Droughts impede water balance recovery from fires in the Western United States.

A steady rise in fires in the Western United States, coincident with intensifying droughts, imparts substantial modifications to the underlying vegetation, hydrology and overall ecosystem. Drought can compound the ecosystem disturbance caused by fire, although how these compound effects on hydrologic and ecosystem recovery vary among ecosystems is poorly understood. Here we use remote sensing-derived high-resolution evapotranspiration (ET) estimates from before and after 1,514 fires to show that ecoregions dominated by grasslands and shrublands are more susceptible to drought, which amplifies fire-induced ET decline and, subsequently, shifts water flux partitioning. In contrast, severely burned forests recover from fire slowly or incompletely, but are less sensitive to dry extremes. We conclude that moisture limitation caused by droughts influences the dynamics of water balance recovery in post-fire years. This finding explains why moderate to extreme droughts aggravate impacts on the water balance in non-forested vegetation, while moisture accessed by deeper roots in forests helps meet evaporative demands unless severe burns disrupt internal tree structure and deplete fuel load availability. Our results highlight the dominant control of drought on altering the resilience of vegetation to fires, with critical implications for terrestrial ecosystem stability in the face of anthropogenic climate change in the West.

PM2.5-bound trace metals in an urban area of Northern Mexico during the COVID-19 pandemic: characterization, sources, and health risk.

Abstract: A field study was carried out in the Metropolitan Area of Monterrey (MAM), the second most populated city in Mexico, characterized by increasing urbanization, high traffic density, and intense industrial activity. These characteristics commonly present high concentrations of air pollutants leading to the degradation of air quality. PM2.5 was analyzed for heavy metals at two urban sites located within the MAM (Juarez and San Bernabe) in order to determine sources, health risk, morphology, and elemental content during the COVID-19 pandemic (autumn 2020 and spring 2021). Twenty-four-hour samples of PM2.5 were collected at each site during 30-day periods using high-volume equipment. Gravimetric concentrations and 11 metals were measured (Ca, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Ni, Cr, and Pb) by different analytical techniques (flame atomic absorption spectroscopy, graphite furnace atomic absorption spectroscopy, and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy). Selected samples were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy-energy-disperse spectroscopy in order to characterize their morphology and elemental content. PM2.5 concentrations exceeded the Mexican standard and WHO guidelines in Juarez during spring 2021. Cu, Cd, and Co were highly enriched by anthropogenic sources, and Ni, K, Cr, and Pb had a moderate enrichment. Mg, Mn, and Ca were of crustal origin. Bivariate statistics and PCA confirmed that alkaline metals originated from crustal sources and that the main sources of trace metals included traffic emissions, resuspension from soil/road dust, steel industry, smelting, and non-exhaust emissions at both sites. Lifetime cancer risk coefficients did not exceed the permissible levels established by EPA and WHO, implying that local residents are not at risk of developing cancer. Non-carcinogenic risk coefficients revealed that there is a possible risk of suffering cardiovascular and respiratory diseases due to inhalation of cobalt at the study sites. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11869-023-01372-7.

La Huamanripa (Senecio tephrosioides Turcz) como alternativa saludable para afecciones respiratorias durante la pandemia COVID-19 / Huamanripa (Senecio tephrosioides Turcz) as a healthy alternative for respiratory conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic / Huamanripa (Senecio tephrosioides Turcz) como alternativa saudável para problemas respiratórios durante a pandemia de COVID-19

Desde tiempo histórico las plantas medicinales se han empleado como ingrediente principal para preparación de diferentes recetas. Motivo que se investigó sobre la Huamanripa como alternativa saludable para afecciones respiratorias durante la pandemia COVID-19 en Barranca. Objetivo. El objetivo fue determinar la eficiencia de la Huamanripa como alternativa saludable para las afecciones respiratorias en la pandemia. Materiales y Método. La metodología se basa en investigación descriptiva con enfoque cuantitativo prospectivo, por lo que se cuestionó sobre la preparación, frecuencia de consumo y para que enfermedades se consumen. Obtenidos los datos se procesaron mediante estadísticas básicas y regresión. Resultados. Se determinó que la Huamanripa lo usan para tratamiento casero medicinal y consume con frecuencia 4 a 5 veces por semana para afecciones respiratorias y COVID-19, consumo de Huamanripa por mes con 23 % de la población, porcentaje de alivio de afecciones respiratorias con 84 %, correlación entre el consumo de Huamanripa y porcentaje de alivio r = 0.99 y en análisis de varianza del consumo de Huamanripa y el porcentaje de alivio no hubo significancia. Conclusiones. Concluye que la Huamanripa es una alternativa eficiente y se puede complementar con otros tratamientos para las afecciones respiratorias y síntomas de COVID-19; ya sea por sus propiedades como aceites especiales y terpenos que tienen efectos antimicrobiana, antiinflamatoria, aliviante, lo cual favorece a la salud.

Since historical times, medicinal plants have been used as the main ingredient for the preparation of different recipes. For this reason, Huamanripa was investigated as a healthy alternative for respiratory diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic in Barranca. Objective. The objective was to determine the efficiency of Huamanripa as a healthy alternative for respiratory diseases during the pandemic. Materials and Method. The methodology is based on descriptive research with a prospective quantitative approach, so that the preparation, frequency of consumption and the diseases for which it is consumed were questioned. Data were obtained and processed by means of basic statistics and regression. Results. It was determined that Huamanripa is used for medicinal home treatment and consumed 4 to 5 times a week for respiratory diseases and COVID-19, consumption of Huamanripa per month with 23% of the population, percentage of relief of respiratory diseases with 84%, correlation between consumption of Huamanripa and percentage of relief r = 0.99 and in variance analysis of Huamanripa consumption and percentage of relief there was no significance. Conclusions. It is concluded that Huamanripa is an efficient alternative and can be complemented with other treatments for respiratory conditions and symptoms of COVID-19; either by its properties such as special oils and terpenes that have antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, relieving effects, which favors health.

Desde tempos históricos as plantas medicinais têm sido utilizadas como ingrediente principal para a preparação de diferentes receitas. Por esta razão, Huamanripa foi investigado como uma alternativa saudável para doenças respiratórias durante a pandemia da COVID-19 em Barranca. Objetivo. O objetivo era determinar a eficiência de Huamanripa como uma alternativa saudável para as doenças respiratórias durante a pandemia. Materiais e Método. A metodologia é baseada em pesquisa descritiva com uma abordagem quantitativa prospectiva, de modo que foram feitas perguntas sobre a preparação, a freqüência do consumo e para quais doenças é consumida. Os dados foram obtidos e processados utilizando estatísticas básicas e regressão. Resultados. Foi determinado que Huamanripa é usado para tratamento medicinal domiciliar e consumido 4 a 5 vezes por semana para doenças respiratórias e COVID-19, consumo de Huamanripa por mês com 23% da população, porcentagem de alívio de doenças respiratórias com 84%, correlação entre consumo de Huamanripa e porcentagem de alívio r = 0,99 e na análise de variância do consumo de Huamanripa e da porcentagem de alívio não houve significância. Conclusões. Conclui que Huamanripa é uma alternativa eficiente e pode ser complementada com outros tratamentos para condições respiratórias e sintomas da COVID-19; seja por suas propriedades como óleos especiais e terpenos que têm efeitos antimicrobianos, anti-inflamatórios, aliviadores, o que favorece a saúde.

Inference of maternal uniparental disomy of the entire chromosome 2 from a paternity test.

Atypical situations arise during the constant resolution of paternity cases, which constitute challenges requiring additional genetic systems and non-standard methods. We report a paternity case presenting three alleged father (AF)-child incompatibilities for the markers TPOX, D2S441, and the indel locus B02 (11/11 vs 8/8; 14/14 vs 10/10; 2/2 vs1/1, respectively). Considering the presence of mutations/null alleles, the residual paternity indexes (PI) obtained with 23 autosomal short tandem repeats (STRs) and 38 indels suggest that the AF is the father (PI = 1.94e+011). Although the presence of few incompatibilities also could imply paternity of the AF brother, this hypothesis was less probable (PI = 3.20e+9) (W = 98.4 vs 1.6%, respectively). The inclusion of 23 Y-STR loci confirmed the paternity relationship in this case (global PI = 6.08e+15). However, the two multistep STRs and one indel incompatibilities allow discarding the mutation possibility. On the other hand, the confirmation of the homozygous STR genotypes with two different human identification kits and the low probability to find three null alleles (3.10e-8) allow rejecting the null allele presence hypothesis. Conversely, the child's homozygous genotype for maternal alleles in four markers located in the p and q arms of the chromosome 2 (TPOX, D2S441, D2S1338, and B02) suggests that maternal uniparental isodisomy better explains the relationship despite the presence of three paternal incompatibilities. In brief, when multiple incompatibilities are observed in paternity testing, the chromosomal location of the excluding loci and the use of additional genetic systems can be crucial to get confident kinship conclusions.

Meningitis por Streptococcus pneumoniae en paciente pediátrico previamente inmunizado: reporte de un caso / Streptococcus pneumoniae meningitis in a previously immunized pediatric patient: report of a case

La meningitis bacteriana constituye una importante causa de morbimortalidad en el mundo y, a pesar de que la incidencia se ha reducido en los años posteriores a la inclusión de la vacuna antineumocócica en los calendarios de inmunizaciones, no se ha podido evitar el surgimiento de cepas emergentes. Presentamos el caso de una paciente de 5 años con inmunizaciones completas para la edad, con un cuadro clínico sugerente de meningoencefalitis, cuya evolución (con gran compromiso sistémico y pobre respuesta al tratamiento) nos hizo sospechar de la presencia de cepas emergentes y/o resistencia antimicrobiana, en el planteamiento de interrogantes respecto a estados de inmunodeficiencia o respuesta inadecuada a la vacunación, el impacto que realmente tiene la vacuna en nuestro país y la necesidad de realizar una más stricta vigilancia epidemiológica para la identificación de serotipos emergentes

Bacterial meningitis is an important cause of morbidity and mortality all over the world; and, in spite of a reduction in its incidence because of the introduction of an anti-pneumococcal vaccine in the immunization programs in many places, the occurrence of emerging strains has not been stopped. We present the case of a 5-year old girl with complete immunizations for her age, with a clinical condition suggesting meningoencephalitis, whose progress and outcome (significant systemic involvement and poor response to therapy) lead us to think in the possibility of emerging strains and/or resistance to antibacterial agents, and also to ask ourselves about an underlying immune deficiency or inadequate response to vaccination, the real impact of the vaccine in our country, and the need for performing more stringent epidemiological vigilance in order to identify emerging serotypes

Different impact of pretransplant anti-HLA antibodies detected by Luminex in highly sensitized renal transplanted patients.

It is well know that anti-HLA antibodies are an important obstacle in kidney transplantation. Our aim was to study the clinical impact of pretransplant donor specific anti-HLA antibodies (HLA-DSA), in highly sensitized (HS) patients. We analyzed retrospectively the day-of-transplant sera by Luminex Single Antigen Assay (LSA) in HS patients, and the results were correlated with episodes of humoral and cellular rejection as well as with graft and patient survival. All HS subjects received the same induction therapy and rejection episodes were biopsy proven. Thirteen patients (56.5%) preformed HLA-DSA, and we observed higher incidence of acute rejection in aforementioned patients than in the pre-transplant negatives DSA recipients (77% versus 30%, P = 0.03). The one-year graft survival was significantly reduced in positive pre-transplant HLA-DSA patients (60% versus 100%, P = 0.01 Breslow). The positive predicted value of HLA-DSA in relation to rejection reached 100% if patients lost their previous graft in the first year after transplant. Among anti-HLA antibodies present in patients before transplant, HLA-DSA were significantly associated with high risk of acute humoral and cellular rejection and reduced graft survival in posttransplant outcome. The negative impact of these antibodies was even higher when patients suffered an early loss of the previous transplant.

Glomerulonefritis membranosa, psoriasis y etanercept. ¿Asociación casual o causal? / Membranous glomerulonephritis, psoriasis and etanercept. A chance or causal association?

La psoriasis es una enfermedad cutánea con afectación sistémica, cuyo daño tisular se considera inmunomediado y que en la actualidad se trata eficazmente con etanercept. El daño renal de esta patología no está completamente aclarado en la literatura. Presentamos un caso de glomerulonefritis membranosa con depósitos de C1q que posteriormente desarrolló psoriasis. En este artículo hacemos una revisión de la posible asociación entre estas patologías y la respuesta a esta molécula biológica (AU)

Psoriasis is a cutaneous disease with systemic involvement. Tisular damage is consider to be immunomediated, and actually is being effectively treated with Etanercept. Kidney damage of this patological condition is not completely clarified in the literature. We present a case of Membranous Nephropathy with C1q deposits that subsequently developed psoriasis. In this article we make a review of a possible association between these diseases and the respose to that biological molecule (AU)

Rabdomiólisis con fracaso renal agudo secundario a la toma de metadona / Rhabdomyolysis with acute renal failure secondary to taking methadone

No disponible

Membranous glomerulonephritis, psoriasis and etanercept. A chance or causal association?

Psoriasis is a cutaneous disease with systemic involvement. Tissue damage is considered to be immune-mediated, and etanercept currently provides effective treatment. Kidney injury arising from this condition has not yet been fully explained in the literature. We present a case of membranous nephropathy with C1q deposits followed by development of psoriasis. In this article we will review the possible association between these conditions and the response to this biological molecule.

Características clínico-epidemiológicas de pacientes de 5 a 12 años con diagnóstico de trastorno del déficit de atención con hiperactividad. Instituto Nacional de Salud del Niño. Enero 2007-Diciembre 2011 / Clinical and epidemiological characteristics of patients 5 to 12 years with a diagnosis of attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity. National Institute of Child Health. January 2007-December 2011

Objetivo: evaluar las características clínico y epidemiológicas en el trastorno del déficit de atención con hiperactividad (TDAH), en pacientes de 5 a 12 años atendidos por Consultorio Externo del Servicio de Psiquiatría del INSN entre Enero del 2007-Diciembre 2011; Resultados: El año en el que se encontro el mayor porcentaje de casos de TDAH, fue el año 2011; con 38 por ciento. Del total de la muestra se obtuvo que 134 fueron del sexo masculino (83.23 por ciento), mientras que 27 pertenecen al sexo femenino (16.77 por ciento). Conclusión: Hemos encontrado, que la frecuencia en relación del año 2007, ha incrementado en un 33 por ciento

Objetive: to evaluate the clinical and epidemiological characteristics in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in patients of the psychiatry service in the INSN from January 2007-December 2011. Results: The year that presented the highest precentage of ADHD cases was 2011 with 38 per cent. Out of the total sample was obtained that 134 were male (83.23 per cent), while 27 were women (16.77 per cent). Conclusions: we have found that the frequency in relation to 2007 has increased by 33 per cent

Frecuencia y variabilidad de valores extremadamente bajos de colesterol ligado a lipoproteínas de alta densidad / Frequency and intraindividual variation of very low HDL cholesterol

No disponible

Hispanics' awareness of assistive technology.

This study compared Hispanics' awareness of services available to acquire assistive technology and whether they actually sought help to the findings from a national sample. The study assists the field by providing information on a group largely ignored in the literature. The authors sought to answer the following research questions: Are there intergroup differences between Hispanics with disabilities and non-Hispanics with disabilities in terms of how they receive help accessing AT services? and Are there intragroup differences among Hispanics with respect to how they receive help and their awareness of available help to acquire AT? The findings suggest a large disparity between awareness of available services to acquire assistive technology and actual receipt of such services. In addition, although similar patterns were found, the Hispanics from the national sample appear more aligned with the overall sample, while the Hispanics from the Hispanic-only sample seem to be using services at higher percentages.

Paying for assistive technology: a study of Hispanics.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to learn about the methods that Hispanics utilise to pay for assistive technology (AT) and how these compare with a National sample of non-Hispanic participants who answered the same survey in a previous project. METHOD: This secondary analysis combined two studies - a National Study and a targeted study of Hispanics - a follow-up study that purposively sought out Hispanics, due to their lower representation in the national sample. RESULTS: This study found that Hispanics pay for AT out of their own pocket or relied on extended family rather than government programmes. The study also found that Hispanics utilised private insurance less than their counterparts in the National study. CONCLUSIONS: This study raises questions about the reach of government programmes, meant to enhance the access of underrepresented groups to AT, established by the AT legislation. Further studies are needed to explore whether participants are not accessing this programmes or are failing to identify them as resources.

Learning about assistive technology: Hispanics and a national sample.

As early as 1988, the United States federal government mandated the creation of formal and informal programs to increase acquisition of assistive technology by persons with disabilities, with a special attention to underrepresented groups. This study compared the methods used by Hispanics with disabilities to learn about assistive technology with Whites and non-Whites. The study is the combination of the national study and a targeted study of Hispanics, due to this group's lower representation in the national sample. This study sought to answer the following questions: (1) Are there intergroup differences between Hispanics with disabilities and non-Hispanics with disabilities in terms of how they learn about assistive technology, and (2) are there intragroup differences among Hispanics' actions on how they learn about assistive technology? Findings indicated that regardless of ethnic/racial group, most individuals with disabilities learn about assistive technology through doctors or other medical professionals. However, some differences were found on the use of extended family, friends, and neighbors and the Internet as other methods to learn about assistive technology. Additionally, the Hispanics from the national sample appear more aligned with the overall sample, while the Hispanics from the Hispanic-only sample seem to be using services at higher percentages.

[Determinants of carotid subclinical atherosclerosis in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. A case-control study]. / Determinantes de la arteriosclerosis subclínica carotídea en pacientes con artritis reumatoide. Estudio de casos y controles.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized by high cardiovascular (CV) mortality, which seems related to systemic inflammation. Our aim was to quantify carotid atherosclerosis in RA and its relationship with the disease. PATIENTS AND METHOD: 73 RA patients and the same number of sex and age matched controls were enrolled, without history of cardiovascular events. Carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and plaques were measured by ultrasonography. Its relationship with risk factors (RF), rheumatic disease characteristics, and inflammatory markers were analysed. RESULTS: Controls showed higher body mass index (BMI) and dyslipidemia. There were no differences in other risk factors or IMT. Age (p = 0.001), sex (p = 0.02), BMI (p = 0.002), waist perimeter (p = 0.001), and hypertension (p = 0.005) had a relationship with IMT. Among disease characteristics, only time elapsed since RA diagnosis was associated with IMT. CONCLUSIONS: There was not an increased carotid subclinical atherosclerosis in patients with RA, beyond the effects of classical RF.