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Laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM) is a microscopic technique based on an optical construction which allows the microscope to discard the light coming from unfocused zones of the sample. Whereas LSCM is extensively used in Natural Sciences (Biology, Medicine...), its use in Materials Science is almost unexplored and, in particular, there are essentially no fractographical studies using LSCM. However, its characteristics (gathering of 3D information, better than micron resolution and simple sample preparation) make LSCM an ideal tool in a wide selection of fractographical problems, owing to the fast adquisition of valuable information and to the excellent sinergy with scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In the present work, the authors study an interesting system (ZrO2-5% mol Er2O3 fibers, submitted to tensile strength in hightemperature conditions) in detail with LSCM. In addition to showcasing the usefulness of LSCM in fractographical studies and revealing the characteristic texture of the fracture surface in such fibers, said texture is found to closely resemble the nanometric precipitate structure which is unique to this material.La microscopía óptica confocal (LSCM, Laser Scanning Confocal Microscopy) es una técnica microscópica basada en una construcción óptica que permite eliminar la luz procedente de zonas no enfocadas de la muestra. Mientras que es de amplio uso en Ciencias de la Vida, la aplicación de LSCM a la Ciencia de Materiales no ha sido apenas explorada, siendo prácticamente inexistentes los estudios fractográficos que se apoyen en LSCM. A pesar de ello, sus características (obtención de información tridimensional, resolución por debajo de la micra y sencilla preparación de muestras) la convierten en una herramienta idónea para una multitud de problemas fractográficos, debido a la obtención rápida de valiosa información y a su buena coordinación con la microscopía electrónica de barrido (SEM). En este trabajo, los autores estudian en detalle un sistema de interés (fibras cerámicas de circona dopada con un 5% molar de erbia, sometidas a ensayos de tracción a alta temperatura) mediante LSCM. Además de poner de relieve la utilidad de la técnica y de revelar la textura característica de la superficie de fractura de dichas fibras, se encuentra que dicha textura refleja la estructura nanométrica de precipitados propia del material.

Fractography is a very useful tool to learn about the mechanisms controlling the fracture process. In this work, the fractographical uses of laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM) are shown. LSCM is a widely used technique in Biology and similar disciplines, but its use in Materials Science is not yet as explored. However, it is an ideal technique for fractographical studies, since by using it the three-dimensional profile of the fracture surface can be obtained. From this profile, it is possible to extract information, like the roughness of the fracture surface, which would be very difficult to obtain from other studies. In this paper, LSCM is applied to the study of the fracture surface in ceramic fibers submitted to tensile stress, making the interest of the technique evident due to features such as easy sample preparation, gathering of real 3D information, and good SEM-LSCM synergy.La fractografía en materiales resulta de gran utilidad para la caracterización de los mecanismos que dominan la rotura. En el presente artículo se investigan las aplicaciones fractográficas de la microscopía óptica confocal o LSCM (Laser Scanning Confocal Microscopy). Dicha técnica es de amplio uso en Biología y disciplinas afines, pero su empleo en Ciencia de Materiales está poco explorado. Sin embargo, resulta ideal para el estudio fractográfico, ya que permite obtener reconstrucciones del perfil tridimensional de la superficie de fractura. De este perfil tridimensional puede extraerse información —la rugosidad de la superficie, por ejemplo— muy difícil de obtener a partir de otro tipo de estudios. En este trabajo se aplica LSCM a la caracterización de superficies de fractura en fibras cerámicas sometidas a tracción y se pone de manifiesto el interés de la técnica, debido a características tales como la preparación sencilla de muestras, la obtención de información tridimensional real y la buena coordinación SEM-LSCM.

This work provides psychometric data on the validity and reliability of the Spanish adaptation of the Pet Bereavement Questionnaire (PBQ), as well as information on the intensity of bereavement in the Spanish population. The study evaluated 333 Spanish participants of legal age (M = 31.5; SD = 11.6), mostly women (76.3%). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) tested the adequacy of three different structures present in literature, finding better fit indexes for a model that kept the original three-factor structure (grief, guilt, and anger) but rearranged 2 of the 16 items. Around 70% of participants reported signs of intense bereavement on the grief scale, with higher means among women. The results confirm adequate psychometric qualities of the PBQ, offering healthcare professionals a tool to evaluate bereavement intensity after the loss of a companion animal in Spanish samples.

The present study presents psychometric information on a new instrument, the Digital Intimate Partner Violence Questionnaire (DIPVQ), and explores the similitudes and differences between in-person and digital-based abuses (those that involve the use of information and communication technologies [ICTs]). In all, 449 Peruvian students took part in the study ( X = 21.2 years; SD = 4.3 years; 73% women). DIPVQ structure was determined by carrying out an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with polychoric correlation matrices and oblique rotation. In-person violence was assessed using the Dating Violence Questionnaire (DVQ) and self-labeling questions (e.g., feeling trapped, afraid, and abused). Relationship satisfaction was assessed using the Perceived Relationship Quality Components-Short Form (PRQC-SF). EFA showed a two-scale structure for the DIPVQ: control-centered cyberabuse ( N = 5; control, monitoring, and identity theft; EAP alpha = .96) and damage-centered cyberabuse ( N = 7; unwanted sexual contents, blackmailing, and causing debts throughout ICT; Expected-A-Posteriori alpha = .97). DIPVQ had direct relationship to DVQ and self-labeling ( p < .001; d = 0.38-1.18), and inverse to PRQC-SF ( p = .11; d = .22-.33). Behaviors such as impersonation and monitoring were reported by more than 20% of participants. Online and offline victimization coexist in 42% of cases, while 3.6% of aggressions happened exclusively via ICT. DIPVQ is a valid and reliable measure of digital victimization. The control-centered scale had a higher frequency, although the damage-centered scale had stronger relationship to feeling afraid and abused. While previous literature has classified online aggressions regarding their aesthetic appearance, it seems that their functional value (control vs. hurting) could provide a better framework for understanding these aggressions.

This study aimed to disentangle the structure, composition, and co-occurrence relationships of the banana (cv. Dwarf Cavendish) root endophytome comparing two phenological plant stages: mother plants and suckers. Moreover, a collection of culturable root endophytes (>1000) was also generated from Canary Islands. In vitro antagonism assays against Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense ( Foc ) races STR4 and TR4 enabled the identification and characterization of potential biocontrol agents (BCA). Eventually, three of them were selected and evaluated against Fusarium wilt of banana (FWB) together with the well-known BCA Pseudomonas simiae PICF7 under controlled conditions. Culturable and non-culturable (high-throughput sequencing) approaches provided concordant information and showed low microbial diversity within the banana root endosphere. Pseudomonas appeared as the dominant genus and seemed to play an important role in the banana root endophytic microbiome according to co-occurrence networks. Fungal communities were dominated by the genera Ophioceras, Cyphellophora, Plecosphaerella, and Fusarium . Overall, significant differences were found between mother plants and suckers, suggesting that the phenological stage determines the recruitment and organization of the endophytic microbiome. While selected native banana endophytes showed clear antagonism against Foc strains, their biocontrol performance against FWB did not improve the outcome observed for a non-indigenous reference BCA (strain PICF7).

The Dating Violence Questionnaire (DVQ) is a 42-item questionnaire that measures victimization in romantic relationships between young people, through eight interrelated scales assessing detachment, humiliation, coercion, emotional punishment, gender-based, sexual, physical, and instrumental violence. It has been validated in a myriad of countries and languages and is commonly used in Spanish-speaking countries; however, two scales (emotional punishment and instrumental violence) have shown reliability issues. The aim of present study is to analyze the psychometric proprieties of the adapted version of the DVQ for the Chilean population, reviewing evidence of structure validity, external validity, and reliability-using polychoric and ordinal analysis-and including new items to improve instrumental and emotional punishment scales (DVQ+). Eight hundred forty-six high school and university students (14-24 years old) participated in the study. Results showed that both DVQ and DVQ+ versions had an adequate fit with the original correlated eight-factor model (root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA] = .023; comparative fit index [CFI] = .97, in both cases), as well as with a more parsimonious second-order factor model (RMSEA = .024-.025; CFI = .97-.97, respectively). Reliability analysis also showed both version presented satisfactory values for internal consistency. Finally, scores of DVQ were correlated-as expected-negatively with quality of the relationship and positively with fear, perceived abuse, and attachment-related anxiety, thus providing new evidences of validity.

Many meta-analyses and systematic reviews have tried to assess the efficacy of animal-assisted interventions (AAIs), reaching inconsistent conclusions. The present work posits a critical exploration of the current literature, using some recent meta-analyses to exemplify the presence of unattended threats. The present comment illustrates that the field (1) comprehends inconsistencies regarding the terms and definitions of AAIs; (2) pays more attention to the characteristics of the animals than to the action mechanisms of AAIs; (3) does not provide a clear connection between anthrozoology (how humans and non-human animals interact in communities), benefits of the human-animal interaction (HAI), and the design of AAIs; and (4) implicitly reinforces these phenomena through research designs. Thus, some conclusions extracted from these meta-analyses need further discussion. Increasing the internal validity of AAIs in empirical studies is an urgent task, which can be addressed by (1) developing a better understanding of how anthrozoology, the HAI, and AAIs relate to each other; (2) highlighting the mechanisms that explain the results in an empirical and specific way; and (3) changing the design of interventions, adopting a component-centered approach, and focusing on the incremental efficacy and efficiency of AAI programs.

This study provides psychometric information for the Dating Violence Questionnaire (DVQ), an instrument developed to assess intimate partner victimization among adolescents and youths. This instrument, an English version of Cuestionario de Violencia de Novios, assesses both frequency and discomfort associated with 8 types of abuse (detachment, humiliation, sexual, coercion, physical, gender-based, emotional punishment, and instrumental). Participant included 859 U.S. students enrolled in undergraduate psychology courses in a mid-Atlantic university (M = 19 years; SD = 1.5 years). One-third of the participants were males, and two-thirds were females. Regarding racial identity, around 55% of participants identified themselves as White, 22% as African American, 12% as Asian, whereas 11% selected other identities. Around 9% of participants identified themselves as Hispanic. Confirmatory factor analysis shows that the DVQ achieved adequate goodness-of-fit indexes for the original eight-factor model (X(2)/df <5; root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA] <.080), as well as higher parsimony when compared to simpler alternative models. The 8 scales demonstrated acceptable internal consistency indexes (α >.700), surpassing those found in the original Spanish validation. Descriptive analysis suggests higher victimization experience on subtle aggressions (detachment, coercion, and emotional punishment), with overt abuses (physical, instrumental) obtaining the smallest means; these findings were similar across gender, race identity, and ethnicity. Results of this validation study encourage the inclusion of DVQ in both research and applied contexts.

Gender roles depend on the attitudes and beliefs about them, which at the same time facilitate the formation of stereotypes that will foster violence in interpersonal relationships in couples. The assessment tools used tend to represent the sexist attitude towards women, without taking into account that men can also be recipients of the same behavior from their partner. The objective of the study is to provide an improved scale for the assessment of gender role attitudes, based on the theoretical perspective of gender equality. The sample comprises 2,136 young Spanish men and women, students in Vocational Training (Spanish acronym FP) and at university in the age range 15-26 years old. The results show the existence of a single bipolar factor - transcendent attitudes vs. sexist attitudes - fulfilling psychometric fit indices, and providing the basis for modifying attitudes depending on the difficulty of the items for such modification. The implications for intervention are oriented based on the perspective of prevention and changing sexist gender attitudes.

Objective: To describe the intimate partner violence suffered by youth and to identify the descriptions that best classify it according to gender., Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among a sample of 3,087 adult Spanish students. The CUVINO questionnaire was used, which measures 8 forms of intimate partner violence and uses 3 descriptions to classify it (abuse, fear and entrapment). Logistic regressions were carried out to identify differences by gender and associations between the subtypes of intimate partner violence and descriptions of the violent experience., Results: Nearly half of the sample (44.6%) had some situation of unperceived violence, mainly of "detachment" (30.0%) and "coercion" (25.1%). All subtypes of intimate partner violence were more frequently perpetrated by women. The largest difference by gender was found in "emotional punishment" (experienced by 20.9% of men vs. 7.6% of women) and "physical violence" (6.6% vs. 2.3%). A total of 28.7% felt trapped, 11.8% felt fear and 6.3% felt mistreated. Men more frequently described themselves as trapped, but less often as afraid or abused. The subtype of intimate partner violence most associated with the feeling of entrapment was coercion in both men (OR=3.8) and women (OR=5.7)., Conclusions: Men and women face intimate partner violence while dating differently; resources are needed to address them specifically. The inclusion of routine questions about the sense of entrapment may contribute to the early detection of intimate partner violence. Subtle forms of violence, such as coercion, should be taken into account in awareness campaigns., (Copyright © 2014 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.)

Violence among relatives and emotionally linked people has recently made a huge social impact. Professionals have suggested diverse concepts to explain the issue, but they have not yet reached an agreement about these concepts. The present work focuses on the scientific yield associated with the keywords "Domestic Violence", perhaps the most commonly used to refer to violence in romantic couples. A series of related publications is analyzed and data about publication years, countries, languages, sample genders, age groups, most prolific journals and authors, and victim-abuser relationships is provided, along with a reflection upon the correctness of the usage of the keyword.

Fresh crop and garden residues were applied both under laboratory conditions and in commercial greenhouse in order to asses their effect on soil nematodes populations and soil fertility. In the laboratory experiments, dosages of 5 to 20 g of cabbage residues, chicken manure, cabbage residues+chicken manure, grass+chicken manure, as well as leaves and stems of orange tree, pine tree, oleander, olive tree, palm tree and boxwood were mixed with 500 g soil having root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne incognita) and soil moisture was adjusted at field capacity. A control treatment without residues was also included. The mixtures were kept into plastic bags, with four replications, and the bags were incubated for four weeks at 30 degrees C, when nematological and soil fertility analyses were carried out. In general, all these materials significantly (P < 0.05) reduced M. incognita populations and increased saprophagous nematodes, with slight effects on soil fertility except for the K increase with residues application. Tomato plants susceptible to M. incognita were planted in pots with 300 cm3 of the treated soils and kept for five weeks in a growth chamber (24 +/- 1 degrees C, 14 hours light), when root galling indices were evaluated. Most materials applied reduced root galling indices as regards to the control. In the greenhouse experiment, cabbage residues, cabbage residues+chicken manure, grass+chicken manure and grass+cabbage residues were applied to the soil and covered with a polyethylene sheet for 5 weeks. A cabbage residues:chicken manure treatment and a control (not-amended) treatment, without polyethylene, were also included. At the end of the experiment, the nematological analysis showed that all materials successfully controlled M. incognita populations, reaching 86-100% mortality with organic amendments vs. 6% for the control. After the greenhouse biodesinfestation experiment, a tomato crop was grown for one month, when root galling indices were determined. All materials significantly reduced this value from 4.75 in the control to 1.0-2.25 with the organic amendments, except for the cabbage residues+chicken manure treatment without polyethylene (index = 4.0). Our results show that fresh crop and garden residues successfully reduced M. incognita populations and root galling indices when applied with polyethylene covers, having good potential to be considered in integrated management programs.

Objectives: Several studies have suggested the existence of seasonal variation in the incidence of upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGB). However, the role of climatic factors has not been elucidated. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of these factors in the incidence of UGB secondary to esophageal varices (EV), gastric ulcer (GU), and duodenal ulcer (DU)., Material and Methods: Based on the use of the Minimum Data Set and the International Classification of Diseases, cases of endoscopically-confirmed UGB secondary to EV, GU and DU were retrospectively included (1998-2001). The incidence of UGB was correlated with daily climatic factors (temperature, atmospheric pressure, humidity, direction and speed of wind) in Jerez de la Frontera (Spain) during the study period., Results: A total of 499 patients were included (GU = 192, DU = 199, EV = 108). No significant differences were found in the monthly or seasonal incidence of UGB. Episodes of UGB were grouped according to the climatic conditions present on the day of admission. No significant relationship was found between UGB and any of the daily climatic factors studied., Discussion: The results of our study do not support the existence of a seasonal pattern in the incidence of UGB secondary to GU, DU or EV and allow us to conclude that, in our geographical area, these factors are not involved in episodes of bleeding.

Age-related changes in muscle mass (sarcopenia) and functional properties are the result of a very complex hierarchical system of basic cell aging processes and cell adaptive responses. A basic aging mechanism pertains to mitochondrial production of free radicals and their associated secondary effects. From this basic aging mechanism many other cellular changes can be explained as direct effects or compensatory changes. Altered skeletal muscle cell biochemical and functional properties during aging resulting from intrinsic mechanisms and from changes in hormonal or local signals that influence phenotype maintenance, are reviewed. The effect of skeletal muscle cell senescence on the cellular response to exercise, and the effect of dietary restriction on muscle cell senescence can also be explored from this perspective.