Media Representations of LGBT People

LGBT people of color (POC) and White LGBT people have different experiences when it comes to accepting their sexuality and coming out experience, thus affecting their mental health and interactions with the community. The coming out process is a step towards a healthier and happier life, revealing an internal acceptance of oneself while expressing the desire to be open to others. However, LGBT people consider coming out a stressful and emotionally daunting process due to the uncertainty of responses from family, friends, and classmates (Charbonnier & Graziani, 2016). Media representations of LGBT interactions may also influence feelings about the coming out process and affect state levels of anxiety and depression. LGBT participants were randomly assigned to view two videos depicting a positive or negative interaction between LGBT POC or White LGBT people. We predicted that LGBT POC would report higher levels of state anxiety and state depression, lower comfort levels, and decreased outness than White LGBT people. Results showed that LGBT POC reported lower outness scores than White LGBT people. Results also showed that participants reported increased feelings of state anxiety and depression after watching the negative media representation of LGBT interactions; however, this finding may be due to an order effect rather than an effect of the valence of the media content. The results highlight the continued need to study the factors that affect mental well-being and the coming out process in LGBT POC and White LGBT people

Anthropometric characteristics, quality of life and functional capacity in adults living with HIV in Puerto Rico

Survival and longevity rates in people living with HIV (HIV+) have increased with the availability and use of antiretroviral therapy (ART). However, despite the above HIV+ adults treated with ART have a higher risk of developing dyslipidemia and high waist circumference. In addition, they have lower cardiorespiratory fitness, loss of muscle mass, reduced balance, and reduced functional capacity, which affects their quality of life. To explore the impact of balance perception, treadmill time, grip strength, body mass index (BMI), and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) on quality of life in Latino Hispanic people living with HIV. This study recruited twenty-five participants from a community-based center, La Perla de Gran Precio, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, with the medical diagnosis of HIV. Descriptive measures were obtained for all variables of interest, and correlation and regression analyses were used to assess the associations between functional capacity, quality of life, and anthropometric measures. Result: Men had greater left- and right-hand grip strength than women (86.9±18.8, 56.9±26.8 kg; p=0.003 and 87.6±15.1 vs. 61.4±26.6 kg; p =0.004). Two anthropometric variables showed a trend toward a moderate positive correlation with quality of life:  WHtR (r= -0.38, p =0.12) and BMI (r= -0.38, p = p-0.14). Although gender differences in upper body strength are expected, handgrip strength is within the gender-specific average range of the general population. The integration of anthropometric characteristics and upper body strength when prescribing exercise must be considered since these factors influence functional capacity and quality of life among HIV+ adults

Morphological foot model for temperature pattern analysis proposed for diabetic foot disorders

Infrared thermography is a non-invasive and accessible tool that maps the surface temperature of a body. This technology is particularly useful for diabetic foot disorders, since it facilitates the identification of higher risk patients by frequent monitoring and therefore limits the incidence of disabling conditions. The aim of this work is to provide a methodology to explore the entire plantar aspects of both feet, based on infrared thermography, for the assessment of diabetic foot anomalies. A non-invasive methodology was established to identify areas of higher risk and track their progress via longitudinal monitoring. A standard morphological model was extracted from a group of healthy subjects, nine females and 13 males, by spatial image registration. This healthy foot model can be taken as a template for the assessment of temperature asymmetry, even in cases in which partial amputations or deformations are present. A pixel-wise comparison of the temperature patterns was carried out by Wilcoxon´s matched-pairs test using the corresponding template. For all the subjects, the left foot was compared to the contralateral foot, the right one, providing a map of statistically significant areas of variation, within the template, among the healthy subjects at different time points. In the female case, the main areas of variability were the boundaries of the feet, whereas for the male, in addition to this, substantial changes that exhibited a clear pattern were observed. A fast and simple monitoring tool is provided to be used for personalized medical diagnosis in patients affected by diabetic foot disorders.This research was funded by the IACTEC Technological Training program, grant number TF INNOVA 2016-2021. This work was completed while Abián Hernández was a beneficiary of a pre-doctoral grant given by the “Agencia Canaria de Investigacion, Innovacion y Sociedad de la Información (ACIISI)” of the “Consejería de Economía, Conocimiento y Empleo” of the “Gobierno de Canarias”, which is partly financed by the European Social Fund (FSE) (POC 2014-2020, Eje 3 Tema Prioritario 74 (85%))

Hybrid Laparoscopic and Endoscopic Management of Gastric Band Erosion Resulting in Bowel Obstruction

While laparoscopic gastric banding is not as prevalent, the management of patients with a history of gastric banding remains a concern. Gastric bands have been noted to erode and can migrate through the bowel leading to a variety of issues. We were able to successfully manage this almost completely endoscopically without the need for a bowel enterotomy for retrieval. This allowed for enhanced patient recovery and avoided the morbidity associated with bowel enterotomy which is commonly done in these settings

COMPOSICIÓN FLORÍSTICA Y USO FORRAJERO DE ARVENSES QUE CRECEN EN ÁREAS CITRÍCOLAS DE CIEGO DE ÁVILA, CUBA

Con la finalidad de: (1) identificar las plantas herbáceas que se desarrollaron en plantaciones citrícolas de la Empresa Cítricos de Ciego de Ávila, clasificándolas taxonómicamente; y (2) definir, a partir de la literatura, algunas de sus características biológicas y su espectro de utilización agronómica, especialmente dirigido a la alimentación de los animales que se integren al sistema, se hizo un muestreo que incluyó el 10 % de los campos dedicados a naranja (Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck) y toronja (Citrus paradisi Macf), tomando en cuenta la distribución geográfica en sus cuatro puntos cardinales. La determinación de las especies existentes en cada campo se hizo por simple inspección visual, siguiendo un recorrido en zigzag, las no determinadas en el campo se herborizaron para su ulterior identificación. Los resultados de la investigación permiten concluir que en las plantaciones de cítricos estudiadas se desarrollan 61 especies de plantas agrupadas en 19 familias y 48 géneros, de las cuales el 74 % pertenecen a la clase Magnoliatae y el resto a la Liliatae. Fabaceae y Poaceae son las familias más representadas en ambas clases, con 11 y 14 especies respectivamente, muchas de las cuales son perennes que se propagan por semillas, consideradas en su gran mayoría pastos constituidos de los sistemas ganaderos de Cuba y otras regiones tropicales

COMPORTAMIENTO PRODUCTIVO DE COBERTURAS VIVAS DE LEGUMINOSAS HERBÁCEAS EN UNA PLANTACIÓN DE GUAYABA (PSIDIUM GUAJAVA L) VAR. ENANA ROJA CUBANA EEA-1840

Con el objetivo de determinar el comportamiento productivo en biomasa y hojarasca, de las especies Teramnus labialis y Neonotonia wightii cvs Tinaroo y Cooper, establecidas como cobertura viva de una plantación de guayabo (Psidium guajava L.) var. Enana Roja Cubana EEA-1840, se realizó una investigación en la Estación Experimental “Juan Tomás Roig”, del Centro de Bioplantas, en Ciego de Ávila, durante el período comprendido de septiembre 2011 y febrero de 2014, sobre un suelo Ferralítico Rojo compactado. Se determinó la altura de las coberturas, la producción de biomasa y la tasa de acumulación de hojarasca. Los resultados indican que las especies de leguminosas evaluadas presentaron una altura promedio inferior a 30 cm, la que se considera adecuada para que la especie sea usada como cobertor del frutal, la producción de biomasa fue superior en N. wightii var. Cooper y Teramnus labialis, con valores del indicador superiores a 2 t.ha-1 de materia seca. La mayor deposición de hojarasca se generó en el período poco lluvioso, en las coberturas de T. labialis y N. wightii cv. Cooper. Se recomienda continuar las investigaciones, evaluando la descomposición de la hojarasca en el sistema diversificado e inferir los aportes de nutrientes al suelo