Extreme High-Elevation Mammal Surveys Reveal Unexpectedly High Upper Range Limits of Andean Mice.

AbstractIn the world's highest mountain ranges, uncertainty about the upper elevational range limits of alpine animals represents a critical knowledge gap regarding the environmental limits of life and presents a problem for detecting range shifts in response to climate change. Here we report results of mountaineering mammal surveys in the Central Andes, which led to the discovery of multiple species of mice living at extreme elevations that far surpass previously assumed range limits for mammals. We livetrapped small mammals from ecologically diverse sites spanning >6,700 m of vertical relief, from the desert coast of northern Chile to the summits of the highest volcanoes in the Andes. We used molecular sequence data and whole-genome sequence data to confirm the identities of species that represent new elevational records and to test hypotheses regarding species limits. These discoveries contribute to a new appreciation of the environmental limits of vertebrate life.

Long-term care facilities' response to the COVID-19 pandemic: An international, cross-sectional survey.

AIMS: To (i) assess the adherence of long-term care (LTC) facilities to the COVID-19 prevention and control recommendations, (ii) identify predictors of this adherence and (iii) examine the association between the adherence level and the impact of the pandemic on selected unfavourable conditions. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. METHODS: Managers (n = 212) and staff (n = 2143) of LTC facilities (n = 223) in 13 countries/regions (Brazil, Egypt, England, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Norway, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Spain, Thailand and Turkey) evaluated the adherence of LTC facilities to COVID-19 prevention and control recommendations and the impact of the pandemic on unfavourable conditions related to staff, residents and residents' families. The characteristics of participants and LTC facilities were also gathered. Data were collected from April to October 2021. The study was reported following the STROBE guidelines. RESULTS: The adherence was significantly higher among facilities with more pre-pandemic in-service education on infection control and easier access to information early in the pandemic. Residents' feelings of loneliness and feeling down were the most affected conditions by the pandemic. More psychological support to residents was associated with fewer residents' aggressive behaviours, and more psychological support to staff was associated with less work-life imbalance. CONCLUSIONS: Pre-pandemic preparedness significantly shaped LTC facilities' response to the pandemic. Adequate psychological support to residents and staff might help mitigate the negative impacts of infection outbreaks. IMPACT: This is the first study to comprehensively examine the adherence of LTC facilities to COVID-19 prevention and control recommendations. The results demonstrated that the adherence level was significantly related to pre-pandemic preparedness and that adequate psychological support to staff and residents was significantly associated with less negative impacts of the pandemic on LTC facilities' staff and residents. The results would help LTC facilities prepare for and respond to future infection outbreaks. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: No Patient or Public Contribution.

Fine-scale spatial variation shape fecal microbiome diversity and composition in black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus).

BACKGROUND: Host associated gut microbiota are important in understanding the coevolution of host-microbe, and how they may help wildlife populations to adapt to rapid environmental changes. Mammalian gut microbiota composition and diversity may be affected by a variety of factors including geographic variation, seasonal variation in diet, habitat disturbance, environmental conditions, age, and sex. However, there have been few studies that examined how ecological and environmental factors influence gut microbiota composition in animals' natural environments. In this study, we explore how host habitat, geographical location and environmental factors affect the fecal microbiota of Cynomys ludovicianus at a small spatial scale. We collected fecal samples from five geographically distinct locations in the Texas Panhandle classified as urban and rural areas and analyzed them using high throughput 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. RESULTS: The results showed that microbiota of these fecal samples was largely dominated by the phylum Bacteroidetes. Fecal microbiome diversity and composition differed significantly across sampling sites and habitats. Prairie dogs inhabiting urban areas showed reduced fecal diversity due to more homogenous environment and, likely, anthropogenic disturbance. Urban prairie dog colonies displayed greater phylogenetic variation among replicates than those in rural habitats. Differentially abundant analysis revealed that bacterial species pathogenic to humans and animals were highly abundant in urban areas which indicates that host health and fitness might be negatively affected. Random forest models identified Alistipes shahii as the important species driving the changes in fecal microbiome composition. Despite the effects of habitat and geographic location of host, we found a strong correlation with environmental factors and that- average maximum temperature was the best predictor of prairie dog fecal microbial diversity. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that reduction in alpha diversity in conjunction with greater dispersion in beta diversity could be indicative of declining host health in urban areas; this information may, in turn, help determine future conservation efforts. Moreover, several bacterial species pathogenic to humans and other animals were enriched in prairie dog colonies near urban areas, which may in turn adversely affect host phenotype and fitness.

Thermalization and Dephasing in Collisional Reservoirs.

We introduce a wide class of quantum maps that arise in collisional reservoirs and are able to thermalize a system if they operate in conjunction with an additional dephasing mechanism. These maps describe the effect of collisions and induce transitions between populations that obey detailed balance, but also create coherences that prevent the system from thermalizing. We combine these maps with a unitary evolution acting during random Poissonian times between collisions and causing dephasing. We find that, at a low collision rate, the nontrivial combination of these two effects causes thermalization in the system. This scenario is suitable for modeling collisional reservoirs at equilibrium. We justify this claim by identifying the conditions for such maps to arise within a scattering theory approach and provide a thorough characterization of the resulting thermalization process.

The relationship between depression and risk of violence in portuguese community-dwelling older people.

BACKGROUND: Mental disorders are highly prevalent in older people, being depression a predominant disorder. Evidence points to a possible relationship between depression and violence against older people. Nonetheless, the role of the depressive symptomology severity in the risk of violence against older people remains unclear. Thus, this study's main objective was to analyze the relationship between geriatric depressive symptomatology and the risk of violence against older people. METHODS: This exploratory study involved 502 community-dwelling older persons aged 65 to 96 years (73.3 ± 6.5). Measures were performed using the Geriatric Depression Scale and the Risk Assessment of Violence against the Non-Institutionalized Elderly scale. RESULTS: One hundred nineteen older people (23.7%) had mild/moderate depressive symptomology, and twenty-six (5.2%) had severe depressive symptomology. There were significant relationships between the severity of depressive symptomatology and the risk of violence (p < 0.05). The presence of depressive symptomatology increased the likelihood of being victims of violence, particularly among women (odds ratio: 2-8, p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The severity of depressive symptomatology plays an essential role in the risk of violence against community-dwelling older people. Moreover, it was found that older persons with depression symptomatology were at higher risk of being victims of violence. Our study findings support the need for protective measures within mental health national or regional policies to prevent depression and violence against community-dwelling older people.

Creative dance associated with traditional Portuguese singing as a strategy for active aging: a comparative cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Multimodal forms of exercise can influence several physical and mental factors important for successful aging. In the present study, we introduce a new type of multimodal intervention, combining movement (creative dance) with traditional singing. This study aims to compare physical fitness, functional physical independence, depressive symptoms, general cognitive status, and daytime sleepiness among older adults participating in multimodal exercise, those participating in traditional physical exercise, and those not actively engaged in physical exercise. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 112 people aged ≥ 65 years (75.3 ± 0.7 years) living independently in the community, divided into 3 groups: multimodal exercise (n = 34), traditional exercise (n = 41), and no physical exercise (n = 37). RESULTS: The multimodal exercise group showed greater flexibility of the lower limbs and upper limbs/shoulders and better general cognitive status than the traditional exercise group (p < 0.05). The traditional exercise group had better agility and dynamic balance, aerobic endurance, and strength of the lower and upper limbs than the no-exercise group (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that the two types of programs studied may have different impacts on some of the variables investigated and support the design of future experimental studies that include interventions based on the combination of creative dance and traditional Portuguese singing.

Can two multimodal psychomotor exercise programs improve attention, affordance perception, and balance in community dwellings at risk of falling? A randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Falls are associated with cognitive and physical function deterioration. Attention decline, inaccurate affordance perception, and balance impairment are considered to be risk factors for falls. Furthermore, few studies have reported psychomotor intervention as a fall prevention program. This study aimed to investigate the effects of two multimodal programs on attention, perceptual and stepping-forward boundaries, and balance in community-dwelling older adults at risk of falling. METHODS: Fifty-one community-dwelling older adults were recruited to participate in a 24-week randomized controlled trial. Participants (75.4 ± 5.6 years) were randomly assigned to one of three groups: the 1) multimodal psychomotor program [EG1], 2) combined program (multimodal psychomotor program + whole-body vibration program) [EG2], and 3) control group. Participants were assessed at baseline, at post-intervention, and after a 12-week no-intervention follow-up period. RESULTS: The within-group comparisons showed significant improvements in attention and balance in EG1 and EG2 after the intervention (p <  0.05). The magnitudes of the treatment effects were similar in both EGs, ranging from medium to large. Decreases in the fall rate were also observed in EG1 (- 44.2%) and EG2 (- 63.0%) (p <  0.05). During the follow-up period, these improvements in attention were maintained, while those in balance were reversed in both EGs. No significant differences between groups were found. CONCLUSIONS: These study results suggest that both multimodal exercise programs were effective for fall prevention and were well tolerated by the participants. Specifically, EG1 and EG2 showed identical improvements in attention, and EG2 presented a slightly larger enhancement in balance and a larger decrease in the fall rate. Our findings demonstrate the benefits of maintaining the psychomotor intervention program by itself or in combination with the whole-body vibration program to prevent cognitive and physical function deterioration. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03446352 . Date of registration: February 26, 2018.

Dynamic performance-exposure algorithm for falling risk assessment and prevention of falls in community-dwelling older adults.

This study aimed to design a dynamic performance-exposure algorithm for falling risk assessment and prevention of falls in community-dwelling older adults. It involved a cross-sectional and follow-up survey assessing retrospective and prospective falls and respective performance-related, exposure and performance-exposure risk factors. In total, 500 Portuguese community-dwelling adults participated. Data modelling showed significant (p<0.05) relationships between the above risk factors and selected nine key ordered outcomes explaining falls to include in the algorithm: previous falls; health conditions; balance; lower strength; perceiving action boundaries; fat mass; environmental hazards; rest periods; and physical activity. Respective high-, moderate- and low-risk cutoffs were established. The results demonstrated a dynamic relationship between older adults' performance capacity and the exposure to fall opportunity, counterbalanced by the action boundary perception, supporting the build algorithm's conceptual framework. Fall prevention measures should consider the factors contributing most to the individual risk of falling and their distance from low-risk safe values.

An ensemble learning strategy for panel time series forecasting of excess mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Quantifying and analyzing excess mortality in crises such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is crucial for policymakers. Traditional measures fail to take into account differences in the level, long-term secular trends, and seasonal patterns in all-cause mortality across countries and regions. This paper develops and empirically investigates the forecasting performance of a novel, flexible and dynamic ensemble learning with a model selection strategy (DELMS) for the seasonal time series forecasting of monthly respiratory disease death data across a pool of 61 heterogeneous countries. The strategy is based on a Bayesian model averaging (BMA) of heterogeneous time series methods involving both the selection of the subset of best forecasters (model confidence set), the identification of the best holdout period for each contributed model, and the determination of optimal weights using out-of-sample predictive accuracy. A model selection strategy is also developed to remove the outlier models and to combine the models with reasonable accuracy in the ensemble. The empirical outcomes of this large set of experiments show that the accuracy of the BMA approach is significantly improved with DELMS when selecting a flexible and dynamic holdout period and removing the outlier models. Additionally, the forecasts of respiratory disease deaths for each country are highly accurate and exhibit a high correlation (94%) with COVID-19 deaths in 2020.

Aging safely in Alentejo - understanding for action - preventing falls and violence against older people: study rationale, aims, design, and preliminary results.

BACKGROUND: Falls and violence against older people might represent a joint public health problem, as both may result in injury, fear, social isolation, sedentary behavior and dependence or even death. The ESACA project "Aging safely in Alentejo - Understanding for action" was designed to promote the healthy aging of older people in Alentejo by preventing the occurrence of falls and violence. This study aimed to report the ESACA protocol and the preliminary outcomes. METHODS: The ESACA study has a twofold design as a cross-sectional study that included retrospective and prospective surveys. The participants were 508 community-dwelling older people. Assessments included falls, the risk of violence against older people, sociodemographic characteristics, health-related measurements, fear of falling, anthropometric measures and body composition, functional physical fitness, physical activity, and environmental hazards. RESULTS: Among the participants, 43% were fallers, 21% were recurrent fallers, and 22% were victims of one or more kinds of violence (psychological: 17.1%, physical: 5.6%, and patrimonial: 3.0%). Moreover, the cumulative results suggested high risk on several risk factors for falling (7 factors: 0.6% to 2 factors: 17.4%) and of  violence (26.7%). CONCLUSIONS: In the ESACA project, a wide range of potential influencing factors on falls and violence risk factors were measured, and comprehensive quality control measures were applied. Overall, the results suggest that for falls and violence prevention strategies to be effective, it is essential to evaluate, diagnose, and inform all stakeholders in a directed and useful way. Moreover, we believe that our project outcomes may help change mindsets and behaviors by involving people in active aging and well-being programs that promote exercise and avoid isolation.

Effects of two 24-week multimodal exercise programs on reaction time, mobility, and dual-task performance in community-dwelling older adults at risk of falling: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Falls in older adults are considered a major public health problem. Declines in cognitive and physical functions, as measured by parameters including reaction time, mobility, and dual-task performance, have been reported to be important risk factors for falls. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of two multimodal programs on reaction time, mobility, and dual-task performance in community-dwelling older adults at risk of falling. METHODS: In this randomized controlled trial, fifty-one participants (75.4 ± 5.6 years) were allocated into two experimental groups (EGs) (with sessions 3 times per week for 24 weeks), and a control group: EG1 was enrolled in a psychomotor intervention program, EG2 was enrolled in a combined exercise program (psychomotor intervention program + whole-body vibration program), and the control group maintained their usual daily activities. The participants were assessed at baseline, after the intervention, and after a 12-week no-intervention follow-up period. RESULTS: The comparisons revealed significant improvements in mobility and dual-task performance after the intervention in EG1, while there were improvements in reaction time, mobility, and dual-task performance in EG2 (p ≤ 0.05). The size of the interventions' clinical effect was medium in EG1 and ranged from medium to large in EG2. The comparisons also showed a reduction in the fall rate in both EGs (EG1: -44.2%; EG2: - 63.0%, p ≤ 0.05) from baseline to post-intervention. The interventions' effects on reaction time, mobility, and dual-task performance were no longer evident after the 12-week no-intervention follow-up period. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that multimodal psychomotor programs were well tolerated by community-dwelling older adults and were effective for fall prevention, as well as for the prevention of cognitive and physical functional decline, particularly if the programs are combined with whole-body vibration exercise. The discontinuation of these programs could lead to the fast reversal of the positive outcomes achieved. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03446352. Date of registration: February 07, 2018.

Development and validation of a continuous fall risk score in community-dwelling older people: an ecological approach.

BACKGROUND: Fall risk assessment in older people is of major importance for providing adequate preventive measures. Current predictive models are mainly focused on intrinsic risk factors and do not adjust for contextual exposure. The validity and utility of continuous risk scores have already been demonstrated in clinical practice in several diseases. In this study, we aimed to develop and validate an intrinsic-exposure continuous fall risk score (cFRs) for community-dwelling older people through standardized residuals. METHODS: Self-reported falls in the last year were recorded from 504 older persons (391 women: age 73.1 ± 6.5 years; 113 men: age 74.0 ± 6.1 years). Participants were categorized as occasional fallers (falls ≤1) or recurrent fallers (≥ 2 falls). The cFRs was derived for each participant by summing the standardized residuals (Z-scores) of the intrinsic fall risk factors and exposure factors. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to determine the accuracy of the cFRs for identifying recurrent fallers. RESULTS: The cFRs varied according to the number of reported falls; it was lowest in the group with no falls (- 1.66 ± 2.59), higher in the group with one fall (0.05 ± 3.13, p < 0.001), and highest in the group with recurrent fallers (2.82 ± 3.94, p < 0.001). The cFRs cutoff level yielding the maximal sensitivity and specificity for identifying recurrent fallers was 1.14, with an area under the ROC curve of 0.790 (95% confidence interval: 0.746-0.833; p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The cFRs was shown to be a valid dynamic multifactorial fall risk assessment tool for epidemiological analyses and clinical practice. Moreover, the potential for the cFRs to become a widely used approach regarding fall prevention in community-dwelling older people was demonstrated, since it involves a holistic intrinsic-exposure approach to the phenomena. Further investigation is required to validate the cFRs with other samples since it is a sample-specific tool.

Key factor cutoffs and interval reference values for stratified fall risk assessment in community-dwelling older adults: the role of physical fitness, body composition, physical activity, health condition, and environmental hazards.

BACKGROUND: Fall risk assessment and determination of older adults' individual risk profiles are crucial elements in fall prevention. As such, it is essential to establish cutoffs and reference values for high and low risk according to key risk factor outcomes. This study main objective was to determine the key physical fitness, body composition, physical activity, health condition and environmental hazard risk outcome cutoffs and interval reference values for stratified fall risk assessment in community-dwelling older adults. METHODS: Five-hundred community-dwelling Portuguese older adults (72.2 ± 5.4 years) were assessed for falls, physical fitness, body composition, physical (in) activity, number of health conditions and environmental hazards, and sociodemographic characteristics. RESULTS: The established key outcomes and respective cutoffs and reference values used for fall risk stratification were multidimensional balance (low risk: score > 33, moderate risk: score 32-33, high risk: score 30-31, and very high: score < 30); lean body mass (low risk: > 44 kg, moderate risk: 42-44 kg, high risk: 39-41 kg, and very high: < 39 kg); fat body mass (low risk: < 37%, moderate risk: 37-38%, high risk: 39-42%, and very high: > 42%); total physical activity (low risk: > 2800 Met-min/wk., moderate risk: 2300-2800 Met-min/wk., high risk: 1900-2300 Met-min/wk., and very high: < 1900 Met-min/wk); rest period weekdays (low risk: < 4 h/day, moderate risk: 4-4.4 h/day, high risk: 4.5-5 h/day, and very high: > 5 h/day); health conditions (low risk: n < 3, moderate risk: n = 3, high risk: n = 4-5, and very high: n > 5); and environmental hazards (low risk: n < 5, moderate risk: n = 5, high risk: n = 6-8, and very high: n > 8). CONCLUSIONS: Assessment of community-dwelling older adults' fall risk should focus on the above outcomes to establish individual older adults' fall risk profiles. Moreover, the design of fall prevention interventions should manage a person's identified risks and take into account the determined cutoffs and respective interval values for fall risk stratification.

Towards the use of multidimensional performance indicators in football small-sided games: the effects of pitch orientation.

This study aimed to compare youth football players' performance during two small-sided games with different pitch orientation: i) 40x30m and ii) 30x40m formats. Twenty under-15 players (age = 14.1 ± 0.5 years) participated in nine GK+4vs4+GK situations in each format, with the duration of six minutes each. Positional data were collected using individual GPS units, and computed for tactical and physical performance indicators. The SSG were video recorded, using notational analysis for collecting technical indicators. A novel method that incorporates time dependent notational information with spatiotemporal data was used to compute multidimensional parameters. Standardised effect sizes and non-clinical magnitude-based inferences were used to compare formats. Results showed that players covered more distance at higher intensities, presented more passes and dribbles and were more synchronised in the longitudinal axis while playing in the 40x30m pitch. In the 30x40m pitch, results showed a lower distance between team centroids, higher number of shots, more lateral passes and a wider team positioning. Multidimensional indicators, as players position and distance to the closest defender while shooting, revealed a more constant distance between attacker and defender in the 40x30m pitch. These results highlight the importance of integrating information from different indicators for a contextually valid information.

Abdominal obesity in adolescents: Development of age-specific waist circumference cut-offs linked to adult IDF criteria.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to develop age- and sex-specific waist circumference (WC) cut-off points, linked to older adolescent and adult criteria for abdominal obesity, to be applied to children in the clinical setting. METHODS: A total of 16,788 adolescents aged 10 to 16 years were assessed for WC. Smoothed age and sex-specific WC curves were obtained using Cole's LMS method. RESULTS: Percentiles that corresponded to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) recommendations used for older adolescents and adults (16+ years old) were the 97th percentile for boys and the 87th percentile for girls. Using these cutoffs, a total of 368 boys and 1138 girls were categorized as abdominally obese, in contrast to 1654 boys and 987 girls that were identified using the current IDF pediatric criteria (90th percentile). CONCLUSIONS: We provide age- and sex-specific cut-off points that can be used to identify abdominal obesity in adolescents. The present findings provide a tool that can be used in the clinical setting for the early detection and prevention of adult obesity. Population-specific cutoffs may be required for pediatric ages to diagnose children at risk.

Dating an impressive Neotropical radiation: Molecular time estimates for the Sigmodontinae (Rodentia) provide insights into its historical biogeography.

With about 400 living species and 82 genera, rodents of the subfamily Sigmodontinae comprise one of the most diverse and more broadly distributed Neotropical mammalian clades. There has been much debate on the origin of the lineage or the lineages of sigmodontines that entered South America, the timing of entrance and different aspects of further diversification within South America. The ages of divergence of the main lineages and the crown age of the subfamily were estimated by using sequences of the interphotoreceptor retinoid binding protein and cytochrome b genes for a dense sigmodontine and muroid sampling. Bayesian inference using three fossil calibration points and a relaxed molecular clock estimated a middle Miocene origin for Sigmodontinae (∼12Ma), with most tribes diversifying throughout the Late Miocene (6.9-9.4Ma). These estimates together results of analyses of ancestral area reconstructions suggest a distribution for the most recent common ancestor of Sigmodontinae in Central-South America and a South American distribution for the most recent common ancestor of Oryzomyalia.

Prevalence of antibody to hantaviruses in humans and rodents in the Caribbean region of Colombia determined using Araraquara and Maciel virus antigens.

We tested sera from 286 agricultural workers and 322 rodents in the department of Córdoba, northeastern Colombia, for antibodies against two hantaviruses. The sera were analysed by indirect ELISA using the lysate of Vero E6 cells infected with Maciel virus (MACV) or the N protein of Araraquara virus (ARAV) as antigens for the detection of antibodies against hantaviruses. Twenty-four human sera were IgG positive using one or both antigens. We detected anti-MACV IgG antibodies in 10 sera (3.5%) and anti-ARAV antibodies in 21 sera (7.34%). Of the 10 samples that were positive for MACV, seven (70%) were cross-reactive with ARAV; seven of the 21 ARAV-positive samples were cross-reactive with MACV. Using an ARAV IgM ELISA, two of the 24 human sera (8.4%) were positive. We captured 322 rodents, including 210 Cricetidae (181 Zygodontomys brevicauda, 28 Oligoryzomys fulvescens and 1 Oecomys trinitatis), six Heteromys anomalus (Heteromyidae), one Proechimys sp. (Echimyidae) and 105 Muridae (34 Rattus rattus and 71 Mus musculus). All rodent sera were negative for both antigens. The 8.4% detection rate of hantavirus antibodies in humans is much higher than previously found in serosurveys in North America, suggesting that rural agricultural workers in northeastern Colombia are frequently exposed to hantaviruses. Our results also indicate that tests conducted with South American hantavirus antigens could have predictive value and could represent a useful alternative for the diagnosis of hantavirus infection in Colombia.

[Validation of a modified version of SODA questionnaire (severity of dyspepsia assessment) adapted to Peru for evaluating evolution of symptoms severity in patients with dyspepsia]. / Modificación y validación del instrumento SODA (severity of dyspepsia assessment) adaptada al Perú para evaluar la evolución de la severidad de los síntomas en pacientes con dispepsia.

OBJECTIVES: To validate SODA (severity of dyspepsia assessment) questionnaire in our population for evaluating symptoms severity in patients with dyspepsia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Content and appearance validity were measured, and then a modified questionnaire was developed. A pilot test was made and reliability, construct validity and responsiveness were measured. RESULTS: An adequate content and appearance validity were obtained. On the pilot test, reliability of the complete questionnaire and by components had Cronbach alpha values over 0,7. Construct validity of SODA was evaluated by correlating modified SODA results with SF-36 scores using Pearson test: -0.72 (p<0.001). When we compared results of modified SODA questionnaire and the score of a question about subjective perception of the disease using Spearman test we obtained similar results: 0.72 (p<0.001). Two means of SODA questionnaire scores, before and after treatment, were compared using Student's T test, and a significant difference was found, (p<0.001) with a drop mean of 5.70 ±5.33. CONCLUSION: Modified SODA questionnaire meets all criteria of validity and it could be used to measure dyspepsia severity and its evolution in a Peruvian population.

Improving Health Outcomes in Coronary Artery Disease Patients with Short-Term Protocols of High-Intensity Interval Training and Moderate-Intensity Continuous Training: A Community-Based Randomized Controlled Trial.

Studies have shown that the higher the aerobic capacity, the lower the risk of cardiovascular mortality and morbidity. In the case of cardiac patients, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) seems to be more effective than moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) in improving aerobic capacity. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of two community-based exercise programs using two short-term protocols (HIIT and MICT) on physical fitness and physical activity (PA) levels in coronary artery disease (CAD) patients. Methods. In this randomized controlled trial, body composition, aerobic capacity, muscle strength, and daily PA levels were assessed before and after 6 weeks of intervention in 69 patients diagnosed with CAD. All patients were randomly (1 : 1 : 1) assigned to two exercise groups (HIIT or MICT) or a control group (no exercise). Both training programs consisted of 6 weeks of supervised treadmill exercise, three sessions per week. MICT targeted ≈70-75% of peak heart rate (HR), while HIIT aimed for ≈85-95% of peak HR. The control group only followed the medical recommendations. Results. Community-based exercise programs showed more positive effects on physical fitness variables and physical activity levels compared to control. HIIT could significantly improve waist circumference, body fat mass, VO2peak, sedentary behavior, and moderate-to-vigorous PA compared to MICT. Moreover, the control group showed poorer results. Conclusion. HIIT can improve health outcomes more positively than MICT and control. These findings indicate that HIIT may be an alternative and effective training method in community-based exercise programs for CAD patients. This trial is registered with NCT03538119.

A dataset on skeletal muscle mass index, body composition and strength to determinate sarcopenia in bariatric patients.

Bariatric surgery is the treatment for severe obesity, with proven efficacy in reducing weight. Weight loss associated with bariatric surgery is greatly associated with a significant reduction of skeletal muscle and bone mineral mass, which leads us to induce that after bariatric surgery, patients incur an increased risk of sarcopenia. Prophylactic programs that prevent sarcopenia in bariatric surgery patients seems to be one of the crucial points for the long-term surgical success of bariatric and metabolic surgery. This article presents a initial data set of skeletal muscle mass index, body composition and strength to determinate sarcopenia in bariatric patients. The data were collected in a Central Hospital and in the University. In total, is necessary to recruit 46 patients waiting for bariatric surgery, between 18 and 60 years, men, and woman, without contradiction for exercise. The patients are randomized in two groups, for exercise group and control group. The evaluation is made on five points of timeline, before the surgery, after the surgery, after de exercise program, six months, and twelve months after the exercise program.