Las metáforas de la influenza humana A (H1N1) en México: el escenario nacional al descubierto. Una aproximación a través de la prensa mexicana

Este artículo examina las metáforas emergentes hacerca de la influenza humana A (H1N1) en México, en dos periódicos con diferente ideología, durante la principal fase de la contingencia en 2009, para comprender el el signifiaco d ela epidemia inmersa las circunstancias nacionales actuales en sus diferentes escenarios: social, económico, político y de creencias

Género e inclusión financiera en Colombia

The access to the formal financial system allows people to be organized financially, save money and plan for the future. However, there is still a high percentage of the Colombian population that is outside the financial system, especially women. The objective of this paper is to measure, through an econometric model based on the data of the World Bank ´s 2014 Global Findex Database, the difference in gender regarding the financial inclusion in Colombia during 2014. In order to do so, three categories are taken into account and they measure (i) the access to services from a formal financial institution, (ii) their active use, and (iii) the active use of informal financial services. The latter is relevant because it takes into account that segment of the population that is marginalized from the formal services of the financial sector. Overall, it is shown that being a woman has a negative impact regarding inclusion on the formal financial system, understanding this inclusion as the access, and effective use of formal financial services.El acceso al sistema financiero formal permite a las personas organizarse financieramente, ahorrar y planear para el futuro; sin embargo, todavía es alto el porcentaje de la población colombiana que se encuentra fuera de dicho sistema, en especial las mujeres. El objetivo del presente trabajo es medir, a través de un modelo econométrico alimentado con datos de 2014, del Global Findex Database del Banco Mundial, las diferencias de género en términos de inclusión financiera en Colombia en ese año. Para esto, se tienen en cuenta tres categorías que miden a) el acceso a servicios de una institución financiera formal, b) su uso activo, y c) el uso activo de servicios financieros informales. Esta última categoría cobra relevancia, ya que tiene en cuenta aquel segmento de la población que se encuentra marginado de los servicios formales del sector financiero. En términos generales, se evidencia que ser mujer tiene un impacto negativo para una persona al momento de ser incluido en el sistema financiero formal, entendiendo “inclusión financiera” como el acceso y uso efectivo de servicios financieros formales

Fuentes de información y su relación con el grado de conocimientos sobre el SIDA en adolescentes de México

INTRODUCCIÓN: En México 2,1% de casos con SIDA son adolescentes. Los casos de 20 a 29 años alcanzan a 30,5% y una proporción importante pudo infectarse VIH en la adolescencia. El nivel de conocimientos de los adolescentes sobre VIH/SIDA es variable. En contextos urbanos poseen conceptos errados y mitos que podrían orientarlos a prácticas riesgosas. Los medios masivos e interpersonales son fuentes importantes de información en la construcción social del VIH/SIDA en los adolescentes. El objetivo es relacionar el grado de conocimientos sobre VIH/SIDA con la exposición a fuentes informativas masivas e interpersonales en los adolescentes de Guadalajara, México. MATERIAL Y MÉTODO: Encuesta a 1.410 adolescentes, varones y mujeres de 15 a 19 años, en diferentes estratos socio-económicos. Se aplicaron pruebas de significación Ji Cuadrada y BTukey, Intervalos de Confianza del 95% para proporciones y medias y ANOVA factorial simple. RESULTADO: Hay un nivel regular de conocimientos con medias favorables a los estratos alto y medio. La información de periódicos y profesores tuvo relación directa con el nivel de conocimientos controlada por la exposición a la televisión y variables socio-demográficas. CONCLUSIONES: Hay desigualdades por estratos socio-económicos en la relación de las fuentes informativas y los niveles de conocimientos sobre VIH/SIDA. Es necesario fortalecer y desarrollar acciones educativas por fuentes masivas e interpersonales, con énfasis en estratos bajo y marginado.INTRODUCTION: In Mexico 2.1% of the cases of AIDS are in adolescents. The cases of AIDS in the age group of 20 to 29 account for 30.5% of all the cases and an important proportion could have been infected with HIV in their adolescence, in view of the longth of the incubation period from the infection with HIV to the manifestation of the syndrome. The adolescent's knowledge of HIV/AIDS varies. In some urban contexts the adolescents have lay concepts and myths that could guide them into misting practices that could lead to contamination by HIV. The mass media, especially television, and interpersonal sources such as teachers, parents and peers are important sources of information about HIV/AIDS and have a central role in the social construction and public perception of the problem in adolescents. The objective of the study is to relate the degree of knowledge of HIV/AIDS to the exposure to information sources among adolescents in Guadalajara city, in Mexico. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Survey sample with autoapplied questionnaire. Sample of 1,410 adolescents, male and female, of 15 to 19 years of age, in the four socioeconomic strata. The Chi-square and BTukey tests, 95% confidence interval for proportions and means, and simple ANOVA factor were applied. RESULTS: A considerate degree of knowledge (mean of 13.94 correct answer out of 24, standard deviation=4.09, 95% CI=13.69-14.11) was found significant mean differences in favor of the high (15.70) and medium (14.26) strata as opposed to the low (13.51) and marginalized (12.85) (F=19.39,

Aproximación in sílico a la adsorción de etanol, etanal y ácido etanoico en la superficie (001) Ni(OH)2 mediante dinámica molecular: In silico approachto etanol, etanal, and ethanoic acid adsorption in (001)Ni(OH)2 surface by molecular dynamics

Environmental pollution and the depletion of fossil fuels have prompted the search for alternative energy sources. Fuel cells have gained popularity because they directly convert chemical energy into usable electrical energy. Alkaline direct ethanol fuel cells have promising qualities because of their ability to use non-noble metal catalysts, lowering their cost. One of the challenges of this technology is the design of new catalysts that increase the efficiency of fuel cells. This research aimed to use molecular dynamics methods, specifically, the AMS-REAXFF program to determine the diffusion coefficients of ethanol over a β-Ni(OH)2 surface at different temperatures. Additionally, the adsorption energies of both ethanol and its oxidation products (ethanal and ethanoic acid) on the β-Ni(OH)2 surface at different temperatures were calculated. The results indicate that ethanol's diffusion coefficient increases proportionally with temperature, and the least squares fit indicates that it complies with the Arrhenius model. The predicted activation energy is positive, indicating the need to supply energy to the system to initiate diffusion. According to the results obtained for the adsorption energies, the ethanol molecule presents a lower affinity towards the (001) surface of the β-Ni(OH)2 compared to the ethanal and ethanoic acid molecules respectively. However, for the selected temperature range (low temperatures) the variation of the adsorption energy remained within the same order of magnitude.La contaminación ambiental y el agotamiento de los combustibles fósiles han impulsado la búsqueda de fuentes alternativas de energía. Las celdas de combustible han ganado popularidad porque convierten directamente la energía química en energía eléctrica utilizable. Las celdas de combustibles alcalinas de etanol directo presentan cualidades prometedoras ya que pueden utilizar catalizadores diferentes a los metales nobles, disminuyendo su costo. Uno de los retos de esta tecnología es el diseño de nuevos catalizadores que aumenten la eficiencia de las celdas. El propósito de esta investigación fue utilizar los métodos de dinámica molecular, específicamente el programa AMS-REAXFF para determinar los coeficientes de difusión del etanol sobre una superficie β-Ni(OH)2 a diferentes temperaturas. Adicionalmente, se calcularon las energías de adsorción tanto del etanol como de sus productos de oxidación (etanal y ácido etanoico) sobre la superficie β-Ni(OH)2 a diferentes temperaturas. Los resultados obtenidos indican que el coeficiente de difusión del etanol aumenta proporcionalmente con la temperatura y el ajuste de mínimos cuadrados indica que cumple el modelo de Arrhenius. La energía de activación predicha es positiva, indicando la necesidad de suministrar energía al sistema para iniciar el proceso de difusión. De acuerdo con los resultados obtenidos para las energías de adsorción, la molécula de etanol presenta una menor afinidad hacia la superficie (001) del β-Ni(OH)2 en comparación con las moléculas de etanal y ácido etanoico respectivamente. Sin embargo, para el rango de temperaturas seleccionado (bajas temperaturas) la variación de la energía de adsorción se mantuvo dentro del mismo orden de magnitud

Application of Anodic Stripping Voltammetry to assess sorption performance of an industrial waste entrapped in alginate beads to remove As(V)

AbstractA solid waste material containing Fe(III) and other metal (hydr)oxides produced in a metal surface treatment industry has been investigated for As(V) removal. In order to facilitate sorbent application, 2% of raw material has been entrapped in calcium alginate gel matrix (2% O-CA).An accurate characterization of the sorption on gel beads was undertaken, considering thermodynamic and kinetic aspects. All experiments were carried out at pH 8, since the maximum As(V) sorption was reached between pH 6 and 9. About isotherms, the best fit was obtained considering the Langmuir model and a capacity of 1.9mg/g was achieved. The kinetic profiles evidenced that a quantitative sorption was obtained within 10h. The 2% O-CA beads were also tested for continuous As(V) removal in a fixed bed column. Experiments were performed at constant flow rate, and varying the inlet As(V) concentration. With a view to design an automatic system for As(V) analysis in the outlet flow, the suitability of applying Anodic Stripping Voltammetry was evaluated: the method resulted appropriated to follow the As(V) content in the outlet solutions of columns with metal inlet concentration <1 mg/L.These results suggested that 2% O-CA beads could be a promising sorbent candidate for As(V) removal

Common Variants in 22 Genes Regulate Response to Metformin Intervention in Children with Obesity: A Pharmacogenetic Study of a Randomized Controlled Trial

Metformin is a first-line oral antidiabetic agent that has shown additional effects in treating obesity and metabolic syndrome. Inter-individual variability in metformin response could be partially explained by the genetic component. Here, we aimed to test whether common genetic variants can predict the response to metformin intervention in obese children. The study was a multicenter and double-blind randomized controlled trial that was stratified according to sex and pubertal status in 160 children with obesity. Children were randomly assigned to receive either metformin (1g/d) or placebo for six months after meeting the defined inclusion criteria. We conducted a post hoc genotyping study in 124 individuals (59 placebo, 65 treated) comprising finally 231 genetic variants in candidate genes. We provide evidence for 28 common variants as promising pharmacogenetics regulators of metformin response in terms of a wide range of anthropometric and biochemical outcomes, including body mass index (BMI) Z-score, and glucose, lipid, and inflammatory traits. Although no association remained statistically significant after multiple-test correction, our findings support previously reported variants in metformin transporters or targets as well as identify novel and promising loci, such as the ADYC3 and the BDNF genes, with plausible biological relation to the metformin’s action mechanism. Trial Registration: Registered on the European Clinical Trials Database (EudraCT, ID: 2010-023061-21) on 14 November 2011 (URL: https://www.clinicaltrialsregister.eu/ctr-search/trial/2010-023061-21/ES).This research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Health, Social and Equality, General Department for Pharmacy and Health Products (codes and beneficiaries: EC10-243, Ramón Cañete, Reina Sofía Hospital, Córdoba; EC10-056, Ángel Gil, University of Granada and Virgen de las Nieves University Hospital, Granada; EC10-281, Rosaura Leis, Clinic University Hospital of Santiago, Santiago de Compostela; and EC10-227, Gloria Bueno, Lozano Blesa University Clinical Hospital, Zaragoza

Concepciones culturales sobre el dengue en contextos urbanos de México

OBJECTIVE: To explore the conceptual dimensions of dengue in the urban context, aiming at creating hypotheses about community attitudes toward prevention campaigns. METHODS: An exploratory cross-sectional study was carried out between March and April 2003 comprising 130 people selected by proposition sampling in three municipalities with different dengue prevalences in Mexico. Semi-structured interviews were applied using free lists, pile sorts and triads. Dengue-related terms and groups of conceptual dimensions were investigated. A consensual analysis was performed by factorizing the major components as well as a dimensional analysis with hierarchical clustering and multidimensional scales. RESULTS: The consensual model showed high homogeneity in dengue conceptions (values of 14.5 and 13.5 in the most prevalent contexts, and 5.4 in the least prevalent one). The common dimensions of conceptions were: preventive measures, symptoms, causes and reservoirs of Aedes aegypti (goodness of fit test values:OBJETIVO: Explorar las dimensiones conceptuales del dengue en contexto urbano, a fin de generar hipótesis sobre actitudes comunitarias relacionadas a campañas preventivas. MÉTODOS: Estudio transversal exploratorio realizado entre marzo y abril de 2003 con 130 personas seleccionadas por muestreo propositivo en tres municipios con distintas prevalencias de dengue en México. Se aplicaron entrevistas semiestructuradas mediante técnicas de listados libres, sorteo de montones y triadas. Se indagaron términos asociados al dengue y grupos de dimensiones conceptuales. Se aplicó análisis de consenso mediante factorización de componentes principales y análisis dimensional mediante conglomerados jerárquicos y escalas multidimensionales. RESULTADOS: El modelo de consenso mostró alta homogeneidad en las concepciones del dengue (valores de 14.5 y 13.5 en los contextos de más prevalencia y de 5.4 en el de menor prevalencia). Las dimensiones comunes en las concepciones fueron: medidas de prevención, síntomas, causas y reservorios de Aedes aegypti (valor de verosimilitud: stres

Evaluation of the gut microbiota after metformin intervention in children with obesity: A metagenomic study of a randomized controlled trial

Background: Metformin, a first-line oral antidiabetic agent that has shown promising results in terms of treating childhood and adolescent obesity, might influence the composition of the gut microbiota. We aimed to evaluate whether the gut microbiota of non-diabetic children with obesity changes after a metformin intervention. Methods: The study was a multicenter and double-blind randomized controlled trial in 160 children with obesity. Children were randomly assigned to receive either metformin (1 g/day) or placebo for 6 months in combination with healthy lifestyle recommendations in both groups. Then, we conducted a metagenomic analysis in a subsample obtained from 33 children (15 metformin, 18 placebo). A linear mixed-effects model (LMM) was used to determine the abundance changes from baseline to six months according to treatment. To analyze the data by clusters, a principal component analysis was performed to understand whether lifestyle habits have a different influence on the microbiota depending on the treatment group. Results: Actinobacteria abundance was higher after placebo treatment compared with metformin. However, the interaction time x treatment just showed a trend to be significant (4.6% to 8.1% after placebo vs. 3.8 % to 2.6 % after metformin treatment, p = 0.055). At genus level, only the abundance of Bacillus was significantly higher after the placebo intervention compared with metformin (2.5% to 5.7% after placebo vs. 1.5 % to 0.8 % after metformin treatment, p = 0.044). Furthermore, different ensembles formed by Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, and Verrucomicrobia were found according to the interventions under a similar food consumptionSpanish Ministry of Health, Social and Equality, General Department for Pharmacy and Health ProductsInstituto de Salud Carlos III-Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria (FONDOS FEDER), Redes temáticas de investigación cooperativa RETIC Red SAMID RD12/0026/001