Social Pressure or Rational Reactions to Incentives? A Historical Analysis of Reasons for Referee Bias in the Spanish Football

A relevant question in social science is whether cognitive bias can be instigated by social pressure or is it just a rational reaction to incentives in place. Sport, and association football in particular, offers settings in which to gain insights into this question. In this paper we estimate the determinants of the length of time between referee appointments in Spanish soccer as a function of referee decisions in favour of the home and away team in the most recent match by means of a deep-learning model. This approach allows us to capture all interactions among a high-dimensional set of variables without the necessity of specifying them beforehand. Furthermore, deep-learning models are nowadays the state of the art among the predicting models which are needed and here used for estimating effects of a cause. We do not find strong evidence of an incentive scheme that counteracts well-known home referee biases. Our results also suggest that referees are incentivised to deliver a moderate amount of surprise in the outcome of the game what is consistent with the objective function of consumers and tournament organisers

Regulatory landscape of the vertebrate six2/six3 locus

Resumen del póster presentado al IX Meeting of the Spanish Society for Developmental Biology celebrado en Granada del 12 al 14 de noviembre de 2012.Peer Reviewe

Shopping motivation in consumer loyalty formation process: the case of Spanish retail

Purpose With the gradual decline of the small retail sector in the past recent years, few researchers have been addressing the issue from a motivational approach. This paper aimed to examine the role of utilitarian, hedonic and ethical motives in the process of forming consumer loyalty in a retail setting. Design/methodology/approach A total of 213 surveys were carried out among regular fashion and accessories shoppers in Spanish small-sized retailers. A two-step methodology proposed by Anderson and Gerbing (1988) was applied to test the model. Findings Ethical shopping motivation was found to have the most relevant impact on its perceived quality and on its reassurance to a small-sized retailer, as it represented a strategic asset. Although the most appropriate approach would not be focused mainly on ethical aspects in order to be competitive in the new retailing landscape, consumers should recognize that they are contributing to a worthy cause while enjoying the shopping experience. Practical implications Small-sized retailers should provide consumers with good reasons for shopping in their businesses rather than their competitors’. Moreover, it is key to differentiate and build customer loyalty with the purpose of becoming more competitive. As a consequence, in this paper, we propose a measurement scale that can be used to evaluate abstract and complex consumers’ shopping motivations. Originality/value The pursuit of more precise knowledge of factors that lead consumers to shop for a specific product is vital for small-sized retailers, toward sustainable competitiveness. Here we analyzed the impact of the three innovative dimensions in shopping motivation on consumers’ perceived quality and their influence on repurchase intention

Changes in nutrient balance, methane emissions, physiologic biomarkers, and production performance in goats fed different forage-to-concentrate ratios during lactation

[EN] The objective was to determine the effect forage-to-concentrate (F:C) ratio and stage of lactation on methane emissions, digestibility, nutrient balance, lactation performance, and metabolic responses in lactating goats. Twenty Murciano-Granadina dairy goats were used in an experiment divided into 3 periods: early (30 d), mid (100 d), and late (170 d) lactation. All goats were fed a diet with 35:65 F:C (FCL) during early-lactation. Then, 1 group (n = 10 goats) remained on FCL through mid- and late-lactation while the other group (n = 10 goats) was fed a diet with 50:50 F:C at mid-lactation (FCM) and 65:35 (FCH) at late lactation. A greater proportion of concentrate in the diet was associated with greater overall intake and digestibility (P < 0.05). Energy balance was negative in early-lactation (-77 kJ/kg of BW0.75, on average) and positive for FCL at mid- and late-lactation (13 and 35 kJ/kg of BW0.75, respectively). Goats fed FCM and FCH maintained negative energy balance throughout lactation. Plasma concentrations of non-esterified fatty acids at mid-lactation were greater for FCM than FCL (680 mEq/L), and at late-lactation concentrations were greater for FCH and FCL (856 mEq/L). A similar response was detected for plasma beta-hydroxybutyrate. Methane emission was greater (P < 0.05) for FCM than FCH (1.7 g CH4/d). This study demonstrated that differences in F:C across stages of lactation lead to distinct metabolic responses at the level of the rumen and tissues.This study was supported by LIFE Project, European Commission (ref. LIFE2016/CCM/ES/000088 LOW CARBON FEED).Fernández Martínez, CJ.; Hernández, A.; Gomis-Tena Dolz, J.; Loor, JJ. (2021). Changes in nutrient balance, methane emissions, physiologic biomarkers, and production performance in goats fed different forage-to-concentrate ratios during lactation. Journal of Animal Science. 99(7):1-13. https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skab114S11399

Does CSR Help to Retain Customers in a Service Company?

The main aim of this paper is to analyze the influence of service companies’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) actions on final customer’s loyalty. A theoretical model of loyalty formation based on CSR was proposed and a sample of 1125 final customers of financial services in Spain was studied. Structural equation models were used to verify the hypothesized relationships. Based on the CSR theory oriented to stakeholders, this work justifies the direct and positive relationship between the perception of CSR actions in the shopping experience and customer trust. We also verified a positive indirect influence on loyalty. The services industry was chosen to conduct this research due to its own particularities (intangibility, inseparability, heterogeneity and perishability). As it is impossible to evaluate a service before its consumption, a high level of trust in the supplier will be necessary to motivate the purchase decision. We conclude that CSR becomes a key strategic asset for determining trust and loyalty among consumers. As major findings, we have verified the special importance of CSR in the services market. CSR improves customer trust in the service provider. Thus, this paper has significant managerial implications. Through CSR strategies, both the perception of the customer’s purchasing experience and trust can be enhanced, resulting in more loyal customers. As a limitation, this research was carried out among financial services. Further research should test the model across different industries and countries in order to determine the generalizability and consistency of the findings of this study

Restless Legs Syndrome-associated intronic common variant in Meis1 alters enhancer function in the developing telencephalon

This article, published in Genome Research, is available under a Creative Commons License (Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported).-- et al.Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) identified the MEIS1 locus for Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS), but causal single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and their functional relevance remain unknown. This locus contains a large number of highly conserved noncoding regions (HCNRs) potentially functioning as cis-regulatory modules. We analyzed these HCNRs for allele-dependent enhancer activity in zebrafish and mice and found that the risk allele of the lead SNP rs12469063 reduces enhancer activity in the Meis1 expression domain of the murine embryonic ganglionic eminences (GE). CREB1 binds this enhancer and rs12469063 affects its binding in vitro. In addition, MEIS1 target genes suggest a role in the specification of neuronal progenitors in the GE, and heterozygous Meis1-deficient mice exhibit hyperactivity, resembling the RLS phenotype. Thus, in vivo and in vitro analysis of a common SNP with small effect size showed allele-dependent function in the prospective basal ganglia representing the first neurodevelopmental region implicated in RLS.The project was supported by Fritz-Thyssen-Stiftung, Cologne, Germany (10.09.2.146; 10.12.2.183), KKF-TUM (8766156), DAAD (0811963), and COST (“HOX and TALE homeoproteins in Development and Disease”). B.S. was partially supported by DFG grants (WI 1820/4-1; WI 1820/5-1) and a TUM-Excellence stipend. The KORA study was financed by the Helmholtz Zentrum München, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and by the State of Bavaria. KORA research was supported within the Munich Center of Health Sciences (MC Health), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, as part of LMUinnovativ. J.L.G.-S. and F.C. acknowledge funding of the Spanish and the Andalusian Governments and the Feder program for grants (BFU2010-14839, BFU2009-07044, CSD2007-00008, and Proyectos de Excelencia CVI-3488 and CVI 2658). This work was funded in part by a grant from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) to the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD), to the German Mouse Clinic (Infrafrontier: 01KX1012), to the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Germany; by the Initiative and Networking Fund of the Helmholtz Association in the framework of the Helmholtz Alliance for Mental Research in an Ageing Society (HA-215); and the Munich Cluster for Systems Neurology (EXC 1010 SyNergy) and its Collaborative Research Center (CRC) 870/2 “Assembly and Function of Neuronal Circuits.”Peer Reviewe

Characterization of the accessible genome in the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum

Human malaria is a devastating disease and a major cause of poverty in resource-limited countries. To develop and adapt within hosts Plasmodium falciparum undergoes drastic switches in gene expression. To identify regulatory regions in the parasite genome, we performed genome-wide profiling of chromatin accessibility in two culture-adapted isogenic subclones at four developmental stages during the intraerythrocytic cycle by using the Assay for Transposase-Accessible Chromatin by sequencing (ATAC-seq). Tn5 transposase hypersensitivity sites (THSSs) localize preferentially at transcriptional start sites (TSSs). Chromatin accessibility by ATAC-seq is predictive of active transcription and of the levels of histone marks H3K9ac and H3K4me3. Our assay allows the identification of novel regulatory regions including TSS and enhancer-like elements. We show that the dynamics in the accessible chromatin profile matches temporal transcription during development. Motif analysis of stage-specific ATAC-seq sites predicts the in vivo binding sites and function of multiple ApiAP2 transcription factors. At last, the alternative expression states of some clonally variant genes (CVGs), including eba, phist, var and clag genes, associate with a differential ATAC-seq signal at their promoters. Altogether, this study identifies genome-wide regulatory regions likely to play an essential function in the developmental transitions and in CVG expression in P. falciparum

Coordination between cell proliferation and apoptosis after DNA damage in Drosophila

Exposure to genotoxic stress promotes cell cycle arrest and DNA repair or apoptosis. These “life” or “death” cell fate decisions often rely on the activity of the tumor suppressor gene p53. Therefore, the precise regulation of p53 is essential to maintain tissue homeostasis and to prevent cancer development. However, how cell cycle progression has an impact on p53 cell fate decision-making is mostly unknown. In this work, we demonstrate that Drosophila p53 proapoptotic activity can be impacted by the G2/M kinase Cdk1. We find that cell cycle arrested or endocycle-induced cells are refractory to ionizing radiation-induced apoptosis. We show that p53 binding to the regulatory elements of the proapoptotic genes and its ability to activate their expression is compromised in experimentally arrested cells. Our results indicate that p53 genetically and physically interacts with Cdk1 and that p53 proapoptotic role is regulated by the cell cycle status of the cell. We propose a model in which cell cycle progression and p53 proapoptotic activity are molecularly connected to coordinate the appropriate response after DNA damag

Obesity-associated variants within FTO form long-range functional connections with IRX3

PMCID: PMC4113484.-- et al.Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have reproducibly associated variants within introns of FTO with increased risk for obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D). Although the molecular mechanisms linking these noncoding variants with obesity are not immediately obvious, subsequent studies in mice demonstrated that FTO expression levels influence body mass and composition phenotypes. However, no direct connection between the obesity-associated variants and FTO expression or function has been made. Here we show that the obesity-associated noncoding sequences within FTO are functionally connected, at megabase distances, with the homeobox gene IRX3. The obesity-associated FTO region directly interacts with the promoters of IRX3 as well as FTO in the human, mouse and zebrafish genomes. Furthermore, long-range enhancers within this region recapitulate aspects of IRX3 expression, suggesting that the obesity-associated interval belongs to the regulatory landscape of IRX3. Consistent with this, obesity-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms are associated with expression of IRX3, but not FTO, in human brains. A direct link between IRX3 expression and regulation of body mass and composition is demonstrated by a reduction in body weight of 25 to 30% in Irx3-deficient mice, primarily through the loss of fat mass and increase in basal metabolic rate with browning of white adipose tissue. Finally, hypothalamic expression of a dominant-negative form of Irx3 reproduces the metabolic phenotypes of Irx3-deficient mice. Our data suggest that IRX3 is a functional long-range target of obesity-associated variants within FTO and represents a novel determinant of body mass and composition.This work was funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health (DK093972, HL119967, HL114010 and DK020595) to M.A.N. and (MH101820, MH090937 and DK20595) to N.J.C. J.L.G.-S. was funded by grants from the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (BFU2010-14839, CSD2007-00008) and the Andalusian Government (CVI-3488). C.-C.H. was supported by a grant from the Canadian Institute of Health Research. K.-H.K. is supported by a fellowship from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. S.S. is supported by an NIH postdoctoral training grant (T32HL007381)Peer Reviewe