Gender heterophily and equality: a contribution to gender equality in the Chilean scientific sector.

Women's insertion or consolidation in science has been thoroughly researched. Such discussion could be particularly relevant concerning sustainable development goal five (SDG 5) on Gender Equality advancement. However, the debate is focused on women percentages inserted into scientific labor, leaving the issue of symbolic experience for women in research unaddressed and with little empirical support. The data come from a survey developed under a FONDECYT project, which studied knowledge production in Chile. Researchers obtained contacts through invitations on social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn and databases containing scientists' emails working in Chile. The non-probabilistic sample collected 583 cases, with participants residing in 15 of the 16 country regions. As a result, this document presents the findings of a study on symbolic experience using an instrument to determine whether there are any homophily patterns. It aims to determine if scientists tend to cite others as referents only when they encounter a situation like their own. The findings reveal a clear way scientists estimate the effect of others in terms of their gender homophily. This intervening factor could be crucial in reproducing the disparities and asymmetries that characterize Chile's scientific field.

VIRify: An integrated detection, annotation and taxonomic classification pipeline using virus-specific protein profile hidden Markov models.

The study of viral communities has revealed the enormous diversity and impact these biological entities have on various ecosystems. These observations have sparked widespread interest in developing computational strategies that support the comprehensive characterisation of viral communities based on sequencing data. Here we introduce VIRify, a new computational pipeline designed to provide a user-friendly and accurate functional and taxonomic characterisation of viral communities. VIRify identifies viral contigs and prophages from metagenomic assemblies and annotates them using a collection of viral profile hidden Markov models (HMMs). These include our manually-curated profile HMMs, which serve as specific taxonomic markers for a wide range of prokaryotic and eukaryotic viral taxa and are thus used to reliably classify viral contigs. We tested VIRify on assemblies from two microbial mock communities, a large metagenomics study, and a collection of publicly available viral genomic sequences from the human gut. The results showed that VIRify could identify sequences from both prokaryotic and eukaryotic viruses, and provided taxonomic classifications from the genus to the family rank with an average accuracy of 86.6%. In addition, VIRify allowed the detection and taxonomic classification of a range of prokaryotic and eukaryotic viruses present in 243 marine metagenomic assemblies. Finally, the use of VIRify led to a large expansion in the number of taxonomically classified human gut viral sequences and the improvement of outdated and shallow taxonomic classifications. Overall, we demonstrate that VIRify is a novel and powerful resource that offers an enhanced capability to detect a broad range of viral contigs and taxonomically classify them.

The Rise and Fall of Financial Flows in EU 15: New Evidence Using Dynamic Panels with Common Correlated Effects.

This paper assesses capital mobility for a panel of 15 European countries for the period 1970-2019 using dynamic common correlated effects modeling as proposed in Chudik and Pesaran (J Econ 188(2):393-420, 2015). In particular, we account for the existence of cross section dependence, slope heterogeneity, nonstationarity and endogeneity in a multifactor error correction model (ECM) that includes one homogeneous break. The analysis also identifies the heterogeneous structural breaks affecting the relationship for each of the individual countries. The ECM setting allows for a complete assessment of the domestic saving-investment relationship in the long-run as well as two other elements usually neglected: short-run capital mobility and the speed of adjustment. When we account for a single homogeneous break, this is found at the euro inception. We obtain that long-run capital mobility is high but not perfect yet. We also provide empirical evidence for the Ford and Horioka (Appl Econ Lett, 24(2), 95-97, 2017)'s hypothesis, who argue that goods market integration is a necessary condition to obtain zero correlation between domestic saving-investment. Our results stress the role played by the euro as a booster for both financial and real integration. However, a complete degree of economic integration has not been fully achieved. Short-run capital was highly mobile for the whole period, with some exceptions, coinciding with turmoil episodes. Additionally, from the application of the CS-DL threshold analysis proposed by Chudik et al. (Adv Econ, 36, 85-135, 2016), we find that economic risk and openness play a key role in capital mobility.

Proposal for updating the Health Assessment Questionnaire.

OBJECTIVE: To propose a consensus modification of the HAQ according to the predominant values, language, and culture of the society. METHODS: First, a scoping review of the literature and a survey of HAQ users were conducted to identify the problems of this questionnaire. In a second phase, a meeting was held with expert professionals to discuss the results and design proposals for modification. RESULTS: The scoping review allowed us to describe the main versions of the HAQ, as well as their psychometric properties. The HAQ users survey assessed the degree of comprehension, usefulness, timeliness, and universality of each of the items, and suggestions and opinions on its main limitations were accepted. During the discussion meeting, modifications to the items were proposed based on the results of the scoping review and the users survey. In addition, the difficulty of understanding the items, their difficulty in assessing intended movements, redundancy, obsolescence, and possible gender bias were taken into account. CONCLUSIONS: An update of the Spanish version of the HAQ is proposed based on the literature review and expert opinion that highlights the paradigm shift in cultural values and aims to increase the content validity and discrimination capacity of this questionnaire.

Macroeconomic effects of crude oil shocks: Evidence from South Asian countries.

This research tends to convey the relationship between crude oil price volatility and key macroeconomics indicators, i.e., gross domestic product (GDP), inflation rate (IR), interest rate, and exchange rate. The study collected the time-series data (2000-2020) from the South Asian countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka), and employed macroeconomic policy modeling tools (impulse response function and the prediction error variance decomposition technique) in the vector autorepression (VAR) setup. The outcome of the impulse response function explained considerable variance among macroeconomic indicators in response to crude oil price shocks. The macroeconomic indicators are extremely susceptible to minor fluctuations in oil prices causing a significant impact on the region's socioeconomic situation. The result of variance decomposition indicates that each country in the region reacts differently to crude oil price volatility which reflects their macroeconomics fundamentals, independent policy, sector structure, and country differences. The findings support change in public policies in a way to reduce their dependency on oil energy and encourage them toward renewal and green energy sources for better environmental results and sustainable development.

Development and Assessment of Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 (HSV-1) Amplicon Vectors with Sensory Neuron-Selective Promoters.

BACKGROUND: Neurogenic detrusor overactivity (NDO) is a severe pathological condition characterized by involuntary detrusor contractions leading to urine leakage. This condition is frequent after spinal cord injury (SCI). Gene therapy for NDO requires the development of vectors that express therapeutic transgenes driven by sensory neuron-specific promoters. The aim of this study was to develop and assess tools for the characterization of sensory neuron-specific promoters in dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons after transduction with herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1)-based amplicon defective vectors. METHODS: The HSV-1 vector genome encoded two independent transcription cassettes: one expressed firefly luciferase (FLuc) driven by different promoters' candidates (rTRPV1, rASIC3, rCGRP, or hCGRP), and the other expressed a reporter gene driven by an invariable promoter. The strength and selectivity of promoters was assessed in organotypic cultures of explanted adult DRG, or sympathetic and parasympathetic ganglia from control and SCI rats. RESULTS: The rCGRP promoter induced selective expression in the DRG of normal rats. The rTRPV-1 promoter, which did not display selective activity in control rats, induced selective expression in DRG explanted from SCI rats. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides a methodology to assess sensory neuron-specific promoters, opening new perspectives for future gene therapy for NDO.

Spanish Translation and Cultural Adaptation of the Canadian Assessment of Physical Literacy-2 (CAPL-2) Questionnaires.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to translate and culturally adapt the questionnaires belonging to the Canadian Assessment of Physical Literacy-2 (CAPL-2) into Spanish and to explore the reliability for its use in children and adolescents aged from 8 to 12 years. METHODS: The CAPL-2 questionnaires were translated using the translation-back-translation methodology into Spanish and adapted to the Spanish context. The test-retest reliability and internal consistency of the CAPL-2 questionnaires of this Spanish version were analysed in 57 schoolchildren from a school in the region of Extremadura (Spain). RESULTS: High internal consistency (α = 0.730 to 0.970) and test-retest reliabilities ranging from moderate to almost perfect in the knowledge and understanding domain (ICC = 0.486 to 0.888); from substantial to almost perfect in the motivation and confidence domain (ICC = 0.720 to 0.981); and almost perfect in the daily activity domain (ICC = 0.975) were found. The test-retest correlation was significantly weak to strong (r = 0.266 to 0.815) in both the motivation and confidence and knowledge and understanding domains, except for the third predilection item and the muscular endurance question. Significant test-retest differences were observed in the first intrinsic motivation item (p = 0.027) and the knowledge and understanding domain total score (p = 0.014). CONCLUSION: The Spanish version of the CAPL-2 questionnaires, translated and adapted to the context, are reliable measurement tools, serving to complete the full adaptation of the CAPL-2 test battery for use in children aged 8 to 12 years.

Environmentally Specific Servant Leadership and Employees' Energy-Specific Pro-Environmental Behavior: Evidence from Healthcare Sector of a Developing Economy.

Environmental issues are significantly rising worldwide. Addressing the environmental issues and preserving the biosphere is a critical matter of concern in this era. The sheer amount of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the world is related to the energy sector, especially electrical energy. A bulk of electrical energy is consumed by individuals in buildings for cooling and heating purposes. Prior researchers have emphasized employing clean and green energy sources to deal with environmental issues. The role of green energy from a decarbonization aspect is unchallengeable. However, a critical gap in most energy-related studies exists in the available literature. That is, most of the literature focuses on the supply side (the production) of energy, neglecting the critical issue lies with the demand side (consumption side). Energy data show that a sheer amount of electrical energy is wasted by individuals due to their inadequate energy consumption behavior. In this respect, a country's healthcare system uses a significant amount of electrical energy. In particular, hospital staff uses a bulk of electricity during patient treatment, care, and other service delivery operations. The critical aim of this study is to improve the energy-specific pro-environmental behavior (EPEB) of hospital employees in an environmentally specific servant leadership (ESL) framework. Specifically, the study was conducted in Pakistan, which is a developing country. This study also tests the mediating effect of green self-efficacy (GSE) and green perceived organizational support (GPOS) in the above-proposed relationship. The data for the current work were collected from hospital employees by employing a survey strategy (n = 316) from a developing country. Structural equation modeling was considered to analyze the data, which confirmed that a servant leader with environmental preferences could significantly drive the EPEB of employees (ß = 0.699), while GSE (ß = 0.138) and GPOS (ß = 0.102) mediated this relationship. The findings of this study can help the healthcare sector to improve its efforts toward de-carbonization by improving the energy consumption behavior of employees through ESL, GSE, and GPOS.

Impact of the Sustainable Development Goals on the academic research agenda. A scientometric analysis.

Today, global challenges such as poverty, inequality, and sustainability are at the core of the academic debate. This centrality has only increased since the transition from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), whose scope is to shift the world on to a path of resilience focused on promoting sustainable development. The main purpose of this paper is to develop a critical yet comprehensive scientometric analysis of the global academic production on the SDGs, from its approval in 2015 to 2020, conducted using Web of Science (WoS) database. Despite it being a relatively short period of time, scholars have published more than five thousand research papers in the matter, mainly in the fields of green and sustainable sciences. The attained results show how prolific authors and schools of knowledge are emerging, as key topics such as climate change, health and the burden diseases, or the global governance of these issues. However, deeper analyses also show how research gaps exist, persist and, in some cases, are widening. Greater understanding of this body of research is needed, to further strengthen evidence-based policies able to support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the achievement of the SDGs.

Medical Podcasting in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Needs Assessment and Vision for the Future.

Phenomenon: Physician shortages in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) have led to increased interest in using e-learning tools for training. Organic digital education (ODE)-digital scholarship largely created outside of formal medical curricula-has increased in popularity over the past decade. Medical podcasting has become one of the most prominent asynchronous ODE sources for learners in high-income (HI) countries; there have been no previous attempts to characterize their use in LMIC. Approach: Listener data from a 2-year period from three major internal medicine podcasts-Bedside Rounds, Core IM, and The Curbsiders-were aggregated, 188 episodes in total. These data were subdivided into country by top-level domain, normalized by population, and grouped together by World Bank income levels and English-speaking status. This methodology was also repeated to compare individual episodes on topics more versus less relevant to learners in LMIC. Findings: Over a 2-year period, the three podcasts had a total of 2.3 million unique downloads and were listened to in 192 of 207 countries worldwide. Overall, 91.5% of downloads were in HI countries, with 8.2% in LMIC. A total of 86.1% of listens were in countries with English as an official or unofficial listed language, whereas 13.8% were in countries without. Normalized for population, listeners in HI countries represented 970.5 listens per million population compared with 12.4 per million in LMIC. An analysis of individual episodes by topic showed that material more relevant to learners in LMIC had significantly more listeners from these countries. Insights: Compared with other forms of ODE, medical podcasting has much lower uptake in LMIC. However, there are considerable opportunities for growth. Medical podcasters in HI countries should be aware of a potential global audience and should take concrete steps to ensure a diversity of content and to periodically audit their data. Medical educators in LMIC should consider podcasting as a potentially powerful form of teaching. International medical educational organizations as well as podcasting organizations should provide resources for educators in these countries.

Evaluación de la disfagia en pacientes con enfermedades neurológicas y su relación con riesgo de desnutrición / Assessment of dysphagia in neurological disease patients and its relation to risk factor for malnutrition

Resumen: ANTECEDENTES Los pacientes con enfermedades neurológicas son susceptibles a padecer disfagia frecuentemente no diagnosticada. OBJETIVO Determinar la existencia de disfagia en pacientes con enfermedad neurológica atendidos en la consulta externa y su relación con el riesgo de desnutrición. MATERIAL Y MÉTODO Estudio descriptivo transversal, efectuado de enero a diciembre de 2016. Se realizó valoración clínica de las fases de la deglución, se aplicó el cuestionario EAT-10 versión en español, se tomaron medidas antropométricas, se estimó la ingesta calórica y se determinó el riesgo nutricional, el índice de Quetelet y la Evaluación Global Subjetiva. RESULTADOS Se analizaron 55 pacientes, 54.5% mujeres, con edad media de 47.29 años. La disfagia afectó a 49.1% de los pacientes; los pacientes con riesgo de desnutrición representaron 25.5%. Los pacientes con disfagia representaron 33.3% y tuvieron mayor riesgo de desnutrición vs 17.9% sin disfagia (p < 0.001). El género femenino (OR 1.23; IC95% 0.42-3.58; p = 0.451), la diabetes mellitus (OR 2.95; IC95% 0.52-16.75; p = 0.196), el antecedente de neumonía (OR 2.12; IC95% 1.59-2.81; p = 0.236) y la enfermedad neurológica crónica (OR 1.65; IC95% 0.49-5.53; p = 0.301) se relacionaron con incremento de disfagia. CONCLUSIONES La prevalencia de disfagia no diagnosticada es elevada y se asocia con mayor desnutrición.

Abstract: BACKGROUND Neurological diseases patients are susceptible to dysphagia, frequently not diagnosed. OBJECTIVE To determine the presence of dysphagia in patients attending for neurological pathology of extern consult and its relation with malnutrition. MATERIAL AND METHOD A prospective, cross-sectional study, performed from January to December 2016, that evaluated dysphagia symptoms, clinically phases of swallowing, and EAT-10 questionnaire validated to Spanish was applied. Risk factors were determined, as well as nutritional risk, Quetelet Index, Global Subjective Assessment, and demographics data. RESULTS Of the 55 patients, 54.5% were women; mean age was of 47.29 years. The prevalence of dysphagia was 49.1%; patients with risk malnutrition represented 25.5%. Dysphagia patients accounted for 33.3% and had a higher risk of malnutrition vs 17.9% without dysphagia (p < 0.001). The risk of dysphagia increased in women (OR 1.23, 95% CI 0.42-3.58, p = 0.45), diabetes mellitus (OR 2.95, 95 % CI 0.52-16.75, p = 0.19), patients with history of pneumonia (OR 2.12, 95% CI 1.59-2.81; p = 0.236) and chronic neurological disease (OR 1.65, 95% CI 0.49-5.53, p = 0.30). CONCLUSIONS There is high prevalence of undiagnosed dysphagia and it's associated with greater risk of malnutrition.

Assessment of acute toxicity of carbofuran in Macrobrachium olfersii (Wiegmann, 1836) at different temperature levels.

Carbofuran (2,3-dihydro-2,2-dimethyl-7-benzofuranyl methylcarbamate; C12H15NO3) is one of the most toxic carbamate pesticides. For acute toxicity of carbofuran, juveniles of Macrobrachium olfersii were exposed to different concentrations of carbofuran using the static renewal method at different temperature levels (15, 20 and 25°C) at pH 7.0. The main purpose of the present study was to detect the acute toxicity of carbofuran to M. olfersii and investigate its effects on oxygen consumption and ammonium excretion; these tests have not been carried out in this species before. First, the acute toxicity - median lethal concentration - of carbofuran to M. olfersii for 24, 48, 72 and 96 h was examined, which resulted in the following values: 1.64, 1.22, 0.86 and 0.42 mg L(-1), respectively. Furthermore, we also found that carbofuran caused an inhibition in oxygen consumption of 60.6, 65.3 and 66.2% with respect to the control. In addition, after separate exposures to carbofuran, elevations in ammonium excretion were more than 500% with respect to the control.

Preoperative radiographic assessment of hepatic steatosis with histologic correlation.

BACKGROUND: The adverse impact of hepatic steatosis on perioperative outcomes after liver resection is gaining recognition. But the accuracy of preoperative radiologic assessment of fatty liver disease remains unclear. The objective of this study was to correlate preoperative radiologic estimation with postoperative histologic measurement of steatosis. STUDY DESIGN: Patients who underwent partial hepatectomy between 1997 and 2001, with complete preoperative radiographic imaging and postoperative pathologic assessment of steatosis, were retrospectively analyzed. The presence of steatosis was assessed radiographically using noncontrast-enhanced CT (NCCT), contrast-enhanced CT (CCT), or MRI, using standard quantitative radiologic criteria. Repeat histologic analysis was used to quantify the extent of hepatic steatosis. RESULTS: One hundred thirty-one patients were studied. The overall sensitivity and specificity for all imaging modalities in detecting pathologically confirmed hepatic steatosis were 56% and 82%, respectively. Sensitivity and specificity for NCCT, CCT, and MRI using standard quantitative criteria were 33% and 100%, 50% and 83%, and 88%, and 63%, respectively. Increasing body mass indices adversely affected the accuracy of NCCT (p=0.002). Preoperative chemotherapy did not notably affect radiologic accuracy. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of a fatty-appearing liver on NCCT scans indicates clinically significant steatosis, but steatosis cannot be excluded based on a normal NCCT scan, particularly in obese patients. Conversely, normal MRI helps to exclude hepatic steatosis, but abnormal MRI is not a reliable indicator of fatty change. CCT is not an effective means of identifying steatosis. We conclude that, when used alone, conventional cross-sectional imaging does not consistently permit accurate identification of hepatic steatosis.

A multi-species assessment of post-dispersal seed predation in the central Chilean Andes.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Post-dispersal seed predation in alpine communities has received little attention despite evidence that seeds removed by granivores can decrease plant recruitment into ecosystems. Moreover, few studies have assessed the effects of removal of seeds of a range of species after dispersal on the seeds remaining in ecosystems. A comparison was made of the magnitude of seed removal by ants and birds of nine different shrubby-, herbaceous- and cushion-plant species in the central Chilean Andes in order to assess the interactions between birds, ants and wind, and the types of seeds. METHODS: A total of 324 soil-covered plates, each containing 50 seeds of one species, were placed in the field at an altitude of 2700 m and assigned to one of four treatments: control, exclusion of ants, birds, and both. The design also allowed the effects of wind to be assessed. Seed removal from plates was monitored over 20 d. KEY RESULTS: Mean accumulative seed removal by granivores averaged over all nine species combined was 25%. However, large differences between species were evident, with limited seed removal (3-11%) in three herbaceous species (Alstroemeria pallida, Sisyrinchium arenarium, Pozoa coriacea), moderate (18-33%) in five species, including a shrub (Chuquiraga oppositifolia), two herbs (Taraxacum officinale, Rhodophiala rhodolirion), and two cushion-plants (Laretia acaulis, Azorella monantha), and substantial (78%) in the shrub Anarthrophyllum cumingii. The magnitudes of losses caused by birds compared with ants did not differ for the majority of species, although removal by birds was greater than by ants in A. cumingii, and smaller for C. oppositifolia. CONCLUSIONS: Post-dispersal seed removal is shown to be an important cause of decreased potential plant species recruitment into alpine ecosystems. The substantial differences in the magnitude of seed losses to ants and birds demonstrate the need for evaluation of seed removal on a wide range of species in any given ecosystem.