The Learning Potential Assessment-2 in Yaqui Native American children

The aim of this study was to determine if the Learning Potential Assessment-2 (EPA-2) can be an adequate instrument for assessing the learning potential in Yaqui Native American children living in Sonora, Mexico. The participants were 89 students from three second grade primary schools divided into an experimental and control groups matched on IQ and age. Both groups were assessed by tests of intelligence. The experimental group was trained with a dynamic testing methodology. The results show a significant difference between the means of the posttest gain scores in the experimental and control groups with a high effect size. There was a temporary stability of the gained scores, because no significant difference between the posttest and the retest were found in a period of three months in the experimental group. In conclusion, the EPA-2 may be useful as dynamic testing for learning potential for this ethnic group and educational level

Proceso de decisión basado en la función de esparcimiento

First published in Revista de la Real Academia de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales. Serie A. Matemáticas in 93, 4 (1999) published by the Real Academia de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales.En este artículo, se estudia un proceso de decisión de exponencialidad basado en la función de esparcimiento para observaciones no censuradas. Existen muchos tests en la literatura estadística cuando la distribución de la hipótesis alternativa en N.B.U.E. y, usando métodos de simulación, comprobamos que es más potente que los clásicos propuestos

Potential Use of Annona Genus Plants Leaf Extracts to Produce Bioactive Transdermal Patches by Supercritical Solvent Impregnation

The objective of the present work was to develop a bioactive transdermal patch functionalized with Annona leaf extracts (ALE) by means of supercritical impregnation technique. The potential of six different Annona leaf extracts (ALE) obtained with the enhanced solvent system formed by carbon dioxide + ethanol/acetone was evaluated taking into account the antioxidant activity, total phenol composition and global extraction yields. For the impregnation of ALE, two drug supporting systems were tested: hydrocolloid sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (NaCMC) and polyester dressings (PD). The effect of the impregnation conditions, including pressure (P), temperature (T), percent of co-solvent (ethanol) and ALE/polymer mass ratio, was determined with regard to the loading and the functional activity of the impregnated samples. The optimal impregnation conditions of ALE were established at 55 degrees C and 300 bar which led to obtained transdermal patches with antioxidant and antimicrobial capacity. In order to understand the behavior of the process, the homogeneity of the samples in the vessels was also evaluated. The best results were obtained at higher proportions of co-solvent in the system.The authors would like to thank the research group in "The Institute for Mediterranean and Subtropical Horticulture La Mayora (IHSM)" (CSIC, Malaga, Spain) for providing the raw material and for their support. This research was funded by Junta de Andalucia-FEDER funds 2014-2020, project P18-RT-3272, the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology, project CTQ2017-86661-R and the European Regional Development Fund(ERDF)

High-Pressure fractionation of tropical fruits with potential antibacterial activity: M. indica L. and B. Guineensis

The great interest in the potential health benefits of tropical fruits is due to their high content of antioxidants and phytochemicals. Colombia ranks as the second country with the major biodiversity worldwide. B. guineensis (Arecaceae) is a palm that grows in Colombia and Central America. The purple-black fruits of this plant are rich in thermal-stable anthocyanins. M. indica L. (Anacardiaceae) is a great source of phenolic compounds. It has multiple functional properties including antioxidant, antimicrobial, antidiabetic and anticarcinogenic activities. In this work, high-pressure extraction techniques: supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) and enhanced solvent extraction (ESE), and two different fractionation techniques: i) cascade fractionation and ii) sequential fractionation were applied. Fractions were analyzed by means of their phenolic content, antioxidant activity, and antibacterial activity against different bacterial strains: E. coli, P. mirabilis, S. Aurerus, S. enteritidis, E. aerogenes and P. aeruginosa. The sequential fractionation of B. guineensis pulp consisted in three steps: 1) supercritical CO2, 2) CO2 + 50% ethanol, and 3) CO2/EtOH/H2O (50:25:25). A red fraction rich in phenolic compounds, high antioxidant and antibacterial capacity (inhibition zone ~ 10 mm) was obtained in the last step. A cascade fractionation of M. indica leaves using CO2 + 50% H2O and three separators (S1, S2 and S3) was evaluated. Fractions obtained in S1 and S2 presented antioxidant capacity and antibacterial activity against P. mirabilis, and S2 also against S. Aureus and Salmonella

Application of a Natural Antioxidant from Grape Pomace Extract in the Development of Bioactive Jute Fibers for Food Packaging

There is an increasing demand for the use of new food packaging materials. In this study, natural jute fibers impregnated with a Petit Verdot Red Grape Pomace Extract (RGPE) was proposed as a new active food packaging material. Pressurized Liquid Extraction (PLE) and Enhanced Solvent Extraction (ESE) techniques were employed to obtain the bioactive RGPE. Afterward the supercritical solvent impregnation conditions to obtain RGPE-natural jute fibers were studied, by varying pressure, modifier percentage and dried RGPE mass. PLE technique offered the highest bioactive extract at 20 MPa, 55 degrees C, 1 h residence time using C2H5OH:H2O (1:1 v/v), providing an EC50 of 3.35 +/- 0.25 and antibacterial capacity against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MIC of 12.0, 1.5 and 4.0 mg/mL RGPE respectively). The natural jute fibers impregnated with 3 mL of that RGPE (90 mg/mL) at 50 MPa and 55 degrees C generated the most efficient packing material with regards to its food preservation potential

The effects of mango leaf extract during adolescence and adulthood in a rat model of schizophrenia.

There is evidence that in schizophrenia, imbalances in inflammatory and oxidative processes occur during pregnancy and in the early postnatal period, generating interest in the potential therapeutic efficacy of anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compounds. Mangiferin is a polyphenolic compound abundant in the leaves of Mangifera indica L. that has robust antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, making it a potential candidate for preventive or co-adjuvant therapy in schizophrenia. Hence, this study set-out to evaluate the effect of mango leaf extract (MLE) in a model of schizophrenia based on maternal immune activation, in which Poly I:C (4 mg/kg) is administered intravenously to pregnant rats. Young adult (postnatal day 60-70) or adolescent (postnatal day 35-49) male offspring received MLE (50 mg/kg of mangiferin) daily, and the effects of MLE in adolescence were compared to those of risperidone, assessing behavior, brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and oxidative/inflammatory and antioxidant mediators in the adult offspring. MLE treatment in adulthood reversed the deficit in prepulse inhibition (PPI) but it failed to attenuate the sensitivity to amphetamine and the deficit in novel object recognition (NOR) induced. By contrast, adolescent MLE treatment prevented the sensorimotor gating deficit in the PPI test, producing an effect similar to that of risperidone. This MLE treatment also produced a reduction in grooming behavior, but it had no effect on anxiety or novel object recognition memory. MRI studies revealed that adolescent MLE administration partially counteracted the cortical shrinkage, and cerebellum and ventricle enlargement. In addition, MLE administration in adolescence reduced iNOS mediated inflammatory activation and it promoted the expression of biomarkers of compensatory antioxidant activity in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, as witnessed through the reduction of Keap1 and the accumulation of NRF2 and HO1. Together, these findings suggest that MLE might be an alternative therapeutic or preventive add-on strategy to improve the clinical expression of schizophrenia in adulthood, while also modifying the time course of this disease at earlier stages in populations at high-risk.EB, JAG-P and ST-S work was supported by the “Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional” (FEDER)-UE “A way to build Europe” from the “Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad” (RTI2018-099778-B-I00); from the “Plan Nacional sobre Drogas, Ministerio de Sanidad, Consumo y Bienestar Social” (2019I041); from the “Ministerio de Salud-Instituto de Salud Carlos III” (PI18/01691); from the “Programa Operativo de Andalucía FEDER, Iniciativa Territorial Integrada ITI 2014-2020 Consejería Salud y Familias, Junta de Andalucía” (PI-0080- 2017, PI-0009-2017), “Consejería de Salud y Familias, Junta de Andalucía” (PI-0134-2018 and PEMP-0008-2020); from the “Consejería de Transformación Económica, Industria, Conocimiento y Universidad, Junta de Andalucía” (P20_00958 and CTS-510); from the CEIMAR (CEIJ-003); from the “Instituto de Investigación e Innovación en Ciencias Biomédicas de Cádiz-INiBICA” (LI19/06IN-CO22; IN-C09); from the “CIBERSAM”: CIBER-Consorcio Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red- (CB07/09/0033), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación and from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 955684. CM, LC and MTF-P were supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology (PID2020- 116229RB-I00) and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). KM and JCL were supported by the “MICINN” (PID2019-109033RB-I00) and the “CIBERSAM”: CIBERConsorcio Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red- (CB07/ 09/0026), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación. MLS-M was supported by the “Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación, Instituto de Salud Carlos III” (PI17/ 01766, BA21/00030), co-financed by European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), “A way to make Europe”; from the “CIBERSAM”: CIBERConsorcio Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red- (CB07/09/0031), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación; from the “Delegación del Gobierno para el Plan Nacional sobre Drogas” (2017/085); from the “Fundación Mapfre” and “Fundación Alicia Koplowitz.” MD work was supported by the “Ministerio de Ciencia e In review 18/ 28 Innovación” (MCIN) and “Instituto de Salud Carlos III” (ISCIII) (PT20/00044); from the “CIBERSAM” CIBERConsorcio Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red-(CB07/ 09/0031). The CNIC is supported by the ISCIII, the MCIN and the Pro CNIC Foundation, and is a Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence (SEV-2015-0505).S

Can the Cytokine Profile According to ABO Blood Groups Be Related to Worse Outcome in COVID-19 Patients? Yes, They Can

Producción CientíficaSevere status of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is extremely associated to cytokine release. Moreover, it has been suggested that blood group is also associated with the prevalence and severity of this disease. However, the relationship between the cytokine profile and blood group remains unclear in COVID-19 patients. In this sense, we prospectively recruited 108 COVID-19 patients between March and April 2020 and divided according to ABO blood group. For the analysis of 45 cytokines, plasma samples were collected in the time of admission to hospital ward or intensive care unit and at the sixth day after hospital admission. The results show that there was a risk of more than two times lower of mechanical ventilation or death in patients with blood group O (log rank: p = 0.042). At first time, all statistically significant cytokine levels, except from hepatocyte growth factor, were higher in O blood group patients meanwhile the second time showed a significant drop, between 20% and 40%. In contrast, A/B/AB group presented a maintenance of cytokine levels during time. Hepatocyte growth factor showed a significant association with intubation or mortality risk in non-O blood group patients (OR: 4.229, 95% CI (2.064–8.665), p < 0.001) and also was the only one bad prognosis biomarker in O blood group patients (OR: 8.852, 95% CI (1.540–50.878), p = 0.015). Therefore, higher cytokine levels in O blood group are associated with a better outcome than A/B/AB group in COVID-19 patients.Instituto de Salud Carlos III (grant COV20/00491)Junta de Castilla y León (grant 18IGOF

Development and internal validation of a multifactorial risk prediction model for gallbladder cancer in a high-incidence country

Since 2006, Chile has been implementing a gallbladder cancer (GBC) prevention program based on prophylactic cholecystectomy for gallstone patients aged 35 to 49 years. The effectiveness of this prevention program has not yet been comprehensively evaluated. We conducted a retrospective study of 473 Chilean GBC patients and 2137 population-based controls to develop and internally validate three GBC risk prediction models. The Baseline Model accounted for gallstones while adjusting for sex and birth year. Enhanced Model I also included the non-genetic risk factors: body mass index, educational level, Mapuche surnames, number of children and family history of GBC. Enhanced Model II further included Mapuche ancestry and the genotype for rs17209837. Multiple Cox regression was applied to assess the predictive performance, quantified by the area under the precision-recall curve (AUC-PRC) and the number of cholecystectomies needed (NCN) to prevent one case of GBC at age 70 years. The AUC-PRC for the Baseline Model (0.44%, 95%CI 0.42-0.46) increased by 0.22 (95%CI 0.15-0.29) when non-genetic factors were included, and by 0.25 (95%CI 0.20-0.30) when incorporating non-genetic and genetic factors. The overall NCN for Chileans with gallstones (115, 95%CI 104-131) decreased to 92 (95%CI 60-128) for Chileans with a higher risk than the median according to Enhanced Model I, and to 80 (95%CI 59-110) according to Enhanced Model II. In conclusion, age, sex and gallstones are strong risk factors for GBC, but consideration of other non-genetic factors and individual genotype data improves risk prediction and may optimize allocation of financial resources and surgical capacity.Fil: Boekstegers, Felix. Ruprecht Karls Universitat Heidelberg; AlemaniaFil: Scherer, Dominique. Ruprecht Karls Universitat Heidelberg; AlemaniaFil: Barahona Ponce, Carol. Ruprecht Karls Universitat Heidelberg; AlemaniaFil: Marcelain, Katherine. Universidad de Chile; ChileFil: Gárate Calderón, Valentina. Universidad de Chile; ChileFil: Waldenberger, Melanie. No especifíca;Fil: Morales, Erik. Universidad Católica de Maule; ChileFil: Rojas, Armando. Universidad Católica de Maule; ChileFil: Munoz, César. Universidad Católica de Maule; ChileFil: Retamales, Javier. Instituto Nacional del Cáncer; ChileFil: de Toro, Gonzalo. Universidad Austral de Chile; ChileFil: Barajas, Olga. Universidad de Chile; ChileFil: Rivera, María Teresa. Hospital del Salvador; ChileFil: Cortés, Analía. Hospital del Salvador; ChileFil: Loader, Denisse. Hospital Padre Hurtado; ChileFil: Saavedra, Javiera. Hospital Padre Hurtado; ChileFil: Gutiérrez, Lorena. Hospital San Juan de Dios; ChileFil: Ortega, Alejandro. Hospital Regional; ChileFil: Bertrán, Maria Enriqueta. Hospital Base de Valdivia; ChileFil: Bartolotti, Leonardo. Hospital Base de Valdivia; ChileFil: Gabler, Fernando. Hospital Clínico San Borja Arriarán; ChileFil: Campos, Mónica. Hospital Clínico San Borja Arriarán; ChileFil: Alvarado, Juan. Hospital Regional de Concepción - Dr. Guillermo Grant Benavente; ChileFil: Moisán, Fabricio. Hospital Regional de Concepción - Dr. Guillermo Grant Benavente; ChileFil: Spencer, Loreto. Hospital Regional de Concepción - Dr. Guillermo Grant Benavente; ChileFil: Nervi, Bruno. No especifíca;Fil: Carvajal Hausdorf, Daniel. Universidad del Desarrollo; ChileFil: Losada, Héctor. Universidad de La Frontera; ChileFil: Almau, Mauricio. Hospital de Rancagua; ChileFil: Fernández, Plinio. Hospital de Rancagua; ChileFil: Olloquequi, Jordi. Universidad de Barcelona; EspañaFil: Fuentes Guajardo, Macarena. Universidad de Tarapacá; ChileFil: Gonzalez-Jose, Rolando. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Instituto Patagónico de Ciencias Sociales y Humanas; ArgentinaFil: Bortolini, Maria Cátira. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Acuña Alonzo, Victor. No especifíca;Fil: Gallo, Carla. Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia; PerúFil: Ruiz-Linares, Andres. Colegio Universitario de Londres; Reino UnidoFil: Rothhammer, Francisco. Universidad de Tarapacá; ChileFil: Lorenzo Bermejo, Justo. Ruprecht Karls Universitat Heidelberg; Alemani

The effects of mango leaf extract during adolescence and adulthood in a rat model of schizophrenia

There is evidence that in schizophrenia, imbalances in inflammatory and oxidative processes occur during pregnancy and in the early postnatal period, generating interest in the potential therapeutic efficacy of anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compounds. Mangiferin is a polyphenolic compound abundant in the leaves of Mangifera indica L. that has robust antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, making it a potential candidate for preventive or co-adjuvant therapy in schizophrenia. Hence, this study set-out to evaluate the effect of mango leaf extract (MLE) in a model of schizophrenia based on maternal immune activation, in which Poly I:C (4 mg/kg) is administered intravenously to pregnant rats. Young adult (postnatal day 60–70) or adolescent (postnatal day 35–49) male offspring received MLE (50 mg/kg of mangiferin) daily, and the effects of MLE in adolescence were compared to those of risperidone, assessing behavior, brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and oxidative/inflammatory and antioxidant mediators in the adult offspring. MLE treatment in adulthood reversed the deficit in prepulse inhibition (PPI) but it failed to attenuate the sensitivity to amphetamine and the deficit in novel object recognition (NOR) induced. By contrast, adolescent MLE treatment prevented the sensorimotor gating deficit in the PPI test, producing an effect similar to that of risperidone. This MLE treatment also produced a reduction in grooming behavior, but it had no effect on anxiety or novel object recognition memory. MRI studies revealed that adolescent MLE administration partially counteracted the cortical shrinkage, and cerebellum and ventricle enlargement. In addition, MLE administration in adolescence reduced iNOS mediated inflammatory activation and it promoted the expression of biomarkers of compensatory antioxidant activity in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, as witnessed through the reduction of Keap1 and the accumulation of NRF2 and HO1. Together, these findings suggest that MLE might be an alternative therapeutic or preventive add-on strategy to improve the clinical expression of schizophrenia in adulthood, while also modifying the time course of this disease at earlier stages in populations at high-risk