Cómo mejorar la comprensión y comunicación de información sobre riesgos médicos y salud

Informed and shared decision making require that people understand health risks. Unfortunately, many people are not risk literate and are biased by common risk communication practices. In this talk, we review a collection of studies investigating the benefits of visual aids for communicating health risks to diverse vulnerable individuals (e.g., varying in abilities, ages, risk characteristics, and cultural backgrounds). Studies show that appropriately designed visual aids are often highly effective, transparent, and ethically desirable tools for improving decision making, changing attitudes, and reducing risky behavior. Theoretical mechanisms, open questions, and emerging applications are discussedUniversidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Els assentaments andalusins al migjorn de Menorca

Abstract not availabl

Towards a feminist politics of desire: Caring, resisting, and becoming. Review of the book Feminism and vital politics of depression and recovery (Simone Fullagar, Wendy O'Brien & Adele Pavlidis, 2019)

Biomedical imaginaries on mental disorders are generally based on linear structures of causal connections focused on the individual agency of recovery. Those usually don't include the critical contributions by feminist researchers that have largely proposed different connections between women's social and emotional lives, mental health diagnosis and forms of gender discrimination, inequality, violence and abuse suffered by women in both public and private spheres (Appignanesi, 2011; Chandler, 2016; McDermott & Roen, 2016; Stone & Kokanovic, 2016; Stoppard, 2000; Ussher, 1991; Wiener, 2005 in Fullagar, O'Brien & Pavlidis, 2019). Feminism and vital politics of depression and recovery by Simone Fullagar, Wendy O'Brien and Adele Pavlidis (2019) is an invitation to reconfigure discourses, imaginaries and narratives on mental health from a new materialist approach, by moving beyond individual problems to collective experiences that shape a feminist ethos. The authors invite readers "to engage with this book as a co-constituted process of reading-writing through visceral connections guts, brains, hearts, skin, words, images, surfaces to explore how gender matters" (Fullagar, O'Brien & Pavlidis, 2019, p. 1)

De puertas para dentro

El hogar nos conforma como seres sociales, es aquel lugar en el que crecemos y que consideramos nuestro o el que rechazamos. De puertas para dentro es un proyecto que se centra en el espacio doméstico y su repercusión en las personas que lo habitan. A este acercamiento a la casa se le dota de un cáriz personal, con perspectiva vivencial y, por ende, de género. Hacemos un recorrido desde el objeto doméstico al espacio doméstico, entendiendo los materiales y espacios como condensadores de tiempo que se tienden al pasado o al presente. Se pasan estos elementos por un filtro personal sintetizando las formas y relacionando ruinas, objetos nuevos y creación literaria

“Necessary fantasy”: The Presence of Fantastic in John Banville’s Birchwood and Mefisto

Entre os muitos aspectos presentes na escrita de John Banville, o fantástico se destaca. A esse respeito, dois de seus romances, demonstram ter material significativo para análise: Birchwood (1973) e Mefisto (1986). Além da repetição de temas como o duplo e a busca por uma força organizadora no mundo, a presença de irmãos gêmeos é outra semelhança relevante nos romances. Além disso, as teorias do fantástico certamente enriquecem a interpretação desses romances e contribuem para uma perspectiva diferente a respeito do fantástico na Irlanda. Como país natal de Banville, a Irlanda influenciou sua escrita, e por causa da prática de longa data dessa nação com a literatura fantástica e gótica, Birchwood e Mefisto podem ser considerados uma expressão contemporânea dessas tradições. As noções de fantástico quando inseridas no contexto irlandês fornecem uma análise valiosa dos romances de John Banville e uma maior compreensão da literatura irlandesa.Among the many aspects of John Banville’s writing, the fantastic is underscored. In this respect, two of his novels reveal significant material for analysis: Birchwood (1973) and Mefisto (1986). Besides the repetition of themes such as the double and the search for an organizing force in the world, the presence of twin siblings is another interesting similarity of the novels. In addition, theories of the fantastic will certainly enrich the interpretation of these novels and contribute to a different perspective of the fantastic in Ireland. As Banville’s home country, Ireland has influenced his writing and because of this nation’s long practice of fantastic and gothic literature, Birchwood and Mefisto can be considered a contemporary expression of these traditions. The notions of the fantastic added to the Irish context provide a valuable analysis of John Banville’s novels and a greater understanding of Irish literature

Visual aids improve diagnostic inferences and metacognitive judgment calibration

Visual aids can improve comprehension of risks associated with medical treatments, screenings, and lifestyles. Do visual aids also help decision makers accurately assess their risk comprehension? That is, do visual aids help them become well calibrated? To address these questions, we investigated the benefits of visual aids displaying numerical information and measured accuracy of self-assessment of diagnostic inferences (i.e., metacognitive judgment calibration) controlling for individual differences in numeracy. Participants included 108 patients who made diagnostic inferences about three medical tests on the basis of information about the sensitivity and false-positive rate of the tests and disease prevalence. Half of the patients received the information in numbers without a visual aid, while the other half received numbers along with a grid representing the numerical information. In the numerical condition, many patients–especially those with low numeracy–misinterpreted the predictive value of the tests and profoundly overestimated the accuracy of their inferences. Metacognitive judgment calibration mediated the relationship between numeracy and accuracy of diagnostic inferences. In contrast, in the visual aid condition, patients at all levels of numeracy showed high-levels of inferential accuracy and metacognitive judgment calibration. Results indicate that accurate metacognitive assessment may explain the beneficial effects of visual aids and numeracy–a result that accords with theory suggesting that metacognition is an essential part of risk literacy. We conclude that well-designed risk communications can inform patients about healthrelevant numerical information while helping them assess the quality of their own risk comprehension.The current research was funded by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (Spain) (PSI2011-22954 and PSI2014-51842-R), the National Science Foundation (USA)(SES-1253263), and the Swiss National Science Foundation (100014_140503)

End-group functionalization of poly(2-oxazoline)s using methyl bromoacetate as initiator followed by direct amidation

Poly(2-alkyl/aryl-2-oxazoline)s (PAOx) are an alluring class of polymers for many applications due to the broad chemical diversity that is accessible for these polymers by simply changing the initiator, terminating agent and the monomer(s) used in their synthesis. Additional functionalities (that are not compatible with the cationic ring-opening polymerization) can be introduced to the polymers via orthogonal post-polymerization modifications. In this work, we expand this chemical diversity and demonstrate an easy and straightforward way to introduce a wide variety of functional end-groups to the PAOx, by making use of methyl bromoacetate (MeBrAc) as a functional initiator. A kinetic study for the polymerization of 2-ethyl-2-oxazoline (EtOx) in acetonitrile (CH3CN) at 140 degrees C revealed relatively slow initiation and slower polymerization than the commonly used initiator, methyl tosylate (MeOTs). Nonetheless, well-defined polymers could be obtained with MeBrAc as initiator, yielding polymers with near-quantitative methyl ester end-group functionality. Next, the post-polymerization modification of the methyl ester end-group with different amines was explored by introducing a range of functionalities, i.e. hydroxyl, amino, allyl and propargyl end-groups. The lower critical solution temperature (LCST) behavior of the resulting poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline)s was found to vary substantially in function of the end-group introduced, whereby the hydroxyl group resulted in a large reduction of the cloud point transition temperature of poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline), ascribed to hydrogen bonding with the polymer amide groups. In conclusion, this paper describes an easy and fast modular approach for the preparation of end-group functionalized PAOx

Segregated Fields. Castilian and Morisco Peasants in Moclón (Málaga, Spain, 16th century)

The aim of this paper is to analyse the distribution of the agricultural fields in the alquería of Moclón (Málaga. Spain) after the Castilian conquest of 1485. Moclón was populated by seven morisco neighbours and five Castilian settlers during the 16th century, until the expulsion of the Moriscos in 1570. The study of written evidence and the archaeological survey have permitted us to locate the fields of both communities. Clearly, there were segregated areas of irrigated and dry fields. The internal distribution of the Moriscos’ fields is also analysed. Finally, some explanations for this segregation are put forward

The Risks We Dread: A Social Circle Account

What makes some risks dreadful? We propose that people are particularly sensitive to threats that could kill the number of people that is similar to the size of a typical human social circle. Although there is some variability in reported sizes of social circles, active contact rarely seems to be maintained with more than about 100 people. The loss of this immediate social group may have had survival consequences in the past and still causes great distress to people today. Therefore we hypothesize that risks that threaten a much larger number of people (e.g., 1000) will not be dreaded more than those that threaten to kill “only” the number of people typical for social circles. We found support for this hypothesis in 9 experiments using different risk scenarios, measurements of fear, and samples from different countries. Fear of risks killing 100 people was higher than fear of risks killing 10 people, but there was no difference in fear of risks killing 100 or 1000 people (Experiments 1–4, 7–9). Also in support of the hypothesis, the median number of deaths that would cause maximum level of fear was 100 (Experiments 5 and 6). These results are not a consequence of lack of differentiation between the numbers 100 and 1000 (Experiments 7 and 8), and are different from the phenomenon of “psychophysical numbing” that occurs in the context of altruistic behavior towards members of other communities rather than in the context of threat to one's own community (Experiment 9). We discuss several possible explanations of these findings. Our results stress the importance of considering social environments when studying people's understanding of and reactions to risks

Controlling macromolecular and supramolecular architectures based on poly(2-oxazoline)s

The evolution of human civilization is based on finding new materials and devising new tools to control the environment. The paradigm that prevailed throughout history was creating materials adapted to a specific function that would be as immutable as possible from the outside world. In a way, mankind was thus walking against the natural forces. However, our current understanding of nature and the chemistry behind its marvels, is rapidly shifting this paradigm towards a more subtle and intelligent approach. Now, we focus our efforts not on immobile materials adapted to a function, but on materials that embrace the function and can adapt to an evolving environment. The development of living and controlled polymerization techniques has empowered us with the necessary tools to realize these responsive functional materials, in analogy to the strategies found in natural systems. Controlling the synthesis of defined polymers allows us to establish structure-property relationships to drive the polymeric chains into functional conformations at the nanoscale, in analogy to natural polymers, such as proteins and DNA. The biomedical field has been the first scientific area taking advantage from these new polymer-based materials, as has been reviewed in the introductory chapter of this thesis. As has been seen, poly(2-alkyl/aryl-2-oxazoline)s (PAOx) will have a preeminent role to play in this new rapid development, and research has already resulted in chemistries to produce safer implants, more effective tablets, convenient tissue tapes, or advanced targeted therapies, some of them soon to be realized in the first commercial products. Notwithstanding the importance of devising new applications and functionalities, screening recent PAOx literature reveals the scarcity of recent papers devoted to the detailed study of polymer synthesis and its effect on composition or molecular weight distribution. This is especially evident in literature regarding PEI synthesis. Therefore, in the course of this thesis, the synthesis and functionalization of PAOx have been studied in detail, with the aim of optimizing their preparation in a fast and reproducible manner. In addition, the synthesis of PEI from the selective or partial hydrolysis of PAOx has been investigated, resulting in useful methodologies to obtain vectors for gene-delivery and to facilitate the expansion of the PAOx structural and functional versatility. These topics are covered in Chapters 2 and 3 of this thesis. As stated earlier, understanding the structure-property relationships that dictate polymer conformational changes into complex architectures at the nanoscale is of major importance to develop responsive and functional materials. Therefore, in Chapter 3, the composition of amphiphilic block copolymers based on PAOx-polycarbonates, the latter chosen as biodegradable polymer block, is varied to modulate their self-assembly in solution. A wide range of morphologies were obtained, from star-shaped to crew-cut micelles and polymersomes, the structure-property relationships were investigated to enable rational design of novel vehicles for drug delivery or diagnostics. The second part of this thesis focuses on the development of smart materials that are able to respond to environmental changes in solution. In Chapter 4, a new functionalization strategy was developed to enable straightforward grafting of PAOx onto gold surfaces, with potential uses in the development of highly sensitive sensing devices. These novel PAOx were used to synthesize PAOx-gold nanoparticle (AuNP) hybrids that exhibited dual responsiveness to temperature and to the presence of electrolytes in solution, resulting in colorimetric logic gates. Importantly, the responsiveness and thermal trigger input signal could be tuned by variation of the PAOx composition. The ability of PAOx to respond to temperature was further exploited in combination with supramolecular hosts in aqueous solution. Surprisingly, to the best of our knowledge there is no systematic study dedicated to the modulation of a thermoresponsive polymer phase transition temperature by using supramolecular host-guest interactions. The reported systems generally utilize ill-defined polymers synthesized by free-radical polymerization, which hampers the establishment of structure-property relationships, and do not include detailed evaluation of the influence of the macromolecular host on the self-assembly behavior of the system. To shed light onto this fascinating field, we performed a systematic study of the thermoresponsive properties of a series of well-defined PAOx amphiphilic copolymers in combination with various macromolecular hosts. The temperature triggered transition temperature of the copolymers could be tuned in an extraordinarily broad temperature range. More importantly, these detailed investigations allowed us to establish structure-property relationships that permit the control on the reversibility of the transition, and to record thermal information in the supramolecular structures. This research, in which the synergy of polymer and supramolecular chemistry is highlighted, is covered in Chapters 5 and 6 of the thesis