Cibervictimización sexual entre adolescentes: desarrollo y validación de una escala

Background/Objective: The study of sexual cyberbehaviour in adolescence has received much attention in recent years, because of the risks associated with exposure to pornography, unwanted sexual solicitations, and gender-based sexual harassment. The prevalence of this phenomenon varies from study to study due to a lack of consensus around how to define and measure peer sexual cybervictimization. This study aims to contribute to this research topic by developing and validating a measure of peer sexual cybervictimization among adolescents. Method: 601 adolescents (mean age 14.06) from two Spanish cities participated in this study. Cross-validation was performed using EFA and CFA. In a second step, a multi-group analysis was conducted to compare the equivalence of the measure by gender. Results: The results confirmed a second-order model comprising two first-order factors: Ambiguous sexual Cybervictimization and Personal sexual Cybervictimization. The model was invariant by gender. Descriptive analyses showed significant differences in Ambiguous sexual aybervictimization, this being more frequent in boys than in girls. Prevalence rates varied from 17 to 26%, with less involvement observed in the Personal dimension. Conclusions: This work proposes a valid and gender invariant measure to analyze peer sexual cybervictimization in adolescence.Antecedentes/Objetivo: El estudio de la ciberconducta sexual en la adolescencia ha recibido mucha atención en los últimos años, especialmente la referida a los riesgos que factosuponen la exposición a la pornografía, las solicitudes sexuales indeseadas y el hostigamientosexual basado en el género. La prevalencia del fenómeno varía entre los diferentes estudios debido a una falta de consenso en la definición y medida del constructo cibervictimizaciónsexual. Este trabajo pretende contribuir en esta área, desarrollando y validando una escala paramedir victimización sexual online. Método: Una muestra de 601 adolescentes de dos ciudades españolas (edad media 14,06) participaron en el estudio. Se realizó una validación cruzada empleando AFE y AFC, así como un análisis multigrupo para comparar la equivalencia de la medida por sexo. Resultados: se confirmó un modelo de segundo orden compuesto por dos factores (Cibervictimización sexual ambigua y Cibervictimización sexual personal) invariante por sexo. Los análisis indicaron diferencias significativas en la dimensión ambigua, siendo más frecuente en ellos. Los datos revelaron una prevalencia entre el 17 y 26%, siendo menor la implicación en la forma personal. Conclusiones: Se propone una medida válida e invariante en ambos sexos de la cibervictimización sexual por parte de los iguales en la adolescencia.Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (España) PSI2013-45118-

Cyberdating in adolescence: the risks and the emotional harm of sexual cyberbehavior

Las TIC han revolucionado los ecosistemas relacionales humanos, especialmente entre los adolescentes. Partiendo del modelo de la Co-construcción entre los contextos online y offline, es de esperar que adolescentes y jóvenes expresen en ambos escenarios las tareas del desarrollo propias de su etapa evolutiva, como la sexualidad y el inicio de las relaciones de pareja. Estas tareas de desarrollo se convierten en experiencias de aprendizaje fundamentales, si bien no exentas de dificultades, pudiendo derivar en conductas agresivas y de riesgo, como las ciberagresiones sexuales o el sexting. La atención al fenómeno de las agresiones y riesgos de la ciberconducta sexual se ha incrementado en los últimos años, aunque todavía no existen datos concluyentes. Este trabajo se ha planteado describir la prevalencia de estas ciberconductas en la adolescencia tanto en los iguales como en la pareja, así como el malestar emocional percibido. 268 adolescentes con experiencia sentimental (edad media 14.22, d.e. 1.44), fueron entrevistados utilizando una versión adaptada del Sexual Harassment Survey. Los resultados mostraron que estas ciberconductas estaban igual de presentes en las parejas y entre iguales, y que los comportamientos más frecuentes fueron los intercambios de mensajes e imágenes con contenido sexual visual y verbal. Los chicos afirmaron realizar estos comportamientos más que las chicas, pero ambos afirmaron recibirlas en los mismos porcentajes. Las chicas percibieron más molestos estos comportamientos que los chicos. Los resultados se discuten atendiendo al significado que estos comportamientos tienen en la vida relacional adolescente.The new technologies have changed the way people interact with each other, especially among adolescents. The co-construction model stress that online and offline context are connected, so adolescents express the tasks and issues of their age, as sexuality and romantic relationships, in both contexts. These developmental tasks are an important source of learning, but some difficulties can appear, as sexual aggressions and other risky sexual behaviors. The attention to aggressive and risk of sexual behavior online has increased in the last years although results are not conclusive. This study will analyze the prevalence ofthese behaviors among adolescents, into peer and couple context. The perceived emotional harm will be also analyzed. 268 adolescents with sentimental experience (mean age 14.22, s.d. 1.44) were interviewed using an adaptation of the Sexual Harassment Survey. Results showed that aggressive and risky sexual behaviors online were present at similar level in both, peer and couple context. The most frequent behaviors were visual/verbal sexual messages. Boys were more involved than girls for perpetration but no differences appear for receiving it. Girls felt more upset than boys after receiving these behaviors. Results are discussed in terms of the meaning of these behaviors for adolescents’ social development

Satisfacción con el peso y actitudes hacia la obesidad

P. 275-284La insatisfacción con el cuerpo y el rechazo hacia la obesidad representan cuestiones relevantes en las sociedades modernas. En esta investigación se analizaron las relaciones entre la satisfacción con el propio peso, las actitudes hacia la obesidad, la edad y el género en una muestracompuesta por 260 participantes. Los resultados obtenidos revelaron que las personas más satisfechas con su peso muestran niveles más altos de antipatía hacia la obesidadS

Actitudes negativas hacia la obesidad en jóvenes españoles: diferencias por sexo, edad y nivel educativo

p. 32-36Las actitudes negativas hacia la obesidad son frecuentes en múltiples ámbitos y se relacionan con la discriminación de las personas obesas. En este estudio se evalúan las diferencias de sexo, edad y nivel educativo en las actitudes negativas hacia la obesidad. Se administró la Antifat Attitudes Scale (AFA) en una muestra de 309 jóvenes entre 12 y 24 años (M = 16.69; DT = 2.58) que estudiaban Educación Secundaria Obligatoria, Bachillerato y Grado universitario en León, EspañaS

Telecinco en Internet

Estamos en una época, y esto se acrecentará en un futuro próximo, en que si no apareces en las redes de Internet, es como si no existieras. Antes, el medio de comunicación por excelencia era la televisión, un canal por el que podías estar informado y a la vez entretenerte. Con la aparición y la evolución de Internet y las autopistas de la información, esta función se ha diluido o se ha dividido entre Internet y los medios de comunicación llamados convencionales

Trehalose polyphleates, external cell wall lipids in mycobacterium abscessus, are associated with the formation of clumps with cording morphology, which have been associated with virulence

Mycobacterium abscessus is a reemerging pathogen that causes pulmonary diseases similar to tuberculosis, which is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. When grown in agar medium, M. abscessus strains generate rough (R) or smooth colonies (S). R morphotypes are more virulent than S morphotypes. In searching for the virulence factors responsible for this difference, R morphotypes have been found to form large aggregates (clumps) that, after being phagocytozed, result in macrophage death. Furthermore, the aggregates released to the extracellular space by damaged macrophages grow, forming unphagocytosable structures that resemble cords. In contrast, bacilli of the S morphotype, which do not form aggregates, do not damage macrophages after phagocytosis and do not form cords. Cording has also been related to the virulence of M. tuberculosis. In this species, the presence of mycolic acids and surface-exposed cell wall lipids has been correlated with the formation of cords. The objective of this work was to study the roles of the surface-exposed cell wall lipids and mycolic acids in the formation of cords in M. abscessus. A comparative study of the pattern and structure of mycolic acids was performed on R (cording) and S (non-cording) morphotypes derived from the same parent strains, and no differences were observed between morphotypes. Furthermore, cords formed by R morphotypes were disrupted with petroleum ether (PE), and the extracted lipids were analyzed by thin layer chromatography, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. Substantial amounts of trehalose polyphleates (TPP) were recovered as major lipids from PE extracts, and images obtained by transmission electron microscopy suggested that these lipids are localized to the external surfaces of cords and R bacilli. The structure of M. abscessus TPP was revealed to be similar to those previously described in Mycobacterium smegmatis. Although the exact role of TPP is unknown, our results demonstrated that TPP are not toxic by themselves and have a function in the formation of clumps and cords in M. abscessus, thus playing an important role in the pathogenesis of this species

A puzzling solar cell structure: an exercise to get insight on intermediate band solar cells

We introduce one trivial but puzzling solar cell structure. It consists of a high bandgap pn junction (top cell) grown on a substrate of lower bandgap. Let us assume, for example, that the bandgap of the top cell is 1.85 eV (Al 0.3Ga 0.7As) and the bandgap of the substrate is 1.42 eV (GaAs). Is the open-circuit of the top cell limited to 1.42 V or to 1.85 V? If the answer is ldquo1.85 Vrdquo we could then make the mind experiment in which we illuminate the cell with 1.5 eV photons (notice these photons would only be absorbed in the substrate). If we admit that these photons can generate photocurrent, then because we have also admitted that the voltage is limited to 1.85 V, it might be possible that the electron-hole pairs generated by these photons were extracted at 1.6 V for example. However, if we do so, the principles of thermodynamics could be violated because we would be extracting more energy from the photon than the energy it initially had. How can we then solve this puzzle

Assessment of the antioxidant/hypolipidemic relationship of sideritis hyssopifolia in an experimental animal model

[EN] Many publications have described the potential cardioprotective action of different medicinal plants, relating this effect with blood lipid levels. However, these publications do not justify the right amount of plant administered, which can vary greatly. Sideritis hyssopifolia is a little woody plant endemic to western and southwestern Europe. We have quantified its antioxidant activity, which can be used as an indicator of its cardioprotective action. This study evaluates the antioxidant capacity of Sideritis hyssopifolia to design a feed whose hypolipidemic effects are proven in cholesterol-fed New Zealand rabbits. Antioxidant action was assessed in infusions, which were prepared with 1 or 3 g of plant in 200 mL of water by using an ABTS assay and expressed as Ascorbic acid Equivalent Antioxidant Capacity (AEAC). Aqueous infusions with infusion times of 10 min and prepared with 3 g plant exhibited the strongest antioxidant activity. Sideritis hyssopifolia showed an intermediate antioxidant capacity for the concentrations and times of the infusion tested. According to our results, we suggest incorporating 2.36 g of S. hyssopifolia every 150 g of rabbit feeding stuff (15.73 g/kg). This chow decreased cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, and triglycerides levels in cholesterol-fed rabbits, as well as the atherogenic index. This reduction was similar to that obtained with simvastatin.S

Mycobacteria clumping increase their capacity to damage macrophages

The rough morphotypes of non-tuberculous mycobacteria have been associated with the most severe illnesses in humans. This idea is consistent with the fact that Mycobacterium tuberculosis presents a stable rough morphotype. Unlike smooth morphotypes, the bacilli of rough morphotypes grow close together, leaving no spaces among them and forming large aggregates (clumps). Currently, the initial interaction of macrophages with clumps remains unclear. Thus, we infected J774 macrophages with bacterial suspensions of rough morphotypes of M. abscessus containing clumps and suspensions of smooth morphotypes, primarily containing isolated bacilli. Using confocal laser scanning microscopy and electron microscopy, we observed clumps of at least five rough-morphotype bacilli inside the phagocytic vesicles of macrophages at 3 h post-infection. These clumps grew within the phagocytic vesicles, killing 100% of the macrophages at 72 h post-infection, whereas the proliferation of macrophages infected with smooth morphotypes remained unaltered at 96 h post-infection. Thus, macrophages phagocytose large clumps, exceeding the bactericidal capacities of these cells. Furthermore, proinflammatory cytokines and granuloma-like structures were only produced by macrophages infected with rough morphotypes. Thus, the present study provides a foundation for further studies that consider mycobacterial clumps as virulence factors

Draft genome sequences of Mycobacterium setense type strain DSM-45070 and the nonpathogenic strain Manresensis, isolated from the bank of the Cardener River in Manresa, Catalonia, Spain

We present here the draft genome sequences of two Mycobacterium setense strains. One of them corresponds to the M. setense type strain DSM-45070, originally isolated from a patient with a posttraumatic chronic skin abscess. The other one corresponds to the nonpathogenic M. setense strain Manresensis, isolated from the Cardener River crossing Manresa, Catalonia, Spain. A comparative genomic analysis shows a smaller genome size and fewer genes in M. setense strain Manresensis relative to those of the type strain, and it shows the genome segments unique to each strain