Socioeconomic inequalities in obesity among Mexican adults 1988-2012

Background: Obesity prevalence in Mexico has risen substantially over the last 25 years. Its social patterning has not been systematically studied. Aim: To test the nutrition transition proposition of a crossover from lower to higher rates of obesity among the more disadvantaged groups, leading to emerging and increasing obesity inequalities as Mexico develops economically. Methods: Data came from four nationally representative surveys (1988, 1999, 2006, 2012); N=51,387 non-pregnant 20-49 year old women and N=18,988 20-49 year old men. Level of education and a household wealth index were used to calculate the relative and slope indexes of inequality (RII and SII respectively). Trends in RII and SII were examined in the period 1988-2012 for women. Change from 2006 to 2012 was examined for men. The contribution of mediating factors to obesity inequality was investigated. Results: There was support for the nutrition transition proposition among Mexican women. As the country developed economically, obesity became more prevalent among more disadvantaged women. Among men, there was no evidence of a reversal of the social gradient. Higher education and wealth were associated with higher obesity prevalence. Unexpectedly, educational inequalities in obesity among urban women declined over the study period. This was due to faster increases in obesity prevalence among women with more years in education compared to those with less. Psychosocial factors (food insecurity and aspired body size) explained a proportion of educational inequalities in obesity among women. Gender differences in educational inequalities in obesity were partially explained by differences in aspired body size. Conclusion: This detailed analysis of obesity inequalities in Mexico, and their recent trends, significantly develops existing literature. By using both education and household wealth as markers of SEP, the nutrition transition proposition was investigated in depth. The nutrition transition proposition fits the educational inequality pattern among Mexican women but not men

Spontaneous symmetry breaking as a resource for noncritically squeezed light

In the last years we have proposed the use of the mechanism of spontaneous symmetry breaking with the purpose of generating perfect quadrature squeezing. Here we review previous work dealing with spatial (translational and rotational) symmetries, both on optical parametric oscillators and four-wave mixing cavities, as well as present new results. We then extend the phenomenon to the polarization state of the signal field, hence introducing spontaneous polarization symmetry breaking. Finally we propose a Jaynes-Cummings model in which the phenomenon can be investigated at the single-photon-pair level in a non-dissipative case, with the purpose of understanding it from a most fundamental point of view.Comment: Review for the proceedings of SPIE Photonics Europe. 11 pages, 5 figures

Diagnostic imaging techniques of the respiratory tract of sheep

Diagnostic imaging techniques are very useful non-invasive methods to obtain medical images for the diagnosis of respiratory diseases in sheep. The use of ultrasound and thermographic cameras must be enhanced at farm level with the objective of assisting in the diagnosis of major respiratory diseases present in sheep farms. X-ray and, particularly, computed tomography are very interesting tools to facilitate the understanding of the main pathological processes in sheep, especially at the respiratory level. This article shows more than 40 images of thermograms, X-ray, ultrasonography and computed tomography of the most significant respiratory diseases in sheep

Quadrature and polarization squeezing in a dispersive optical bistability model

We theoretically study quadrature and polarization squeezing in dispersive optical bistability through a vectorial Kerr cavity model describing a nonlinear cavity filled with an isotropic chi(3) medium in which self-phase and cross-phase modulation, as well as four--wave mixing, occur. We derive expressions for the quantum fluctuations of the output field quadratures as a function of which we express the spectrum of fluctuations of the output field Stokes parameters. We pay particular attention to study how the bifurcations affecting the non-null linearly polarized output mode squeezes the orthogonally polarized vacuum mode, and show how this produces polarization squeezing.Comment: 10 text pages + 12 figure

The nutrition transition in Mexico 1988-2016: the role of wealth in the social patterning of obesity by education.

OBJECTIVE: The present study investigates whether the reversal of the social gradient in obesity, defined as a cross-over to higher obesity prevalence among groups with lower education level, has occurred among men and women in urban and rural areas of Mexico. DESIGN: Cross-sectional series of nationally representative surveys (1988, 1999, 2006, 2012 and 2016). The association between education and obesity was investigated over the period 1988-2016. Effect modification of the education-obesity association by household wealth was tested. SETTING: Mexico. SUBJECTS: Women (n 54 816) and men (n 20 589) aged 20-49 years. RESULTS: In both urban and rural areas, the association between education and obesity in women varied by level of household wealth in the earlier surveys (1988, 1999 and 2006; interaction P<0·001). In urban areas in 1988, one level lower education was associated (prevalence ratio; 95 % CI) with 45 % higher obesity prevalence among the richest women (1·45; 1·24, 1·69), whereas among the poorest the same education difference was protective (0·84; 0·72, 0·99). In the latest surveys (2012, 2016), higher education was protective across all wealth groups. Among men, education level was not associated with obesity in urban areas; there was a direct association in rural areas. Wealth did not modify the association between education and obesity. CONCLUSION: The reversal of the educational gradient in obesity among women occurred once a threshold level of household wealth was reached. Among men, there was no evidence of a reversal of the gradient. Policies must not lose sight of the populations most vulnerable to the obesogenic environment

Infrastructure and equipment for radiation oncology in the spanish national health system: analysis of external beam radiotherapy 2015-2020.

PURPOSE Planning for radiation oncology requires reliable estimates of both demand for radiotherapy and availability of technological resources. This study compares radiotherapy resources in the 17 regions of the decentralised Spanish National Health System (SNHS). MATERIAL AND METHODS The Sociedad Española de Oncología Radioterápica (SEOR) performed a cross-sectional survey of all Spanish radiation oncology services (ROS) in 2015. We collected data on SNHS radiotherapy units, recording the year of installation, specific features of linear accelerators (LINACs) and other treatment units, and radiotherapeutic techniques implemented by region. Any machine over 10 years old or lacking a multileaf collimator or portal imaging system was considered obsolete. We performed a k-means clustering analysis using the Hartigan-Wong method to test associations between the gross domestic regional product (GDRP), the number of LINACs per million population and the percentage of LINACs over 10 years old. RESULTS The SNHS controls 72 (61%) of the 118 Spanish ROS and has 180 LINACs, or 72.5% of the total public and private resources. The mean rate of LINACs per million population is 3.9 for public ROS, and 42% (n=75) of the public accelerators were obsolete in 2015: 61 due to age and 14 due to technological capability. There was considerable regional variation in terms of the number and technological capacity of radiotherapy units; correlation between GRDP and resource availability was moderate. CONCLUSION Despite improvements, new investments are still needed to replace obsolete units and increase access to modern radiotherapy. Regular analysis of ROS in each Spanish region is the only strategy for monitoring progress in radiotherapy capacity.pre-print1471 K