Verificación del desempeño de la secretaria administrativa y financiera en la gestión tributaria del municipio de Acacias Meta - periodo 2010 a 2013.

Imágenes y GráficasEl presente trabajo, verifica el desempeño de la Secretaria Administrativa y Financiera en la gestión tributaria del municipio de Acacias, Meta, en el período 2010 a 2013 y analiza el sistema y desempeño tributario como estrategia para la consecución de mayores recursos para el municipio en pro de mejorar y ofrecer mejores servicios a la comunidad. Asimismo el trabajo destaca la manera en que la estructura administrativa contribuye en el avance de las políticas tributarias, reflejadas en el desarrollo de sus funciones y propone un modelo Administrativo con ajustes importantes frente al modelo actual para hacerlo más eficaz, eficiente y productivo.This work verifies the performance of the Secretary of Administration and Finance in tax administration of the municipality of Acacias, Meta, in the period 2010-2013 and analyzes the system and tax performance as a strategy for achieving more resources to pro Township to improve and provide better services to the community. Work also highlights how the administrative structure contributes to the advancement of taxation policies, reflected in the development of their administrative functions and proposes a model with important settings from the current model to make it more effective, efficient and productive

Effects of a Green Oat Herb Extract on Cognitive Performance and Neurophysiological Activity : A Randomized Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Study

Green oat extracts have been used for centuries in traditional medicine in view of their supposed beneficial effects on cognition and mood. Recently, a specific green oat formulation (Neuravena) showed to have significant bioactive compounds potentially associated with the enhancement of processing speed, working memory and attention. The main aim of the current study was to compare the potential effect of acute administration of 800 mg of Neuravena with placebo on a set of neurophysiological correlates of processing speed, attention, performance-monitoring and inhibitory control. Twenty healthy participants were randomized to receive either Neuravena or placebo. Electroencephalographic (EEG) signal acquisition was obtained while participants carried out the modified Eriksen flanker and oddball tasks. Both groups were compared on measures of behavioral task performance, and a set of event-related potentials (ERPs) components related to performance monitoring (the error-related negativity; ERN and the N2), target detection, and attention (P3a/P3b). Following active-intervention N2, ERN, and P3a/P3b were significantly reduced and performance was faster, with no loss of accuracy. Conversely, no neurophysiological differences were found in the placebo group before and after treatment and performance worsened significantly in terms of reaction time and accuracy. Acute administration of 800 mg of Neuravena appears to enhance the optimization of neural resources and positively influences cognitive performance in tasks associated with executive functions, processing speed and attention. Moreover, Neuravena prevents the deleterious effects of tiredness during task performance

La importància de l'avaluació cognitiva i conductual en la malaltia de Parkinson

La malaltia de Parkinson és una malaltia neurodegenerativa progressiva que afecta el sistema nerviós central, el que provoca l'aparició de símptomes motors i no motors. En aquest article, s'hi destaca la importància d'avaluar i estandarditzar els símptomes no motors, és a dir, el deteriorament cognitiu i alteracions conductuals, per un millor seguiment i tractament d'aquesta malaltia.La enfermedad de Parkinson es una enfermedad neurodegenerativa progresiva que afecta el sistema nervioso central, lo que provoca la aparición de síntomas motores y no motores. En este artículo, se destaca la importancia de evaluar y estandarizar los síntomas no motores (el deterioro cognitivo y alteraciones conductuales) para un mejor seguimiento y tratamiento de esta enfermedad.Parkinson's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects the central nervous system, which causes the appearance of motor and non-motor symptoms. This article highlights the importance of non-motor symptoms (cognitive and behavioral alterations) assessment since it will translate into better patient follow-up and treatment of this disease

Measuring the functional impact of cognitive impairment in Huntington's disease

Acord transformatiu CRUE-CSICBackground: Patients with Huntington's disease (HD) exhibit a variable predominance of cognitive, behavioral and motor symptoms. A specific instrument focusing on the impact of cognitive impairment in HD over functional capacity is lacking. Objective: To address the need for a brief and specifically developed HD questionnaire able to capture functional aspects suspected to be sensitive to cognitive impairment. Methods: We developed and validated the "Huntington's Disease-Cognitive Functional Rating Scale" (HD-CFRS) in 78 symptomatic carriers of the Huntington's disease mutation. We also administered the HD-CFRS to a knowledgeable informant to measure the level of agreement. To explore the association between HD-CFRS scores and participants' cognitive status, we administered objective measures of cognition. Participants were classified as cognitively preserved (HD-NC), as having mild cognitive impairment (HD-MCI), or as having dementia (HD-Dem). Results: The HD-CFRS showed concurrent validity and internal consistency in the three groups. HD carriers and informants in the HD-NC group obtained similar HD-CFRS scores. However, in patients with mild cognitive impairment and dementia, informers reported greater functional impairment than HD participants. The HD-CFRS total score showed strong correlations with measures assessing cognition. Conclusions: These findings support the utility of the HD-CFRS as a brief and reliable instrument to measure functional defects associated with cognitive impairment in HD. We believe this questionnaire could be a useful tool both for clinical practice and research

Structural brain correlates of dementia in Huntington's disease

Altres ajuts: The present study was partially funded by the "Human Biology Project Grant" of the Huntington's Disease Society of America (USA).Huntington's disease (HD) is a fatal genetic neurodegenerative disorder with no effective treatment currently available. Progressive basal ganglia and whole-brain atrophy and concurrent cognitive deterioration are prototypical aspects of HD. However, the specific patterns of brain atrophy underlying cognitive impairment of different severity in HD are poorly understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the specific structural brain correlates of major cognitive deficits in HD and to explore its association with neuropsychological indicators. Thirty-five symptomatic early-to-mild HD patients and 15 healthy controls (HC) with available T1-MRI imaging were included in this study. In this cross-sectional study, HD patients were classified as patients with (HD-Dem) and without (HD-ND) major cognitive impairment in the range of dementia. This classification was based on previously validated PD-CRS cutoff scores for HD. Differences in brain atrophy across groups were studied by means of grey-matter volume voxel-based morphometry (GMV-VBM) and cortical thickness (Cth). Voxelwise and vertexwise general linear models were used to assess the group comparisons, controlling for the effects of age, sex, education, CAG repeat length and severity of motor symptoms. Clusters surviving p < 0.05 and family-wise error (FWE) correction were considered statistically significant. In order to characterize the impact on cognitive performance of the observed brain differences across groups, GMV and Cth values in the set of significant regions were computed and correlated with specific neuropsychological tests. All groups had similar sociodemographic profiles, and the HD groups did not significantly differ in terms of CAG repeat length. Compared to HC, both HD groups exhibited significant atrophy in multiple subcortical and parietal brain regions. However, compared to HC and HD-ND groups, HD-Dem patients showed a more prominent pattern of reduced GMV and cortical thinning. Importantly, this thinning was restricted to regions of the parietal-temporal and occipital cortices. Furthermore, these brain alterations were further associated with poorer cognitive performance in tasks assessing frontal-executive and attention domains as well as memory, language and constructional abilities. Major cognitive impairment in the range of dementia in HD is associated with brain and cognitive alterations exceeding the prototypical frontal-executive deficits commonly recognized in HD. The observed posterior-cortical damage identified by MRI and its association with memory, language, and visuoconstructive dysfunction suggest a strong involvement of extra-striatal atrophy in the onset of severe cognitive dysfunction in HD patients. Critically, major cognitive impairment in this sample was not associated with CAG repeat length, age or education. This finding could support a possible involvement of additional neuropathological mechanisms aggravating cognitive deterioration in HD

Geostatistics for Environmental Applications

Gómez-Hernández, JJ.; Horta, A.; Jeanée, N. (2013). Geostatistics for Environmental Applications. Spatial Statistics. 5:1-2. doi:10.1016/j.spasta.2013.06.001S12

Predicting Impulse Control Disorders in Parkinson Disease through Incentive Biomarkers

Altres ajuts: Fundació la Marató de TV3 (2014/U/477, 20142910); Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER); Pla Estratègic de Recerca i Innovació (SLT008/18); CERCA (CEntres de Recerca de Catalunya); CIBERNED (Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de enfermedades NEuroDegenerativas).Objective: This study was undertaken to evaluate whether the feedback-related negativity (FRN)-a neurophysiological marker of incentive processing-can be used to predict the development of impulse control disorders (ICDs) in Parkinson disease (PD). Methods: The longitudinal cohort consisted of consecutive nondemented PD patients with no ICD history. We recorded FRN signals while they performed a gambling task. We calculated the mean amplitude difference between losses and gains (FRNdiff) to be used as a predictor of future ICD development. We performed prospective biannual follow-up assessments for 30 months to detect incident ICDs. Finally, we evaluated how basal FRNdiff was associated with posterior development of ICDs using survival models. Results: Between October 7, 2015 and December 16, 2016, we screened 120 patients. Among them, 94 patients performed the gambling and 92 completed the follow-up. Eighteen patients developed ICDs during follow-up, whereas 74 remained free of ICDs. Baseline FRNdiff was greater in patients who developed ICDs than in those who did not (−2.33μV vs −0.84μV, p = 0.001). No other significant baseline differences were found. The FRNdiff was significantly associated with ICD development in the survival models both when not adjusted (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.73, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.58-0.91, p = 0.006) and when controlling for dopamine replacement therapy, sex, and age (HR = 0.74, 95% CI = 0.55-0.97, p = 0.035). None of the impulsivity measures evaluated was related to ICD development. Interpretation: Reward-processing differences measured by FRN signals precede ICD development in PD. This neurophysiological marker permits identification of patients with high risk of ICD development. ANN NEUROL 2022;92:974-984

Interaction between sex and neurofilament light chain on brain structure and clinical severity in Huntington's disease

Altres ajuts: Huntington's Disease Society of AmericaFemale Huntington's disease (HD) patients have consistently shown a faster clinical worsening than male, but the underlying mechanisms responsible for this observation remain unknown. Here, we describe how sex modifies the impact of neurodegeneration on brain atrophy and clinical severity in HD. Cerebrospinal fluid neurofilament light chain (NfL) levels were used as a biological measure of neurodegeneration, and brain atrophy was assessed by structural magnetic resonance imaging. We found that larger NfL values in women reflect higher brain atrophy and clinical severity than in men (p < 0.05 for an interaction model). This differential vulnerability could have important implications in clinical trials

Telling true from false: cannabis users show increased susceptibility to false memories

Previous studies on the neurocognitive impact of cannabis use have found working and declarative memory deficits that tend to normalize with abstinence. An unexplored aspect of cognitive function in chronic cannabis users is the ability to distinguish between veridical and illusory memories, a crucial aspect of reality monitoring that relies on adequate memory function and cognitive control. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we show that abstinent cannabis users have an increased susceptibility to false memories, failing to identify lure stimuli as events that never occurred. In addition to impaired performance, cannabis users display reduced activation in areas associated with memory processing within the lateral and medial temporal lobe (MTL), and in parietal and frontal brain regions involved in attention and performance monitoring. Furthermore, cannabis consumption was inversely correlated with MTL activity, suggesting that the drug is especially detrimental to the episodic aspects of memory. These findings indicate that cannabis users have an increased susceptibility to memory distortions even when abstinent and drug-free, suggesting a long-lasting compromise of memory and cognitive control mechanisms involved in reality monitoring