Exploring the effect of sedentary behavior on increased adiposity in middle-aged adults.

BACKGROUND: Sedentary behavior is linked to excess fat mass; however, this association may be inconclusive due to potential measurement errors in self-reported sedentary behavior. OBJECTIVE: To assess the association between changes in sedentary behavior and fat mass in a Cohort of Health Workers (HWCS) from 2004 to 2010. METHODS: A total of 1,285 adults participating in the Cohort of Health Workers were evaluated in 2004 and 2010. Fat mass (kg) was measured by dual X-ray absorptiometry. A self-administered questionnaire was used to estimate the sedentary behavior. Sedentary behavior was also estimated using accelerometry in a sample of 142 health workers. Accelerometry data were used to correct self-reported sedentary behavior using a generalized linear model, which included values for sleeping time, age, sex, sedentary behavior, glucose, and triglycerides. Concordance between both methods was assessed using a kappa and Bland-Altman analysis. Once sedentary behavior was corrected, the values were used to evaluate the association between changes in sedentary behavior and body fat mass using a fixed effect model in the cohort, adjusting for confounders. RESULTS: Self-reported sedentary behavior was 2.8 ± 1.8 and 2.3 ± 1.6 h/day, and body fat mass was 24.9 ± 8.1 and 26.8 ± 8.5 kg in 2004 and 2010, respectively. After applying the correction model, the self-reported sedentary behavior was 7.6 ± 1.2 and 7.5 ± 1.2 h/day in 2004 and 2010, respectively. For every hour increase in corrected sedentary behavior, there was an observed increase of 0.847 (p > 0.001) kg in body fat mass during the 6.8 years in the Cohort of Health Workers from 2004 to 2010. Conversely, non-corrected self-reported sedentary behavior was associated with a non-significant reduction of 0.097 kg (p = 0.228) for every hour of sedentary behavior. CONCLUSIONS: Increased sedentary behavior was associated with increased body fat mass when corrected self-reported sedentary behavior was used. Implementing public health strategies to reduce sedentary behavior is imperative

Neurosurgical Spasticity Treatment: From Lesion to Neuromodulation Procedures

Spasticity is one of the most important and residual signs after pyramidal and para-pyramidal catastrophic lesions after diverse neurological insults, including stroke, brain and spine trauma and post-radiation; infection and immunological diseases affecting nervous system, between others. Spasticity is normally a compensatory motor mechanism that could ameliorate the patients´ disability. Nevertheless, disastrous spasticity is described when the extremities force is diminished in the affected limbs, or when is impossible to wake o to take objects, maximum when hand or foot deformity is exposed. The objective of this chapter is centered in the neurosurgical treatment of spasticity, including brain lesions with specific targets and the spine with its different modalities. This review shows not only the basic aspects in these techniques, but also the option of infusion pumps and deep brain stimulation. To close, a proposal is stablished to determinate the possible path to treat the spasticity in the future

Usefulness of Intraoperative 2D-Ultrasound in the Resection of Brain Tumors

The surgical approach to brain tumors often uses preoperative images to visualize the characteristics of pathology, guiding the surgical procedure. However, the usefulness of preoperative images during the surgical procedure is altered by the changes in the brain during the surgery because of craniotomy, inflammation, tumor resection, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) drainage, among others. For this reason, there is a need to use intraoperative imaging evaluation methods that allow the surgeon to consider these changes, reflecting the real-time anatomical disposition of the brain/tumor. Intraoperative ultrasound (iUS) has allowed neurosurgeons to guide the surgical procedure without exposing the patient to ionizing radiation or interrupting the procedure. Technological advances have made it possible to improve image quality, have smaller probes, and facilitate the use of the equipment, in addition to the introduction of new imaging modalities, such as three-dimensional images, enhanced with contrast, among others, expanding the available options. In the context of these advances, the objective of this chapter was to review the current status of the usefulness and challenges of iUS for brain tumor resection through an in-depth review of the literature and the discussion of an illustrative case

Conceptualización del término matemáticas por estudiantes del nivel medio superior. Caso de estudio: Preparatorias de la Ciudad de Tepic, Nayarit. México

En la presente investigación se planteó como objetivo, delimitar y organizar los significados del concepto de matemáticas, que generan los alumnos del nivel medio superior. Considerando como caso de estudio a las escuelas preparatorias de la ciudad de Tepic, Nayarit. El enfoque general de la investigación corresponde a una perspectiva de investigación empírica con metodología cualitativa de recolección de datos y método cuantitativo de análisis, con un diseño descriptivo-multidimensional. Para obtener la representación del concepto “Matemáticas”, se aplicó la Técnica Redes Semánticas.Naturales (Figueroa, González y Solís, 1981). Se procedió a un análisis comparativo de los principales valores semánticos, se establecieron tres ejes temáticos parta facilitar su análisis y emitir conclusiones. En el estudio participaron 680 alumnos (247 hombres y 433 mujeres), el muestreo fue de tipo probabilístico evitando la aparición de sesgos en la muestra para que esta pueda ser representativa de la población. Algunos de los significadoscon mayor peso semántico son: número, sumas, restas, multiplicación, división, algebra, ecuación, fracciones, entre otros.Esto permite hacer una primera conclusión: los estudiantes del nivel medio superior consideren las matemáticas como la ciencia de las cantidades, concepto de principios del siglo XIX, referida así, a las magnitudes (como en la geometría), a los números (como en la aritmética), o a la generalización de ambos (como en el álgebra). Sin embargo también se presentan significados como: pensar, analizar, administrar, comprender, que invitan a dejar de lado aquellas metodologías que desde un comienzo forzaban a la generalización, abstracción, y rigurosidad matemática para luego llegar a la aplicación de los distintos conceptos matemáticos. Hoy las estrategias de enseñanza de las matemáticas debe surgir de la necesidad de conducir al estudiante a la reflexión, comprensión y aplicación de conocimientos a partir de experiencias concretas significativas que le exijan agilidad mental y desarrollo de pensamiento matemático

Management of Brain Tumors in Eloquent Areas with Awake Patient

This chapter aims to provide an overview of the transdisciplinary work of the Neurosurgeon, Neuroanesthesiologist and Neuropsychologist before, during and after the resection of a neoplasm in eloquent areas with the patient conscious under the 3A anesthesia modality (asleep, awake, asleep). The diagnostic approach and the logistics to carry out this procedure and achieve better results will be shown. At present there is growing evidence regarding the benefits of surgery in awake patients, with application in the treatment of epilepsy, abnormal movements and oncological surgery. The benefits of awake craniotomy are increased lesion removal, with improved survival benefit, whilst minimizing damage to eloquent cortex and resulting postoperative neurological dysfunction. Other advantages include a shorter hospitalization time, hence reduced cost of care, and a decreased incidence of postoperative complications. This approach has allowed to achieve a higher degree of resection with less morbidity and a higher quality of life

Slotine-Li Adaptable Controller Design for 2 gdl Robot and Continuous Trajectory Simulation

This paper presents the analysis of the mathematical model to obtain the dynamic model of a robot with two degrees of freedom (translational, rotational), after which an adaptable Slotine-Li controller was designed and applied. In this investigation the fundamental purpose is to demonstrate the efficiency of Slotine-Li's adaptive controller since it allows the system to be controlled despite slow variations in time or due to ignorance of the parameters of the robot's mathematical model. In addition to that the controller is able to estimate the parameters that are unknown with very good approximation. We also programmed the follow-up of a continuous path in the form of an ellipse to verify the efficiency of the adaptive controller and the simulation of the tracking of the same was done using VisSim 6.0.En el presente documento se muestra el análisis del modelo matemático para obtener el modelo dinámico de un robot de dos grados de libertad (traslacional, rotacional), posteriormente se diseñó y aplicó un controlador adaptable de Slotine-Li. El propósito fundamental de esta investigación, es demostrar la eficacia del controlador adaptable de Slotine-Li, ya que permite que el sistema sea controlado a pesar de variaciones lentas en el tiempo o por desconocimiento de alguno de los parámetros del modelo matemático del robot. Además de que este tipo de controlador es capaz de estimar los parámetros que se desconocen con muy buena aproximación. También se realizó el seguimiento de una trayectoria continua para verificar la eficiencia del controlador adaptable y la simulación del seguimiento de la misma, se realizó utilizando el software VisSim 6.

A conserved core of programmed cell death indicator genes discriminates developmentally and environmentally induced programmed cell death in plants

A plethora of diverse programmed cell death (PCD) processes has been described in living organisms. In animals and plants, different forms of PCD play crucial roles in development, immunity, and responses to the environment. While the molecular control of some animal PCD forms such as apoptosis is known in great detail, we still know comparatively little about the regulation of the diverse types of plant PCD. In part, this deficiency in molecular understanding is caused by the lack of reliable reporters to detect PCD processes. Here, we addressed this issue by using a combination of bioinformatics approaches to identify commonly regulated genes during diverse plant PCD processes in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). Our results indicate that the transcriptional signatures of developmentally controlled cell death are largely distinct from the ones associated with environmentally induced cell death. Moreover, different cases of developmental PCD share a set of cell death-associated genes. Most of these genes are evolutionary conserved within the green plant lineage, arguing for an evolutionary conserved core machinery of developmental PCD. Based on this information, we established an array of specific promoter-reporter lines for developmental PCD in Arabidopsis. These PCD indicators represent a powerful resource that can be used in addition to established morphological and biochemical methods to detect and analyze PCD processes in vivo and in planta

Perfil sanguíneo y análisis de la seroprevalencia de Leptospira interrogans en zorra gris (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) y coyote (Canis latrans) en dos zonas suburbanas de la ciudad de Querétaro

En 2010 se publicó un estudio sobre la presencia de diversas serovariedades de Leptospira interrogans en individuos de coyote y zorra gris en una área natural protegida situada al sur de la ciudad de Querétaro en México, en donde se daba a conocer la alta prevalencia de distintas serovariedades de L. interrogans en cánidos silvestres en Querétaro, México. El presente estudio se llevó a cabo para actualizar los valores de infección de L. interrogans presente en las poblaciones de cánidos silvestres en Querétaro, incluyendo la localidad de muestreo original de 2010, el Parque Nacional El Cimatario. Se capturaron nueve cánidos silvestres en dos localidades que cuentan con un plan de manejo orientado hacia su conservación, el Parque Nacional El Cimatario y la Reserva Comunitaria Zibatá. Ninguna de las muestras de los cánidos presentó valores positivos a las diferentes serovariedades de L. interrogans. A su vez, los valores de hemograma y perfil bioquímico de todos los cánidos se mantuvieron dentro de los intervalos de referencia; sin embargo se encontraron diferencias en los valores VGM, CMGH, neutrófilos segmentados y no segmentados, monocitos, aspartato aminotransferasa y urea de algunos cánidos. Se descartó la posibilidad de que dichos hallazgos estuvieran relacionados con enfermedad causada por el agente de interés debido a las peculiaridades del proceso de captura y contención de fauna silvestre

Polypropylene-Based Polymer Locking Ligation System Manufacturing by the Ultrasonic Micromolding Process

Article describes how in recent years, there has been a growing demand for biocompatible medical devices on the microscale. The authors of the article extensively investigated various processing parameters such as vibration amplitude, temperature, and injection velocity