Bioactive compounds of the Mediterranean diet and prostate cancer

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this review is to examine the evidence on the effects of bioactive constituents of the Mediterranean diet (MeDi) on prostate cancer (PCa) risk.

Methods: The search for articles came from extensive research in the following databases: PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. We used the search terms “Mediterranean diet,” “lycopene,” “vitamin E,” “vitamin C,” “Selenium,” “resveratrol,” “prostate cancer,” and combinations, such as “lycopene and prostate cancer” or “resveratrol and prostate cancer.”

Results: Numerous studies investigating the effect of various dietary nutrients on PCa have suggested that selenium is probably the most promising. Several studies reported reduced PCa risk associated with vitamin C and E intake, while other studies reported no association. Lycopene inhibits cell proliferation and inducts apoptosis, thus protecting against cancer. Also, it has been found in various in vivo and in vitro studies that resveratrol, inhibits PCa development.

Conclusions: The high content of bioactive phytochemicals in the MeDi is of particular interest in the prevention of PCa. Further large-scale studies are required to clarify the effect of MeDi bioactive compounds on prostate health, in order to establish the role of this diet in the prevention of PCa.     

Does higher income equal higher levels of happiness in every society? The case of the Mayan people

Guardiola J, González‐Gómez F, García‐Rubio MA, Lendechy‐Grajales Á. Does higher income equal higher levels of happiness in every society? The case of the Mayan people This study analysed happiness and several domains of life of Mayan people in the poor rural areas of Yucatan, Mexico. Using a sample of 373 households, we examined the influence of income on happiness and its domains, obtaining results that lend support to the ‘paradox of happy peasants and miserable millionaires’. According to the results, income influences happiness among the Mayan people, as do material domains and health, but income does not influence the domains related to intangible feelings and public goods. A number of reasons, such as a lack of a means for comparison, close contact with nature, adaptation to deprivation, general material improvements compared with the past, low aspirations and a Mayan culture that is devoted to solidarity and enjoyment of social relationships, could explain why the sample population reported high levels of happiness. Although the Mayans' level of happiness is high, their situation nevertheless requires political attention.     

Different carrots and different sticks: do we reward and punish differently than we approve and disapprove?

This paper reports lab data from four games in order to analyze and compare the motivations behind monetary punishment and reward and their non-monetary counterparts, disapproval and approval, an important question given that both types of punishment/rewards affect cooperation and norm compliance. The results in our games support the hypothesis that a motivation akin to reciprocity plays the key role for approval and disapproval whereas payoff comparisons play the key role for monetary rewards and punishment.     

Resilience and Deviant Behavior Among Institutionalized Adolescents: The Relationship with Significant Adults

The transition to institutional care often implies the separation from a dysfunctional environment, marked by neglect, abandonment and lack of emotional responsiveness, which makes youth more vulnerable to the development of deviant behavior. The quality of the relationship established with significant figures within the institution as well as with teachers is suggested as a protective factor for the development of resilience and the detachment from deviant behaviour. The present study aims to test the predictive effect of the quality of relationship to institutional caregivers and teachers on the development of resilience and deviant behaviour in institutionalized adolescents. We also intend to test the mediating effect of resilience in the previous association. The sample was composed by 202 institutionalized adolescents, 12–18 aged (M = 14.96, SD = 1.80), and from both genders. Data were collected using self-report questionnaires. The results demonstrated that the quality of relationship with significant figures was positively associated with resilience and may play an important role in preventing deviant behaviour. There was also a total mediation effect of resilience on the association between quality of relationship with significant figures and development of deviant behaviour. The results suggest that the affective reorganization of institutionalized adolescents can be promoted by the establishment of safe havens, which reflect feelings of belonging and acceptance, facilitating a more adaptive experience.     

Applied ethics and allocation of foreign aid: disparity in pretensions and practice

We explore the applied ethics of development aid and humanitarian assistance, and juxtapose these with claimed objectives and factors that influence the choice of recipients. Despite some diversity among donors, ethical considerations appear not to be a prominent factor for allocation of aid. Although recipients’ need is not entirely ignored, donors’ self‐interest and herd behaviour, and recipients’ merits and voting in the United Nations, play crucial roles in allocation decisions. Likely to be shunned are complex emergencies and fragile states, the overlapping settings for action of development and humanitarian aid. Donors should take to heart and put into practice that allocation of aid is an ethical endeavour that should rest on proper needs assessment, established objectives and adopted agreements.     

Formerly Incarcerated Women Speak Out

This article presents the stories of formerly incarcerated women as they transition from prison back to their communities. The purpose of the article, based on feminist and visual ethnographic research methods, is to learn from the women themselves about the entities that support their efforts to rebuild their lives and stay out of prison as well as the barriers that impede such efforts. A major focus of this article is the women who mobilized on behalf the civil and human rights for all formerly incarcerated people and thus become their own advocates for change in policies and societal attitudes toward those with criminal records.     

Measuring employment deprivation in the EU using a household-level index

We propose an aggregate measure of employment deprivation among households that follows a methodological framework developed to measure wellbeing. This index verifies a set of reasonable axioms that other available measures do not: increases in three relevant employment deprivation elements-incidence, intensity and inequality. Incidence captures how many households in a population are touched by a lack of employment, while employment deprivation intensity reflects how far households are, on average, from being non-deprived of employment. Finally, employment deprivation inequality increases with the concentration of unemployment among few households. Based on this index, we analyze employment deprivation across the European Union using information from Labor Force Surveys during the current “Great Recession.” Our results provide evidence on the relevance of incorporating the household dimension to identify unemployment profiles, with a variety of implications, in terms of household wellbeing. Specifically, we show that countries with similar (intermediate) unemployment rates differ in their patterns of employment deprivation once the structure of employment across households is incorporated.     

Classification Algorithm for Skin Color (CASCo): A new tool to measure skin color in social science research

Objective

A growing body of literature reveals that skin color has significant effects on people's income, health, education, and employment. However, the ways in which skin color has been measured in empirical research have been criticized for being inaccurate, if not subjective and biased.

Objective

Introduce an objective, automatic, accessible and customizable Classification Algorithm for Skin Color (CASCo).

Methods

We review the methods traditionally used to measure skin color (verbal scales, visual aids or color palettes, photo elicitation, spectrometers and image-based algorithms), noting their shortcomings. We highlight the need for a different tool to measure skin color

Results

We present CASCo, a (social researcher-friendly) Python library that uses face detection, skin segmentation and k-means clustering algorithms to determine the skin tone category of portraits.

Conclusion

After assessing the merits and shortcomings of all the methods available, we argue CASCo is well equipped to overcome most challenges and objections posed against its alternatives. While acknowledging its limitations, we contend that CASCo should complement researchers. toolkit in this area.     

Topologies for semicontinuous Richter–Peleg multi-utilities

Theory and Decision - The present paper gives a topological solution to representability problems related to multi-utility, in the field of Decision Theory. Necessary and sufficient topologies for...