Stability of the factorial structure of metabolic syndrome from childhood to adolescence : a 6-year follow-up study

Background: Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a clustering of cardiometabolic risk factors that is considered a predictor of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and mortality. There is no consistent evidence on whether the MS construct works in the same way in different populations and at different stages in life. Methods: We used confirmatory factor analysis to examine if a single-factor-model including waist circumference, triglycerides/HDL-c, insulin and mean arterial pressure underlies metabolic syndrome from the childhood to adolescence in a 6-years follow-up study in 174 Swedish and 460 Estonian children aged 9 years at baseline. Indeed, we analyze the tracking of a previously validated MS index over this 6-years period. Results: The estimates of goodness-of-fit for the single-factor-model underlying MS were acceptable both in children and adolescents. The construct stability of a new model including the differences from baseline to the end of the follow-up in the components of the proposed model displayed good fit indexes for the change, supporting the hypothesis of a single factor underlying MS component trends. Conclusions: A single-factor-model underlying MS is stable across the puberty in both Estonian and Swedish young people. The MS index tracks acceptably from childhood to adolescence.

Objectively Measured Physical Activity and Sedentary Time during Childhood, Adolescence and Young Adulthood: A Cohort Study

Background: To know how moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and sedentary time change across lifespan periods is needed for designing successful lifestyle interventions. We aimed to study changes in objectively measured (accelerometry) MVPA and sedentary time from childhood to adolescence and from adolescence to young adulthood. Methods: Estonian and Swedish participants from the European Youth Heart Study aged 9 and 15 years at baseline (N = 2312) were asked to participate in a second examination 6 (Sweden) to 9/10 (Estonia) years later. 1800 participants with valid accelerometer data were analyzed. Results: MVPA decreased from childhood to adolescence (21 to 22.5 min/d per year of follow-up, P = 0.01 and ,0.001, for girls and boys respectively) and also from adolescence to young adulthood (20.8 to 22.2 min/d per year, P = 0.02 and ,0.001 for girls and boys, respectively). Sedentary time increased from childhood to adolescence (+15 and +20 min/d per year, for girls and boys respectively, P,0.001), with no substantial change from adolescence to young adulthood. Changes in both MVPA and sedentary time were greater in Swedish than in Estonian participants and in boys than in girls. The magnitude of the change observed in sedentary time was 3–6 time larger than the change observed in MVPA. Conclusions: The decline in MVPA (overall change = 30 min/d) and increase sedentary time (overall change = 2:45 h/d)observed from childhood to adolescence are of concern and might increase the risk of developing obesity and other chronic diseases later in life. These findings substantially contribute to understand how key health-related behaviors (physical activity and sedentary) change across important periods of life.

Environmental judgment in early childhood and its relationship with the understanding of the concept of living beings

The evidence collected concerning the biocentric judgment that young children express when evaluating human actions on the environment leads some scholars to suggest that an essential understanding of the notion of living beings should appear earlier than previously believed. This research project aims to study that assumption. To this end, young children’s choice when they are put in situation of having to compare and choose the most negative option between environmentally harmful actions and the breaking of social conventions are examined. Afterwards, the results are categorized in relation to those obtained from the study of children’s grasp of the distinction between living beings and inanimate entities. The data is analysed according to the individuals’ age and overall, it suggests a lack of relationship between environmental judgment and the understanding of the concept of living beings. The final results are discussed in keeping with recent research in the field of moral development that underscores the role that unconscious emotional processing plays in the individual’s normative judgment.

Open Personalization: Involving Third Parties in Improving the User Experience of Websites

Traditional software development captures the user needs during the requirement analysis. The Web makes this endeavour even harder due to the difficulty to determine who these users are. In an attempt to tackle the heterogeneity of the user base, Web Personalization techniques are proposed to guide the users’ experience. In addition, Open Innovation allows organisations to look beyond their internal resources to develop new products or improve existing processes. This thesis sits in between by introducing Open Personalization as a means to incorporate actors other than webmasters in the personalization of web applications. The aim is to provide the technological basis that builds up a trusty environment for webmasters and companion actors to collaborate, i.e. "an architecture of participation". Such architecture very much depends on these actors’ profile. This work tackles three profiles (i.e. software partners, hobby programmers and end users), and proposes three "architectures of participation" tuned for each profile. Each architecture rests on different technologies: a .NET annotation library based on Inversion of Control for software partners, a Modding Interface in JavaScript for hobby programmers, and finally, a domain specific language for end-users. Proof-of-concept implementations are available for the three cases while a quantitative evaluation is conducted for the domain specific language.

Paper unemployment: the irish experience

When asked to give a paper at this conference I choosee "Incentive to encourage youth employment" but very soon into my research I felt that the overall approach to unemployment by succesive Irish Governments offered more valuable insights into this serious problem and the lack of recognition of how serious this problem is. This is particulary so for small economies and regions on the periphery of the EU.

Interdisciplinary experience in the Teacher Training College of Vitoria-Gasteiz: teaching profession module

[EN] The higher education regulation process in Europe, known as the Bologna Process, has involved many changes, mainly in relation to methodology and assessment. The paper given below relates to implementing the new EU study plans into the Teacher Training College of Vitoria-Gasteiz; it is the first interdisciplinary paper written involving teaching staff and related to the Teaching Profession module, the first contained in the structure of the new plans. The coordination of teaching staff is one of the main lines of work in the Bologna Process, which is also essential to develop the right skills and maximise the role of students as an active learning component. The use of active, interdisciplinary methodologies has opened up a new dimension in universities, requiring the elimination of the once componential, individual structure, making us look for new areas of exchange that make it possible for students' training to be developed jointly.

Itinerarios, del espacio al plano. Descubriendo el camino de la escuela al metro.

Resumen: Este Trabajo de Fin de Grado tiene como objeto de estudio los recorridos en el espacio a través de su representación en el plano. Presentamos una propuesta educativa basada en los principios de la enseñanza matemática realista. Utilizando como contexto los recorridos en el entorno de la escuela, matematizamos un contexto en el que los niños y niñas viven y experimentan, diseñando tareas y actividades que nos permitieron relacionar los procesos matemáticos con los contenidos curriculares de esta etapa. La implementación en el centro en el que realizábamos las prácticas nos permitió analizar los resultados obtenidos que presentamos en las conclusiones.

Payments for Water Ecosystem Services in Latin America: Evidence from Reported Experience

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Marketing experiencial aplicado a los establecimientos comerciales: Shopping experience

El presente trabajo expone el marco en el que cabe el desarrollo de las decisiones de Marketing en el comercio detallista actualmente, considerando los cambios en el comportamiento y hábitos de compra del cliente, condicionados por los avances tecnológicos y la crisis económica, entre otros. Se analizan algunos de los diferentes factores que deben ser gestionados para la creación de experiencias, y donde el marketing sensorial será protagonista, así como la necesidad de orientar las políticas hacia un comprador que aun siendo sensible al precio, cada vez valora más el factor emocional. Se profundiza en la gestión de la experiencia de compra, y en los factores que han de tenerse en cuenta para realizarla de forma eficiente. Finalmente, se estudia un caso exitoso de marketing experiencial donde puede observarse el uso de las variables analizadas previamente.

Marketing experiencial aplicado a los establecimientos comerciales: Shopping experience

En el presente trabajo, se analiza el concepto de Marketing experiencial, aplicado a los establecimientos comerciales, lo que denominamos como Shopping Experience. Para ello, en primer lugar se explica el término teórico de Shopping Experience. A continuación se analiza el comportamiento del consumidor a lo largo de los últimos años, cómo han ido cambiando nuestros hábitos de compra y qué es lo que hacen los establecimientos comerciales para adaptarse a estas nuevas exigencias de los consumidores. Veremos nuevos modelos de establecimientos comerciales, donde se ofrece al cliente una experiencia memorable de compra y lo contrastaremos con ejemplos reales. Contamos con el testimonio de un ex – trabajador de Purificación García, donde hace una comparativa con la tienda de Carolina Herrera, y nos explica cuáles son las diferencias más significativas entre ambas, cómo son los diseños de las tiendas y qué papel juegan los sentidos a la hora de generar una experiencia de compra memorable. Finalmente veremos cómo los establecimientos comerciales pueden medir el impacto de estas experiencias en sus clientes y tras realizar un análisis teórico – práctico, se exponen las conclusiones del presente trabajo. Idioma: Castellano