Intelligent Monitoring of Rocket Test Systems

Stephanie Rocha is an undergraduate student pursuing a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Esteban Duran is pursuing a degree in Computer Science. Our mentor is Fernando Figueroa. Our project involved developing Intelligent Health Monitoring at the High Pressure Gas Facility (HPGF) utilizing the software GensymG2

Evaluación económica de estrategias de cobertura en las exportaciones de cacao ecuatoriano en los mercados de futuros. Período 2008-2013

AgriculturaLa Economía ecuatoriana se ha caracterizado por ser exportadora de materias primas, entre las cuales se encuentra el cacao. Producto que mantiene una historia estrechamente relacionada con la economía ecuatoriana, llegando a ser el producto de mayor exportación y el cual permitió la acumulación de capital y desarrollo del Ecuador.The Ecuadorian economy has been characterized by being an exporter of raw materials, including cocoa is. Product maintains a closely related story with the Ecuadorian economy, becoming the largest export product and which allowed capital accumulation and development of Ecuador

Salivary Cortisol Analysis in Collegiate Female Lacrosse Athletes

International Journal of Exercise Science 16(6): 242-251, 2023. Cortisol is a hormone that corresponds to physiological and emotional stress. The purpose of this study was to 1) evaluate the changes in cortisol in female Division I collegiate lacrosse players (n = 15) throughout the competitive season, and 2) evaluate the correlation between cortisol and athlete wellness and workload. Salivary cortisol samples were collected weekly in the morning throughout the entirety of the 2021 competitive season (12 weeks). Subjective athlete total wellness scores and sub-scores (muscle soreness, sleep quality, fatigue, and stress) were taken on the same days. Objective total weekly Athlete Load (AL, an amalgam workload metric) were tabulated from the previous training week. A significant effect of time was found on wellness (p \u3c 0.001) and AL (p \u3c 0.001) over the twelve weeks with weekly differences, such as weeks with more than one game, weeks with no games, weeks with students in quarantine (not competing), or weeks with academic stressors such as final exams. There were no weekly differences in cortisol (p = 0.058). Cortisol had negligible correlations with wellness (r = -0.010, p = 0.889) and AL (r = 0.083, p = 0.272) during the competitive season. These findings suggest that cortisol changed little for athletes throughout the season although training volume and wellness did. Thus, assessing acute responses of cortisol may prove to be more beneficial to evaluating athletes’ stress

Análisis de gestión de defensa jurídica del personal de salud del Hospital Víctor Ramos Guardia, ante violencia suscitada por pacientes y familiares

La presente investigación parte del problema general ¿De qué manera jurídica se vulneran los derechos del personal de salud? Asimismo, como objetivo general fue determinar si existe una idónea gestión de la defensa jurídica. El método utilizado fue el enfoque cualitativo, de tipo básica, con un diseño exploratorio y de diseño especifico revisión documental. La población y muestra a utilizarse, fueron 16 participantes: 06 expertos especializados en Derecho Administrativo y 10 participantes del personal de salud, que cumplieron con los criterios de inclusión. En adición a ello, como instrumentos aplicados para la obtención de información, fueron la guía de entrevista a profundidad y la guía de revisión documental, aplicando para el análisis de exploratorio

Genome-Wide DNA Methylation Profiling of Human Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy in Subjects with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

DNA methylation is an epigenetic mechanism important for the regulation of gene expression, which plays a vital role in the interaction between genetic and environmental factors. Aberrant epigenetic changes are implicated in the pathogenesis of diabetes and diabetic complications, but the role of DNA methylation in diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is not well understood. Therefore, our aim in this study was to explore the role of DNA methylation in the progression of DPN in type 2 diabetes. We compared genome-wide DNA methylation profiles of human sural nerve biopsies from subjects with stable or improving nerve fibre counts to biopsies from subjects with progressive loss of nerve fibres. Nerve fibre counts were determined by comparing myelinated nerve fibre densities between an initial and repeat biopsy separated by 52 weeks. Subjects with significant nerve regeneration (regenerators) and subjects with significant nerve degeneration (degenerators) represent the two extreme DPN phenotypes. Using reduced representation bisulfite sequencing, we identified 3,460 differentially methylated CpG dinucleotides between the two groups. The genes associated with differentially methylated CpGs were highly enriched in biological processes that have previously been implicated in DPN such as nervous system development, neuron development, and axon guidance, as well as glycerophospholipid metabolism and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signalling. These findings are the first to provide a comprehensive analysis of DNA methylation profiling in human sural nerves of subjects with DPN and suggest that epigenetic regulation has an important role in the progression of this prevalent diabetic complication

Association between community-level social risk and spending among Medicare beneficiaries: Implications for social risk adjustment and health equity

IMPORTANCE: Payers are increasingly using approaches to risk adjustment that incorporate community-level measures of social risk with the goal of better aligning value-based payment models with improvements in health equity. OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between community-level social risk and health care spending and explore how incorporating community-level social risk influences risk adjustment for Medicare beneficiaries. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Using data from a Medicare Advantage plan linked with survey data on self-reported social needs, this cross-sectional study estimated health care spending health care spending was estimated as a function of demographics and clinical characteristics, with and without the inclusion of Area Deprivation Index (ADI), a measure of community-level social risk. The study period was January to December 2019. All analyses were conducted from December 2021 to August 2022. EXPOSURES: Census block group-level ADI. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Regression models estimated total health care spending in 2019 and approximated different approaches to social risk adjustment. Model performance was assessed with overall model calibration (adjusted R2) and predictive accuracy (ratio of predicted to actual spending) for subgroups of potentially vulnerable beneficiaries. RESULTS: Among a final study population of 61 469 beneficiaries (mean [SD] age, 70.7 [8.9] years; 35 801 [58.2%] female; 48 514 [78.9%] White; 6680 [10.9%] with Medicare-Medicaid dual eligibility; median [IQR] ADI, 61 [42-79]), ADI was weakly correlated with self-reported social needs (r = 0.16) and explained only 0.02% of the observed variation in spending. Conditional on demographic and clinical characteristics, every percentile increase in the ADI (ie, more disadvantage) was associated with a $11.08 decrease in annual spending. Directly incorporating ADI into a risk-adjustment model that used demographics and clinical characteristics did not meaningfully improve model calibration (adjusted R2 = 7.90% vs 7.93%) and did not significantly reduce payment inequities for rural beneficiaries and those with a high burden of self-reported social needs. A postestimation adjustment of predicted spending for dual-eligible beneficiaries residing in high ADI areas also did not significantly reduce payment inequities for rural beneficiaries or beneficiaries with self-reported social needs. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In this cross-sectional study of Medicare beneficiaries, the ADI explained little variation in health care spending, was negatively correlated with spending conditional on demographic and clinical characteristics, and was poorly correlated with self-reported social risk factors. This prompts caution and nuance when using community-level measures of social risk such as the ADI for social risk adjustment within Medicare value-based payment programs

C3G downregulation induces the acquisition of a mesenchymal phenotype that enhances aggressiveness of glioblastoma cells

© The Author(s) 2021.Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most aggressive tumor from the central nervous system (CNS). The current lack of efficient therapies makes essential to find new treatment strategies. C3G, a guanine nucleotide exchange factor for some Ras proteins, plays a dual role in cancer, but its function in GBM remains unknown. Database analyses revealed a reduced C3G mRNA expression in GBM patient samples. C3G protein levels were also decreased in a panel of human GBM cell lines as compared to astrocytes. Based on this, we characterized C3G function in GBM using in vitro and in vivo human GBM models. We report here that C3G downregulation promoted the acquisition of a more mesenchymal phenotype that enhanced the migratory and invasive capacity of GBM cells. This facilitates foci formation in anchorage-dependent and -independent growth assays and the generation of larger tumors in xenografts and chick chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assays, but with a lower cell density, as proliferation was reduced. Mechanistically, C3G knock-down impairs EGFR signaling by reducing cell surface EGFR through recycling inhibition, while upregulating the activation of several other receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) that might promote invasion. In particular, FGF2, likely acting through FGFR1, promoted invasion of C3G-silenced GBM cells. Moreover, ERKs mediate this invasiveness, both in response to FGF2- and serum-induced chemoattraction. In conclusion, our data show the distinct dependency of GBM tumors on C3G for EGF/EGFR signaling versus other RTKs, suggesting that assessing C3G levels may discriminate GBM patient responders to different RTK inhibition protocols. Hence, patients with a low C3G expression might not respond to EGFR inhibitors.This work was supported by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness [SAF2016-76588-C2-1-R and PID2019-104143RB-C22 to AP; and SAF2016-76588-C2-2-R and PID2019-104143RB-C21 to CG], and by two grants from the Council of Education of Junta de Castilla y León, Spain [SA017U16 and SA078P20 to CG]. All funding was cosponsored by the European FEDER Program. SM and OH are recipients of FPU fellowships from Spanish Ministry of Education. CS was supported by a fellowship from Complutense University from Madrid. A G-U and MRF are supported by Madrid Community Program for Talent Attraction (MRF 2017-T1/BMD-5468). P. B. received support from BBVA (Becas Leonardo 2018, BBM-TRA-0041)