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The balanced scorecard is a popular enterprise level tool widely used to evaluate the performance of an organization, and has even become a management system to implement business strategies. Its application to the field of information technology (IT) has also spread widely as an instrument of strategic alignment and performance evaluation. However, companies often know how to design and effectively implement this valuable tool. This paper proposes a method to guide the construction of a balanced scorecard of IT in an organization that is in line with the business strategy, achieving necessary strategic alignment. The feasibility of application of the procedure was proven through the case study in a software company.

El cuadro de mando integral es una popular herramienta del ámbito empresarial ampliamente utilizada para evaluar el desempeño de una organización, e incluso ha llegado a convertirse en un sistema de gestión para implementar las estrategias empresariales. Su aplicación al ámbito de las tecnologías de la información (TI) también se ha extendido ampliamente como instrumento de alineación estratégica y evaluación del desempeño. Sin embargo muchas veces las empresas desconocen cómo diseñar e implementar efectivamente esta valiosa herramienta. En este artículo se propone un procedimiento para guiar la construcción de un cuadro de mando integral de TI en una organización que esté en correspondencia con la estrategia empresarial, lográndose la alineación estratégica necesaria. La factibilidad de aplicación del procedimiento fue comprobada a partir del estudio de caso en una empresa de software.

Background: Exposure to arsenic (As) and its metabolites can affect normal growth in children, but the combine effects at simultaneous low-level exposures, remain uncertain. Hence, this study aims to analyze how the combined effects of As and its metabolites can impact growth indicators in 1,792 US children aged 6-12 years, from the NHANES., Methods: Levels of arsenic species in urine were measured using HPLC coupled with ICP-DRC-MS during the 2007-2020 NHANES cycles. The sum of iAs ([AsIII + AsV]), MMA, and DMA was used as a biomarker of internal iAs exposure (∑As), and methylation efficiency was assessed using the primary and secondary methylation indices (PMI, SMI). Linear regression and BKMR models were applied to identify adverse effects, nonlinear associations, interactions, and combined effects., Results: Median concentrations of MMA, DMA, iAs, and ∑As were 0.56 μg/L, 4.07 μg/L, 1.33 μg/L, and 6.40 μg/L, respectively. In the linear regression analyses, higher urinary concentrations of MMA were associated with reductions in several growth indicators. Specifically, each interquartile range (IQR) increase in MMA concentration was linked to decreases of -0.18 (95 % CI: -0.29, -0.06) in Body Mass Index (BMI) Z-score, -0.18 (95 % CI: -0.29, -0.06) in Weight Z-score, and -0.01 (95 % CI: -0.02, -0.01) in Waist circumference/Height ratio. Additionally, higher DMA concentrations were negatively associated with Height Z-score, with a reduction of -0.08 (95 % CI: -0.15, -0.01). In the BKMR analysis, DMA consistently emerged as the dominant contributor across multiple outcomes, showing the highest Posterior Inclusion Probabilities (PIPs) for indicators such as BMI Z-score and Waist circumference/Height ratio. While MMA exhibited notable PIPs in certain models, its influence was generally weaker than that of DMA., Conclusion: Childhood exposure to a mixture of arsenic species, even at low levels, appears to influence growth indicators and adversely affect physical development in children enrolled in NHANES., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Aims: We investigated the association between the frequency of visits to general practitioners (GPs) and the degree of disease control in patients with T2DM., Methods: This study included patients diagnosed with T2DM who visited their GPs between 2014 and 2018. A total of 89,674 patients, accounting for 1,203,035 visits, were included. Different clinical features such as glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c%), blood pressure (BP), and c-LDL levels were analyzed. Multifactorial control of T2DM was defined as HbA1c ≤ 7 %, BP ≤ 140/90 mmHg, and LDL cholesterol ≤ 100 mg/dL. Generalized Estimating Equations models were implemented in order to deal with repeated measures for the same patient., Results: The median age of the patients is 70 years, with 52.8 % being male. An increase in the number of visits per year significantly improves the likelihood of achieving multifactorial diabetes control. Patients with more than 3-visits per year (55.6 %) have a Relative Risks (RR) of 1.258 (95 % Confidence Interval: 1.120-1.414). Frequent visits are associated with better multifactorial control and better c-LDL management. Patients visiting more than 3-times annually tend to achieve better outcomes in multifactorial and c-LDL control., Conclusion: Increasing the frequency of primary care visits significantly enhances multifactorial and cholesterol control among T2DM patients., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2025. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Background: This study aims to investigate the differential miRNA expression profile between the visceral white adipose tissue and the skeletal muscle of people with obesity undergoing bariatric surgery., Methods: Skeletal muscle and visceral adipose tissue samples of 10 controls and 38 people with obesity (50% also with type 2 diabetes) undergoing bariatric surgery were collected. miRNA expression profiles were analyzed using Next-Generation Sequencing and subsequently validated using RT-PCR., Results: Approximately 69% of miRNAs showed similar expression in both tissues, however, 55 miRNAs were preferentially expressed in visceral adipose tissue and 53 in skeletal muscle. miR-122b-5p was uniquely identified in skeletal muscle, while miR-1-3p and miR-206 were upregulated in skeletal muscle. Conversely, miR-224-5p and miR-335-3p exhibited upregulation in visceral adipose tissue. Notably, distinctions related to the presence of type 2 diabetes were observed solely in the expression of miR-1-3p and miR-206 in visceral adipose tissue., Conclusions: This is the first study unveiling distinct miRNA expression profiles in paired samples of visceral adipose tissue and skeletal muscle in humans. The identification of obesity-specific miRNAs in these tissues opens up promising avenues for research into potential biomarkers for obesity diagnosis and treatment., Competing Interests: Competing interests The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background/objectives: Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) face challenges in social communication due to difficulties in considering context, processing information, and interpreting social cues. This study aims to explore the neural processes related to pragmatic language communication in children with ASD and address the research question of how functional brain connectivity operates during complex pragmatic language tasks., Methods: We examined differences in brain functional connectivity between children with ASD and typically developing peers while they engaged in video recordings of spoken language tasks. We focused on two types of speech acts: semantic and pragmatic., Results: Our results showed differences between groups during the pragmatic and semantic language processing, indicating more idiosyncratic connectivity in children with ASD in the Left Somatomotor and Left Limbic networks, suggesting that these networks play a role in task-dependent functional connectivity. Additionally, these functional differences were mainly localized to the left hemisphere.

Lake Surface Water Temperature (LSWT) influences critical bio-geological processes in lake ecosystems, and there is growing evidence of rising LSWT over recent decades worldwide and future shifts in thermal patterns are expected to be a major consequence of global warming. At a regional scale, assessing recent trends and anticipating impacts requires data from a number of lakes, but long term in situ monitoring programs are scarce, particularly in mountain areas. In this work, we propose the combined use of satellite-derived temperature with in situ data for a five-year period (2017-2022) from 5 small (<0.5km 2 ) high altitude (1880-2680 masl) Pyrenean lakes. The comparison of in situ and satellite-derived data in a common period (2017-2022) during the summer season showed a notably high (r = 0.94, p < 0.01) correlation coefficient, indicative of a robust relationship between the two data sources. The root mean square errors ranged from 1.8 °C to 3.9 °C, while the mean absolute errors ranged from 1.6 °C to 3.6 °C. We applied the obtained in situ-satellite eq. (2017-2022) to Landsat 5, 7 and 8/9 data since 1985 to reconstruct the summer surface temperature of the five studied lakes with in situ data and to four additional lakes with no in situ monitoring data. Reconstructed LSWT for the 1985-2022 showed an upward trend in all lakes. Moreover, paleolimnological reconstructions based on sediment cores studies demonstrate large changes in the last decades in organic carbon accumulation, sediment fluxes and bioproductivity in the Pyrenean lakes. Our research represents the first comprehensive investigation conducted on high mountain lakes in the Pyrenees that compares field monitoring data with satellite-derived temperature records. The results demonstrate the reliability of satellite-derived LSWT for surface temperatures in small lakes, and provide a tool to improve the LSWT in lakes with no monitoring surveys., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: There are no validated instruments in Spain for measuring parental feeding styles. The aim was to validate the Parental Feeding Styles Questionnaires (PFSQ) in a Spanish sample., Method: A total of 523 mothers of 523 school-children participated. The children had a mean age of 4.4 years (SD = 1.3), with 51% being boys (M = 4.3 years, SD = 1.4) and 49% girls (M = 4.5 years, = SD 1.3). The PFSQ and the Comprehensive General Parenting Styles Questionnaire (CGPQ) were used., Results: A model of four correlated factors was identified: Prompting/encouraging eating, emotional feeding, instrumental feeding, and control over eating. Cronbach's alpha for the subscales ranged from 0.64 to 0.86, and McDonald's Omega coefficient ranged from 0.66 to 0.86. Emotional feeding and prompting/encouraging eating had values above 0.70, control over eating had a value of 0.68 and instrumental feeding had an alpha coefficient of 0.64 and omega coefficient of 0.66. The factor structure was similar to the original and to other adapted versions. The Spanish sample used more control over eating and prompting/encouraging to eat., Conclusions: The adapted PFSQ is a suitable instrument for assessing the feeding styles of Spanish parents.

Background: Previous research has indicated that hypoglycemia during hospitalization is a predictor of unfavorable outcomes in patients with diabetes. However, no studies have examined the long-term impact of hypoglycemia in adults admitted for hyperglycemic crises. The study was aimed to investigate the long-term implications of hypoglycemia during hyperosmolar hyperglycemic crises, particularly in terms of all-cause mortality., Methods: This retrospective cohort study included 170 patients (82 men [48.2%], median age 72 years) admitted to a university hospital for hyperosmolar hyperglycemic crises, including pure hyperosmolar hyperglycemic states and hyperosmolar diabetic ketoacidoses. We separately investigated the prognostic significance of hypoglycemia on mortality during the initial intravenous insulin therapy phase and during the later subcutaneous insulin therapy phase, both during hospitalization and in the long term (median follow-up, 652 days; range 2-3460 days)., Results: Both hypoglycemia during the initial intravenous insulin therapy phase (observed in 26.5% of patients) and hypoglycemia during the later subcutaneous insulin therapy phase (observed in 52.7% of patients) were associated with long-term mortality. After adjusting for potential confounders, hypoglycemia during the initial intravenous insulin therapy phase remained associated with mortality (hazard ratio 2.10, 95% CI 1.27-3.46, p = 0.004)., Conclusions: Hypoglycemia during hyperosmolar hyperglycemic crises is a marker of long-term mortality, especially when it occurs during the initial intravenous insulin therapy phase., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Metformin is a well-established drug for the treatment of type 2 diabetes; however, the mechanism of action has not been well described and many aspects of how it truly acts are still unknown. Moreover, regarding in vitro experiments, the glycaemic status when metformin is used is generally not considered, which, added to the suprapharmacological drug concentrations that are commonly employed in research, has resulted in gaps of its mechanism of action. The aim of this study was to determine how glucose and metformin concentrations influence cell culture. Considering that diabetic retinopathy is one of the most common complications of diabetes, a retinal pigment epithelial cell line was selected, and cell viability and proliferation rates were measured at different glucose and metformin concentrations. As expected, glucose concentration by itself positively influenced cell proliferation rates. When the metformin was considered, results were conditioned, as well, by metformin concentration. This conditioning resulted in cell death when high concentrations of metformin were used under physiological concentrations of glucose, while this did not happen when clinically relevant concentrations of metformin were used independently of glucose status. Our study shows the importance of in vitro cell growth conditions when drug effects such as metformin's are being analysed.

The study aimed to forecast ammonia exposure risk in broiler chicken production, correlating it with health injuries using machine learning. Two chicken breeds, fast-growing (Ross ® ) and slow-growing (Hubbard ® ), were compared at different densities. Slow-growing birds had a constant density of 32 kg m -2 , while fast-growing birds had low (16 kg m -2 ) and high (32 kg m -2 ) densities. Initial feeding was uniform, but nutritional demands led to varied diets later. Environmental data underwent selection, pre-processing, transformation, mining, analysis, and interpretation. Classification algorithms (decision tree, SMO, Naive Bayes, and Multilayer Perceptron) were employed for predicting ammonia risk (10-14 pmm, Moderate risk). Cross-validation was used for model parameterization. The Spearman correlation coefficient assessed the link between predicted ammonia risk and health injuries, such as pododermatitis, vision/affected, and mucosal injuries. These injuries encompassed trachea, bronchi, lungs, eyes, paws, and other issues. The Multilayer Perceptron model emerged as the best predictor, exceeding 98% accuracy in forecasting injuries caused by ammonia. The correlation coefficient demonstrated a strong association between elevated ammonia risks and chicken injuries. Birds exposed to higher ammonia concentrations exhibited a more robust correlation. In conclusion, the study effectively used machine learning to predict ammonia exposure risk and correlated it with health injuries in broiler chickens. The Multilayer Perceptron model demonstrated superior accuracy in forecasting injuries related to ammonia (10-14 pmm, Moderate risk). The findings underscored the significant association between increased ammonia exposure risks and the incidence of health injuries in broiler chicken production, shedding light on the importance of managing ammonia levels for bird welfare.

Introduction: Today's society is aware that healthy aging favors quality of life in the future, even more so as life expectancy increases in populations such as Europe. As in countries such as Japan, it is necessary for institutions to provide social services to support the elderly, with the aim of achieving an optimal quality of life for these people. The aim of this study is to analyze the different types of social services and activities that certain institutions provide to the elderly in order to find areas for improvement or to propose relationships between them that will benefit both users and institutions., Methods: Official data from Junta de Castilla y León (Spain) on social services for the elderly in the 9 provinces of the autonomous community of Castilla y León from 2007 to 2021 were analysed using multivariate statistical techniques., Results: Throughout the period under analysis, there is an association between the number of places in public and private non-profit residential centers for the elderly and the number of places in day-care centers or the number of students in the Inter-University Experience Programme. The variables associated with the telecare programme are related to the number of people under guardianship. On the other hand, three well-differentiated clusters of provinces of Castilla y León were observed., Discussion: Our findings have implications for the quality of life of the elderly, as the differences in social services in the areas analysed have a direct impact on the health of the elderly., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The reviewer SS-G declared a shared affiliation with the authors to the handling editor at the time of review., (Copyright © 2023 Vega-Hernández, Román-Gallego, Pérez-Delgado and Torres-García.)

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is characterized by both atypical functional brain connectivity and cognitive challenges across multiple cognitive domains. The relationship between task-dependent brain connectivity and cognitive abilities, however, remains poorly understood. In this study, children with ASD and their typically developing (TD) peers engaged in semantic and pragmatic language tasks while their task-dependent brain connectivity was mapped and compared. A multivariate statistical approach revealed associations between connectivity and psychometric assessments of relevant cognitive abilities. While both groups exhibited brain-behavior correlations, the nature of these associations diverged, particularly in the directionality of overall correlations across various psychometric categories. Specifically, greater disparities in functional connectivity between the groups were linked to larger differences in Autism Questionnaire, BRIEF, MSCS, and SRS-2 scores but smaller differences in WASI, pragmatic language, and Theory of Mind scores. Our findings suggest that children with ASD utilize distinct neural communication patterns for language processing. Although networks recruited by children with ASD may appear less efficient than those typically engaged, they could serve as compensatory mechanisms for potential disruptions in conventional brain networks.

In the last 50 years, the study of brain development has brought major discoveries to education and medicine, changing the lives of millions of children and families. However, collecting behavioral and neurophysiological data from children has specific challenges, such as high rates of data loss and participant dropout. We have developed a science camp method to collect data from children using the benefits of positive peer interactions and interactive and engaging activities, to allow researchers to better collect data repeatedly and reliably from groups of children. A key advantage of this approach is that by increasing participant engagement, attention is also increased, thereby increasing data quality, reducing data loss, and lowering attrition rates. This protocol describes the step-by-step procedure for facilitation of a science camp, including behavioral, electrophysiological, and participatory engagement activities. As this method is robust but also flexible, we anticipate that it can also be applied to different demographics and research needs., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2023 Márquez-García et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Sedentary behavior has become ingrained in our society and has been linked to cardiovascular diseases. Physical inactivity is the main characteristic of sedentary behavior. However, its impact on cardiovascular disease is not clear. Therefore, we investigated the effect of physical inactivity in an established mouse model on gene clusters associated with cardiac fibrosis, electrophysiology, cell regeneration, and tissue degradation/turnover. We investigated a sedentary group (CTR, n = 10) versus a tail suspension group (TS, n = 11) that caused hindlimb unloading and consequently physical inactivity. Through histological, protein content, and transcript analysis approaches, we found that cardiac fibrosis-related genes partly change, with significant TS-associated increases in Tgfb1, but without changes in Col1a1 and Fn1. These changes are not translated into fibrosis at tissue level. We further detected TS-mediated increases in protein degradation- (Trim63, p < 0.001; Fbxo32, p = 0.0947 as well as in biosynthesis-related [P70s6kb1, p < 0.01]). Corroborating these results, we found increased expression of autophagy markers such as Atg7 (p < 0.01) and ULK1 (p < 0.05). Two cardiomyocyte regeneration- and sarcomerogenesis-related genes, Yap (p = 0.0535) and Srf (p < 0.001), increased upon TS compared to CTR conditions. Finally, we found significant upregulation of Gja1 (p < 0.05) and a significant downregulation of Aqp1 (p < 0.05). Our data demonstrate that merely 2 weeks of reduced physical activity induce changes in genes associated with cardiac structure and electrophysiology. Hence, these data should find the basis for novel research directed to evaluate the interplay of cardiac functioning and physical inactivity., (© 2023 The Authors. Physiological Reports published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of The Physiological Society and the American Physiological Society.)

The situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic brought negative consequences such as social isolation, limited access to routine health and social care services, and lack of self-esteem, especially for older people. In this context, technology took on an important role as the main means of communication and service delivery. The main objective of this study is to analyze the situation of the elderly and their access to technological resources in the time of COVID-19. Based on a qualitative methodology, 58 semi-structured interviews were conducted with people between 65 and 90 years old in Portugal. The results reveal specific difficulties in the use of this type of digital devices and a change in the digital use profile of this age group, characterized by more frequent use of digital devices such as smartphones, the incorporation of certain services such as video calls, and uses associated with communication and entertainment. This study shows that attitudes toward technology among the elderly should be studied further, and these results should be considered to develop and implement training programs specially designed for this age group in order to contribute to their well-being and quality of life.

The use of digital technology by older adults has improved in recent years in response to the need for their functional adaptation to an increasingly technological social context. Understanding this type of technological adaptation has recently become an important field of inquiry in both social and gerontological studies. Working within this framework, the aim of this study is to identify the main determinants that influence the intention of older people to use digital technology in their daily lives, using the Technological Acceptance Model. A study was carried out with the participation of 1155 people over 65 years of age in Spain. Confirmatory Factor Analysis and structural equation models (SEM) were performed. The results show that the TAM is a useful model to explain the intention of older adults to use Digital Technology, showing a high predictive power, highlighting Perceived Usefulness and Perceived Ease of Use as the main predictor variables.

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience difficulties with social communication, making it challenging to interpret contextual information that aids in accurately interpreting language. To investigate how the brain processes the contextual information and how this is different in ASD, we compared event-related potentials (ERPs) in response to processing visual and auditory congruent and incongruent information. Two groups of children participated in the study: 37 typically developing children and 15 children with ASD (age range = 6 to 12). We applied a language task involving auditory sentences describing congruent or incongruent images. We investigated two ERP components associated with language processing: the N400 and P600. Our results showed how children with ASD present significant differences in their neural responses in comparison with the TD group, even when their reaction times and correct trials are not significantly different from the TD group., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

The neural underpinnings of humans' ability to process faces and how it changes over typical development have been extensively studied using paradigms where face stimuli are oversimplified, isolated, and decontextualized. The prevalence of this approach, however, has resulted in limited knowledge of face processing in ecologically valid situations, in which faces are accompanied by contextual information at multiple time scales. In the present study, we use a naturalistic movie paradigm to investigate how neuromagnetic activation and phase synchronization elicited by faces from movie scenes in humans differ between children and adults. We used MEG data from 22 adults (6 females, 3 left handed; mean age, 27.7 ± 5.28 years) and 20 children (7 females, 1 left handed; mean age, 9.5 ± 1.52 years) collected during movie viewing. We investigated neuromagnetic time-locked activation and phase synchronization elicited by movie scenes containing faces in contrast to other movie scenes. Statistical differences between groups were tested using a multivariate data-driven approach. Our results revealed lower face-elicited activation and theta/alpha phase synchrony between 120 and 330 ms in children compared with adults. Reduced connectivity in children was observed between the primary visual areas as well as their connections with higher-order frontal and parietal cortical areas. This is the first study to map neuromagnetic developmental changes in face processing in a time-locked manner using a naturalistic movie paradigm. It supports and extends the existing evidence of core face-processing network maturation accompanied by the development of an extended system of higher-order cortical areas engaged in face processing., (Copyright © 2022 Kozhemiako et al.)

Articulation disorders are deficiencies in the realization of speech sounds unrelated to organic or neurological disorders. Over the last decade, there has been a debate on the efficiency of non-verbal oro-motor exercises, which are orofacial movements programmed and organized in an intentional and coordinated way to control lips, tongue, and soft palate muscles. Of the 122 children evaluated, 52 presented articulatory difficulties. An intervention with nonverbal oro-motor exercises was applied, and children were again assessed following treatment. The results showed no differences between the experimental and control groups, either in the number of sounds that improved after this period or in the severity of difficulties (we categorized those with articulation difficulties in two to six sounds as 'medium' and those with difficulties in articulating more than seven sounds as 'severe'). These results indicated that nonverbal oro-motor exercises alone are not efficient for intervention in difficulties in the realization of sounds in 4-year-old children.

In this study, a systematic review of researches published about the determining factors in the intention of the use of devices and digital technology in older adults has been carried out. The technology acceptance model is the framework used. The main result of the analysis of 60 scientific articles published between 2010 and 2020 has been summarized after a bibliographic research and a subsequent selection process in the most important bibliographic databases: Web of Science (n=45), Scopus (n=66) and Google Scholar (n=224). It has been proved the predominance of quantitative studies with a prevalence of study factors that associate the intention to use technology with: Facilitating conditions, experience, health, social support, emotions, perceived enjoyment, perceived satisfaction in using technology, anxiety, perceived risk, motivation, cost, subjective norm and social influence. The results of the systematic review allow us to conclude the urgent need to incorporate new research on the identification and influence of these factors that stand between older adults and technology, as possible barriers or facilitators of use., (Copyright © 2022 SEGG. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Female victims of abuse, as well as suffering from psychopathological disorders such as depression, can have neuropsychological sequelae affecting memory and attention, with serious consequences, both physical and psychological, in their daily lives. Therefore, the objective of this study is to analyse these sequelae that affect attention and memory, as well as the possible association of these sequelae to depression. A total of 68 women, victims of gender-based violence, between the ages of 15 and 62 participated in this study. The Luria DNA Battery (Neuropsychological Diagnosis of Adults) by Manga and Ramos (2000); and the Beck Depression Inventory (2011) were applied. It is shown that female victims of gender-based violence present poor short-term memory, attentional control, and score low on the Luria-DNA battery. Of these women, 60% suffer from some relevant type of depression. Through HJ-Biplot analysis, a direct relationship was found between memory and attentional control with the total score of the Luria battery. However, an inverse relationship was found between short-term memory and depression. In addition, three well-differentiated clusters of female victims of gender-based violence were identified. It is concluded that a lower rate of depression is observed in female victims of abuse when they have a more intact short-term memory.

The purpose of our research was to explore the role of both parents' use of behavioural regulation with food and children's emotional self-regulation in young children with and without overweight/obesity. For this purpose, 123 participants ( n = 62 boys and n = 61 girls) were recruited and classified into two groups by their Body Mass Index (BMI, non-overweight vs. overweight/obese) and into two age groups (four years and seven years). The children's parents/primary caregivers completed two scales of the Childhood Obesogenic Behaviours' Questionnaire (COBQ). The participants were measured and weighed to calculate their BMI to identify overweight, obesity, and non-overweight. The results showed that the means for children who were obese/overweight were significantly higher than those of children who were non-overweight for both the parents' behavioural regulation scale (non-overweight: M = 1.80, SD = 0.69; overweight/obesity: M = 2.94, SD = 0.85) and the child's emotional overeating scale (non-overweight: M = 1.47, SD = 0.56; overweight/obesity: M = 2.65, SD = 0.87). No statistically significant differences were found related to age (4 and 7 years), indicating that the potential impact of obesogenic behaviours starts early in development. Similarly, no differences by gender were found. Due to the implications of obesity for physical and mental health, and the high probability of maintaining this overweight status in the long term, family-based interventions to prevent obesity are highly advisable from birth.

Background and study aims  Efficacy and safety of NAAP for gastrointestinal endoscopy have been widely documented, although there is no information about the outcomes of colonoscopy when the endoscopist supervises the sedation. In this context, the aim of this trial was to determine the equivalence of adenoma detection rate (ADR) in colorectal cancer (CRC) screening colonoscopies performed with non-anesthesiologist-administered propofol (NAAP) and performed with monitored anesthesia care (MAC). Patients and methods  This was a single-blind, non-randomized controlled equivalence trial that enrolled adults from a national CRC screening program (CRCSP). Patients were blindly assigned to undergo either colonoscopy with NAAP or MAC. The main outcome measure was the ADR in CRCSP colonoscopies performed with NAAP. Results  We included 315 patients per group. The median age was 59.76 ± 5.81 years; 40.5 % of patients were women. The cecal intubation rate was 97 %, 81.8 % of patients had adequate bowel preparation, withdrawal time was > 6 minutes in 98.7 %, and the median global exploration time was 24.25 ± 8.86 minutes (range, 8-70 minutes). The ADR was 62.9 % and the complication rate (CR) was 0.6 %. Analysis by intention-to-treat showed an ADR in the NAAP group of 64.13 % compared with 61.59 % in the MAC group, a difference (δADR) of 2.54 %, 95 %CI: -0.10 to 0.05. Analysis by per-protocol showed an ADR in the NAAP group of 62.98 %, compared with 61.94 % in the MAC group, δADR: 1.04 %, 95 %CI: -0.09 to 0.07. There was no difference in CR (NAAP: 0,63 vs. MAC: 0.63); P  = 1.0. Conclusions  ADR in colorectal cancer screening colonoscopies performed with NAAP was equivalent to that in those performed with MAC. Similarly, there was no difference in complication rates., Competing Interests: Competing interests The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).)

Active edible films based on corn starch containing glycerol as a plasticizer and an olive extract obtained from Spanish olive fruit ( Olea europaea ) by-products (olive extract; OE) at different concentrations (0, 0.05, 0.1 and 0.2 wt%) were prepared by using the casting technique and further solvent-evaporation. OE showed high total phenolic and flavonoids contents and antioxidant activity, which was evaluated by using three different methods: free radical scavenging assay by (1, 1-Dipheny l-2-picrylhydrazyl) DPPH, 2, 2-Azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) ABTS radical inhibition and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP). The incorporation of OE into the corn starch/glycerol matrix underlined the antioxidant potential and antimicrobial effect against E. coli and S. aureus of these novel active films, being noticeable for films added with 0.2 wt% OE. The developed active films showed a clear thermo-oxidative stability improvement with OE incorporation, in particular at 0.2 wt% loading with an increase of around 50 °C in the initial degradation temperature (T ini ) and oxidation onset temperature (OOT). The functional properties of control films were also improved with OE addition resulting in a decrease in Young's modulus, elongation at break, shore D hardness and water vapor permeability. The present work suggested the potential of the developed corn starch-based edible films as low-price and sustainable food packaging systems to prevent the oxidative deterioration of packaged foodstuff while reducing also the generation of olive by-products.

Edible films based on the addition of Aloe Vera gel (AV) into fish gelatin (FG) with antimicrobial and functional properties for food packaging applications were proposed in this work. AV showed an amphiphilic nature by infrared spectroscopy, high total phenolics content (TPC), antioxidant activity and thermal stability with an initial degradation temperature of 174 ± 2 °C. Mannose and glucose were quantified as main monosaccharides whereas the linkage composition study confirmed the presence of acemannan as main active polysaccharide. Three different formulations were obtained by the casting technique and the addition of AV contents of 0, 1 and 4 wt.% to FG, showing films with 4 wt.% of AV the best performance. The addition of AV did not significantly affect mechanical and barrier properties to oxygen and water vapour. However, some structural changes were observed by infrared spectroscopy and the obtained glass transition temperature values due to intermolecular interactions that increased the hydrophilicity and solubility of the resulting FG/AV films. A higher thermal stability was observed in films with AV content increasing the initial degradation and oxidation onset temperatures. An antimicrobial activity against S. aureus was also observed for FG/AV films. The addition of AV into FG could be proposed as a potential effective material to increase the postharvest quality of packed fruits and vegetables by retarding the microbial growth and extending the shelf-life of these food products., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Breast cancer is the most frequent type of cancer in women in the world. In Mexico, since 2006, this disease has become the leading cancer-related cause of death in women. It is estimated that incidence and mortality will continue to rise due to population aging, to changes in reproductive patterns, to a higher prevalence of risk factors and to limited access to medical care, resulting in delayed early diagnosis and timely treatment. The latter factors are the ones to improve in developing countries to decrease the high incidence and mortality associated with this disease. Recently, there is a great interest regarding breast cancer heterogeneity, and it is anticipated that the application of new technologies will improve our comprehension of this disease and will be reflected in a benefit for patients in the short term. Here, we review updated information on molecular diagnosis and therapeutics, as well as recent highlights in the biology of breast cancer., (Copyright: © 2020 Revista Medica del Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social.)

Introduction: Deficiencies in interleukin (IL)-1 receptor (IL-R) antagonist (DIRA) and IL-36R antagonist (DITRA) are rare genetic autoinflammatory diseases related to alterations in antagonists of the IL-1 pathway. IL-1 antagonists may represent therapeutic alternatives. Here, we aim to provide a scoping review of knowledge on use of IL-1-targeting drugs in DIRA and DITRA., Methods: An a priori protocol was published, and the study was conducted using the methodology described in the Joanna Briggs Institute Reviewer's Manual and the recently published PRISMA Extension for Scoping Review statement. A three-step search using MEDLINE and EMBASE databases until March 2018 with additional hand searching was performed. Data charting was performed. The search, article selection, and data extraction were carried out by two researchers independently., Results: Twenty-four studies on use of anti-IL-1 drugs were included [15 studies including patients with diagnosis of DIRA (n = 19) and 9 studies including patients with diagnosis of DITRA (n = 9)]. Most studies followed a multicenter observational design. Among all patients who received treatment with anti-IL-1 drugs, nine and four mutations in IL1RN and IL36RN were found, respectively. Patients with DIRA were treated with anakinra (n = 17), canakinumab (n = 2), or rinolacept (n = 6). All patients with DITRA were treated with anakinra, and only one case was also treated with canakinumab. Time-to-response frequencies were evaluated as immediate, short, and medium-long term for DIRA (17/17, 15/17, and 9/10, respectively) and DITRA (7/9, 3/9, and 2/9, respectively). Most DITRA patients in whom anti-IL-1 treatment failed experienced good response to anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha or anti-IL-12/23 drugs. The safety profiles of treatments were similar in both diseases., Conclusions: Evidence on use of anti-IL-1 drugs in DIRA and DITRA is scarce and based on observational studies. Larger studies with better methodological quality are needed to increase confidence in use of these drugs in patients with DIRA and DITRA.

The small molecule DFPM ([5-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)furan-2-yl]-piperidine-1-ylmethanethione) was recently shown to trigger signal transduction via early effector-triggered immunity signaling genes including EDS1 and PAD4 in Arabidopsis thaliana accession Col-0. Chemical genetic analyses of A. thaliana natural variants identified the plant Resistance protein-like Toll/Interleukin1 Receptor (TIR)-Nucleotide Binding (NB)-Leucine-Rich Repeat (LRR) protein VICTR as required for DFPM-mediated root growth arrest. Here a chemical genetic screen for mutants which disrupt DFPM-mediated root growth arrest in the Col-0 accession identified new mutant alleles of the TIR-NB-LRR gene VICTR. One allele, victr-6, carries a Gly216-to-Asp mutation in the Walker A domain supporting an important function of the VICTR nucleotide binding domain in DFPM responses consistent with VICTR acting as a canonical Resistance protein. The essential nucleo-cytoplasmic regulator of TIR-NB-LRR-mediated effector-triggered immunity, EDS1, was reported to have both nuclear and cytoplasmic actions in pathogen resistance. DFPM was used to investigate the requirements for subcellular EDS1 localization in DFPM-mediated root growth arrest. EDS1-YFP fusions engineered to localize mainly in the cytoplasm or the nucleus by tagging with a nuclear export signal (NES) or a nuclear localization signal (NLS), respectively, were tested. We found that wild-type EDS1-YFP and both the NES and NLS-tagged EDS1 variants were induced by DFPM treatments and fully complemented eds1 mutant plants in root responses to DFPM, suggesting that enrichment of EDS1 in either compartment could confer DFPM-mediated root growth arrest. We further found that a light and O2-dependent modification of DFPM is necessary to mediate DFPM signaling in roots. Chemical analyses including Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry and High-Resolution Atmospheric Pressure Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometry identified a DFPM modification product that is likely responsible for bioactivity mediating root growth arrest. We propose a chemical structure of this product and a possible reaction mechanism for DFPM modification.

Impulsivity is a core personality trait forming part of normal behavior and contributing to adaptive functioning. However, in typically developing children, altered patterns of impulsivity constitute a risk factor for the development of behavioral problems. Since both pathological and non-pathological states are commonly characterized by continuous transitions, we used a correlative approach to investigate the potential link between personality and brain dynamics. We related brain functional connectivity of typically developing children, measured with magnetic resonance imaging at rest, with their impulsivity scores obtained from a questionnaire completed by their parents. We first looked for areas within the default mode network (DMN) whose functional connectivity might be modulated by trait impulsivity. Then, we calculated the functional connectivity among these regions and the rest of the brain in order to assess if impulsivity trait altered their relationships. We found two DMN clusters located at the posterior cingulate cortex and the right angular gyrus which were negatively correlated with impulsivity scores. The whole-brain correlation analysis revealed the classic network of correlating and anti-correlating areas with respect to the DMN. The impulsivity trait modulated such pattern showing that the canonical anti-phasic relation between DMN and action-related network was reduced in high impulsive children. These results represent the first evidence that the impulsivity, measured as personality trait assessed through parents' report, exerts a modulatory influence over the functional connectivity of resting state brain networks in typically developing children. The present study goes further to connect developmental approaches, mainly based on data collected through the use of questionnaires, and behavioral neuroscience, interested in how differences in brain structure and functions reflect in differences in behavior.

Infections with Salmonella enterica belong to the most prominent causes of food poisoning and infected fruits and vegetables represent important vectors for salmonellosis. Although it was shown that plants raise defense responses against Salmonella, these bacteria persist and proliferate in various plant tissues. Recent reports shed light into the molecular interaction between plants and Salmonella, highlighting the defense pathways induced and the means used by the bacteria to escape the plant immune system and accomplish colonization. It was recently shown that plants detect Salmonella pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs), such as the flagellin peptide flg22, and activate hallmarks of the defense program known as PAMP-triggered immunity (PTI). Interestingly, certain Salmonella strains carry mutations in the flg22 domain triggering PTI, suggesting that a strategy of Salmonella is to escape plant detection by mutating PAMP motifs. Another strategy may rely on the type III secretion system (T3SS) as T3SS mutants were found to induce stronger plant defense responses than wild type bacteria. Although Salmonella effector delivery into plant cells has not been shown, expression of Salmonella effectors in plant tissues shows that these bacteria also possess powerful means to manipulate the plant immune system. Altogether, these data suggest that Salmonella triggers PTI in plants and evolved strategies to avoid or subvert plant immunity.

Rationale: Poly(amidoamine) PAMAM dendrimers are highly water soluble and are used as flexible scaffolding or nanocontainers to conjugate, complex or encapsulate therapeutic drugs to overcome intrinsically weak characteristics such as solubilization in aqueous medium. To provide a reliable method for the quantitation of PAMAM dendrimers in aqueous medium, we report here a validation study which was developed in a complex wastewater matrix to evaluate the matrix effect in the electrospray ionization (ESI) source., Methods: PAMAM dendrimers (generations G0 to G3) were identified and quantitated in aqueous medium using liquid chromatography interfaced to a hybrid quadrupole/time-of-flight mass analyzer. This approach used the high resolving power of isotopic clusters and mass accuracy of the instrument, with especial attention to the tandem mass spectrometric (MS/MS) capabilities. The formation of multiply charged ions of PAMAM dendrimers in the ESI source and their later fragmentation allowed fragmentation paths to be determined and structural assignments to be made., Results: The analytical strategy allowed dendrimer identification with a high degree of confidence obtained by accurate mass and high resolution with mass errors below 5 ppm and 10 ppm in MS and MS/MS modes. The parameters of validation in spiked matrix were: limits of quantification in the range of 0.12 to 1.25 μM depending on the generation, linearity (R >0.996), repeatability (R.S.D. <6.7%) and reproducibility (R.S.D. <10.8%)., Conclusions: Accurate mass measurement, elemental composition, and charge state assignment through the resolution of isotopic clusters of product and precursor ions, confers enhanced confidence on PAMAM dendrimer characterization. This selectivity provided high discriminating capacity of PAMAM dendrimers against matrix interferences. Because of the reliable and reproducible quantitation by LC/ESI-QTOF-MS, analysis of PAMAM dendrimers in an aqueous matrix is feasible., (Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

Unlabelled: Three different almond cultivars (Spanish Guara, Marcona, and Butte from U.S.A.) were characterized by using attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and thermal analysis techniques (differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). All samples were directly analyzed without the need of a previous oil extraction. Similar FTIR bands were observed for all studied cultivars corresponding to specific functional groups characteristics of almond ingredients (water, fat, protein, and carbohydrates). Significant differences were observed between cultivars according to absorbance and maximum wave number values of specific bands observed by FTIR and melting and crystallization parameters obtained by DSC. TGA showed that samples were stable up to around 220 °C. Different stages of degradation were observed with increasing temperature corresponding to the degradation of the complex matrix of the samples. Successful discrimination was obtained for all samples by applying multivariate stepwise linear discriminant analysis (LDA) separately to data obtained from FTIR and DSC. A satisfactory multidisciplinary approach was also performed by inserting together all parameters obtained from the 3 techniques as predictors ensuring higher reliability of the obtained model. The obtained results proved the suitability of the studied analytical techniques combined with LDA for an easy and fast discrimination among different almond cultivars in food processing., Practical Application: The study of spectroscopic and thermal parameters could be used as a control tool for the direct and fast assessment of almond samples in food processing, particularly for protected designation of origin products., (© 2013 Institute of Food Technologists®)

Accumulation of genetic incompatibilities within species can lead to reproductive isolation and, potentially, speciation. In this study, we show that allelic variation at SRF3 (Strubbelig Receptor Family 3), encoding a receptor-like kinase, conditions the occurrence of incompatibility between Arabidopsis thaliana accessions. The geographical distribution of SRF3 alleles reveals that allelic forms causing epistatic incompatibility with a Landsberg erecta allele at the RPP1 resistance locus are present in A. thaliana accessions in central Asia. Incompatible SRF3 alleles condition for an enhanced early immune response to pathogens as compared to the resistance-dampening effect of compatible SRF3 forms in isogenic backgrounds. Variation in disease susceptibility suggests a basis for the molecular patterns of a recent selective sweep detected at the SRF3 locus in central Asian populations.

Controlled nucleocytoplasmic trafficking is an important feature for fine-tuning signaling pathways in eukaryotic organisms. Nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) composed of nucleoporin proteins (Nups) are essential for the exchange of macromolecules across the nuclear envelope. A recent genetic screen in our laboratory identified a partial loss-of-function mutation in Arabidopsis MOS7/Nup88 that causes defects in basal immunity, Resistance (R) protein-mediated defense and systemic acquired resistance. In Drosophila and mammalian cells, exportin-mediated nuclear export of activated Rel/NFκB transcription factors is enhanced in nup88 mutants resulting in immune response failure. Consistent with Nup88 promoting nuclear retention of NFκB, our functional analyses revealed that MOS7/Nup88 is required for appropriate nuclear accumulation of the autoactivated R protein snc1, as well as the key immune regulators EDS1 and NPR1. These results suggest that controlling the nuclear concentrations of specific immune regulators is fundamental for defining defense outputs.

An important layer of plant innate immunity to host-adapted pathogens is conferred by intracellular nucleotide-binding/oligomerization domain-leucine rich repeat (NB-LRR) receptors recognizing specific microbial effectors. Signaling from activated receptors of the TIR (Toll/Interleukin-1 Receptor)-NB-LRR class converges on the nucleo-cytoplasmic immune regulator EDS1 (Enhanced Disease Susceptibility1). In this report we show that a receptor-stimulated increase in accumulation of nuclear EDS1 precedes or coincides with the EDS1-dependent induction and repression of defense-related genes. EDS1 is capable of nuclear transport receptor-mediated shuttling between the cytoplasm and nucleus. By enhancing EDS1 export from inside nuclei (through attachment of an additional nuclear export sequence (NES)) or conditionally releasing EDS1 to the nucleus (by fusion to a glucocorticoid receptor (GR)) in transgenic Arabidopsis we establish that the EDS1 nuclear pool is essential for resistance to biotrophic and hemi-biotrophic pathogens and for transcriptional reprogramming. Evidence points to post-transcriptional processes regulating receptor-triggered accumulation of EDS1 in nuclei. Changes in nuclear EDS1 levels become equilibrated with the cytoplasmic EDS1 pool and cytoplasmic EDS1 is needed for complete resistance and restriction of host cell death at infection sites. We propose that coordinated nuclear and cytoplasmic activities of EDS1 enable the plant to mount an appropriately balanced immune response to pathogen attack.

Proper deciphering of abiotic and biotic stresses is essential for plant survival and requires plasticity in response pathway activation. Environmental stress signals are ultimately integrated and transcriptional programs defined inside the nucleus. In animal and plant immunity, various mechanisms help to constrain the activities of transcriptional regulators and transcription factors until an appropriate stimulus releases them from inactive complexes in the cytoplasm, nucleoplasm or at the chromatin to modulate gene expression. Controlling the transport of macromolecules to and from the nucleus and dynamic rearrangements of chromatin-associated transcription complexes emerge as key regulatory processes, permitting flexibility of the plant response to a fluctuating environment with varying pathogen pressure.

Plant immune responses depend on dynamic signaling events across the nuclear envelope through nuclear pores. Nuclear accumulation of certain resistance (R) proteins and downstream signal transducers are critical for their functions, but it is not understood how these processes are controlled. Here, we report the identification, cloning, and analysis of Arabidopsis thaliana modifier of snc1,7 (mos7-1), a partial loss-of-function mutation that suppresses immune responses conditioned by the autoactivated R protein snc1 (for suppressor of npr1-1, constitutive 1). mos7-1 single mutant plants exhibit defects in basal and R protein-mediated immunity and in systemic acquired resistance but do not display obvious pleiotropic defects in development, salt tolerance, or plant hormone responses. MOS7 is homologous to human and Drosophila melanogaster nucleoporin Nup88 and resides at the nuclear envelope. In animals, Nup88 attenuates nuclear export of activated NF-kappaB transcription factors, resulting in nuclear accumulation of NF-kappaB. Our analysis shows that nuclear accumulation of snc1 and the defense signaling components Enhanced Disease Susceptibility 1 and Nonexpresser of PR genes 1 is significantly reduced in mos7-1 plants, while nuclear retention of other tested proteins is unaffected. The data suggest that specifically modulating the nuclear concentrations of certain defense proteins regulates defense outputs.

Plant growth is influenced by genetic factors and environmental cues. Genotype-by-environment interactions are governed by complex genetic epistatic networks that are subject to natural selection. Here we describe a novel epistatic interaction modulating growth in response to temperature common to 2 Arabidopsis recombinant inbred line (RIL) populations (Ler x Kas-2 and Ler x Kond). At 14 degrees C, lines with specific allele combinations at interacting loci (incompatible interactions) have severe growth defects. These lines exhibit deregulated cell death programs and enhanced disease resistance. At 20 degrees C, growth defects are suppressed, but a positive trait of enhanced resistance is retained. Mapping of 1 interacting QTL to a cluster of RPP1-like TIR-NB-LRR genes on chromosome 3 is consistent with our finding that environmentally conditioned epistasis depends on activation of the salicylic acid (SA) stress signaling pathway. The nature of the epistatic interaction conforms to the Dobzhansky-Muller model of genetic incompatibility with incomplete penetrance for reproductive isolation. Variation in fitness of different incompatible lines reveals the presence of additional modifiers in the genetic background. We propose that certain interacting loci lead to an optimal balance between growth and resistance to pathogens by modulating SA signaling under specific environments. This could allow the accumulation of additional incompatibilities before reaching complete reproductive isolation.

Background: Great elements uterine leiomyomas are the most common tumours in the reproductive life affecting up to 30 % of the women in the United States. Its aetiology remains uncertain; cytogenic studies suggest that 40 to 50% present chromosomic abnormalities. Clinical manifestations are: hypermenorrhea and abdominal pain. In the great element cases, patients suffered intestinal constipation and rectal tenesm. The treatment includes analogous of human chorionic gonadotrophin liberation hormone (GnRH), progesterone, surgical treatment, myomectomy and hysterectomy, uterine artery embolization, high frequency ultrasound, laser, cryotherapy and thermoablation., Clinical Case: An 18 year-old female, menarquia at 12, periods 28/4, nubil. 6 months previous: intestinal constipation, tumour-like mass in hypogastrium, of about 8 cm in diameter, which increased gradually up to 18 cm, smooth, movile and irregular. The pelvic ultrasound showed a tumour of 140 mm dependent of uterus. Myomectomy was performed. The histopathologic report was a 19.9 cm uterine leiomyoma, weighing 949 g and with hyaline degeneration. The patient was asymptomatic and without relapse a year later., Conclusions: Myomectomy is the choice treatment for the large uterine myomatosis when the patient's fertility is to be preserved.