Prevalencia de sobre peso y obesidad exogena en adolescentes de 12 a 18 años, y su asociación con dislipidemias

La presente tesis trata sobre la prevalencia del sobrepeso y obesidad exógena en los adolescentes salvadoreños entre las edades de 12 a 18 años, y como la presencia de estas puede influir en el desarrollo de dislipidemias a edades tempranas. Se realizó un estudio descriptivo, correlacional, transversal. Se estudió a 50 adolescentes comprendidos entre los 12 a 18 años, que presentaban un índice de masa corporal mayor a 25 según la clasificación de la IOTF . A todos se les peso y tallo, se midió la cincunferencia abdominal y se obtuvieron muestras de sangre por venopunción para poder obtener el colesterol total, HDL, triglicéridos. Al obtener los resultados se observó que existe una asociación entre la presencia de obesidad y dislipidemias, a partir de lo cual se realizaron conclusiones y recomendaciones sobre como disminuir la presencia de sobrepeso y obesidad en los adolescentesTesis para optar al Título de Doctor en Medicin

Oxygen in metabolic dysfunction and its therapeutic relevance

Significance: In recent years, a number of studies have shown altered oxygen partial pressure at a tissue level in metabolic disorders, and some researchers have considered oxygen to be a (macro) nutrient. Oxygen availability may be compromised in obesity and several other metabolism-related pathological conditions, including sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome, the metabolic syndrome (which is a set of conditions), type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Recent Advances: Strategies designed to reduce adiposity and its accompanying disorders have been mainly centered on nutritional interventions and physical activity programs. However, novel therapies are needed since these approaches have not been sufficient to counteract the worldwide increasing rates of metabolic disorders. In this regard, intermittent hypoxia training and hyperoxia could be potential treatments through oxygen-related adaptations. Moreover, living at a high altitude may have a protective effect against the development of abnormal metabolic conditions. In addition, oxygen delivery systems may be of therapeutic value for supplying the tissue-specific oxygen requirements. Critical Issues: Precise in vivo methods to measure oxygenation are vital to disentangle some of the controversies related to this research area. Further, it is evident that there is a growing need for novel in vitro models to study the potential pathways involved in metabolic dysfunction to find appropriate therapeutic targets. Future Directions: Based on the existing evidence, it is suggested that oxygen availability has a key role in obesity and its related comorbidities. Oxygen should be considered in relation to potential therapeutic strategies in the treatment and prevention of metabolic disorders

Partially observable Markov decision processes with partially observable random discount factors

summary:This paper deals with a class of partially observable discounted Markov decision processes defined on Borel state and action spaces, under unbounded one-stage cost. The discount rate is a stochastic process evolving according to a difference equation, which is also assumed to be partially observable. Introducing a suitable control model and filtering processes, we prove the existence of optimal control policies. In addition, we illustrate our results in a class of GI/GI/1 queueing systems where we obtain explicitly the corresponding optimality equation and the filtering process

Vision-Based Safety System for Barrierless Human-Robot Collaboration

Human safety has always been the main priority when working near an industrial robot. With the rise of Human-Robot Collaborative environments, physical barriers to avoiding collisions have been disappearing, increasing the risk of accidents and the need for solutions that ensure a safe Human-Robot Collaboration. This paper proposes a safety system that implements Speed and Separation Monitoring (SSM) type of operation. For this, safety zones are defined in the robot's workspace following current standards for industrial collaborative robots. A deep learning-based computer vision system detects, tracks, and estimates the 3D position of operators close to the robot. The robot control system receives the operator's 3D position and generates 3D representations of them in a simulation environment. Depending on the zone where the closest operator was detected, the robot stops or changes its operating speed. Three different operation modes in which the human and robot interact are presented. Results show that the vision-based system can correctly detect and classify in which safety zone an operator is located and that the different proposed operation modes ensure that the robot's reaction and stop time are within the required time limits to guarantee safety.Comment: Accepted for publication at the 2022 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS

Solar desalination by combination with concentrated solar power: Exergy cost analysis

Some regions of the world with high solar irradiation conditions have a growing demand for electricity and freshwater that could cause supply problems in the industries and population. To reduce this risk, the use of solar energy to generate electricity and freshwater is an interesting option to consider. Electricity could be generated from concentrated solar power (CSP) plants fuelled by solar energy and natural gas, while freshwater could be produced from multi-effect distillation (MED) and reverse osmosis (RO) technologies driven by thermal energy and electricity, respectively. An exergy cost analysis of the integration of two desalination technologies (MED and RO) with a CSP plant is carried out to compare in terms of exergy cost. The symbolic exergoeconomics method is applied in the configurations analyzed. The different configurations are evaluated in a representative region with high irradiation conditions. Results show that the best configuration for producing electricity and freshwater is achieved when the stand-alone RO plant is connected to the grid where the unit exergy cost of electricity and water is 31% and 54% lower than in the stand-alone CSP plant and stand-alone MED, respectively. However, CSP-MED is the recommended configuration for the solar cogeneration scheme evaluated. Additionally, the most influential components in the cost formation of electricity are solar collectors (46.6% in CSP-MED and 44.3% in CSP-RO) while for freshwater they are solar collectors (27.6% in CSP-MED and 42.0% CSP-RO), multi-effect distillation module (15.7% in CSP-MED), and reverse osmosis module (20.5% in CSP-RO). In these components the design should be improved to reduce the unit exergy cost of electricity and freshwater

Pushing limits in higher education: inclusion services’ perspectives on supporting students with learning disabilities in Spanish universities

The unprecedented growth of universities in recent years has meant that there are more students with learning disabilities attending courses. Consequently, universities have had to adapt, improve and create new resources to ensure greater inclusivity. These resources, their design, and development are managed by inclusion support services, aiming to the full inclusion of students with disabilities and the promotion of community awareness. This article aims to shed light on the current role of inclusion services in supporting students with learning disabilities, and the link these services have with the different university stakeholders, using a thematic analysis from the experiences of this services staff in eight Spanish universities. The results show that: i) there is no uniformity in the support services; and ii) more resources and work are needed to ensure increased inclusion and awareness. The discussion and conclusions drawn highlight the trends, challenges, and opportunities for universities improving their inclusion.Postprint (author's final draft

They Choose to Attend Academic Summer Camps? A Mixed Methods Study Exploring the Impact of a NASA Academic Summer Pre-Engineering Camp On Middle School Students in a Latino Community

Early exposure to engineering and mathematics career opportunities has been indicated to influence students’ decisions regarding their academic majors and career goals. This study utilized mixed methods to analyze how changes in middle school students’ affective characteristics might be linked to their future career decision-making, following participation in an integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics summer camp. As part of the summer camp, rising sixth- through eighth-grade students attended a weeklong learning experience based on a specific engineering context. Each grade level cohort participated with their same grade peers in a 36-hour, 6-day event focused on sparking their interest in engineering careers and developing their content knowledge in select science and mathematics content areas. Pre-post testing was conducted with 65 students of diverse backgrounds in grades six through eight to measure their self-reported engineering-related self-efficacy, knowledge of engineering careers, and motivation to pursue future engineering classes and careers. In addition, interviews were conducted to examine any changes in middle school camp participants’ affective characteristics of motivation, self-efficacy, and self-determination

EFECTO DE UNA INFUSIÓN CONTINUA DE METADONA EN LOS REQUERIMIENTOS ANALGÉSICOS Y ANESTÉSICOS INTRAOPERATORIOS EN PERROS

Las infusiones continuas o infusiones a ritmo constante (CRI) se usan con frecuencia durante procedimientos quirúrgicos para disminuir los requerimientos anestésicos de agentes inhalatorios y para proveer analgesia mediante la administración de fármacos analgésicos, siendo una buena alternativa a la utilización de bolos intermitentes de dichos fármacos. Los objetivos de este estudio fueron valorar el efecto de un CRI de metadona en la reducción de las necesidades de isoflurano, valorar las necesidades intraoperatorias de analgesia de rescate, así como registrar las posibles complicaciones observadas. Se incluyeron 12 perras que iban a ser sometidas a ovariohisterectomías electivas, que fueron distribuidas aleatoriamente en dos grupos: A (control) y B (CRI de metadona). Tras una premedicación con dexmedetomidina y metadona se llevó a cabo la inducción con propofol a dosis-efecto, se intubaron y se conectaron a la máquina anestésica. El mantenimiento anestésico se llevó a cabo con isoflurano en una mezcla de oxígeno y aire al 50%. Se monitorizaron a los pacientes y se llevó a cabo la medición y registro de los parámetros como frecuencia cardíaca, respiratoria, temperatura y presión arterial sistólica, previamente a la intervención, en el período intraoperatorio y en el despertar anestésico. A nivel intraoperatorio se registraron las necesidades de analgesia de rescate y la Et ISO. Una vez obtenidos los datos, se realizó un estudio estadístico de los mismos. Como resultados del estudio, no se encontraron diferencias significativas en las necesidades de isoflurano en ambos grupos. Tampoco se detectaron diferencias significativas en las necesidades de fentanilo como analgesia de rescate a nivel intraoperatorio ni tampoco en la aparición de complicaciones en el momento del despertar. Atendiendo a esto, el uso de un CRI de metadona a 0,1 mg/kg/h no parece presentar ventajas ni inconvenientes con respecto a la utilización de suero fisiológico

Effect of Static Magnetic Field Exposure of Salvia Seeds on Germination Characteristics (Salvia officinalis, L.)

The main objective of this study is to determine the effects of magnetic treatment, in addition to the geomagnetic field, on germination of salvia officinalis L. seeds. This objective has a practice application in agriculture science: to obtain an early growth of salvia. A great development of crops of medicinal, condimentary and aromatic plants crops is taking place in Mediterranean countries due to their high added value as consequence of the Fitotherapy reappearance among other reasons. In recent decades magnetic treatment of seeds became very popular in agricultural sector. Salvia seeds were exposed to 125 mT stationary magnetic field generated by magnets for different time: 10 minutes (A1), 20 minutes (A2), 1hour (A3), 24 hours (A4) and chronic exposure (A5). Other group of seeds were subjected to a magnetic pretreatment (P1). Not exposed seeds were used as control (C). Germination tests were performed at temperature 20-22ºC under laboratory conditions. The selected germination parameters were: time for the first seed to germinate (T1), time to reach 10, 25% etc. germination (T10, T25, T50 and T75), number of germinated seeds (Gmax) and the mean germination time (MGT), all of them were provided by the Seedcalculator software package. Results indicate that magnetic field application enhanced the seed performance in terms of laboratory germination, rate and percentage of germination compared to unexposed (C). The germination parameters recorded for salvia seeds and for each treatment and pretreatment were lower than corresponding control value. Among the various treatments, chronic exposure to 125mT (A5) gave best results. Data obtained for salvia treated seeds showed that MGT was significantly reduced compared to control ones (79.68 h for A3, 81.84 h for A4, 75.60 h for A5, and 81.60 h for P1 vs. 95.28 h for control). Parameters (T1-T50) and MGT were also significantly reduced for treatments A2, A3, A4, A5 and P1