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Introduction: Adolescence is an important period of nutritional vulnerability due to the increased dietary requirements. Objective: To describe the nutritional status of adolescent cyclist and a group of normoactive controls. Methods: The HELENA Dietary Assessment Tool was used to evaluate the nutritional intake of 20 adolescent cyclists and 17 controls. Total energy intake, resting energy expenditure (REE), total energy expenditure (TEE), macronutrients and several micronutrients were registered and compared with dietary guidelines. Results: REE was lower and TEE higher in cyclists than in controls (both P < 0.01). Significant differences were observed in phosphorus and vitamin B1 being higher in cyclists (P < 0.05). Most participants, both cyclist and controls, did not reach the diet requirements for macronutrients, vitamins and minerals. Conclusion: Nutritional status of adolescent cyclists and controls seems not to fulfil the requirements in quantity and quality. Possible implications for actual and future health especially in athlete adolescents need further research.

Aims: To determine if adolescents with and without Down syndrome (DS) accomplish the physical activity (PA) guidelines and to evaluate relationships between PA and cardiorespiratory variables. Methods: 42 adolescents (27 with DS) participated in this study. PA was measured using accelerometers. Walking-graded treadmill protocol with a breath-by-breath gas analyzer was employed to assess cardiorespiratory fitness. Results: Adolescents with DS spent less time in sedentary PA, moderate PA (MPA), vigorous PA (VPA) and moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) than those without DS. VO2peak was correlated with total minutes spent in light PA, MPA, VPA and MVPA in the control group (from r = 0.55 to r = 0.61, p < 0.05) and with MPA and MVPA in the DS group (from r = 0.38 to r = 0.41, p < 0.05). Conclusion: Nor DS neither control groups achieved at least 60 minutes of MPA daily. Engaging more time in MPA was associated with greater cardiorespiratory fitness in adolescents with DS.

Introduction: Cycling has been associated with decreased bone mass during adolescence. Calcium (Ca) and vitamin D (VitD) intake are associated to bone mass and may be important confounders when studying bone mass. Aim: To clarify the effect that Ca and VitD may have on bone mass in adolescent cyclists. Methods: Bone mineral content (BMC) and density (BMD) of 39 male adolescents (20 cyclists) were measured. Ca and VitD intake were also registered. Different ANCOVA analyses were performed in order to evaluate the influence of Ca and VitD on BMC and BMD. Results: Cyclists showed lower values of BMC and BMD than controls at several sites and when adjusting by Ca, Wards triangle BMD appeared also to be lower in cyclists than controls. Conclusion: Nutritional aspects might partially explain differences regarding bone mass in adolescent cyclists and should be taken into account in bone mass analysis as important confounders.

Background: Falls amongst the elderly represent a global public health challenge because of their potential to cause illness, death, and reduce the autonomy of this group. They also impact the emotional, family, social and economic well-being of those involved. Various strategies to prevent falls have been reported in the literature, focusing mainly on addressing individual risk factors, and on the continuous assessment of the risk of falls in older people. Objective: This study evaluated user satisfaction and acceptability of a comprehensive model, implemented in the community, to prevent falls amongst independent older adults aged 65 years and above. It sought to capture both the perceptions of the individuals who received the intervention and of the interventionists who implemented it. The study protocol was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov in November 2020 (ID: NCT04313062). Design: Qualitative, exploratory study using a case study design. The evaluation of the intervention followed the recommendations proposed by the Medical Research Council for complex interventions. Methods and participants: In the period between April 2021 to April 2022, 11 semi-structured interviews were conducted with independent older adults between 65 and 80 years of age who participated in the implementation of the comprehensive model in Santiago, Chile. Data were also collected with eight interventionists through: three semi-structured interviews at the beginning of the intervention; and two focus groups with seven interventionists at the end of the implementation of the model. The team members undertook a content analysis of the data collected. Results: Three themes emerged to account for the satisfaction and acceptability of the intervention with the model on the part of the participants and interventionists: (1) Previous experience of older persons and interventionists; (2) The older person-interventionist encounter and its context; and (3) Identification of facilitators, strengths and challenges for the implementation of the model. The results show a positive assessment of the model, highlighting the value of the social contact derived from the intervention by both participants and interventionists. Although the model involved an individual intervention, the participants’ accounts indicate that it reached out to others, including family members and other elderly acquaintances. Moreover, the interventionists helped identify challenges in implementation and made recommendations to strengthen the model. Conclusion: The evaluation of satisfaction and feasibility of implementing the model showed positive results that will nurture the next phase of development of this model, which involves scaling up the intervention.

The main purpose of this study was to test the association between bone-related variables and agility in elderly people. A total of 223 participants 65 years and older (64 men and 159 women) were evaluated in Zaragoza (Spain). Bone area, mineral content (BMC) and density (BMD) were assessed in whole body, spine and hip by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Agility was measured using the 8-Foot Up and Go Test (modified of the Senior Fitness Test battery). The difference between male and female in agility was studied with one-way ANOVA. The association between agility and bone-related variables was tested by linear regression accounting for differences in age, height and lean mass. Results showed that men had better agility than women (P

Introduction Chile is committed to actively involving patients in their healthcare. However, little is known about how this is translated into clinical encounters. Breast cancer (BC) is the first cause of cancer-related death in Chilean women. National policy guarantees standard care, and treatment decisions should be made along this process that can have long-term consequences for women. So, BC is a particularly well-suited case study to understand the complexity of patient participation in decision-making.Objective To identify the factors that affect the active involvement of patients in the BC treatment decision-making process, considering the perspectives and practices of health professionals and women facing the disease.Method and analysis We will conduct a mixed-method study through a convergent parallel design in three stages: (1) A qualitative study: non-participant observation of the tumour board (TB) meetings; semi-structured interviews with key informants from TBs; documentary analyses; semi-structured interviews with women facing BC; and non-participant observations of clinical encounters; (2) a cross-sectional study with 445 women facing BC stages I–III from three hospitals in Santiago, Chile. We will measure the level of expected participation, experienced participation, decisional conflict, quality of life (QoL) and satisfaction with healthcare. Descriptive analysis will be performed, and multivariable binary logistic regression models will be adjusted to identify factors associated with high levels of QoL or satisfaction; (3) an integration study will bring together the data through a joint display technique.Ethics and dissemination The study has been conceived and will be conducted according to international and local agreements for ethical research. Ethical approval has been granted by two Ethics Committees in Chile.The results will be disseminated to scientific and lay audiences (publications in scientific journals and conferences, seminars and a website for plain language dissemination).

Introducción: La estrategia trombolítica no solo mejora la esperanza de supervivencia del infarto, sino que también reduce la mortalidad general a un mes en los pacientes que reciben este tratamiento. Objetivo: Caracterizar los pacientes con infarto agudo de miocardio con elevación del segmento ST tratados con estreptoquinasa recombinante en el Hospital Clínico Quirúrgico Docente «Celia Sánchez Manduley». Métodos: Se realizó un estudio descriptivo, longitudinal y retrospectivo en 94 pacientes que recibieron tratamiento trombolítico desde diciembre de 2018 a noviembre de 2020. Las variables utilizadas fueron: edad, sexo, comorbilidades, tiempo de ventana terapéutica, causas de suspensión temporal, complicaciones, topografía, criterios de reperfusión clínico, eléctrico y enzimático y mortalidad. Se calculó la frecuencia absoluta y relativa, y la media aritmética con desviación estándar. Resultados: Predominó el sexo masculino y el grupo de edad entre 61 - 70 años. Prevalecieron los pacientes con antecedentes de hipertensión y diabetes. La hipotensión arterial fue la causa de suspensión más frecuente. El 69,1 % fueron trombolizados pasadas las 6 horas. Solo 27 pacientes sufrieron complicaciones, de las cuales, el bloqueo auriculoventricular y Killip - Kimball II fueron las más vistas. Por otra parte, 9 pacientes no presentaron criterios de reperfusión, y solo el 7,4 % fallecieron. Conclusiones: La trombolisis se realiza en una minoría de los pacientes aun en período de ventana terapéutica. La hipotensión fue la causa más frecuente de suspensión temporal de la trombolisis, y la letalidad fue inferior a la letalidad general por infarto agudo de miocardio.

The objective of this paper is to provide insights into our experiences undertaking qualitative rapid research in Latin American contexts based on fieldwork from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico. We focus on the insights and learning processes that emerged from our research teamwork during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our research projects are part of an international collaboration led by the Rapid Research Evaluation and Appraisal Lab (RREAL) to explore the experiences of COVID-19 Frontline Healthcare Workers. The analyzed experiences not only rely on the local studies but also on our reflections as a group of Latin American researchers collaborating along with an international team. Qualitative research has an important and long-lasting tradition in Latin America. However, healthcare professionals are still reluctant to use these methods. We highlight tensions and dilemmas that have emerged from our own empirical experience: First, the time for research ethics committees to evaluate the protocols; second, the difficulties in accessing funding to undertake research due to the lack of financial opportunities; third, having to decide the language of our publications. That is just the tip of the iceberg that allows us to show inequalities in the conditions under which scientific knowledge is produced between the North and the Global South. Following these points, our text explores the tension between the urgency to conduct rapid research and the multiple difficulties when undertaking it during the pandemic. It is important to point out that the problems we faced already existed before the sanitary emergency, being magnified by the former. At last, our conclusions delve into the reflexive process we, as a team of female researchers, undertook to explore the differences and similarities of our experiences. This analysis allowed us to solve obstacles and dilemmas when doing research. The winding road we describe here serves as an example for other research teams when planning and undertaking rapid qualitative research during future pandemics.

Wounding induces phenolic biosynthesis in broccoli. However, there is scarce information about the physiological and molecular mechanisms governing this stress response. In the present study, a chemical-genetics approach was used to elucidate the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS), jasmonic acid (JA), and ethylene (ET) as stress-signaling molecules in the wound-induced phenolic biosynthesis in broccoli. Wounding activated the biosynthesis of ET and JA. Likewise, the wound-induced biosynthesis of ET and JA was regulated by ROS. JA activated primary metabolism, whereas the three signaling molecules activated phenylpropanoid metabolism. The signaling molecules inhibited the wound-induced activation of the hydroxycinnamoyl-CoA quinate hydroxycinnamoyl transferase (HQT) gene, which is involved in caffeoylquinic acids biosynthesis, and the main phenolics accumulated in wounded broccoli, suggesting that an alternative caffeoylquinic biosynthesis pathway is activated in the tissue due to wounding. ROS mediated the biosynthesis of most individual phenolic compounds evaluated. In conclusion, ROS, ET, and JA are essential in activating broccoli’s primary and secondary metabolism, resulting in phenolic accumulation.

In a context marked by restrictive migration policies, precarious living conditions and a neoliberal market, this article explores how Venezuelan migrants incorporated themselves into the job market through informal entrepreneurship, the challenges they faced, and sources of resilience they developed. We draw on eleven semi-structured and in-depth interviews with Venezuelan migrants who participated in a micro-entrepreneurship training program delivered by a Santiago-based NGO during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on the entrepreneurship literature, vulnerability framework and thematic analysis, our findings suggest that there isn't a one-dimensional incorporation into the labour market experience among the group studied, despite similarities among the members; rather there is a dynamic intersectionality of gender, legal status, household economy and structural factors that amplify their precarity. The findings also highlight that migrants' capability of acquiring stable employment was essential to their well-being, in the absence of avenues to acquire formal employment, microenterprises became a source of motivation and resilience, providing them with a network of contacts and social support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: although advances in the treatment of acute myocardial infarction have led to a reduction in the risk of sudden death in the long term, it remains high in certain subgroups of patients. Objective: to identify the risk factors for sudden in-hospital cardiac death in patients with ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction. Methods: an analytical study of cases and controls was carried out in the Cardiology service of the Celia Sánchez Manduley Provincial Clinical Surgical Hospital in Manzanillo, Granma province from 2016 to 2019. 41 defined cases were studied. For each one 2 living graduates were randomly chosen. Variables dependent on the patient, examinations and treatment performed were studied. The absolute and relative frequency calculation was performed. The arithmetic mean with standard deviation was determined and compared using the Student's t test. The Chi-square test was used for qualitative variables. Risk factors were determined using a logistic regression model. Results: male sex prevailed (56 %) and the mean age was 73.3 years. As risk factors, the following were determined: a history of heart failure, presenting the Killip Kimball classification III-IV, as well as fasting first glycemic levels greater than 10 mmol / L and creatine phosphokinase greater than 180 IU. Conclusions: the most prevalent risk factors were: arterial hypertension, smoking, as well as peripheral arterial insufficiency, the presence of diabetes and obesity.

Introducción: La mayor expectativa de vida en la población general ha aumentado la prevalencia de las enfermedades del sistema eléctrico de conducción cardíaca y, con ello, la indicación e implante de marcapasos. Objetivo: Identificar los factores de riesgo de infección tras la implantación de marcapasos permanente. Métodos: Se realizó un estudio analítico, de casos y controles, de los 192 pacientes, a los cuales se les implantó marcapasos permanente entre enero de 2017 y diciembre de 2019 en el Servicio de Cardiología del Hospital Clinicoquirúrgico Docente Celia Sánchez Manduley de la provincia de Granma. El grupo de estudio estuvo integrado por los 38 que presentaron infección tras ese proceder y por cada paciente de este grupo se escogieron 2, que también recibieron este dispositivo y no tuvieron infección, que formaron parte de los controles. Se estudiaron variables dependientes del paciente, del dispositivo, del proceder y de los exámenes practicados. Se utilizaron el test de Fisher y la prueba de la X2 para variables cualitativas, según correspondiera y la prueba de la T de Student para las cuantitativas. Para determinar los factores de riesgo de infección se utilizó un modelo de regresión logística. Resultados: Prevaleció el sexo masculino (60,5 %) y la media de edad fue de 76,1 años. Como factores de riesgo predominaron el uso de antiagregantes y anticoagulantes, el antecedente de diabetes mellitus y las cifras de glucemia mayores de 8,0 mmol/L. Conclusiones: Existen factores de riesgo de infección modificables, por lo que constituye un gran reto médico actuar sobre estos para prevenir complicaciones letales para la vida.

Abstract Background Gibberellins (GA3) are the most sprayed growth regulator for table grape production worldwide, increasing berry size of seedless varieties through pericarp cell expansion. However, these treatments also exacerbate berry drop, which has a detrimental effect on the postharvest quality of commercialized clusters. Several studies have suggested that pedicel stiffening caused by GA3 would have a role in this disorder. Nevertheless, transcriptional and phenotypic information regarding pedicel responses to GA3 is minimal. Results Characterization of responses to GA3 treatments using the lines L23 and Thompson Seedless showed that the former was up to six times more susceptible to berry drop than the latter. GA3 also increased the diameter and dry matter percentage of the pedicel on both genotypes. Induction of lignin biosynthesis-related genes by GA3 has been reported, so the quantity of this polymer was measured. The acetyl bromide method detected a decreased concentration of lignin 7 days after GA3 treatment, due to a higher cell wall yield of the isolated fractions of GA3-treated pedicel samples which caused a dilution effect. Thus, an initial enrichment of primary cell wall components in response to GA3 was suggested, particularly in the L23 background. A transcriptomic profiling was performed to identify which genes were associated with these phenotypic changes. This analysis identified 1281 and 1787 genes differentially upregulated by GA3 in L23 and cv. Thompson Seedless, respectively. Concomitantly, 1202 and 1317 downregulated genes were detected in L23 and cv. Thompson Seedless (FDR

Purpose: The aim of the present study was to determine which of the published anthropometric equations is the most appropriate to estimate body-fat percentage (BF%) in adolescent swimmers. Method: Eighty-eight swimmers (45 boys, 43 girls) participated in this study. Following the recommendations of the International Society of the Advancement of Kinanthropometry, biceps, triceps, subscapular, iliac-crest, supraspinale, front-thigh, and medial calf skinfold thicknesses were measured. Waist, hip, midthigh, calf, relaxed arm, and arm flexed and tensed girths were also registered. BF% was measured with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) to obtain the reference value. Existing anthropometric equations were applied, and BF% results obtained from anthropometric equations were compared to DXA BF% results with the modified Bland-Altman. Results: The Flavel, Durnin-Rahaman-Siri, and Durnin-Rahaman-Brozek were the only equations that did not demonstrate statistically significant differences when compared with DXA. Conclusion: The present study showed that the best anthropometric equation from existing literature to estimate BF% in swimmers is that proposed by Durnin-Rahaman (independently of applying the Siri or Brozek equation).

Childhood obesity has become a major global health problem. Vitamin D deficiency and poor cardiorespiratory fitness are highly prevalent in children with overweight or obesity, but little is known about their relationships. In this study, we aimed to analyze the relationship between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) and cardiorespiratory fitness parameters in prepubertal obese and overweight children. A cross-sectional design with a sample of 57 prepubertal children, aged 9–11 years, with overweight or obesity was used. The fasting concentration of 25(OH)D was analyzed with a chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay. Fat and lean body masses were determined by using DXA. Maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) was measured with the maximal treadmill test. A total of 68.4% of the sample had sufficient levels of 25(OH)D. As expected, their cardiorespiratory fitness was poor compared with that of normal-weight children, but 60% of the group exceeded the median obesity-specific reference values. No differences were found between the sexes for relative VO2max or 25(OH)D levels. Moreover, no correlations were found between 25(OH)D and body composition or cardiorespiratory parameters for sex or vitamin D groups. Vitamin D status seems not to be directly related to body composition or cardiorespiratory fitness in prepubertal overweight or obese children.

Purpose: To examine the effects of a 6-month whole-body vibration (WBV) training on lower-body strength (LBS), lower-body power (LBP), and swimming performance in adolescent trained swimmers. Methods: Thirty-seven swimmers (23 males and 14 females; 14.8 [1.3] y) were randomly assigned to the WBV (n = 20) or the control group (n = 17). Isometric LBS (knee extension and half squat) and LBP (vertical and horizontal jumps and 30-m sprint) tests were performed before and after the intervention period. Swimming performance times in 100 m were collected from official competitions. As time × sex interaction was not found for any variable (P >.05), males and females were analyzed as a whole. Results: Within-group analyses showed a most likely beneficial moderate effect of WBV on isometric knee extension (effect size [ES] = 0.63), 30-m sprint test (ES = 0.62), and 100-m performance (ES = 0.25), although these were corresponded with comparable small to moderate effects in the control group (ES = 0.73, 0.71, and 0.20, respectively). The control group obtained a small possibly beneficial effect of swimming-only training on vertical jump performance, whereas no effect was observed in the WBV group. Unclear effects were observed for the rest of the variables assessed. Between-group analyses revealed unclear effects of WBV training when compared with the control condition in all studied variables. Conclusions: There is no current evidence to support the use of WBV training, and therefore, coaches and sports specialists should select other methods of training when the aim is to increase LBS, LBP, or swimming performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]