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Although a relation between disaster exposure and ataques de nervios (ataques) has been established in adult samples, little is known about this among youth, including factors that may moderate this relation. This study examined the role of the peer context in the relation between exposure to Hurricane Georges and experiencing a past year and lifetime ataques among a representative community sample of 905 youth (N = 476 boys and 429 girls; ages 11-18) residing in Puerto Rico. Data were gathered from 1999-2000 in Puerto Rico, 12-27 months following Hurricane Georges. Logistic regression analyses found that peer violence significantly predicted experiencing an ataque in the past year. Hurricane exposure and peer violence were both significant predictors of a lifetime experience of an ataque. An interaction was found between hurricane exposure and peer violence, indicating that hurricane exposure was significantly related to a lifetime experience of an ataque among adolescents who do not report associating with violent peers. For participants reporting high levels of peer violence, hurricane exposure did not add additional risk for a lifetime experience of an ataque. Understanding the influence of peers in the relation between hurricane exposure and experiencing an ataque may assist in planning developmentally and culturally sensitive response plans.

K-mer abundance analysis is widely used for many purposes in nucleotide sequence analysis, including data preprocessing for de novo assembly, repeat detection, and sequencing coverage estimation. We present the khmer software package for fast and memory efficient online counting of k-mers in sequencing data sets. Unlike previous methods based on data structures such as hash tables, suffix arrays, and trie structures, khmer relies entirely on a simple probabilistic data structure, a Count-Min Sketch. The Count-Min Sketch permits online updating and retrieval of k-mer counts in memory which is necessary to support online k-mer analysis algorithms. On sparse data sets this data structure is considerably more memory efficient than any exact data structure. In exchange, the use of a Count-Min Sketch introduces a systematic overcount for k-mers; moreover, only the counts, and not the k-mers, are stored. Here we analyze the speed, the memory usage, and the miscount rate of khmer for generating k-mer frequency distributions and retrieving k-mer counts for individual k-mers. We also compare the performance of khmer to several other k-mer counting packages, including Tallymer, Jellyfish, BFCounter, DSK, KMC, Turtle and KAnalyze. Finally, we examine the effectiveness of profiling sequencing error, k-mer abundance trimming, and digital normalization of reads in the context of high khmer false positive rates. khmer is implemented in C++ wrapped in a Python interface, offers a tested and robust API, and is freely available under the BSD license at github.com/ged-lab/khmer.

This cohort study examines 4 waves of data from the Boricua Youth Study to determine what sociocultural resilience factors in childhood are associated with better young adult mental health in the context of adverse childhood experiences. Key Points: Question: What childhood sociocultural resilience factors are relevant in the context of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)? Finding: This cohort study found that positive adult-child relationships were associated with a lower odds of later young adulthood depression and anxiety disorders regardless of exposure to ACEs. Higher family religiosity, unexpectedly, was associated with more perceived stress when ACEs were high. Meaning: Positive relationships with parents and with nonparental adults during childhood may reduce the risk of later mental disorders regardless of exposure to ACEs, but factors involving sources of meaning, such as family religiosity, may not be protective among children highly exposed to ACEs. Importance: Knowledge about childhood resilience factors relevant in circumstances of marginalization and high numbers of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can improve interventions. Objective: To identify sociocultural resilience factors in childhood that are associated with better young adult mental health in the context of ACEs. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study examined 4 waves of data from the Boricua Youth Study, which included Puerto Rican children from the South Bronx, New York, and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Participants were aged 5 to 17 years at waves 1 through 3 (2000-2003) and aged 15 to 29 years at wave 4 (2013-2017). Linear and logistic regression models tested the associations of 7 childhood resilience factors and their interaction with ACEs on young adult mental health outcomes. Data were analyzed from June 2021 to October 2023. Main Outcomes and Measures: Perceived stress, major depressive disorder and/or generalized anxiety disorder (MDD/GAD), and substance use disorder (SUD) in young adulthood. Results: Among a total 2004 participants, the mean (SD) age at wave 4 was 22.4 (2.9) years; 1024 participants (51.1%) were female, and 980 (48.9%) were male. Positive parent-child relationships and nonparental adult support during childhood were associated with both lower perceived stress (β = −0.14; SE = 0.02; P <.001; β = −0.08; SE = 0.03; P =.003, respectively) and lower odds of MDD/GAD (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.84; 95% CI, 0.73 to 0.97; aOR = 0.81; 95% CI, 0.69 to 0.95, respectively) in young adulthood. Maternal warmth reported during childhood was also associated with lower young adult perceived stress (β = −0.11; SE = 0.02; P <.001). None of the resilience factors were associated with SUD. The resilience factors familism, friendships, and family religiosity were not associated with any of the mental health outcomes. ACEs were associated with poorer mental health outcomes; however, none of the resilience factors exhibited interactions consistent with being protective for ACEs. Unexpectedly, higher family religiosity was associated with more perceived stress in the presence of higher ACEs. Conclusions and Relevance: The results of this study suggest that promoting positive relationships with adults during childhood may reduce later young adulthood stress and MDD/GAD. However, there is still a need to identify sociocultural childhood protective factors for ACEs. Caution should be taken in assuming what resilience factors are relevant for a given group, as higher family religiosity (one postulated resilience factor) was unexpectedly associated with a stronger, rather than a weaker, association between ACEs and perceived stress in young adulthood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fundamento: la calidad, fiabilidad y utilidad de las estadísticas de mortalidad, dependen de la exactitud en la certificación médica de la defunción por parte del médico. Objetivo: identificar la influencia del llenado del certificado de defunción en la confiabilidad de las estadísticas de mortalidad. Métodos: se realizó un estudio descriptivo transversal sobre la influencia del llenado del certificado de defunción en las estadísticas de mortalidad, en el área de salud atendida por el Policlínico Universitario Ignacio Agramonte, del municipio Camagüey durante el año 2017. Se estudiaron las variables fallecidos por grupos de edades, sexo y causas básicas de muerte consignadas por el médico certificante y por los autores revisores de los certificados de defunción, unidades de salud donde se confeccionaron los certificados y errores detectados. Los 206 fallecidos adultos en el período estudiado constituyeron el universo de estudio y el registro de fallecidos del departamento de estadísticas del policlínico, la fuente secundaria de obtención de los datos, los que se procesaron automatizadamente. Resultados: la tasa de mortalidad general fue superior a la provincial y nacional, se observó sobremortalidad femenina y las dos primeras causas de muerte fueron los tumores malignos y las enfermedades del corazón. Las enfermedades cerebrovasculares antes de la revisión de las causas básicas de muerte del registro de defunciones, ocuparon el séptimo lugar y después ascendieron al quinto, al demostrarse errores en la consignación de las causas básicas referidas sobre todo a la arterioesclerosis, demencia senil, enfermedad cerebrovascular y enfermedades de las arterias, arteriolas y vasos capilares y su posterior codificación. Conclusiones: es imprescindible que el médico se familiarice con la Clasificación Estadística Internacional de Enfermedades y Problemas Relacionados con la Salud vigente, a fin de hacer más compatible la consignación de la causa básica de muerte y facilitar su correcta codificación. DeCS: CERTIFICADO DE DEFUNCIÓN; REGISTROS DE MORTALIDAD/estadística & datos numéricos; CAUSAS DE MUERTE; REPRODUCIBILIDAD DE LOS RESULTADOS; MORTALIDAD.

Background: in the University Polyclinic Ignacio Agramonte of the municipality of Camagüey, it has not yet been possible to obtain an adequate programming of the improvement courses and investigations, which is why it was set out to address the problem of adult mortality in the population served and obtain from this source, the needs for improvement and research. Objective: to describe the behavior of adult mortality and its relationship with the projection of medical improvement courses and research. Methods: a cross-sectional analytical study was carried out on adult mortality in the Polyclinic in 2016, in which the variables of age, sex, basic causes of death and errors in filling death certificates were studied. A database was created in Microsoft Excel and the descriptive statistics were found in numbers, percentages and rates. Results: the deceased increased with age; there was female over-mortality; malignant tumors, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases were the three leading causes of death. Errors were detected in the filling of the death certificates that did not affect the places occupied by the basic causes of death, but they caused confusion in their consignment. These results were sources of improvement and research. Conclusions: the general mortality rates, by sex and main causes of death, as well as the years of life potentially lost, were slightly lower than the provincial, national and at the level of developing countries. The persistence of errors in the filling of death certificates, especially in the consignment of the basic causes of death, requires courses of improvement, as well as the projection of others on the discussion of deaths and research on the behavior of mortality for causes of death and the quality of medical care. DeCS: AGED; MORTALITY REGISTRIES; PRIMARY HEALTH CARE; CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDIES; TRAINING COURSES.

Pomegranate use is increasing worldwide, as it is considered a tasteful healthy food. It is mainly used as fruit, juice, and jam. The pomegranate peel represents about 40–50% of the total fruit weight and contains numerous and diverse bioactive substances. The aim of this research was to analyze the pomegranate peel chemical composition of Wonderful cultivated in Southern Italy and treated with an innovative physic dry concentration procedure in comparison with the peel composition of freeze-dried Wonderful cultivated in Southern Italy, freeze-dried Wonderful cultivated in South Africa, and freeze-dried pomegranate cultivated in India. The specific aim was to verify how much the growth area, cultivar type, and dry procedure influenced the chemical composition of the peels in terms of valuable bioactive compounds. Spectrophotometric and HPLC identification methods were used to detect antioxidants, antioxidant activities, and phenolic and flavonoid components. Results evidenced that in pomegranate peels of Wonderful cultivated in Calabria and dried with the innovative process, total phenolic substances, total flavonoids, vitamin C, vitamin E, and antioxidant activities were the highest. Great amounts of single phenolic acids and flavonoids were found in Calabrian Wonderful peels dried with the innovative process. Overall, it emerged that a great amount of bioactive and diverse compounds found in Calabrian Wonderful pomegranate peel comes from the niche pedoclimatic conditions, and the physic drying innovative methodology turned out to be an advantageous procedure to concentrate and conserve biocompounds.

COVID 19 pandemic has led the world authorities, in particular health authorities, to totally reconsider the infectious problems in all public places and in particular in hospitals, that are also burdened by specific risks, due to the concentration of subjects at risk and the consequences that necessary treatments, such as resistance of infectious agents to the drugs used, may involve. Therefore, traditional and innovative methods were compared to obtain adequate protection from contaminants, paying particular attention to the disinfection method by means of ultraviolet rays emitted by a special robotic instrument named R2S Robot. The studies carried out on the subject show that UV-C method represents a rational, effective and economically sustainable choice to ensure adequate disinfection, not only of hospital environments in general but also of frequently visited environments such as public areas and institutions, schools of all types and levels, public and private offices, especially in the light of the new regulations that have totally changed the general approach and the degree of responsibility towards not only the regular visitors of the nosocomial environments, but also the dedicated operators.

Anthracyclines are a group of antineoplastic compounds used to treat acute leukemia and other cancers, and they are excreted after consumption by patients. These chemicals are often found in sewage at very low concentration levels. For this reason, the development of sensitive analytical methodologies capable of determining them at low concentrations is of prime importance. A simple, fast and sensitive analytical method using fabric phase sorptive extraction (FPSE) followed by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (UHPLC-FD) has been developed and validated for the extraction of anthracyclines from sewage samples. FPSE is a green, cheap, simple, selective and rapid sample preparation technique. The different parameters that affect the performance of the FPSE process, including extraction time, eluting solvent, elution time and pH, were optimized. The developed method showed satisfactory reproducibility, with intraday and interday RSD values lower than 15% for all the compounds and limits of detection between 0.1–0.15 µg·L−1. The unique combination of sample preparation by this micro-extraction technique with fluorescence detector have resulted in the satisfactory extraction of highly polar anthracyclines, without any noticeable matrix effect, a very common shortcoming of exhaustive sample preparation technique such as solid phase extraction (SPE) and mass spectrometry.

Disasters affect the school and community microsystems in which children and youth recover. This study explored characteristics of the school (school violence, teachers' attitudes) and community microsystem (neighborhood climate, neighborhood monitoring, community violence) that may affect the disaster exposure and internalizing psychopathology relationship in children and youth 12-27 months after Hurricane Georges hit Puerto Rico. A representative sample (N=1,637) of caregivers and children/youth completed structured interviews in Spanish. Controlling for gender and perception of poverty, for children (age 6-10 years), hurricane exposure increased risk for internalizing psychopathology, but the school and community variables did not have an influence. For all youth (age 11-17 years), witnessing community violence and poor teacher attitudes increased the risk of psychopathology. In addition, neighborhood climate and school violence were moderators. For non-exposed youth, poor neighborhood climate and perceiving greater school violence increased the risk of internalizing psychopathology, whereas for exposed youth it did not.

The neural circuits responsible for animal behavior remain largely unknown. We summarize new methods and present the circuitry of a large fraction of the brain of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Improved methods include new procedures to prepare, image, align, segment, find synapses in, and proofread such large data sets. We define cell types, refine computational compartments, and provide an exhaustive atlas of cell examples and types, many of them novel. We provide detailed circuits consisting of neurons and their chemical synapses for most of the central brain. We make the data public and simplify access, reducing the effort needed to answer circuit questions, and provide procedures linking the neurons defined by our analysis with genetic reagents. Biologically, we examine distributions of connection strengths, neural motifs on different scales, electrical consequences of compartmentalization, and evidence that maximizing packing density is an important criterion in the evolution of the fly’s brain.

Isolated ginsenoside metabolites such as Compound K (CK) are of increasing interest to consumer and clinical populations as safe and non-pharmacological means to enhance psychomotor performance constitutively and in response to physical or cognitive stress. Nevertheless, the influence of CK on behavioral performance and EEG measures of cortical activity in humans is undetermined. In this double-blinded, placebo-controlled, counterbalanced within-group study, dose-dependent responses to CK (placebo, 160 and 960 mg) were assessed after 2 weeks of supplementation in nineteen healthy men and women (age: 39.9 ± 7.9 year, height 170.2 ± 8.6 cm, weight 79.7 ± 11.9 kg). Performance on upper- and lower-body choice reaction tests (CRTs) was tested before and after intense lower-body anaerobic exercise. Treatment- and stress-related changes in brain activity were measured with high-density EEG based on event-related potentials, oscillations, and source activity. Upper- (−12.3 ± 3.5 ms, p = 0.002) and lower-body (−12.3 ± 4.9 ms, p = 0.021) response times improved after exercise, with no difference between treatments (upper: p = 0.354; lower: p = 0.926). Analysis of cortical activity in sensor and source space revealed global increases in cortical arousal after exercise. CK increased activity in cortical regions responsible for sustained attention and mitigated exercise-induced increases in arousal. Responses to exercise varied depending on task, but CK appeared to reduce sensory interference from lower-body exercise during an upper-body CRT and improve the general maintenance of task-relevant sensory processes.

Timely identification of COVID-19 patients at high risk of mortality can significantly improve patient management and resource allocation within hospitals. This study seeks to develop and validate a data-driven personalized mortality risk calculator for hospitalized COVID-19 patients. De-identified data was obtained for 3,927 COVID-19 positive patients from six independent centers, comprising 33 different hospitals. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory variables were collected at hospital admission. The COVID-19 Mortality Risk (CMR) tool was developed using the XGBoost algorithm to predict mortality. Its discrimination performance was subsequently evaluated on three validation cohorts. The derivation cohort of 3,062 patients has an observed mortality rate of 26.84%. Increased age, decreased oxygen saturation (≤ 93%), elevated levels of C-reactive protein (≥ 130 mg/L), blood urea nitrogen (≥ 18 mg/dL), and blood creatinine (≥ 1.2 mg/dL) were identified as primary risk factors, validating clinical findings. The model obtains out-of-sample AUCs of 0.90 (95% CI, 0.87-0.94) on the derivation cohort. In the validation cohorts, the model obtains AUCs of 0.92 (95% CI, 0.88-0.95) on Seville patients, 0.87 (95% CI, 0.84-0.91) on Hellenic COVID-19 Study Group patients, and 0.81 (95% CI, 0.76-0.85) on Hartford Hospital patients. The CMR tool is available as an online application at covidanalytics.io/mortality_calculator and is currently in clinical use. The CMR model leverages machine learning to generate accurate mortality predictions using commonly available clinical features. This is the first risk score trained and validated on a cohort of COVID-19 patients from Europe and the United States.

We consider weak solutions to -Δ⁢u=f⁢(u){-\Delta u=f(u)} on Ω1∖Ω0{\Omega_{1}\setminus\Omega_{0}}, with u=c≥0{u=c\geq 0} in ∂⁡Ω1{\partial\Omega_{1}} and u=+∞{u=+\infty} on ∂⁡Ω0{\partial\Omega_{0}}, and we prove monotonicity properties of the solutions via the moving plane method. We also prove the radial symmetry of the solutions in the case of annular domains.

Little is known about nasal epithelial gene expression and total IgE in youth. We aimed to identify genes whose nasal epithelial expression differs by total IgE in youth, and group them into modules that could be mapped to airway epithelial cell types. We conducted a transcriptome-wide association study of total IgE in 469 Puerto Ricans aged 9 to 20 years who participated in the Epigenetic Variation and Childhood Asthma in Puerto Ricans study, separately in all subjects and in those with asthma. We then attempted to replicate top findings for each analysis using data from 3 cohorts. Genes with a Benjamini-Hochberg–adjusted P value of less than.05 in the Epigenetic Variation and Childhood Asthma in Puerto Ricans study and a P value of less than.05 in the same direction of association in 1 or more replication cohort were considered differentially expressed genes (DEGs). DEGs for total IgE in subjects with asthma were further dissected into gene modules using coexpression analysis, and such modules were mapped to specific cell types in airway epithelia using public single-cell RNA-sequencing data. A higher number of DEGs for total IgE were identified in subjects with asthma (n = 1179 DEGs) than in all subjects (n = 631 DEGs). In subjects with asthma, DEGs were mapped to 11 gene modules. The top module for positive correlation with total IgE was mapped to myoepithelial and mucus secretory cells in lower airway epithelia and was regulated by IL-4, IL5, IL-13, and IL-33. Within this module, hub genes included CDH26 , FETUB , NTRK2 , CCBL1 , CST1 , and CST2. Furthermore, an enrichment analysis showed overrepresentation of genes in signaling pathways for synaptogenesis, IL-13, and ferroptosis, supporting interactions between interleukin- and acetylcholine-induced responses. Our findings for nasal epithelial gene expression support neuroimmune coregulation of total IgE in youth with asthma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper presents a model to analyze the context and critical behavior of interorganizational partnering based on the coopetition strategy. Design/methodology/approach – This research is exploratory, and makes use of descriptive statistical methodology. Data collection was based on an entrepreneurial perception survey applied to 545 tourism firms and 49 local business associations in two Brazilian cities. Findings – The main theoretical approach of this research was to introduce a partnering model, and its variables, based on coopetition – whereas its main empirical finding was to prove that the high internal competition among participants, within the tourism sector, is a greater source of coopetition behavior than external competition itself. Shared values, mutual trust, complementarity and awareness of the competitive advantages that result from partnering co-exist with the internal competition between firms belonging to this sector. Originality/value – Coopetition in the tourism sector has been little explored, but this study confirms that coopetition is a hybrid behavior which is very suitable to explain current market relationships; it also represents the interorganizational networks generated by business associations. The value of this research was to provide a scale to measure cooperative and competitive contexts on partnering based on the coopetition strategy, which can be applied to other industries or sectors.

El presente trabajo aborda un doble objetivo: desde un punto de vista teórico, profundizar en el conocimiento del proceso emprendedor en la fase incipiente y, desde un punto de vista metodológico, evidenciar el potencial del modelo de negocio como herramienta de prospección y estudio del proceso emprendedor en dicha fase. Con este fin se propone la adaptación del marco teórico sobre modelos de negocio, al tiempo que se desarrolla una metodología para el análisis longitudinal en esta primera etapa de la vida de una empresa, utilizando un caso revelador. Ello permite confirmar muchos de los hallazgos teóricos del campo de estudio e identificar nuevas cuestiones de investigación. Así, se pone de manifiesto la importancia de desvelar qué factores influyen en la evolución del proceso emprendedor a través del análisis de la evolución del modelo de negocio que subyace, y cómo se ajustan los elementos internos de la empresa con los del entorno para ir configurando un proyecto empresarial en su fase temprana. El trabajo contribuye a mitigar la necesidad de desarrollar estudios de corte longitudinal, al incluir la dimensión temporal en el modelo de negocio, cuestión escasamente abordada en la literatura.

O empreendedorismo é um importante pilar para a competitividade, a inovação e o desenvolvimento das regiões turísticas. No contexto atual observa-se uma mudança na forma de competir individualmente pelas operações em conjunto, gerando outros tipos de empreendedores. Assim, novos constructos como a Coopetição, o Co-worker e o Co-empreendedor pedem espaço no mercado, na pesquisa e na formação acadêmica. Este trabalho realiza uma revisão teórica sobre o empreendedorismo turístico e como está sendo abordado na literatura. Portanto contribui para identificar as perspectivas de estudo do empreendedorismo em um setor que possui características diferenciadas. Entre os resultados indicados por esta revisão teórica se observa a existência de uma corrente convergente e outra divergente em termos de teorização do empreendedorismo turístico. A corrente convergente realiza uma transferência e adaptação de teorias e modelos aplicados a outros setores econômicos. Enquanto a divergente considera o turismo como um fenômeno e não somente uma atividade ou setor econômico, e assim busca a criação de teorização própria para o empreendedorismo turístico. No entanto, no contexto geral a literatura turística ainda precisa preencher um grande espaço deixado por este tópico nos estudos do turismo.

The development of high-throughput biotechnologies allows the collection of omics data to study the biological mechanisms underlying complex diseases at different levels, such as genomics, epigenomics, and transcriptomics. However, each technology is designed to collect a specific type of omics data. Thus, the association between a disease and one type of omics data is usually tested individually, but this strategy is suboptimal. To better articulate biological processes and increase the consistency of variant identification, omics data from various platforms need to be integrated. In this report, we introduce an approach that uses a modified Fisher's method (denoted as Omnibus-Fisher) to combine separate p-values of association testing for a trait and SNPs, DNA methylation markers, and RNA sequencing, calculated by kernel machine regression into an overall gene-level p-value to account for correlation between omics data. To consider all possible disease models, we extend Omnibus-Fisher to an optimal test by using perturbations. In our simulations, a usual Fisher's method has inflated type I error rates when directly applied to correlated omics data. In contrast, Omnibus-Fisher preserves the expected type I error rates. Moreover, Omnibus-Fisher has increased power compared to its optimal version when the true disease model involves all types of omics data. On the other hand, the optimal Omnibus-Fisher is more powerful than its regular version when only one type of data is causal. Finally, we illustrate our proposed method by analyzing whole-genome genotyping, DNA methylation data, and RNA sequencing data from a study of childhood asthma in Puerto Ricans.

Genetic spaces are often described in terms of fitness landscapes or genotype-to-phenotype maps, where each genetic sequence is associated with phenotypic properties and linked to other genotypes that are a single mutational step away. The positions close to a genotype make up its "mutational landscape" and, in aggregate, determine the short-term evolutionary potential of a population. Populations with wider ranges of phenotypes in their mutational neighborhood are known to be more evolvable. Likewise, those with fewer phenotypic changes available in their local neighborhoods are more mutationally robust. Here, we examine whether forces that change the distribution of phenotypes available by mutation profoundly alter subsequent evolutionary dynamics. We compare evolved populations of digital organisms that were subject to either static or cyclically-changing environments. For each of these, we examine diversity of the phenotypes that are produced through mutations in order to characterize the local genotype-phenotype map. We demonstrate that environmental change can push populations toward more evolvable mutational landscapes where many alternate phenotypes are available, though purely deleterious mutations remain suppressed. Further, we show that populations in environments with harsh changes switch phenotypes more readily than those in environments with more benign changes. We trace this effect to repeated population bottlenecks in the harsh environments, which result in shorter coalescence times and keep populations in regions of the mutational landscape where the phenotypic shifts in question are more likely to occur. Typically, static environments select solely for immediate optimization, at the expensive of long-term evolvability. In contrast, we show that with changing environments, short-term pressures to deal with immediate challenges can align with long-term pressures to explore a more productive portion of the mutational landscape.

Background: Little is known about atopic dermatitis (AD) among children in Puerto Rico. Objective: To examine risk factors and identify approaches to better diagnose AD in Puerto Rican children. Methods: Case-control study of AD among 540 children aged 6–14 years in San Juan, Puerto Rico. AD was defined as: 1) physician-diagnosed AD, 2) RAST-AD: AD symptoms plus ≥1 positive IgE to allergens, and 3) STR-AD: AD-symptoms and skin test reactivity to ≥1 allergen. Logistic regression was used for the multivariable analysis. We also evaluated the diagnostic performance of various approaches by comparing their sensitivity, specificity, positive predicted value [PPV], negative predictive value [NPV], and area under curve [AUC]). Results: Of the 70 children with STR-AD, only 5 (7.1%) had PD-AD. In children without asthma, a positive IgE to Dermatophagoides (D.) pteronyssinus and signs of mold/mildew at home were significantly associated with 3.3 and 5 times increased odds of STR-AD, respectively. Among children with asthma, private/employer-based health insurance and a positive IgE to D. pteronyssinus were each significantly associated with approximately twofold increased odds of STR-AD. A combination of current eczema symptoms and a positive IgE to D. pteronyssinus yielded a sensitivity ≥70%, specificity and NPV ≥95%, PPV ≥88%, and an AUC ≥0.85 for STR-AD. Replacing a positive IgE to D. pteronyssinus with a positive IgE to ≥1 allergen slightly increased sensitivity without affecting other parameters. Conclusions: AD is markedly under-diagnosed by physicians in Puerto Rico. This could be improved by assessing eczema symptoms and measuring IgEs to common allergens. Keywords: Atopic dermatitis, Under-diagnosis, Puerto Rico, Children

Cardiovascular diseases are a group of disorders caused by the presence of a combination of risk factors, such as tobacco use, unhealthy diet and obesity, physical inactivity, etc., which cause the modification of the composition of the vessel’s matrix and lead to the alteration of blood flow, matched with an inflammation condition. Nevertheless, it is not clear if the inflammation is a permissive condition or a consequent one. In order to investigate the effect of inflammation on the onset of vascular disease, we treated endothelial cells with the cytokine TNF-α that is increased in obese patients and is reported to induce cardiometabolic diseases. The inflammation induced a large change in the extracellular matrix, increasing the pericellular hyaluronan and altering the heparan sulfate Syndecans sets, which seems to be related to layer permeability but does not influence cell proliferation or migration nor induce blood cell recruitment or activation.

Expression quantitative trait methylation (eQTM) analyses uncover associations between DNA methylation markers and gene expression. Most eQTM analyses of complex diseases have focused on cis- eQTM pairs (within 1 megabase). This study sought to identify cis- and trans- methylation markers associated with gene expression in airway epithelium from youth with and without atopic asthma. In this study, the investigators conducted both cis- and trans -eQTM analyses in nasal (airway) epithelial samples from 158 Puerto Rican youth with atopic asthma and 100 control subjects without atopy or asthma. The investigators then attempted to replicate their findings in nasal epithelial samples from 2 studies of children, while also examining whether their results in nasal epithelium overlap with those from an eQTM analysis in white blood cells from the Puerto Rican subjects. This study identified 9,108 cis -eQTM pairs and 2,131,500 trans -eQTM pairs. Trans -associations were significantly enriched for transcription factor and microRNA target genes. Furthermore, significant cytosine-phosphate-guanine sites (CpGs) were differentially methylated in atopic asthma and significant genes were enriched for genes differentially expressed in atopic asthma. In this study, 50.7% to 62.6% of cis- and trans- eQTM pairs identified in Puerto Rican youth were replicated in 2 smaller cohorts at false discovery rate–adjusted P <.1. Replicated genes in the trans -eQTM analysis included biologically plausible asthma-susceptibility genes (eg, HDC , NLRP3, ITGAE, CDH26, and CST1) and are enriched in immune pathways. Studying both cis - and trans -epigenetic regulation of airway epithelial gene expression can identify potential causal and regulatory pathways or networks for childhood asthma. Trans -eQTM CpGs may regulate gene expression in airway epithelium through effects on transcription factor and microRNA target genes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are common in Puerto Rican youths. Few large longitudinal studies of Latine youth examined what predicts co-use of alcohol and cannabis in late adolescence and young adulthood. We investigated the prospective association between ACEs with alcohol/cannabis co-use in Puerto Rican youth. Participants from a longitudinal study of Puerto Rican youth (n = 2,004) were included. Using multinomial logistic regressions to test associations between prospectively reported ACEs (11 types, reported by parents and/or children, categorized as 0–1, 2–3, and 4+ ACEs) with young adult alcohol/cannabis use patterns in the past month (i.e., no lifetime use, low-risk [no binge drinking and cannabis use < 10], binge-drinking only, regular cannabis use only, and alcohol/cannabis co-use). Models were adjusted for sociodemographic variables. In this sample, 27.8% reported 4+ ACEs, 28.6% endorsed binge drinking, 4.9% regular cannabis use, and 5.5% alcohol/cannabis co-use. Compared to individuals with no lifetime use, those reporting 4+ (vs. 0–1) ACEs had greater odds of low-risk use (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.60, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.04–2.45), regular cannabis use (aOR 3.13 95% CI = 1.44–6.77), and alcohol/cannabis co-use (aOR 3.57, 95% CI = 1.89–6.75). In relation to low-risk use, reporting 4+ ACEs (vs. 0–1) was associated with 1.96 odds (95% CI = 1.01–3.78) of regular cannabis use and 2.24 odds (95% CI = 1.29–3.89) of alcohol/cannabis co-use. Exposure to 4+ ACEs was associated with the occurrence of adolescent/young adulthood regular cannabis use and alcohol/cannabis co-use. Importantly, ACEs exposure differentiated young adults who were co-using compared to those engaged in low-risk use. Preventing ACE or interventions for Puerto Rican youth experiencing 4+ ACEs may mitigate negative consequences associated with alcohol/cannabis co-use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Este artigo apresenta uma revisão teórica do constructo coopetição, particularmente focando os estudos que aplicam este conceito no turismo. O objetivo é fornecer uma compreensão geral deste comportamento que é apontado como gerador de uma nova classe de vantagens: as vantagens coopetitivas. A pesquisa é de corte teórico. É realizada uma análise sistemática da literatura através de uma bibliometria dos últimos 20 anos de publicações em duas bases de dados: Scopus e Web of Science. Desta forma, verificam-se as implicações da coopetição para o turismo, as delimitações do atual uso do constructo e se indica as tendências futuras da pesquisa neste tópico. O resultado mostrou que a coopetição é vista como um constructo que representa o comportamento intrínseco do setor turístico, onde as empresas se complementam para formar um mercado, mas simultaneamente competem pela divisão dele. A existência de uma meta comum de desenvolver o destino é o maior indutor da coopetição, ocasionando a inseparabilidade entre a cooperação e a concorrência. Assim, a coopetição poderá ser uma perspectiva complementar para as análises de competitividade, porém necessita de mais pesquisas, especialmente que desenvolvam modelos explicativos para destinos turísticos.

The bifacial photovoltaic (PV) systems have recently met large interest. The performance of such systems heavily depends on the installation conditions and, in particular, on the albedo radiation collected by the module rear side. Therefore, it is of crucial importance to have an accurate performance model. To date, in the scientific literature, numerous models have been proposed and experimental data collected to study and optimize bifacial PV system performance. Currently, 3D and 2D models of bifacial PV devices exist. Though the former are more mathematically complex, they can lead to more accurate results, since they generally allow to fully consider the main aspects influencing a bifacial PV system performance. Recently, we have proposed and validated through experimental data a 3D model tested as a function of module height, tilt angle, and ground albedo. In this work, through such a model, we studied the role played by the perimeter zones surrounding the PV string, by considering PV strings of 30 or 60 modules. We considered the cases of fixed installation with optimal PV module tilt and of installation with uniaxial horizontal solar tracker. We evaluated the PV energy yield as a function of the size of the perimeter zones for the two cases, i.e., both with and without the solar tracker. In optimal perimeter conditions, we then studied the behavior of bifacial and mono-facial PV strings by varying the geographical location in a large latitude range.

Este artículo presenta un análisis de variables que indican la propensión a relaciones de coopetición, comparando este contexto entre redes horizontales, verticales o integrales del sector turístico. Fueron recabados datos a través de 287 encuestas empresariales y entrevistas con 26 asociaciones del destino turístico Curitiba en Brasil. Se recoge información sobre la percepción que tiene el empresario de su contexto, lo que promueve su participación en las redes asociativas locales. Los resultados muestran muy poca diferencia en la percepción empresarial en las redes. En los tres tipos de redes la coopetición está más basada en competición que en cooperación, indicando que el empresario, sea competidor o complementario, visualiza la obtención de ventajas tanto individuales como colectivas al participar de redes interorganizativas. La cooperación en los ambientes empresariales es una manera de obtener ventajas competitivas individuales, por tanto, todos los participantes son vistos como competidores en busca de beneficios.

Abstract: Researches and discoveries that have been happening for over fifty years in the Sulcis have highlighted, above all along the coast, but also within it a large number of sites dating back to the early Neolithic phases. (5.900-4.9000 BC ca.). Results from an analysis of the obsidian and jasper industry found in newly-researched sites on the coast of the territories of San Giovanni Suergiu and Portoscuso are presented here. Riassunto: Le ricerche e i rinvenimenti fortuiti che si succedono da un cinquantennio nel Sulcis hanno evidenziato, soprattutto lungo la fascia costiera, ma anche al suo interno, un numero consistente di siti risalenti alle fasi del Neolitico antico (5.900-4.900 BC ca.). Si presentano ora i risultati dell’analisi dell’industria litica d’ossidiana e di diaspro rinvenuta in alcune località inedite, situate lungo la costa dei territori comunali di San Giovanni Suergiu e di Portoscuso.

Determining the relative influence of biotic and abiotic factors on genetic connectivity among populations remains a major challenge in evolutionary biology and in the management and conservation of species. North Pacific hake (Merluccius productus) inhabits upwelling regions in the California Current ecosystem from the Gulf of California to the Gulf of Alaska. In this study, we examined mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and microsatellite variation to estimate levels of genetic differentiation of M. productus in relation to the role of oceanographic features as potential barriers to gene flow. Samples were obtained from nine sites spanning a large part of the geographic range of the species, from Puget Sound, Washington to Costa Rica. The microsatellite results revealed three genetically discrete populations: one spanning the eastern Pacific coast, and two apparently resident populations circumscribed to the Puget Sound and the northern Gulf of California (FST = 0.032, p = 0.036). Cytochrome b sequence data indicated that isolation between the Puget Sound and northern Gulf of California populations from the coastal Pacific were recent phenomena (18.5 kyr for Puget Sound and 40 kyr for the northern Gulf of California). Oceanographic data obtained from the Gulf of California support the hypothesis that permanent fronts within the region, and strong gradients at the entrance to the Gulf of California act as barriers to gene flow. A seascape genetics approach found significant genetic-environment associations, where the daytime sea surface temperature and chlorophyll concentrations were the best predictive variables for the observed genetic differentiation. Considering the potential causes of genetic isolation among the three populations, e.g. spawning areas in different latitudes associated with upwelling processes, oceanographic barriers, asymmetric migration and specialized diet, oceanographic barriers appear to be a likely mechanism restricting gene flow.

The limited efficiency of current air traffic systems will require a next-generation of Smart Air Traffic System (SATS) that relies on current technological advances. This challenge means a transition toward a new navigation and air-traffic procedures paradigm, where pilots and air traffic controllers perform and coordinate their activities according to new roles and technological supports. The design of new Human-Computer Interactions (HCI) for performing these activities is a key element of SATS. However efforts for developing such tools need to be inspired on a parallel characterization of hypothetical air traffic scenarios compatible with current ones. This paper is focused on airborne HCI into SATS where cockpit inputs came from aircraft navigation systems, surrounding traffic situation, controllers’ indications, etc. So the HCI is intended to enhance situation awareness and decision-making through pilot cockpit. This work approach considers SATS as a system distributed on a large-scale with uncertainty in a dynamic environment. Therefore, a multi-agent systems based approach is well suited for modeling such an environment. We demonstrate that current methodologies for designing multi-agent systems are a useful tool to characterize HCI. We specifically illustrate how the selected methodological approach provides enough guidelines to obtain a cockpit HCI design that complies with future SATS specifications.

In this paper the permutation entropy (PE) obtained from heart rate variability (HRV) is analyzed in a statistical model. In this model we also integrate other feature extraction techniques, the cepstrum coefficients derived from the same HRV and a set of band powers obtained from the electrocardiogram derived respiratory (EDR) signal. The aim of the model is detecting obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) events. For this purpose, we apply two statistical classification methods: Logistic Regression (LR) and Quadratic Discriminant Analysis (QDA). For testing the models we use seventy ECG recordings from the Physionet database which are divided into equal-size learning and testing sets. Both sets consist of 35 recordings, each containing a single ECG signal. In our experiments we have found that the features extracted from the EDR signal present a sensitivity of 65.6% and specificity of 87.7% (auc = 85) in the LR classifier, and sensitivity of 59.4% and specificity of 90.3% (auc = 83.9) in the QDA classifier. The HRV-based cepstrum coefficients present a sensitivity of 63.8% and specificity of 89.2% (auc = 86) in the LR classifier, and sensitivity of 67.2% and specificity of 86.8% (auc = 86.9) in the QDA. Subsequent tests show that the contribution of the permutation entropy increases the performance of the classifiers, implying that the complexity of RR interval time series play an important role in the breathing pauses detection. Particularly, when all features are jointly used, the quantification task reaches a sensitivity of 71.9% and specificity of 92.1% (auc = 90.3) for LR. Similarly, for QDA the sensitivity is 75.1% and the specificity is 90.5% (auc = 91.7).

This study focused on characteristics of the family environment that may mediate the relationship between disaster exposure and the presence of symptoms that met DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for symptom count and duration for an internalizing disorder in children and youth. We also explored how parental history of mental health problems may moderate this mediational model. Approximately 188 months after Hurricane Georges hit Puerto Rico in 1998, participants were randomly selected based on a probability household sample using 1990 US Census block groups. Caregivers and children ("N" = 1,886 dyads) were interviewed with the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children and other questionnaires in Spanish. Areas of the family environment assessed include parent-child relationship quality, parent-child involvement, parental monitoring, discipline, parents' relationship quality and parental mental health. SEM models were estimated for parents and children, and by age group. For children (4-10 years old), parenting variables were related to internalizing psychopathology, but did not mediate the exposure-psychopathology relationship. Exposure had a direct relationship to internalizing psychopathology. For youth (11-17 years old), some parenting variables attenuated the relation between exposure and internalizing psychopathology. Family environment factors may play a mediational role in psychopathology post-disaster among youth, compared to an additive role for children. Hurricane exposure had a significant relation to family environment for families without parental history of mental health problems, but no influence for families with a parental history of mental health problems.

Se reporta el caso de un paciente varón de raza asiática, con historia de miopía elevada y cirugía de vítreo-retina en ambos ojos, a quien se le realizó cirugía de cataratas sin complicaciones transoperatorias en ambos ojos, y regresa con síndrome de contracción capsular bilateral al mes de operado. Se comenta la conducta seguida en ambos ojos.