Status and population trends of Eleonora’s Falcon Falco eleonorae in the Canary Islands

Eleonora’s Falcon Falco eleonorae Gené, 1839 is a colonial, diurnal raptor whose distribution ranges from the Mediterranean region to the eastern coast of Morocco and the Canary Islands, where it has the westernmost and southernmost breeding colonies (Cramp & Simmons 1998, Snow & Perrins 1998). The species is highly migratory, gathering in their breeding areas from mid-April to mid-October (Tucker & Heath 1994), its breeding period adapted to coincide with the postnuptial migration of small passerines (Cramp & Simmons 1998, Del Hoyo et al. 1994). After the application of proper census methods as outlined in the International Action Plan for this species (BirdLife International 1999), its global breeding population was recently estimated at more than 13,500 pairs (Dimalexis et al. 2008), although it could reach c. 30,000 mature individuals (BirdLife International 2008). The Spanish breeding population was estimated at 1,081 pairs distributed over the Balearic Islands (836 breeding pairs; Viada 2006), the Canary Islands (200; De León et al. 2008), and the Columbretes Islands (45; Viada 2006). The species is included in Annex I and II of the European Birds’ Directive 79/409/EEC and constitutes a priority species for conservation. The International Species Action Plan recommended a coordinated international survey as urgent action to conserve the species (BirdLife International 1999), which was accomplished in some countries within the framework of the project “Conservation measures for Falco eleonorae in Greece” LIFE 03NAT/GR/000091. In line with these recommendations, two main aims are pursued in this manuscript: (1) to update census data of the breeding population of Eleonora’s Falcon in the Canary Islands as a contribution to this global census project; (2) to evaluate the population tendency of Eleonora’s Falcon in the Canary Islands by using data from previous studies

Detección de manipulación en vídeos con formato MPEG

Fac. de Estudios EstadísticosTRUEpu

Proyecto educativo ambiental integrado y el desarrollo de la conciencia ambiental en los estudiantes del IESTP Antenor Orrego Espinoza

El propósito de la presente investigación fue establecer la relación entre el Proyecto Educativo Ambiental Integrado y el desarrollo de la Conciencia Ambiental en los estudiantes de educación superior del IESTP Antenor Orrego Espinoza, del ámbito de la Dirección Regional de Lima Metropolitana. La investigación fue de tipo descriptivo correlacional directa, de nivel aplicativo y diseño no experimental. La muestra fue de 297 estudiantes y como técnica se usó la encuesta. El instrumento que se usó fue un cuestionario conformado con 30 preguntas y aplicado a la muestra con apoyo de los docentes de la Unidad Didáctica de Medio Ambiente y desarrollo Sostenible; los resultados fueron procesados con el apoyo de estudiantes y personal docente del Programa de estudios de Computación e informática. Según los resultados el 82,15% de los estudiantes encuestados perciben al Proyecto Educativo Ambiental Integrado en un nivel muy alto, el 17,85% lo perciben en un nivel alto y un 0% en un nivel bajo o muy bajo. Asimismo, el 79,80% perciben la variable Desarrollo de la conciencia ambiental en un nivel muy alto, el 20,20% la perciben en un nivel alto y un 0% un nivel bajo o muy bajo. Por otra parte, se logró concluir que la variable Proyecto Educativo Ambiental Integrado está relacionada directa y positivamente con la variable Desarrollo de la conciencia ambiental de los estudiantes, según la correlación de Spearman de 0,926 representando este resultado un valor muy fuerte con una significancia estadística de p = 0,000 siendo menor que el 0,01

Key facilitators to continuous improvement: a Spanish insight

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to analyse the nature of the facilitators of continuous improvement (CI), proposing a classification of them and identifying the different profiles of companies based on them. Design/methodology/approach: To achieve this objective, first, a literature review was done in order to identify the main facilitators; second, some of them were included in a survey based on experts' opinions; third, a survey was conducted amongst people responsible for implementing CI; and finally factorial and cluster analysis were applied. Findings: Based on the results, three main factors were identified: "cultural facilitators", "tactical facilitators" and "human resources involvement facilitators". Additionally, five clusters were defined. Practical implications: As many companies still struggle when implementing CI, the results of this study can help all them to focus on the most important aspects in order to guarantee the sustainability of the CI system. Originality/value: From a theoretical point of view, this work contributes to the CI field by analysing the nature of the main facilitators companies can find when implementing these initiatives. Thus, not only does this study provide a hierarchy of the most important facilitators, but also classifies them. As far as authors are concerned, this is the first attempt to categorise CI facilitators

Continuous improvement enablers: Defining a new construct

ABSTRACT: Purpose: Continuous improvement is a means of promoting and working through business excellence. However, due to the complexity of the implementation process, many companies fail. Some authors consider that this partly due to the lack of studies which develop and validate theoretical constructs in order to push theory in the CI field. Therefore, this study aims at identifying and better understanding the factors that could act as enablers when implementing a CI initiative by designing and analyzing a new theoretical construct. Design/methodology/approach: After conducting a rigorous literature review and consulting a group of experts, Rasch Measurement Theory was used in order to validate the construct and rank the enablers. Findings: After validating the construct, a hierarchy of priority was obtained, being the following enablers the most important ones: establishing clear objectives, training, recognizing the achievements and learning from the CI process itself and motivation. Practical implications: Identifying the key enablers could help those companies that are about to start with the implementation process. Additionally obtaining a general classification could help managers to make good decisions and handle these enablers, fostering the most important one. Originality/value: This paper provides additional evidence regarding the main enablers that an organization that decides to implement CI can foster. Additionally, as far as authors are concerned, this is the first paper that defines a theoretical construct concerning continuous improvement enablers. Going one-step further, this paper obtains a hierarchy of priority, identifying the main enablers according to managers' opinions

Danger: local corruption is contagious!

Corruption is a major problem, and not only in developing countries. It impedes economic growth, weakens the rule of law and undermines the legitimacy of institutions. Although it has been studied at national level from different perspectives, there is a recent growing body of research on local corruption. As far as we know, these latter studies focused on corruption and its effects on votes. However, a further question arises as to whether there is a mimetic effect on neighbouring municipalities? We employ data from Spain, and the boom in local corruption in the 2000s, to respond to this question. Specifically we have constructed a panel database (2001-2010) on local characteristics, economic factors and corruption at local level in order to achieve this. Our spatial econometrics methodology supports the hypothesis that corruption is not local-specific, and leads to two opposing outcomes: on the one hand, local corruption is contagious and the probability of being ‘infected’ increases by 3.1 per cent for each corrupt neighbouring municipality; on the other hand the likelihood of a municipality being taken to court increases by 6.7 per cent for each neighbouring municipality accused. Although the former is alarming, the latter provides hope in the fight against local corruption

Probabilistic models to assist maintenance of multiple instruments

The paper discusses maintenance challenges of organisations with a huge number of devices and proposes the use of probabilistic models to assist monitoring and maintenance planning. The proposal assumes connectivity of instruments to report relevant features for monitoring. Also, the existence of enough historical registers with diagnosed breakdowns is required to make probabilistic models reliable and useful for predictive maintenance strategies based on them. Regular Markov models based on estimated failure and repair rates are proposed to calculate the availability of the instruments and Dynamic Bayesian Networks are proposed to model cause-effect relationships to trigger predictive maintenance services based on the influence between observed features and previously documented diagnostic

Influence of Unstable Shoes on Women With Lumbopelvic Postpartum Pain: Randomized Clinical Trial

[Abstract] Background: Back pain is a normal symptom during pregnancy and is expected to become worse beyond the first three months after childbirth. Objectives: To determine the effectiveness of wearing unstable shoes instead of conventional shoes, regarding pain intensity, low back mobility and stability, among women with lumbopelvic pain (LPP) during the postpartum period. Design and setting: Prospective, single-blinded, randomized clinical trial conducted at a podiatry and physiotherapy clinical center. Methods: A nine-week program of wearing either unstable shoes (A) or conventional shoes (B) was implemented. The following outcomes were measured in three assessments: pain intensity, using a visual analogue scale (VAS); low-back mobility, using a modified Schober test; and stability, using a pressure platform. Results: The lateral stability speed, anterior stability speed and anterior center of pressure (COP) showed significant (P < 0.05) decreases in the unstable shoes group after nine weeks, in relation to the conventional group. Intra-group measurements showed significant differences (P < 0.05) in VAS between the second and third assessments and between the first and third assessments in both groups. Intra-group evaluations also showed statistically significant differences (P < 0.05) in the lateral stability speed and anterior stability speed. Conclusions: Unstable shoes were effective in decreasing the pain intensity at five and nine weeks in women with postpartum LPP. In addition, their use produced decreases in lateral stability speed, anterior stability speed and anterior COP at nine weeks

Propiedades psicométricas del Inventario Obsesivo de Leyton para Niños Versión Corta en una muestra comunitaria de niños y adolescentes

The aim of the current study was to analyze psychometric properties of the Short LOI-CV in Spanish community sample. Participants were 914 children and adolescents with mean age of 13.01 years (51.3% males). An EFA yielded a three-factor model representing Obsessions, Compulsions, and Cleanliness dimensions. Both, total score and subscales showed an adequate internal consistency. The Spanish version also exhibited good test-retest reliability and moderate convergent and discriminant validity. The younger participants (from 8 to 10 years) obtained higher means for total score and subscales than older participants (groups 11-13 and 14-18 years). Significant differences related to gender were also observed since males obtained higher means in Compulsions subscale. Despite more research is required, the Spanish version of the Short LOI-CV exhibited promising psychometric results to assess obsessive-compulsive symptoms in community population.El objetivo de este estudio fueanalizar las propiedades psicométricas del ShortLOI-CVen unamuestra españolacomunitaria.Los participantes fueron 914 niñosyadolescentescon edad mediade13.01años (varones =51.3%).ElAFE mostróun modelo de tresfactores compuesto por los dominios Obsesiones, CompulsionesyLimpieza. Tanto lapuntuación total comolas subescalas mostraron una adecuadaconsistenciainterna.Laversión española mostróbuena fiabilidad test-retestymoderada validezconvergenteydiscriminante.Los participantes más jóvenes (8a10 años) obtuvieron medias más altasquela escala Totalydistintas subescalas quelos mayores (grupo de11-13yde 14-18años). Se encontraron también diferencias significativas respecto al sexo, siendo losvarones los que mayoresmedias mostraron en laescala de compulsiones.Pese aqueesnecesariamás investigación, estos resultados sugirieron que la versión en español del ShortLOI-CV mostróun buen rendimiento psicométricos para evaluar los síntomas obsesivo-compulsivosen niñosyadolescentesen población comunitari

Optimización de la inmovilización de glucosa oxidasa en microgeles de poliacrilamida

The synthesis of polyacrylamide microgels using the concentrated emulsion pathway (W/O), without and with entrapped glucose oxidase from Aspergillus niger is proposed. The effect of initiator concentration in the maximum temperature of polymerization and the conversion rate of the monomer as a function of time were studied in the microparticles without enzyme. As a result of the polymerization, spherical micropart iculas were obtained in all the cases with a range of size between 2.5 ƒÝm and 6.2 ƒÝm of diameter In the microgels with enzyme the effect of the cross-linking content in the kinetic parameters was studied.. The use of the microgels with enzyme as the biological material of a amperometric biosensor allowed to evaluate the enzymatic activity of the glucose oxidase entrapped in the polymer. The catalytic activity of the entrapped enzyme and the biosensor response were affected by the cross-linking content of the microgel. The biosensor response was also affected by the quantity of microparticles immobilized in the surface of the electrode that acts as transducer of the biosensor.Se propone la sintesis de microgeles de poliacrilamida usando el metodo de polimerizacion en emulsion (W/O) concentrada, sin y con glucosa oxidasa de Aspergillus niger atrapada en su red polimerica. En las microparticulas sin enzima se estudio la influencia del agente iniciador en la temperatura maxima de polimerizacion y el grado de conversion del monomero en funcion del tiempo. Como resultado de la polimerizacion se obtuvieron en todos los casos microparticulas esfericas con un tamano comprendido entre 2,5ƒÝm y 6,2ƒÝm de diametro. En los microgeles con enzima se estudio la influencia del agente reticulante en diversos parametros cineticos. La utilizacion de las microparticulas con enzima como material biologico de un biosensor amperometrico permitio evaluar la actividad enzimatica de la glucosa oxidasa atrapada en su red polimerica. La actividad catalitica del enzima atrapado se vio afectada por el grado de reticulacion del microgel y como consecuencia la respuesta del biosensor sobre la que tambien influye la cantidad de microparticulas inmovilizadas en la superficie del electrodo que actua como transductor del biosensor