Economía, educación y salud materno infantil

Este trabajo analiza, mediante técnicas de estadística multivariante, los atributos del estado de salud materno infantil, conjuntamente con variables socioeconómicas, para verificar la posible existencia de relaciones significativas de interdependencia o dependencia entresí. Se estudia la relación entre el ingreso nacional bruto per cápita y la mortalidad infantil y materna en 156 países. Se concluye que: a) la mortalidad infantil y materna, no se hallan asociadas linealmente con el ingreso nacional bruto per cápita, excepto a muy bajos niveles del mismo; b) hay Indicadores asociados con el estado de salud materno infantil que refieren a la situación de desigualdad y opresión social entre géneros, como el nivel de educación de la mujer, paridad en las oportunidades entre géneros en la educación, y medidas preventivas como las vacunas y la prevalencia de anticonceptivos; y c) a nivele xploratorio, no hay relación evidente, en Argentina, entre las tasas de mortalidad infantil y materna y la oferta de servicios sanitarios, tanto públicos como privados

Servicios de atención médica y eficiencia asignativa en Argentina

Este trabajo examina la relación entre condiciones económicas, educación, salud materno infantil y servicios de atención médica en Argentina. Plantea, si la mayor o menor presencia de estructuras de servicios de atención médica: médicos, camas y establecimientos con y sin internación se relaciona de alguna manera con las tasas de mortalidad materna y de menores de cinco años. Los resultados no demuestran una correlación significativa entre ellos y las tasas de mortalidad sean infantiles o maternas. La mortalidad infantil refiere fuertemente a la educación de la madre y a las necesidades básicas insatisfechas, siendo ajenas a las tasas de mortalidad la presencia de instituciones de atención sea con o sin internación. Tampoco tienen que ver las tasas de mortalidad con la cantidad de médicos y camas por habitantes. Pareciera entonces, que las estadísticas tal cual se recolectan en la actualidad, sin diferenciación entre modelos de atención, no permiten conclusiones definitivas referidas a la relación de los servicios de salud y la mortalidad infantil

Factores de riesgo y determinantes de la salud

Este trabajo examina, el grado de relación existente entre indicadores de riesgo y sociodemográficos de los distritos políticos de Argentina y su variabilidad entre 2005 y 2009. Alcance descriptivo y correlacional. Diseño retrospectivo longitudinal. Se encontraron correlaciones múltiples entre indicadores de cobertura, controles médicos, urbanización, PGB y hábitos no saludables como consumo de riesgo de sal, tabaco y alcohol. Por otro lado una población con NBI, analfabetismo y autopercepción de salud regular/mala, aún con establecimientos públicos de salud sin internación. Argentina presenta tres tipologías de provincias, las centrales y patagónicas, con buena cobertura y hábitos no saludables, las norteñas con alta vulnerabilidad social y un grupo intermedio. Entre 2005 y 2009, si bien aumentó la cobertura de salud, y los controles de la misma, disminuyendo la autopercepción de salud/regular mala, no se evidencian mejoras en los parámetros fisiológicos poblacionales, aumentó la inactividad física, el consumo de sal y la obesidad

Hypoxia, inflammation and necrosis as determinants of glioblastoma cancer stem cells progression

Tumor hypoxic microenvironment causes hypoxia inducible factor 1 alpha (HIF-1ff) activation and necrosis with alarmins release. Importantly, HIF-1ff also controls the expression of alarmin receptors in tumor cells that can bind to and be activated by alarmins. Human tumor tissues possess 1-2% of cancer stem cells (CSCs) residing in hypoxic niches and responsible for the metastatic potential of tumors. Our hypothesis is that hypoxic CSCs express alarmin receptors that can bind alarmins released during necrosis, an event favoring CSCs migration. To investigate this aspect, glioblastoma stem-like cell (GSC) lines were kept under hypoxia to determine the expression of hypoxic markers as well as receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE). The presence of necrotic extracts increased migration, invasion and cellular adhesion. Importantly, HIF-1ff inhibition by digoxin or acriflavine prevented the response of GSCs to hypoxia alone or plus necrotic extracts. In vivo, GSCs injected in one brain hemisphere of NOD/SCID mice were induced to migrate to the other one in which a necrotic extract was previously injected. In conclusion, our results show that hypoxia is important not only for GSCs maintenance but also for guiding their response to external necrosis. Inhibition of hypoxic pathway may therefore represent a target for preventing brain invasion by glioblastoma stem cells (GSCs)

Educación y salud como input del capital humano. Rendimiento académico de estudiantes de la Facultad de Ciencias Económicas. UNRC

The aim of this study is to establish associations between sociodemographic attributes and academic performance. This is a descriptive correlational study with retrospective transversal design. Results suggest that taking subjects, academic efficiency (passed subjects/subjects sat for) and educational level of mother and father appear on the same line. In a factorial plane we find high school administration (private) very close, the syllabus a little further and against the student’s good performance we find age of entrance (over 18), presence of couple or children and jobEste trabajo busca establecer asociaciones entre atributos sociodemográficos de alumnos universitarios con su rendimiento académico. El alcance del estudio es descriptivo y correlacional y el diseño retrospectivo, transversal. Los resultados sugieren que la regularización de asignaturas por parte del alumno, la eficiencia académica (asignaturas aprobadas / asignaturas rendidas), el nivel educativo del padre y de la madre, son colineales entre sí. En un plano factorial muy cercano se presentan la gestión de la escuela secundaria (privada), no habiendo tanta cercanía con el plan de estudios, mientras que juegan en contra del buen rendimiento del alumno la edad del ingresante (mayor de 18 años), la presencia de pareja o hijos y si trabaja

Factors associated with maternal mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa: an ecological study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Maternal health is one of the major worldwide health challenges. Currently, the unacceptably high levels of maternal mortality are a common subject in global health and development discussions. Although some countries have made remarkable progress, half of the maternal deaths in the world still take place in Sub-Saharan Africa where little or no progress has been made. There is no single simple, straightforward intervention that will significantly decrease maternal mortality alone; however, there is a consensus on the importance of a strong health system, skilled delivery attendants, and women's rights for maternal health. Our objective was to describe and determine different factors associated with the maternal mortality ratio in Sub-Saharan countries.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>An ecological multi-group study compared variables between many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa using data collected between 1997 and 2006. The dependent variable was the maternal mortality ratio, and Health care system-related, educational and economic indicators were the independent variables. Information sources included the WHO, World Bank, UNICEF and UNDP.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Maternal mortality ratio values in Sub-Saharan Africa were demonstrated to be high and vary enormously among countries. A relationship between the maternal mortality ratio and some educational, sanitary and economic factors was observed. There was an inverse and significant correlation of the maternal mortality ratio with prenatal care coverage, births assisted by skilled health personnel, access to an improved water source, adult literacy rate, primary female enrolment rate, education index, the Gross National Income per capita and the per-capita government expenditure on health.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Education and an effective and efficient health system, especially during pregnancy and delivery, are strongly related to maternal death. Also, macro-economic factors are related and could be influencing the others.</p

Measurement of the Bottom-Strange Meson Mixing Phase in the Full CDF Data Set

We report a measurement of the bottom-strange meson mixing phase \beta_s using the time evolution of B0_s -> J/\psi (->\mu+\mu-) \phi (-> K+ K-) decays in which the quark-flavor content of the bottom-strange meson is identified at production. This measurement uses the full data set of proton-antiproton collisions at sqrt(s)= 1.96 TeV collected by the Collider Detector experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron, corresponding to 9.6 fb-1 of integrated luminosity. We report confidence regions in the two-dimensional space of \beta_s and the B0_s decay-width difference \Delta\Gamma_s, and measure \beta_s in [-\pi/2, -1.51] U [-0.06, 0.30] U [1.26, \pi/2] at the 68% confidence level, in agreement with the standard model expectation. Assuming the standard model value of \beta_s, we also determine \Delta\Gamma_s = 0.068 +- 0.026 (stat) +- 0.009 (syst) ps-1 and the mean B0_s lifetime, \tau_s = 1.528 +- 0.019 (stat) +- 0.009 (syst) ps, which are consistent and competitive with determinations by other experiments.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, Phys. Rev. Lett 109, 171802 (2012

Fenretinide induces mitochondrial ROS and inhibits the mitochondrial respiratory chain in neuroblastoma

Fenretinide induces apoptosis in neuroblastoma by induction of reactive oxygen species (ROS). In this study, we investigated the role of mitochondria in fenretinide-induced cytotoxicity and ROS production in six neuroblastoma cell lines. ROS induction by fenretinide was of mitochondrial origin, demonstrated by detection of superoxide with MitoSOX, the scavenging effect of the mitochondrial antioxidant MitoQ and reduced ROS production in cells without a functional mitochondrial respiratory chain (Rho zero cells). In digitonin-permeabilized cells, a fenretinide concentration-dependent decrease in ATP synthesis and substrate oxidation was observed, reflecting inhibition of the mitochondrial respiratory chain. However, inhibition of the mitochondrial respiratory chain was not required for ROS production. Co-incubation of fenretinide with inhibitors of different complexes of the respiratory chain suggested that fenretinide-induced ROS production occurred via complex II. The cytotoxicity of fenretinide was exerted through the generation of mitochondrial ROS and, at higher concentrations, also through inhibition of the mitochondrial respiratory chain

Latent Epstein-Barr Virus Can Inhibit Apoptosis in B Cells by Blocking the Induction of NOXA Expression

Latent Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has been shown to protect Burkitt's lymphoma-derived B cells from apoptosis induced by agents that cause damage to DNA, in the context of mutant p53. This protection requires expression of the latency-associated nuclear proteins EBNA3A and EBNA3C and correlates with their ability to cooperate in the repression of the gene encoding the pro-apoptotic, BH3-only protein BIM. Here we confirm that latent EBV in B cells also inhibits apoptosis induced by two other agents – ionomycin and staurosporine – and show that these act by a distinct pathway that involves a p53-independent increase in expression of another pro-apoptotic, BH3-only protein, NOXA. Analyses employing a variety of B cells infected with naturally occurring EBV or B95.8 EBV-BAC recombinant mutants indicated that the block to NOXA induction does not depend on the well-characterized viral latency-associated genes (EBNAs 1, 2, 3A, 3B, 3C, the LMPs or the EBERs) or expression of BIM. Regulation of NOXA was shown to be at least partly at the level of mRNA and the requirement for NOXA to induce cell death in this context was demonstrated by NOXA-specific shRNA-mediated depletion experiments. Although recombinant EBV with a deletion removing the BHRF1 locus – that encodes the BCL2-homologue BHRF1 and three microRNAs – partially abrogates protection against ionomycin and staurosporine, the deletion has no effect on the EBV-mediated block to NOXA accumulation