Let's go fishing: A quantitative analysis of subsistence choices with a special focus on mixed economies among small-scale societies.

The transition to agriculture is regarded as a major turning point in human history. In the present contribution we propose to look at it through the lens of ethnographic data by means of a machine learning approach. More specifically, we analyse both the subsistence economies and the socioecological context of 1290 societies documented in the Ethnographic Atlas with a threefold purpose: (i) to better understand the variability and success of human economic choices; (ii) to assess the role of environmental settings in the configuration of the different subsistence economies; and (iii) to examine the relevance of fishing in the development of viable alternatives to cultivation. All data were extracted from the publicly available cross-cultural database D-PLACE. Our results suggest that not all subsistence combinations are viable, existing just a subset of successful economic choices that appear recurrently in specific ecological systems. The subsistence economies identified are classified as either primary or mixed economies in accordance with an information-entropy-based quantitative criterion that determines their degree of diversification. Remarkably, according to our results, mixed economies are not a marginal choice, as they constitute 25% of the cases in our data sample. In addition, fishing seems to be a key element in the configuration of mixed economies, as it is present across all of them.

American Society for Clinical Pathology's 2019 Wage Survey of Medical Laboratories in the United States.

OBJECTIVES: To inform the pathology and laboratory field of the most recent national wage data. Historically, the results of this biennial survey have served as a basis for additional research on laboratory recruitment, retention, education, marketing, certification, and advocacy. METHODS: The 2019 Wage Survey was conducted through collaboration of the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) Institute of Science, Technology, and Policy in Washington, DC, and the ASCP Board of Certification in Chicago, Illinois. RESULTS: Compared with 2017, results show an overall increase in salaries for most laboratory occupations surveyed except cytogenetic technologists, laboratory information systems personnel, and performance improvement or quality assurance personnel. Geographically, laboratory professionals from urban areas earned more than their rural counterparts. CONCLUSIONS: As retirement rates continue to increase, the field needs to intensify its efforts on recruiting the next generation of laboratory personnel. To do so, the report urged the field to highlight advocacy for better salaries for laboratory personnel at the local and national levels when developing recruitment and retention strategies.

Pharmaceutical industry payments to leaders of professional medical associations in Australia: Focus on cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Pharmaceutical industry interactions with professional medical associations have come under scrutiny, yet industry ties among the leadership of these associations are often overlooked. The aim of this study was to investigate pharmaceutical industry payments to leaders of Australian diabetes or cardiovascular associations, and general associations serving doctors who manage these conditions. METHOD: Payments were identified using publicly available industry transparency reports (October 2015 to April 2018). RESULTS: Overall, 48/197 (24.4%) leaders received payments, predominantly for speaker (51.4%) and advisory board (25.3%) engagements. The proportion of paid leaders was higher for diabetes- and cardiovascular-specific associations (72.7% and 41.2%, respectively) than for general associations (7.6%). DISCUSSION: These findings raise concerns about industry influence on clinical practice and policy.

The Safety Pharmacology Society salary survey.

INTRODUCTION: Safety pharmacology is a growing discipline with scientists broadly distributed across international geographical regions. This electronic salary survey is the first to be distributed amongst the entire Safety Pharmacology Society (SPS) membership. An electronic survey was sent to all members of the Society. Categorical survey questions assessed membership employment types, annual incomes, and professional certifications, along with other associated career attributes. METHODS: This survey was distributed to the SPS membership that is comprised of safety pharmacologists, toxicologists and pharmacologists working globally in the pharmaceutical industry, at contract research organizations (CRO), regulatory agencies, and academia or within the technology provider industry. The survey was open for responses from December 2015 to March 2016. RESULTS: The survey response rate was 28% (129/453). North America (68%) was the region with the largest number of respondents followed by Europe (28%). A preponderance of respondents (77%) had 12years of industry experience or more. 52% of responders earned annually between $40,000 and $120,000. As expected, salary was generally positively correlated with the number of years of experience in the industry or the educational background but there was no correlation between salary and the number of employee's directly supervised. The median salary was higher for male vs female respondents, but so was median age, indicative of no gender 'salary gap'. DISCUSSION: Our 2016 SPS salary survey results showcased significant diversity regarding factors that can influence salary compensation within this discipline. These data provided insights into the complex global job market trends. They also revealed the level of scientific specialization embedded within the organization, presently uniquely positioned to support the dynamic career paths of current and future safety pharmacologists.

Building the patient community.

There are many challenges in conducting rare disease research. The conditions are often poorly understood, small patient populations are dispersed around the world, and there are limited funding opportunities. Patient groups can serve as a key partner in overcoming these challenges, as they understand the impact of rare conditions on patients' lives. This gives patient groups valuable scientific insights into the disease. This can be used to create research strategies, address research bottlenecks and directly fund research that appropriately addresses patient needs. Patient groups can also play a critical role in recruiting and retaining patients for clinical trials, which reduces time and resource waste. By partnering with patient groups, research teams can improve efficiency of research and best meet the needs of patients. Researchers can also play an important role in building and supporting patient groups to unlock these benefits.

Intrinsic honesty and the prevalence of rule violations across societies.

Deception is common in nature and humans are no exception. Modern societies have created institutions to control cheating, but many situations remain where only intrinsic honesty keeps people from cheating and violating rules. Psychological, sociological and economic theories suggest causal pathways to explain how the prevalence of rule violations in people's social environment, such as corruption, tax evasion or political fraud, can compromise individual intrinsic honesty. Here we present cross-societal experiments from 23 countries around the world that demonstrate a robust link between the prevalence of rule violations and intrinsic honesty. We developed an index of the 'prevalence of rule violations' (PRV) based on country-level data from the year 2003 of corruption, tax evasion and fraudulent politics. We measured intrinsic honesty in an anonymous die-rolling experiment. We conducted the experiments with 2,568 young participants (students) who, due to their young age in 2003, could not have influenced PRV in 2003. We find individual intrinsic honesty is stronger in the subject pools of low PRV countries than those of high PRV countries. The details of lying patterns support psychological theories of honesty. The results are consistent with theories of the cultural co-evolution of institutions and values, and show that weak institutions and cultural legacies that generate rule violations not only have direct adverse economic consequences, but might also impair individual intrinsic honesty that is crucial for the smooth functioning of society.

The emerging role of educational neuroscience in education reform / El papel emergente de la neurociencia educativa en la reforma de la educación

In the early 90s a movement began in education called "brain-based learning" that attempted to link neuroscience and education. However, many in both science and education felt it was untenable to make this leap. While early attempts to bridge the fields sparked controversy, it can now be argued that neuroscience does have a role to play in education reform. This paper explores suggestions for the appropriate training of the Educational Neuroscientist, broad interventions based on Educational Neuroscience that could reform curriculum, and emerging ways the Educational Neuroscientist can inform professional development of educators

A principios de los años 90 surgió un movimiento en educación llamado "aprendizaje basado en el cerebro" que trataba de unir neurociencia y educación. No obstante, muchas personas tanto en ciencia como en educación, pensaban que no era viable dar tal salto. Mientras que los primeros intentos por tender puentes entre estos campos suscitó controversia, puede decirse ahora que la neurociencia sí tiene un papel que jugar en la reforma de la educación. Este artículo explora propuestas para el adecuado entrenamiento del neurocientífico educativo, intervenciones amplias sustentadas en la neurociencia educativa que podrían reformar el currículum y de qué nuevas maneras podría contribuir neurocientífico educativo al desarrollo profesional de los educadores

Los estudiantes de Grado en Enfermería y su compromiso con los estudios / Students in graduate programs in nursing and commitment to studies

El engagement o compromiso con los estudios es un estado afectivo positivo del estudiante con todo lo relacionado con los estudios. Objetivo: El objetivo de este trabajo era conocer el nivel de engagement de los estudiantes de Grado en Enfermería del Centro adscrito de Diputación de Málaga de la UMA, así como su relación con las variables sociodemográficas y socioeducativas. Método: Se ha realizado un estudio descriptivo, transversal y correlacional. Se utilizó el instrumento UWES-S para medir el compromiso o engagement con sus estudios. Los datos se obtuvieron mediante cuestionario enviado on-line. Resultados: Respondieron al cuestionario 170 alumnos y la participación fue del 52,99%. Los valores medios de engagement obtenidos fueron: puntuación global (media 58,52 SD 11,852 ), vigor (media 17,93 SD 5,087 ), dedicación (media 25,54 SD 3,980) y absorción (media 15,09 SD 4,079 ). Conclusiones: Hemos detectado correlaciones entre la puntuación global de engagement, el vigor y la absorción con el rendimiento académico. Así mismo hemos detectado diferencias de medias estadísticamente significativas entre ambos sexos en dedicación y puntuación global. Las medias en absorción son mayores en aquellos alumnos que viven en pareja y en aquellos que tienen otras obligaciones de cuidados. La edad ha correlacionado con la absorción de forma positiva. The engagement or commitment to studies is a positive affective state of the student with everything related to the studies(AU)

Objective: The objective of this work was to determine the level of engagement of students assigned Degree Nursing Council of Malaga Center of UMA and its relationship with socio-demographic and socio-educational variables. Methods: We performed a descriptive, cross-sectional and correlational study. The UWES-S instrument was used to measure the commitment or engagement with their studies. The data were obtained by questionnaire on line. Results: 170 students responded to the questionnaire and the turnout was 52.99% . The mean values of engagement were obtained: overall score (mean 58.52 SD 11,852 ), vigor (mean 17.93 SD 5,087) (mean 25.54 SD 3.980) and dedication (mean 15.09 SD 4,079) absorption. Conclusions: We have detected correlations between the overall score of engagement, vigor and absorption with academic performance. Likewise, we detected statistically significant mean differences between the sexes in dedication and overall score. Means in absorption are higher in those students who live with a partner and those who have other duties of care. The age has been correlated with positive absorption (AU)

Going for the cure: patient interest groups and health advocacy in the United States.

Citizen groups, though celebrated during their sudden arrival on the lobbying scene, are vastly outnumbered by groups representing elite, occupationally based interests. Sensitive to the odds that nonoccupational groups face, this study asks what factors have allowed patient groups to form and become active in federal politics. Using three distinct data sets--a survey of patient groups, content analysis of group websites, and in-depth interviews with group representatives and policy makers in Washington, DC--this study assesses the activities of patient groups in the United States and argues that patient advocacy organizations garner stability from the relatively easy provision of selective and solidary benefits. Larger patient groups are especially likely to make use of these structural advantages to pursue congressional lobbying strategies. However, even these groups seek out noncompetitive, distributive political environments. Moreover, the study finds that patient groups rarely form coalitions across diseases, forgoing the potential to collectively speak for shared patient interests.