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We present a new version of the Brazilian developments on the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System where different previous versions for weather, chemistry and carbon cycle were unified in a single integrated software system. The new version also has a new set of state-of-the-art physical parameterizations and greater computational parallel and memory usage efficiency. Together with the description of the main features are examples of the quality of the transport scheme for scalars, radiative fluxes on surface and model simulation of rainfall systems over South America in different spatial resolutions using a scale-aware convective parameterization. Besides, the simulation of the diurnal cycle of the convection and carbon dioxide concentration over the Amazon Basin, as well as carbon dioxide fluxes from biogenic processes over a large portion of South America are shown. Atmospheric chemistry examples present model performance in simulating near-surface carbon monoxide and ozone in Amazon Basin and Rio de Janeiro megacity. For tracer transport and dispersion, it is demonstrated the model capabilities to simulate the volcanic ash 3-d redistribution associated with the eruption of a Chilean volcano. Then, the gain of computational efficiency is described with some details. BRAMS has been applied for research and operational forecasting mainly in South America. Model results from the operational weather forecast of BRAMS on 5 km grid spacing in the Center for Weather Forecasting and Climate Studies, INPE/Brazil, since 2013 are used to quantify the model skill of near surface variables and rainfall. The scores show the reliability of BRAMS for the tropical and subtropical areas of South America. Requirements for keeping this modeling system competitive regarding on its functionalities and skills are discussed. At last, we highlight the relevant contribution of this work on the building up of a South American community of model developers.

The susceptibility to gaze cueing in deaf children aged 7-14 years old (N = 16) was tested using a nonlinguistic task. Participants performed a peripheral shape-discrimination task, whereas uninformative central gaze cues validly or invalidly cued the location of the target. To assess the role of sign language experience and bilingualism in deaf participants, three groups of age-matched hearing children were recruited: bimodal bilinguals (vocal and sign-language, N = 19), unimodal bilinguals (two vocal languages, N = 17), and monolinguals (N = 14). Although all groups showed a gaze-cueing effect and were faster to respond to validly than invalidly cued targets, this effect was twice as large in deaf participants. This result shows that atypical sensory experience can tune the saliency of a fundamental social cue.

The decoding of the human genome has been a landmark achievement in the field of genomics, generating vast amounts of DNA sequencing data that necessitate sophisticated analysis techniques. In recent years, machine learning has emerged as a powerful tool in unravelling the complexities of genomic data and expediting research discoveries. This article explores the integration of machine learning techniques in DNA sequencing analysis, elucidating their applications in genome assembly, variant calling, personalized medicine, and drug discovery. Additionally, it addresses the ethical considerations surrounding the use of genomic data. By harnessing the potential of machine learning, researchers are unlocking new insights into human genetics and paving the way for transformative advancements in healthcare and scientific understanding.

We conducted a randomized, non-inferiority field trial in urban Dhaka, Bangladesh among mothers to compare microbial efficacy of soapy water (30 g powdered detergent in 1.5 L water) with bar soap and water alone. Fieldworkers collected hand rinse samples before and after the following washing regimens: scrubbing with soapy water for 15 and 30 seconds; scrubbing with bar soap for 15 and 30 seconds; and scrubbing with water alone for 15 seconds. Soapy water and bar soap removed thermotolerant coliforms similarly after washing for 15 seconds (mean log10 reduction = 0.7 colony-forming units [CFU], P < 0.001 for soapy water; mean log10 reduction = 0.6 CFU, P = 0.001 for bar soap). Increasing scrubbing time to 30 seconds did not improve removal (P > 0.05). Scrubbing hands with water alone also reduced thermotolerant coliforms (mean log10 reduction = 0.3 CFU, P = 0.046) but was less efficacious than scrubbing hands with soapy water. Soapy water is an inexpensive and microbiologically effective cleansing agent to improve handwashing among households with vulnerable children.

The term "creative" is commonly used in everyday language and in academic discourse to discuss the nature of artistic and innovative productions. This usage inherently implies the existence of a variable of creativity that allows different creative works to be compared. The standard definition of creativity asserts that a production must possess both value and novelty in order to be considered truly creative. However, previous psychometric studies aimed at establishing the existence of such a creativity variable based on these two dimensions have produced results that seem to demonstrate their independence or even negative association, based on a weak to negative correlation between value and novelty. These widely replicated empirical results seem to call into question the notion of a single creativity variable associated with productions, leading to a paradoxical use of the term "creative" to describe the object produced. In our study, we aimed to reproduce these results while addressing methodological errors made in previous efforts to establish construct validity. This work led us to test the existence of a common cause for the observed variations in novelty and value. The higher order factor we obtain in our analysis encompasses subtle differences from the conventional creativity axis and interacts negatively with novelty, while correlating positively with value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The purpose of this paper is to present an experimental study on summative assessment in translation teaching. The paper emphasises the need to use, as an alternative to traditional assessment (i.e. the translation of a text under exam conditions), multidimensional assessment based on a range of criterion-referenced and competence-based assessment instruments and tasks. In order to study their applicability, we designed and empirically tested a proposal for summative assessment for BA students taking Spanish-to-Italian translation. We designed a teaching unit which features various assessment tasks. After completing the unit, students compiled a portfolio and were given a traditional summative assessment test. The students also completed a survey about teaching and forms of assessment. We used several assessment rubrics for each assessment task. We subsequently compared the information collected via the different summative assessment tasks and the portfolio with the results of the traditional exam in order to analyse the differences. We also compared the assessments provided by three evaluators, i.e. the tutor and two external assessors. The results show that our assessment proposal provides data about the acquisition of different translation sub-competences and the effectiveness of the assessment rubrics.

Multisensory interactions in deaf cognition are largely unexplored. Unisensory studies suggest that behavioral/neural changes may be more prominent for visual compared to tactile processing in early deaf adults. Here we test whether such an asymmetry results in increased saliency of vision over touch during visuo-tactile interactions. About 23 early deaf and 25 hearing adults performed two consecutive visuo-tactile spatial interference tasks. Participants responded either to the elevation of the tactile target while ignoring a concurrent visual distractor at central or peripheral locations (respond to touch/ignore vision), or they performed the opposite task (respond to vision/ignore touch). Multisensory spatial interference emerged in both tasks for both groups. Crucially, deaf participants showed increased interference compared to hearing adults when they attempted to respond to tactile targets and ignore visual distractors, with enhanced difficulties with ipsilateral visual distractors. Analyses on task-order revealed that in deaf adults, interference of visual distractors on tactile targets was much stronger when this task followed the task in which vision was behaviorally relevant (respond to vision/ignore touch). These novel results suggest that behavioral/neural changes related to early deafness determine enhanced visual dominance during visuo-tactile multisensory conflict.

BackgroundIn-person structured observation is considered the best approach for measuring hand hygiene behavior, yet is expensive, time consuming, and may alter behavior. Video surveillance could be a useful tool for objectively monitoring hand hygiene behavior if validated against current methods.MethodsStudent hand cleaning behavior was monitored with video surveillance and in-person structured observation, both simultaneously and separately, at four primary schools in urban Kenya over a study period of 8 weeks.FindingsVideo surveillance and in-person observation captured similar rates of hand cleaning (absolute difference