Efectos de los modos de presentación de información en la exactitud de la producción rítmica de estudiantes de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria

La presentación simultánea de información en diferentes modalidades perceptivas puede facilitar el aprendizaje de conceptos complejos y de procedimientos. Existe un número importante de trabajos sobre este tema en relación a diferentes áreas del currículo escolar. No obstante, en educación musical no existen muchos trabajos al respecto aun a pesar de que las ayudas visuales tienen, desde un punto de vista teórico, el potencial de facilitar la discriminación y la memoria auditiva mediante procesos asociativos, así como la mejora de destrezas motoras. Este trabajo ha intentado verificar si existe un efecto del modo de presentación uni-modal (tres modos exclusivos) versus bimodal (dos modos cruzados) en la reproducción de patrones rítmicos musicales. Para ello, se realizaron dos experimentos con alumnos de un Instituto de Educación Secundaria de la provincia de Valencia, España. En el primer experimento (N=50; 21 chicos y 29 chicas; 14-16 años) se realizó un diseño de contraste pretest-postest con cinco grupos. A cada grupo se le presentaron patrones rítmicos en un modo de presentación diferente: sólo imágenes estáticas que hacían flashes de acuerdo al patrón rítmico (V), sólo sonidos (A), sólo textos que representaban el patrón rítmico cuando se leía (T), sonidos e imágenes conjuntamente (AV), sonidos y texto conjuntamente (AT). En el segundo experimento (N=10; 3 chicos y 7 chicas; 16-18 años de edad) se realizó un diseño de medidas repetidas en el que a cada uno de los sujetos se le presentó la serie de patrones rítmicos en todos los modos antes descritos. Fueron medidas las covariables habilidades rítmicas, experiencias musicales previas, resultados académicos del curso anterior, preferencias sobre presentación de la información y sexo. Las tareas de test consistieron en escuchar 10 patrones propuestos, memorizarlos y reproducirlos motrizmente a través de un ordenador, el cual ejecutaba un programa informático ad hoc que facilitó los estímulos y la recogida y evaluación de los datos. Los resultados de ambos experimentos muestran una clara superioridad de los modos combinados (AV, AT) y de la presentación unimodal con audio (A) en la exactitud rítmica de las respuestas. En las conclusiones, se sugiere la utilidad de presentar la información rítmica sonora integrando otros medios junto al sonido en los procesos de enseñanza y aprendizaje del ritmo musical, tanto en actividades perceptivas como productivas.Presentation of information in combined perceptual modalities could facilitate both the learning of complex concepts and procedures. There is an important amount of studies on this subject related to several school curriculum areas. Although, this is not the case in music education, despite the visual helps might have the potential to facilitate aural discrimination and memory by means of associative processes, as well as the enhancement of motor skills. This study have tried to discover if there is an effect of unimodal presentation mode (three exclusive modes) versus bimodal presentation mode (two crossed modes) in the reproduction of musical rhythm patterns. To do this, two experiments were carried out with Middle School children in Valencia, Spain. In the first experiment (N50; 21 boys; 29 girls; 14-16 years old) a contrast pretest-posttest design was adopted. Subjects were grouped in five conditions, each having information in one different mode: only static images (I) flashing the rhythm according to the proposed rhythm patterns; only sounds (A); only on-screen texts (T) that represented the rhythm pattern when reading; sounds and static images together (AV) and sounds and texts together (AT). In the second experiment a repeated measures design was adopted (N=10; 3 boys and 7 girls; 16-18 years old). Each subject had to do the tests in all experimental conditions aforementioned. Some intervening variables were measured: previous rhythm skills, previous musical experiences, school achievement of last year, preferences on modes of information presentation and gender. Test tasks were to hear in turn 10 proposed rhythm patterns, memorized them, and imitate them by means of a computer key. The computer ran an ad hoc computer program that provided stimuli, data gathering and assessment of responses. Results of both experiments show statistical differences in favor of groups AV, AT (bimodal) and A (unimodal). It is suggested the advantage of presenting rhythm information with sound together with other means in the teaching and learning music processes

Rodent Animal Models of Endometriosis-Associated Pain: Unmet Needs and Resources Available for Improving Translational Research in Endometriosis

Chronic pain induced by endometriosis is a maladaptive pain experienced by half of women with this disease. The lack of pharmacological treatments suitable for the long-term relief of endometriosis-associated pain, without an impact on fertility, remains an urgent unmet need. Progress has been slowed by the absence of a reproducible rodent endometriosis model that fully replicates human physiopathological characteristics, including pain symptoms. Although pain assessment in rodents is a complicated task requiring qualified researchers, the choice of the behavioral test is no less important, since selecting inappropriate tests can cause erroneous data. Pain is usually measured with reflex tests in which hypersensitivity is evaluated by applying a noxious stimulus, yet this ignores the associated emotional component that could be evaluated via non-reflex tests. We conducted a systematic review of endometriosis models used in rodents and the number of them that studied pain. The type of behavioral test used was also analyzed and classified according to reflex and non-reflex tests. Finally, we determined the most used reflex tests for the study of endometriosis-induced pain and the main non-reflex behavioral tests utilized in visceral pain that can be extrapolated to the study of endometriosis and complement traditional reflex tests

Integrating an epidemic spread model with remote sensing for Xylella fastidiosa detection

Trabajo presentado en la 3rd European Conference on Xylella fastidiosa (Building knowledge, protecting plant health), celebrada online el 29 y 30 de abril de 2021.Xylella fastidiosa (Xf) causes plant diseases that lead to massive economic losses in agricultural crops, making it one of the pathogens of greatest concern to agriculture nowadays. Detecting Xf at early stages of infection is crucial to prevent and manage outbreaks of this vector-borne bacterium. Recent remote sensing (RS) studies at different scales have shown that Xf-infected olive trees have distinct spectral features in the visible and infrared regions (VNIR). However, RS-based forecasting of Xf outbreaks requires tools that account for their spatiotemporal dynamics. Here, we show how coupling a spatial Xf-spread model with the probability of Xf-infection predicted by an RS-driven modeling algorithm based on a Support Vector Machine (RS-SVM) helps detecting the spatial Xf distribution in a landscape. To optimize such model, we investigated which RS plant traits (i.e., pigments, structural or leaf protein content) derived from high-resolution hyperspectral imagery and biophysical modelling are most responsive to Xf infection and damage. For that, we combined a field campaign in almond orchards in Alicante province (Spain) affected by Xf (n=1,426 trees), with an airborne campaign over the same area to acquire high-resolution thermal and hyperspectral images in the visible-near-infrared (400-850 nm) and short-wave infrared regions (SWIR, 950-1700 nm). We found that coupling the epidemic spread model and the RS-based model increased accuracy by around 5% (OA = 80%, kappa = 0.48 and AUC = 0.81); compared to the best performing RS-SVM model (OA = 75%; kappa = 0.50) that included as predictors leaf protein content, nitrogen indices (NIs), fluorescence and a thermal indicator, alongside pigments and structural parameters. The parameters with the greatest explanatory power of the RS model were leaf protein content together with NI (28%), followed by chlorophyll (22%), structural parameters (LAI and LIDFa), and chlorophyll indicators of photosynthetic efficiency. In the subset of almond trees where the presence of Xf was tested by qPCR (n=318 tress), the combined RS-spread model yielded the best performance (OA of 71% and kappa = 0.33). Conversely, the best-performing RS-SVM model and visual inspections produced OA and kappa values of 65% and 0.31, respectively. This study shows for the first time the potential of combining spatial epidemiological models and remote sensing to monitor Xf-disease distribution in almond trees

Detection of Xylella fastidiosa in almond orchards by synergic use of an epidemic spread model and remotely sensed plant traits

The early detection of Xylella fastidiosa (Xf) infections is critical to the management of this dangerous plan pathogen across the world. Recent studies with remote sensing (RS) sensors at different scales have shown that Xf-infected olive trees have distinct spectral features in the visible and infrared regions (VNIR). However, further work is needed to integrate remote sensing in the management of plant disease epidemics. Here, we research how the spectral changes picked up by different sets of RS plant traits (i.e., pigments, structural or leaf protein content), can help capture the spatial dynamics of Xf spread. We coupled a spatial spread model with the probability of Xf-infection predicted by a RS-driven support vector machine (RS-SVM) model. Furthermore, we analyzed which RS plant traits contribute most to the output of the prediction models. For that, in almond orchards affected by Xf (n = 1426 trees), we conducted a field campaign simultaneously with an airborne campaign to collect high-resolution thermal images and hyperspectral images in the visible-near-infrared (VNIR, 400–850 nm) and short-wave infrared regions (SWIR, 950–1700 nm). The best performing RS-SVM model (OA = 75%; kappa = 0.50) included as predictors leaf protein content, nitrogen indices (NIs), fluorescence and a thermal indicator (Tc), alongside pigments and structural parameters. Leaf protein content together with NIs contributed 28% to the explanatory power of the model, followed by chlorophyll (22%), structural parameters (LAI and LIDFa), and chlorophyll indicators of photosynthetic efficiency. Coupling the RS model with an epidemic spread model increased the accuracy (OA = 80%; kappa = 0.48). In the almond trees where the presence of Xf was assayed by qPCR (n = 318 trees), the combined RS-spread model yielded an OA of 71% and kappa = 0.33, which is higher than the RS-only model and visual inspections (both OA = 64–65% and kappa = 0.26–31). Our work demonstrates how combining spatial epidemiological models and remote sensing can lead to highly accurate predictions of plant disease spatial distribution.Data collection was partially supported by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program through grant agreements POnTE (635646) and XF-ACTORS (727987). R. Calderón was supported by a post-doctoral research fellowship from the Alfonso Martin Escudero Foundation (Spain)

Contralateral asymmetry for breast cancer detection : A CADx approach

Early detection is fundamental for the effective treatment of breast cancer and the screening mammography is the most common tool used by the medical community to detect early breast cancer development. Screening mammograms include images of both breasts using two standard views, and the contralateral asymmetry per view is a key feature in detecting breast cancer. we propose a methodology to incorporate said asymmetry information into a computer-aided diagnosis system that can accurately discern between healthy subjects and subjects at risk of having breast cancer. Furthermore, we generate features that measure not only a view-wise asymmetry, but a subject-wise one. Briefly, the methodology co-registers the left and right mammograms, extracts image characteristics, fuses them into subjectwise features, and classifies subjects. In this study, 152 subjects from two independent databases, one with analog- and one with digital mammograms, were used to validate the methodology. Areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.738 and 0.767, and diagnostic odds ratios of 23.10 and 9.00 were achieved, respectively. In addition, the proposed method has the potential to rank subjects by their probability of having breas

Visceral and somatic pain modalities reveal NaV 1.7-independent visceral nociceptive pathways.

KEY POINTS: Voltage-gated sodium channels play a fundamental role in determining neuronal excitability. Specifically, voltage-gated sodium channel subtype NaV 1.7 is required for sensing acute and inflammatory somatic pain in mice and humans but its significance in pain originating from the viscera is unknown. Using comparative behavioural models evoking somatic and visceral pain pathways, we identify the requirement for NaV 1.7 in regulating somatic (noxious heat pain threshold) but not in visceral pain signalling. These results enable us to better understand the mechanisms underlying the transduction of noxious stimuli from the viscera, suggest that the investigation of pain pathways should be undertaken in a modality-specific manner and help to direct drug discovery efforts towards novel visceral analgesics. ABSTRACT: Voltage-gated sodium channel NaV 1.7 is required for acute and inflammatory pain in mice and humans but its significance for visceral pain is unknown. Here we examine the role of NaV 1.7 in visceral pain processing and the development of referred hyperalgesia using a conditional nociceptor-specific NaV 1.7 knockout mouse (NaV 1.7Nav1.8 ) and selective small-molecule NaV 1.7 antagonist PF-5198007. NaV 1.7Nav1.8 mice showed normal nociceptive behaviours in response to intracolonic application of either capsaicin or mustard oil, stimuli known to evoke sustained nociceptor activity and sensitization following tissue damage, respectively. Normal responses following induction of cystitis by cyclophosphamide were also observed in both NaV 1.7Nav1.8 and littermate controls. Loss, or blockade, of NaV 1.7 did not affect afferent responses to noxious mechanical and chemical stimuli in nerve-gut preparations in mouse, or following antagonism of NaV 1.7 in resected human appendix stimulated by noxious distending pressures. However, expression analysis of voltage-gated sodium channel α subunits revealed NaV 1.7 mRNA transcripts in nearly all retrogradely labelled colonic neurons, suggesting redundancy in function. By contrast, using comparative somatic behavioural models we identify that genetic deletion of NaV 1.7 (in NaV 1.8-expressing neurons) regulates noxious heat pain threshold and that this can be recapitulated by the selective NaV 1.7 antagonist PF-5198007. Our data demonstrate that NaV 1.7 (in NaV 1.8-expressing neurons) contributes to defined pain pathways in a modality-dependent manner, modulating somatic noxious heat pain, but is not required for visceral pain processing, and advocate that pharmacological block of NaV 1.7 alone in the viscera may be insufficient in targeting chronic visceral pain.University of Granada Dr Hadwen Trust for Humane Researc

Magnetic Field Dependence of Macroscopic Quantum Tunneling and Coherence of Ferromagnetic Particle

We calculate the quantum tunneling rate of a ferromagnetic particle of $\sim 100 \AA$ diameter in a magnetic field of arbitrary angle. We consider the magnetocrystalline anisotropy with the biaxial symmetry and that with the tetragonal symmetry. Using the spin-coherent-state path integral, we obtain approximate analytic formulas of the tunneling rates in the small $\epsilon (=1- H/H_c)$-limit for the magnetic field normal to the easy axis ($\theta_H = \pi/2$), for the field opposite to the initial easy axis ($\theta_H = \pi$), and for the field at an angle between these two orientations ($\pi/2 << \theta_H << \pi$). In addition, we obtain numerically the tunneling rates for the biaxial symmetry in the full range of the angle $\theta_H$ of the magnetic field ($\pi/2 < \theta_H \leq \pi$), for the values of \epsilon =0.01 and 0.001.Comment: 25 pages of text (RevTex) and 4 figures (PostScript files), to be published in Phys. Rev.

Progress and achievements on the early detection of Xylella fastidiosa infection and symptom development with hyperspectral and thermal remote sensing imagery

Trabajo presentado en la 3rd European Conference on Xylella fastidiosa (Building knowledge, protecting plant health), celebrada online el 29 y 30 de abril de 2021.Remote sensing efforts made as part of European initiatives via POnTE, XF-ACTORS and the JRC, as well as through regional programs, have focused, among others, on the development of algorithms for the early detection of Xylella fastidiosa (Xf)-induced symptoms. Airborne campaigns carried out between 2016 and 2019 collected high-resolution hyperspectral and thermal images from infected areas in the Apulia region (Italy), in the province of Alicante and on the island of Mallorca (Spain). The remote sensing imagery collections were performed alongside field surveys and laboratory analyses to assess the presence of Xf, and the severity and incidence of disease in olive and almond trees. Radiative transfer models and machine learning algorithms were used to quantify spectral plant traits for each individual infected tree, assessing their importance as pre visual indicators of Xf-induced stress. These studies conducted across species have demonstrated that specific spectral plant traits successfully revealed Xf induced symptoms at early stages, i.e., before visual symptoms appear. The results show that spectral plant traits contribute differently to symptom detection across host species (olive vs. almond), and that abiotic-induced stress affects the performance of the algorithms used for detecting infected trees. Together, the different European initiatives studying the use of remote sensing to support the monitoring of landscapes for Xylella fastidiosa detection lead us to conclude that the early detection of Xf-induced symptoms is feasible when high-resolution hyperspectral imagery and physically-based plant trait retrievals are used, obtaining accuracies exceeding 92% (kappa>0.8). These results are essential to enable the implementation of effective control and management of plant diseases using airborne- droneand satellite-based remote sensing technologies. Moreover, these large-scale hyperspectral and thermal imaging methods greatly contribute to the future operational monitoring of infected areas at large scales, well beyond what is possible from field surveys and laboratory analyses alone

Pandemic grief in El Salvador: factors that predict dysfunctional grief due to a COVID-19 death among Salvadoran adults

Thousands of people have died of COVID-19 in El Salvador. However, little is known about the mental health of those who are mourning the loss of a loved one to COVID-19. Therefore, the objective of this study was to examine the dysfunctional grief associated with COVID-19 death among Salvadoran adults. A sample of 435 Salvadorans (M = 29 years; SD = 8.75) who lost a family member or loved one to COVID-19 completed a digital survey using the Google Forms platform, during April 2 and 28, 2022. The results revealed that 35.1% reported clinically elevated symptoms of dysfunctional grief and among those mourners, and 25.1% also exhibited clinical levels of coronavirus anxiety. A binary logistic regression revealed that predictor variables such as COVID-19 anxiety (p =.003), depression (p =.021), and COVID-19 obsession (p =.032) were significant (χ2 = 84.31; Nagelkerke R2 =.242) and predict a 24.2% chance of dysfunctional bereavement

El método potencial (gravimetría) como herramienta en el análisis morfotectónico del valle de Iglesia, provincia de San Juan

La reciente evolución tectónica de los Andes por la convergencia entre las placas de Nazca y Sudamericana produjo la elevación y posterior denudación del orógeno andino, ocasionando el avance de la deformación hacia el antepais y el desmembramiento y deformación de las cuencas del retroarco. La Cuenca de Iglesia está limitada al este por Precordillera Occidental y al oeste por Cordillera Frontal. La actividad tectónica cuaternaria en esta depresión queda evidenciada por las estructuras identificadas en ambos piedemontes. En este trabajo se correlacionan las deformaciones cuaternarias observadas e inferidas en superficie a través de un análisis morfotectónico, con las existentes en subsuelo, obtenidas en función del procesamiento y análisis de datos gravimétricos. La interpretación geofísica-geológica de las anomalías gravimétricas residuales sugiere la presencia de estructuras que segmentan el valle, ejerciendo un control estructural sobre la cuenca de Iglesia con la reorganización de la red de drenaje durante el Cuaternario. Así, el análisis de la red de drenaje y de la carta de anomalías gravimétricas residuales permitió interpretar dos importantes altos estructurales no aflorantes, uno de rumbo ONO y otro aproximado O-E reflejados por divisorias de aguas entre las cuencas de los ríos Blanco, Seco de Los Tambillos- Arroyo Iglesia y de Los Tambillos. Así, la respuesta gravimétrica del basamento y de las subcuencas que componen el valle de Iglesia, muestra una correlación con la estructura superficial y subsuperficial asociada al desarrollo de las tres cuencas fluviales del valle. Se destaca el uso de las herramientas geofísicas (gravimetría) y morfotectónicas en el reconocimiento de estas estructuras subsuperficiales que controlan el paisaje CuaternarioFil: Alcacer Sánchez, J. Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Geología "Dr. Emiliano Aparicio". Gabinete de Neotectónica y Geomorfología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Juan. Centro de Investigaciones de la Geosfera y Biosfera. Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Centro de Investigaciones de la Geosfera y Biosfera; ArgentinaFil: Tejada Recabarren, Flavia Emilce. Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Geología "Dr. Emiliano Aparicio". Gabinete de Neotectónica y Geomorfología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Juan. Centro de Investigaciones de la Geosfera y Biosfera. Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Centro de Investigaciones de la Geosfera y Biosfera; ArgentinaFil: Rothis, Martín. Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Geología "Dr. Emiliano Aparicio". Gabinete de Neotectónica y Geomorfología; ArgentinaFil: Perucca, Laura Patricia A.. Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Geología "Dr. Emiliano Aparicio". Gabinete de Neotectónica y Geomorfología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Juan. Centro de Investigaciones de la Geosfera y Biosfera. Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Centro de Investigaciones de la Geosfera y Biosfera; ArgentinaFil: Haro Sanchez, Federico Miguel. Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Geología "Dr. Emiliano Aparicio". Gabinete de Neotectónica y Geomorfología; ArgentinaFil: Miranda, Silvia Alicia. Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales. Departamento de Geofísica y Astronomía; Argentin