Secure spontaneous emergency access to personal health record

We propose a system which enables access to the user's Personal Health Record (PHR) in the event of emergency. The access typically occurs in an ad-hoc and spontaneous manner and the user is usually unconscious, hence rendering the unavailability of the user's password to access the PHR. The proposed system includes a smart card carried by the user at all time and it is personalized with a pseudo secret, an URL to the PHR Server, a secret key shared with the PHR Server and a number of redemption tokens generated using a hash chain. In each emergency session, a one-time use redemption token is issued by the smart card, allowing the emergency doctor to retrieve the user's PHR upon successful authentication of his credentials and validation of the redemption token. The server returns the PHR encrypted with a one-time session key which can only be decrypted by the emergency doctor. The devised interaction protocol to facilitate emergency access to the user's PHR is secure and efficient

A template of atmospheric O2 circularly polarized emission for CMB experiments

We compute the circularly polarized signal from atmospheric molecular oxygen. Polarization of O2 rotational lines is caused by Zeeman effect in the Earth magnetic field. We evaluate the circularly polarized emission for various sites suitable for CMB measurements: South Pole and Dome C (Antarctica), Atacama (Chile) and Testa Grigia (Italy). An analysis of the polarized signal is presented and discussed in the framework of future CMB polarization experiments. We find a typical circularly polarized signal (V Stokes parameter) of ~ 50 - 300 {\mu}K at 90 GHz looking at the zenith. Among the other sites Atacama shows the lower polarized signal at the zenith. We present maps of this signal for the various sites and show typical elevation and azimuth scans. We find that Dome C presents the lowest gradient in polarized temperature: ~ 0.3 {\mu}K/\circ at 90 GHz. We also study the frequency bands of observation: around {\nu} \simeq 100 GHz and {\nu} \simeq 160 GHz we find the best conditions because the polarized signal vanishes. Finally we evaluate the accuracy of the templates and the signal variability in relation with the knowledge and the variability of the Earth magnetic field and the atmospheric parameters.Comment: 10 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication on Mon. Not. R. Astron. So

El enfoque por competencias y profesionalización de la enseñanza: una clarificación conceptual

Teniendo a la base la temática actual de la profesionalización docente, este artículo presenta una clarificación conceptual en torno a cuatro interrogantes: ¿por qué profesionalizar la carrera docente y qué nexos establecer entre la profesionalización y el enfoque por competencias? ¿Qué entender por competencia? ¿Qué contribuciones aporta el enfoque por competencias? ¿Cuáles son los límites de este enfoque? A partir de los elementos expuestos, el texto intenta poner en evidencia la necesidad de realizar una reflexión crítica exhaustiva sobre el tema en cuestión con el fin de tomar decisiones más fundamentadas en materia de producción de currículos y la operacionalización de éstos tanto en las prácticas de enseñanza como en la formación docent

Variation in sport participation, fitness and motor coordination with socioeconomic status among Flemish children

Socioeconomic status (SES) is often indicated as a factor that influences physical activity and associated health outcomes. This study examined the relationship between SES and sport participation, morphology, fitness and motor coordination in a sample of 1955 Flemish children 6-11 years of age. Gender, age and SES-specific values for morphologic dimensions, amount and type of sport participation and fitness and motor coordination tests were compared. SES was positively and significantly associated with sport participation and sports club membership in both sexes. Although differences were not consistently significant, morphologic dimensions and tests of fitness and motor coordination showed a trend in favor of children from higher SES. The results suggest that public and local authorities should consider providing equal opportunities for children in all social strata and especially those in the lower SES to experience the beneficial effects of sport participation through which they can enhance levels of physical fitness and motor coordination

Skylab 4 visual observations project report

The Skylab 4 Visual Observations Project was undertaken to determine the ways in which man can contribute to future earth-orbital observational programs. The premission training consisted of 17 hours of lectures by scientists representing 16 disciplines and provided the crewmen information on observational and photographic procedures and the scientific significance of this information. During the Skylab 4 mission, more than 850 observations and 2000 photographs with the 70-millimeter Hasselblad and 35-millimeter Nikon cameras were obtained for many investigative areas. Preliminary results of the project indicate that man can obtain new and unique information to support satellite earth-survey programs because of his inherent capability to make selective observations, to integrate the information, and to record the data by describing and photographing the observational sites

Settlement of Macoma balthica larvae in response to benthic diatom films

The role of multi-species benthic diatom films (BDF) in the settlement of late pediveliger larvae of the bivalve Macoma balthica was investigated in still-water bioassays and multiple choice flume experiments. Axenic diatom cultures that were isolated from a tidal mudflat inhabited by M. balthica were selected to develop BDF sediment treatments characterized by a different community structure, biomass, and amount of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). Control sediments had no added diatoms. Although all larvae settled and initiated burrowing within the first minute after their addition in still water, regardless of treatment, only 48-52% had completely penetrated the high diatom biomass treatments after 5 min, while on average 80 and 69% of the larvae had settled and burrowed into the control sediments and BDF with a low diatom biomass (<3.5 mu g Chl a g(-1) dry sediment), respectively. The percentage of larvae settling and burrowing into the sediment was negatively correlated with the concentration of Chl a and EPS of the BDF. This suggests higher physical resistance to bivalve penetration by the BDF with higher diatom biomass and more associated sugar and protein compounds. The larval settlement rate in annular flume experiments at flow velocities of 5 and 15 cm s(-1) was distinctly lower compared to the still-water assays. Only 4.6-5.8% of the larvae were recovered from BDF and control sediments after 3 h. Nonetheless, a clear settlement preference was observed for BDF in the flume experiments; i.e., larvae settled significantly more in BDF compared to control sediments irrespective of flow speed. Comparison with the settlement of polystyrene mimics and freeze-killed larvae led to the conclusion that active selection, active secondary dispersal and, at low flow velocities (5 cm s(-1)), passive adhesion to the sediment are important mechanisms determining the settlement of M. balthica larvae in estuarine biofilms

Spatial and temporal adaptations that accompany increasing catching performance during learning.

The authors studied changes in performance and kinematics during the acquisition of a 1-handed catch. Participants were 8 women who took an intensive 2-week training program during which they evolved from poor catchers to subexpert catchers. An increased temporal consistency, shift in spatial location of ball-hand contact away from the body, and higher peak velocity of the transport of the hand toward the ball accompanied their improvement in catching performance. Moreover, novice catchers first adjusted spatial characteristics of the catch to the task constraints and fine-tuned temporal features only later during learning. A principal components analysis on a large set of kinematic variables indicated that a successful catch depends on (a) forward displacement of the hand and (b) the dynamics of the hand closure, thereby providing a kinematic underpinning for the traditional transport-manipulation dissociation in the grasping and catching literature. Copyright © 2007 Heldref Publications

The value of non-sport-specific characteristics for talent orientation in young male judo, karate and taekwondo athletes

Background & Study Aim: The present study aims to discriminate young male taekwondo, judo, and karate athletes from two age groups. It is hypothesized that a generic test battery (i.e. consisting of non-sport specific items) can allocate athletes in their respective sports. It is also expected that due to training and experience, differences between sports would be larger in the oldest age group. Material & Methods: Fifty-six highly trained taekwondo, judo, and karate athletes U13 (11.596 ± 0.578 years; n = 30) and U18 (16.097 ± 0.844 years; n = 26) completed five anthropometrical, six physical performance and three motor coordination tests. Discriminant analyses were used to investigate relevant performance measures while MANOVAs were conducted to elucidate the differences between taekwondo, judo and karate. Results: The classification results for both discriminant analyses U13 and U18 showed a perfect classification (100%) of the athletes in their respective sports. U18 showed higher multivariate differences between the three martial arts i.e. for anthropometrical measures (F2.148, P =0.044, ES =0.36), physical performance characteristics (F2.216, P =0.033, ES =0.43) and motor coordination (F6.697, P <0.001, ES =0.49) when compared to their younger counterparts. Judo athletes had the highest scores for sit and reach, handgrip, counter movement jump and balance beam. While taekwondo athletes had the highest scores for sit-ups, sprint 5m and 30m and jumping sideways. Conclusions: Generic talent characteristics allow for a successful discrimination between judo, taekwondo and karate athletes, while the differences between the martial arts profiles are more pronounced in older athletes. © Archives of Budo