Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire-Short Form: Brazilian Validation and Measurement Invariance between the United Kingdom and Latin-American Datasets

The present study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Brazilian adaptation of the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire-Short Form (TEIQue-SF). In a sample of 512 participants, we tested model fit by bifactor Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM), followed by measurement invariance testing against UK and Chilean datasets of the measure. The Big Five Mini-Markers, Satisfaction with Life Scale and Subjective Happiness Scale were also administered as external validation measures. We obtained the following results: (a) final adequate bifactor ESEM model fit; (b) a significantly higher global trait EI mean for men (d = .27); (c) high internal consistency for global trait EI (α = .88), in spite of lower Cronbach's α values at the factor level (.60-.85); (d) high correlation (r = .89) in the test-retest; (e) significant correlation between global trait EI and most of the Big Five dimensions (r = -.66-.46), life satisfaction (.59) and happiness (.68); (f) evidence of incremental validity of trait EI for life satisfaction and happiness over and above the Big Five; (g) equivalent measurement across the Brazilian, UK and Chilean versions of the TEIQue-SF. We conclude that the Brazilian TEIQue-SF is psychometrically sound and can be recommended for research and practical use

The effects of weather and climate change on dengue

There is much uncertainty about the future impact of climate change on vector-borne diseases. Such uncertainty reflects the difficulties in modelling the complex interactions between disease, climatic and socioeconomic determinants. We used a comprehensive panel dataset from Mexico covering 23 years of province-specific dengue reports across nine climatic regions to estimate the impact of weather on dengue, accounting for the effects of non-climatic factors

Service provision and barriers to care for homeless people with mental health problems across 14 European capital cities

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Identification of Nontuberculous Mycobacteria in Drinking Water in Cali, Colombia

Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are ubiquitous microorganisms naturally resistant to antibiotics and disinfectants that can colonize drinking water supply systems. Information regarding the spread of NTM in specifically South America and Colombia is limited. We aimed to identify and characterize NTM present in tap water samples from Cali, Colombia. Drinking water samples and faucet biofilm swabs were collected in 18 places, including the city’s three main water treatment plants (WTPs). Filter-trapped material and eluates (0.45 μm) from swab washes were plated in 7H11 agar plates. Suspected colonies were evaluated microscopically, and NTM species were identified based on the rpoB gene. Antibiotic susceptibility testing was also performed. Fifty percent (9/18) of sampling points were positive for NTM (including two WTPs), from which 16 different isolates were identified: Mycobacterium mucogenicum (8/16), M. phocaicum (3/16), M. chelonae (2/16), M. mageritense (2/16), and M. fortuitum (1/16), all rapidly growing mycobacteria. A susceptibility profile was obtained from 68.75% (11/16) of the isolates. M. chelonae was the most resistant species. All NTM isolated are potentially responsible for human diseases; our findings might provide a baseline for exploring NTM transmission dynamics and clinical characterization, as well as potential associations between NTM species found in drinking water and isolates from patients

Author Correction: Osmotic modulation of chromatin impacts on efficiency and kinetics of cell fate modulation

Correction to: Scientific Reports https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-25517-2, published online 08 May 2018

In-Line estimation of the standard colour index of citrus fruits using a computer vision system developed for a mobile platform

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11947-012-1015-2A key aspect for the consumer when it comes to deciding on a particular product is the colour. In order to make fruit available to consumers as early as possible, the collection of oranges and mandarins begins before they ripen fully and reach their typical orange colour. As a result, they are therefore subjected to certain degreening treatments, depending on their standard colour citrus index at harvest. Recently, a mobile platform that incorporates a computer vision system capable of pre-sorting the fruit while it is being harvested has been developed as an aid in the harvesting task. However, due to the restrictions of working in the field, the computer vision system developed for this machine is limited in its technology and processing capacity compared to conventional systems. This work shows the optimised algorithms for estimating the colour of citrus in-line that were developed for this mobile platform and its performance is evaluated against that of a spectrophotometer used as a reference in the analysis of colour in food. The results obtained prove that our analysis system predicts the colour index of citrus with a good reliability (R2 = 0.925) working in real time. Findings also show that it is effective for classifying harvested fruits in the field according to their colour. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media New York.This work was partially funded by the INIA through research project RTA2009-00118-C02-01 with the support of European FEDER funds, and by the project PAID-05-11-2745, Vicerectorat d'Investigacio, Universitat Politecnica de Valencia.Vidal, A.; Talens Oliag, P.; Prats-Montalbán, JM.; Cubero García, S.; Albert Gil, FE.; Blasco Ivars, J. (2013). In-Line estimation of the standard colour index of citrus fruits using a computer vision system developed for a mobile platform. Food and Bioprocess Technology. 6(12):3412-3419. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11947-012-1015-2S34123419612Arzate-Vázquez, I., Chanona-Pérez, J. J., Perea-Flores, M. J., Calderón-Domínguez, G., Moreno-Armendáriz, M. A., Calvo, H., Godoy-Calderón, S., Quevedo, R., & Gutiérrez-López, G. (2011). Image processing applied to classification of avocado variety Hass (Persea americana Mill.) during the ripening process. Food and Bioprocess Technology, 4(7), 1307–1313.Blasco, J., Aleixos, N., Cubero, S., Gómez-Sanchis, J., & Moltó, E. (2009). Automatic sorting of satsuma (Citrus unshiu) segments using computer vision and morphological features. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 66, 1–8.Campbell, B. L., Nelson, R. G., Ebel, C. E., Dozier, W. A., Adrian, J. L., & Hockema, B. R. (2004). Fruit quality characteristics that affect consumer preferences for satsuma mandarins. HortScience, 39(7), 1664–1669.Cavazza, A., Corradini, C., Rinaldi, M., Salvadeo, P., Borromei, C., & Massini, R. (2012). Evaluation of pasta thermal treatment by determination of carbohydrates, furosine, and color indices. Food and Bioprocess Technology. doi: 10.1007/s11947-012-0906-6 . In-press.Cubero, S., Aleixos, N., Moltó, E., Gómez-Sanchis, J., & Blasco, J. (2011). Advances in machine vision applications for automatic inspection and quality evaluation of fruits and vegetables. Food and Bioprocess Technology, 4(4), 487–504.Cubero, S., Moltó, E., Gutiérrez, A., Aleixos, N., García-Navarrete, O. L., Juste, F., & Blasco, J. (2010). Real-time inspection of fruit on a mobile harvesting platform in field conditions using computer vision. Progress in Agricultural Engineering Science, 6, 1–16.Díaz, R., Faus, G., Blasco, M., Blasco, J., & Moltó, E. (2000). The application of a fast algorithm for the classification of olives by machine vision. Food Research International, 33, 305–309.DOGV (2006) Diari Oficial de la Comunitat Valenciana, 5346, 30321-30328.Gardner, J. L. (2007). Comparison of calibration methods for tristimulus colorimeters. Journal of Research of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, 112, 129–138.Hashim, N., Janius, R. B., Baranyai, L., Rahman, R. A., Osman, A., & Zude, M. (2011). Kinetic model for colour changes in bananas during the appearance of chilling injury symptoms. Food and Bioprocess Technology, 5(8), 2952–2963.HunterLab (2008): Applications note, 8(9), http://www.hunterlab.com/appnotes/an08_96a.pdf . Accessed September 2012.Hutchings, J. B., Luo, R., & Ji, W. (2002). Calibrated colour imaging analysis of food. In D. MacDougall (Ed.), Colour in Food (pp. 352–366). Cambridge: Woodhead Publishing.Jiménez-Cuesta MJ, Cuquerella J & Martínez-Jávega JM (1981) Determination of a color index for citrus fruit degreening. In Proc. of the International Society of Citriculture, Vol. 2, 750-753Kang, S. P., East, A. R., & Trujillo, F. J. (2008). Colour vision system evaluation of bicolour fruit: A case study with ‘B74’ mango. Postharvest Biology and Technology, 49, 77–85.Lang, C., & Hübert, T. (2011). A colour ripeness indicator for apples. Food and Bioprocess Technology, 5(8), 3244–3249.López-Camelo, A. F., & Gómez, P. A. (2004). Comparison of color indexes for tomato ripening. Horticultura Brasileira, 22(3), 534–537. http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0102-05362004000300006 .López-García, F., Andreu-García, A., Blasco, J., Aleixos, N., & Valiente, J. M. (2010). Automatic detection of skin defects in citrus fruits using a multivariate image analysis approach. 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Study of USH1 Splicing Variants through Minigenes and Transcript Analysis from Nasal Epithelial Cells

Usher syndrome type I (USH1) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by congenital profound deafness, vestibular areflexia and prepubertal retinitis pigmentosa. The first purpose of this study was to determine the pathologic nature of eighteen USH1 putative splicing variants found in our series and their effect in the splicing process by minigene assays. These variants were selected according to bioinformatic analysis. The second aim was to analyze the USH1 transcripts, obtained from nasal epithelial cells samples of our patients, in order to corroborate the observed effect of mutations by minigenes in patient’s tissues. The last objective was to evaluate the nasal ciliary beat frequency in patients with USH1 and compare it with control subjects. In silico analysis were performed using four bioinformatic programs: NNSplice, Human Splicing Finder, NetGene2 and Spliceview. Afterward, minigenes based on the pSPL3 vector were used to investigate the implication of selected changes in the mRNA processing. To observe the effect of mutations in the patient’s tissues, RNA was extracted from nasal epithelial cells and RT-PCR analyses were performed. Four MYO7A (c.470G>A, c.1342_1343delAG, c.5856G>A and c.3652G>A), three CDH23 (c.2289+1G>A, c.6049G>A and c.8722+1delG) and one PCDH15 (c.3717+2dupTT) variants were observed to affect the splicing process by minigene assays and/or transcripts analysis obtained from nasal cells. Based on our results, minigenes are a good approach to determine the implication of identified variants in the mRNA processing, and the analysis of RNA obtained from nasal epithelial cells is an alternative method to discriminate neutral Usher variants from those with a pathogenic effect on the splicing process. In addition, we could observe that the nasal ciliated epithelium of USH1 patients shows a lower ciliary beat frequency than control subjects

Deep strong light-matter coupling in plasmonic nanoparticle crystals

In the regime of deep strong light–matter coupling, the coupling strength exceeds the transition energies of the material, fundamentally changing its properties; for example, the ground state of the system contains virtual photons and the internal electromagnetic field gets redistributed by photon self-interaction. So far, no electronic excitation of a material has shown such strong coupling to free-space photons. Here we show that three-dimensional crystals of plasmonic nanoparticles can realize deep strong coupling under ambient conditions, if the particles are ten times larger than the interparticle gaps. The experimental Rabi frequencies (1.9 to 3.3 electronvolts) of face-centred cubic crystals of gold nanoparticles with diameters between 25 and 60 nanometres exceed their plasmon energy by up to 180 per cent. We show that the continuum of photons and plasmons hybridizes into polaritons that violate the rotating-wave approximation. The coupling leads to a breakdown of the Purcell effect—the increase of radiative damping through light–matter coupling—and increases the radiative polariton lifetime. The results indicate that metallic and semiconducting nanoparticles can be used as building blocks for an entire class of materials with extreme light–matter interaction, which will find application in nonlinear optics, the search for cooperative effects and ground states, polariton chemistry and quantum technology

Cryopreservation Effect on Proliferative and Chondrogenic Potential of Human Chondrocytes Isolated from Superficial and Deep Cartilage

[Abstract] Objectives: To compare the proliferative and chondrogenic potential of fresh and frozen chondrocytes isolated from superficial and deep articular cartilage biopsies. Materials and Methodology: The study included 12 samples of fresh and frozen healthy human knee articular cartilage. Cell proliferation was tested at 3, 6 and 9 days. Studies of mRNA quantification, protein expression and immunofluorescence for proliferation and chondrogenic markers were performed. Results: Stimulation of fresh and frozen chondrocytes from both superficial and deep cartilage with fetal bovine serum produced an increase in the proliferative capacity compared to the non-stimulated control group. In the stimulated fresh cells group, the proliferative capacity of cells from the deep biopsy was greater than that from cells from the superficial biopsy (0.046 vs 0.028, respectively, p<0.05). There was also a significant difference between the proliferative capacity of superficial zone fresh (0.028) and frozen (0.051) chondrocytes (p<0.05). CCND1 mRNA and protein expression levels, and immunopositivity for Ki67 revealed a higher proliferative capacity for fresh articular chondrocytes from deep cartilage. Regarding the chondrogenic potential, stimulated fresh cells showed higher SOX9 and Col II expression in chondrocytes from deep than from superficial zone (p<0.05, T student test). Conclusions: The highest rate of cell proliferation and chondrogenic potential of fresh chondrocytes was found in cells obtained from deep cartilage biopsies, whereas there were no statistically significant differences in proliferative and chondrogenic capacity between biopsy origins with frozen chondrocytes. These results indicate that both origin and cryopreservation affect the proliferative and chondrogenic potential of chondrocytes.Servizo Galego de Saúde; PS07/84Instituto de Salud Carlos III; CIBER BBN CB06-01-0040Ministerio Ciencia e Innovacion; PLE2009-0144Ministerio Ciencia e Innovación; PI 08/202

Catalysing sustainable fuel and chemical synthesis

Concerns over the economics of proven fossil fuel reserves, in concert with government and public acceptance of the anthropogenic origin of rising CO2 emissions and associated climate change from such combustible carbon, are driving academic and commercial research into new sustainable routes to fuel and chemicals. The quest for such sustainable resources to meet the demands of a rapidly rising global population represents one of this century’s grand challenges. Here, we discuss catalytic solutions to the clean synthesis of biodiesel, the most readily implemented and low cost, alternative source of transportation fuels, and oxygenated organic molecules for the manufacture of fine and speciality chemicals to meet future societal demands