Factores y relevancia geográfica del proceso de innovación regional en México, 1994-2006

The aim of this work is to analyze some factors that a_ect the Mexican process of regional innovation during 1994-2006. Through the use of regression methodologies for count data we find a positive and significant effect of the foreign investment and the educative level on the innovative activity of the Mexican states. Also we find that the innovation process is highly dependent on the geographic location and the patents by multinational firms, which suggests in Mexico a process of technology learning is being formed rather than an innovation process, mainly among states geographically belonging to the center of the country.Mexico, innovation, Poisson regression, multinacional firms, regional economics.

Implementing Autism Screening for Latino Children in Primary Care: Perspectives from Parents and Providers

While Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and other developmental disabilities are being diagnosed at increasing rates, there is strong evidence of disparities in rates of identification and utilization of services by Latino children as compared to non-Latino children. Attempts to reduce these disparities include culturally-informed early screening for ASD risk. In preparation for initiation of a screening program in a primary care setting serving primarily Latino children, focus groups and interviews were conducted with Latino parents (N=31), medical staff (N=15), health care providers (N=4) to better understand the barriers and facilitators to engagement around developmental concerns that contribute to the low identification and service use for Latino children with autism. Using a thematic analysis approach, focus group and interview data revealed themes organized around three issues impacting engagement of Latino parents in screening for ASD: 1) information exchange, 2) culture, and 3) structure. In particular, parents and providers, felt that it was important to connect on the importance of developmental issues, address health literacy, acknowledge differences in language, beliefs, and values, and address structural barriers, like length of patient/provider interaction. Information obtained through this qualitative study informed the intervention, Supported Screening, to facilitate screening and referral for ASD at primary care sites that serve predominantly Latino families

Impact of international travel and diarrhea on gut microbiome and resistome dynamics

International travel contributes to the global spread of antimicrobial resistance. Travelers\u27 diarrhea exacerbates the risk of acquiring multidrug-resistant organisms and can lead to persistent gastrointestinal disturbance post-travel. However, little is known about the impact of diarrhea on travelers\u27 gut microbiomes, and the dynamics of these changes throughout travel. Here, we assembled a cohort of 159 international students visiting the Andean city of Cusco, Peru and applied next-generation sequencing techniques to 718 longitudinally-collected stool samples. We find that gut microbiome composition changed significantly throughout travel, but taxonomic diversity remained stable. However, diarrhea disrupted this stability and resulted in an increased abundance of antimicrobial resistance genes that can remain high for weeks. We also identified taxa differentially abundant between diarrheal and non-diarrheal samples, which were used to develop a classification model that distinguishes between these disease states. Additionally, we sequenced the genomes of 212 diarrheagenic Escherichia coli isolates and found those from travelers who experienced diarrhea encoded more antimicrobial resistance genes than those who did not. In this work, we find the gut microbiomes of international travelers\u27 are resilient to dysbiosis; however, they are also susceptible to colonization by multidrug-resistant bacteria, a risk that is more pronounced in travelers with diarrhea

Physicochemical properties of bacterial cellulose obtained from different Kombucha fermentation conditions

The production of bacterial cellulose has been limited due to its high cost and low productivity. Alternative low‐cost sources of this biopolymer of high purity and biocompatibility are needed in order to benefit from its enormous potential. Kombucha tea is a trend functional beverage whose production is growing exponentially worldwide, and the bacteria present in this fermented beverage belonging to the genus Komagataeibacter are capable of producing a crystalline biofilm with interesting properties. Obtaining bacterial cellulose from Kombucha tea has already been studied, however several fermentation conditions are being optimized in order to scale‐up its production. In this study, we characterized the bacterial cellulose produced from three different Kombucha fermentation conditions. The scanning electron microscopy images revealed the crystalline structure of the biofilms. The energy‐dispersive x‐ray analysis exhibited the chemical composition of the crystals. The thermogravimetric analysis showed a rate of degradation between 490 and 560°C and the differential scanning calorimetry confirmed the presence of crystalline and amorphous regions in the bacterial cellulose samples. The results suggested that crystalline cellulose could be obtained by varying the fermentation conditions of Kombucha tea

Formal support for informal caregivers to older persons with dementia through the course of the disease: an exploratory, cross-sectional study

Background: In European countries, knowledge about availability and utilization of support for informal caregivers caring for older persons (>= 65 years) with dementia (PwD) is lacking. To be able to evaluate and develop the dementia support system for informal caregivers to PwD, a survey of European support systems and professionals involved is needed. The aim of this study was to explore support for informal caregivers to PwD in European countries. We investigated the availability and utilization of support in each of the participating countries, and the professional care providers involved, through the dementia disease. Methods: A mapping system was used in 2010-2011 to gather information about estimations of availability, utilization, and professional providers of support to informal caregivers caring for PwD. Data collected was representing each country as a whole. Results: There was high availability of counselling, caregiver support, and education from the diagnosis to the intermediate stage, with a decrease in the late to end of life stage. Utilization was low, although there was a small increase in the intermediate stage. Day care and respite care were highly available in the diagnosis to the intermediate stage, with a decrease in the late to end of life stage, but both types of care were utilized by few or no caregivers through any of the disease stages. Professionals specialized in dementia (Bachelor to Master's degree) provided counselling and education, whereas caregiver support for informal caregivers and day care, respite care, and respite care at home were provided by professionals with education ranging from upper secondary schooling to a Master's degree. Conclusions: Counselling, caregiver support, and education were highly available in European countries from diagnosis to the intermediate stage of the dementia disease, decreasing in the late/end of life stages but were rarely utilized. Countries with care systems based on national guidelines for dementia care seem to be more aware of the importance of professionals specialized in dementia care when providing support to informal caregivers. Mapping the systems of support for informal caregivers of PwD is a valuable tool for evaluating existing systems, internationally, nationally and locally for policy making

Brain clocks capture diversity and disparities in aging and dementia

Brain clocks, which quantify discrepancies between brain age and chronological age, hold promise for understanding brain health and disease. However, the impact of diversity (including geographical, socioeconomic, sociodemographic, sex and neurodegeneration) on the brain-age gap is unknown. We analyzed datasets from 5,306 participants across 15 countries (7 Latin American and Caribbean countries (LAC) and 8 non-LAC countries). Based on higher-order interactions, we developed a brain-age gap deep learning architecture for functional magnetic resonance imaging (2,953) and electroencephalography (2,353). The datasets comprised healthy controls and individuals with mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer disease and behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia. LAC models evidenced older brain ages (functional magnetic resonance imaging: mean directional error = 5.60, root mean square error (r.m.s.e.) = 11.91; electroencephalography: mean directional error = 5.34, r.m.s.e. = 9.82) associated with frontoposterior networks compared with non-LAC models. Structural socioeconomic inequality, pollution and health disparities were influential predictors of increased brain-age gaps, especially in LAC (R² = 0.37, F² = 0.59, r.m.s.e. = 6.9). An ascending brain-age gap from healthy controls to mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer disease was found. In LAC, we observed larger brain-age gaps in females in control and Alzheimer disease groups compared with the respective males. The results were not explained by variations in signal quality, demographics or acquisition methods. These findings provide a quantitative framework capturing the diversity of accelerated brain aging.</p

Brain clocks capture diversity and disparities in aging and dementia across geographically diverse populations

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