Polarisation and Health

This paper examines the effect of income polarisation on individual health. We argue that polarisation captures much better the social tension and conflict that underlie some of the pathways linking income disparities and individual health, and which have been traditionally proxied by inequality. We test our premises with panel data for Spain. Results show that polarisation has a detrimental effect on health. We also find that the way the relevant population subgroups are defined is important: polarisation is only significant if measured between education-age groups for each region. Regional polarisation is not significant. Our results are obtained conditional on a comprehensive set of controls, including absolute and relative income.polarisation, health, fixed-effects ordered logit model, conflict, psychosocial stress, social capital

Electronic excitation of furfural as probed by high-resolution vacuum ultraviolet spectroscopy, electron energy loss spectroscopy, and ab initio calculations

The electronic spectroscopy of isolated furfural (2-furaldehyde) in the gas phase has been investigated using high-resolution photoabsorption spectroscopy in the 3.5-10.8 eV energy-range, with absolute cross section measurements derived. Electron energy loss spectra are also measured over a range of kinematical conditions. Those energy loss spectra are used to derive differential cross sections and in turn generalised oscillator strengths. These experiments are supported by ab initio calculations in order to assign the excited states of the neutral molecule. The good agreement between the theoretical results and the measurements allows us to provide the first quantitative assignment of the electronic state spectroscopy of furfural over an extended energy range. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC

Teaching students about chemical elements using daily-life contexts

Learning the names and symbols for chemical elements is a task that students often find dull, although it is of crucial importance for understanding chemistry. In this respect, the use of games or similar play activities could make the learning experience more enjoyable. This paper presents the results of a study in which two tasks involving play (TIPs) and based on daily-life contexts (football and the home) were used to teach the names and symbols of chemical elements. The experimental group comprised 38 year-10 students who studied this topic through a teaching unit built around the TIPs. A control group of 67 year-10 students followed a traditional teaching approach to the same topic. The effectiveness of the TIPs was assessed using three items, administered pre- and post-test, that explored students’ knowledge about metallic and non-metallic elements and their ability to identify them in their everyday environment. Following the TIP-based teaching unit, students in the experimental group gave a higher percentage of appropriate answers, with the Wilcoxon test indicating significant post-test differences for all three items. However, the Kolgomorov-Smirnov test indicated that the experimental and control groups only differed significantly at post-test in their ability to give the names and symbols of non-metals, with the experimental group performing better. Memorising the names and symbols of chemical elements is a complex task for students, and identifying their presence in everyday environments appears to be particularly difficult. However, the results suggest that the use of TIPs linked to daily-life contexts could help students with their learning of this topic.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech. Proyecto ‘I+D Excelencia’ EDU2013-41952-

Hif-1 alpha Knockdown Reduces Glycolytic Metabolism and Induces Cell Death of Human Synovial Fibroblasts Under Normoxic Conditions

Increased glycolysis and HIF-1 alpha activity are characteristics of cells under hypoxic or inflammatory conditions. Besides, in normal O-2 environments, elevated rates of glycolysis support critical cellular mechanisms such as cell survival. The purpose of this study was to analyze the contribution of HIF-1 alpha to the energy metabolism and survival of human synovial fibroblasts (SF) under normoxic conditions. HIF-1 alpha was silenced using lentiviral vectors or small-interfering RNA (siRNA) duplexes. Expression analysis by qRT-PCR and western blot of known HIF-1 alpha target genes in hypoxia demonstrated the presence of functional HIF-1 alpha in normoxic SF and confirmed the glycolytic enzyme glyceraldehyde3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) as a HIF-1 alpha target even in normoxia. HIF-1 alpha silencing induced apoptotic cell death in cultured SF and, similarly, treatment with glycolytic, but not with OXPHOS inhibitors, induced SF death. Finally, in vivo HIF-1 alpha targeting by siRNA showed a significant reduction in the viability of human SF engrafted into a murine air pouch. Our results demonstrate that SF are highly dependent on glycolytic metabolism and that HIF-1 alpha plays a regulatory role in glycolysis even under aerobic conditions. Local targeting of HIF-1 alpha provides a feasible strategy to reduce SF hyperplasia in chronic arthritic diseases

Notas sobre a consideración xurídica das eiras de mallar en Galicia

[RESUMO] No presente estudo analízanse de forma crítica os problemas interpretativos xurdidos en relación á natureza xurídica das eiras no ámbito rural galego, tomando como punto de referencia tanto os distintos argumentos sostidos polos tribunais en orde á súa consideración como comunidade de natureza xermánica ou romana, así como os escritos antropolóxicos dedicados á análise da configuración e o funcionamento destas[ABSTRACT]This study critically analyzes the interpretative problems in relation to the legal nature of “eiras” in the Galician rural area, taking as a point of reference the arguments supported by Galician and Spanish Courts in their decisions in order to its consideration as a Common property or Joint ownership of property, as well as the anthropological writings dedicated to the analysis of the configuration and operation of “eira

Galicia e os descubridores oceánicos a través de Amancio Landín

Este artigo pretende achegar ós lectores a figura de Amancio Landín. Un home apaixonado polos descubrimentos oceánicos, con especial interese na reivindicación de navegantes galegos. - Este artículo pretende acercar a los lectores la figura de Amancio Landín. Un Hombre apasionado por los descubrimientos oceánicos, con especial interés en la reivindicación de navegantes gallegos.This article tries to make Amancio Landín known to the readers. He was a man with a passion for oceanic discoveries, and with an especial interest in the vindication of Galician sailors.Este artigo pretende achegar ós lectores a figura de Amancio Landín. Un home apaixonado polos descubrimentos oceánicos, con especial interese na reivindicación de navegantes galegos. - Este artículo pretende acercar a los lectores la figura de Amancio Landín. Un Hombre apasionado por los descubrimientos oceánicos, con especial interés en la reivindicación de navegantes gallegos

Experimental and theoretical analysis for total electron scattering cross sections of benzene

Measurements of the total electron scattering cross sections (TCSs) from benzene, in the impact energy range of 1-1000 eV, are presented here by combining two different experimental systems. The first utilizes a magnetically confined electron transmission beam for the lower energies (1-300 eV), while the second utilizes a linear transmission beam apparatus for the higher energies (100-1000 eV). These cross sections have also been calculated by means of two different theoretical methods, the Schwinger Multichannel with Pseudo Potential (SMCPP) procedure, employing two different approaches to account for the polarization of the target for impact energies between 0.1 and 15 eV, and the Independent Atom Model with the Screening Corrected Additivity Rule including Interference effect (IAM-SCAR+I) paradigm to cover the 10-10 000 eV impact energy range. The present results are compared with available theoretical and experimental data, with the level of accord being good in some cases and less satisfactory in others, and some predicted resonances have been identified. In particular, we found a pi* shape resonance at 1.4 eV and another feature in the energy region 4.6-4.9 eV interpreted as a pi* resonance (B-2(2g) symmetry), which is a mixture of shape and a core excited resonance, as well as a Feshbach resonance at 5.87 eV associated with the 3s (a(1g)) Rydberg state. A Born-type formula to extrapolate TCS values for energies above 10 000 eV is also given. This study provides a complete set of TCS data, with uncertainty limits within 10%, ready to be used for modeling electron transport applications. Published under license by AIP Publishing

¿Trabajo social sin fundamento? : aportaciones del paradigma de la complejidad a la epistemología del trabajo social

El debate sobre la necesaria fundamentación teórica del Trabajo Social está hoy en plena vigencia. La necesidad de "demostrar" su cientificidad es un interés compartido con otras ciencias sociales, que en su caminar epistemológico, han "copiado" el modelo, teórico y práctico, de las ciencias naturales, deudoras del más clásico positivismo racionalista. Sin embargo este modelo "clásico" al que se aspira está puesto en cuestión por estas mismas Ciencias Naturales con la aparición de planteamientos (Teoría del Caos, Principio de incertidumbre...) que cuestionan la posibilidad de un conocimiento científico predictivo y exacto. Dentro de éstas, el Paradigma de la Complejidad, desarrollado por Edgar Morin, nos abre la posibilidad de mirar de otra forma las realidades sociales. Su desarrollo conceptual, teórico y metodológico, abre una nueva vía para "pensar" el Trabajo Social. Poniendo de manifiesto cuáles son los riesgos que conlleva trabajar desde principios basados en disyunciones y reducciones. Su Principio de auto-eco-organización, que pone en relación a individuos y entorno; su concepción del ser humano como Homo Sapiens y Homo Demens al tiempo, en una relación dialógica, en bucles, o su apuesta por la imbricación transdisciplinaria, conforman un paradigma conceptual que abre nuevas vías en el debate sobre los fundamentos del Trabajo Social. Una vía de acercamiento que no obvia, incorpora, el fin último del Trabajo Social, construir un nuevo mundo mejor, más justo y solidario, en el que se plasme la dignidad de las personas, incorporando la idea del método como estrategia de la acción, aceptando y apoyándose en la incertidumbre de las realidades sociales.In this papers, the authors want to explain the relations between Social Work and the Theory of the Complexity of Edgar Morin. For a long time, Social Work and related studies have been having a discussion about the necessity to prove their scientific character. This debate is common to other Social Sciences, and in both cases – both theoretically and practically- they have copied the model of Natural Sciences. The Theory of Complexity can offer another perspective regarding social reality. Its development, both Theoretical and practical, opens a new way to think about social intervention which warms us about the dangers of working and thinking about “reductions” denying Hawn and social complexit