Intermediate levels of scientific knowledge are associated with overconfidence and negative attitudes towards science.

Overconfidence is a prevalent problem and it is particularly consequential in its relation with scientific knowledge: being unaware of one's own ignorance can affect behaviours and threaten public policies and health. However, it is not clear how confidence varies with knowledge. Here, we examine four large surveys, spanning 30 years in Europe and the United States and propose a new confidence metric. This metric does not rely on self-reporting or peer comparison, operationalizing (over)confidence as the tendency to give incorrect answers rather than 'don't know' responses to questions on scientific facts. We find a nonlinear relationship between knowledge and confidence, with overconfidence (the confidence gap) peaking at intermediate levels of actual scientific knowledge. These high-confidence/intermediate-knowledge groups also display the least positive attitudes towards science. These results differ from current models and, by identifying specific audiences, can help inform science communication strategies.

Self-other asymmetries in the perceived validity of the Implicit Association Test.

The Implicit Association Test (IAT) is the most popular instrument in implicit social cognition, with some scholars and practitioners calling for its use in applied settings. Yet, little is known about how people perceive the test's validity as a measure of their true attitudes toward members of other groups. Four experiments manipulated the desirability of the IAT's result and whether that result referred to one's own attitudes or other people's. Results showed a self-other asymmetry, such that people perceived a desirable IAT result to be more valid when it applied to themselves than to others, whereas the opposite held for undesirable IAT results. A fifth experiment demonstrated that these self-other differences influence how people react to the idea of using the IAT as a personnel selection tool. Experiment 6 tested whether the self-other effect was driven by motivation or expectations, finding evidence for motivated reasoning. All told, the current findings suggest potential barriers to implementing the IAT in applied settings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Seletividade de herbicidas em trevo-branco no estádio fenológico de expansão do primeiro trifólio / Herbicide selectivity on white clover in phenological stage of first trifoliate expanding

O trevo-branco (Trifolium repens L.) é uma forrageira utilizada na composição de sistemas de produção agropecuária. O objetivo do estudo foi investigar a seletividade de herbicidas em trevo-branco, aplicado no estádio fenológico de primeiro trifólio em expansão. Realizou-se um experimento em blocos casualizados, com 19 tratamentos e três repetições. Observou-se, aos 84 dias após a aplicação de bentazon + imazethapyr, imazethapyr, bentazon e 2,4-D fitointoxicação inferior a 25% e produção de massa seca da parte aérea superior a 1.300 kg ha-1, sendo a cultura do trevo-branco tolerante a esses produtos, quando aplicados em plântulas no estádio fenológico de primeiro trifólio em expansão.

White clover (Trifolium repens L.) is a forage used in the composition of crop system models. The objective of this study was to investigate the selectivity of herbicides on white clover seedlings, applied at the first trifoliate growth expanding. It was carried out an experiment in randomized blocks, with 19 treatments and three replications. White clover can be considered as tolerant to bentazon + imazethapyr, imazethapyr, bentazon and 2,4-D, because it was observed biomass production higher than 1.300 kg ha-1 in those treatments and phytotoxicity lower than 25% at 84 days after herbicides sprayed on seedling under phenological stage of plants expanding the first trifoliate.

Espacialização do banco de sementes de plantas daninhas sob diferentes manejos de cana-de-açúcar em rio brilhante, MS / Geographical distribution of the weeds seed bank of under different managements of sugar cane in rio brilhante, MS

O setor sucroalcooleiro está em pleno crescimento no Estado de Mato Grosso do Sul e, com isso a preocupação com os sistemas de colheita passam a ser estudadas, pois estes sistemas podem influenciar na interferência da comunidade infestante de plantas daninhas na cultura da cana-de-açúcar. O manejo integrado unido à ferramenta geoestatística visa evitar perdas de produtividade devido à interferência de plantas daninhas. O objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar a variabilidade espacial do banco de sementes de plantas daninhas em função do sistema de colheita de cana-de-açúcar (sem queima e com queima). O experimento foi realizado na área de cultivo comercial da Usina ETH Bioenergia S/A Unidade Eldorado. As amostras de solo foram retiradas com trado da camada de 0,00 a 0,40 m de profundidade, nos dois sistemas de colheita. A parcela experimental foi composta por uma malha constituída por 50 pontos georreferenciados com distâncias irregulares. As amostras de solo foram levadas para a casa de vegetação para emergência das plântulas. O número de espécies daninhas foi analisado por meio de análises estatísticas descritivas e de técnicas geoestatísticas. As sementes de picão-preto, dicotiledôneas, capim-amargoso, tiririca, trapoeraba e monocotiledôneas apresentaram dependência espacial do banco de sementes no sistema de colheita com queima da cana-de-açúcar. Para o sistema de colheita da cana queimada apenas a espécie tiririca apresentou dependência espacial de distribuição no banco de sementes. Na colheita de cana sem queima o mapeamento dessas espécies possibilitará por meio dos mapas de krigagem produzidos, aplicações localizadas de herbicidas no manejo integrado de Cyperus rotundus.

The State of Mato Grosso do Sul is in full growth of this sector, thus the concern about harvesting systems are being studied, and these systems may influence the weed community interference of weeds in the cane sugar. The integrated management tool attached to geostatistics is to avoid productivity losses due to weed interference. The objective of this work was to study the spatial variability of the seed bank of weeds depending on the system for collecting cane sugar (raw and burning). The experiment was conducted in the area of commercial cultivation of the plant ETH Bioenergy S/A Eldorado Unity. Soil samples were taken with auger layer from 0.00 to 0.40 m depth in both cropping systems. The experimental plot was composed by a mesh consisting of 50 points georeferenced with irregular distances. Soil samples were taken to the greenhouse for germination. The number of weed species was analyzed using descriptive statistics and geostatistical techniques. The seeds of B. pilosa, dicots, bitter grass, nutsedge, dayflower monocots and spatial dependence of the seed bank in the collection system with burning of cane sugar. For the system of harvest only the raw sedge species present spatial dependence of distribution in the seed bank. In the harvest green cane enable the mapping of these species through the kriging maps produced, spot applications of herbicides in integrated management of Cyperus rotundus.

Human JC polyomavirus in normal colorectal mucosa, hyperplastic polyps, sporadic adenomas, and adenocarcinomas in Portugal.

John Cunningham virus (JCV) infects chronically human populations worldwide and probably might confer a higher risk for colorectal cancer (CRC). The prevalence of JCV DNA has been determined in normal colon mucosa and compared it with different degrees of colorectal lesions, as well as viral presence in the urine of the individuals in the study. JCV DNA was detected by a nested-PCR approach targeting the JCV small-t antigen in 100 healthy controls, and 100 patients undergoing biopsy for diagnosis of colorectal disorders. JCV DNA was detected in 40% of normal mucosa from controls and patients. JCV DNA presence in urine was also similar in controls and patients (37-41% range). JCV DNA detection in normal mucosa and urine reflects the infected population in Portugal. However, in cases with colorectal tumor lesions, JCV DNA was detected in 90% cases, independently of histological type or grade, and this increase was significantly higher with respect to its normal surrounding mucosa. This higher detection of JCV DNA in tumor lesions with respect to its own normal mucosa suggested that a selection for virus containing cells has occurred at some early stage in tumor initiation or progression. JCV may have a specific tropism for colon epithelial cells with some inherent predisposition that makes them more prone to oncogenic transformation, with selection of infected cells. Several p53 polymorphisms in intron 2, common to both groups, were more frequently detected in colorectal pathology cases. A novel p53 mutation in the 3' untranslated region (exon 11) was identified in 10 patients.

Salivary evaluation of pediatric patients with cancer, before and after antineoplasic treatment.

AIMS: This study evaluated the salivary biochemical and immunological status of children with cancer undergoing to antineoplasic treatment in an attempt to identify alternatives for a less invasive and less painful monitoring of these patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Unstimulated whole saliva samples were obtained from 115 children without cancer (control) and 32 children with cancer (CA). Children with cancer were also evaluated after antineoplasic treatment (CAT, n = 17). The salivary concentrations of glucose, triglycerides, total cholesterol, alkaline phosphatase, gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT), urea, insulin, thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), triiodothyronine (T3), levothyroxine (T4), and immunoglobulin A (IgA) were determined. RESULTS: Acute lymphocytic leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia, and Hodgkin's lymphoma were the most frequent cancers, although cases of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, medulloblastoma, ependymoma, osteosarcoma, nephroblastoma, Ewing's sarcoma, and endodermal sinus tumor were also observed. The salivary concentration of cholesterol, triglycerides, or GGT did not differ between groups. Instead, the concentrations of alkaline phosphatase and T4 were higher in patients with cancer, irrespective of treatment. TSH levels were higher in the CA group and urea concentration was lower in the CAT group. T3 was undetectable in all groups. Antineoplasic treatment increased the glucose level and decreased the insulin concentration. Salivary concentration of total IgA was lower in children with cancer, irrespective of treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Cancer and antineoplasic treatment affected biochemical and immunological parameters in the saliva of children, shedding new light on the potential usefulness of saliva for monitoring children with cancer, especially to patients undergoing immunosuppressive therapy.

[Dietary and physical activity factors as determinants of the increase in overweight/obesity in Brazil]. / Aspectos das práticas alimentares e da atividade física como determinantes do crescimento do sobrepeso/obesidade no Brasil.

Data from Brazilian national surveys conducted since the 1970s have indicated an increase in the prevalence of overweight/obesity. The two most frequently cited causes of this trend have been dietary changes and reduction in physical activity, characterizing a "contemporary Western lifestyle". The objective of this paper is to identify and assess some indicators associated with changes in eating habits and physical activity patterns in the Brazilian population in the last 30 years. Despite the lack of detailed data, the following factors appear to play an important role in the process: internal migration; dining out; increased consumption of fast food; labor changes; transportation; and the use of home appliances. More information on dietary and physical activity patterns in association with anthropometric data on the Brazilian population are needed for a better understanding of each factor's role in these relationships. Meanwhile, inter-sector programs and projects with well-defined targets and outcomes are needed for the population's adherence to a healthier lifestyle, in order to control the increase in overweight/obesity.

Aspectos das práticas alimentares e da atividade física como determinantes do crescimento do sobrepeso/obesidade no Brasil / Dietary and physical activity factors as determinants of the increase in overweight/obesity in Brazil

Os dados acerca do sobrepeso/obesidade na população brasileira demonstram um crescimento na sua prevalência entre as décadas de 70 e 90. Os dois aspectos mais apresentados como relacionados a este quadro têm sido mudanças no consumo alimentar, com aumento do fornecimento de energia pela dieta e redução da atividade física, configurando um "estilo de vida ocidental contemporâneo". Este artigo tem por objetivo identificar e avaliar alguns indicadores que se correlacionam com mudanças nas práticas alimentares e de atividade física na população brasileira nos últimos trinta anos. Apesar da carência de dados detalhados, os fatores que podem estar contribuindo para o quadro em tela incluem: migração interna; alimentação fora de casa; crescimento na oferta de refeições rápidas; mudanças no trabalho; meios de deslocamento; e equipamentos domésticos. Faltam informações mais detalhadas sobre as práticas alimentares e o padrão de atividade física no Brasil, em associação a dados antropométricos, para uma melhor explicação dessa relação. Há necessidade de projetos e programas intersetoriais que tenham metas bem definidas e que garantam a adesão da população a um estilo de vida saudável na perspectiva do controle do crescimento da prevalência do sobrepeso/obesidade no país.