Key Sectors. A New Proposal From Network Theory

The determination of key sectors (Perroux, 1955; Hirschman, 1958) has raised a long tradition of studies in the input-output field. Their analysis allows the identification of those sectors has a high effect in the demand and supply of the system and therefore, they constitute the basis of the growth and development of a territory. With the aim of standing out those sectors with a more relevant position in the economy, we propose from the network theory a definition of centrality that we consider it is new new in the input-output field. This definition is based in the consideration of three complementary characteristics: total effects, mediative effects and inmediate effects. These measures called for us multilevel indicators have the enormous advantage of allowing the comparison between structures of different size and approach the key sector concept thorough a relational and global view.

Avaliação da informação e desinformação em saúde na internet : análise da qualidade e acurácia do conteúdo online utilizando o óleo de coco como modelo

Nos últimos anos, a rápida popularização da Internet proporcionou maior acesso à informação, sendo que, atualmente, é a primeira e uma das principais fontes para obtenção de informações de saúde. Por um lado, o maior alcance ao conhecimento torna os usuários mais aptos a participar ativamente de suas decisões de saúde. Por outro, o conteúdo disponível nas redes circula sem qualquer obrigatoriedade de controle editorial, sendo assim, as informações obtidas são, muitas vezes, imprecisas, inconsistentes, enviesadas e sem concordância com as evidências científicas atuais. Além disso, sabe-se que a população, de um modo geral, apresenta baixa alfabetização em saúde, comprometendo a adequada interpretação e emprego das informações adquiridas. Como consequência, os usuários tornam-se vulneráveis, o que pode acarretar implicações prejudiciais à nível de saúde individual e coletiva. A desinformação em saúde, ou seja, a disseminação de informações erradas, imprecisas e tendenciosas amplificou-se com o uso da internet e decorre de um conjunto complexo de fatores, que vão desde características inerentes à psicologia humana até o forte caráter comercial que permeia todos os espaços de interatividade da rede. A infodemia, isto é, o excesso de informações conflitantes sobre determinado assunto, tem se mostrado um problema de saúde pública e a necessidade de desenvolver formas eficazes de combatê-la tem incentivado novas pesquisas em diversas áreas do conhecimento. O óleo de coco é constituído mais de 90% de gordura saturada, que se relaciona com o aumento do LDL-c, um reconhecido fator de risco cardiovascular. Na última década, baseado em fracas evidências e pressupostos mecanismos de ação envolvendo o ácido láurico, seu principal ácido graxo, propagou-se intensamente na mídia o efeito benéfico do consumo do óleo de coco para a saúde cardiometabólica. Este fenômeno conduziu a um aumento expressivo na popularidade e no consumo mundial do óleo de coco. Portanto, o objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a qualidade e acurácia do conteúdo online disponível sobre o óleo de coco e saúde cardiometabólica que pode ser útil, tanto para desconstruir conceitos distorcidos a respeito deste alimento, bem como contribuir com uma metodologia de pesquisa para futuros estudos infodemiológicos na área da nutrição e definir modelos que ajudem elaborar estratégias de prevenção da desinformação em nutrição. Demonstramos que as informações disponíveis em sites da internet sobre os benefícios do óleo de coco são, de uma maneira geral, tendenciosas, imprecisas e em desacordo com a melhor evidência científica vigente. Além disso, há características das mídias que se relacionam com uma maior qualidade do conteúdo, facilitando a identificação de informações mais precisas e acuradas. Estes dados demonstram a necessidade de um maior número de estudos que auxiliem no preenchimento de lacunas entre as evidências científicas e as informações disponíveis em mídias digitais, direcionando, de forma mais específica e precisa, as iniciativas de saúde pública no combate à desinformação, permitindo a promoção de informações em nutrição que levem o público a realizar escolhas alimentares mais adequadas.Over the last years, the Internet use for health purposes evolved very quickly. Nowadays, it is the first and one of the main sources of health information. Online information can increase patients’ knowledge and engagement in health decisionmaking strategies. However, health information flows without any regulation of editorial control, which facilitates the spread of inaccurate, inconsistent, out of date, biased and in disagreement with the best current evidence-based information. In addition, low levels of health literacy of general population expose them to misinterpretation and inappropriate use of the acquired online information. The increased accessibility provided by the internet made possible misinformation spread faster and further than ever. It occurs as a consequence of a complex set of factors, such as human cognitive variables and strong commercial bias which permeates all web spaces. Infodemic, that is, the epidemic of online misinformation on a given subject, has proven to be a public health issue. The emerging demand to develop effective ways to debunk misinformation has encouraged new researches in several areas of knowledge. Coconut oil consist of more than 90% saturated fat, related to increased LDL-c, a recognized cardiovascular risk factor. In the last decade, based on presumed mechanisms of lauric acid, coconut oil´s main fatty acid, and on some weak evidence, the beneficial effect of coconut oil consumption for cardiometabolic health has been intensely propagated in the Internet. This phenomenon led to a burst of popularity and consumption of coconut oil worldwide. The aim of this study was to assess quality and accuracy of the available online content about coconut oil consumption and cardiometabolic health, which can be useful both to debunk distorted concepts about coconut oil, as well as to contribute with methodologies for future infodemiological studies in nutrition and to define models to develop strategies to prevent future nutritional misinformation. In this study, we demonstrated that information provided online on the benefits of coconut oil for cardiometabolic health is biased and inaccurate and can lead layperson to doubt evidence-based information. Besides, some media features are related to higher quality, facilitating the identification of most accurate information. This study reinforces the need for more research to develop interdisciplinary interventions and targeted strategies for debunk and correct misinformation in a faster and effective way, in order to promote nutritional information that leads the public to make more appropriate food choices

The use of antioxidants as fotoprotector enhancer : a scientific approach

A pele, por constituir uma interface com o meio ambiente e devido a sua função barreira, é considerada um órgão alvo para os efeitos nocivos da luz solar. A ação da radiação ultravioleta sobre a superfície cutânea leva à geração excessiva de radicais livres, os quais estão relacionados a diversas patologias da pele (queimaduras, fotoimunosupressão e fotocarcinogênese) e ao próprio processo de envelhecimento. Tendo em vista os casos crescentes de câncer de pele e outros efeitos adversos da exposição solar crônica, conclui-se que a terapia fotoprotetora atual é insuficiente. De forma a aperfeiçoar a fotoproteção, observa-se, nos últimos anos, um crescente interesse em substâncias com propriedades antioxidantes, capazes de seqüestrar radicais livres, reduzindo os danos oxidativos produzidos na pele e até mesmo com a habilidade de inibir sinais de transdução induzidos pela radiação ultravioleta, que conduzem a diversos processos patológicos e degenerativos. A proposta desta revisão é analisar, com base científica, não só os benefícios, mas também os aspectos negativos de vários antioxidantes de uso tópico passíveis de serem incorporados em formulações fotoprotetoras.The skin, consisting of an interface with the environment and due to its barrier function, is considered a target organ for the noxious effects of the solar light. The action of the ultraviolet radiation on the cutaneous surface leads to an excessive generation of free radicals that are related to several pathologies of the skin (sunburns, photoimunosupression and photocarcinogenesis) and to the aging process. Due to increasing numbers in cases of skin cancer and other adverse effects of the chronic solar exhibition, we may conclude that actual photoprotection therapy is insufficient. In order to improve the photoprotection, it is noticed, in recent years, an increasing interest in substances with antioxidant properties, capable to scavenge free radicals, thus reducing the oxidative damages produced in the skin and yet with the ability to inhibit transduction signs, induced by the ultraviolet radiation, that lead to several pathological and degenerative processes. The proposal of this revision is to analyze, with scientific base, not only the benefits, but also the negative aspects of several antioxidants of topical use susceptible to be incorporated in sunscreens formulations

Dynamic reliability and sensitivity analysis based on HMM models with Markovian signal process

The authors are grateful to three anonymous reviewers and the Editor for many valuable comments and suggestions, which have helped to improve the quality of the article. This work is jointly supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation-State Research Agency through grants numbered PID2020-120217RB-I00 and PID2021-123737NB-I00, and by the Spanish Junta de Andalucia through grant number B-FQM-284-UGR20 and the IMAG Maria de Maeztu, Spain grant CEX2020-001105-/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.The main objective of this paper is to build stochastic models to describe the evolution-in-time of a system and to estimate its characteristics when direct observations of the system state are not available. One important application area arises with the deployment of sensor networks that have become ubiquitous nowadays with the purpose of observing and controlling industrial equipment. The model is based on hidden Markov processes where the observation at a given time depends not only on the current hidden state but also on the previous observations. Some reliability measures are defined in this context and a sensitivity analysis is presented in order to control for false positive (negative) signals that would lead to believe erroneously that the system is in failure (working) when actually it is not. System maintenance aspects based on the model are considered, and the concept of signal-runs is introduced. A simulation study is carried out to evaluate the finite sample performance of the method and a real application related to a water-pump system monitored by a set of sensors is also discussed.Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation-State Research Agency PID2020-120217RB-I00, PID2021-123737NB-I00Junta de Andalucía B-FQM-284-UGR20IMAG Maria de Maeztu, Spain CEX2020-001105-/AEI/10.13039/50110001103

Emotion Recognition in Immersive Virtual Reality: From Statistics to Affective Computing

[EN] Emotions play a critical role in our daily lives, so the understanding and recognition of emotional responses is crucial for human research. Affective computing research has mostly used non-immersive two-dimensional (2D) images or videos to elicit emotional states. However, immersive virtual reality, which allows researchers to simulate environments in controlled laboratory conditions with high levels of sense of presence and interactivity, is becoming more popular in emotion research. Moreover, its synergy with implicit measurements and machine-learning techniques has the potential to impact transversely in many research areas, opening new opportunities for the scientific community. This paper presents a systematic review of the emotion recognition research undertaken with physiological and behavioural measures using head-mounted displays as elicitation devices. The results highlight the evolution of the field, give a clear perspective using aggregated analysis, reveal the current open issues and provide guidelines for future research.This research was funded by European Commission, grant number H2020-825585 HELIOS.Marín-Morales, J.; Llinares Millán, MDC.; Guixeres Provinciale, J.; Alcañiz Raya, ML. (2020). Emotion Recognition in Immersive Virtual Reality: From Statistics to Affective Computing. Sensors. 20(18):1-26. https://doi.org/10.3390/s20185163S126201

Diversity of Cellulolytic Microorganisms Associated with the Subterranean Termite Reticulitermes grassei

Reticulitermes grassei is a subterranean termite species that forages on woody structures of the Iberian Peninsula, and is often a building and crops pest. A total of 23 microorganisms associated with the activity of R. grassei were isolated from colonized ecosystems in southern Spain. They were morphologically and molecularly characterized, with fungi being the most prevalent ones. The fungi showed high values of optimum growth temperature, suggesting that they could be able to survive and develop in warm regions. Their cellulolytic activity was tested in carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) agar, concluding that all fungal isolates produce cellulases, and the enzymatic index (EI) was revealed in CMC agar with Gram’s iodine solution, with Penicillium citrinum showing the highest EI and Trichoderma longibrachiatum the highest mycelial growth rate on CMC. A preliminary microorganism dispersion assay was carried out with the termites, concluding that these insects may have a positive influence on fungal dispersion and the subsequent colonization of new substrates. Our study suggests that fungi associated with R. grassei may potentially be of interest in biotechnological fields such as biofuel production and the food industry

Vitamin E protects against extraskeletal calcification in uremic rats fed high fat diets

Background: High fat diets are implicated in the pathogenesis of metabolic syndrome, obesity and renal disease. Previous studies have revealed that high fat diets promote vascular calcification in uremic rats. Moreover, vitamin E has been shown to prevent uremic calcifications in genetically obese Zucker rats fed standard diet. The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of vitamin E supplementation on the development of extraskeletal calcifications in non-obese (wild type) uremic rats fed high fat diets. Methods: Wistar rats ( n = 32) were preconditioned by feeding either a normal (NF) or high fat (HF) diet for 45 days and subsequently were subjected to 5/6 nephrectomy (Nx). Just before performing the first Nx step, a blood sample (Pre-Nx) was obtained. After Nx rat s were switched to a diet with 0.9% phosphorus and supplemented with calcitriol. Also, after Nx, half of the rats from each group (NF and HF) were treated with vitamin E (VitE) in the diet (30,000 mg/kg) and the ot her half were maintained on basic VitE requirements (27 mg/kg). Thus, rats were allotted to four experimental groups: Nx-NF ( n = 8), Nx-NF-VitE ( n =8),Nx-HF( n =8)and Nx-HF-VitE ( n = 8). At the time of sacrifice (day 66), blood and tissue samples were obtained. Results: Feeding a HF diet for 45 days did not increase body weight but elicited hyperglycemia, hypertriglyceridemia, an increase in plasma fibroblast growth factor 23 and a reduction in plasma calcitriol concentrations. After Nx, rats fed HF diet showed substantial extraskeletal calcification with aortic calcium content that was higher than in rats fed NF diet. Supplementation with VitE significantly ( p < 0.05) reduced aortic (from 38.4 ± 8.8 to 16.5 ± 1.4 mg/g), gastric (from 5.6 ± 2.7 to 1.2 ± 0.4 mg/g) and pulmonary (from 1.8 ± 0.3 to 0.3 ± 0.2 mg/g) calcium content in rats on HF diets. Conclusions: Uremic rats fed HF diets developed more severe extraosseous calcifications than their normocaloric-fed counterparts and dietary VitE supplementation protected against uremic calcifications in rats fed HF diets. Thus, eating energy-rich foods should be discouraged in patients with renal disease and their deleterious effect may be ameliorated with adequate antioxidant suppl

Chronic Vitamin D Intoxication in Captive Iberian Lynx (Lynx pardinus)

To document the biochemical and pathologic features of vitamin D intoxication in lynx and to characterize mineral metabolism in healthy lynx, blood samples were obtained from 40 captive lynx that had been receiving excessive (approximately 30 times the recommended dose) vitamin D3 in the diet, and from 29 healthy free ranging lynx. Tissue samples (kidney, stomach, lung, heart and aorta) were collected from 13 captive lynx that died as a result of renal disease and from 3 controls. Vitamin D intoxication resulted in renal failure in most lynx (n = 28), and widespread extraskeletal calcification was most severe in the kidneys and less prominent in cardiovascular tissues. Blood minerals and calciotropic hormones in healthy lynx were similar to values reported in domestic cats except for calcitriol which was higher in healthy lynx. Changes in mineral metabolism after vitamin D intoxication included hypercalcemia (12.0 ± 0.3 mg/dL), hyperphosphatemia (6.3 ± 0.4 mg/dL), increased plasma calcidiol (381.5 ± 28.2 ng/mL) and decreased plasma parathyroid hormone (1.2 ± 0.7 pg/ mL). Hypercalcemia and, particularly, hyperphosphatemia were of lower magnitude that what has been previously reported in the course of vitamin D intoxication in other species. However, extraskeletal calcifications were severe. The data suggest that lynx are sensitive to excessive vitamin D and extreme care should be taken when supplementing this vitamin in captive lynx diets