Smart technologies: useful tools to assess the exposure to solar ultraviolet radiation for general population and outdoor workers

Beside some documented benefits attributed to ultraviolet solar radiation (solar UVR), a lot of adverse effects are a consequence of a chronic exposure, including the occurrence of photo-induced skin cancer. Improvement in risks perception, due to UVR overexposure, in the case of occupational or recreational exposure, is of great importance for public health. The amount of exposure to UVR has to be assessed as accurately as possible, with the aim to characterize different exposure conditions and, by their appropriate management, to prevent adverse health effects attributed to prolonged exposure to solar radiation (SR). The available technology allows to acquire such information, either using miniaturized and wearable sensors, or through devices who exploit radiative transfer models by integrating satellite-based radiometric data with meteorological data. We proceeded to an intercomparison to evaluate the performance of different devices in three commonly exposure conditions. Applications using satellite data, developed for preventing sunburn during recreational exposure, are adeguate for that purpose, while for a more accurate exposure assessment, only those which evaluate the irradiance in near real-time provide acceptable results. Unlike earlier, the low-cost devices that use wearable sensors showed inadequate performance for our purpose

Consumer attitudes and preference exploration towards fresh-cut salads using best–worst scaling and latent class analysis

This research explored the preferences and buying habits of a sample of 620 consumers of fresh-cut, ready-to-eat salads. A best–worst scaling approach was used to measure the level of preference stated by individuals regarding 12 attributes for quality (intrinsic, extrinsic and credence) of fresh-cut salads. The experiment was carried out through direct interviews at several large-scale retail outlets in the Turin metropolitan area (north-west of Italy). Out of the total number of questioned consumers, 35% said they did not consume fresh-cut salads. On the contrary, the rest of the involved sample expressed the highest degree of preference towards the freshness/appearance attribute, followed by the expiration date and the brand. On the contrary, attributes such as price, organic certification and food safety did not emerge as discriminating factors in consumer choices. Additionally, five clusters of consumers were identified, whose preferences are related both to purchasing styles and socio-demographic variables. In conclusion, this research has highlighted the positive attitude of consumers towards quality products backed by a brand, providing ideas for companies to improve within this sector and implement strategies to answer the needs of a new segment of consumers, by determining market opportunities that aim to strengthen local brands

A Survey of Galaxy Redshifts from Low-Resolution Slitless Spectra: Suggestion of Large-Scale Structures at Z ~0.1

We have conducted a galaxy survey based on low-resolution slitless spectra taken from the automated CFHT-Laval survey. We present redshift distributions for 522 galaxies distributed in 4 distinct regions of the sky. Redshifts are determined from the shifted positions of the 4000 A. stellar break using an automated break-finding algorithm. The redshifts so obtained have a precision of < 3000 km s-1, good enough to trace the large-scale distribution of galaxies. The most striking feature of the survey is an apparent excess of galaxies at z ~ 0.1 in 8 of the 10 fields probed. Although the statistical significance of the peaks appears marginal (~ 2.5s per field) after taken in account the small-scale galaxy clustering, the peaks may nevertheless reveal the existence of large-scale structures at z ~ 0.1, indicating that the known large structures in the local universe are not unusual.Comment: 28 pages + 4 figures, uuencoded-compressed-Postscript, EFB0829

Marriage and housework

This article provides insights into the gains of forming a couple by estimating how much of the difference in housework between single and married individuals is causal and how much is due to selection. Time-varying observed variables and time-invariant heterogeneity explains about half of the observed differences in housework documented in the cross-sectional data. There remains a genuine one-and-a-half-hour increase per week in housework time for each partner, with women specializing in routine and men in non-routine housework tasks

The effect of breastfeeding on children's cognitive and noncognitive development

This paper uses propensity score matching methods to investigate the relationship between breastfeeding and children's cognitive and noncognitive development. We find that breastfeeding for four weeks is positively and statistically significantly associated with higher cognitive test scores, by around one tenth of a standard deviation. The association between breastfeeding and noncognitive development is weaker, and is restricted to children of less educated mothers. We conclude that interventions which increase breastfeeding rates would improve not only children's health, but also their cognitive skills, and possibly also their noncognitive development

Effective models and predictability of chaotic multiscale systems via machine learning

Understanding and modeling the dynamics of multiscale systems is a problem of considerable interest both for theory and applications. For unavoidable practical reasons, in multiscale systems, there is the need to eliminate from the description the fast and small-scale degrees of freedom and thus build effective models for only the slow and large-scale degrees of freedom. When there is a wide scale separation between the degrees of freedom, asymptotic techniques, such as the adiabatic approximation, can be used for devising such effective models, while away from this limit there exist no systematic techniques. Here, we scrutinize the use of machine learning, based on reservoir computing, to build data-driven effective models of multiscale chaotic systems. We show that, for a wide scale separation, machine learning generates effective models akin to those obtained using multiscale asymptotic techniques and, remarkably, remains effective in predictability also when the scale separation is reduced. We also show that predictability can be improved by hybridizing the reservoir with an imperfect model

Marriage and Housework

This paper provides insights into the welfare gains of forming a couple by estimating how much of the difference in housework time between single and married individuals is causal and how much is due to selection. Using longitudinal data from Australia, UK and US, we find that selection into marriage by individuals with a higher taste for home-produced goods can explain about half of the observed differences in housework documented in the cross-sectional data. There remains a genuine two-hour increase in housework time for each partner upon marriage, with women specializing in routine, and men specializing in non-routine housework tasks

Los determinantes de la satisfacción de los universitarios con la formación en ética profesional: evidencia a partir de una nueva muestra

El objetivo de este trabajo es el análisis de los determinantes del grado de satisfacción de los estudiantes con la formación ética que reciben en la Universidad. Con ello pretendemos detectar si existe una demanda de formación ética por parte de los universitarios que los actuales planes de estudios no cubren. Para alcanzar nuestro objetivo, realizamos una encuesta en la Universidad de Sevilla en marzo de 2007, en la que se recababa información sobre las características personales, académicas y laborales, el tipo de formación en Ética Profesional recibida hasta el momento, el grado de confianza y el grado de cooperación de los encuestados. A partir de los datos de la encuesta y utilizando un modelo probit ordenado, concluimos que existe un porcentaje muy significativo de estudiantes que se muestran insatisfechos con la formación ética que reciben, de donde se puede inferir que existe una demanda para dicha formación entre los universitarios. Además, los estudiantes de más edad que han trabajado o realizado prácticas y colaboran en actividades de voluntariado son los que se muestran más insatisfechos con la formación ética recibida, mientras que aquellos que han cursado una asignatura de ética y muestran una mayor confianza en sí mismos aparecen más satisfechos. El resto de las variables analizadas resultaron no significativas.This paper is focused on the determinants of student satisfaction with the education in ethics received in the university, in order to know if there is a demand for ethics that is not covered. To achieve our goal, we carried out a survey in the University of Seville on March, 2007. Such survey included information about the personal, professional and academic features, the kind of teaching in ethics received and the level of confidence and cooperation of the students. From these data and using an ordered probit, we conclude that there is a significant percentage of the students that are not satisfied with their education in ethics, which shows that there is a demand for such subject. Moreover, older students who have worked while studying and have cooperated as volunteers appear to be more unsatisfied while self-confident students and those who have attended a subject in ethics seem to be more satisfied. The rest of the variables are not significant

EVALUATION OF DIFFERENT SYNTHETIC AND NATURAL POLYMERS AS PROTECTIVE LAYER ON HIGHLY SOLUBLE AND HIGH DOSE DRUG METOPROLOL SUCCINATEFOR MANUFACTURING OF CONTROL RELEASE MULTI UNIT PELLETS TABLETS

Objective: Evaluation of different natural and synthetic polymers as protective layer (PL) in the manufacturing of control release (CR) multi-unit pellets (MUPS) tablets, highly soluble and high dose drug metoprolol succinate (MS) was selected as model drug. The function of PL is to protect CR functional coating layer of pellets from damage during compression of MUPS tablets. Methods: MS is highly soluble biopharmaceutics classification system(BCS) Class–I molecule, hence selected aqueous solution layering method for drug loading in fluid bed processor (FBP), optimized formulation was manufactured by using seal coating on microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) pellets followed by drug loading (DL) and CR coating, applied by using the solution layering method in FBP. Given coating on these functional coated pellets with different natural and synthetic polymers like hydroxypropyl cellulose (Klucel LF), polyethylene glycol 6000 (PEG 6000), hypromellose 5 cps (HPMC 5cps), guar gum (GG) and xanthan gum (XM). Evaluated these pellet's for physical characterization and chemical characterization.Results: Drug release profiles of CR MUPS tablets containing PL coating were compared to those CR pellets and f2 values observed was 81.83, 49.92, 89.35, 66.44, and 85.25 with Klucel LF, PEG 6000, HPMC 5 cps, GG and XM coated MUPS tablets respectively. The dissolution data indicated that, there was no significant change were observed with MUPS containing Klucel LF, HPMC 5 cps, GG and XG PLs whereas faster release profiles were observed with PEG 6000PL MUPS tablets.Conclusion: Based on these dissolution profiles it was concluded that by applying low viscous natural or synthetic binders like Klucel LF, HPMC 5 cps, GG and XG on functional coating pellets given good protection to functional coating pellets from damage during compression. It is a very effective and potent strategy for manufacturing of MUPS tablets. Whereas PEG 6000 polymer not able to give protection to functional coating pellets from damage during compression, it may be due to its very low viscosity of PEG 6000