IS OECOLOGIA AUSTRALIS PROMOTING GENDER EQUALITY IN ITS REVIEW PROCESS?

Following recent evidence on gender bias at the publishing process in sciences, we present here a view on Oecologia Australis section editors, reviewers, and authors gender ratios to understand the patterns in this journal, improving the data assessment and discussions on this topic. We found that women section editors tended to accept more women than men first-authored manuscripts. There was also a slight tendency of men editors to invite proportionally more men as reviewers. There was no difference in the gender of the first author on the submitted manuscripts, although there is a tendency of male co-authorship in men first-authored papers. Despite gender bias in the scientific academy being a global tendency, our data as a medium impact journal represents an important counter point and provides more information to support gender balance studies to foment better equalitarian policies.

The Influence of Carpeting, Human Activity and Number of Beds on Airborne Fungi Concentration in Hotel Bedrooms

In urban environments, people spend about 90% of their time indoors, where strong indicators of air-borne contaminants have been found. Currently, there are no reports on the fungal presence and distribution in the air of hotel bedrooms. In this study, we assessed the presence of airborne fungi in bedrooms from three hotels and correlated with room characteristics. We sampled 100 L (L) of air from hotels in Nuevo León, Mexico, then fungi colony forming units (CFU) were measured and identification was made based on morphological features. Variables considered were the presence of carpet, number of beds, cleaning status for the room and floor number. Penicillium, Cladosporium and Aspergillus exhibited the highest CFU concentration and frequency. A slight tendency was observed towards lower fungi concentrations when rooms had been cleaned before sampling. Statistical differences were found between rooms with carpet vs. no carpet, and one vs. two beds. Furthermore, a correlation between floor number and fungi concentration was observed with correspondence to the hotels’ room assignment protocol. These findings offer new variables to take into consideration when designing and implementing preventive or corrective sanitization procedures to improve their efficiency and could be relevant for hotel bedrooms as well as any other type of room.

PRICE BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS OF BRAZILIAN YERBA MATE EXPORTED TO URUGUAY BETWEEN 1997 AND 2018

The objective of this study was to evaluate price seasonality of the Brazilian Yerba mate exported to the Uruguayan market, serving as a basis for decision-making to the producers. For this purpose, we collected data on Brazilian yerba mate exports to Uruguay, available in the ALICE-WEB System, which, after deflation, were used to determine the Seasonal Index for different periods between 1997 and 2018 The results showed that the market for yerba mate does not present regular historical cycles, the prices of the Brazilian product in the Uruguayan market suffer constant falls and increases. Nevertheless, it is possible to observe a long-term trend of increasing the real price of the product at an average rate of 0.33% per month. It is possible to conclude that the price of Brazilian yerba mate in the Uruguayan market was in the ascendancy until the beginning of 2015, when the Uruguayan Justice instituted an investigation to investigate the presence of cadmium and lead at levels above the allowed ones in the Brazilian product. At the end of the study period, there was a slight tendency to recover prices, however, only new studies will be able to verify if the price of Brazilian yerba on the Uruguayan market will reach levels similar to those registered before the judicial embargo.Keywords: international trade; seasonality; competitiveness.

Morphofuctional State of Thymus Gland among Children of Early Age with Thymomegalia

The morphometric characteristics in children of early age with thymomegalia were studied. In this case was found the increase of the area of lobule of thymus due to the predominance of the cerebral cortex and a significant increase in the ratio of thymocytes / epithelial reticular cells because of the increase of the absolute number of thymocytes. The differences in area and diameter of the Hassall’s corpuscles in the two compared groups were not revealed, however, was found a slight tendency to the decrease of these indicators in case of hyperplasia of thymus gland. These changes indicate the Morphofunctional inferiority of the thymus among children of early age with thymomegalia.

Effect of Ni on Microstructure and Mechanical Property of a Co-Ti-V-Based Superalloy

The effect of Ni on microstructure, elemental partition behavior, γ ′ phase solvus temperature, lattice misfit between γ and γ ′ phases, and mechanical properties of the Co-8Ti-11V-xNi alloys was investigated. The result shows that the lattice misfit in the alloys decreases from 0.74% to 0.61% as the Ni content increases from 0 to 10%, and the average sizes of the cuboidal γ ′ phase were measured to be 312.10 nm, 112.86 nm, and 141.84 nm for the Co-8Ti-11V, Co-8Ti-11V-5Ni, and Co-8Ti-11V-10Ni, respectively. Ti, V, and Ni exhibit a slight tendency to partition into the γ ′ phase, while Co shows a slight tendency to partition into the γ phase. The solvus temperatures of the γ ′ phase were measured to be 1167°C, 1114°C, and 1108°C for the Co-8Ti-11V, Co-8Ti-11V-5Ni, and Co-8Ti-11V-10Ni alloys, respectively, by using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Moreover, the yield strength and ultimate strength of the Co-8Ti-11V, Co-8Ti-11V-5Ni, and Co-8Ti-11V-10Ni alloys were investigated, and the yield strength and ultimate strength of the 10Ni alloy were highest, at 219 MPa and 240 MPa. After compression at 1000°C, the dislocations cannot effectively shear the γ ′ phase in the 0Ni and 10Ni alloys, resulting in a relatively high compressive strength of the 0Ni and 10Ni alloys. However, the γ ′ phase of the 5Ni alloy is no longer visible, and its strength is the lowest.

Environmental and Radar Characteristics of Gargantuan Hail-Producing Storms

Storms that produce gargantuan hail (defined here as ≥ 6 inches or 15 cm in maximum dimension), although seemingly rare, can cause extensive damage to property and infrastructure, and cause injury or even death to humans and animals. Currently, we are limited in our ability to accurately predict gargantuan hail and detect gargantuan hail on radar. In this study, we analyze the environments and radar characteristics of gargantuan hail-producing storms to define the parameter space of environments in which gargantuan hail occurs, and compare environmental parameters and radar signatures in these storms to storms producing other sizes of hail. We find that traditionally used environmental parameters used for severe storms prediction, such as most unstable convective available potential energy (MUCAPE) and 0–6 km vertical wind shear, display considerable overlap between gargantuan hail-producing storm environments and those that produce smaller hail. There is a slight tendency for larger MUCAPE values for gargantuan hail cases, however. Additionally, gargantuan hail-producing storms seem to have larger low-level storm-relative winds and larger updraft widths than those storms producing smaller hail, implying updrafts less diluted by entrainment and perhaps maximizing the liquid water content available for hail growth. Moreover, radar reflectivity or products derived from it are not different from cases of smaller hail sizes. However, inferred mesocyclonic rotational velocities within the hail growth region of storms that produce gargantuan hail are significantly stronger than the rotational velocities found for smaller hail categories.

A study of body measurements of sporty and not sporty persons living in Pärnu county

In 2019, a study was conducted on athletic activity among the inhabitants of Pärnu County. 1446 respondents aged 15–87 years participated in the study. The respondents were divided into two groups according to their athletic activity – respondents who are at least lightly active (named as SPORTY, n = 1244) and respondents with no sport activity (NOT SPORTY, n = 202). 41% of respondents had been engaged in physical activity for 10 years or more. A “not sporty” respondent is a person with a slight tendency to overweight, rather not satisfied with his/her health but quite satisfied with his/ her life and is short of time to work out but would like to engage in cycling, swimming or hiking. The “sporty” person’s body mass index is normal, and he/she has been engaged in sports for at least 10 years to achieve better physical fitness or well-being. He/she enjoys walking, cycling, or running. Women prefer group training; men prefer to train in the gym on their own. Respondents with more than five years of regular physical activity work out every week somewhat longer than others and, on average, a few hours more per week in summertime than in autumn and spring. Sporty respondents tend to be taller and of medium weight.

Stå på, ikke gi opp – the use of Norwegian particle verbs in email messages by advanced L2 users whose L1 is Finnish

The aim of the present study is to examine similarities and differences in the use of particle verbs (PVs) between advanced bilingual L2 users of Norwegian (L1 Finnish) in their teens and Norwegian L1 speakers of the same age. The data consists of three writing tasks (email messages) written by 6 bilingual Finnish -Norwegian participants and 6 native speakers of Norwegian. Previous research has shown that second language (L2) users, who are highly advanced, face problems using multi-word expressions. For example, they tend to use less PVs than native speakers. The advanced bilingual L2 users of Norwegian (L1 Finnish) in the present study also show a slight tendency to use fewer PVs than the native speakers. However, the Finnish-Norwegian participants used some more idiomatic PVs than the native speakers of Norwegian. The results show that advanced bilingual users of Norwegian who live in an L2 environment and receive a great amount of natural input and output from an early age utilized PVs in a manner congruent to native speakers. Despite differences between the Finnish and Norwegian languages, there are also similarities with regard to PVs. The bilingual participants are familiar with PVs in their first language, Finnish, and they may benefit from that, even though these verbs are not as frequent in Finnish as in Norwegian.

EXPERIENCE OF HIGH TECH LAPAROSCOPIC SURGERY IN COMBINATION WITH METHOD IN ELDERLY PATIENTS

Проанализированы результаты высокотехнологичных лапароскопических операций у 236 пациентов, 116 из которых были до 60 лет, а 120 - пожилого и старческого возраста. В обеих возрастных группах больных при аналогичных объемах хирургической агрессии не получено достоверной разницы в числе интра-и послеоперационных осложнений. У пациентов старшего возраста их было даже меньше. Лапароскопическая техника сложного хирургического вмешательства в комбинации с максимально ранней реабилитацией пациента имели ключевое значение в ведении послеоперационного периода у пациентов пожилого и старческого возраста и обеспечивали эффективность и безопасность данной операции у этого контингента больных. The results of high tech laparoscopic operations were analysed in 236 patients, with 116 patients under 60 years old, and 120 patients above 60 years old. In both age groups of patients with similar characteristics of surgical aggression, there was no signifi cant difference of intra- and postoperative complications. In elderly patients, there might be even a slight tendency for less complications. Laparoscopic technique of complex surgical intervention in combination with early patient’s rehabilitation is a very important element in management of the postoperative period in elderly patients, it allows the effectiveness and safety of modern surgery in this patient population.

Aspekte des Sprecherwechsels in Dialogen polnischer und deutscher Jugendlicher. Dargestellt am Beispiel einer Konkurrenzaufgabe

The aim of this paper is to discuss the role of turn-taking in dialogs of Polish and German schoolchildren aged from 13 to 15 years. The paper begins by describing the project and briefly viewing the most relevant definitions (e. g. turn, backchannels, segments). The next section presents the notation system and the methods. The samples were selected from the BORDERLAND data bank and, in total, they included nine pairs and over 1,000 segments. On this basis, it can be concluded that turn-taking in uniform pairs (Polish-Polish and German-German) is more defensive, and that the interlocutors tend to use more segments. There might also be a slight tendency for Polish speakers to interrupt their interlocutors more frequently. The findings, based on our samples, also suggest that speaking a foreign language (as we can notice in the German-Polish pairs) usually means less competitive speaking, as well as fewer segments and turn-takings