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Education 4.0 arises to provide citizens with the technical/digital competencies and cognitive/interpersonal skills demanded by Industry 4.0. New technologies drive this change, though time-independent learning remains a challenge, because students might face a lack of support, advice and surveillance when teachers are unavailable. This study proposes complementing presential lessons with online learning driven by ChatGPT, applied as an educational tool able to mentor K-12 students learning science at home. First, ChatGPT’s performance in the field of K-12 science is evaluated, scoring A (9.3/10 in 2023, and 9.7/10 in 2024) and providing detailed, analytic, meaningful, and human-like answers. Then, an empirical interventional study is performed to assess the impact of using ChatGPT as a virtual mentor on real K-12 students. After the intervention, the grades of students in the experimental group improved by 30%, and 70% of students stated a positive perception of the AI, suggesting a positive impact of the proposed educational approach. After discussion, the study concludes ChatGPT might be a useful educational tool able to provide K-12 students learning science with the functional and social/emotional support they might require, democratizing a higher level of knowledge acquisition and promoting students’ autonomy, security and self-efficacy. The results probe ChatGPT’s remarkable capacity (and immense potential) to assist teachers in their mentoring tasks, laying the foundations of virtual mentoring and paving the way for future research aimed at extending the study to other areas and levels, obtaining a more realistic view of AI’s impact on education.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) disproportionately affects certain sub-populations, including people with experience of incarceration (PWEI). Little is known about how perceptions of HCV and treatment have changed despite simplifications in testing and treatment in carceral settings. Nineteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with people living with or having a history of HCV infection released from Quebec provincial prison. Interviews were guided by the Common Sense Self-Regulation Model (CS-SRM) and aimed to explore cognitive and emotional representations of HCV and coping strategies. Among the 19 participants, seven (37%) were diagnosed with HCV in prison and 14 (74%) had previously received HCV treatment. Participants’ HCV illness perceptions were influenced by fear (of HCV transmission, death, and the well-being of family) and stigma (related to HCV, injection drug use, and incarceration). While some sought education and social and professional support, others self-isolated or engaged in high-risk behaviors to cope. Despite advances in HCV treatment, PWEI continue to experience various forms of stigma and fear surrounding their HCV diagnosis, resulting in delayed HCV care. These findings provide insights into how prison-based healthcare providers can better utilize HCV illness perceptions to evaluate willingness to engage in HCV care among PWEI.

Introduction: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a prevalent respiratory disease that presents a high rate of underdiagnosis during onset and early stages. Studies have shown that in mild COPD patients, remodeling of the small airways occurs concurrently with morphological changes in the proximal airways. Despite this evidence, the geometrical study of the airway tree from computed tomography (CT) lung images remains underexplored due to poor representations and limited tools to characterize the airway structure.Methods: We perform a comprehensive morphometric study of the proximal airways based on geometrical measures associated with the different airway generations. To this end, we leverage the geometric flexibility of the Snakes IsoGeometric Analysis method to accurately represent and characterize the airway luminal surface and volume informed by CT images of the respiratory tree. Based on this framework, we study the airway geometry of smoking pre-COPD and mild COPD individuals.Results: Our results show a significant difference between groups in airway volume, length, luminal eccentricity, minimum radius, and surface-area-to-volume ratio in the most distal airways.Discussion: Our findings suggest a higher degree of airway narrowing and collapse in COPD patients when compared to pre-COPD patients. We envision that our work has the potential to deliver a comprehensive tool for assessing morphological changes in airway geometry that take place in the early stages of COPD.

This study presents a pioneering approach that leverages advanced sensing technologies and data processing techniques to enhance the process of clinical documentation generation during medical consultations. By employing sophisticated sensors to capture and interpret various cues such as speech patterns, intonations, or pauses, the system aims to accurately perceive and understand patient–doctor interactions in real time. This sensing capability allows for the automation of transcription and summarization tasks, facilitating the creation of concise and informative clinical documents. Through the integration of automatic speech recognition sensors, spoken dialogue is seamlessly converted into text, enabling efficient data capture. Additionally, deep models such as Transformer models are utilized to extract and analyze crucial information from the dialogue, ensuring that the generated summaries encapsulate the essence of the consultations accurately. Despite encountering challenges during development, experimentation with these sensing technologies has yielded promising results. The system achieved a maximum ROUGE-1 metric score of 0.57, demonstrating its effectiveness in summarizing complex medical discussions. This sensor-based approach aims to alleviate the administrative burden on healthcare professionals by automating documentation tasks and safeguarding important patient information. Ultimately, by enhancing the efficiency and reliability of clinical documentation, this innovative method contributes to improving overall healthcare outcomes.

Pain assessment is a critical aspect of healthcare, influencing timely interventions and patient well-being. Traditional pain evaluation methods often rely on subjective patient reports, leading to inaccuracies and disparities in treatment, especially for patients who present difficulties to communicate due to cognitive impairments. Our contributions are three-fold. Firstly, we analyze the correlations of the data extracted from biomedical sensors. Then, we use state-of-the-art computer vision techniques to analyze videos focusing on the facial expressions of the patients, both per-frame and using the temporal context. We compare them and provide a baseline for pain assessment methods using two popular benchmarks: UNBC-McMaster Shoulder Pain Expression Archive Database and BioVid Heat Pain Database. We achieved an accuracy of over 96% and over 94% for the F1 Score, recall and precision metrics in pain estimation using single frames with the UNBC-McMaster dataset, employing state-of-the-art computer vision techniques such as Transformer-based architectures for vision tasks. In addition, from the conclusions drawn from the study, future lines of work in this area are discussed.

This paper presents the concept of a novel adaptable sensing solution currently being developed under the EU Commission-founded PHOTONGATE project. This concept will allow for the quantification of multiple analytes of the same or different nature (chemicals, metals, bacteria, etc.) in a single test with levels of sensitivity and selectivity at/or over those offered by current solutions. PHOTONGATE relies on two core technologies: a biochemical technology (molecular gates), which will confer the specificity and, therefore, the capability to be adaptable to the analyte of interest, and which, combined with porous substrates, will increase the sensitivity, and a photonic technology based on localized surface plasmonic resonance (LSPR) structures that serve as transducers for light interaction. Both technologies are in the micron range, facilitating the integration of multiple sensors within a small area (mm2). The concept will be developed for its application in health diagnosis and food safety sectors. It is thought of as an easy-to-use modular concept, which will consist of the sensing module, mainly of a microfluidics cartridge that will house the photonic sensor, and a platform for fluidic handling, optical interrogation, and signal processing. The platform will include a new optical concept, which is fully European Union Made, avoiding optical fibers and expensive optical components.

Background & ObjectiveAccess to Hepatitis C (HCV) care remains suboptimal. This systematic review sought to identify existing interventions designed to improve direct-acting antiviral (DAA) uptake among HCV infected women, people who inject drugs (PWID), men who have sex with men (MSM), and Indigenous peoples.MethodsStudies published in high- and middle-income countries were retrieved from eight electronic databases and gray literature (e.g., articles, research reports, theses, abstracts) were screened by two independent reviewers. Identified interventions were summarized using textual narrative synthesis.ResultsAfter screening 3,139 records, 39 studies were included (11 controlled comparative studies; 36 from high-income countries). Three groups of interventions were identified: interventions involving patients; providers; or the healthcare system. Interventions directed to patients included care co-ordination, accelerated DAA initiation, and patient education. Interventions involving providers included provider education, telemedicine, multidisciplinary teams, and general practitioner-led care. System-based interventions comprised DAA universal access policies and offering HCV services in four settings (primary care, secondary care, tertiary care, and community settings). Most studies (30/39) described complex interventions, i.e., those with two or more strategies combined. Most interventions (37/39) were tailored to, or studied among, PWID. Only one study described an intervention that was aimed at women.ConclusionsCombining multiple interventions is a common approach for supporting DAA initiation. Three main research gaps were identified, specifically, a lack of: (1) controlled trials estimating the individual or combined effects of interventions on DAA uptake; (2) studies in middle-income countries; and (3) interventions tailored to women, MSM, and Indigenous people.

Introduction: Canadian correctional institutions have been prioritized for COVID-19 vaccination given the multiple outbreaks that have occurred since the start of the pandemic. Given historically low vaccine uptake, we aimed to explore barriers and facilitators to COVID-19 vaccination acceptability among people incarcerated in federal prisons. Methods: Three federal prisons in Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia (Canada) were chosen based on previously low influenza vaccine uptake among those incarcerated. Using a qualitative design, semi-structured interviews were conducted with a diverse sample (gender, age, and ethnicity) of incarcerated people. An inductive-deductive analysis of audio-recorded interview transcripts was conducted to identify and categorize barriers and facilitators within the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF). Results: From March 22–29, 2021, a total of 15 participants (n = 5 per site; n = 5 women; median age = 43 years) were interviewed, including five First Nations people and six people from other minority groups. Eleven (73%) expressed a desire to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, including two who previously refused influenza vaccination. We identified five thematic barriers across three TDF domains: social influences (receiving strict recommendations, believing in conspiracies to harm), beliefs about consequences (believing that infection control measures will not be fully lifted, concerns with vaccine-related side effects), and knowledge (lack of vaccine-specific information), and eight thematic facilitators across five TDF domains: environmental context and resources (perceiving correctional employees as sources of outbreaks, perceiving challenges to prevention measures), social influences (receiving recommendations from trusted individuals), beliefs about consequences (seeking individual and collective protection, believing in a collective “return to normal”, believing in individual privileges), knowledge (reassurance about vaccine outcomes), and emotions (having experienced COVID-19-related stress). Conclusions: Lack of information and misinformation were important barriers to COVID-19 vaccine acceptability among people incarcerated in Canadian federal prisons. This suggests that educational interventions, delivered by trusted health care providers, may improve COVID-19 vaccine uptake going forward.

Certain fields present significant challenges when attempting to train complex Deep Learning architectures, particularly when the available datasets are limited and imbalanced. Real-time object detection in maritime environments using aerial images is a notable example. Although SeaDronesSee is the most extensive and complete dataset for this task, it suffers from significant class imbalance. To address this issue, we present POSEIDON, a data augmentation tool specifically designed for object detection datasets. Our approach generates new training samples by combining objects and samples from the original training set while utilizing the image metadata to make informed decisions. We evaluate our method using YOLOv5 and YOLOv8 and demonstrate its superiority over other balancing techniques, such as error weighting, by an overall improvement of 2.33% and 4.6%, respectively.

Background Vaccine uptake rates have been historically low in correctional settings. To better understand vaccine hesitancy in these high-risk settings, we explored reasons for COVID-19 vaccine refusal among people in federal prisons. Methods Three maximum security all-male federal prisons in British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario (Canada) were chosen, representing prisons with the highest proportions of COVID-19 vaccine refusal. Using a qualitative descriptive design and purposive sampling, individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with incarcerated people who had previously refused at least one COVID-19 vaccine until data saturation was achieved. An inductive–deductive thematic analysis of audio-recorded interview transcripts was conducted using the Conceptual Model of Vaccine Hesitancy. Results Between May 19-July 8, 2021, 14 participants were interviewed (median age: 30 years; n = 7 Indigenous, n = 4 visible minority, n = 3 White). Individual-, interpersonal-, and system-level factors were identified. Three were particularly relevant to the correctional setting: 1) Risk perception: participants perceived that they were at lower risk of COVID-19 due to restricted visits and interactions; 2) Health care services in prison: participants reported feeling “punished” and stigmatized due to strict COVID-19 restrictions, and failed to identify personal benefits of vaccination due to the lack of incentives; 3) Universal distrust: participants expressed distrust in prison employees, including health care providers. Interpretation Reasons for vaccine refusal among people in prison are multifaceted. Educational interventions could seek to address COVID-19 risk misconceptions in prison settings. However, impact may be limited if trust is not fostered and if incentives are not considered in vaccine promotion.

Este trabajo estudia la relación de la percepción de corrupción y de falta de transparencia con las preferencias por el voto y la protesta. Examina el caso de Colombia con datos de la Encuesta Latinobarómetro 2015 y un modelo logístico multinomial que supone una elección simultánea del tipo de participación (o una combinación de tipos), lo que permite establecer si la preferencia por la protesta sustituye o complementan la preferencia por el voto. Se encontró una relación positiva entre la percepción de corrupción y de falta de transparencia con la preferencia de protestar además de votar. Si los ciudadanos perciben una mayor corrupción o dudan de la transparencia del gobierno están más dispuestos a participar en manifestaciones, sin reducir su apoyo a la participación electoral. Esto sugiere que hay una aceptación general de la participación democrática formal a pesar de las deficiencias del régimen político.

Porous materials are currently the basis of many optical sensors because of their ability to provide a higher interaction between the light and the analyte, directly within the optical structure. In this study, mesoporous TiO2 layers were fabricated using a bottom-up synthesis approach in order to develop optical sensing structures. In comparison with more typical top-down fabrication strategies where the bulk constitutive material is etched in order to obtain the required porous medium, the use of a bottom-up fabrication approach potentially allows increasing the interconnectivity of the pore network, hence improving the surface and depth homogeneity of the fabricated layer and reducing production costs by synthesizing the layers on a larger scale. The sensing performance of the fabricated mesoporous TiO2 layers was assessed by means of the measurement of several glucose dilutions in water, estimating a limit of detection even below 0.15 mg/mL (15 mg/dL). All of these advantages make this platform a very promising candidate for the development of low-cost and high-performance optical sensors.

Abstract Algal blooms in lakes and reservoirs can be considered regime shifts from a clear‐water to algae‐dominated state that often occurs abruptly. Under experimental conditions, these regime shifts have been predicted from rises in variance and autocorrelation (generic resilience indicators) of state variables monitored at a high frequency. The goal of this study was to evaluate the behavior of resilience indicators prior to a critical transition in lakes that naturally experience algal blooms. Ambient lake conditions provide several potential hurdles that could inhibit the detection of meaningful changes in resilience indicators prior to a critical transition such as stochastic nutrient loading, spatial complexity, and decreased resilience due to higher baseline nutrient concentrations. We compiled five lake‐years of high‐frequency monitoring of chlorophyll a, phycocyanin, dissolved oxygen, and pH from four hypereutrophic lakes. Despite the factors that might hinder detecting statistical indicators of changing resilience in hypereutrophic ecosystems, we found that a rise in resilience indicators did occur prior to a critical transition in three out of four possible lake‐years, with rise beginning between 5 and 33 d prior. In one lake‐year, a critical transition occurred soon after the monitoring began, preventing detection of rising variance or autocorrelation signals which are calculated using a 21‐d rolling window. These results add to the growing body of evidence that rises in resilience indicators can be detected in ecosystems prior to a regime shift if monitoring programs are properly designed to capture the dynamics; however, continued research is needed to better understand the conditions under which resilience indicators may be useful as an early warning detection tool for lake management.

Achilles tendinopathy is a well-known pathology that can display interindividual variations in chronicity, symptom presentation, and tendon morphology. Furthermore, symptoms may fluctuate within an individual throughout the stages of the pathology. Although pain is often used as a marker of condition severity, individuals may not consistently report pain due to periods of remission. Persons with tendinosis, which is characterized by advanced morphological alterations, have shown consistent changes in neuromechanics that indicate adaptations in the sensory-motor and the central nervous systems. The current treatment strategy involves repetitive resistance exercise aiming to achieve recovery of lost function. This treatment approach, however, has gauged such functional recovery through symptom relief and return to sport, which, in our opinion, may not suffice and may not prevent symptom recurrence or tendon rupture. In this physiologically informed perspective, we briefly review what is currently known about the consequences of Achilles tendon degeneration and examine the topic of reversing these changes. Shortcomings of contemporary treatment strategies are discussed and we therefore call for a new paradigm to focus on the whole-body level, targeting not only the tendon but also the reversal of the neuromotor control system adaptations.

Many optical sensors exploit the interesting properties of porous materials, as they ensure a stronger interaction between the light and the analyte directly within the optical structure. Most porous optical sensors are mainly based on porous silicon and anodized aluminum oxide, showing high sensitivities. However, the top-down strategies usually employed to produce those materials might offer a limited control over the properties of the porous layer, which could affect the homogeneity, reducing the sensor reproducibility. In this work, we present the bottom-up synthesis of mesoporous TiO2 Fabry-Pérot optical sensors displaying high sensitivity, high homogeneity, and low production cost, making this platform a very promising candidate for the development of high-performance optical sensors.

Abstract Background That the answers elicited through interviews may be influenced by the knowledge of the interviewer is accepted across disciplines. However, in ethnobotany, there is little evidence to quantitatively assess what impact this effect may have. We use the results of a large study of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of plant use of the Chácobo and Pacahuara of Beni, Bolivia, to explore the effects of interviewer identity and knowledge upon the elicited plant species and uses. Methods The Chácobo are a Panoan speaking tribe of about 1000 members (300+ adults) in Beni, Bolivia. Researchers have collected anthropological and ethnobotanical data from the Chácobo for more than a century. Here, we present a complete ethnobotanical inventory of the entire adult Chácobo population, with interviews and plant collection conducted directly by Chácobo counterparts, with a focus on the effects caused by external interviewers. Results Within this large study, with a unified training for interviewers, we did find that different interviewers did elicit different knowledge sets, that some interviewers were more likely to elicit knowledge similar to their own, and that participants interviewed multiple times often gave information as different as that from two randomly chosen participants. Conclusions Despite this, we did not find this effect to be overwhelming—the amount of knowledge an interviewer reported on the research subject had comparatively little effect on the amount of knowledge that interviewer recorded from others, and even those interviewers who tended to elicit similar answers from participants also elicited a large percentage of novel information.

En el presente trabajo de investigación se analiza las estrategias financieras y los incrementos patrimoniales de las cooperativas de ahorro y crédito del segmento dos del Cantón Ambato, para lo cual se decidió estudiar las estrategias financieras que tuvieron mayor impacto en el aumento del patrimonio, se aplicaron indicadores financieros para determinar si el patrimonio incremento durante el año 2015. Esta problemática se ve afectada en la rentabilidad de las cooperativas, reduciendo así su competitividad y capacidad para mantenerse en el mercado cooperativo. Uno de los indicadores más importantes es la suficiencia patrimonial que relaciona el patrimonio técnico constituido y los activos y contingentes ponderados por riesgo, en el cual la ley exige mantener un mínimo del 9% de este indicador para respaldar las operaciones actuales y futuras de las instituciones. Se analizó además si las cooperativas cumplen con la normativa establecida por el Código Orgánico Monetario y Financiero y la Ley de Economía Popular y Solidaria para el fortalecimiento del patrimonio, utilidades y fondo irrepartible de reserva legal. Se concluye que las estrategias financieras inciden significativamente en el patrimonio de las cooperativas, y se propone un modelo operativo para las estrategias financieras y el incremento del patrimonio el cual permitirá cumplir con todos los objetivos establecidos por cada entidad cooperativa.

El presente artículo describe un proyecto de viviendas y espacio público en Villa María del Triunfo, en Lima, Perú. La descripción del proyecto se realiza sobre la base de cuatro estrategias de diseño que pretenden corresponder acertadamente a la condición de su entorno, de esta manera se intenta aportar a la búsqueda de un modelo proyectual adecuado para las laderas de Lima Metropolitana donde se emplazan asentamientos informales. De manera introductoria, se realizará un cuestionamiento sobre los asentamientos informales, se planteará el valor de un edificio y se resaltará el trabajo de un plan de desarrollo urbano.

Abstract Background The Chácobo are a Panoan speaking tribe of about 1000 members (300+ adults) in Beni, Bolivia. Originally nomadic, the Chácabo were relocated to their current main location in the 1960s. Researchers have visited the Chácabo since 1911. A first more detailed anthropological report exists from the late 1960s, and ecological–ethnobotanical studies were conducted in the 1980s and 1990s. The presented work represents a complete ethnobotanical inventory of the entire adult Chácobo population, with interviews and plant collection conducted directly by Chácobo counterparts. Methods Based on previous reports and our preliminary studies, we hypothesized that twenty-first century Chácobo plant use centered on income generation, and that traditional plant use related to household utensils, medicine and traditional crop varieties had almost disappeared. To test this hypothesis, we started the “Chácobo Ethnobotany Project,” training 10 indigenous Chácobo participants in ethnobotanical interview and plant collection techniques, in order to more fully document Chácobo knowledge and avoid the influence of foreign interviewers. Results Our study found 331 useful plant species in 241genera of 95 plant families, with leaves, roots and bark being the most commonly used plant parts The comprehensive documentation that these methods enabled completely nullified our initial hypothesis of knowledge loss. Traditional crop varieties are still widely grown and traditional knowledge is alive. Moreover, it is being actively recuperated in certain domains by the younger generation. Most Chácobo know, and can name, traditional utensils and tools, although only the older generation has still the skills to manufacture them. While many Chácobo still know the names and uses of medicinal species, the younger generation is however often unsure how to identify them. Conclusions In this paper we illustrate the complexity of perspectives on knowledge at different ages, and the persistence of knowledge over almost a century. We found that traditional knowledge was only partially affected by the processes of exposure to a market economy, and that different knowledge domains experienced different trends as a result of these changes. Overall knowledge was widely distributed, and we did not observe a directional knowledge loss. We stress the importance to not directly conclude processes of knowledge loss, cultural erosion or acculturation when comparing the knowledge of different age groups.

En el actual contexto de crisis, los ciudadanos demandan al sector público mayor transparencia y rendición de cuentas. Este trabajo pretende avanzar en el conocimiento de las prácticas de sostenibilidad en la administración pública. Para ello proponemos comparar la divulgación de información sobre sostenibilidad realizada por distintos gobiernos regionales, analizando las webs de los mismos mediante un análisis de contenido, usando para ello un listado de ítems basado en las guías del Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). Nuestros resultados muestran que los gobiernos regionales españoles difunden dos tercios de la información requerida por el GRI, presentando la información social un nivel de respuesta mayor y la información general un menor nivel de difusión. Además, aquellos gobiernos regionales con mayor compromiso ambiental publican más información sobre sostenibilidad. De nuestras conclusiones podemos destacar que la mala situación financiera que atraviesan no parece impulsar a los gobiernos regionales españoles a divulgar información sobre sostenibilidad.

Nanomaterials with very specific features (purity, colloidal stability, composition, size, shape, location…) are commonly requested by cutting-edge technologic applications, and hence a sustainable process for the mass-production of tunable/engineered nanomaterials would be desirable. Despite this, tuning nano-scale features when scaling-up the production of nanoparticles/nanomaterials has been considered the main technological barrier for the development of nanotechnology. Aimed at overcoming these challenging frontier, a new gas-phase reactor design providing a shorter residence time, and thus a faster quenching of nanoclusters growth, is proposed for the green, sustainable, versatile, cost-effective, and scalable manufacture of ultrapure engineered nanomaterials (ranging from nanoclusters and nanoalloys to engineered nanostructures) with a tunable degree of agglomeration, composition, size, shape, and location. This method enables: (1) more homogeneous, non-agglomerated ultrapure Au-Ag nanoalloys under 10 nm; (2) 3-nm non-agglomerated ultrapure Au nanoclusters with lower gas flow rates; (3) shape-controlled Ag NPs; and (4) stable Au and Ag engineered nanostructures: nanodisks, nanocrosses, and 3D nanopillars. In conclusion, this new approach paves the way for the green and sustainable mass-production of ultrapure engineered nanomaterials.

This paper presents preliminary polarization measurements and systematic-error characterization of the Thirty Gigahertz Instrument receiver developed for the QUIJOTE experiment. The instrument has been designed to measure the polarization of Cosmic Microwave Background radiation from the sky, obtaining the Q, U, and I Stokes parameters of the incoming signal simultaneously. Two kinds of linearly polarized input signals have been used as excitations in the polarimeter measurement tests in the laboratory; these show consistent results in terms of the Stokes parameters obtained. A measurement-based systematic-error characterization technique has been used in order to determine the possible sources of instrumental errors and to assist in the polarimeter calibration process.

En este artículo presento evidencia exploratoria para el caso de Colombia sobre la relación entre ciertas variables socioeconómicas e indicadores de preferencias individuales. Aplicamos una encuesta de hogares y tomamos medidas de preferencia temporal y aversión al riesgo a una muestra de habitantes de Barranca de Upía (Meta). Encuentro que i. La edad está asociada con la preferencia temporal revelada, pero no a la aversión al riesgo revelada; ii. Las mujeres son más aversas al riesgo, y iii. El hecho de haber llegado al pueblo en los últimos cinco años, bien sea buscando oportunidades económicas o huyendo del conflicto armado, está asociado a una alta preferencia temporal revelada y una baja aversión al riesgo revelada.

Genomic analysis of the kelp fly Fucellia costalis (Family Anthomyiidae) from Asilomar beach, Pacific Grove, California, resulted in the assembly of its complete mitogenome. The mitogenome is 16,175 bp in length, A + T biased (78.1%), contains 37 genes, a large 1356 bp control region, and has a high-level of gene synteny to other Muscoidea. Phylogenetic analysis of F. costalis fully resolves it in a clade with two members of the Anthomyiidae, Delia platura (8.2% pairwise genetic distance) and D. antiqua (9.2% distance), in a sister position to Scathophaga stercoraria (7.8% distance) from the Scathophagidae. The phylogenetic position and genetic distances of F. costalis support the continued recognition of the subfamily Fucellinae. This identification and data extends the distributional range of F. costalis northward from California to Vancouver Island, Canada.

This paper presents a 10 to 20 GHz bandwidth microwave polarimeter demonstrator, based on the implementation of a near-infra-red frequency up-conversion stage that allows both the optical correlation, when operating as a synthesized-image interferometer, and signal detection, when operating as a direct-image instrument. The proposed idea is oriented towards the implementation of ultra-sensitive instruments presenting several dozens or even thousands of microwave receivers operating in the lowest bands of the cosmic microwave background. In this work, an electro-optical back-end module replaces the usual microwave detection stage with Mach–Zehnder modulators for the frequency up-conversion, and an optical stage for the signals correlation and detection at near-infra-red wavelengths (1550 nm). As interferometer, the instrument is able to correlate the signals of large-format instruments, while operating as a direct imaging instrument also presents advantages in terms of the possibility of implementing the optical back end by means of photonic integrated circuits to achieve reductions in cost, weight, size, and power consumption. A linearly polarized input wave, with a variable polar angle, is used as a signal source for laboratory tests. The receiver demonstrator has proved its capabilities of being used as a new microwave-photonic polarimeter for the study of the lowest bands of cosmic microwave background.

Se describen los casos clínicos de 2 pacientes con enfermedad arterial periférica oclusiva por ateroesclerosis obliterante de tipo 3, estadio IV, con isquemia crítica de las extremidades, quienes fueron atendidos en el Hospital del Instituto Ecuatoriano de Seguridad Social de Ibarra, provincia de Imbabura de la República de Ecuador por el convenio con los servicios médicos de Cuba. Los afectados fueron tratados con alprostadil por vía parenteral, a fin de aliviar el dolor en reposo, lograr la cicatrización de las úlceras, limitar la gangrena isquémica y realizar solo amputaciones menores, de manera que los afectados preservaron sus extremidades y se reincorporaron a sus actividades cotidianas.

When two similar species co-occur in time and space, strong mechanisms isolating them from each other are expected. Acanthoscurria suina Pocock, 1903 and Eupalaestrus weijenberghi (Thorell, 1894) are two sympatric and synchronic tarantulas that inhabit burrows in Uruguay's meadows. Here we test how and when reproductive isolation operates between these species. We exposed females of each species simultaneously to two males: either one male of each species, or two males of the same species. Males courted females of both species. Contrary to expectations, however, females of A. suina responded more effusively to heterospecific than to conspecific males, whereas females of E. weijenberghi only responded to conspecific males. Clasping (prelude of mating) was only recorded for couples of the same species. Females of A. suina at first seem to prefer the stronger body vibrations performed by heterospecific courting males than by males of their own species.

Se realizó un estudio observacional y descriptivo, de serie de casos, de 14 pacientes con enfermedad arterial periférica aortoilíaca, operados por procedimientos vasculares directos en el Servicio de Angiología y Cirugía Vascular del Hospital Provincial Docente Clinicoquirúrgico "Saturnino Lora Torres" de Santiago de Cuba, de enero del 2010 a octubre del 2012, con vistas a caracterizarles según algunos parámetros clínicos y quirúrgicos y así evaluar la efectividad del tratamiento quirúrgico. Entre los principales resultados se obtuvo que el total de la serie eran hombres de más de 50 años de edad, en quienes se efectuó la ecografía Doppler como técnica imagenológica de elección; todos los afectados con oclusiones eran fumadores y de ellos, 50 % recibió revascularización quirúrgica, mientras que la totalidad de pacientes con aneurismas padecía hipertensión arterial y en 62,5 % de estos se practicó la cirugía de sustitución vascular. Se concluyó que la enfermedad arterial periférica aortoilíaca oclusiva tiene una aparición cada vez más temprana, los aneurismas de la aorta abdominal no son diagnosticados precozmente, las angiografías y tomografías son estudios necesarios para decidir el tratamiento quirúrgico, y que los parámetros quirúrgicos, como el tiempo de pinzamiento de la aorta, la diuresis durante el pinzamiento, la diuresis total y el tiempo quirúrgico; no tuvieron graves repercusiones en el período posoperatorio, ni en la supervivencia de los pacientes.

Background: Cultural competence training in residency is important to improve learners’ confidence in cross-cultural encounters. Recognition of cultural diversity and avoidance of cultural stereotypes are essential for health care providers. Methods: We developed a multimethod approach for cross-cultural training of Internal Medicine residents and evaluated participants’ preparedness for cultural encounters. The multimethod approach included (1) a conference series, (2) a webinar with a national expert, (3) small group sessions, (4) a multicultural social gathering, (5) a Grand Rounds presentation on cross-cultural training, and (6) an interactive, online case-based program. Results: The program had 35 participants, 28 of whom responded to the survey. Of those, 16 were white (62%), and residents comprised 71% of respondents (n=25). Following training, 89% of participants were more comfortable obtaining a social history. However, prior to the course only 27% were comfortable caring for patients who distrust the US system and 35% could identify religious beliefs and customs which impact care. Most (71%) believed that the training would help them give better care for patients from different cultures, and 63% felt more comfortable negotiating a treatment plan following the course. Conclusions: Multimethod training may improve learners’ confidence and comfort with cross-cultural encounters, as well as lay the foundation for ongoing learning. Follow-up is needed to assess whether residents’ perceived comfort will translate into improved patient outcomes.

Se presenta el caso clínico de una paciente de 29 años de edad, con antecedentes de ectasia aórtica, quien había sido estudiada a los 18 años mediante cineangiografía y se halló un aneurisma fusiforme de la aorta abdominal infrarrenal y de la arteria ilíaca primitiva izquierda, de causa no precisada, las cuales fueron sustituidas con derivación aortofemoral izquierda. Posteriormente, en el 2012, presentó dolor y aumento del volumen en la región inguinal izquierda, por lo que fue atendida en el Cuerpo de Guardia del Hospital Provincial Docente Clinicoquirúrgico "Saturnino Lora Torres" de Santiago de Cuba, y evaluada por especialistas del Servicio de Angiología y Cirugía Vascular, los cuales determinaron operarle de urgencia, al observar un aneurisma anastomótico de la arteria femoral izquierda, de causa micótica, y las características: craneosinostosis, úvula bífida y hendidura del paladar; propias del síndrome de Loeys-DietzThe case report of a 29 year-old patient, with a history of aortic ectasia who had been studied when she was 18 years through cineangiography is presented and a fusiform aneurysm of the infrarrenal abdominal aorta and of the left primitive iliac artery, of unspecific cause was found, which were substituted with left aortofemoral bypass. Later on, in 2012, she presented pain and increase of the volume in the left inguinal region, reason why she was assisted in the emergency room of "Saturnino Lora Torres" Teaching Provincial Clinical Surgical Hospital in Santiago de Cuba, and evaluated by specialists of the Angiology and Vascular Surgery Service, which determined to treat her with an emergency surgery, when observing an anastomotic aneurysm of the left femoral artery of fungal cause, and the characteristics: craneosinostosis, bifid uvula and cleft palate; characteristic of Loeys Dietz syndrome.

The case report of a 4 years child is described assisted initially in the Pediatrics Service of the Social Security Ecuadorian Institute Hospital of Ibarra in Ecuador Republic and then in the Vascular Surgery Service, where she was diagnosed Parkes Weber syndrome.

Las prácticas de divulgación de Responsabilidad Social Corporativa (RSC) son cada vez más utilizadas por las grandes compañías como instrumentos para eliminar las asimetrías de información entre los stakeholders. En el caso de las administraciones públicas, aunque las exigencias de los ciudadanos son cada vez mayores en materia de transparencia y de rendición de cuentas, la difusión de información RSC es un tema todavía poco estudiado. Este trabajo pretende realizar una primera aproximación a la difusión de información RSC en las administraciones locales españolas y su finalidad principal es conocer las debilidades y fortalezas que, en materia de RSC, tienen los sistemas de información de estas entidades, identificando oportunidades de mejora que orienten futuras investigaciones. Para ello, hemos analizado los sitios web de 55 grandes gobiernos locales, obteniendo conclusiones sobre la difusión de información general acerca de RSC así como sobre la publicación de información económica, social y medioambiental. Los resultados revelan que las mayores carencias de publicación de información RSC corresponden a la información medioambiental, mientras que la información social es la más divulgada. Asimismo, el tamaño de la entidad, la competencia política y el signo del partido gobernante, no explican el desarrollo de las prácticas de difusión de información RSC.PALABRAS CLAVE: Responsabilidad Social Corporativa, Administración Pública.ABSTRACTThe disclosure practices of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) are increasingly used by large companies in order to eliminate information asymmetries between stakeholders. Instead, the disclosure of CSR information for governments is a topic little studied yet, though the demands of citizens are increasing in transparency and accountability. This paper attempts a first approach to information CSR dissemination in Spanish local governments. Its main purpose is to know the strengths and weaknesses about CSR of information systems of these entities, identifying opportunities for improvement to guide future research. To do this, we analyzed the websites of 55 large local governments, drawing conclusions about the disclosure of CSR general information and about the publication of on economic, social and environmental information. The results reveal that the major shortcomings in CSR disclosure are related to environmental information, while social information is the most published. Also, the size of the entity, political competition and the political sign of the government, do not explain the development of disclosure of RSC information.

El orden sensorial es un intento de explicar la relación entre el cosmos y la mente. Al referirse a estos temas, Hayek estableció una base sólida para apoyar sus ideas acerca del conocimiento económico y el problema que debe resolver la ciencia económica. El propósito de este ensayo es hacer una reconstrucción plausible del lugar fundamental que tiene El orden sensorial en la aproximación de Hayek al problema del individualismo y a la cuestión del conocimiento económico. Este ejercicio ayuda entender las razones por las que él se interesó en la psicología teórica y por qué sus ideas en este campo inciden en su forma de entender el objeto de las ciencias sociales.

Este estudio amplía el conocimiento de los hábitos alimentarios de 3 especies de murciélagos frugívoros como dispersores de semillas en 2 localidades de la selva alta perennifolia en la zona sur de la Reserva de la Biosfera de Montes Azules (REBIMA), y dentro del Ejido Playón de la Gloria (PDLG). Se estimó la abundancia relativa de Artibeus lituratus, Carollia perspicillata y Sturnira lilium, así como la diversidad y categoría sucesional de los frutos que consumen estas 3 especies en ambas localidades, mediante la identificación de semillas en las excretas. La división de especies vegetales por categoría sucesional mostró que A. lituratus y C. perspicillata consumen frutos tanto de especies pioneras como de especies persistentes, mientras que S. lilium únicamente se alimenta de especies pioneras. Durante la época seca A. lituratus y C. perspicillata presentaron una mayor diversidad y riqueza de especies consumidas dentro de la REBIMA, en tanto que en la época de lluvia mostraron mayor diversidad y riqueza dentro de PDLG; es decir, la diversidad de semillas colectadas por ambos dispersores responde a la época anual. S. lilium presentó mayor riqueza y diversidad dentro de PDLG a lo largo del muestreo indicando preferencia por frutos establecidos en estadios tempranos en la sucesión vegetal.This study examined the feeding habits of three species of frugivorous bats in relation to their role as seed dispersers in two localities, one in a Neotropical rainforest area in the southern part of the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve (REBIMA), and the other in Ejido Playón de la Gloria (PDLG). We estimated the relative abundance of Artibeus lituratus, Carollia perspicillata and Sturnira lilium. We determined the diversity and the successional category of fruits consumed by these species in both localities through the identification of seeds in their feces. The plant species diversity based on successional category showed that A. lituratus and C. perspicillata consume fruits of pioneer species as well as persistent species, while S. lilium only feeds on pioneer species. During the dry season A. lituratus and C. perspicillata had higher diversity and richness values of plant species consumed at REBIMA, whereas in the wet season they showed higher diversity and richness at PDLG, indicating that the diversity of seeds collected by both dispersers changes with the time of year. S. lilium presented higher diversity and richness values of plant species consumed at PDLG throughout the year study, indicating preference for fruits from early stages of plant succession.

Se describen las características estructurales de altura, cobertura y diámetro de árboles refugio, así como las características microambientales de temperatura y la humedad, en dos sitios de la Selva Lacandona, Chiapas, donde estuvieron presentes 3 especies de murciélagos filostómidos frugívoros, Artibeus lituratus, Carollia perspicillata y Sturnira lilium. Se localizaron y describieron 11 refugios diurnos mediante la búsqueda sistemática de árboles en ambas localidades; como método complementario se empleó la telemetría. Las tres especies de murciélagos filostómidos utilizaron como árboles refugio aquéllos de gran altura y diámetro y con más de una cavidad, localizados en áreas de bosque tropical maduro o en estado de sucesión avanzado. Igualmente, las tres especies utilizaron como refugio árboles con valores de humedad por debajo de la encontrada en el exterior (81.04 ± 6.88%, en el interior, comparada con 93.56 ± 4.50% en el exterior). No se encontró que la temperatura fuera una característica importante para la selección de árboles refugio en estos murciélagos tropicales.In 2 different sites of the Lacandon Forest, Chiapas, Mexico, structural characteristics of tree roosts, such as height, cover, and diameter were described and evaluated. Microenvironmental traits (temperature and moisture) were also assessed in each roost where 3 species of phyllostomid bats Artibeus lituratus, Carollia perspicillata and Sturnira lilium were present. Eleven day-roosts were located and described after a systematic search of trees in both sites. Telemetry was also used as complementary method. Bat species preferred large roost-trees and with more than one cavity. All the roosts were located in areas of mature tropical forest or in advanced sucesional stages. The species preferred roosts in trees with lower values of moisture than those in the exterior (means with standard deviation) (81.04 ± 6.88%, on the inside against 93.56 ± 4.50% on the outside). Temperature was not an important trait for roost selection on trees for any of the bats studied.

In the field of New Public Management, performance indicators and the Benchmarking technique are suitable instruments to evaluate efficiency, although their usefulness to make comparisons among organizations depends on the homogeneity of the data. However, none of the published empirical studies have focused on the standardization of these indicators in the Spanish local administration. The aim of this paper is to design a methodology in order to normalize the performance indicators that contribute towards improving the use of Benchmarking in the analyses of effectiveness and efficiency in the public local administrations. Finally, we put forward the results of an empirical study of indicators carried out in nine towns and covering seventeen public services, as well as the main conclusions of this research.

Los aneurismas aórticos yuxta y pararrenales siguen siendo un reto para el angiólogo y cirujano vascular que se enfrenta a ellos, no sólo por sus complejas soluciones quirúrgicas, sino también por sus limitaciones diagnósticas dada su topografía y al momento en que se desencadenan sus síntomas clínicos, que por lo general constituyen urgencias medicoquirúrgicas. En busca de un mejor manejo clínico, diagnóstico y terapéutico se realiza esta amplia y actualizada revisión de la enfermedad ectasiante de la aorta abdominal en su segmento yuxta y pararrenal, que permita a todos los angiólogos, cirujanos vasculares, generales, urólogos, en fin, a todos los relacionados con afecciones de esta topografía, reflexionar en algunos artificios técnicos, en nuevos diseños diagnósticos y manejo anestésico, que permitan lograr soluciones reales y de supervivencia a los pacientes que sufran de esta entidadJuxtarenal and pararenal aneurysms are still a challenge to the angiologist and vascular surgeon not only because of their complex surgical solutions, but also because of their diagnostic limitations resulting from their topography and from the time their clinical symptoms, which are generally medicosurgical emergencies, appear. In order to have a better clinical, diagnostic and therapeutic management, this wide and updated review of the ectatic disease in its juxtarrenal and pararenal segment of the aorta was made, allowing angiologists, vascular and general surgeons, urologists, and all those related to affections of this topography to reflect on some technical artifices, new diagnostic designs and anesthetic management that make possible to find real and survival solutions for those patients suffering from this disease

In pathogenic fungi, melanin contributes to virulence, allowing tissue invasion and inactivation of the plant defence system, but has never been implicated as a factor for host cell death, or as a light-activated phytotoxin. Our research shows that melanin synthesized by the fungal banana pathogen Mycosphaerella fijiensis acts as a virulence factor through the photogeneration of singlet molecular oxygen O2 (1Δg). Using analytical tools, including elemental analysis, ultraviolet/infrared absorption spectrophometry and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry analysis, we characterized both pigment content in mycelia and secreted to the culture media as 1,8-dihydroxynaphthalene (DHN)-melanin type compound. This is sole melanin-type in M. fijiensis. Isolated melanins irradiated with a Nd:YAG laser at 532 nm produced monomol light emission at 1270 nm, confirming generation of O2 (1Δg), a highly reactive oxygen specie (ROS) that causes cellular death by reacting with all cellular macromolecules. Intermediary polyketides accumulated in culture media by using tricyclazole and pyroquilon (two inhibitors of DHN-melanin synthesis) were identified by ESI-HPLC-MS/MS. Additionally, irradiation at 532 nm of that mixture of compounds and whole melanized mycelium also generated O2 (1Δg). A pigmented-strain generated more O2 (1Δg) than a strain with low melanin content. Banana leaves of cultivar Cavendish, naturally infected with different stages of black Sigatoka disease, were collected from field. Direct staining of the naturally infected leaf tissues showed the presence of melanin that was positively correlated to the disease stage. We also found hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) but we cannot distinguish the source. Our results suggest that O2 (1Δg) photogenerated by DHN-melanin may be involved in the destructive effects of Mycosphaerella fijiensis on banana leaf tissues. Further studies are needed to fully evaluate contributions of melanin-mediated ROS to microbial pathogenesis.

El orden sensorial es un intento de explicar la relación entre el cosmos y la mente. Al referirse a estos temas, Hayek estableció una base sólida para apoyar sus ideas acerca del conocimiento económico y el problema que debe resolver la ciencia económica. El propósito de este ensayo es hacer una reconstrucción plausible del lugar fundamental que tiene El orden sensorial en la aproximación de Hayek al problema del individualismo y a la cuestión del conocimiento económico. Este ejercicio ayuda entender las razones por las que él se interesó en la psicología teórica y por qué sus ideas en este campo inciden en su forma de entender el objeto de las ciencias sociales.

Este articulo identifica, en seis secciones, ios estructuras fundamentales del sistema presidencial de ios Estados Unidos y sostiene que la esencia de la posición del presidente en el sistema político, le viene de las variadas atribuciones establecidas constitucional mente y la práctica creada históricamente por el ejercicio de los diferentes presidentes. Atribuye mucho del poder y la autoridad presidencial al contexto histórico en que los fundadores de la Constitución Americana crearon la institución, incluyendo sus poderes y límites. La primera sección discurre sobre las numerosas atribuciones del presidente y el ejercicio práctico de las mismas para llevar a cabo la política del Ejecutivo con éxito. La sección segunda examina el proceso histórico de la creación de la Presidencia norteamericaria y subraya la íntima relación entre el nuevo sistema de gobierno, la nueva nación surgida tras la independencia, y las circunstancias que rodean su nacimiento.This article identifies, in six sections, the basic structures of the American Presidential system of government and asserts that the nature of the office springs from the various roles the president is called upon to play in the execution of the duties of office and the historical record of the previous office holders. It attríbutes much of the president's power and authority to the historical context in which the framers of the American Constitution created the position, including its powers and limits. The first section discusses the múltiple roles the president plays while in office and notes that these roles must be performed seamlessly in order for America's chief executive to be successful. Section two examines the historical background of the creation of the position and emphasizes the connection between the fledgling government, the new nation, and the historical circumstances surrounding its birth.