Human capital and consumation over the live cycle: a synthesis

This paper presents a life cycle model that contains the Beckers (1975) and Heckmans (1976) models as special cases. Contrary to the previous literature, the model can explain the life cycle hypothesis and the maximum in the consumption profile without appealing to the rupture of typical neoclassical assumptions and for any value of intertemporary elasticity of substitution. An estimation of the consumption demand for Spanish case shows that current earning is a significant and robust variable explaining the consumption pattern.consumption profile, life cycle hypothesis, human capital

La pornografía en internet y la ritualización de las relaciones sexuales

No se puede negar el impacto que tiene sobre las conductas sexuales, así como sobre las relaciones de género, la "nueva pornografía" distribuida por internet. La familiaridad con prácticas de riesgo, la descontextualización de la sexualidad, la inmediatez, la simplificación de las relaciones interpersonales, así como la vinculación con nuevas modalidades de prostitución, convierten a la nueva pornografía en un fenómeno de especial relevancia para la comprensión de las relaciones interpersonales. Uno de los efectos que estudiamos es la creciente ritualización de las relaciones. Una parte de los nuevos rituales de relación se explica por la importante presencia de la nueva pornografía. Dicha presencia es especialmente relevante entre los hombres, a todas las edades, modificando las relaciones, las expectativas, los criterios para evaluarlas, las modalidades de las prácticas sexuales deseadas y otros aspectos de las relaciones interpersonales. La ritualización de las relaciones se basa en la simplificación de las relaciones, desde formas rituales rígidas, hasta formas rituales flexibles (con unas reglas de juego que permiten una amplia variedad de desarrollos).It can't be deny the impact of the "new pornography" distributed by internet on sexual behavior related whit gender relations, risk practices, decontextualization of sexuality, immediacy, simplification of the interpersonal relationships. All of this is related with new forms of prostitution and pornography and turns into a phenomenon of particular relevance for understanding interpersonal relationships. One effect we study is the increasing of the ritualization of relationships. Part of the new rituals of relationship is explained by the significant presence of the “new pornography”. This presence is particularly significant among men, at all ages, changing relationships, expectations, modalities of the sexual desire and other aspects of interpersonal relationships. The ritualization of relationships is based on simplification of relationships, from “rigid ritual forms” to “flexible ritual forms” (with some rules that allow a wide variety of developments)

New pornography and the modification of sexual relations among youth

No se puede negar el im¬pacto que tiene sobre las conductas sexuales, así como sobre las relaciones de género, la “nueva pornografía” distri¬buida por internet. Para intentar conocer este problema hemos realizado un estu¬dio con un enfoque, teórico y empírico bien fundamentado. En cuanto a la me¬todología, el estudio fue diseñado para obtener una muestra de actividades en la esfera privada, en relación al consu¬mo de pornografía en internet, diferen¬ciadas por género. Entre los resultados y conclusiones podemos destacar: 1) la pornografía en internet puede influir so¬bre las actitudes sexuales, valores mo-rales y actividad sexual de los juventud; 2) los varones son los grandes consu¬midores de pornografía en internet y los que presionan más en el cambio de las prácticas sexuales, y 3) el fácil acceso a la pornografía en internet forma parte de un entorno altamente sexualizado.The impact of internet-dis¬tributed “new pornography” on sexual behaviour and gender relations cannot be denied. To solve this problem, we have conducted a study based on a well-founded theoretical and empirical approach. The study was designed to obtain a sample of activities in the private sphere, in relation to the consumption of pornography on the internet, differentiat¬ed by gender. Results and conclusions: 1) pornography on the internet can influ¬ence sexual attitudes, moral values, and sexual activity of youth; 2) males are the greatest consumers of pornography on the internet and are the most likely to experience changes in sexual practices; and 3) easy access to pornography on the internet is part of a highly sexualized environment

Relaciones intergeneracionales en la escuela: el proyecto Compartir la Infancia

El trabajo que se presenta es la investigación generada por el programa Compartiendo Infancias o Sharing Childhood (SACHI) desarrollado en dos fases. La primera (SACHI 1, 2013-2015) en el marco de Lifelong Learning de la Comisión Europea (Grundtvig) y la segunda (SACHI 2, 2016-2018) en el marco de los «Proyectos de Asociaciones Estratégicas orientadas al campo de la Educación de Personas Adultas (KA2)» de la Comisión Europea (convenio 2016-1-ES01-KA204-024999).8 Coordinado por el Grupo de Investigación y Formación Educativa y Social (GIFES) de la Universidad de las Islas Baleares (España), ha contado en la primera fase con la colaboración de Foundation for the Development of the Education System HIPOKAMP (Łódź, Polonia) y Bayat Halk Egitim Merkezi Mudurlugu (Afyonkarahisar, Turquía). En la segunda fase, los socios son Association Educational Center for Intergenerational Integration Hipocamp (Łódź, Polonia), University of Strathclyde (Glasgow, Reino Unido), Universidade do Porto (Porto, Portugal). El objetivo principal del proyecto es fomentar las relaciones positivas entre niños y niñas (10-12) y personas mayores de 50 años. Los objetivos específicos son generar un beneficio recíproco, compartir conocimientos y habilidades, adquirir valores positivos y diseminar una metodología intergeneracional en centros educativos. En los resultados del proyecto se han podido constatar beneficios para todos los colectivos participantes. Principalmente se pueden destacar, junto al cambio de actitudes, la transformación de las relaciones (experiencias, lazos afectivos, creencias y valores), aumento de la autoestima y el autoconcepto y una mayor motivación hacia el aprendizaje de jóvenes y mayores, formación permanente de los profesionales, aumento de la participación familiar y comunitaria y aumento del trabajo en red y creación de nuevos contactos profesionales

Teaching architectural design through creative practices

[EN] This article provides investigation details of teaching architectural design as a fundamental part of the architectural discipline. This line of research delves into learning about the most creative action of the architectural production process, design, taking into account that creativity must be complemented by disciplinary training that combines both theoretical knowledge and practical skills. Considering these observations, this text provides information about the experience accomplished by four teachers from the School of Architecture of the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (ETSA-UPV) on the subject of Design Studio 1 for the first-year studies. The propaedeutic character of this subject shows additional difficulties given the complexity of introducing the students into the field of architectural design. The article begins with a description of the historical background of teaching architecture, contextualizing the object of study and also the different processes used as reference during the accomplishment of the teaching experience. The second section includes a description of basic methodology of the specific case of the first-year subject taught in the ETSA-UPV. It provides analysis of its evolution, detection of the problems and suggested variations of the learning method in order to improve the final results. The canonical teaching method is based on a linear process starting with the theory, followed by architectural analysis, finishing with project synthesis, which generates important doubts for the first-year students when implementing the theory in the project phase. Therefore, resuming the cycle of circular learning studied by David Kolb, several creative practices have been introduced into the subject, where the order of the stages depends on the particular characteristics of each individual and learning takes place by combining practices of perception and comprehension. Keeping in mind the main goal of the new teaching approach, the third part of the text includes a description of several activities. They are designed using a methodology capable to promote the transfer of knowledge between the analysis phase and the project phase. Creative practices are based on the learning by doing process, where reflection, conceptualization and experimentation are carried out with two basic tools: hand drawing and the three-dimensional model. With the practices and these two manual tools we seek a triple objective for students: to acquire a greater creative capacity, to develop spatial vision and to recognize how materiality affects the definition and perception of space. The methodology of the practices includes thinking with the hands, folding the space, inhabiting the space and building the space, and it is compared to the results obtained during the academic year 2017-2018. Finally, these results, together with the surveys completed by the students, lead to following conclusions: introducing creative activities in the first year of architectural design has shown a substantial improvement of the work carried out by students and has allowed settling the acquired theoretical knowledge. It helps to understand it not only as concepts that can be observed and analysed in reality, but also as tools of the creative process itself. On the one hand, the construction of models supports intuitive learning, allowing the students to directly recognize the consequences of their actions during the constructive process and its implications in the final result. On the other hand, the activities developed using hand drawing techniques confirm the value of the drawn plans as a tool to define the results and verify their correctness. Experiencing architecture with the hands implicitly involves a work of reflection through which the students are able to understand that space is the actual key element of the architectural project.Lizondo Sevilla, L.; Bosch Roig, L.; Ferrer Ribera, MC.; Alapont-Ramón, J. (2019). Teaching architectural design through creative practices. Journal of the Faculty of Architecture. 36(1):41-59. https://doi.org/10.4305/METU.JFA.2019.1.8S415936

Anisotropy measure from three diffusion-encoding gradient directions

Producción CientíficaWe propose a method that can provide information about the anisotropy and orientation of diffusion in the brain from only 3 orthogonal gradient directions without imposing additional assumptions. The method is based on the Diffusion Anisotropy (DiA) that measures the distance from a diffusion signal to its isotropic equivalent. The original formulation based on a Spherical Harmonics basis allows to go down to only 3 orthogonal directions in order to estimate the measure. In addition, an alternative simplification and a color-coding representation are also proposed. Acquisitions from a publicly available database are used to test the viability of the proposal. The DiA succeeded in providing anisotropy information from the white matter using only 3 diffusion-encoding directions. The price to pay for such reduced acquisition is an increment in the variability of the data and a subestimation of the metric on those tracts not aligned with the acquired directions. Nevertheless, the calculation of anisotropy information from DMRI is feasible using fewer than 6 gradient directions by using DiA. The method is totally compatible with existing acquisition protocols, and it may provide complementary information about orientation in fast diffusion acquisitions.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (grant RTI2018-094569-B-I00)Wellcome Trust Investigator Award (award 096646/Z/11/Z)Wellcome Trust Strategic Award (award 104943/Z/14/Z

Clustering of Dietary Patterns, Lifestyles, and Overweight among Spanish Children and Adolescents in the ANIBES Study

Weight gain has been associated with behaviors related to diet, sedentary lifestyle, and physical activity. We investigated dietary patterns and possible meaningful clustering of physical activity, sedentary behavior, and sleep time in Spanish children and adolescents and whether the identified clusters could be associated with overweight. Analysis was based on a subsample (n = 415) of the cross-sectional ANIBES study in Spain. We performed exploratory factor analysis and subsequent cluster analysis of dietary patterns, physical activity, sedentary behaviors, and sleep time. Logistic regression analysis was used to explore the association between the cluster solutions and overweight. Factor analysis identified four dietary patterns, one reflecting a profile closer to the traditional Mediterranean diet. Dietary patterns, physical activity behaviors, sedentary behaviors and sleep time on weekdays in Spanish children and adolescents clustered into two different groups. A low physical activity-poorer diet lifestyle pattern, which included a higher proportion of girls, and a high physical activity, low sedentary behavior, longer sleep duration, healthier diet lifestyle pattern. Although increased risk of being overweight was not significant, the Prevalence Ratios (PRs) for the low physical activity-poorer diet lifestyle pattern were >1 in children and in adolescents. The healthier lifestyle pattern included lower proportions of children and adolescents from low socioeconomic status backgrounds.The authors would like to thank Coca-Cola Iberia for its support and technical advice, particularly Rafael Urrialde and Isabel de Julián.The ANIBES study was financially supported by a grant from Coca-Cola Iberia through an agreement with the Spanish Nutrition Foundation (FEN)

Detection of Heteromers Formed by Cannabinoid CB 1

Functional interactions in signaling occur between dopamine D2 (D2R) and cannabinoid CB1 (CB1R) receptors, between CB1R and adenosine A2A (A2AR) receptors, and between D2R and A2AR. Furthermore, direct molecular interactions have been reported for the pairs CB1R-D2R, A2AR-D2R, and CB1R-A2AR. Here a combination of bimolecular fluorescence complementation and bioluminescence energy transfer techniques was used to identify the occurrence of D2R-CB1R-A2AR hetero-oligomers in living cells

Palm Oil on the Edge

Internationally recognized Spanish experts in the food industry, nutrition, toxicology, sustainability, and veterinary science met in Madrid on July 2018 to develop a consensus about palm oil (PO) as a food ingredient. Their aim was to provide a useful, evidence-based point of reference about PO. Scientific evidence about the role of PO in food safety, nutrition and sustainability was analyzed. Main conclusions were: (1) RSPO foundation responded to the environmental impact of palm crops. The Amsterdam Declaration pursues the use of 100% sustainable PO in Europe by 2020. Awareness about choosing sustainable products will help to maintain local economies and environments in the producing countries; (2) evidence shows that a moderate intake of PO within a healthy diet presents no risks for health. No evidence justifies any change fat intake recommendations; (3) food industry is interested in assuring safe, sustainable and high-quality products. The use of certified sustainable PO is increasing; and (4) there is no evidence associating PO consumption and higher cancer risk, incidence or mortality in humans. Tolerable daily intake (TDI) for toxic contaminants (2-and 3-monochloropropanediols (MCPDs), glycidyl esters (GEs)) have been established by JECFA and EFSA. Consequently, the European Commission has modified the Contaminants Regulation for GEs and it is still working on 3-MCPDs’

Acidification and solar drying of manure-based digestate to produce improved fertilizing products

The increase in energy and fertilizer consumption makes it necessary to develop sustainable alternatives for agriculture. Anaerobic digestion and digestates appeared to be suitable options. However, untreated digestates still have high water content and can increase greenhouse gas emissions during storage and land application. In this study, manure-derived digestate and solid fraction of digestate after separation were treated with a novel solar drying technology to reduce their water content, combined with acidification to reduce the gaseous emissions. The acidified digestate and acidified solid fraction of digestate recovered more nitrogen and ammonia nitrogen than their respective non-acidified products (1.5–1.3 times for TN; 14 times for TAN). Ammonia and methane emissions were reduced up to 94% and 72% respectively, compared to the non-acidified ones, while N2O increased more than 3 times. Dried digestate and dried acidified digestate can be labeled as NPK organic fertilizer regarding the European regulation, and the dried solid fraction and the improved dried acidified solid fraction can be labeled as N or P organic fertilizer. Moreover, plant tests showed that N concentrations in fresh lettuce leaves were within the EU limit with all products in all the cases. However, zinc concentration appeared to be a limitation in some of the products as their concentration exceeded the European legal limitsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio