Search results for: Antonio Domingo R. Reario

Authors: Marco Antonio Lara De la Calleja, María Catalina Ovando Chico, Eduardo Lopez Ruiz

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Community empowerment has been proved to be a key element in the solution of the food security problem. As a result of a conceptual analysis, it was found that agricultural production, economic development and governance, are the traditional basis of food security models. Although the literature points to social inclusion as an important factor for food security, no model has considered it as the basis of it. The aim of this research is to identify different dimensions that make an integral model for food security, with emphasis on community empowerment. A diagnosis was made in the study community (Tatoxcac, Zacapoaxtla, Puebla), to know the aspects that impact the level of food insecurity. With a statistical sample integrated by 200 families, the Latin American and Caribbean Food Security Scale (ELCSA) was applied, finding that: in households composed by adults and children, have moderated food insecurity, (ELCSA scale has three levels, low, moderated and high); that result is produced mainly by the economic income capacity and the diversity of the diet on its food. With that being said, a model was developed to promote food security through five dimensions: 1. Regional context of the community; 2. Structure and system of local food; 3. Health and nutrition; 4. Information and technology access; and 5. Self-awareness and empowerment. The specific actions on each axis of the model, allowed a systemic approach needed to attend food security in the community, through the empowerment of society. It is concluded that the self-awareness of local communities is an area of extreme importance, which must be taken into account for participatory schemes to improve food security. In the long term, the model requires the integrated participation of different actors, such as government, companies and universities, to solve something such vital as food security.

Keywords: community empowerment, food security, model, systemic approach

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Authors: Hana Tadesse, Marika Grillini, Giulia Simonato, Alessandra Mondin, Giorgia Dotto, Antonio Frangipane Di Regalbono, Bersissa Kumsa, Rudi Cassini, Maria Luisa Menandro

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Dogs are known to host several tick-borne pathogens with zoonotic potential; however, scant information is available on the epidemiology of these pathogens in low-income tropical coun- tries and in particular in sub-Saharan Africa. With the aim of investigating a wide range of tick- borne pathogens (i.e., Rickettsia spp., Anaplasma spp., Erhlichia spp., Borrelia spp., Hepatozoon spp. and Babesia spp.), 273 blood samples were collected from dogs in selected districts of Ethiopia and analyzed by real-time and/or end-point PCR. The results of the study showed that Hepatozoon canis was the most prevalent pathogen (53.8%), followed by Anaplasma phagocythophilum (7.0%), Babesia canis rossi (3.3%), Ehrlichia canis (2.6%) and Anaplasma platys (2.2%). Furthermore, five samples tested positive for Borrelia spp., identified as Borrelia afzelii (n = 3) and Borrelia burgdorferi (n = 2), and two samples for Rickettsia spp., identified as Rickettsia conorii (n = 1) and Rickettsia monacensis (n = 1). The finding of Anaplasma phagocythophilum and different species of the genera Borrelia and Rickettsia with zoonotic potential was unexpected and alarming, and calls for further investigation on the roles of dogs and on the tick, species acting as vector in this specific context. Other pathogens (Hepatozoon canis, Babaesia canis rossi, Anaplasma platys, Ehrlichia canis) are already known to have an important impact on the dogs’ health but have minor zoonotic potential as they were rarely or never reported in humans. Dogs from rural areas were found to be at higher risk for different pathogens, probably due to the presence of other wild canids in the same environment. The findings of the present study contribute to a better knowledge of the epidemiology of tick-borne pathogens, which is relevant to human and animal health.

Keywords: Dogs, Tick-borne pathogens, Africa, Ethiopia

Procedia PDF Downloads 96

Authors: Antonio Monteiro, Jorge Azevedo, Severiano Silva, Alfredo Teixeira

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The objective of this study was to compare the carcass and in vivo real-time ultrasound measurements (RTU) and their capacity to predict the composition of Serrana goats up to 40% of maturity. Twenty one females (11.1 ± 3.97 kg) and Twenty one males (15.6 ± 5.38 kg) were utilized to made in vivo measurements with a 5 MHz probe (ALOKA 500V scanner) at the 9th-10th, 10th-11th thoracic vertebrae (uT910 and uT1011, respectively), at the 1st- 2nd, 3rd-4th, and 4th-5th lumbar vertebrae (uL12, ul34 and uL45, respectively) and also at the 3rd-4th sternebrae (EEST). It was recorded the images of RTU measurements of Longissimus thoracis et lumborum muscle (LTL) depth (EM), width (LM), perimeter (PM), area (AM) and subcutaneous fat thickness (SFD) above the LTL, as well as the depth of tissues of the sternum (EEST) between the 3rd-4th sternebrae. All RTU images were analyzed using the ImageJ software. After slaughter, the carcasses were stored at 4 ºC for 24 h. After this period the carcasses were divided and the left half was entirely dissected into muscle, dissected fat (subcutaneous fat plus intermuscular fat) and bone. Prior to the dissection measurements equivalent to those obtained in vivo with RTU were recorded. Using the Statistica 5, correlation and regression analyses were performed. The prediction of carcass composition was achieved by stepwise regression procedure, with live weight and RTU measurements with and without transformation of variables to the same dimension. The RTU and carcass measurements, except for SFD measurements, showed high correlation (r > 0.60, P < 0.001). The RTU measurements and the live weight, showed ability to predict carcass composition on muscle (R2 = 0.99, P < 0.001), subcutaneous fat (R2 = 0.41, P < 0.001), intermuscular fat (R2 = 0.84, P < 0.001), dissected fat (R2 = 0.71, P < 0.001) and bone (R2 = 0.94, P < 0.001). The transformation of variables allowed a slight increase of precision, but with the increase in the number of variables, with the exception of subcutaneous fat prediction. In vivo measurements by RTU can be applied to predict kid goat carcass composition, from 5 measurements of RTU and the live weight.

Keywords: carcass, goats, real time, ultrasound

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Authors: Fernández-Brito David, Lopez-Medina Javier Alonso, Murillo-Bracamontes Eduardo Antonio, Palomino-Ovando Martha Alicia, Gervacio-Arciniega José Juan

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Magnetic Force Microscopy (MFM) is an Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) technique that characterizes, at a nanometric scale, the magnetic properties of ferromagnetic materials. Conventional MFM works by scanning in two different AFM modes. The first one is tapping mode, in which the cantilever has short-range force interactions with the sample, with the purpose to obtain the topography. Then, the lift AFM mode starts, raising the cantilever to maintain a fixed distance between the tip and the surface of the sample, only interacting with the magnetic field forces of the sample, which are long-ranged. In recent years, there have been attempts to improve the MFM technique. Bimodal MFM was first theoretically developed and later experimentally proven. In bimodal MFM, the AFM internal piezoelectric is used to cause the cantilever oscillations in two resonance modes simultaneously, the first mode detects the topography, while the second is more sensitive to the magnetic forces between the tip and the sample. However, it has been proven that the cantilever vibrations induced by the internal AFM piezoelectric ceramic are not optimal, affecting the bimodal MFM characterizations. Moreover, the Secondary Resonance Magnetic Force Microscopy (SR-MFM) was developed. In this technique, a coil located below the sample generates an external magnetic field. This alternating magnetic field excites the cantilever at a second frequency to apply the Bimodal MFM mode. Nonetheless, for ferromagnetic materials with a low coercive field, the external field used in SR-MFM technique can modify the magnetic domains of the sample. In this work, a Hybrid Bimodal MFM (HB-MFM) technique is proposed. In HB-MFM, the bimodal MFM is used, but the first resonance frequency of the cantilever is induced by the magnetic field of the ferromagnetic sample due to its vibrations caused by a piezoelectric element placed under the sample. The advantages of this new technique are demonstrated through the preliminary results obtained by HB-MFM on a hard disk sample. Additionally, traditional two pass MFM and HB-MFM measurements were compared.

Keywords: magnetic force microscopy, atomic force microscopy, magnetism, bimodal MFM

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Authors: Marta E. Hernandez-Caballero, Veronica Borgonio-Cuadra, Antonio Miranda-Duarte, Xochitl Rojas-Toledo, Normand Garcia-Hernandez, Maura Cardenas-Garcia, Teresa Abad-Camacho

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Breast cancer (BC) is the most common tumor in women over the world. DNA methylation is an epigenetic modification critical in CpG sites, aberrant methylation of CpG islands in promoters is a hallmark of cancer. So, gene expression can be regulated by alterations in DNA methylation. In cell lines DACT2 gene reduces the growth and migration of tumor cells by its participation in the suppression of TGFb/SMAD2/3. PHF20L1 is involved in histone acetylation therefore, it regulates transcription. Our aim was to analyze the methylation status of the DACT2 and PHF20L1 promoter regions in tumoral and healthy mammary tissue from women with BC in different progression states. The study included 77 patients from Centro Medico Nacional La Raza in Mexico City. After identifying a CpG island in DACT2 and PHF20L1 promoters, DNA methylation status was analyzed through sodium bisulfite with subsequent amplification using methylation-specific PCR. Results revealed no changes in methylation status of PHF20L1 and cancer stages (II y III) or in comparison to healthy tissues, it was demethylated. DACT2 promoter methylation was no significant between tumoral stages (II, P = 0.37; III, P = 0.17) or with healthy tissue. Previous data reported DACT2 methylated in nasopharyngeal carcinoma but in this study promoter methylation was not observed. PHF20L1 protein contains N-terminal Tudor and C-terminal plant homeodomain domains, it has been suggested that can stabilize DNMT1 regulating DNA methylation, therefore, was associated with poor prognostic in BC. We found no evidence of methylation in patients and controls in PHF20L1 promoter, so its association with BC may have no direct relation with promoter methylation. More studies including other methylation sites in these genes in BC are necessary.

Keywords: bisulfite conversion, breast cancer, DACT2, DNA methylation, PHF20L1, tumoral status

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Authors: Nessa-Amie T. Peñaflor, Antonio Cinto

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This is a descriptive research on the level of math anxiety and mathematics misconceptions in algebra. This research is composed of four parts: (1) analysis of the level of anxiety of the respondents; (2) analysis of the common mathematical misconceptions in algebra; (3) relationship of socio-demographic profile in math anxiety and mathematical misconceptions and (4) analysis of the relationship of math anxiety and misconceptions in algebra. Through the demographic profile questionnaire it was found out that most of the respondents were female. Majority had ages that ranged from 13-15. Most of them had parents who finished secondary education. The biggest portion of Grade Seven students where from families with annual family income ranging from PhP 100, 000 to PhP 299, 999. Most of them came from public school. Mathematics Anxiety Scale for Secondary and Senior Secondary School Students (MAS) and set of 10 open-ended algebraic expressions and polynomials were also administered to determine the anxiety level and the common misconceptions in algebra. Data analysis revealed that respondents had high anxiety in mathematics. Likewise, the common mathematical misconceptions of the Grade Seven students were: combining unlike terms; multiplying the base and exponents; regarding the variable x as 0; squaring the first and second terms only in product of two binomials; wrong meaning attached to brackets; writing the terms next to each other but not simplifying in using the FOIL Method; writing the literal coefficient even if the numerical coefficient is 0; and dividing the denominator by the numerator when the numerical coefficient in the numerator is smaller than the numerical coefficient of the denominator. Results of the study show that the socio-demographic characteristics were not related to mathematics anxiety and misconceptions. Furthermore, students from higher section had high anxiety than those students on the lower section. Thus, belonging to higher or lower section may affect the mathematical misconceptions of the respondents.

Keywords: algebra, grade 7 math, math anxiety, math misconceptions

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Authors: Swarnapriya Thiyagarajan, Modesto Antonio Sosa Aquino, Miguel Vallejo Hernandez, Senthilkumar Kalaiselvan Dhivyaraj, Jayaramakrishnan Velusamy

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In this paper the lithium tetra borate (Li2B4O7) was prepared by used water/solution assisted synthesis method. Once finished the synthesization, Copper (Cu) were used to doping material with Li2B4O7 in order to enhance its thermo luminescent properties. The heating temperature parameters were 750°C for 2 hr and 150°C for 2hr. The samples produced by water assisted method were doped at different doping percentage (0.02%, 0.04%, 0.06%, 0.08%, 0.12%, 0.5%, 0.1%, and 1%) of Cu.The characteristics and identification of Li2B4O7 (undoped and doped) were determined in four tests. They are X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscope (SEM), Photoluminescence (PL), Ultra violet visible spectroscopy (UV Vis). As it is evidence from the XRD and SEM results the obtained Li2B4O7 and Li2B4O7 doping with Cu was confirmed and also confirmed the chemical compositition and their morphologies. The obtained lithium tetraborate XRD pattern result was verified with the reference data of lithium tetraborate with tetragonal structure from JCPDS. The glow curves of Li2B4O7 and Li2B4O7 : Cu were obtained by thermo luminescence (TLD) reader (Harshaw 3500). The pellets were irradiated with different kind of dose (58mGy, 100mGy, 500mGy, and 945mGy) by using an X-ray source. Finally this energy response was also compared with TLD100. The order of kinetics (b), frequency factor (S) and activation energy (E) or the trapping parameters were calculated using peak shape method. Especially Li2B4O7: Cu (0.1%) presents good glow curve in all kind of doses. The experimental results showed that this Li2B4O7: Cu could have good potential applications in radiation dosimetry. The main purpose of this paper is to determine the effect of synthesis on the TL properties of doped lithium tetra borate Li2B4O7.

Keywords: dosimetry, irradiation, lithium tetraborate, thermoluminescence

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Authors: Sofia G. Meirinho, Luis G. Dias, António M. Peres, Lígia R. Rodrigues

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The emerging development of electrochemical aptasen sors has enabled the easy and fast detection of protein biomarkers in standard and real samples. Biomarkers are produced by body organs or tumours and provide a measure of antigens on cell surfaces. When detected in high amounts in blood, they can be suggestive of tumour activity. These biomarkers are more often used to evaluate treatment effects or to assess the potential for metastatic disease in patients with established disease. Osteopontin (OPN) is a protein found in all body fluids and constitutes a possible biomarker because its overexpression has been related with breast cancer evolution and metastasis. Currently, biomarkers are commonly used for the development of diagnostic methods, allowing the detection of the disease in its initial stages. A previously described RNA aptamer was used in the current work to develop a simple and sensitive electrochemical aptasensor with high affinity for human OPN. The RNA aptamer was biotinylated and immobilized on a gold electrode by avidin-biotin interaction. The electrochemical signal generated from the aptamer–target molecule interaction was monitored electrochemically using cyclic voltammetry in the presence of [Fe (CN) 6]−3/− as a redox probe. The signal observed showed a current decrease due to the binding of OPN. The preliminary results showed that this aptasensor enables the detection of OPN in standard solutions, showing good selectivity towards the target in the presence of others interfering proteins such as bovine OPN and bovine serum albumin. The results gathered in the current work suggest that the proposed electrochemical aptasensor is a simple and sensitive detection tool for human OPN and so, may have future applications in cancer disease monitoring.

Keywords: osteopontin, aptamer, aptasensor, screen-printed electrode, cyclic voltammetry

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Authors: Barbara Pittau, Piergiorgio Palla, Antonio Mastino

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Communication is fundamental to health education. The proper use of medicinal products is a crucial aspect of the health of citizens that affects both safety and health care spending. Therefore, encouraging/promoting communication, concerning the importance of proper use of pharmaceuticals, has substantial implications in terms of individual health, health care, and health care system sustainability. In view of these considerations, in the context of two projects, one of which is still in progress, a relational database-backed web application named COLLABORAFARMACISOLA has been designed and developed as a tool to analyze and visualize how people approach the use of medicinal products, with the aim of improving and enhancing communication efficacy. The software application is being used to collect information (anonymously and voluntarily) from the citizens of Sardinia, an Italian region, regarding their knowledge, experiences, and opinions towards pharmaceuticals. This study that was conducted to date on thousand of interviewed people, has focused on different aspects such as: the treatment interruption and the "self-prescription” without medical consultation, the attention paid to reading the leaflets, the awareness of the economic value of the pharmaceuticals, the importance of avoiding the waste of medicinal products and the attitudes towards the use of generics. To this purpose, our software application provides a set of ad hoc parsing routines, to store information into the structure of a relational database and to process and visualize it through a set of interactive tools aimed to emphasize the findings and the insights obtained. The results of our preliminary analysis show the efficacy of the awareness plan and, at the same time, the criticality and the needs of the territory under examination. The ultimate goal of our study is to provide a contribution to the community by improving communication that can result in a benefit for public health in a context strictly connected to the reality of the territory.

Keywords: communication, pharmaceuticals, public health, relational database, tool, web application

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Authors: Juan Antonio Mondragon Sanchez, Ruben Santamaria

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The DNA G-quadruplex is a four-stranded DNA structure formed by stacked planes of four base paired guanines (G-quartet). Guanine rich DNA sequences appear in many sites of genomic DNA and can potential form G-quadruplexes, such as those occurring at 3'-terminus of the human telomeric DNA. The formation and stabilization of a G-quadruplex by small ligands at the telomeric region can inhibit the telomerase activity. In turn, the ligands can be used to down regulate oncogene expression making G-quadruplex an attractive target for anticancer therapy. Many G-quadruplex ligands have been proposed with a planar core to facilitate the pi–pi stacking and electrostatic interactions with the G-quartets. However, many drug candidates are impossibilitated to discriminate a G-quadruplex from a double helix DNA structure. In this context, it is important to investigate the site topology for the interaction of a G-quadruplex with a ligand. In this work, we determine the free energy surface of a G-quadruplex-ligand to study the binding modes of the G-quadruplex (TG4T) with the daunomycin (DM) drug. The complex TG4T-DM is studied using classical molecular dynamics in combination with metadynamics simulations. The metadynamics simulations permit an enhanced sampling of the conformational space with a modest computational cost and obtain free energy surfaces in terms of the collective variables (CV). The free energy surfaces of TG4T-DM exhibit other local minima, indicating the presence of additional binding modes of daunomycin that are not observed in short MD simulations without the metadynamics approach. The results are compared with similar calculations on a different structure (the mutated mu-G4T-DM where the 5' thymines on TG4T-DM have been deleted). The results should be of help to design new G-quadruplex drugs, and understand the differences in the recognition topology sites of the duplex and quadruplex DNA structures in their interaction with ligands.

Keywords: g-quadruplex, cancer, molecular dynamics, metadynamics

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Authors: Marcio S. da Silva, Jose Mauricio de B. Bezerra, Antonio E. de A. Nogueira

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This paper aims to make a performance analysis of shield wire transmission lines against atmospheric discharges when it is made the option of sectioning the shield wire and verify if the tolerability of the change. As a goal of this work, it was established to make complete modeling of a transmission line in the ATPDraw program with shield wire grounded in all the towers and in some towers. The methodology used to make the proposed evaluation was to choose an actual transmission line that served as a case study. From the choice of transmission line and verification of all its topology and materials, complete modeling of the line using the ATPDraw software was performed. Then several atmospheric discharges were simulated by striking the grounded shield wires in each tower. These simulations served to identify the behavior of the existing line against atmospheric discharges. After this first analysis, the same line was reconsidered with shield wire segmentation. The shielding wire segmentation technique aims to reduce induced losses in shield wires and is adopted in some transmission lines in Brazil. With the same conditions of atmospheric discharge the transmission line, this time with shield wire segmentation was again evaluated. The results obtained showed that it is possible to obtain similar performances against atmospheric discharges between a shield wired line in multiple towers and the same line with shield wire segmentation if some precautions are adopted as verification of the ground resistance of the wire segmented shield, adequacy of the maximum length of the segmented gap, evaluation of the separation length of the electrodes of the insulator spark, among others. As a conclusion, it is verified that since the correct assessment and adopted the correct criteria of adjustment a transmission line with shielded wire segmentation can perform very similar to the traditional use with multiple earths. This solution contributes in a very important way to the reduction of energy losses in transmission lines.

Keywords: atmospheric discharges, ATPDraw, shield wire, transmission lines

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Authors: Antonio Horta, Renato Marinho, Raimir Holanda

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Considered as an evolution of the Blockchain, the Ethereum platform, besides allowing transactions of its cryptocurrency named Ether, it allows the programming of decentralised applications (DApps) and smart contracts. However, this functionality into blockchains has raised other types of threats, and the exploitation of smart contracts vulnerabilities has taken companies to experience big losses. This research intends to figure out the number of contracts that are under risk of being drained. Through a deep investigation, more than two hundred thousand smart contracts currently available in the Ethereum platform were scanned and estimated how much money is at risk. The experiment was based in a query run on Google Big Query in July 2022 and returned 50,707,133 contracts published on the Ethereum platform. After applying the filtering criteria, the experimentgot 430,584 smart contracts to download and analyse. The filtering criteria consisted of filtering out: ERC20 and ERC721 contracts, contracts without transactions, and contracts without balance. From this amount of 430,584 smart contracts selected, only 268,103 had source codes published on Etherscan, however, we discovered, using a hashing process, that there were contracts duplication. Removing the duplicated contracts, the process ended up with 20,417 source codes, which were analysed using the open source SAST tool smartbugswith oyente and securify algorithms. In the end, there was nearly $100,000 at risk of being drained from the potentially vulnerable smart contracts. It is important to note that the tools used in this study may generate false positives, which may interfere with the number of vulnerable contracts. To address this point, our next step in this research is to develop an application to test the contract in a parallel environment to verify the vulnerability. Finally, this study aims to alert users and companies about the risk on not properly creating and analysing their smart contracts before publishing them into the platform. As any other application, smart contracts are at risk of having vulnerabilities which, in this case, may result in direct financial losses.

Keywords: blockchain, reentrancy, static application security testing, smart contracts

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Authors: Felice De Luca, Vincenzo Galdi, Piera Stella, Vito Calderaro, Adriano Campagna, Antonio Piccolo

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Sustainable mobility has become one of the major issues of recent years. The challenge in reducing polluting emissions as much as possible has led to the production and diffusion of vehicles with internal combustion engines that are less polluting and to the adoption of green energy vectors, such as vehicles powered by natural gas or LPG and, more recently, with hybrid and electric ones. While on the one hand, the spread of electric vehicles for private use is becoming a reality, albeit rather slowly, not the same is happening for vehicles used for public transport, especially those that operate in the congested areas of the cities. Even if the first electric buses are increasingly being offered on the market, it remains central to the problem of autonomy for battery fed vehicles with high daily routes and little time available for recharging. In fact, at present, solid-state batteries are still too large in size, heavy, and unable to guarantee the required autonomy. Therefore, in order to maximize the energy management on the vehicle, the optimization of driving profiles offer a faster and cheaper contribution to improve vehicle autonomy. In this paper, following the authors’ precedent works on electric vehicles in public transport and energy management strategies in the electric mobility area, an eco-driving strategy for electric bus is presented and validated. Particularly, the characteristics of the prototype bus are described, and a general-purpose eco-drive methodology is briefly presented. The model is firstly simulated in MATLAB™ and then implemented on a mobile device installed on-board of a prototype bus developed by the authors in a previous research project. The solution implemented furnishes the bus-driver suggestions on the guide style to adopt. The result of the test in a real case will be shown to highlight the effectiveness of the solution proposed in terms of energy saving.

Keywords: eco-drive, electric bus, energy management, prototype

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Authors: Antonio Pizzarello, Oris Friesen

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Networks, such as the electric power grid, must demonstrate exemplary performance and integrity. Integrity depends on the quality of both the system design model and the deployed software. Integrity of the deployed software is key, for both the original versions and the many that occur throughout numerous maintenance activity. Current software engineering technology and practice do not produce adequate integrity. Distributed systems utilize networks where each node is an independent computer system. The connections between them is realized via a network that is normally redundantly connected to guarantee the presence of a path between two nodes in the case of failure of some branch. Furthermore, at each node, there is software which may fail. Self-stabilizing protocols are usually present that recognize failure in the network and perform a repair action that will bring the node back to a correct state. These protocols first introduced by E. W. Dijkstra are currently present in almost all Ethernets. Super stabilization protocols capable of reacting to a change in the network topology due to the removal or addition of a branch in the network are less common but are theoretically defined and available. This paper describes how to use the Software Integrity Assessment (SIA) methodology to analyze self-stabilizing software. SIA is based on the UNITY formalism for parallel and distributed programming, which allows the analysis of code for verifying the progress property p leads-to q that describes the progress of all computations starting in a state satisfying p to a state satisfying q via the execution of one or more system modules. As opposed to demonstrably inadequate test and evaluation methods SIA allows the analysis and verification of any network self-stabilizing software as well as any other software that is designed to recover from failure without external intervention of maintenance personnel. The model to be analyzed is obtained by automatic translation of the system code to a transition system that is based on the use of the weakest precondition.

Keywords: network, power grid, self-stabilization, software integrity assessment, UNITY, weakest precondition

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Authors: Juan Carlos Aguirre Pabon, Stephen Sabatino, James Morris, Khor Waiho, Antonio Murias

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The tiger shrimp Penaeus monodon is one of the most important species in aquaculture and is native to the Indo-Pacific Ocean. During its greatest success in world production (70s and 80s) was introduced in many Atlantic Ocean countries for cultivation purposes and is currently reported as established in several countries of this area. Because there are no studies to understand the magnitude of the invasion process, this is an exciting opportunity to test evolutionary hypotheses in the context of marine invasions mediated by culture systems; therefore, the purpose of this study was to reconstruct the scenario of invasion of P. monodon in the Atlantic Ocean, by using mitochondrial DNA and eight loci microsatellites. In addition, samples of the invasion area in the Atlantic Ocean (US, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Guienne Bissau, Senegal), the Indo-Pacific Ocean (Indonesia, India, Mozambique), and some cultivation systems (India, Bangladesh, Madagascar) were collected; and analysis of phylogenetic relationships (using some species of the family), genetic diversity, structure population, and demographic changes were performed. High intraspecific divergence in P. semisulcatus and P. monodon were found, high genetic variability in all sites (especially with microsatellites) and the presence of three clusters or populations. In addition, signs of demographic expansion in the culture population and bottlenecks in the invasive and native populations were found, as well as evidence of gene mixtures from all of the populations studied, implying that cropping systems play an essential role in mitigating the negative effects of the founder effect and providing a source of genetic variability that can ensure the success of the invasion.

Keywords: species introduction, increased variability, demographic changes, promoting invasion.

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Authors: Paola Villoria Sáez, Mercedes Del Río Merino, Jaime Santa Cruz Astorqui, Antonio Rodríguez Sánchez

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The Spanish construction industry generates large volumes of waste. However, despite the legislative improvements introduced for construction and demolition waste (CDW), construction waste recycling rate remains well below other European countries and also below the target set for 2020. This situation can be due to many difficulties. i.e.: The difficulty of onsite segregation or the estimation in advance of the total amount generated. Despite these difficulties, the proper management of CDW must be one of the main aspects to be considered by the construction companies. In this sense, some large national companies are implementing Integrated Management Systems (IMS) including not only quality and safety aspects, but also environment issues. However, although this fact is a reality for large construction companies still the vast majority of companies need to adopt this trend. In short, it is common to find in small and medium enterprises a decentralized management system: A single system of quality management, another for system safety management and a third one for environmental management system (EMS). In addition, the EMSs currently used address CDW superficially and are mainly focus on other environmental concerns such as carbon emissions. Therefore, this research determines and implements a specific best practice management system for CDW based on eight procedures in a Spanish Construction company. The main advantages and drawbacks of its implementation are highlighted. Results of this study show that establishing and implementing a CDW management system in building works, improve CDW quantification as the company obtains their own CDW generation ratio. This helps construction stakeholders when developing CDW Management Plans and also helps to achieve a higher adjustment of CDW management costs. Finally, integrating this CDW system with the EMS of the company favors the cohesion of the construction process organization at all stages, establishing responsibilities in the field of waste and providing a greater control over the process.

Keywords: construction and demolition waste, waste management, best practices, waste minimization, building, quality management systems

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Authors: Daniela V. Bavaresco, Tamy Colonetti, Antonio Jose Grande, Francesc Colom, Joao Quevedo, Samira S. Valvassori, Maria Ines da Rosa

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Objective: Performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluated the potential effect of the cyclo-oxygenases (Cox)-2 inhibitor Celecoxib adjunct treatment in Bipolar Disorder (BD), through of randomized controlled trials. Method: A search of the electronic databases was proceeded, on MEDLINE, EMBASE, Scopus, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Biomed Central, Web of Science, IBECS, LILACS, PsycINFO (American Psychological Association), Congress Abstracts, and Grey literature (Google Scholar and the British Library) for studies published from January 1990 to February 2018. A search strategy was developed using the terms: 'Bipolar disorder' or 'Bipolar mania' or 'Bipolar depression' or 'Bipolar mixed' or 'Bipolar euthymic' and 'Celecoxib' or 'Cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors' or 'Cox-2 inhibitors' as text words and Medical Subject Headings (i.e., MeSH and EMTREE) and searched. The therapeutic effects of adjunctive treatment with Celecoxib were analyzed, it was possible to carry out a meta-analysis of three studies included in the systematic review. The meta-analysis was performed including the final results of the Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS) at the end of randomized controlled trials (RCT). Results: Three primary studies were included in the systematic review, with a total of 121 patients. The meta-analysis had significant effect in the YMRS scores from patients with BD who used Celecoxib adjuvant treatment in comparison to placebo. The weighted mean difference was 5.54 (95%CI=3.26-7.82); p < 0.001; I2 =0%). Conclusion: The systematic review suggests that adjuvant treatment with Celecoxib improves the response of major treatments in patients with BD when compared with adjuvant placebo treatment.

Keywords: bipolar disorder, Cox-2 inhibitors, Celecoxib, systematic review, meta-analysis

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Authors: Mimoza Canga, Irene Malagnino, Ruzhdie Qafmolla, Vergjini Mulo, Gresa Baboci, Vito Antonio Malagnino

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Background: Dental caries represents the most widespread pathology in childhood. The prevalence of dental caries varies with age, gender, socio economic status, geographical location, nutrition habits, and oral hygiene. Objective: The objective of the present longitudinal study is to show clearly the prevalence of dental caries in the children of age 6 and 7 years old in Vlore, Albania, in a two year time period with controls done every 6 months. Materials and methods: The present study was conducted on 530 children, with a controlled sample for a time period of 24 months from September 2019- September 2021. The children in the study had different economic and social backgrounds. The teeth controls were done by the dentists who work at the hospital of the city. The present study was conducted in accordance with Helsinki declaration. Permissions were obtained in written form, which allowed us to perform the observations. Parents had the right to withdraw their children at any time. Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 23.0. The significance level (α) was set at 0.05, whereas P-value and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to analyze the data. Results: The data of the present study showed that the age group of 6 years old had 139 or 52.3% of the children with dental caries and 127 or 47.7% of them had no dental caries, while at the age of 7 there were 184 or 69.7% of the children with dental caries problems in the permanent molars and 80 or 30.3% of them had no dental caries. In the present study, it was observed that there is a statistically significant association between age group and presence of caries. Children 7 years old had higher presence of dental caries (χ2 = 16.934 (df 1) p-value < 0.001). According to the present research, there is a statistically significant correlation between period of time and the presence of dental caries. Furthermore, in the actual research, it was established that in the time 18-24 months, the prevalence of dental caries was high (χ2=15,318 (df 1) p-value = 0.004). Conclusion: According to the results of the present study performed in Albania in a two year time period with controls done every 6 months, it is proved that the prevalence of dental caries was 17.4 percent higher among children 7 years old in comparison with the children 6 years old.

Keywords: age, children, dental caries, permanent molars

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Authors: Gabriele Ciasca, Tanya E. Sassun, Eleonora Minelli, Manila Antonelli, Massimiliano Papi, Antonio Santoro, Felice Giangaspero, Roberto Delfini, Marco De Spirito

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Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is an extremely aggressive brain tumor, characterized by a diffuse infiltration of neoplastic cells into the brain parenchyma. Although rarely considered, mechanical cues play a key role in the infiltration process that is extensively mediated by the tumor microenvironment stiffness and, more in general, by the occurrence of aberrant interactions between neoplastic cells and the extracellular matrix (ECM). Here we provide a nano-mechanical characterization of the viscoelastic response of human GBM tissues by indentation-type atomic force microscopy. High-resolution elasticity maps show a large difference between the biomechanics of GBM tissues and the healthy peritumoral regions, opening possibilities to optimize the tumor resection area. Moreover, we unveil the nanomechanical signature of necrotic regions and anomalous vasculature, that are two major hallmarks useful for glioma staging. Actually, the morphological grading of GBM relies mainly on histopathological findings that make extensive use of qualitative parameters. Our findings have the potential to positively impact on the development of novel quantitative methods to assess the tumor grade, which can be used in combination with conventional histopathological examinations. In order to provide a more in-depth description of the role of mechanical cues in tumor progression, we compared the nano-mechanical fingerprint of GBM tissues with that of grade-I (WHO) meningioma, a benign lesion characterized by a completely different growth pathway with the respect to GBM, that, in turn hints at a completely different role of the biomechanical interactions.

Keywords: AFM, nano-mechanics, nanomedicine, brain tumors, glioblastoma

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Authors: Juan Alfredo Guevara Carrio, Swamy Toolahalli Thipperudra, Riddhi Naik Dharmeshbhai, Sergio Graniero Echeverrigaray, Jose Vitorio Emiliano, Antonio Helio Castro

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In order to advance the hydrogen economy, several industrial sectors can potentially benefit from the trillions of stimulus spending for post-coronavirus. Blending hydrogen into natural gas pipeline networks has been proposed as a means of delivering it during the early market development phase, using separation and purification technologies downstream to extract the pure H₂ close to the point of end-use. This first step has been mentioned around the world as an opportunity to use existing infrastructures for immediate decarbonisation pathways. Among current technologies used to extract hydrogen from mixtures in pipelines or liquid carriers, membrane separation can achieve the highest selectivity. The most efficient approach for the separation of H₂ from other substances by membranes is offered from the research of 2D layered materials due to their exceptional physical and chemical properties. Graphene-based membranes, with their distribution of pore sizes in nanometers and angstrom range, have shown fundamental and economic advantages over other materials. Their combination with the structure of ceramic and geopolymeric materials enabled the synthesis of nanocomposites and the fabrication of membranes with long-term stability and robustness in a relevant range of physical and chemical conditions. Versatile separation modules have been developed for hydrogen separation, which adaptability allows their integration in industrial prototypes for applications in heavy transport, steel, and cement production, as well as small installations at end-user stations of pipeline networks. The developed membranes and prototypes are a practical contribution to the technological challenge of supply pure H₂ for the mentioned industries as well as hydrogen energy-based fuel cells.

Keywords: graphene nano-composite membranes, hydrogen separation and purification, separation modules, indsutrial prototype

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Authors: Carmen Maria Hernandez-Nicolas, Juan Francisco Martín-Ugedo, Antonio Mínguez-Vera

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This paper analyses the influence of gender of the mayors of Spanish local governments on different budget items using a sample of 8,243 town councils between 2002 and 2010 period and 64,361 observations. The system Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) technique was employed to examine this panel data. This powerful methodology allows controlling for the endogenity of the variables and the heterogeneity of the sample. Unlike previous works focused on the study of gender influence on firm decisions, the present work analyzes the influence of the gender of the major in the council’s decisions. Specifically, we examine the differences in financial liabilities, security, protection and social promotion expenses and income items relating to public management. In addition, the study focuses on the Spanish context, which is characterized by the presence of decentralization of public responsibility to a greater extent than in neighboring countries, feeding the debate on the operational efficiency of local government increased with an open debate on the importance of gender in public management. The results show that female mayors tend to have lower expenses in general without significant differences in incomes obtained for men and women majors. We also find that female majors incur fewer financial liabilities, one of the most important problems in the Spanish public sector. However, despite of cutting in the public sector, these councils have higher expenditure on security, protection and social promotion. According to these evidences, the presence of women in politics may serve to improve the councils’ economic situation and it is not only necessary for social justice but for economics efficiency. Besides, in councils with more inhabitants, women mayors are more common, but women who served for a very long time are less common.

Keywords: councils, gender, local budgets, public management, women mayors

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Authors: Juan A. G. Carrio, Prasad Talluri, Sergio G. Echeverrigaray, Antonio H. Castro Neto

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Hydrogen as a fuel and environmentally pleasant energy carrier is part of this transition towards low-carbon systems. The extensive deployment of hydrogen production, purification and transport infrastructures still represents significant challenges. Independent of the production process, the hydrogen generally is mixed with light hydrocarbons and other undesirable gases that need to be removed to obtain H₂ with the required purity for end applications. In this context, membranes are one of the simplest, most attractive, sustainable, and performant technologies enabling hydrogen separation and purification. They demonstrate high separation efficiencies and low energy consumption levels in operation, which is a significant leap compared to current energy-intensive options technologies. The unique characteristics of 2D laminates have given rise to a diversity of research on their potential applications in separation systems. Specifically, it is already known in the scientific literature that graphene oxide-based membranes present the highest reported selectivity of H₂ over other gases. This work explores the potential of a new type of 2D materials-based membranes in separating H₂ from CO₂ and CH₄. We have developed nanostructured composites based on 2D materials that have been applied in the fabrication of membranes to maximise H₂ selectivity and permeability, for different gas mixtures, by adjusting the membranes' characteristics. Our proprietary technology does not depend on specific porous substrates, which allows its integration in diverse separation modules with different geometries and configurations, looking to address the technical performance required for industrial applications and economic viability. The tuning and precise control of the processing parameters allowed us to control the thicknesses of the membranes below 100 nanometres to provide high permeabilities. Our results for the selectivity of new nanostructured 2D materials-based membranes are in the range of the performance reported in the available literature around 2D materials (such as graphene oxide) applied to hydrogen purification, which validates their use as one of the most promising next-generation hydrogen separation and purification solutions.

Keywords: membranes, 2D materials, hydrogen purification, nanocomposites

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Authors: Leticia Leandro Rade, Amanda Silva de Sousa, Suman Das, Wesley Generoso, Mayara Chagas Ávila, Plinio Salmazo Vieira, Antonio Bonomi, Gabriela Persinoti, Mario Tyago Murakami, Thomas Michael Makris, Leticia Maria Zanphorlin

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Alkenes have an economic appeal, especially in the biofuels field, since they are precursors for drop-in biofuels production, which have similar chemical and physical properties to the conventional fossil fuels, with no oxygen in their composition. After the discovery of the first P450 CYP152 OleTJE in 2011, reported with its unique property of decarboxylating fatty acids (FA), by using hydrogen peroxide as a cofactor and producing 1-alkenes as the main product, the scientific and technological interest in this family of enzymes vastly increased. In this context, the present work presents a new decarboxylase (OleTRN) with low similarity with OleTJE (32%), its biochemical characterization, and structure elucidation. As main results, OleTRN presented a high yield of expression and purity, optimum reaction conditions at 35 °C and pH from 6.5 to 8.0, and higher specificity for oleic acid. Besides that, structure-guided mutations were performed and according to the functional characterizations, it was observed that some mutations presented different specificity and chemoselectivity by varying the chain-length of FA substrates from 12 to 20 carbons. These results are extremely interesting from a biotechnological perspective as those characteristics could diversify the applications and contribute to designing better cytochrome P450 decarboxylases. Considering that peroxygenases have the potential activity of decarboxylating and hydroxylating fatty acids and that the elucidation of the intriguing mechanistic involved in the decarboxylation preferential from OleTJE is still a challenge, the elucidation of OleTRN structure and the functional characterizations of OleTRN and its mutants contribute to new information about CYP152. Besides that, the work also contributed to the discovery of a new decarboxylase with a different selectivity profile from OleTJE, which allows a wide range of applications.

Keywords: P450, decarboxylases, alkenes, biofuels

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Authors: Anderson S. Fonseca, Italo F. S. Da Silva, Robert D. A. Santos, Mayara G. Da Silva, Pedro H. C. Vieira, Antonio M. S. Sobrinho, Victor H. B. Lemos, Petterson S. Diniz, Anselmo C. Paiva, Eliana M. G. Monteiro

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In Brazil, the National Electric Energy Agency (ANEEL) establishes that electrical energy companies are responsible for measuring and billing their customers. Among these regulations, it’s defined that a company must bill your customers within 27-33 days. If a relocation or a change of period is required, the consumer must be notified in writing, in advance of a billing period. To make it easier to organize a workday’s measurements, these companies create a reading plan. These plans consist of grouping customers into reading groups, which are visited by an employee responsible for measuring consumption and billing. The creation process of a plan efficiently and optimally is a capacitated clustering problem with constraints related to homogeneity and compactness, that is, the employee’s working load and the geographical position of the consuming unit. This process is a work done manually by several experts who have experience in the geographic formation of the region, which takes a large number of days to complete the final planning, and because it’s human activity, there is no guarantee of finding the best optimization for planning. In this paper, the GBKMeans method presents a technique based on K-Means and genetic algorithms for creating a capacitated cluster that respects the constraints established in an efficient and balanced manner, that minimizes the cost of relocating consumer units and the time required for final planning creation. The results obtained by the presented method are compared with the current planning of a real city, showing an improvement of 54.71% in the standard deviation of working load and 11.97% in the compactness of the groups.

Keywords: capacitated clustering, k-means, genetic algorithm, districting problems

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Authors: Zaida Perez-Bassart, Berta Polanco-Estibalez, Maria Jose Fabra, Amparo Lopez-Rubio, Antonio Martinez-Abad

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Mushroom production has enormously increased in recent years, not only as food products but also for applications in pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, and cosmetics. Consequently, interest in its chemical composition, nutritional value, and therapeutic properties has also increased. Fungi are rich in bioactive compounds such as polysaccharides, polyphenols, glycopeptides, and ergosterol, of great medicinal value, but within polysaccharides, β-glucans are the most prominent molecules. They are formed by D-glucose monomers, linked by β-glucosidic bonds β-(1,3) with side chains linked by β-(1,6) bonds. The number and position of the β-(1,6) branches strongly influence the arrangement of the tertiary structure, which, together with the molecular weight, determine the different attributed bioactivities (immunostimulating, anticancer, antimicrobial, prebiotic, etc.) and physico-chemical properties (solubility, bioaccessibility, viscosity or emulsifying). On the other hand, there is a growing interest in the study of fungi as an alternative source of chitin obtained from the by-products of the fungal industry. In this work, a cascade extraction process using aqueous neutral and alkaline treatments was carried out for Grifola frondosa and Lentinula edodes, and the compositional analysis and functional properties of each fraction were characterized. Interestingly, the first fraction obtained by using aqueous treatment at room temperature was the richest in polysaccharides, proteins, and polyphenols, thus obtaining a greater antioxidant capacity than in the other fractions. In contrast, the fractions obtained by alkaline treatments showed a higher degree of β-glucans purification compared to aqueous extractions but a lower extraction yield. Results revealed the different structural recalcitrance of β-glucans, preferentially linked to proteins or chitin depending on the fungus type, which had a direct impact on the functionalities and bioactivities of each fraction.

Keywords: fungi, mushroom, β-glucans, chitin

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Authors: Maisa Sales Gama Tobias, Humberto de Paiva Junior, Luciano Silva Brito, Rui António Rodrigues Ramos

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Waterway transport in the Amazon was the first means of access and occupation in the region. For the economic and social matter of high importance, still nowadays one of the main transport modes to several places in the region. To some places, still the only transport mode. With the advent of the pandemic, transport companies that already faced management challenges began to experience unprecedented structural changes and trends in trade and global supply chains. Thus, companies need operational reorganization to maintain the sustainability of the service under the penalty of loss of demand. Allied to this fact, it was observed that the demand presented behavior changes to adapt to this new moment. However, the lack of information about these changes makes it difficult to find solutions to maintain the quality of service. This work aimed to characterize the changes in the demand of waterway passengers through an empirical study with field research involving interviews with users and crew, on-board journeys, and visits to the waterway service company. The case study is the route Belém-Camara, on Marajó Island, in the state of Pará. This line is traditionally the only means of transport for this route, besides air transport on a much smaller scale. The collected data had a descriptive and analytical statistical treatment presented in this work. As the main result, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant changes, mainly in trip time and motives and, in the perception itself on service quality by part of the demand, with the increase of trip time and the feeling of insecurity. In conclusion, the service operator must review cost management and business survival strategies and tactics. The viability of the service and the social guarantee of transport proved to be threatened, putting at risk the service to the riverside populations.

Keywords: demand of waterway transport passengers, data analysis, COVID-19, amazonia

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Authors: Diana Karina Baigts Allende, Mariana Gonzalez Diaz, Luis Antonio Chel Guerrero, Mukthar Sandoval Peraza

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Poverty and food insecurity are still incident problems in the developing countries, where population´s diet is based on cereals which are lack in protein content. Nevertheless, during last years the use of native plants has been studied as an alternative source of protein in order to improve the nutritional intake. Chaya crop also called Spinach tree, is a prehispanic plant native from Central America and South of Mexico (Mayan culture), which has been especially valued due to its high nutritional content particularly protein and some medicinal properties. The aim of this work was to study the effect of protein isolation processing from Chaya leaf harvest in Yucatan, Mexico on its structure quality in order: i) to valorize the Chaya crop and ii) to produce low-cost and high-quality protein. Chaya leaf was extruded, clarified and recovered using: a) acid precipitation by decreasing the pH value until reach the isoelectric point (3.5) and b) thermal coagulation, by heating the protein solution at 80 °C during 30 min. Solubilized protein was re-dissolved in water and spray dried. The presence of Fraction I protein, known as RuBisCO (Rubilose-1,5-biphosfate carboxylase/oxygenase) was confirmed by gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) where molecular weight bands of 55 KDa and 12 KDa were observed. The infrared spectrum showed changes in protein structure due to the isolation method. The use of high temperatures (thermal coagulation) highly decreased protein solubility in comparison to isoelectric precipitated protein, the nutritional properties according to amino acid profile was also disturbed, showing minor amounts of overall essential amino acids from 435.9 to 367.8 mg/g. Chaya protein isolate obtained by acid precipitation showed higher protein quality according to essential amino acid score compared to FAO recommendations, which could represent an important sustainable source of protein for human consumption.

Keywords: chaya leaf, nutritional properties, protein isolate, protein structure

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Authors: Mimoza Canga, Irene Malagnino, Giulia Malagnino, Alketa Qafmolla, Ruzhdie Qafmolla, Vito Antonio Malagnino

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The goal of the present study was to analyze the risk factors regarding dental fear. This observational study was conducted during the period of February 2020 - April 2022 in Albania. The sample was composed of 200 participants, of which 40% were males and 60% were females. The participants' age range varied from 35 to 75 years old. We divided them into four age groups: 35-45, 46-55, 56-65, and 66-75 years old. Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 23.0. Data were scrutinized by the Post Hoc LSD test in analysis of variance (ANOVA). The P ≤ 0.05 values were considered significant. Data analysis included Confidence Interval (95% CI). The prevailing age range in the sample was mostly from 55 to 65 years old, 35.6% of the patients. In all, 50% of the patients had extreme fear about the fact that the dentist may be infected with Covid-19, 12.2% of them had low dental fear, and 37.8% had extreme dental fear. However, data collected from the current study indicated that a large proportion of patients 49.5% of them had high dental fear regarding the dentist not respecting the quarantine due to COVID-19, in comparison with 37.2% of them who had low dental fear and 13.3% who had extreme dental fear. The present study confirmed that 22.2% of the participants had an extreme fear of poor hygiene practices of the dentist that have been associated with the transmission of COVID-19 infection, 57.8% had high dental fear, and 20% of them had low dental fear. The present study showed that 50% of the patients stated that another factor that causes extreme fear was that the patients feel pain after interventions in the oral cavity. Strong associations were observed between dental fear and pain 95% CI; 0.24-0.52, P-value ˂ .0001. The results of the present study confirmed strong associations between dental fear and the fact that the dentist may be infected with Covid-19 (95% CI; 0.46-0.70, P-value ˂ .0001). Similarly, the analysis of the present study demonstrated that there was a statistically significant correlation between dental fear and poor hygiene practices of the dentist with 95% CI; 0.82-1.02, P-value ˂ .0001. On the basis of our statistical data analysis, the dentist did not respect the quarantine due to COVID-19 having a significant impact on dental fear with a P-value of ˂ .0001. This study shows important risk factors that significantly increase dental fear.

Keywords: Covid-19, dental fear, pain, past dreadful experiences

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Authors: Simone Tedeschi, Francesco Crespi, Paolo Liberati, Massimo Paradiso, Antonio Sciala

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This paper aims at contributing to the understanding of smokers’ responses to cigarette prices increases with a focus on heterogeneity, both across individuals and price levels. To do this, a stated preference quasi-experimental design grounded in a random utility framework is proposed to evaluate the effect on smokers’ utility of the price level and variation, along with social conditioning and health impact perception. The analysis is based on individual-level data drawn from a unique survey gathering very detailed information on Italian smokers’ habits. In particular, qualitative information on the individual reactions triggered by changes in prices of different magnitude and composition are exploited. The main findings stemming from the analysis are the following; the average price elasticity of cigarette consumption is comparable with previous estimates for advanced economies (-.32). However, the decomposition of this result across five latent-classes of smokers, reveals extreme heterogeneity in terms of price responsiveness, implying a potential price elasticity that ranges between 0.05 to almost 1. Such heterogeneity is in part explained by observable characteristics such as age, income, gender, education as well as (current and lagged) smoking intensity. Moreover, price responsiveness is far from being independent from the size of the prospected price increase. Finally, by comparing even and uneven price variations, it is shown that uniform across-brand price increases are able to limit the scope of product substitutions and downgrade. Estimated price-response heterogeneity has significant implications for tax policy. Among them, first, it provides evidence and a rationale for why the aggregate price elasticity is likely to follow a strictly increasing pattern as a function of the experienced price variation. This information is crucial for forecasting the effect of a given tax-driven price change on tax revenue. Second, it provides some guidance on how to design excise tax reforms to balance public health and revenue goals.

Keywords: smoking behaviour, preference heterogeneity, price responsiveness, cigarette taxation, random utility models

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Authors: Marta Fonseca, Pedro Marvão, Beatriz Oliveira, Bruno Heleno, Pedro Carreiro-Martins, Nuno Neuparth, António Rendas

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Background: Concept maps (CMs) visually represent hierarchical connections among related ideas. They foster logical organization and clarify idea relationships, potentially aiding medical students in critical thinking (to think clearly and rationally about what to do or what to believe). However, there are inconsistent claims about the use of CMs in undergraduate medical education. Our three research questions are: 1) What studies have been published on concept mapping in undergraduate medical education? 2) What was the impact of CMs on students’ critical thinking? 3) How and why have these interventions had an educational impact? Methods: Eight databases were systematically searched (plus a manual and an additional search were conducted). After eliminating duplicate entries, titles, and abstracts, and full-texts were independently screened by two authors. Data extraction and quality assessment of the studies were independently performed by two authors. Qualitative and quantitative data were integrated using mixed-methods. The results were reported using the structured approach to the reporting in healthcare education of evidence synthesis statement and BEME guidance. Results: Thirty-nine studies were included from 26 journals (19 quantitative, 8 qualitative and 12 mixed-methods studies). CMs were considered as a tool to promote critical thinking, both in the perception of students and tutors, as well as in assessing students’ knowledge and/or skills. In addition to their role as facilitators of knowledge integration and critical thinking, CMs were considered both teaching and learning methods. Conclusions: CMs are teaching and learning tools which seem to help medical students develop critical thinking. This is due to the flexibility of the tool as a facilitator of knowledge integration, as a learning and teaching method. The wide range of contexts, purposes, and variations in how CMs and instruments to assess critical thinking are used increase our confidence that the positive effects are consistent.

Keywords: concept map, medical education, undergraduate, critical thinking, meaningful learning

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