An assessment of post-disaster psychological stress in hazardous waste operations and emergency response (HAZWOPER) workers

Personnel involved in natural or man-made disaster response and recovery efforts may be exposed to a wide variety of physical and mental stressors that can exhibit long-lasting and detrimental psychopathological outcomes. In a disaster situation, huge numbers of "secondary" responders can be involved in contaminant clean-up and debris removal and can be at risk of developing stress-related mental health outcomes. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) worker training hierarchy typically required for response workers, known as "Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response" (HAZWOPER), does not address the mental health and safety concerns of workers. This study focused on the prevalence of traumatic stress experienced by secondary responders that had received or expressed interest in receiving HAZWOPER training through the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Worker Education and Training Program (NIEHS WETP). ^ The study involved the modification of two preexisting and validated survey tools to assess secondary responder awareness of physical, mental, and traumatic stressors on mental health and sought to determine if a need existed to include traumatic stress-related mental health education in the current HAZWOPER training regimen. The study evaluated post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), resiliency, mental distress, and negative effects within a secondary responder population of 176 respondents. Elevated PTSD levels were seen in the study population as compared to a general responder population (32.9% positive vs. 8%-22.5% positive). Results indicated that HAZWOPER-trained disaster responders were likely to test positive for PTSD, whereas, untrained responders with no disaster experience and responders who possessed either training or disaster experience only were likely to test PTSD negative. A majority (68.75%) of the population tested below the mean resiliency to cope score (80.4) of the average worker population. Results indicated that those who were trained only or who possessed both training and disaster work experience were more likely to have lower resiliency scores than those with no training or experience. There were direct correlations between being PTSD positive and having worked at a disaster site and experiencing mental distress and negative effects. However, HAZWOPER training status does not significantly correlate with mental distress or negative effect. ^ The survey indicated clear support (91% of respondents) for mental health education. The development of a pre- and post-deployment training module is recommended. Such training could provide responders with the necessary knowledge and skills to recognize the symptomology of PTSD, mental stressors, and physical and traumatic stressors, thus empowering them to employ protective strategies or seek professional help if needed. It is further recommended that pre-deployment mental health education be included in the current HAZWOPER 24- and 40-hour course curriculums, as well as, consideration be given towards integrating a stand-alone post-deployment mental health education training course into the current HAZWOPER hierarchy.^

Orientación educativa sobre el vocabulario y el acceso a la alfabetización : Evaluación del impacto de un programa de intervención en las familias y la escuela

El estudio evalúa el impacto de un programa de promoción del desarrollo lingüístico y cognitivo para niños de 5 años implementado según dos modalidades: una que implicó acciones de alfabetización familiar en los hogares de los niños (modalidad intensiva) y otra que incluyó la participación de los niños en las salas de jardín de infantes (modalidad extensiva). La evaluación del impacto se realizó por medio de un diseño pre-test ? post-test. Se tomaron pruebas de vocabulario receptivo (VR), producción de categorías (PC) y escritura a una muestra de 214 niños participantes de la modalidad intensiva, 69 participantes de la modalidad extensiva y un grupo control de no participó del programa (49 niños). Los resultados mostraron que la participación en la modalidad intensiva implicó un mayor incremento en las habilidades infantiles de VR, PC que en la modalidad extensiva. A su vez ambas modalidades experimentales mostraron un mayor incremento en las variables examinadas respecto de las observadas en el grupo control. No se detectaron efectos de la escolaridad de la madre y la asistencia previa al jardín. Los resultados mostraron correlaciones significativas entre todas las variables analizadas y el valor predictivo de los puntajes en VR a principio de año respecto de los puntajes en VR y escritura a fin de año

Efectos de un programa de flexibilidad en el desarrollo de la fuerza muscular en jugadoras de fútbol femenil

Se analizó el impacto de un programa de entrenamiento de flexibilidad sobre el desarrollo de la fuerza muscular en 16 jugadores de futbol con edad de 19.032.7 años. Se entrenó durante 30 días y 5 veces por semanas, donde el grupo "A" realizó entrenamiento de flexibilidad, mientras que "B" el entrenamiento regular. Se midió la flexibilidad, 1RM, salto vertical, peso, talla, circunferencia de pantorrilla y muslo. Los resultados muestran valores para A y B respectivamente, donde el IGF fue de 91.01 18.3 y 111.93 23.5; 78.22 29, y 79.03 29.1. La circunferencia femoral, 48.04 3.6 cms y 49.54 3.4 cms.; 47.56 4.9 y 47.89 5.2. Circunferencia de pantorrilla, 33.83 2.7 cm y 35.21 2.4 cm; 33.83 2 y 33.73 2.8. Fuerza 48.13 7.8 Kg. y 53.38 8.2 Kg.; 52.63 8.6 Kg. y 53.39 9.1 Kg. Potencia anaeróbica, 34.13 2.9 cm. y 36.63 1.7 cm; 38.25 4.7 y 37.06 3.4. Como conclusión se tiene que el uso la flexibilidad impacta de forma positiva en el IGF y por tanto en el desarrollo favorable muscular de jugadoras de fútbol.

Orientación educativa sobre el vocabulario y el acceso a la alfabetización : Evaluación del impacto de un programa de intervención en las familias y la escuela

El estudio evalúa el impacto de un programa de promoción del desarrollo lingüístico y cognitivo para niños de 5 años implementado según dos modalidades: una que implicó acciones de alfabetización familiar en los hogares de los niños (modalidad intensiva) y otra que incluyó la participación de los niños en las salas de jardín de infantes (modalidad extensiva). La evaluación del impacto se realizó por medio de un diseño pre-test ? post-test. Se tomaron pruebas de vocabulario receptivo (VR), producción de categorías (PC) y escritura a una muestra de 214 niños participantes de la modalidad intensiva, 69 participantes de la modalidad extensiva y un grupo control de no participó del programa (49 niños). Los resultados mostraron que la participación en la modalidad intensiva implicó un mayor incremento en las habilidades infantiles de VR, PC que en la modalidad extensiva. A su vez ambas modalidades experimentales mostraron un mayor incremento en las variables examinadas respecto de las observadas en el grupo control. No se detectaron efectos de la escolaridad de la madre y la asistencia previa al jardín. Los resultados mostraron correlaciones significativas entre todas las variables analizadas y el valor predictivo de los puntajes en VR a principio de año respecto de los puntajes en VR y escritura a fin de año

Efectos de un programa de flexibilidad en el desarrollo de la fuerza muscular en jugadoras de fútbol femenil

Se analizó el impacto de un programa de entrenamiento de flexibilidad sobre el desarrollo de la fuerza muscular en 16 jugadores de futbol con edad de 19.032.7 años. Se entrenó durante 30 días y 5 veces por semanas, donde el grupo "A" realizó entrenamiento de flexibilidad, mientras que "B" el entrenamiento regular. Se midió la flexibilidad, 1RM, salto vertical, peso, talla, circunferencia de pantorrilla y muslo. Los resultados muestran valores para A y B respectivamente, donde el IGF fue de 91.01 18.3 y 111.93 23.5; 78.22 29, y 79.03 29.1. La circunferencia femoral, 48.04 3.6 cms y 49.54 3.4 cms.; 47.56 4.9 y 47.89 5.2. Circunferencia de pantorrilla, 33.83 2.7 cm y 35.21 2.4 cm; 33.83 2 y 33.73 2.8. Fuerza 48.13 7.8 Kg. y 53.38 8.2 Kg.; 52.63 8.6 Kg. y 53.39 9.1 Kg. Potencia anaeróbica, 34.13 2.9 cm. y 36.63 1.7 cm; 38.25 4.7 y 37.06 3.4. Como conclusión se tiene que el uso la flexibilidad impacta de forma positiva en el IGF y por tanto en el desarrollo favorable muscular de jugadoras de fútbol.

Orientación educativa sobre el vocabulario y el acceso a la alfabetización : Evaluación del impacto de un programa de intervención en las familias y la escuela

El estudio evalúa el impacto de un programa de promoción del desarrollo lingüístico y cognitivo para niños de 5 años implementado según dos modalidades: una que implicó acciones de alfabetización familiar en los hogares de los niños (modalidad intensiva) y otra que incluyó la participación de los niños en las salas de jardín de infantes (modalidad extensiva). La evaluación del impacto se realizó por medio de un diseño pre-test ? post-test. Se tomaron pruebas de vocabulario receptivo (VR), producción de categorías (PC) y escritura a una muestra de 214 niños participantes de la modalidad intensiva, 69 participantes de la modalidad extensiva y un grupo control de no participó del programa (49 niños). Los resultados mostraron que la participación en la modalidad intensiva implicó un mayor incremento en las habilidades infantiles de VR, PC que en la modalidad extensiva. A su vez ambas modalidades experimentales mostraron un mayor incremento en las variables examinadas respecto de las observadas en el grupo control. No se detectaron efectos de la escolaridad de la madre y la asistencia previa al jardín. Los resultados mostraron correlaciones significativas entre todas las variables analizadas y el valor predictivo de los puntajes en VR a principio de año respecto de los puntajes en VR y escritura a fin de año

Efectos de un programa de flexibilidad en el desarrollo de la fuerza muscular en jugadoras de fútbol femenil

Se analizó el impacto de un programa de entrenamiento de flexibilidad sobre el desarrollo de la fuerza muscular en 16 jugadores de futbol con edad de 19.032.7 años. Se entrenó durante 30 días y 5 veces por semanas, donde el grupo "A" realizó entrenamiento de flexibilidad, mientras que "B" el entrenamiento regular. Se midió la flexibilidad, 1RM, salto vertical, peso, talla, circunferencia de pantorrilla y muslo. Los resultados muestran valores para A y B respectivamente, donde el IGF fue de 91.01 18.3 y 111.93 23.5; 78.22 29, y 79.03 29.1. La circunferencia femoral, 48.04 3.6 cms y 49.54 3.4 cms.; 47.56 4.9 y 47.89 5.2. Circunferencia de pantorrilla, 33.83 2.7 cm y 35.21 2.4 cm; 33.83 2 y 33.73 2.8. Fuerza 48.13 7.8 Kg. y 53.38 8.2 Kg.; 52.63 8.6 Kg. y 53.39 9.1 Kg. Potencia anaeróbica, 34.13 2.9 cm. y 36.63 1.7 cm; 38.25 4.7 y 37.06 3.4. Como conclusión se tiene que el uso la flexibilidad impacta de forma positiva en el IGF y por tanto en el desarrollo favorable muscular de jugadoras de fútbol.

La formación de recursos humanos como estrategia de apoyo a la Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutricional (SAN). El caso de la educación superior en Honduras

El presente estudio fue concebido con el objetivo de contribuir a una educación superior más pertinente en Honduras; especialmente con relación a la seguridad alimentaria y nutricional. En primer lugar, fue desarrollado un estudio de percepciones y una consulta con informantes claves, cuyo resultado fue que existe una desvinculación entre la oferta y demanda de formación en seguridad alimentaria. Basándose en ese resultado, se propone un programa formativo que responda adecuadamente a la demanda de profesionales existente en Honduras. Dicho programa consiste en un “Diplomado en Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutricional (SAN), basado en competencias”. Este diplomado debería ser el inicio de un proceso de formación que posteriormente evolucione a la implementación de un sistema de certificación de profesionales en seguridad alimentaria y nutricional. Abstract The present study was designed with the objective of contributing to higher education more pertinent in Honduras, especially in relation to food security and nutritional. It was made a perceptions study and consultations with key informants, the result was that there is a disconnection between offer and demand for food security training. Based on these results, we propose a training program that responds adequately to the demand for professionals in Honduras; we propose a “Competency-based training in Food Security and Nutritional”; this program should be the beginning of a process that progresses to the implementation of a certification system for food security professionals.

Learning curves of basic laparoscopic psychomotor skills in SINERGIA VR simulator

Purpose: Surgical simulators are currently essential within any laparoscopic training program because they provide a low-stakes, reproducible and reliable environment to acquire basic skills. The purpose of this study is to determine the training learning curve based on different metrics corresponding to five tasks included in SINERGIA laparoscopic virtual reality simulator. Methods: Thirty medical students without surgical experience participated in the study. Five tasks of SINERGIA were included: Coordination, Navigation, Navigation and touch, Accurate grasping and Coordinated pulling. Each participant was trained in SINERGIA. This training consisted of eight sessions (R1–R8) of the five mentioned tasks and was carried out in two consecutive days with four sessions per day. A statistical analysis was made, and the results of R1, R4 and R8 were pair-wise compared with Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Significance is considered at P value <0.005. Results: In total, 84.38% of the metrics provided by SINERGIA and included in this study show significant differences when comparing R1 and R8. Metrics are mostly improved in the first session of training (75.00% when R1 and R4 are compared vs. 37.50% when R4 and R8 are compared). In tasks Coordination and Navigation and touch, all metrics are improved. On the other hand, Navigation just improves 60% of the analyzed metrics. Most learning curves show an improvement with better results in the fulfillment of the different tasks. Conclusions: Learning curves of metrics that assess the basic psychomotor laparoscopic skills acquired in SINERGIA virtual reality simulator show a faster learning rate during the first part of the training. Nevertheless, eight repetitions of the tasks are not enough to acquire all psychomotor skills that can be trained in SINERGIA. Therefore, and based on these results together with previous works, SINERGIA could be used as training tool with a properly designed training program.

Effects of dietary restriction combined with different exercise programs or physical activity recommendations on blood lipids in overweight adults

Background and aim: Many exercise studies, although generally showing the beneficial effects of supervised aerobic, resistance or combined exercise on blood lipids, have sometimes reached equivocal conclusions. The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of different programs that combined exercise and dietary restriction on blood lipids versus a clinical practice intervention for weight loss, in overweight adults. Methods: For this study 66 subjects participated in a supervised 22 weeks training program, composed of three sessions per week and they were randomized in three groups: strength training (S; n = 19), endurance training (E; n = 25), a combination of E and S (SE; n = 22). Eighteen subjects served as physical activity group (PA) that followed a clinical intervention consisted of physical activity recommendations. All groups followed the same dietary treatment, and blood samples were obtained for lipids measurements, at the beginning and end of the study. Results: Lipid profile improved in all groups. No significant differences for baseline and post-training values were observed between groups. In general, SE and PA decreased low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) values (p menor que 0.01). S decreased triglyceride levels (p menor que 0.01) and E, SE, and PA decreased total cholesterol levels (p menor que 0.05, p menor que 0.01 and p menor que 0.01, respectively). Conclusions: These results suggest that an intervention program of supervised exercise combined with diet restriction did not achieved further improvements in blood lipid profile than diet restriction and physical activity recommendations, in overweight adults. (Clinical Trials gov number: NCT01116856).

Effect of positioning on the accuracy of decision making of association football top-class referees and assistant referees during competitive matches

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of positioning on the correctness of decision making of top-class referees and assistant referees during international games. Match analyses were carried out during the Fe´de´ration Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) Confederations Cup 2009 and 380 foul play incidents and 165 offside situations were examined. The error percentage for the referees when indicating the incidents averaged 14%. The lowest error percentage occurred in the central area of the field, where the collaboration of the assistant referee is limited, and was achieved when indicating the incidents from a distance of 11–15 m, whereas this percentage peaked (23%) in the last 15-min match period. The error rate for the assistant referees was 13%. Distance of the assistant referee to the offside line did not have an impact on the quality of the offside decision. The risk of making incorrect decisions was reduced when the assistant referees viewed the offside situations from an angle between 46 and 608. Incorrect offside decisions occurred twice as often in the second as in the first half of the games. Perceptual-cognitive training sessions specific to the requirements of the game should be implemented in the weekly schedule of football officials to reduce the overall error rate.

Resources to introduce Inquire Based Scientic Education in Secondary and High School

The global Hands-on Universe association is producing and distributing free resources world- wide to implement Inquire Based Scienti?c Education (IBSE) at secondary and high school levels. The materials are inspired in astronomical research and space exploration. The association is implementing the Galileo Teacher Training Program world-wide. In this contribution, a summary on the most recent resources being implemented by HOU-Espa~na and developed with Spanish participation is presented.

Soft Skills: A Comparative Analysis Between Online and Classroom Teaching

Currently the Spanish universities are making a great effort to effectively incorporate the development and assessment of generic skills in their training programs. Information and communications technologies (ICT) offer a wide range of possibilities but create uncertainty among teachers about the process and results. It is considered of interest to conduct a study to analyze the extent to which social skills like commitment, communication and teamwork are acquired by students and teachers. It seeks to ascertain the influence of the learning context, online or classroom training, in the development of these personal skills among the participants in the sample. For this study two universities have been chosen, Universidad a Distancia de Madrid (UDIMA) offering online training environment, and Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) with classroom training modality. A total of 257 individuals, 230 students and 27 teachers have answered the survey called Evalsoft. This instrument was designed in the project with the same name by a research team from Universidad Complutense of Madrid (UCM). Some interesting conclusions can be highlighted: it is in the online context where there are higher levels of commitment and teamwork than in the classroom modality; teachers have higher social skills that students and these improve with age. Sex and the training program appear to influence these social skills.

Relevance of Higher Education. How to measure it? The case of masters of engineering in Peru

Existing evaluation models for higher education have, mainly, accreditation purposes, and evaluate the efficiency of training programs, that is to say, the degree of suitability between the educational results and the objectives of the program. However, it is not guaranteed that those objectives adequate to the needs and real interests of students and stakeholders, that is to say, they do not assess the relevance of the programs, a very important aspect in developing countries. From the review of experiences, this paper proposes a model for evaluating the relevance of engineering masters program, and applies it to the case of a master?s degree at the University of Piura, Peru. We conclude that the proposed model is applicable to other masters program, offers an objective way for determining is a training program keep being relevant, and identifies improvement opportunities

Harriet Robinson

Born on September 10, 1917, in Jefferson City, Harriet Robinson is a child of two Lincoln University alumni. Robinson and her siblings also attended Lincoln Laboratory School and the University, but she was unable to finish her degree due to the Depression. Robinson worked in retail until she entered a federal re-training program. In 1969 she was hired at Lincoln University as a switchboard operator, and later worked as a library assistant at Page Library. For twenty-three years, Robinson helped students and faculty with their research, retiring in 1992. While at Page Library, she also had other responsibilities, such as keeping the Lincoln Collection. She recognized the historical importance of objects, salvaging things such as the “Blue Tiger” Café Window. Robinson has assisted people working on graduate and doctoral degrees, and several books have been dedicated to her. Her knowledge of Lincoln University is extensive, and many are fortunate that she has always shared her passion for history.