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El abuso sexual infantil (ASI) es una problemática que ha perdurado durante muchos años y afecta de manera considerable a millones de niños en el mundo, sin distinguir estratos ni clases sociales. El objetivo de este artículo es caracterizar el abuso sexual infantil en la provincia Las Tunas, desde enero 2018 a diciembre 2021, así como determinar los grupos etarios y el sexo más afectado, la participación numérica de víctimas y victimarios, identificar la relación interpersonal de niñas, niños y adolescentes con el acusado, tipificar el delito sexual, así como el mes, la hora y el lugar más frecuente de ocurrencia de los hechos. Se revisaron solicitudes y dictámenes de reconocimientos sexuales y validaciones de testimonios. El universo lo constituyeron todos los casos de delito sexual examinados por esta causa; de lo que se tomaron como muestra 239 casos de abuso sexual infantil que cumplieron con los criterios de inclusión. Los resultados se expresaron en frecuencias absolutas y relativas, reflejadas en tablas y textos. Resultaron mayormente afectadas las edades entre 11 y 15 años, se tipificó como delito más frecuente el abuso lascivo y por un familiar, prevalecieron los casos en el municipio Las Tunas, en el domicilio de la víctima y en los meses de abril, febrero, marzo y mayo, fundamentalmente en el horario no precisado, en lo que participaron una víctima y un agresor.

The surgically induced remission of liver disease represents a model to investigate the signalling processes that trigger the development of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis with the aim of identifying novel therapeutic targets. We recruited patients with severe obesity with or without nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and obtained liver and plasma samples before and after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy for immunoblotting, immunocytochemical, metabolomic, transcriptomic and epigenetic analyses. Functional studies were performed in HepG2 cells and primary hepatocytes. Surgery was associated with a decrease in the inflammatory response and revealed the role of mitogen-activated protein kinases. Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis was associated with an increased glutaminolysis-induced production of α-ketoglutarate and the hyperactivation of mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1. These changes were crucial for adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase/mammalian target of rapamycin-driven pathways that modulated hepatocyte survival by coordinating apoptosis and autophagy and affected methylation-related epigenomic remodelling enzymes. Hepatic transcriptome signatures and differentially methylated genomic regions distinguished patients with and without steatohepatitis. Our results suggest that the increased glutaminolysis-induced α-ketoglutarate production and the mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 dysregulation play a crucial role in the inefficient adaptive responses leading to steatohepatitis in obesity.

Abstract Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and until September 2021, Spain suffered five waves of infection, the latter being related to the expansion of the Delta variant and with a high incidence. A vaccination campaign began in December 2020 and by the end of the fifth wave 77.3% of people had been fully vaccinated. Examining the changing dynamics of COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on outcomes among those hospitalized is essential. Our objective was to ascertain any differences in the characteristics and outcomes of hospitalized patients during that period compared to previous waves. We prospectively enrolled 200 consecutively admitted hospital patients from each wave and collected their clinical and demographic data from the medical records, including symptoms, comorbidities, deaths and whether they needed to be admitted to the Intensive Care Unit to receive assisted ventilation. We found that patients in the fifth wave were considerably younger than before, and the mortality rate fell from 22.5 to 2.0%. Admissions to the Intensive Care Unit decreased from 10 to 2%. Patients in the fifth wave had fewer comorbidities, and the age of the patients who died was higher than those who survived. Our results show a marked improvement in patient outcomes in the fifth wave, suggesting success of the vaccination campaign despite the explosion in cases due to the Delta variant.

Abstract The ability of photoacoustic imaging to measure functional tissue properties, such as blood oxygenation sO $$_2$$ 2 , enables a wide variety of possible applications. sO $$_2$$ 2 can be computed from the ratio of oxyhemoglobin HbO $$_2$$ 2 and deoxyhemoglobin Hb, which can be distuinguished by multispectral photoacoustic imaging due to their distinct wavelength-dependent absorption. However, current methods for estimating sO $$_2$$ 2 yield inaccurate results in realistic settings, due to the unknown and wavelength-dependent influence of the light fluence on the signal. In this work, we propose learned spectral decoloring to enable blood oxygenation measurements to be inferred from multispectral photoacoustic imaging. The method computes sO $$_2$$ 2 pixel-wise, directly from initial pressure spectra $$S_{\text {p}_0}(\lambda , \mathbf {x})$$ S p 0 ( λ , x ) , which represent initial pressure values at a fixed spatial location $$\mathbf {x}$$ x over all recorded wavelengths $$\lambda$$ λ . The method is compared to linear unmixing approaches, as well as pO $$_2$$ 2 and blood gas analysis reference measurements. Experimental results suggest that the proposed method is able to obtain sO $$_2$$ 2 estimates from multispectral photoacoustic measurements in silico, in vitro, and in vivo.

SARS-CoV-2 infection in already-vaccinated individuals is still possible and may require hospitalization. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the clinical evolution of patients with COVID-19 admitted to a public hospital. The outcomes were assessed in relation to the predominant viral variant and the vaccination status. This retrospective study was performed on 1295 COVID-19-positive patients who attended a 352-bed university hospital between 2021 and 2022. Clinical variables and vaccination status were recorded. Of the patients, 799 had not been vaccinated (NV, 61.7%), 449 were partially vaccinated (PV, 34.7%), and 47 were completely vaccinated (CV, 3.6%). The mean age of the CV patients was significantly higher than that of PV and NV. Additionally, they had higher percentages of chronic diseases. The outcomes depended on age but not on vaccination status. There were 209 patients admitted during the Omicron-infection period, of whom 70 (33.5%) were NV, 135 (64.6%) were PV, and 4 (1.9%) were CV. In conclusion, correct vaccination greatly reduces the risk of acquiring severe COVID-19. Partial vaccination does not guarantee protection of the population. This highlights the need for continuous vaccination promotion with all recommended doses, while also investigating alternative treatments for those patients who do not respond to the vaccines.

Purpose: Surgical stress is a phenomenon not completely understood from the biochemical point of view, although it produces alterations in the oxidative balance and inflammatory status. The present study aimed to investigate the alterations of the circulating levels of paraoxonase-1 (PON1)-related variables and markers of inflammation in hospitalized patients who underwent surgery. Methods: We recruited 285 hospitalized patients. Of those, 115 were hospitalized due to a surgical intervention and 170 for reasons other than surgery. The control group consisted of 128 healthy volunteers. A blood sample was obtained for the measurement of serum PON1-related variables, and C-reactive protein (CRP), chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 2 (CCL2), and procalcitonin concentrations. Results: Hospitalized patients had lower serum PON1 activities [paraoxonase: 215.6 (168.6 – 277.8) vs. 298.7 (229.7 – 382.6) U/L, p

Abstract Patients with morbid obesity frequently present non-alcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) associated with pro-atherogenic alterations. Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) is an effective treatment for weight reduction, and for the remission of hepatic alterations. Using 1H-nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR), we investigated the effects of LSG on lipoprotein and glycoprotein profile in patients with morbid obesity and liver disease. We included 154 patients with morbid obesity (49 non-NASH, 54 uncertain NASH, 51 definite NASH). A blood sample was obtained before surgery and, in patients with definite NASH, one year after surgery. Patients with NASH had increased concentrations of medium and small VLDL particles, VLDL and IDL cholesterol concentrations, IDL, LDL, and HDL triglyceride concentrations, and elevated glycoprotein levels. These changes were more marked in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. LSG produced significant decreases in the concentration of VLDL particles, VLDL cholesterol and triglycerides, an increase in the concentration LDL particles and LDL cholesterol concentrations, and a decrease in protein glycation. We conclude that patients with obesity and NASH had significant alterations in circulating levels of lipoproteins and glycoproteins that were associated with the severity of the disease. Most of these changes were reversed post-LSG.

Objetivo: Determinar la estructura factorial del cuestionario BDI-II en población abierta del sureste de México.Método: Se recolectaron aplicaciones del BDI-II en una muestra de 3701 habitantes del municipio de Oaxaca de Juárez de siete colonias diferentes. Se describen las características generales de la población y se contrasta el ajuste de la estructura a los datos de la muestra con cinco estructuras factoriales propuestas en estudios de validación psicométrica anteriores por medio del análisis factorial confirmatorio. Así mismo, se determinó la confiabilidad total de la prueba.Resultados: El análisis confirmatorio muestra que los datos se ajustan a la estructura teórica propuesta por Beck, Steer y Brown con dos modificaciones. Las otras estructuras analizadas tienen índices de ajuste menos satisfactorios. La confiabilidad total de la prueba fue de .92.Discusión y conclusión: Se discuten algunas razones por las cuales los resultados de este trabajo difieren de los reportados en investigaciones anteriores y la importancia del análisis psicométrico adecuado para pruebas utilizadas en distintas poblaciones de estudio.

Abstract Objective Spreading depolarizations (SD) are characterized by breakdown of transmembrane ion gradients and excitotoxicity. Experimentally, N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antagonists block a majority of SDs. In many hospitals, the NMDAR antagonist s-ketamine and the GABAA agonist midazolam represent the current second-line combination treatment to sedate patients with devastating cerebral injuries. A pressing clinical question is whether this option should become first-line in sedation-requiring individuals in whom SDs are detected, yet the s-ketamine dose necessary to adequately inhibit SDs is unknown. Moreover, use-dependent tolerance could be a problem for SD inhibition in the clinic. Methods We performed a retrospective cohort study of 66 patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) from a prospectively collected database. Thirty-three of 66 patients received s-ketamine during electrocorticographic neuromonitoring of SDs in neurointensive care. The decision to give s-ketamine was dependent on the need for stronger sedation, so it was expected that patients receiving s-ketamine would have a worse clinical outcome. Results S-ketamine application started 4.2 ± 3.5 days after aSAH. The mean dose was 2.8 ± 1.4 mg/kg body weight (BW)/h and thus higher than the dose recommended for sedation. First, patients were divided according to whether they received s-ketamine at any time or not. No significant difference in SD counts was found between groups (negative binomial model using the SD count per patient as outcome variable, p = 0.288). This most likely resulted from the fact that 368 SDs had already occurred in the s-ketamine group before s-ketamine was given. However, in patients receiving s-ketamine, we found a significant decrease in SD incidence when s-ketamine was started (Poisson model with a random intercept for patient, coefficient − 1.83 (95% confidence intervals − 2.17; − 1.50), p

Catheter-related infections (CRIs) include catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) and central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs), and they are associated with high morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs. The diagnosis of a CRI is made difficult by its non-specific symptoms. We aimed to investigate the factors influencing the plasma concentration of galectin-3 in catheter-bearing patients and to explore its potential usefulness as an index for CRIs. Circulating the concentrations of galectin-3, we measured the chemokine (C-C) motif ligand 2, procalcitonin, and C-reactive protein in 110 patients with a central catheter, in 165 patients with a urinary catheter, and in 72 control subjects. Catheter-bearing patients had higher concentrations (p < 0.001) of galectin-3 than the control group [central catheter: 19.1 (14.0–23.4) µg/L; urinary catheter: 17.1 (12.7–25.4) µg/L; control group: 6.1 (5.0–8.7) µg/L]. We identified chronic kidney disease as an independent determinant of galectin-3 concentrations in patients with a central catheter, and serum creatinine, cardiovascular disease, and number of days that the catheter was indwelling were identified as determinants in urinary catheter patients. We found that measuring galectin-3 concentrations in urinary catheter patients with a CRI was more accurate for diagnosis than the other parameters. We conclude that the measurement of galectin-3 concentration may be useful for assessing the inflammatory status of catheter-bearing patients and may contribute to the diagnosis of CRIs in those with a urinary catheter.

Objetivo. Determinar si existe relación entre los estilos de apego, la ansiedad y la depresión en adultos con la presencia de enfermedades crónicas no transmisibles (ECNT).Materiales y métodos. Se realizó un estudio de casos y controles en Oaxaca de Juárez (México) con una muestra no probabilística de 3684 adultos. Se identificaron como casos las personas con alguna enfermedad crónica no transmisible previamente diagnosticada (n = 464), y los controles fueron sujetos aparentemente sanos (n = 3.220). Se utilizaron el Cartes: Modéles Individuels de Relation (CAMIR), el Inventario de Depresión de Beck-II y el Inventario de Ansiedad de Beck.Resultados. Quienes presentan alguna ECNT tienen mayor edad y menor escolaridad que quienes no presentan alguna ECNT. De similar manera, sus puntuaciones en apego preocupado, apego rechazante, ansiedad y depresión son mayores. Se encontraron correlaciones positivas entre los apegos inseguros (preocupado y rechazante) y la ansiedad y la depresión, mientras que con el apego seguro las correlaciones fueron negativas. Se identificaron como factores asociados a enfermedades crónica no transmisibles el apego rechazante, la ansiedad y la edad.Conclusiones. El apego rechazante es factor de riesgo para enfermedades crónicas no transmisibles, y dado que el apego se desarrolla en la infancia, puede tener implicaciones para la prevención.

The surgically induced remission of liver disease represents a model to investigate the signalling processes that trigger the development of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis with the aim of identifying novel therapeutic targets. We recruited patients with severe obesity with or without nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and obtained liver and plasma samples before and after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy for immunoblotting, immunocytochemical, metabolomic, transcriptomic and epigenetic analyses. Functional studies were performed in HepG2 cells and primary hepatocytes. Surgery was associated with a decrease in the inflammatory response and revealed the role of mitogen-activated protein kinases. Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis was associated with an increased glutaminolysis-induced production of α-ketoglutarate and the hyperactivation of mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1. These changes were crucial for adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase/mammalian target of rapamycin-driven pathways that modulated hepatocyte survival by coordinating apoptosis and autophagy and affected methylation-related epigenomic remodelling enzymes. Hepatic transcriptome signatures and differentially methylated genomic regions distinguished patients with and without steatohepatitis. Our results suggest that the increased glutaminolysis-induced α-ketoglutarate production and the mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 dysregulation play a crucial role in the inefficient adaptive responses leading to steatohepatitis in obesity.

Many countries have seen a two-wave pattern in reported cases of coronavirus disease-19 during the 2020 pandemic, with a first wave during spring followed by the current second wave in late summer and autumn. Empirical data show that the characteristics of the effects of the virus do vary between the two periods. Differences in age range and severity of the disease have been reported, although the comparative characteristics of the two waves still remain largely unknown. Those characteristics are compared in this study using data from two equal periods of 3 and a half months. The first period, between 15th March and 30th June, corresponding to the entire first wave, and the second, between 1st July and 15th October, corresponding to part of the second wave, still present at the time of writing this article. Two hundred and four patients were hospitalized during the first period, and 264 during the second period. Patients in the second wave were younger and the duration of hospitalization and case fatality rate were lower than those in the first wave. In the second wave, there were more children, and pregnant and post-partum women. The most frequent signs and symptoms in both waves were fever, dyspnea, pneumonia, and cough, and the most relevant comorbidities were cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and chronic neurological diseases. Patients from the second wave more frequently presented renal and gastrointestinal symptoms, were more often treated with non-invasive mechanical ventilation and corticoids, and less often with invasive mechanical ventilation, conventional oxygen therapy and anticoagulants. Several differences in mortality risk factors were also observed. These results might help to understand the characteristics of the second wave and the behaviour and danger of SARS-CoV-2 in the Mediterranean area and in Western Europe. Further studies are needed to confirm our findings.

We report a pilot study on the feasibility of determinations of circulating levels of paraoxonase-1 (PON1) and compounds related to energy metabolism as biomarkers for the evaluation of patients with rectal cancer (RC), and the effects produced by neoadjuvant radiochemotherapy (NRCT). We studied 32 patients treated with radiotherapy plus capecitabine concomitant chemotherapy and 48 control subjects. We identified pre-NRCT PON1 and α-ketoglutarate as the parameters that best discriminated between RC patients and the control group. Receiver operating characteristics analysis of the combination of the two parameters showed an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.918. Moreover, patients who presented a pathological complete response (pCR) to treatment had lower plasma pre-NRCT valine concentrations (AUC of 0.826). Patients who had a relapse had lower concentrations of succinate (AUC of 0.833). The results of the present study illustrate the usefulness of investigating alterations in oxidative stress and metabolism in RC. Due to the small number of patients studied, our results must be considered preliminary, but they suggest that the determination of circulating levels of PON1 and α-ketoglutarate might be a valuable tool for the early diagnosis of RC, while the determination of valine and succinate might effectively predict pCR and the appearance of relapse.

Abstract An adult female of the Jewel-Box clam crab Gemmotheres chamae (Roberts, 1975) was collected from a shrimp trawl during a biological exploration off Campeche coast, Mexico. This finding represents its first record in the Gulf of Mexico and the second locality for this species along the Atlantic coast of America, the first being from off North Carolina, U.S.A. As an adult, G. chamae has a soft, thin carapace, and a subconical protuberance on article 1 of the antennae (with the nephridiopore of the antennal gland), so it is considered to belong to the Pinnotherinae sensu stricto. G. chamae and Nannotheres moorei Manning and Felder, 1996 (Atlantic) are the only members of the American Pinnotherinae sensu stricto that have the maxilliped 3 with a 2-segmented palp. The asymmetry of pereiopod 3 is confirmed, as well as that of the pereiopod 4, but the right legs are the longest. All these features are diagnostic for G. chamae.

Spain is one of the countries that has suffered the most from the impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the strain that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, there is a lack of information on the characteristics of this disease in the Spanish population. The objective of this study has been to characterize our patients from an epidemiological point of view and to identify the risk factors associated with mortality in our geographical area. We performed a prospective, longitudinal study on 188 hospitalized cases of SARS-Cov-2 infection in Hospital Universitari de Sant Joan, in Reus, Spain, admitted between 15th March 2020 and 30th April 2020. We recorded demographic data, signs and symptoms and comorbidities. We also calculated the Charlson and McCabe indices. A total of 43 deaths occurred during the study period. Deceased patients were older than the survivors (77.7 ± 13.1 vs. 62.8 ± 18.4 years; p < 0.001). Logistic regression analyses showed that fever, pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, diabetes mellitus and cancer were the variables that showed independent and statistically significant associations with mortality. The Charlson index was more efficient than the McCabe index in discriminating between deceased and survivors. This is one of the first studies to describe the factors associated with mortality in patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 in Spain, and one of the few in the Mediterranean area. We identified the main factors independently associated with mortality in our population. Further studies are needed to complete and confirm our findings.

El objetivo del trabajo es realizar un análisis de los diversos procesos de innovación en la producción local integrada de alimentos y energía en el medio rural cubano en el contexto del proyecto Biomas-Cuba1. Para la identificación y la valoración del proceso de innovación local en la producción integrada de alimento y energía (PIAE), se establecieron tres preguntas: 1) ¿qué procesos de innovación se han desarrollado o introducido?, 2) ¿en qué ha consistido la vinculación?, y 3) ¿cuáles han sido los aprendizajes clave? Se promueve la PIAE para el desarrollo de fincas agroenergéticas, la cual se ha implementado en fincas campesinas, cooperativas y granjas estatales, en 22 municipios de seis provincias cubanas. Estas concentran dos tipos de innovación: i) la siembra y manejo agronómico de Jatropha curcas L. para la producción de biodiésel, y ii) la integración de biodigestores en fincas de producción animal y vegetal. Además, se diseñaron y construyeron 176 biodigestores, principalmente de cúpula fija, y dos lagunas anaeróbicas cubiertas con geomembrana sintética. En el contexto organizativo existió una vinculación entre centros de investigación, filiales universitarias municipales, gobiernos y entidades estatales locales, y organizaciones profesionales y campesinas. Se concluye que el fomento de procesos de innovación local en agroenergía, en municipios cubanos, contribuye a un nuevo enfoque estratégico para la PIAE a partir de la biomasa en el medio rural, en el marco de sistemas locales de innovación, con alta participación de actores, procesos de innovación abierta y una vinculación ciencia-sector productivo-gobierno.

Chlamydia psittaci (Cp) es una bacteria intracelular obligada transmitida a través de aerosoles derivados de secreciones nasales y ópticas, tejidos, heces y plumas. Comúnmente es identificada en aves, sin embargo, han emergido genotipos capaces de infectar nuevos reservorios mamíferos. Por ello, se buscó ADN de Cp en muestras de cinco individuos de Mustella putorios furo y un hisopado cloacal de un individuo de Colinus cristatus en cautiverio en Venezuela a través de la PCR-anidada, amplificando un segmento del gen 16S ADNr. Se demostró la presencia de Cp en un Colinus cristatus con signos de clamidiosis y en cuatro Mustella putorios furo sin signos clínicos de clamidiosis. Se indica un posible nuevo reservorio para Cp, donde el contacto con productos de excreción de Colinus cristatus con manifestaciones clínicas de clamidiosis, hacinamiento, inadecuada ventilación, contacto con productos de excreción de Psittaciformes y condiciones sanitarias deficientes favoreció la infección por Cp. Se desconoce el total de reservorios de Cp, por ello la notificación de los aislados permite el entendimiento, distribución y diversidad de agentes clamidiales en fauna silvestre y en cautiverio.

Infectious and many non-infectious diseases share common molecular mechanisms. Among them, oxidative stress and the subsequent inflammatory reaction are of particular note. Metabolic disorders induced by external agents, be they bacterial or viral pathogens, excessive calorie intake, poor-quality nutrients, or environmental factors produce an imbalance between the production of free radicals and endogenous antioxidant systems; the consequence being the oxidation of lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids. Oxidation and inflammation are closely related, and whether oxidative stress and inflammation represent the causes or consequences of cellular pathology, both produce metabolic alterations that influence the pathogenesis of the disease. In this review, we highlight two key molecules in the regulation of these processes: Paraoxonase-1 (PON1) and chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 2 (CCL2). PON1 is an enzyme bound to high-density lipoproteins. It breaks down lipid peroxides in lipoproteins and cells, participates in the protection conferred by HDL against different infectious agents, and is considered part of the innate immune system. With PON1 deficiency, CCL2 production increases, inducing migration and infiltration of immune cells in target tissues and disturbing normal metabolic function. This disruption involves pathways controlling cellular homeostasis as well as metabolically-driven chronic inflammatory states. Hence, an understanding of these relationships would help improve treatments and, as well, identify new therapeutic targets.

SARS-CoV-2 infection produces a response of the innate immune system causing oxidative stress and a strong inflammatory reaction termed ‘cytokine storm’ that is one of the leading causes of death. Paraoxonase-1 (PON1) protects against oxidative stress by hydrolyzing lipoperoxides. Alterations in PON1 activity have been associated with pro-inflammatory mediators such as the chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 2 (CCL2), and the glycoprotein galectin-3. We aimed to investigate the alterations in the circulating levels of PON1, CCL2, and galectin-3 in 126 patients with COVID-19 and their interactions with clinical variables and analytical parameters. A machine learning approach was used to identify predictive markers of the disease. For comparisons, we recruited 45 COVID-19 negative patients and 50 healthy individuals. Our approach identified a synergy between oxidative stress, inflammation, and fibrogenesis in positive patients that is not observed in negative patients. PON1 activity was the parameter with the greatest power to discriminate between patients who were either positive or negative for COVID-19, while their levels of CCL2 and galectin-3 were similar. We suggest that the measurement of serum PON1 activity may be a useful marker for the diagnosis of COVID-19.