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INTRODUCTION Birth weight is considered to be the best predictor of an infant's health status in the neonatal phase. In the Americas, several studies have set the foundation for determining references birth weights. In Cuba there is a report on anthropometric patterns in neonates in 1990 from a maternity ward in Havana, but there are no updated neonatal weight distribution curves by gestational age and sex, as suggested by WHO. OBJECTIVE Create birth weight percentile distribution tables and curves for neonates by gestational age and sex in Holguín Municipality, capital of the eastern Cuban province of the same name. METHODS A retrospective longitudinal study was designed in a universe of 16,018 neonates born alive, delivered within a gestational range of 30 to 42 weeks in the maternity unit of the V.I. Lenin University General Hospital in Holguín Municipality between January 2008 and December 2012. Included were neonates born in the study hospital living in Holguín Municipality; neonates from multiple births were excluded. Variables included gestational age, sex, and birth weight. Gestational age- and sex-specifi c weight percentile distribution tables and curves were constructed based on observed values. A third-degree polynomial was applied via weighted least squares regression to smooth distribution curves. Analysis of variance was conducted to compare four years (2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011) and the coeffi cient of variation was calculated for each week of gestation. RESULTS The average weight of neonates of both sexes rose from week 30 to week 42. The coeffi cient of variation between weeks 34 and 42 was 11.6%-19% in girls and 12.1%-21.3% in boys. The 10th percentile value at 36 weeks of gestation was 2140 g for girls and 2200 g for boys. For girls, cutoff points for the 10th percentile (small for gestational age infant) were higher at 34-42 weeks and for boys at 36-42 weeks. Applying our cutoff points to this population identifi ed 47% more low birth weight infants than did previously applied standards. CONCLUSIONS Marked differences were found when comparing our tables with tables from other countries. The higher references values for the 10th percentile (compared to previous ones in Cuba) in mean more neonates fall in the low birth weight category, providing greater opportunities to reduce morbidity and mortality in this high-risk group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presented by the authors aims at making a reflection about the teaching of learning strategies as a pedagogic perspective for the transformations of tertiary education in Cuba. The paper is based on the transformations that are taking place in the world today and particularly in the Cuban tertiary educative system. The authors also assume the rationale of developing teaching-learning process. Some questions briefly answered are precisely related to the important role that the teaching of learning strategies play in the process of educative changes. ¿What are learning strategies?, ¿which role is given to the teaching of learning strategies in the process of changes?, ¿How to sustain the teaching of learning strategies in the process of transformation in tertiary education? and ¿What methodological lines should orient any pedagogical performance that has as its objective to teach learning strategies in tertiary education? Some instruments for a diagnosis used in the pedagogic research by the authors can contribute to know the students' learning process better. It is reflected when teaching learning strategies. It is concluded that learning strategies can be taught and learned in an instructional context in the Cuban tertiary education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The paper presents the results of research focused on evaluating the influence of the architectural design of apartment buildings located in different locations in Havana city. The object under study has been the volume of buildings in relation to their surroundings, which determines the relationship between indoor and outdoor spaces and how indoor spaces are exposed to daylight and solar radiation. Three urban areas were selected taking into account the opinion of some architectural experts. The apartment buildings were classified according to their architectural volume, considering the transitional spaces: streets and corridors, yards and indentations. Sixty six indoor spaces linked to different transitional spaces with varied dimensions, proportions and orientation were chosen to take temperature measurements and make daylight simulations. The comparative assessment of the results considered the difference between the indoor temperature and that measured in an external reference point, mainly at night, when the family is at home. The temperatures taken in the reference points confirmed the effect of the urban heat island. The best transitional space from the thermal point of view is the corridor type. On the contrary, yards offer the worse conditions, except in compact urban areas as Centro Habana. Regarding daylight, no studied space meets the minimum daylight requirement established by Cuban daylight standards, and only one achieves minimum uniformity. The best transitional space is also the corridor type, which guarantees a higher percentage of daylight with respect to an unobstructed outdoor space on a roof. Based on these results, urban form generated from detached buildings separated by corridors is more appropriate for the warm and humid climate of Havana than the compact colonial urban model, although it was considered a good option in studies carried out twenty years before. These results reinforce some conclusions reached at during the last ten years regarding the advisability of reducing land occupancy in current compact urban areas and to avoiding the use of small yards to provide daylight and natural ventilation in apartment buildings. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This work presents the employment of the indexes of Langelier and Ryznar to estimate the scaling or corrosive tendencies of water used in a tourist installation of the Las Tunas province, where problems of corrosion were present in the electric heaters. The calculated indexes and water chemical composition corroborated that the water that is used in this installation has corrosive characteristics, and the necessary recommendations are given so that new electric heaters that are installed have a longer useful life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The taxonomic composition of fresh water protozoa was studied in the outlet of the river Almendares, in the City of Havana. Samples were collected at five points distributed in this area. The samples were maintained in the laboratory under ambient temperature and were added from three to four wheat grains like source of organic matter for the bacterial proliferation. A total of a 100 species was identified contained in 48 families and distributed in 17 Mastigophora species, 16 Sarcodina and 67 Ciliophora, of which 34 were new records for the area of the outlet and 31 species were collected for the first time in the river. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]