Attitudes of students of a health sciences university towards the extension of smoke-free policies at the university campuses of Barcelona

OBJECTIVE: To assess attitudes towards the extension of outdoor smoke-free areas on university campuses. METHODS: Cross-sectional study (n=384) conducted using a questionnaire administered to medical and nursing students in Barcelona in 2014. Information was obtained pertaining to support for indoor and outdoor smoking bans on university campuses, and the importance of acting as role models. Logistic regression analyses were performed to examine agreement. RESULTS: Most of the students agreed on the importance of health professionals and students as role models (74.9% and 64.1%, respectively) although there were statistically significant differences by smoking status and age. 90% of students reported exposure to smoke on campus. Students expressed strong support for indoor smoke-free policies (97.9%). However, only 39.3% of participants supported regulation of outdoor smoking for university campuses. Non-smokers (OR=12.315; 95% CI: 5.377-28.204) and students ≥22 years old (OR=3.001; 95% CI: 1.439-6.257) were the strongest supporters. CONCLUSIONS: The students supported indoor smoke-free policies for universities. However, support for extending smoke-free regulations to outdoor areas of university campuses was limited. It is necessary to educate students about tobacco control and emphasise their importance as role models before extending outdoor smoke-free legislation at university campuses

AMPK and GCN2-ATF4 signal the repression of mitochondria in colon cancer cells

Reprogramming of energetic metabolism is a phenotypic trait of cancer in which mitochondrial dysfunction represents a key event in tumour progression. In the present study, we show that the acquisition of the tumour-promoting phenotype in colon cancer HCT116 cells treated with oligomycin to inhibit ATP synthase is exerted by repression of the synthesis of nuclear-encoded mitochondrial proteins in a process that is regulated at the level of translation. Remarkably, the synthesis of glycolytic proteins is not affected in this situation. Changes in translational control of mitochondrial proteins are signalled by the activation of AMPK (AMP-activated protein kinase) and the GCN2 (general control non-derepressible 2) kinase, leading also to the activation of autophagy. Changes in the bioenergetic function of mitochondria are mimicked by the activation of AMPK and the silencing of ATF4 (activating transcription factor 4). These findings emphasize the relevance of translational control for normal mitochondrial function and for the progression of cancer. Moreover, they demonstrate that glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation are controlled at different levels of gene expression, offering the cell a mechanistic safeguard strategy for metabolic adaptation under stressful conditions.</jats:p

Photocatalytic Performance of Titanates with Formula MTiO3 (M= Fe, Ni, and Co) Synthesized by Solvo-Combustion Method

This work reports the synthesis of a variety of materials with an ilmenite-type structure MTiO3 formula, where M= Fe, Co, and Ni, these materials were synthesized by the method of solvo-combustion, a simple and rapid method. These materials were characterized by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), FT-IR spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA/DTA), surface area determination by the BET method and analysis of particle size. The photocatalytic activity was measured in the degradation reactions of Rhodamine B (rhB) and tetracycline (TC). The results show that the crystallinity and surface area are factors that influence significantly on the photocatalytic activity of the synthesized titanates. Keywords: Non-aqueous solution, Characterization, Titanates, solvo-combustion, organic pollutants, photocatalysi

A new approach to truncated regression for count data

Standard Poisson and negative binomial truncated regression models for count data include the regressors in the mean of the non-truncated distribution. In this paper, a new approach is proposed so that the explanatory variables determine directly the truncated mean. The main advantage is that the regression coefficients in the new models have a straightforward interpretation as the effect of a change in a covariate on the mean of the response variable. A simulation study has been carried out in order to analyze the performance of the proposed truncated regression models versus the standard ones showing that coefficient estimates are now more accurate in the sense that the standard errors are always lower. Also, the simulation study indicates that the estimates obtained with the standard models are biased. An application to real data illustrates the utility of the introduced truncated models in a hurdle model. Although in the example there are slight differences in the results between the two approaches, the proposed one provides a clear interpretation of the coefficient estimates

Social interaction diagrams analysis in virtual contexts for a reinterpretation of relationships at the school

Las Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación (TIC) se han convertido en recursos comunicativos que permiten múltiples formas de relaciones interpersonales. En la Sociedad del Conocimiento, donde las TIC juegan un papel fundamental, las interacciones sociales no sólo afectan a los contextos presenciales, sino también a los virtuales. Diversos estudios han analizado las frecuencias de interacción virtual y su relación con las relaciones interpersonales presenciales. Sin embargo, hay una falta de información sobre la manera de los jóvenes interactúan en el contexto virtual, sus objetivos y la influencia de otros actores. Un estudio reciente analiza el papel de las TIC y las redes sociales en los hábitos de comunicación social en las relaciones sociales de estudiantes españoles de Secundaria, con especial énfasis en la influencia de los amigos y la red de contactos. ¿Interaccionamos realmente con todos estos contactos? ¿Dónde están los límites de la calidad de la interacción social de los jóvenes? Estas y otras preguntas son respondidas en este trabajo, mediante el uso de mapas de interacción social en la presencialidad y la virtualidad, a partir de las relaciones identificadas por los alumnos de Educación Secundaria. Para concluir, a partir del análisis e interpretación de estos mapas de interacción se realiza una reinterpretación de las relaciones en la escuela y las implicaciones educativas que estas pueden poner de manifiesto.The Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have emerged as communicative resources which allow multiple ways of interpersonal relations. In the Society of Knowlegdge, where ICTs play a fundamental role, social interactions are not only subjected to present contexts but also to virtual ones. Several works have analyzed the frequencies of virtual interaction and their relation with the present interpersonal relations. However, there is a lack of information about the way young people interact in the virtual context, their objectives and the influence of other actors. A recent study analyzes the role of ICT's and social networks in the communication habits ans social relations in spanish students of Secondary School, with special emphasis on their influence of the friends and contacts network. Do we actually interact with all our contacts? Where are the limits of the social interaction quality in young people? These and other questions are answered in this work, using social interaction maps in the presence and technological spheres, using the information obtained from students of Secondary School level. This study allows re-interprete the relationships at school and their educative implications

Validation of a measurement scale for the relationship between the orientation to corporate social responsibility and other business strategic variables

The importance of Social Responsibility (SR) is higher if this business variable is related with other ones of strategic nature in business activity (competitive success that the company achieved, performance that the firms develop and innovations that they carries out). The hypothesis is that organizations that focus on SR are those who get higher outputs and innovate more, achieving greater competitive success. A scale for measuring the orientation to SR has defined in order to determine the degree of relationship between above elements. This instrument is original because previous scales do not exist in the literature which could measure, on the one hand, the three classics sub-constructs theoretically accepted that SR is made up and, on the other hand, the relationship between SR and the other variables. As a result of causal relationships analysis we conclude with a scale of 21 indicators, validated scale with a sample of firms belonging to the Autonomous Community of Extremadura and it is the first empirical validation of these dimensions we know so far, in this context

Combined Manufacturing Process of Copper Electrodes for Micro Texturing Applications (AMSME)

Surface texturing has brought significant improvements in the functional properties of parts and components. Sinker electro discharge machining (SEDM) is one of the processes which generates great texturing results at different scale. An electrode is needed to reproduce the geometry to be textured. Some geometries are difficult or impossible to achieve on an electrode using conventional and even unconventional machining methods. This work sets out the advances made in the manufacturing of copper electrodes for electro erosion by additive manufacturing, and their subsequent application to the functional texturing of Al-Cu UNS A92024-T3 alloy. A combined procedure of digital light processing (DLP) additive manufacturing, sputtering and micro-electroforming (AMSME), has been used to produce electrodes. Also, a specific laboratory equipment has been developed to reproduce details on a microscopic scale. Shells with outgoing spherical geometries pattern have been manufactured. AMSME process has shown ability to copper electrodes manufacturing. A highly detailed surface on a micrometric scale have been achieved. Copper shells with minimum thickness close to 300 mu m have been tested in sinker electro discharge machining (SEDM) and have been shown very good performance in surface finishing operations. The method has shown great potential for use in surfaces texturing.This work has received financial support from Spanish Government (MINECO/AEI/FEDER, Grant Project DPI2017-84935-R

Tolerance to ToLCNDV in Cucurbita spp

[EN] Tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus (ToLCNDV) is a bipartite begomovirus (Geminiviridae) firstly reported in India and neighboring countries. A severe outbreak of ToLCNDV in Zucchini (Cucurbita pepo) occurred in southern Spain in 2012. Mechanical inoculation and natural infection with Bemisia tabaci, in Almeria, were used to screen part of the COMAV's Cucurbita core collection. The tolerance was assessed by symptomatology and by a PCR-based diagnostic method that allows the detection of the two viral components in a single reaction. Mechanical transmission of ToLCNDV was confirmed in all the species. Severe symptoms were found 30 and 35 days after mechanical and natural inoculation, respectively, in C. pepo, in all accessions belonging to the Zucchini morphotype and to other morphotypes of the subsp. pepo, subsp. ovifera and even in the wild relative C. fraterna. Cucurbita maxima and C. ficifolia were also highly susceptible. The only species showing tolerance was C. moschata. Instead of curling, which was typically observed in most Cucurbita species, in C. moschata we observed mosaic and mottling, which suggest a differential response of this species. Under natural infection, a few C. moschata accessions remained asymptomatic and no virus was detected in the plant apex. Under mechanical inoculation, ToLCNDV symptoms were mild and delayed in these accessions and they were PCR positive. Some of the more tolerant accessions came from India.This work was supported by Project E_RTAE2013-00020-C04-03 from the Spanish Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Agrarias (INIA) cofunded with FEDER funds.Sáez-Sánchez, C.; Martínez-Martínez, C.; Ferriol Molina, M.; Manzano, S.; Jamilena, M.; López Del Rincón, C.; Picó Sirvent, MB. (2017). Tolerance to ToLCNDV in Cucurbita spp. Acta Horticulturae. (1151):31-35. https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2017.1151.6S3135115