VAMOS: a Pathfinder for the HAWC Gamma-Ray Observatory

VAMOS was a prototype detector built in 2011 at an altitude of 4100m a.s.l. in the state of Puebla, Mexico. The aim of VAMOS was to finalize the design, construction techniques and data acquisition system of the HAWC observatory. HAWC is an air-shower array currently under construction at the same site of VAMOS with the purpose to study the TeV sky. The VAMOS setup included six water Cherenkov detectors and two different data acquisition systems. It was in operation between October 2011 and May 2012 with an average live time of 30%. Besides the scientific verification purposes, the eight months of data were used to obtain the results presented in this paper: the detector response to the Forbush decrease of March 2012, and the analysis of possible emission, at energies above 30 GeV, for long gamma-ray bursts GRB111016B and GRB120328B.Comment: Accepted for pubblication in Astroparticle Physics Journal (20 pages, 10 figures). Corresponding authors: A.Marinelli and D.Zaboro

Childhood acute leukemias are frequent in Mexico City: descriptive epidemiology

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Worldwide, acute leukemia is the most common type of childhood cancer. It is particularly common in the Hispanic populations residing in the United States, Costa Rica, and Mexico City. The objective of this study was to determine the incidence of acute leukemia in children who were diagnosed and treated in public hospitals in Mexico City.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Included in this study were those children, under 15 years of age and residents of Mexico City, who were diagnosed in 2006 and 2007 with leukemia, as determined by using the International Classification of Childhood Cancer. The average annual incidence rates (AAIR), and the standardized average annual incidence rates (SAAIR) per million children were calculated. We calculated crude, age- and sex-specific incidence rates and adjusted for age by the direct method with the world population as standard. We determined if there were a correlation between the incidence of acute leukemias in the various boroughs of Mexico City and either the number of agricultural hectares, the average number of persons per household, or the municipal human development index for Mexico (used as a reference of socio-economic level).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Although a total of 610 new cases of leukemia were registered during 2006-2007, only 228 fit the criteria for inclusion in this study. The overall SAAIR was 57.6 per million children (95% CI, 46.9-68.3); acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) was the most frequent type of leukemia, constituting 85.1% of the cases (SAAIR: 49.5 per million), followed by acute myeloblastic leukemia at 12.3% (SAAIR: 6.9 per million), and chronic myeloid leukemia at 1.7% (SAAIR: 0.9 per million). The 1-4 years age group had the highest SAAIR for ALL (77.7 per million). For cases of ALL, 73.2% had precursor B-cell immunophenotype (SAAIR: 35.8 per million) and 12.4% had T-cell immunophenotype (SAAIR 6.3 per million). The peak ages for ALL were 2-6 years and 8-10 years. More than half the children (58.8%) were classified as high risk. There was a positive correlation between the average number of persons per household and the incidence of the pre-B immunophenotype (Pearson's r, 0.789; P = 0.02).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The frequency of ALL in Mexico City is among the highest in the world, similar to those found for Hispanics in the United States and in Costa Rica.</p

La interdisciplina en el estudio de la forma urbana

Con esta edición se busca crear una plataforma analítica y de discusión sobre la importancia de la interdisciplina en el estudio de la forma de la ciudad. Por ello, en esta publicación se aborda el tema “Forma urbana e interdisciplina” a partir de cuatro ejes temáticos: Análisis y diagnósticos de la forma urbana; procesos históricos de la forma urbana; planes y proyectos urbanos e impactos en la forma urbana. Se espera que el material presentado cumpla con sus objetivos y que su lectura contribuya a ampliar el panorama de reflexión y discusión sobre el tema de la interdisciplina en el estudio de la forma urbana.Elizabeth Espinosa Dorantes; Christof Göbel; Salomón González Arrellano (sic), coordinadore

Extraparenchymal neurocysticercosis: Demographic, clinicoradiological, and inflammatory features

<div><p>Background</p><p>Extraparenchymal neurocysticercosis (ExPNCC), an infection caused by <i>Taenia solium</i> cysticerci that mainly occurs in the ventricular compartment (Ve) or the basal subarachnoid space (SAb), is more severe but less frequent and much less studied than parenchymal neurocysticercosis (ParNCC). Demographic, clinical, radiological, and lumbar cerebrospinal fluid features of patients affected by ExPNCC are herein described and compared with those of ParNCC patients.</p><p>Methodology and principal findings</p><p>429 patients with a confirmed diagnosis of neurocysticercosis, attending the Instituto Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía, a tertiary reference center in Mexico City, from 2000 through 2014, were included. Demographic information, signs and symptoms, radiological patterns, and lumbar cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) laboratory values were retrieved from medical records for all patients. Data were statistically analyzed to assess potential differences depending on cyst location and to determine the effects of age and sex on the disease presentation. In total, 238 ExPNCC and 191 ParNCC patients were included. With respect to parenchymal cysts, extraparenchymal parasites were diagnosed at an older age (<i>P</i> = 0.002), chiefly caused intracranial hypertension (<i>P</i> < 0.0001), were more frequently multiple and vesicular (<i>P</i> < 0.0001), and CSF from these patients showed higher protein concentration and cell count (<i>P</i> < 0.0001). SAb patients were diagnosed at an older age than Ve patients, and showed more frequently seizures, vesicular cysticerci, and higher CSF cellularity. Gender and age modulated some traits of the disease.</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>This study evidenced clear clinical, radiological, and inflammatory differences between ExPNCC and ParNCC, and between SAb and Ve patients, and demonstrated that parasite location determines different pathological entities.</p></div

Year of diagnosis of included patients.

<p>Numbers at the top of each column represent the number of patients diagnosed in the assessed period.</p

Multiple cysticerci located in the left pontocerebellar cistern (MRI FIESTA).

<p>Multiple cysticerci located in the left pontocerebellar cistern (MRI FIESTA).</p

Demographic, clinical, radiological, and inflammatory features of the three patient groups.

<p>Demographic, clinical, radiological, and inflammatory features of the three patient groups.</p

Location of extraparenchymal cysts.

<p>Location of extraparenchymal cysts.</p

Single parenchymal cysticerci in right parietal lobe (MRI Fast Imaging Employing Steady-state Acquisition, FIESTA).

<p>Single parenchymal cysticerci in right parietal lobe (MRI Fast Imaging Employing Steady-state Acquisition, FIESTA).</p

Trait differences between subarachnoid and ventricular neurocysticercosis.

<p>Trait differences between subarachnoid and ventricular neurocysticercosis.</p