210 research outputs found
The role of the terrain geometry on the flames propagation through a vegetative fuel bed
When a wildland fire occurs the domain geometry is a key parameter in governing the way the fire spreads across the terrain. The effect of this variable on the rate of flames propagation was investigated in this work by means of a computational fluid dynamics software specifically designed to simulate fires in wildland environment. The physics-based model - i.e. relied on the laws of conservation of momentum, energy and mass – was adopted under two different domain configurations (double-slope domains and canyon); the capability of the computational code to correctly predict the fire behaviour was verified by comparison with results of experimental tests available in the literature
Towards an Ecological Vision of Neurodidactics
Neuroeducation is a discipline that studies the teaching and learning processes from a neural perspective, in order to contribute to the educational field through interventions that seek to promote changes in the subjects of knowledge. On the other hand, neurodidactics is an emerging discipline with a recent theoretical development, whose implementation could contribute to the development of interventions, given its eminently practical nature in the field of teaching. That is why, in the present work, a journey through some of the conceptualizations of neurodidactics is exposed, trying to provide its differentiation of what is understood by neuroeducation; as well as an ecological vision of neurodidactics is proposed, as an approach that considers the classroom as a natural environment from which and for which pedagogical intervention strategies are developed in the light of neuroscientific findings, and positions the teacher as a mediator of this process, who plans their interventions to optimize the teaching and learning process.Fil: Muchiut, Álvaro Federico. Instituto Superior de Neuropsicología; ArgentinaFil: Vaccaro, Paola. Instituto Superior de Neuropsicología; ArgentinaFil: Pietto, Marcos Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. CEMIC-CONICET. Centro de Educaciones Médicas e Investigaciones Clínicas "Norberto Quirno". CEMIC-CONICET; Argentina. Instituto Superior de Neuropsicología; Argentin
Fire behaviour in canyons due to symmetric and asymmetric ignitions
The eruptive propagation of a fire is a particular behaviour characterized by a sudden increase in the rate of spread and intensity without any change in the external driving forces such as wind velocity and ambient temperature, vegetation type and moisture content. It is, therefore, a local or internal dynamic connected with the terrain configuration and the ignition position that regulates fire spreading and causes its acceleration. This phenomenon is particularly evident and common in canyons. This work aims to study the effect ignition position on the fire propagation in a canyon by means of a physically-based computational code. The code WFDS was shown to be effective to describe the fire behaviour throughout such a terrain configuration
Intelligence, Executive Functions and Academic Achievement in Adolescents of 13 and 14 years old
El ámbito educativo, indudablemente, puede beneficiarse de los aportes de las neurociencias, enfoque desde el cual, en este estudio, se plantearon los objetivos de explorar la relación existente entre la capacidad intelectual (CI), las funciones ejecutivas (FE) y el rendimiento académico (RA) en adolescentes; analizar si la CI y las FE constituyen variables predictoras del RA, e indagar el funcionamiento ejecutivo de la muestra según la CI fuera baja o alta. Para ello, se realizó un estudio no experimental, transversal, descriptivo-correlacional, en el que participaron 36 sujetos de 13-14 años. Los instrumentos de evaluación utilizados fueron WISC-IV, BANFE-2 y el registro de calificaciones provisto por la institución educativa. Los datos obtenidos fueron sometidos a análisis descriptivos, de correlación y de regresión. Los resultados arrojaron correlación positiva significativa entre las variables CI y FE, y entre la prueba WISC-IV y RA, determinándose el CI como variable predictiva del RA, mientras que en relación con las FE evaluadas con BANFE-2 solo se encontró asociación estadísticamente significativa con las subpruebas correspondientes al área prefrontal anterior. Además se observaron diferencias significativas entre los grupos de alta y baja CI en las FE de planificación, memoria de trabajo (MT) y fluidez verbal, en favor del grupo de alto desempeño intelectual. La conclusión se centra en la importancia de involucrar los hallazgos sobre los diferentes procesos cognitivos en el diseño de las estrategias pedagógicas para favorecer al máximo el RA del estudiante. Finalmente, las limitaciones versaron en relación con el tamaño muestral, y se proponen futuras líneas de estudio que posibiliten generalizar los resultados.The study of the relationship between
executive functions, intellectual abilities, and
academic achievement plays an important role
in the field of cognitive neuroscience, particularly for their implications in the educational
field. Intelligence has been linked to executive
functions. In fact, core aspects of intelligence,
such as reasoning, problem-solving and planning, are often included in the wide range of
frontal lobe functions and over laps with the
so-called higher-level executive functions. In
addition, executive functioning abilities are
associated with skills put in play when participating in learning activities at school. In this
sense, different studies have demonstrated
that a lower performance on executive function measures typically is associated with a
lower performance across different academic
areas. The aim of this work was focused on the
relationship between intelligence and executive functions, and their ability to predict
academic achievement. In the present study,
a non-experimental, transversal and descriptive-correlational design was implemented to
explore the relationship between intellectual
abilities, executive functions, and academic
performance in a sample of 37 adolescents
(17 girls) aged 13-14 years. The information
was collected through the school reports of
participants, and their performance on tests
BANFE-2 (neuropsychological battery of
the executive functions and frontal lobes)
and WISC-IV (Wechsler intelligence scale
for children 4th Ed.). Also, adolescents were
classified into two groups (high- and low
performers) based on their performance on the
general intelligence score. Participants with
IQ scores below the median were assigned
to the low-performing group, while participants with IQ scores above the median were
assigned to the high-performing group. The
data obtained were subjected to descriptive,
correlation and regression analyses. Results
showed a pattern of positive and significant
correlations between executive functions
variables (BANFE-2) and intelligence scores
(WISC-IV). The 69 % of significant correlations indicated a moderate – strong degree of
association (i. e., 49 <r(35) < 73), while the
remaining of significant correlations showed
a weak degree of association (i. e., 37 <r(35)
< 50). Particularly, executive functions variables, such as working memory, mental flexibility, and planning, were highly correlated
with the IQ score, verbal comprehension
index, and processing speed index. Further,
academic achievement was predicted by intelligence scores (i. e., IQ score, verbal comprehension index, working memory index and
processing speed index) and variables related
to metafunctions (i. e., abstract reasoning
and metacognition). On average, intelligence scores and metafunctions explained a
20 % of the variance in academic achievement. Finally, results revealed significant
differences according to the general intelligence level of the adolescents, especially in
executive function variables that had shown
a larger association with intelligence scores.
In particular, differences in executive skills
between adolescents with high and low intelligence scores, were mainly characterized by differences in the performance of tasks with
working memory and/or mental flexibility
demands. These results confirm the association between intelligence and executive functions, and the capacity of intelligence abilities and higher-level executive functions in
predicting academic achievement in different
areas. Likewise, these findings highlight the
important role of intelligence and executive
functions in learning and academic achievement, and contribute to the consideration
of different cognitive domains in the design
of pedagogical strategies with the aim of
promoting student performance. However,
it is difficult to generalize findings beyond
the study sample and arrive at more precise
conclusions. The sample size was small and
the scores were below expected standards
in both WISC-IV and BANFE-2. In a future
work, would be required a wider experimental
study to conduct complex models of analysis
that allow more precise and rigorous examinations.Fil: Muchiut, Álvaro Federico. Instituto Superior de Neuropsicologia Numero 166 (uep 166); Argentina. Fundación Centro de Estudios Cognitivos; ArgentinaFil: Vaccaro, Paola. Fundación Centro de Estudios Cognitivos; ArgentinaFil: Pietto, Marcos Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. CEMIC-CONICET. Centro de Educaciones Médicas e Investigaciones Clínicas "Norberto Quirno". CEMIC-CONICET; Argentina. Instituto Superior de Neuropsicologia Numero 166 (uep 166); Argentin
Implications on the Adaptation of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children IV (WISC-IV) in Argentina: Comparison of the WISC-IV Standardized Data from two Argentine Regions
La utilización de pruebas psicológicas validadas y de confiabilidad comprobadas aportan evidencias valiosas al profesional en una multiplicidad de actividades, que comprenden desde el diagnóstico, el plan y el seguimiento de tratamiento hasta la selección laboral, la orientación vocacional, las pericias judiciales e investigación; sin embargo, no siempre se disponen de baremos adaptados a la región en la que se pretende aplicar un instrumento y, en ocasiones, siquiera corresponden a datos normativos del país. En Argentina, la WISC-IV fue adaptada considerando población perteneciente al Área Metropolitana de Buenos Aires, no se incluye muestra de otras regiones del extenso país. Por lo tanto, se realizó una investigación cuantitativa no experimental, exploratoria- descriptiva, con el objetivo de determinar la importancia de contar con baremos adaptados de la WISC-IV para diferentes regiones de un mismo país; para ello, se analizaron comparativamente los índices obtenidos por 520 escolares de 6 a 14 años (agrupados según los rangos de edad 6-8, 9-11 y 12-14) al aplicar dos baremos argentinos (Buenos Aires y Resistencia) para su corrección mediante un análisis de ANOVA mixto. Los resultados evidenciaron diferencias significativas según el baremo sea de Buenos Aires o de Resistencia, en 4 de los 5 índices de la WISC-IV, al abarcar tanto en aspectos relacionados con el funcionamiento cognitivo general (i.e., CIT), como en campos más específicos (i.e., memoria de trabajo - IMO, velocidad de procesamiento - IVP y razonamiento perceptivo - IRP); además, se observaron diferencias entre baremos en CIT, ICV, IRP e IMO y sugerir comportamientos diferentes en los distintos índices según el tipo de baremo aplicado en los diferentes grupos de edad. Los resultados sugieren que la corrección de la escala a un/a estudiante, según las normativas establecidas para una región con características sociodemográficas distintas a la que pertenece el individuo, podría derivar en errores interpretativos de sus aptitudes cognitivas, por lo que se determina la importancia de contar con adaptaciones de las pruebas psicológicas para arribar a interpretaciones que eviten infra o sobrevalorar sus puntuaciones.The use of validated psychological tests provides valuable evidence to specialists in a multiplicity of activities (e.g., predicting diagnoses, guiding treatment and follow-up plans, guiding the job selection process and vocational orientation, determining disability levels for medico-legal purposes). However, a psychological instrument is not generally adapted and standardized in the country in which it is intended to be applied. In Argentina, the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition (WISC-IV) was standardized in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area; but did not include samples from other regions across the vast country. This situation is problematic, because Argentina presents disparities in its socio-demographic characteristics across the territory, and an accurate interpre- tation of intelligence test performance, depends on the use of appropriately standardized data. Hence, a quantitative non-experimental, exploratory-descriptive study was conducted to determine the importance of obtaining locally standardized data for WISC-IV. To this end, the indices obtained from 520 children and adolescents aged 6 to 14 years (grouped according to age ranges 6-8, 9-11 and 12-14) were comparatively analyzed, by analyzing two Argentine adaptations (Buenos Aires and Resistencia). Results revealed differences between normative data from the country's different regions in four indices, which included both aspects of general cognitive functioning (i.e., CIT) and more specific processes (i.e., working memory - IMO, processing speed - IVP, and perceptual reasoning - IRP). These results suggest that the assessment of students, according to non-locally established standardized data, could lead to interpretative errors regarding their cognitive abilities. Thus, the study contributes to knowledge about the importance of using contextually appropriate standardized data in the implementation of intelligence tests, to arrive at evaluations that avoid over- or under- estimating students' abilities.Fil: Mucchiut, Alvaro. Instituto Superior de Neuropsicologia Numero 166 (uep 166); ArgentinaFil: Vaccaro, Paola. Instituto Superior de Neuropsicologia Numero 166 (uep 166); ArgentinaFil: Pietto, Marcos Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. CEMIC-CONICET. Centro de Educaciones Médicas e Investigaciones Clínicas "Norberto Quirno". CEMIC-CONICET; Argentina. Instituto Superior de Neuropsicologia Numero 166 (uep 166); ArgentinaFil: Dri, Constanza. Instituto Superior de Neuropsicologia Numero 166 (uep 166); Argentin
Impact of gas hardening on the population properties of hierarchical black hole mergers in AGN disks
Hierarchical black hole (BH) mergers in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are
unique among formation channels of binary black holes (BBHs) because they are
likely associated with electromagnetic counterparts and can efficiently lead to
the mass growth of BHs. Here, we explore the impact of gas accretion and
migration traps on the evolution of BBHs in AGNs. We have developed a new fast
semi-analytic model, which allows us to explore the parameter space while
capturing the main physical processes involved. We find that effective exchange
of energy and angular momentum between the BBH and the surrounding gas
(hereafter, gas hardening) during inspiral greatly enhances the efficiency of
hierarchical mergers, leading to the formation of intermediate-mass BHs (up to
10.000 solar masses) and triggering spin alignment. Moreover, our models with
efficient gas hardening show both an anti-correlation between BBH mass ratio
and effective spin, and a correlation between primary BH mass and effective
spin. In contrast, if gas hardening is inefficient, the hierarchical merger
chain is already truncated after the first two or three generations. We compare
the BBH population in AGNs with other dynamical channels as well as isolated
binary evolution.Comment: 21 pages, 15 figures, submitted to A&A, comments welcom
Emotionality, Behavior, Social Skills, and Executive Functions in Initial Level Children
Durante el nivel inicial, los infantes suelen expresar respuestas emocionales y conductuales de manera impulsiva, dado que carecen de la aptitud de abstenerse de efectuar conductas que no son apropiadas a la ocasión. En este punto, las Habilidades Sociales (HHSS) y las Funciones Ejecutivas (FE) serán facilitadoras de la interacción asertiva con otros, favoreciendo en control comportamental y evitando los Problemas de Conducta (PC). El objetivo de este estudio fue analizar la correlación entre las FE, la percepción parental en relación a las emociones, y la percepción de docentes respecto de las HHSS y la conducta en niños del nivel inicial de educación; a tal fin se realizó un estudio cuantitativo, transversal, descriptivo-correlacional, en base a un diseño no experimental. La muestra estuvo integrada por 36 niños/as de nivel inicial, a quienes se les administró una batería neuropsicológica, además se incluyeron dos cuestionarios, uno para padres y otro para docentes. Se encontró correlación entre HHSS y PC; entre Planeación y Emociones; y entre Atención y Concentración y Memoria de Trabajo. Se concluye que los niños de nivel inicial poseen una conducta socialmente habilidosa, y manejan sus emociones sin dificultad indistintamente del sexo, según la perspectiva parental y docente.Fil: Mucchiut, Alvaro. Centro de Estudios Cognitivos; ArgentinaFil: Dri, Constanza Ayelen. Centro de Estudios Cognitivos; ArgentinaFil: Vaccaro, Paola. Centro de Estudios Cognitivos; ArgentinaFil: Pietto, Marcos Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. CEMIC-CONICET. Centro de Educaciones Médicas e Investigaciones Clínicas "Norberto Quirno". CEMIC-CONICET; Argentin
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