Cash Incentives and Unhealthy Food Consumption

The costs associated with unhealthy food consumption are not only paid by those suffering from overweight but by all members of society in terms of higher costs for social security systems. With this in mind, we study the effectiveness of a tax, a subsidy and cash incentives in reducing unhealthy food consumption. Using an inter-temporal rational choice model with habit, we calibrate and simulate the effect of those policies to US and UK data.  Our findings suggest that cash incentives may be the most effective policy in reducing unhealthy food consumption yet it can be the most costly one. Taxes are relatively ineffective in reducing unhealthy food consumption. Subsidies have the best balance between effectiveness and monetary benefits to the society.    Habit; Junk Food; Overweight; Public Policy; Rational Addiction

Topological Heat Transport and Symmetry-Protected Boson Currents

The study of non-equilibrium properties in topological systems is of practical and fundamental importance. Here, we analyze the stationary properties of a two-dimensional bosonic Hofstadter lattice coupled to two thermal baths in the quantum open-system formalism. Novel phenomena appear like chiral edge heat currents that are the out-of-equilibrium counterparts of the zero-temperature edge currents. They support a new concept of dissipative symmetry-protection, where a set of discrete symmetries protects topological heat currents, differing from the symmetry-protection devised in closed systems and zero-temperature. Remarkably, one of these currents flows opposite to the decreasing external temperature gradient. As the starting point, we consider the case of a single external reservoir already showing prominent results like thermal erasure effects and topological thermal currents. Our results are experimentally accessible with platforms like photonics systems and optical lattices.Comment: RevTeX4 file, color figure

Improved dynamical particle swarm optimization method for structural dynamics

A methodology to the multiobjective structural design of buildings based on an improved particle swarm optimization algorithm is presented, which has proved to be very efficient and robust in nonlinear problems and when the optimization objectives are in conflict. In particular, the behaviour of the particle swarm optimization (PSO) classical algorithm is improved by dynamically adding autoadaptive mechanisms that enhance the exploration/exploitation trade-off and diversity of the proposed algorithm, avoiding getting trapped in local minima. A novel integrated optimization system was developed, called DI-PSO, to solve this problem which is able to control and even improve the structural behaviour under seismic excitations. In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, the methodology is tested against some benchmark problems. Then a 3-story-building model is optimized under different objective cases, concluding that the improved multiobjective optimization methodology using DI-PSO is more efficient as compared with those designs obtained using single optimization.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Exploring The Short-Term Effects Of Probiotic And Prebiotic Supplementation On The Microbiota And Physiology Of Male C57bl/6 Mice

The gut microbiome may play a role in the development of chronic diseases like obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Diets including prebiotics or probiotics can alter the abundance of gut bacterial groups and have subsequent health effects. In this study we wanted to establish a method for comparing the benefits of commercial supplements that alter the microbiota by monitoring fecal microbial profiles in male C57BL/6 mice (n = 24) exposed to 15 days of dietary supplementation. A probiotic diet (VSL#3) and a prebiotic diet (potato starch) were compared to a standard diet (n = 8 for each group). Microbial profiles were obtained through qPCR using group-specific 16S RNA primers. The potato starch group showed higher body weight than the control (p \u3c 0.05), but was similar to the VSL#3 group. The large intestine weight of the potato starch group was higher than the control and the potato starch group (p \u3c 0.05). Food intake remained the same across the groups. Daily water consumption was higher in the VSL#3 group (6.65 ± 1.38 mL) as opposed to the potato starch and the control group (5.55 ± 1.21 mL, 5.54 ± 0.77 mL respectively). Blood glucose levels were similar between all groups. Quantitative PCR data showed higher abundance of bifidobacteria at a significant level compared to control and VSL#3 groups. VSL#3 supplementation was associated with more lactobacillus (p \u3c 0.05) and lower serum LBP levels (p \u3c 0.05) compared to control and potato starch groups. The microbiota changes observed with VSL#3 and potato starch supplementation were mostly consistent with the literature. However, VSL#3 probiotic did not demonstrate the same increase in bifidobacteria as other studies. This may suggest a need for prolonged consumption or combination with a prebiotic like potato starch. Weight increase after potato starch supplementation might have been due to slower digestion. There was a reduction in LBP levels after VSL#3 consumption, which may help prevent inflammation and obesity

Collecting and Pop Culture in the 21st century. From concept art to merchandising

En un mundo globalizado e hipertecnificado, el mercado audiovisual oferta una variedad desmesurada de productos culturales. Para satisfacer su necesidad de inmersión en los universos transmedia, los estudios apuestan por la estatización de sus productos mediante el concept art. Las producciones audiovisuales logran seducir a una sociedad basada en la ligereza y lo efímero. El espectador se ve atrapado en estos mundos fantásticos, pero se siente frustrado al no poder acceder a ellos desde su realidad hostil. Esto justifica la aparición y el consecuente coleccionismo de productos que conecten ambas realidades. Nuestro objeto de estudio es el viaje que comienza con el concept art y culmina con el merchandising: el placebo de una sociedad neobarroca que desea vivir simulacrosIn a global and hyper-technical world, the audiovisual market offers a disproportionate variety of cultural products. To satisfy their need for immersion in the transmedia universes, studios are betting in favor of the aestheticization of their products through “Concept Art”. Audiovisual productions manage to seduce a society based on the light and the ephemeral. The viewer is caught in these fantastic worlds, but he feels frustrated when he cannot access them from his hostile reality. This justifies the appearance and the consequent collection of products that connect both realities. Our object of study is the journey that begins with the concept art and culminates with merchandising: the placebo of a neo-baroque society that wants to live a simulacru

Vectores e xeometría no espazo

Titulación: Grao en Enxeñaría Agrícola e do Medio Rural -- Materia: Matemáticas IEsta segunda unidade didáctica constitúe unha magnífica introdución para comprender a precisión dun argumento matemático e para iniciarse na construción de demostracións, pois combina de xeito moi satisfactorio dous dos elementos da matemática: abstracción e aplicación. O término espazo vectorial provén do estudo dos vectores libres do espazo euclídeo. Aínda que a primeira definición aparece no século XIX cun carácter xeométrico, enseguida víuse que outros moitos conxuntos podían dotarse da estrutura de espazo vectorial. Con todo, a definición axiomática non aparece ata o século XX dada por Peano. É por esta motivación histórica que presentamos a definición axiomática de espazo vectorial, apoiándonos no modelo de espazo vectorial máis intuitivo que coñecemos: o que deriva das nocións físicas de forza e velocidade, para posteriormente introducir axiomáticamente os espazos vectoriales sobre R. Trala introdución clara e suficientemente exemplificada do concepto de subespazo vectorial, continuamos coas definicións de dependencia e independencia linear dun sistema de vectores, que caracterizará o subespazo xenerado por un conxunto de vectores. Posteriormente presentamos os espazos vectoriales de tipo finito como aqueles que posúen un conxunto finito de xeneradores. A partir desta idea, xunto coa de independenza linear, aparece o concepto de base, cuxa existencia está garantida neste marco. Introdúcense as coordenadas dun vector respecto dunha base asociándolle, de xeito único, unha n-upla de elementos de R; para chegar, á definición de dimensión dun espazo vectorial de tipo finito. A partires de aquí, pretendemos centrarnos nos espazos vectoriais R2 e R3 coas operacións habituais, pero poñendo de manifesto sempre a xeneralidade dos conceptos presentados. Así comezamos polo concepto abstracto de produto escalar que da lugar ó de espazo vectorial euclídeo enorma dun vector. Das propiedades da definición abstracta de norma xustificamos a idea de ángulo. Por último, en R3, presentamos o concepto de produto vectorial, para rematar a unidade co recordatorio dos diferentes tipos de ecuacións de rectas en R2 e rectas e planos en R3.Universidade de Santiago de Compostela. Servizo de Normalización Lingüístic

Tolerance to mutations in the foot-and-mouth disease virus integrin-binding RGD region is different in cultured cells and in vivo and depends on the capsid sequence context.

Engineered RNAs carrying substitutions in the integrin receptor-binding Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) region of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) were constructed (aa 141-147 of VP1 capsid protein) and their infectivity was assayed in cultured cells and suckling mice. The effect of these changes was studied in the capsid proteins of two FMDVs, C-S8c1, which enters cells through integrins, and 213hs(-), a derivative highly adapted to cell culture whose ability to infect cells using the glycosaminoglycan heparan sulfate (HS) as receptor, acquired by multiple passage on BHK-21 cells, has been abolished. The capsid sequence context determined infectivity in cultured cells and directed the selection of additional replacements in structural proteins. Interestingly, a viral population derived from a C-S8c1/L144A mutant, carrying only three substitutions in the capsid, was able to expand tropism to wild-type (wt) and mutant (mt)glycosaminoglycan-deficient CHO cells. In contrast, the 213hs(-) capsid tolerated all substitutions analysed with no additional mutations, and the viruses recovered maintained the ability of the 213hs(-) parental virus to infect wt and mt CHO cells. Viruses derived from C-S8c1 with atypical RGD regions were virulent and transmissible for mice with no other changes in the capsid. Substitution of Asp143 for Ala in the C-S8c1 capsid eliminated infectivity in cultured cells and mice. Co-inoculation with a neutralizing monoclonal antibody directed against the type C FMDV RGD region abolished infectivity of C-S8c1 virus on suckling mice, suggesting that FMDV can infect mice using integrins. Sequence requirements imposed for viral entry in vitro and in vivo are discussed

Determinación del flujo eólico en la mesoescala de las Islas Canarias: una contribución práctica para la explotación de energias alternativas

Este trabajo explora la posibilidad de explotar la energía eólica en el ámbito del archipiélago canario. El estudio es llevado a cabo mediante dos tipos de modelos. Se utilizan modelos de gran escala (macrozonales) basados en las ecuaciones de Navier-Stokes para fluido incompresible viscoso y discretieados vía elementos finitos. El análisis de estos modelos permite evaluar las características globales del fluido eólico en la mesoescala sobre la isla -dirección y velocidad del viento-. La información obtenida con los modelos macrozonaies es entonces introducida en modelos de pequeña escala (microeonales) con el objetivo de obtener mapas locales de energía eólica en regiones previamente seleccionadas de la isla. Mediante el análisis de estos modelos se determinan las zonas más rentables energéticamente, en las cuales serán instalados los Sistemas Eólicos Piloto. Se presentan y discuten algunos resultados y mapas de enegía eólica preliminares obtenidos sobre la isla de Gran Canaria.Peer Reviewe

Elementos de contorno p-adaptables en problemas tridimensionales

Se presentan en este artículo los resultados obtenidos con la aplicación de la filosofía de p-convergencia a problemas tridimensionales controlados por la ecuación de Laplace. Se pretende con ello sintetizar las ventajas inherentes a la discretización de contorno y a la jerarquización de las funciones de interpolación