Diferencias nas decisões utilitárias e morais entre homens e mulheres

Objective. Moral judgments are based on decisions that take into account the representation of norms and law, values, functionality and situations themselves. Morality has been studied with “hypothetic moral dilemmas”, in order to identify the type of outcome and the process behind moral reasoning. But judgments by themselves are not enough to establish differences in the type of resolution or the relationship with other cognitive processes. The present paper aimed to compare performance in tasks of utility maximization, cognitive control, and moral judgments, taking into account sex and other sociodemographic variables. Method. Seventy-three university students participated (50 women, 20 men and 3 with unreported gender, the average age was 19.53 years (SD = 1.68 years). The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) was used to identify behaviors of utility maximization. In addition, we used the switch costs and the web application of moral machine tasks. Results. A difference between variables of the IGT, but no differences in the switch costs task were found. Conclusion. Regarding moral judgment, males gave more value to respect norms than females. Some variables of the IGT task support outcomes related to differences between sexes. Results are congruent with differences shown in existing literature.Objetivo. Los juicios morales se basan en decisiones que toman en cuenta la representación de las normas y la ley, los valores, la funcionalidad y la situación en sí. La moral se ha estudiado con "dilemas morales hipotéticos" para identificar el tipo de resultado y el proceso detrás del razonamiento moral. No obstante, los juicios en sí mismos no son suficientes para establecer diferencias en el tipo de resolución o la relación con otros procesos cognitivos. Por lo anterior, el presente estudio buscó comparar el desempeño en tareas de maximización de la utilidad, control cognitivo y juicios morales, teniendo en cuenta el sexo y otras variables sociodemográficas. Método. Participaron 73 estudiantes universitarios (50 mujeres, 20 hombres y 3 con sexo no reportado, la edad promedio fue 19.53 años (DE = 1.68 años). El Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) se utilizó para identificar comportamientos de maximización de la utilidad. Además, el estudio empleó la prueba de cambios de tarea y la aplicación web Máquina Moral. Resultados. Se encontró una diferencia entre las variables de IGT, sin observar diferencias en la prueba de cambios de tarea. Conclusión. En cuanto al juicio moral, los hombres dieron más valor al cumplimiento de normas que las mujeres. Algunas variables de la tarea IGT apoyan las diferencias entre los sexos. Los resultados son congruentes con las diferencias mostradas por la literatura.Escopo. Os juízos morais estão baseados em decisões que levam em conta a representação das normas e a lei, os valores, a funcionalidade e a situação concreta. A moral tem se estudado com “dilemas morais hipotéticos” para identificar o tipo de resultado e o processo detrás do razoamento moral. Mas os juízos em si não são suficientes para estabelecer diferencias no tipo de resolução ou a relação com outros processos cognitivos. Por tanto, o escopo de este estudo foi comparar o desempenho em tarefas de maximização da utilidade, controle cognitivo e juízos morais, levando em conta o sexo e outras variáveis sócio demográficas. Metodologia. Participaram 73 estudantes universitários (50 mulheres, 20 homens e 3 com sexo não reportado, a idade de média foi de19.3 anos, (DE = 1.68 anos). O Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) foi utilizado para identificar comportamentos de maximização da utilidade. Além, o estudo empregou a prova de mudança de tarefa e a aplicação web Máquina Moral. Resultados. Foi achada uma diferencia entre as variáveis de IGT, mas não há diferencias na prova de mudança de tarefa. Em quanto ao juízo moral, os homens deram mais valor ao cumprimento de normas que as mulheres. Algumas variáveis da tarefa IGT apoiam as diferencias entre os sexos. Conclusão. Os resultados são congruentes com as diferencias mostradas na literatura

The Mitochondrial Complex(I)ty of Cancer

Recent evidence highlights that the cancer cell energy requirements vary greatly from normal cells and that cancer cells exhibit different metabolic phenotypes with variable participation of both glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation. NADH–ubiquinone oxidoreductase (Complex I) is the largest complex of the mitochondrial electron transport chain and contributes about 40% of the proton motive force required for mitochondrial ATP synthesis. In addition, Complex I plays an essential role in biosynthesis and redox control during proliferation, resistance to cell death, and metastasis of cancer cells. Although knowledge about the structure and assembly of Complex I is increasing, information about the role of Complex I subunits in tumorigenesis is scarce and contradictory. Several small molecule inhibitors of Complex I have been described as selective anticancer agents; however, pharmacologic and genetic interventions on Complex I have also shown pro-tumorigenic actions, involving different cellular signaling. Here, we discuss the role of Complex I in tumorigenesis, focusing on the specific participation of Complex I subunits in proliferation and metastasis of cancer cells

Phytochemical study of Joannesia princeps Vell. (Euphorbiaceae) leaves

A phytochemical study of chloroform-methanol and methanol extracts of Joannesia princeps Vell. leaves led to the isolation of twenty eight compounds, including two α-ionones (2, 5), three glycosylated monoterpenes (1, 3, 4), eight phenolic compounds (6, 8, 9, 12, 14, 17, 18, 24), two gallotannins (10, 11), twelve flavonoids (7, 15, 16, 19, 20-23, 25-28), and one lignan (13). The structural characterization of the isolated compounds was performed by spectroscopic data and comparison with the literature. All compounds were isolated from this species and from the genus Joannesia for the first time. The chemotaxonomic importance of these metabolites is therefore summarized

Autotrophic and heterotrophic denitrification for simultaneous removal of nitrogen, sulfur and organic matter

24 Páginas; 5 Tablas; 5 FigurasThe aim of this investigation was to assess the startup and operation of a laboratory-scale hybrid UASB-Anaerobic Filter Reactor (UASFB) of 1 L volume, kept at 30°C, in order to carry out a simultaneous autotrophic and heterotrophic denitrification process. First, the heterotrophic and autotrophic populations were separately enriched, with specific cultures and subsequently the UASFB was inoculated with 2 g L−1 of volatile suspended solids (VSS), with a ratio of 1.5:1 (autotrophs: heterotrophs). The influent or synthetic wastewater used was composed of: Na2S2O3·5H2O, CH3COOK, NaNO3, NaHCO3, K2HPO4, NH4Cl and saline solution. The concentrations varied depending on the organic loading rate (OLR), nitrogen loading rate (NLR) and sulfur loading rate (SLR) applied. In the UASFB reactor, two experimental conditions were tested and assessed: (i) COD/N ratio of 3.6 and SLR of 0.75 kg S m−3 d−1; and (ii) COD/N ratio of 5.8 and SLR of 0.25 kg S m−3 d−1. The results obtained demonstrated that an inoculum coming from an anaerobic reactor was able to carry out the process, obtaining a maximum nitrate removal of 85.3% in the first stage of operation and 99.5% in the second stage. The recovery of sulfur in form of sulfate in the effluent did not present a tendency to stabilize during the measured time, with a maximum thiosulfate removal of 32.5%, when the SLR was lowered to 0.25 kg S m−3 d−1. The maximum organic matter elimination, measured as COD, was 75.8%, which indicates the relatively good performance and behavior of the heterotrophic microorganisms.The authors wish to express their gratitude to FONDECYT, Project No. 1130108 (Chile), for its financial support.Peer reviewe

Efecto de dos inhibidores de la nitrificación sobre la concentración de nitratos en pasto elefante (pennisetum purpureum schum.)

Se compararon dos inhibidores de la nitrificación (Sulfatiazol, N- Serve) y las tendencias de la conversión de amonio a nitrato en el suelo y la concentración de este ión en el pasto según la fuente (Urea, Nitrón 26) y las dosis de nitrógeno (100, 200 kg/ha). Las concentraciones de nitratos en los suelos y en el tejido vegetal tendieron a incrementarse a medida que aumentaban los niveles de fertilización. La efectividad de los inhibidores se encuentra determinada por los niveles de fertilización y, en algunos casos, por las condiciones medio ambientales presentes.It was compared the grade of inhibition of two inhibitors products of the nitrification (Sulfatiazol, N - Serve) and the tendencies on the conversion of ammonium into nitrate in the ground and the concentration of this ion on Pennisetum purpureum Schum. Depending on the source (urea, Nitrón 26) and the quantity of nitrogen (100, 200 kq/ha). The concentrations of nitrates on the grounds and the vegetal tissue stretched to intensity at the same time as were increase the levels of nitrogenous. The effectiveness of the inhibitors is determined for the employed levels and in some cases for the present environment conditions

The association between different domains of quality of life and symptoms in primary care patients with emotional disorders

Despite the importance of quality of life (QoL) in primary care patients with emotional disorders, the specific influence of the symptoms of these disorders and the sociodemographic characteristics of patients on the various QoL domains has received scant attention. The aim of the present study of primary care patients with emotional disorders was to analyse the associations between four different QoL domains and the most prevalent clinical symptoms (i.e., depression, anxiety and somatization), while controlling for sociodemographic variables. A total of 1241 participants from 28 primary care centres in Spain were assessed with the following instruments: the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)-9 to evaluate depression; the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD)-7 for anxiety; PHQ-15 for somatization; and the World Health Organization Quality of Life Instrument-Short Form (WHOQOL- Bref) to assess four broad QoL domains: physical health, psychological health, social relationships, and environment. The associations between the symptoms and QoL domains were examined using hierarchical regression analyses. Adjusted QoL mean values as a function of the number of overlapping diagnoses were calculated. The contribution of sociodemographic variables to most QoL domains was modest, explaining anywhere from 2% to 11% of the variance. However, adding the clinical variables increased the variance explained by 12% to 40% depending on the specific QoL domain. Depression was the strongest predictor for all domains. The number of overlapping diagnoses adversely affected all QoL domains, with each additional diagnosis reducing the main QoL subscales by 5 to 10 points. In primary care patients with a diagnostic impression of an emotional disorders as identified by their treating GP, clinical symptoms explained more of the variance in QoL than sociodemographic factors such as age, sex, level of education, marital status, work status, and income. Given the strong relationship between depressive symptoms and QoL, treatment of depression may constitute a key therapeutic target to improve QoL in people with emotional disorders in primary care

Improving brain injury cognitive rehabilitation by personalized telerehabilitation services: Guttmann neuropersonal trainer

Cognitive rehabilitation aims to remediate or alleviate the cognitive deficits appearing after an episode of acquired brain injury (ABI). The purpose of this work is to describe the telerehabilitation platform called Guttmann Neuropersonal Trainer (GNPT) which provides new strategies for cognitive rehabilitation, improving efficiency and access to treatments, and to increase knowledge generation from the process. A cognitive rehabilitation process has been modeled to design and develop the system, which allows neuropsychologists to configure and schedule rehabilitation sessions, consisting of set of personalized computerized cognitive exercises grounded on neuroscience and plasticity principles. It provides remote continuous monitoring of patient's performance, by an asynchronous communication strategy. An automatic knowledge extraction method has been used to implement a decision support system, improving treatment customization. GNPT has been implemented in 27 rehabilitation centers and in 83 patients' homes, facilitating the access to the treatment. In total, 1660 patients have been treated. Usability and cost analysis methodologies have been applied to measure the efficiency in real clinical environments. The usability evaluation reveals a system usability score higher than 70 for all target users. The cost efficiency study results show a relation of 1-20 compared to face-to-face rehabilitation. GNPT enables brain-damaged patients to continue and further extend rehabilitation beyond the hospital, improving the efficiency of the rehabilitation process. It allows customized therapeutic plans, providing information to further development of clinical practice guidelines

Brain injury MRI simulator based on theoretical models of neuroanatomic damage

In order to improve the body of knowledge about brain injury impairment is essential to develop image database with different types of injuries. This paper proposes a new methodology to model three types of brain injury: stroke, tumor and traumatic brain injury; and implements a system to navigate among simulated MRI studies. These studies can be used on research studies, to validate new processing methods and as an educational tool, to show different types of brain injury and how they affect to neuroanatomic structures

Transcriptional role of p53 in interferon-mediated antiviral immunity

Tumor suppressor p53 is activated by several stimuli, including DNA damage and oncogenic stress. Previous studies (Takaoka, A., S. Hayakawa, H. Yanai, D. Stoiber, H. Negishi, H. Kikuchi, S. Sasaki, K. Imai, T. Shibue, K. Honda, and T. Taniguchi. 2003. Nature. 424:516–523) have shown that p53 is also induced in response to viral infections as a downstream transcriptional target of type I interferon (IFN) signaling. Moreover, many viruses, including SV40, human papillomavirus, Kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus, adenoviruses, and even RNA viruses such as polioviruses, have evolved mechanisms designated to abrogate p53 responses. We describe a novel p53 function in the activation of the IFN pathway. We observed that infected mouse and human cells with functional p53 exhibited markedly decreased viral replication early after infection. This early inhibition of viral replication was mediated both in vitro and in vivo by a p53-dependent enhancement of IFN signaling, specifically the induction of genes containing IFN-stimulated response elements. Of note, p53 also contributed to an increase in IFN release from infected cells. We established that this p53-dependent enhancement of IFN signaling is dependent to a great extent on the ability of p53 to activate the transcription of IFN regulatory factor 9, a central component of the IFN-stimulated gene factor 3 complex. Our results demonstrate that p53 contributes to innate immunity by enhancing IFN-dependent antiviral activity independent of its functions as a proapoptotic and tumor suppressor gene