Vitamin D Food Fortification and Nutritional Status in Children: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials

Children are in the risk group for developing hypovitaminosis D. Several strategies are used to reduce this risk. Among these, fortification of foods with vitamin D (25(OH)D) has contributed to the achievement of nutritional needs. This systematic review aims to discuss food fortification as a strategy for maintenance or recovery of nutritional status related to vitamin D in children. The work was developed according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) and registered in the International prospective register of systematic reviews (PROSPERO) database (CRD42018052974). Randomized clinical trials with children up to 11 years old, who were offered vitamin D-fortified foods, and who presented 25(OH)D concentrations were used as eligibility criteria. After the selection stages, five studies were included, totaling 792 children of both sexes and aged between two and 11 years. Interventions offered 300–880 IU of vitamin D per day, for a period of 1.6–9 months, using fortified dairy products. In four of the five studies, there was an increase in the serum concentrations of 25(OH)D with the consumption of these foods; additionally, most children reached or maintained su ciency status. Moreover, the consumption of vitamin D-fortified foods proved to be safe, with no concentrations of 25(OH)D > 250 nmol/L. Based on the above, the fortification of foods with vitamin D can help maintain or recover the nutritional status of this vitamin in children aged 2–11 years. However, it is necessary to perform additional randomized clinical trials in order to establish optimal doses of fortification, according to the peculiarities of each region.This research was funded by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq/MS/SCTIE/DECIT/DAB/CGAN), grant number 440809/2017-7. In part by the Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel—Brazil (CAPES)—Finance Code 001. And by Unidad Científica de Excelencia Ejercicio y Salud (UCEES), University of Granada, Spain

Meckel's diverticulum: analysis of 27 cases in an adult population

BackgroundMeckel's diverticulum is a rare congenital pathology among newborns. Nevertheless, it is an uncommon abdominal pathology in the adult population. Therefore, we aim to provide a detailed account of our surgical approach in treating 27 cases of Meckel's diverticulum.MethodsThis study is a cross-sectional analysis that utilized a database with prospectively collected data from 2004 to 2022. All patients under the age of 18 were excluded from the population. We described the population’s demographic characteristics, symptoms, anatomopathological study, surgical technique, complications, morbidity, and mortality. A subgroup analysis was performed between the symptomatic and asymptomatic patients.ResultsA total of 27 patients who underwent surgical resection for a posteriorly diagnosed Meckel's diverticulum were included. The male population accounted for 81.4% (n = 22) of the sample size. The symptomatic group consisted of 18 male and four female patients. Abdominal pain was the predominant symptom in 85% of the patients. Out of the 22 symptomatic patients, only 9% had a positive perioperative diagnosis of Meckel's diverticulum. All 27 patients with diverticulum diagnosis received the resection through diverticulectomy (n = 6), small bowel resection with end-to-end anastomosis (n = 6), and small bowel resection with lateral to lateral anastomosis (n = 15). The mean distance between the diverticulum and the ileocecal valve was 63.4 cm. The symptomatic group had an average diverticulum length of 3.54 cm, with an average base width of 2.47 cm. In the other group, the values were 2.75 and 1.61 cm. The average length of hospital stay in the symptomatic group was 7.3 days.ConclusionsMeckel's diverticulum is a rare pathology in the adult population. Its presentation varies from asymptomatic to symptomatic patients, and surgery is the cornerstone treatment for this pathology

Hypermedia : taller de configuración arquitectónica

El Grupo "Hypermedia. Taller de configuración arquitectónica" lo formamos un colectivo de profesores (doctores y asociados), doctorandos y becarios agrupados en la enseñanza del dibujo y el dibujar como herramienta para la elaboración profesional de proyectos de arquitectura en los primeros (1º y 2º año) semestres de la carrera de Arquitecto Superior. Algunos de nosotros empezamos hace más de 35 años alrededor de los ordenadores, estudiando y simulando procesos de generación de propuestas arquitectónicas. Trabajábamos en el Centro de Cálculo de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid (desde el año 1968, en un seminario denominado: "Análisis y generación de formas arquitectónicas"). Después, desde el 1974, en la Cátedra de Análisis de Formas Arquitectónicas, hemos participado y contribuido a la definición del Área de conocimiento denominada "Expresión Gráfica Arquitectónica" y hemos constituido la asociación de Departamentos del Área de todas las Escuelas de Arquitectura del Estado Español, que, en paralelo, ha creado una Revista especializada (EGA lleva editados 10 números anuales) y sostiene la convocatoria bianual de un Congreso Internacional sobre los temas propios de nuestra especialización. Hoy el Grupo, amplio por razón de la situación estratégica del dibujar (inespecífico, geométrico y arquitectónico) como medio indispensable en el trabajo de proyectar arquitectura, se organiza en varios subgrupos que se reparten puntualmente las preocupaciones y temáticas globales (colectivas) que sistemáticamente aparecen, produciendo gran cantidad de trabajos que, en forma de encargos subvencionados, tesis doctorales, monografías, ponencias y artículos aparecen año tras año en diversos medios de difusión (u edición). Nuestros trabajos no son todos estratégicos, pero son todos (sean o no aplicaciones) centrales en la formación arquitectónica, concernidos con la fundamentación teórica, social, científica y técnica de lo medio ambiental (lo arquitectónico entendido como lo envolvente adecuado al albergue de actividades humanas socializadas)

The Milky Way's circular velocity curve between 4 and 14 kpc from APOGEE data

We measure the Milky Way's rotation curve over the Galactocentric range 4 kpc <~ R <~ 14 kpc from the first year of data from the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE). We model the line-of-sight velocities of 3,365 stars in fourteen fields with b = 0 deg between 30 deg < l < 210 deg out to distances of 10 kpc using an axisymmetric kinematical model that includes a correction for the asymmetric drift of the warm tracer population (\sigma_R ~ 35 km/s). We determine the local value of the circular velocity to be V_c(R_0) = 218 +/- 6 km/s and find that the rotation curve is approximately flat with a local derivative between -3.0 km/s/kpc and 0.4 km/s/kpc. We also measure the Sun's position and velocity in the Galactocentric rest frame, finding the distance to the Galactic center to be 8 kpc < R_0 < 9 kpc, radial velocity V_{R,sun} = -10 +/- 1 km/s, and rotational velocity V_{\phi,sun} = 242^{+10}_{-3} km/s, in good agreement with local measurements of the Sun's radial velocity and with the observed proper motion of Sgr A*. We investigate various systematic uncertainties and find that these are limited to offsets at the percent level, ~2 km/s in V_c. Marginalizing over all the systematics that we consider, we find that V_c(R_0) 99% confidence. We find an offset between the Sun's rotational velocity and the local circular velocity of 26 +/- 3 km/s, which is larger than the locally-measured solar motion of 12 km/s. This larger offset reconciles our value for V_c with recent claims that V_c >~ 240 km/s. Combining our results with other data, we find that the Milky Way's dark-halo mass within the virial radius is ~8x10^{11} M_sun.Comment: submitted to Ap

Waste-polystyrene foams-derived magnetic carbon material for adsorption and redox supercapacitor applications

The current impact of plastic waste on the environment and nature pushes for coming up with methods for their efficient reuse and recycle. Expanded polystyrene waste, massively produced worldwide, is presented in this work as a novel precursor of magnetic activated carbons (MAC) for the first time. A simple methodology based on the impregnation of EPS samples with Fe3+ in solution, followed by pyrolysis under Ar pressure and chemical activation is proposed. The as-prepared carbonaceous magnetic materials present nanometric phases of Fe0, Fe3C, and Fe3O4, and showed high specific surface area (672 m2 g−1) and total pore volume (0.35 cm3 g−1), one of the highest found in the carbonaceous magnetic materials literature. Their excellent textural, chemical and electrical properties, combined with the possibility of magnetically collection and regeneration after operation guaranteed an excellent performance of MAC in two different applications: as adsorbents of organic contaminants and as electrodes of redox supercapacitors.The authors would like to thank the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG) for the financial support. P.F.R. Ortega acknowledges the FAPEMIG (DOF nº. 2720262/2018). The authors are also grateful to Rede Mineira de Química. R.L. Lavall is recipient of fellowship from CNPq (grant number 313304/2017-3). N. C. F. Machado, K. H. A. Mendes, and L. A. M. de Jesus would like to thank CEFET-MG and FAPEMIG for scholarships receivedPeer reviewe

Sentido social del hábitat. IV Congreso sobre Arquitectura y Cooperación al Desarrollo: libro de resúmenes

Resúmenes del IV Congreso sobre Arquitectura y Cooperación al Desarrollo, celebrado los días 29 y 30 de septiembre de 2016 en A Coruña

The Ninth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III) presents the first spectroscopic data from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS). This ninth data release (DR9) of the SDSS project includes 535,995 new galaxy spectra (median z=0.52), 102,100 new quasar spectra (median z=2.32), and 90,897 new stellar spectra, along with the data presented in previous data releases. These spectra were obtained with the new BOSS spectrograph and were taken between 2009 December and 2011 July. In addition, the stellar parameters pipeline, which determines radial velocities, surface temperatures, surface gravities, and metallicities of stars, has been updated and refined with improvements in temperature estimates for stars with T_eff<5000 K and in metallicity estimates for stars with [Fe/H]>-0.5. DR9 includes new stellar parameters for all stars presented in DR8, including stars from SDSS-I and II, as well as those observed as part of the SDSS-III Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration-2 (SEGUE-2). The astrometry error introduced in the DR8 imaging catalogs has been corrected in the DR9 data products. The next data release for SDSS-III will be in Summer 2013, which will present the first data from the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) along with another year of data from BOSS, followed by the final SDSS-III data release in December 2014.Comment: 9 figures; 2 tables. Submitted to ApJS. DR9 is available at http://www.sdss3.org/dr

Consequences of a large-scale fragmentation experiment for Neotropical bats : disentangling the relative importance of local and landscape-scale effects

Context Habitat loss, fragmentation and degradation are widespread drivers of biodiversity decline. Understanding how habitat quality interacts with landscape context, and how they jointly affect species in human-modified landscapes, is of great importance for informing conservation and management. Objectives We used a whole-ecosystem manipulation experiment in the Brazilian Amazon to investigate the relative roles of local and landscape attributes in affecting bat assemblages at an interior-edge-matrix disturbance gradient. Methods We surveyed bats in 39 sites, comprising continuous forest (CF), fragments, forest edges and intervening secondary regrowth. For each site, we assessed vegetation structure (local-scale variable) and, for five focal scales, quantified habitat amount and four landscape configuration metrics. Results Smaller fragments, edges and regrowth sites had fewer species and higher levels of dominance than CF. Regardless of the landscape scale analysed, species richness and evenness were mostly related to the amount of forest cover. Vegetation structure and configurational metrics were important predictors of abundance, whereby the magnitude and direction of response to configurational metrics were scale-dependent. Responses were ensemble-specific with local-scale vegetation structure being more important for frugivorous than for gleaning animalivorous bats. Conclusions Our study indicates that scale-sensitive measures of landscape structure are needed for a more comprehensive understanding of the effects of fragmentation on tropical biota. Although forest fragments and regrowth habitats can be of conservation significance for tropical bats our results further emphasize that primary forest is of irreplaceable value, underlining that their conservation can only be achieved by the preservation of large expanses of pristine habitat