The microscope : an introduction to microscopic methods and to histology / by Simon Henry Gage.

11th ed

An Introduction to parametric and non-parametric models for bivariate positive insurance claim severity distributions

We present a real data set of claims amounts where costs related to damage are recorded separately from those related to medical expenses. Only claims with positive costs are considered here. Two approaches to density estimation are presented: a classical parametric and a semi-parametric method, based on transformation kernel density estimation. We explore the data set with standard univariate methods. We also propose ways to select the bandwidth and transformation parameters in the univariate case based on Bayesian methods. We indicate how to compare the results of alternative methods both looking at the shape of the overall density domain and exploring the density estimates in the right tail.

Cortical mapping of the neuronal circuits modulating the muscle tone. Introduction to the electrophysiological treatment of the spastic hand.

L’objectiu d’aquest estudi es investigar l’organització cortical junt amb la connectivitat còrtico-subcortical en subjectes sans, com a estudi preliminar. Els mapes corticals s’han fet per TMS navegada, i els punts motors obtinguts s’han exportant per estudi tractogràfic i anàlisi de las seves connexions. El coneixement precís de la localització de l’àrea cortical motora primària i les seves connexions es la base per ser utilitzada en estudis posteriors de la reorganització cortical i sub-cortical en pacients amb infart cerebral. Aquesta reorganització es deguda a la neuroplasticitat i pot ser influenciada per els efectes neuromoduladors de la estimulació cerebral no invasiva.

The effect of a smoking ban introduction to environmental tobacco smoke exposure in Swiss hospitality workers : Abstracts of the 23rd Annual Conference of the International Society of Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE), September 13-16, 2011, Barcelona, Spain

Background and Aims: To protect the population from environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) Switzerland introduced a nationwide rather heterogeneous smoking ban in May 2010. The exposure situation of non-smoking hospitality workers before and after implementation of the new law is being assessed in a prospective cohort study. Methods: Exposure to ETS was measured using a novel method developed by the Institute for Work and Health in Lausanne. It is a passive sampler called MoNIC (Monitor of NICotine). The nicotine of the ETS is fixed onto a filter and transformed into salt of not volatile nicotine. Subsequently the number of passively smoked cigarettes is calculated. Badges were placed at the workplace as well as distributed to the participants for personal measuring. Additionally a salivary sample was taken to determine nicotine concentration. Results: At baseline Spearman's correlation between workplace and personal badge was 0.47. The average cigarette equivalents per day at the workplace obtained by badge significantly dropped from 5.1 (95%- CI: 2.4 to 7.9) at baseline to 0.3 (0.2 to 0.4) at first follow-up (n=29) three months later (p<0.001). For personal badges the number of passively smoked cigarettes declined from 1.5 (2.7 to 0.4) per day to 0.5 (0.3 to 0.8) (n=16).Salivary nicotine concentration in a subset of 13 participants who had worked on the day prior to the examination was 2.63 ng/ml before and 1.53 ng/ml after the ban (p=0.04). Spearman's correlation of salivary nicotine was 0.56 with workplace badge and 0.79 with personal badge concentrations. Conclusions: Workplace measurements clearly reflect the smoking regulation in a venue. The MoNIC badge proves to be a sensitive measuring device to determine personal ETS exposure and it is a demonstrative measure for communication with lay audiences and study participants as the number of passively smoked cigarettes is an easily conceivable result.

Introduction to University and the ICT Sector

The innovative subject “Introduction to ICT” combines a general Introductory Course to the University with elements around the Information and Communication Technologies sector (including the ICT engineer competence profile, market aspects, etc.)This new course has been developed and implemented in three degree programmes offered by the Polytechnic School at Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona. The course team consists of thirteen teachers,including business professionals, librarians, computer technicians, institutional representatives as well as an educationalist responsible for advising on methodology and study techniques. The subject was designed for a high number of students (260). At the end of the course, we collected quantitative and qualitativeinformation about the students’ satisfaction. The findings show the positive vision that they had about the topics worked during the subject. This paper describes the course, its implementation and evaluation and, of course, the details of the findings that we collected about students' satisfaction.