Rol del PET/CT en epilepsia

ResumenEl PET (Positron Emission Tomography) con F18-Fluorodeoxiglucosa (FDG) es un examen ampliamente utilizado en el estudio de epilepsia refractaria, constituyendo en la actualidad un pilar fundamental en la evaluación quirúrgica. El PET proporciona una traducción funcional de la lesión morfológica y puede pesquisar otras áreas epileptógenas temporales y extratemporales no visibles con los métodos tradicionales. Su alta sensibilidad y positividad aún con Resonancia Magnética (RM) negativa, hace posible optar a la resección quirúrgica en pacientes que de otra manera no podrían operarse, obteniendo sujetos libres de crisis en hasta el 80% de las epilepsias temporales. El PET es realizado eminentemente en fase interictal y posee una sensibilidad de 90% en focos temporales y 50 a 70% en focos extratemporales. El PET “ictal” y el uso de radiofármacos distintos del F18-FDG son alternativas válidas en ciertos casos de epilepsia, especialmente extratemporal. Es posible que el uso del PET en epilepsia siga aumentando debido a la cada vez mayor disponibilidad del método y su consiguiente menor costo.SummaryF18-FDG PET (Positron Emission Tomography) has been widely used in refractory epilepsy, and today represents a main issue for surgical evaluation. PET provides a functional translation for a morphological lesion, and can inquire for others temporal an extra-temporal epileptogenic focus, which can be not evident with traditional image methods. Its high sensibility even having negative MRI, allows considering surgical resection in another wise no surgical patients, getting free seizure subjects in until 80% temporal epilepsy cases. PET scan is doing normally in interictal condition, and shows sensibility of 90% for temporal and 50-70% for extratemporal epilepsy. The “ictal” PET or a PET using other radiotracer different to F18-FDG are valid alternatives in some cases, especially in extratemporal epilepsy. It is possible that utilization of PET in epilepsy remains increasing owing to its progressive higher availability and consequently lower cost

Medición de valor en riesgo en cartera de clientes a través de modelos logísticos y simulación de Montecarlo

Los credit score son análisis discriminatorios que proporcionan herramientas de decisión para evaluar los riesgos de crédito en una entidad financiera -- El establecer los parámetros de riesgo de impago de los clientes ayuda a mitigar las pérdidas monetarias que afectan directamente en activos y patrimonio -- Estos parámetros calculados con modelos logísticos, combinados con simulaciones Montecarlo basados en distribuciones Bernoulli y niveles de confianza (VaR) aportan una herramienta dinámica que puede estructurar nuevas políticas de productos financieros y mejoramiento de análisis de pérdida -- Para este trabajo se toma la información de los clientes de una cooperativa de ahorro y crédito ubicada en Armenia – Quindío y de la cual se obtuvo un modelo establecido en 10 variables socioeconómicas las cuales arrojaron un modelo discriminatorio logístico, en el que se la cartera de clientes que aún tienen sus créditos en pago, mostrando el riesgo de impago de la siguiente cuota y su interpretació

Enteric Methane and Nitrogen Emissions in Beef Cattle Grazing a Tannin-Containing Legume Relative to Feedlot and Traditional Pasture-Based Production Systems

Beef cattle production is highly criticized because of the high use of land and water resources, and by the pollution (e.g., the gas methane in a cow’s breath and nitrogen in urine) produced by cows fed in feedlots. In contrast to feedlots diets and grasses, some plants (e.g., legumes) contain bioactive compounds (condensed tannins) that reduce pollution and enhance animal nutrition. In my research, I observed that cows grazing a tannin-containing legume (birdsfoot trefoil; BFT) had methane emissions similar to cows fed a feedlot ration with comparable weight gains. Cows in the BFT treatment gained more weight than cows grazing grass (meadow brome) or a legume without tannins (cicer milkvetch). Additionally, I estimated the potential areas in the state of Utah than can sustain birdsfoot trefoil production, with 412,250 ha distributed mostly in the Box elder, Cache, Millard and Sanpete counties. Thus, feeding tannin-containing legumes to cows is a viable alternative to feedlot rations, with greater levels of productivity than other pasture-based systems, which can lead to a more sustainable production of beef

Estimating the intensity of price and non-price competition in banking

We model bank oligopoly behaviour using price and non-price competition as strategic variables in an expanded conjectural variations framework. Rivals can respond to changes in both loan and deposit market prices as well as (non-price) branch market shares. The model is illustrated using data for Spain which, over 1986-2002, eliminated interest rate and branching restrictions and set off a competitive race to lock-in expanded market shares. Banks use both interest rates and branches as strategic variables and both have changed over time. We illustrate the results using a regional vs. a national specification for the relevant markets.non-price competition, banking, market shares

A stratification of moduli of arbitrarily singular curves

We construct a stratification $\bigsqcup_\Gamma \mathscr{E}_\Gamma$ of moduli of arbitrarily singular reduced curves indexed by generalized dual graphs and prove that each stratum is a fiber bundle over a finite quotient of a product of $\mathcal{M}_{g,n}$'s. The fibers are locally closed subschemes of products of Ishii's "territories," projective moduli schemes parametrizing subalgebras of a fixed algebra. The setting for our stratification is a new moduli stack $\mathscr{E}_{g,n}$ of "equinormalized curves" which is a minor modification of the moduli space of all reduced, connected curves. We prove algebraicity of substacks $\mathscr{E}^{\delta,\delta'}_{g,n}$ where invariants $\delta, \delta'$ are fixed, coarsely stratifying $\mathscr{E}_{g,n}$, then refine this to the desired stratification $\mathscr{E}_\Gamma$. A key technical ingredient is the introduction of the invariant $\delta'$ which allows us to ensure conductors commute with base change.Comment: Corrected definition 1.7, added section comparing territories with crimping spaces. 37 pages, 4 figures. Comments very welcome

Cognitive reserve mediates the severity of certain neuropsychological deficits related to cocaine use disorder

Introduction: The concept of cognitive reserve (CR) is being considered in the field of substance use disorder (SUD) by observing that there are individuals whose brain alterations are not related to the cognitive symptomatology they present. Aims: Our aims were to characterise the possible neuropsychological deficits in a sample of subjects with SUD compared to a control group and to determine whether the degree of CR is a mediator in the cognitive functioning of these patients. Methods: To perform these objectives, the study involved a sample of subjects with SUD in outpatient treatment and a control group. A CR questionnaire and a comprehensive neuropsychological assessment were administered, and we also collected data related to drug consumption and psychological well-being. Results: The SUD group showed poorer performance compared to the control group in several cognitive domains (attention, declarative memory, executive functions and emotional perception), as well as in psychological comfort. Interestingly, we observed that the deficits found in attention, declarative memory and executive functions were mediated by the CR level of the participants, an effect that we did not observe in the rest of the variables registered. Conclusion: Our results suggest that long-term drug consumption leads to cognitive deficits and affects the psychological well-being of the subjects. Moreover, the CR should be taken into account during the assessment and rehabilitation of patients with SUD due to its protective role against certain neuropsychological deficits.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Determinación de coeficiente de endogamia de la población Holstein de Antioquia

En los hatos lecheros de Colombia, la endogamia se ha convertido en un aspecto importante por medio del cual se pierde la diversidad genética en los animales y o la heterocigocidad de los mismos, reflejándose en manifestación de numerosos problemas genotípicos y fenotípicos en el hato y aumentando la probabilidad de heredar a las siguientes generaciones alelos asociados a defectos genéticos, lo que se traduce finalmente en una reducción de la capacidad de adaptación de los animales al medio ambiente y un aumento en el riesgo de extinción. Razón por la cual se realizó la determinación del coeficiente de endogamia en una población lechera Holstein de Antioquia, mediante el uso de una base de datos de más de 7000 animales, completando su genealogía usando la base de datos dairy Bulls, para construir un pedigrí mediante el software pedigree viewer, adicionalmente se tomaron 160 animales genotipados con el chip BovineLD los cuales fueron usados para reconstruir la matriz G, y a partir de esto calcular la endogamia molecular. El análisis de los 20 toros mas usados, arrojó que 4 de estos compartían abuelo paterno. Es por esto, que es de gran importancia conocer y llevar un control de la endogamia para mantener variabilidad genética y así evitar los problemas que conlleva. Se encontró que la información genealógica fue muy incompleta en todos los casos, lo que hace que la endogamia sea subestimada por falta de información. La máxima endogamia por pedigrí fue de 0.026% y la matriz de relaciones genómicas permitió estimarla en 2.75%, valores muy diferentes entre sí. En general se concluye que la información genealógica de la región es pobre para estimar la verdadera endogamia de la población y en estos casos la información molecular es particularmente ventajosa

Estimating the intensity of price and non-price competition in banking: an application to the Spanish case

We model bank oligopoly behaviour using price and non-price competition as strategic variables in an expanded conjectural variations framework. Rivals can respond to changes in both loan and deposit market prices as well as (non-price) branch market shares. The model is illustrated using data for Spain which, over 1986-2002, eliminated interest rate and branching restrictions and set off a competitive race to lock-in expanded market shares. Banks use both interest rates and branches as strategic variables and both have changed over time. We illustrate the results using a regional vs. a national specification for the relevant markets. (97 words)non-price competition, banking, market shares