Psychometric properties of the School Anxiety Inventory-Short Version in Spanish secondary education students

Background: The School Anxiety Inventory (SAI) can be applied in different fields of psychology. However, due to the inventory’s administration time, it may not be useful in certain situations. To address this concern, the present study developed a short version of the SAI (the SAI-SV). Method: This study examined the reliability and validity evidence drawn from the scores of the School Anxiety Inventory-Short Version (SAI-SV) using a sample of 2,367 (47.91% boys) Spanish secondary school students, ranging from 12 to 18 years of age. To analyze the dimensional structure of the SAI-SV, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were applied. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were calculated for SAISV scores. Results: A correlated three-factor structure related to school situations (Anxiety about Aggression, Anxiety about Social Evaluation, and Anxiety about Academic Failure) and a three-factor structure related to the response systems of anxiety (Physiological Anxiety, Cognitive Anxiety, and Behavioral Anxiety) were identified and supported. The internal consistency and test-retest reliability were determined to be appropriate. Conclusions: The reliability and validity evidence based on the internal structure of SAI-SV scores was satisfactory.

Rigorous Design of Complex Distillation Columns Using Process Simulators and the Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm

We present a derivative-free optimization algorithm coupled with a chemical process simulator for the optimal design of individual and complex distillation processes using a rigorous tray-by-tray model. The proposed approach serves as an alternative tool to the various models based on nonlinear programming (NLP) or mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) . This is accomplished by combining the advantages of using a commercial process simulator (Aspen Hysys), including especially suited numerical methods developed for the convergence of distillation columns, with the benefits of the particle swarm optimization (PSO) metaheuristic algorithm, which does not require gradient information and has the ability to escape from local optima. Our method inherits the superstructure developed in Yeomans, H.; Grossmann, I. E.Optimal design of complex distillation columns using rigorous tray-by-tray disjunctive programming models. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res.2000, 39 (11), 4326–4335, in which the nonexisting trays are considered as simple bypasses of liquid and vapor flows. The implemented tool provides the optimal configuration of distillation column systems, which includes continuous and discrete variables, through the minimization of the total annual cost (TAC). The robustness and flexibility of the method is proven through the successful design and synthesis of three distillation systems of increasing complexity.

Mathematical modelling of the lower urinary tract

The lower urinary tract is one of the most complex biological systems of the human body as it involved hydrodynamic properties of urine and muscle. Moreover, its complexity is increased to be managed by voluntary and involuntary neural systems. In this paper, a mathematical model of the lower urinary tract it is proposed as a preliminary study to better understand its functioning. Furthermore, another goal of that mathematical model proposal is to provide a basis for developing artificial control systems. Lower urinary tract is comprised of two interacting systems: the mechanical system and the neural regulator. The latter has the function of controlling the mechanical system to perform the voiding process. The results of the tests reproduce experimental data with high degree of accuracy. Also, these results indicate that simulations not only with healthy patients but also of patients with dysfunctions with neurological etiology present urodynamic curves very similar to those obtained in clinical studies.

PoS-tagging the Web in Portuguese. National varieties, text typologies and spelling systems

The great amount of text produced every day in the Web turned it as one of the main sources for obtaining linguistic corpora, that are further analyzed with Natural Language Processing techniques. On a global scale, languages such as Portuguese - official in 9 countries - appear on the Web in several varieties, with lexical, morphological and syntactic (among others) differences. Besides, a unified spelling system for Portuguese has been recently approved, and its implementation process has already started in some countries. However, it will last several years, so different varieties and spelling systems coexist. Since PoS-taggers for Portuguese are specifically built for a particular variety, this work analyzes different training corpora and lexica combinations aimed at building a model with high-precision annotation in several varieties and spelling systems of this language. Moreover, this paper presents different dictionaries of the new orthography (Spelling Agreement) as well as a new freely available testing corpus, containing different varieties and textual typologies.

Pitfalls in the Evaluation of the Thermodynamic Consistency of Experimental VLE Data Sets

The thermodynamic consistency of almost 90 VLE data series, including isothermal and isobaric conditions for systems of both total and partial miscibility in the liquid phase, has been examined by means of the area and point-to-point tests. In addition, the Gibbs energy of mixing function calculated from these experimental data has been inspected, with some rather surprising results: certain data sets exhibiting high dispersion or leading to Gibbs energy of mixing curves inconsistent with the total or partial miscibility of the liquid phase, surprisingly, pass the tests. Several possible inconsistencies in the tests themselves or in their application are discussed. Related to this is a very interesting and ambitious initiative that arose within the NIST organization: the development of an algorithm to assess the quality of experimental VLE data. The present paper questions the applicability of two of the five tests that are combined in the algorithm. It further shows that the deviation of the experimental VLE data from the correlation obtained by a given model, the basis of some point-to-point tests, should not be used to evaluate the quality of these data.

Semiotic Vision of Ideologies

A semiotic theory of systems derived from language would have the purpose of classifying all the systems of linguistic expression: philosophy, ideology, myth, poetry, art, as much as the dream, lapsus, and free association in a pluridimensional matrix that will interact with many diversified fields. In each one of these discourses it is necessary to consider a plurality of questions, the essence of which will only be comprehensible by the totality; it will be necessary to ask, in the first place, what will be the purpose of this language, what function does it fulfill and for which reason has it been constructed. The concept of World vision (WV) is introduced and its relation with Generalized Collective Conscience (GCC) and Particularized Collective Conscience. Culture implies a particular WV. Culture creates GCC. The semantic field is a structure that formalizes the units of a certain culture constituting a portion of the vision of the Reality that owns this culture. An ecological case is explained.

Capillary microreactors based on hierarchical SiO2 monoliths incorporating noble metal nanoparticles for the Preferential Oxidation of CO

Novel hierarchical SiO2 monolithic microreactors loaded with either Pd or Pt nanoparticles have been prepared in fused silica capillaries and tested in the Preferential Oxidation of CO (PrOx) reaction. Pd and Pt nanoparticles were prepared by the reduction by solvent method and the support used was a mesoporous SiO2 monolith prepared by a well-established sol–gel methodology. Comparison of the activity with an equivalent powder catalyst indicated that the microreactors show an enhanced catalytic behavior (both in terms of CO conversion and selectivity) due to the superior mass and heat transfer processes that take place inside the microchannel. TOF values at low CO conversions have been found to be ∼2.5 times higher in the microreactors than in the powder catalyst and the residence time seems to have a noticeable influence over the selectivity of the catalysts designed for this reaction. The Pd and Pt flexible microreactors developed in this work have proven to be effective for the CO oxidation reaction both in the presence and absence of H2, standing out as a very interesting and suitable option for the development of CO purification systems of small dimensions for portable and on-board applications.

Low doses of ivermectin cause sensory and locomotor disorders in dung beetles

Ivermectin is a veterinary pharmaceutical generally used to control the ecto- and endoparasites of livestock, but its use has resulted in adverse effects on coprophilous insects, causing population decline and biodiversity loss. There is currently no information regarding the direct effects of ivermectin on dung beetle physiology and behaviour. Here, based on electroantennography and spontaneous muscle force tests, we show sub-lethal disorders caused by ivermectin in sensory and locomotor systems of Scarabaeus cicatricosus, a key dung beetle species in Mediterranean ecosystems. Our findings show that ivermectin decreases the olfactory and locomotor capacity of dung beetles, preventing them from performing basic biological activities. These effects are observed at concentrations lower than those usually measured in the dung of treated livestock. Taking into account that ivermectin acts on both glutamate-gated and GABA-gated chloride ion channels of nerve and muscle cells, we predict that ivermectin’s effects at the physiological level could influence many members of the dung pat community. The results indicate that the decline of dung beetle populations could be related to the harmful effects of chemical contamination in the dung.