A methodological proposal and tool support for the HL7 standards compliance in the development of health information systems

Health information systems are increasingly complex, and their development is presented as a challenge for software development companies offering quality, maintainable and interoperable products. HL7 (Health level 7) International, an international non-profit organization, defines and maintains standards related to health information systems. However, the modelling languages proposed by HL7 are far removed from standard languages and widely known by software engineers. In these lines, NDT is a software development methodology that has a support tool called NDT-Suite and is based, on the one hand, on the paradigm of model-driven engineering and, on the other hand, in UML that is a widely recognized standard language. This paper proposes an extension of the NDT methodology called MoDHE (Model Driven Health Engineering) to offer software engineers a methodology capable of modelling health information systems conforming to HL7 using UML domain models

Antagonistic effect of Trichoderma harzianum VSL291 on phytopathogenic fungi isolated from cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) fruits

In this study we evaluated the antagonism in vitro of Trichoderma harzianum strain VSL291 against 18 pathogens of cocoa fruits in dual culture. T. harzianum VSL291 inhibited the growth of the phytopathogenic fungi tested between 10.54 and 85.43%. The mycoparasitism of Moniliophthora roreri by T. harzianum VSL291 was studied by light and scanning electron microscopy. T. harzianum VSL291 hyphae grew in parallel with the hyphae of M. roreri and in some places these were united with the hyphae of the cocoa pathogen through small structures like apresorious that tangled in the pathogenic fungus preventing its growth. T. harzianum VSL291 produced lytic enzymes: β-1,3-glucanases, chitinases, proteases, xylanases and lipases, when grown in minimal medium, with fungal cell walls as the sole carbon source. The highest proteolytic activities detected in T. harzianum VSL291 broth with M. roreri, Penicillium expansum and Byssochlamys spectabilis cell walls appear to be associated with increased activities of β-1,3 glucanases, chitinases, lipases, proteases and xylanases and biocontrol index derived from the experiments of confrontation. These results suggest that proteolytic enzymes according to their degree of induction could participate in the antagonistic effect of T. harzianum VSL291 against the fungi tested.Key words: Antagonism, Trichoderma harzianum, mycoparasitism, phytopathogenic fung

Comparative transcriptional profiling analysis of olive ripe-fruit pericarp and abscission zone tissues shows expression differences and distinct patterns of transcriptional regulation

[Background] In fleshy fruit, abscission of fully ripe fruit is a process intimately linked to the ripening process. In many fruit-tree species, such as olive (Olea europaea L. cv. Picual), there is a coupling of the full ripening and the activation of the abscission-zone (AZ). Although fully ripe fruit have marked physiological differences with respect to their AZs, dissimilarities in gene expression have not been thoroughly investigated. The present study examines the transcriptome of olive fruit and their AZ tissues at the last stage of ripening, monitored using mRNA-Seq. [Results] Roche-454 massive parallel pyrosequencing enabled us to generate 397,457 high-quality EST sequences, among which 199,075 were from ripe-fruit pericarp and 198,382 from AZ tissues. We assembled these sequences into 19,062 contigs, grouped as 17,048 isotigs. Using the read amounts for each annotated isotig (from a total of 15,671), we identified 7,756 transcripts. A comparative analysis of the transcription profiles conducted in ripe-fruit pericarp and AZ evidenced that 4,391 genes were differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in fruit and AZ. Functional categorization of the DEGs revealed that AZ tissue has an apparently higher response to external stimuli than does that of ripe fruit, revealing a higher expression of auxin-signaling genes, as well as lignin catabolic and biosynthetic pathway, aromatic amino acid biosynthetic pathway, isoprenoid biosynthetic pathway, protein amino acid dephosphorylation, amino acid transport, and photosynthesis. By contrast, fruit-enriched transcripts are involved in ATP synthesis coupled proton transport, glycolysis, and cell-wall organization. Furthermore, over 150 transcripts encoding putative transcription-factors (TFs) were identified (37 fruit TFs and 113 AZ TFs), of which we randomly selected eight genes and we confirmed their expression patterns using quantitative RT-PCR. [Conclusion] We generated a set of EST sequences from olive fruit at full ripening, and DEGs between two different olive tissues, ripe fruit and their AZ, were also identified. Regarding the cross-talk between fruit and AZ, using qRT-PCR, we confirmed a set of TF genes that were differentially expressed, revealing profiles of expression that have not previously been reported, this offering a promising beginning for studies on the different transcription regulation in such tissues.This work was supported by the ‘Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación’, Spain (BFU2010-18116)

The use of audio-relaxation does not affect the basketball free throw of young college students

INTRODUCTION: As the pressure of competition increase, the athlete will begin to doubt or feel insecure, generating muscular tension and difficulty in the movement. In sports, especially basketball, relaxation is a key part of fine-skills coordination. For this reason, it is determinate that audio-relaxation can become of paramount importance in sport. PURPOSE: To determine if the basketball free throw is influenced by audio-relaxation in a group of physically active college students. METHODS: Eight physically active, apparently healthy college students (­4 male and 4 female) volunteered to participate in this study. The students height was 168.3 ± 8.7cm (range, 155-181cm), mass 76.8±19.5kg (range, 51.5-115.0kg) and age 21.5 ± 1.3y.o (range, 20-24y.o). Subjects attended the study on two occasions, with seven days interval between sessions. Randomly, the first session consisted of listening to audio-relaxation for 16 minutes. In the second session (session control), audio-relaxation was not played while the subjects waited for 16 minutes. The application of the treatment was performed in a room isolated from noise and light, just as it happened for the control condition, in which there was no treatment. In each session, the volunteers were evaluated before and after treatment, performing 20 free throws, 10 shots were performed at their own rhythm and the other 10 under pressure (at the sound of the whistle). RESULTS: According to the normal distribution in the values (p=0.200), a two-way repeated measures ANOVA was performed, in which it was found that there is no interaction between listening and not listening to audio-relaxation in the execution of ten free throws at their own rhythm and ten under pressure (p=0.510). CONCLUSION: Listening audio-relaxation does not significantly influence the effectiveness of the basketball free throws, it means that the people will not get improve their performance if use audio-relaxation technique

Protection of human rights and barriers for people with HIV/AIDS in colombia: an analysis of the legal framework

People living with HIV/AIDS not only suffer in terms of physical and/or psychological health, but also frequently experience violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Although there are international treaties and a regulatory framework that legally protects people with HIV/AIDS, it is essential to determine the effectiveness of the regulatory framework in Colombia. Therefore, our main goal was to examine the legislation on HIV/AIDS in Colombia with the purpose of understanding the decrees and laws, and describing the main obstacles and barriers that people with HIV/AIDS encounter. For this purpose, we employed the method of legal interpretation and reviewed the legal regulations on HIV/AIDS, as well as the judgments of guardianship of the Constitutional Court. It is verified that there is a specific regulation on HIV/AIDS, specifically decree 559 of 19,991, decree 1543 of 1997, Law 599 of 2000, Law 972 of 2005, and Law 1220 of 2008. Although at the legislative level Colombia shows an evolution in the norm, patients with HIV/AIDS continue to be victims of human rights violations. As a result, and through the analysis of tutela judgments, it was found that the Constitutional Court recognized the violation of rights and ordered the necessary measures to be taken to guarantee the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the defendants

Late vacuum choice and slow roll approximation in gravitational particle production during reheating

In the transition between inflation and reheating, the curvature scalar typically undergoes oscillations which have significant impact on the density of gravitationally produced particles. The commonly used adiabatic vacuum prescription for the extraction of produced particle spectra becomes a non-reliable definition of vacuum in the regimes for which this oscillatory behavior is important. In this work, we study particle production for a scalar field non-minimally coupled to gravity, taking into account the complete dynamics of spacetime during inflation and reheating. We derive an approximation for the solution to the mode equation during the slow-roll of the inflaton and analyze the importance of Ricci scalar oscillations in the resulting spectra. Additionally, we propose a prescription for the vacuum that allows to safely extrapolate the result to the present, given that the test field interacts only gravitationally. Lastly, we calculate the abundance of dark matter this mechanism yields and compare it to observations.Comment: 24 pages, 11 figure

Sexual abuse vs. sexual freedom? A legal Approach to the Age of Sexual Consent in Adolescents in Spanish-Speaking Countries

Child and adolescent sexual abuse (CSA) is an international public health problem. Despite the importance of CSA, there is no consensus definition, and the lack of consensus is related to difficulties in conducting prevalence studies as well as research in other areas. To establish a consensual definition, legal aspects such as the age of sexual consent and the difference in age or power between victim and aggressor as well as aspects related to sexual freedom and sexual indemnity must be considered. Therefore, the main goal of this research was to analyze the age of sexual consent in the legal systems of Spanish-speaking countries and to examine whether the Romeo and Juliet clause is established. To achieve the proposed aims, we employed the legal interpretation method, and we analyzed the current Criminal Codes of the 21 Spanish-speaking countries. From the results, it is found that the age of sexual consent varies between countries, establishing valid sexual consent between 13 and 18 years. In addition, only six countries have the Romeo and Juliet clause that protects sexual freedom in adolescents. Finally, we discussed the lack of consensus on the age of sexual consent and the limitations presented by the Romeo and Juliet clause

Validation of the Attitude Scale to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Old Age in a Colombian Sample

The Attitude Scale to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Old Age (EAFV-LGBT) evaluates attitudes towards LGBT older adults. The main goal of this research was to adapt and examine the psychometric properties in a Spanish-speaking sample. The sample consisted of 521 Colombian adults (36.3% men and 63.7% women) with a mean age equal to 27.39 (SD = 9.27). Participants completed a Socio-Demographic and Sexual History Questionnaire, the Hispanic translations of the EAFV-LGBT, the Subtle and Manifest Prejudice Scale towards Homosexuals, and the Big Five Personality Trait Short Questionnaire. The results showed that the Colombian EAFV-LGBT has good psychometric properties. The structure of the scale was unidimensional, and the internal consistency reliability was also adequate. Likewise, the convergent validity of the scale was verified by correlating it with another measure that evaluates explicit and implicit homophobia. In addition, it was found that there was a relationship between personality traits and attitudes towards LGBT adults. Specifically, participants with lower openness, extraversion, and agreeableness reported more negative attitudes toward older LGBT people