Induction of interleukin-1 alpha production by Porphyromonas gingivalis in mononuclear blood cell cultures from periodontitis patients

The capacity of mononuclear blood cells to produce interleukin-1 alpha (IL-1 alpha) after stimulation with Porphyromonas gingivalis in cell culture was studied. The results obtained with cells from periodontitis patients were compared with those from a control population. The concentration of IL-1 alpha in serum and saliva was also determined and compared with the concentration in mononuclear blood cell cultures. No significant relationship was found between the incidence of periodontitis or severity of the lesions and IL-1 alpha production in the presence of P. gingivalis. Nevertheless, 11 of 30 periodontitis patients, showed levels >30pg/ml of IL-1 alpha in mononuclear blood cell cultures stimulated by P. gingivalis, whereas only three healthy control showed these titers of IL-1 alpha.Nous avons étudiés la production d’interleukine-1 alpha (Il-1 alpha) par des monocytes sanguins en culture après stimulation par Porphyromonas gingivalis. Les résultats observés chez des patients atteints de parodontose ont été comparés avec ceux obtenus chez des témoins. La concentration de Il-1 alpha dans le sérum et la salive a également été comparée avec celle des cultures de monocytes. Nous n’avons pas trouvé de différences significatives entre la sévérité des lésions parodontales et les concentrations d’Il-1 alpha. Cependant, 11 des 30 patients atteints de parodontose présentaient des niveaux d’Il-1 alpha supérieurs à 30 µg/ml, tandis que seulement 3 témoins avaient des niveaux élevés

La siniestralidad laboral y su relación con la productividad y el empleo. Distribución espacial y estacionalidad

Las estadísticas acerca de la siniestralidad laboral en España son utilizadas por todos los agentes sociales, normalmente con escaso rigor, e infiriendo diferentes y variopintas interpretaciones más acordes con sus propios fines u objetivos que con un análisis riguroso. Así encontramos en diferentes medios de comunicación aseveraciones como “la tendencia de los accidentes mortales se ha quebrado...”, “se ha producido un descenso significativo de la siniestralidad en el mes de agosto...”, etc, que si bien son ciertas en un contexto general, pueden ser puestas en duda o relativizadas en contextos más específicos o en un análisis pormenorizado. De este modo, en muchas ocasiones las afirmaciones que se vierten, bien carecen de fundamento, o simplemente no recogen factores o circunstancias que son determinantes de su veracidad. Un somero análisis descriptivo de los datos sobre siniestralidad puede ayudar a comprender mejor el fenómeno, así como a fundamentar los comentarios que posteriormente se realizan sobre el mismo. Analizamos en este trabajo los datos acerca de la siniestralidad laboral en España, desde una perspectiva descriptiva, en el periodo 1.979-2.000, con referencias a su evolución temporal, estacionalidad y distribución espacial, infiriendo finalmente algunas conclusiones acerca de su relación con algunas magnitudes macroeconómicas

Magnetic field-induced dissipation-free state in superconducting nanostructures

A superconductor in a magnetic field acquires a finite electrical resistance caused by vortex motion. A quest to immobilize vortices and recover zero resistance at high fields made intense studies of vortex pinning one of the mainstreams of superconducting research. Yet, the decades of efforts resulted in a realization that even promising nanostructures, utilizing vortex matching, cannot withstand high vortex density at large magnetic fields. Here, we report a giant reentrance of vortex pinning induced by increasing magnetic field in a W-based nanowire and a TiN-perforated film densely populated with vortices. We find an extended range of zero resistance with vortex motion arrested by self-induced collective traps. The latter emerge due to order parameter suppression by vortices confined in narrow constrictions by surface superconductivity. Our findings show that geometric restrictions can radically change magnetic properties of superconductors and reverse detrimental effects of magnetic field

Predicting attitudinal and behavioral responses to COVID-19 pandemic using machine learning

At the beginning of 2020, COVID-19 became a global problem. Despite all the efforts to emphasize the relevance of preventive measures, not everyone adhered to them. Thus, learning more about the characteristics determining attitudinal and behavioral responses to the pandemic is crucial to improving future interventions. In this study, we applied machine learning on the multi-national data collected by the International Collaboration on the Social and Moral Psychology of COVID-19 (N = 51,404) to test the predictive efficacy of constructs from social, moral, cognitive, and personality psychology, as well as socio-demographic factors, in the attitudinal and behavioral responses to the pandemic. The results point to several valuable insights. Internalized moral identity provided the most consistent predictive contribution—individuals perceiving moral traits as central to their self-concept reported higher adherence to preventive measures. Similar was found for morality as cooperation, symbolized moral identity, self-control, open-mindedness, collective narcissism, while the inverse relationship was evident for the endorsement of conspiracy theories. However, we also found a non-negligible variability in the explained variance and predictive contributions with respect to macro-level factors such as the pandemic stage or cultural region. Overall, the results underscore the importance of morality-related and contextual factors in understanding adherence to public health recommendations during the pandemic

National identity predicts public health support during a global pandemic

Changing collective behaviour and supporting non-pharmaceutical interventions is an important component in mitigating virus transmission during a pandemic. In a large international collaboration (Study 1, N = 49,968 across 67 countries), we investigated self-reported factors associated with public health behaviours (e.g., spatial distancing and stricter hygiene) and endorsed public policy interventions (e.g., closing bars and restaurants) during the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic (April-May 2020). Respondents who reported identifying more strongly with their nation consistently reported greater engagement in public health behaviours and support for public health policies. Results were similar for representative and non-representative national samples. Study 2 (N = 42 countries) conceptually replicated the central finding using aggregate indices of national identity (obtained using the World Values Survey) and a measure of actual behaviour change during the pandemic (obtained from Google mobility reports). Higher levels of national identification prior to the pandemic predicted lower mobility during the early stage of the pandemic (r = −0.40). We discuss the potential implications of links between national identity, leadership, and public health for managing COVID-19 and future pandemics

Social and moral psychology of COVID-19 across 69 countries

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all domains of human life, including the economic and social fabric of societies. One of the central strategies for managing public health throughout the pandemic has been through persuasive messaging and collective behaviour change. To help scholars better understand the social and moral psychology behind public health behaviour, we present a dataset comprising of 51,404 individuals from 69 countries. This dataset was collected for the International Collaboration on Social & Moral Psychology of COVID-19 project (ICSMP COVID-19). This social science survey invited participants around the world to complete a series of moral and psychological measures and public health attitudes about COVID-19 during an early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic (between April and June 2020). The survey included seven broad categories of questions: COVID-19 beliefs and compliance behaviours; identity and social attitudes; ideology; health and well-being; moral beliefs and motivation; personality traits; and demographic variables. We report both raw and cleaned data, along with all survey materials, data visualisations, and psychometric evaluations of key variables

Author Correction: National identity predicts public health support during a global pandemic

Correction to: Nature Communications https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-27668-9, published online 26 January 2022

National identity predicts public health support during a global pandemic (vol 13, 517, 2022) : National identity predicts public health support during a global pandemic (Nature Communications, (2022), 13, 1, (517), 10.1038/s41467-021-27668-9)

Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2022.In this article the author name ‘Agustin Ibanez’ was incorrectly written as ‘Augustin Ibanez’. The original article has been corrected.Peer reviewe