The association between social support and cognitive function in Mexican adults aged 50 and older.

Social support networks are crucial for the health of older adults; however, personal characteristics and time of life may diminish the protective effect of social support. OBJECTIVE: to determine if the presence of social support networks were associated with cognitive impairment among Mexican adults aged 50 or older and if this relationship was different based on age. METHOD: This study analyzed data from the National Representation Survey performed in Mexico, Study on Global Ageing (SAGE) wave 1. Cognitive function was evaluated by a standardized test, social support was evaluated through latent class analysis (LCA). The LCA was run to obtain three subgroups of different Social Support Levels (SSL): low, medium, and high. Logistic regression models, stratified by age, were performed to analyze the association between SSL and cognitive function. RESULTS: For respondents ages 71-80 y/o, there was an inverse relationship with cognitive impairment for those with medium (OR 0.23, p=0.020) and high (OR 0.07, p=0.000) SSL in comparison with low SSL. While social support helped to improve cognitive function in older adults aged 71-80, this same association was not observed in adults of other ages. Those younger than 70 y/o may not need such a strong support network as a result of being more self-sufficient. After 80, social networks were not enough to help diminish the negative impact of cognitive impairment. CONCLUSION: Social support could improve the cognitive function of adults ages 71 and 80; suggesting there could be a window of opportunity to improve cognitive functioning for this group.

Population genomic analysis uncovers African and European admixture in Drosophila melanogaster populations from the south-eastern United States and Caribbean Islands.

Drosophila melanogaster is postulated to have colonized North America in the past several 100 years in two waves. Flies from Europe colonized the east coast United States while flies from Africa inhabited the Caribbean, which if true, make the south-east US and Caribbean Islands a secondary contact zone for African and European D. melanogaster. This scenario has been proposed based on phenotypes and limited genetic data. In our study, we have sequenced individual whole genomes of flies from populations in the south-east US and Caribbean Islands and examined these populations in conjunction with population sequences from the west coast US, Africa, and Europe. We find that west coast US populations are closely related to the European population, likely reflecting a rapid westward expansion upon first settlements into North America. We also find genomic evidence of African and European admixture in south-east US and Caribbean populations, with a clinal pattern of decreasing proportions of African ancestry with higher latitude. Our genomic analysis of D. melanogaster populations from the south-east US and Caribbean Islands provides more evidence for the Caribbean Islands as the source of previously reported novel African alleles found in other east coast US populations. We also find the border between the south-east US and the Caribbean island to be the admixture hot zone where distinctly African-like Caribbean flies become genomically more similar to European-like south-east US flies. Our findings have important implications for previous studies examining the generation of east coast US clines via selection.

Urinary arsenic levels and risk of renal injury in a cross-sectional study in open population.

INTRODUCTION: Arsenic (As) is one of the most ubiquitous elements in nature, and a prolonged exposure has been associated with an increase in the risk of cancer, diabetes mellitus, hypertension and cardiovascular disease. There are few studies addressing the effects of As on albuminuria, tubular injury and biochemical variables as uric acid. AIM. To analyze the association between urinary As levels, albuminuria, and al-microglobulin as marker of tubular injury. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This is a cross-sectional, and comparative study done in 5 communities localized close to Queretaro City. Subjects with no antecedents of renal disease, diabetes, hypertension, or industrial exposure to As were included. A questionnaire about risk factors for arsenic exposure was done, blood was taken for biochemical analysis and a spot urine sample was collected for albumin, alpha1-microglobulin, and As measurements. RESULTS: A total of 90 adult persons were included with no antecedents of renal disease, diabetes or hypertension; the mean age was 40.9 +/- 12.9 years and the median for urinary As levels was 15 microg/gr Cr (range 0.56-89.2 microg/gr Cr), 10 (11.1%) persons had critical levels > 50 microg/gr Cr. Age more than 50 years old [OR 2.48 IC95 (0.9-6.6)] and place of residence were the most important risk factors associated with higher levels of As. There was association between urinary As levels and al-microglobulin urinary excretion (r2 = 0.07, p = 0.01) but not with albuminuria or other biochemical variables. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study in Mexico to show an association between As and urinary excretion of al-microglobulin as marker of early renal injury. We did not found association with albuminuria or other serum biochemical variables. Arsenic may be considered as a risk factor for tubular injury.

Una aproximación a la medición de la violencia familiar en Santiago de Cali, 2003-2005 / An approximation to family violence measurement in Santiago of Cali, 2003-2005

Antecedentes. La violencia ha sido declarada como un problema de salud pública, en violencia interpersonal se incluye maltrato a menores, violencia contra la pareja y maltrato a personas mayores. La medición de la violencia familiar es objeto de investigación, los resultados muestran como el maltrato conyugal es el más frecuente; los autores coinciden en el bajo reporte de los casos ante las instituciones. Objetivo. Identificar el tipo de violencia familiar y sus protagonistas en Cali (Colombia) entre 2003-2005. Material y métodos. Se realizó un estudio descriptivo utilizando los datos del Observatorio de Violencia de familiar entre los años 2003 a 2005. Se realizó análisis por múltiple respuesta, se conformaron dos grupos de análisis: niños y niñas menores de 10 años, mujeres y hombres mayores de nueve años. Resultados. Se encontró un mayor reporte de casos en el año 2005. En los niños, el grupo de cinco a nueve años reportó el mayor número de casos, el 35,3 por ciento por maltrato físico, los padres fueron los mayores victimarios. El 31,5 por ciento de las mujeres reportó maltrato físico, los cónyuges fueron los principales agresores. En los hombres se encontró mayor reporte entre 10-14 y 15-29 años, el maltrato físico fue ejercido en el 27,9 por ciento por madres y el 18,2 por ciento por los padres. Conclusión. Los datos obtenidos fueron similares a los encontrados en otros estudios con otras metodologías. Se requiere cualificar el estudio de la problemática para fortalecer la información del observatorio de violencia familiar en la ciudad.

Biopsia radio-centello-quirúrgica de lesiones mamarias ocultas / Radioguided biopsy of non palpable breast lesions

Los autores enumeran los procedimientos de localización de lesiones mamarias no palpables. A la luz de las dificultades y fracasos de la biopsia radioquirúrgica se describe la biopsia radio centello guiada en la primera experiencia reportada en nuestro medio

Biopsia radio-centello-quirúrgica de lesiones mamarias ocultas / Radioguided biopsy of non palpable breast lesions

Los autores enumeran los procedimientos de localización de lesiones mamarias no palpables. A la luz de las dificultades y fracasos de la biopsia radioquirúrgica se describe la biopsia radio centello guiada en la primera experiencia reportada en nuestro medio(AU)