Nothing in the History of Spanish <Emphasis Type="Italic">Anís</Emphasis> Makes Sense,Except in the Light of Evolution

We describe, discuss and illustrate a metaphoric parallel between the history of the most famous Spanish liqueur, “Anís del Mono” (Anís of the Monkey), and the evolution of living organisms in the light of Darwinian theory and other biological hypotheses published subsequent to Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species. Also, we report the use of a caricature of a simian Darwin with a positive connotation, perhaps the only one ever produced. We conclude that, like some species in the natural world, Anís of the Monkey has evolved, adapted, survived and become the fittest and most successful anís in the Spanish market and possibly the world. We hope this paper will contribute a new useful metaphor for the teaching of biological evolution.     

Identification of Early Risk Factors for Developmental Delay

Statewide birth certificate and preschool exceptionality records were integrated to identify risk factors for developmental delay (DD). Epidemiological methods were used to investigate both individual-level and population-level risk for DD associated with a number of child and maternal factors. Infants born with very low birth weight were at the greatest individual-level risk for DD, whereas prematurity (gestational age less than 37 weeks) and low maternal education posed the greatest population-level risk. For comparative purposes, individual-level risk for speech disability and other developmental disabilities was also determined. The individual-level risk associated with nearly all factors was significantly greater for DD than for speech disability or other developmental disabilities. The present study suggests that information available from birth certificate records can be used to target screening and early intervention services for children at high risk with the goal of reducing the incidence of DD and subsequent associated disabilities.     

Addressing the big picture: Deaf children and reading assessments

In the field of education, there is a great emphasis placed on literacy, from reading fluency to writing. There are various approaches that teachers can use in their classroom to design and identify needed areas of instruction, but these approaches do not always apply to Deaf Education. The act of using the same assessments throughout all student populations presents some potential issues, particularly the question of whether or not the students’ actual literacy abilities are being identified. The focus is to spotlight a frequently used approach for measuring reading fluency and present an alternative approach.     

Clusters,convergence, and economic performance

This paper evaluates the role of regional cluster composition in regional industry performance. On the one hand, diminishing returns to specialization in a location can result in a convergence effect: the growth rate of an industry within a region may be declining in the level of economic activity of that industry. At the same time, positive spillovers across complementary economic activities can provide an impetus for agglomeration: the growth rate of an industry within a region may be increasing in the “strength” (i.e., relative presence) of related industries. Building on Porter (1998, 2003), we develop a systematic empirical framework to analyze the role of regional clusters – groups of closely related industries operating within a particular region – in the growth of regional industries. We exploit data from the US Cluster Mapping Project to examine the effects of agglomeration within regional clusters after controlling for convergence at the region-industry level. Our findings suggest that industries located in a strong cluster register higher employment and patenting growth. Regional industry growth also increases with the strength of related clusters in the region and with the strength of similar clusters in adjacent regions. We also find evidence of the complementarity between employment and innovation performance in regional clusters: both the initial employment and patenting strength of a cluster have a separate positive effect on the employment and patenting growth of the constituent industries. Finally, we find that new regional industries emerge where there is a strong cluster. These findings are consistent with multiple types of externalities arising in clusters, including knowledge, skills, and input–output linkages.     

Comparison of physical activity estimates using International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) and accelerometry in fibromyalgia patients: The Al-Andalus study

Abstract

The International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) has been widely used to assess physical activity in healthy populations. The present study compared physical activity assessed by the long, self-administrated version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire with physical activity assessed by accelerometry in patients with fibromyalgia. A total of 99 (five men) participants with fibromyalgia completed the International Physical Activity Questionnaire and wore an accelerometer for nine consecutive days. We analysed the correlations of physical activity expressed as min · day^?1 of light, moderate, vigorous, and moderate to vigorous (MVPA) intensity, as well as time spent sitting, by the International Physical Activity Questionnaire and accelerometry by Spearman correlations. Bland and Altman plots were performed to verify the agreements between both instruments. The results showed weak yet significant correlations (Rs = 0.15–0.39, all P < 0.05) in all physical activity intensities between the two instruments, except for sedentary time. The highest correlations were observed for physical activity at home or in garden (Rs = 0.297, P < 0.01). The results suggest that the long self-administrated International Physical Activity Questionnaire is a questionable instrument to assess physical activity in patients with fibromyalgia. Therefore, physical activity measurement in fibromyalgia patients should not be limited solely to self-reported measures.     

Health Professionals' Attitudes and Educational Needs Regarding New Food Processing Technologies

ABSTRACT: This project evaluates the attitudes of food and health professionals to 3 new food processing technologies that have been developed to respond to consumer demands such as superior taste, longer shelf life, higher nutritional content, health benefits, and environment‐friendly processing. Educational brochures for high pressure (HP), pulsed electric field (PEF), and ohmic heating (OH) processes were developed based on the current literature and consumer information needs. An internet web survey was conducted to determine information needs of food and health professionals and to assess their satisfaction with the data provided in the educational brochures. Health professionals hold a positive attitude toward HP, OH, and PEF. No negative attitudes or discomfort were reported. More people indicated they were very comfortable with HP than any other technology, and as a consequence this technology received the highest scores of likeliness to be included in health professionals' recommendations.     

Will Teachers Create Opportunities for Discussion when Teaching Proof in a Geometry Classroom?

This study presents an analysis of whether geometry teachers create opportunities for student discussion when engaging students in proving as revealed through the use of a multimedia survey instrument. We presented 42 secondary mathematics teachers with 8 multimedia narratives set in the situation of doing proofs in high school geometry and asked them to choose what they would do next, presenting options that included a normative instructional action which closed off discussion and less typical actions that encouraged student discussion. Our analysis provides insight into the professional obligations that teachers use to justify their departure from the norm in order to encourage student talk as well as the background variables that are associated with such decisions. We found that while secondary mathematics teachers frequently chose to promote discussion in their classrooms, the rationale that they chose for this decision and the reasons they might choose not to immediately encourage discussion differed according to the amount of experience they had teaching geometry. We use these differences to illustrate how the professional obligations can be used to better understand how teacher decisions are rationalized at the level of the instructional situation.