The Automatic Conservative: Ideology-Based Attentional Asymmetries in the Processing of Valenced Information

Research has widely explored the differences between conservatives and liberals, and it has been also recently demonstrated that conservatives display different reactions toward valenced stimuli. However, previous studies have not yet fully illuminated the cognitive underpinnings of these differences. In the current work, we argued that political ideology is related to selective attention processes, so that negative stimuli are more likely to automatically grab the attention of conservatives as compared to liberals. In Experiment 1, we demonstrated that negative (vs. positive) information impaired the performance of conservatives, more than liberals, in an Emotional Stroop Task. This finding was confirmed in Experiment 2 and in Experiment 3 employing a Dot-Probe Task, demonstrating that threatening stimuli were more likely to attract the attention of conservatives. Overall, results support the conclusion that people embracing conservative views of the world display an automatic selective attention for negative stimuli

The effects of perceived competence and sociability on electoral outcomes

Previous research demonstrated that inferences of competence from the face are good predictors of electoral outcomes (Todorov et al., 2005). In the current work we examined the role of another key dimension in social perception, namely perceived sociability. Results showed that people considered both competence and sociability, as inferred from the face, as related to higher chances of winning the elections. A different pattern emerged in relation to the actual electoral outcomes. Indeed, perceived competence was related to higher chances of winning, whereas perceived sociability was negatively related to electoral success. It is thus shown that these two fundamental dimensions in social perception exert opposite effects on voting behaviors

Effects of Chronic Oral Probiotic Treatment in Paclitaxel-Induced Neuropathic Pain

Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) represents one of the most prevalent and potentially disabling side effects due to the use of anticancer drugs, one of the primary neuropathies detected is peripheral neuropathy induced by administration of taxanes, including paclitaxel. It has been demonstrated that gut microbiota is crucial for the therapeutic effect of chemotherapeutic drugs for inhibiting tumor growth and contributed to the pathogenesis of the CIPN. The use of nutraceuticals has receiving growing attention from the research community due to their phytochemical, biological, and pharmacological properties. It has been demonstrated that probiotic formulations may both reduce inflammation and modulate the expression of pain receptors. Our studies tested the efficacy of a probiotic formulation, SLAB51, in preventing paclitaxel-induced neuropathy. Interestingly, our probiotic formulation was able to keep the gut integrity, preserving its functionality, in CIPN-mice, moreover, it prevented the mechanical and cold hypersensitivity induced in paclitaxel-mice. Additionally, ex-vivo analysis showed that in CIPN-mice the pro-biotic treatment increased the expression of opioid and cannabinoid receptors in spinal cord, it prevented in the reduction in nerve fiber damage in the paws and modulated the serum proinflammatory cytokines concentration. On basis of these data, the use of this specific probiotic formulation may represent a valid adjuvant agent to paclitaxel, useful and not toxic for long-lasting therapies

Ileal Crohn's Disease Exhibits Similar Transmural Fibrosis Irrespective of Phenotype

Transmural inflammation and submucosal fibrosis are important hallmarks of Crohn’s disease (CD) (1). Intestinal fibrosis concerns extracellular matrix accumulation and mesenchymal cell expansion (2,3). In this process, inflammation is the main activator of mesenchymal cells and an essential factor to initiate fibrogenesis. Still, once fibrosis is established, it may be selfpropagating (3,4). In the setting of CD, patients with inflammatory lesions are considered medical therapy-responsive, while those with more fibrotic lesions will eventually need surgery (4). Hence, despite all the available therapies targeting inflammation, intestinal fibrosis remains difficult to treat and pre vent (3,4). Strictures are subdivided in fibrotic, inflammatory, and mixed forms (5). Pure fibrotic or inflammatory strictures are rare, with both components presenting overlapped histopathology (3,6–10). In CD, transmural intestinal inflammation can be assessed by cross-sectional imaging (2,11–16). On the other hand, fibrosis cannot be measured by this technique nor through biomarkers (16,17). Endoscopy or biopsy-based histology (2,11) is not feasible as tissue remodeling occurs mostly in deeper layers (18). Thus, the extent and severity of fibrosis must be evaluated by histopathological analysis of intestinal resection specimens, resorting to several histopathological scoring systems (19,20). The main objective of our work was to characterize and quantify inflammation and fibrosis, in ileal CD resection specimens, according to a CD transmural histopathological scoring system. We also aimed to correlate inflammation and fibrosis profiles with progressive disease.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

BlockGuitars: una herramienta para las transacciones de instrumentos musicales mediante blockchain

Blockchain y smart contracts son novedosas tecnologías que permiten registrar de forma eficaz y segura transacciones de elementos virtuales, como criptomonedas. Pero también se pueden aplicar a otros ámbitos. En este artículo se describe la construcción de un sistema de registro de instrumentos musicales aplicando estas nuevas tecnologías. El aporte, en primer lugar, es poner a disposición de los músicos una herramienta segura y distribuida que les ofrecerá una alternativa para enfrentar los frecuentes hurtos de estos elementos. Por otra parte, la descripción de la metodología seguida para el desarrollo del sistema, así como las decisiones de diseño adoptadas, la base tecnológica seleccionada y el análisis legal realizado, son recursos de utilidad para los desarrolladores que inicien la construcción de un sistema similar en otro dominio.Sociedad Argentina de Informática e Investigación Operativ

BlockGuitars: una herramienta para las transacciones de instrumentos musicales mediante blockchain

Blockchain y smart contracts son novedosas tecnologías que permiten registrar de forma eficaz y segura transacciones de elementos virtuales, como criptomonedas. Pero también se pueden aplicar a otros ámbitos. En este artículo se describe la construcción de un sistema de registro de instrumentos musicales aplicando estas nuevas tecnologías. El aporte, en primer lugar, es poner a disposición de los músicos una herramienta segura y distribuida que les ofrecerá una alternativa para enfrentar los frecuentes hurtos de estos elementos. Por otra parte, la descripción de la metodología seguida para el desarrollo del sistema, así como las decisiones de diseño adoptadas, la base tecnológica seleccionada y el análisis legal realizado, son recursos de utilidad para los desarrolladores que inicien la construcción de un sistema similar en otro dominio

Assessing the Personality Profile of Patients with Fibromyalgia Syndrome: A Rorschach Study

Background: The role that psychological factors and personality traits play in the pathogenesis of Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS) is currently controversial. Most of the studies on FMS used self-report measures, and to date only a doctoral dissertation was conducted to compare the Rorschach responses of patients with FMS to the normative sample. Aim and Method: By using the Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R-PAS), we compared the scores of 35 women with FMS with those of 35 women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). R-PAS is a performance-based task able to provide information on psychological processes occurring in the context outside and beyond the test. Furthermore, we chose RA patients as a contrast group because they both share the same medical picture in terms of pain experiences. Results: Compared to the RA group, the FMS group seemed to experience considerable implicit distress (YTVC’) associated with a sense of helplessness and despair (Y) that interferes with coping and adaptive mechanisms. Moreover, we found that these patients showed a cognitive processing focused mostly on the straightforward components of the environment (SI and Sy), but the interpretation of the environment was more unconventional (FQo%). Finally, we observed that almost half of the FMS group exhibited an excessive worry on the body (An). Conclusions: Our study has two implications for practicing psychologists. First, by using a performance-based test such as the R-PAS, we were able to provide a different clinical picture than self-reports (e.g., we did not find alexithymia features in the FMS protocols) and to identify the problematic features even at different levels of Complexity. Second, the increased levels of implicit stress found in the FMS group require psychological interventions focused on empowering these patients with self-management, active coping strategies when dealing with stressors and pain, so to defy their sense of helplessness

A Multi-Analytical Study of an Ancient Egyptian Limestone Stele for Knowledge and Conservation Purposes: Recovering Hieroglyphs and Figurative Details by Image Analysis

A multi-analytical study was carried out on an ancient Egyptian limestone stele with red figures and hieroglyphs (S. 6145) coming from the village of Deir el-Medina and belonging to the collection of the Museo Egizio (Turin, Italy). With the support of a multidisciplinary team, a project for the preservation and conservation of this stele provided an opportunity to carry out a very detailed study of the object. Petrographic and mineralogical analysis led to the characterization and dating of the limestone, and ultrasonic tests were of great help in shedding light on the state of preservation of the stele, as a preliminary to planning conservation treatment. The chemical nature of the red pigment was investigated by non-invasive spectroscopic analyses. Multispectral imaging and statistical image processing improved the readability of the hieroglyphs, whose preservation ranged from heavily compromised to almost completely invisible, revealing some signs that had previously not been visible

Exploring the population of Hα emitters in the Southern Photometric Local Universe Survey (S-PLUS)

En astronomía, el estudio de los objectos con líneas de emisión resulta ser de gran importancia porque ellos reflejan diferentes procesos físicos que dan cuenta de la fomación, la presencia de gas, choques, estallidos de formación estelar en galaxias, y la etapa final de las estrellas, entre otros procesos. En este contexto, hemos llevado a cabo una búsqueda de emisores de Ha compactos en los datos del relevamiento S-PLUS, el cual se encuentra mapeando el Hemisferio Sur Celeste en altas latitudes galácticas (|b| >30 deg). Para ello, utilizamos el diagrama color-color (r — J0660) versus (r — i) dado que, se cree, el exceso de emisión en el filtro J0660 que presentan algunos objetos se debe a la línea de emisión de Ha. Combinando los valores de color (r — i) y (g — z) con técnicas de aprendizaje automático no supervisado, hemos logrado distinguir entre fuentes de emisión con un continuo espectral más intenso en la región azul del espectro, y fuentes con un continuo más intenso en la región roja. Utilizamos los algoritmos de agrupamiento jerárquico y HDBSCAN y, mediante un enfoque de agrupamiento "suave", asignamos una probabilidad a cada emisor de pertenecer a la población azul o roja del espectro. La técnica descrita en esta contribución resulta eficiente para identificar nuevos objetos con líneas de emisión y clasificarlos, utilizando datos multibanda. Los objetos seleccionados incluyen nebulosas planetarias, regiones Η II, objetos estelares jóvenes, sistemas estelares simbióticos, variables cataclísmicas, galaxias Seyfert y cuásares.Emission lines are key tracers of a myriad of physical processes in Astrophysics, from planetary to supermassive extragalactic systems. We have carried out a search for Ha emitters in the ongoing S-PLUS survey, which is mapping the Southern hemisphere at high galactic latitudes (|b| >30 deg) in twelve photometric bands. Excess emission in such a line was evidenced by contrasting the magnitude from the narrow band filter J0660 and those of the broadband r and i filters through the colour-colour (r — J0660) versus (r — i) diagram. Furthermore, unsupervised machine learning (clustering) applied to the colours (r — i) and (g — z) allowed us to separate the Ha emitter candidates into two subgroups: one with bluer and another one with redder sources. By adopting a "soft" clustering approach, we assign probabilities for each source in our final sample to belong to either the blue or red population. The method, which utilizes multi-colour data, has proven to be an effective tool for detecting and classifying new Hα emitters, including planetary nebulae, Η II regions, young stellar objects, symbiotic star systems, cataclysmic variables, Seyfert galaxies, and quasars.Asociación Argentina de AstronomíaFacultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísica

Stevens-Johnson induced by imiquimod 5% cream: a case report

Imiquimod 5% cream is an approved treatment for actinic keratoses, superficial basal cell carcinomas and anogenital warts. Severe systemic side effects associated to imiquimod 5% cream are rare, although few cases of erythema multiforme and Stevens-Johnson syndrome have been described. We present a case of Stevens-Johnson syndrome associated to topical treatment with imiquimod of two superficial basal cell carcinomas