Motivation and content Language Integrated Learning : an impulse for Second Language Teaching

“Estudiantes motivados producen profesores motivados y viceversa” (Lesley Denham)La cita refleja el efecto recíproco que tiene el comportamiento del profesor en el compromiso de los estudiantes a lo largo del año y viceversa. Es sorprendente como, destacando las fortalezas de cada estudiante en lugar de sus debilidades, nunca comparándolos entre ellos sino con su propio rendimiento, puede despertar una motivación intrínseca en el estudiante, y una merecida satisfacción personal para el profesor.Sin embargo, no existen botones motivacionales mágicos que podamos pulsar y hacer que el alumno quiera aprender. Como profesores, tomar la iniciativa será crucial: dar a nuestros estudiantes el espacio suficiente para experimentar, realzar su autonomía, e intuir las respuestas a través de un proceso inductivo. En definitiva, hacerles protagonistas de su proceso de aprendizaje.Incluir AICLE en la clase de inglés es una metodología que nos ayudará a conseguirlo. Los estudiantes asocian AICLE con algo interesante y divertido, diferente a las sesiones teóricas. Como resultado, al utilizar la lengua, lo hacen movidos por sus sentimientos, aprendiendo de forma implícita.“Estudiants motivats produeixen professors motivats i viceversa” (Lesley Denham)La cita reflecteix l'efecte recíproc que té el comportament del professor en el compromís dels estudiants al llarg de l'any i viceversa. És sorprenent com, destacant les fortaleses de cada estudiant en lloc de les seves debilitats, mai comparant-los entre ells sinó amb el seu propi rendiment, pot despertar una motivació intrínseca a l'estudiant, i una merescuda satisfacció personal per al professor.No obstant això, no existeixen botons motivacionals màgics que puguem prémer i fer que l'alumne vulgui aprendre. Com a professors, prendre la iniciativa serà crucial: donar als nostres estudiants l'espai suficient per experimentar, realçar la seva autonomia, i intuir les respostes a través d'un procés inductiu. En definitiva, fer-los protagonistes del seu procés d'aprenentatge.Incloure AICLE en la classe d'anglès és una metodologia que ens ajudarà a aconseguir-ho. Els estudiants consideren AICLE interessant i divertit, diferent a les sessions teòriques. Com a resultat, en utilitzar la llengua, ho fan moguts pels seus sentiments, aprenent de forma implícita.

Trophic dynamics in the northern Humboldt Current system: insights from stable isotopes and stomach content analyses

The northern Humboldt Current system (NHCS) off Peru is one of the most productive world marine regions. It represents less than 0.1% of the world ocean surface but presently sustains about 10% of the world fish catch, with the Peruvian anchovy or anchoveta Engraulis ringens as emblematic fish resource. Compared with other eastern boundary upwelling systems, the higher fish productivity of the NHCS cannot be explained by a corresponding higher primary productivity. On another hand, the NHCS is the region where El Niño, and climate variability in general, is most notable. Also, surface oxygenated waters overlie an intense and extremely shallow Oxygen Minimum Zone (OMZ). In this context, the main objective of this study is to better understand the trophic flows in the NHCS using both stomach content and stable isotope analyses. The study focuses on a variety of organisms from low trophic levels such as zooplankton to top predators (seabirds and fur seals). The approach combines both long-term and specific studies on emblematic species such as anchoveta, and sardine Sardinops sagax and a more inclusive analysis considering the 'global' food web in the recent years (2008 – 2012) using stable isotope analysis. Revisiting anchovy and sardine we show that whereas phytoplankton largely dominated anchoveta and sardine diets in terms of numerical abundance, the carbon content of prey items indicated that zooplankton was by far the most important dietary component. Indeed for anchovy euphausiids contributed 67.5% of dietary carbon, followed by copepods (26.3%). Selecting the largest prey, the euphausiids, provide an energetic advantage for anchoveta in its ecosystem where oxygen depletion imposes strong metabolic constrain to pelagic fish. Sardine feed on smaller zooplankton than do anchoveta, with sardine diet consisting of smaller copepods and fewer euphausiids than anchoveta diet. Hence, trophic competition between sardine and anchovy in the northern Humboldt Current system is minimized by their partitioning of the zooplankton food resource based on prey size, as has been reported in other systems. These results suggest an ecological role for pelagic fish that challenges previous understanding of their position in the foodweb (zooplanktophagous instead of phytophagous), the functioning and the trophic models of the NHCS. Finally to obtain a more comprehensive vision of the relative trophic position of NHCS main components we used stable isotope analyses. For that purpose we analyzed the δ13C and δ15N stable isotope values of thirteen taxonomic categories collected off Peru from 2008 - 2011, i.e., zooplankton, fish, squids and air-breathing top predators. The δ15N isotope signature was strongly impacted by the species, the body length and the latitude. Along the Peruvian coast, the OMZ get more intense and shallow south of ~7.5ºS impacting the baseline nitrogen stable isotopes. Employing a linear mixed-effects modelling approach taking into account the latitudinal and body length effects, we provide a new vision of the relative trophic position of key ecosystem components. Also we confirm stomach content-based results on anchoveta Engraulis ringens and highlight the potential remarkable importance of an often neglected ecosystem component, the squat lobster Pleuroncodes monodon. Indeed, our results support the hypothesis according to which this species forage to some extent on fish eggs and larvae and can thus predate on the first life stages of exploited species. However, the δ13C values of these two species suggest that anchoveta and squat lobster do not exactly share the same habitat. This would potentially reduce some direct competition and/or predation.

'Good-genes' and 'compatible-genes' effects in an Alpine whitefish and the information content of breeding tubercles over the course of the spawning season.

Some models of sexual selection predict that individuals vary in their genetic quality and reveal some of this variation in their secondary sexual characteristics. Alpine whitefish (Coregonus sp.) develop breeding tubercles shortly before their spawning season. These tubercles are epidermal structures that are distributed regularly along the body sides of both males and females. There is still much unexplained variation in the size of breeding tubercles within both sexes and with much overlap between the sexes. It has been suggested that breeding tubercles function to maintain body contact between the mating partners during spawning, act as weapons for defence of spawning territories, or are sexual signals that reveal aspects of genetic quality. We took two samples of whitefish from their spawning place, one at the beginning and one around the peak of spawning season. We found that females have on average smaller breeding tubercles than males, and that tubercle size partly reveals the stage of gonad maturation. Two independent full-factorial breeding experiments revealed that embryo mortality was significantly influenced by male and female effects. This finding demonstrates that the males differed in their genetic quality (because offspring get nothing but genes from their fathers). Tubercle size was negatively linked to some aspects of embryo mortality in the first breeding experiment but not significantly so in the second. This lack of consistency adds to inconsistent results that were reported before and suggests that (i) some aspects of genetic quality are not revealed in breeding tubercles while others are, or (ii) individuals vary in their signaling strategies and the information content of breeding tubercles is not always reliable. Moreover, the fact that female whitefish have breeding tubercles of significant size while males seem to have few reasons to be choosy suggests that the tubercles might also serve some functions that are not linked to sexual signaling.

Fish oil for prevention of sudden death in hemodialysis patients?

Friedman et al. report that hemodialysis patients with the highest levels of n-3 fatty acids had impressively low odds of sudden cardiac death. The study is limited by a small sample size, and the analysis relies on only a single baseline measurement of blood levels. Recent randomized evidence indeed fails to support that n-3 fatty acids may prevent sudden death in nonrenal patients. More evidence is needed to advocate fish oil in this setting.

Effect of fructose overfeeding and fish oil administration on hepatic de novo lipogenesis and insulin sensitivity in healthy men.

High-fructose diet stimulates hepatic de novo lipogenesis (DNL) and causes hypertriglyceridemia and insulin resistance in rodents. Fructose-induced insulin resistance may be secondary to alterations of lipid metabolism. In contrast, fish oil supplementation decreases triglycerides and may improve insulin resistance. Therefore, we studied the effect of high-fructose diet and fish oil on DNL and VLDL triglycerides and their impact on insulin resistance. Seven normal men were studied on four occasions: after fish oil (7.2 g/day) for 28 days; a 6-day high-fructose diet (corresponding to an extra 25% of total calories); fish oil plus high-fructose diet; and control conditions. Following each condition, fasting fractional DNL and endogenous glucose production (EGP) were evaluated using [1-13C]sodium acetate and 6,6-2H2 glucose and a two-step hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp was performed to assess insulin sensitivity. High-fructose diet significantly increased fasting glycemia (7 +/- 2%), triglycerides (79 +/- 22%), fractional DNL (sixfold), and EGP (14 +/- 3%, all P < 0.05). It also impaired insulin-induced suppression of adipose tissue lipolysis and EGP (P < 0.05) but had no effect on whole- body insulin-mediated glucose disposal. Fish oil significantly decreased triglycerides (37%, P < 0.05) after high-fructose diet compared with high-fructose diet without fish oil and tended to reduce DNL but had no other significant effect. In conclusion, high-fructose diet induced dyslipidemia and hepatic and adipose tissue insulin resistance. Fish oil reversed dyslipidemia but not insulin resistance.

Sampling and TDR probe insertion in the determination of the volumetric soil water content

Volumetric soil water content (theta) can be evaluated in the field by direct or indirect methods. Among the direct, the gravimetric method is regarded as highly reliable and thus often preferred. Its main disadvantages are that sampling and laboratory procedures are labor intensive, and that the method is destructive, which makes resampling of a same point impossible. Recently, the time domain reflectometry (TDR) technique has become a widely used indirect, non-destructive method to evaluate theta. In this study, evaluations of the apparent dielectric number of soils (epsilon) and samplings for the gravimetrical determination of the volumetric soil water content (thetaGrav) were carried out at four sites of a Xanthic Ferralsol in Manaus - Brazil. With the obtained epsilon values, theta was estimated using empirical equations (thetaTDR), and compared with thetaGrav derived from disturbed and undisturbed samples. The main objective of this study was the comparison of thetaTDR estimates of horizontally as well as vertically inserted probes with the thetaGrav values determined by disturbed and undisturbed samples. Results showed that thetaTDR estimates of vertically inserted probes and the average of horizontally measured layers were only slightly and insignificantly different. However, significant differences were found between the thetaTDR estimates of different equations and between disturbed and undisturbed samples in the thetaGrav determinations. The use of the theoretical Knight et al. model, which permits an evaluation of the soil volume assessed by TDR probes, is also discussed. It was concluded that the TDR technique, when properly calibrated, permits in situ, nondestructive measurements of q in Xanthic Ferralsols of similar accuracy as the gravimetric method.

Numerical simulation of ambient seismic wavefield modification caused by pore-fluid effects in an oil reservoir

We have modeled numerically the seismic response of a poroelastic inclusion with properties applicable to an oil reservoir that interacts with an ambient wavefield. The model includes wave-induced fluid flow caused by pressure differences between mesoscopic-scale (i.e., in the order of centimeters to meters) heterogeneities. We used a viscoelastic approximation on the macroscopic scale to implement the attenuation and dispersion resulting from this mesoscopic-scale theory in numerical simulations of wave propagation on the kilometer scale. This upscaling method includes finite-element modeling of wave-induced fluid flow to determine effective seismic properties of the poroelastic media, such as attenuation of P- and S-waves. The fitted, equivalent, viscoelastic behavior is implemented in finite-difference wave propagation simulations. With this two-stage process, we model numerically the quasi-poroelastic wave-propagation on the kilometer scale and study the impact of fluid properties and fluid saturation on the modeled seismic amplitudes. In particular, we addressed the question of whether poroelastic effects within an oil reservoir may be a plausible explanation for low-frequency ambient wavefield modifications observed at oil fields in recent years. Our results indicate that ambient wavefield modification is expected to occur for oil reservoirs exhibiting high attenuation. Whether or not such modifications can be detected in surface recordings, however, will depend on acquisition design and noise mitigation processing as well as site-specific conditions, such as the geologic complexity of the subsurface, the nature of the ambient wavefield, and the amount of surface noise.

FY 09 Recycle Content Plastic Bag and Soy Inks Report

As required by Iowa Code section 307.21, figures for Fiscal Year 2009 for purchasing activity for soy-based inks and recycled content trash bags.

Glycogen content in the cerebral cortex increases with sleep loss in C57BL/6J mice.

We hypothesized that a function of sleep is to replenish brain glycogen stores that become depleted while awake. We have previously tested this hypothesis in three inbred strains of mice by measuring brain glycogen after a 6h sleep deprivation (SD). Unexpectedly, glycogen content in the cerebral cortex did not decrease with SD in two of the strains and was even found to increase in mice of the C57BL/6J (B6) strain. Manipulations that initially induce glycogenolysis can also induce subsequent glycogen synthesis thereby elevating glycogen content beyond baseline. It is thus possible that in B6 mice, cortical glycogen content decreased early during SD and became elevated later in SD. In the present study, we therefore measured changes in brain glycogen over the course of a 6 h SD and during recovery sleep in B6 mice. We found no evidence of a decrease at any time during the SD, instead, cortical glycogen content monotonically increased with time-spent-awake and, when sleep was allowed, started to revert to control levels. Such a time-course is opposite to the one predicted by our initial hypothesis. These results demonstrate that glycogen synthesis can be achieved during prolonged wakefulness to the extent that it outweighs glycogenolysis. Maintaining this energy store seems thus not to be functionally related to sleep in this strain.

Composition and cross-sectional area of muscle fibre types in relation to daily gain and lean and fat content of carcass in Landrace and Yorkshire pigs

Selostus: Lihassolutyypin ja lihassolun poikkipinta-alan yhteys sian kasvuun ja ruhon koostumukseen maatiaisessa ja yorkshiressa