Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) is an exotic pest of economic importance that affects several soft-skinned fruits in Mexico. Previously, we found that yellow or yellow-green rectangular cards inside a transparent trap baited with attractants improved D. suzukii capture. In this study, we evaluated the influence of rectangular cards with different yellow shades inside a transparent multi-hole trap baited with apple cider vinegar (ACV) on D. suzukii capture in the field. Second, we tested whether ACV-baited traps with cards of other geometric shapes affected D. suzukii catches compared to traps with rectangular cards. Third, we evaluated the effects of commercial lures combined with a more efficient visual stimulus from previous experiments on trapping D. suzukii flies. We found that ACV-baited traps plus a yellow-shaded rectangle card with 67% reflectance at a 549.74 nm dominant wavelength captured more flies than ACV-baited traps with yellow rectangle cards with a higher reflectance. Overall, ACV-baited traps with rectangles and squares caught more flies than did ACV-baited traps without visual stimuli. The traps baited with SuzukiiLURE-Max, ACV and Z-Kinol plus yellow rectangles caught 57, 70 and 101% more flies, respectively, than the traps baited with the lure but without a visual stimulus.

This study looks at human capital in Spain during the early stages of modern economic growth. We have assembled a new dataset for age-heaping and literacy in Spain with information about men and women from six population censuses and forty-nine provinces between 1877 and 1930. Our results show that, although age-heaping was less prevalent during the second half of the 19th century than previously thought, it did not decline until the early 20th century. Given that literacy increased throughout the whole period, our study thus unveils stark differences between age-heaping and literacy, which raises further questions regarding sources, methods and interpretation.

Halloysite is a 1:1 dioctahedral clay mineral that has been studied widely for applications in nanotechnology and as a mineral exploration guide for recognizing regolith-hosted heavy rare earth element (HREE) deposits. In Brazil, pegmatites from the state of Rio de Janeiro have been catalogued, but their potential to host halloysite deposits has never been studied. After a mineral exploration programme, one pegmatite with considerable halloysite contents and economic potential was discovered. This study reports the mineralogical and chemical characterization of the halloysite of this pegmatite and evaluates the possibility of clay-adsorbed HREE deposits, like that in the Zudong (China) regolith-hosted HREE deposit. Seven samples were collected in horizontal channels. Bulk samples and clay fractions (<2 μm) were analysed by quantitative mineral analysis (X-ray diffraction/Rietveld method), chemical analysis (major elements by X-ray fluorescence and Y, U, Th and rare earth elements by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry), scanning electron microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, particle-size analysis, nitrogen physisorption and cation-exchange capacity. Mixed polygonal/cylindrical halloysite-7Å in concentrations between 6.3 and 35.4 wt.% in bulk samples and between 58.0 and 89.8 wt.% in the clay fractions were identified in the pegmatite. The clay fractions presented an average chemical composition of 45.46 wt.% SiO2, 36.10 wt.% Al2O3, 14.62 wt.% loss on ignition and 1.04 wt.% Fe2O3, as well as technological properties close to those observed in world-class halloysite deposits such as Dragon Mine (USA) and Matauri Bay (New Zealand). The clay minerals did not present significant HREE contents.

This article measures inequality at the provincial level in Spain for different benchmark years between 1860 and 1930. It then empirically assesses the relationship between economic growth and inequality. The results confirm that, although growing incomes did not directly contribute to reducing inequality, at least during the early stages of modern economic growth, other processes associated with economic growth such as the rural exodus to urban and industrial centers, the demographic transition, and the spread of literacy, among others, notably improved the situation of the bottom part of the population.

Astronomy education is an efficient means of attracting more people to study science and not just astronomy. The diversity in the majors of the students allows us to expand the knowledge of astronomy to all fields. In this paper, we present our non-traditional method of using real data and observations for our College and University classes, it allows students to learn about the applications and how to use them to study the stars.

We prove that if $M$ is a $\text{JBW}^{\ast }$-triple and not a Cartan factor of rank two, then $M$ satisfies the Mazur–Ulam property, that is, every surjective isometry from the unit sphere of $M$ onto the unit sphere of another real Banach space $Y$ extends to a surjective real linear isometry from $M$ onto $Y$.

The catalyst ZeoSonFe(M1), mixed with hydrogen peroxide and UV light, presented the highest degradation percent within 120 minutes of treatment respect to ZeoSonFe(M2), ZeoSonFe(M3) and ZeoSonFe(M4) which accounted for 72.92, 84.27, and 72.30 %, respectively. The spectrum of UV-Vis degradation showed that the absorption main bands of IC (612 and 286 nm) decrease due to the rupture of C=C bond that belong to the chromophorous group IC. The catalyst ZeoSonFe(M1) was characterized with infrared (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and pore diameter analysis with the BET method. To describe the kinetics of the oxidative reaction the pseudo first order model was applied.

This study analyses the extent to which cheating occurs in a real selection setting. A two-stage, unproctored and proctored, test administration was considered. Test score inconsistencies were concluded by applying a verification test (Guo and Drasgow Z-test). An initial simulation study showed that the Z-test has adequate Type I error and power rates in the specific selection settings explored. A second study applied the Z-test statistic verification procedure to a sample of 954 employment candidates. Additional external evidence based on item time response to the verification items was gathered. The results revealed a good performance of the Z-test statistic and a relatively low, but non-negligible, number of suspected cheaters that showed higher distorted ability estimates. The study with real data provided additional information on the presence of suspected cheating in unproctored applications and the viability of using item response times as an additional evidence of cheating. In the verification test, suspected cheaters spent 5.78 seconds per item more than expected considering the item difficulty and their assumed ability in the unproctored stage. We found that the percentage of suspected cheaters in the empirical study could be estimated at 13.84%. In summary, the study provides evidence of the usefulness of the Z-test in the detection of cheating in a specific setting, in which a computerized adaptive test for assessing English grammar knowledge was used for personnel selection.

The increasingly frequent involvement of companies’ line managers in human resource (HR) activities leads us to investigate the strategic value that these managers grant HR. This research focusses on the line managers’ perception of the strategic importance of HR, versus the perception of HR managers themselves, as a relevant factor in line managers’ own involvement within the execution of HR-related tasks. If line managers do not perceive the relevance and strategic importance of HR and its key role in the company’s strategy and performance, it is difficult to guarantee the managers’ commitment and effectiveness in HR management implementation. Based on interviews with HR development and line managers in 100 Spanish firms, we verified discrepancies in HR versus line managers’ perceptions, confirming that the assessment given by the line managers is slightly lower and, in turn, providing us with references to draw useful conclusions for a successful implementation of HR practices.

Using district population in Spain between 1860 and 1991, recorded approximately every decade, this article examines whether initial population affects subsequent population growth. While such a relationship between these two variables hardly existed during the second half of the nineteenth century, this link increased significantly between 1910 and 1970, although this trend was abruptly interrupted by the Civil War and the autarkic period that followed. The intensity of this relationship decreased in the 1970s, a process that continued during the 1980s. Our findings also stress that agglomeration economies were stronger in medium-size districts, especially from 1960 onwards.

When assessing the timing of branching events in a phylogeny, the most important tools currently recognized are a reliable molecular phylogeny and a continuous, relatively complete fossil record. Coralline algae (Rhodophyta, Corallinales, and Sporolithales) constitute an ideal group for this endeavor because of their excellent fossil record and their consistent phylogenetic reconstructions. We present the evolutionary history of the corallines following a novel, combined approach using their fossil record, molecular phylogeny (based on the 18S rDNA gene sequences of 39 coralline species), and molecular clocks. The order of appearance of the major monophyletic taxa of corallines in the fossil record perfectly matches the sequence of branching events in the phylogeny. We were able to demonstrate the robustness of the node ages in the phylogeny based on molecular clocks by performing an analysis of confidence intervals and maximum temporal ranges of three monophyletic groups of corallines (the families Sporolithaceae and Hapalidiaceae, as well as the subfamily Lithophylloideae). The results demonstrate that their first occurrences are close to their observed appearances, a clear indicator of a very complete stratigraphic record. These chronological data are used to confidently constrain the ages of the remaining branching events in the phylogeny using molecular clocks.

Test security can be a major problem in computerized adaptive testing, as examinees can share information about the items they receive. Of the different item selection rules proposed to alleviate this risk, stratified methods are among those that have received most attention. In these methods, only low discriminative items can be presented at the beginning of the test and the mean information of the items increases as the test goes on. To do so, the item bank must be divided into several strata according to the information of the items. To date, there is no clear guidance about the optimal number of strata into which the item bank should be split. In this study, we will simulate conditions with different numbers of strata, from 1 (no stratification) to a number of strata equal to test length (maximum level of stratification) while manipulating the maximum exposure rate that no item should surpass (r max ) in its whole domain. In this way, we can plot the relation between test security and accuracy, making it possible to determine the number of strata that leads to better security while holding constant measurement accuracy. Our data indicates that the best option is to stratify into as many strata as possible.

If examinees were to know, beforehand, part of the content of a computerized adaptive test, their estimated trait levels would then have a marked positive bias. One of the strategies to avoid this consists of dividing a large item bank into several sub-banks and rotating the sub-bank employed (Ariel, Veldkamp & van der Linden, 2004). This strategy permits substantial improvements in exposure control at little cost to measurement accuracy. However, we do not know whether this option provides better results than using the master bank with greater restriction in the maximum exposure rates (Sympson & Hetter, 1985). In order to investigate this issue, we worked with several simulated banks of 2100 items, comparing them, for RMSE and overlap rate, with the same banks divided in two, three… up to seven sub-banks. By means of extensive manipulation of the maximum exposure rate in each bank, we found that the option of rotating banks slightly outperformed the option of restricting maximum exposure rate of the master bank by means of the Sympson-Hetter method.

 Introduction. Pithecellobiumdulce is a legume native to tropical America that producesedible arils which can be white or red. The plant is also grownin Asia and, to date, predominantly fruits produced in Asia havebeen the subject of scientific studies. We studied white and redarils produced in America. Materials and methods. Whitearil and red aril fruits were evaluated in an array of reagent-basedassays to determine nutritional and nutraceutical properties. Resultsand discussion. White arils and red arils showed similarphysicochemical characteristics, with high content of vitamin C(79.7–82.6 mg·100 g–1 fresh weight) and dietary fiber (5.83–6.12%fw). The anthocyanin content of red arils (29.5 mg·100 g–1 fw, ascyanidin-3-glucoside equivalents) was similar to that of strawberry.Total phenolics (517 mg·100 g–1 fw, as gallic acid equivalents)and antioxidant activities (ABTS, 224 mg; DPPH, 223 mg, as vitaminC equivalents) of red arils were 1.3 times higher than those inwhite arils. The methanolic extract of red arils showed a higherα-glucosidase inhibition (IC50 2.9 mg·mL–1) than acarbose (IC50 4.9 mg·mL–1).The methanolic extract [(50, 100 and 500) μg per tube] of red and whitearils showed positive-strong antimutagenic activities (inhibitionin the range 25–70%) in the assay (Salmonella typhimurium YG1024strain, 1-nitropyrene as mutagen, 200 ng per tube). We are reportingfor the first time remarkably high characteristics (i.e., antioxidant,inhibition of α-amylase and α-glucosidase and content of dietaryfiber) of P. dulce fruits, mainly of the red ones;properties which combined permit us to suggest that consumptionof these fruits could have beneficial health effects in people withdiabetes.

In this paper we are concerned with a class of p(x)-Kirchhoff equation where the non-linearity has non-standard growth and contains a bi-non-local term. We prove, by using variational methods (Mountain Pass Theorem and Ekeland Variational Principle), several results on the existence of positive solutions.

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which the Spanish POMS assesses the same factors as the original form of the questionnaire. We started from a version with 63 items, representing seven conceptual dimensions. This version was administered to a sample of 364 adult athletes. In the whole sample, exploratory factor analytic findings suggested a more parsimonious measurement model, with 44 items and 6 first-order factors. Then the data from said sample were randomly divided into two sets, each containing about 50% of the subjects. The fit of the first sample set (n = 166) to the proposed model was adequate. Four of the main goodness-of-fit indices exhibited the following values: CFI = .95, NNFI = .95, SRMR = .083, and RMSEA = .064. We tested the same model in the second data set (n = 198), in which the fit was also acceptable, with values of .95, .94, .088, and .066 for CFI, NNFI, SRMR, and RMSEA, respectively. In addition, we used multi-group confirmatory factor analysis to provide evidence on the invariance of the model.

This paper describes several simulation studies that examine the effects of capitalization on chance in the selection of items and the ability estimation in CAT, employing the 3-parameter logistic model. In order to generate different estimation errors for the item parameters, the calibration sample size was manipulated (N = 500, 1000 and 2000 subjects) as was the ratio of item bank size to test length (banks of 197 and 788 items, test lengths of 20 and 40 items), both in a CAT and in a random test. Results show that capitalization on chance is particularly serious in CAT, as revealed by the large positive bias found in the small sample calibration conditions. For broad ranges of θ, the overestimation of the precision (asymptotic Se) reaches levels of 40%, something that does not occur with the RMSE (θ). The problem is greater as the item bank size to test length ratio increases. Potential solutions were tested in a second study, where two exposure control methods were incorporated into the item selection algorithm. Some alternative solutions are discussed.