Dietary α‐Linolenic Acid, Marine ω‐3 Fatty Acids, and Mortality in a Population With High Fish Consumption: Findings From the PREvención con DIeta MEDiterránea (PREDIMED) Study

Background: Epidemiological evidence suggests a cardioprotective role of α‐linolenic acid (ALA), a plant‐derived ω‐3 fatty acid. It is unclear whether ALA is beneficial in a background of high marine ω‐3 fatty acids (long‐chain n‐3 polyunsaturated fatty acids) intake. In persons at high cardiovascular risk from Spain, a country in which fish consumption is customarily high, we investigated whether meeting the International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids recommendation for dietary ALA (0.7% of total energy) at baseline was related to all‐cause and cardiovascular disease mortality. We also examined the effect of meeting the society's recommendation for long‐chain n‐3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (≥500 mg/day). Methods and Results: We longitudinally evaluated 7202 participants in the PREvención con DIeta MEDiterránea (PREDIMED) trial. Multivariable‐adjusted Cox regression models were fitted to estimate hazard ratios. ALA intake correlated to walnut consumption (r=0.94). During a 5.9‐y follow‐up, 431 deaths occurred (104 cardiovascular disease, 55 coronary heart disease, 32 sudden cardiac death, 25 stroke). The hazard ratios for meeting ALA recommendation (n=1615, 22.4%) were 0.72 (95% CI 0.56–0.92) for all‐cause mortality and 0.95 (95% CI 0.58–1.57) for fatal cardiovascular disease. The hazard ratios for meeting the recommendation for long‐chain n‐3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n=5452, 75.7%) were 0.84 (95% CI 0.67–1.05) for all‐cause mortality, 0.61 (95% CI 0.39–0.96) for fatal cardiovascular disease, 0.54 (95% CI 0.29–0.99) for fatal coronary heart disease, and 0.49 (95% CI 0.22–1.01) for sudden cardiac death. The highest reduction in all‐cause mortality occurred in participants meeting both recommendations (hazard ratio 0.63 [95% CI 0.45–0.87]). Conclusions: In participants without prior cardiovascular disease and high fish consumption, dietary ALA, supplied mainly by walnuts and olive oil, relates inversely to all‐cause mortality, whereas protection from cardiac mortality is limited to fish‐derived long‐chain n‐3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Clinical Trial Registration URL: http://www.Controlled-trials.com/. Unique identifier: ISRCTN35739639

4to. Congreso Internacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación para la Sociedad. Memoria académica

Este volumen acoge la memoria académica de la Cuarta edición del Congreso Internacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación para la Sociedad, CITIS 2017, desarrollado entre el 29 de noviembre y el 1 de diciembre de 2017 y organizado por la Universidad Politécnica Salesiana (UPS) en su sede de Guayaquil. El Congreso ofreció un espacio para la presentación, difusión e intercambio de importantes investigaciones nacionales e internacionales ante la comunidad universitaria que se dio cita en el encuentro. El uso de herramientas tecnológicas para la gestión de los trabajos de investigación como la plataforma Open Conference Systems y la web de presentación del Congreso http://citis.blog.ups.edu.ec/, hicieron de CITIS 2017 un verdadero referente entre los congresos que se desarrollaron en el país. La preocupación de nuestra Universidad, de presentar espacios que ayuden a generar nuevos y mejores cambios en la dimensión humana y social de nuestro entorno, hace que se persiga en cada edición del evento la presentación de trabajos con calidad creciente en cuanto a su producción científica. Quienes estuvimos al frente de la organización, dejamos plasmado en estas memorias académicas el intenso y prolífico trabajo de los días de realización del Congreso Internacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación para la Sociedad al alcance de todos y todas

Propiedades psicométricas de la escala de valoración de organizaciones deportivas EPOD

The understanding of user satisfaction and consumers of services is a necessity for those responsible for them. There’s a variety of instruments that assess the perceived quality but are criticized for several reasons: concepts, procedures, lack of specificity... EPOD is a scale with 29 items integrated in four dimensions, direct practical application which had been previously validated. However, nobody had checked the psychometric properties of the instrument. Therefore, the aim of this study is to determine them. The sample was 463 users of sports services who were given the instrument. The results show good internal and external validity, while it has a high reliability. Therefore, EPOD becomes a tool to assess the perceived quality of service provided by the sports organizations in a valid, reliable, simple and brief way, considering the different dimensions that make up the provision of sports services.La comprensión de la satisfacción de los usuarios y consumidores de servicios es una necesidad para los responsables de las mismas. Existe una diversidad de instrumentos que valoran la calidad percibida pero son criticados por diversos motivos: conceptuales, procedimentales, falta de especificidad… EPOD es una escala de 29 ítems integrados en cuatro dimensiones, de aplicación práctica y directa que había sido validada con anterioridad. Sin embargo no se había constatado las propiedades psicométricas del instrumento. Por ello, el objetivo de este trabajo es determinar las mismas. La muestra estuvo constituida por 463 usuarios de servicios deportivos a los que se les suministró el instrumento. Los resultados muestran una buena validez interna y externa, al tiempo que posee una alta fiabilidad. Por ello, EPOD se convierte en una herramienta capaz de evaluar la calidad percibida del servicio que prestan las organizaciones deportivas de forma válida, fiable, sencilla y breve, contemplando las diferentes dimensiones que conforman la prestación de los servicios deportivos

Towards an inventory of Mexican tardigrades (Tardigrada): a survey on the diversity of moss tardigrades with an emphasis in conifer forests from the Valley of Mexico Basin

From a large-scale sampling of limnoterrestrial tardigrades in the Valley of Mexico Basin, in the Huasteca Potosina, and Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary, Mexico, we develop an initial species list and determine the type of vegetation and substrates for most sampled species. In total 160 moss samples and over 2000 tardigrades were obtained, belonging to 17 genera, 35 putative species, one subspecies, of which eight could be accurately identified to species or subspecies, three to affinity, and 15 as morpho-species; the remaining samples were identified to genus, mainly due to the few specimens available and their preservation was not optimal. We provide novel records for one genus and two species from the country. Our estimates on five vegetation types and three substrate types indicates that our inventory is incomplete, and as many as twice the number of species may still be found in these ecosystems

Chemical and nutritional characterization of raw and thermal-treated flours of Mesquite (Prosopis laevigata) pods and their residual brans

Species of the genus Prosopis were a major staple food in Aridoamerica before the arrival of Europeans. In the present work, chemical and nutritional properties of Prosopis laevigata pods were described. The composition in weight of pods of P. laevigata was 44% mesocarp, 35% endocarp, and 21% exocarp. Sugars, including sucrose, glucose, fructose, and xylose, were important components of pods, reaching a total sugars content of 447 g/kg in mesocarp flour. Considering the FAO-recommended amino-acid scoring patterns for humans older than 3 years, high values of Lys and sulfur-containing amino acids were found in flours. Thermal treatment of flours increases significantly the phenolic compounds content and free-radical scavenging capacity, an effect associated with the generation of Maillard reaction products. Flours of mesquite pods are a good source of phenolic compounds, with significantly higher free-radical scavenging capacity than soybean and common bean

Pregnancy-associated plasma protein (PAPP)-A2 in physiology and disease

The growth hormone (GH)/insulin-like growth factor (IGF) axis plays fundamental roles during development, maturation, and aging. Members of this axis, composed of various ligands, receptors, and binding proteins, are regulated in a tissue- and time-specific manner that requires precise control that is not completely understood. Some of the most recent advances in understanding the implications of this axis in human growth are derived from the identifications of new mutations in the gene encoding the pregnancy-associated plasma protein PAPP-A2 protease that liberates IGFs from their carrier proteins in a selective manner to allow binding to the IGF receptor 1. The identification of three nonrelated families with mutations in the PAPP-A2 gene has shed light on how this protease affects human physiology. This review summarizes our understanding of the implications of PAPP-A2 in growth physiology, obtained from studies in genetically modified animal models and the PAPP-A2 deficient patients known to date.This research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation with the help of European FEDER funding (FIS PI19/00166 and PI19/00343), Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (BFU 2017-82565-C2-1-R) and the Network Center for Biomedical Research on Obesity and Nutrition (CIBEROBN) Instituto Carlos III. S.G.-C. was supported by CIBEROBN