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Nocardia is a genus of aerobic, filamentous, beaded, gram-positive bacteria ubiquitous in the environment, especially in soil, decomposing organic matter, and water. Nocardia spp. are opportunistic pathogens in immunocompromised hosts [...]

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is socially relevant because of its number and the intensity of the medical and socio-educational response it requires. In Andalusia, one in 70 children will be diagnosed with ASD in 2021. It is much more frequent in boys than in girls, being 5.91 times more likely to present it as a boy than as a girl. The age of diagnosis is increasingly younger, standing at 4.4 years. In more than half of primary schools and more than 75% of secondary schools there are an average of three students with ASD per school. It is necessary to develop a network of preferential care centers for students with ASD to generalize specialized care in ordinary modalities., Author(s): Francisco Villegas-Lirola [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) https://ror.org/003d3xx08, grid.28020.38, 0000 0001 0196 9356, HUM782 Research Group University of Almeria: Diversity, Disability and Special Educational Needs, Universidad de Almería, , 04120, [...]

Understanding ecohydrological dynamics that result from land-use conversions is fundamental in managing ecosystem services. One common forest transformation in the tropics is the establishment of monospecific plantations with exotic species for timber exploitation, replacing highly diverse natural forests. The impacts of establishing forest plantations in hydrological processes and biogeochemical dynamics have been highly controversial, with functions from structurally homogeneous plantations being sometimes assumed to be comparable to natural forests. To assess the effects of planting exotic conifer species versus natural forests on hydrological and biogeochemical functions, we measured incoming precipitation, throughfall, and stemflow. To compare between forest types, we propose the use of basal area for standardization of hydrochemical fluxes. While net precipitation was similar among forest types, the transmission of water to the forest floor per basal area unit was significantly higher in native forests. Yet, nutrient concentrations were similar among them. However, greater nutrient enrichment per unit basal area was observed for the native species. This more efficient nutrient cycling could be related to native forests being better adapted to oligotrophic soils. The re-establishment of native species rather than with exotic species can result in more efficient hydrochemical regulation, improving the capacity of these ecosystems to produce services. Key words: canopy, ecosystem services, stemflow, throughfall, tropical mountain forests, Introduction Tropical mountain ecosystems are key providers of environmental services (Briner et al. 2013), as a large proportion of the human population in the tropics lives and depends on these [...]

A normative appeal indicates that one should (or should not) do a certain action in a concrete situation. According to the Evaluative Model of Normative Appeals (EMNA), willingness to comply with these messages depends on an appraisal formed by two dimensions: formality and protection. In this work we center on the dimension of protection, proposing that it can be divided into two components: avoiding physical or psychological damage (scutum) and affording the performance of the main intended action (caligae). We conducted two studies to test this twofold meaning of protection. In Study 1 (N = 525), we manipulated the coherence of regulatory focus (promotion vs. control vs. prevention) with salience of the components of protection (caligae vs. control vs. scutum). In Study 2 (N = 513), we separately measured the perception of each component referred to an actual normative appeal (i.e., 'To get into a class punctually'). The results showed that the manipulated salience and the measured perception of caligae and scutum elicits (Study 1) and predicts (Study 2) higher willingness to comply with normative appeals. Theoretical and applied implications of the results are discussed., Author(s): Luis Oceja [sup.1] , Maite Beramendi [sup.2] , Sergio Salgado [sup.3] , Pablo Gavilán [sup.1] , Marisol Villegas [sup.4] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.5515.4, 0000000119578126, Departamento de Psicología Social, Universidad [...]

Las emergencias cardiacas en pacientes neuroquirúrgicos (ECPNQ) han sido estudiadas últimamente debido a que su ocurrencia genera una alta morbimortalidad. Entendemos ECPNQ como la fibrilación ventricular, actividad eléctrica sin pulso, arresto cardiaco, asistolia y bradicardia severa, y pueden clasificarse según la ubicación de la neurocirugía al momento de producirse. Sin embargo, diferentes mecanismos fisiopatológicos explican la aparición de cada emergencia, como los reflejos neurales, el aumento del tono parasimpático y la embolia aérea venosa. El manejo radica en controlar y equilibrar la causa de la emergencia y en ocasiones reanimación cardiopulmonar teniendo en cuenta la posición en la que está el paciente, pues esto incide en el pronóstico y desenlace. Palabras clave: Arresto cardiaco, asistolia, paciente neuroquirúrgico, neurocirugía, actividad eléctrica sin pulso, fibrilación ventricular, reflejos neurales. Cardiac emergencies in neurosurgical patients (ECPNQ) have been recently studied because their occurrence generates high morbidity and mortality. We understand as ECPNQ ventricular fibrillation, pulseless electrical activity, cardiac arrest, asystole, and severe bradycardia, and can be classified according to the location of neurosurgery at the time of occurrence. However, different pathophysiological mechanisms explain the appearance of each emergency, such as neural reflexes, increased parasympathetic tone, and venous air embolism. Management lies in controlling and balancing the cause of the emergency and sometimes cardiopulmonary resuscitation considering the position in which the patient is, as this affects the prognosis and outcome. Key words: Cardiac arrest, asystole, neurosurgical patient, neurosurgery, pulseless electric activity, ventricular fibrillation, neural reflexes., Objetivo Proporcionar una fuente actualizada y fiable sobre las Emergencias cardíacas en pacientes neuroquirúrgicos (ECP-NQ) en donde abordaremos las emergencias más frecuentes, su fisiopatología, el manejo y tratamiento. Introducción Las [...]

Despite an increasing number of English-language learners (ELLs) in U.S. schools and a trend toward placing them in mainstream classrooms, relatively little attention has been paid to synthesizing and appraising the extant research on how future mainstream teachers are prepared to teach this student population. To shed light on this topic, the article analyzes the limited but expanding body of research on the preprofessional preparation of mainstream teachers for linguistically diverse classrooms. The authors found that between 2000 and 2018, teacher educators experimented with a variety of pedagogical strategies, most of which situated learning to teach ELLs in diverse classrooms, schools, and communities--both in the United States and elsewhere. The authors conclude that despite having equity goals and including a variety of pedagogically rich ideas for preparing future mainstream teachers to teach ELLs, the vast majority of the studies leave unquestioned the power dynamics that sustain existing educational and social inequalities, thereby perpetuating the status quo., Introduction Recently, public schools in the United States passed a major milestone. For the first time in history, students of color composed the majority of enrollments in elementary and secondary [...]

Background/objectives To examine how much of the variation in weight-for-height (WHZ) z-scores were associated with age at which breastfeeding ceased and provision of fortified cow's milk (Leche Purita Fortificada, LPF) commenced in a cohort of children studied from birth to 3 years of age. Subjects/methods Longitudinal data were obtained from routine medical check-ups on 8373 children from nine Chilean counties through convenience sampling. WHZ z-scores were generated at six-monthly intervals using WHO 2006 standards from birth to 3 years old (seven measurements). Age of cessation of breastfeeding and age of commencement of LPF were the independent variables. Repeated-measures ANOVA were used to analyse the changes in WHZ over the seven measurements. Binomial generalised estimating equations (GEE) were used to analyse the effect of each independent variable on the change from normal to overweight, and normal to obese over the seven measurements. Results ANOVA indicated that children given LPF milk before 3 months of age had, on average, higher mean WHZ of about 0.11 SD from 18 months of age onwards (p < 0.001). GEE analyses showed that children given LPF before 3 months of age were significantly more likely to be overweight or obese (OR = 1) compared with children given LPF later (overweight OR: 0.809-0.970, p = 0.009, obese (OR: 0.666-0.901, p = 0.001). Conclusions Early intake of LPF increases WHZ and is a risk factor for overweight and obesity in young children, while prolonged breastfeeding acts as protective factor against obesity., Author(s): Rodrigo Retamal [sup.1], C. G. Nicholas Mascie-Taylor [sup.2], Rodrigo Villegas [sup.3], Lorena Rodríguez-Osiac [sup.3] Author Affiliations: (1) Departamento de Antropología, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile [...]

Nonwoven fibrous mats of poly(ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol) (EVOH) and thermoplastic starch (TPS) blends were successfully prepared through the electrospinning technique using a mixed solvent system of isopropyl alcohol and water. The influence of TPS on the morphology and structure of the fibrous mats was investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The addition of TPS to EVOH resulted in beaded electrospun fibers. The SEM images revealed decreasing average width of the blend fibers and increasing quantity of beads with an increased TPS content. EVOH/TPS fibers mats irradiated under ultraviolet light using sodium benzoate as a photosensitizer were also prepared. The size and number of beads were diminished in the photocrosslinked EVOH/TPS fiber mats. The as-spun and crosslinked EVOH/TPS fiber mats exhibit a superior fluid uptake ability (with 20 wt% of TPS) and superior barrier properties (with 20 and 40 wt% of TPS) in comparison to those observed in neat electrospun EVOH mats. These properties are of particular interest for use in dressing materials for the medical industry and for use in multilayer plastic fuel tanks for the automotive industry, respectively., INTRODUCTION Ethylene-vinyl alcohol (EVOH) copolymers are a family of semicrystalline random copolymers that are easy to process and present both hydrophilic and hydrophobic characteristics due to the presence of alcohol [...]