Trace elements and C and N isotope composition in two mushroom species from a mine-spill contaminated site

Fungi play a key role in the functioning of soil in terrestrial ecosystems, and in particular in the remediation of degraded soils. The contribution of fungi to carbon and nutrient cycles, along with their capability to mobilise soil trace elements, is well-known. However, the importance of life history strategy for these functions has not yet been thoroughly studied. This study explored the soil-fungi relationship of two wild edible fungi, the ectomycorrhizal Laccaria laccata and the saprotroph Volvopluteus gloiocephalus. Fruiting bodies and surrounding soils in a mine-spill contaminated area were analysed. Isotope analyses revealed Laccaria laccata fruiting bodies were 15N-enriched when compared to Volvopluteus gloiocephalus, likely due to the transfer of 15N-depleted compounds to their host plant. Moreover, Laccaria laccata fruiting bodies δ13C values were closer to host plant values than surrounding soil, while Volvopluteus gloiocephalus matched the δ13C composition to that of the soil. Fungal species presented high bioaccumulation and concentrations of Cd and Cu in their fruiting bodies. Human consumption of these fruiting bodies may represent a toxicological risk due to their elevated Cd concentrations

Gender gap in self-rated health: a cohort perspective in eastern European countries

Background: The relationship between self-rated health and gender differs across countries and generations. The aim of this study is to analyze the effect of socioeconomic conditions on self-rated health from a generational perspective, its differential effect on gender, and its influence on the gender gap in order to explore health diversity using a multidisciplinary approach and considering policy implications in Eastern European countries. Methods: We used data drawn from the European Health Interview Survey for eight Eastern European countries and EUROSTAT from 2006 through to 2009. We conducted multilevel analyses to understand the individual and national health determinants of self-rated health by gender and to determine whether national differences remain after controlling for micro variables. In order to analyze the role of equity (Gini quartile) in gender differences, Oaxaca analyses were used. Results: The self-rated health gender gap increases with age. Individual characteristics, such as educational level or smoking, influence citizens’ perceived health, and have a stronger effect on women than on men. Knowing both the characteristics (endowment effects) and the effects of individual characteristics (coefficient effects) on health is important in order to understand gender gaps among people from the silent generation. Conclusions: Our research indicates that random effects are greater for men than for women. Moreover, random effects might be explained to a certain extent by economic equity (Gini index). The combined effects of gender, cohort, and geographical differences on self-rated health have to be taken into account to develop public health policies. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Contemplative sciences: A future beyond mindfulness

Mindfulness is a psychological technique based on Eastern meditative practices that was developed in the late 1970s by Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts. Initially, there was a debate over whether it should be considered a scientific technique or labelled as part of the new wave practices. Today, mindfulness is omnipresent in modern societies but has suffered from merchandising and banalization, which has been strongly criticized. Despite some limitations regarding methodological aspects of mindfulness research, it is considered effective for treating many physical and psychological disorders, and even it is recommended in clinical guidelines such the British National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. During the last 2500 years, mindfulness practices have moved from Northern India across most of Asia, but their mixing with Western science and culture at the end of the 20(th) century is considered a key event in recent history. For the first time in human history, due to globalization, the wisdom of all contemplative traditions can be shared with all human beings and assessed by science. Mindfulness practices, yoga included, are giving birth to a new field of knowledge, contemplative sciences, which go beyond mindfulness and is devoted to helping humanity to reach higher levels of happiness and mental peace

Luxación Traumática de Cadera en el Niño

La luxación traumática de cadera en el niño es una lesión poco frecuente. Los autores presentan un caso de luxación anterior de cadera en un niño de 4 años producida por traumatismo mínimo. La exploración realizada en urgencias mostró impotencia funcional para la deambulación y gran dolor. El seguimiento ha sido de 18 meses tras los cuales el paciente no presenta complicaciones. Exponen su experiencia en el caso y revisión de la bibliografía.Traumatic hip dislocation of the hip is rare in children. The authors report a case of anterior hip dislocation in a 4-year-old boy who received relatively minor trauma. He was unable to walk and was in severe pain when seen in emergency room. He was followed-up for 18 months and no complications have appeared. They report here their experience with one case and review the literature

Psychometric properties of the mindfulness in teaching scale among Spanish teachers

Mindfulness in the educational field provides several benefits. The assessment of mindfulness is a fundamental previous step for evidence-based interventions. Therefore, the present study aimed to adapt and validate the Mindfulness in Teaching Scale (MTS) among Spanish teachers. This scale comprises 14 items on two dimensions: intrapersonal and interpersonal. The sample comprised 398 teachers (31% males, 68% females) whose ages ranged from 25 to 69 years (M = 44.14; SD = 10.16). Once the scale was adapted in Spanish, we examined its psychometric properties. To do so, we conducted a Confirmatory Factor analysis (CFA), which supported the two-factor structure. As evidence for validity, the MTS scores correlated with perceived teaching self-efficacy. The reliability values using Cronbach’s alpha were good. This scale has adequate psychometric properties and is useful for assessing mindfulness among Spanish teachers. We discuss its implications for the education field

Effectiveness of mindfulness-based stress reduction and attachment-based compassion therapy for the treatment of depressive, anxious, and adjustment disorders in mental health settings: A randomized controlled trial

Objectives: To study the effectiveness of attachment-based compassion therapy (ABCT) for reducing affective distress in a sample of outpatients with depressive, anxiety, or adjustment disorders, and to explore its mechanisms of action. Methods: This randomized controlled trial involved the assessment time points of pretreatment, posttreatment and 6-month follow-up. A total of 90 patients from three mental health units in Castellón, Spain, were recruited and randomly assigned to “ABCT + treatment as usual (TAU), ” “Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) + TAU” or “TAU” alone. Affective distress, as measured by the “Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales” (DASS-21) was the main outcome; self-compassion and mindfulness were also assessed. Multilevel mixed-effects models were used to estimate the effectiveness of the program, and path analyses were conducted to study the potential mechanistic role of mindfulness and self-compassion. Results: ABCT was not superior to MBSR in any outcome or at any assessment point. ABCT was superior to TAU alone both posttreatment (B = -13.20; 95% confidence interval [CI]: -19.57, -6.84) and at 6-month follow-up (B = -7.20; 95% CI: -13.63, -0.76) for reducing DASS-21, and MBSR was superior to TAU alone both posttreatment (B = -11.51; 95% CI: -17.97, -5.05) and at 6-month follow-up (B = -8.59; 95% CI: -15.09, -2.10), with large effects (d = 0.90). Changes produced by ABCT in DASS-21 were mediated by self-compassion, whereas changes produced by MBSR were mediated by both mindfulness and self-compassion. Conclusion: ABCT is effective for reducing affective distress in patients with anxiety, depressive and adjustment disorders, although its effect is not superior to that offered by MBSR. Self-compassion seems to be a significant mediator of the effects of ABCT. © 2021 Wiley Periodicals LL

Vibrational and thermal characterization of seeds, pulp, leaves and seed oil of Rosa rubiginosa

Rosa rubiginosa L. seed oil has been studied for its application in skin care products, but the chemical nature of seeds, pulp and even leaves, apart from that of oil, is also relevant with a view to the application of this weed for biodiesel production. All these vegetal materials were studied by infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) for characterisation purposes. FTIR bands at 3005, 2924, 1740, 1654 and 1456 cm-1 were used to estimate the iodine index, suitable for biofuels, and the oxidation stability degree. From the viewpoint of the thermal stability, both the seed oil (for which pyrolysis occurs at 462°C), the raw seeds and the rosehip pulp (with decomposition temperatures of 373°C and 333°C, respectively) showed potential as a biomass feedstock for conversion into biofuels. Caracterización térmica y vibracional de las semillas, pulpa, hojas y aceite de semillas de Rosa rubiginosa. El aceite de semillas de R. rubiginosa L. ha sido estudiado para su aplicación en productos para el cuidado de la piel, pero la naturaleza química de las semillas, pulpa y hojas, además de la del aceite, también es importante con miras a la aplicación de esta mala hierba para la producción de biodiesel. Los materiales vegetales mencionados se han estudiado mediante espectroscopía infrarroja (FTIR) y calorimetría diferencial de barrido (DSC) con fines de caracterización. Las bandas del espectro infrarrojo en 3005, 2924, 1740, 1654 y 1456 cm-1 han sido utilizadas para estimar el índice de yodo, adecuado para los biocombustibles, y el grado de estabilidad a la oxidación. Desde el punto de vista de la estabilidad térmica, tanto el aceite de semillas (para el que la pirólisis se produce a 462ºC) como las semillas crudas y la pulpa (con temperaturas de descomposición de 373°C y 333°C, respectivamente) mostraron potencial como materia prima de biomasa para su conversión en biocombustibles

Fundamental, Quantitative Traits of the “Sociotype”

In whatever domain of life, from cells to organisms to societies, communicative exchanges underlie the formation and maintenance, and decay, of the emerging collective structures. It can be clearly seen in the human social world. The different classes of social bonds in a complex society revolve around, and are intimately related with, the communicative relationships that every individual entertains—essentially via face-to-face conversation. In the present work we have investigated the fundamental metrics of both social bonds and communicative exchanges along the development of the “sociotype” construct. It is a new approach developed by the authors within the genotype-phenotype-sociotype conceptual triad. The sociotype means the relative constancy, or better the similar fabric, of the social world in which each individual life is developed. In order to ascertain the metrics of the fundamental quantitative traits inherent in the sociotype, a fieldwork involving a total of 1475 individuals (68.59% female, and 49.79 mean age, SD = 21.47) was carried out. The four relational realms of family, friends, work/study, and acquaintances were investigated. The overall results about conversation time (an average of 220 min/day), and about the number of social bonds (an average of 98), differ from previous assumptions, such as Dunbar's number or Killworth's number. Other results about gender, age, and use of social media and Internet contribute to highlight significant differences among the different social segments, and particularly the diminished “sociotype” of the elderly. Finally, it is curious that a non-Gaussian distribution has been obtained for the specific population allotment of these metrics, and intriguingly the Planckian distribution equation (PDE) appears to be a most cogent fit

Validation of the Spanish version of the Multidimensional State Boredom Scale (MSBS)

Background: Boredom, which is a common problem in the general population, has been associated with several psychiatric disorders. The Multidimensional State Boredom Scale (MSBS) was developed, based on a theoretically and empirically grounded definition of boredom, to assess this construct. The aim of the present study was to assess the psychometric properties of the Spanish validated version of the MSBS in a multi-age sample recruited from the general population. Methods: The patients (N = 303) were recruited from primary care settings. In addition to the sociodemographic variables and the MSBS, the General Health Questionnaire 28 items (GHQ-28), Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS), Negative subscale and the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) were administered. We used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to analyse the dimensionality of the MSBS. Cronbach’s a coefficient was used to analyse the internal consistency of the scale. The consistency of the MSBS over time (test-retest reliability) was assessed using the intra-class correlation coefficient. The construct validity was examined by calculating Pearson’s r correlations between the MSBS with theoretically related and unrelated constructs. Cronbach’s a for MSBS was 0.89 (95 % CI, 0.87–0.92), ranging from 0.75 to 0.83 for the 5 subscales. Results: The characteristics of the final sample (N = 303) were that the participants were primarily female (66.77 %) with a mean age of 49.32 years (SD, 11.46) and primarily European (94.71 %). The CFA of the MSBS confirmed that the original five-factor model showed good fit indices: CFI = .96; GFI = .94; SRMR = .05; and RMSEA = .06 [.05–.08]. Cronbach’s a for MSBS was 0.89 (95 % CI, 0.87–0.92), ranging from 0.75 to 0.83 for the 5 subscales. The MSBS showed a test-retest coefficient measured with an ICC of 0.90 (95 % CI, 0.88–0.92). The ICC for the 5 subscales ranged from 0.81 to 0.89. The MSBS showed a significant negative correlation with MAAS and a significant positive correlation with the GHQ (total score and subscales) and PANAS-Negative Affect. Conclusions: The Spanish version of the MSBS has been validated as a reliable instrument for measuring boredom in the general population. This study will facilitate the assessment of boredom for clinical and research purposes in Spanish-speaking populations

An analysis of the similarities in the ATR-FTIR spectra from Argania spinosa, Rosa rubiginosa and Elaeis guineensis oils

The attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) spectra of the essential oil from Rosa rubiginosa L. seeds and the vegetable oils from Argania spinosa L. kernel and Elaeis guineensis Jacq. pulp show important similitudes that hamper their identification by vibrational spectroscopy techniques if they are not complemented with well-established methods such as gas chromatography. Nevertheless, the observed similarities in structure-composition-traditional uses between Argania spinosa and Rosa rubiginosa oils suggest that they could be interchangeable when skin physicians, dermatologic-surgeons or cosmetologists perceive in their practice that one of the oils produces an allergic reaction or other side effects, although further activity studies are needed