An educational initiative for Mexican school-aged children to promote the consumption of fruit, vegetables and physical activity

Aim: To present the results of a community initiative focused on strengthening physical activity and the consumption of fruits, vegetables and natural water while discouraging the use of highly energetic food and sugary drinks in public schools of Morelos. Methods: A quasi-experimental study with an educational initiative focused on the school community of two primary schools and two junior high schools. Pre- and-post initiative measurements were made. The study took place in the municipality of Yautepec, Morelos, Mexico, in a rural area and an urban area, from August 2010 to July 2011.   Results: Water consumption among school-aged children increased from 15.1% to 20.1% and soda consumption decreased from 21.4% to 13.2%. A slight increase in the consumption of fruits and vegetables was also measured (oranges, jicamas, bananas, tomatoes, prickly pear pads, lettuces), that are accessible in the region. It was found that the supply of fresh food is limited and that high energy density foods have an oversupply in both study areas. Physical activity increased with actions such as football and dancing, in accordance with the baseline measurement. No changes were observed in the nutritional condition of school-aged children (n=150; 13.3% with overweight and 7.3% with emaciation), or in adults who presented a body mass index higher than normal, 60.2% to 88.4%. Conclusion: In addition to educational activities, schools need to implement strategies to improve the access and availability of fresh foods while limiting the access of high energy-density foods.   &nbsp

Relationship between quantum decoherence times and solvation dynamics in condensed phase chemical systems

A relationship between the time scales of quantum coherence loss and short-time solvent response for a solute/bath system is derived for a Gaussian wave packet approximation for the bath. Decoherence and solvent response times are shown to be directly proportional to each other, with the proportionality coefficient given by the ratio of the thermal energy fluctuations to the fluctuations in the system-bath coupling. The relationship allows the prediction of decoherence times for condensed phase chemical systems from well developed experimental methods.Comment: 10 pages, no figures, late

Super-resolution imaging reveals resistance to mass transfer in functionalized stationary phases

Chemical separations are costly in terms of energy, time, and money. Separation methods are optimized with inefficient trial-and-error approaches that lack insight into the molecular dynamics that lead to the success or failure of a separation and, hence, ways to improve the process. We perform super-resolution imaging of fluorescent analytes in four different commercial liquid chromatography materials. Surprisingly, we observe that chemical functionalization can block over fifty percent of the porous interior of the material, rendering it inaccessible to small molecule analytes. Only in situ imaging unveils the inaccessibility when compared to the industry-accepted ex situ characterization methods. Selectively removing some of the functionalization with solvent restores pore access without significantly altering the single-molecule kinetics that underlie the separation and agree with bulk chromatography measurements. Our molecular results determine that commercial stationary phases, marketed as fully porous, are over-functionalized and provide a new avenue to characterize and direct separation material design from the bottom-up

Psychiatric symptoms and moral injury among US healthcare workers in the COVID-19 era

Background Emerging cross-sectional data indicate that healthcare workers (HCWs) in the COVID-19 era face particular mental health risks. Moral injury – a betrayal of one’s values and beliefs, is a potential concern for HCWs who witness the devastating impact of acute COVID-19 illness while too often feeling helpless to respond. This study longitudinally examined rates of depression, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and moral injury among United States HCWs in the COVID-19 era. We anticipated finding high levels of clinical symptoms and moral injury that would remain stable over time. We also expected to find positive correlations between clinical symptoms and moral injury. Methods This three-wave study assessed clinical symptoms and moral injury among 350 HCWs at baseline, 30, and 90 days between September and December 2020. Anxiety, depression, PTSD, and moral injury were measured using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Primary Care PTSD Screen (PC-PTSD), and Moral Injury Events Scale (MIES). Results Of the 350 HCWs, 72% reported probable anxiety, depression, and/or PTSD disorders at baseline, 62% at day 30, and 64% at day 90. High level of moral injury was associated with a range of psychopathology including suicidal ideation, especially among healthcare workers self-reporting COVID-19 exposure. Conclusions Findings demonstrate broad, persisting, and diverse mental health consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic among United States HCWs. This study is the first to longitudinally examine the relationships between moral injury and psychopathology among HCWs, emphasizing the need to increase HCWs’ access to mental healthcare

Right vs. left ventricular longitudinal strain for mortality prediction after transcatheter aortic valve implantation

IntroductionThis study aims at exploring biventricular remodelling and its implications for outcome in a representative patient cohort with severe aortic stenosis (AS) undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI).Methods and resultsPre-interventional echocardiographic examinations of 100 patients with severe AS undergoing TAVI were assessed by speckle tracking echocardiography of both ventricles. Association with mortality was determined for right ventricular global longitudinal strain (RVGLS), RV free wall strain (RVFWS) and left ventricular global longitudinal strain (LVGLS). During a median follow-up of 1,367 [959–2,123] days, 33 patients (33%) died. RVGLS was lower in non-survivors [−13.9% (−16.4 to −12.9)] than survivors [−17.1% (−20.2 to −15.2); P = 0.001]. In contrast, LVGLS as well as the conventional parameters LV ejection fraction (LVEF) and RV fractional area change (RVFAC) did not differ (P = ns). Kaplan–Meier analyses indicated a reduced survival probability when RVGLS was below the −14.6% cutpoint (P < 0.001). Lower RVGLS was associated with higher mortality [HR 1.13 (95% CI 1.04–1.23); P = 0.003] independent of LVGLS, LVEF, RVFAC, and EuroSCORE II. Addition of RVGLS clearly improved the fitness of bivariable and multivariable models including LVGLS, LVEF, RVFAC, and EuroSCORE II with potential incremental value for mortality prediction. In contrast, LVGLS, LVEF, and RVFAC were not associated with mortality.DiscussionIn patients with severe AS undergoing TAVI, RVGLS but not LVGLS was reduced in non-survivors compared to survivors, differentiated non-survivors from survivors, was independently associated with mortality, and exhibited potential incremental value for outcome prediction. RVGLS appears to be more suitable than LVGLS for risk stratification in AS and timely valve replacement

Evaluación del efecto de la velocidad de agitación sobre la remoción de cromo hexavalente a escala piloto

Este trabajo experimental se desarrolla en un reactor piloto de laboratorio del 9 L utilizando electrodos estáticos de acero al carbón. Se obtuvo el consumo de potencia, el tiempo de mezclado y la cinética de reducción del Cr(VI) para diferentes velocidades de agitación. Para este trabajo se utilizaron números adimensionales para poder escalar el sistema. De forma experimental, se encontró que a velocidades de agitación mayores de 300 rpm se obtiene un buen mezclado, sin embargo al aumentar a 500 rpm se observa que por cada g de Cr(VI) se requiere menor consumo de energía que en todos los casos.This experimental work was carried out in a laboratory pilot reactor of 19 L using carbon steel static electrodes. Power consumed, mixing time and Cr(VI) reduction kinetic at different agitation speeds were obtained. Dimensionless numbers were used to scale up the system. Experimentally, it was found that at speed of agitation greater than 300 rpm there is good mixing in the reactor, but the power consumed for each g of Cr (VI) was the lowest at 500 rpm

An educational initiative for Mexican school-aged children to promote the consumption of fruit, vegetables and physical activity

Aim: To present the results of a community initiative focused on strengthening physical activity and the consumption of fruits, vegetables and natural water while discouraging the use of highly energetic food and sugary drinks in public schools of Morelos.Methods: A quasi-experimental study with an educational initiative focused on the school community of two primary schools and two junior high schools. Pre- and-post initiative measurements were made. The study took place in the municipality of Yautepec, Morelos, Mexico, in a rural area and an urban area, from August 2010 to July 2011.  Results: Water consumption among school-aged children increased from 15.1% to 20.1% and soda consumption decreased from 21.4% to 13.2%. A slight increase in the consumption of fruits and vegetables was also measured (oranges, jicamas, bananas, tomatoes, prickly pear pads, lettuces), that are accessible in the region. It was found that the supply of fresh food is limited and that high energy density foods have an oversupply in both study areas. Physical activity increased with actions such as football and dancing, in accordance with the baseline measurement. No changes were observed in the nutritional condition of school-aged children (n=150; 13.3% with overweight and 7.3% with emaciation), or in adults who presented a body mass index higher than normal, 60.2% to 88.4%.Conclusion: In addition to educational activities, schools need to implement strategies to improve the access and availability of fresh foods while limiting the access of high energy-density foods.  

Procesos educativos sobre enfermedad de Chagas con escolares de nivel básico de escuelas públicas de México

Se presentan los cambios en conocimientos y prácticas sobre el vector y la enfermedad de Chagas con escolares de México posterior a una intervención educativa. La identificación del vector aumentó posterior a las sesiones educativas (pre=36,15% vs post=79,30%). Aumentaron los conocimientos acerca de la enfermedad de Chagas (30,90% vs 64,72%, valor de p< 0,0001) y de las acciones preventivas para evitar que el vector habite dentro de sus entornos (14,29% vs 61,81%, valor de p< 0,0001). Los escolares pueden jugar un papel fundamental en la prevención de esta problemática