Search

Background: Helicobacter pylori detection in asymptomatic children with suspected infection or with symptoms that suggest gastric pathology is problematic, since most of the methods depend on the endoscopic study, an invasive and expensive method. Non-invasive methods can be a feasible alternative but must be validated. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the concordance between H. pylori DNA detection in saliva and dental plaque by PCR, with antigen detection in stool by immunochromatography, among asymptomatic children in the state of Guerrero, Mexico., Methods: Dental plaque, saliva, and stool samples were obtained from 171 children between 6 and 12 years old. H. pylori detection in saliva and dental plaque was performed by PCR using specific primers for the 16S rRNA gene, while the detection in stool samples was performed by immunochromatography using the CerTest kit., Results: We found an overall H. pylori prevalence of 59.6% (102/171). Of the H. pylori positive children 18% (20/111) were positive in saliva samples, 28.1% (34/121) in dental plaque samples, and 50.4% (71/141) in stool samples. A higher prevalence was found in girls (64.7%, p = 0.002). Although some of the children declared some dyspeptic symptoms, these were no related to H. pylori . In conclusion, we found a high prevalence of H. pylori in asymptomatic children and the highest proportion was detected by stool antigen test, which was the most feasible method to detect H. pylori infection., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (© 2021 Martínez-Santos et al.)

Introduction: Catheter-based renal sympathetic denervation is an emerging therapy for resistant hypertension (RHTN) patients, resulting in a significant blood pressure reduction. The presence of accessory renal arteries and anomalous branching patterns are reported in approximately 20-27 % of patients. However, accessory renal arteries, when smaller than 4 mm in diameter, they are out of the inclusion criteria for renal denervation therapy. For this reason patients with evidence of accessory renal arteries have been excluded in previous clinical trials. Recent data suggest that accessory renal arteries may play an important role in non-response therapy when they do not receive renal denervation treatment., Case Report: In this report, we present the outcome of a patient with resistant hypertension and an anomalous right renal artery, having undergone denervation of both principal and accessory renal arteries. The renal ablation by radiofrequency energy of a distant accessory renal artery resulted in a safe procedure with no clinical complications., Conclusion: Consistent with literature the RDN of all, main and accessory renal arteries, was effective in decreasing patient blood pressure while decreasing the need for antihypertensive medication.

In the sixteenth century, a partial Spanish translation of Boccaccio's Filocolo was published with a double title: Laberinto de amor and Trece cuestiones muy graciosas. This change has to do with an interesting editorial plot, since the translation was published first in Seville (1541) "a hurtadas" (on the sly) and then in Toledo (1546), in an edition authorized by its translator. The complete collation of both editions reveals, on the one hand, that the Sevillian printer made all kinds of imbalances in the translation prepared by López de Ayala to adjust the account of the original to the mold; on the other hand, some variants show that the translator again revised his translation in the new edition of the Trece cuestiones muy graciosas, published in the same press 3 years later. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the first few decades of the twentieth century, makeshift shelters known as chozas grew in Madrid. Using historical monographs and the press as main sources, in this article we discuss the influence of medical thinking on the problematisation and eradication of this form of urban growth. During the nineteenth century, scientific racism identified poor housing areas as a source of disease and immorality, yet the public powers in Madrid tolerated and overlooked the development of these spaces until the early twentieth century. It was only when the fear of epidemics and warnings from the press became too great that the authorities began to implement various high-profile 'sanitary campaigns' to destroy the shacks. Although these initiatives did not solve the sanitation problems because the deprived populations frequently constructed new living areas, the continued efforts of the public authorities succeeded in displacing the shantytowns to the less regulated periphery. Whilst the spaces were transformed, the representations that signalled them as pathological spaces seems to have remained. Research on the historical eradication of urban 'otherness' allows us to discuss the legacy of the medical theories that supported it and the influence of this on current prejudices regarding disadvantaged neighbourhoods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

THE ABILITY TO PERCEIVE AND PRODUCE A BEAT IS believed to be universal in humans, but individual ability varies. The current study examined four factors that may influence beat perception and production capacity: 1) expertise: music or dance, 2) training style: percussive or nonpercussive, 3) stimulus modality: auditory or visual, and 4) movement type: finger-tap or whole-body bounce. Experiment 1 examined how expertise and training style influenced beat perception and production performance using an auditory beat perception task and a finger-tapping beat production task. Experiment 2 used a similar sample with an audiovisual variant of the beat perception task, and a standing knee-bend (bounce) beat production task to assess whole-body movement. The data showed that: 1) musicians were more accurate in a finger-tapping beat synchronization task compared to dancers and controls, 2) training style did not significantly influence beat perception and production, 3) visual beat information did not benefit any group, and 4) beat synchronization in a full-body movement task was comparable for musicians and dancers; both groups outperformed controls. The current study suggests that the type of task and measured response interacts with expertise, and that expertise effects may be masked by selection of nonoptimal response types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrodes fabricated on a flexible substrate are a revolutionary development in wearable health monitoring due to their lightweight, breathability, comfort, and flexibility to conform to the curvilinear body shape. Different metallic thin-film and plastic-based substrates lack comfort for long-term monitoring applications. However, the insulating nature of different polymer, fiber, and textile substrates requires the deposition of conductive materials to render interactive functionality to substrates. Besides, the high porosity and flexibility of fiber and textile substrates pose a great challenge for the homogenous deposition of active materials. Printing is an excellent process to produce a flexible conductive textile electrode for wearable health monitoring applications due to its low cost and scalability. This article critically reviews the current state of the art of different textile architectures as a substrate for the deposition of conductive nanomaterials. Furthermore, recent progress in various printing processes of nanomaterials, challenges of printing nanomaterials on textiles, and their health monitoring applications are described systematically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foliar disease is common problem in plants; it appears as an abnormal change in the plant's characteristics, such as the presence of lesions and discolorations, among others. These problems may be related to plant growth, which causes a decrease in crop production, impacting the agricultural economy. The causes of leaf damage can be variable, such as bacteria, viruses, nutritional deficiencies, or even consequences of climate change. Motivated to find a solution for this problem, we aim that using image processing and machine learning algorithms (MLA), these symptomatic characteristics of the leaf can be used to classify diseases. Then, contributions of this research are (i) the use of image processing methods in the feature extraction (characteristics), and (ii) the combination of assembled algorithms with deep learning to classify foliar features of Valencia orange (Citrus Sinensis) tree leaves. Combining these two classification approaches, we get optimal rates in binary datasets and highly competitive percentages in multiclass sets. This, using a database of images of three types of foliar damage of local plants. Result of combination of these two classification strategies is an exceptional reliable alternative for leaf damage identification of orange and other citrus plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Iberian & Latin American Research is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The management of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a major public health concern worldwide. Currently, most PDAC patients are diagnosed in advanced stages. The signs and symptoms of the disease, except for jaundice, are non-specific. Thus, the current challenge is to identify earlier those individuals for whom specific screening tools and specific treatments would be beneficial. On the basis of the recommendations of the group of experts of multiple medical specialties of the GALLgo Project, the patients with PDAC should be managed by a multidisciplinary team to assess the personal and family history, the best diagnostic and staging procedures and consider all important aspects for treatment decisions. In this article, the group of experts proposes strategies to shorten the diagnosis times in PDAC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Functional infrared thermal imaging (fITI) is considered a promising method to measure emotional autonomic responses through facial cutaneous thermal variations. However, the facial thermal response to emotions still needs to be investigated within the framework of the dimensional approach to emotions. The main aim of this study was to assess how the facial thermal variations index the emotional arousal and valence dimensions of visual stimuli. Twenty-four participants were presented with three groups of standardized emotional pictures (unpleasant, neutral and pleasant) from the International Affective Picture System. Facial temperature was recorded at the nose tip, an important region of interest for facial thermal variations, and compared to electrodermal responses, a robust index of emotional arousal. Both types of responses were also compared to subjective ratings of pictures. An emotional arousal effect was found on the amplitude and latency of thermal responses and on the amplitude and frequency of electrodermal responses. The participants showed greater thermal and dermal responses to emotional than to neutral pictures with no difference between pleasant and unpleasant ones. Thermal responses correlated and the dermal ones tended to correlate with subjective ratings. Finally, in the emotional conditions compared to the neutral one, the frequency of simultaneous thermal and dermal responses increased while both thermal or dermal isolated responses decreased. Overall, this study brings convergent arguments to consider fITI as a promising method reflecting the arousal dimension of emotional stimulation and, consequently, as a credible alternative to the classical recording of electrodermal activity. The present research provides an original way to unveil autonomic implication in emotional processes and opens new perspectives to measure them in touchless conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The management of patients with pancreatic cancer has advanced over the last few years. We convey a multidisciplinary group of experts in an attempt to stablish practical guidelines for the diagnoses, staging and management of these patients. This paper summarizes the main conclusions of the working group. Patients with suspected pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma should be rapidly evaluated and referred to high-volume centers. Multidisciplinary supervision is critical for proper diagnoses, staging and to frame a treatment plan. Surgical resection together with chemotherapy offers the highest chance for cure in early stage disease. Patients with advanced disease should be classified in treatment groups to guide systemic treatment. New chemotherapeutic regimens have resulted in improved survival. Symptomatic management is critical in this disease. Enrollment in a clinical trial is, in general, recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Dyna is the property of Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Medellin, Facultad de Minas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background Oral chemotherapy is increasingly used for cancer therapy but, without proper practices, creates safety and adherence issues. However, little is known on safety and adherence practices in wide clinical settings. Objective To assess the implementation level of safety and adherence practices in oral chemotherapy in Spanish hospitals. Setting All Pharmacy services from prescription, dispensation, patient education and monitoring hospitals that prescribe oral chemotherapy of Spain. Main outcome measure Level of safety practices regarding oral chemotherapy prescription, dispensation, patient education and adherence. Method An 11 multiple-choice-item questionnaire made in consensus with GEDEFO (Spanish Group of Oncology Pharmacists) was sent to all pharmacy services from hospitals that prescribe oral chemotherapy. This questionnaire comprised prescription, dispensation, education and monitoring. We arbitrarily defined three levels of practices: no sufficient specific practices were reported (we termed this as ‘level I’); performance of an initial visit with a pharmacist providing written patient educational materials and monitoring adherence (termed as ‘level II’); and level II requirements plus electronic chemotherapy ordering system and extra safety practices (termed as ‘level III’). Results Of the 169 targeted health-care settings, 86 (50.9 %) responded to the survey. The majority of responding hospitals were public, general, and teaching hospitals with more than 200 beds. Main discrepancies were in electronic prescription of oral chemotherapy and monitoring adherence. There were 32 hospitals (37.2 %) with level I of safety and adherence practices, 38 hospitals (44.2 %) accomplished level II, 16 (18.6 %) hospitals reached level III. No hospital variables were found to be correlated with each level of safety. Conclusions The majority of responding hospitals have safety and adherences practices for oral chemotherapy. However, the level of these practices varies. There are significant opportunities for improvement, particularly with regard to electronic prescription of oral chemotherapy and monitoring adherence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A pilot re-circulating system was used for the cultivation of two Mediterranean calanoid copepods: Temora stylifera and Centropages typicus. The system automatically concentrated the naupliar and copepodite stages. Temora stylifera was fed the flagellate Rhodomonas baltica or Prorocentrum minimum, whereas C. typicus was fed with a mixture of R. baltica or P. minimum and Tetraselmis suecica. Both copepods also received Isochrysis galbana. After 21 days, the T. stylifera population increased 26-fold, reaching a density of 38 000 individuals, mostly represented by nauplii (88%). The maximum density recorded was 380 ind. L−1, with a production of 370 nauplii L−1. On average, the egg hatching success for this copepod during the rearing period was 54%, with the highest viability in April and May (>75%). The C. typicus population increased more than 10-fold after 7 weeks of rearing, reaching a density of 123 000 individuals, mainly represented by nauplii (>90%). The highest naupliar production was 100 ind. L−1, with a mean egg hatching success of 68%. This system may be useful to produce nauplii and copepodite stages to be used as live, alternative or complementary food for fish larvae or to provide a ready source of organisms for physiological and bioassay studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Catholic Church is built, on the one hand, upon a hierarchical structure and vertical relationships, with stratified duties, centered around an organizational culture which is based on strict obedience to institutional directives and which has a monopoly on the administration of the goods and resources concerning salvation. On the other hand, since the Second Vatican Council, the Church has proposed to incorporate lay people into God's Kingdom, a development which represents an opening to the active participation of diverse groups and a redistribution of access to the goods of salvation. Analysts may take a position one way or the other regarding their definition of the Church, and some even state the existence of a dominant church and a people's church. In contrast to both these perspectives, this paper looks at a methodological and theoretical model for studying diversity within Catholic unity. The model is based on the concept of the 'transversalized institution' as it is applied to the way in which Guadalajara's diocese functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]