Are we truly special and unique? A replication of Goldenberg et al. (2001)

According to the mortality salience hypothesis of terror management theory, reminders of our future death increase the necessity to validate our cultural worldview and to enhance our self-esteem. In Experiment 2 of the study 'I am not an animal: Mortality salience, disgust, and the denial of human creatureliness', Goldenberg et al. (Goldenberg et al. 2001 J. Exp. Psychol. Gen. 130, 427-435. (doi:10.1037/0096-3445.130.3.427)) observed that participants primed with questions about their death provided more positive evaluations to an essay describing humans as distinct from animals than control participants presented with questions regarding another aversive situation. In a replication of this experiment conducted with 128 volunteers, we did not observe evidence for a mortality salience effect

Caracterización de alimentos combinando reglas de decisión relaciónales y lineales. Una aplicación al aceite de oliva virgen de Málaga

The chemical compounds of a food, quantified by GC, can be used to build relational and lineal decision rules, which merged by mathematical algorithms, could allow its characterization. The paper describes the methods applied to design and evaluate those rules, which are kept in the knowledge base of a deductive expert system, and the procedure applied to know the similarity between an unidentified sample and the food defined by the rules. The characterization of virgin olive oil of Malaga province has been used to explain the methodology. Thus, 54 chemical compounds belonging to five different series, fatty acids, methylsterols, sterols, aliphatic and triterpernic alcohols, and aliphatic and terpenic hydrocarbons, besides a group composed by a hydroxi-aldehid-triterpenic, phytol, and erytrodiol, were identified and quantified in each of the 172 samples collected over Andalusia. Their chromatograms, which were redrawn by computers, allowed to build seventeen rules among lineal and relational ones. These relational rules (10) show linguistic interrelations, such less, great, equal, etc., among two or more chemical compounds of the same or different series. On the other hand, statistical programs of discriminant analysis allowed to get the lineal rules (7) whose coefficients were taken from each one of the series, plus a rule where they were reached in the whole set of chemical compounds. Finally, twenty-six samples collected in different zones, provinces or countries, or in the same area but from different crops, were used to measure the performance of the methodology.Los componentes químicos de un alimento cuantificados por cromatografía gaseosa, pueden ser usados para construir reglas de decisión relaciónales y lineales que, combinadas mediante algoritmos matemáticos, podrían permitir su caracterización. Este trabajo describe los métodos aplicados para diseñar y evaluar las reglas, que constituyen la base de conocimientos de un sistema experto deductivo, y el procedimiento usado para determinar la similitud entre una muestra desconocida y el alimento que definen las reglas. Para explicar y desarrollar la metodología se estudia la caracterización del aceite de oliva virgen de la provincia de Málaga. Cincuenta y cuatro parámetros químicos pertenecientes a cinco series, ácidos grasos, metil-esteroles, esteroles, alcoholes alifáticos y triterpénicos e hidrocarburos alifáticos y terpénicos, más un grupo constituido por el fitol, el eritrodiol y un hidroxi-aldehído triterpénico, se identificaron y,midieron en 172 muestras de Andalucía. Los cromatogramas recuperados por ordenador permitieron construir 17 reglas entre relaciónales y lineales. Las reglas relaciónales (10) muestran mediante expresiones lingüísticas -mayor, menor, igual, etc.- las interrelaciones existentes entre uno o más componentes químicos de la misma o diferente serie. Las reglas lineales (7), una por cada una de las series indicadas más una usando simultáneamente todos los compuestos, se obtuvieron mediante la utilización de programas estadísticos discriminantes. Finalmente, para verificar el proceso descrito se usaron veintiséis muestras, de diferentes zonas, provincias o países

Waste clay materials as pozzolanic additions

En: 1st Spanish National Conference on Advances in Materials Recycling and Eco – Energy Madrid, 12-13 November 2009.-- Editors: F. A. López, F. Puertas, F. J. Alguacil and A. Guerrero.-- 4 pages, 3 figures.The building materials industries have made improvements in manufacturing processes. However, with the implementation of quality systems, more compliance, with new standard more restrictive, and especially by the competition between products, it is inevitable that industries deemed a rejection of material unsuitable for marketing or materials waste. The wastes from the ceramic industry (ceramic waste) may have characteristics suitable for use as pozzolanic materials, as it is known that the first materials used as pozzolans were heat-treated clays, material like clay products.This research was funded by a Science and Technology Commission (CICYT) (Research Project AMB96-1095).Peer reviewe

Multicolor photometry of ten Seyfert 1 galaxies

We present BVI photometry of ten Seyfert 1 galaxies and narrow band H-alpha images for six of these objects as well. The results indicate that the luminosity sample distribution has an amplitude of almost 4 magnitudes with an average of M_B=-20.7. The observed morphologies are confined to early type galaxies. A barred structure is found in only 2 objects. Despite that early morphological types are dominant in this sample, integrated (B-V) colors are very blue. For instance, the SO galaxies show, on average, a (B-V)=0.78. This effect seems to be caused by the luminosity contribution of the active nucleus and/or the disk to the total luminosity of the galaxy. In the B band, the contribution of the active galactic nucleus to the total luminosity of the galaxy varies from 3% to almost 60% and the bulge to disk luminosity ratio (L_bulge/L_disk) ranges from 0.6 to 22. Signs of tidal interactions seems to be a common characteristic since they are observed in 6 of the objects and one of them seems to be located in a poor cluster not yet identified in the literature. H_alpha extended emission is rare, with only 1 galaxy showing clear evidence of it. Luminosity profile decomposition shows that the model Gauss + bulge + disk properly reproduces the surface brightness of the galaxies. However, in order to account for the luminosity profile, most of the disk galaxies needs the inner truncated exponential form with a central cutoff radius ranging from 3 to 10 kpc. This is interpreted in terms of reddened regions that are well identified in the B-V color maps. These regions present very similar colors among them, with (B-V)~1.2. This fact could be associated to the presence of dust confined in the inner regions of the galaxies.Comment: 14 pages, 25 figures. Accepted to Astronomy & Astrophysic

Spill-in counts in the quantification of 18 F-florbetapir on Aβ-negative subjects: the effect of including white matter in the reference region

Background: We aim to provide a systematic study of the impact of white matter (WM) spill-in on the calculation of standardized uptake value ratios (SUVRs) on Aβnegative subjects, and we study the effect of including WM in the reference region as a compensation. In addition, different partial volume correction (PVC) methods are applied and evaluated. Methods: We evaluated magnetic resonance imaging and 18F-AV-45 positron emission tomography data from 122 cognitively normal (CN) patients recruited at the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI). Cortex SUVRs were obtained by using the cerebellar grey matter (CGM) (SUVRCGM) and the whole cerebellum (SUVRWC) as reference regions. The correlations between the different SUVRs and the WM uptake (WM-SUVRCGM) were studied in patients, and in a well-controlled framework based on Monte Carlo (MC) simulation. Activity maps for the MC simulation were derived from ADNI patients by using a voxel-wise iterative process (BrainViset). Ten WM uptakes covering the spectrum of WM values obtained from patient data were simulated for different patients. Three different PVC methods were tested (a) the regional voxel-based (RBV), (b) the iterative Yang (iY), and (c) a simplified analytical correction derived from our MC simulation. Results: WM-SUVRCGM followed a normal distribution with an average of 1.79 and a standard deviation of 0.243 (13.6%). SUVRCGM was linearly correlated to WM-SUVRCGM (r = 0.82, linear fit slope = 0.28). SUVRWC was linearly correlated to WM-SUVRCGM (r = 0.64, linear fit slope = 0.13). Our MC results showed that these correlations are compatible with those produced by isolated spill-in effect (slopes of 0.23 and 0.11). The impact of the spill-in was mitigated by using PVC for SUVRCGM (slopes of 0.06 and 0.07 for iY and RBV), while SUVRWC showed a negative correlation with SUVRCGM after PVC. The proposed analytical correction also reduced the observed correlations when applied to patient data (r = 0.27 for SUVRCGM, r = 0.18 for SUVRWC). Conclusions: There is a high correlation between WM uptake and the measured SUVR due to spill-in effect, and that this effect is reduced when including WM in the reference region. We also evaluated the performance of PVC, and we proposed an analytical correction that can be applied to preprocessed data.This work was partially supported by the project PI16/01416 (ISCIII co-funded FEDER) and RYC-2015/17430(Ramón y Cajal, PA)S

Agroforestry in the European common agricultural policy

Agroforestry is a sustainable land management system that should be more strongly promoted in Europe to ensure adequate ecosystem service provision in the old continent (Decision 529/2013) through the common agricultural policy (CAP). The promotion of the woody component in Europe can be appreciated in different sections of the CAP linked to Pillar I (direct payments and Greening) and Pillar II (rural development programs). However, agroforestry is not recognised as such in the CAP, with the exception of the Measure 8.2 of Pillar II. The lack of recognition of agroforestry practices within the different sections of the CAP reduces the impact of CAP activities by overlooking the optimum combinations that would maximise the productivity of land where agroforestry could be promoted, considering both the spatial and temporal scales

Adolescents and young adults evaluating a website for affective‐sexual information and education: a mixed‐methods study protocol

The website Sexe Joves is a website on sexuality of the Department of Health of the Government of Catalonia (Spain). This study aims to understand the experiences and opinions of people aged 14 to 25 regarding this website, taking into account sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status and location within Catalonia (urban, semiurban and rural areas). With the objective of improving the website and adpating the resources allocated to it, this study evaluates whether this population is familiar with it and uses it, as well as the website's usability and accessibility (digital equity), usefulness and the relevance of its content. A parallel convergent triangulation design is used: a qualitative study using a social constructivist perspective, and an observational, descriptive and cross-sectional quantitative study. We conduct a discourse analysis of participants and use an 'ad hoc' questionnaire to collect quantitative data. A descriptive analysis of all variables is carried out. Affective-sexual education aimed at young people must stem from their participation and the whole range of sexual and gender diversity in order to reach the entire population equally. This analysis will contribute to the design of new strategies for the wesbite Sexe Joves, a public health resource, in order to improve affective-sexual education for young people

Integración económica e inversiones extranjeras: el caso de la Unión Monetaria Europea

Los estudios teóricos y empíricos sobre los efectos y determinantes de la inversión directa extranjera (IDE) comparten la conclusión de que los procesos de integración económica regional generan un efecto positivo sobre los flujos de inversión directa de la región, tanto en lo que se refiera a los flujos de entrada como de salida. En este sentido, cuanto más avanzado sea el estadio de integración económica y cuanto más complementarias sean las economías integradas mayores serán los beneficios inducidos por el aumento de la inversión directa y mayor será el número de países socios beneficiados por los mismos. Este aumento de la IDE procedería tanto del aumento de los flujos de IDE procedente de países terceros como de una reorganización de los flujos de IDE procedentes de los propios Estados participantes en el proceso de integración. El presente estudio analiza los efectos de la creación de la Unión Monetaria Europea (UME) sobre los flujos de inversión directa de los Estados miembros de la UME, tanto en lo que se refiere a los flujos de entrada de IDE como de salida. Utilizando los datos sobre inversión directa proporcionados por la UNCTAD y por Eurostat se analiza si el proceso de integración monetaria ha supuesto, como señala la teoría, un aumento de la inversión extranjera en la UME, tanto en lo que se refiere a los flujos de IDE procedentes de países terceros como a una concentración de los flujos de IDE intra-UME

Agroforestry

Agroforestry is the practice of deliberately integrating woody vegetation (trees or shrubs) with crops and/or animal systems to benefit from the resulting ecological and economic interactions. Existing research indicates that appropriate application of agroforestry principles and practices is a key means by which the European Union might achieve more sustainable methods of food and fibre production whilst producing both profits for farmers and environmental benefits for society

Lack of replication of interactions between polymorphisms in rheumatoid arthritis susceptibility: case-control study

Introduction: Approximately 100 loci have been definitively associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) susceptibility. However, they explain only a fraction of RA heritability. Interactions between polymorphisms could explain part of the remaining heritability. Multiple interactions have been reported, but only the shared epitope (SE) × protein tyrosine phosphatase nonreceptor type 22 (PTPN22) interaction has been replicated convincingly. Two recent studies deserve attention because of their quality, including their replication in a second sample collection. In one of them, researchers identified interactions between PTPN22 and seven single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). The other showed interactions between the SE and the null genotype of glutathione S-transferase Mu 1 (GSTM1) in the anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide-positive (anti-CCP+) patients. In the present study, we aimed to replicate association with RA susceptibility of interactions described in these two high-quality studies. Methods: A total of 1,744 patients with RA and 1,650 healthy controls of Spanish ancestry were studied. Polymorphisms were genotyped by single-base extension. SE genotypes of 736 patients were available from previous studies. Interaction analysis was done using multiple methods, including those originally reported and the most powerful methods described. Results: Genotypes of one of the SNPs (rs4695888) failed quality control tests. The call rate for the other eight polymorphisms was 99.9%. The frequencies of the polymorphisms were similar in RA patients and controls, except for PTPN22 SNP. None of the interactions between PTPN22 SNPs and the six SNPs that met quality control tests was replicated as a significant interaction term the originally reported finding or with any of the other methods. Nor was the interaction between GSTM1 and the SE replicated as a departure from additivity in anti-CCP+ patients or with any of the other methods. Conclusions: None of the interactions tested were replicated in spite of sufficient power and assessment with different assays. These negative results indicate that whether interactions are significant contributors to RA susceptibility remains unknown and that strict standards need to be applied to claim that an interaction exists