Living under threat: psychosocial effects on victims of terrorism.

The fact of being under terrorist threats, such as death threats or intimidations, has psychosocial effects and impacts on victim’s psychosocial functioning. However, little attention has been paid to the study of threatened people through an evidence-based research. This study analyses quantitatively the experience of threatened people within a context of terrorism. Specifically, we want to gain insight into victims’ perceptions of their threatening situation, through participants who were under threat by the Euskadi ta Askatasuna (ETA) (Basque Homeland and Freedom) terrorist group in the Basque Country, Spain. Through a cross-sectional study and Principal component analysis, 87 victims of the ETA terrorist group in the Basque Country were surveyed, during the period of violence. The findings suggested six main psychosocial effects on threatened individuals, comprising issues such as (1) Thought processes and risk perception; (2) Emotional reactions; (3) Circles of vulnerability; (4) Suspicion/distrust; (5) Social interactions and (6) Safety and freedom of movement. In addition, victim’s perception of control was negatively related to the psychosocial effects, in factors 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, respectively. The article discusses and shows implications of the power of threats, along with their effects, as a psychosocial coercion instrument

Preliminary Results from the Experimental Study of CO2-Brine-Rock Interactions at Elevated T & P: Implications for the Pilot Plant for CO2 Storage in Spain

AbstractA new experimental program has been carried out in order to study CO2-brine-rock interactions susceptible to take place in conditions close to those expected in the pilot plant that is being developed in Spain (a carbonate reservoir located at more than 800 m depth, with 15% porosity, and a salinity of the native brine between 20 – 90g/L). The combination of preliminary experimental and numerical modeling (PHREEQC) results suggests that the main geochemical processes are calcite dissolution and anhydrite precipitation

Taxonomy and hierarchy of psychological abuse strategies in intimate partner relationships

This study focuses on the analysis from of a psychosocial perspective of the components of psychological abuse in intimate partner relationships. Following a review of studies on the subject, the main objective that emerged was the need for a new taxonomy of strategies of psychological abuse accompanied by the corresponding operational definitions. After the proposal of this new classification, a second objective emerged that consisted of submitting it for evaluation by a group of experts through a Delphi study, in which thirty-two experts from the academic and professional worlds participated. These experts were asked to assess the suitability of the system categories, and to grade quantitatively the severity of the impact made by each of the strategies on the global phenomenon of psychological abuse in couples. The results show that the experts ratified the new classification of strategies and their operational definitions, thus endorsing their content and construct validity. In addition, they classified the strategies based on their degree of severity; those of an emotional nature were considered the severest, followed by those related to the immediate context, with those of a cognitive type in third place, and lastly, the behavioural ones. Finally, we discuss the results, and their implications. Este estudio se centra en analizar los componentes del abuso psicológico en la violencia de pareja adulta y contra la mujer desde un enfoque psicosocial. Tras realizar una revisión de los estudios sobre el tema, se plantea como primer objetivo el proponer una nueva taxonomía de estrategias de abuso psicológico, acompañadas de sus respectivas definiciones operativas. A partir de esta nueva clasificación, se traza un segundo objetivo que se centra en someter esta clasificación al juicio de un grupo de expertos a través de un estudio Delphi, en el que han participado 32 expertos de los ámbitos académico - universitario y profesional. Estos expertos debían juzgar la adecuación del sistema de categorías, además de evaluar cuantitativamente la severidad que aporta cada una de las estrategias al fenómeno global del abuso psicológico en la pareja. Los resultados muestran que los expertos ratifican la nueva clasificación de estrategias y sus definiciones operativas, avalando así su validez de contenido y constructo. Además, jerarquizaron las estrategias de abuso, atribuyendo mayor severidad a las de tipo emocional, seguidas de las relacionadas con el contexto cercano, de las de tipo cognitivo y las de carácter conductual. Se discuten los resultados, sus limitaciones y las implicaciones que pueden derivarse de ellos

Health related quality of life scales in women diagnosed with gynecological and breast cancer: The role of resilience. A systematic review

Objective: Resilience and health-related quality of life are factors to be valued today in all types of patients for their relationship to well-being and health. Any stressful situation can significantly impact quality of life and resilience and there are numerous scales to rate these aspects. The main objective of this review is to describe the most used health-related quality of life and resilience scales in gynecological and breast cancer patients to highlight the limitations. Data sources: A review of literature in Pubmed, MEDLINE, Cochrane Database and Google Scholar was carried out to identify articles on health-related quality of life in oncological patients published in English between 2000 and 2020. Methods of study selection: The review was done following the PRISMA guidelines. Tabulation: A total of 460 papers were identified using MeSH terms but finally, according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, we evaluated 41. Integration and results: Questionnaires have a good performance to quantify quality of life and resilience in oncological patients in general. However, most publications were not focused on patients with gynecological cancer. Conclusions: Due to the particularities of the group of patients with gynecologic and breast cancer secondary to their treatment significantly affecting several areas and domains, it is necessary to validate specific scales for them in order to offer these patients the correct management of their disease at all levels. The role of resilience, premature and iatrogenic menopause and mutilating surgeries are essential to understand the uniqueness of health-related quality of life in gynecological and breast cancer patients. ©2021 The Author(s)

La Cueva de Castañar y su centro de interpretación

Comunicación presentada en Cuevatur 2016: VI Congreso Español sobre Cuevas Turísticas, Nerja (Málaga), 2016.[ES] La Cueva de Castañar constituye una cavidad única tanto por la variedad de minerales y formas de sus espeleotemas, como por el tono rojizo de sus paredes. Estas dos características responden a las características de los materiales sobre los que se desarrolla la cueva. Son materiales correspondientes al Ediácarico (635-541 M.a.), que incluyen una amplia variedad de rocas (dolomías, magnesitas, pizarras y areniscas). Estos materiales, muy ricos en magnesio y sílice, son los que se disuelven y alteran para dar lugar a la formación de la cavidad y de sus espeleotemas. La alteración de las pizarras y areniscas, la disolución de las dolomías y magnesitas y la infiltración de arcillas desde el suelo dan lugar a la formación de un fino tapiz de color rojo intenso que se deposita sobre las paredes de la cueva, sobre el que muchas veces nuclean los espeleotemas. La disolución de las dolomías y magnesitas aporta mucho magnesio a las aguas que circulan por la cueva, lo cual favorece la formación no sólo de calcita (que es lo habitual), sino también de aragonito. Pero además la composición de las aguas no se ha mantenido constante, lo que ha favorecido que se produjeran muchas transformaciones entre los minerales ya formados. En definitiva, el amplio espectro mineralógico y las variadas transformaciones mineralógicas que se observan en la cueva, hacen de esta un laboratorio natural y por tanto una cavidad única, que se debe conocer, para así poderla conservar en las mejores condiciones posibles. Estas condiciones son las que hacen que el número de visitantes sea muy limitado, por ello el Centro de Interpretación inaugurado en 2010, cumple sobradamente la labor de dar a conocer los valores únicos de la Cueva de Castañar.[EN] Castañar Cave is a unique cavity due to the variety and morphology of the speleothems it contains, as well as to the red colour of their walls. These characteristics are due to the hostrocks in which it developed, Ediacaric (635-541 M.a) dolostones, magnesites and siliciclastic rocks. These materials very rich in Mg and silica, weather and dissolve to give place to the formation of the cavity and their speleothems. The weathering of the siliciclastic rocks, the dissolution of dolostones and magnesites and the infiltration of the clays from the overlying soil, allows the formation of a thin red (clays and Fe-oxides) layer that coats the cavity, and constitute the nucleation site for many speleothems. The dissolution of dolostones and magnesites supplies Mg to the cave waters enabling the formation not only of calcite, but also aragonite and dolomite (which are rarer in caves). In addition water cave composition has changed over time, allowing many transformations between the previously formed minerals. When relatively more dilute waters prevail aragonite transforms into calcite or even both can dissolve, forming the large pores visible in some speleothems. On the contrary Mg-rich minerals (huntite, dolomite and Mg-rich clays) form in more concentrated waters. In short, the wide mineralogical spectra and their transformations make this cave a unique cavity and a natural lab, whose detailed study will help to preserve it under the best possible conditions. This is why the number of visitors is very limited; however the renewed Centro de Interpretación shows in great detail the characteristics of the Castañar Cave.Este trabajo se incluye en los proyectos: “Estudio ambiental y geológico del Monumento Natural Cueva de Castañar”, financiado por fondos FEADER (contrato Gobierno de Extremadura y CSIC) y CGL2014-54818P del MINECO.Peer reviewe

La Comarca de Las Villuercas

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Lipin-1 integrates lipid synthesis with proinflammatory responses during TLR activation in macrophages

Lipin-1 is a Mg2+-dependent phosphatidic acid phosphatase involved in the de novo synthesis of phospholipids and triglycerides. Using macrophages from lipin-1-deficient animals and human macrophages deficient in the enzyme, we show in this work that this phosphatase acts as a proinflammatory mediator during TLR signaling and during the development of in vivo inflammatory processes. After TLR4 stimulation lipin-1-deficient macrophages showed a decreased production of diacylglycerol and activation of MAPKs and AP-1. Consequently, the generation of proinflammatory cytokines like IL-6, IL-12, IL-23, or enzymes like inducible NO synthase and cyclooxygenase 2, was reduced. In addition, animals lacking lipin-1 had a faster recovery from endotoxin administration concomitant with a reduced production of harmful molecules in spleen and liver. These findings demonstrate an unanticipated role for lipin-1 as a mediator of macrophage proinflammatory activation and support a critical link between lipid biosynthesis and systemic inflammatory responses.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Grants SAF2007-60055, SAF2010-18831, and BFU2010-18826) and the Regional Government of Castile and Leon (Grants BIO39/VA04/10 and CSI168A12-1). L.P. and G.L. were supported by predoctoral fellowships from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Plan de Formación de Personal Investigador and Plan de Formación de Profesorado Universitario programs). M.V. was supported by a predoctoral fellowship from the Regional Government of Castile and Leon. E.E. was supported by a predoctoral fellowship from the Spanish National Research Council (Junta de Ampliación de Estudios Program). C.G. was supported by a predoctoral fellowship from the University of Valladolid.Peer Reviewe

A phylogenetic study of covid-19 data from Aragon and Catalonia over a year: learning bioinformatics during a world pandemic

Presentamos aquí un análisis de variabilidad durante un año del virus SARS-CoV-2 en el área de Aragón, comparándolo con la vecina Cataluña y centrándonos en la variante del Reino Unido. La investigación se realizó dentro de un curso de Bioinformática. Se extrajeron tanto una evaluación detallada sobre el valor de esta metodología como conclusiones novedosas de la investigación

Superplastic deformation of directionally solidified nanofibrillar Al2O3-Y3Al5O12-Zr O2 eutectics

Nanofibrillar Al2O3–Y3Al5O12–ZrO2 eutectic rods were manufactured by directional solidification from the melt at high growth rates in an inert atmosphere using the laser-heated floating zone method. Under conditions of cooperative growth, the ternary eutectic presented a homogeneous microstructure, formed by bundles of single-crystal c-oriented Al2O3 and Y3Al5O12 (YAG) whiskers of ˜100 nm in width with smaller Y2O3-doped ZrO2 (YSZ) whiskers between them. Owing to the anisotropic fibrillar microstructure, Al2O3–YAG–YSZ ternary eutectics present high strength and toughness at ambient temperature while they exhibit superplastic behavior at 1600 K and above. Careful examination of the deformed samples by transmission electron microscopy did not show any evidence of dislocation activity and superplastic deformation was attributed to mass-transport by diffusion within the nanometric domains. This combination of high strength and toughness at ambient temperature together with the ability to support large deformations without failure above 1600 K is unique and shows a large potential to develop new structural materials for very high temperature structural applications

Lipin-2 reduces proinflammatory signaling induced by saturated fatty acids in macrophages

Lipin-2 is a member of the lipin family of enzymes, which are key effectors in the biosynthesis of lipids. Mutations in the humanlipin-2 gene are associated with inflammatory-based disorders; however, the role of lipin-2 in cells of the immune system remains obscure. In this study, we have investigated the role of lipin-2 in the proinflammatory action of saturated fatty acids in murine and human macrophages. Depletion of lipin-2 promotes the increased expression of the proinflammatory genes Il6, Ccl2, and Tnfα, which depends on the overstimulation of the JNK1/c-Jun pathway by saturated fatty acids. In contrast, overexpression of lipin-2 reduces the release of proinflammatory factors. Metabolically, the absence of lipin-2 reduces the cellular content of triacylglycerol in saturated fatty acid-overloaded macrophages. Collectively, these studies demonstrate a protective role for lipin-2 in proinflammatory signaling mediated by saturated fatty acids that occurs concomitant with an enhanced cellular capacity for triacylglycerol synthesis. The data provide new insights into the role of lipin-2 in human and murine macrophage biology and may open new avenues for controlling the fatty acid-related low grade inflammation that constitutes the sine qua non of obesity and associated metabolic disorders. © 2012 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.This work was supported in part by Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation Grants SAF2010-18831 and BFU2010-18826 and Regional Government of Castile and Leon Grant BIO39/VA04/10. Supported by a predoctoral fellowship from the Regional Government of Castile and Leon, Spain. Supported by a predoctoral fellowship from the Spanish National Research Council (Junta de Ampliación de Estudios Program). Supported by a predoctoral fellowship from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation.Peer Reviewe