Plasma homocysteine in adolescents depends on the interaction between methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase genotype, lipids and folate: a seroepidemiological study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Many publications link high homocysteine levels to cardiovascular disease. In Spain there is little information on the prevalence of hyperhomocysteinaemia and associated vitamin factors among the general population, and less still among children. Cardiovascular risk factors in the childhood population may be related to the appearance of cardiovascular disease at adult age. The aim of this study is to establish a definition of hyperhomocysteinaemia in adolescents and to analyze the influence of vitamin and metabolic factors in homocysteine levels in this population group.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Descriptive, cross-sectional epidemiological study to estimate serum homocysteine, vitamin B12 and folate levels, as well as plasma total, HDL- and LDL- cholesterol in a schoolgoing population aged 13 to 17 years in Madrid, Spain.</p> <p>Spearman correlation analysis was performed to ascertain quantitative comparison, Pearson's χ2 test (frequency < 5, Fisher) was used for comparison of prevalences, Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis test were used for comparison of means and Bonferroni correction was used for post-hoc tests. A multivariate logistic regression model was performed in the multivariate analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Based on the classic values for definition of hyperhomocysteinaemia in adults, prevalence of hyperhomocysteinaemia in the study population was: 1.26% for 15 μmol/L; and 2.52% for 12 μmol/L.</p> <p>Deficits in HDL cholesterol and serum folate levels yielded adjusted Odds Ratios (OR) for hyperhomocysteinemia of 2.786, 95% CI (1.089-7.126), and 5.140, 95% CI (2.347-11.256) respectively. Mutation of the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T genotype also raises the risk of hyperhomocysteinaemia (CC→CT: OR = 2.362; 95% CI (1.107-5.042) CC→TT: OR = 6.124, 95% CI (2.301-16.303))</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A good definition of hyperhomocysteinaemia in adolescents is the 90^thpercentile, equivalent to 8.23 μmol/L. Risk factors for hyperhomocysteinaemia are cHDL and folate deficiency, and the MTHFR C677T mutant genotype. No significant effect could be assessed for vitamin B₁₂. Coexistence of all three factors increases the risk of suffering from hyperhomocysteinaemia 87-fold.</p

Uses of the smartphone in current journalism. towards a new media model? case study of the context of malaga

En los últimos años, el avance de la tecnología está introduciendo transformaciones significativas en el sistema mediático tradicional. La penetración de los smartphones y el uso masivo de los mismos para el consumo informativo obliga a los medios de comunicación a actualizarse y adaptarse a la nueva realidad social. Ubicuidad, inmediatez e interactividad son, hoy en día, las características predominantes de la producción, difusión y consumo de contenidos mediáticos. Las noticias móviles están ganando una importancia crucial para los medios tradicionales (Westlund, 2013) y los profesionales de la información deben afrontar el ajuste de sus rutinas productivas a este nuevo escenario. La presente investigación, tomando como estudio de caso el entorno mediático malagueño, se propone conocer la forma en la que los periodistas, así como las empresas de medios, se adaptan al uso de la denominada “cuarta pantalla” (Aguado y Martínez, 2008; Miller, 2014) de los Smartphone o teléfonos inteligentes, unos dispositivos considerados ya como el “metamedio del siglo XXI” (Márquez, 2017). Para ello se emplea la entrevista en profundidad como metodología cualitativa-descriptiva junto a la observación participante, dada la condición de redactora, en los servicios informativos de PTV Málaga, de una de las autoras del texto. Los resultados evidencian la polivalencia (González, 2013) como un factor prominente entre los periodistas locales que, a diario, emplean el Smartphone en sus rutinas productivas. La investigación concluye que, en el ámbito local, aunque con excepciones, las empresas mediáticas tienden a aprovechar las potencialidades que actualmente ofrecen los teléfonos inteligentes.In recent years, the advancement of technology is introducing significant transformations in the traditional media system. The penetration of Smartphones, and the massive use of them for informative consumption, forces the media to update and adapt to the new social reality. Ubiquity, immediacy and interactivity are, nowadays, the predominant characteristics of the production, diffusion and consumption of media content. Mobile news is gaining crucial importance for traditional media (Westlund, 2013) and information professionals must confront the adjustment of their productive routines to this new scenario. The present investigation, taking as a case study the media environment of Malaga, proposes to know the way in which journalists, as well as media companies, adapt to the use of the so-called “fourth screen” (Aguado and Martínez, 2008; Miller, 2014) of smartphones, some devices already considered the “metamedia of the 21st century” (Márquez, 2017). For this, the in-depth interview is used as a qualitative-descriptive methodology together with the participant observation, given the condition of editor, in the information services of PTV Málaga, by one of the authors of the text. The results show the versatility (González, 2013) as a prominent factor among local journalists, who daily use Smartphones in their productive routines. The research concludes that, at the local level, although with exceptions, media companies tend to take advantage of the potentials that smartphones currentlyoffer

Análisis bibliométrico de las Tesis leídas en el Departamento de Historia Contemporánea de la UCM (1969 - 1996)

Sin resume

Diseño de investigación de un plan de calidad de material de empaque flexible primario en una industria de alimentos

propone un plan de muestreo estadístico para minimizar el ingreso de material no conforme a la planta, y por último se establecen las pruebas de calidad de material de empaque en el producto terminado para asegurar su sellado

Women and cinema: a pairing under construction. Analysis of segregation by gender in the production of Spanish feature films

Actualmente, y a pesar de los muchos avances desarrollados en los últimos años, en el contexto español siguen existiendo profesiones con una acuciante brecha de género. Es el caso del sector cinematográfico, donde la mujer aparece subrepresentada. Son escasos y parciales los estudios académicos que hayan abordado la situación de la industria desde una perspectiva de género, por lo que esta investigación se propone analizar, desde un enfoque cuantitativo, el conjunto de la producción española actual con el objetivo de detectar y visibilizar posibles desequilibrios en la estructura ocupacional del sector cinematográfico. Se analiza la distribución en base al sexo de los 5.372 profesionales que participan en 495 películas producidas en 2020 y 2021. Los resultados permiten determinar que los puestos vinculados al audiovisual están, en su mayoría, masculinizados, quedando la mujer relegada a cargos relacionados con la estética (Maquillaje, Peluquería y Vestuario) que se posicionan en la base de la pirámide ocupacional. Los hallazgos apuntan igualmente a la predilección de las directoras por el género documental y, como innovación respecto a estudios precedentes, esta investigación establece el trabajo individual (masculino o femenino) como la forma mayoritaria en que se ejecutan las labores propias de la producción cinematográfica.Currently, despite the many advances in recent years, there remain professions in the Spanish context with a pressing gender gap. This pertains in the cinematographic sector, where women appear to be under-represented. There are only a few and partial academic studies that have addressed the situation of the industry from a gender perspective. Hence, this research seeks to analyse, from a quantitative approach, the whole of current Spanish production with the aim of detecting and making visible possible imbalances in the occupational structure of the film sector. The distribution based on the sex of the 5,372 professionals who participated in 495 films produced in 2020 and 2021 is analysed. The results allow us to determine that the positions related to the audiovisual are, largely, masculine-based, with women relegated to related positions linked to aesthetics (Makeup, Hairdressing and Wardrobe) sited at the base of the occupational pyramid. The findings also reveal the predilection of female directors for the documentary genre and, as an innovation on previous studies, this research establishes individual work (male or female) as the majority way in which the tasks of film production are performed

Evaluating the spoken dialogue system of a conversational character: A Simulation Study

Currently, there are many applications like human-computer interactions in which speech technology plays an important role. In particular, embodied conversational character interfaces research has produced widely divergent results and it has tended to focus on the character’s dialog capabilities associated with reasoning. Conversely, the present work attempts to evaluate a conversational character from interactionrelated aspects. This paper describes an analysis of a conversational character spoken dialogue system using a discrete event simulator. The simulation model was implemented in the ARENA traditional simulator. Simulation results show that sometimes the response time from the speech conversational character can be too long to user, as well as environment noise is an important aspect of the system to be improved.XIV Workshop Computación Gráfica, Imágenes y Visualización (WCGIV).Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

Measuring the Burden of Hospitalization in Patients with Parkinson´s Disease in Spain

Introduction: This epidemiological survey estimates the hospitalization burden related to Parkinson´s Disease in Spain. Methods: This observational retrospective survey was performed by reviewing data from the National Surveillance System for Hospital Data, which includes more than 98% of Spanish hospitals. All hospitalizations of patients with Parkinson´s disease that were reported from 1997-2012 were analyzed. Codes were selected using the 9th International Classification of Diseases: ICD-9-CM: 332.0. Results: A total of 438,513 hospital discharges of patients with Parkinson´s Disease were reported during the study period. The annual hospitalization rate was 64.2 cases per 100,000. The average length of hospital stay was 10 days. The trend for the annual hospitalization rate differed significantly depending on whether Parkinson´s disease was the main cause of hospitalization (n = 23,086, 1.14% annual increase) or was not the main cause of hospitalization (n = 415,427, 15.37% annual increase). The overall case-fatality rate among hospitalized patients was 10%. The case fatality rate among patient´s hospitalized with Parkinson´s disease as the main cause of hospitalization was 2.5%. The hospitalization rate and case-fatality rate significantly increased with age. The primary causes of hospitalization when Parkinson´s disease was not coded as the main cause of hospitalization were as follows: respiratory system diseases (24%), circulatory system diseases (19%), injuries and poisoning, including fractures (12%), diseases of the digestive system (10%) and neoplasms (5%). The annual average cost for National Health Care System was € 120 M, with a mean hospitalization cost of €4,378. Conclusions: Parkinson´s disease poses a significant health threat in Spain, particularly in the elderly. While hospitalizations due to Parkinson´s Disease are relatively stable over time, the number of patients presenting with Parkinson´s disease as an important comorbidity has increased dramatically. Medical staff must be specifically trained to treat the particular needs of hospitalized patients suffering from Parkinson´s disease as an important comorbidity.Funding sources for study: The cathedra “Evaluación de Resultados en Salud. Rey Juan Carlos University” is sponsored by Abbvie.S