A Theoretical Framework on the Determinants of Food Purchasing Behavior of the Elderly: A Bibliometric Review with Scientific Mapping in Web of Science

The past few years have seen significant demographic changes in most regions, including an increased elderly population. Subsequently, elderly citizens comprise an important market segment of consumers, with the food industry one of the most affected areas in this context. However, food market managers previously believed that elderly consumers’ needs were stereotyped in nature. The lack of focus on this sector, therefore, left elderly consumers as an untapped market, without realizing the financial independence of this segment regarding their nutrition. This research will attempt to provide the key determinant factors on elderly consumers’ behavior related to food. For that purpose, a complete literature review of more than 123 papers regarding these concepts has been carried out. Once analyzed, we highlight the common insights to give clear guidance for supermarket managers and food manufacturers to have a better knowledge of the reasons behind elderly people’s food acquisitions

Video Game Streaming in Young People and Teenagers: Uptake, User Groups, Dangers, and Opportunities

In recent years, live video streaming platforms for video games have been gaining popularity. These types of services, which enable anyone to broadcast and consume live content, are revolutionising the current video game landscape. Users approach the emergence of and participation in these platforms driven by a range of motivations. It is essential to characterise the different forms of participation in services such as Twitch to evaluate the phenomenon and reflect on its advantages and disadvantages. To that end, a survey was carried out of 580 young people and adolescents aged between 14 and 24. The aim of this study is thus to explore the uptake of these platforms, as well as identify user groups, distinguish between different motivations, and address the associated benefits and harms. Applying a methodology based on factor analysis and cluster analysis, user profiles were characterised according to their specific features, gaming/viewing hours, self-perception of their skill level as a player, devices used, and type or genre of video game. Four subgroups of gamers/viewers were thus identified: casual, social, hobby, and problematic. The results showed that older users and female users feature more prominently in the first two groups, as do those spending less time on video games and live streaming platforms. Conversely, in the hobby and problematic groups, we observe just the opposite. The existence of profiles at possible risk of addiction underlines how, at a preventive level, there is a need for more in-depth research on these types of services and greater public awareness of the dangers of uncontrolled use

Surface characterization techniques. Situation and needs of the medical industry in Costa Rica

The aim of this document is to identify process where chemical characterization of materials is needed in the medical device industry. Inquest and informative visits were applied to determine the industry needs on chemical surface characterization. This work is a first approach to promote the production linkages and the diversification of the laboratory services offered in Costa Rica. The main result is that there is a lack of technical information related to the scope of these superficial characterization techniques. Some of the usual production problems expressed by the companies, as well as technological innovation could be addressed if the laboratory service in the country existed with the proper accreditation.El presente documento tiene como objetivo identificar los procesos de caracterización química superficial de materiales, que necesita el mercado de la industria de dispositivos médicos, para evaluar el potencial mercado que podría tener éste en dicha industria. Se realizaron entrevistas y visitas informativas a las empresas, para determinar sus necesidades en caracterizaciones químicas de la superficie. Esto será un primer abordaje para promover el encadenamiento productivo y la diversificación de los servicios que puede brindar el país. Como resultado se obtiene que hay un gran desconocimiento técnico en el país relacionado al alcance de estas técnicas de caracterización superficial algunos de los problemas rutinarios, que las empresas expresaron tener, así como la innovación tecnológica podrían ser abordados si existiese el servicio en el país con las debidas acreditaciones para estos ensayos.Universidad de Costa Rica/[731-B7-A10]/UCR/Costa RicaUCR::Vicerrectoría de Docencia::Ingeniería::Facultad de Ingeniería::Escuela de Ingeniería QuímicaUCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ingeniería::Instituto Investigaciones en Ingeniería (INII

Explanatory factors of willingness to pay for cultural attributes in Castilla wal

[EN] The aim of the study was to determine the explanatory factors of the willingness to pay (WTP) a price premium for consuming local Castilla walnut versus the imported one in the region of “Sierra Nevada”, state of Puebla. Data were gathered from 216 questionnaires administered to consumers in three cities: Puebla capital, San Pedro Cholula and Atlixco. To explain the WTP, an econometric probit model with multiple intervals was estimated. A WTP a premium of 10 % for the attribute “local” was found. The explanatory variables were the price paid (PRECIO), safety of the product (INOCUIDAD) and gastronomic identity (IDENTIDAD).[ES] El objetivo del estudio fue determinar los factores explicativos de la disposición a pagar (DAP) un sobreprecio por consumir nuez de Castilla local versus importada, en la región Sierra Nevada de Puebla. Los datos se obtuvieron de 216 cuestionarios aplicados a consumidores, en tres ciudades del estado: Puebla capital, San Pedro Cholula y Atlixco. Para explicar la DAP se estimó un modelo economé-trico probit de intervalos múltiples. Se determinó que existe DAP un sobreprecio de 10 % por el atributo “local”. Las variables explicativas fueron el precio pagado (PRECIO), la inocuidad del producto (INO-CUIDAD) y la identidad gastronómica (IDENTIDAD)Luna Méndez, N.; Jaramillo Villanueva, JL.; Ramírez Juárez, J. (2016). Factores explicativos de la disposición a pagar por atributos culturales en nuez de Castilla. Economía Agraria y Recursos Naturales - Agricultural and Resource Economics. 16(1):39-57. https://doi.org/10.7201/earn.2016.01.03SWORD395716

El coeficiente de descarga y la densidad beta

Se estudia el coeficiente de descarga y la distribución de intensidades de la turbulencia. Con el teorema de Torricelli y la teoría de probabilidades se formulan el caudal y el coeficiente de descarga, siguiendo una densidad beta unimodal, renormalizada, con dos parámetros de forma. Se había construido un modelo multifractal para la cascada de la energía cinética en la turbulencia, partiendo de los métodos de Pearson y de Kolmogorov. Para la intensidad de la turbulencia, con el primero se creó una distribución beta; para el segundo, una ley en potencia. Se completa el modelo multifractal, reconociendo la función de estructura como la función Kummer. Se busca la compatibilidad entre los dos modelos y la identificación de sus parámetros. Se encuentra que los dos parámetros de forma determinan la resolución del modelo de cascada. Se determina la dimensión local y el espectro de dimensiones para los estados que producen el teorema de Torricelli. Redefiniendo la función de estructura, la resolución queda determinada por el tirante para el cambio de régimen. Análogamente, pueden identificarse diversos prototipos, a los que hemos denominado: cuatro experimentales, tres canales, Kolmogorov, Kármán, Taylor, Verhulst (logística), Cauchy-Manning y Euclides (áurea). Se concluye que el coeficiente de descarga es una beta renormalizada; la distribución de intensidades de la turbulencia es una beta; el prototipo Torricelli resulta representativo para los cuatro experimentales y el de Euclides, quedando lejos de la distribución Gaussiana, que está contenida en el de Kármán; en tanto, el de Taylor produce la delta de Dirac

Probabilistic combination of eigenlungs-based classifiers for COVID-19 diagnosis in chest CT images

The outbreak of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic has changed the world. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there have been more than 100 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, including more than 2.4 million deaths. It is extremely important the early detection of the disease, and the use of medical imaging such as chest X-ray (CXR) and chest Computed Tomography (CCT) have proved to be an excellent solution. However, this process requires clinicians to do it within a manual and time-consuming task, which is not ideal when trying to speed up the diagnosis. In this work, we propose an ensemble classifier based on probabilistic Support Vector Machine (SVM) in order to identify pneumonia patterns while providing information about the reliability of the classification. Specifically, each CCT scan is divided into cubic patches and features contained in each one of them are extracted by applying kernel PCA. The use of base classifiers within an ensemble allows our system to identify the pneumonia patterns regardless of their size or location. Decisions of each individual patch are then combined into a global one according to the reliability of each individual classification: the lower the uncertainty, the higher the contribution. Performance is evaluated in a real scenario, yielding an accuracy of 97.86%. The large performance obtained and the simplicity of the system (use of deep learning in CCT images would result in a huge computational cost) evidence the applicability of our proposal in a real-world environment.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figure

Comparative Analysis for the Presence of IgG Anti-Aquaporin-1 in Patients with NMO-Spectrum Disorders

Detection of IgG anti-Aquaporin-4 (AQP4) in serum of patients with Neuromyelitis optica syndrome disorders (NMOSD) has improved diagnosis of these processes and differentiation from Multiple sclerosis (MS). Recent findings also claim that a subgroup of patients with NMOSD, serum negative for IgG-anti-AQP4, present antibodies anti-AQP1 instead. Explore the presence of IgG-anti-AQP1 using a previously developed cell-based assay (CBA) highly sensitive to IgG-anti-AQP4. Serum of 205 patients diagnosed as NMOSD (8), multiple sclerosis (94), optic neuritis (39), idiopathic myelitis (29), other idiopathic demyelinating disorders of the central nervous system (9), other neurological diseases (18) and healthy controls (8), were used in a CBA over fixed HEK cells transfected with hAQP1-EGFP or hM23-AQP4-EGFP, treated with Triton X-100 and untreated. ELISA was also performed. Analysis of serum with our CBA indicated absence of anti-AQP1 antibodies, whereas in cells pretreated with detergent, noisy signal made reliable detection impossible. ELISA showed positive results in few serums. The low number of NMOSD serums included in our study reduces its power to conclude the specificity of AQP1 antibodies as new biomarkers of NMOSD. Our study does not sustain detection of anti-AQP1 in serum of NMOSD patients but further experiments are expected.Grants from “La Junta de Andalucía, Consejería de Innovación Ciencia y Empresa” (P08-CTS-03574) and Consejería de Salud (PI0298-2010), and from the “Instituto de Salud Carlos III” (Exp. PI12/01882) to Miriam Echevarría funded this work. We thank Genzyme Foundation in multiple sclerosis for giving to Miriam Echevarría one of their 2012 fellowships. We acknowledge support by the CSIC Open Access Publication Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI

Predictive Value of Serum Antibodies and Point Mutations of AQP4, AQP1 and MOG in A Cohort of Spanish Patients with Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorders

The detection of IgG aquaporin-4 antibodies in the serum of patients with Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) has dramatically improved the diagnosis of this disease and its distinction from multiple sclerosis. Recently, a group of patients have been described who have an NMO spectrum disorder (NMOsd) and who are seronegative for AQP4 antibodies but positive for IgG aquaporin-1 (AQP1) or myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) antibodies. The purpose of this study was to determine whether AQP1 and MOG could be considered new biomarkers of this disease; and if point mutations in the gDNA of AQP4, AQP1 and MOG genes could be associated with the etiology of NMOsd. We evaluated the diagnostic capability of ELISA and cell-based assays (CBA), and analyzed their reliability, specificity, and sensitivity in detecting antibodies against these three proteins. The results showed that both assays can recognize these antigen proteins under appropriate conditions, but only anti-AQP4 antibodies, and not AQP1 or MOG, appears to be a clear biomarker for NMOsd. CBA is the best method for detecting these antibodies; and serum levels of AQP4 antibodies do not correlate with the progression of this disease. So far, the sequencing analysis has not revealed a genetic basis for the etiology of NMOsd, but a more extensive analysis is required before definitive conclusions can be drawn.Ministerio de Economía y CompetitividadFEDER (Grants PI16/01249 y PI16/00493

Comparative analysis for the presence of IgG anti-aquaporin-1 in patients with NMO-Spectrum disorders

Detection of IgG anti-Aquaporin-4 (AQP4) in serum of patients with Neuromyelitis optica syndrome disorders (NMOSD) has improved diagnosis of these processes and differentiation from Multiple sclerosis (MS). Recent findings also claim that a subgroup of patients with NMOSD, serum negative for IgG-anti-AQP4, present antibodies anti-AQP1 instead. Explore the presence of IgG-anti-AQP1 using a previously developed cell-based assay (CBA) highly sensitive to IgG-anti-AQP4. Serum of 205 patients diagnosed as NMOSD (8), multiple sclerosis (94), optic neuritis (39), idiopathic myelitis (29), other idiopathic demyelinating disorders of the central nervous system (9), other neurological diseases (18) and healthy controls (8), were used in a CBA over fixed HEK cells transfected with hAQP1-EGFP or hM23-AQP4-EGFP, treated with Triton X-100 and untreated. ELISA was also performed. Analysis of serum with our CBA indicated absence of anti-AQP1 antibodies, whereas in cells pretreated with detergent, noisy signal made reliable detection impossible. ELISA showed positive results in few serums. The low number of NMOSD serums included in our study reduces its power to conclude the specificity of AQP1 antibodies as new biomarkers of NMOSD. Our study does not sustain detection of anti-AQP1 in serum of NMOSD patients but further experiments are expected

Tipología de unidades de producción de nuez de castilla en sistema de producción tradicional

In México, the walnut family production system generates complementary income for families as well as culinary traditions such as chile en nogada. In the south of México, a traditional-family production system is practiced, interspersed with annual and perennial crops in very similar socioeconomic conditions. In spite of its importance, little is known about the cultivation system and the characteristics of its production units (PU), limiting the development of the activity. The analysis of PUs was carried out by simple random sampling with a reliability of 95 %. Interviews were done with 167 producers in their homes. For the construction of the typology, a multivariate analysis with categorical variables was used. Three types of different PUs were identified based on production region, post-harvest management and hired workforce. The cultural variables did not discriminate producers, but they did contribute to understand the logic of the crop functioning. It is concluded that variables of the spatial factor, in terms of the market relationships, differentiate peri-urban walnut PUs in the Sierra Nevada region.En México, el sistema de producción familiar de nuez de Castilla es generador de ingresos complementarios para las familias y de tradiciones culinarias; como el chile en nogada. En el sur de México se desarrolla un sistema de producción tradicional-familiar, intercalado con cultivos anuales y perennes en condiciones socioeconómicas muy similares a las condiciones socioenómicas de las unidades de producción en estudio. A pesar de su importancia, poco se conoce sobre el sistema de cultivo y las características de sus unidades de producción (UP); lo que ha limitado el desarrollo de la actividad. El análisis de las UP se realizó por muestreo aleatorio simple con una confiabilidad de 95 %. Se entrevistó a 167 productores en su domicilio particular. Para la construcción de la tipología se utilizó análisis multivariado con variables categóricas. Se identificaron tres tipos de UP diferenciadas por región de producción, manejo poscosecha y mano de obra contratada. Las variables culturales no discriminaron productores, pero contribuyeron a entender la lógica de funcionamiento del cultivo. Se concluye que variables del factor espacial, en términos de las relaciones de mercado, diferencian UP de nuez de Castilla periurbanas de la región Sierra Nevada