Analysis of Telomere Length and Its Implication in Neurocognitive Functions in Elderly Women.

During the normal aging process, a series of events occur, such as a decrease in telomere length and a decrease in various cognitive functions, such as attention, memory, or perceptual-motor speed. Several studies have attempted to establish a correlation between both variables; however, there is considerable controversy in the scientific literature. The aim of our study was to establish a correlation between the scores obtained in the following different cognitive tests: the Mini-Mental State Examination, the Benton Visual Retention Test, the Trail Making Test, the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, the Stroop Test, and the measurement of telomere length. The sample consisted of a total of 41 physically active, healthy women, with a mean age of 71.21 (±4.32) and of 33 physically inactive, healthy women, with a mean age of 72.70 (±4.13). Our results indicate that there is no correlation between the scores obtained by the women in either group and their telomere length. Therefore, it is not possible to conclude that telomere length can be correlated with cognitive performance.

Main factors affecting lacertid lizard thermal ecology.

The thermal ecology of ectotherms has been studied for almost 2 centuries, but additional attention is currently being paid to it, to understand how organisms deal with the environment in a climate change context. A consensus is still far away due to the large number of factors involved and their complex interactions. In this context, 3 analyses in lacertid lizards were carried out: (i) a meta-analysis, to test for differences between body and air temperatures from 71 populations; (ii) a meta-analysis concerning correlations between body and air temperatures from 60 populations; and (iii) a multimodel inference of thermoregulation effectiveness indices from 45 populations. The importance of different factors, including body size, habitat, insularity, altitude, climate and season, was evaluated in all analyses to model the response variables. A strong seasonality effect was observed, with a consistent pattern of less effective thermoregulation in summer compared to other seasons. Altitude was the second most important factor, with a consistent higher thermoregulation effort in populations occurring at high elevations (>1000 m above sea level). Other factors, such as insularity or body size, can also be important, but did not exhibit a clear pattern. Finally, thermoregulation was less affected by climate and habitat type.

Utilización de estadística en los artículos originales publicados la revista índex de enfermería / Use of statistics in the original articles published in the index de enfermería journal

Objetivo principal: Determinar la utilización de la estadística en los artículos originales de la revista Index de Enfermería. Metodología: Estudio observacional descriptivo de los artículos publicados desde el 2010 hasta septiembre del 2015. Se recogieron las siguientes variables: Nº de artículos originales, nacionalidad, tipo de estudio y nivel de análisis estadístico de los estudios cuantitativos y mixtos. Se realizó un análisis estadístico descriptivo mediante frecuencias y porcentajes. Resultados principales: La Revista Index de Enfermería publicó 103 artículos originales, predominaron los artículos de España (54,4%), los estudios cualitativos (56,3%) y el nivel estadístico normal básico (41,5%). Conclusión principal: Los resultados siguieron la tendencia hacia la utilización de métodos estadísticos cada vez más complejos en las publicaciones biomédicas

Objective: To determine the use of statistics in the original articles of the Index de Enfermería journal. Methods: Observational descriptive study of articles published from 2010 to September 2015. The following variables were collected: Number of original articles, nationality, type of study and level of statistical analysis of quantitative and mixed studies. A descriptive statistical analysis was performed using frequencies and percentages. Results: The Index de Enfermería journal published 103 articles, with articles predominating in Spain (54.4%), qualitative studies (56.3%) and the basic statistical level (41.5%). Conclusion: The results followed the trend towards the use of increasingly complex statistical methods in biomedical journals

Immediate effects of bilateral manipulation of talocrural joints on standing stability in healthy subjects.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the immediate effects of bilateral talocrural joint manipulation on standing stability in healthy subjects. Sixty-two healthy subjects, 16 males and 46 females, aged from 18 to 32 years old (mean: 21+/-3 years old) participated in the study. Subjects were randomly divided into two groups: an intervention group (n=32), who received manipulation of bilateral talocrural joints and a control group (n=30) which did not receive any intervention. Baropodometric and stabilometric evaluations were assessed pre- and 5 min post-intervention by an assessor blinded to the treatment allocation. Intra-group and inter-group comparisons were analysed using appropriate parametric tests. The results indicated that changes on the X coordinate range, length of motion, and mean speed approximated to statistical significance (P=0.06), and changes on the Y coordinate range reached statistical significance (P=0.02). Average X and Y motions, and anterior-posterior or lateral velocities did not show significant differences. Our results showed that bilateral thrust manipulation of the talocrural joint did not modify standing stability, that is, the behavioural pattern of the projection of the centre of pressure, in healthy subjects.