EGHEP-ISFG collaborative exercise on mixture profiles of autosomal STRs (GHEP-MIX01, GHEP-MIX02 and GHEP-MIX03): Results and evaluation

One of the main objectives of the Spanish and Portuguese-Speaking Group of the International Society for Forensic Genetics (GHEP-ISFG) is to promote and contribute to the development and dissemination of scientific knowledge in the area of forensic genetics. Due to this fact, GHEP-ISFG holds different working commissions that are set up to develop activities in scientific aspects of general interest. One of them, the Mixture Commission of GHEP-ISFG, has organized annually, since 2009, a collaborative exercise on analysis and interpretation of autosomal short tandem repeat (STR) mixture profiles. Until now, three exercises have been organized (GHEP-MIX01, GHEP-MIX02 and GHEP-MIX03), with 32, 24 and 17 participant laboratories respectively. The exercise aims to give a general vision by addressing, through the proposal of mock cases, aspects related to the edition of mixture profiles and the statistical treatment. The main conclusions obtained from these exercises may be summarized as follows. Firstly, the data show an increased tendency of the laboratories toward validation of DNA mixture profiles analysis following international recommendations (ISO/IEC 17025: 2005). Secondly, the majority of discrepancies are mainly encountered in stutters positions (53.4%, 96.0% and 74.9%, respectively for the three editions). On the other hand, the results submitted reveal the importance of performing duplicate analysis by using different kits in order to reduce errors as much as possible. Regarding the statistical aspect (GHEP-MIX02 and 03), all participants employed the likelihood ratio (LR) parameter to evaluate the statistical compatibility and the formulas employed were quite similar. When the hypotheses to evaluate the LR value were locked by the coordinators (GHEP-MIX02) the results revealed a minor number of discrepancies that were mainly due to clerical reasons. However, the GHEP-MIX03 exercise allowed the participants to freely come up with their own hypotheses to calculate the LR value. In this situation the laboratories reported several options to explain the mock cases proposed and therefore significant differences between the final LR values were obtained. Complete information concerning the background of the criminal case is a critical aspect in order to select the adequate hypotheses to calculate the LR value. Although this should be a task for the judicial court to decide, it is important for the expert to account for the different possibilities and scenarios, and also offer this expertise to the judge. In addition, continuing education in the analysis and interpretation of mixture DNA profiles may also be a priority for the vast majority of forensic laboratories. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Experiencing Manipulative Material for the Teaching and Learning of Mathematics

This paper presents some outcomes from research based on classroom experiences. The main themes are the use of mirrors, kaleidoscopes, dynamic geometry software, and manipulative material considering their possibilities for the teaching and learning of Euclidean and non-Euclidean geometries.

Challenges of Students’ Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) in Library and Information Science in the ICT Environment

The ICT revolution has permeated every profession and all areas of human endeavour. Professions such as law, medicine , engineering, and library and information science are adjusting to the ICT environment through re-tooling, retraining, and curriculum revision. The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of ICT on the student industrial work experience scheme (SIWES) of library and information science students. It traces the historical development of the scheme, the ICT development trends in LIS, and the challenges this development brings to SIWES. Strategies to absorb this shock created by ICT are offered.

Patterns and processes of diversification in a widespread and ecologically diverse avian group, the buteonine hawks (Aves, Accipitridae)

Buteonine hawks represent one of the most diverse groups in the Accipitridae, with 58 species distributed in a variety of habitats on almost all continents. Variations in migratory behavior, remarkable dispersal capability, and unusual diversity in Central and South America make buteonine hawks an excellent model for studies in avian evolution. To evaluate the history of their global radiation, we used an integrative approach that coupled estimation of the phylogeny using a large sequence database (based on 6411 bp of mitochondrial markers and one nuclear intron from 54 species), divergence time estimates, and ancestral state reconstructions. Our findings suggest that Neotropical buteonines resulted from a long evolutionary process that began in the Miocene and extended to the Pleistocene. Colonization of the Nearctic, and eventually the Old World, occurred from South America, promoted by the evolution of seasonal movements and development of land bridges. Migratory behavior evolved several times and may have contributed not only to colonization of the Holarctic, but also derivation of insular species. In the Neotropics, diversification of the buteonines included four disjunction events across the Andes. Adaptation of monophyletic taxa to wet environments occurred more than once, and some relationships indicate an evolutionary connection among mangroves, coastal and varzea environments. On the other hand, groups occupying the same biome, forest, or open vegetation habitats are not monophyletic. Refuges or sea-level changes or a combination of both was responsible for recent speciation in Amazonian taxa. In view of the lack of concordance between phylogeny and classification, we propose numerous taxonomic changes. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Sleep patterns and sleepiness of working college students

The double journey (work and study) may result or aggravate health problems, including sleep disturbances, as observed in previous studies with high school students. The aim of this study is to analyze the sleep-wake cycle and perceived sleepiness of working college students during weekdays. Twenty-three healthy college male students, 21-24 years old, working during the day and attending classes in the evening, participated in this study. During five consecutive days, the students filled out daily activities logs and wore actigraphs. Mean sleeping time was lower than 6 hours per night. No significant differences were observed in the sleep-wake cycle during the weekdays. The observed lack of changes in the sleep-wake cycle of these college students might occur as participants were not on a free schedule, but exposed to social constraints, as was the regular attendance to evening college and day work activities. Sleepiness worsened over the evening school hours. Those results show the burden carried by College students who perform double activities - work and study.

Home blood pressure monitoring and control in a group of hypertensive patients

This qualitative study was performed with 71 hypertensive patients, with the objectives to compare outpatient and home blood pressure monitoring (HBPM), to assess blood pressure control, and characterize white-coat hypertension. A nurse performed the outpatient blood pressure measurement. The home blood pressure monitoring was carried out over seven days. White-coat hypertension was quantified as a difference between the outpatient measurement and home blood pressure monitoring in the ranges from 1 to 5, 6 to 10 and > 10 mmHg. The outpatient blood pressure measurement was significantly higher (p<0.05) than the home blood pressure measurement. Pressure control corresponded to 9.9% in the outpatient measurement and 23.9% in the home blood pressure measurement. The white-coat effect > 10 mmHg was 57.7% for systolic and 32.4% for diastolic pressure, in the range from 6 to 10 mmHg. Home blood pressure measurement provided a better assessment of hypertensive patients' control.

Bias and learning in temporal binding: intervals between actions and outcomes are compressed by prior bias

It has consistently been shown that agents judge the intervals between their actions and outcomes as compressed in time, an effect named intentional binding. In the present work, we investigated whether this effect is result of prior bias volunteers have about the timing of the consequences of their actions, or if it is due to learning that occurs during the experimental session. Volunteers made temporal estimates of the interval between their action and target onset (Action conditions), or between two events (No-Action conditions). Our results show that temporal estimates become shorter throughout each experimental block in both conditions. Moreover, we found that observers judged intervals between action and outcomes as shorter even in very early trials of each block. To quantify the decrease of temporal judgments in experimental blocks, exponential functions were fitted to participants’ temporal judgments. The fitted parameters suggest that observers had different prior biases as to intervals between events in which action was involved. These findings suggest that prior bias might play a more important role in this effect than calibration-type learning processes.

Global trade, food production and ecosystem support : Making the interactions visible

Modern food production is a complex, globalized system in which what we eat and how it is produced are increasingly disconnected. This thesis examines some of the ways in which global trade has changed the mix of inputs to food and feed, and how this affects food security and our perceptions of sustainability. One useful indicator of the ecological impact of trade in food and feed products is the Appropriated Ecosystem Areas (ArEAs), which estimates the terrestrial and aquatic areas needed to produce all the inputs to particular products. The method is introduced in Paper I and used to calculate and track changes in imported subsidies to Swedish agriculture over the period 1962-1994. In 1994, Swedish consumers needed agricultural areas outside their national borders to satisfy more than a third of their food consumption needs. The method is then applied to Swedish meat production in Paper II to show that the term “Made in Sweden” is often a misnomer. In 1999, almost 80% of manufactured feed for Swedish pigs, cattle and chickens was dependent on imported inputs, mainly from Europe, Southeast Asia and South America. Paper III examines ecosystem subsidies to intensive aquaculture in two nations: shrimp production in Thailand and salmon production in Norway. In both countries, aquaculture was shown to rely increasingly on imported subsidies. The rapid expansion of aquaculture turned these countries from fishmeal net exporters to fishmeal net importers, increasingly using inputs from the Southeastern Pacific Ocean. As the examined agricultural and aquacultural production systems became globalized, levels of dependence on other nations’ ecosystems, the number of external supply sources, and the distance to these sources steadily increased. Dependence on other nations is not problematic, as long as we are able to acknowledge these links and sustainably manage resources both at home and abroad. However, ecosystem subsidies are seldom recognized or made explicit in national policy or economic accounts. Economic systems are generally not designed to receive feedbacks when the status of remote ecosystems changes, much less to respond in an ecologically sensitive manner. Papers IV and V discuss the problem of “masking” of the true environmental costs of production for trade. One of our conclusions is that, while the ArEAs approach is a useful tool for illuminating environmentally-based subsidies in the policy arena, it does not reflect all of the costs. Current agricultural and aquacultural production methods have generated substantial increases in production levels, but if policy continues to support the focus on yield and production increases alone, taking the work of ecosystems for granted, vulnerability can result. Thus, a challenge is to develop a set of complementary tools that can be used in economic accounting at national and international scales that address ecosystem support and performance. We conclude that future resilience in food production systems will require more explicit links between consumers and the work of supporting ecosystems, locally and in other regions of the world, and that food security planning will require active management of the capacity of all involved ecosystems to sustain food production.