Resiniferatoxin modulates the Th1 immune response and protects the host during intestinal nematode infection.

In the early stage of the intestinal phase of Trichinella spiralis infection, the host triggers a Th1-type immune response with the aim of eliminating the parasite. However, this response damages the host which favours the survival of the parasite. In the search for novel pharmacological strategies that inhibit the Th1 immune response and assist the host against T. spiralis infection, a recent study showed that resiniferatoxin had anti-inflammatory activity contributed to the host in T. spiralis infection. In this study, we evaluated whether RTX modulates the host immune response through the inhibition of Th1 cytokines in the intestinal phase. In addition, it was determined whether the treatment with RTX affects the infectivity of T. spiralis-L1 and the development of the T. spiralis life cycle. Our results show that RTX decreased serum levels of IL-12, INF-γ, IL-1ß, TNF-α and parasite burden on muscle tissue. It was observed that T. spiralis-L1 treated with RTX decreased their infectivity affecting the development of the T. spiralis life cycle in mouse. These results demonstrate that RTX is able to inhibit the production of Th1 cytokines, contributing to the defence against T. spiralis, which places it as a potential drug modulator of the immune response.

Diffraction by three-dimensional slit-shape curves: decomposition in terms of Airy and Pearcey functions.

We analyze the diffraction field generated by coherent illumination of a three-dimensional transmittance characterized by a slit-shape curve. Generic features are obtained using the Frenet-Serret equations, which allow a decomposition of the optical field. The analysis is performed by describing the influence of the curvature and torsion on osculating, normal, and rectifying planes. We show that the diffracted field has a decomposition in three optical fields propagating along three optical axes that are mutually perpendicular. The decomposition is in terms of the Pearcey and Airy functions, and the generalized Airy function. Experimental results are shown.

Integration of image exposure time into a modified laser speckle imaging method.

Speckle-based methods have been developed to characterize tissue blood flow and perfusion. One such method, called modified laser speckle imaging (mLSI), enables computation of blood flow maps with relatively high spatial resolution. Although it is known that the sensitivity and noise in LSI measurements depend on image exposure time, a fundamental disadvantage of mLSI is that it does not take into account this parameter. In this work, we integrate the exposure time into the mLSI method and provide experimental support of our approach with measurements from an in vitro flow phantom.

[Psychometric properties of a grammatical comprehension test]. / Propiedades psicométricas de unaprueba de comprensión gramatical.

INTRODUCTION: The Grammatical Structures Comprehension Test (CEG) has been designed to evaluate the language alterations of both Spanish speaking children and adults (specific language impairment, aphasia, craneoencephalic traumatism...) in a rapid and simple way. AIM: To study the psychometric properties of the CEG (reliability, validity and discrimination rates). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The test was carried out on a sample of 1,404 children. The criteria validity was done with 181 children, whom various tests other than CEG were applied to. RESULTS: The discrimination rate in the 27% of the subjects with the highest scores in the CEG and the 27% of those that had the worst scores show that more than the half of the test elements produce a rate higher than 0.3 between children with good and bad scores. Out of the 20 blocks of the CEG, 15 of them present a discrimination rate between 0.5 and 1. Finally, the discrimination rate data obtained for each age group reveal that the easiest and the most difficult elements and blocks are coherently those with a lower discrimination power. This trend can be noticed in each age group. CONCLUSIONS: CEG is a reliable and valid measure to evaluate the grammatical comprehension, being very useful in clinics.

Propiedades psicométricas de una prueba de comprensión gramatical / Pscychometric properties of a grammatical comprehension test

Introducción. El test de comprensión de estructuras gramaticales (CEG) es una prueba que permite evaluar a niños y adultos que presentan alteraciones en la comprensión del lenguaje (trastorno específico del lenguaje, afasia, traumatismo craneoencefálico, etc.), de forma rápida y sencilla. Objetivo. Estudiar las propiedades psicométricas del CEG (fiabilidad, validez e índices de discriminación). Sujetos y métodos. La prueba se aplicó a 1.404 niños. En el estudio de validez de criterio participaron 181 niños, a los que se administraron otras pruebas además del CEG.Resultados. Los índices de discriminaciónobtenidos entre el 27% de sujetos con puntuaciones totales más altas en el CEG y el 27% que consiguió peor puntuación mostraron que más de la mitad de los elementos del test arrojan un índice superior a 0,3 entre los niños con mejor y peor puntuación. De los 20 bloques de estructuras gramaticales del CEG, 15 presentan un índice de discriminación entre el 0,5 y 1. Finalmente, los resultados de los índices de discriminación de los bloques en cada grupo de edad indican que los elementos y bloques más fáciles y más difíciles son, lógicamente, los que tienen menor poder de discriminación, tendencia que se manifiestaen cada grupo de edad. Conclusiones. El CEG es una medida válida y fiable para la evaluación de la comprensión gramatical, en función de los resultados, y es de gran utilidad en el campo clínico

Introduction. The Grammatical Structures Comprehension Test (CEG) has been designed to evaluate the languagealterations of both Spanish speaking children and adults (specific language impairment, aphasia, craneoencephalic traumatism...) in a rapid and simple way. Aim. To study the psychometric properties of the CEG (reliability, validity and discrimination rates). Subjects and methods. The test was carried out on a sample of 1,404 children. The criteria validity was done with 181 children, whom various tests other than CEG were applied to. Results. The discrimination rate in the 27% of the subjects with the highest scores in the CEG and the 27% of those that had the worst scores show that more than the half of the test elements produce a rate higher than 0.3 between children with good and bad scores. Out of the 20 blocks of the CEG, 15 of them present a discrimination rate between 0.5 and 1. Finally, the discrimination rate data obtained for each age group reveal that the easiest and the most difficult elements and blocks are coherently those with a lower discrimination power. This trend can be noticed in each age group. Conclusions. CEG is a reliable and valid measure to evaluate the grammatical comprehension, being very useful in clinics

Supraestructure maxillectomy and orbital exenteration for treatment of basal cell carcinoma of inferior eyelid: case report and review.

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most frequent type of skin cancer in humans, with cumulative exposure to ultraviolet radiation as an important risk factor for development of illness such as severe solar burns during childhood or adolescence. BCC is mainly located on sun-exposed sites, head and neck being the areas of more incidences; although nose, eyelids and periorbitary tissue are unfavorable due to cosmetic results that BCC involves. Tumors can be classified as nodular, superficial, micronodular, morphea variety, infiltrating, pigmented, metatypic and fibroepithelioma of Pinkus. Several treatment options such as surgical and nonsurgical are available. The goal of treatment is complete excision of the tumor with preservation of surrounding structures in a way aesthetically acceptable. Mohs' micrographic surgery is the standard treatment for all nonmelanoma skin cancers. Orbital exenteration is also used for treatment of malignancies of ocular tissues, mainly squamous cell carcinoma, sebaceous cell carcinoma and BCC. The tissue beneath the surgical site can be left for second-intention granulation or covered with a cutaneous implant of partial thickness. The case of a 77-year-old patient is presented with BCC of inferior eyelid of 14 years' duration, formerly managed with radiotherapy; however, due to recurrent illness and invasion to the maxillary antrum, he needed supraestructure maxillectomy with left orbital exenteration.

Comprensión gramatical y rendimiento académico / Grammatical comprehension and academic performance

Con esta investigación se ha pretendido conseguir un doble objetivo. Por un lado, obtener un índice de validez concurrente del CEG (Test de Comprensión de Estructuras Gramaticales), tomando como criterio el rendimiento escolar de los alumnos, a juicio de sus tutores académicos, a través de la Escala de Valoración del Lenguaje Observable (EVLO) del CELF-3, edición en español. Por otro lado, pretendíamos comprobar si las puntuaciones obtenidas en el CEG podrían ser un indicador del rendimiento escolar de los alumnos, esta vez también según los criterios de los tutores. Con respecto al primer objetivo, la correlación obtenida entre la puntuación total del CEG y cada uno de los apartados de la EVLO es significativa en todos ellos, oscilando los valores entre -0,477 (escucha) y -0,621 (escribe). Dado que las preguntas formuladas en la EVLO son todas referidas a aspectos lingüísticos en sus dominios orales y escritos, podemos afirmar que el CEG es un instrumento válido a efectos de la determinación del rendimiento escolar de los niños en el ámbito lingüístico. En lo referente al segundo objetivo nuestros resultados indican que el rendimiento académico de los niños que puntúan por encima del centil 67 en el CEG es valorado por sus tutores de forma muy positiva, a la inversa de lo que sucede con los niños cuyas puntuaciones en el CEG se sitúan por debajo del centil 33. Se puede, por tanto, concluir, que las dificultades de comprensión del lenguaje oral pueden estar en el origen de los problemas de rendimiento académico en el área del lenguaje que presentan algunos niños

The aim of this paper is twofold. First, to obtain a CEG (Test de Comprensión de Estructuras Gramaticales) concurrent validity index, which depends on the academic performance of children according to their teachers via the Spanish Assessment Scaling for Observable Language (EVLO: Escala de Valoración del Lenguaje Observable) of CELF- 3, Spanish edition. We have found that the correlation between the total CEG scoring and the EVLO assessment is significant for all sections of EVLO, ranging between -0.477 (hearing) and -0.621 (writing). Since all questions in EVLO refer to both oral and writing linguistics aspects, we can state that CEG is a good instrument for the determination of the academic performance of children in the linguistic field. Second, to check whether the CEG scores could be an indicator for the academic performance of children according to their teachers' criteria. Our results show that the academic performance of children with CEG scores above the centil 67, is assessed by their teachers very positively. On the contrary, they assessed very poorly the children with CEG scores below the centil 33. Therefore, we conclude that the problems of comprehension of oral language can be at the origin of the difficulties for academic performance in the area of language which some children show

Alteraciones lingüísticas en el trastorno específico del lenguaje / No disponible

Introducción y desarrollo. Los niños con trastorno específico del lenguaje (TEL) tienen dificultades en alguna otodas las dimensiones del lenguaje (fonología, morfología, sintaxis, semántica y pragmática). Cuando están adquiriendo el lenguajeexpresivo presentan dificultades fonético-fonológicas consistentes en una capacidad fonética restringida, que limita lasoportunidades de practicar y ampliar su repertorio y que se manifiesta desde la época de balbuceo. También se observa unaconfiguración silábica restringida junto con un inventario consonántico limitado, producciones inusuales de sonidos, un sistemafonológico más retrasado y en definitiva una deficiente inteligibilidad. Los problemas gramaticales de los niños con TEL semanifiestan en el desarrollo de los morfemas flexivos, en la organización gramatical de los sintagmas en las oraciones, asícomo en la utilización adecuada de la concordancia gramatical entre las distintas palabras y proposiciones que constituyen laestructura de las oraciones. Conclusiones. El desarrollo de la morfología verbal guarda relación con la adquisición léxica. Anivel léxico encontramos dificultades para aprender nuevas palabra de modo incidental, problemas para almacenar en lamemoria a corto plazo las formas fonológicas de nuevas palabras y para crear y almacenar representaciones léxicas elaboradas,así como dificultades de procesamiento auditivo. Por tanto, las habilidades lingüísticas de los niños no podemos concebirlascomo sistemas autónomos, sino que todos los niveles están interrelacionados

Coherence of light scattered from a randomly rough surface.

We study the coherence of p-polarized light scattered from a one-dimensional weakly rough random metal surface in contact with vacuum. The mutual coherence function of the single nonzero component of the scattered magnetic field is calculated in planes parallel to, and at increasing distances from, the mean scattering surface in the vacuum region. It is found to be the sum of a contribution that is independent of the distance from the mean surface and a contribution that is a function of this distance and decays to zero over a distance of the order of the wavelength of the incident light. It is also shown that the spatial coherence of the electromagnetic field in the far field in a plane at a fixed distance from the mean surface, as a function of the relative distance along it, mimics the surface height autocorrelation function at short relative distances and oscillates with two periods, T(1) = lambda and T(2) = lambda/sin theta(0), where theta(0) is the angle of incidence. The former is due to the excitation of lateral waves, while the latter is due to the coherent interference of the multiple scattering processes that lead to the enhanced backscattering effect. In the near field the spatial coherence of the electromagnetic field measured at a fixed distance from the mean surface displays oscillations that are due to the excitation of surface plasmon polaritons. The period of these oscillations equals the wavelength of the surface plasmon polaritons, while the exponential decay of their amplitude is determined by the energy mean free path of the surface plasmon polaritons.

Description of phase singularities and their application to focusing design.

We describe the focusing region associated with transmittances, analyzing its associated phase function. We show that generic features can be studied from the differential equation for focusing geometry, which is obtained through angular representation for diffraction fields. With the treatment, we recover the results for circular zone plates, and by introducing a linear transformation into the transmittance function we generate structures that keep the ability to generate focusing. According to the choice of the parameters involved, the diffraction field presents new focusing regions, whose three-dimensional geometry and spatial evolution can be described in a selective fashion with analysis of only the phase singularities associated with the diffraction field and avoidance of the integral representation. The treatment is also applied to a simple lens. We recover the theoretical predictions obtained by Berry and Upstill [M. V. Berry and C. Upstill, in Progress in Optics, E. Wolf, ed. (North-Holland, Amsterdam, 1980), Vol. XVIII, p. 259], and these predictions are corroborated experimentally. The results obtained are shown.

[Physician's perception of mental malaise in a basic health district]. / Percepción de malestar psíquico por el médico en un área básica de salud.

OBJECTIVES: a) To determine the prevalence of psychological malaise (PM) in the population-group attending. b) To find the sensitivity and specificity of diagnoses of anxiety-depression made by doctors and on the Goldberg Anxiety and Depression Scale (GADS), using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) as gold standard. c) To study whether there are factors that might affect PM's detection. DESIGN: Crossover study. SETTING: Urban health centre. PARTICIPANTS: 252 patients from the general population between 15 and 65 who attended for consultation for 10 days in May 1997. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: The clinical diagnosis of 1266 patients was recorded. A sample was selected at random, to whom both the GADS and the MINI were administered, so as to compare the diagnoses. The prevalence of PM according to clinical judgement was similar to that found with the MINI (40.9%), with a clear overdiagnosis on the GADS. Clinical judgement mainly detected the anxiety component. The results of clinical judgement and the GADS were compared with the MINI (gold standard), and sensitivity of 73.78% and specificity of 72.48% were found for clinical judgement, and sensitivity of 95% and specificity of 64.4% for the GADS. CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of PM is high. The GADS showed it was useful for PM screening. The doctor's ability to detect PM is considerable. We found no variables that might affect diagnostic error.

Conceptualizing masculinity through a gender-based approach.

PIP: In July 1993, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Nicaragua expanded their community development work on domestic violence to include a "Group of Men Against Violence" (GMAV). GMAV began by focusing on self-education and expanded to include a movement of male farmers, the Network of Rural Promoters, that encourages men to engage in recreational activities with their children and to help develop family vegetable gardens. GMAV has spread through Nicaragua, and the men support seven youth groups. One NGO, CANTERA, offers a systematic course involving three workshops on masculine identities; gender, power, and violence; and unlearning machismo as well as follow-up workshops on masculinity, sexuality, and communication skills. Another NGO, CISAS, expands the CANTERA courses to include more specific topics and offers a training-of-trainers course to the Army Health Department staff. CISAS supports men's groups that meet weekly to discuss various topics both within and among various communities. CISAS also sponsors national-level meetings, including one with women's groups. The GMAV is currently seeking outside funding to respond to requests for support and training, including a request from the police department for gender sensitivity training. During an evaluation of CANTERA's courses conducted in 1997, many men reported that the workshops resulted in positive transformations in their own lives. CANTERA is now developing a training manual for NGOs interested in working with men.^ieng