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Purpose: This study was intended to adapt into Spanish and validate the short form of the Marwit-Meuser Caregiver Grief Inventory (MMCGI), an instrument for the assessment of levels of grief in caregivers of patients with dementia. Method: The adaptation was based on the cross-cultural equivalence model that included forward and backward translations, use of a bilingual committee, and a comprehension test. The validation study was carried out with 100 Puerto Rican caregivers. Results: Semantic and content equivalence were attained as judged by the bilingual committee. Conceptual equivalence was only partially supported as factor analysis failed to replicate the three-factor structure proposed for the original English version. A one-factor structure was the best suitable for the Spanish version. On the other hand, correlations of the total scores of this version of the instrument with measures of constructs expected to be related to grief supported conceptual equivalence. Discussion: The Spanish version of the MMCGI was found equivalent to the English counterpart except for its dimensionality.

As cities are increasing technological efficacy on greenhouse gas (GH) emission reduction efforts, the surrounding urban ecosystems and natural resources may be affected by these measures. In this research, climate indicators such as heat index, extreme heat events, intensified urban heat islands (UHIs), and sea breeze are projected for the middle and end of the 21st century to understand the climate change signal on these variables with and without building energy mitigation measures. Cities amplify extreme heat and UHI impacts by concentrating large populations and critical infrastructure in relatively small areas. Here, we evaluate the combined climate and building energy mitigation impacts on localized climate metrics throughout the 21st century across extreme emission scenarios (RCP8.5) for the tropical coastal city of San Juan. The analysis of statistically downscaled global circulation model outputs shows underestimation for uncorrected summer daily maximum temperatures, leading to lower extreme heat intensity and duration projections from the present time which are corrected using bias-corrected techniques. High-resolution dynamic downscaling simulations reveal a strong dependency of changes in extreme heat events in urban settings, however, the intensities shift to lower-level grasslands and croplands with energy mitigation measures (combination of white roof, tilted photovoltaic roof, and efficient heating ventilation and air conditioning systems). The building energy mitigation measures have the potential of reducing the UHI intensities to 1 °C and 0.5 °C for the 2050 and 2100 climate periods, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigates the technical feasibility of using a compact, air-cooled, solar-assisted, absorption air conditioning system in Puerto Rico. Description of an air-cooled absorption machine; Optimum solar collectors and storage tank; Optimum energy from the solar collectors.