Laughter as a diagnostic measure of psoriasis severity

Laughter has been studied for its beneficial effects on health and as a therapeutic method to prevent and treat medical conditions. We explore the predictive potential of laughter as a psoriasis severity diagnostic tool. In this study, the dermatologist first examines the patient and registers the PASI and BSA scores. Then patients complete the DLQI and EQ-5D-3L (quality of life), as well as the HADS (anxiety and depression) and the NEO PI-R (personality traits). Finally, the laughs of 30 patients with plaque psoriasis (15 mild cases and 15 moderate to severe cases), and 30 healthy controls will be registered. To do this, patients and accompanying health controls (in pairs), watch a 15-minute video with humorous sketches..

The sociotype questionnaire: assessing the social burden of skin diseases

Skin diseases can cause a significant psychosocial burden. A number of studies have considered issues such as a lower quality of life, increased anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation and other psychological disorders. However, adequate means for evaluating social interaction difficulties, diminished social networks, and the impoverished conversational exchanges that affect the wellbeing and mental health of the individual, have not been sufficiently developed. This study is based on the sociotype approach that has recently been proposed as a new theoretical construct implemented in the form of a questionnaire; it examines the social bonding structures and relational factors associated with dermatological conditions..

Black-hole-regulated star formation in massive galaxies

Super-massive black holes, with masses larger than a million times that of the Sun, appear to inhabit the centers of all massive galaxies. Cosmologically-motivated theories of galaxy formation need feedback from these super-massive black holes to regulate star formation. In the absence of such feedback, state-of-the-art numerical simulations dramatically fail to reproduce the number density and properties of massive galaxies in the local Universe. However, there is no observational evidence of this strongly coupled co-evolution between super-massive black holes and star formation, impeding our understanding of baryonic processes within galaxies. Here we show that the star formation histories (SFHs) of nearby massive galaxies, as measured from their integrated optical spectra, depend on the mass of the central super-massive black hole. Our results suggest that black hole mass growth scales with gas cooling rate in the early Universe. The subsequent quenching of star formation takes place earlier and more efficiently in galaxies hosting more massive central black holes. The observed relation between black hole mass and star formation efficiency applies to all generations of stars formed throughout a galaxy's life, revealing a continuous interplay between black hole activity and baryon cooling.Comment: Published in Nature, 1 January 201

Durability testing of a newly developed hydrophilic anti-soiling coating for solar reflectors

Anti-soiling coatings for solar reflectors are one of the most useful technical tools to reduce the amount of soiling accumulated on the reflector surfaces, contributing to reduce the water consumption and to increase efficiency in concentrating solar fields. A new anti-soiling coating formulation based on the hydrophilic effect has been recently developed by Tekniker and Rioglass. Reflector samples with this innovative coating were assessed through an accelerated aging test campaign as well as an outdoor exposition at the PSA by CIEMAT and DLR. According to the results obtained, the coating exhibited an appropriate behavior, which implies that the new product represents a promising solution to reduce water consumption

Designation of origin Alicante (Spain): a preliminary study for the introduction of enotourism

A necessidade de conseguir um desenvolvimento rural sustentável, que combine respeito ao meio ambiente com a geração de riqueza e a criação de novos postos de trabalho, leva as diferentes administrações públicas e empresas privadas a incentivar atividades paralelas e complementares das tradicionais nas zonas rurais. No presente trabalho apresentamos um estudo econométrico onde se avalia o potencial econômico da introdução da atividade de enoturismo numa área geográfica determinada, baseada numa denominação de origem (Alicante- Espanha). Para tal, fazemos a análise de como se está estruturando um movimento associativo que, tendo como base as tradicionais cooperativas vitivinícolas da região, possibilita a criação de novos segmentos de mercado para dar resposta à procura originada por esta incipiente atividade turística. Palavras-chave: Enoturismo - Desenvolvimento Rural - Cooperativas - Espanha.La necesidad de conseguir un desarrollo rural sostenible, que combine el respeto al medio ambiente con la generación de riqueza y la creación de nuevos puestos de trabajo, está llevando a las diferentes administraciones públicas y empresas privadas a estimular actividades paralelas y complementarias de las clásicas de las zonas rurales. En este trabajo presentamos un estudio econométrico donde se evalúa la potencialidad económica de la introducción de la actividad de enoturismo en un área geográfica determinada, basada en una denominación de origen (Alicante - España). Para ello, analizamos cómo se está vertebrando un movimiento asociativo que, teniendo como base las tradicionales cooperativas vitivinícolas de la zona, está posibilitando la creación de nuevos segmentos de mercado para dar respuesta a la demanda originada por esta incipiente actividad turística. Palabras clave: Enoturismo - Desarrollo Rural - Cooperativas - España.The need to obtain sustainable rural development, which combines respect for the environment with the generation of wealth and the creation of jobs, is leading various public and private administrations and companies to promote activities which are parallel and complementary to the traditional activities of the rural areas. This work presents an econometric study which evaluates the economic potential of the introduction of the activity of enotourism (wine tourism) in the geographic area of Alicante (Spain) as a designation of origin. For this, it analyzes the structure of an associative movement based on the traditional wine producing cooperatives in this area, enabling the creation of new market sectors in response to the demand based on this emerging tourism activity. Key words: Enotourism - Rural Development – Cooperatives - Spain

U.S.Mexico cross-border workforce training needs:survey implementation

BACKGROUND: Since the tragic events experienced on September 11, 2001, and other recent events such as the hurricane devastation in the southeastern parts of the country and the emergent H1N1season, the need for a competent public health workforce has become vitally important for securing and protecting the greater population. Objective: The primary objective of the study was to assess the training needs of the U.S. Mexico border states public health workforce. METHODS: The Arizona Center for Public Health Preparedness of the Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health at The University of Arizona implemented a border-wide needs assessment. The online survey was designed to assess and prioritize core public health competencies as well as bioterrorism, infectious disease, and border/binational training needs. RESULTS: Approximately 80% of the respondents were employed by agencies that serve both rural and urban communities. Respondents listed 23 different functional roles that best describe their positions. Approximately 35% of the respondents were primarily employed by state health departments, twenty-seven percent (30%) of the survey participants reported working at the local level, and 19% indicated they worked in other government settings (e.g. community health centers and other non-governmental organizations). Of the 163 survey participants, a minority reported that they felt they were well prepared in the Core Bioterrorism competencies. The sections on Border Competency, Surveillance/Epidemiology, Communications/Media Relations and Cultural Responsiveness, did not generate a rating of 70% or greater on the importance level of survey participants. CONCLUSIONS: The study provided the opportunity to examine the issues of public health emergency preparedness within the framework of the border as a region addressing both unique needs and context. The most salient findings highlight the need to enhance the border competency skills of individuals whose roles include a special focus on emergency preparedness and response along the US-Mexico border

First manic/hypomanic episode in obsessive-compulsive disorder patients treated with antidepressants: a systematic review

High doses of antidepressants, particularly clomipramine and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), are the well-established treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), but manic/hypomanic episodes are potential adverse events associated with this treatment. A systematic literature review was performed on manic/ hypomanic episodes in non-bipolar OCD patients. Clinical, sociodemographic and antidepressant characteristics during the manic/hypomanic switch were extracted using descriptive statistics. Data were obtained from 20 case reports and case series. Switching episodes mostly appeared in the first 12 weeks after antidepressant initiation and took place more frequently during SSRI use (mostly fluoxetine) in 64.3% of cases. Clomipramine and SSRI use differed non-significantly between the switching episodes that appeared during the first 12 weeks of antidepressant treatment and the episodes that appeared beyond 12 weeks. Switching episodes emerging before 12 weeks were associated with a lower defined daily dose of antidepressants than episodes emerging after 12 weeks. These findings suggest that there are two independent characteristics involved in manic/hypomanic switch in OCD: a) they appeared most frequently with SSRI use (fluoxetine) regardless of the time of it use, and b) episodes appeared in the first 12 weeks after SSRI or clomipramine initiation had a lower dose of antidepressant than episodes appeared after 12 weeks

T-TraCS – An automated method to measure soiling losses at parabolic trough receiver tubes

Soiling of the envelope tubes of parabolic trough collectors can significantly reduce their transmittance and hence the overall collector efficiency. There are only a few methods to quantify soiling losses at absorber tubes of parabolic trough collectors. The existing methods are either laboratory based and cannot be applied automatically or they are personnel intense because they can only be used manually inside of operational solar fields. In this work we present a novel device called T-TraCS capable of automatically measuring the transmission of a sample glass during outdoor exposure with the current solar spectrum and imitating the movement of operational parabolic trough collectors. It can be used in resource assessment campaigns in order to better estimate future soiling losses at the tube level or it can be set up inside a solar field in order to measure the tube soiling losses in real time for CSP plant operation. Scattering simulations are presented that correct the measurement raw values of the T-TraCS and a spectrophotometer for their differences to the optics of a receiver tube. The validation with these final measurements shows good agreement with the reference spectrophotometer with a R2 of 0.996. The T-TraCS is therefore capable of automatically determining the soiling induced transmission losses with high accuracy

Exploring working conditions as determinants of job satisfaction: an empirical test among Catalonia service workers

Job satisfaction is particularly important in the service industry since it involves direct contact with customers and thus has a direct influence on company performance. We analyzed the impact of ten working conditions on job satisfaction by means of structural equation modelling in a representative stratified random sample of 1553 service sector employees in Catalonia (Spain). We found significant effects in social aspects (recognition of a job well done and social support), followed by psychological loads (emotional demands and job insecurity) and by task contents (development & meaning and predictability). These variables explained 50% of the variance in job satisfaction