21 research outputs found

    Extracts and Fractions from Edible Roots of Sechium edule

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    Sechium edule is traditionally used in Mexico as a therapeutic resource against renal diseases and to control high blood pressure. The purpose of this work is to evaluate the antihypertensive effect of the hydroalcoholic extract obtained from the roots of this plant, including its fractions and subfractions, on different hypertension models induced with angiotensin II (AG II). The hydroalcoholic extract was tested on an in vitro study of isolated aorta rings denuded of endothelial cells, using AG II as the agonist; this assay proved the vasorelaxant effect of this extract. Vagotomized rats were administered different doses of AG II as well as the Hydroalcoholic extract, which reduced blood pressure in 30 mmHg approximately; subsequently this extract was separated into two fractions (acetone and methanol) which were evaluated in the acute hypertension mouse model induced with AG II, where the acetone fraction was identified as the most effective one and was subsequently subfractioned using an open chromatographic column packed with silica gel. The subfractions were also evaluated in the acute hypertension model. Finally, the extract, fraction, and active subfraction were analyzed by MS-PDA-HPLC, identifying cinnamic derivative compounds like cinnamic acid methyl ester

    Measuring performance on the Healthcare Access and Quality Index for 195 countries and territories and selected subnational locations: A systematic analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016

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    Background: A key component of achieving universal health coverage is ensuring that all populations have access to quality health care. Examining where gains have occurred or progress has faltered across and within countries is crucial to guiding decisions and strategies for future improvement. We used the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2016 (GBD 2016) to assess personal health-care access and quality with the Healthcare Access and Quality (HAQ) Index for 195 countries and territories, as well as subnational locations in seven countries, from 1990 to 2016. Methods Drawing from established methods and updated estimates from GBD 2016, we used 32 causes from which death should not occur in the presence of effective care to approximate personal health-care access and quality by location and over time. To better isolate potential effects of personal health-care access and quality from underlying risk factor patterns, we risk-standardised cause-specific deaths due to non-cancers by location-year, replacing the local joint exposure of environmental and behavioural risks with the global level of exposure. Supported by the expansion of cancer registry data in GBD 2016, we used mortality-to-incidence ratios for cancers instead of risk-standardised death rates to provide a stronger signal of the effects of personal health care and access on cancer survival. We transformed each cause to a scale of 0-100, with 0 as the first percentile (worst) observed between 1990 and 2016, and 100 as the 99th percentile (best); we set these thresholds at the country level, and then applied them to subnational locations. We applied a principal components analysis to construct the HAQ Index using all scaled cause values, providing an overall score of 0-100 of personal health-care access and quality by location over time. We then compared HAQ Index levels and trends by quintiles on the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a summary measure of overall development. As derived from the broader GBD study and other data sources, we examined relationships between national HAQ Index scores and potential correlates of performance, such as total health spending per capita. Findings In 2016, HAQ Index performance spanned from a high of 97\ub71 (95% UI 95\ub78-98\ub71) in Iceland, followed by 96\ub76 (94\ub79-97\ub79) in Norway and 96\ub71 (94\ub75-97\ub73) in the Netherlands, to values as low as 18\ub76 (13\ub71-24\ub74) in the Central African Republic, 19\ub70 (14\ub73-23\ub77) in Somalia, and 23\ub74 (20\ub72-26\ub78) in Guinea-Bissau. The pace of progress achieved between 1990 and 2016 varied, with markedly faster improvements occurring between 2000 and 2016 for many countries in sub-Saharan Africa and southeast Asia, whereas several countries in Latin America and elsewhere saw progress stagnate after experiencing considerable advances in the HAQ Index between 1990 and 2000. Striking subnational disparities emerged in personal health-care access and quality, with China and India having particularly large gaps between locations with the highest and lowest scores in 2016. In China, performance ranged from 91\ub75 (89\ub71-93\ub76) in Beijing to 48\ub70 (43\ub74-53\ub72) in Tibet (a 43\ub75-point difference), while India saw a 30\ub78-point disparity, from 64\ub78 (59\ub76-68\ub78) in Goa to 34\ub70 (30\ub73-38\ub71) in Assam. Japan recorded the smallest range in subnational HAQ performance in 2016 (a 4\ub78-point difference), whereas differences between subnational locations with the highest and lowest HAQ Index values were more than two times as high for the USA and three times as high for England. State-level gaps in the HAQ Index in Mexico somewhat narrowed from 1990 to 2016 (from a 20\ub79-point to 17\ub70-point difference), whereas in Brazil, disparities slightly increased across states during this time (a 17\ub72-point to 20\ub74-point difference). Performance on the HAQ Index showed strong linkages to overall development, with high and high-middle SDI countries generally having higher scores and faster gains for non-communicable diseases. Nonetheless, countries across the development spectrum saw substantial gains in some key health service areas from 2000 to 2016, most notably vaccine-preventable diseases. Overall, national performance on the HAQ Index was positively associated with higher levels of total health spending per capita, as well as health systems inputs, but these relationships were quite heterogeneous, particularly among low-to-middle SDI countries. Interpretation GBD 2016 provides a more detailed understanding of past success and current challenges in improving personal health-care access and quality worldwide. Despite substantial gains since 2000, many low-SDI and middle- SDI countries face considerable challenges unless heightened policy action and investments focus on advancing access to and quality of health care across key health services, especially non-communicable diseases. Stagnating or minimal improvements experienced by several low-middle to high-middle SDI countries could reflect the complexities of re-orienting both primary and secondary health-care services beyond the more limited foci of the Millennium Development Goals. Alongside initiatives to strengthen public health programmes, the pursuit of universal health coverage hinges upon improving both access and quality worldwide, and thus requires adopting a more comprehensive view-and subsequent provision-of quality health care for all populations

    Measuring performance on the Healthcare Access and Quality Index for 195 countries and territories and selected subnational locations: A systematic analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016

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    Copyright © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. Background A key component of achieving universal health coverage is ensuring that all populations have access to quality health care. Examining where gains have occurred or progress has faltered across and within countries is crucial to guiding decisions and strategies for future improvement. We used the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2016 (GBD 2016) to assess personal health-care access and quality with the Healthcare Access and Quality (HAQ) Index for 195 countries and territories, as well as subnational locations in seven countries, from 1990 to 2016. Methods Drawing from established methods and updated estimates from GBD 2016, we used 32 causes from which death should not occur in the presence of effective care to approximate personal health-care access and quality by location and over time. To better isolate potential effects of personal health-care access and quality from underlying risk factor patterns, we risk-standardised cause-specific deaths due to non-cancers by location-year, replacing the local joint exposure of environmental and behavioural risks with the global level of exposure. Supported by the expansion of cancer registry data in GBD 2016, we used mortality-to-incidence ratios for cancers instead of risk-standardised death rates to provide a stronger signal of the effects of personal health care and access on cancer survival. We transformed each cause to a scale of 0-100, with 0 as the first percentile (worst) observed between 1990 and 2016, and 100 as the 99th percentile (best); we set these thresholds at the country level, and then applied them to subnational locations. We applied a principal components analysis to construct the HAQ Index using all scaled cause values, providing an overall score of 0-100 of personal health-care access and quality by location over time. We then compared HAQ Index levels and trends by quintiles on the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a summary measure of overall development. As derived from the broader GBD study and other data sources, we examined relationships between national HAQ Index scores and potential correlates of performance, such as total health spending per capita. Findings In 2016, HAQ Index performance spanned from a high of 97·1 (95% UI 95·8-98·1) in Iceland, followed by 96·6 (94·9-97·9) in Norway and 96·1 (94·5-97·3) in the Netherlands, to values as low as 18·6 (13·1-24·4) in the Central African Republic, 19·0 (14·3-23·7) in Somalia, and 23·4 (20·2-26·8) in Guinea-Bissau. The pace of progress achieved between 1990 and 2016 varied, with markedly faster improvements occurring between 2000 and 2016 for many countries in sub-Saharan Africa and southeast Asia, whereas several countries in Latin America and elsewhere saw progress stagnate after experiencing considerable advances in the HAQ Index between 1990 and 2000. Striking subnational disparities emerged in personal health-care access and quality, with China and India having particularly large gaps between locations with the highest and lowest scores in 2016. In China, performance ranged from 91·5 (89·1-93·6) in Beijing to 48·0 (43·4-53·2) in Tibet (a 43·5-point difference), while India saw a 30·8-point disparity, from 64·8 (59·6-68·8) in Goa to 34·0 (30·3-38·1) in Assam. Japan recorded the smallest range in subnational HAQ performance in 2016 (a 4·8-point difference), whereas differences between subnational locations with the highest and lowest HAQ Index values were more than two times as high for the USA and three times as high for England. State-level gaps in the HAQ Index in Mexico somewhat narrowed from 1990 to 2016 (from a 20·9-point to 17·0-point difference), whereas in Brazil, disparities slightly increased across states during this time (a 17·2-point to 20·4-point difference). Performance on the HAQ Index showed strong linkages to overall development, with high and high-middle SDI countries generally having higher scores and faster gains for non-communicable diseases. Nonetheless, countries across the development spectrum saw substantial gains in some key health service areas from 2000 to 2016, most notably vaccine-preventable diseases. Overall, national performance on the HAQ Index was positively associated with higher levels of total health spending per capita, as well as health systems inputs, but these relationships were quite heterogeneous, particularly among low-to-middle SDI countries. Interpretation GBD 2016 provides a more detailed understanding of past success and current challenges in improving personal health-care access and quality worldwide. Despite substantial gains since 2000, many low-SDI and middle- SDI countries face considerable challenges unless heightened policy action and investments focus on advancing access to and quality of health care across key health services, especially non-communicable diseases. Stagnating or minimal improvements experienced by several low-middle to high-middle SDI countries could reflect the complexities of re-orienting both primary and secondary health-care services beyond the more limited foci of the Millennium Development Goals. Alongside initiatives to strengthen public health programmes, the pursuit of universal health coverage hinges upon improving both access and quality worldwide, and thus requires adopting a more comprehensive view - and subsequent provision - of quality health care for all populations

    Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

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    Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

    Erratum: Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 84 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

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    Interpretation: By quantifying levels and trends in exposures to risk factors and the resulting disease burden, this assessment offers insight into where past policy and programme efforts might have been successful and highlights current priorities for public health action. Decreases in behavioural, environmental, and occupational risks have largely offset the effects of population growth and ageing, in relation to trends in absolute burden. Conversely, the combination of increasing metabolic risks and population ageing will probably continue to drive the increasing trends in non-communicable diseases at the global level, which presents both a public health challenge and opportunity. We see considerable spatiotemporal heterogeneity in levels of risk exposure and risk-attributable burden. Although levels of development underlie some of this heterogeneity, O/E ratios show risks for which countries are overperforming or underperforming relative to their level of development. As such, these ratios provide a benchmarking tool to help to focus local decision making. Our findings reinforce the importance of both risk exposure monitoring and epidemiological research to assess causal connections between risks and health outcomes, and they highlight the usefulness of the GBD study in synthesising data to draw comprehensive and robust conclusions that help to inform good policy and strategic health planning

    Measuring performance on the Healthcare Access and Quality Index for 195 countries and territories and selected subnational locations: a systematic analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016.

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    BACKGROUND: A key component of achieving universal health coverage is ensuring that all populations have access to quality health care. Examining where gains have occurred or progress has faltered across and within countries is crucial to guiding decisions and strategies for future improvement. We used the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2016 (GBD 2016) to assess personal health-care access and quality with the Healthcare Access and Quality (HAQ) Index for 195 countries and territories, as well as subnational locations in seven countries, from 1990 to 2016. METHODS: Drawing from established methods and updated estimates from GBD 2016, we used 32 causes from which death should not occur in the presence of effective care to approximate personal health-care access and quality by location and over time. To better isolate potential effects of personal health-care access and quality from underlying risk factor patterns, we risk-standardised cause-specific deaths due to non-cancers by location-year, replacing the local joint exposure of environmental and behavioural risks with the global level of exposure. Supported by the expansion of cancer registry data in GBD 2016, we used mortality-to-incidence ratios for cancers instead of risk-standardised death rates to provide a stronger signal of the effects of personal health care and access on cancer survival. We transformed each cause to a scale of 0-100, with 0 as the first percentile (worst) observed between 1990 and 2016, and 100 as the 99th percentile (best); we set these thresholds at the country level, and then applied them to subnational locations. We applied a principal components analysis to construct the HAQ Index using all scaled cause values, providing an overall score of 0-100 of personal health-care access and quality by location over time. We then compared HAQ Index levels and trends by quintiles on the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a summary measure of overall development. As derived from the broader GBD study and other data sources, we examined relationships between national HAQ Index scores and potential correlates of performance, such as total health spending per capita

    Teachers’ Mental Health and Their Involvement in Educational Inclusion

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    Teaching is one of the most stressful work contexts, psychologically affecting professionals. The objective of this study is to analyse the effect of the frustration of NPB basic psychological needs, resilience, emotional intelligence and inclusion from the perspective of teachers in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study is carried out with 542 teachers of therapeutic pedagogy and special educational needs using the Psychological Need Thwarting Scale PNTS questionnaires as a research method, the Resilience Scale (RS-14), the Trait Meta Mood Scale 24 (TMMS-24), the Maslach Burnout Inventory, and the Index for Inclusion. The results revealed positive correlations, on the one hand, between the factors of frustration among themselves and with burnout and, on the other hand, the positive correlation between emotional intelligence, resilience and the inclusion index. In conclusion, the resilience of teachers plays a protective role in the inclusion of students with SEN in the face of emotional exhaustion and the frustration of psychological needs

    The Impact of University Collaborative Learning on Student Academic Achievement: A Wiki for Political and Management Science

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    El objetivo del proyecto es llevar a la práctica una acción formativa basada en la web 2.0 con la participación de profesores y alumnos pertenecientes a distintos grados, facultades y universidades. En concreto, esta iniciativa pretende continuar con la wiki, www.dcpa.wikidot.com, que comenzó a realizarse en 2015 en virtud de la convocatoria de PIMCD. La wiki contribuye a que los estudiantes, de manera colaborativa, diseñen un proyecto educativo de integración curricular a partir de unos supuestos establecidos previamente por el profesor. Por lo tanto, este tipo de experiencia permite crear una base documental de gran utilidad para otros alumnos que estudian este tipo de asignaturas o para cualquier persona que muestren una inquietud o necesidad de buscar, encontrar o ampliar el conocimiento sobre determinadas cuestiones relacionadas con la Ciencia Política y la Ciencia de la Administración. Además, este año vamos a incorporar al proyecto de innovación la creación de un blog, como una experiencia piloto, en una de las asignaturas de los profesores del equipo. De esta manera, se continúa avanzando en el aprendizaje colaborativo, así como en la interacción entre el profesor y el alumno. El blog, al igual que la wiki, permite difundir de lo que ocurre en el aula al resto de la sociedad, contribuyendo a la transferencia del conocimiento. La razón principal de haber elegido estas herramientas es que este tipo de aplicaciones, bajo la estructura de un procesador de texto en línea, permite que cualquier persona pueda escribir, publicar fotografías o vídeos, archivos o links, sin ninguna complejidad. Además, contribuye a renovar las metodologías de enseñanza, ya que favorece el aprendizaje colaborativo (el conocimiento se comparte) y refuerza la relación de confianza entre profesor-alumno, ya que el estudiante adquiere un rol activo en el proceso de recopilación, análisis y difusión de conocimiento. De este modo, el estudiante adquiere competencias y habilidades de una manera dinámica. No obstante, para que las tecnologías generen valor en los procesos de enseñanza-aprendizaje es necesario que los profesores nos centremos en diseñar unas experiencias de aprendizaje adaptadas a ellas. Solo de esta manera, la wiki y el blog pueden contribuir a la construcción del conocimiento y a la resolución de problemas de manera progresiva y evolutiva, de fomento de la capacidad crítica, evaluación de la información y el cuestionamiento de la realidad, y compromiso por un análisis equilibrado del trabajo de otros y contra los prejuicios. Por tal motivo, se presentará a los estudiantes una serie de pautas que deberán seguir para su buen desarrollo. En cuanto a la wiki, en primer lugar, se explicará el programa de la asignatura y se les indicarán que podrán desarrollar analíticamente cualquier concepto o acontecimiento que guarde relación con la misma, y en segundo lugar, se les señalara que deberán formar un grupo de 4 personas para poder llevar a cabo tal tarea, y que, una vez que determinen el tema a trabajar, deberá concretarlo con la profesora para evitar duplicidades y recibir los fundamentos sobre las cuales deberán vertebrar sus trabajos. En cuanto al blog, se expondrá a los alumnos de la asignatura de “Sistema político español”, que se creará una bitácora común para toda la clase en la que los mismos grupos de la wiki publicar una noticia, un video, una nota de prensa, etc relacionada con cada tema de la asignatura, y además deberán comentar esta aportación y vincularla con la parte teórica. Así, la innovación docente que se pretende conseguir es fomentar el trabajo colaborativo dentro y fuera del aula. En la actualidad, la wiki cuenta con 308 conceptos, por lo que esta iniciativa contribuirá a ampliar la información y el conocimiento sobre la Ciencia Política y la Ciencia de la Administración, incrementado, así, su repercusión, al igual que el blog. Con ello, los alumnos aprenderán a trabajar en grupo y de forma ordenada y continuada, además de adquirir una serie de herramientas que podrán ser empleadas en otras asignaturas y aspectos de su vida personal y profesional. Además, se medirá y evaluará su rendimiento académico para conocer si esta nueva metodología de aprendizaje permite mejorar los resultados de los estudiantes. Gracias a ello, los profesores podrán proponer nuevas herramientas docentes que tiendan a dirigir a los estudiantes hacia aquél enfoque de aprendizaje que proporcione mejor rendimiento.The aim of the project is to implement a training action based on web 2.0 with the participation of teachers and students belonging to different degrees, faculties and universities. Specifically, this initiative aims to continue with the wiki, www.dcpa.wikidot.com, which began to be carried out in 2015 under the PIMCD call for proposals. The wiki helps students, in a collaborative manner, to design an educational project of curricular integration based on assumptions previously established by the teacher. Therefore, this type of experience makes it possible to create a very useful documentary base for other students studying this type of subject or for anyone who shows an interest or need to search for, find or expand knowledge on certain issues related to Political Science and Management Science. In addition, this year we are going to incorporate into the innovation project the creation of a blog, as a pilot experience, in one of the subjects taught by the team's lecturers. In this way, we continue to make progress in collaborative learning, as well as in the interaction between teacher and student. The blog, like the wiki, allows the dissemination of what happens in the classroom to the rest of society, contributing to the transfer of knowledge. The main reason for choosing these tools is that this type of application, under the structure of an online word processor, allows anyone to write, publish photographs or videos, files or links, without any complexity. Moreover, it contributes to renew teaching methodologies, as it favours collaborative learning (knowledge is shared) and reinforces the relationship of trust between teacher-student, as the student acquires an active role in the process of gathering, analysing and disseminating knowledge. In this way, the student acquires competences and skills in a dynamic way. However, for technologies to generate value in the teaching-learning process, it is necessary for teachers to focus on designing learning experiences adapted to them. Only in this way can the wiki and the blog contribute to the construction of knowledge and problem solving in a progressive and evolutionary way, fostering critical capacity, evaluation of information and questioning of reality, and commitment to a balanced analysis of the work of others and against prejudices. For this reason, students will be presented with a series of guidelines to follow for its proper development. As for the wiki, firstly, the syllabus of the subject will be explained and they will be told that they will be able to analytically develop any concept or event related to it, and secondly, they will be told that they will have to form a group of 4 people to carry out this task, and that, once they have determined the topic to work on, they should discuss it with the teacher to avoid duplication and to receive the foundations on which they should base their work. As for the blog, it will be explained to the students of the subject "Spanish political system" that a common blog will be created for the whole class in which the same wiki groups will publish a news item, a video, a press release, etc. related to each subject of the course, and they will also have to comment on this contribution and link it to the theoretical part. In this way, the teaching innovation that is intended to be achieved is to encourage collaborative work inside and outside the classroom. At present, the wiki has 218 concepts, so this initiative will contribute to expanding information and knowledge about Political Science and Administration Science, thus increasing its impact, just like the blog. In this way, students will learn to work in groups and in an orderly and continuous manner, as well as acquiring a series of tools that can be used in other subjects and aspects of their personal and professional lives. In addition, their academic performance will be measured and evaluated to find out whether this new learning methodology improves students' results. As a result, teachers will be able to propose new teaching tools that tend to direct students towards the learning approach that provides the best performance.Depto. de Ciencia Política y de la AdministraciónFac. de Ciencias Políticas y SociologíaFALSEUCMsubmitte
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