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Psychopathy; Fear conditioning; Children Psicopatía; Condicionamiento del miedo; Niños Psicopatia; Condicionament de la por; Nens Deficits in fear conditioning related to psychopathy have been widely studied in adults. However, evidence in children and adolescents is scarce and inconsistent. This research aimed to expand knowledge about fear conditioning in psychopathy and its dimensions in child and early adolescent clinical populations. Participants were 45 boys (outpatients) aged 6–14 years (M = 10.59, SD = 2.04). They were assessed with the parents’ and teachers’ versions of the Child Problematic Traits Inventory (CPTI). A fear conditioning paradigm (Neumann et al., in Biological Psychology, 79(3), 337–342, 2008) for children and adolescents was used. Conditioned stimuli (CS+ and CS-) were geometric shapes and the unconditioned stimulus (US) was an unpleasant sound of metal scraping on slate (83 dB). Difference scores (CS+ minus CS-) in skin conductance responses (SCR) and self-reported cognitive and affective measures were considered as indices of fear conditioning. Results showed that: a) deficits in fear conditioning were related to some psychopathy dimensions but not to psychopathy as a unitary construct; b) the Impulsivity-Need for Stimulation dimension was a predictor of impaired fear conditioning at a cognitive level; c) the interaction of Callous-Unemotional and Impulsivity-Need for Stimulation dimensions was a significant predictor of impaired electrodermal fear conditioning; d) by contrast, the Grandiose-Deceitful dimension, was marginally associated with a greater electrodermal fear conditioning. In conclusion, psychopathy dimensions and their interactions, but not psychopathy as a whole, predicted deficits in fear conditioning as measured by SCR and cognitive indices. These findings confirm the notion that psychopathic traits are associated with deficits in fear conditioning in child and adolescent clinical populations and provide support for a multidimensional approach to youth psychopathy. Open Access Funding provided by Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. This research was financially supported by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Spanish Government (MINECO/FEDER, UE), reference: PSI2015-67441-R and by the AGAUR, Generalitat de Catalunya (2017 SGR1586). A.I. is recipient of a Ph.D. fellowship by the Secretaria d’Universitats i Recerca of Generalitat de Catalunya and European Social Fund (FI-DGR 2017).

Nutrient recovery from the agri-food sector waste is an increasingly recognized option within the framework of the bioeconomy. Membrane technologies and chemical precipitation are among the best valued options for their economic and practical feasibility. In this study, the combination of gas-permeable membrane (GPM) technology for the recovery of nitrogen (N) and the chemical precipitation for phosphorous (P) recovery from anaerobically digested swine manure is evaluated. This work studies the effect of the membrane area and the addition of alkali on N and P recovery efficiencies. Specifically, two different membrane area ratios (180 and 100 g of N per m2 of membrane) with and without the addition of alkali were studied. High nutrient recovery efficiencies, of 77% for N and 80% for P, were obtained after 10 days of experiment with a ratio of 180 g N per m2 of GPM and the addition of NaOH (1.5 N), along with the precipitant agent (MgCl2) for P precipitation. Hence, a combined configuration was proposed to perform an effective simultaneous recovery of N and P with the minimum amount of membrane needed in a short time.

The Child Problematic Traits Inventory (CPTI) is a relatively new tool for measuring psychopathic traits in early development mainly applied in community samples. The main purpose of the present study was to provide further validation of the parents’ version of the CPTI in the Spanish context. In a first phase, the study examined (a) the factor structure and the invariance across gender, (b) the internal consistency, and (c) the convergent and divergent validity of the CPTI in a community sample of 1,387 children (48.1% girls) aged 5–12 years (M = 8.27; SD = 2.17). In a second phase, the study tested the capacity of the CPTI to discriminate between normal and two clinical conditions (i.e., externalizing versus other psychopathological problems) in a subsample of 678 at-risk children (46.2% girls), aged 5–12 years (M = 8.38; SD = 2.25), preselected according to psychiatric measures and clinical judgment. The Spanish parent version of the CPTI confirmed a three-factor structure, being invariant across gender, with an adequate internal consistency, and a consistent relationship with delinquent and aggressive behavior. The associations with external variables differed according to each CPTI dimension. In addition, the CPTI discriminated children at risk for externalizing disorders from children with other psychopathology conditions (internalizing and learning disorders) and from healthy children. In sum, the CPTI holds up as a promising measure to assess psychopathic traits in childhood from a multidimensional perspective and, therefore, would open new ways to study diverse etiological pathways leading to the development of psychopathy in children.

Gas-permeable membrane (GPM) technology is a novel alternative to reduce N content in wastewater while recovering N in the form of an ammonium salt solution that can be used as fertilizer. This work aims to elucidate the effects of three operational conditions on the performance of GPM technology for ammonia recovery in batch conditions using synthetic wastewater that simulates livestock wastewater. Firstly, the effect of the ratio of the initial mass of total ammonia nitrogen (TAN) per membrane surface from 197 to 936 g N per m2 of membrane was investigated. The highest ratio presented the highest TAN recovery rate (90 g N m−2 d−1). Secondly, the influence of the ratio of the volume of wastewater per volume of acidic trapping solution in the range from 7.8 to 33.3 L L−1 was studied. In this case, the higher the ratio, the higher the N concentration in the trapping solution, achieving a N concentration of 43,773 mg N L−1 with a ratio of 33.3 L L−1. Finally, two different TAN concentrations (

The application of new technologies in the agro-industrial sector is needed to close the loop of the nutrient cycle in the food chain. The aim of this work is to study the feasibility of the combination of two nutrient recovery technologies. In a first step, the novel gas-permeable membrane technology recovers N from the wastewater as an ammonium sulfate solution (a bio-based fertilizer). Secondly, the electrodialytic process recovers P, as an electrolyte solution, from which P can then be precipitated as struvite (a slow-release fertilizer). The process was tested in two different livestock wastewaters: swine manure (SM) and anaerobically digested SM (digestate). Recovery efficiencies for N were 53% for SM and 92% for digestate; for P the efficiencies were 100% and 74% for SM and digestate, respectively. The results showed a great potential of combining these novel membrane technologies in livestock wastewaters, promoting the sustainability of the sector in the realm of the bioeconomy. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

The current study examined the psychometric properties (factor structure, reliability and validity) of the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV; Forth et al., 2003) in Spanish samples of male justice-involved youths between 15 and 22-years old. The PCL:YV was administered to two groups of youths who were incarcerated (n= 62; n= 95) and a sample of youth on probation (n=122). Confrmatory factor analyses showed acceptable-to-good ft for three- and four-factor models. The fourfactor hierarchical model with a second-order higher factor representing the whole psychopathy construct was considered for further analyses. PCL:YV scores showed high internal consistency and inter-rater reliability. Low-to-moderate convergence with other measures of psychopathic traits evinced an adequate convergent validity. Convergent and discriminant validity of the PCL:YV total scores were also confrmed considering several measures of psychopathology and personality traits. Importantly, the diferential external correlates of the PCL:YV factors provide support for a multidimensional conceptualization of the psychopathy construct. Altogether, these results reveal adequate psychometric properties of the PCL:YV in Spanish population of justice-involved youths and justifes its use to assess psychopathic traits in this kind of populations. Open Access Funding provided by Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. A.I. is recipient of a Ph.D. fellowship by the Secretaria d’Universitats i Recerca of Generalitat de Catalunya and European Social Fund [FI-DGR 2017]. This research was financially supported by the ‘Fundació Marató’ of TV3; the Centre d’Estudis Jurídics i Formació Especialitzada, Government of Catalonia [DOGC Núm. 7024–23.12.05; DOGC Núm. 7274–27/12/16]; the Departament d’Economia i Coneixement, Generalitat de Catalunya [2014SGR-1587], and by the Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad, Spanish Government [PSI2015–67441-R]. The funding organizations had no further role in the study design; collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; writing of the report; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

Abstract. The aim of this study was to test the reliability and validity of the Spanish teacher-rated Child Problematic Traits Inventory (CPTI) in two community samples of 3- to 12-year-old children. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) supported the three-factor structure of the CPTI (Grandiose-Deceitful: GD; Callous-Unemotional: CU; Impulsive-Need for Stimulation: INS), being invariant across gender and age groups. The CPTI total and factor scores showed excellent internal consistencies (> .90) in the total group, and across gender and age groups. In support of their criterion validity, the CPTI scores were positively related to psychopathy scores as measured by an alternative teacher-rated measure. In support of their convergent validity, the CPTI scores showed the expected relations to variables that have been linked to psychopathic personality, including fearlessness, conduct problems, aggression, and low prosocial behavior. Overall, these findings suggest that the Spanish teacher-rated version of the CPTI has good psychometric properties and seems to be a promising tool for studying psychopathic traits in children.

Gas-permeable membranes technology presents a high potential for nitrogen (N) recovery from wastewaters rich in ammonia (NH3). The EU project Ammonia Trapping (AT) is aimed at transferring knowledge from the lab-scale level to on-farm pilot-scale level, using this technology to recover NH3 from livestock wastewaters. The goal of this study is to report the results of an on-farm pilot-scale demonstration plant using gas-permeable membranes to recover N from raw swine manure. After a setup optimization of the plant, stable, and continuous operation was achieved. The maximum NH3 recovery rate obtained was 38.20 g NH3-N m−2 membrane day−1. This recovery rate was greatly affected by the temperature of the process. In addition to its contribution to NH3 emissions reduction, this technology contributes to the recovery of nutrients in the form of a concentrated stable ammonium sulphate solution. This solution contained 3.2% of N, which makes it suitable for fertigation. The economic approach revealed an economic feasibility of the technology, resulting in a cost of 2.07 € per kg N recovered.

This work studied the anaerobic digestion of brown juice, a liquid residual stream generated from biomass fractionation in a green biorefinery. Biomethane potential batch tests and inhibition studies of brown juice were performed during continuous processing in an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor. Prolongation of the lag phase in the batch tests with increasing substrate/inoculum ratio suggested initial inhibition, which was, however, overcome by adaptation. This was indicated by high final methane yields, which were close to the theoretical maximum of up to 500 L-CH4 kg-VS−1, achieved after 15 days for most of the set-ups. Reactor operation at the organic loading rate of 13.9 g-COD L−1 day−1 and hydraulic retention time of 3 days revealed methane yields of 202 L-CH4 kg-COD−1 (307 L-CH4 kg-VS−1). Particle size analysis of the granules used in the reactor showed disintegration of the larger granules.

The reduction and recovery of nitrogen (N) from anaerobically digested manure (digestate) is desirable to mitigate N-related emissions, mainly ammonia and nitrate, derived from digestate land application in nutrient-saturated zones. This work reports the results of a gas-permeable membrane (GPM) pilot-scale plant to recover ammonia from digestate in the framework of the EU project Ammonia Trapping. The total ammonia nitrogen (TAN) concentration in digestate was reduced by 34.2% on average (range 9.4–57.4%). The recovery of TAN in the trapping solution in the form of a (NH4)2SO4 solution averaged 55.3% of the removed TAN, with a TAN recovery rate of 16.2 g N m−2 d−1 (range between 14.5 and 21.0 g N m−2 d−1). The TAN concentration in the trapping solution achieved a value of up to 35,000 mg N L−1. The frequent change of the trapping solution has been proven as an efficient strategy to improve the overall performance of the GPM technology.

This research was financially supported by the Centre d'Estudis Jurídics i Formació Especialitzada, Generalitat de Catalunya (DOGC Núm. 7024-23.12.05; DOGC Núm. 7274 - 27/12/16) The Clinical Assessment of Prosocial Emotions: Version 1.1 (CAPE 1.1) uses structured clinical judgments to diagnose the "with limited prosocial emotions" specifier for Conduct Disorder. This study examined (a) the internal consistency and interrater agreement, and (b) the convergent and divergent validity of the CAPE 1.1 in 72 young males who were incarcerated in two Spanish juvenile detention centers (age range = 14-22 years). The CAPE 1.1 showed good interrater agreement for making the diagnosis of the specifier and adequate internal consistency. The CAPE 1.1 was associated with other measures of callous-unemotional traits, but less consistently associated with other dimensions of psychopathy. Youth who met diagnostic criteria for the specifier scored higher on externalizing problems, but did not differ from other youth who were incarcerated on internalizing problems. These results provide preliminary support for the psychometric properties of the CAPE 1.1 for the clinical assessment of the specifier.

Gas-permeable membrane technology is a new strategy to minimize ammonia losses from manure, reducing pollution and recovering N in the form of an ammonium salt fertilizer. In this work, a new operational configuration to recover N using the gas-permeable membrane technology from swine manure was tested in a semi-continuous mode. It treated swine manure with a total ammonia nitrogen (TAN) concentration of 3451 mg L&minus, 1. The system was operated with low aeration rate (to raise pH), and with hydraulic retention times (HRT) of seven days (Period I) and five days (Period&nbsp, II) that provided total ammonia nitrogen loading rate (ALR) treatments of 491 and 696 mg TAN per L of reactor per day, respectively. Results showed a uniform TAN recovery rate of 27 g per m2 of membrane surface per day regardless of the ALR applied and the manure TAN concentration in the reactor. TAN removal reached 79% for Period I and 56% for Period II, with 90% of recovery by the membrane in both periods. Water capture in the acidic solution was also uniform during the experimental period. An increase in temperature of 3 &deg, C of the acidic solution relative to the wastewater reduced 34% the osmotic distillation and water dilution of the product. These results suggested that the gas-permeable membrane technology operating in a semi-continuous mode has a great potential for TAN recovery from manure.

Microalgae grown in swine wastewater were used as a promising strategy to produce renewable energy by coupling wastewater bioremediation and biomass revalorization. The efficiency of a microalgae consortium treating swine slurry at different temperature (15 and 23 °C) and illumination periods (11 and 14 h) was assessed for biomass growth and nutrient removal at two NH4+ initial concentrations (80 and 250 mg L−1 NH4+). Favourable culture conditions (23 °C and 14 h of illumination) and high ammonium loads resulted in higher biomass production and greater nutrients removal rates. The initial N–NH4+ load determined the removal mechanism, thus ammonia stripping and nitrogen uptake accounted similarly in the case of high NH4+ load, while nitrogen uptake prevailed at low NH4+ load. Under favourable conditions, nitrogen availability in the media determined the composition of the biomass. In this context, carbohydrate-rich biomass was obtained in batch mode while semi-continuous operation resulted in protein-rich biomass. The revalorization of the resultant biomass was evaluated for biogas production. Methane yields in the range of 106–146 and 171 ml CH4 g COD−1 were obtained for the biomasses grown in batch and semi-continuous mode, respectively. Biomass grown under favourable conditions resulted in higher methane yields and closer to the theoretically achievable.

This study is aimed at assessing the potential of apple pomace (AP) as a substrate for biofuel production following a biorefinery approach. Two different APs, from juice and cider production were evaluated. First, bioethanol generation was performed and its fermentation residues, together with available biobutanol fermentation residues, were studied for biogas production. Moreover, co-digestion of AP and swine manure was investigated following a factorial design. Twelve different bacterial and yeast strains were compared for bioethanol production, obtaining bioethanol concentrations about 50 g L−1 by different strains of Kluyveromyces marxianus, K. lactis, Lachancea thermotolerans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, with yields of 0.371–0.444 g g−1. Specific methane yields of the fermentation residues of bioethanol and biobutanol production were 463 and 290 mL CH4 g −1 VS added, respectively. Methane yield for the co-digestion of AP and swine manure was 596 mL CH4 g−1 VS added, with an AP percentage of 14.6% and a substrate concentration of 9.38 g VS L−1.

Wastewater generation has concomitantly increased with the growth of world human population in the last century. The uncontrolled discharge of wastewater may result in serious social, environmental and health problems. At the same time, the use of microalgal-based systems has been widely studied for a variety of residual effluents treatment since the early 1950s. In this context, different technologies have been developed, and new strategies to cope with specific needs have been investigated worldwide. There are several advantages of microalgal-based systems compared to traditional wastewater treatment technologies, namely, (1) pollutants and pathogen decrease, (2) nutrient recovery in the form of valuable biomass, (3) energy savings and (4) CO2 emissions reduction. In spite of all these advantages, there are still many challenges to overcome before attaining the real implementation of this technology. Those challenges include (1) land requirement, (2) effect of wastewater characteristics, (3) environmental and operational condition influence and (4) biomass harvesting and valorization. This chapter will explore and discuss the main advantages and limitations of using this green technology for wastewater treatment based on our expertise and the latest insights on this topic.

Nowadays, it is a well-accepted fact that greenhouse gases (GHG) contribute to the global warming of the planet and that they are a very real and very serious threat to the whole world. It is estimated that 10% of total GHG emitted is from sources in the agricultural sector and over 3% from waste management. Most countries agreed to reduce GHG emissions through the mitigation of GHG sources and application of technologies to stop global warming; however, there is much work to do as GHG are increasing every year. Among these technologies, anaerobic digestion appears as a well-established technology in most countries that can contribute to mitigate GHG emissions from organic wastes. Capture of these gases from uncontrolled organic wastes processes from municipal solid wastes, human excreta, wastewaters, tanneries, distilleries and other industries discharged in public swears is necessary to reduce these emissions and to profit methane from this biogas; otherwise, they are a source of fugitive GHG contributing to the global warming. Anaerobic digestion has the potential for global warming savings, due to the potential substitution of fossil fuel by biogas, also from carbon storage in soil and inorganic fertilizer substitution through use of the digestate as a fertilizer.

The biogas potential of the residual fractions of four organically grown green crops after protein extraction was studied. The protein extraction method involved screw pressing of freshly harvested biomass to obtain a plant juice, followed by precipitation of the proteins. After protein extraction, 95% of organic matter was still present in the residual press cake and juice. Methane yields in the range of 219-375 and 429-539 ml-CH4 g-VS-1 were obtained for the mono-digestion of press cake and the residual juice, respectively, and up to 81% of the methane potential of the fresh crops was recovered in the two residual fractions when evaluated separately. Co-digestion of the press cake and the residual juice at the organic matter ratio at which those fractions leave the biorefinery, resulted in a methane yield of 400 ml-CH4 g-VS-1 according to the regression model equation developed for red clover. Consequently, 65% of the methane potential from fresh red clover could be recovered by co-digestion of the residual fractions from the green biorefinery after extraction of proteins.

The recovery of proteins from microalgae is gaining special attention for animal feed applications especially for fish feed, as the costs of aquaculture feeds represent between 40-70% of the costs of the fish produced. Besides, the use of pig manure to growth microalgae biomass could contribute to manure bioremediation and therefore to reduce the environmental impacts of its storage. The objective of this study was to recover protein concentrates from microalgal biomass grown in pig manure, paying especial attention to the quality of the extracted proteins that can be used as feed source for fish, and to the amino acids composition, essential amino acids content and availability. Methane potential of the by-products obtained after protein recovery was also determined in order to fully apply the biorefinery concept to valorize the resulting biomass. Results showed a maximum protein recovery of 54.5 ± 3.2% from initial microalgal biomass. Protein content in the protein concentrate accounted for 84.5 g protein/100 g biomass in total solids (TS) basis. In the case of the amino acids profile from protein concentrate, essential amino acids accounted for 47.5 g /100 g amino acids in TS basis. After protein recovery, the resulting by-products named spent and liquid fraction were anaerobically digested in batch assays, obtaining a maximum methane production of 181 mL CH4/g VS added.

This study was aimed at evaluating gas-permeable membrane technology (N-recovery) coupled with anaerobic digestion for the treatment of swine manure. For this purpose, 66.7% of the initial total ammoniacal nitrogen contained in centrifuged swine manure (SM) was first recovered by an e-PTFE gas-membrane as an ammonium sulfate solution. The resultant manure effluent with reduced ammonia (ATM) was evaluated as anaerobic digestion (AD) substrate. It was compared with AD using the initial swine effluent (SM) without the N-recovery step (control). An organic loading rate (OLR) of 2.8 ± 0.5 g TCOD L-1 day-1 was established to ensure a stable process when working at semi-continuous mode. Regardless of the operation mode, methane yields of 105 ± 2 mL CH4 g TCOD -1 were obtained for ATM. The combined treatment resulted in an organic matter removal efficiency of 68.6%. Initial TCOD accounted for 54.69 g L-1. The results prove that it is feasible to combine gas-permeable membrane technology and anaerobic digestion for the treatment of swine manure, contributing to ammonia emissions mitigation and sustainable livestock waste treatment. Moreover, by means of this technology combination, a variety of valuable products is obtained, namely sustainable energy in the form of methane and fertilizers.

International audience; Integration of anaerobic digestion (AD) with microalgae processes has become a key topic to support economic and environmental development of this resource. Compared with other substrates, microalgae can be produced close to the plant without the need for arable lands and be fully integrated within a biorefinery. As a limiting step, anaerobic hydrolysis appears to be one of the most challenging steps to reach a positive economic balance and to completely exploit the potential of microalgae for biogas and fertilizers production. This review covers recent investigations dealing with microalgae AD and highlights research opportunities and needs to support the development of this resource. Novel approaches to increase hydrolysis rate, the importance of the reactor design and the noteworthiness of the microbial anaerobic community are addressed. Finally, the integration of AD with microalgae processes and the potential of the carboxylate platform for chemicals and biofuels production are reviewed.

Nowadays, the organic farming sector is growing at a fast pace in Europe while needs to face the lack of organic protein sources and in particular, feeding monogastric animals is becoming more and more urgent. Green biorefinery concepts might become the suitable solution for the production of organic protein-rich feeds from green crops. In this context, red clover, clover grass, alfalfa and oilseed radish were studied as possible feedstocks for the development of an organic biorefinery system in Northern Europe. For this purpose, the green crops were processed into a nitrogen-rich protein concentrate, a fiber-rich press cake, and a residual stream of soluble nutrients (brown juice). The process, which involved a novel protein refining technique using lactic acid fermentation, yielded between 6 and 13 kg of dry organic protein product per ton of fresh crop. The protein products of the different crops presented balanced amino acid composition compared to soybeans, which are commonly used in organic farming. Moreover, methionine contents between 7.8 and 9.1 g/kg DM were obtained in the protein products, which is more than the typical concentration found in animal feeds (5.2 g/kg DM in soybeans). This makes the organic protein product produced very promising as a feed ingredient for organic farming of monogastric animals in Europe.

Despite the large body of research documenting parenting practices as risk factors for the development of child and adolescent disruptive behaviour, the association with psychopathy is notably less known. The goal was to examine, in 75 institutionalized juvenile male offenders, the association between self-reported memories of parenting practices during childhood (Alabama Parenting Questionnaire) and psychopathy (Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version). Results showed that ineffective parenting practices as inconsistent discipline and poor monitoring/supervision were significantly associated with increased levels of psychopathic traits. Interestingly, only two of the four facets of the construct, lifestyle and antisocial, were associated with these parenting behaviours. Findings highlight the importance of considering parenting practices in the study of the early development of psychopathy and suggest that the facets could be rooted in distinct underlying etiologic-dispositional factors with differentiated ...

We studied the temporal stability of individual differences in the acquisition and generalization of fear. Seventy-one participants were tested in two almost identical fear-acquisition and fear-generalization sessions (separated by 8 months). Acquisition and generalization were measured by the fear-potentiated startle, the skin conductance response, and online expectancies of the unconditioned stimulus. To control for the effects of previous experience, different stimuli were used for half of the participants in Session 2. Acquisition and generalization did not differ across sessions or as a function of the stimuli used in Session 2, and a significant proportion of individual differences in these processes was stable over time (generalizability coefficients ranged from 0.17 to 0.38). When the same stimuli were used, acquisition measures showed compromised stability. The results are discussed in terms of their theoretical and applied implications.

The influence of religious education in the family upon current spiritual and religious tendencies was assessed in a sample of 599 Spanish nurse and medicine students using a religiosity scale and answers to a series of belief/disbelief statements. Results showed that nursing and medicine students were equally low-religious, with no differences in religiosity total scores between participants coming from religious families; however, medical students coming from nonreligious families showed higher religiousness than the corresponding nursing trainees. This distinction appeared both across religiosity items and in a variety of responses to belief/disbelief of Christian/secular assertions. Regression analysis showed that religious family background was a consistent predictor of religious beliefs at young adulthood, and its influence was higher for medical students. In addition to establish religious upbringing as an important factor modulating enduring religiosity, these findings provide distinctions between...

The consensus about the importance of communication skills in patient-care does not guarantee that students and faculty perceive the usefulness of these skills. This study evaluated and compared medical students', residents' and tutors' attitudes towards learning communication skills, and examined the association with gender and year of residency.We conducted a cross-sectional survey with 492 participants (282 second-year students, 131 residents and 79 tutors). They completed the Communication Skills Attitude Scale (CSAS) and demographic/educational information.In general, participants showed positive attitudes towards learning communication skills. Medical students, residents and tutors did not differ on the Positive Attitudes Scale (CSAS-PAS). Residents scored higher than medical students on the Negative Attitudes Scale (CSAS-NAS) (P0.01). Females showed higher scores on the CSAS-PAS (P0.05) and lower scores on the CSAS-NAS (P0.01) than males in all subsamples. The effect sizes were medium. There were no significant differences according to year of residency.Medical students, residents and tutors consider training in communication skills an essential component for clinical practice and they agree about the need to learn these communication skills. Attention should be paid to measuring attitudes at all three levels of medical education in the design of communication skills courses.

Panic disorder (PD) is one of the most common psychiatric disorders. Web-based self-help treatments for PD have had promising results. These online treatments seem to have larger effect sizes (ESs) when professional support is added. However, the amount of support or how it should be administered is not yet clear. The aim of this trial was to study two ways of administering psychological support provided by phone as a part of Internet-based self-help treatment for PD based on cognitive behavioral therapy. Seventy-seven participants diagnosed with PD were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions: a waiting list control group; a treatment group with non-scheduled psychological support; or a treatment group with scheduled psychological support. PD symptoms of participants who received treatment improved significantly compared to the control group (mean ES d = 1.18, p

The effect of adding vegetable waste as a co-substrate in the anaerobic digestion of swine manure was investigated. The study was carried out at laboratory scale using semi-continuous stirred tank reactors working at 37 °C. Organic loading rates (OLRs) of 0.4 and 0.6 g VS L −1 d −1 were evaluated, corresponding to hydraulic retention times (HRTs) of 25 and 15 d, respectively. The addition of vegetable wastes (50% dw/dw) resulted in an improvement of 3 and 1.4-fold in methane yields at HRTs of 25 and 15 d, respectively. Changes on microbial morphotypes were studied by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Samples analyzed were sludge used as inoculum and digestate obtained from swine manure anaerobic reactors. SEM pictures demonstrated that lignocellulosic material was not completely degraded. Additionally, microbial composition was found to change to cocci and rods morphotypes after 120 d of anaerobic digestion.

In an attempt to propose an integrated system to treat swine manure, the codigestion of this residue and microalgal biomass was evaluated. Response surface methodology showed that chemical oxygen demand/volatile solids (COD/VS) and COD algae supplement presented a significant effect on methane yield. Second-order polynomial model fitted quite well with the experimental results. Nevertheless, methane yield values achieved were not expected. Highest methane yield was exhibited by swine manure as a sole substrate, while algal biomass digestion reported the lowest. A closer examination to methane production rates showed that methane production was taking place in a higher extent on samples with higher proportion of algae. In agreement with that, nitrogen organic mineralization was low for those trials; hence the recalcitrant nature of the algal cell wall was evidenced. Even though methane production, hence breakage of the cells, was steadily occurring, the need of an algal biomass pretreatment seems to be imperative for the feasibility of this integrated system.

Background: Communication skills (CS) and the psychosocial dimensions of patient care are currently considered core competencies in medical schools. CS programs have focused on verbal communication rather than the nonverbal communication.Aim: To present a training program aimed to decode patients’ nonverbal clues for second year medical students implemented at the School of Medicine of the Autonomous University of Barcelona.Method: A description of a theoretical framework, principles, general and specific goals, learning settings, strategies, skills, and assessment tools.Results: A model of training for preclinical medical students in decoding patients’ nonverbal clues is shown. The students have shown satisfaction with the program.Conclusions: The detection of patients’ nonverbal clues can be regarded as a humanistic skill that can be defined, trained, and evaluated. The program can be transferable to other institutions on health sciences and adapted to other academic levels or, even, clinical specialties.

There is great controversy regarding the best substrate (fresh or anaerobically digested swine slurry) for the development of microalgae-bacteria consortia. This study aims to elucidate the best substrate by assessing biomass productivity, microorganism predominance, and their ability for organic matter removal. In addition to the different substrates, different operational conditions and influent strengths were evaluated. Increasing organic matter content when favourable temperature and illumination conditions were present improved biomass production. However, these conditions were not favourable for microalgal growth, but they were favourable for bacteria. Regardless of the operational conditions, reactors fed with fresh slurry not only resulted in the highest biomass productivity, but also the greatest removal of total and soluble chemical oxygen demand (COD). On the other hand, reactors fed with digested slurry showed biomass productivity and COD removal values lower than those obtained for reactors fed with fresh slurry, most probably due to the recalcitrant nature of the former. Nevertheless, digested slurry was the substrate more appropriate for microalgae growth under harsh operational conditions (16 °C and 9-h illumination) at low influent strength and optimum operational conditions (30 °C and 24-h illumination) at higher influent strength.

Microalgae systems are currently being researched due to their ability to mitigate carbon dioxide emissions while obtaining a value-added product in the form of biomass. This paper elucidates the ability of microalgal–bacteria consortia for the conversion of organic matter contained in anaerobically digested swine slurry into biomass organic carbon via CO 2 uptake. In this context, the configuration of the reactor, different nitrogen availabilities and different microalgal communities developed in the evaluated reactors (open pond and enclosed tubular photobioreactor) were inferred as a possible reason for the different conversion efficiencies found. The biomass quality in terms of macromolecular cell component obtained under the two different reactors did not show any clear difference. The high efficiency in biomass nitrogen uptake resulted in biomass mainly composed of carbohydrates and proteins. Finally, the photosynthetic efficiency of the two reactor types showed high values which indicated the high efficiency of converting irradiance supplied to the systems into energy stored in biomass.

Based on Gray's Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory, the influence of behavioural disinhibition upon alcohol consumption was studied. A sample of undergraduates answered different questionnaires related to the Behavioural Inhibition System and Behavioural Activation System. In relation to alcohol use, three aspects of alcohol consumption were assessed: frequency, quantity of alcohol intake and the age at first drink. From a series of correlation and regression analyses, we found that both high scores on BAS-related scales and low scores on those scales related to the BIS were jointly associated with current alcohol-taking habits. Additionally, the Sensitivity to Reward (SR) scale (BAS) was negatively correlated with, and a predictor of, the onset age of alcohol use. We conclude by proposing that research on alcohol use can benefit from this well-grounded theory of the neuropsychology of the individual differences.

OBJECTIVES To assess the impact of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) on general quality-of-life (QOL) measures in an outpatient setting. METHODS A total of 1546 male patients aged 51 years or older and scoring more than 11 in the International Prostate Symptom Score completed the general version of the Functional Assessment Cancer Therapy, the Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia Impact Index, and additional questions. Previous prostatic surgery and neurourologic conditions were exclusion criteria, but the use of urologic medication was not. RESULTS LUTS and QOL were significantly related to age, with older patients presenting with more symptoms and worse QOL. In addition, the results showed negative correlations between LUTS and QOL. The division of the severity groups according to the International Prostate Symptom Score showed that patients from the severe group reported significantly worse QOL compared with the moderate group. The 32% variance in the FACT-G was explained by the International Prostate Symptom Score items, controlling for age. Nocturia combined with incomplete bladder emptying were the strongest predictors of QOL. CONCLUSIONS LUTS have considerable impact on the general well-being of the patient. Combined with age, they can explain up to 30% of the variance in QOL. Nocturia and incomplete emptying are the most troublesome symptoms.

Among the biofuel production processes using different substrates, the biogas generation process is one of the simplest. Compared with bioethanol or biodiesel production processes, anaerobic digestion is a process where all theorganic matter (carbohydrates, lipids and proteins) can be biologically degradedfor methane production. Biological degradations of those polymeric substrates are carried out by several enzymes during the first stage of hydrolysis. Nevertheless, due to the substrates physical state, microbial degradation is frequently hampered. Substrate pretreatment enhances the performance of anaerobic digestion by improving the bioavailability of the substrate for anaerobic digestion and thus accelerating the hydrolysis step. Appropriate methods are currently under development in order to increase accessibility of the enzymes to the materials and therefore optimise the ultimate methane production. The present chapter is dedicated to providing a review of ultrasound pretreatment applied to different substrates (lignocelullosic materials, manures, sludge and microalgae). The advantages and constraints, that ultrasound pretreatment exhibit towards biogas production, are discussed and compared with other pretreatment methods.

This study investigates the effect of catch crops as co-substrate on manure-based anaerobic digestion. Batch experiments were carried out for two catch crops, namely Italian ryegrass (IR) and oil seed radish (OSR), in co-digestion with manure. Methane yields in the range of 271–558 and 216–361 ml CH4/g volatile solids (VS) were obtained for OSR and IR in co-digestion, respectively. OSR co-digestion was chosen for semi-continuous reactor experiments. The addition of 50 % of OSR to manure (on VS basis) in semi-continuous anaerobic digestion resulted in a methane yield of 348 ml CH4/g VS, an improvement of 1.46times compared to manure alone. Adaptation to OSR was observed, and no ammonia or volatile fatty acid-mediated inhibition was detected. The results prove that it is feasible to use catch crops as co-substrate for manure-based biogas production, obtaining a stable process with significantly higher methane yields than that of manure alone.

Background Panic Disorder (PD) is a common mental disorder with an important social and economic cost. Web-based screening tools for early detection of PD are useful for clinical and research purposes. However, there is a paucity of instruments that specifically measure PD online. The aim of this study is to analyze the validity of one item from the Web Screening Questionnaire designed to detect PD symptoms (WSQ-Panic). Methods A total of 171 participants completed the WSQ-Panic online and were assessed by telephone using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM Disorders (SCID-I). The sensitivity, the specificity, predictive values (PPV, NPV), and area under the ROC curve (AUC) were calculated, and the optimal cut-off point was determined. Results The WSQ-Panic showed a sensitivity of 0.83 and a specificity of 0.74. The PPV was 0.46 and NPV was 0.94. The AUC was 0.82 (95% CI: 0.74–0.90), which indicates a moderate accuracy. The optimal cut-off point is ≥2. Limitations The representativeness of the sample is limited. All the interviews were conducted by phone. Six-month prevalence according to SCID-I criteria was considered, whereas the WSQ-Panic assesses current symptoms. Conclusion The WSQ-Panic accuracy is acceptable as an Internet screening tool, comparable to longer instruments for PD detection. This instrument is valid to quickly identify patients who suffer from panic symptoms, which can cause important distress and possibly lead to PD. It can also be very useful for screening participants in online self-help treatments and for research purposes.

Proteins extracted from organic green crops have potential to substitute imported protein feed. In the organic RDD project OrganoFinery, the first small-scale tests to extract proteins from red clover and clover grass using a novel method showed good results, especially with respect to a favorable amino acid composition. The plan is to develop a feed product, containing organic red clover pro-tein extract and test it in feeding experiments in poultry. Proteins extracted from organic green crops have potential to substitute imported protein feed. In the organic RDD project OrganoFinery, the first small-scale tests to extract proteins from red clover and clover grass using a novel method showed good results, especially with respect to a favorable amino acid composition. The plan is to develop a feed product, containing organic red clover protein extract and test it in feeding experiments in poultry

Projektet OrganoFinerys første undersøgelser viser gode resultater for proteiner udvundet af rød-kløver og kløvergræs med en ny metode. Resultaterne er særligt lovende med hensyn til en gunstig aminosyresammensætning. Planen er at udvikle et foderprodukt, der indeholder proteinekstrakt fra økologisk rødkløver og teste det i fodringsforsøg med fjerkræ.

Manure-based biogas plants in Denmark are dependent on high yielding biomass feedstock in order to secure economically feasible operation. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of ten different catch crop species or mixtures as feedstock for biogas production in co-digestion with manure. The biomass yield per hectare and the specific methane yield of the catch crops in two different locations, namely Holstebro and Aabenraa, were investigated. The volatile solids (VS) yield per hectare was notably influenced by the differences in climate and soil conditions between the locations, being in the ranges of 1.4–3.0 t ha−1 and 0.3–1.7 t ha−1 for Holstebro and Aabenraa, respectively. Specific methane yields were in the range of 229–450 m3 t−1 of VS. Methane yields per hectare of up to 800 m3 ha−1 were obtained, making catch crops a promising source of feedstock for manure-based biogas plants in Denmark since this biomass is not competing with food/feed production.

Anaerobic digestion of livestock wastes (swine manure (SM) and poultry litter (PL)) and vegetable processing wastes (VPW) mixtures was evaluated in terms of methane yield, volatile solids removal and lignocellulosic material degradation. Batch experiments were performed with 2% VS (volatile solids) to ensure complete conversion of TVFAs (total volatile fatty acids) and to avoid ammonia inhibition. Experimental methane yields obtained for the mixtures resulted in higher values than those obtained from the sum of the methane yields from the individual components. VPW addition to livestock wastes before anaerobic digestion also resulted in improved VS elimination. In SM-VPW co-digestions, CH4 yield increased from 111 to 244 mL CH4 g VS added(-1), and the percentage of VS removed increased from 50% to 86%. For PL-VPW co-digestions, the corresponding values were increased from 158 to 223 mL CH4 g VS added(-1) and from 70% to 92% VS removed. Hemicelluloses and more than 50% of cellulose were degraded during anaerobic digestion. Thermal analyses indicated that the stabilization of the wastes during anaerobic digestion resulted in significantly less energy being released by digestate samples than fresh samples.

The aim of this study was to adapt to Catalan the parents' and children's global report forms of the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire (APQ), using a community sample of 364 children between 10 and 15 years old and their families. Sociodemographic information (from parents) and the presence of externalizing problems (from parents and teachers) were collected. The results suggest a 3-factor structure corresponding to the scales of Positive Parenting Practices (PPP), Inconsistent and Negative Discipline (IND) and Poor Monitoring/Supervision (PMS). The internal consistency is acceptable in all the scales, except for the IND in the children's format. The scales also present good convergent and discriminant validity, and the relations with the external variable studied pointed in the expected direction: inefficient parenting practices are related to the presence of more behavior problems in children. To sum up, the Catalan version of the parents' and children's global report forms of the APQ are considered suitable for use in the area of children's and adolescents' behavior problems.

Aims: To highlight two main psychological factors (cognitive barriers and safety-behaviors) involved in the development and maintenance of emotional distress in patients with urinary incontinence (UI) and thus facilitate a better understanding of this condition and contribute to a more comprehensive treatment. Materials and Methods: Articles and books were reviewed up to December 2010 using a non-systematic research in MEDLINE and PsycINFO, focusing on the situations more frequently seen in our clinical experience. Results: Several emotional symptoms that hinder a person's ability to benefit from urological treatment were found. An “accident” places a person at risk of developing a constant state of heightened worry and increased vigilance that predisposes the individual to develop significant anxiety and depression. Cognitive barriers such as dysfunctional beliefs, automatic negative thoughts, and cognitive biases are frequent. They affect patients' behavior and influence the development of coping strategies (safety-seeking behaviors) to manage symptoms and prevent feared consequences. Cognitions may act as barriers that lead to a misperception of one's health and maintain emotional distress. Safety behaviors are negatively reinforced and prevent disconfirmation of dysfunctional cognitions, thus maintaining the trouble and distress. Clinical examples are outlined. Conclusions: Cognitive barriers and safety behaviors explain some of the atypical psychological patterns seen in patients with UI. Future research should be oriented to design multimodal interventions and assess their impact on health outcomes. Whenever possible, the assessment of emotional, cognitive, and behavioral responses in individuals with UI could improve the management of this condition. Cognitive-behavioral therapy should be recommended to certain patients. Neurourol. Urodynam. 31:669–671, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Se estudió el efecto de la adición de vegetal en la digestión anaerobia de dos residuos ganaderos (purín y gallinaza) evaluando la reducción de materia orgánica y la producción de metano mediante un diseño central compuesto. Se estudió la degradación del material lignocelulósico mediante microscopía electrónica de barrido y la estabilidad del digestato mediante análisis térmico. Además, en el caso del SM se estudió el proceso en condiciones semi-continuas, demostrando el efecto positivo de la adición de vegetal sobre la producción de metano. Por otro lado, se evaluaron dos sistemas para el tratamiento de nutrientes en SM digerido anaeróbicamente. Mediante el primero de ellos, el tratamiento anammox, se obtuvieron eliminaciones de amonio y nitrito del 96% observando que la concentración de materia orgánica determinaba la eficiencia del proceso. El segundo sistema estudiado fue un tratamiento con microalgas. Se estudiaron la eliminación de nutrientes y la asimilación de dichos nutrientes por parte de la biomasa algal en dos tipos de reactor, Departamento de Ingeniería Química y Tecnología del Medio Ambiente