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Health Gazette publishes in its latest issue one of the most ambitious studies of our country about sexual health in adolescents. With a sample of 9,340 students from 97 institutes Catalans, the paper analyzes the results of a baseline survey distributed between 2005 and 2006 to understand the factors that may be related to sexual risk behaviors.
30.5% of students aged 14 to 16 reported having sexual intercourse (33.6% of boys, 27.4% of girls). 73% of these sexually active students had admitted having a sexual relationship at risk. Specifically, 82.3% of boys compared to 63% of girls.
An example is found in the number of sexual partners. 36.2% of boys admitted having sex with three or more different people, and this percentage is reduced to 17.5% of girls.
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Astronomers have detected for the first time near a black hole the presence of c, which take advantage of some particles to escape the gravity well dark. The discovery was possible thanks to the Integral satellite observations of the European Space Agency (ESA).
Usually the particles are close to black holes are captured in a matter of milliseconds, but a small fraction could have the chance to escape. This is suggested by recent observations of the ESA’s Integral satellite, in which particles detected a millisecond before being caught.
Now astronomers have discovered that this chaotic region is crisscrossed by a complex network of magnetic fields, which have a complex structure in the form of tunnels through which some particles manage to escape the gravity well. For the first time has identified the presence of gravitational fields so close to a black hole.
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The Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development Neiker-Tecnalia has developed a project to obtain high-quality starch in potato tubers ( Solanum tuberosum ) using new molecular and genetic tools. Potato starch is a product widely used in industrial processes such as production of paper, adhesives, building materials, plastics and drugs.
The research objective is to achieve a starch having the best physicochemical conditions for industrial use and that can help produce healthy and functional foods. For new varieties of potato starch of different qualities, it is necessary to use new tools, as the traditional phenotypic selection breeding difficult to achieve.
In this project we are using different techniques, such as “allele mining” reverse genetics, mapping by association and a test in vitro to obtain the desired starch.
The overall objective is to modulate the properties of potato starch (by modifying the degree of branching amylose and amylopectin components, the length of the polymers and the degree of phosphorylation), as well as in the analysis of the effects of these changes .
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There are two types of defense that common frog tadpoles activated when they detect predators to improve survival. But they are unable to perceive the American crayfish, which leaves no recourse for this invasive species. The journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B , one of the ten most influential in the field of biology, published today in its online edition sign research Ivan Gomez Mestre and Carmen Diaz Paniagua, biologists from the Biodiversity Research Unit of the CSIC -Principality of Asturias, Oviedo University, and the Station Biological relevance of Doñana (CSIC), respectively.
“The common frog in the Donana National Park has not yet adapted to the American crayfish,” said Iván Gómez Mestre. To verify this, researchers have confronted two groups of tadpoles with the American red crayfish (Procambarus clarkii), and compared the degree of activation of their defenses. Both the common frog tadpoles in the wetlands of Donana, a town three decades has been in contact with this predator (between 10 and 15 generations), and tadpoles from populations that are faced by first time crab responded the same way: “The degree of activation of defenses is the same in both cases: null,” says the biologist.
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UPM researchers have developed a procedure that estimates the power released by a fire in a tunnel, improving both the design of security systems and intervention in case of accident.
In collaboration with the company EuroestudiosResearchers from the ETSI Industriales UPM, have developed a procedure to estimate the power released by a fire in a road tunnel longitudinal ventilation. This procedure uses sensors that can be installed in tunnels in operation for use in case of an accident arising out of a fire.
The power released is one of the most important parameters when necessary corrective actions to minimize the damage caused by a fire in a tunnel. This issue is of utmost importance to the construction of tunnels getting longer and fatalities have occurred (St. Gotthard (11 deaths), Tauern (12 deaths), MontBlanc (39 dead), …).
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Researchers at the Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia (IAA-CSIC), led by Luisa Maria Lara, develop an excellence project aimed at analyzing the data of some of the most important missions of space exploration in which the institution involved (Mars and Venus Express Cassini-Huygens Rosetta), and design the hardware of a special laser altimeter for the BepiColombo probe, one of the first observation of Mercury missions.
Mercury is one of the most mysterious planets in the Solar System. Observers of Ancient Greece was called in two ways: Apollo when it was visible at dawn, and Hermes when it was at dusk. However, Greek astronomers realized that relate to the same celestial body, with Pythagoras first proposed the idea.
Thousands of years later, our understanding of this rocky planet like Earth, is not a challenge to explore, but also it is a challenge of high technological capacity, its orbit is much closer than Earth to the Sun and to study their specific site of a probe must travel more than 90 million miles.
“The study of Mercury we should provide basic knowledge to lay the foundations for a landing mission. Understanding of Mercury will provide a quantum leap in understanding the formation and evolution of the solar system,” says the researcher. BepiColombo consists of two probes: MPO (Mercury Planetary Orbiter) and MMO (Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter).
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Hospital Universitario de La Ribera (Valencia) has conducted the first bilateral implantation of the prosthesis invisible Spain Carina. Being a device located in both ears, the patient can locate and identify sound sources more accurate and natural sound.
The young woman who has received the first implant bilateral hearing aid is 23 and suffers from hearing loss (hearing loss) severe sensorineural in both ears. “He has recovered auditory function more about the physiological process of normal hearing,” said Javier Gisbert, Chief of Otolaryngology at the Hospital de La Ribera.
According to the patient with this implant can hear almost as clearly as anyone. “When I go out any noise my attention. At first hearing the noise of the machines works bothered me, I started to hear different. Then I notice the phone ringing, the drop of water in the shower or the crickets in a friend’s house, “said the girl.
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Try feminine. If you are surprised to see him, you’d be thrilled to use is the title of the new campaign to promote condoms for women who have submitted to the Ministry of Health, Social Policy and Equality and the General Council of Colleges of Pharmacy. The aim is to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV and unwanted pregnancies.
“The condom is a step towards autonomy and decision making specific to women about their sexual and reproductive health,” said Carmen Amela, Director General of Public Health and Foreign Health at the launch of the campaign to promote female condom.
The spread of the campaign will run through pharmacies, of which 43,000 have been distributed posters and 216,000 pamphlets. Pharmacists will have the basic information to introduce the condom in a positive way and promote acceptance among the female audience.
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The situation produced by the earthquake and tsunami in the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan has revived the debate about the risks of nuclear energy. The sensitivity of the people and the media against the risks of nuclear power plants is very high, but it should be put into context and to compare those risks to those associated with other forms of electricity production.
The accident at the Fukushima nuclear plant, located on the east coast of Japan, has been covered by the media-rich information and comments, and has been a great concern among people around the world, fueling the debate over nuclear plant safety. It all began on March 11 with a massive earthquake measuring 9 on the Richter scale, which also caused a tsunami that devastated much of the eastern coast of northern Japan.
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To demonstrate how the genetic variability of the species affect food web structure, a researcher at the Arid Zone Experimental Station (CSIC) presents a computer simulation model of ecological network based on real data from 18 species of spiders and two centipedes The work highlights the importance for the conservation of food webs.
“It has long been known that the structure of networks that are stable over time. The results of this study suggest that if we retain the genetic variation ensure the maintenance of the network and the species composition and, therefore, the functioning of the ecosystem in which the network finds itself, “said Jordi Moya Laraño, author and principal investigator of the CSIC.
The study, published in Philosophical Transactions of Royal Society B Genetic diversity of species that make up the network, ie how different individuals within species, may be essential for conservation and stability and thus to ensure the conservation of all species interact.
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30.5% of students aged 14 to 16 reported having sexual intercourse (33.6% of boys, 27.4% of girls). 73% of these sexually active students had admitted having a sexual relationship at risk. Specifically, 82.3% of boys compared to 63% of girls.
Usually the particles are close to black holes are captured in a matter of milliseconds, but a small fraction could have the chance to escape. This is suggested by recent observations of the ESA’s Integral satellite, in which particles detected a millisecond before being caught.