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Honey color and other physicochemical characteristics depend mainly on the botanical and geographical origin. The study of these properties could make easier a correct classification of unifloral honey. This work determined the palynological characteristics and some physicochemical properties such as pH, electrical conductivity, and color (Pfund scale and the CIELa*b* coordinates), as well as the total content of the bioactive compounds phenols and flavonoids of ninety-three honey samples. Samples were classified as chestnut, blackberry, heather, eucalyptus, and honeydew honey. The study showed a close relationship between the physicochemical variables and the botanical origin. The five types of honey presented different physicochemical properties among them. A principal component analysis showed that Hue, lightness, b*, and Chroma variables were important for the honey types classification, followed by Erica pollen, pH, Cytisus, and Castanea variables. A forward stepwise regression analysis was performed introducing as dependent variables the color (mm Pfund) and the Chroma and the Hue variables. The regression models obtained explained 86%, 74%, and 86% of the variance of the data, respectively. The combination of the chromatic and physicochemical and pollen variables through the use of multivariable methods was optimal to characterize and group the honey samples studied.

Bee pollen is considered a natural product, relevant for its nutritional and antioxidant properties. Its composition varies widely depending on its botanical and geographical origins. In this study, the botanical characteristics of 31 bee pollen samples from Galicia (Northwest Spain) were analyzed; samples have not been studied until now from this geographical area. The study focused on the evaluation of the influence of plant origin on total phenol and flavonoid contents and antioxidant activity measured by radical scavenging methods. The multivariate statistical treatment showed the contribution of certain pollen types in the extract of bee pollen as to phenols, flavonoids and antioxidant capacity. Specifically, the bee pollen samples with higher presence of Castanea, Erica, Lythrum and Campanula type indicated higher total phenol and flavonoid contents and antioxidant activities according to the principal component analysis. On the contrary, Plantago and Taraxacum officinale type contributed a lower content of these compounds and radical scavenging activity. The cluster analysis classified the bee pollen samples into three groups with significant differences (p > 0.05) for the main pollen types, total phenol and flavonoid contents and antioxidant capacities. These results demonstrate the richness and botanical diversity in the pollen spectrum of bee pollen and enhance the possible beneficial nutraceutical properties of this beekeeping product.

Bee pollen is a rich bee product, from the point of view of its nutritional and functional chemical characteristics. The chemical composition of bee pollen and its properties make this product an excellent food supplement for the human diet, due to its various functional bioactivities, such as having antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungal, and anti-inflammatory properties. These properties depend on the botanical origin of the bee pollen. Castanea sativa bee pollen is one of the most important types of pollen collected in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Thus, the phenolic profile of Castanea bee pollen was featured in this study. For this, 11 samples of Castanea were selected through prior colorimetric separation using the CIELab* scale and verified with palynological analysis. Identification of the main phenol compounds was performed through LC/DAD/ESI-MSn analysis. The phenols compounds were quantified using calibration curves for caffeic acid, quercetin, and naringenin. The main results showed a profile formed of 19 compounds for all samples, although quantitative differences were found. Most of these compounds were phenolamides, with N1, N5, and N10-tricaffeoylspermidine being significantly (p < 0.05) the most abundant. Three isorhamnetin glycoside derivatives and one naringenin were also identified. The richness in phenolamides of Castanea bee pollen identified in this study suggests Castanea bee pollen as a functional food, owing to its healthy properties.

How did human symbolic behavior evolve? Dating up to about 100,000 y ago, the engraved ochre and ostrich eggshell fragments from the South African Blombos Cave and Diepkloof Rock Shelter provide a unique window into presumed early symbolic traditions of Homo sapiens and how they evolved over a period of more than 30,000 y. Using the engravings as stimuli, we report five experiments which suggest that the engravings evolved adaptively, becoming better-suited for human perception and cognition. More specifically, they became more salient, memorable, reproducible, and expressive of style and human intent. However, they did not become more discriminable over time between or within the two archeological sites. Our observations provide support for an account of the Blombos and Diepkloof engravings as decorations and as socially transmitted cultural traditions. By contrast, there was no clear indication that they served as denotational symbolic signs. Our findings have broad implications for our understanding of early symbolic communication and cognition in H. sapiens.

Bee pollen is a rich bee product, from the point of view of its nutritional and functional chemical characteristics. The chemical composition of bee pollen and its properties make this product an excellent food supplement for the human diet, due to its various functional bioactivities, such as having antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungal, and anti-inflammatory properties. These properties depend on the botanical origin of the bee pollen. Castanea sativa bee pollen is one of the most important types of pollen collected in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Thus, the phenolic profile of Castanea bee pollen was featured in this study. For this, 11 samples of Castanea were selected through prior colorimetric separation using the CIELab* scale and verified with palynological analysis. Identification of the main phenol compounds was performed through LC/DAD/ESI-MS[sup.n] analysis. The phenols compounds were quantified using calibration curves for caffeic acid, quercetin, and naringenin. The main results showed a profile formed of 19 compounds for all samples, although quantitative differences were found. Most of these compounds were phenolamides, with N[sup.1] , N[sup.5] , and N[sup.10] -tricaffeoylspermidine being significantly (p < 0.05) the most abundant. Three isorhamnetin glycoside derivatives and one naringenin were also identified. The richness in phenolamides of Castanea bee pollen identified in this study suggests Castanea bee pollen as a functional food, owing to its healthy properties.

El objetivo de esta investigación es buscar y analizar las causas que han mantenido la discriminación racial dentro de Cuba después de 1959. En mi investigación pretendo examinar cómo la Revolución Cubana no eliminó la continuidad histórica de discriminación racial heredada del pasado. En mi análisis quiero verificar cómo el estereotipo y la imagen política del afrocubano que ha sido formada tras los cambios sociales ocurridos después del 1959, no es más que el resultado de una falacia política montada en nombre de la igualdad. Muchas de las políticas adoptadas por el estado se hicieron en pos de eliminar la mayoría de los vestigios y rasgos de la discriminación, pero la principal estrategia radicó en manipular la memoria histórica de los afrocubanos haciendo alusión al periodo esclavista para crear un compromiso partidista. En realidad, se camufló el verdadero objetivo de estas políticas. Si bien se borraron las leyes discriminatorias del sistema jurídico, no ocurrió de la misma manera del pensamiento de los individuos ya que muchas políticas adoptadas a través de los años, contribuyeron a su persistencia. Otro aspecto importante es hacer referencia a la emigración de la población blanca y el impacto económico de este proceso en la constitución racial de la población de la isla. La diferencia de los niveles de vida entre blancos y afrocubanos después de casi sesenta años arroja índices de desigualdad y ratifica que la discriminación se ha identificado bajo las nuevas demandas políticas. Paralelamente, la lucha por la igualdad racial en la revolución se convirtió en agenda alternativa al sistema segregacionista que caracterizaba a los Estados Unidos a finales en la década de los cincuenta, pero aunque esta competencia le trajo cambios positivos a los afrocubanos, al tomar un nuevo tipo de identidad, hizo diferencias. La nueva sociedad cubana ofrecía oportunidades a cambio de lealtad. En la actualidad, los cubanos de cualquier raza son caracterizados por su fidelidad para el gobierno, el color de la raza cubana es por afiliación política y no por la pigmentación de la piel. En mi tesis quiero demostrar que el mito existente detrás del igualitarismo no es más que una primitiva propaganda que perdura desde la época de la era de la Guerra Fría. Citando a autores como Fernando Ortiz, Manuel Moreno Fraginals, Carlos Mesa-Lago, Mark Sawyer, entre otros, analizaré los diferentes espacios sociales de los afrocubanos para demostrar que ellos siguen siendo el sector más quebrantado de la sociedad. El lector encontrará libros muy fundamentales en cuanto a la raza cubana, pero también encontrará citas de periódicos, páginas de la internet, y otros medios, que ayudan a incorporar un pensamiento inmediato y actual que se mueve en los medios de comunicación que demuestre que el racismo solo se puede combatir dentro de una sociedad civil en discusión y no por decretos, haciéndolo un asunto social, no cultural ni político.

The European Union considers that the best way to boost the social and economic growth is to encourage entrepreneurial initiatives but, unfortunately, there are still very few Europeans setting up their own business. Therefore, the aim of this study is to relate the interest of Europeans citizens on being self-employed with the perceived risks and barriers to be faced up in this entrepreneurial process. The analysis covers the entire European Union, working on an exploratory base mainly due to the lack of past data about the ten new European Union Members States. The results show the great differences between the Member States and ask for a deep insight explaining the obtained dimensions. From a practical point of view, it is proposed that entrepreneurship promotion policies should be performed at the national and regional level. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

Así nos ha pasado con la capacidad de asombro de nuestra infancia, que en el común de los mortales se nos extravió por el camino y que, sin embargo, se mantiene viva en la adolescencia y madurez de vates y poetas y, en general, en los creadores. Este desaparecer del uno en el otro aporta el tercer momento del enlace dialéctico: el devenir, que es la unidad del ser puro y de la nada pura; sin embargo, tomando en consideración que ninguna unidad permanece ya que es un momento en un proceso, la unidad relativa del devenir también se divide. En el plano de la doctrina del Ser, en que nos estamos moviendo hasta ahora, es importante hacer notar el rol dialéctico que juega la nada, en cuanto negatividad, es decir, contradicción en tensión; diríamos, nada grávida, que pone en movimiento el desarrollo dialéctico, ya que ocupa el centro, entre las determinaciones positivas de tesis y síntesis. Esto quiere decir que la verdad de la sociedad del tiempo presente se encontrará en la del futuro, porque toda sociedad existida hasta hoy produce los elementos de las sociedades sucesivas: el presente está grávido de futuro, del cual la conciencia social va dándose cuenta a través de síntomas esporádicos: el hastío y la frivolidad hacen su aparición junto con el desencanto que, sin embargo, preanuncian el presentimiento de algo desconocido, que atrae con la fuerza del imán.

Exercise has been scarcely studied in patients with cirrhosis, and prior evidence showed hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG) to be increased in response to exercise. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a supervised physical exercise program (PEP) in patients with cirrhosis. In an open-label, pilot clinical trial, patients with cirrhosis were randomized to PEP (cycloergometry/kinesiotherapy plus nutritional therapy, n=14) or control (nutritional therapy, n=15); for 14 weeks. Primary outcomes were: the effect of PEP in HVPG, and quality of life (chronic liver disease questionnaire, CLDQ). As secondary outcomes we investigated changes in physical fitness (cardiopulmonary exercise testing), nutritional status (phase angle-bioelectrical impedance), ammonia levels, and safety. Twenty-two patients completed the study (11 each). HVPG decreased in subjects allocated to PEP (-2.5 mm Hg (interquartile range: -5.25 to 2); P=0.05), and increased in controls (4 mm Hg (0-5); P=0.039), with a significant between-groups difference (P=0.009). No major changes were noted in CLDQ in both groups. There was significant improvement in ventilatory efficiency (VE/VCO2) in PEP group (-1.9 (-3.12 to -0.1); P=0.033), but not in controls (-0.4 (-5.7 to 1.4); P=0.467). Phase angle improvement and a less-pronounced exercise-induced hyperammonemia were noted only in PEP group. No episodes of variceal bleeding or hepatic encephalopathy were observed. A supervised PEP in patients with cirrhosis decreases the HVPG and improves nutritional status with no changes in quality of life. Further studies evaluating physical training in cirrhosis are eagerly awaited in order to better define the benefits of sustained exercise. ClinicalTrials.gov:NCT00517738.