Fucoxanthin-Containing Cream Prevents Epidermal Hyperplasia and UVB-Induced Skin Erythema in Mice

Microalgae represent a source of bio-active compounds such as carotenoids with potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. We aimed to investigate the effects of fucoxanthin (FX) in both in vitro and in vivo skin models. Firstly, its anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated in LPS-stimulated THP-1 macrophages and TNF-α-stimulated HaCaT keratinocytes, and its antioxidant activity in UVB-irradiated HaCaT cells. Next, in vitro and ex vivo permeation studies were developed to determine the most suitable formulation for in vivo FX topical application. Then, we evaluated the effects of a FX-containing cream on TPA-induced epidermal hyperplasia in mice, as well as on UVB-induced acute erythema in hairless mice. Our results confirmed the in vitro reduction of TNF-α, IL-6, ROS and LDH production. Since the permeation results showed that cream was the most favourable vehicle, FX-cream was elaborated. This formulation effectively ameliorated TPA-induced hyperplasia, by reducing skin edema, epidermal thickness, MPO activity and COX-2 expression. Moreover, FX-cream reduced UVB-induced erythema through down-regulation of COX-2 and iNOS as well as up-regulation of HO-1 protein via Nrf-2 pathway. In conclusion, FX, administered in a topical formulation, could be a novel natural adjuvant for preventing exacerbations associated with skin inflammatory pathologies as well as protecting skin against UV radiation

Obesity Inequalities According to Place of Birth: The Role of Education

This study examined obesity inequalities according to place of birth and educational attainment in men and in women in Spain. A cross-sectional study was conducted using data from the Spanish National Health Survey 2011-2012 and from the European Health Survey in Spain 2014. We used data for 27,720 adults aged 18-64 years of whom 2431 were immigrants. We used log-binomial regression to quantify the association of place of birth with obesity before and after adjusting for the selected characteristics in women and in men. We found a greater probability of obesity in immigrant women (PR: 1.42; 95% CI: 1.22-1.64) and a lower probability of obesity in immigrant men (PR: 0.73; 95% CI: 0.59-0.89) relative to natives after adjustment. Significant heterogeneity was observed for the association of place of birth and obesity according to education in men (p-interactions = 0.002): Men with lower educational levels (PR: 0.47; 95% CI: 0.26-0.83) have a protective effect against obesity compared with their native counterparts. This study suggests that place of birth may affect obesity in women and in men. However, this effect may be compounded with education differently for women and men.This work was supported by the Basque Government's research fund to consolidate research groups. Ref. IT977-16

Racial/ethnic inequities in the associations of allostatic load with all-cause and cardiovascular-specific mortality risk in U.S. adults

Non-Hispanic blacks have higher mortality rates than non-Hispanic whites whereas Hispanics have similar or lower mortality rates than non-Hispanic blacks and whites despite Hispanics' lower education and access to health insurance coverage. This study examines whether allostatic load, a proxy for cumulative biological risk, is associated with all-cause and cardiovascular (CVD)-specific mortality risks in US adults; and whether these associations vary with race/ethnicity and further with age, sex and education across racial/ethnic groups. Data from the third National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES III, 1988-1994) and the 2015 Linked Mortality File were used for adults 25 years or older (n = 13,673 with 6,026 deaths). Cox proportional hazards regression was used to estimate the associations of allostatic load scores (2 and >= 3 relative to <= 1) with a) all-cause and b) CVD-specific mortality risk among NHANES III participants before and after controlling for selected characteristics. Allostatic load scores are associated with higher all-cause and CVD-specific mortality rates among U.S. adults aged 25 years or older, with stronger rates observed for CVD-specific mortality. All-cause mortality rates for each racial/ethnic group differed with age and education whereas for CVD-specific mortality rates, this difference was observed for sex. Our findings of high allostatic load scores associated with all-cause and CVD-specific mortality among US adults call attention to monitor conditions associated with the allostatic load's biomarkers to identify high-risk groups to help monitor social inequities in mortality risk, especially premature mortality

Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in Spain: a Comparison of Native and Immigrant Populations

Cardiovascular disease (CDV) risk factors are highly prevalent among adults with low social class in Spain. However, little is known on how these factors are distributed in the immigrant population, a socio-economic disadvantaged population. Thus, this study aims to examine inequalities in CVD risk factors among immigrant and native populations. We conducted a cross-sectional study using data from the Spanish National Health Survey 2017 and used log-binomial regression to quantify the association of immigrant status on CVD risk factors among adults aged 25-64 years. The probabilities of having at least three CVD risk factors were higher for immigrants from Eastern Europe (PR: 1.25; 95% CI: 1.15-1.35) and lower for immigrants from Africa (PR: 0.79; 95% CI: 0.69-0.89) when compared with natives. The association of immigrant status and CVD risk factors varies with educational attainment (p-interaction = 0.001). Immigrants from Eastern Europe with low educational attainment have a higher probability of having at least three CVD risk factors compared with their native counterparts. In contrast, immigrants from Africa and Latin America with low educational attainment had a protective effect against having at least three CVD risk relative to natives. Health prevention and promotion strategies to reduce the burden of CVD taking should account for educational attainment given its differential effect among the immigrant population in Spain.This work was supported by the Basque Government's research fund to consolidate research groups. Ref. IT977-1

Searching for partial Hadamard matrices

Three algorithms looking for pretty large partial Hadamard ma- trices are described. Here “large” means that hopefully about a third of a Hadamard matrix (which is the best asymptotic result known so far, [8]) is achieved. The first one performs some kind of local exhaustive search, and consequently is expensive from the time consuming point of view. The second one comes from the adaptation of the best genetic algorithm known so far searching for cliques in a graph, due to Singh and Gupta [21]. The last one consists in another heuristic search, which prioritizes the required processing time better than the final size of the partial Hadamard matrix to be obtained. In all cases, the key idea is characterizing the adjacency properties of vertices in a particular subgraph Gt of Ito’s Hadamard Graph (4t) [18], since cliques of order m in Gt can be seen as (m + 3) × 4t partial Hadamard matrices.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación MTM2008-06578Junta de Andalucía FQM-016Junta de Andalucía P07-FQM-0298

Revista complutense de educación

Resumen basado en el de la publicaciónDesde la perspectiva de la sociología de la cultura (y con aportaciones de la sociología de la educación y de los estudios de género) se examinarán, por un lado, las tensiones entre identidad y alteridad que se enumerarán, no exhaustivamente, y que se condensan en el denominado problema de «el otro». Concretamente, se analizarán las relaciones entre la «cultura culta» y la llamada cultura popular. Las autoras realizan una reflexión sobre los siguientes extremos: 1. La articulación de la imagen del «otro» con la imagen de «sí mismo», que constituye una vía excelente para estudiar las identidades colectivas y, a la vez, comprender mejor la naturaleza de ciertos conflictos sociales con componentes culturales evidentes. 2. Un análisis de las relaciones de dominación socioculturales a través de los siguientes binomios o polos de tensión: rural/urbano, culto/inculto, masculino/femenino, niño/adulto, entre otros. 3. El tema del poder, tema central en las ciencias sociales, será un foco de análisis fundamental. Se presenta un mero texto de trabajo, instrumental, no acabado. Una especie de tormenta de ideas, sugerencias de líneas de investigación, con el propósito de contribuir al intercambio «quasi» informal entre colegas que una conferencia supone. Asimismo, el texto es una especie de resumen-recordatorio para los ex-alumnos/as que han intervenido en él y, a la vez, una presentación de material para nuevos alumnos.ES

Perceived discrimination and self-rated health in the immigrant population of the Basque Country, Spain

Objective: To examine the effect of perceived discrimination and self-rated health among the immigrant population in the Basque Country, Spain, and determine whether this effect varies according to region of origin, age, sex and education. Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional study. The study population included immigrants aged 18 and older residing in the Basque Country. Data from the 2014 Foreign Immigrant Population Survey (n =3,456) were used. Log-binomial regression was used to quantify the association between perceived discrimination and self-rated health before and after checking for the selected characteristics. Results: Almost 1 in 10 immigrant adults reports perceiving discrimination. In adjusted analyses, the immigrants perceiving discrimination were almost were 1.92 more likely to rate their health as poor (prevalence ratio: 1.92; 95% CI: 1.44-2.56) than those who did not report discrimination. This association did not vary according to region of origin, age, sex or educational level. Conclusions: Perceived discrimination shows a consistent relationship with perceived health. Moreover, this association did not depend on the region of origin, age, sex or educational level of immigrants. These results show the need for implementing inclusive policies to eliminate individual and institutional discrimination and reduce health inequalities between the immigrant and native populations.This study was supported by the University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU (project EHU14/55]

ACS Searching for D4t-Hadamard Matrices

An Ant Colony System (ACS) looking for cocyclic Hadamard matrices over dihedral groups D4t is described. The underlying weighted graph consists of the rooted trees described in [1], whose vertices are certain subsets of coboundaries. A branch of these trees defines a D4t- Hadamard matrix if and only if two conditions hold: (i) Ii = i − 1 and, (ii) ci = t, for every 2 ≤ i ≤ t, where Ii and ci denote the number of ipaths and i-intersections (see [3] for details) related to the coboundaries defining the branch. The pheromone and heuristic values of our ACS are defined in such a way that condition (i) is always satisfied, and condition (ii) is closely to be satisfied.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación MTM2008-06578Junta de Andalucía FQM–296Junta de Andalucía P07-FQM-0298

GA Based Robust Blind Digital Watermarking

A genetic algorithm based robust blind digital watermarking scheme is presented. The experimental results show that our scheme keeps invisibility, security and robustness more likely than other proposals in the literature, thanks to the GA pretreatment.Junta de Andalucía FQM-01

Protocolo de masoterapia y cinesiterapia en recién nacidos prematuros

[ES] Las investigaciones que han planteado la inclusión de protocolos de estimulación somática y cinestésica en recién nacidos prematuros han concluido que esas intervenciones resultan beneficiosas sobre aspectos fundamentales, como el desarrollo antropométrico y la maduración neurológica. El objetivo de este estudio ha sido desarrollar un protocolo de estimulación somática y cinestésica, dirigido a recién nacidos prematuros, con el fin de ser aplicado por los padres durante su estancia clínicaS