Título del artículo:

Primary intraocular inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor with anaplastic lymphoma kinase overexpression

The human eye can be compromised by a variated spectrum of neoplasms and reactive processes. Here we present a rare case of a primary intraocular inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT) dependent on the sclera and choroid in a 31-year-old female. The knowledge surrounding IMTs, previously included in the category of inflammatory pseudotumors, has undergone dynamic changes in the past two decades. Here we review the characteristics of these tumors in the human eye and in the surrounding structures, and we describe the recent advances that allow molecular characterization of the neoplastic nature of this entity. © Springer Science+Business Media 2013.

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International Ophthalmology

Título del artículo:

An efficient and new protocol for phosphine-free Suzuki coupling reaction using palladium-encapsulated and air-stable MIDA boronates in an aqueous medium

A simple methodology that uses a system based on polyurea microencapsulated palladium (PdEnCat 30™) and aryl or (2-pyridyl) MIDA boronates for Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reactions of (hetero)aryl halides in water-alcohol under phosphine-free conditions was developed. This journal is © the Partner Organisations 2014.

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RSC Advances

Título del artículo:

Reproducibility of a test for the functional evaluation of dynamic balance and agility in elderly people

Background: The 8 foot up & go test assesses the dynamic balance and agility in elderly people. Its reproducibility has been evaluated in American population, but it is unknown whether it would work similarly in a different population like the Colombian. Objective: To evaluate the test-retest reliability and agreement level of the 8 foot up & go test in a sample of older adults from Bucaramanga, Colombia. Materials and methods: An evaluation of diagnostic tests was done in 114 elderly individuals. In the analysis, we assessed the test-retest reliability of the 8 foot up & go test by the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC 2.1) with their respective confidence intervals at 95% (95% CI). The agreement level was established by the Bland-Altman method. Results: The test-retest reliability of the 8 foot up & go test was very good (ICC: 0.98; 95% CI: 0.98- 0.99). The agreement was good in females (mean difference [MD] = 0.04 seconds and limits of agreement [LA]: -1.27; 1.36 seconds), and in elderly institutionalized (MD = 0.04 seconds [LA]: -3.18; 3.27 seconds). Conclusion: The 8 foot up & go test has very good reliability and good agreement in Colombian local elderly population.

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Iatreia

Título del artículo:

Neuroradiology and histopathology in two cases of adult medulloblastoma

Medulloblastoma (MB) is the most common central nervous system neoplasm in children and only rarely presents in the adult population. Recent molecular biology findings have characterized MB as a heterogeneous neoplasm distinguished by well-defined tumour subsets each with specific histologic and molecular features. Available immunohistochemical stains can now be used to differentiate the distinct molecular types of MB. This report analyzed the histopathologic and neuroradiologic features of two new cases of adult MB. Imaging studies in these patients revealed the morphological appearance of high-grade, well-circumscribed heterogeneous tumours with necrosis, located laterally within the posterior cranial fossa. Histopathology of resected samples demonstrated high-grade tumours (WHO grade IV) containing sheets of undifferentiated neural cells with high mitotic activity and evidence of necrosis. The histopathologic and molecular characteristics of these cases of MB are reviewed for potential applications in new molecular methods of imaging.

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Neuroradiology Journal

Título del artículo:

Latin American consensus on hypertension in patients with diabetes type 2 and metabolic syndrome

The present document has been prepared by a group of experts, members of cardiology, endocrinology, internal medicine, nephrology and diabetes societies of Latin American countries, to serve as a guide to physicians taking care of patients with diabetes, hypertension and co-morbidities or complications of both conditions. Although the concept of metabolic syndrome is currently disputed, the higher prevalence in Latin America of that cluster of metabolic alterations has suggested that metabolic syndrome is a useful nosography entity in the context of Latin American medicine. Therefore, in the present document, particular attention is paid to this syndrome in order to alert physicians on a particular high-risk population, usually underestimated and undertreated. These recommendations result from presentations and debates by discussion panels during a 2-day conference held in Bucaramanga, in October 2012, and all the participants have approved the final conclusions. The authors acknowledge that the publication and diffusion of guidelines do not suffice to achieve the recommended changes in diagnostic or therapeutic strategies, and plan suitable interventions overcoming knowledge, attitude and behavioural barriers, preventing both physicians and patients from effectively adhering to guideline recommendations. © ABE&M todos os direitos reservados.

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Arquivos Brasileiros de Endocrinologia e Metabologia

Título del artículo:

Feature extraction for nonintrusive load monitoring based on S-Transform

The electric energy demand is dramatically growing worldwide and demand reduction emerges as an outstanding strategy; it implies detailed information about the electricity consumption, namely load disaggregation. Typical automatic methods for load disaggregation require high hardware efforts to install one sensor per appliance, whereas Non-intrusive Load Monitoring (NILM) systems diminish the hardware efforts through signal processing and mathematical modeling. One approach to NILM systems is to model the load signatures via artificial intelligence. This paper proposes to employ S-Transform for the feature extraction stage and Support Vector Machines for the pattern recognition problem. Several experiments are presented and the results of the feature extraction with S-Transform and Wavelet Packet Transform are compared. Thus promising feature vectors based on S-Transform are presented with similar or superior performance than the approach based on Wavelet Packet Transform. © 2014 IEEE.

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2014 Clemson University Power Systems Conference, PSC 2014

Título del artículo:

Association study of the -866 G/A UCP2 gene polymorphism with obesity in a valledupar population

Obesity is a multifactorial disease that is related to lifestyles, and environmental and genetic factors. One of the candidate genes for obesity is the UCP2. Its polymorphism-866G/A was associated with obesity in some populations. However, conflicting results have been reported around the world, indicating the need for further investigations. Objective: To analyze the polymorphism-866G/A UCP2 gene associated with obesity in adults in the city of Valledupar. Materials and methods: We studied 103 overweight or obese individuals and 100 normal weight. The polymorphism of UCP2-866G/A was determined by PCR-RFLP. Anthropometric measures were also evaluated, lipoprotein profile and fasting glucose. Results: We found that the mutated allele and homozygous genotype were significantly more frequent in patients with BMI > 25 kg/m2. [A: OR = 2.9 (95% CI= 1,765 to 4,751) and AA: OR= 5.8 (95% CI = 1,264 to 2,745)]. No significant differences were found between UCP2-866G/A and the clinical variables studied in obese individuals. However it is observed that subjects with mutated alleles and genotypes had higher triglycerides, glucose and ICC and lower average HDL cholesterol. Conclusions: mutation-866G/A UCP2 gene is associated with obesity in the population studied, and although it seems to influence the anthropometric and biochemical measures in obese subjects could be related to increased ICC, glucose and triglycerides and decreased HDL.

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Revista Ciencias de la Salud

Título del artículo:

Environmental factors and stressors that affect patient recovery in the Intensive Care Unit

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Enfermeria Clinica

Título del artículo:

Evaluation of prevalence reasons for inactivity and risk factors in a group of university students. Chía - Colombia

Physical inactivity in young people becomes a predisposing factor to the deterioration of health; risk factors must be controlled to reduce the impact on the university. Objective: to evaluate reasons for inactivity prevalence and risk factors in a group of university students. Methods: a descriptive transversal study conducted on 52 students in the programs of Physiotherapy, Nursing and Medicine who attended a program of health promotion. An analysis of multiple Poisson regression to calculate prevalence ratios. The software used was Stata 11.0. Results: be between 20 and 27 years old increased 2.7 (95% CI 1.2 to 5.7) the prevalence of physical inactivity compared to having between 17 and 19 years adjusted for cardiovascular risk and heart rate. Discussion: the study established the prevalence ratios between risk factors associated with sedentary lifestyle and risk factors, the most significant was age. We found a significant behavior in relation to the presence of sedentary students. © Servicio de Publicaciones - Universidad de Murcia.

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Enfermeria Global

Título del artículo:

Pathophysiology and treatment of phantom limb pain

Introduction: Phantom limb pain may be present in up to 80% of patients subjected to amputation because of trauma or peripheral vascular disease. Several factors have been associated with its occurrence, including pre-amputation pain, the etiology, and the amputation level. Objective: To review the current status of the pathophysiological mechanisms, treatment options and their efficacy for the management of phantom limb pain. Method: Non-systematic review of the literature in PubMed and Cochrane, of articles describing the pathophysiology and treatment of phantom limb pain. Results and conclusions: The proposed pathophysiological mechanisms are still in research and include peripheral, central and psychological factors. Treatment options are still limited, and less than 10% of patients report long-term improvement. © 2013 Sociedad Colombiana de Anestesiología y Reanimación.

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Revista Colombiana de Anestesiologia

Título del artículo:

Enzymatic hydrolysis of molecules associated with bacterial quorum sensing using an acyl homoserine lactonase from a novel Bacillus thuringiensis strain

N-acyl homoserine lactones are key components of quorum sensing, the bacterial communication system. This communication mechanism regulates the expression of genes, including those involved in virulence and biofilm formation. This system can be interrupted by the action of enzymes that hydrolyze the signaling molecules. In this work, we studied the enzymatic properties of a recombinant AHL-lactonase from Bacillus thuringiensis strain 147-11516, using substrates with acyl chains of different length (C4-HSL, C6-HSL, C7-HSL, C8-HSL and C10-HSL), we also investigated the effect of pH (5.0-9.0), temperature (20-70 C), concentration of monovalent, divalent and trivalent metals ions (0.2 and 2.0 mM) and EDTA. The results showed that the recombinant AHL-lactonase had biological activity in alkaline pH conditions (8.0) and high temperature (47 % of hydrolyzed substrate at 60 C). The recombinant AHL-lactonase has activity on substrates with different acyl chain length. However, the activity of the recombinant enzyme was decreased in the two concentrations of all metal ions evaluated but was not inhibited by EDTA. The affinity of the enzyme for all substrates tested and its performance, in the evaluated conditions, suggest that the AHL-lactonase from B. thuringiensis strain 147-11516 could be used as a strategy for disruption of the Gram-negative bacteria communication system under normal and challenging conditions. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.

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Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, International Journal of General and Molecular Microbiology

Título del artículo:

Dynamizing intellectual capital through enablers and learning flows

Purpose - The main aim of this research is to relate intellectual capital (IC) and organizational performance through intermediate variables, enablers and learning flows. To this end, the paper defines a new theoretical model of relations and presents an empirical study to contrast the model. Design/methodology/approach - The proposed theoretical model is contrasted by means of a quantitative study of Spanish firms from the biotechnology sector. The statistical analysis applies a method based on variance using partial least squares. Findings - The theoretical model proposes a total of 15 relations, 13 of which are statistically significant, which demonstrates the close relationship between IC and performance using enablers and learning flows as intermediate variables. Originality/value - From the theoretical model proposed and its subsequent empirical contrast, the research shows the close relations that exist between areas of knowledge that traditionally appear separately in the literature. The proposed model thus allows us to explain and predict the dynamization of the components of IC due to enablers and learning flows, and the effect of these elements on organizational performance. Copyright © 2014 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.

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Industrial Management and Data Systems

Título del artículo:

Nonlinear relationship between perception of deep pain and medial prefrontal cortex response is related to sympathovagal balance

Brain responses to evoked pain have been extensively investigated during the past years. Medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) has been identified as a region showing a nonlinear, quadratic response to increasing evoked deep pain. Concurrently, MPFC plays an important role as an autonomic mediator in pain perception. Therefore, we hypothesize that MPFC response to pain is directly correlated with autonomic outflow. In order to test our hypothesis, we integrated autonomic modulation with functional neuroimaging data (BOLD fMRI) obtained during evoked deep tissue pain. We selected the LF/HF ratio, estimated instantaneously through a point process approach, as a measure of sympathovagal balance. Our findings reveal that mean LF/HF values show a nonlinear, U-shaped response to increasing pain, supporting our initial hypothesis. Furthermore, we found that subjects with higher LF/HF ratios, that is, higher shift towards sympathetic outflow, also show increased activation in the ventral portion of MPFC, thus providing further evidence in support of the relevant role of this region in sympathetic modulation. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014.

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IFMBE Proceedings

Título del artículo:

Quantification of the relative age effect in three indices of physical performance

The relative age effect (RAE) describes the relationship between an individual\'s birth month and their level of attainment in sports. There is a clustering of birth dates just after the cutoff used for selection in age-grouped sports, and it is hypothesized that such relatively older sportspeople may enjoy maturational and physical advantages over their younger peers. There is, however, little empirical evidence of any such advantage. This study investigated whether schoolchildren\'s physical performance differed according to which quarter of the school year they were born in. Mass, stature, body mass index, cardiorespiratory fitness, strength, and power were measured in 10 to 16 year olds (n = 8,550, 53% male). We expressed test performance as ageand sex-specific z-scores based on reference data with age rounded down to the nearest whole year and also as units normalized for body mass. We then compared these values between yearly birth quarters. There were no significant main effects for differences in anthropometric measures in either sex. Girls born in the first quarter of the school year were significantly stronger than those born at other times when handgrip was expressed as a zscore. As z-scores, all measures were significantly higher in boys born in either the first or second yearly quarters. Relative to body mass, cardiorespiratory fitness was higher in boys born in the first quarter and power was higher in those born in the second quarter. The RAE does not appear to significantly affect girls\' performance test scores when they are expressed as z-score or relative to body mass. Boys born in the first and second quarters of the year had a significant physical advantage over their relatively younger peers. These findings have practical bearing if coaches use fitness tests for talent identification and team selection. Categorizing test performance based on rounded down values of whole-year age may disadvantage children born later in the selection year. These relatively younger children may be less to gain selection for teams or training programmes. © 2013 National Strength and Conditioning Association.

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Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research

Título del artículo:

Hemiparesis and facial palsy caused by methotrexate

Methotrexate used in the treatment of acute lymphocytic leukemia, can cause neurotoxicity, including a rare presentation with hemiparesis. We describe two teenagers, who during the implementation of the M phase of the protocol, suffered hemiparesis, facial paresis and dysarthria which quickly reversed. Leukemia involvement of the central nervous system and stroke, were ruled out. We briefly review the pathophysiology of methotrexate neurotoxicity, the characteristics of the focal paresis presentation and magnetic resonance image findings. © 2012 Asociación Espaola de Pediatría. Published by Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved.

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Anales de Pediatria

Título del artículo:

Follicular thyroid carcinoma with signet ring cell morphology: Fine-needle aspiration cytology, histopathology, and immunohistochemistry

Thyroid follicular neoplasms with signet ring cell morphology represent a challenging cytological and histopathologic diagnosis. The low frequency of these neoplasms and their broad differential diagnosis contribute to this difficult scenario. Here, we present an exceptionally rare case of thyroid follicular carcinoma with signet ring cell morphology in a 62-year-old female. We analyze the characteristics in fine-needle aspiration cytology, histopathology, and immunohistochemistry and compare our results in a discussion with previous literature reports. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York.

Acerca de la revista donde se publicó este artículo:

Endocrine Pathology

Título del artículo:

Glioblastoma Metastasis to Parotid Gland and Neck Lymph Nodes: Fine-Needle Aspiration Cytology with Histopathologic Correlation

Glioblastoma (GBM) is one of the most highly aggressive neoplasms of the central nervous system. Extra-cranial metastases in GBM are rare. Here we present the case of a 26-year-old man with extra-cranial metastasis of a frontal lobe GBM to the parotid gland, cervical lymph nodes, and bones, with initial diagnosis made by fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of the parotid gland. FNAC is a reliable technique in the study of primary and secondary parotid gland neoplasms, allowing a presumptive diagnosis in difficult cases. We correlate the cytologic, histopathologic, and immunohistochemical findings in this case and discuss previous literature reports. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York.

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Head and Neck Pathology

Título del artículo:

The role of environment and epigenetics in hypertension

Acerca de la revista donde se publicó este artículo:

Expert Review of Cardiovascular Therapy

Título del artículo:

A necklace sonar with adjustable scope range for assisting the visually impaired

A sonar based device with tactile feedback was developed to improve the mobility and independence of visually impaired individuals. It features a transceiver/receiver, a potentiometer, a microcontroller, a rechargeable polymer lithium ion battery, and a Nokia Cell phone vibrator. All components are commercially available and housed in a custom acrylic package with 86 mm × 34 mm × 12 mm in dimension, and 120 grms in weight. Additionally, the device features an adjustable detection scheme for user customization of distance range, and a tactile feedback system that avoids interference with auditory sensory information. The device was tested for its navigational efficacy in an artificial indoor environment, and in a live outdoor setting. Ten subjects (9 males and 1 female), with a mean age of 35 years-old (range: 17 to 52) were presented with a series of navigational tasks resulting in considerable reduction of head, shoulder, chest, and arms collisions during their locomotion. We conclude that this device greatly improves the mobility and safety of visually impaired individuals. © 2013 IEEE.

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Proceedings of the Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, EMBS

Título del artículo:

Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study: Baseline characteristics of the household sample and comparative analyses with national data in 17 countries

Background The PURE study was established to investigate associations between social, behavioural, genetic, and environmental factors and cardiovascular diseases in 17 countries. In this analysis we compare the age, sex, urban/rural, mortality, and educational profiles of the PURE participants to national statistics. Methods PURE employed a community-based sampling and recruitment strategy where urban and rural communities were selected within countries. Within communities, representative samples of adults aged 35 to 70 years and their household members (n = 424,921) were invited for participation. Results The PURE household population compared to national statistics had more women (sex ratio 95.1 men per 100 women vs 100.3) and was older (33.1 years vs 27.3), although age had a positive linear relationship between the two data sources (Pearson\'s r = 0.92). PURE was 59.3% urban compared to an average of 63.1% in participating countries. The distribution of education was less than 7% different for each category, although PURE households typically had higher levels of education. For example, 37.8% of PURE household members had completed secondary education compared to 31.3% in the national data. Age-adjusted annual mortality rates showed positive correlation for men (r = 0.91) and women (r = 0.92) but were lower in PURE compared to national statistics (7.9 per 1000 vs 8.7 for men; 6.7 vs 8.1 for women). Conclusions These findings indicate that modest differences exist between the PURE household population and national data for the indicators studied. These differences, however, are unlikely to have much influence on exposure-disease associations derived in PURE. Further, incidence estimates from PURE, stratified according to sex and/or urban/rural location will enable valid comparisons of the relative rates of various cardiovascular outcomes across countries.

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American Heart Journal

Título del artículo:

Dysfunctional chemosensation in myasthenia gravis: A systematic review

Objectives: Myasthenia gravis has traditionally been viewed as a disorder that solely affects the neuromuscular junction within the peripheral nervous system. However, there is now evidence that the cholinergic dysfunction of this disorder may be more widespread than previously believed. This article provides a systematic review of the studies that examined smell and taste function in myasthenia gravis. Methods: We analyzed studies that reported chemosensory function alterations in patients with myasthenia gravis. PubMed, MEDLINE, Web of Science, EMBASE, and SciELO, searched to identify articles published from January 1950 through December 2012, were supplemented by relevant articles. The following information was identified from each article: the number of patients, number of controls (if any), clinical stage of patients, neurological involvement, serological state, taste or smell involvement, chemosensory test used, and country of publication. Results: Ten studies reporting smell and taste function and dysfunction in patients with myasthenia gravis were identified, most of which were case reports commenting on apparent abnormalities in the taste system. The sole empirical study that investigated taste function, however, was negative, suggesting that some reports of taste loss may reflect olfactory loss. One study clearly documented olfactory dysfunction in patients with myasthenia gravis, dysfunction most likely attributable to altered central nervous system cholinergic function. Conclusions: Chemosensory dysfunction has been reported in a number of patients with myasthenia gravis. Given the close association between complaints of taste dysfunction and loss of flavor sensations secondary to olfactory system damage, quantitative testing should be used to accurately assess the nature and degree of the dysfunction present in this debilitating disorder. © 2013 by Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.

Acerca de la revista donde se publicó este artículo:

Journal of Clinical Neuromuscular Disease

Título del artículo:

Latin American consensus on hypertension in patients with diabetes type 2 and metabolic syndrome

The present document has been prepared by a group of experts, members of cardiology, endocrinology, internal medicine, nephrology and diabetes societies of Latin American Countries, to serve as a guide to physicians taking care of patients with diabetes, hypertension and comorbidities or complications of both conditions. Although the concept of metabolic syndrome is currently disputed, the higher prevalence in Latin America of that cluster of metabolic alterations has suggested that metabolic syndrome is useful nosography entity in the context of Latin American medicine. Therefore, in the present document, particular attention is paid to this syndrome in order to alert physicians on a particular high- risk population, usually underestimated and undertreated. These recommendations results from presentation and debates by discussion panels during a 2-day conference held in Bucaramanga, in October 2012, and all the participants have approved the final conclusions. The authors acknowledge that the publication and diffusion of guidelines do not suffice to achieve the recommended changes in diagnostic or therapeutic strategies, and plan suitable interventions overcoming both physicians and patients from effectively adhering to guideline recommendations.

Acerca de la revista donde se publicó este artículo:

Anales Venezolanos de Nutricion

Título del artículo:

Prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension in rural and urban communities in high-, middle-, and low-income countries

IMPORTANCE: Hypertension is the most important preventable cause of morbidity and mortality globally, yet there are relatively few data collected using standardized methods. OBJECTIVE: To examine hypertension prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control in participants at baseline in the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A cross-sectional study of 153 996 adults (complete data for this analysis on 142 042) aged 35 to 70 years, recruited between January 2003 and December 2009. Participants were from 628 communities in 3 high-income countries (HIC), 10 upper-middle-income and low-middle-income countries (UMIC and LMIC), and 4 low-income countries (LIC). MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Hypertensionwas defined as individuals with self-reported treated hypertension or with an average of 2 blood pressure measurements of at least 140/90 mm Hg using an automated digital device. Awareness was based on self-reports, treatment was based on the regular use of blood pressure-lowering medications, and control was defined as individuals with blood pressure lower than 140/90 mm Hg. RESULTS: Among the 142 042 participants, 57 840 (40.8%; 95%CI, 40.5%-41.0%) had hypertension and 26 877 (46.5%; 95%CI, 46.1%-46.9%) were aware of the diagnosis. Of those who were aware of the diagnosis, the majority (23 510 [87.5%; 95%CI, 87.1%-87.9%] of those who were aware) were receiving pharmacological treatments, but only a minority of those receiving treatment were controlled (7634 [32.5%; 95% CI, 31.9%-33.1%]). Overall, 30.8%, 95%CI, 30.2%-31.4%of treated patients were taking 2 or more types of blood pressure-lowering medications. The percentages aware (49.0% [95% CI, 47.8%-50.3%] in HICs, 52.5% [95% CI, 51.8%-53.2%] in UMICs, 43.6% [95% CI, 42.9%-44.2%] in LMICs, and 40.8% [95% CI, 39.9%-41.8%] in LICs) and treated (46.7% [95% CI, 45.5%-47.9%] in HICs, 48.3%, [95% CI, 47.6%-49.1%] in UMICs, 36.9%, [95% CI, 36.3%-37.6%] in LMICs, and 31.7% [95% CI, 30.8%-32.6%] in LICs) were lower in LICs compared with all other countries for awareness (P <.001) and treatment (P <.001). Awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension were higher in urban communities compared with rural ones in LICs (urban vs rural, P <.001) and LMICs (urban vs rural, P <.001), but similar for other countries. Low education was associated with lower rates of awareness, treatment, and control in LICs, but not in other countries. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Among a multinational study population, 46.5%of participants with hypertension were aware of the diagnosis, with blood pressure control among 32.5% of those being treated. These findings suggest substantial room for improvement in hypertension diagnosis and treatment.

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JAMA

Título del artículo:

Protein Engineering of Bacillus thuringiensis δ-Endotoxins

Protein engineering of insecticidal Bt δ-endotoxins is a powerful tool for designing novel Cry toxins with altered properties, including changing the toxin\'s specificity. By following some elementary rules governing the structure/function relationship, it has been possible to create new toxins with modified properties including increased toxicity and binding affinity, enhanced ion-transport activity, and changes in insect specificity. These methods have also produced valuable information and have led to an improved understanding of the mode of action of these important biopesticides. The results discussed in this chapter derive from rational molecular design where protein structure is modified by incorporating single or multiple amino acid substitutions aimed at modifying specific protein functions. In this review, we analyze several protein modifications that have been successfully used for creating stable, functional proteins with minimal structural alterations. The understanding and proper use of protein engineering approaches may help in implementing appropriate pest management strategies by improving the efficacy of these toxins against insect pests.

Acerca de la revista donde se publicó este artículo:

Bacillus thuringiensis Biotechnology

Título del artículo:

Reliability of a questionnaire to determine non-specific low back pain and its characteristics in school children aged 7 to 12 years

Objective: To assess the test-retest reliability of a questionnaire to determine nonspecific low back pain (NLBP) and its characteristics in schoolchildren aged 7 to 12 years. Metodology: An evaluation of diagnostic technologies was done in 84 schoolchildren (9.2 ± 1.6 years), 50 % girls, selected for convenience. The questionnaire was administered by individual interview, twice, with an interval of 2 to 4 days. We calculated the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (CCI 2.1) to quantitative variables and Coheńs and Weighted Kappa Index to qualitative variables with their respective confidence intervals at 95 % (CI95 %). Results: The prevalence was 20.2 % and 17.9 % in the first and second evaluation, respectively. The reliability of the questions that determine prevalence of NLBP was very good (k = 0.85, 95 % CI 0.69 - 1.00, n = 84); The number of days with NLBP in the last month got a fair reliability (CCI = 0.36; 95 % CI -0.009-0.70), while the duration asked by four categories of response was very good (k = 1.00; IC95 % 1.00-1.00), the intensity assessed by Wong-Baker F aces Pain Rating Scale was very good (ICC = 0.82, 95 % CI 0.54 - 0.93). In relation to consult a professional for back pain, Kappa indices ranged from k = 0.46 and k = 1.0. In the second evaluation, the children showed shorter duration of pain (3.9 days) and lower intensity (2.0). Discussion: The importance of reliability evaluation of the questionnaire to determine DLI and its characteristics is that there can be a valid measure unless the measure has some degree of reliability. The questionnaire to determine NLBP and their characteristics in schoolchildren aged 7 to 12 years is sufficiently reproducible for use in population studies.

Acerca de la revista donde se publicó este artículo:

Revista de la Sociedad Espanola del Dolor