652 research outputs found

    Evaluation of public and private health care systems

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    Indexación: ScieloBackground: There is a great degree of dissatisfaction with the Chilean health care system. Aim: To investigate which are the most relevant perceived factors when the health care system is evaluated. Material and Methods: Analysis of a survey about the Chilean health care system carried out during 2011, 2012 and 2013, involving 2,801 respondents. Results: The response capacity of emergency systems was the main factor considered for the evaluation of public and private health care systems. Respondents who were affiliated to private insurance systems also took into consideration the quality of medical infrastructure. Conclusions: There are different factors considered when public or private health care systems are evaluated. Key words: Delivery of health care; Public Health; Public Opinion; Chile

    Long-term magnetic anomalies and their possible relationship to the latest greater Chilean earthquakes in the context of the seismo-electromagnetic theory

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    Several magnetic measurements and theoretical developments from different research groups have shown certain relationships with worldwide geological processes. Secular variation in geomagnetic cutoff rigidity, magnetic frequencies, or magnetic anomalies have been linked with spatial properties of active convergent tectonic margins or earthquake occurrences during recent years. These include the rise in similar fundamental frequencies in the range of microhertz before the Maule 2010, Tōhoku 2011, and Sumatra–Andaman 2004 earthquakes and the dramatic rise in the cumulative number of magnetic anomalous peaks before several earthquakes such as Nepal 2015 and Mexico (Puebla) 2017. Currently, all of these measurements have been physically explained by the microcrack generation due to uniaxial stress change in rock experiments. The basic physics of these experiments have been used to describe the lithospheric behavior in the context of the seismo-electromagnetic theory. Due to the dramatic increase in experimental evidence, physical mechanisms, and the theoretical framework, this paper analyzes vertical magnetic behavior close to the three latest main earthquakes in Chile: Maule 2010 (Mw 8.8), Iquique 2014 (Mw 8.2), and Illapel 2015 (Mw 8.3). The fast Fourier transform (FFT), wavelet transform, and daily cumulative number of anomalies methods were used during quiet space weather time during 1 year before and after each earthquake in order to filter space influence. The FFT method confirms the rise in the power spectral density in the millihertz range 1 month before each earthquake, which decreases to lower values some months after earthquake occurrence. The cumulative anomaly method exhibited an increase prior to each Chilean earthquake (50–90 d prior to earthquakes) similar to those found for Nepal 2015 and Mexico 2017. The wavelet analyses also show similar properties to FFT analysis. However, the lack of physics-based constraints in the wavelet analysis does not allow conclusions that are as strong as those made by FFT and cumulative methods. By using these results and previous research, it could be stated that these magnetic features could give seismic information about impending events. Additionally, these results could be related to the lithosphere–atmosphere–ionosphere coupling (LAIC effect) and the growth of microcracks and electrification in rocks described by the seismo-electromagnetic theory.</p

    COLDz: Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array discovery of a gas-rich galaxy in COSMOS

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    The broad spectral bandwidth at mm and cm-wavelengths provided by the recent upgrades to the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) has made it possible to conduct unbiased searches for molecular CO line emission at redshifts, z > 1.31. We present the discovery of a gas-rich, star-forming galaxy at z = 2.48, through the detection of CO(1-0) line emission in the COLDz survey, through a sensitive, Ka-band (31 to 39 GHz) VLA survey of a 6.5 square arcminute region of the COSMOS field. We argue that the broad line (FWHM ~570 +/- 80 km/s) is most likely to be CO(1-0) at z=2.48, as the integrated emission is spatially coincident with an infrared-detected galaxy with a photometric redshift estimate of z = 3.2 +/- 0.4. The CO(1-0) line luminosity is L'_CO = (2.2 +/- 0.3) x 10^{10} K km/s pc^2, suggesting a cold molecular gas mass of M_gas ~ (2 - 8)x10^{10}M_solar depending on the assumed value of the molecular gas mass to CO luminosity ratio alpha_CO. The estimated infrared luminosity from the (rest-frame) far-infrared spectral energy distribution (SED) is L_IR = 2.5x10^{12} L_solar and the star-formation rate is ~250 M_solar/yr, with the SED shape indicating substantial dust obscuration of the stellar light. The infrared to CO line luminosity ratio is ~114+/-19 L_solar/(K km/s pc^2), similar to galaxies with similar SFRs selected at UV/optical to radio wavelengths. This discovery confirms the potential for molecular emission line surveys as a route to study populations of gas-rich galaxies in the future

    Compound-specific carbon isotope analysis of volatile organic compounds in water using solid-phase microextraction.

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    The compound-specific isotope analysis technique in conjunction with solid-phase microextraction using a Carboxen-polydimethylsiloxane fiber was tested and implemented for isotopes analysis of organic compounds aiming for environmental application in contaminated groundwater. δ13C values of several chlorinated methanes and ethenes, toluene and chlorobenzene were determined using a gas chromatograph coupled to an isotope ratio mass spectrometer through a combustion interface. Direct and headspace solid-phase microextraction (D-SPME, HS-SPME) methods were tested in order to determine the optimum conditions to obtain reproducible δ13C values at very low concentration (ug/L range) and, to elucidate the carbon isotopic effects associated with the competitive extraction. For D-SPME higher accuracy and precision of δ13C results were obtained with no salted aqueous standards. Despite that the δ13C of those compounds analyzed with both methods showed similar precision (< 0.5 ¿) and accuracy, the highest sensitivity was reached with HS-SPME. Furthermore, the δ13C values of cis-1,2-dichloroethylene, chorinated methanes and aromatic compounds obtained using HS-SPME showed measurable deviations respect to the isotopic composition of pure phase compounds, however, these deviations are constant according to the analytical uncertainties, indicating that they are not affected by competitive extraction and, they could be corrected using standard correction technique based on internal calibrated standards

    Viscosity of choline chloride-based deep eutectic solvents: Experiments and modeling

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    Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) have emerged as promising “green” solvents, but their successful industrial application requires relatively low viscosity. DESs prepared from choline chloride and glycols offer such a possibility. Viscosity and density are reported for a number of DESs obtained by mixing choline chloride and a glycol (ethylene glycol, 1,2-propanediol, 1,3-propanediol, and 1,4-butanediol). The measurements were performed at 101.3 kPa, at temperatures between 293.15 and 333.15 K, and for different mole ratios of glycol and choline chloride. The viscosity was measured with a capillary viscometer, while the density was measured by means of a vibrating U-tube densimeter. The density and viscosity data have expanded relative uncertainties of 0.2 and 2.0%, respectively, with a coverage factor of 2. The viscosity of pure glycols was modeled using the extended hard-sphere (EHS) model that has its basis in kinetic theory and the molecular description of the fluid. Each DES was treated as a binary mixture, and the EHS model was used, with a mole average mixing rule, to calculate its viscosity. The measured DES viscosity data were represented with an average absolute deviation of 1.4% and a maximum deviation of 7%

    Online monitoring of the impact of language processing on motor processes: prehensile grip-force measures during passive listening of manual action.

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    A large number of recent behavioural studies have established that processing linguistic descriptions of motor actions affect overt motor behaviour. For instance, when participants are asked to make sensibility judgments on sentences that describe action toward the body (“Mark gave the book to yo

    ALLSMOG: an APEX Low-redshift Legacy Survey for MOlecular Gas. I - molecular gas scaling relations, and the effect of the CO/H2 conversion factor

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    We present ALLSMOG, the APEX Low-redshift Legacy Survey for MOlecular Gas. ALLSMOG is a survey designed to observe the CO(2-1) emission line with the APEX telescope, in a sample of local galaxies (0.01 < z < 0.03), with stellar masses in the range 8.5 < log(M*/Msun) < 10. This paper is a data release and initial analysis of the first two semesters of observations, consisting of 42 galaxies observed in CO(2-1). By combining these new CO(2-1) emission line data with archival HI data and SDSS optical spectroscopy, we compile a sample of low-mass galaxies with well defined molecular gas masses, atomic gas masses, and gas-phase metallicities. We explore scaling relations of gas fraction and gas consumption timescale, and test the extent to which our findings are dependent on a varying CO/H2 conversion factor. We find an increase in the H2/HI mass ratio with stellar mass which closely matches semi-analytic predictions. We find a mean molecular gas fraction for ALLSMOG galaxies of MH2/M* = (0.09 - 0.13), which decreases with stellar mass. We measure a mean molecular gas consumption timescale for ALLSMOG galaxies of 0.4 - 0.7 Gyr. We also confirm the non-universality of the molecular gas consumption timescale, which varies (with stellar mass) from ~100 Myr to ~2 Gyr. Importantly, we find that the trends in the H2/HI mass ratio, gas fraction, and the non-universal molecular gas consumption timescale are all robust to a range of recent metallicity-dependent CO/H2 conversion factors.Comment: 25 pages, 15 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA

    Quest for COSMOS Submillimeter Galaxy Counterparts using CARMA and VLA: Identifying Three High-redshift Starburst Galaxies

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    We report on interferometric observations at 1.3 mm at 2"-3" resolution using the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy. We identify multi-wavelength counterparts of three submillimeter galaxies (SMGs; F_(1mm) > 5.5 mJy) in the COSMOS field, initially detected with MAMBO and AzTEC bolometers at low, ~10"-30", resolution. All three sources—AzTEC/C1, Cosbo-3, and Cosbo-8—are identified to coincide with positions of 20 cm radio sources. Cosbo-3, however, is not associated with the most likely radio counterpart, closest to the MAMBO source position, but with that farther away from it. This illustrates the need for intermediate-resolution (~2") mm-observations to identify the correct counterparts of single-dish-detected SMGs. All of our three sources become prominent only at NIR wavelengths, and their mm-to-radio flux based redshifts suggest that they lie at redshifts z ≳ 2. As a proof of concept, we show that photometric redshifts can be well determined for SMGs, and we find photometric redshifts of 5.6 ± 1.2, 1.9^(+0.9)_(–0.5), and ~4 for AzTEC/C1, Cosbo-3, and Cosbo-8, respectively. Using these we infer that these galaxies have radio-based star formation rates of ≳ 1000 M_☉ yr^(–1) and IR luminosities of ~10^(13) L_☉ consistent with properties of high-redshift SMGs. In summary, our sources reflect a variety of SMG properties in terms of redshift and clustering, consistent with the framework that SMGs are progenitors of z ~ 2 and today's passive galaxies

    Distribution, conservation status and proposed measures for preservation of Radiodiscus microgastropods in Chile

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    The genus Radiodiscus includes minute terrestrial snails occurring throughout the American continent. We assessed the conservation status of eight poorly known Chilean Radiodiscus species using the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and NatureServe categories and criteria. Under the IUCN guidelines the species were assessed using the Criterion B of geographic range, which considers the extent of occurrence (EOO) and area of occupancy (AOO) as subcriteria. For NatureServe we used these two parameters plus the number of occurrences, ecological viability, and threats. Considering species rarity and possible sampling bias, we also used ecological niche modeling to determine climate and environmental tolerances and predict potential species distributions analyzing bioclimatic and geographical layers. Radiodiscus australis, R. coarctatus and R. quillajicola were listed as Critically Endangered by IUCN and NatureServe standards; R. coppingeri, R. flammulatus, R. magellanicus and R. villarricensis as Endangered by both methods; while R. riochicoensis as Endangered by IUCN standards and Vulnerable by NatureServe standards. Niche modeling results indicated that Radiodiscus species respond to different environmental conditions and that the predicted distribution areas contain suitable habitats beyond the current ranges, which may be helpful for future management plans. Nature-based sport tourism, forestry activities, urbanization, roads, pollution, mining, forest fires, livestock, volcanism, tsunamis, soil erosion and introduced species are among the major threats affecting these snails. Based on the low number of occurrences and the threats identified, the most at-risk species are R. coarctatus and R. quillajicola (one record), R. australis (two records) and R. villarricensis (three records); the latter two lacking occurrences within protected areas. Compiling our findings, we propose a list of actions to preserve Chilean Radiodiscus species
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