A 2-set-up Routley-Meyer Semantics for the 4-valued Relevant Logic E4

The logic BN4 can be considered as the 4-valued logic of the relevant conditional and the logic E4, as the 4-valued logic of (relevant) entailment. The aim of this paper is to endow E4 with a 2-set-up Routley-Meyer semantics. It is proved that E4 is strongly sound and complete w.r.t. this semantics

Gender diversity on boards: Determinants that underlie the proposals for female directors

[Abstract] Although the gender composition of corporate boards and the contribution of female directors to corporate governance have been previously analysed, few studies have investigated the factors that may help contribute to increasing the still scarce presence of women on boards. Therefore, using three-stage least squares (3SLS) estimation on a data panel comprising the 100 largest companies in the world according to the 2019 Fortune Global 500 ranking, including data on (re)election proposals for corporate board members, this research aims to analyse the influence of the number of men's nominations, board interlocks, director tenure, geographical area, the sector to which the firms belong, and the relevance of firms on women's nominations for boards of directors. The results show the factors that facilitate the presence of women on boards. In addition, the different influences that remain in the election of female and male directors when considering factors related to the experience, expertise, and networks of directors or the visibility of firms can also be observed. This study contributes to the knowledge of gender diversity on boards, shedding light on the factors that might lead to gender-balanced boards. It could also help companies and policymakers design strategies to build more egalitarian boards

Reputation, Game Theory and Entrepreneurial Sustainability

Abstract: This manuscript provides a novel approach to reputational management as a driver of entrepreneurial sustainability, using game theory to integrate three dimensions of reputation. First, if the entrepreneur perceives reputation as a risk source, the analysis is framed as a prisoner’s dilemma schema that is solved by protecting against reputational threats from entrepreneurial sustainability. Second, if the entrepreneur perceives reputation as a competitive advantage, the analysis is framed as an innovator’s dilemma that is solved by getting reputational opportunities from entrepreneurial sustainability. Third, if reputation is perceived as a strategic asset, the analysis is framed as a coordination game schema that results in the development of a reputational intelligence skill that has the potential to become crucial for success in entrepreneurial sustainability. Consequently, this manuscript provides an original multidisciplinary analysis of reputational management by relating well-known theoretical results from game theory to organizational realities

On the relativistic origin of the kink effect in the chain of Pb isotopes

We investigate the origin of the kink effect (KE) in the relativistic mean field theory by transforming the single-particle Dirac equation into a Schrodinger-like equation. It is found that relativistic self-consistent effects as well as contributions from the rho meson determine the actual structure of the KE. However, the spin-orbit force generated by the rho meson has no significant influence on the KE.Comment: 11 pages, RevTeX, 3 postscript figs., Phys. Lett.

A mesoscale index to describe the regional ocean circulation around the Balearic Islands

Historical oceanographic surveys carried out around the Balearic Islands (western Mediterranean) suggest two different scenarios for the regional ocean circulation. In one scenario, occurring during cold winters, cool water is formed at intermediate layers (100–300 m) in the Gulf of Lions. This Western Mediterranean Intermediate Water (WIW) usually moves southward reaching the Balearic Channels, deflecting the warmer Levantine Intermediate Water (LIW) coming from the Eastern Mediterranean, and even blocking the Ibiza Channel. On the other hand, during mild winters, less WIW is formed and then LIW flows through the channels, appearing at their characteristic depths. The oceanographic surveys around the Balearic Islands (1985–2004) have provided a qualitative index, indicating the presence or not of WIW in the Ibiza Channel, based on the analyses of θS diagrams. A quantitative index based on mean water temperature between 100 and 300 m depth in the channels may also be defined. Both indexes, the qualitative and the quantitative, give consistent information on WIW presence for the period 1985–2004, however, both are short in time and have gaps in the series. In order to obtain a longer and continuous index for WIW presence and then for regional circulation, air–sea heat fluxes at the Gulf of Lions during winter months were obtained from the meteorological NCEP/NCAR reanalysis dataset and compared with other meteorological data such as surface air temperature. The standardized air temperature anomalies at 1000 hPa in the Gulf of Lions during winter (December–March) has been shown to be the simplest and best indicator of absence/presence of WIW in the Balearic Islands channels in late spring. Values above 1.0 of the standardized temperature anomaly would indicate absence of WIW in the Ibiza Channel. The high correlation obtained with available in-situ oceanographic data allows the use of this index as an indicator of presence of WIW and then of different regional circulation scenarios backwards in time and in those years for which the oceanographic data are missing or scarc

How perceived the soccer coaches the role of sport psychologist: a comparative study

Pese al reconocimiento público y científico del papel que desempeñan las diferentes variables psicológicas en el rendimiento deportivo, existen pocos datos que permitan evidenciar cuál es la percepción que tienen los máximos responsables de la coordinación del trabajo y del entrenamiento deportivo, es decir, los entrenadores, sobre el rol que desempeña el psicólogo del deporte en un deporte tan extendido como es el fútbol. En el presente trabajo, se ha diseñado el Cuestionario de Evaluación de las Ideas Previas de los Entrenadores de Fútbol, aplicándolo a dos muestras de un total de 198 entrenadores de fútbol, durante las temporadas 2003 y 2011. La comparación de los resultados, permite evidenciar cierto patrón de estabilidad en los resultados, si bien se profundiza en las diferencias encontradas, así como en la importancia de superar las barreras manifestadas por los técnicosDespite the scientific and public recognition of the role of psychological variables in athletic performance, there is little evidence to show what is the coaches’ perception on the role played by sport psychologist in a widespread sport like football. In this paper, we have designed the Cuestionario de Evaluación de las Ideas Previas de los Entrenadores de Fútbol, applying it to two samples of 198 football coaches during the 2003 and 2011 seasons. The comparison of results makes evident certain pattern of stability in the results, although the differences in depth, as well as the importance of overcoming the barriers raised by the coachesPese o reconhecimento público e científico do papel que desempenham as diferentes variáveis psicológicas no rendimento desportivo, existem pouco dados que permitam evidenciar qual é a percepção que têm os responsáveis máximos da coordenação do trabalho e do treino desportivo, isto é, os treinadores, sobre o papel que desempenha o psicólogo do desporto num desporto tão divulgado com é o futebol. No presente trabalho, foi criado o Cuestionario de Evaluación de las Ideas Previas de los Entrenadores de Fútbol, sendo este aplicado a duas amostras de um total de 198 treinadores de futebol, durante as temporadas 2003 e 2011. A comparação dos resultados permite evidenciar um certo padrão de estabilidade nos resultados, sendo aprofundadas as diferenças encontradas, assim como a importância de superar as barreiras manifestadas pelos técnicosEl presente estudio se ha desarrollado dentro del marco de dos proyectos de investigación del Plan Nacional I+D+I, del Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación: Ref. DEP2011-27282; y Ref. PSI2011-2700

Detectable clonal mosaicism in blood as biomarker of cancer risk in Fanconi anemia

Altres ajuts: Juan de la Cierva postdoctoral fellowship (JCI-2011-10660); Marató de TV3 (project 464/C/2012)Detectable clonal mosaicism for large chromosomal events has been associated with aging and an increased risk of hematological and some solid cancers. We hypothesized that genetic cancer predisposition disorders, such as Fanconi anemia (FA), could manifest a high rate of chromosomal mosaic events (CMEs) in peripheral blood, which could be used as early biomarkers of cancer risk. We studied the prevalence of CMEs by single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array in 130 FA patients' blood DNA and their impact on cancer risk. We detected 51 CMEs (4.4-159 Mb in size) in 16 out of 130 patients (12.3%), of which 9 had multiple CMEs. The most frequent events were gains at 3q (n = 6) and 1q (n = 5), both previously associated with leukemia, as well as rearrangements with breakpoint clustering within the major histocompatibility complex locus (P = 7.3 × 10-9). Compared with 15?743 age-matched population controls, FA patients had a 126 to 140 times higher risk of detectable CMEs in blood (P < 2.2 × 10-16). Prevalent and incident hematologic and solid cancers were more common in CME carriers (odds ratio [OR] = 11.6, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 3.4-39.3, P = 2.8 × 10-5), leading to poorer prognosis. The age-adjusted hazard risk (HR) of having cancer was almost 5 times higher in FA individuals with CMEs than in those without CMEs. Regarding survival, the HR of dying was 4 times higher in FA individuals having CMEs (HR = 4.0, 95% CI = 2.0-7.9, P = 5.7 × 10-5). Therefore, our data suggest that molecular karyotyping with SNP arrays in easy-to-obtain blood samples could be used for better monitoring of bone marrow clonal events, cancer risk, and overall survival of FA patients

Environmental Cycles, Melatonin, and Circadian Control of Stress Response in Fish

Fish have evolved a biological clock to cope with environmental cycles, so they display circadian rhythms in most physiological functions including stress response. Photoperiodic information is transduced by the pineal organ into a rhythmic secretion of melatonin, which is released into the blood circulation with high concentrations at night and low during the day. The melatonin rhythmic profile is under the control of circadian clocks in most fish (except salmonids), and it is considered as an important output of the circadian system, thus modulating most daily behavioral and physiological rhythms. Lighting conditions (intensity and spectrum) change in the underwater environment and affect fish embryo and larvae development: constant light/darkness or red lights can lead to increased malformations and mortality, whereas blue light usually results in best hatching rates and growth performance in marine fish. Many factors display daily rhythms along the hypothalamus-pituitary-interrenal (HPI) axis that controls stress response in fish, including corticotropin-releasing hormone (Crh) and its binding protein (Crhbp), proopiomelanocortin A and B (Pomca and Pomcb), and plasma cortisol, glucose, and lactate. Many of these circadian rhythms are under the control of endogenous molecular clocks, which consist of self-sustained transcriptional-translational feedback loops involving the cyclic expression of circadian clock genes (clock, bmal, per, and cry) which persists under constant light or darkness. Exposing fish to a stressor can result in altered rhythms of most stress indicators, such as cortisol, glucose, and lactate among others, as well as daily rhythms of most behavioral and physiological functions. In addition, crh and pomca expression profiles can be affected by other factors such as light spectrum, which strongly influence the expression profile of growth-related (igf1a, igf2a) genes. Additionally, the daily cycle of water temperature (warmer at day and cooler at night) is another factor that has to be considered. The response to any acute stressor is not only species dependent, but also depends on the time of the day when the stress occurs: nocturnal species show higher responses when stressed during day time, whereas diurnal fish respond stronger at night. Melatonin administration in fish has sedative effects with a reduction in locomotor activity and cortisol levels, as well as reduced liver glycogen and dopaminergic and serotonergic activities within the hypothalamus. In this paper, we are reviewing the role of environmental cycles and biological clocks on the entrainment of daily rhythms in the HPI axis and stress responses in fish

Spreading fronts of wetting liquid droplets: microscopic simulations and universal fluctuations

We have used kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) simulations of a lattice gas to study front fluctuations in the spreading of a nonvolatile liquid droplet onto a solid substrate. Our results are consistent with a diffusive growth law for the radius of the precursor layer, R ∼ t δ , with δ ≈ 1 / 2 in all the conditions considered for temperature and substrate wettability, in good agreement with previous studies. The fluctuations of the front exhibit kinetic roughening properties with exponent values which depend on temperature T , but become T independent for sufficiently high T . Moreover, strong evidence of intrinsic anomalous scaling has been found, characterized by different values of the roughness exponent at short and large length scales. Although such a behavior differs from the scaling properties of the one-dimensional Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) universality class, the front covariance and the probability distribution function of front fluctuations found in our kMC simulations do display KPZ behavior, agreeing with simulations of a continuum height equation proposed in this context. However, this equation does not feature intrinsic anomalous scaling, at variance with the discrete model.This work was partially supported by Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (MINECO, Spain), Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI, Spain), and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER, EU) through Grants No. PID2020-112936GB-I00 and No. PGC2018-094763-BI00, by the Junta de Extremadura (Spain) and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER, EU) through Grants No. GRU18079 and No. IB20079, and by Comunidad de Madrid (Spain) under the Multiannual Agreement with UC3M in the line of Excellence of University Professors (EPUC3M23), in the context of the 5th Regional Programme of Research and Technological Innovation (PRICIT). J.M.M. was supported by Programa Propio de Investigación a la Investigación de la Universidad de Extremadura through Scolarship No. 1362. P.R.-L. was supported by "AYUDA PUENTE 2021, URJC." Our kMC simulations have been performed in the computing facilities of the Instituto de Computación Científica Avanzada de Extremadura (ICCAEx)