The memory associative test of the district of Seine-Saint-Denis (tma-93) validation as Alzheimer's disease diagnosis test

INTRODUCTION Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most frequent cause of dementia (60-80%). Loss of binding and difficulties in encoding new information are early signs of hippocampal dysfunction and may facilitate an early AD diagnosis, a challenge for clinicians who evaluate patients with memory complaints. To detect hippocampal dysfunction, we employ screening and memory tests. As we live in a low-educated population area, verbal memory tests have several limitations. In this context, we aimed to validate the "Associative memory test of the Seine-Saint-Denis district" TMA-93, which examines "visual relational binding." Through this doctoral work, we travel to TMA-93 validation and normative studies. METHODS AND RESULTS In the preliminary TMA-93 validation (phase I), we compared its diagnostic accuracy with FCSRT to differentiate patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) from Healthy Controls (HCs), including 41.7% low-educated participants. ROC curve analysis determined an AUC of 0.97 (95% CI: 0.89 - 1.00, p <.001) to distinguish between aMCI patients and HCs. The TMA-93 accuracy did not show significant differences with the FCSRT. Within the test reliability, the TMA-93 internal consistency between the related pictures was "optimal" (Cronbach's alpha = 0.936). TMA-93 showed a “good” test-retest reliability at 2-4 months for HCs [ICC = 0.802 (95% CI = 0.653 - 0.887)], suggesting stability in the over-time performance. The inter-rater TMA-93 reliability was “optimal” for the total score [ICC = 0.999, 95% CI 0.999 - 1], number of errors [ICC = 0.996, 95% CI 0.993 - 0.998], and number of intrusions [ ICC = 0.985, 95% CI 0.974- 0.992]. All participants completed the test, without significant differences in administration time regarding educational level, with an average time of 6 minutes in aMCI patients. TMA-93 Spanish normative study provides normative percentiles data through a systematized recruitment study on an 1131 participants' sample. We describe the healthy population's reference scores with a broad representation of our region's community. TMA-93 total score was influenced by age and educational level, but not by gender. We finally validated the test’s diagnostic accuracy by comparing TMA-93 and FCSRT variables’ predictive value with biomarkers’ result (CSF or Amyloid-PET), considered the Gold-Standard. TMA-93 demonstrated "reasonable" diagnostic utility in discriminating between "positive" and "negative" biomarker groups (AUC = 0.72; 95% CI: 0.62 - 0.82, p <.001), higher than FCSRT variables. The sequential use of the TMA-93 after the pictorial FCSRT increased the diagnostic sensitivity up to 95.3%. DISCUSSION TMA-93 uses ten semantically related pairs of drawings, assessing binding. Binding ability decreases in prodromal AD so that it could facilitate an early diagnosis. TMA-93 is a specific memory test suitable for elder and low-educated patients. It is probably more accurate for diagnosing aMCI than others testing episodic memory, and its short administration time turns the test suitable for Primary Care or General Neurology outpatient clinics, in which there is limited time per patient. We first validated TMA-93, comparing its diagnostic accuracy with FCSRT to differentiate aMCI patients from HCs, finding a similar diagnostic accuracy. Afterwards, we studied test’s reliability, finding an “optimal” internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.936), “good” test-retest, and “optimal” inter-rater reliability. TMA-93 showed itself feasible as all participants completed the test in an average time of 6 minutes in aMCI patients. Through the normative study, we provide normative percentiles data through a representative population. TMA-93 was influenced by age and educational level but not by gender. This study showed wide variations of the 5th and 10th TMA-93 percentiles, lower for the older and less educated groups, suggesting that the ability to learn by visual association is lower and more sensitive to aging in the low-educated group. We finally validated TMA-93 by comparing it and the FCSRT variables with biomarkers (Gold Standard). The TMA-93 demonstrated "reasonable" diagnostic utility in discriminating between biomarker groups (positive or negative). Memory impaired patients with an MMSE ≥ 22 and TMA-93 total score ≤ 5th and 10th percentiles showed 75% and 86% sensitivity and 41% and 29% specificity, respectively, for AD biological diagnosis. These high sensitivity values position the TMA-93 as a good memory screening test, particularly for limited face-to-face time settings. Therefore, we propose the patients' memory examination to start with the TMA-93 (as screening), followed by the AD-pathology confirmation with the highest specific test at present: biomarkers. The sequential use of the TMA-93 after the pictorial FCSRT increased the diagnostic sensitivity up to 95.3%. CONCLUSIONS TMA-93 is highly discriminative to distinguish MCI patients without excluding loweducated individuals. It has a high internal consistency and precision, with high interobserver and good test-retest reliability. TMA-93 administration spends between 3-7 minutes, suitable for Primary Care. It seems as accurate as FCSRT to discriminate between positive and negative AD biomarkers' results, improved by adding TMA-93 to FCSRT variables. All together, position the test as a good screening tool in limit face-toface consultations

Ecology and public health: rodents as reservoirs of zoonoses in the farmland of northwestern Spain

Zoonoses are a concerning issue for public health and the last pandemic event caused by covid-19 is a good example of it. Human activity is enhancing the transmission, intensity and emergence of practically all zoonoses. Synantropic qualities of some rodent species provide them with exceptional features as amplifiers of emerging zoonoses. Vectors are also important elements transmitting the pathogen between hosts and make it more likely for a disease to cross the species barrier and become zoonotic. Circulation of pathogens involves several reservoirs and hosts, each one with a different level of competence for vectors and transmission of pathogens. The overlap of infected hosts, competent vectors, and humans in the same habitats and at the same time increase considerably the zoonotic risk. The disease ecology based on the One-Health considers pathogens as elements interconnected with the natural environment, wildlife, domestic animals and humans. An effective monitoring, comprehensive understanding of the system functioning, and determination of the spatial-temporal patterns provide us with crucial information for disease prevention. In this thesis, I studied the zoonotic relevance of wild populations of a sympatric small mammal community (Microtus arvalis, Apodemus sylvaticus, Mus spretus and Crocidura russula) that inhabit intensive farming in NW Spain. Here, M. arvalis is considered a host and amplifier of Francisella tularensis (the etiological agent causing tularemia) but little is known about the circulation of this and other zoonotic pathogens in the system. I focused on improving the scientific knowledge of the dynamic of zoonotic pathogens and vectors of the sympatric small mammal community inhabiting those intensive agricultural landscapes. In the first chapter, I reviewed current knowledge on the role of common vole in tularemia epidemiology and identified relevant knowledge gaps in the &#8220;Francisella tularensis&#8211;M. arvalis&#8221; system. In the second chapter, I characterized the most common arthropod vectors (fleas and ticks) parasitizing the small mammal host community. In the third and four chapters, I screened the host community for some zoonotic micropathogens and macroparasites: bacteria (F. tularensis and Bartonella), viruses (hantaviruses, arenaviruses and orthopoxviruses) and gastrointestinal helminths. Transversely, I examined variations in the parasitological parameters (prevalence, intensity and abundance) according to host species and sex, habitat (crop type), seasonality and the population dynamics of host species, with particular emphasis on the vole population cycles. I have detected F. tularensis, nine Bartonella species, three types of viruses and eight different helminth taxa. Half of those pathogens are considered zoonotic. Results showed that the small mammals surveyed that lives in sympatry with M. arvalis seem to have no relevant role in the circulation and maintenance of F. tularensis. Fluctuating population dynamics of M. arvalis and seasonality can affect the dynamic of vectors and pathogens. High-density periods of M. arvalis (outbreak years and summer) favored the circulation of viruses and bacteria, and increased the abundance of fleas, potentially also increasing the zoonotic risk for human populations. The infestation levels by ticks and gastrointestinal helminths were higher during the crash phase of the vole cycle. These and other pathogens could contribute to the maintenance of a low vole population phase, by limiting and delaying the recovery of the vole population after a crash. This thesis contributed new knowledge of the circulation of zoonotic pathogens and vectors in this farming system, with public health implications. Of particular importance are the roles that vole outbreaks play as an amplifier and spill-over agent of zoonotic diseases; the need to consider new viruses (in particular, hantavirus) in public health surveillance; and the usefulness of community-based monitoring of pathogen circulation, maintenance and transmission to improve prevention.Las zoonosis son un tema preocupante para la salud pública y el último evento pandémico causado por la covid-19 es un buen ejemplo de ello. La actividad humana está potenciando la transmisión, intensidad y emergencia de prácticamente todas las zoonosis. Las cualidades sinantrópicas de algunas especies de roedores les confieren características excepcionales como amplificadores de zoonosis emergentes. Los vectores también son elementos importantes que transmiten patógenos entre hospedadores y hacen más probable que una enfermedad salte la barrera de especie y se convierta en zoonótica. En la circulación de patógenos intervienen varios reservorios y hospedadores, cada uno con diferente nivel de idoneidad para la supervivencia de los vectores y de transmisión de cada patógeno. El solapamiento en lugar y tiempo de huéspedes infectados, vectores competentes y seres humanos aumenta considerablemente el riesgo zoonótico. La ecología de las enfermedades basada en el concepto de One-Health considera a los patógenos como elementos interconectados con el entorno natural, la fauna salvaje, los animales domésticos y los seres humanos. Un seguimiento eficaz, la comprensión exhaustiva del funcionamiento del sistema y la determinación de los patrones espacio-temporales proporcionan información crucial para la prevención de enfermedades. En esta tesis, he estudiado la relevancia zoonótica de las poblaciones silvestres de una comunidad de pequeños mamíferos simpátricos (Microtus arvalis, Apodemus sylvaticus, Mus spretus y Crocidura russula) que habitan zonas agrarias intensificadas del noroeste de España. En este caso, M. arvalis se considera un hospedador y amplificador de Francisella tularensis (el agente etiológico causante de la tularemia), pero poco se conoce sobre la circulación de éste y otros patógenos zoonóticos en el sistema. Me centré en mejorar el conocimiento científico de la dinámica de los patógenos zoonóticos y los vectores en la comunidad de pequeños mamíferos simpátricos que habitan esos paisajes agrícolas intensivos. En el primer capítulo, revisé los conocimientos actuales sobre el papel del topillo común en la epidemiología de la tularemia e identifiqué algunas lagunas de conocimiento relevantes en el sistema "Francisella tularensis-M. arvalis". En el segundo capítulo, caractericé los vectores artrópodos más comunes (pulgas y garrapatas) que parasitan a la comunidad de pequeños mamíferos. En los capítulos tercero y cuarto, examiné la comunidad de hospedadores en busca de algunos micropatógenos y macroparásitos zoonóticos: bacterias (F. tularensis y Bartonella), virus (hantavirus, arenavirus y ortopoxvirus) y helmintos gastrointestinales. De forma transversal, he examinado las variaciones de los parámetros parasitológicos (prevalencia, intensidad y abundancia) en función de la especie y el sexo del hospedador, el hábitat (tipo de cultivo), la estacionalidad y la dinámica poblacional de las especies hospedadoras, con especial atención a los ciclos poblacionales de los topillos. He detectado F. tularensis, nueve especies de Bartonella, tres tipos de virus y ocho taxones de helmintos diferentes. La mitad de esos patógenos se consideran zoonóticos. Los resultados mostraron que los pequeños mamíferos estudiados que co-habitan con M. arvalis no parecen tener un papel relevante en la circulación y el mantenimiento de F. tularensis. La dinámica poblacional fluctuante de M. arvalis y la estacionalidad pueden afectar a la dinámica de vectores y patógenos. Los periodos de alta densidad de M. arvalis (años de brotes y verano) favorecieron la circulación de virus y bacterias, y aumentaron la abundancia de pulgas, incrementando también potencialmente el riesgo zoonótico para las poblaciones humanas. Los niveles de infestación por garrapatas y helmintos gastrointestinales fueron mayores durante la fase de colapso poblacional del topillo campesino. Estos y otros patógenos podrían contribuir al mantenimiento de la población de topillos en una fase de baja densidad, limitando y retrasando la recuperación de la población de topillos después del colapso poblacional. Esta tesis aportó nuevos conocimientos sobre la circulación de patógenos y vectores zoonóticos en este sistema agrícola, con implicaciones para la salud pública. Son especialmente relevantes el papel de los brotes de topillos como amplificadores y propagadores de enfermedades zoonóticas; la necesidad de tener en cuenta nuevos virus que pueden estar circulando en el sistema (en particular, hantavirus) de cara a la vigilancia con motivos de la salud pública; y la utilidad de la monitorización de zoonoses basada en la comunidad para conocer la circulación, persistencia y transmisión de patógenos de cara a mejorar las estrategias de prevención.Escuela de DoctoradoDoctorado en Conservación y Uso Sostenible de Sistemas Forestale

Disentangling accretion disk and dust emissions in the infrared spectrum of type 1 AGN

We use a semi-empirical model to reproduce the 0.1-10um spectral energy distribution (SED) of a sample of 85 luminous quasars. In the model, the continuum emission from the accretion disk as well as the nebular lines are represented by a single empirical template (disk), where differences in the optical spectral index are reproduced by varying the amount of extinction. The near- and mid-infrared emission of the AGN-heated dust is modelled as the combination of two black-bodies (dust). The model fitting shows that the disk and dust components are remarkably uniform among individual quasars, with differences in the observed SED largely accounted for by varying levels of obscuration in the disk as well as differences in the relative luminosity of the disk and dust components. By combining the disk-subtracted SEDs of the 85 quasars, we generate a template for the 1-10um emission of the AGN-heated dust. Additionally, we use a sample of local Seyfert 1 galaxies with full spectroscopic coverage in the 0.37um to 39um range to demonstrate a method for stitching together spectral segments obtained with different PSF and extraction apertures. We show that the disk and dust templates obtained from luminous quasars also reproduce the optical-to-mid-infrared spectra of local Seyfert 1s when the contribution from the host galaxy is properly subtracted.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures; accepted for publication in Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences, Research Topic "Quasars at all cosmic epochs"; proceedings of the conference "Quasars at all cosmic epochs", held in Padova, April 2-7, 201

ChIP analysis unravels an exceptionally wide distribution of DNA binding sites for the NtcA transcription factor in a heterocyst-forming cyanobacterium

[Background] The CRP-family transcription factor NtcA, universally found in cyanobacteria, was initially discovered as a regulator operating N control. It responds to the N regime signaled by the internal 2-oxoglutarate levels, an indicator of the C to N balance of the cells. Canonical NtcA-activated promoters bear an NtcA-consensus binding site (GTAN8TAC) centered at about 41.5 nucleotides upstream from the transcription start point. In strains of the Anabaena/Nostoc genera NtcA is pivotal for the differentiation of heterocysts in response to N stress.[Results] In this study, we have used chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by high-throughput sequencing to identify the whole catalog of NtcA-binding sites in cells of the filamentous, heterocyst-forming cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. PCC 7120 three hours after the withdrawal of combined N. NtcA has been found to bind to 2,424 DNA regions in the genome of Anabaena, which have been ascribed to 2,153 genes. Interestingly, only a small proportion of those genes are involved in N assimilation and metabolism, and 65% of the binding regions were located intragenically.[Conclusions] The distribution of NtcA-binding sites identified here reveals the largest bacterial regulon described to date. Our results show that NtcA has a much wider role in the physiology of the cell than it has been previously thought, acting both as a global transcriptional regulator and possibly also as a factor influencing the superstructure of the chromosome (and plasmids).This work was supported by grant BFU2010–17980 from Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Spain), co-financed by FEDER, and grant P08-CVI-03838 from Junta de Andalucia (Spain).Peer Reviewe

Correlational linkage analysis (Frequently Applied Designs)

Correlational or second-order linkage analyses (Schulz, 2008) correlate content data points and survey data at the aggregate level. They are generally used to infer the impact of public opinion climate, the media context or media use on individual attitudes, cognitions and behaviors. Correlational linkage analyses make use of data collected at different points in time to be able to describe patterns of change and stability over time and to compensate for the reduced number of observations resulting from aggregating individual-level data. They often employ manual and automated content analysis, descriptive and inferential statistical analyses, and time series analysis.   Field of application/theoretical foundation: Linkage analyses have extensively been used in the fields of political communication (Soroka, 2002), EU studies (Brosius et al., 2019a), and more recently, social media and social movements. Studies that employed second-order linkage analyses are related to theories of agenda setting (McCombs &amp; Shaw, 1972), framing (Vliegenthart et al., 2008), or media bias and tone (Brosius et al., 2019b) (see chapter Content Analysis in Mixed Method approaches for a detailed account of applications and advantages of using linkage analyses).   Example studies: In this data entry we describe two studies that regress survey data on media content data with additional weighs to better model news media effects. The first study (Boomgaarden &amp; Vliegenthart, 2007) weigh  media coverage of a particular topic (immigration) by issue prominence and circulation of the newspapers considered in the study. The second one (Vliegenthart et al., 2008) further introduces a publication recency moderator to account for how close in time a given news story was published from when survey data was collected and individuals may have been exposed to such piece of information.   References Boomgaarden, H. G., &amp; Vliegenthart, R. (2007). Explaining the rise of anti-immigrant parties: The role of news media content. Electoral Studies, 26(2), 404–417. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2006.10.018 Brosius, A., van Elsas, E. J., &amp; de Vreese, C. H. (2019a). Trust in the European Union: Effects of the information environment. European Journal of Communication, 34(1), 57–73. Brosius, A., van Elsas, E. J., &amp; de Vreese, C. H. (2019b). How media shape political trust: News coverage of immigration and its effects on trust in the European Union. European Union Politics, 20(3), 447–467. https://doi.org/10.1177/1465116519841706 McCombs, M. E., &amp; Shaw, D. L. (1972). The agenda-setting function of mass media. Public Opinion Quarterly, 36(2), 176–187. Schulz, W. (2008). Content analyses and public opinion research. The SAGE Handbook of Public Opinion Research, 348–357. Soroka, S. N. (2002). Issue attributes and agenda-setting by media, the public, and policymakers in Canada. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 14(3), 264–285. Vliegenthart, R., Schuck, A. R., Boomgaarden, H. G., &amp; De Vreese, C. H. (2008). News coverage and support for European integration, 1990–2006. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 20(4), 415–439.   Table 1. Data matching in correlational linkage analyses Author(s) Relationship of theoretical interest Sample Time frame Content-analytical constructs Linkage strategy Boomgarden &amp; Vliegenthart (2007) News media reporting about immigration-related topics on aggregate share of vote intention for anti-immigrant parties (a) 157,968 articles collected through computer-assisted analysis, dealing with immigration and published in the five most-read Dutch national newspapers   (b) Monthly self-reports on vote intention toward anti-immigrant parties from surveyed representative samples of the Dutch population   (c) Monthly number of people that moved to the Netherlands and unemployment rates available from the Dutch governmental statistical institute 1990-2002 Visibility of immigration-related topics in news (1) The authors calculate a visibility score per article by computing:   (1.1.) an average person’s log probability that s/he is exposed to news about immigration through a given article. This is done by using the frequency with which this article mentions immigration-related topics (f(t,a), both in the headline (fh(t,a)), in which case the frequency is weighed by 8, and in the body of the text (fb(t,a)), in which case the frequency is multiplied by 2.    (1.2.) 1.1. is weighed by circulation of the newspaper where the article is published (c(a)).   (1.3.) 1.1. is weighed by whether the article is placed in the front page or other to account for how prominently the topic is featured (fp(a)).   Notationally, the equation can be written as follows: (2) In a second step, V(a) are aggregated for all articles in all outlets by month (the time unit to link content and survey data)   (3) Final immigration visibility scores (independent variable) are linked to monthly percentage of people that reported intending to vote for an anti-immigration party (dependent variable) through time series analysis. The authors run ARIMA models, successively adding controls for extreme right leadership peaks (Fortuyn’s entrance in the political arena and assassination), immigration levels, unemployment rates, the interaction between the both and finally, the media visibility variables. Vliegenthart, Schuck, Boomgaarden, De Vreese (2008) How framing of EU news in terms of benefit and conflict explains public support for the EU (a) 329,746 articles that contained at least one reference to the European institutions in main newspapers of 7 EU countries (Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom) were computer-assisted content analysed to obtain data on EU media visibility.   (b) 9,649 hand-coded articles that mentioned the EU at least twice (at least one of these references in the headline or in the lead of the article) were then analysed to investigate the framing of the EU. Approximately 50 articles per country were coded for each 6-month period.   (c) Self-reports on EU support from the bi-annual standard Eurobarometer. 1990–2006 (a) News media attention/visibility of the EU (b) Presence of a benefit frame or a disadavantage frame in EU news coverage © Presence of a conflict framing in EU news coverage (1) Articles dealing with the EU (at least one reference) are weighed by prominence and publication recency as follows: Articles on the first page of a newspaper are counted twice as heavily as articles in the remainder of the newspaper;  articles appearing in the month before a Eurobarometer survey was conducted are weighed six times, they are counted five times if appeared 2 months before, etc. The weighted EU visibility score is aggregated for each time period t in each country c.   (2) Framing scores are then assigned to each article (benefit and disadvantage frames 0-2, conflict framing ranged from 0 to 3)   (3) Mean framing scores per time period–country combination (fs(t,c)) are multiplied by visibility scores (vs(t,c)) to capture the overall salience of the frames (beyond its presence) as follows: (4) OLS regressions with panel corrected standard errors are run with benefit, disadvantage and conflict framing as main independent variables, and aggregated-level support for the EU as dependent variable

First-order linkage analysis (Frequently Applied Designs)

First-order linkage analyses (Schulz, 2008) employ individual survey data weighted by aggregated content data and are generally used to investigate media effects on public opinion. In contrast to experiments, their outcomes are highly generalizable since they allow to grasp what kind of content people encounter in a naturalistic setting (Barabas &amp; Jerit, 2009), with which frequency and intensity, and how it triggers a particular reaction, attitude change, knowledge gain or behavior. First-order linkage analyses often employ manual and automated content analysis, descriptive and inferential statistical analyses. When using panel data, they are furthermore able to identify within-individual changes in attitudes and behaviors (e.g. Takens et al., 2015).   Field of application/theoretical foundation: Linkage analyses have extensively been used in the fields of political communication and public opinion, EU studies and media and political psychology. Studies that employed first-order linkage analyses are concerned with theories of agenda setting (Erbring et al., 1980), visibility, priming and media attention on public opinion dynamics (e.g. Bos et al., 2011); news media tone (Hopmann et al., 2010), or the impact of exposure to counter-attitudinal views through the media (Matthes, 2012) on voting decisiveness and behavior. Framing studies or studies focusing on journalistic styles have also made extant use of linkage analysis (e.g. Jebril et al., 2013;  Schuck et al., 2014) (see chapter Content Analysis in Mixed Method approaches for a detailed account of uses, applications and advantages of using linkage analyses).   References Barabas, J., &amp; Jerit, J. (2009). Estimating the Causal Effects of Media Coverage on Policy-Specific Knowledge. American Journal of Political Science, 53(1), 73–89. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5907.2008.00358.x Boomgaarden, H. G., Van Spanje, J., Vliegenthart, R., &amp; De Vreese, C. H. (2011). Covering the crisis: Media coverage of the economic crisis and citizens’ economic expectations. Acta Politica, 46(4), 353–379. Bos, L., Van der Brug, W., &amp; De Vreese, C. (2011). How the media shape perceptions of right-wing populist leaders. Political Communication, 28(2), 182–206. Castro Herrero, L., &amp; Hopmann, D. N. (2017). The Virtue of Moderation: A Cross-National Analysis of Exposure to Cross-Cutting Information and Turnout. International Journal of Public Opinion Research. Castro, L., Nir, L., &amp; Skovsgaard, M. (2018). Bridging Gaps in Cross-Cutting Media Exposure: The Role of Public Service Broadcasting. Political Communication, 1–24. De Vreese, C. H., Boukes, M., Schuck, A., Vliegenthart, R., Bos, L., &amp; Lelkes, Y. (2017). Linking survey and media content data: Opportunities, considerations, and pitfalls. Communication Methods and Measures, 11(4), 221–244. Erbring, L., Goldenberg, E. N., &amp; Miller, A. H. (1980). Front-page news and real-world cues: A new look at agenda-setting by the media. American Journal of Political Science, 16–49. Hopmann, D. N., Vliegenthart, R., De Vreese, C., &amp; Alb\a ek, E. (2010). Effects of election news coverage: How visibility and tone influence party choice. Political Communication, 27(4), 389–405. Jebril, N., Albaek, E., &amp; De Vreese, C. H. (2013). Infotainment, cynicism and democracy: The effects of privatization vs personalization in the news. European Journal of Communication, 28(2), 105–121. Matthes, J. (2012). Exposure to counterattitudinal news coverage and the timing of voting decisions. Communication Research, 39(2), 147–169. Schuck, A. R., Vliegenthart, R., &amp; De Vreese, C. H. (2014). Who’s Afraid of Conflict? The Mobilizing Effect of Conflict Framing in Campaign News. British Journal of Political Science, 1–18. Schulz, W. (2008). Content analyses and public opinion research. The SAGE Handbook of Public Opinion Research, 348–357. Takens, J., Kleinnijenhuis, J., Van Hoof, A., &amp; Van Atteveldt, W. (2015). Party leaders in the media and voting behavior: Priming rather than learning or projection. Political Communication, 32(2), 249–267. Vreese, C. H. D., &amp; Semetko, H. A. (2004). News matters: Influences on the vote in the Danish 2000 euro referendum campaign. European Journal of Political Research, 43(5), 699–722. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0304-4130.2004.00171.x   Table 1. Data matching in first-order linkage analyses Author(s) Relationship of theoretical interest Sample Time frame Content-analytical constructs Linkage strategy Boomgaarden et al., 2011 How exposure to media coverage of the 2008-2009 economic crisis affected expectations regarding the future development of the national economic situation (a) Predictions or expectations about the economic situations provided by articles of nine newspapers and items from 2 news bulletins in the Netherlands in the period between wave 1 and wave 2 of the survey below-mentioned. For w2 to w3, only the front pages of newspapers were coded. (b) 976 respondents of a three-wave panel survey conducted in the Netherlands between November 2008 to February 2009 Nov 2008- Feb 2009 “Expectation, assumption or prediction of the personal economic situation of the Dutch people/the Dutch economy” and whether these are negative, neutral or positive (Boomgaarden et al., 2011, p. 361) (1) Calculation of number of positive and negative economic expectations/assumptions/predictions per outlet (negative (-2), rather negative (-1), balanced (0), rather positive (1), positive (2)) for either the Dutch economy or the Dutch people. Negative evaluations are weighted twice since people tend to select negative information in greater numbers. (2) Each survey respondent’s frequency of use of each outlet is weighted (multiplied) by each outlet’s aggregated score for each relevant content characteristic outlined above, and regressed on people’s actual economic expectations for the country and for themselves. De Vreese et al. 2017 How exposure to economic news (visibility and tone) predicts respondents’ expectations about the state of the national economy in the coming 12 months (a) 1,211 hand-coded articles evaluating the state of the Dutch economy in Dutch national newspapers   (b) Three-wave panel data from a surveyed representative sample of the Dutch population Feb-June 2015 (Negative, neutral or positive) tone towards the Dutch economy (1) The authors construct a variable in a content-analysed dataset measuring a tone scale per news article, ranging from -2 (completely negative) to 2 (completely positive)   (2) Publication recency for each article (how close in time the article was published to when respondents were surveyed) and prominence of each article (operationalized as how long the article was compared to average article length) were used to create weighted measures, in order to test whether more recent and more lengthy evaluative articles had stronger effects on economic perceptions, as compared to an unweighted variable.   (3) Observations at the article level were then aggregated at the wave-outlet level in a new dataset containing information on total number of articles with evaluations of the economy, tone, and the two weighted measures above-mentioned per outlet in each wave.   (4) The linkage was done using the survey dataset. For each individual i in wave w a score of the amount of evaluative news (visibility), the positive, neutral or negative connotation of such news (tone) and the weighed variables (weighted tone by recency and prominence) was calculated for each newspaper they read on a weekly basis. The final computation can be illustrated as follows:   For each individual i and wave w, Where k stands for outlet, =1 if individual i reads outlet k and 0 otherwise, and j denotes article and Nkw is the set of articles with evaluative news published by outlet k in wave w. Yj  can denote one of three possibilities: Above, tj captures tone of an article,  rj captures recency and lj is a measure of article length.   (5) A series of OLS regression analyses were finally performed, with respondents’ expectations on the economy as dependent variable, exposure to media evaluations of the economy (tone), the weighted tone variables and lagged dependent variables as predictors. Castro, Nir &amp; Skovsgaard (2018) How political interest and public service broadcasting strength impact cross-cutting, or counter-attitudinal media exposure; and whether public service media moderates the effect of political interest on cross-cutting exposure (a) 48,983 news stories from three newspapers and two TV news bulletins across 27 EU countries, collected by the European Election Media Study during the June 2009 European election campaign (May 14 to June 4 for some countries, up to May 17 to June 7 for others). Among such stories, 3,390 news evaluations on the national government’s record were identified and used to build the media content component of a cross-cutting media exposure measure.   (b)Self-reported news media exposure and political interest from 27,079 individuals in 27 EU countries surveyed by the European Election Study consortium during the three weeks following the June 2009 European Parliament elections. May-June 2009 Tone toward the national government (positive (1), balanced/mixed (0), negative (–1) (1) A variable that accounts for the extent to which an individual approves (1) or disapproves (– 1) of the government’ s performance to date is built. (2) The mean of each national government’ s positive (1), balanced/mixed (0), or negative (– 1) evaluations found in each media outlet’ s news stories is computed. (3) Cross-cutting exposure is calculated by accounting for the absolute difference between each individual’ s approval of their government and the average degree for each media outlet this individual uses at least once a week, averaged by the number of news media outlets they follow. (4) Random-intercept regression models, using individual exposure to cross-cutting information as the dependent variable, and political interest, public service broadcasting strength (audience share) and an interaction between both as main independent variables, are run. This allows to account for the hierarchical structure of the data by decomposing individual and country-level variances, and also to explain the relationship between cross-cutting news media exposure and political interest, considering contextual interactions (i.e., with public service broadcasting strength).   See Appendix B of the paper for the exact formula and a more detailed account of how scores are calculated for each individual and media outlet

Aplicación de un gestor de tareas colaborativo (Trello) para la tutorización de Trabajos de Fin de Grado y Trabajos de Fin de Máster en la Facultad de Ciencias

Póster presentado en: VIII Jornadas de Innovación Docente de la UBU, Burgos, 5 de abril de 2016, organizadas por el Instituto de Formación e Innovación Educativa-IFIE de la Universidad de Burgo

Application of a Duration Model in Programs for Prevention of University Attrition

Las prácticas institucionales vinculadas con la prevención de la deserción de una carrera universitaria requieren cada vez más de instrumentos validados que permitan anticipar tal comportamiento. En este sentido han demostrado utilidad decisiva distintos modelos estadísticos generados a partir de información referida a los propios estudiantes, sus hogares y su desempeño académico, entre otros determinantes. Este estudio pretende mostrar la importancia de una serie de determinantes exploradas en otros estudios: el objetivo principal es aplicar un modelo predictivo del riesgo de deserción de estudiantes universitarios a fin de generar resultados de manera temprana y progresivamente más eficaces. El trabajo exhibe la utilidad de los modelos de duración en una muestra de estudiantes presenciales, y la capacidad anticipatoria de los comportamientos de permanencia/deserción en el tiempo, a través de estimaciones de riesgo con un modelo de Cox en cuatro momentos de los primeros meses de universidad.Institutional practices related to the prevention of desertion of university students increasingly require validated instruments in order to anticipate such behavior. In this regard, different statistical models generated from information related to the students themselves, their homes, their academic performance, among other determinants have demonstrated to be of crucial value. This study aims to demonstrate the importance of a series of determinants explored in other studies. The main objective is to apply a dropout rate predictive model with at risk university students in order to generate early and progressively more effective results. The research demonstrates the usefulness of the duration models in a sample of classroom students and the capacity to anticipate behavior of permanence/attrition across time. This was done with risk estimates using the Cox model.Fil: Herrero, Verónica. Universidad Empresarial Siglo Xxi; ArgentinaFil: Merlino, Aldo. Universidad Empresarial Siglo Xxi; ArgentinaFil: Ayllón, Silvia. Universidad Empresarial Siglo Xxi; ArgentinaFil: Escanés, Gabriel Adrián. Universidad Empresarial Siglo Xxi; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones y Estudio sobre Cultura y Sociedad; Argentin

El tóxico nuestro de cada día

Muchas ocupaciones, profesiones y diversas disciplinas científicas implican la manipulación de sustancias químicas peligrosas. También las utilizamos diariamente en el ámbito hogareño. ¡Sí, en casa también las manipulamos! De esta manera, en nuestras actividades cotidianas nos exponemos a una gran variedad de sustancias, así como liberamos al medioambiente otra cantidad, convirtiéndose en el reservorio final de sus residuos o derivados.Fil: Bartel, Laura. Universidad Nacional de La Pampa; ArgentinaFil: Fanelli, Silvia Laura. Universidad Nacional de La Pampa; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - la Plata. Instituto de Limnología "dr. Raul A. Ringuelet". Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Cs.naturales y Museo. Instituto de Limnología; ArgentinaFil: Poggio Herrero, Ingrid Violeta. Universidad Nacional de La Pampa; Argentin