UN MODELO DE VALORACIÓN PARA EMPRESAS HOTELERAS

Tourism is an important economic activity that generates wealth in the world. Concretely, in the year 2011 its economic importance reached 9.1 % of the global GDP. One of the main components that explains the growth of tourism is the hotel sector, in which the organizational model of franchise has been generalized. The strong investments required by the hotel industry have fostered for companies to turn to stock markets in search of financing. In this article, an assessment model is proposed for the companies in the hotel sector that are listed in the stock market, taking into account economic financial variables and strategic or qualitative variables in the hotel industry, representing the geographical expansion of these companies in different regions of the world.El turismo es una actividad económica importante que genera riqueza en el mundo. En concreto en el año 2011 su importancia económica alcanzó 9.1% del PIB mundial. Uno de los principales componentes que explica el crecimiento del turismo, es el sector hotelero, en el cual se ha generalizado en los últimos años el modelo organizativo de franquicia. Las fuertes inversiones que requiere la industria hotelera han propiciado que las empresas acudan a los mercados bursátiles en busca de financiamiento. En este artículo se propone un modelo de valoración para las compañías del sector hotelero que cotizan en bolsa, teniendo en cuenta variables económico financieras y variables estratégicas o cualitativas de la industria hotelera, representando la expansión geográfica de estas empresas en distintas regiones del mundo

Efecto de los grados día de ayuno y del hacinamiento previos al sacrificio sobre el contenido estomacal y respuesta de estrés en trucha arcoíris (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

El ayuno pre-sacrificio es una práctica rutinaria en acuicultura que se lleva a cabo para vaciar el aparato digestivo disminuyendo la cantidad de heces y previniendo una contaminación de la canal (Robb, 2008). Sin embargo, el ayuno puede también incrementar los niveles de estrés de los peces y si estos son lo suficientemente altos afectan a la calidad de la canal (Poli et al., 2005)

Modeling Spanish anxiolytic consumption: Economic, demographic and behavioral influences

Anxiolytics (AX) are the psychotropic drugs prescribed for the treatment of anxiety and insomnia for 2–4 weeks, for longer periods of consumption (>1 month) may lead to the development of tolerance or addiction. In fact, its prescription was 16% of the total pharmaceutical expenditure in Spain in 2007. This paper deals with the development of a mathematical model describing the dynamic of the addiction to AX for the case study of the Spanish region of Castellón. The reasons believed to cause the development of addicts to AX are the economic situation, the marriage termination and the social contact. The simulations performed to forecast the addicts rate for the period 2010–2014 showed an increase from 6% in 2010 to 14% in 2014 with a fluctuation of about 2% between the possible economic scenarios. Finally, the analysis of sensitivity of the rate of addicts to the fluctuation of the social contact parameters was performed, letting us estimate its impact on the pharmaceutical expenditure.De La Poza, E.; Guadalajara Olmeda, MN.; Jódar Sánchez, LA.; Merello Giménez, P. (2013). Modeling Spanish anxiolytic consumption: Economic, demographic and behavioral influences. Mathematical and Computer Modelling. 57(7):1619-1624. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mcm.2011.10.020S1619162457

Modelling the propagation of adult male muscle dysmorphia in Spain: economic, emotional and social drivers

This is an author's accepted manuscript of an article published in: “Applied Economics"; Volume 47, Issue 12, 2015; copyright Taylor & Francis; available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2013.870657Males aged over 40 do more gym practice to improve their body image as a way of reinforcing their personal self-esteem and sexual appeal. Cases when self-image becomes an obsession may result in a body dysmorphic disorder named ‘muscle dysmorphia’ (MD). The combination of psychological, environmental and biological drivers determines the appearance and development of this disorder. In this article, we developed a discrete population mathematical model to forecast the rate of prevalence of males who are noncompetitive bodybuilders at risk of suffering MD in Spain in forthcoming years. Economic, emotional, sociological and psychological motivations were taken into account to quantify the dynamic behaviour of Spanish noncompetitive bodybuilders. The impact of the unemployment is reflected in the construction of two coefficients, αu and α21, which explain subpopulation transits due to the economy. Sociological influences, such as human herding and social propagation, were also considered. Our results predict an increase in Spanish noncompetitive bodybuilders suffering MD from 1% in 2011 to around 11% in 2015. Our model can be applied to any other western country where data are available and to another study period when the hypotheses are applicable.De La Poza, E.; Jódar Sánchez, LA.; Alkasadi, M. (2015). Modelling the propagation of adult male muscle dysmorphia in Spain: economic, emotional and social drivers. Applied Economics. 47(12):1159-1169. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2013.870657S115911694712Blashfield, R. K., Sprock, J., & Fuller, A. K. (1990). Suggested guidelines for including or excluding categories in the DSM-IV. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 31(1), 15-19. doi:10.1016/0010-440x(90)90049-xBoyda, D., & Shevlin, M. (2011). Childhood victimisation as a predictor of muscle dysmorphia in adult male bodybuilders. The Irish Journal of Psychology, 32(3-4), 105-115. doi:10.1080/03033910.2011.616289Brown, J., & Graham, D. (2008). Body Satisfaction in Gym-active Males: An Exploration of Sexuality, Gender, and Narcissism. Sex Roles, 59(1-2), 94-106. doi:10.1007/s11199-008-9416-4Brown, J. T. (2005). Anabolic Steroids: What Should the Emergency Physician Know? Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America, 23(3), 815-826. doi:10.1016/j.emc.2005.03.012Chaney, M. P. (2008). Muscle Dysmorphia, Self-esteem, and Loneliness among Gay and Bisexual Men. International Journal of Men’s Health, 7(2), 157-170. doi:10.3149/jmh.0702.157Choi, P. Y. L. (2002). Muscle dysmorphia: a new syndrome in weightlifters * Commentary. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 36(5), 375-376. doi:10.1136/bjsm.36.5.375Christakis, N. A., & Fowler, J. H. (2007). The Spread of Obesity in a Large Social Network over 32 Years. New England Journal of Medicine, 357(4), 370-379. doi:10.1056/nejmsa066082Cohane, G. H., & Pope, H. G. (2001). Body image in boys: A review of the literature. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 29(4), 373-379. doi:10.1002/eat.1033Duato, R., & Jódar, L. (2013). Mathematical modeling of the spread of divorce in Spain. Mathematical and Computer Modelling, 57(7-8), 1732-1737. doi:10.1016/j.mcm.2011.11.020Eide, E. R., & Ronan, N. (2001). Is participation in high school athletics an investment or a consumption good? Economics of Education Review, 20(5), 431-442. doi:10.1016/s0272-7757(00)00033-9Farrell, L., & Shields, M. A. (2002). Investigating the economic and demographic determinants of sporting participation in England. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series A (Statistics in Society), 165(2), 335-348. doi:10.1111/1467-985x.00626French, S. A., Story, M., Downes, B., Resnick, M. D., & Blum, R. W. (1995). Frequent dieting among adolescents: psychosocial and health behavior correlates. American Journal of Public Health, 85(5), 695-701. doi:10.2105/ajph.85.5.695García, I., Jódar, L., Merello, P., & Santonja, F.-J. (2011). A discrete mathematical model for addictive buying: Predicting the affected population evolution. Mathematical and Computer Modelling, 54(7-8), 1634-1637. doi:10.1016/j.mcm.2010.12.012González-Martí, I., Bustos, J. G. F., Jordán, O. R. C., & Mayville, S. B. (2012). Validation of a Spanish version of the Muscle Appearance Satisfaction Scale: Escala de Satisfacción Muscular. Body Image, 9(4), 517-523. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2012.05.002Greenberg, J. L., Markowitz, S., Petronko, M. R., Taylor, C. E., Wilhelm, S., & Wilson, G. T. (2010). Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Adolescent Body Dysmorphic Disorder. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 17(3), 248-258. doi:10.1016/j.cbpra.2010.02.002Hildebrandt, T., Schlundt, D., Langenbucher, J., & Chung, T. (2006). Presence of muscle dysmorphia symptomology among male weightlifters. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 47(2), 127-135. doi:10.1016/j.comppsych.2005.06.001Hitzeroth, V., Wessels, C., Zungu-Dirwayi, N., Oosthuizen, P., & Stein, D. J. (2001). Muscle dysmorphia: A South African sample. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 55(5), 521-523. doi:10.1046/j.1440-1819.2001.00899.xHONEKOPP, J., RUDOLPH, U., BEIER, L., LIEBERT, A., & MULLER, C. (2007). Physical attractiveness of face and body as indicators of physical fitness in men. Evolution and Human Behavior, 28(2), 106-111. doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2006.09.001Humphreys, B. R., & Ruseski, J. E. (2011). An Economic Analysis of Participation and Time Spent in Physical Activity. The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, 11(1). doi:10.2202/1935-1682.2522Kanayama, G. (2006). Body Image and Attitudes Toward Male Roles in Anabolic-Androgenic Steroid Users. American Journal of Psychiatry, 163(4), 697. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.163.4.697Keery, H., van den Berg, P., & Thompson, J. K. (2004). An evaluation of the Tripartite Influence Model of body dissatisfaction and eating disturbance with adolescent girls. Body Image, 1(3), 237-251. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2004.03.001Mosley, P. E. (2009). Bigorexia: bodybuilding and muscle dysmorphia. European Eating Disorders Review, 17(3), 191-198. doi:10.1002/erv.897Murray, S. B., Rieger, E., Touyz, S. W., & De la Garza García Lic, Y. (2010). Muscle dysmorphia and the DSM-V conundrum: Where does it belong? A review paper. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 43(6), 483-491. doi:10.1002/eat.20828Nieuwoudt, J. E., Zhou, S., Coutts, R. A., & Booker, R. (2012). Muscle dysmorphia: Current research and potential classification as a disorder. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 13(5), 569-577. doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2012.03.006Olivardia, R. (2001). Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Who’s the Largest of Them All? The Features and Phenomenology of Muscle Dysmorphia. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 9(5), 254-259. doi:10.1080/hrp.9.5.254.259Olivardia, R., Pope, H. G., & Hudson, J. I. (2000). Muscle Dysmorphia in Male Weightlifters: A Case-Control Study. American Journal of Psychiatry, 157(8), 1291-1296. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.157.8.1291Phillips, K. A. (2009)Understanding Body Dysmorphic Disorder an Essential Guide, 49, Oxford University Press, New York, NY.Phillips, K. A., Wilhelm, S., Koran, L. M., Didie, E. R., Fallon, B. A., Feusner, J., & Stein, D. J. (2010). Body dysmorphic disorder: some key issues for DSM-V. Depression and Anxiety, 27(6), 573-591. doi:10.1002/da.20709Pompper, D. (2010). Masculinities, the Metrosexual, and Media Images: Across Dimensions of Age and Ethnicity. Sex Roles, 63(9-10), 682-696. doi:10.1007/s11199-010-9870-7Pope, H. G., Gruber, A. J., Choi, P., Olivardia, R., & Phillips, K. A. (1997). Muscle Dysmorphia: An Underrecognized Form of Body Dysmorphic Disorder. Psychosomatics, 38(6), 548-557. doi:10.1016/s0033-3182(97)71400-2Pope, H. G., Gruber, A. J., Mangweth, B., Bureau, B., deCol, C., Jouvent, R., & Hudson, J. I. (2000). Body Image Perception Among Men in Three Countries. American Journal of Psychiatry, 157(8), 1297-1301. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.157.8.1297Kanayama, G., Brower, K. J., Wood, R. I., Hudson, J. I., & Pope, H. G. (2009). Issues for DSM-V: Clarifying the Diagnostic Criteria for Anabolic-Androgenic Steroid Dependence. American Journal of Psychiatry, 166(6), 642-645. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.2009.08111699Pope, H. G., Katz, D. L., & Hudson, J. I. (1993). Anorexia nervosa and «reverse anorexia» among 108 male bodybuilders. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 34(6), 406-409. doi:10.1016/0010-440x(93)90066-dPopkin, B. M. (2003). The Nutrition Transition in the Developing World. Development Policy Review, 21(5-6), 581-597. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8659.2003.00225.xRaafat, R. M., Chater, N., & Frith, C. (2009). Herding in humans. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 13(10), 420-428. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2009.08.002RICCIARDELLI, L. A., & McCABE, M. P. (2003). Sociocultural and individual influences on muscle gain and weight loss strategies among adolescent boys and girls. Psychology in the Schools, 40(2), 209-224. doi:10.1002/pits.10075Silver, M. D. (2001). Use of Ergogenic Aids by Athletes. Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, 9(1), 61-70. doi:10.5435/00124635-200101000-00007Smolak, L., Levine, M. P., & Schermer, F. (1999). Parental input and weight concerns among elementary school children. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 25(3), 263-271. doi:10.1002/(sici)1098-108x(199904)25:33.0.co;2-vVarangis, E., Lanzieri, N., Hildebrandt, T., & Feldman, M. (2012). Gay male attraction toward muscular men: Does mating context matter? Body Image, 9(2), 270-278. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2012.01.003Catherine Walker, D., Anderson, D. A., & Hildebrandt, T. (2009). Body checking behaviors in men. Body Image, 6(3), 164-170. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2009.05.001Wolke, D., & Sapouna, M. (2008). Big men feeling small: Childhood bullying experience, muscle dysmorphia and other mental health problems in bodybuilders. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 9(5), 595-604. doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2007.10.00

Relación entre la grasa corporal y la expresión de ira en personas que realizan ejercicio regularmente

La actividad física proporciona benecios, tanto a la población sana como enferma, pero también puede derivar en problemas psicológicos y emocionales como respuesta al estrés. Además, aquellos atletas con menor peso corporal presentan indicadores más elevados de depresión e ira. Se plantea determinar la relación de la grasa corporal sobre la expresión de ira y entender la relación entre distintos comportamientos psicológicos, en personas físicamente activas. 264 sujetos cumplimentaron el Inventario de Expresión de Ira Estado-Rasgo, versión 2, para el estudio sobre las características de la ira y sus efectos en la salud mental y física. Se tomaron medidas antropométricas (peso, talla, IMC, porcentaje de grasa corporal, masa libre de grasa). Se calcularon distintos percentiles en función del género y edad, clasicando a los participantes en tres grupos: percentil <45, entre 45 y 55 y >55 de grasa corporal. Se analizaron distintos comportamientos en relación al STAXI-2 y a los distintos percentiles, pero sin encontrar diferencias significativas entre la ira y los tres grupos.

Exploring the impact of cumulative testing on academic performance of undergraduate students in Spain

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11092-014-9208-zFrequent testing provides opportunities for students to receive regular feedback and to increase their motivation. It also provides the instructor with valuable information on how course progresses, thus making it possible to solve the problems encountered before it is too late. Frequent tests with noncumulative contents have been widely analysed in the literature with inconclusive results. However, cumulative testing methods have hardly been reported in higher education courses. This paper analyses the effect of applying an assessment method based on frequent and cumulative tests on student performance. Our results show that, when applied to a microeconomics course, students who were assessed by a frequent, cumulative testing approach largely outperformed those assessed with a single final exam.Doménech I De Soria, J.; Blázquez Soriano, MD.; De La Poza, E.; Muñoz Miquel, A. (2015). Exploring the impact of cumulative testing on academic performance of undergraduate students in Spain. Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability. 27(2):153-169. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11092-014-9208-zS153169272Adelman, HS, & Taylor, L. (1990). Intrinsic motivation and school misbehaviour some intervention implications. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 23, 541–550.Biggs, J, & Tang, C. (2007). Teaching for quality learning at university 3rd edn. Open University Press.Boston, C. (2002). The concept of formative assessment. Practical Assessment Research & Evaluation 8.Brown, GA, Bull, J, Pendlebury, M. (1997). Assessing Student Learning in Higher Education, 1st edn. Routledge.Cano, MD. (2011). Students’ involvement in continuous assessment methodologies: a case study for a distributed information systems course. IEEE Transactions on Education, 54, 442–451.Casem, ML (2006). Active learning is not enough. Journal of College Science Teaching, 35.Chen, J, & Lin, TF. (2008). Class attendance and exam performance a randomized experiment. The Journal of Economic Education, 39, 213–227.Chickering, AW, & Gamson, ZF. (1987). Seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education. American Association for Higher Education Bulletin, 39, 3–7.Crooks, TJ. (1988). The impact of classroom evaluation practices on students. Review of Educational Research, 58, 438–481.De Paola, M, & Scoppa, V. (2011). Frequency of examinations and student achievement in a randomized experiment. Economics of Education Review, 30, 1416–1429.Deck, W. (1998). The effects of frequency of testing on college students in a principles of marketing course, PhD thesis, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Virginia: Blacksburg.Dempster, FN. (1991). Synthesis of research on reviews and tests. Educational Leadership, 48, 71–76.Dochy, F. (2008). The Edumetric Quality of New Modes of Assessment: Some Issues and Prospects. Assessment, Learning and Judgement in Higher Education. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands.Eikner, AE, & Montondon, L. (2001). Evidence on factors associated with success in intermediate accounting I. Accounting Educators’ Journal 13.Emerson, TLN, & Mencken, KD. (2011). Homework to require or not? online graded homework and student achievement Perspectives on Economic Education Research 7.Fulkerson, F, & Martin, G. (1981). Effects of exam frequency on student performance, evaluations of instructor, and test anxiety. Teaching of Psychology, 8, 90–93.Furnham, A, & Chamorro-Premuzic, T. (2005). Individual differences and beliefs concerning preference for university assessment methods. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 35, 1968–1994.Gibbs, G, & Simpson, C. (2005). Conditions under which assessment supports students’ learning Learning and Teaching in Higher Education 1 (August 5, 2011)3–31.Haberyan, KA. (2003). Do weekly quizzes improve student performance on general biology exams?. The American Biology Teacher, 65, 110–114.Kling, N, McCorkle, D, Miller, C, Reardon, J. (2005). The impact of testing frequency on student performance in a marketing course. Journal of Education for Business, 81, 67–72.Kuh, GD (2003). What we’re learning about student engagement from NSSE Change 35.Kuo, T, & Simon, A. (2009). How many tests do we really need. College Teaching, 57, 156–160.Leeming, FC. (2002). The exam-a-day procedure improves performance in psychology classes. Teaching of Psychology, 29, 210–212.Lumsden, KG, Scott, A, Becker, WE. (1987). The economics student reexamined Male-female differences in comprehension. Journal of Economic Education, 18, 365–375.Marriott, P. (2009). Students’ evaluation of the use of online summative assessment on an undergraduate financial accounting module. British Journal of Educational Technology, 40, 237–254.Marriott, P, & Lau, A. (2008). The use of on-line summative assessment in an undergraduate financial accounting course. Journal of Accounting Education, 26, 73–90.McNabb, R, Pal, S, Sloane, P. (2002). Gender differences in educational attainment. the case of university students in england and wales. Economica, 69, 481–503.Miller, F. (1987). Test frequency, student performance and teacher evaluation in the basic marketing class. Journal of Marketing Education, 9, 14–19.Nicol, DJ, & Macfarlane Dick, D. (2006). Formative assessment and self-regulated learning, A model and seven principles of good feedback practice. Studies in Higher Education, 31, 199–218.Nowell, C, & Alston, RM. (2007). I thought I got an A! Overconfidence across the economics curriculum. The Journal of Economic Education, 38, 131–142.Race, P (1995). The art of assessing 1 New Academic 4.Scriven, M. (1967). The Methodology of Evaluation, vol 1 (pp. 39–83). Chicago: Rand McNally.Skinner, BF. (1974). About behaviorism. New York: Alfred A Knopf.Taras, M. (2005). Assessment - summative and formative - some theoretical reflections. British Journal of Educational Studies, 53, 466–478.Trotter, E. (2006). Student perceptions of continuous summative assessment. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 31, 505–521.Yorke, M. (2003). Formative assessment in higher education: Moves towards theory and the enhancement of pedagogic practice. Higher Education, 45, 477–501

Overview of recent TJ-II stellarator results

The main results obtained in the TJ-II stellarator in the last two years are reported. The most important topics investigated have been modelling and validation of impurity transport, validation of gyrokinetic simulations, turbulence characterisation, effect of magnetic configuration on transport, fuelling with pellet injection, fast particles and liquid metal plasma facing components. As regards impurity transport research, a number of working lines exploring several recently discovered effects have been developed: the effect of tangential drifts on stellarator neoclassical transport, the impurity flux driven by electric fields tangent to magnetic surfaces and attempts of experimental validation with Doppler reflectometry of the variation of the radial electric field on the flux surface. Concerning gyrokinetic simulations, two validation activities have been performed, the comparison with measurements of zonal flow relaxation in pellet-induced fast transients and the comparison with experimental poloidal variation of fluctuations amplitude. The impact of radial electric fields on turbulence spreading in the edge and scrape-off layer has been also experimentally characterized using a 2D Langmuir probe array. Another remarkable piece of work has been the investigation of the radial propagation of small temperature perturbations using transfer entropy. Research on the physics and modelling of plasma core fuelling with pellet and tracer-encapsulated solid-pellet injection has produced also relevant results. Neutral beam injection driven Alfvénic activity and its possible control by electron cyclotron current drive has been examined as well in TJ-II. Finally, recent results on alternative plasma facing components based on liquid metals are also presentedThis work has been carried out within the framework of the EUROfusion Consortium and has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014–2018 under Grant Agreement No. 633053. It has been partially funded by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Inovación y Universidades of Spain under projects ENE2013-48109-P, ENE2015-70142-P and FIS2017-88892-P. It has also received funds from the Spanish Government via mobility grant PRX17/00425. The authors thankfully acknowledge the computer resources at MareNostrum and the technical support provided by the Barcelona S.C. It has been supported as well by The Science and Technology Center in Ukraine (STCU), Project P-507F

The relationships between workaholism and symptoms of psychiatric disorders: a large-scale cross-sectional study

Despite the many number of studies examining workaholism, large-scale studies have been lacking. The present study utilized an open web-based cross-sectional survey assessing symptoms of psychiatric disorders and workaholism among 16,426 workers (Mage = 37.3 years, SD = 11.4, range = 16–75 years). Participants were administered the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale, the Obsession-Compulsive Inventory-Revised, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and the Bergen Work Addiction Scale, along with additional questions examining demographic and work-related variables. Correlations between workaholism and all psychiatric disorder symptoms were positive and significant. Workaholism comprised the dependent variable in a three-step linear multiple hierarchical regression analysis. Basic demographics (age, gender, relationship status, and education) explained 1.2% of the variance in workaholism, whereas work demographics (work status, position, sector, and annual income) explained an additional 5.4% of the variance. Age (inversely) and managerial positions (positively) were of most importance. The psychiatric symptoms (ADHD, OCD, anxiety, and depression) explained 17.0% of the variance. ADHD and anxiety contributed considerably. The prevalence rate of workaholism status was 7.8% of the present sample. In an adjusted logistic regression analysis, all psychiatric symptoms were positively associated with being a workaholic. The independent variables explained between 6.1% and 14.4% in total of the variance in workaholism cases. Although most effect sizes were relatively small, the study’s findings expand our understanding of possible psychiatric predictors of workaholism, and particularly shed new insight into the reality of adult ADHD in work life. The study’s implications, strengths, and shortcomings are also discussed

Anti-tumour necrosis factor discontinuation in inflammatory bowel disease patients in remission: study protocol of a prospective, multicentre, randomized clinical trial

Background: Patients with inflammatory bowel disease who achieve remission with anti-tumour necrosis factor (anti-TNF) drugs may have treatment withdrawn due to safety concerns and cost considerations, but there is a lack of prospective, controlled data investigating this strategy. The primary study aim is to compare the rates of clinical remission at 1?year in patients who discontinue anti-TNF treatment versus those who continue treatment. Methods: This is an ongoing, prospective, double-blind, multicentre, randomized, placebo-controlled study in patients with Crohn?s disease or ulcerative colitis who have achieved clinical remission for ?6?months with an anti-TNF treatment and an immunosuppressant. Patients are being randomized 1:1 to discontinue anti-TNF therapy or continue therapy. Randomization stratifies patients by the type of inflammatory bowel disease and drug (infliximab versus adalimumab) at study inclusion. The primary endpoint of the study is sustained clinical remission at 1?year. Other endpoints include endoscopic and radiological activity, patient-reported outcomes (quality of life, work productivity), safety and predictive factors for relapse. The required sample size is 194 patients. In addition to the main analysis (discontinuation versus continuation), subanalyses will include stratification by type of inflammatory bowel disease, phenotype and previous treatment. Biological samples will be obtained to identify factors predictive of relapse after treatment withdrawal. Results: Enrolment began in 2016, and the study is expected to end in 2020. Conclusions: This study will contribute prospective, controlled data on outcomes and predictors of relapse in patients with inflammatory bowel disease after withdrawal of anti-TNF agents following achievement of clinical remission. Clinical trial reference number: EudraCT 2015-001410-1

The Present and Future Role of Insect-Resistant Genetically Modified Maize in IPM

Commercial, genetically-modified (GM) maize was first planted in the United States (USA, 1996) and Canada (1997) but now is grown in 13 countries on a total of over 35 million hectares (\u3e24% of area worldwide). The first GM maize plants produced a Cry protein derived from the soil bacteriumBacillus thuringiensis (Bt), which made them resistant to European corn borer and other lepidopteran maize pests. New GM maize hybrids not only have resistance to lepidopteran pests but some have resistance to coleopteran pests and tolerance to specific herbicides. Growers are attracted to the Btmaize hybrids for their convenience and because of yield protection, reduced need for chemical insecticides, and improved grain quality. Yet, most growers worldwide still rely on traditional integrated pest management (IPM) methods to control maize pests. They must weigh the appeal of buying insect protection “in the bag” against questions regarding economics, environmental safety, and insect resistance management (IRM). Traditional management of maize insects and the opportunities and challenges presented by GM maize are considered as they relate to current and future insect-resistant products. Four countries, two that currently have commercialize Bt maize (USA and Spain) and two that do not (China and Kenya), are highlighted. As with other insect management tactics (e.g., insecticide use or tillage), GM maize should not be considered inherently compatible or incompatible with IPM. Rather, the effect of GM insect-resistance on maize IPM likely depends on how the technology is developed and used