The role of impulsivity in dropout from treatment for cigarette smoking

AbstractImpulsivity is a variable that has been associated with drug use. This study analyzes impulsivity from two different paradigms, one considering it as a trait and the other based on its behavioral correlates, such as disinhibition and impulsive decision-making in the treatment prognosis (maintain abstinence, relapse and dropout) of smokers after outpatient treatment. The participants in the study were 113 smokers who requested treatment for nicotine addiction. They were assigned to three groups according to whether or not they remained abstinent one month after beginning treatment; thus, group 1 was abstinent, group 2 had relapsed, and group 3 had dropped out of treatment. The participants filled out the Semi-structured Interview for Smokers, the Fargerström Test for Nicotine Dependence, the Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised (TCI-R) and the Delay Discounting Task (DDT). The Delay Discounting variable presents lower scores in the dropout group than in the relapse and abstinent groups, with the highest scores in the relapse group. Differences were also found on the Harm Avoidance (HA) variable, with lower scores in the dropout group compared to the relapse group. The importance of these results lies in the consideration of the smoker’s personality profile in order to prevent both dropout and relapse

Effect of preharvest fruit bagging on fruit quality characteristics and incidence of fruit physiopathies in fully irrigated and water stressed pomegranated trees

BACKGROUND: This report studied the response of pomegranate fruit under full irrigation (FI) and water stress (WS) conditions to bagging with externally glossy single layer cellulosic paper bags open at the bottom from the end of fruit thinning to harvest time. RESULTS: Bagging decreased fruit size and the maturity index, and increased antioxidant activity in FI conditions. Moreover, fruit bagging substantially reduced the incidence of peel sunburn in both irrigation conditions. CONCLUSION: The delay in fruit growth and ripening as a result of pomegranate fruit bagging is outweighed by the very important commercial benefit in terms of the reduced incidence of peel sunburn and the increase in fruit antioxidant activity

Adherence to treatment to help quit smoking: effects of task performance and coping with withdrawal symptoms

Background: Currently the combined cognitive-behavioral and pharmacological treatment is the best option to quit smoking, although success rates remain moderate. This study aimed to identify predictors of continuous abstinence in an assisted smoking cessation program using combined treatment. In particular, we analyzed the effects of socio-demographic, smoking-, and treatment-related variables. In addition, we analyzed the effect of several risk factors on abstinence, and estimated a model of risk for smoking relapse.Methods: Participants were 125 workers at the University of Granada (50 males), with an average age of 46.91 years (SD = 8.15). They were recruited between 2009 and 2013 at an occupational health clinic providing smoking cessation treatment. Baseline measures included socio-demographic data, preferred brand of cigarettes, number of years smoking, use of alcohol and/or tranquilizers, past attempts to quit, Fargerström Test for Nicotine Dependence, Smoking Processes of Change Scale, and Coping with Withdrawal Symptoms Interview. Participants were invited to a face-to-face assessment of smoking abstinence using self-report and cooximetry hemoglobin measures at 3, 6, and 12 months follow-up. The main outcome was smoking status coded as “relapse” versus “abstinence” at each follow-up. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was performed to estimate the probability of continued abstinence during 12 months and log-rank tests were used to analyze differences in continued abstinence as a function of socio-demographic, smoking-, and treatment-related variables. Cox regression was used to analyze the simultaneous effect of several risk factors on abstinence.Results: Using alcohol and/or tranquilizers was related to shorter abstinence. Physical exercise, the number of treatment sessions, performance of treatment tasks, and coping with withdrawal symptoms were related to prolonged abstinence. In particular, failure to perform the treatment tasks tripled the risk of relapse, while lack of coping doubled it.Conclusions: Our results show that physical exercise, performance of treatment-related tasks, and effective coping with withdrawal symptoms can prolong abstinence from smoking. Programs designed to help quit smoking can benefit from the inclusion of these factors.This research was supported by the Occupational Medicine Area (Prevention Service) of the University of Granada

A more sustainable and efficient definition of Regulated Deficit Irrigation phases in olive (Olea europaea L.)

Resumen del trabajo presentado en 20th EGU General Assembly, clelebrada en Viena (Austria) del 04 al 13 de abril de 2018.Water is a limited but highly essential resource, with large quantities required for agriculture. Regulated Deficit Irrigation (RDI) is an agricultural technique with great relevance for water savings worldwide, in which water stress is imposed by irrigation withholding based on fruit growth phases. The objective of this method is to identify phases where water stress has little or no effect on yield. RDI in olive has been demonstrated as an efficient tool to save water without negatively affecting yield. In olive trees, the mid-summer “pit hardening” is recognized as the most drought-resistant phenological stage, and has been used successfully for RDI water savings even though neither the description, boundaries, nor length of the period have been cleared reported. Many studies merely utilize a constant reference date for pit hardening, providing no explanation regarding how it was estimated or measured, while a few cases report the resistant to a knife-cut as the proper method to identify hardening, but leave unclear whether it represents its onset or completion. Recent studies have addressed these uncertainties, better showing the nature and duration of olive pit hardening, to which RDI can now be fitted. The objective of this current work was to determine if a RDI strategy more precisely fitted to pit hardening influences yield. In Ciudad Real (Spain) in 2016 and 2017, four irrigation treatments were applied in an ‘Arbequina’ olive orchard planted at 7 x 4.75 m in 1999. Treatment T1 consisted in water stress during pit hardening, aiming to maintain stem water potential (SWP) of -2 MPa during this phase. Treatment T2 was severely water stressed, aimed at maintaining -3 MPa during the same phase. In the rest of the season, before and after pit hardening, both treatments were irrigated to prevent water stress. Additionally, a highly deficit treatment was established (T3), irrigated only after pit hardening was completed. A control treatment (T0), irrigated following FAO methodology, was established to determine potential yield. Irrigation water savings with respect to T0 were approximately 45%, 57%, and 77% for T1, T2, and T3, respectively. There were no significant yield differences among treatments, although 2017 was nearly significant (P = 0.06), as when both years were considered together, due to the low yield of T3. Average yields from the two years were 25, 24, 23 and 21 kg tree-1 in T0, T1, T2 and T3, respectively. In conclusion, basing RDI on a new, more precise definition of the pit hardening phase produces similar yields with higher water savings, with the consequent environmental, economic and energetic benefits.Peer reviewe

Deficit irrigation and emerging fruit crops as a strategy to save water in Mediterranean semiarid agrosystems

Water scarcity in Mediterranean climate areas will be progressively aggravated by climate change, population increase and urban, tourism and industrial activities. To protect water resources and their integrity for future use and to improve biodiversity, besides following advanced deficit irrigation strategies in fruit cultivation, attention could well be directed towards what are at present underused plant materials able to withstand deficit irrigation with minimum impact on yield and fruit quality. To this end, the state of the art as regards deficit irrigation strategies and the response of some very interesting emerging fruit crops [jujube (Zizyphus jujuba Mill.), loquat (Eriobotrya japonica Lindl.), pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) and pomegranate (Punica granatum L.)] are reviewed. The strengths and weaknesses of deficit irrigation strategies and the mechanisms developed by these emerging fruit crops in the face of water stress are discussed. The response of these crops to deficit irrigation, with special attention paid to the effect on yield but also on fruit quality and health-related chemical compounds, was analysed in order to assess their suitability for saving water in Mediterranean semiarid agrosystems and to analyze their potential role as alternatives to currently cultivated fruit crops with higher water requirements. Finally, the factors involved in establishing an identity brand (hydroSOS) to protect fruits obtained under specific DI conditions are discussed

Integration of the archaeological Almohad remains in Granada metro station. The multidisciplinary research for the project and contemporary infrastructure development in the historic centres

La ejecución del tramo subterráneo del metropolitano de Granada ha permitido el hallazgo de los restos arqueológicos de la alberca del Alcázar Genil, residencia regia musulmana periurbana del siglo XIII. El Albercón, de 128 × 27 metros, fue devorado en sus extremos durante el crecimiento urbano del siglo XX, salvándose el tramo central pisado por el Camino de Ronda, vial bajo cuyo trazado discurre el metropolitano. El emplazamiento en Alcázar Genil de una estación subterránea posibilitará la integración de los restos arqueológicos de la alberca, recuperándolos, poniéndolos en valor y haciéndolos visitables.El proyecto de la estación Alcázar Genil aúna los esfuerzos conjuntos de diversas disciplinas que ponen al mismo nivel las ingenierías de los siglos XIII y XXI con una visión interdisciplinar básica para abarcar la complejidad de todo el proyecto con el objetivo de compatibilizar las infraestructuras contemporáneas con el pasado oculto bajo la piel de nuestros viejos centros históricos.The execution of the Granada Metropolitan’s underground line made possible the discovery of archeological remains of a water tank in Alcázar Genil, a royal muslim residence of the 13th century. The water tank, 419 × 88 ft, was destroyed at its ends due to the growth of the city of Granada during the 20th century and today remains only its center section, under Camino de Ronda, exactly where the future Metropolitan will take place. The location of an underground station will allow the recovery, the integration and the exhibition of the archaeological remains of this water tank. The Alcázar Genil station project brings together the work of several disciplines which put in the same level engineering of the 13th and of the 20th century. These different teams work in an interdisciplinary approach to respond to the complexity of the entire project. The aim is to make contemporary infrastructures compatible with the past that is hidden under the skin of our historic centres

Temperament and Impulsivity Predictors of Smoking Cessation Outcomes

Aims: Temperament and impulsivity are powerful predictors of addiction treatment outcomes. However, a comprehensive assessment of these features has not been examined in relation to smoking cessation outcomes.Methods: Naturalistic prospective study. Treatment-seeking smokers (n = 140) were recruited as they engaged in an occupational health clinic providing smoking cessation treatment between 2009 and 2013. Participants were assessed at baseline with measures of temperament (Temperament and Character Inventory), trait impulsivity (Barratt Impulsivity Scale), and cognitive impulsivity (Go/No Go, Delay Discounting and Iowa Gambling Task). The outcome measure was treatment status, coded as “dropout” versus “relapse” versus “abstinence” at 3, 6, and 12 months endpoints. Participants were telephonically contacted and reminded of follow-up face to face assessments at each endpoint. The participants that failed to answer the phone calls or self-reported discontinuation of treatment and failed to attend the upcoming follow-up session were coded as dropouts. The participants that self-reported continuing treatment, and successfully attended the upcoming follow-up session were coded as either “relapse” or “abstinence”, based on the results of smoking behavior self-reports cross-validated with co-oximetry hemoglobin levels. Multinomial regression models were conducted to test whether temperament and impulsivity measures predicted dropout and relapse relative to abstinence outcomes.Results: Higher scores on temperament dimensions of novelty seeking and reward dependence predicted poorer retention across endpoints, whereas only higher scores on persistence predicted greater relapse. Higher scores on the trait dimension of non-planning impulsivity but not performance on cognitive impulsivity predicted poorer retention. Higher non-planning impulsivity and poorer performance in the Iowa Gambling Task predicted greater relapse at 3 and 6 months and 6 months respectively.Conclusion: Temperament measures, and specifically novelty seeking and reward dependence, predict smoking cessation treatment retention, whereas persistence, non-planning impulsivity and poor decision-making predict smoking relapse.This research was funded by the Occupational Medicine Area (Prevention Service); Department of Personality, Assessment and Psychological Treatment, University of Granada (Spain); and Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad grant (MINICO, ref. # PSI2013-45055-P) for the first and second authors

Synthesis of Al-ZrAl3 nanostructured composites by a colloidal processing route: Mechanical properties by small punch test

[EN]: This work describes a new method to obtain Al-Zr intermetallic nanostructured materials by using a colloidal processing technique. The combination of Al powders and zirconium IV-propoxide (C12H28O4Zr) under controlled conditions results in a metal matrix composite with a homogeneous dispersion of intermetallics. Synthesis was carried out in a tubular furnace under argon and by hot pressing under the same atmospheric conditions. XDR and SEM were used to identify the intermetallic nanoparticles. The Vickers hardness of the ZrAl3 nanocomposites and the mechanical behaviour by small punch test were studied.[ES]: En este trabajo se describe un nuevo método de procesamiento coloidal para obtener materiales nanoestructurados de base aluminio con partículas intermetálicas ZrAl3. A partir de una mezcla controlada en alcohol, de polvos de aluminio con un alcóxido precursor de zirconio (C12H28O4Zr) se obtiene, mediante un tratamiento térmico en un horno convencional con atmósfera controlada o por prensado uniaxial en caliente, un polvo nanoestructurado formado por cristales de aluminio sobre los que cristalizan, de forma homogénea, nanopartículas intermetálicas de ZrAl3. La identificación del intermetálico se efectuó por difracción de rayos X y microscopía electrónica de barrido. El comportamiento mecánico de los materiales nanoestructurados desarrollados se evaluó a partir de ensayos de dureza y mediante el ensayo miniatura de punzonado (EMP). Los resultados muestran que la presencia del intermetálico de zirconio hasta un 1,0 % (en peso) de zirconio aumenta la dureza y rigidez de la matriz de aluminio, al tiempo que incrementa su resistencia mecánica (límite elástico y resistencia a la tracción).M. E. López agradece la financiación recibida por parte de Colciencias, Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia, durante su periodo de estancia en España (Universidad de Oviedo – INCAR/CSIC).Peer reviewe

Estrategias cognitivo-conductuales para el tratamiento de la obesidad

La obesidad es un problema de la salud y está íntimamente relacionado con la aparición de enfermedades tales como diabetes, hipertensión y otros trastornos cardiovasculares. Este artículo examina la eficacia de un programa para el tratamiento de la obesidad que incluye tres tipos de estrategias: cognitivas, conductuales y actividad física. Se aplicó a un grupo de 15 sujetos (grupo experimental). Para evaluar la efectividad del mismo se comparó la pérdida de peso del grupo experimental con la de otros 15 sujetos (grupo control). El objetivo básico fue la adquisición de hábitos alimenticios sanos cuya consecuencia sea la pérdidas significativas de peso