Fringe Law and Economics

Google, Competition Policy and the Hegel's Owl. Competition Law in developing Countries: India, A Case Study. Economics of Failure in Movies after the Big Crisis.Google, Competition Policy and the Hegel's Owl. Competition Law in developing Countries: India, A Case Study. Economics of Failure in Movies after the Big Crisis.LUISS PhD Thesi

Sex Differences in the Effects of Cortisol on Muscle Characteristics: A Meta-Analysis

Background: Cortisol plays a central role in both muscle breakdown and growth. These effects are highly dependent on dose and interactions with other hormones. It is known that men and women show considerable differences in their muscle structure and physiology, which are largely driven by hormonal differences. Cortisol release patterns may also vary between the sexes, with current research showing considerable disagreement. The interplay between cortisol and muscle, two highly variable and sexually dimorphic factors, may prove to have different effects in males versus females. Objective: This meta-analysis integrates existing research on sex differences in cortisol-muscle physiology with existing research on cortisol’s effects on muscle (Figure 1). By connecting this triangle, I examine sexually dimorphic effects of cortisol on muscle. Methods: 10 papers were selected for data analysis after thorough screening for keywords, age, and necessary data. Data for baseline cortisol, stressor cortisol, muscle cross-sectional area (CSA), and fiber type proportion were extracted, and subjected to unpaired t-test or linear regression analysis. Results: Women showed a pattern of higher baseline cortisol, while men showed a pattern of a larger cortisol response to the physical stressor. Men showed no significant correlation between CSA and cortisol. There was a trend of increasing type I fibers and decreasing type II fibers correlated with cortisol levels in men. This meta-analysis highlighted potential relationships between cortisol and muscle characteristics, and revealed deficits in existing data on women in this area

Fringe Law and Economics

Google, Competition Policy and the Hegel's Owl. Competition Law in developing Countries: India, A Case Study. Economics of Failure in Movies after the Big Crisis

Tasa de registros fotográficos con cámaras trampa en caminos vs. fuera de ellos: la ubicación es importante

Tasa de registros fotográficos con cámaras trampa en caminos vs. fuera de ellos: la ubicación es importante. Presentamos los resultados de muestreos con cámaras trampa que realizamos en el Parque Nacional Iguazú, Misiones, Argentina, en 2008 para evaluar si ubicar las cámaras trampa en caminos o senderos o fuera de ellos afecta el ensamble de mamíferos muestreado. Siete pares de estaciones estuvieron activas durante 26.6 ± 8.9 días. Una estación de cada par estuvo ubicada en un camino de tierra angosto y no transitado; la otra a 50 m de distancia perpendicular del camino dentro del bosque. Usamos los registros de otro muestreo con cámaras trampa realizado en el parque nacional Iguazú en 2006-2007 para evaluar si las especies con una mayor proporción de fotos caminando sobre los senderos en lugar de cruzándolos transversal o tangencialmente (índice de uso de senderos) fueron relativamente más registradas en las estaciones ubicadas en senderos en 2008. Usamos el estimador Jackknife de primer orden para comparar la riqueza de especies en estaciones de senderos y fuera de ellos. Un ANOVA multivariado basado en disimilitudes (ADONIS) fue usado para comparar los ensambles de mamíferos registrados en caminos y fuera de ellos. Obtuvimos 228 registros independientes de 15 especies de mamíferos terrestres medianos-grandes. Las estaciones ubicadas en caminos tuvieron una mayor tasa de registros (1.06±0.57 vs. 0.24±0.13 registros/día) y una mayor riqueza que las estaciones fuera de ellos (15 vs. 10 especies observadas; 19.3, SE=2.8 vs. 14.3, SE=2.8 especies estimadas con el modelo Jackknife de 1er orden). Las especies difirieron en sus probabilidades relativas de ser registradas en caminos vs fuera de ellos, algo que puede predecirse a partir del índice de uso de senderos. El ADONIS indicó que el ensamble de mamíferos muestreado en caminos fue estadísticamente distinto al muestreado fuera de ellos, un resultado que puede ser explicado por la tendencia diferencial de las especies a usar los caminos.We present the results of a camera trap survey conducted in 2008 in the Atlantic Forest of Iguazú National Park, Argentina, testing whether placing camera traps on dirt roads/ trails or in off-road locations produce important biases in the recorded species. Seven pairs of camera trap stations were active for 26.6 ± 8.9 days; for each pair, one station was located on a narrow unpaved road and the other about 50 m from the road. We used the first order Jackknife estimator to compare species richness between on-road vs. off-road locations. We used records from another camera trap survey conducted at Iguazú National Park in 2006-2007 to assess whether species with a high Road-use Index (ratio of photographs of animals walking along roads to photographs of animals crossing the roads) had a higher ratio of records on roads / off road stations in the 2008 survey. Multivariate ANOVA based on dissimilarities (ADONIS) was used to compare mammal assemblages recorded at stations located on roads vs. off roads. We obtained 228 independent records of 15 species of medium-large sized terrestrial mammals. Stations located on roads had a higher recording rate (1.06, SD=0.57 vs. 0.24, SD=0.13 records per day) and recorded more species than off-road stations (15 vs. 10 recorded species; 19.3, SE=2.8 vs. 14.3, SE=2.8 species estimated with the 1st order Jackknife model). Species differ in their relative probabilities of being recorded on roads vs. off roads, something that can be predicted with the Road-use Index. The ADONIS indicated that the mammal assemblage surveyed on roads was statistically dissimilar to that surveyed off roads, a result that can be explained by the differential tendency of the species to use roads and trails.Fil: Di Bitetti, Mario Santiago. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Puerto Iguazú | Universidad Nacional de Misiones. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Puerto Iguazú; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Misiones. Facultad de Ciencias Forestales; ArgentinaFil: Paviolo, Agustin Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Puerto Iguazú | Universidad Nacional de Misiones. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Puerto Iguazú; Argentina. Asociación Civil Centro de Investigaciones del Bosque Atlántico; ArgentinaFil: de Angelo, Carlos Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Puerto Iguazú | Universidad Nacional de Misiones. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Puerto Iguazú; Argentin

Cómo estudiar poblaciones de mamíferos silvestres

Es sumamente difícil estudiar las poblaciones de mamíferos silvestres para conocer, entre otras cosas, sus hábitos, abundancia, densidad poblacional y área de distribución, en especial si se trata de especies solitarias, raras, mayormente nocturnas, esquivas y que viven en ambientes con baja visibilidad como los selváticos. Una técnica útil para hacerlo es la radio telemetría. Desde la década de 1980 ha sido complementada por el foto trampeo, técnica que posee ventajas sobre la primera para cierto tipo de estudios.Fil: Di Bitetti, Mario Santiago. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Universidad Nacional de Misiones. Instituto de Biología Subtropical; Argentin

Underlying process in the socialization of emotion

The focus in this research was on what and how children learn about emotion from input they receive in the moments when mothers respond to their emotional expressions. The database for the study consisted of video-recorded observations of 12 first-born children (6 boys, 6 girls) at 9, 13, 17, and 21 months, in a laboratory playroom with their mothers during free play with toys and a snack. The children’s affect expressions were coded continuously according to gradient properties of valence and intensity. Mothers responded to the majority (80%) of their children's positive and negative emotional expressions. Although children’s negative expressions were relatively infrequent, mothers responded more frequently to negative (88%) than to positive expressions (72%). The relative frequency of mothers' responses remained stable over time and across gender and language ability. However, as the children acquired language, mothers were more likely to use language themselves, and correspondingly less likely to express affect in response to their children's emotional expressions. As expected, they responded primarily to facilitate positive affect and discourage negative affect. The most frequent form of mothers’ response (66%) was action-related, as they acted and/or encouraged a child to act in a goal-directed way, and this form of responding did not change from 9 to 21 months. Mothers talked about their children's goals and/or the situations in which their emotions occurred, and about their own actions as they either acted themselves or encouraged their children to act in order to achieve their goals

Expression of Affect and the Emergence of Language

The relation between infant affect expression and the emergence of language was studied in 6 girls and 6 boys, from 9 months to 2 years of age. First words (FW) and vocabulary spurt (VS) were identified in the infants' transition from prespeech vocalizing to the emergence of language. Their expressions of affect were coded for the gradient properties of valence (positive, negative, neutral, mixed, equivocal) and intensity. Frequency of nonneutral affect expression at FW and VS was positively correlated with age at FW and VS (p < .02), meaning that the more frequently the children expressed emotion, the older the age of language achievements. Time spent in neutral affect at FW and VS was negatively correlated with age at FW and VS (p < .02); the more time spent in neutral affect, the younger the age of language achievements. In addition, the measures of affect at VS predicted the eventual transition to multiword speech, with more time spent in neutral affect expression at VS negatively correlated with earlier age in the use of sentences. We propose that neutral affect supports the early transition to language by allowing the reflective stance required for language learning, and has its antecedents in the quiet alert states which support the cognitive activity of early infancy

Selfish or altruistic? An analysis of alarm call function in wild capuchin monkeys, Cebus apella nigritus

Alarm calls facilitate some antipredatory benefits of group living but may endanger the caller by attracting the predator's attention. A number of hypotheses invoking kin selection and individual selection have been proposed to explain how such behaviour could evolve. This study tests eight hypotheses for alarm call evolution by examining the responses of tufted capuchin monkeys to models of felids, perched raptors and vipers. Specifically, this study examines: (1) differences between individuals in their propensity to call in response to different threat types, (2) whether there is an audience effect for alarm calling and (3) the response of conspecifics to alarms. Results indicate that the benefits likely to be afforded to the caller vary with stimulus type. Alarm calling in response to felids is most likely selfish, with calls apparently directed towards both the predator and potential conspecific mobbers. Alarm calling in response to vipers attracts additional mobbers as well, but also appears to be driven by kin selection in the case of males and parental care benefits in the case of females. Alarm responses to perched raptors are rare, but seem to be selfish, with callers benefiting by recruiting additional mobbers

Readability Levels of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology Online Patient Education Materials in English and Spanish

Clinicians have role in educating patients and their families about communication disorders. Therefore patient materials must have an appropriate level of readability. Studies are needed that investigate the readability of online patient education materials. This study investigated 30 online patient handouts in English and Spanish using several readability indices. The results indicated that few handouts met the recommended readability levels