University students’ perspectives on reflective learning: Psychometric properties of the eight-cultural-forces scale

Producción CientíficaThis study emerges from the development of higher-order thinking skills recognised as influential attributes to be considered for quality of learning in preservice teachers; hence, this quantitative research is a systematic attempt to obtain metric-quality pieces of evidence for identifying university students’ perspectives on reflective learning standards throughout their initial training period utilising an adapted cultural-forces scale. The earlier mentioned tool is an adaptation of Ritchhart’s scale (2015) for the assessment of cultural forces from the model of the Culture of Thinking. The selected sample of preservice teachers encompasses 700 university students of education from 7 faculties of education in Spain. Research results reveal that the use of the scale displayed high reliability and suitability. Similarly, significant statistical differences were observed in the eight scales of cultural forces assessment, where the prime-valued by the students were interactions, expectations, environment, language and time. Apropos of statistics, research results manifest as relevant. Such significance reveals how classroom culture and practical strategies acquire meaning and show connections with learning purposes—likewise with the developmental encouragement of cognitive skills and dispositions towards reflective learning.Unión Europea - Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha (grant 2019-GRIN-27206

Fast simulations of extragalactic microlensing

We present a new and very fast method for producing microlensing magnification maps at high optical depths. It is based on the combination of two approaches: (a) the two-dimensional Poisson solver for a deflection potential and (b) inverse polygon mapping. With our method we extremely reduce the computing time for the generation of magnification patterns and avoid the use of highly demanding computer resources. For example, the generation of a magnification map of size 2000?×?2000 pixels, covering a region of 20 Einstein radii, takes a few seconds on a state-of-the-art laptop. The method presented here will facilitate the massive production of magnification maps for extragalactic microlensing studies within the forthcoming surveys without the need for large computer clusters. The modest demand of computer power and a fast execution time allow the code developed here to be placed on a standard server and thus provide the public online access through a web-based interface.We thank Evencio Mediavilla for providing us with the IPM code for comparison purposes. We thank to the company “Datacom Soluciones Internet Burgos S.L.” (Burgos, Spain) for helping us in making the web server secure and running. We also thank an anonymous referee for his/her comments and questions that improved this paper. This research has been supported by the MINECO/AEI/FEDER-UE grant AYA2017-89815-P and University of Cantabria funds. RGM was also supported by TAILOR Grant #952215, H2020-ICT-2019-3 and DataPol UMA-CEIATECH-07 funds at the University of Málag

Validation in clinical population of the Problematic Internet Entertainment Use Scale for Adults (PIEUSAd)

Addiction to technologies has been a widely debated scientific and clinically, being a condition for further study as potential psychiatric disorder. Some Spanish scales measure Internet addiction, but no one has been validated clinically. The aims were to describe a clinical sample of patients in treatment for a technology addiction, and to validate clinically the “Problematic Internet Entertainment Use Scale for Adults” (PIEUSAd). Little-scale clinical adult sample (N=31; 71 % men, and an age mean of 33.31) was selected, collecting socio-demographic and clinical data, technological usages, and the PIEUSAd and Compulsive Internet Use Scale in a survey. The setting was a public health center in Barcelona (Spain). The patients in treatment for a technological addiction as primary diagnosis were usually young males, which suffer from a genuine e-addiction (above all, internet addiction, gaming and cybersex); only the middle seems to have a dual pathology (usually another addiction). They are usually referred by other clinician and the majority don’t have previous psychiatric care. The PIEUSAd showed large variability in item scored, and high factor and construct validity, and excellent reliability (a=0.98). In conclusion, the heterogeneity in the characteristics of patients is evidenced. Moreover, the PIEUSAd has been clinical validated to do a better screen in technological addictions, where “loss of control” and “evasion” seems to be the prevalent addictive symptoms in these types of patients. Spanish abstract: La adicción a las tecnologías ha sido debatida ampliamente tanto científica como clínicamente, siendo una condición a estudiar como potencial trastorno psiquiátrico. Algunas escalas españolas miden la adicción al internet, pero ninguna ha sido validada clínicamente. Los objetivos son describir la muestra clínica de pacientes en tratamiento por una adicción tecnológica, así como validar clínicamente la “Problematic Internet Entertainment Use Scale for Adults” (PIEUSAd). Una muestra clínica a pequeña escala (N=31; 71 % hombres, con una edad media de 33,31) fue seleccionada, se recogieron datos socio-demográficos, clínicos y de uso de tecnologías, así como la PIEUSAd y la “Compulsive Internet Use Scale” a través de una encuesta. El contexto fue un centro de salud pública de Barcelona (España). Los pacientes en tratamiento por una adicción tecnológica como primer diagnóstico eran usualmente hombres jóvenes que sufrían de una e-adicción genuina (sobre todo, adicción a internet, videojuegos o cibersexo); solo la mitad parecía sufrir una patología dual (normalmente otra adicción). Eran normalmente derivados por otros profesionales de la salud y la mayor parte no habían sido tratados psiquiá- tricamente con anterioridad. La PIEUSAd mostró gran variabilidad en sus puntuaciones, alta validez factorial y de constructo, y excelente fiabilidad (a=0,98). En conclusión, la heterogeneidad de las características de los pacientes fue evidenciada. Además, la PIEUSAd ha sido validada clínicamente para poder hacer un mejor cribado en las adicciones tecnológicas, donde la “pérdida de control” y la “evasión” parecen ser los síntomas prevalentes en estos tipos de pacientes

Politización y pericia financiera en las cajas de ahorros españolas: Patrones en la configuración de sus consejos

This study examines the politicization and financial knowledge-experience of the boards of directors of Spanish savings banks. To do this, we build a database with the biographic information of directors during the period 2004-2010. The results of the cluster analysis show the existence of four types of boards, depending on the politicization and the financial expertise of its members. Furthermore, we find that savings banks with higher financial expertise in their boards have higher levels of financial solvencyEsta investigación profundiza en la politización y conocimientos-experiencia financiera de los consejos de administración de las cajas de ahorros españolas. Para ello, construimos una base de datos con la información biográfica de sus consejeros del período 2004-2010. Los resultados del análisis clúster revelan la existencia de cuatro tipos de consejos en función de la politización y la pericia financiera de sus miembros. Asimismo, encontramos que las cajas con mayor pericia financiera en su consejo presentan mayores niveles de solvencia financier

Political directors and corporate social responsibility: Are political ideology and regional identity relevant?

This study analyzes the infuence of directors with political connections on corpo‑ rate social responsibility (CSR). Using a sample of Spanish savings banks (cajas) during the period 2004–2013, we analyze the infuence of political directors on the CSR of these entities, focusing on their ideology and regional identity. Our results indicate that the higher the proportion of directors with political ties on the board, the greater the allocation of resources to CSR activities. In addition to this positive efect of board politicization, we fnd that political directors’ liberal ideology posi‑ tively afects CSR, both directly and in moderating the relationship between political directors and CSR. Our results also validate that political directors’ regional iden‑ tity boosts the positive efect they have on CSR. Finally, we encounter various dif‑ ferences depending on the nature of the projects funded through CSR. Therefore, our study demonstrates the importance of delving into the characteristics of political directors to elucidate their efects on corporate policies.Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. This study was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Grant ECO201785356), the UAM - Comunidad de Madrid (SI3-PJI-2021-00276) and it benefted from the Professorship Excellence Program in accordance with the multi-year agreement signed by the Government of Madrid and the Autonomous University of Madrid (Line #3)

Stakeholder governance and private benefits: The case of politicians in Spanish cajas

Our research focuses on the private benefits of politicians as board directors of Spanish savings banks (cajas). We use hand-collected data on the political affiliation and personal loans of 1,578 directors to investigate whether political directors used private benefits through excessive personal loans, loans granted to their political parties, or the institutions they represented. Our results show that a higher proportion of political directors on a board is associated with larger personal loans and with better terms than those granted to non-political directors. Furthermore, this higher proportion is also linked to larger loans granted to the public administrations that the political directors represented on the cajas’ governing board. Finally, we also find in-group favouritism based on the social identity theory and directors’ party identification. Therefore, political directors make greater use of private benefits when allocated to their political party and its members.This study was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Grant ECO2017-85356), the UAM - Comunidad de Madrid Research Project for Young Researchers (SI3-PJI-2021-00276) and it benefited from the Professorship Excellence Program in accordance with the multi-year agreement signed by the Government of Madrid and the Autonomous University of Madrid (Line #3). The authors gratefully acknowledge the helpful suggestions received from the four anonymous reviewers and the Associate Editor, Constantinos N. Leonidou. The authors also thank the comments received from B. Arrunada, ˜ G. Natividad, A. Martín-Oliver, V. Salas-Fumas ´ and N. Suarez, ´ and the participants at the Wolpertinger Conference held in Santander and at the SANFI Workshop held in Palermo

Conformación ciega de haz mediante regresión con máquinas de vectores soporte

Blind beamforming is a common problem in wireless communications, where an array of antennas receives a number of signals from distinct locations at the same frequency and at the same time. In this paper the problem of blind beamforming for multiple constant modulus (CM) signals separation is solved using support vector machine (SVM) techniques. The CM property of the signal is used to formulate a regression problem which can be adapted to the SVM scheme, leading to an iterative reweighted algorithm. Once a signal is recovered, its contribution to the original observations is removed and the iterative procedure can be applied again to extract another CM signal. Simulation results show that this SVM-based algorithm offers better performance than the algebraic constant modulus algorithm (ACMA), mainly when only a small number of snapshots is available

Diferencias psicopatológicas en mujeres con Dependencia Emocional con y sin uso de sustancias ilegales comórbido

En este artículo se presenta un análisis clínico de las diferencias psicopatológicas entre dos grupos de pacientes, mujeres, con problemas de Dependencia Emocional con y sin consumo de sustancias ilegales comórbido. Las pacientes fueron evaluadas mediante los cuestionarios TDS100, SCL-90-R, BIS-11 y una entrevista semiestructurada adaptada de la entrevista SCID-I. Los grupos se formaron en función de si existía consumo de drogas o no en el momento de la evaluación. A través de los resultados hallados, se puede concluir que el grupo de mujeres con un consumo ocasional de drogas presenta una mayor gravedad en la escala de Acomodación medida a través del TDS-100, así como puntuaciones más altas en psicopatología comórbida (Sensibilidad Interpersonal, Ansiedad, Hostilidad, Ideación paranoide, Psicoticismo y GSI) medida por el SCL-90-R. Finalmente, el grupo con uso de drogas obtuvo puntuaciones significativamente más altas en la subescala Impulsividad Motora medida por el BIS-11. English abstract: In this article we present a clinical analysis of the psychopathological differences between women patients with Affective Dependence problems with and without comorbid substance use. The patients were assessed trough the TDS-100, SCL-90-R, BIS-11 questionnaires and a semi-structured interview adapted from the SCID-I interview. The groups were created based on the substance use at the moment of the assessment. The results reveal that the group of women with occasional use of drugs shows higher severity in the Accommodation scale measured trough the TDS-100 and in the comorbid psychopathology measured by the SCL-90R (Interpersonal Sensitivity, Anxiety, Hostility, Paranoid ideation, Psychoticism y GSI). Finally, the group with drug use obtained significantly higher scores in the Motor Impulsiveness subscale measured by the BIS-11

Emotions, Leadership and Social Networks in Electoral Campaign Materials. A Measurement Proposal

El uso de emociones en la campaña electoral, el papel de los liderazgos en la misma y la presencia de contenido electoral en redes sociales son elementos que van adquiriendo un mayor peso en la ciencia política. Esta nota realiza una propuesta de medición de estos elementos en los materiales de campaña electoral. Así, se presentarán indicadores que cubren todos los planos destacados, tomando como prueba de medición las elecciones autonómicas de Castilla y León celebradas en febrero de 2022. Con ello, se establece cómo las emociones positivas son las más utilizadas por los partidos políticos y cómo la presencia de líderes autonómicos y el uso extensivo de redes sociales ha sido habitual en esta excepcional campaña.The use of emotions in electoral campaigns, the role of leadership in these campaigns and the presence of electoral content in social networks are relevant elements of Political Science. This work provides a proposal for the measurement of these elements in electoral campaign materials. Indicators covering the highlighted topics will be presented, using the regional elections of Castile and Leon from February 2022 as a measurement test. In this way, it is established that positive emotions are the most frequently used by political parties, and the presence of regional leaders and the extensive use of social networks has been common practice during this exceptional campaign

Perfil psicopatológico de pacientes con Dependencia Emocional

Diversos autores defienden la Dependencia Emocional como una categoría diagnóstica propia. El perfil psicopatológico de las personas afectadas por este trastorno ha sido expuesto a nivel teórico o basado en observaciones clínicas. Con este estudio se pretende determinar el perfil psicopatológico de una muestra de pacientes que presentaban problemas de Dependencia Emocional, desadaptativa, así como estudiar la relación entre autoestima y síntomas psicopatológicos. Se analiza el perfil sintomático a través de los resultados del Symptom CheckList-90 items-Revised (SCL-90-R) y el nivel de autoestima medido a través del Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) de una muestra de 33 pacientes de género femenino admitidos consecutivamente, que consultaron por problemas de dependencia emocional. Las pacientes presentaban elevada puntuación en las escalas obsesión-compulsión, sensibilidad interpersonal, depresión, ansiedad, hostilidad, ideación paranoide, psicoticismo (medidas a través del SCL-90-R) comparados con baremos normativos de población psiquiátrica española y una autoestima baja (medida a través del RSES). En la muestra la autoestima correlaciona de manera negativa con somatización, obsesión-compulsión, depresión y hostilidad. Se discuten las características y perfiles de esta muestra clínica. English abstract: Several authors defend that Affective Dependence is a diagnostic category. The psychopathological profile of these patients has been explained from a theoretical point of view or based on clinical observations. In that study we want to determinate the pathological profile of a sample of patients with problems of affective dependence, and to study the relationship between their self-esteem and their psychopathological symptoms. We analyzed the symptomatic profile of a sample of 33 female consecutive patients consulting for affective dependence, measured trough the Symptom CheckList-90 items-Revised (SCL-90-R) and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES). Patients present high obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, paranoid ideation, psychoticism (measured by the SCL- 90-R) compared with compared with normative scores of Spanish psychiatric population, and low self-esteem (measured by the RSES). In these subjects the self- esteem showed negative correlation with somatization, obsessive-compulsive, depression and hostility. These characteristics and profiles are discussed