Les vrais principes de la lecture (1763) de Viard : aproximación a un primer planteamiento didáctico de la fonética francesa.

La autora presenta un estudio del libro de Nicolas-Antoine Viard, Les vrais Principes de la Lecture (1763). En él se destacan dos rasgos innovadores para su época: la reflexión pedagógica y la elaboración de un incipiente manual de Didáctica de la Fonética Francesa. Esta obra es un verdadero manual de pronunciación, ya que presenta tanto un contenido científico, como su aplicación o su reflexión didáctica. Viard elaboró un manual dirigido tanto alumno como al profesor y mostró la metodología que lo rige. Respecto del profesor, no sólo le presenta una organización jerarquizada y progresiva de los contenidos, sino que además le procura consignas de utilización. En cuanto a la metodología, que debe ser operativa (rapidez, facilidad y eficacia del aprendizaje) tales rasgos aparecen en esta misma triple vertiente. En, definitiva, la materia que trata y su forma de presentarla sitúan la obra como uno de los fundamentos básicos de la pirámide que a lo largo de la historia de la educación ha culminado en nuestra actual Didáctica de la Fonética Francesa..

Illustrated guide to home chemistry experiments : all lab, no lecture.

Guía que explica cómo configurar y utilizar un laboratorio de química en casa con instrucciones, paso a paso, para la realización de experimentos en química básica. La primera parte de la publicación se dedica a describir lo esencial que se necesita para equipar, aprender a trabajar de forma segura y dominar las habilidades de un laboratorio. El resto del libro está compuesto por diecisiete capítulos que incluyen, la mayoría de ellos, varias sesiones de laboratorio cada una dedicada a un tema en particular. Las sesiones son adecuadas para un nivel medio o de primer año de curso de laboratorio de química.

How about a visual lecture? : viewers' interpretations of a visual-pedagogical installation challenging family photography. '¿Qué tal una clase visual? : las interpretaciones de los espectadores de una instalación visual-pedagógica que cuestiona la fotografía de familia'.

Resumen basado en el de la publicación

Simulation d'une machine de lecture optique à l'usage des aveugles. 'Simulación de una máquina de lectura óptica para los ciegos'.

Estudio preliminar para la construcción de una máquina que sea capaz de reconocer la letra impresa para su uso por parte de invidentes. Establecen unos métodos de reconocimiento que tratan un mínimo de información con un nivel de reconocimiento aceptable y con el objetivo de que el aparato resultante sea lo más económico posible. El sistema, desde la introducción de la información luminosa hasta la salida en braille, fue simulado en un ordenador. Los resultados obtenidos fueron satisfactorios: con una pequeña cámara de captación de informaciones luminosas, conteniendo aproximadamente 50 elementos fotorreceptores, se obtiene más de un 90 por ciento de reconocimiento, y esto independientemente de la velocidad de desplazamiento de la cámara con relación al texto y con una muestra de datos de calidad bastante mediocre. Suponen que los excelentes resultados obtenidos son aún mejorables y que con este estudio previo y los resultados obtenidos va a permitirles ahora, realizar la construcción definitiva de la máquina.

Les Outils de l’enseignant pour la lecture d’un poème en classe de FLE

Ce travail s’appuie sur des données audiovisuelles d’un cours de «français écrit» (i.e. cours d’entraînement à la compréhension et à la production écrite), destiné à des étudiants non francophones, à l’Ecole de langue et de civilisation françaises (ELCF) de l’Université de Genève. Le public observé se caractérise par une grande hétérogénéité culturelle et linguistique. Les objectifs d’apprentissage entre élèves d’une même classe sont également différents: certains ont besoin d’une remise à niveau linguistique pour pouvoir entrer dans une des Facultés de l’université, d’autres pour pouvoir poursuivre des études de français au sein de l’ELCF afin d’obtenir un diplôme de français langue étrangère

The Assault on Human Rigths and the Resilience of the Andean Dream: Health Inequities in Ecuador. IV Annual Distinguished Lecture sponsored by the Center for Research on Ethnicity, Culture and Health; School of Public Health; University of Michigan

The point of departure for these reflections is life, since its protection is the central purpose encouraging the defense of human rights and of public health. Life in the Andes has an exceptional diversity. Particularly in Ecuador, my country, this diversity constitutes a characteristic sign that is expressed in two main forms: natural megadiversity and multiculturalism. Indeed, Ecuador’s small territory synthesizes practically all types of lifezones that exist on Earth, having received the gift of high average rates of solar energy and abundant nutritional sources, which have facilitated the natural reproduction of countless species that show their beautiful vitality in the variety of ecosystems that compose the Andean mountain range, the tropical plains, the Amazon humid forests, and the Galapagos Islands. But besides being a highly biodiverse country, it is also a plurinational and multi-cultural society, in which the activity of human beings, organized into social conglomerates of different historical and cultural backgrounds, have formed more than a dozen nations and peoples. Regrettably this natural and human wealth has not been able to bear its best fruits due to the violent operation of a deep social inequity – unfortunately also one of the highest in the Americas—which conspires against life and is reproduced in national and international inequitable relations. This structural inequity has changed its form throughout the centuries and currently has reached its highest and most perverse level of development.

Influence of vegetation on the nocturnal foraging behaviors and vertebrate prey capture by endangered Burrowing Owls

Restrictions in technology have limited past habitat selection studies for many species to the home-range level, as a finer-scale understanding was often not possible. Consequently, these studies may not identify the true mechanism driving habitat selection patterns, which may influence how such results are applied in conservation. We used GPS dataloggers with digital video recorders to identify foraging modes and locations in which endangered Burrowing Owls (Athene cunicularia) captured prey. We measured the coarse and fine-scale characteristics of vegetation at locations in which owls searched for, versus where they caught, vertebrate prey. Most prey items were caught using hover-hunting. Burrowing Owls searched for, and caught, vertebrate prey in all cover types, but were more likely to kill prey in areas with sparse and less dense vegetative cover. Management strategies designed to increase Burrowing Owl foraging success in the Canadian prairies should try to ensure a mosaic of vegetation heights across cover types.

Modelling cereal root systems for water and nitrogen capture: Towards an economic optimum

A quantitative model of wheat root systems is developed that links the size and distribution of the root system to the capture of water and nitrogen (which are assumed to be evenly distributed with depth) during grain filling, and allows estimates of the economic consequences of this capture to be assessed. A particular feature of the model is its use of summarizing concepts, and reliance on only the minimum number of parameters (each with a clear biological meaning). The model is then used to provide an economic sensitivity analysis of possible target characteristics for manipulating root systems. These characteristics were: root distribution with depth, proportional dry matter partitioning to roots, resource capture coefficients, shoot dry weight at anthesis, specific root weight and water use efficiency. From the current estimates of parameters it is concluded that a larger investment by the crop in fine roots at depth in the soil, and less proliferation of roots in surface layers, would improve yields by accessing extra resources. The economic return on investment in roots for water capture was twice that of the same amount invested for nitrogen capture. (C) 2003 Annals of Botany Company.

6-man chess and zugzwangs

With 6-man Chess essentially solved, the available 6-man Endgame Tables (EGTs) have been scanned for zugzwang positions where, unusually, having the move is a disadvantage. Review statistics together with some highlights and positions are provided here: the complete information is available on the ICGA website. An outcome of the review is the observation that the definition of zugzwang should be revisited, if only because the presence of en passant capture moves gives rise to three new, asymmetric types of zugzwang.

Donald Broadbent : 12th annual Broadbent lecture

In the 12th annual Broadbent Lecture at the Annual Conference Dianne Berry outlined Broadbent’s explicit and implicit influences on psychological science and scientists.

Can climate models capture the structure of extratropical cyclones?

Composites of wind speeds, equivalent potential temperature, mean sea level pressure, vertical velocity, and relative humidity have been produced for the 100 most intense extratropical cyclones in the Northern Hemisphere winter for the 40-yr ECMWF Re-Analysis (ERA-40) and the high resolution global environment model (HiGEM). Features of conceptual models of cyclone structure—the warm conveyor belt, cold conveyor belt, and dry intrusion—have been identified in the composites from ERA-40 and compared to HiGEM. Such features can be identified in the composite fields despite the smoothing that occurs in the compositing process. The surface features and the three-dimensional structure of the cyclones in HiGEM compare very well with those from ERA-40. The warm conveyor belt is identified in the temperature and wind fields as a mass of warm air undergoing moist isentropic uplift and is very similar in ERA-40 and HiGEM. The rate of ascent is lower in HiGEM, associated with a shallower slope of the moist isentropes in the warm sector. There are also differences in the relative humidity fields in the warm conveyor belt. In ERA-40, the high values of relative humidity are strongly associated with the moist isentropic uplift, whereas in HiGEM these are not so strongly associated. The cold conveyor belt is identified as rearward flowing air that undercuts the warm conveyor belt and produces a low-level jet, and is very similar in HiGEM and ERA-40. The dry intrusion is identified in the 500-hPa vertical velocity and relative humidity. The structure of the dry intrusion compares well between HiGEM and ERA-40 but the descent is weaker in HiGEM because of weaker along-isentrope flow behind the composite cyclone. HiGEM’s ability to represent the key features of extratropical cyclone structure can give confidence in future predictions from this model.

What is the new medicines use review ‘patient survey’ attempting to capture in the context of existing patient satisfaction with pharmacy questionnaires and a new conceptual framework?

The community pharmacy service medicines use review (MUR) was introduced in 2005 ‘to improve patient knowledge, concordance and use of medicines’ through a private patient–pharmacist consultation. The MUR presents a fundamental change in community pharmacy service provision. While traditionally pharmacists are dispensers of medicines and providers of medicines advice, and patients as recipients, the MUR considers pharmacists providing consultation-type activities and patients as active participants. The MUR facilitates a two-way discussion about medicines use. Traditional patient–pharmacist behaviours transform into a new set of behaviours involving the booking of appointments, consultation processes and form completion, and the physical environment of the patient–pharmacist interaction moves from the traditional setting of the dispensary and medicines counter to a private consultation room. Thus, the new service challenges traditional identities and behaviours of the patient and the pharmacist as well as the environment in which the interaction takes place. In 2008, the UK government concluded there is at present too much emphasis on the quantity of MURs rather than on their quality.[1] A number of plans to remedy the perceived imbalance included a suggestion to reward ‘health outcomes’ achieved, with calls for a more focussed and scientific approach to the evaluation of pharmacy services using outcomes research. Specifically, the UK government set out the main principal research areas for the evaluation of pharmacy services to include ‘patient and public perceptions and satisfaction’as well as ‘impact on care and outcomes’. A limited number of ‘patient satisfaction with pharmacy services’ type questionnaires are available, of varying quality, measuring dimensions relating to pharmacists’ technical competence, behavioural impressions and general satisfaction. For example, an often cited paper by Larson[2] uses two factors to measure satisfaction, namely ‘friendly explanation’ and ‘managing therapy’; the factors are highly interrelated and the questions somewhat awkwardly phrased, but more importantly, we believe the questionnaire excludes some specific domains unique to the MUR. By conducting patient interviews with recent MUR recipients, we have been working to identify relevant concepts and develop a conceptual framework to inform item development for a Patient Reported Outcome Measure questionnaire bespoke to the MUR. We note with interest the recent launch of a multidisciplinary audit template by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) in an attempt to review the effectiveness of MURs and improve their quality.[3] This template includes an MUR ‘patient survey’. We will discuss this ‘patient survey’ in light of our work and existing patient satisfaction with pharmacy questionnaires, outlining a new conceptual framework as a basis for measuring patient satisfaction with the MUR. Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the NHS Surrey Research Ethics Committee on 2 June 2008. References 1. Department of Health (2008). Pharmacy in England: Building on Strengths – Delivering the Future. London: HMSO. www. official-documents.gov.uk/document/cm73/7341/7341.pdf (accessed 29 September 2009). 2. Larson LN et al. Patient satisfaction with pharmaceutical care: update of a validated instrument. JAmPharmAssoc 2002; 42: 44–50. 3. Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (2009). Pharmacy Medicines Use Review – Patient Audit. London: RPSGB. http:// qi4pd.org.uk/index.php/Medicines-Use-Review-Patient-Audit. html (accessed 29 September 2009).