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Knee and hip agonist-antagonist relationship in male under-19 soccer players

Rosa, Filipe | 2022

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the strength of the knee flexors and extensors and hip abductor and adductor muscles in young soccer players. Twenty-three male under-19 soccer players participated in this study (age: 17.7 ± 0.2 years; height: 173.0 ± 1.1 cm; body mass: 66.1 ± 1.3 kg). Body composition was measured using a bioelectrical impedance (InBody770), and the dynamometry was performed by an isokinetic dynamometer (Biodex System 3) for knee flexion and extension, and by an isometric dynamometer (Smart Groin Trainer), for hip adduction and abduction. Comparisons were made between dominant members (D) vs. non-dominant members (ND) and adductors vs. abductors (ADD:ABD) using the Wilcoxon test. There were statistically significant differences in the peak torques between the dominant and non-dominant members in the flexion function (Z = −4.198, p < 0.01) and in the extension function (Z = −4.197, p < 0.01) of the knee in concentric muscular action, and the flexion (Z = −4.198, p < 0.01) and in the extension (Z = −4.198, p < 0.01) of the knee in eccentric muscular action. No statistically significant differences were obtained in the conventional ratio (Z = −0.456, p = 0.648) nor the functional ratio (Z = −0.335, p = 0.738) between D and ND members. There were no statistically significant differences between adductors and abductors at the moment of strength for absolute values (N). The reference absolute and normalized to the weight values and the ADD:ABD can be used as a guideline for classifying players in screening and comparison in return tests to sports practice after an injury.

Burden of non-communicable disease studies in Europe: a systematic review of data sources and methodological choices

Charalampous, Periklis | 2022

Assessment of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) resulting from non communicable diseases (NCDs) requires specific calculation methods and input data. The aims of this study were to (i) identify existing NCD burden of disease (BoD) activities in Europe; (ii) collate information on data sources for mortality and morbidity; and (iii) provide an overview of NCD-specific methods for calculating NCD DALYs. Methods: NCD BoD studies were systematically searched in international electronic literature databases and in grey literature. We included all BoD studies that used the DALY metric to quantify the health impact of one or more NCDs in countries belonging to the European Region. Results: A total of 163 BoD studies were retained: 96 (59%) were single-country or sub-national studies and 67 (41%) considered more than one country. Of the single-country studies, 29 (30%) consisted of secondary analyses using existing Global Burden of Disease (GBD) results. Mortality data were mainly derived (49%) from vital statistics. Morbidity data were frequently (40%) drawn from routine administrative and survey datasets, including disease registries and hospital discharge databases. The majority (60%) of national BoD studies reported mortality corrections. Multimorbidity adjustments were performed in 18% of national BoD studies. Conclusion: The number of national NCD BoD assessments across Europe increased over time, driven by an increase in BoD studies that consisted of secondary data analysis of GBD study findings. Ambiguity in reporting the use of NCD-specific BoD methods underlines the need for reporting guidelines of BoD studies to enhance the transparency of NCD BoD estimates across Europe.

Disinformation in social networks and bots: simulated scenarios of its spread from system dynamics

Guzmán Rincón, Alfredo | 2022

Social networks have become the scenario with the greatest potential for the circulation of disinformation, hence there is a growing interest in understanding how this type of information is spread, especially in relation to the mechanisms used by disinformation agents such as bots and trolls, among others. In this scenario, the potential of bots to facilitate the spread of disinformation is recognised, however, the analysis of how they do this is still in its initial stages. Taking into consideration what was previously stated, this paper aimed to model and simulate scenarios of disinformation propagation in social networks caused by bots based on the dynamics of this mechanism documented in the literature. For achieving the purpose, System dynamics was used as the main modelling technique. The results present a mathematical model, as far as disinformation by this mechanism is concerned, and the simulations carried out against the increase in the rate of activation and deactivation of bots. Thus, the preponderant role of social networks in controlling disinformation through this mechanism, and the potential of bots to affect citizens, is recognised.

Prevalencia de obesidad y riesgo cardiovascular en trabajadores del área de hidrocarburos

Velandia Sua, Edwards A. | 2022

Introducción: La enfermedad cardiovascular (infarto de miocardio, muerte cardíaca y accidente cerebrovascular fatal o no fatal) es la principal causa de muerte prematura y de discapacidad en el mundo. Es responsable de más de 17 millones de muertes anuales y afecta principalmente a la población que se ubica en los países de ingresos bajos y medios. Se estima que el 80% de la carga mundial se produce en estos países. Objetivo: Establecer la prevalencia de obesidad y riesgo cardiovascular mediante los criterios de Framingham en una población de trabajadores de la industria de producción de hidrocarburos. Método: Se desarrolló un estudio observacional descriptivo, epidemiológico, en el que se tuvo en cuenta la población de los trabajadores de la empresa Montajes JM, Cerritos CPE6, Proyecto 176, en el departamento del Meta (Puerto Gaitán). Se representaron las variables en promedio, intervalos de confianza y desviación estándar, procediendo a desarrollar un análisis por sexo para cada uno de los factores de riesgo. Resultados: En la población del programa de riesgo cardiovascular se encontró un promedio de edad de 38.11 años y un índice de masa corporal de 26.00 m2/kg. El 7.58% presentó hipertensión arterial, el 1.08% diabetes mellitus y el 24.91% tabaquismo. El riesgo cardiovascular calculado con la escala de Framingham fue del 4.48%. El índice de masa corporal, la edad y la presión arterial sistólica no son estadísticamente significativos para la valoración del riesgo con la escala Framingham. Conclusiones: La prevalencia de obesidad fue del 64.9%, en tanto que el 75% de las personas que trabajan en hidrocarburos tenían riesgo leve de enfermedad cardiovascular.

Indicadores de fuerza en mujeres jóvenes con diferente tasa de fuerza relativa

Fernández Ortega, Jairo Alejandro | 2022

Objetivo: Comparar la tasa de fuerza relativa (TFR) con distintos indicadores de fuerza en mujeres jóvenes. Métodos: Se evaluaron a 146 mujeres que se distribuyeron en tres grupos de acuerdo con los resultados de la TFR obtenida en el ejercicio de sentadilla y se compararon los resultados obtenidos en las pruebas de Fuerza prensil de la mano derecha e izquierda (FPMD- FPMI), Fuerza isométrica miembros inferiores (FIMI), Fuerza máxima de pecho (FMP), Fuerza máxima en sentadilla (FMS) Velocidad de desplazamiento sobre treinta metros (V30), altura del salto en (CMJ), potencia de pedaleo (PP) y la velocidad media propulsiva de miembros superiores e inferiores (VMPMS-VMPMI) obtenida al 50%, 60%, 70% y 80% de una repetición máxima en sentadilla. Resultados: Se observaron diferencias significativas (p?0,01) entre los grupos en la FMS, CMJ, V30, VMP y PP, y la mayoría de las variables presentaban la diferencia entre el G1 y G3 (p?0,01).

Iduronate-2-sulfatase interactome: validation by yeast two-hybrid assay

Benincore Flórez, Eliana | 2022

Mucopolysaccharidosis type II (MPS II), also known as Hunter syndrome, is a rare X-linked recessive disease caused by a deficiency of the lysosomal enzyme iduronate-2-sulfatase (IDS), which activates intracellular accumulation of nonmetabolized glycosaminoglycans such as heparan sulfate and dermatan sulfate. This accumulation causes severe damage to several tissues, principally the central nervous system. Previously, we identified 187 IDS-protein interactions in the mouse brain. To validate a subset of these interactions, we selected and cloned the coding regions of 10 candidate genes to perform a targeted yeast two-hybrid assay. The results allowed the identification of the physical interaction of IDS with LSAMP and SYT1. Although the physiological relevance of these complexes is unknown, recent advances allow us to point out that these interactions could be involved in vesicular trafficking of IDS through the interaction with SYT1, as well as to the ability to form a transcytosis module between the cellular components of the blood-brain-barrier (BBB) through its interaction with LSAMP. These results may shed light on the role of IDS on cellular homeostasis and may also contribute to the understanding of MPS II physiopathology and the development of novel therapeutic strategies to transport recombinant IDS through the brain endothelial cells toward the brain parenchyma.

An improved LINMAP for multicriteria decision: designing customized incentive portfolios in an organization

Rubiano, Jessica | 2022

This study proposes three new versions of the well-known linear programming technique for multidimensional preference analysis (LINMAP). LINMAP addresses the multi-criteria decision problem by analyzing individual diferences in preferences in relation to a set of prespecifed incentives in multidimensional attribute space. The proposed models satisfy the decision-maker’s specifc needs, such as determining a fxed number of incentives to be active or assigning a minimum/maximum weight for the active incentives. The performance of the developed models is assessed using information from a case study in which a decision-maker desires to determine an optimal portfolio of incentives based on the preferences of individuals surveyed. Experimental results confrm that the proposed models could obtain solutions according to the decision-maker’s needs, yielding a better selection of incentives to activate and their corresponding distribution of the weights than those of the original LINMAP model. Moreover, the consistency of the proposed models is evaluated by performing a sensitivity analysis over database variations of the case study and comparing the outcomes with the results provided in the original case study. Overall, this work is promising when creating a design portfolio, considering individuals’ diferent preferences.

Adopting sustainability competence-based education in academic disciplines: Insights from 13 higher education institutions

Lozano, Rodrigo | 2021

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have been incorporating sustainability into education and curricula, where recent research has focussed on sustainability competences, pedagogical approaches, and how to connect them, generally on a single HEI. The process of integrating sustainability into education based on curricula assessment has been explained using adoption of innovations; and has the potential to explain the process of developing competences through pedagogical approaches. The aim of this paper is to investigate this process at academic discipline level. An online survey was developed to investigate teaching sustainability competences in 13 HEIs, from which 678 responses from educators were obtained. The competences and pedagogical approaches from the responses were ranked, and then the connections between the competences and pedagogical approaches per discipline were analysed using a correlations-based framework, from which three disciplines groups were created. The groups were categorised using diffusion of innovations theory, which indicated that some disciplines are more innovative than others in adopting sustainability competence-based teaching. The results are used to propose two frameworks to better understand the adoption of sustainability competence-based teaching: (a) the D-RAPID framework; and (b) the Disciplinary Multi-dimensional Sustainability Influence Change for Academia (D-MuSICA) memework. The adoption of sustainability competence-base education must expand from a single HEI perspective to a disciplinary collaborative one spanning many HEIs, where academic disciplines should learn from each other's insights and mistakes and provide students with more transdisciplinary skillsets to make societies more sustainable.

Using grip strength as a cardiovascular risk indicator based on hybrid algorithms

Bareño Castellanos, Edvard Frederick | 2021

This article shows the application and design of a hybrid algorithm capable of classifying people into risk groups using data such as prehensile strength, body mass index and percentage of fat. The implementation was done on Python and proposes a tool to help make medical decisions regarding the cardiovascular health of patients. The data were taken in a systematic way, k-means and c-means algorithms were used for the classification of the data, for the prediction of new data two vectorial support machines were used, one for the k-means and the other for the c-means, obtaining as a result a 100% of precision in the vectorial support machine with c-means and a 92% in the one of k-means.

Factors associated with electricity losses in Colombia

Briseño, Hugo | 2021

The purpose of this research is to explore the factors associated with transmission and distribution electricity losses in Colombia, measured through the proxy variable non-technical losses. A literature review is carried out to find out the variables that have been significant in past studies. Once the issue is contextualized in the Colombian case, a statistical and econometric analysis is developed with the available variables. Transmission and distribution electricity losses were found to be positively significantly associated with crime, unemployment, and income; while these have a negative association with urbanization and population density. Results are of interest to practitioners, academics and policy makers.

Small Farmers’ Use of Social Media and Other Channels for Marketing their Agricultural Products

Moreno Ortiz, Carlos Alberto | 2021

We examined small farmers’ use of and preference for different channels for marketing agricultural products and explored differences by gender, age group, and education level. Farmers markets and social media were preferred channels, with participants under age 55 being more likely than those 55 and over to prefer and use social media and agree that social media would be useful for promoting products and increasing sales. While selling via social media could provide a larger market, one challenge is that the average age of Mississippi farm operators is 59. Therefore, Extension must consider multiple approaches for delivering training on marketing.

La mercantilización del saber científico

Anzola Montero, German | 2021

Características seminales de verracos alojados en ambiente controlado ubicado en trópico cálido

Calatayud Márquez, Derwin Ramón | 2021

El estudio tuvo como objetivo evaluar las características seminales de verracosalojados en un sistema de ambiente controlado en bosque seco tropical en una granjaporcina comercial ubicada en el estado Zulia, Venezuela. Se analizaron 6154 evaluacio-nes seminales (volumen, espermatozoides totales, concentración, motilidad y númerode dosis por eyaculado) de 95 verracos de la línea comercial Topigs®, desde septiembrede 2006 hasta julio de 2010. Los verracos se encontraban alojados en un sistema deambiente controlado de confort higrotérmico (Chore.Time. 2529,676; modelo 8-B1.5). Seobservaron valores promedios de 253.2 ± 57.0 ml para volumen seminal, 3.59 ± 0.2 demotilidad individual progresiva, 322.1x106 ± 98.2 espermatozoides/mlpara la concentra-ción espermática, 81.2x109 ± 26.1 espermatozoides totales por eyaculado y una produc-ción de 27.0 ± 8.7 dosis seminales por cada eyaculado. Se obtuvo mejor producciónseminal en enero y febrero y menores valores en noviembre y diciembre. Existe un efectoaltamente significativo (p<0.001) del mes sobre todas las características seminales conexcepción del volumen (p>0.05). El sistema de alojamiento de ambiente controlado noevita la notable variación de eyaculados dentro y entre los meses evaluados.

Caryophyllene oxide, the active compound isolated from leaves of hymenaea courbaril l. (fabaceae) with antiproliferative and apoptotic effects on pc-3 androgen-independent prostate cancer cell line

Delgado, Claudia | 2021

Cancer treatment frequently carries side effects, therefore, the search for new selective and effective molecules is indispensable. Hymenaea courbaril L. has been used in traditional medicine in South America to treat several diseases, including prostate cancer. Leaves’ extracts from different polarities were evaluated using the 3-(4,5-methyl-thiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) cell viability assay to determine the cytotoxicity in prostate p53-null cells, followed by bio-guided fractionations to obtain the most cytotoxic fraction considering the selectivity index. The most cytotoxic fraction was analyzed by GC/MS to identify the active compounds. The majority compound, caryophyllene oxide, induced early and late apoptosis, depolarized the mitochondrial membrane, leading to several morphological changes and shifts in apoptotic proteins, and caspases were evidenced. Depolarization of the mitochondrial membrane releases the pro-apoptotic protein Bax from Bcl-xL. The apoptosis process is caspase-7 activation-dependent. Caryophyllene oxide is a safe anti-proliferative agent against PC-3 cells, inducing apoptosis with low toxicity towards normal cells.

Depressive symptoms and burnout in football players: A systematic review

Sarmento, Hugo | 2021

The purpose of this article was to systematically review and organise the available literature devoted to the topic of depressive symptoms and burnout in football players. A systematic search was conducted in Web of Science, Scopus, SPORTdiscus, PubMed, and Psychinfo for articles published up to June 2020. The searches yielded 1589 articles, and after the screening process, a total of 18 studies met the eligibility criteria and were included for review. Playing position and conflicts with coach/management seems to have a direct influence on the prevalence of depressive symptoms in current players as do the injuries and life events of former players. During the pre-competition phase, most of the athletes displayed reduced rates, indicating burnout. An exploration of the mental health of football players will help to create models of care and guide professionals so that they may help players achieve better performance while also having better wellbeing. Understanding how to prevent and cope with the emotional wellbeing of football players will be possible to guide players and coaches.

Comparing Class II MHC DRB3 Diversity in Colombian Simmental and Simbrah Cattle Across Worldwide Bovine Populations

Ordoñez, Diego | 2022

The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) exerts great influence on responses to infectious diseases and vaccination due to its fundamental role in the adaptive immune system. Knowledge about MHC polymorphism distribution among breeds can provide insights into cattle evolution and diversification as well as population-based immune response variability, thus guiding further studies. Colombian Simmental and Simbrah cattle’s BoLA-DRB3 genetic diversity was compared to that of taurine and zebuine breeds worldwide to estimate functional diversity. High allele richness was observed for Simmental and Simbrah cattle; nevertheless, high homozygosity was associated with individual low sequence variability in both the β1 domain and the peptide binding region (PBR), thereby implying reduced MHC-presented peptide repertoire size. There were strong signals of positive selection acting on BoLA-DRB3 in all populations, some of which were poorly structured and displayed common alleles accounting for their high genetic similarity. PBR sequence correlation analysis suggested that, except for a few populations exhibiting some divergence at PBR, global diversity regarding potential MHC-presented peptide repertoire could be similar for the cattle populations analyzed here, which points to the retention of functional diversity in spite of the selective pressures imposed by breeding.

Natural isoquinoline alkaloids: Pharmacological features and multi-target potential for complex diseases

Plazas, Erika | 2022

Complex diseases such as neurodegenerative disorders and cancer constitute a growing public health problem due to the rising incidence and lack in effective therapies. Since pharmacotherapy based on a single target has been insufficient for drug development in complex diseases, the emerging multi-target approach is a promising strategy for the search of new drug candidates. Plant-derived isoquinoline alkaloids comprise a vast source of multimodal agents with unique structural diversity, and variated range of pharmacological activities. This review offers an exhaustive compilation of the pharmacological relevance and multi-target potential of natural isoquinolines, emphasizing their features and promising activity in complex diseases such as Alzheimer, Parkinson, and Cancer. Selected examples were discussed in depth to illustrate the most relevant structural motifs and their possible relationship with the multimodal activity offering a comprehensive baseline in the search and optimization of isoquinoline scaffolds with polypharmacological potential for complex diseases.

Trend pattern of heavy and intense rainfall events in Colombia from 1981–2018: A trend-EOF approach

Cerón, Wilmar L. | 2022

The Andes mountain range divides Colombia into various climatic regions over the country, as the Andean, Caribbean, Pacific, Amazon, and Orinoco regions. Given this scenario, knowing the current change in total precipitation and their extremes values are relevant. In this study, the main goal is to assess the spatio-temporal trends of heavy and intense rainfall at a seasonal scale during the last 38 years (1981–2018) using the trend empirical orthogonal function (TEOF). An increase in maximum precipitation during five consecutive days (RX5day), Simple daily intensity index (SDII), and the number of days with precipitation above 20 mm (R20mm) and 30 mm (R30mm) during December–February and March–May was observed in most of the Colombian territory, except for the Amazon region for RX5day. A decrease in total rainfall in June–August was observed in the Andean, the Caribbean, and southern Pacific regions, while, in the northern Pacific, it increased, consistent with the trend patterns of RX5day, SDII, and R20mm. During September–November, there was a reduction in rainfall in the Amazon region and the South Pacific, and an increase in RX5day, SDII, R20mm, and R30mm in the Andean, the Caribbean, and North Pacific regions. The TEOF showed more pronounced spatial trend patterns than those obtained with the traditional Mann–Kendall test. The findings offer a better understanding of the climate extremes impacts in tropical latitudes and help planners to implement measures against the future effects of climate change.

Does the El Niño-Southern Oscillation Affect the Combined Impact of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation and Pacific Decadal Oscillation on the Precipitation and Surface Air Temperature Variability over South America?

Kayano, Mary | 2022

Previous studies have shown that the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) and Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) have combined effects on the precipitation (PRP) variability over South America. The combined impacts have been assessed considering four mean states as the averages of the variable anomalies during sub-periods overlapping time intervals of the PDO and AMO phases. Since these sub-periods include years under El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) extremes, the extent to which these years’ occurrence affects the averaged anomaly patterns during different mean states is investigated. The analyses are done for the PRP and surface air temperature (SAT) during the austral winter (June to August) and summer (December to February) of the 1901–2014 period using a composite technique. The nonlinear ENSO response in each mean state for a variable corresponds to the sum of the anomaly composites of the El Niño and La Niña events. In each mean state, the nonlinear PRP and SAT anomalies are not negligible and show similar patterns of the corresponding mean state, with larger magnitudes. For both seasons and all mean states, these similarities are more pronounced for SAT than for PRP. Thus, the ENSO variability affects the mean state’s PRP and SAT anomaly patterns in different ways. As far as we know, analyses of the nonlinear ENSO response of the South American climate during distinct mean states were not performed before. Our results also indicate that the ENSO variability should be considered in the studies of the low-frequency modes and their effects on the mean state over South America. The results presented could be relevant for climate monitoring and modeling studies.

The prevalence of Chlamydia psittaci in confiscated Psittacidae in Colombia

Ruiz Laiton, Alejandra | 2022

Chlamydia psittaci is a highly zoonotic bacteria distributed worldwide; it is responsible for psittacosis, one of the most important infectious diseases affecting the Psittacidae, mostly parrots. This work was aimed at determining C. psittaci prevalence and genotype in 177 parrots confiscated in Colombia; cloacal swab (166) and faecal (177) samples were analysed from birds confiscated and housed in a Temporary Wildlife Reception Centre (Centro de Reception de Fauna Temporal). Conventional PCR was run on the samples for amplifying the MOMP gene and then the ompA gene. The C. psittaci genotype A was found in 81.3 % (144/177) of the birds analysed. Cloacal swabs accounted for 129/166 (77.7 %) positive samples and faecal matter for 53/177 (29.9 %), 38 birds proving positive for both types of sample; there was an 8.15 times greater probability of detection for cloacal swabs compared to faecal swabs (p < 0.05). Clinical examination findings were correlated with the animals’ positivity for cloacal swabs, faecal matter or both, finding a statistically significant relationship with low respiratory rate (p < 0.05) and broken plumage for cloacal swab sample results (p < 0.1). Even though 85 % seroprevalence has previously been reported in Colombia using indirect ELISA, this study reports for the first time C. psittaci genotype A endemicity in psittacines in captivity in Colombia using molecular techniques, considering the zoonotic risk involved in having these birds as pets.