articulation of online social networking in Moodle. From this, it is expected that each student will be able to have their own space, with virtual communities of practice specific to their needs, and add new people to these communities, that can be anywhere, that is, in any Moodle course, group or forum, extending besides the social networking, the educational possibilities that collaborative learning provides

Construção Automática de Redes Sociais Móveis no Ambiente Moodle (Automatic construction of mobile social networks on Moodle)

Os métodos de ensino tradicionais dos sistemas de gerenciamento de aprendizagem (ou LMS do termo em inglês (Learning Management System) são rígidos por natureza e imp ō em limitações ao processo de ensino. Por terem um padrão fechado, essas ferramentas acabam prejudicando o aluno, pois o impedem de interagir com qualquer pessoa que compartilhe dos mesmos interesses que ele. Por exemplo, o aluno posta uma dúvida sobre um determi-nado assunto no forum e às vezes espera dias, semanas, sem obter retorno algum. Como resultado, os conceitos de comunidade, relação e interação entre os usuários são necessá-rios para superar essas limitações. Atualmente o Moodle não provê ferramentas que supor-tam a criação de uma rede social que possa ser articulada pelos participantes. A proposta deste trabalho é o desenvolvimento de um software que possibilite a criação e articulação de redes sociais online no ambiente Moodle de forma automática. A partir disso, espera-se que cada aluno possa ter o seu próprio espaço com comunidades virtuais de prática especí- ficas para as suas necessidades e que eles consigam também a qualquer momento adicionar novas pessoas a essas comunidades, que estejam em qualquer lugar, ou seja, em qualquer Moodle, curso, grupo ou fórum. Assim, ampliando além da rede social, as possibilidades educacionais que a aprendizagem colaborativa oferece.Os métodos de ensino tradicionais dos sistemas de gerenciamento de aprendizagem (ou LMS do termo em inglês (Learning Management System) são rígidos por natureza e imp ō em limitações ao processo de ensino. Por terem um padrão fechado, essas ferramentas acabam prejudicando o aluno, pois o impedem de interagir com qualquer pessoa que compartilhe dos mesmos interesses que ele. Por exemplo, o aluno posta uma dúvida sobre um determi-nado assunto no forum e às vezes espera dias, semanas, sem obter retorno algum. Como resultado, os conceitos de comunidade, relação e interação entre os usuários são necessá-rios para superar essas limitações. Atualmente o Moodle não provê ferramentas que supor-tam a criação de uma rede social que possa ser articulada pelos participantes. A proposta deste trabalho é o desenvolvimento de um software que possibilite a criação e articulação de redes sociais online no ambiente Moodle de forma automática. A partir disso, espera-se que cada aluno possa ter o seu próprio espaço com comunidades virtuais de prática especí- ficas para as suas necessidades e que eles consigam também a qualquer momento adicionar novas pessoas a essas comunidades, que estejam em qualquer lugar, ou seja, em qualquer Moodle, curso, grupo ou fórum. Assim, ampliando além da rede social, as possibilidades educacionais que a aprendizagem colaborativa oferece

A Flexible Architecture to Promote the Integration between Moodle and Social Network Sites

Social networking sites make it possible for Internet users to communicating, sharing, cooperating and expressing their ideas. Also known as SNSs, theywield impressive attraction within its users, who spend several daily hours in this kind of sites. This paper advocates that the popularity and social tools these sites provide can be used in behalf of education, as a mean to increase student’s interest and commitment for the teaching/learning process. In order to incorporate SNSs into the process, this article presents a flexible architecture to integrate Moodle and distinct social networking sites. Besides, these architecture has been implemented to provide integration between Moodle and Facebook and Twitter. This way, we believe that teachers are provided with a new way of communicating with their students, increasing the odds of interaction among them and, possibly, students get more active and start using Moodle more frequently.Social networking sites make it possible for Internet users to communicating, sharing, cooperating and expressing their ideas. Also known as SNSs, theywield impressive attraction within its users, who spend several daily hours in this kind of sites. This paper advocates that the popularity and social tools these sites provide can be used in behalf of education, as a mean to increase student’s interest and commitment for the teaching/learning process. In order to incorporate SNSs into the process, this article presents a flexible architecture to integrate Moodle and distinct social networking sites. Besides, these architecture has been implemented to provide integration between Moodle and Facebook and Twitter. This way, we believe that teachers are provided with a new way of communicating with their students, increasing the odds of interaction among them and, possibly, students get more active and start using Moodle more frequently

Low energy electron interactions with resveratrol and resorcinol: anion states and likely dissociation pathways

We report a computational study of the anion states of the resveratrol (RV) and resorcinol (RS) molecules, also investigating dissociative electron attachment (DEA) pathways. RV has well known beneficial effects in human health, and its antioxidant activity was previously associated with DEA reactions producing H$_2$. Our calculations indicate a valence bound state ($\pi^*_1$) and four resonances ($\pi^*_2$ to $\pi^*_5$) for that system. While the computed thermodynamical thresholds are compatible with DEA reactions producing H$_2$ at 0~eV, the well known mechanism involving vibrational Feshbach resonances built on a dipole bound state should not be present in RV. Our results suggest that the shallow $\pi^*_1$ valence bound state is expected to account for H$_2$ elimination, probably involving $\pi_1^*$/$\sigma_{\text{OH}}^*$ couplings along the vibration dynamics. The RS molecule is also an oxidant and a subunit of RV. Since two close-lying hydroxyl groups are found in the RS moiety, the H$_2$-elimination reaction in RV should take place at the RS site. Our calculations point out a correspondence between the anion states of RV and RS, and even between the thresholds. Nevertheless, the absence of bound anion states in RS, indicated by our calculations, is expected to suppress the H$_2$-formation channel at 0~eV. One is lead to conclude that the ethene and phenol subunits in RV stabilize the $\pi^*_1$ state, thus switching on the DEA mechanism producing H$_2$.Comment: 29 pages, 13 figure

Predicting species abundance by implementing the ecological niche theory

Species are not uniformly distributed across the landscape. For every species, there should be few favoured sites where abundance is high and many other sites of lower suitability where abundance is low. Consequently, local abundance could be thought of as a natural expression of species response to local conditions. The correlation between abundance and environmental suitability has been well documented, and a recent meta-analysis has suggested that this relationship could be a generality. Despite the importance and potential implication of the abundance–suitability relationship, its predictive power for meaningful extrapolations has been surprisingly poorly explored. In this study, we showed how a highly predictable trend can be extracted from the abundance–suitability relationship, accurately predicting the variation in species abundance at a high spatial resolution. We produced high-quality environmental suitability estimations for 50 endemic species in the Australian Wet Tropics. Environmental suitability derived from species distribution models was related to observed abundance estimated using data from 29 years of uninterrupted monitoring effort. We used the fitted relationship to accurately predict abundance at a fine scale across the species range. Our results showed that the abundance–suitability relationship was strong for endemic species in the Australian Wet Tropics. The predictive power of our models was high, explaining, on average, 55% of the deviance across taxa. Despite interspecific variation in the strength of the abundance–suitability relationship associated with potential intrinsic estimation biases, our approach provides a powerful tool for predicting abundance across the species range at a fine scale. The potential for robust abundance predictions from occurrence-based species distribution models shown in this study are numerous, and it could have a significant impact in enhancing species conservation and management decisions

Reutilización de árido mixto reciclado procedente de los residuos de la construcción y demolición en la fabricación de hormigones

Este artículo recoge el estudio de la viabilidad de la utilización de árido grueso mixto reciclado procedente de los residuos de la construcción y demolición como sustituto parcial del árido grueso natural, en la fabricación de hormigones con una resistencia característica de 30 MPa. El árido mixto reciclado utilizado tiene una calidad media – baja, debido a que el contenido de asfalto y partículas flotantes es elevado. La propiedades físicas (densidad y trabajabilidad) y mecánicas (resistencia a compresión y tracción) fueron estudiadas en los hormigones reciclados con un porcentaje de sustitución del 50% en peso de árido natural, con y sin partículas flotantes. Los resultados obtenidos, muestran que la incorporación de este árido reciclado no tiene un efecto negativo en la trabajabilidad de los hormigones en estado fresco. Respecto a la densidad y las propiedades mecánicas, se observa como disminuyen estas propiedades a medida que aumenta el contenido de árido mixto reciclado y de partículas flotantes. Finalmente, a la luz de estos resultados se puede señalar que estos áridos mixtos reciclados pueden emplearse en la fabricación de hormigones destinados a la edificación u otras aplicaciones

Um Mecanismo para a Integração entre o LMS Moodle e o Site de Redes Sociais Facebook

Social networking sites are great tools for aggregating and bringing people together, in the sense that they offer various forms of interaction, provi-ding its participants the ease of communication and the ability to create discus-sions, comments and share resources that they find relevant. The popularity of these sites is undeniable, with thousands of new users every day, they attract es- pecially younger people, who often come to incorporate them into their daily lifeand use them to discuss various themes, also related to the classroom. There- fore, many researchers have dedicated themselves to investigate whether the useof these sites in the context of formal education would be beneficial. Althoughstill fairly recent, these studies usually identify great potential in these sites asa way to motivate students to be more involved and engaged. The aim of this paper is to present a mechanism for the integration between the Learning Ma-nagement System Moodle and Facebook, in order to explore the potential of thissite for educationSocial networking sites are great tools for aggregating and bringing people together, in the sense that they offer various forms of interaction, provi-ding its participants the ease of communication and the ability to create discus-sions, comments and share resources that they find relevant. The popularity of these sites is undeniable, with thousands of new users every day, they attract es- pecially younger people, who often come to incorporate them into their daily lifeand use them to discuss various themes, also related to the classroom. There- fore, many researchers have dedicated themselves to investigate whether the useof these sites in the context of formal education would be beneficial. Althoughstill fairly recent, these studies usually identify great potential in these sites asa way to motivate students to be more involved and engaged. The aim of this paper is to present a mechanism for the integration between the Learning Ma-nagement System Moodle and Facebook, in order to explore the potential of thissite for educatio