Structural asymmetry in biotic interactions as a tool to understand and predict ecological persistence.

A universal feature of ecological systems is that species do not interact with others with the same sign and strength. Yet, the consequences of this asymmetry in biotic interactions for the short- and long-term persistence of individual species and entire communities remains unclear. Here, we develop a set of metrics to evaluate how asymmetric interactions among species translate to asymmetries in their individual vulnerability to extinction under changing environmental conditions. These metrics, which solve previous limitations of how to independently quantify the size from the shape of the so-called feasibility domain, provide rigorous advances to understand simultaneously why some species and communities present more opportunities to persist than others. We further demonstrate that our shape-related metrics are useful to predict short-term changes in species' relative abundances during 7 years in a Mediterranean grassland. Our approach is designed to be applied to any ecological system regardless of the number of species and type of interactions. With it, we show that is possible to obtain both mechanistic and predictive information on ecological persistence for individual species and entire communities, paving the way for a stronger integration of theoretical and empirical research.

COGNITIVE AND STRUCTURAL CHARACTERISTICS OF LATIN TERMS FOR INFECTIOUS AND INVASIVE DISEASES WITH A ZOOMORPHIC COMPONENT.

OBJECTIVE: The aim was to analyze the morphological, structural and lexico-semantic presentation of the Latin terms denoting the infectious and parasitic diseases, part of which is a zoonymic component. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Materials and methods: The presentation sample was made by the method of continuous sampling based on textbooks, manuals, including the three-volume edition "Infectious and parasitic diseases", and a number of modern dictionaries. Structural, semantic and descriptive methods were used to address the aim of the research. RESULTS: Results: Monolexemic composites with a zoomorphic component are formed in a suffixal way. In multi-word phrases, syntactic constructions of mixed type, are usually used and they are characterized by the combination of words of Greek and Latin origin, but these formations are few. The eponymous and toponymic formations to denote specific nosological forms in helminthology are not typical. The data on the first contribution of a researcher to the description of the disease in the name of the term is not displayed, preference is still given to the name of the pathogen, rather than the name of the researcher. The prefix-suffix-based method of formation of terms denoting infectious and parasitic diseases with a zoonymic component is observed sporadically. CONCLUSION: Conclusions: The comparison of the above-analyzed terms with the corresponding terminological units of the English medical terminology indicates the predominant use of Latin terminological units. In contrast to many clinical terms with a zoomorphic component, where certain associative moments are taken into account.

Browsing Multiple Subjects When the Atlas Adaptation Cannot Be Achieved via a Warping Strategy.

Brain mapping studies often need to identify brain structures or functional circuits into a set of individual brains. To this end, multiple atlases have been published to represent such structures based on different modalities, subject sets, and techniques. The mainstream approach to exploit these atlases consists in spatially deforming each individual data onto a given atlas using dense deformation fields, which supposes the existence of a continuous mapping between atlases and individuals. However, this continuity is not always verified, and this "iconic" approach has limits. We present in this study an alternative, complementary, "structural" approach, which consists in extracting structures from the individual data, and comparing them without deformation. A "structural atlas" is thus a collection of annotated individual data with a common structure nomenclature. It may be used to characterize structure shape variability across individuals or species, or to train machine learning systems. This study exhibits Anatomist, a powerful structural 3D visualization software dedicated to building, exploring, and editing structural atlases involving a large number of subjects. It has been developed primarily to decipher the cortical folding variability; cortical sulci vary enormously in both size and shape, and some may be missing or have various topologies, which makes iconic approaches inefficient to study them. We, therefore, had to build structural atlases for cortical sulci, and use them to train sulci identification algorithms. Anatomist can display multiple subject data in multiple views, supports all kinds of neuroimaging data, including compound structural object graphs, handles arbitrary coordinate transformation chains between data, and has multiple display features. It is designed as a programming library in both C++ and Python languages, and may be extended or used to build dedicated custom applications. Its generic design makes all the display and structural aspects used to explore the variability of the cortical folding pattern work in other applications, for instance, to browse axonal fiber bundles, deep nuclei, functional activations, or other kinds of cortical parcellations. Multimodal, multi-individual, or inter-species display is supported, and adaptations to large scale screen walls have been developed. These very original features make it a unique viewer for structural atlas browsing.

A Polêmica do Aborto: Reflexões Teórico-Metodológicas sobre uma Representação não Autônoma / The Controversy of Abortion: Theoretical-Methodological Reflections on a non-Autonomous Representation / La Controversia del Aborto: Reflexiones Teórico-Metodológicas sobre una Representación no Autónoma

Este artigo propõe uma reflexão teórico-metodológica sobre representações sociais não autônomas e polêmicas, a partir da análise estrutural sobre a representação social de aborto. Participaram da pesquisa 171 estudantes dos cursos de medicina, direito e enfermagem. Foi aplicado um questionário associação livre de palavras (TALP), com o termo indutor: aborto. Foi realizada uma triangulação metodológica, através das análises: prototípica, de similitude e de correspondências múltiplas (ACM). A estrutura representacional dos elementos mais salientes indicou consistentes polarizações de sentidos, levantando um questionamento sobre a existência de um núcleo central que exerça a função de locus de referência dessa representação social. A análise de similitude apontou dois núcleos de sentidos, a partir dos elementos morte e mulher. A ACM também destacou a polêmica presente nessa representação social, a partir dos dissensos intragrupo identificados. Esses resultados permitiram considerar que a representação social de aborto, aqui investigada caracteriza-se como uma representação não autônoma e polêmica. (AU)

This paper aims to provide a theorical-methodological reflection on non-autonomous and controversial social representations, based on the structural analysis of the social representation of abortion. 171 students from medicine, law and nursing courses participated in the study. A free association of words (FAW) questionnaire was applied with the inducer term: abortion. Three types of analyses were conducted (prototypical, similarity and multiple correspondences-MCA) using a methodological triangulation. The results indicated consistent polarizations of meanings within the elements of the representational structure, which raises questions about the existence of a central nucleus that acts as a reference locus of the social representation of abortion. The similarity analysis presented two semantic universes, exemplified by the elements of death and woman. Also, the AMC evidenced the controversial aspect of the social representation of abortion, demonstrating disagreements within the analyzed groups. To conclude, the results indicate that the social representation of abortion is described as a non-autonomous and controversial representation. (AU)

Este artículo propone una reflexión teórico-metodológica sobre representaciones sociales no autónomas y controvertidas, basada en el análisis estructural de la representación social del aborto. 171 estudiantes de los cursos de medicina, derecho y enfermería participaron en el estudio. Se aplicó un cuestionario de asociación libre de palabras, con el término inductor: aborto. Se realizó una triangulación metodológica a través de los siguientes análisis: prototípicos, de similitud y de correspondencias múltiples (MCA). La estructura de las represencaciones de los elementos más destacados indicaba polarizaciones consistentes de significados, lo que plantea una pregunta sobre la existencia de un núcleo central que ejerce el lugar de referencia de esta representación social. El análisis de similitud apuntaba a dos núcleos de significados, a partir de los elementos muerte y mujer. La ACM también destacó la controversia presente en esta representación social, basada en los desacuerdos intragrupo identificados. Estos resultados nos permitieron considerar que la representación social del aborto, aquí investigada, se caracteriza como una representación no autónoma y controvertida. (AU)

Social representations regarding firearms / Representações sociais sobre armas de fogo / Representaciones sociales acerca de las armas de fuego

Discussions about firearms have become usual in the Brazilian context, implying a wide range of arguments and positions among individuals. In view of this wide array of opinions and the concrete episodes involving firearms, the present study aimed to analyze firearms' social representations. The sample consisted of 100 participants, ranging from 19 to 66 years old (M = 34.31; SD = 12.12). Participants responded to a word evocation questionnaire, an open-ended question on firearm carrying permit, and reported demographic data. The openEvoc and Iramuteq software were used for data analysis. At their core, social representations concerning firearms were characterized by the perception of death, succeeded by the following elements: violence, security, danger, defense, and protection, simultaneously encompassing an ambiguity between risk and protection.

A discussão sobre armas de fogo tem se tornado usual no contexto brasileiro, acarretando uma variabilidade de argumentos e posicionamentos entre as pessoas. Tendo em vista essa multiplicidade de opiniões e os episódios concretos envolvendo arma de fogo, o presente trabalho teve como objetivo analisar as representações sociais sobre armas de fogo. Para isso, a amostra foi composta por 100 participantes, com idades variando entre 19 e 66 anos (M = 34,31; DP = 12,12). Os participantes responderam a um questionário de evocações de palavras, uma questão aberta sobre o porte de armas e informaram dados demográficos. Para a análise dos dados, foram utilizados os programas openEvoc e Iramuteq. Verificou-se que as representações sociais sobre armas de fogo foram caracterizadas em sua centralidade pela percepção da morte, seguida dos elementos: violência, segurança, perigo, defesa e proteção, abrangendo, concomitantemente, uma ambiguidade de risco e proteção.

La discusión acerca de las armas de fuego se ha vuelto habitual en Brasil, trayendo en consecuencia una variabilidad de argumentos y posicionamientos entre las personas. Teniendo en vista esta multiplicidad de opiniones y los episodios concretos envolviendo armas de fuego, el presente trabajo tuvo como objetivo analizar las representaciones sociales acerca de las armas de fuego. La muestra fue compuesta por 100 participantes, con edades que varían entre 19 y 66 años (M = 34,31; DP = 12,12). Los participantes han respondido un cuestionario de evocaciones de palabras, una pregunta abierta acerca del porte de armas y reportaron dados demográficos. Para análisis de los datos, fueron utilizados los programas openEvoc y Iramuteq. Se ha comprobado que las representaciones sociales sobre las armas de fuego fueron caracterizadas en su centralidad por la percepción de la muerte, seguida de los elementos: violencia, seguridad, peligro, defensa, protección; que abarca, concomitantemente, una ambigüedad de riesgo y protección.

Reassessing wildfire susceptibility and hazard for mainland Portugal.

Recent large wildfires have caused serious environmental and social impacts in different areas of the world, such as Portugal, Greece and Australia. Sociodemographic changes in rural areas and climate change issues create unprecedented and challenging circumstances that call for an adjustment of fire management strategies and planning tools. In this research, we revise the procedure to assess wildfire susceptibility and hazard for mainland Portugal in a structural perspective. Based on a dataset of burned areas covering 44 years and a set of predisposing factors related to topography and landcover, we tested several susceptibility models using the Likelihood Ratio method, to calculate favourability scores. Landcover classes were analysed using national detailed sources and considering different timeframes. Hazard levels were obtained by combining the susceptibility model with the best accuracy and the probability to burn estimated from fire history (1975-2018). The resulting hazard values were classified in 5 levels based on the breaks of the success curve, instead of quantiles as in previous maps, to ensure territorial continuity at different spatial scales. The results show where the combination of terrain features is more favorable to fire propagation. The higher favourability scores were found for shrubland-type vegetation, whereas agricultural areas, cork and holm forests show lower scores. Eucalyptus and maritime pine forests show similar intermediate scores and have increased since 2007. The two highest hazard classes classify correctly 90% of the burned area over 44 years, demonstrating the high accuracy of the model. If integrated in spatial planning instruments, in conjunction with municipal plans, the two most hazardous classes may hinder the expansion of built-up areas. About 2% of the municipalities have more than 90% of their territory classified as hazardous, whereas 32% of the municipalities have, instead, less than 10% of hazardous area. These structural maps are a useful baseline for a long-term approach and can be complemented by estimations regarding the behavior and severity of wildfires, which should be further explored.

The Polyglutamine Expansion at the N-Terminal of Huntingtin Protein Modulates the Dynamic Configuration and Phosphorylation of the C-Terminal HEAT Domain.

The polyQ expansion in huntingtin protein (HTT) is the prime cause of Huntington's disease (HD). The recent cryoelectron microscopy (cryo-EM) structure of HTT-HAP40 complex provided the structural information on its HEAT-repeat domains. Here, we present analyses of the impact of polyQ length on the structure and function of HTT via an integrative structural and biochemical approach. The cryo-EM analysis of normal (Q23) and disease (Q78) type HTTs shows that the structures of apo HTTs significantly differ from the structure of HTT in a HAP40 complex and that the polyQ expansion induces global structural changes in the relative movements among the HTT domains. In addition, we show that the polyQ expansion alters the phosphorylation pattern across HTT and that Ser2116 phosphorylation in turn affects the global structure and function of HTT. These results provide a molecular basis for the effect of the polyQ segment on HTT structure and activity, which may be important for HTT pathology.

Do French Consumers Have the Same Social Representations of Pulses as Food Industry Professionals?

Pulses present many advantages for human health, nutrition, sustainability, and the environment. Despite efforts in recent years by the pulse industry and national authorities to favor pulses, consumption in France remains relatively low, at 1.7 kg/per person in 2016, compared to 1920 when it was around 7.2 kg/per person. To understand social representations of pulses in France, 80 French nonvegetarian consumers and 35 professionals from the pulse industry were asked to say five words spontaneously evoked by the inductor "pulses". They then had to rank these five words in order of importance and rate their valence. The structural approach was used to analyze social representations for each group independently. Our results highlight differences in the structure and content of social representations for pulses. Consumer responses suggested only vague impressions of pulses, but taste evocations were nevertheless rated positively. By contrast, professionals tended to focus specifically on protein content and culinary preparation. These differences could explain some barriers to pulse consumption, and improved communication should be a key target. Efficient communication must consider the concepts most frequently used by consumers when referring to pulses, and those ranked as most important.

The Future of Personality Theory: a Processual Approach.

The perpetual discussion of approaches and principles in the study of personality has been one of the notable trends of development of psychological science over many decades. The structural approach, based on the delineation of a person's traits and characteristics, made an important contribution to various branches of psychology, but now the scientific community has recognized the limitations of a structural understanding of personality. Its inadequacy becomes particularly obvious in today's conditions, when fundamental changes pose a challenge to man's ability to respond flexibly to changing conditions of everyday existence, as well as to larger-scale changes. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, it is obvious that there is a need for new ways to understand and describe the personality: Scholars are calling for study of the dynamic personality, of the personality as an open system. At the foundational level, modern personality psychology should incorporate classical ideas about its structure; secondly, it should consider personality in the context of the individual's lifetime; and - at the highest level - it should describe personality as the subject of Being. We submit our own description of personality psychology's problem field.

The structural approach to social representations: bridges between theory and methods / Abordagem estrutural das representações sociais: pontes entre teoria e método / El abordaje estructural de las representaciones sociales: puentes entre teoría y método

Since the publication of the works of Jean-Claude Abric and Celso Sá, the structural approach to social representation has become widely diffused. There is often a lack of congruency between theoretical aspects of the structural approach and technical characteristics of the different methods used. This paper aims at making explicit the structural characteristics that are studied by the different structural approach techniques. These characteristics are: associative power of the elements, consensual aspects of thought and object essence. With these characteristics it is possible to elaborate a classification of the different techniques of the structural approach to social representations. The conclusion focuses on the absence of the social representation dynamics on a technical level despite being a central theoretical point for a better understanding of the socio representational phenomenon. (AU)

A abordagem estrutural das representações sociais é extremamente difundida no campo das representações sociais, notadamente após os livros de Abric em 1994 e de Celso Sá em 1996. Há frequentemente nas pesquisas empíricas uma falta de congruência entre os aspectos teóricos da abordagem estrutural e as características técnicas dos diferentes métodos usados. Neste artigo explicitamos as características da estrutura estudadas pelas diferentes técnicas, mais precisamente: o poder associativo dos elementos, a consensualidade do que é pensado e por fim a essência do objeto. Após essas reflexões é apresentada uma classificação das grandes técnicas da abordagem estrutural a partir dessas três características. Na conclusão, é levantada a questão da dinâmica representacional que fica deixada de lado pelas diferentes técnicas e deveria ser mais estudada para uma melhor apreensão do fenômeno representacional. (AU)

El abordaje estructural de las representaciones sociales ha sido ampliamente difundido, especialmente a partir de la publicación de los libros de Abric en 1994 y de Celso Sá en 1996. Existe con frecuencia en las investigaciones empíricas una incongruencia entre los aspectos teóricos del abordaje estructural y las características técnicas de los diferentes métodos utilizados. En este artículo quedan explícitas las características de estructura estudiadas por las diferentes técnicas, especialmente: poder de asociación de los elementos, consenso de lo que se piensa y finalmente esencia del objeto. Después de estas reflexiones se presenta una clasificación de las grandes técnicas de abordaje estructural a partir de estas tres características. Como conclusión se plantea el tema de la dinámica representativa que es dejada de lado por las diferentes técnicas y debería ser más estudiada para una mejor aprehensión del fenómeno representativo. (AU)

A abordagem estrutural das representações sociais e o modelo dos esquemas cognitivos de base: perspectivas teóricas e utilização empírica / The basic cognitive schemes: theorical perspectives and empirical research / Esquemas cognitivos de base: perspectivas teóricas y investigaciones empiricas

A abordagem estrutural das representações sociais é amplamente utilizada em pesquisas brasileiras, no entanto, existe o uso quase exclusivo da análise prototípica (ou análise das evocações livres). O modelo dos esquemas cognitivos de base, elaborado por Rouquette e Guimelli estuda, dentro da abordagem estrutural, as relações que ocorrem no pensamento social. Mais precisamente, este modelo estuda as relações entre os diferentes cognemas ativados por um objeto de representação. As relações são formalizadas por 28 conectores reagrupados em três famílias ou meta-esquemas; avaliação, descrição e prática. O modelo prevê a utilização de três índices, ou valências, para descrever o grau de ativação de cada meta-esquema na população estudada o que nos permite diagnosticar a forma de pensamento acerca do objeto. Mais precisamente as valências indicam as dimensões representacionais ativadas pelo o objeto na população. Estas dimensões podem ser descritivas, ligadas ao julgamento e avaliação ou relacionadas com as práticas do grupo em questão.

The structural approach to social representations is widely employed in Brazilian research. However, the studies use prototypical analysis (or free evocations analysis) almost exclusively. The basic cognitive schemes model proposed by Rouquette and Guimelli studies the relationships that take place in social thinking. More precisely, such model studies the relationships between the different cognems activated by a representation object. The relationships are formalized by 28 connectors regrouped in three families or meta-schemes; evaluation, description and practice. The model foresees the employment of three indexes, or valences, to describe the activation degree of each meta-scheme in the studied population, which makes it possible to diagnose the way of thinking about the object. These indexes aim at the dimension activated by the social object in the population. More specifically the indexes gives information about the presence of a descriptive dimension, of judgments and evaluation, and, at last, of social practices within the group.

El abordaje estructural de las representaciones sociales es ampliamente utilizado en investigaciones brasileñas, al punto que existe el uso casi exclusivo del análisis prototípico (o análisis de las evocaciones libres). El modelo de los esquemas cognitivos de base, elaborado por Rouquette y Guimelli, estudia dentro del abordaje estructural, las relaciones que se presentan en el pensamiento social. Más precisamente, este modelo estudia las relaciones entre los diferentes cognemas activados por un objeto de representación. Las relaciones son formalizadas por medio de 28 conectores, reagrupados em tres familias o metaesquemas: evaluación, descripción y práctica. El modelo prevé la utilización de tres índices o valencias para describir el grado de activación de cada metaesquema en la población estudiada, lo que nos permite diagnosticar la forma de pensamiento en relación con el objeto. Mas precisamente, nos permite tener informaciones sobre las dimensiones representaconales activadas: descritiva; los juízos y avaliaciones; la práxis de las personas estudiadas.

A abordagem estrutural das representações sociais e o modelo dos esquemas cognitivos de base: perspectivas teóricas e utilização empírica / The basic cognitive schemes: theorical perspectives and empirical research / Esquemas cognitivos de base: perspectivas teóricas y investigaciones empiricas

A abordagem estrutural das representações sociais é amplamente utilizada em pesquisas brasileiras, no entanto, existe o uso quase exclusivo da análise prototípica (ou análise das evocações livres). O modelo dos esquemas cognitivos de base, elaborado por Rouquette e Guimelli estuda, dentro da abordagem estrutural, as relações que ocorrem no pensamento social. Mais precisamente, este modelo estuda as relações entre os diferentes cognemas ativados por um objeto de representação. As relações são formalizadas por 28 conectores reagrupados em três famílias ou meta-esquemas; avaliação, descrição e prática. O modelo prevê a utilização de três índices, ou valências, para descrever o grau de ativação de cada meta-esquema na população estudada o que nos permite diagnosticar a forma de pensamento acerca do objeto. Mais precisamente as valências indicam as dimensões representacionais ativadas pelo o objeto na população. Estas dimensões podem ser descritivas, ligadas ao julgamento e avaliação ou relacionadas com as práticas do grupo em questão.(AU)

The structural approach to social representations is widely employed in Brazilian research. However, the studies use prototypical analysis (or free evocations analysis) almost exclusively. The basic cognitive schemes model proposed by Rouquette and Guimelli studies the relationships that take place in social thinking. More precisely, such model studies the relationships between the different cognems activated by a representation object. The relationships are formalized by 28 connectors regrouped in three families or meta-schemes; evaluation, description and practice. The model foresees the employment of three indexes, or valences, to describe the activation degree of each meta-scheme in the studied population, which makes it possible to diagnose the way of thinking about the object. These indexes aim at the dimension activated by the social object in the population. More specifically the indexes gives information about the presence of a descriptive dimension, of judgments and evaluation, and, at last, of social practices within the group.(AU)

El abordaje estructural de las representaciones sociales es ampliamente utilizado en investigaciones brasileñas, al punto que existe el uso casi exclusivo del análisis prototípico (o análisis de las evocaciones libres). El modelo de los esquemas cognitivos de base, elaborado por Rouquette y Guimelli, estudia dentro del abordaje estructural, las relaciones que se presentan en el pensamiento social. Más precisamente, este modelo estudia las relaciones entre los diferentes cognemas activados por un objeto de representación. Las relaciones son formalizadas por medio de 28 conectores, reagrupados em tres familias o metaesquemas: evaluación, descripción y práctica. El modelo prevé la utilización de tres índices o valencias para describir el grado de activación de cada metaesquema en la población estudiada, lo que nos permite diagnosticar la forma de pensamiento en relación con el objeto. Mas precisamente, nos permite tener informaciones sobre las dimensiones representaconales activadas: descritiva; los juízos y avaliaciones; la práxis de las personas estudiadas.(AU)

A representação social de formação continuada de professores de Educação Física da rede estadual do Espírito Santo / The social representation of continuing education for Physical Education teachers of the State of the Espirito Santo

Resumo A principal intenção deste texto é apresentar os resultados iniciais de uma investigação que buscou compreender a representação social dos professores de Educação Física da Rede Estadual do Espírito Santo em relação a sua formação continuada. Para tanto escolhe a grande teoria das Representações Sociais, especialmente devido à importância que ela atribui ao senso comum, que é uma das noções centrais para o conceito de representação social. Optando pela Abordagem Estrutural, que corresponde a uma das três correntes que compõem aquela teoria, levanta hipóteses sobre a representação social de formação continuada, tratando de sua organização interna e da dimensão cognitiva da mesma. Aponta para a ocorrência de um fenômeno atual que tem deslocado o núcleo central da representação social de formação continuada da aprendizagem para a qualificação tornando a busca por qualificação na formação continuada um atributo individual, de responsabilidade única e exclusiva do professor.

Abstract The main purpose of this text is to present the initial results of an investigation that aimed at understanding the social representation of the Physical Education teachers belonging to State School System in the State of Espírito Santo regarding its continuing formation. To do so, the great theory of Social Representations was chosen, especially due to the importance it attributes to the common sense, which is considered one of the central notions for the concept of social representation. Opting for the Structural Approach, which corresponds to one of the three chains that compose such theory, it raises hypothesis about the social representation of continuing formation, dealing with its internal organization and cognitive dimension. It indicated for the occurrence of a current phenomenon that has been displacing the central nucleus of social representation of the learning continuing formation to the qualification, making the search for qualification regarding continuing formation as an individual attribute with sole and exclusive Teacher's responsibility.

Unpacking the 'structural' in a structural approach for HIV prevention among female sex workers: a case study from China.

Interventions for HIV prevention among female sex workers (FSWs) in China focus on HIV/sexually transmitted infection (STI) and individual behaviour change. An occupational health framework facilitates intervention across an array of health issues FSWs face including HIV/STI, violence, reproductive health, stigma and substance use. Through a case study of a community-based Jiaozhou (JZ) FSW programme, we developed a conceptual framework incorporating global discussions of structural approaches to HIV prevention with the specific social and structural contexts identified among FSWs in China. Based on ethnographic fieldwork between August 2010 and May 2013, we describe the evolution of this programme to its current occupational health focus and unpack the intervention strategies. We describe the critical features of the programme that have fostered success among FSWs including high-quality clinical services provided within a welcoming setting, responsive outreach work through staff and trained FSW peers, interpersonal and community-level engagement aimed at changing the local social and structural environments of sex work and tailored health education materials. This intervention differs from other projects in China by adopting a more holistic approach to FSW health that incorporates social issues. It also demonstrates the feasibility of structural interventions among FSWs even within an environment that has strong anti-prostitution policies.

Sensitivity of chemical reaction networks: a structural approach. 1. Examples and the carbon metabolic network.

In biological cells, chemical reaction pathways lead to complex network systems like metabolic networks. One experimental approach to the dynamics of such systems examines their "sensitivity": each enzyme mediating a reaction in the system is increased/decreased or knocked out separately, and the responses in the concentrations of chemicals or their fluxes are observed. In this study, we present a mathematical method, named structural sensitivity analysis, to determine the sensitivity of reaction systems from information on the network alone. We investigate how the sensitivity responses of chemicals in a reaction network depend on the structure of the network, and on the position of the perturbed reaction in the network. We establish and prove some general rules which relate the sensitivity response to the structure of the underlying network. We describe a hierarchical pattern in the flux response which is governed by branchings in the network. We apply our method to several hypothetical and real life chemical reaction networks, including the metabolic network of the Escherichia coli TCA cycle.

Multiple discriminations experienced by people living with HIV in France: results from the ANRS-Vespa2 study.

Since the advent of AIDS, discrimination has remained at the core of the experience of people living with HIV (PLHIV). PLHIV who belong to minority groups are exposed to discrimination not only on the grounds of their HIV infection but also because of rejecting attitudes towards drug users, homosexuals and black people. This article aimed to measure the frequency of discrimination and assess its correlates among PLHIV in France. We used data from a national representative survey, the ANRS-Vespa2 study, conducted in France in 2011 among 3022 male and female HIV-positive patients followed at hospitals. Respondents answered a face-to-face questionnaire documenting their health status and living conditions. Discrimination was documented during the previous two years on the grounds of HIV infection, gender, country of birth, skin colour, sexual orientation, place of residence, and substance abuse in a variety of contexts. For each context, we performed logistic regressions on discrimination, controlling for socio-epidemiological group, age, education level and employment status. Discrimination is frequently experienced by PLHIV in France (26%), particularly when applying for a job (24%), interacting with family (11%) or seeking health services (8%). Women from sub-Saharan Africa reported the highest levels of discrimination, whereas heterosexual non-African men reported the lowest. Men who have sex with men experienced levels of discrimination that fell between those of these two groups. The major perceived reason for discrimination was HIV status (13%). Nationality, skin colour and sexual orientation were cited by 5% each, whereas gender was cited by 1% of respondents. Our analyses show that discrimination is a frequent and cross-cutting experience with differences across the various contexts and among the diverse subpopulations. The intertwining of HIV-related stigma with sexism, racism and homophobia needs to be addressed to understand why discrimination against PLHIV persists when the disease itself has greatly evolved.

The symbolic structures of social life: integrative comments on the socialthinking architecture / As estruturas simbólicas da vida social: comentários integrativos sobre a arquitetura do pensamento social

The present paper is an essay that aims at contributing to the debate on the social thinking architecture, a theoretical hierarchical model originally proposed by Rouquette that establishes relations between various symbolic formations. Other than addressing the main characteristics of social thinking and the architecture, a broad review of the role of its classical constructs is presented, i.e. social representations, ideologies, attitudes, thêmata and opinions. A discussion about other constructs such as nexus, social images and collective representations and their position in the architecture is also provided.

O presente artigo é um ensaio que visa a contribuir para o debate sobre a arquitetura do pensamento social, um modelo teórico hierárquico proposto originalmente por Rouquette que estabelece relações entre diversas formações simbólicas. Além de tratar das principais características do pensamento social e da arquitetura, uma revisão ampla do papel de seusconstrutos clássicos é apresentada, isto é, representações sociais, ideologias, atitudes, thêmata e opiniões. Uma discussão sobre outros construtos como nexus, imagens sociais e representações coletivas e suas posições na arquitetura também é fornecida.

The symbolic structures of social life: integrative comments on the socialthinking architecture / As estruturas simbólicas da vida social: comentários integrativos sobre a arquitetura do pensamento social

The present paper is an essay that aims at contributing to the debate on the social thinking architecture, a theoretical hierarchical model originally proposed by Rouquette that establishes relations between various symbolic formations. Other than addressing the main characteristics of social thinking and the architecture, a broad review of the role of its classical constructs is presented, i.e. social representations, ideologies, attitudes, thêmata and opinions. A discussion about other constructs such as nexus, social images and collective representations and their position in the architecture is also provided. (AU)

O presente artigo é um ensaio que visa a contribuir para o debate sobre a arquitetura do pensamento social, um modelo teórico hierárquico proposto originalmente por Rouquette que estabelece relações entre diversas formações simbólicas. Além de tratar das principais características do pensamento social e da arquitetura, uma revisão ampla do papel de seusconstrutos clássicos é apresentada, isto é, representações sociais, ideologias, atitudes, thêmata e opiniões. Uma discussão sobre outros construtos como nexus, imagens sociais e representações coletivas e suas posições na arquitetura também é fornecida. (AU)

Social Representations: A Review of Theory and Research from the Structural Approach / Representaciones sociales: una revisión de la teoría y las investigaciones desde el enfoque estructural

The present paper is a review of the theoretical advances and empirical findings related to social representations according to the structural approach, a research stream that aims at studying the influence of social factors in thinking processes through the identification and characterization of relationship structures. The presentation of the approach begins with the baseline definitions of social representations according to a structural approach, moving on to an overview on the nature of representation elements, the relationships between representations and practices, cognitive scheme dimensions, central core theory, representation transformations and interaction context effects. In addition to positioning ourselves concerning polemic topics during the review, in the final section we evaluate briefly the current state and future perspectives of structural research on social representations, mostly addressing the problem of defining consensus, the difficulty of characterizing a collective construct from individual data, and the secondary importance of content in structural laws.

Este artículo es una revisión de los avances teóricos y los hallazgos empíricos relacionados con las representaciones sociales de acuerdo con el enfoque estructural, una corriente de investigación que tiene como objetivo estudiar la influencia de factores sociales en los procesos de pensamiento a través de la identificación y caracterización de relaciones estructurales. La presentación del enfoque comienza con las definiciones básicas de las representaciones sociales de acuerdo con el enfoque estructural, pasando a la naturaleza de los elementos de representación, las relaciones entre las representaciones y prácticas, las dimensiones de esquemas cognitivos, la teoría del núcleo central, las transformaciones de representación y efectos de los contextos de interacción. Además de comentar algunos temas controversiales en la revisión, en la sección final se evalúa brevemente la situación actual y perspectivas de la investigación estructural de las representaciones sociales, principalmente relacionadas con el problema de definir el consenso, la dificultad de caracterizar una construcción colectiva a partir de datos individuales y la importancia secundaria del contenido en las leyes estructurales.

Italian students' social representation on aging: an exploratory study of a representational system / Representações sociais de estudantes italianos sobre o envelhecimento: um estudo exploratório de um sistema representacional

In various countries there are studies aimed at characterizing social representations on aging, but little is known about their relations with other representations. The present study proposes to characterize those relations through the notion of representational systems. An exploratory survey has been conducted with 151 Italian undergraduate students. They have completed evocation tasks about seven social objects linked to aging and also rated the distances among them. Distance ratings went through similarity analysis, while a prototypical analysis was carried out for aging and three objects: death, health and family. The results indicate possible content connections among representation elements and suggest a conjunction relationship between aging and family. The notion of representational systems opens possibilities for more refined representational characterizations.

Há pesquisas em diversos países sobre representações sociais sobre envelhecimento, mas pouco se sabe sobre suas relações com outras representações. O presente estudo visa caracterizar essas relações através da noção de sistema representacional. Um levantamento de dados exploratório foi conduzido com 151 universitários italianos que completaram tarefas de evocações sobre sete objetos sociais ligados ao envelhecimento e avaliaram as distâncias entre eles. As avaliações de distância passaram por análise de similitude, enquanto que análises prototípicas foram realizadas para envelhecimento e três objetos: morte, saúde e família. Os resultados indicam possíveis conexões de conteúdos entre elementos das representações e sugerem uma relação de conjunção entre envelhecimento e família. A noção de sistemas representacionais abre possibilidades para o refinamento de caracterizações representacionais.