A community-based intervention study involving family gardens with aromatic herbs on changes in dietary and urinary sodium.

OBJECTIVE: To measure dietary and urinary changes in sodium (Na) intake and excretion through the implementation of family gardens with aromatic herbs and workshops for cooking, using the herbs as a substitute for salt and seasoning powder. METHODS: Thirty-five participants from a neighborhood of Mexico City were included. A general questionnaire was administered to collect information on sociodemographic factors. At baseline and 3 months later, a dietary evaluation was conducted, and 24-hour urine samples were collected. Food items reported were classified according to the NOVA classification. Visits to participants´ houses were conducted to measure the amount of salt and seasoning powder added to food during the preparation of meals as well as a home food inventory. All participants were given a family garden with 6 aromatic herbs and a recipe book. The intervention included 7 cooking and 3 garden care workshops. Qualitative information on the experience was also collected. Linear regression models were run in order to estimate the contribution of each NOVA group, salt, and seasoning powder to total dietary Na intake. RESULTS: Participants were 44 years old on average and were mainly women (91.4%). The participation compliance in the workshops was 69.5%. After 3 months, there was a Na intake mean reduction of 976 mg. There was also a reduction in the excreted urinary Na of 325 mg per day. CONCLUSION: A positive level of involvement in this program had a direct influence on dietary habits to lower Na consumption.

Intervención educativa sobre riesgo preconcepcional en mujeres de un Área de salud en Guantánamo

Fundamento: La salud reproductiva está presente durante el ciclo vital de las mujeres y los hombres; en la que juega unpapel decisivo la planificación familiar, el conocimiento y manejo del riesgo reproductivo.Objetivo: Evaluar la efectividad de una intervención educativa, en mujeres de edad fértil con riesgo preconcepcional,pertenecientes al consultorio “La Colonia”, del Policlínico “Rafael Teope Fonseca”, “El Salvador”, Guantánamo, desdeseptiembre 2017 a abril 2019.Metodología: Se realizó un estudio cuasiexperimental, tipo intervención educativa sobre riesgo preconcepcional, con diseñoantes y después. El universo fue de 65 mujeres en edad fértil. Se utilizó muestreo no probabilístico intencional. La muestrafue de 45 mujeres con riesgo preconcepcional. La investigación se realizó en 3 etapas: diagnóstica, intervención y evaluación.La información se recogió en una encuesta semiestructurada que se aplicó antes y después de la intervención. Las variablesfueron: métodos para planificar el embarazo, edad óptima para el embarazo, antecedentes obstétricos desfavorables,importancia del consumo de ácido fólico antes del embarazo y conocimiento general sobre el tema. Se determinó el test deMcNemar para el análisis estadístico e índice de kappa para determinar efectividad de la intervención.Resultados: Antes de la intervención se diagnosticó nivel de conocimiento inadecuado sobre los métodos para planificar elembarazo (42 porcientro), edad óptima para el embarazo (40 porcientro) y en los antecedentes obstétricos (36 porcientro). Posterior a la intervenciónel nivel de conocimiento adecuado fue significativo (p<0.05) en todas las variables. El índice kappa arrojó acuerdoconsiderable.Conclusiones: La intervención educativa fue efectiva [AU]

Social cognition in pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis (MS).

BACKGROUND: Pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis (MS) patients represent a subpopulation who are diagnosed during the course of development. Social cognitive deficits have recently been recognized in adults with MS. It is critical to identify whether these youngest patients with the disorder are also at risk. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether pediatric-onset MS is associated with social cognitive deficits. METHODS: Consecutively-recruited participants with pediatric-onset MS were compared to a group of age- and gender-matched healthy controls on Theory of Mind (ToM) task performance. Tasks measured facial affect recognition (Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test), detecting social faux pas (Faux Pas Test), and understanding the perspective of another (False Beliefs Task). RESULTS: Twenty-eight (28) pediatric-onset MS participants (median age 17 years) and 32 healthy controls (median age 16 years) completed the study. The MS participants performed worse than controls on all three ToM tasks: Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (p = 0.008), the Faux Pas Test (p = 0.009), and the False Beliefs Task (p = 0.06). While more MS than control participants were impaired on a measure of information processing speed (the Symbol Digit Modalities Test; 38% versus 6%), it did not account for the differences in ToM performance. CONCLUSIONS: Social cognition may represent an area of cognitive functioning affected by MS in the pediatric-onset population. These processes are especially important to study in younger patients as they may have long range implications for social adjustment, employment, and well-being.

Model-based spectral estimation of Doppler signals using parallel genetic algorithms.

Conventional spectral analysis methods use a fast Fourier transform (FFT) on consecutive or overlapping windowed data segments. For Doppler ultrasound signals, this approach suffers from an inadequate frequency resolution due to the time segment duration and the non-stationarity characteristics of the signals. Parametric or model-based estimators can give significant improvements in the time-frequency resolution at the expense of a higher computational complexity. This work describes an approach which implements in real-time a parametric spectral estimator method using genetic algorithms (GAs) in order to find the optimum set of parameters for the adaptive filter that minimises the error function. The aim is to reduce the computational complexity of the conventional algorithm by using the simplicity associated to GAs and exploiting its parallel characteristics. This will allow the implementation of higher order filters, increasing the spectrum resolution, and opening a greater scope for using more complex methods.

[Effects of bezafibrate in the diet of hypertensive patients with dyslipidemia and hyperfibrinogenemia]. / Efecto de bezafibrato en la dieta de hipertensos con dislipidemia e hiperfibrinogenemia.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the fibrinogen and lipids response to diet plus bezafibrate in insulin-resistant patients with arterial hypertension and mixed hyperlipidemia. METHODS: A randomized double blind parallel design was used during a 90 days treatment period. Fibrinogen, lipids, insulin and peptide C assays as well as a glucose tolerance test were done at the start and end of treatment. The 28 patients received a hypolipemic diet low in refined sugars with bezafibrate added (400 mg/day) in 15 and a placebo in 13. RESULTS: The groups were similar in age, blood pressure and BMI. At the end of treatment, fibrinogen, cholesterol, triglycerides and LDL-C were lower in both groups as compared to the initial values, but only in the bezafibrate group there were: a) significant decrease in triglycerides (64 mg/dL, p 0.01); and b) marginal changes in fibrinogen (decreased 35 mg/dL, p = 0.09), total cholesterol (decreased 26 mg/dL, p = 0.10) and glucose/insulin ratio (increased from 4.4 to 5.2, p = 0.09). Bezafibrate lowered slightly the insulin level but did not affect peptide C. A correlation of changes in fibrinogen levels and the 60 min insulin concentration in the glucose tolerance test was higher in the bezafibrate group (r = 0.61) than in the placebo group (r = 0.23). CONCLUSIONS: In insulin resistant patients with high cardiovascular risk, bezafibrate and a placebo added to a hypolipemic diet decreased plasma fibrinogen. Bezafibrate lowered significantly the levels of triglycerides in these patients.

Who will treat psychiatrically disturbed developmentally disabled patients? A health care nightmare.

The authors assess the impact of a policy adopted briefly in New York State to facilitate short-term hospitalization and long-term aftercare of psychiatrically disturbed, developmentally disabled patients. Denied admission to New York State facilities that provide long-term care for the psychiatrically disturbed or the developmentally disabled, these dually diagnosed patients have often languished in the emergency room of municipal hospitals or been inappropriately hospitalized in the acute-care psychiatric unit, sometimes for several months. The authors conclude that the policy expedited hospitalization but failed to facilitate patients' discharge because it did not address the underlying need for suitable aftercare facilities. Overlapping clinical and administrative issues and political exigencies that complicated the policymaking process are discussed.