Search

Society today faces the great challenge of an ageing population. Within the scope of the physical-mental-social paradigm of active ageing, it has been shown that leisure activities contribute to ol...

This review focuses on the application of Density Functional Tight Binding (DFTB) to electronic-excited states, which has attracted significant attention for extending the computationally efficient approach to the time domain. The chapter highlights the use of real-time time-dependent-DFTB to probe the electron dynamics of large systems in external electric fields where the nuclei are held fixed. Surface hopping is a general mixed quantum-classical nonadiabatic dynamics methodology with many variants, such as fewest-switches surface-hopping, decoherence induced surface hopping, independent electron surface hopping, and others. The nuclei are propagated according to classical mechanics, and the forces on the nuclei, at any given instant of time, arise from a single adiabatic potential energy surfaces. The review illustrates the charge transfer dynamics of Phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester/polythiophene, which is a model system for understanding photo-induced charge transfer dynamics in organic photovoltaics.

We present the first application of field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) as new, customizable hardware architectures for carrying out fast and energy-efficient quantum dynamics simulations of large chemical/material systems. Instead of tailoring the software to fixed hardware, which is the typical case for writing quantum chemistry code for central processing units (CPUs) and graphics processing units (GPUs), FPGAs allow us to directly customize the underlying hardware (even at the level of specific electrical signals in the circuit) to give a truly optimized computational performance for quantum dynamics calculations. By offloading the most intensive and repetitive calculations onto an FPGA, we show that the computational performance of our real-time electron dynamics calculations can even exceed that of optimized commercial mathematical libraries running on high-performance GPUs. In addition to this impressive computational speedup, we show that FPGAs are immensely energy-efficient and consume 4 times less energy than modern GPU or CPU architectures. These energy savings are a practical and important metric for supercomputing centers (many of which exceed over $1 million in power costs alone), as exascale computing capabilities become more widespread and commonplace. Taken together, the implementation techniques and performance metrics of our study demonstrate that FPGAs could play a promising role in upcoming quantum chemistry and materials science applications, particularly for the acceleration and energy-efficient execution of quantum dynamics calculations.

Graphical abstract, A new accurate spectrophotometric method for protein determination on nanoparticles is described. The method is based on the Coomassie blue dye that binds to the basic and aromatic amino acid residues of proteins, especially arginine and lysine. A known amount of reagent dye was mixed with a variety of protein-loaded nanoparticles. Thereafter the unconjugated reagent was mixed with excess protein (bovine serum albumin) and titrated. In this method, the reacted dye on the protein coating of nanoparticle is directly determined, in opposite to the conventional method, in which the conjugated protein is determined as the difference between the non-conjugated protein found in the supernatant after centrifugation, and the total amount of protein originally used. This method is able to measure amounts of coated protein lower than 1 ppm. • Simple and accurate method especially adapted for protein-coated nanoparticles. • The amino acid residues of protein in the nanoparticle surface react with Coomassie brilliant blue dye. • The unreacted dye is titrated with an excess of a standard protein.

Natural areas, when protected, conserve the natural environment and function as social spaces in which tourism brings increased income, employment and financial support for conservation. In this context, the satisfaction of tourists through their experiences in the protected area (PA) is an important objective that not only depends on the PA tourist site, but also on the services that are provided. This paper addresses the impact of the service environment (servicescape) on tourist satisfaction in the context of a PA through the perceived value of a PA tourist site. A questionnaire was administered to a sample of 520 tourists visiting the PA of the Natural Monument Saltos de la Damajagua in Puerto Plata (Dominican Republic). Using variance-based structural equation modelling based on the partial least squares method, facilities were identified as satisfiers, while informational services and food were perceived as dissatisfiers. The dissatisfiers are essential services and their absence/poor performance produce dissatisfaction, while improvements in the satisfiers will increase tourist satisfaction in the PA. These results have implications for the management of the PA, providing tools that can inform PA managers on how to fulfil their goals: the protection of the ecological integrity of the PA and tourist satisfaction.

The incidence of papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) is increasing.To analyze the long-term prognosis of PTMC.Study population: patients with a histopathological diagnosis of PTMC (size ≤ 1 cm) treated according to the risk of recurrence of the Latin American Thyroid Society. Inclusion criteria: minimum follow-up of 2 years, availability of histopathological samples, and treatment compliance. Exclusion criteria: previous thyroid surgery, other synchronous malignancies or ectopic location of the PTMC. Study variables: persistences, recurrences and mortality.Based on the risk of recurrence, PTMC has very low risk in 65.2% (n = 105), low risk in 17.4% (n = 28) and high risk in 17.4% (n = 28). In high risk patients, total thyroidectomy was performed in all cases, cervical lymphadenectomy in 57,1% (n = 16) and metabolic therapy with IPTMC treated based on its risk of recurrence has a good long-term prognosis, without persistences, with a low number of recurrences and absence of disease-associated mortality.La incidencia del microcarcinoma papilar de tiroides (MCPT) está aumentado.Analizar el pronóstico a largo plazo del MCPT.Población a estudio: pacientes con diagnóstico histopatológico de MCPT (tamaño ≤ 1 cm) tratados según el riesgo de recurrencia de la Sociedad Latinoamericana de Tiroides. Criterios de inclusión: seguimiento mínimo de 2 años, disponibilidad de las muestras histopatológicas y cumplimiento del tratamiento. Criterios de exclusión: cirugía tiroidea previa, otras patologías malignas sincrónicas o localización ectópica del MCPT. Variables a estudio: persistencias, recidivas y mortalidad.Según el riesgo de recurrencia, el 65.2% (n = 105) tuvo muy bajo riesgo, el 17.4% (n = 28) bajo riesgo y el 17,4% (n = 28) alto riesgo. En los pacientes de alto riesgo se realizó tiroidectomía total en todos los casos, linfadenectomía cervical en el 57,1% (n = 16) y terapia metabólica con IEl MCPT tratado en función del riesgo de recurrencia tiene un buen pronóstico a largo plazo, sin persistencias, con una baja cifra de recurrencias y ausencia de mortalidad debida a la enfermedad.

Background The incidence of papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) is increasing. Objective To analyze the long-term prognosis of PTMC. Method Study population: patients with a histopathological diagnosis of PTMC (size ≤ 1 cm) treated according to the risk of recurrence of the Latin American Thyroid Society. Inclusion criteria: minimum follow-up of 2 years, availability of histopathological samples, and treatment compliance. Exclusion criteria: previous thyroid surgery, other synchronous malignancies or ectopic location of the PTMC. Study variables: persistences, recurrences and mortality. Results Based on the risk of recurrence, PTMC has very low risk in 65.2% (n = 105), low risk in 17.4% (n = 28) and high risk in 17.4% (n = 28). In high risk patients, total thyroidectomy was performed in all cases, cervical lymphadenectomy in 57,1% (n = 16) and metabolic therapy with I131 in all cases. During a mean follow-up of 119,8 ± 65 months, 0.6% (n = 1) of recurrences took place. Risk factors associated to recurrence were not identified. No patient died due to MCPT. Conclusions PTMC treated based on its risk of recurrence has a good long-term prognosis, without persistences, with a low number of recurrences and absence of disease-associated mortality.

Using real-time quantum dynamics calculations, we perform theoretical investigations of light-induced interactions and electronic excitation transfer in a silver nanoparticle dimer. Real-time time-dependent density functional tight-binding (RT-TDDFTB) calculations provide details of the quantum dynamical processes at an electronic/atomistic level with attosecond resolution. The computational efficiency of RT-TDDFTB allows us to examine electronic dynamics up to picosecond time scales. With time scales varying over six orders of magnitude, we provide insight into interactions between the nanoparticle and laser and between nanoparticles. Our results show that the coupling between nanoparticle monomers is dependent on the separation distance between the nanoparticles in the dimer. As the interparticle distance is varied, the dipole–dipole interactions and electronic excitation transfer mechanisms are markedly different. At large distances (from 50 to 20 Å), the energy transfer from NP1 to NP2 becomes more efficient as the interparticle distance decreases. The total dipole moment of the Ag14 nanoparticle dimer increases linearly at an interparticle distance of 20 Å and reaches its maximum after 1.2 ps. The electronic excitation transfer is also the most efficient at 20 Å. At short distances, back-transfer effects reduce the ability of the dimer and NP1 to accept energy from the incident electric field. We attribute the distance-dependent features of the nanoparticle dimer to the beating between the laser acting on NP1 and the back transfer from NP2 to NP1.

In the present work, Bi 3 Ge 4 O 12 (BGO) was synthesized by the polymeric precursor method using different chelating agents. We present a comparative analysis of each chelate formation and how the physicochemical properties of the BGO were affected, specifically its luminescence. In this work we used citric acid (CTR), ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), ethylene glycol (EG), nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) and tartaric acid (TA), since they are the most reported chelating agents for this type of synthesis. The BGO materials were characterized by scanning electron spectroscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and photoluminescence (PL), and showed that the luminescence properties of the synthesized BGO was affected by the formation of secondary phases. The changes in the BGO luminescence properties with the use of each chelating agent are discussed.

A “green” synthesis alternative for Au nanoparticles (NPs) is reported using an aqueous media, environmental friendly reducing agents and the replacement of alkytrimethylammonium halides by biocompatibles molecules. The usage of an extract from the alga Egregia sp. intrinsically provides with biomolecules for the shell formation around the Au NPs to aid for their biocompatibility. The detailed analysis presented here allows to elucidate the double role played by the algae extract as the reducing agent and as the stabilizing capping shell for the Au NPs colloid. The optimized parameters to obtain a narrow size distribution of Au NPs are elucidated.

Tourism represents one of the most important industries in the world and one of the sectors of fastest growth. An understanding of the relation between tourism and poverty is key for poverty reduct...

We present the first application of field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) as new, customizable hardware architectures that can be harnessed for the fast and energy-efficient calculation of quantum dynamics simulations of large chemical/material systems. Instead of tailoring the software to fixed hardware (which is the typical case for writing quantum chemistry code for CPUs/GPUs), FPGAs allow us to directly customize the underlying hardware - even at the level of specific electrical signals in the circuit - to give a truly optimized computational performance for complex quantum dynamics calculations. By offloading the most intensive and repetitive calculations onto an FPGA, we show that the computational performance of our hardware implementation for real-time electron dynamics calculations can even exceed that of optimized commercial mathematical libraries running on high-performance GPUs. In addition to this impressive computational speedup, we show that FPGAs are immensely energy-efficient and consume 4 times less energy than modern GPU or CPU architectures. These energy savings are a practical and important metric for supercomputing centers (several of which exceed over $1 million in power costs alone), as exascale computing capabilities become more widespread and commonplace. Taken together, the implementation techniques and performance metrics of our study demonstrate that FPGAs could play a promising role in upcoming quantum chemistry and materials science applications, particularly for the acceleration and energy-efficient execution of quantum dynamics calculations.

Although the incidence of papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) has increased in recent decades, the role played by minimal extrathyroidal extension (mETE) in the prognosis of PTMC is still unclear. The aim of this study is to analyse the factors associated with PTMC and mETE and the long-term prognosis of PTMC.We conducted a retrospective study with a population consisting of patients with a histological diagnosis of PTMC. We excluded patients who had previously undergone thyroid surgery, those who had other synchronous malignancies, those with an ectopic location of the PTMC and those lost to follow-up within 2years. We compared group 1 (PTMC without extrathyroidal extension) versus group 2 (PTMC with mETE) and performed a multivariate analysis.We observed PTMC with mETE in 11.2% (n=18) of the patients. In the multivariate analysis, mETE was associated with an age ≥45 years (OR, 4.383; 95% CI 1.051-18.283, p=.043), a tumour size ≥8mm (OR, 5.913; 95% CI 1.795-19.481; p=.003), bilaterality (OR, 4.430; 95% CI 1.294-15.173; p=.018) and metastatic lymph nodes (OR, 12.588; 95% CI 2.919-54.280; p=.001). During a mean follow-up of 119.8±65 months, one recurrence was detected in group 2 (0% vs. 5.6%; p=.112), but none of the patients died due to the disease. Disease-free survival was lower in group 2 (124.9±5.6 vs. 97.4±10.3 months; p=.034).The mETE of MCPT is a factor of worse prognosis, associated with the presence of metastatic lymph nodes and lower disease-free survival.

The extent to which predatory journals can harm scientific practice increases as the numbers of such journals expand, in so far as they undermine scientific integrity, quality, and credibility, especially if those journals leak into prestigious databases. Clarivate's Journal Citation Reports (JCR), a reference for the assessment of researchers and for grant-making decisions, is used as a standard whitelist, in so far as the selectivity of a JCR-indexed journal adds a legitimacy of sorts to the articles that the journal publishes. The Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) had 53 journals ranked in the 2018 JCRs annual report. These journals are analysed, not only to contrast the formal criteria for the identification of predatory journals, but taking a step further, their background is also analysed with regard to self-citations and the source of those self-citations in 2018 and 2019. The results showed that the self-citation rates increased and was very much higher than those of the leading journals in the JCR category. Besides, an increasingly high rate of citations from other MDPI-journals was observed. The formal criteria together with the analysis of the citation patterns of the 53 journals under analysis all suggest they may be predatory journals. Hence, specific recommendations are given to researchers, educational institutions and prestigious databases advising them to review their working relations with those sorts of journals.

Donor-acceptor (DA) conjugated polymers provide an important platform for the development of solution-processed optoelectronic devices. The complex interrelation between electronic properties and conformational disorder in these materials complicates the identification of design guidelines to control the bandgap at low energies, limiting the design of new optoelectronic and device functionalities. Here, we demonstrate that DA polymers comprised of exocyclic olefin substituted cyclopentadithiophene donors, in combination with conventional electron acceptors, display very narrow optical bandgaps (1.2 > Eoptg > 0.7 eV) and primary photoexcitations extending into the shortwave infrared. Theoretical calculations reveal fundamental structure-property relationships toward bandgap and energy level control in these spectral regions. Bulk heterojunction photodiodes fabricated using these new materials demonstrate a detectivity (D∗) of > 1011 Jones within a spectral range of 0.6-1.43 μm and measurable D∗ to 1.8 μm, the longest reported to date for conjugated polymer based systems. Fil: London, Alexander E.. University of Mississippi; Estados Unidos Fil: Huang, Lifeng. University of Mississippi; Estados Unidos Fil: Zhang, Benjamin A.. University of Mississippi; Estados Unidos Fil: Oviedo, María Belén. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Físico-química de Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Físico-química de Córdoba; Argentina. University of California; Estados Unidos Fil: Tropp, Joshua. University of Mississippi; Estados Unidos Fil: Yao, Weichuan. University of California at San Diego; Estados Unidos Fil: Wu, Zhenghui. University of California at San Diego; Estados Unidos Fil: Wong, Bryan M.. University of California; Estados Unidos Fil: Ng, Tse Nga. University of California at San Diego; Estados Unidos Fil: Azoulay, Jason D.. University of Mississippi; Estados Unidos

Tourist satisfaction is a key factor in tourism sustainability. A multiple mediation model is proposed to analyze the relationship between ecotourism knowledge and ecotourist satisfaction, assisting our understanding of the generative mechanism by which ecotourism knowledge influences ecotourist satisfaction. Ecotourists at the Natural Park Saltos de la Damajagua (Dominican Republic) were administered a questionnaire. The results (PLS-SEM) show that ecotourism site perceived value and attitudes towards ecotourism fully mediate the influence of ecotourism knowledge on ecotourist satisfaction. Ecotourism knowledge will therefore only have positive effects on ecotourist satisfaction when the ecotourism site is of high perceived value and there are positive attitudes towards ecotourism. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Ex ante evaluations have received little attention in the literature, resulting in a scattered set of contributions, despite their potential impact on society at large and on the academic careers of the members of research teams proposing interdisciplinary projects. Firstly, a review of the existing literature on the evaluation of interdisciplinary research proposals is presented. Then, two alternatives to the traditional peer-review process are described in the context of interdisciplinary research. The conclusions are of potential use both to academics involved in interdisciplinary research projects and to those responsible for funding such projects.

Firmly linked to the natural environment, nature-based activities involve learning, recreation, and adventure in natural surroundings. Ecotourism, a powerful market force, is a low-impact nature tourism, which contributes directly and indirectly to the maintenance of species and habitats. It is based on environmentally responsible behavior, environmentally friendly destination management, and sustainable development of local human populations. The socio-psychological analysis of the tourist experience is crucial to the reassurance and the promotion of eco-friendly ways of tourism affecting the long-term success of both ecotourism products and destinations. Nevertheless, previous research has focused on the effects of tourist satisfaction on favorable outcomes, such as the intention to recommend the destination or revisit intentions, while ecotourism knowledge and attitudes towards ecotourism have been disregarded. Various hypotheses are proposed and tested with structural equation models (Partial Least Squares), which allow the simultaneous study of various relations of dependence, on the basis of the data taken from 520 interviews with visitors to a protected area. The results show that knowledge of ecotourism, to a lesser extent, and that attitudes towards ecotourism, to a greater extent, explained the perceived value of the tourist site which, in turn, predicted almost half of the variance of tourist satisfaction in the context of an ecotourist site. Additionally, satisfaction can promote the return intentions and the willingness of ecotourists to recommend the site to both family and friends. So, a greater degree of ecotourism knowledge held by the visitor will favor a positive perception of the value of the ecotourist site as well as, to an even greater extent, positive attitudes towards ecotourism. These results support the importance of subjective psychological factors in shaping the tourist's experience of protected areas. Cultivating ecotourism knowledge and attitudes towards ecotourism during ecotourist visits would increase the perceived value of protected areas and tourist satisfaction, a key element for the long-term success of ecotourism products and destinations.

The development of an arteriovenous fistula (AVF) after renal graft biopsy is a rare complication, it is associated in most cases with spontaneous resolution. However, interventional therapies are required in some cases, to prevent graft loss. Selective embolization has been described as an alternative treatment. In the present study, we describes our experience on AVF after biopsy in kidney transplant patients, which was managed with selective embolization. From 2005 to 2015, a total of 452 kidney transplant biopsies were performed, 12 had an AVF requiring embolization. In 92% of cases, this was successful. Beforehand, mean serum creatinine levels were 2.45 mg/dL, after the procedure, that increased to 3.05, however, 3 months later, mean creatinine levels dropped to 1.85 mg/dL. Graft survival after 2 follow-up years was 72%. Our experience demonstrates that selective embolization of the AVF after kidney transplant biopsy is a safe procedure, and that transplant function can be maintained in patients with this complication.

Fil: Oviedo, Jorge M. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Facultad de Medicina; Argentina. Fil: Ruiz, Matías. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Facultad de Medicina; Argentina. Fil: Krywinski, Fernando. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Facultad de Medicina; Argentina. Fil: Staneff, Juan. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Facultad de Medicina; Argentina. Fil: Guidobono, Juan Armando. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Facultad de Medicina; Argentina. Fil: Forlino, DanielUniversidad Nacional del Nordeste. Facultad de Medicina; Argentina. El sistema ventricular del cerebro cambia su forma y tamaño durante el desarrollo fetal. Las modificaciones cronológicas están relacionadas al rápido crecimiento del parénquima cerebral por migración neuronal desde la matriz germinal, el desarrollo de las cisuras y surcos, el cuerpo calloso, la impronta de los núcleos de la base del cerebro y el tálamo. El objetivo del trabajo es describir los cambios morfológicos de los ventrículos laterales durante el segundo trimestre de gestación mediante el estudio con resonancia magnética de 20 fetos, 16 masculinos y 4 femeninos, de 16 semanas de edad gestacional media. Se utilizó un equipo de 1.5 Tesla con técnicas volumétricas 3D. Se registró la forma de cada ventrículo lateral mediante una línea central en una vista lateral 3D del cerebro. Además se comparó el diámetro vertical del cuerpo de cada ventrículo con el espesor del parénquima cerebral, correlacionando los datos con las semanas de edad gestacional, y el diámetro transverso del atrio ventricular. Los ventrículos laterales modificaron progresivamente su forma desde una línea curva esférica hasta una elíptica con cola desde la 12ª hasta la 20ª semanas de gestación. El diámetro vertical del cuerpo ventricular se redujo en éste periodo gestacional en comparación con el parénquima cerebral que incrementó notablemente su espesor The ventricular system of the brain changes its shape and size during fetal development. The chronological changes are related to the rapid growth of the cerebral parenchyma by neuronal migration from the germinal matrix, the development of the fissures and sulci, the corpus callosum, and the effect of the nuclei of the base of the brain and the thalamus. The objective of this study is to describe the morphological changes of the lateral ventricles during the second trimester of gestation by means of the magnetic resonance imaging study of 20 fetuses, 16 males and 4 females, with 16 weeks of gestational age mean. We used a 1.5 Tesla equipment with volumetric 3D techniques. The shape of each lateral ventricle was recorded by a central line in a 3D side view of the brain. In addition, the vertical diameter of the body of each ventricle was compared with the thickness of the cerebral parenchyma, correlating the data with the weeks of gestational, and the transverse diameter of the ventricular atrium. The lateral ventricles progressively modified its shape from a spherical curve line to an elliptical with tail from the 12th to the 20th weeks of gestational age. The vertical diameter of the ventricular body was reduced in this gestational period in comparison with the cerebral parenchyma, which increased its thickness considerably

Phenolic compounds concentration in Mentha spicata could be modified by salicylic acid as elicitor. The objective of this work was to compare the phenolic compounds, flavonoids concentration and antioxidant activity by salicylic acid application. The plants were bought and cultured in greenhouse with two irrigations, first one with fertilizer (FE) water and second aquaculture residual water (ARW). Moreover, Salicylic Acid (AS) was elicited in two concentrations; 0.0 mM, 0.5 mM and 1.0 mM, in two times every 14 days. Also, ambient temperature and relative humidity were monitoring in each culture. Phenolic compound, flavonoids and antioxidant activity were determined. Our results displayed that 0.5 mM SA concentration increase the phenolic compounds when the plants were irrigated with fertilizer. Flavonoids increased in plants with 1.0 SA elicited and aquaponics water irrigated. Antioxidant activity was the best in plants elicited with 1.0 mM SA concentration.

We present a detailed analysis of the electronic couplings that mediate excitation energy transfer (EET) in plasmonic nanoantenna systems using large-scale quantum dynamical calculations. To capture the intricate electronic interactions in these large systems, we utilize a real-time, time-dependent, density functional tight binding (RT-TDDFTB) approach to characterize the quantum-mechanical efficiency of EET in plasmonic nanoparticle chains with subnanometer interparticle spacings. In contrast to classical electrodynamics methods, our quantum dynamical calculations do not predict a monotonic increase in EET efficiency with a decrease in interparticle spacing between the nanoparticles of the nanoantenna. Most notably, we show a sudden drop in EET efficiencies as the interparticle distance approaches subnanometer length scales within the nanoparticle chain. We attribute this drop in EET efficiency to the onset of quantum charge tunneling between the nanoparticles of the chain which, in turn, changes the nature of the electronic couplings between them. We further characterize this abrupt change in EET efficiency through visualizations of both the spatial and time-dependent charge distributions within the nanoantenna, which provide an intuitive classification of the various types of electronic excitations in these plasmonic systems. Finally, while the use of classical electrodynamics methods have long been used to characterize complex plasmonic systems, our findings demonstrate that quantum-mechanical effects can result in qualitatively different (and sometimes completely opposite) results that are essential for accurately calculating EET mechanisms and efficiencies in these systems. Fil: Ilawe, Niranjan V.. University Of California Riverside; Estados Unidos Fil: Oviedo, María Belén. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Físico-química de Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Físico-química de Córdoba; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Cs.químicas. Departamento de Química Teórica y Computacional; Argentina Fil: Wong, Bryan M.. University Of California Riverside; Estados Unidos

Tourism is by definition an interdisciplinary research area in the framework of the social sciences. There is however an identifiable gap in inter-disciplinary collaboration, which otherwise has the potential to generate new concepts and methods and, by doing so, new knowledge in tourism. Beginning with a review of the definitions of interdisciplinary research, this study centres on an evaluation of the importance and the peculiarities of interdisciplinary research quality. The quality assessment of tourism research is a key issue with particular challenges, as it often simultaneously involves more than one discipline, each with its own notions of research quality. Hence, this review of practical guidelines for interdisciplinary research evaluation advocates real interdisciplinarity in tourism research.

The risk of falls in older adults increases because of the decrease in strength, flexibility, balance and sensory changes affecting functionality and quality of life. For this reason, an integral system of evaluation of equilibrium is necessary, for preventive purposes or for early therapeutic interventions.To present the results of the transcultural translation and adaptation process of the Balance Evaluation Systems Test (BESTest) to Spanish language.The original version of the BESTest was translated into Spanish, following the process of retro-traduction and cultural adaptation considering the semantic, idiomatic, conceptual and experiential equivalences. Subsequently the version was reviewed by a panel of experts qualifying clarity, coherence, relevance and sufficiency. The pilot test included 32 adults between 50 and 80 years old.It was possible to carry out the complete translation of the instrument, the instructions for the subject and for the evaluator. Most items of the test reached the maximum score of 4.0 (100%), nine items achieved an average score of 3.9 (99%), one item got an average score of 3.8 (95%) and two items achieved an average score of 3.7 (92.5%).With this study the Spanish speakers community has a pertinent sufficient, coherent and clear instrument in order to identify the control postural system altered to focus treatment and to get better functional outcomes from balance evaluation in older adults.Adaptacion transcultural al castellano del sistema de evaluacion del equilibrio (BESTest) en adultos mayores.Introduccion. El riesgo de caidas en adultos mayores se incrementa a consecuencia de la disminucion de la fuerza, la flexibilidad, el equilibrio y los cambios sensoriales, que afectan a la funcionalidad y la calidad de vida. Por tal razon se hace necesario un sistema integral de evaluacion del equilibrio con fines preventivos o para intervenciones terapeuticas tempranas. Objetivo. Presentar los resultados del proceso de traduccion y adaptacion transcultural del sistema de evaluacion del equilibrio (BESTest) al castellano. Sujetos y metodos. Se tradujo al castellano la version original del BESTest, siguiendo el proceso de retrotraduccion y adaptacion cultural y teniendo en cuenta las equivalencias semanticas, idiomaticas, conceptual y experiencial. Posteriormente, la version fue revisada por un panel de expertos que califico la claridad, la coherencia, la pertinencia y la suficiencia. En la prueba piloto participaron 32 adultos de 50-80 años. Resultados. Se realizo la traduccion completa del instrumento y de las instrucciones para el sujeto y para el evaluador. La mayoria de items de la prueba alcanzaron la puntuacion maxima de 4 (100%), nueve items lograron una calificacion media de 3,9 (99%); un item, una calificacion media de 3,8 (95%), y dos items, una calificacion media de 3,7 (92,5%). Conclusiones. Con este estudio, la comunidad de habla hispana cuenta con un instrumento pertinente, suficiente, coherente y claro para identificar el sistema del equilibrio afectado, enfocar el tratamiento y obtener mejores resultados funcionales a partir de la evaluacion del equilibrio en adultos mayores.

Using large-scale, real-time quantum dynamics calculations, we present a detailed analysis of electronic excitation transfer (EET) mechanisms in a multi-particle plasmonic nanoantenna system. Specifically, we utilize real-time, time-dependent, density functional tight binding (RT-TDDFTB) to provide a quantum-mechanical description (at an electronic/atomistic level of detail) for characterizing and analyzing these systems, without recourse to classical approximations. We also demonstrate highly long-range electronic couplings in these complex systems and find that the range of these couplings is more than twice the conventional cutoff limit considered by FRET based approaches. Furthermore, we attribute these unusually long-ranged electronic couplings to the coherent oscillations of conduction electrons in plasmonic nanoparticles. This long-range nature of plasmonic interactions has important ramifications for EET - in particular, we show that the commonly used "nearest-neighbor" FRET model is inadequate for accurately characterizing EET even in simple plasmonic antenna systems. These findings provide a real-time, quantum-mechanical perspective for understanding EET mechanisms and provide guidance in enhancing plasmonic properties in artificial light-harvesting systems., Comment: Accepted by the Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation

The treatment of atomic anions with Kohn-Sham density functional theory (DFT) has long been controversial since the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy, $E_{HOMO}$, is often calculated to be positive with most approximate density functionals. We assess the accuracy of orbital energies and electron affinities for all three rows of elements in the periodic table (H-Ar) using a variety of theoretical approaches and customized basis sets. Among all of the theoretical methods studied here, we find that a non-empirically tuned range-separated approach (constructed to satisfy DFT-Koopmans' theorem for the anionic electron system) provides the best accuracy for a variety of basis sets - even for small basis sets where most functionals typically fail. Previous approaches to solve this conundrum of positive $E_{HOMO}$ values have utilized non-self-consistent methods; however electronic properties, such as electronic couplings/gradients (which require a self-consistent potential and energy), become ill-defined with these approaches. In contrast, the non-empirically tuned range-separated procedure used here yields well-defined electronic couplings/gradients and correct $E_{HOMO}$ values since both the potential and resulting electronic energy are computed self-consistently. Orbital energies and electron affinities are further analyzed in the context of the electronic energy as a function of electronic number (including fractional numbers of electrons) to provide a stringent assessment of self-interaction errors for these complex anion systems., Comment: Accepted by the Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation

El sitio arqueologico de Choquepujio, en el sector oriental del valle del Cusco, presenta ocupacion humana continua desde el periodo Intermedio Temprano. Las ruinas de la arquitectura monumental del periodo Intermedio Tardio son predominantes en el sitio. Estas estructuras se encuentran en dos grupos (A y B), y parecen haber sido importantes templos durante el periodo Intermedio Tardio. El descubrimiento de un grupo de entierros de ninos Inca en uno de los templos del area A indica que los Inca continuaron considerando esta estructura como un lugar sagrado luego de haber controlado la cuenca del Lucre. La naturaleza de estos entierros de ninos y las vastas ofrendas asociadas con ellos se corresponden bastante bien con los sacrificios denominados Capacocha descritos en las cronicas espanolas. Hay ademas sorprendentes similitudes entre estos contextos y los sacrificios humanos Inca encontrados en picos nevados en los Andes surenos. Concluimos en este caso que la ofrenda en Choquepujio es muy probabl...

We report the quantification of promethazine (PMZ) using glassy carbon electrodes (GCE) modified with bamboo-like multi-walled carbon nanotubes (bCNT) dispersed in double stranded calf-thymus DNA (dsDNA) (GCE/bCNT-dsDNA). Cyclic voltammetry measurements demonstrated that PMZ presents a thin film-confined redox behavior at GCE/bCNT-dsDNA, opposite to the irreversibly-adsorbed behavior obtained at GCE modified with bCNT dispersed in ethanol (GCE/bCNT). Differential pulse voltammetry-adsorptive stripping with medium exchange experiments performed with GCE/bCNT-dsDNA and GCE modified with bCNTs dispersed in single-stranded calf-thymus DNA (ssDNA) confirmed that the interaction between PMZ and bCNT-dsDNA is mainly hydrophobic. These differences are due to the intercalation of PMZ within the dsDNA that supports the bCNTs, as evidenced from the bathochromic displacement of UV–Vis absorption spectra of PMZ and quantum dynamics calculations at DFTB level. The efficient accumulation of PMZ at GCE/bCNT-dsDNA made possible its sensitive quantification at nanomolar levels (sensitivity: (3.50 ± 0.05) × 108 μA·cm− 2·M− 1 and detection limit: 23 nM). The biosensor was successfully used for the determination of PMZ in a pharmaceutical product with excellent correlation. Fil: Primo, Emiliano Nicolás. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Físico-química de Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Físico-química de Córdoba; Argentina Fil: Oviedo, María Belén. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Físico-química de Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Físico-química de Córdoba; Argentina Fil: Sanchez, Cristian Gabriel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Físico-química de Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Físico-química de Córdoba; Argentina Fil: Rubianes, María Dolores. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Físico-química de Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Físico-química de Córdoba; Argentina Fil: Rivas, Gustavo Adolfo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Físico-química de Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Físico-química de Córdoba; Argentina

The satisfaction dimensions of domestic tourists when buying souvenirs are studied in relation to the overall satisfaction of the same tourists, a theme that has received little attention in the prior scientific literature. The research data were gathered from interviews with domestic tourists visiting Seville over an extended weekend. The results show that souvenir shopping satisfaction consists of four factors: internal attraction, service differentiation, service provision and external attraction. The last two, moreover, influence the overall tourist satisfaction rates. A discussion of these results and their implications help contribute to a better understanding among both scholars and practitioners of tourist satisfaction.

Tourists' attraction to filmed sites has increased destination marketing organisations (DMOs) interest in film-induced tourism. Seville, Spain, has been the setting of many national and international film productions. Film tourism research has focused on impacts, travel preferences and destination choice, but there is a lack of research on motivations of film tourism. As a consequence, DMO actions in film tourism are often developed ad hoc, in an unplanned and opportunistic way without understanding the phenomenon. This research tries to fill this gap by focusing on film tourism in Seville in order to identify film tourists' motivations. Results identify film tourism activity and find five motivations of the film-induced tourist in Seville: film site experiences, fantasy, novelty, touring the film and personal film-location connection. Results show films add something valuable to destination experience (as a secondary or tertiary attraction). Destination managers should consider novelty factor as an eleme...

Rising demand for quality, efficiency, and openness in the management of collective problems and their solutions has prompted successful government agencies to consider knowledge as a key resource. Government agencies make intensive use of human capital and knowledge in the performance of their duties. Knowledge represents the most important strategic resource, and its skillful management is a key capability in institutional performance. Using structural equation modeling, we analyze the relationship between the learning capability of an organizational system, characterized by the dynamic interaction of stocks and flows of knowledge, and its impact on performance. Our results support the view that learning capability, especially knowledge flows and stocks, has a positive impact on the performance of public institutions.

La Administración Pública, en el ejercicio de sus funciones, utiliza intensamente el capital humano y el conocimiento, y cada vez más se considera el conocimiento como un recurso clave, debido a las crecientes exigencias de calidad, eficiencia y transparencia en el tratamiento y la solución de los problemas colectivos. El conocimiento es, por lo tanto, un recurso estratégico trascendental y la capacidad de gestionarlo adecuadamente es clave para que las instituciones desarrollen sus funciones eficientemente. Utilizando un modelo de ecuaciones estructurales basado en la varianza (partial least square [PLS]) se analiza la relación entre la capacidad de aprendizaje del sistema organizativo, caracterizado por la interacción dinámica entre stocks y flujos de conocimiento, y el impacto en los resultados, o desempe˜no. Los resultados confirman que la capacidad de aprendizaje tiene un impacto positivo en los resultados en la Administración Pública. Se analizan las implicaciones prácticas de estos resultados. Public Administration, when performing its duties, uses intensively human capital and knowledge and increasingly considers knowledge as a key resource due to the growing demands of quality, efficiency and transparency during collective problems processing and solving. So knowledge is an essential strategic resource and capacity to appropriately manage is key element in order to institutions perform their functions properly. Using structural equations model based on variance (Partial Least Square [PLS]) relationship between organizational learning capacity, characterized by the dynamic interaction between knowledge flows and stocks, and the impact on the results, or performance, is analyzed. The results confirm that the learning capacity has a positive impact on the results of the Public Institution. Managerial implications of these results are analysed.

Souvenirs function as mementos and are palpable evidence of a journey. The souvenir is certainly a key element of the destination experience of tourists. In this study, we analyze shopping value as an antecedent of tourist souvenir-shopping satisfaction, the consequences of which are positive word of mouth and overall tourist satisfaction. Using Partial Least Squares, a variance-based structural equation modeling technique for data analysis, we arrive at results that show a positive and significant relationship between tourist souvenir shopping satisfaction and both positive word of mouth and overall tourist satisfaction. Moreover, the results also suggest that it is shopping value above all through its hedonic dimension that heightens tourist shopping satisfaction. The study provides useful insights into business strategy for souvenir retailers and its results may serve to guide the tourism planning and promotion activities of destination marketing organizations.

To establish a new predictive methodology to determine the proportion of severe dengue with respect to the annual total of dengue infections per department based on the probability theory.Based on annual data on the number of infected persons by department in the period 2005-2010, the proportion of cases of severe dengue was calculated with respect to the total for each year. Probability spaces were constructed to evaluate these events in the ranges 0.5 and 0.3. Sets of ranges were determined and probability, mean square deviation and the difference between them were estimated. A prediction of the range of infected people for 2011 was made using the arithmetic average of the values of the last two years.The range in which the proportion of the number of people infected with severe dengue is included with respect to the total amount in each department was correctly predicted, with an effectiveness of 93.3% for the 0.5 range and 86.7% for the 0.3 range.A mathematical spatial-temporal self-organization was found in the proportion of severe dengue with respect to the total, which allows establishing useful predictions for decision-making in public health.Establecer una nueva metodología predictiva de la proporción de dengue grave respecto al total anual de infectados de dengue por departamento con base en la teoría de la probabilidad.Con base en los datos anuales de número de infectados por departamentos en el periodo 2005 -2010, se calculó la proporción entre casos de dengue grave respecto al total para cada año, y se construyeron espacios de probabilidad que evalúan estos eventos en rangos de 0,5 y 0,3. Se determinaron conjuntos de rangos y se calculó probabilidad, desviación media cuadrática y la diferencia entre ellas. Se realizó una predicción del rango de infectados para el 2011 con el promedio aritmético de los valores de los últimos dos años.Se predijo correctamente el rango en el que se encuentra incluida la proporción de número de infectados de dengue grave sobre el total en cada departamento con una efectividad del 93,3% para el rango de 0,5 y de 86,7% para el de 0,3.Se evidenció una autoorganización matemática espacio temporal en la proporción de dengue grave respecto al total que permite establecer predicciones de utilidad para la toma de decisiones de salud pública.

We present a detailed analysis of nonempirically tuned range-separated functionals, with both short- and long-range exchange, for calculating the static linear polarizability and second hyperpolarizabilities of various polydiacetylene (PDA) and polybutatriene (PBT) oligomers. Contrary to previous work on these systems, we find that the inclusion of some amount of short-range exchange does improve the accuracy of the computed polarizabilities and second hyperpolarizabilities. Most importantly, in contrast to prior studies on these oligomers, we find that the lowest-energy electronic states for PBT are not closed-shell singlets, and enhanced accuracy with range-separated DFT can be obtained by allowing the system to relax to a lower-energy broken-symmetry solution. Both the computed polarizabilities and second hyperpolarizabilities for PBT are significantly improved with these broken-symmetry solutions when compared to previously published and current benchmarks. In addition to these new analyses, we provide new large-scale CCSD(T) and explicitly correlated CCSD(T)-F12 benchmarks for the PDA and PBT systems, which comprise the most complete and accurate calculations of linear polarizabilities and second hyperpolarizabilities on these systems to date. These new CCSD(T) and CCSD(T)-F12 benchmarks confirm our DFT results and emphasize the importance of broken-symmetry effects when calculating polarizabilities and hyperpolarizabilties of π-conjugated chains. Fil: Oviedo, María Belén. University Of California Riverside; Estados Unidos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Ilawe, Niranjan V.. University Of California Riverside; Estados Unidos Fil: Wong, Bryan M.. University Of California Riverside; Estados Unidos