ANÁLISIS COMPETITIVO DE LOS CULTIVOS DE PIÑA (Annanas comosus L.), MAÍZ (Zea mays L.) Y FRIJOL (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) EN LA FRAILESCA, CHIAPAS, MÉXICO

As an alternative for some zones of the La Frailesca region in Chiapas, México, where maize(Zea mays L.) and bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) are cultivated, of low profitability attributed to soils with acid pH (5.6-6.3) and clay sand texture, the MD-2 pineapple crop was transferred through a one-hectare module, applying adequate technological development to producers of low economic resources to improve their level of income, and improve their connection to the market. Through the profitabilityanalysis of maize, bean and pineapple crops, a prior approximation to the benefit-cost relationship was carried out; results show that the pineapple crop was the most profitable with $2.67 pesos. Then, the competitiveness of each crop was analyzed using the Policy Analysis Matrix (PAM) (Monkey and Pearson, 1989); calculating the indicators of competitiveness (RCP), made up by the added value and the intermediate consumption. Pineapple showed an index of competitiveness of 0.13, equivalent to 13$2.67 pesos. Posteriormente, se analizó la competitividad de cada cultivo utilizando la matriz de Análisis de Políticas (MAP) (Monkey y Pearson, 1989); calculandolos indicadores de competitividad (RCP), compuesto del valor agregado y el consumo intermedio. La piña presentó un índice de competitividad de 0.13, equivalente a que 13% del valor agregado es destinado por el productor al pago de labores manuales, mecanizadas y tierra, y 87% significó la ganancia neta; a diferencia de los cultivos de frijol y maíz, tuvieron índices de competitividad de 0.64 y 0.53, respectivamente, que si bien, de acuerdo a este indicador tienen participación en el mercado, son en menor escala. Por tanto, el cultivo de piña representa la mejor alternativa económica para el productor de la Frailesca

Hábitos y prácticas de consumo de teléfonos celulares en México y España

Los avances tecnológicos, la expansión de mercado y el corto ciclo de vida que caracteriza a los aparatos eléctricos y electrónicos, los convierte en el flujo de residuos de más rápido crecimiento en el mundo. Uno de estos aparatos de mayor consumo son los teléfonos celulares, que ya forman parte del estilo la vida de un número creciente de personas en todo el mundo. Los hábitos de consumo y de gestión del residuo que generan una vez finalizada su vida útil están asociados a los estilos de vida de los diferentes segmentos de la población, siendo la población joven el segmento de mayor consumo. Ante este contexto, este trabajo se centra en analizar los hábitos de consumo y retirada de los teléfonos celulares entre el segmento de los jóvenes universitarios de México y España, tomando como caso de estudio una universidad para cada país. Para ello, se diseñó una encuesta con el propósito de obtener información referente al conocimiento ambiental, hábitos de consumo y la forma en que gestionan el teléfono celular al finalizar su vida útil. Los resultados obtenidos sustentan la necesidad de desarrollar evaluaciones e implementar posibles escenarios para la gestión sostenible de los celulares al final de su vida útil.Technological advances, market expansion and the short life cycle that characterizes the electrical and electronic equipments, makes their wastes to be the fastest growing flow of residues in the world. One of the electronic devices that has increased their consumption is cell phones, which are already part of the life style of a growing number of people around the world. Consumption and waste management at end-of-life patterns are associated with the lifestyles of the different segments of the population, being young people the largest consumer segment. Given this context, this paper focuses on analyzing consumption and removal of cell phones patterns from the segment of university students in Mexico and Spain. To do this, a survey was designed in order to obtain information concerning the environmental knowledge and consumption habits and the way students manage cellphones at their end-of-life. The results support the need to develop and implement alternative scenarios for the sustainable management of cellphones at the end of their useful life

First Detection of Gas-phase Methanol in a Protoplanetary Disk

The first detection of gas-phase methanol in a protoplanetary disk (TW Hya) is presented. In addition to being one of the largest molecules detected in disks to date, methanol is also the first disk organic molecule with an unambiguous ice chemistry origin. The stacked methanol emission, as observed with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, is spectrally resolved and detected across six velocity channels (> 3σ ), reaching a peak signal-to-noise of 5.5σ , with the kinematic pattern expected for TW Hya. Using an appropriate disk model, a fractional abundance of 3× 10⁻¹²-4× 10⁻¹¹ (with respect to H₂) reproduces the stacked line profile and channel maps, with the favored abundance dependent upon the assumed vertical location (midplane versus molecular layer). The peak emission is offset from the source position, suggesting that the methanol emission has a ring-like morphology: the analysis here suggests it peaks at ≈ 30 au, reaching a column density ≈ 3-6× 10¹² cm⁻². In the case of TW Hya, the larger (up to millimeter-sized) grains, residing in the inner 50 au, may thus host the bulk of the disk ice reservoir. The successful detection of cold gas-phase methanol in a protoplanetary disk implies that the products of ice chemistry can be explored in disks, opening a window into studying complex organic chemistry during planetary system formation

Αβ Hinders Nuclear Targeting of AICD and Fe65 in Primary Neuronal Cultures

The intracellular domain of the Alzheimer’s amyloid precursor protein (AICD) has been described as an important player in the transactivation of specific genes. It results from proteolytic processing of the Alzheimer’s amyloid precursor protein (APP), as does the neurotoxic Aβ peptide. Although normally produced in cells, Aβ is typically considered to be a neurotoxic peptide, causing devastating effects. By exposing primary neuronal cultures to relatively low Aβ concentrations, this peptide was shown to affect APP processing. Our findings indicate that APP C-terminal fragments are increased with concomitant reduction in the expression levels of APP itself. AICD nuclear immunoreactivity detected under control conditions was dramatically reduced in response to Aβ exposure. Additionally, intracellular protein levels of Fe65 and GSK3 were also decreased in response to Aβ. APP nuclear signaling is altered by Aβ, affecting not only AICD production but also its nuclear translocation and complex formation with Fe65. In effect, Aβ can trigger a physiological negative feedback mechanism that modulates its own production

Patrones de tratamiento, sobrevida y efectividad a largo plazo de agentes biológicos en pacientes con Artritis Psoriásica

Objetivos: evaluar los patrones de tratamiento de las DME-b (drogas modificadoras de la enfermedad-biológicas), su sobrevida acumulada y su eficacia a largo plazo en pacientes con Artritis Psoriásica (APs) utilizando el índice LUNDEX

Adipose Co-expression networks across Finns and Mexicans identify novel triglyceride-associated genes

BACKGROUND: High serum triglyceride (TG) levels is an established risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD). Fat is stored in the form of TGs in human adipose tissue. We hypothesized that gene co-expression networks in human adipose tissue may be correlated with serum TG levels and help reveal novel genes involved in TG regulation. METHODS: Gene co-expression networks were constructed from two Finnish and one Mexican study sample using the blockwiseModules R function in Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis (WGCNA). Overlap between TG-associated networks from each of the three study samples were calculated using a Fisher’s Exact test. Gene ontology was used to determine known pathways enriched in each TG-associated network. RESULTS: We measured gene expression in adipose samples from two Finnish and one Mexican study sample. In each study sample, we observed a gene co-expression network that was significantly associated with serum TG levels. The TG modules observed in Finns and Mexicans significantly overlapped and shared 34 genes. Seven of the 34 genes (ARHGAP30, CCR1, CXCL16, FERMT3, HCST, RNASET2, SELPG) were identified as the key hub genes of all three TG modules. Furthermore, two of the 34 genes (ARHGAP9, LST1) reside in previous TG GWAS regions, suggesting them as the regional candidates underlying the GWAS signals. CONCLUSIONS: This study presents a novel adipose gene co-expression network with 34 genes significantly correlated with serum TG across populations

Management and outcomes of patients with left atrial appendage thrombus prior to percutaneous closure

Altres ajuts: Fundación Interhospitalaria para la Investigación Cardiovascular (FIC Foundation); Abbott.Objective: Left atrial appendage (LAA) thrombus has heretofore been considered a contraindication to percutaneous LAA closure (LAAC). Data regarding its management are very limited. The aim of this study was to analyse the medical and invasive treatment of patients referred for LAAC in the presence of LAA thrombus. Methods: This multicentre observational registry included 126 consecutive patients referred for LAAC with LAA thrombus on preprocedural imaging. Treatment strategies included intensification of antithrombotic therapy (IAT) or direct LAAC. The primary and secondary endpoints were a composite of bleeding, stroke and death at 18 months, and procedural success, respectively. Results: IAT was the preferred strategy in 57.9% of patients, with total thrombus resolution observed in 60.3% and 75.3% after initial and subsequent IAT, respectively. Bleeding complications and stroke during IAT occurred in 9.6% and 2.9%, respectively, compared with 3.8% bleeding and no embolic events in the direct LAAC group before the procedure. Procedural success was 90.5% (96.2% vs 86.3% in direct LAAC and IAT group, respectively, p=0.072), without cases of in-hospital thromboembolic complications. The primary endpoint occurred in 29.3% and device-related thrombosis was found in 12.8%, without significant difference according to treatment strategy. Bleeding complications at 18 months occurred in 22.5% vs 10.5% in the IAT and direct LAAC group, respectively (p=0.102). Conclusion: In the presence of LAA thrombus, IAT was the initial management strategy in half of our cohort, with initial thrombus resolution in 60% of these, but with a relatively high bleeding rate (∼10%). Direct LAAC was feasible, with high procedural success and absence of periprocedural embolic complications. However, a high rate of device-related thrombosis was detected during follow-up

Real-world effectiveness of caplacizumab vs the standard of care in immune thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura

Immune thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (iTTP) is a thrombotic microangiopathy caused by anti-ADAMTS13 antibodies. Caplacizumab is approved for adults with an acute episode of iTTP in conjunction with plasma exchange (PEX) and immunosuppression. The objective of this study was to analyze and compare the safety and efficacy of caplacizumab vs the standard of care and assess the effect of the concomitant use of rituximab. A retrospective study from the Spanish TTP Registry of patients treated with caplacizumab vs those who did not receive it was conducted. A total of 155 patients with iTTP (77 caplacizumab, 78 no caplacizumab) were included. Patients initially treated with caplacizumab had fewer exacerbations (4.5% vs 20.5%; P <.05) and less refractoriness (4.5% vs 14.1%; P <.05) than those who were not treated. Time to clinical response was shorter when caplacizumab was used as initial treatment vs caplacizumab used after refractoriness or exacerbation. The multivariate analysis showed that its use in the first 3 days after PEX was associated with a lower number of PEX (odds ratio, 7.5; CI, 2.3-12.7; P <.05) and days of hospitalization (odds ratio, 11.2; CI, 5.6-16.9; P <.001) compared with standard therapy. There was no difference in time to clinical remission in patients treated with caplacizumab compared with the use of rituximab. No severe adverse event was described in the caplacizumab group. In summary, caplacizumab reduced exacerbations and refractoriness compared with standard of care regimens. When administered within the first 3 days after PEX, it also provided a faster clinical response, reducing hospitalization time and the need for PEX

Clinical intervals and diagnostic characteristics in a cohort of prostate cancer patients in Spain: a multicentre observational study

Background: Little is known about the healthcare process for patients with prostate cancer, mainly because hospital-based data are not routinely published. The main objective of this study was to determine the clinical characteristics of prostate cancer patients, the diagnostic process and the factors that might influence intervals from consultation to diagnosis and from diagnosis to treatment. Methods: We conducted a multicentre, cohort study in seven hospitals in Spain. Patients' characteristics and diagnostic and therapeutic variables were obtained from hospital records and patients' structured interviews from October 2010 to September 2011. We used a multilevel logistic regression model to examine the association between patient care intervals and various variables influencing these intervals (age, BMI, educational level, ECOG, first specialist consultation, tumour stage, PSA, Gleason score, and presence of symptoms) and calculated the odds ratio (OR) and the interquartile range (IQR). To estimate the random inter-hospital variability, we used the median odds ratio (MOR). Results: 470 patients with prostate cancer were included. Mean age was 67.8 (SD: 7.6) years and 75.4 % were physically active. Tumour size was classified as T1 in 41.0 % and as T2 in 40 % of patients, their median Gleason score was 6.0 (IQR:1.0), and 36.1 % had low risk cancer according to the D'Amico classification. The median interval between first consultation and diagnosis was 89 days (IQR:123.5) with no statistically significant variability between centres. Presence of symptoms was associated with a significantly longer interval between first consultation and diagnosis than no symptoms (OR:1.93, 95%CI 1.29-2.89). The median time between diagnosis and first treatment (therapeutic interval) was 75.0 days (IQR:78.0) and significant variability between centres was found (MOR:2.16, 95%CI 1.45-4.87). This interval was shorter in patients with a high PSA value (p = 0.012) and a high Gleason score (p = 0.026). Conclusions: Most incident prostate cancer patients in Spain are diagnosed at an early stage of an adenocarcinoma. The period to complete the diagnostic process is approximately three months whereas the therapeutic intervals vary among centres and are shorter for patients with a worse prognosis. The presence of prostatic symptoms, PSA level, and Gleason score influence all the clinical intervals differently