Physical activity in and out-of-school and academic performance in Spain

[EN] Background: Academic performance in school stems from an interaction of factors associated with students, families and schools. Among these factors, physical activity could play a very relevant role. Objective: The goal of this study was to determine whether students' physical activities in and outside school were related to their academic performance. Design, setting and method: We used the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015 database for Spain using ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models to answer our research questions. Results: Results suggest a positive association between the number of days per week doing moderate physical activities and academic performance in science, reading and mathematics. However, a higher number of days per week doing vigorous physical activities was associated with lower scores in reading and science. We also find a negative association between exercising or practising sports before going to school and the scores achieved in the three competences evaluated. Conclusions: Our results show that physical activity can play an important role in academic performance and that the effects of physical activity on children and teenagers should be further investigated.The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Nerea Gomez-Fernandez is grateful to the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities for financial support under grant FPU16/04571.Gómez-Fernández, N.; Albert, J. (2020). Physical activity in and out-of-school and academic performance in Spain. Health Education Journal. 79(7):788-801. https://doi.org/10.1177/001789692092974378880179

Monetary policy and the redistribution of net worth in the US

The view that expansionary monetary policy can exacerbate both income and wealth inequality by increasing asset prices has become increasingly popular. The aim of this paper is to study the distributive effects of monetary policy on wealth inequality. In the first part of this research, we develop a simple framework based on accounting identity to examine the redistributive repercussions of changes in monetary policy on net worth through different channels. Based on this framework, in the second part of the paper, we show empirical evidence concerning the effects of monetary policy on wealth inequality in the US. To derive this, we combined macro and micro data, and proceeded in two steps. Firstly, we estimated a Proxy structural vector autoregression (SVAR) model, combining high-frequency identification used as external instruments with a classic SVAR, to measure the response of the real and financial variables that could affect wealth inequality after an expansive monetary policy shock. Considering this information, we then used the microdata of the Survey of Consumer Finance (US, 2016) and simulated changes to the value of a household's assets and liabilities, as well as the inflation rate, produced by an expansive monetary policy. We considered three different time horizons and the whole of the distribution, measured by the Gini coefficients, and the simulation results suggest that wealth inequality increases after an expansive monetary policy shock. Additionally, focusing on the net worth by deciles, we found a relevant result. The expansive monetary policy shock substantially increases the net worth of the richest and the poorest households, while the middle class tends to benefit the least. Monetary policy on stock prices is the most important driver of the significant increases in net wealth among the richest households, while its effect on debt is most significant among the poorest

The impact of uncertainty shocks in Spain: SVAR approach with sign restrictions

The purpose of this research is to quantify the impact of economic uncertainty shocks in Spain by using an SVAR approach with sign restrictions with data from January 2001 to June 2018. Specifically, we analyze temporary and persistent economic uncertainty shocks. Furthermore, we isolate the uncertainty shocks whose origin is only politic to identify potential differences in the effects of the uncertainty according to its origin. Our results suggest that positive shocks to economic and political uncertainty lead to an increase in unemployment and a fall in consumer confidence, business confidence, IBEX 35 Index and industrial production. Moreover, these negative effects of uncertainty remain for a long-time horizon, especially for the case of industrial production and unemployment. According to these results, we can conclude that economic uncertainty shocks have a significant negative impact on the Spanish economy

Thin film oxide-ion conducting electrolyte for near room temperature applications

Stabilized bismuth vanadate thin films are presented here as superior oxide ionic conductors, for application in solid state electrochemical devices operating near room temperature. Widely studied in the 90s in bulk form due to their unbeatable ionic conduction, this family of materials was finally discarded due to poor stability above 500 °C. Here, we however unveil the possibility of using BiVCuO at reduced temperatures in thin film-based devices, where the material keeps its unmatched conduction properties and at the same time shows good stability over a wide oxygen partial pressure range

Monetary policy and the redistribution of net worth in the U.S

This paper aims to study the distributive effects of monetary policy on wealth inequality in the US. Combining macro and micro data, we find that wealth inequality increases after an expansionary monetary policy shock, especially in the long run. Specifically, we find that an expansionary monetary policy shock substantially increases the net worth of the richest and the poorest households, while the middle class tends to benefit the least. A remarkable policy implication of our work is that, considering the post-pan-demic situation, forthcoming monetary policy should be designed to avoid these unwanted effects on wealth inequality

Propidium monoazide RTqPCR assays for the assessment of hepatitis A inactivation and for a better estimation of the health risk of contaminated waters.

The waterborne transmission of hepatitis A virus (HAV), the main cause of acute hepatitis, is well documented. Recently, two ISO proposals for sensitive determination of this pathogen by RTqPCR in water and food have been published (ISO/TS 15216-1 and ISO/TS 15216-2), and could enable the formulation of regulatory standards for viruses in the near future. However, since detected viral genomes do not always correlate with virus infectivity, molecular approaches need to be optimized to better predict infectivity of contaminated samples. Two methods involving the use of propidium monoazide (PMA), with or without Triton X-100, prior to RTqPCR amplification were optimized and adapted to infer the performance of infectious viral inactivation upon two different water treatments: free chlorine and high temperature. Significant correlations between the decrease of genome copies and infectivity were found for both inactivation procedures. The best procedure to infer chlorine inactivation was the PMA-RTqPCR assay, in which 1, 2 or 3-log genome copies reductions corresponded to reductions of infectious viruses of 2.61 ± 0.55, 3.76 ± 0.53 and 4.92 ± 0.76 logs, respectively. For heat-inactivated viruses, the best method was the PMA/Triton-RTqPCR assay, with a 1, 2 or 3-log genome reduction corresponding to reductions of infectious viruses of 2.15 ± 1.31, 2.99 ± 0.79 and 3.83 ± 0.70 logs, respectively. Finally, the level of damaged virions was evaluated in distinct types of water naturally contaminated with HAV. While most HAV genomes quantified in sewage corresponded to undamaged capsids, the analysis of a river water sample indicated that more than 98% of viruses were not infectious. Although the PMA/Triton-RTqPCR assay may still overestimate infectivity, it is more reliable than the RTqPCR alone and it seems to be a rapid and cost-effective method that can be applied on different types of water, and that it undeniably provides a more accurate measure of the health risk associated to contaminated waters

The Blockade of Tumoral IL1β-Mediated Signaling in Normal Colonic Fibroblasts Sensitizes Tumor Cells to Chemotherapy and Prevents Inflammatory CAF Activation

Heterotypic interactions between newly transformed cells and normal surrounding cells define tumor's fate in incipient carcinomas. Once homeostasis has been lost, normal resident fibroblasts become carcinoma-associated fibroblasts, conferring protumorogenic properties on these normal cells. Here we describe the IL1 beta-mediated interplay between cancer cells and normal colonic myofibroblasts (NCFs), which bestows differential sensitivity to cytotoxic drugs on tumor cells. We used NCFs, their conditioned media (CM), and cocultures with tumor cells to characterize the IL1 beta-mediated crosstalk between both cell types. We silenced IL1 beta in tumor cells to demonstrate that such cells do not exert an influence on NCFs inflammatory phenotype. Our results shows that IL1 beta is overexpressed in cocultured tumor cells. IL1 beta enables paracrine signaling in myofibroblasts, converting them into inflammatory-CAFs (iCAF). IL1 beta-stimulated-NCF-CM induces migration and differential sensitivity to oxaliplatin in colorectal tumor cells. Such chemoprotective effect has not been evidenced for TGF beta 1-driven NCFs. IL1 beta induces the loss of a myofibroblastic phenotype in NCFs and acquisition of iCAF traits. In conclusion, IL1 beta-secreted by cancer cells modify surrounding normal fibroblasts to confer protumorogenic features on them, particularly tolerance to cytotoxic drugs. The use of IL1 beta-blocking agents might help to avoid the iCAF traits acquisition and consequently to counteract the protumorogenic actions these cells. Keyword

Polystyrene nanoplastics target lysosomes interfering with lipid metabolism through the PPAR system and affecting macrophage functionalization

Altres ajuts: acords transformatius de la UABNanoplastics (NPs) are currently a main concern for environmental, animal and human health due to their potential to accumulate in different environmental compartments and provoke effects in living organisms. Nevertheless, neither these effects nor the interaction of NPs with the cellular machinery are well characterized, and only scattered information is available. In the present work, we focused on the interaction between NPs and fish cells, both intestinal cells and macrophages, in order to understand which cell organelles are targeted by polystyrene (PS)-NPs and how this could impact cell function. PS-NPs can pass through phospholipid membranes, entering cells via endocytosis, phagocytosis or passive transport. Once internalized, we found that PS-NPs co-localize with lysosomes but not with mitochondria. Moreover, using two types of fluorescent probe (HDCFDA and DHE) we demonstrated that NPs did not trigger the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which was corroborated by the fact that neither the oxidative consumption ratio (OCR) nor the extracellular acidification rate (ECAR) in mitochondrial respiration were altered. RNASeq data revealed clear interference by PS-NPs with lipid metabolism, peroxisomes and PPAR signaling. The M1/M2 balance critically determines tissue homeostasis when exposed to exogenous agents such as microorganisms or pollutants. Thus, the expression of different genes (il1β, tnfα, il6, il10, il12, cox2, mmp9, ppar a, b and g) was further assessed to characterize the macrophage phenotype M1 or M2, induced by PS-NPs. Overall, in this study we demonstrate that PS-NPs co-localize within lysosomes, both in macrophages and in intestinal cells of rainbow trout, but do not trigger ROS production nor alter mitochondrial respiration. In macrophages, PS-NPs modulate polarization towards the M2-like phenotype

Inactivation of hepatitis A virus and human norovirus in clams subjected to heat treatment

Bivalve mollusk contamination by enteric viruses, especially human noroviruses (HuNoV) and hepatitis A virus (HAV), is a problem with health and economic implications. The aim of the study was the evaluation of the effect of heat treatment in clams (Tawera gayi) experimentally contaminated with HuNoV using a PMA-viability RTqPCR assay to minimize measurement of non-infectious viruses, and used HAV as a model to estimate infectivity loss. Spiked clams were immersed in water at 90°C to ensure that internal meat temperature was maintained above 90°C for at least 5 min. The treatment resulted in >3.89 ± 0.24 log10 TCID50/g reduction of infectious HAV, confirming inactivation. For HuNoV, RTqPCR assays showed log10 reductions of 2.96 ± 0.79 and 2.56 ± 0.56, for GI and GII, respectively, and the use of PMA resulted in an additional log10 reduction for GII, providing a better correlation with risk reduction. In the absence of a cell culture system which could be used to determine HuNoV infectivity reduction, a performance criteria based on PMA-RTqPCR log reduction could be used to evaluate food product safety. According to data from this study, heat treatments of clams which cause reductions >3.5 log10 for GII as measured by PMA-RTqPCR assay may be regarded as an acceptable inactivation treatment, and could be set as a performance criterion to test the effectiveness of other time-temperature inactivation processes