Key tipping points of history are rarely found directly in the archaeological record, not least because an event's significance often lies in the perception of the participants. This article ...documents an early-ninth-century ritual fire-burning event at the Maya site of Ucanal in Guatemala and argues that it marked a public dismantling of an old regime. Rather than examine this event as part of a Classic period Maya collapse, the authors propose that it was a revolutionary pivot point around which the K'anwitznal polity reinvented itself, ushering in wider political transitions in the southern Maya Lowlands.
TThe adoption of a competencies-based education model in university teaching brings up the debate on the overtaking of traditional assessment methods by new systems, such as the formative assessment. ...Under this approach, the present study is presented so as to analyse, in the light of formative assessment and teacher competences, the assessment systems in Physical Education teacher training in the Master's Degree in Teaching in Secondary, Baccalaureate, Vocational Training and Teaching of Languages, Arts and Sports in a Spanish Public University. Therefore, a mixed quantitative and qualitative complementary design case study is carried out, in which data is obtained from the Instrument for the analysis of the teaching guides’ assessment systems (IASEG) of twelve subjects and in-depth interviews with five teachers. There is a great difference between subjects in terms of using formative assessment and among teachers in terms of training in formative assessment and the implementation of it in class. In conclusion, an incipient support is observed for this type of assessment due to the benefits it brings in the teaching-learning process; however, there are obstacles such as the limitations generated by a context that isn’t used to this practice and the lack of training of some teachers.
The adoption of a competency-based education model in university teaching brings up the debate about theovertaking of traditional assessment methods by new systems, such as formative assessment. The aim of thisstudy was to analyse the level of presence of formative assessment in general and specific courses of theTeacher Education for Secondary School, Vocational Training, Languages, Arts and Sports master’s degree,with major in Physical Education, of a Spanish public university, and to explore professors’ perceptions. To doso, a complementary mixed quantitative and qualitative design case study was carried out, where data fromtwelve courses were obtained through the instrument for analysis of syllabus assessment systems (IASEG) and indepthinterviews with five professors. The results revealed the use of formative assessment, with no significantdifferences between general and specific courses. On the other hand, diversity was detected among professors interms of their knowledge on this type of assessment and its implementation in the courses. In conclusion, an incipientinterest in this type of assessment was observed. However, a number of obstacles were noticed, such as a contextthat was still unfamiliar with this practice and the lack of training of some professors.
Human milk promotes the growth of bifidobacteria in the infant gut. Adding bifidobacterial species to infant formula may contribute to increasing their presence in the gut of formula-fed infants. ...Therefore, the safety and anti-infectious effects of
DSM32583, a breast milk isolate, were assessed in a pilot trial involving 3-month-old infants. The infants were randomly assigned to either the probiotic (PG) or the control (CG) groups. All the infants consumed the same formula, although it was supplemented with the strain (1 × 10
cfu/g of formula) in the PG. Overall, 160 infants (80 per group) finished the intervention. Infants in CG gained more weight compared to PG (
< 0.05), but the weights for age Z-scores at 6 months were within the normal distribution for this age group. The rates of infections affecting the gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts and antibiotic therapy were significantly lower in the PG. The bifidobacterial population and the level of short-chain fatty acids were higher (
< 0.05) in the fecal samples of PG infants. No adverse events related to formula consumption were observed. In conclusion, the administration of an infant formula with
DSM32583 was safe and exerted potential beneficial effects on gut health.
Subclinical rejection and interstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy (IF/TA) in protocol biopsies are associated with outcome. We study the relationship between histologic lesions in early protocol ...biopsies and histologic diagnoses in late biopsies for cause.
Renal transplants with a protocol biopsy performed within the first 6 months posttransplant between 1988 and 2006 were reviewed. Biopsies were evaluated according to Banff criteria, and C4d staining was available in biopsies for cause.
Of the 517 renal transplants with a protocol biopsy, 109 had a subsequent biopsy for cause which showed the following histological diagnoses: chronic humoral rejection (CHR) (n=44), IF/TA (n=42), recurrence of the primary disease (n=11), de novo glomerulonephritis (n=7), T-cell-mediated rejection (n=4), and polyoma virus nephropathy (n=1). The proportion of retransplants (15.9% vs. 2.3%, P=0.058) and the prevalence of subclinical rejection were higher in patients with CHR than in patients with IF/TA (52.3% vs. 28.6%, P=0.0253). Demographic donor and recipient characteristics and clinical data at the time of protocol biopsy were not different between groups. Logistic regression analysis showed that subclinical rejection (relative risk, 2.52; 95% confidence interval, 1.1-6.3; P=0.047) but not retransplantation (relative risk, 6.7; 95% confidence interval, 0.8-58.8; P=0.085) was associated with CHR.
Subclinical rejection in early protocol biopsies is associated with late appearance of CHR.
The aim of this study was to find out how self-determined motivation, Basic Psychological Needs (BPN) and the perception of support influence autonomy-predicted autotelic experience and enjoyment, ...and to analyse the differences depending on the geographical location of the centre and whether they lead to the practice of physical activity, extracurricular or not, of 271 learners in physical education from 10 to 12 years (M = 10.94, SD = 0.73). The theoretical framework used was the Self-Determination Theory. The results showed that more self-determined motivation, the perception of support for autonomy and BPN positively predict both autotelic experience and enjoyment. Moreover, learners from urban areas have higher values in less self-determined forms of motivation and lower levels of perceived support for autonomy and BPN than learners from rural areas. Furthermore, students who carry out extracurricular physical activity had higher values in all variables compared to those who did not. It is essential to promote sport to students with more self-determined forms of motivation through the satisfaction of BPN, especially in students who do not do extracurricular physical activity and students in urban areas.
La modalidad deportiva de ultramaratón ha experimentado un notable crecimiento entre la población, sin embargo, la investigación acerca de las variables psicológicas de estos atletas es reducida. En ...este trabajo se plantearon dos hipótesis: que la motivación de los corredores de ultramaratón es principalmente intrínseca y que a mayor motivación intrínseca, mayor dependencia del ejercicio. Se estudió la regulación de la conducta en el deporte, los objetivos en el ejercicio y la dependencia del ejercicio de los participantes ultramaratonianos mediante tres cuestionarios: Cuestionario de contenido de los objetivos en el ejercicio, la Escala Revisada de Dependencia del Ejercicio y el Cuestionario de Regulación de Conducta en el Deporte. Se realizó un análisis descriptivo, de fiabilidad, de correlación y ANOVA. Los resultados de este estudio mostraron que la motivación intrínseca era la más frecuente en los participantes, confirmando la primera hipótesis. El objetivo de dirección de la salud mostró la puntuación más alta, frente al de reconocimiento social, que presentó la más baja. La dependencia del ejercicio se asoció con la motivación intrínseca para algunos factores y con la extrínseca para todos ellos, por lo que la segunda hipótesis se confirmó sólo parcialmente. Por último, se sugiere la necesidad de profundizar en esta incipiente línea de investigación, así como de adaptar cuestionarios a los deportistas de esta modalidad.
Acute otitis media (AOM) is one of the most common bacterial infections in children. Empiric antibiotherapy leads to increasing antimicrobial resistance rates among otopathogens and may impair the ...correct development of the microbiota in early life. In this context, probiotics seem to be an attractive approach for preventing recurrent AOM (rAOM) through the restoration of the middle ear and nasopharyngeal microbiota. The aim of this study was the selection of a probiotic strain (
PS7), specifically tailored for its antagonism against otopathogens. Since
PS7 was safe and displayed a strong antimicrobial activity against otopathogens, its efficacy in preventing rAOM was assessed in a trial involving 61 children suffering from rAOM. Children consumed daily ~1 × 10⁸ CFU of
PS7, and the number of AOM episodes were registered and compared with that observed in the previous 6 and 12 months. The microbiota of samples collected from the external auditory canal samples was quantitatively and qualitatively assessed. The number of AOM episodes during the intervention period decreased significantly (84%) when compared to that reported during the 6 months period before the probiotic intervention. In conclusion,
PS7 is a promising strain for the prevention of rAOM in infants and children.
The plant circadian clock coordinates environmental signals with internal processes including secondary metabolism, growth, flowering, and volatile emission. Plant tissues are specialized in ...different functions, and petals conceal the sexual organs while attracting pollinators. Here we analyzed the transcriptional structure of the petunia (
) circadian clock in leaves and petals. We recorded the expression of 13 clock genes in petunia under light:dark (LD) and constant darkness (DD). Under light:dark conditions, clock genes reached maximum expression during the light phase in leaves and the dark period in petals. Under free running conditions of constant darkness, maximum expression was delayed, especially in petals. Interestingly, the rhythmic expression pattern of
persisted in leaves and petals in LD and DD. Gene expression variability differed among leaves and petals, time of day and photoperiod. The transcriptional noise was higher especially in leaves under constant darkness. We found that
,
, and
paralogs showed changes in gene structure including exon number and deletions of CCT domain of the PRR family. Our results revealed that petunia petals presented a specialized clock.
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