Effect of agro-climatic conditions on near infrared spectra of extra virgin olive oils

Authentication of extra virgin olive oil requires fast and cost-effective analytical procedures, such as near infrared spectroscopy. Multivariate analysis and chemometrics have been successfully applied in several papers to gather qualitative and quantitative information of extra virgin olive oils from near infrared spectra. Moreover, there are many examples in the literature analysing the effect of agro-climatic conditions on food content, in general, and in olive oil components, in particular. But the majority of these studies considered a factor, a non-numerical variable, containing this meteorological information. The present work uses all the agro-climatic data with the aim of highlighting the linear relationships between them and the near infrared spectra. The study begins with a graphical motivation, continues with a bivariate analysis and, finally, applies redundancy analysis to extend and confirm the previous conclusions.Peer Reviewe

A practical floating-gate Muller-C element using vMOS threshold gates

This paper presents the rationale for vMOS-based realizations of digital circuits when logic design techniques based on threshold logic gates are used. Some practical problems in the vMOS implementation of threshold gates have been identified and solved. The feasibility and versatility of the proposed technique as well as its potential as a low-cost design technique for CMOS technologies have been shown by experimental results from a multiple-input Muller C-element. The proposed new realization exhibits better performance related to delay and area and power consumption than the traditional logic implementation

Puntos de corte para el acoso psicológico en el trabajo: el cuestionario breve de actos negativos (S-NAQ) en español

Antecedentes: el acoso psicológico en el trabajo es un estresor laboral severo de origen social. Sin embargo, en el contexto español, hay escasez de medidas que nos permitan diagnosticar de forma fiable si una persona está siendo objeto de acoso. Método: se informa de las propiedades psicométricas, la estructura factorial y los puntos de corte del Cuestionario Breve de Actos Negativos (S-NAQ) en una muestra española (N = 1.409). Resultados: el S-NAQ presenta unas buenas propiedades psicométricas. Los análisis factoriales exploratorios y confirmatorios revelan que la escala tiene una única dimensión. Los datos de las curvas ROC indican dos puntos de corte que nos permiten categorizar a las personas como “no expuestas a conductas de acoso” (puntuaciones menores de 15), “en riesgo de ser acosadas” (puntuaciones entre 15 y 22), o “víctimas de acoso” (puntuaciones mayores de 22). Conclusiones: estos puntos de corte pueden facilitar el diagnóstico de acoso y servir para diseñar intervenciones según cada categoría.Background: Workplace bullying is considered a major social stressor at work. However, in the Spanish context, there is a lack of measures that allow researchers and practitioners to distinguish between non-targets and targets of workplace bullying. Method: This study reports the psychometric properties, factor structure, and cutoff scores for the Short-Negative Acts Questionnaire (S-NAQ) in a Spanish sample (N = 1,409). Results: The S-NAQ demonstrated adequate psychometric properties. Moreover, both Exploratory and Confi rmatory Factor Analysis revealed that a unifactorial model of workplace bullying fi t the data best. Two cutoff points for the S-NAQ were formulated using receiver operating characteristic curves to categorize respondents as “not exposed to workplace bullying” (scores below 15), “at risk of being bullied” (scores between 15 and 22), and “targets of workplace bullying” (scores above 22). Conclusions: These cutoff scores may help researchers and practitioners in diagnosing workplace bullying and designing intervention strategies.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación PSI2017-83465-

Analysis of the influence of the block in the dynamic properties of domestic buildings with masonry structure

Congreso celebrado en la Escuela de Arquitectura de la Universidad de Sevilla desde el 24 hasta el 26 de junio de 2015.The modal analysis of a building, performed by finite element method, is usually made in a building isolated model. In the case of traditional buildings with masonry structure, this simplification can be very unrealistic, particularly in the case of buildings with shared party walls. The influence of the adjacent buildings, in the modal results of domestic masonry buildings is discussed in this paper. The ultimate goal of the presented work is to quantify the influence of the block in modal results, compared with traditional calculation of isolated buildings. And we are very interested in seeing how the block affects the modal results of damaged buildings, for example, with a significant crack between bearing walls and shear walls due to an important settlement of the foundation. For this work, we have focused on the traditional Sevillan building with a masonry structure. We found that, in the case of buildings with flexible floor disconnected from shear walls and with cracks between bearing walls and shared walls, the dynamic response perpendicular to facade rise hugely. For this particular case, the block has little effect on the response in that direction

La enseñanza de las letras en la educación de la mujer española (siglos XIII-XIX)

A lo largo de la Historia, han sido muchas las mujeres que han adquirido conocimientos que luego han legado a la posterioridad. Sin embargo, durante siglos se les ha negado el acceso al sistema educativo. A las mujeres se las educaba pero no se las instruía en las materias científicas que sólo debían conocer los hombres. La enseñanza escolar no se consideraba necesaria porque el destino ineludible de las mujeres era, únicamente, el matrimonio. Por tanto, toda la formación femenina debí a ir encaminada a dominar el ámbito doméstico. Con la Novísima Recopilación se comienza a legislar la enseñanza escolar femenina, pero su incorporación a la formación instructiva tenía como objeto favorecer la educación de los hijos y transmitir la moral social. Las leyes, por tanto, responden a la idea generalizada que ha existido sobre la mujer. La legislación liberal en España contribuyó muy poco al desarrollo de la escolarización de las niñas y de la educación de la mujer en general por el recelo de la sociedad española al ascenso instructivo de la mujer. A pesar de ello ha sido imparable el ascenso de la mujer al ámbito de los públicoTesis Univ. Granada. Departamento de Lengua Española. Leída el 18 de septiembre de 200

Fucoxanthin-Containing Cream Prevents Epidermal Hyperplasia and UVB-Induced Skin Erythema in Mice

Microalgae represent a source of bio-active compounds such as carotenoids with potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. We aimed to investigate the effects of fucoxanthin (FX) in both in vitro and in vivo skin models. Firstly, its anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated in LPS-stimulated THP-1 macrophages and TNF-α-stimulated HaCaT keratinocytes, and its antioxidant activity in UVB-irradiated HaCaT cells. Next, in vitro and ex vivo permeation studies were developed to determine the most suitable formulation for in vivo FX topical application. Then, we evaluated the effects of a FX-containing cream on TPA-induced epidermal hyperplasia in mice, as well as on UVB-induced acute erythema in hairless mice. Our results confirmed the in vitro reduction of TNF-α, IL-6, ROS and LDH production. Since the permeation results showed that cream was the most favourable vehicle, FX-cream was elaborated. This formulation effectively ameliorated TPA-induced hyperplasia, by reducing skin edema, epidermal thickness, MPO activity and COX-2 expression. Moreover, FX-cream reduced UVB-induced erythema through down-regulation of COX-2 and iNOS as well as up-regulation of HO-1 protein via Nrf-2 pathway. In conclusion, FX, administered in a topical formulation, could be a novel natural adjuvant for preventing exacerbations associated with skin inflammatory pathologies as well as protecting skin against UV radiation

Mitigating energy poverty: Potential contributions of combining PV and building thermal mass storage in low-income households

The issue of energy poverty has devastating implications for the society, and it has been aggravated in the past years due to the economic crisis and the increase of energy prices. Among the most affected are those with low incomes and living in inefficient buildings. Unfortunately, the bitter reality is that sometimes this part of the population are facing the next question: Heating, or eating? The declining prices of distributed energy technologies such as photovoltaics provides an opportunity for positive social change. Although their use does not address energy poverty directly, substantial contributions may be made. Measurements of indoor temperatures in a social housing district of southern Spain in 2017 have revealed the unbearable temperatures that the occupants have to endure, both in summer and winter. Using this district as a case study, the present work aims to evaluate the benefits of exploiting its rooftop PV potential to cover part of the electricity consumption of the district (reducing the energy bills), and use the surplus electricity to supply power for the heat pumps in the district. Optimal alternatives regarding maximum PV production, maximum self-sufficiency ratio and minimum investment costs have been found, considering as well different options when sharing the available electricity surplus to improve the thermal comfort of the occupants. As far as the authors know, no previous study has followed an approach aimed at energy poverty alleviation such as the one presented in this work. The results show that using the surplus electricity to heat or cool the whole dwellings would improve the thermal comfort of the occupants in average up to 11% in winter and 26% in summer. If all the PV generation was used or more buildings in the area were employed to install PV modules, improvements up to 33% in winter and 67% in summer could be obtained, reducing at the same time the thermal comfort differences among the dwellings of the district

Pomace Olive Oil Concentrated in Triterpenic Acids Restores Vascular Function, Glucose Tolerance and Obesity Progression in Mice

Pomace olive oil, an olive oil sub-product, is a promising source of bioactive triterpenoids such as oleanolic acid and maslinic acid. Considering the vascular actions of pomace olive oil and the potential effects of the isolated oleanolic acid on metabolic complications of obesity, this study investigates for the first time the dietary intervention with a pomace olive oil with high concentrations of the triterpenic acids (POCTA), oleanolic and maslinic acid, during diet-induced obesity in mice. The results demonstrate that obese mice, when switched to a POCTA-diet for 10 weeks, show a substantial reduction of body weight, insulin resistance, adipose tissue inflammation, and particularly, improvement of vascular function despite high caloric intake. This study reveals the potential of a functional food based on pomace olive oil and its triterpenic fraction against obesity progression. Our data also contribute to understanding the health-promoting effects attributable to the Mediterranean dietSpanish Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (MINECO), Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI), and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) (Grants SAF2017-82813-C3-3-R and PCI2018-092997/AEI to R.R.-R.

Generational Portrait of Spanish Society in the Face of Climate Change. A Question to Consider for the Green Economy under the Well-Being Approach

Climate change is emerging as an issue of progressive attention, and therefore awareness, in societies. In this work, the problem is addressed from a generational perspective in Spanish society and is carried out from the approaches of awareness, human action, and self-responsibility. All this from the search of the subjective well-being and the citizens' happiness, as one of the bases of sustainable development initiatives. With data from the European Social Survey R8, from EUROSTAT, we work in two phases: (1) descriptive and inferential on possible associations of the items with the variable Age, and (2) calculation of probabilities between groups through logistic regression. The results confirm a general awareness, but with apparent statistical differences between age groups. In general, the youngest are the most aware, blame human activity most intensely, are the most concerned, and are the most willing to act. And it is the older people who are less aware of all these issues. Based on this finding, and from the approach mentioned above, it is recommended that leaders, both in the macroeconomic and microeconomic sectors, develop initiatives that sensitize and encourage older age groups