Predictors of English Health Literacy among U.S. Hispanic Immigrants: The importance of language, bilingualism and sociolinguistic environment

In the United States, data confirm that Spanish-speaking immigrants are particularly affected by the negative health outcomes associated with low health literacy. Although the literature points to variables such as age, educational background and language, only a few studies have investigated the factors that may influence health literacy in this group. Similarly, the role that bilingualism and/or multilingualism play in health literacy assessment continues to be an issue in need of further research. The purpose of this study was to examine the predictors of English health literacy among adult Hispanic immigrants whose self-reported primary language is Spanish, but who live and function in a bilingual community. It also explored issues related to the language of the instrument. An analysis of data collected through a randomized controlled study was conducted. Results identified English proficiency as the strongest predictor of health literacy (p < 0.001). The results further point to the importance of primary and secondary language in the assessment of heath literacy level. This study raises many questions in need of further investigation to clarify how language proficiency and sociolinguistic environment affect health literacy in language minority adults; proposes language approaches that may be more appropriate for measuring health literacy in these populations; and recommends further place-based research to determine whether the connection between language proficiency and health is generalizable to border communities

Kinetics and mechanism of the reaction between atomic chlorine and dimethyl selenide; comparison with the reaction between atomic chlorine and dimethyl sulfide

Dimethyl selenide is the most abundant gaseous selenium species in marine environments. In this work, the value of the rate coefficient for the gas-phase reaction between dimethyl selenide and Cl atoms has been determined for the first time. The value of the second-order rate coefficient obtained was (5.0±1.4)×10–10 cm3 molecule–1 s–1. The very fast nature of the reaction means that, when estimating the lifetime of dimethyl selenide in the atmosphere, loss due to reaction with Cl atoms should be considered along with loss due to reaction with O3 and with OH and NO3 radicals. Analysis of the available kinetic data suggests that at 760 Torr the dominant reaction pathway for the reaction of Cl atoms with dimethyl selenide will be the addition of Cl to the Se atom forming an adduct of the type CH3Se(Cl)CH3. Theoretical calculations, at the B3LYP/6-311++G(2df,p)//B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) level of theory, show that at 298 K the value of rH for the formation of the adduct is –111.4 kJ mol–1. This value may be compared to –97.0 kJ mol–1, the value calculated for rH for the formation of the analogous sulfur adduct, CH3S(Cl)CH3, following the reaction between Cl atoms and dimethyl sulfide. Variational RRKM theory was used to predict the thermal decomposition rates of the two adducts back to starting materials. The estimated rate constant for the decomposition of the selenium adduct to the reactants is 5×10–5 s–1, compared to 0.02 s–1 in the case of the sulfur adduct. However, our calculations suggest that the CH3Se(Cl)CH3 adduct, which is initially formed highly excited, will not be stabilised under atmospheric conditions, but rather will decompose to yield CH3SeCl and CH3, a process that is calculated to be exothermic with respect to the initial reactants by 5.8 kJ mol–1. The formation of CH3SCl and CH3 from the sulfur adduct, on the other hand, is endothermic by 20.8 kJ mol–1 with respect to the initial reactants, and is thus not expected to occur

Learning Economic Parameters from Revealed Preferences

A recent line of work, starting with Beigman and Vohra (2006) and Zadimoghaddam and Roth (2012), has addressed the problem of {\em learning} a utility function from revealed preference data. The goal here is to make use of past data describing the purchases of a utility maximizing agent when faced with certain prices and budget constraints in order to produce a hypothesis function that can accurately forecast the {\em future} behavior of the agent. In this work we advance this line of work by providing sample complexity guarantees and efficient algorithms for a number of important classes. By drawing a connection to recent advances in multi-class learning, we provide a computationally efficient algorithm with tight sample complexity guarantees ($\Theta(d/\epsilon)$ for the case of $d$ goods) for learning linear utility functions under a linear price model. This solves an open question in Zadimoghaddam and Roth (2012). Our technique yields numerous generalizations including the ability to learn other well-studied classes of utility functions, to deal with a misspecified model, and with non-linear prices

Flow instabilities of magnetic flux tubes IV. Flux storage in the solar overshoot region

We consider the effects of material flows on the dynamics of toroidal magnetic flux tubes located close to the base of the solar convection zone, initially within the overshoot region. The problem is to find the physical conditions in which magnetic flux can be stored for periods comparable to the dynamo amplification time, which is of the order of a few years. We carry out nonlinear numerical simulations to investigate the stability and dynamics of thin flux tubes subject to perpendicular and longitudinal flows. We compare the simulations with the results of simplified analytical approximations. We determine ranges of the flow parameters for which a linearly Parker-stable magnetic flux tube is stored in the middle of the overshoot region for a period comparable to the dynamo amplification time. The residence time for magnetic flux tubes with fluxes of 2x10^{21} Mx in the convective overshoot layer is comparable to the dynamo amplification time, provided that the average speed and the duration of the downflow do not exceed about 50 m/s and 100 days, respectively, and that the lateral extension of the flow is smaller than about 10 degrees.Comment: Accepted to be published in Astronomy and Astrophysics. 16 pages, 16 figures. To access GIF animations, use http://www.mps.mpg.de/homes/ishik/flute/frict_inst.gif, http://www.mps.mpg.de/homes/ishik/flute/TF60.gif and http://www.mps.mpg.de/homes/ishik/flute/TF180.gi

Force measurements with optical tweezers inside living cells

The force exerted by optical tweezers can be measured by tracking the momentum changes of the trapping beam, a method which is more general and powerful than traditional calibration techniques as it is based on first principles, but which has not been brought to its full potential yet, probably due to practical difficulties when combined with high-NA optical traps, such as the necessity to capture a large fraction of the scattered light. We show that it is possible to measure forces on arbitrary biological objects inside cells without an in situ calibration, using this approach. The instrument can be calibrated by measuring three scaling parameters that are exclusively determined by the design of the system, thus obtaining a conversion factor from volts to piconewtons that is theoretically independent of the physical properties of the sample and its environment. We prove that this factor keeps valid inside cells as it shows good agreement with other calibration methods developed in recent years for viscoelastic media. Finally, we apply the method to measuring the stall forces of kinesin and dynein in living A549 cells.Publisher PD

Captura ocasional per òliba Tyto alba d'escarabats de Sant Joan Polyphylla fullo en una zona d'emergència massiva

Occasional capture by the barn owl Tyto alba of the June beetle Polyphylla fullo in an area of massive emergence. The hunting behaviour of the Barn Owl Tyto alba of June Beetles Polyphylla fullo is hereby described from the finding of a pellet containing a high level of remains of this Coleopteran. The exploitation of this resource appears to be opportunistic and may be caused by the superabundance of this beetle from May to July in the area of S’Albufera known as Ses Puntes