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Abstract: Drug-related violence is now an everyday occurrence in Mexico''s northern border-states. While it often appears that all crimes are on the rise in the border region, the actual number of alleged offenders caught and brought to court differs significantly for different types of crime. Using panel data for Mexico''s 31 states plus the Federal District from 2004 to 2008, it was found that there were more alleged offenders caught per 100,000 inhabitants involving theft, property damage, and carrying prohibited arms, in Mexico''s northern border-states compared to interior states. The effects of other socioeconomic variables on crime in Mexico, such as GDP, incarceration rates, births to single mothers and expenditures on public security, were also examined. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Cross-cultural differences in autobiographical memory (AM) are associated with cultural variations. In models of the self and parental reminiscing style, but not many studies have analysed the relationship between AM and specific cultural practices such as formal schooling. Theoreticians like [Greenfield, P. M. (2009). Linking social change and developmental change: Shifting. pathways of human development. Developmental Psychology, 45, 401-418. doi: 10.1037/a0014726 ; Kağitçibaşi, C. (2005). Autonomy and relatedness in cultural context. Implications for self and family. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 36, 403-422. doi: 10.1177/0022022105275959 ] and [Keller, H. (2007). Children development across cultures. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates] have considered formal schooling as an engine towards the model of independence; however, the empirical evidence in this regard is inconclusive: while some studies found evidence of a relation between formal schooling and characteristics of AM, others did not. To solve this inconsistency, the present study compared orally narrated childhood memories of Mexican adults with three different levels of education (from rudimentary literacy to university). Results support a relationship between formal schooling and AM in the predicted direction: More educated participants reported longer, more specific and more self-oriented memories than those with less schooling experience did. Some gender differences were also observed, with males generally reporting more individually and less socially oriented memories than females, except for university level participants. We conclude that these results support Greenfield's theory about formal schooling as a sociocultural factor that promotes the cultural pathway to independence, as well as complexity and context-boundedness of gender differences in AM.

The variability in Helicobacter pylori vacA and cagA genes has been related to the progression of the gastrointestinal disease; also the presence of H. pylori in the oral cavity has been associated with periodontal disease in adults, but, in children without dyspeptic symptoms, little is known about this. We evaluated the prevalence of H. pylori and the presence of vacA / cagA genotypes in the oral cavity of Mexican children without dyspeptic symptoms. The gingival status was measured, and dental plaque samples ( n = 100) were taken. 38% of children were positive for H. pylori 16S rRNA gene by qPCR. A significant association between H. pylori oral infection and gingival status was observed ( P < 0.001). In 34.6% (9/26) of mild gingivitis cases, s1m2 genotype was found, while s1m1 was typed in 50% (3/6) of moderate gingivitis. The cagA prevalence among H. pylori -positive children was 80.8% (21/26), 83.3% (5/6), and 16.7% (1/6) of cases of mild gingivitis, moderate gingivitis, and nongingivitis, respectively ( P < 0.001). The s1m1/cagA + combinational genotype was the most detected in children with gingivitis. Our results suggest that the prevalence of H. pylori and detection of vacA/cagA genotypes-associated gastrointestinal disease in the oral cavity could be related to the progression of gingivitis in asymptomatic children.

The essential oil of Chrysactinia mexicana retrieved from the root bark was characterized by gas chromatography coupled to a mass detector. The compounds silphiperfol-5-ene, 7-epi- silphiperfol-5-ene, modheph-2-ene, alpha-isocomene, beta-isocomene and methyl-linoleate were identified. The principal compound (76.42%) could not be identified by the library and was further isolated through a reverse phase C-18 chromatography followed by silica gel chromatography and identified as 5-(3-buten-1-ynyl)-2,2'-bithienyl. Both the oil and the isolated compound were tested for their antimicrobial activity against two strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae resistant to beta-lactam antibiotics. MICs were 250 microg/mL and 125 microg/mL respectively. This is the first report about extraction of oil and compound 5-(3-buten-1-ynyl)-2, 2'-bithienyl from roots of Chrysactinia mexicana as well as the determination of antimicrobial activity against S. pneumoniae.

Background: Menopause is the descent in circulating estrogens that manifests clinically for the climacteric symptoms. These symptoms motivate the patient to consult to the physician., Objective: To know which are the symptoms that motivate women in the climacteric to begin hormonal therapy., Material and Method: Atransverse study was settled, 692 patients from the menopause cohort of Endocrine Research Unit, Centro Médico Nacional, IMSS participated. All patients signed the letter of informed consent. Complete clinical evaluation and taking samples of veined blood for the hormonal determinations of LH, FSH and estradiol were carried out. The approach of evaluation of the clinical symptoms was made with the scale of Greene that values six components: psychological, anxiety, depression, somatic, vasomotor and sexual, which quantifies the presence and intensity of the climacteric symptoms., Results: The four main symptoms that accompany the climacteric are: hot flushes, irritability, edginess and sickness. With the registered symptoms, the punctuation of the components in the scale of Greene showed a bigger frequency statistically with difference significant (p < 0.05) for the vasomotor and the depressive component compared with the rest of the components that integrate all the symptoms., Conclusions: Hot flushes and irritability are the symptoms found in the first time interview, also these are presented in more than half of the patients, therefore these symptoms can be considered as main cause to begin hormonal therapy. In accordance with the scale of Greene that allowed us to evaluate the symptoms in integrated form, the sexual component was a smaller frequency, maybe to that great number of patient does not dare to comment the sexual dysfunctions. However, at the moment has a wide therapeutic arsenal and forms of administration of estrogen therapy that have demonstrated to have a clinical-benefic effect for the control of the climacteric symptoms.

Gnathostomiasis is a rare nematode disease acquired by travelers to endemic areas. The most common clinical presentations are cutaneous forms; however, neurologic involvement can also occur. We present two cases of gnathostomiasis, one of them with severe neurologic complications, in Spanish travelers to Thailand and Mexico, who consumed local food and became infected.