Attitudes toward immigrants: a cross-country perspective

This paper examines the foundations of attitudes towards immigrants by focusing on individual characteristics and country-specific effects. We use a micro-level data set from 31 countries. In particular, we utilize the module on National Identity of the 2003 International Social Survey Program (ISSP). Results indicate that gender, education, age, labor-market status, and political and religious affiliation are important indicators of the attitude toward immigrants. The largest effect appears to be that of education, with more education being positively correlated with a positive view of immigrants. Additionally, we find that country of residence matters.immigration, microeconomic behavior, comparative research.

Protected, rare and threatened plant species in France, assessment for the Pyrenean range

Dans le cadre de sa mission de connaissance, d’inventaire permanent et de suivi de la flore rare et menacée, le Conservatoire botanique pyrénéen s’est donné pour objectif de dresser un bilan précis sur les taxons présents ou signalés sur son territoire d’action, concernés par des textes internationaux, cités par le Livre Rouge de la flore menacée de France, ou protégés au niveau national ou régional. A partir de tableaux synthétiques et de cartes de répartition, nous présentons, pour le massif pyrénéen français, un premier état des lieux qui nous permet d’orienter nos travaux de terrain et de définir les urgences pour la conservation de ces taxons à statut. La liste de ces taxons est également donnée.The centre “Conservatoire botanique pyrénéen” is in charge of the permanent survey of the rare and endangered species over its area of duty, the Midi-Pyrénées area and the Pyrenean range. It gathers information about species concerned with the international, national or regional legislation and/or listed on the French Red list. The whole information collected is managed through a cartographic database. We present here the first results for the Pyrenean range. This work makes possible to define priorities of preservation and field investigations for these species. The list of 140 species concerned with the legislation and/or the Red list is given

Are learning styles useful? A new software to analyze correlations with grades and a case study in engineering

Knowing student learning styles represents an effective way to design the most suitable methodology for our students so that performance can improve with less effort for both students and teachers. However, a methodology is usually set in teaching guides according to the previous academic year's information without any knowledge of our current audience. In this work, a new software for learning styles and grade analysis based on the Honey-Alonso Learning Styles Questionnaire has been proposed. This tool proposes the average learning style profiles of a given course by clustering student learning styles and analyzes the possible relation between grades and learning style profiles. By using that program, three different courses from Computer Sciences Engineering degrees during an academic year have been analyzed. The obtained results in our specific context exhibit that possible relation. This information could be useful to understand how students approach learning materials

A to Z of the Muon anomalous magnetic moment in the MSSM with Pati-Salam at the GUT scale

We analyse the low energy predictions of the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) arising from a GUT scale Pati-Salam gauge group further constrained by an A4 × Z5 family symmetry, resulting in four soft scalar masses at the GUT scale: one left-handed soft mass m0 and three right-handed soft masses m1, m2, m3, one for each generation. We demonstrate that this model, which was initially developed to describe the neutrino sector, can explain collider and non-collider measurements such as the dark matter relic density, the Higgs boson mass and, in particular, the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon (g − 2)μ. Since about two decades, (g − 2)μ suffers a puzzling about 3σ excessoftheexperimentallymeasuredvalueoverthetheoreticalprediction,whichour model is able to fully resolve. As the consequence of this resolution, our model predicts specific regions of the parameter space with the specific properties including light smuons and neutralinos, which could also potentially explain di-lepton excesses observed by CMS and ATLAS

Bioconjugated Plasmonic Nanoparticles for Enhanced Skin Penetration

Plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs) are one of the most promising and studied inorganic nanomaterials for different biomedical applications. Plasmonic NPs have excellent biocompatibility, long-term stability against physical and chemical degradation, relevant optical properties, well-known synthesis methods and tuneable surface functionalities. Herein, we review recently reported bioconjugated plasmonic NPs using different chemical approaches and loading cargoes (such as drugs, genes, and proteins) for enhancement of transdermal delivery across biological tissues. The main aim is to understand the interaction of the complex skin structure with biomimetic plasmonic NPs. This knowledge is not only important in enhancing transdermal delivery of pharmaceutical formulations but also for controlling undesired skin penetration of industrial products, such as cosmetics, sunscreen formulations and any other mass-usage consumable that contains plasmonic NPs

Decreased Perifoveal Sensitivity Detected by Microperimetry in Patients Using Hydroxychloroquine and without Visual Field and Fundoscopic Anomalies

Purpose. To evaluate the usefulness of microperimetry in the early detection of the ocular anomalies associated with the use of hydroxychloroquine. Methods. Prospective comparative case series study comprising 14 healthy eyes of 7 patients (group A) and 14 eyes of 7 patients under treatment with hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of rheumatologic diseases and without fundoscopic or perimetric anomalies (group B). A comprehensive ophthalmological examination including microperimetry (MP) and spectraldomain optical coherence tomography was performed in both groups. Results. No significant differences were found in mean MP foveal sensitivity between groups (P = 0.18). However, mean MP overall sensitivity was significantly higher in group A (29.05 ± 0.57 dB versus group B, 26.05 ± 2.75 dB; P < 0.001). Significantly higher sensitivity values were obtained in group A in comparison to group B for the three eccentric loci evaluated (P < 0.001). Conclusion. Microperimetry seems to be a useful tool for the early detection of retinal damage in patients treated with hydroxychloroquine

Effect of preparation conditions on the polymorphism and transport properties of lanthanum molybdates

In this work, La6MoO12-based compounds were investigated as part of a new family of materials very competitive as hydrogen separation membranes [1,2]. La5.4MoO11.1 was synthesized by the freeze-drying precursor method and the calcination conditions were optimized in order to obtain single phases. Several cooling rates were applied and different polymorphs were obtained: a simple cubic fluorite symmetry (Fm-3m) for the sample cooled by quenching, and two different rhombohedral (R-3) space groups for the samples cooled at 50 ºC•min-1 and 0.5 ºC•min-1 (see Figure below). For the quenched sample, the Rietveld refinement was satisfactory in a Fm-3m space group. For the other two compositions no structural model was available and were indexed in a R-3 space group, however some small reflections were not given any intensity by the model used. Transmission electron microscopy confirmed the presence of superstructures for those samples. All ceramic materials were obtained with relative densities close to 100% after sintering at 1500 ºC. Stability studies demonstrated that all three polymorphs were stable in oxidizing and reducing conditions at 800 ºC for 48 hours. The three samples present a significant proton contribution to the conductivity at temperatures lower than 800 ºC. These results were confirmed by thermogravimetric analysis. The highest conductivity values were observed for the samples prepared by quenching. The three polymorphs display a small p-type electronic contribution to the overall conductivity in oxidizing conditions and n-type electronic one in very reducing conditions, much more significant for the samples cooled by quenching and at 50 ºC•min-1.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Watson-Crick hydrogen-bonded macrocycles self-assembled from Z-shaped dinucleoside monomers

The self-assembly of two lipophilic dinucleoside molecules that have a common structure, comprising a bent "Z-shaped"central block substituted at the edges with complementary G and C nucleobases, are studied in this work by a combination of 1D and 2D NMR experiments, as well as by absorption, fluorescence and circular dichroism measurements as a function of the temperature and the concentration. Watson-Crick pairing affords cyclic tetramer G:C H-bound species that are less stable than those formed by related linear dinucleosides and that, in principle, due to the unusual monomer geometry, can establish an equilibrium between different conformations with the shape of a square and a rhom

Diferencias interoculares medidas mediante microperimetría: comparativa entre sujetos normales y ambliopes

Objetivo: Analizar mediante microperimetría (MP) las diferencias interoculares que existen en sujetos normales, y comparar estos resultados con los de una muestra de sujetos ambliopes. Métodos: Se midieron mediante MP ambos ojos de una muestra de 237 sujetos normales. Las diferencias interoculares se obtuvieron mediante la resta de los valores de cada ojo para: sensibilidad media (Sm), índices P1 y P2, área de la elipse de fijación (BCEA95 y BCEA63), y diámetro horizontal y vertical de esta elipse (H y V). La diferencia interocular normal se estableció mediante el límite superior del IC del 95% de los individuos. Los resultados obtenidos, son comparados con los de 6 sujetos amblíopes, planteándonos dos hipótesis: el ojo dominante (OD) muestra mejores resultados que el ojo amblíope (OA) y esta diferencia es mayor a la encontrada en normales. Resultados: Las diferencias interoculares encontradas en normales fueron: 1.02 dB para Sm, 4.80% y 1.20% para P1 y P2, 3.30°² y 0.37°² para BCEA95 y BCEA63, 0.37° para H y 0.39° para V. En cuanto a los ambliopes, 5/6 sujetos mostraron mayor Sm en el OD, siendo esta diferencia mayor a la encontrada en normales. El análisis de fijación revela que las diferencias interoculares en ambliopes no difieren de las encontradas en normales. Conclusiones: La Sm se ve afectada en el caso de sujetos con ambliopía, encontrando una diferencia entre ojos mayor a la encontrada en normales. En el caso de la fijación, no se encontraron diferencias más allá de las encontradas en normales

Pirfenidone in patients with unclassifiable progressive fibrosing interstitial lung disease: design of a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled phase II trial

Introduction: Despite extensive multidisciplinary team (MDT) assessment, some patients have interstitial lung disease (ILD) that is considered unclassifiable (uILD), for which there are currently no approved treatments. This study will assess the efficacy and safety of the antifibrotic pirfenidone in treating uILD. Methods and analysis: This double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled phase II trial is enrolling adults with fibrosing ILD, including uILD that fulfils proposed research criteria for interstitial pneumonia with autoimmune features (IPAF), that cannot be classified with moderate or high confidence to any category of ILD following MDT discussion. Study participants must have >10% fibrosis on high-resolution CT scan within the previous 12 months, forced vital capacity (FVC) ≥45% and diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide ≥30% of predicted values. Study participants will be randomised to receive 801 mg pirfenidone or placebo three times daily for 24 weeks. The efficacy of pirfenidone vs placebo will be assessed by daily measurement of FVC using a handheld spirometer over the treatment period. Other functional parameters, patient-reported outcomes, samples for biomarker analysis and safety endpoints will be collected. Additionally, the study will assess the efficacy and safety of pirfenidone with and without concomitant mycophenolate mofetil treatment and in study participants with or without IPAF. Ethics and dissemination: This trial is being conducted in accordance with the International Conference on Harmonisation E6 guideline for Good Clinical Practice, Declaration of Helsinki and local laws for countries in which the research is conducted