Tourism and economic growth: a meta-analysis of panel data studies

Although for decades it has been acknowledged that tourism likely contributes to economic growth, theoretical models that consider a causal relationship between both are a recent phenomenon. From a sample of 11 studies based on panel data techniques published through to 2011, and for a total of 87 heterogeneous estimations, a metaanalysis is performed by applying models for both fixed and random effects, with the main objective being to calculate a summary measure of the effects of tourism on economic growth. While the results obtained point to a positive elasticity between economic growth and tourism, the magnitude of the effect was found to vary according to the methodological procedure employed in the original studies for empirical estimations

Neuroprotective effects of fluorophore-labelled manganese complexes: determination of ROS production, mitochondrial membrane potential and confocal fluorescence microscopy studies in neuroblastoma cells

In this work, four manganese(II) complexes derived from the ligands H2L1-H2L4, that incorporate dansyl or tosyl fluorescent dyes, have been investigated in term of their antioxidant properties. Two of the manganese(II) complexes have been newly prepared using the asymmetric half-salen ligand H2L2 and the thiosemicarbazone ligand H2L3. The four organic strands and the manganese complexes have been characterized by different analytical and spectroscopic techniques. The study of the antioxidant behaviour of these two new complexes and other two fluorophore-labelled analogues was tested in SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells. These four model complexes 1–4 were found to protect cells from oxidative damage in this human neuronal model, by reducing the release of reactive oxygen species. Complexes 1–4 significantly improved cell survival, with levels between 79.1 ± 0.8% and 130.9 ± 4.1%. Moreover, complexes 3 and 4 were able to restore the mitochondrial membrane potential at 1 μM, with 4 reaching levels higher than 85%, similar to the percentages obtained by the positive control agent cyclosporin A. The incorporation of the fluorescent label in the complexes allowed the study of their ability to enter the human neuroblastoma cells by confocal microscopyThe research leading to these results has received funding from the following FEDER cofunded-grants. From Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria, Xunta de Galicia, 2017 GRC GI-1682 (ED431C 2017/01), 2018 GRC GI-1584 (ED431C 2018/13), MetalBIO Network (ED431D 2017/01). From CDTI and Technological Funds, supported by Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad IISCIII/PI19/001248. From Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, MULTIMETDRUGS (RED2018-102471-T). From European Union, Interreg AlertoxNet EAPA-317-2016, Interreg Agritox EAPA-998-2018, and H2020 778069-EMERTOXS

El cine de terror en la enseñanza de la filosofía

Con este artículo nos proponemos resignificar el uso de las producciones cinematográficas no tradicionales en la educación (en concreto, el cine de terror) como medio de transposición didáctica. Esto pretende generar un interés que conduzca a la formación de conocimiento por parte de los estudiantes desde algo tan ordinario como ver una película. A su vez, llevar el cine a las clases (específicamente un cine tan inesperado y transgresor como el de terror), podría promover la resignificación del espacio, de lo académico, de la filosofía misma y hasta de lo cotidiano

Distinct Microglial Responses in Two Transgenic Murine Models of TAU Pathology

Microglial cells are crucial players in the pathological process of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Microglial response in AD has been principally studied in relation to amyloid-beta pathology but, comparatively, little is known about inflammatory processes associated to tau pathology. In the hippocampus of AD patients, where tau pathology is more prominent than amyloid-beta pathology, a microglial degenerative process has been reported. In this work, we have directly compared the microglial response in two different transgenic tau mouse models: ThyTau22 and P301S. Surprisingly, these two models showed important differences in the microglial profile and tau pathology. Where ThyTau22 hippocampus manifested mild microglial activation, P301S mice exhibited a strong microglial response in parallel with high phospho-tau accumulation. This differential phospho-tau expression could account for the different microglial response in these two tau strains. However, soluble (S1) fractions from ThyTau22 hippocampus presented relatively high content of soluble phospho-tau (AT8-positive) and were highly toxic for microglial cells in vitro, whereas the correspondent S1 fractions from P301S mice displayed low soluble phosphotau levels and were not toxic for microglial cells. Therefore, not only the expression levels but the aggregation of phospho-tau should differ between both models. In fact, most of tau forms in the P301S mice were aggregated and, in consequence, forming insoluble tau species.We conclude that different factors as tau mutations, accumulation, phosphorylation, and/or aggregation could account for the distinct microglial responses observed in these two tau models. For this reason, deciphering the molecular nature of toxic tau species for microglial cells might be a promising therapeutic approach in order to restore the deficient immunological protection observed in AD hippocampus.CIBERNEDJunta de Andalucía. Consejería de Economía, Innovación, Ciencia y Empleo CTS-2035Fundación Tatiana Pérez de Guzmán el BuenoMinisterio de Ciencia, Innovación y UniversidadesInstituto de Salud Carlos III. Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria. PI15/00957 PI15/00796Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional PI15/00957 PI15/0079

Supramolecular self-assembly of a symmetric imine ligand functionalized with a dansyl fluorophore moiety

The 20th International Electronic Conference on Synthetic Organic Chemistry session Polymer and Supramolecular ChemistryWe report the synthesis and characterization of a symmetric [N4] tetradentate imine-type ligand H2L that incorporates a dansyl fluorophore group in both ligand arms. Two binding domains separated by a short arene spacer and two bulky arms with an anti conformation make this organic molecule suitable as precursor of metallosupramolecular species such as helicates. The molecular structure of H2L has been analyzed by X-ray diffraction. This technique has revealed the formation of intermolecular hydrogen bond interactions that lead to the supramolecular self-assembly of ligand molecules in the solid state and the generation of oval-shaped channels in the 3D crystal packin

Impact of a Comprehensive Anti-Smoking Program at a Regional University Hospital and Predictive Variables of Being a Smoker among Hospital Workers

The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of a comprehensive anti-smoking health program conducted over twelve years at a regional university hospital in southern Spain. Prevalence of tobacco was compared retrospectively using data collected during occupational health assessments (n = 4291). Bivariate and logistic regression analyses were carried out to evaluate tobacco consumption differences according to age, sex, professional category, and workplace building. The results show a reduction in the active smoking rate among hospital staff evaluated (from 22.8% to 19.8%) with significant differences between non-health and health workers. Accumulated smoking consumption fell to 13.45 ± 14.60 packs/year with men presenting a higher consumption (p < 0.001). The predictive variables of tobacco use were sex (greater consumption among men, p = 0.021), number of cigarettes (greater consumption among professionals who smoked less than 1 pack/day, p < 0.001), and time smoking (greater use among professionals with more than 10 years smoking, p < 0.001). There was a higher rate of staff smokers at the hospital building with a majority of mental health inpatients. This study provides a practical example of making the optimum use of digital medical records in the evaluation of a comprehensive anti-smoking health program

Intereses profesionales y selección de carrera: criterios para la implementación de diagnósticos de compatibilidad automatizados en la Universidad Politécnica Salesiana (ECUADOR)

El factor vocacional constituye un componente fundamental para las explicaciones formuladas en torno al abandono universitario. En este sentido, la Universidad Politécnica Salesiana – Ecuador (UPS) ha desarrollado, durante los últimos años, una estrategia sostenida para el fortalecimiento de sus procesos de orientación vocacional y profesional. En la primera etapa se elaboraron instrumentos propios para la medición de las características actitudinales de los aspirantes a la oferta académica institucional, entre estos el Cuestionario de Intereses Profesionales (CIPRO- UPS). Una vez concluida la etapa de depuración y validación psicométrica de dicho instrumento, obteniéndose su versión definitiva, surge la necesidad de definir criterios metodológicos para su implementación como herramienta de diagnóstico, destinada a evaluar el grado de ajuste entre las preferencias profesionales de los aspirantes universitarios y sus carreras de interés. Asimismo, la masificación de este procedimiento demanda la creación de una plataforma automatizada online que facilite al aspirante la identificación de programas de estudio más afines con su perfil vocacional- profesional, en el marco de la oferta educativa de la UPS. En consecuencia, el presente trabajo expone los resultados del proceso de construcción de criterios de evaluación para la aplicación del CIPRO- UPS, así como la elaboración de un prototipo de diagnóstico automatizado mediante hoja de cálculo, previo al desarrollo de una plataforma online de mayor alcance. El objetivo inicial consistió en establecer puntos de corte óptimos para los índices de preferencia por carrera producidos para la evaluación del ajuste vocacional, a partir de distintas combinaciones de los trece campos profesionales que evalúa el CIPRO-UPS.&nbsp;Esto se fundamentó en el análisis de curvas ROC tomando como criterio externo de pronóstico y discriminación al rendimiento académico. Se utilizó información de corte longitudinal, los datos relativos a la aplicación del CIPRO-UPS corresponden a los aspirantes que cursaron el proceso institucional de admisiones para acceder a las carreras ofertadas por la Sede Quito en el periodo académico 2017-2018. Posteriormente se hizo un seguimiento del rendimiento académico de esta cohorte durante los primeros tres niveles de estudio. Los puntos de corte para clasificar a los&nbsp;&nbsp;estudiantes entre afines y no afines con una carrera determinada se estimaron mediante los siguientes pasos: a) definir de un perfil deseable por carrera, estableciendo a priori los campos profesionales del CIPRO-UPS que reflejan afinidad y detectando empíricamente aquellas escalas desfavorables en términos de rendimiento académico; b) asignar pesos relativos a las escalas compatibles y contraproducentes; c) construir un índice compuesto de ajuste vocacional por carrera; d) mediante curvas ROC establecer puntos de corte óptimos para dichos índices, de manera que maximicen la capacidad discriminativa entre estudiantes de rendimiento satisfactorio y no satisfactorio. Como objetivo final se efectuó una automatización preliminar del procedimiento de clasificación descrito, a partir de una hoja de cálculo, de manera que los aspirantes puedan visualizar de modo ágil y amigable aquellas carreras con las cuales mantienen afinidad según sus preferencias profesionales. Se discuten las implicaciones, limitaciones y recomendaciones del estudio

Worldwide prevalence of inadequate work ability among hospital nursing personnel: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Purpose: To estimate the worldwide pooled prevalence of inadequate work ability among hospital nursing personnel using the Work Ability Index (WAI). Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: A systematic search was conducted on Medline/PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Scielo, PsychInfo, CINAHL, Nursing and Allied Health, LILACS, and Google Scholar from inception to July 2021 to identify observational studies on work abil ity among hospital nursing personnel using the WAI. Two researchers independently completed the study selection, quality assessments, and data extraction on the preva lence of inadequate work ability that was pooled using the random effects model. Finally, subgroup analyses were performed to explore sources of heterogeneity. Findings: A total of 42 studies were included, consisting of 24,728 subjects worldwide from 14 countries. Of these, 35 studies were included in the meta-analytical analyses. The world wide pooled prevalence of inadequate work ability among hospital nursing personnel was 24.7% (95% CI = 20.2%–29.4%). High levels of heterogeneity were detected in all studies. Prevalence was higher in studies where samples were composed of nurses and nursing as sistive personnel (26.8%; 95% CI=22.4%–31.5%) than in those of nurses alone (22.2%; 95% CI = 13.1%–32.9%) and in studies where the sample was over 40 (28.1%; 95% CI = 19.5%– 37.5%) than in those with a sample under that age (22.4%; 95% CI = 15.8%–29.7%). Conclusions: Almost one in four members of hospital nursing staff in the world has inadequate work ability and therefore are at risk of several negative outcomes dur ing their working life. These prevalence data correspond to the pre-pandemic pe riod, so new studies should also be especially useful in quantifying the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on work ability in the hospital nursing workforce. Clinical relevance: The above findings justify the launch of initiatives that include an nual assessment for the early identification of inadequate work ability, offering the possibility of anticipated corrective measures. Nursing workforce older than 40 years and those belonging to the professional category of nursing assistive personnel should be priority target groups for screening and intervention to improve work ability