Prosocial tendencies measure adaptation : a Portuguese contribute for the heroic imagination project

Human strengths have been emerging as a topic of great interest, especially because they may provide us with a path to develop a more just and equal world. Psychology has paid small attention to human behavior that considers the welfare of others above it’s one (Zimbardo, 2004) and for such reason the Heroic Imagination Project has set its goal to redefine heroism making it reachable for anyone. Because we expect to implement the HIP in Portugal and evaluate the direct outcomes of the interventions, we have made the aim of the present study to develop the Portuguese version of one of the evaluation instruments that compose HIP’s evaluation protocols: the Prosocial Tendencies Measure (PTM), measuring six types of prosocial tendencies. We have used a convenience sample of 1.457 high school students. We present evidence of a validated five-factor structure (emotional / dire; anonymous; public; compliant; altruism), supporting the notion of differentiated forms of helping, as pointed out by the literature. The exploratory factor analysis demonstrates that the Portuguese version of the PTM is reliable and internally consistent, enhancing the utility of the PTM as a valid measure of prosocial behaviors to be use with late Portuguese adolescents

Modelling Financing Schemes for Energy System Planning: A Mini-Grid Case Study

Energy modeling has been playing a crucial role in defining solutions for effective energy planning. Bottomup energy system planning models, namely those models characterized by high technological detail, typically present exogenous techno-economic parameters which rely on data gathered by the user, from specific costs to efficiencies. However, poor to no attention has been given to the date to the financial parameters of energy models, which are often assumed and barely justified (e.g., “discount rate equal to 10%”, full stop). Still, model outputs are drastically sensitive to variations of finance-related parameters and must provide the financing structure that a decision-maker should implement for funding the advised energy planning strategies. This results particularly crucial for mini-grid sizing in sub-Saharan African countries, where the challenge of the energy transition entails the construction of massive new capacities to improve energy access rates and tiers of service, demanding an enhanced collaboration between private and public sectors. The case study, applied on an off-grid mini-grid in Mozambique, proposes a comparison between scenarios with increasing financial detail and a possible conceptualization of the hard link between detailed financial modelling and a bottom-up energy model for mini-grid optimization. Different financing schemes are modelled and their impact on the energy modelling outputs assessed. Project finance hence emerges as a useful approach that could upgrade the financing structure of domestic power projects in African countries. This may lead to many benefits: more sustainable and affordable interest rates where corporate finance is missing, improved risk management, diversified funding mix, and facilitated financial support from international institutions

Taxonomy Complexity of Some Tyrrhenian Endemic Limonium Species Belonging to L. multiforme Group (Plumbaginaceae): New Insights from Molecular and Morphometric Analyses

The delimitation of Limonium taxa is highly complicated due to hybridization, polyploidy, and apomixis. Many “microspecies” were described and aggregated into groups, most of which are still poorly known from both molecular and morphological points of view. The aim of this study is to investigate four endemic species from the Tyrrhenian coast of central Italy and the Ponziane Archipelago belonging to the L. multiforme group (L. amynclaeum, L. circaei, L. pandatariae, and L. pontium) by means of molecular and morphometric analyses. Molecular data by sequencing ITS and three plastid markers and morphometric data highlight new information about the taxonomy of these taxa so as to reduce them into a single specific entity. In fact, the better taxonomic choice is to consider the populations studied as part of a single species, i.e., Limonium pontium. Three subspecies are recognized, i.e., subsp. pontium [= L. circaei = L. amynclaeum; from Circeo to Gianola localities (excluding Terracina) and from islands Ponza, Palmarola, Zannone, and Santo Stefano], subsp. pandatariae comb. et stat. nov. (from island of Ventotene), and subsp. terracinense subsp. nov. (from Terracina)

Variability and Nativeness in the Mediterranean Taxa: Divergence and Phylogeography of Genista etnensis (Fabaceae) Inferred from Nuclear and Plastid Data

Genista etnensis is a remarkable and well-known tree endemic to Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica (Mediterranean Basin). Nevertheless, its morphological variability and its native status throughout its range need to be further investigated. In this study, we aim to clarify some aspects of this infraspecific variability by molecular means. Sequences of one nuclear and five plastid markers were analyzed under maximum parsimony by using TCS software. Plastid data were also timecalibrated under a Bayesian Inference framework. Plastid data revealed strong isolation between the populations from the Cyrno-Sardinian biogeographical province, which are also the most diverse and presumably the most archaic, and those from Sicily and Southern Italy (in this latter area, the species is naturalized). The calibration analysis indicates that the last common ancestor between G. etnensis and its sister group G. fasselata dates back to the middle Pliocene or slightly later, when sclerophyllous Mediterranean vegetation spread, whereas G. etnensis itself might have originated in the middle Pleistocene. The current, rather unusual distribution of G. etnensis could be explained by long-range seed dispersal from the western part of the range or by anthropogenic introduction into Sicily, with extinctions of transported haplotypes in the region of origin. Interestingly, the Vesuvius population, introduced from Sicily in recent times and locally naturalized, shows private genotypes, and was richer in both genotypes and haplotypes than the Sicilian ones

Serum levels of allopregnanolone, progesterone and testosterone in menstrually-related and postmenopausal migraine: A cross-sectional study

Background: Reduced blood or cerebrospinal fluid levels of allopregnanolone are involved in menstrual cycle-linked CNS disorders, such as catamenial epilepsy. This condition, like menstrually-related migraine, is characterized by severe, treatment-resistant attacks. We explored whether there were differences in allopregnanolone, progesterone and testosterone serum levels between women with menstrually-related migraine (MM, n¼30) or postmenopausal migraine without aura who had suffered from menstrually-related migraine during their fertile age (PM, n¼30) and non-headache control women in fertile age (FAC, n¼30) or post-menopause (PC, n¼30). Methods: Participants were women with migraine afferent to a headache centre; controls were female patients’ acquaintances. Serum samples obtained were analyzed by HPLC-ESI-MS/MS. Results: In menstrually-related migraine and postmenopausal migraine groups, allopregnanolone levels were lower than in the respective control groups (fertile age and post-menopause) (p<0.001, one-way analysis of variance followed by Tukey-Kramer post-hoc comparison test) while progesterone and testosterone levels were similar. By grouping together patients with migraine, allopregnanolone levels were inversely correlated with the number of years and days of migraine/ 3 months (p 0.005, linear regression analysis). Conclusion: Decreased GABAergic inhibition, due to low allopregnanolone serum levels, could contribute to menstrually-related migraine and persistence of migraine after menopause. For the management of these disorders, a rise in the GABAergic transmission by increasing inhibitory neurosteroids might represent a novel strategy

Treatment of Canine Oral Melanoma with Adjuvant Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy

Background: Melanoma is the most frequent cancer in the canine oral cavity. It shows an aggressive behavior, characterized by rapid and invasive growth and high metastatic potential. Metastasis is seen in more than 80% of dogs at time of death. Adjuvant therapy should be recommended because of potential recurrence and metastasis. Oral melanoma has a poor prognosis even when adjuvant treatments are used. There are some treatment options, but the high death rate due to the disease is still a challenge. The aim of this study was to assess the overall survival of dogs diagnosed with oral melanoma and treated with adjuvant chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Materials, Methods & Results:A retrospective analysis was carried out in 20 dogs with oral melanocytic or amelanocytic melanomas. Cases were staged according to a modified World Health Organization clinical staging system for canine oral malignant melanoma. Tumor size (T1: 4 cm), regional metastasis (N0: no metastasis; N1: metastasis) and presence of distant metastasis (M0: no metastasis; M1: metastasis) are evaluated. Then, cases were divided into 4 stages: I (T1 N0 M0), II (T2 N0 M0), III (T3 N0-1 M0, Tx N1 M0) and IV (Tx Nx M1). Diagnoses were confirmed with histopathological exam and immunohistochemistry (IHC) when necessary. In poorly differentiated neoplasms, IHC was performed at the request of the submitting veterinarian using specific markers PNL-2 and Melan-A. Animals were divided into 2 groups: dogs submitted to surgery alone were included in group 1 (G1); dogs submitted to surgery associated with adjuvant chemotherapy with four 21-day cycles of carboplatin (300 mg/m2) and immunotherapy with six 7-day cycles of interferon-α (3 x 106 IU/m2) were included in group 2 (G2). Twenty dogs diagnosed with oral melanoma were evaluated: 3 were included in G1 and 17 in G2. Considering clinical staging of the dogs: 7 stage II, 12 stage III and only 1 stage IV. There was no stage I patients. In poorly differentiated neoplasias, IHC was performed at the request of the submitting veterinarian using specific markers PNL-2 and Melan-A. Patient follow-up was obtained through the evaluation of patient records and telephone interviews with owners. The overall survival time (OS) was defined by the period (in days) between the date of surgical excision and the death caused by the disease. Median overall survival time was 86 days for animals in G1 and 894 days for animals in G2 (P = 0.01). Discussion: Carboplatin was considered an appropriate cytostatic drug to treat microscopic disease in oral melanoma. INF-α was chosen for immunotherapy in this study because it promotes immune system stimulation associated with an indirect antiproliferative effect on neoplastic cells. The association of INF-α and carboplatin resulted in a significant increase in overall survival, when compared to the literature, suggesting that association of chemotherapy and immunomodulation is an important strategy in the treatment of canine oral melanoma. Controlled prospective randomized trials are necessary to confirm the benefits of chemotherapy and immunotherapy association to treat canine oral melanoma. Adjuvant therapy with chemotherapy and immunotherapy was considered effective to increase overall survival and maintained quality of life of dogs diagnosed with oral melanoma

Associations between Learning and Behavioral Difficulties in Second-Grade Children

Learning and behavioral difficulties often emerge during the first years of primary school and are one of the most important issues of concern for families and schools. The study was aimed at investigating the co-occurrence of difficulties between academic learning and emotional-behavioral control in typically developing school children and the moderating role of sex. A sample of 640 second-grade school children participated in the study. This study used the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire to measure the emotional and behavioral difficulties and a battery of objective and standardized tests to evaluate the learning skills in children. In this sample 7% to 16% of children performed below the normal range in reading and/or arithmetic tests. Mixed models showed that children's hyperactive behaviors were positively related to both reading and math difficulties, and emotional problems correlated negatively with reading accuracy. The more children displayed behavioral difficulties, the more they were exposed to the risk of worsening reading and math performance, especially for girls. The result that among different emotional-behavioral problems within the school setting, hyperactivity behaviors and emotional difficulties are related to learning difficulties with a moderate effect of sex, needs to be taken into account in screening and prevention programs for learning difficulties in order to not disregard the complexity of the associated profiles