Consolidation, Stages of Change, and Loyalty among Users of Public Sports and Health Services Aged 12-16.

There are two main lines of inquiry in the literature on adherence and/or loyalty to the practice of physical activity and to health services: one focuses on the impact of perceived quality of sports and health services and satisfaction with these services on user loyalty, while the other concludes that users with more self-determined motivation at more advanced stages of physical activity display higher levels of physical activity and greater intentions to continue this activity. The objective of this study is to ascertain the impact of different dimensions of sports service quality on satisfaction and loyalty among users aged 12 to 16 years old and to identify any differences between adolescent users at more and less consolidated stages of physical activity. A total of 1717 minors with a mean age of 13.83 ± 1.32 years who practise organised physical activity at public sports centres in Nuevo León (Mexico), 51.5% of whom were boys, participated in the study. The model of structural equations linking quality, satisfaction, and loyalty displayed adequate indices. The results showed that the staff, specific activity, and user satisfaction are predictors of loyalty. Significant differences were only found between minors at consolidated and non-consolidated stages of physical activity in the relationship between service personnel and loyalty. In conclusion, human resources and their deployment are predictive of loyalty towards sports and health services among adolescents.

Adaptación y validación de la Escala de Intenciones Futuras de Comportamiento en usuarios de servicios deportivos / Adaptation and Validation of the Scale of Future Intentions of Behaviour in Customers of Sport Services

La fidelización de usuarios en cualquier tipo de organización es un tema transcendente por la cascada de beneficios que se producen al incrementarla. Las organizaciones deportivas no son ajenas a esta realidad. El objetivo de este estudio fue adaptar y validar una escala de intenciones futuras de comportamiento a servicios deportivos. Para la validación de la misma, se utilizó una muestra compuesta por 2181 usuarios. Se realizó un análisis factorial confirmatorio precedido del exploratorio. Se calculó la fiabilidad del instrumento resultante y su validez discriminante. Los resultados permiten afirmar que se dispone de una herramienta válida y fiable compuesta por tres dimensiones y diez ítems, capaz de conocer las intenciones futuras de comportamiento de usuarios de servicios deportivos.

Customer loyalty, inside any organization, is transcendental because of the reported income it delivers. Sport business is no exception. This research's goal was to set up and validate a scale of future intentions of behaviour in sport services. A sample of 2181 users was used in order to validate this scale. Factorial exploratory and then confirmatory analyses were made. Reliability and discriminatory validity of the resulting tool were calculated. Results show a reliable and valid tool with three dimensions and ten items, able to determine future intentions of behaviour of sport services customers.

Enfermedad de Wilson / Wilson´s disease

La enfermedad de Wilson es un trastorno del metabolismo del cobre que se hereda de forma autosómica recesiva. Está causada por mutaciones en el gen ATP7B que codifica para una ATPasa tipo P implicada en el transporte de cobre dentro del hepatocito, tanto al interior del aparato de Golgi para su incorporación a la apoceruloplasmina como en la excreción biliar del exceso de metal del organismo. El defecto en la función de esta proteína da lugar a la acumulación progresiva de cobre, primero en el hígado y posteriormente en el encéfalo y en otros tejidos, con manifestaciones clínicas principalmente hepáticas, neurológicas, psiquiátricas y oftalmológicas. Actualmente sigue representando un desafío diagnóstico, debido a que es una patología poco común, con manifestaciones clínicas inespecíficas y limitaciones en la exactitud de las diversas pruebas diagnósticas disponibles. El riesgo de que permanezca sin diagnosticar y progrese a muerte, junto con la existencia de un tratamiento eficaz, ponen de manifiesto la importancia de que se realice un diagnóstico correcto y temprano, siendo esencial para ello la aportación del laboratorio clínico (AU)

Wilson's disease is an autosomal recessive disorder of copper metabolism. It is caused by mutations in the ATP7B gene, which encodes a P-type ATPase that functions in the transport of copper inside the hepatocyte, both into the trans-Golgi compartment for incorporation into apo-caeruloplasmin, and into the bile, for excretion of the excess metal. Defective function of this protein leads to progressive copper accumulation, first in the liver but ultimately in the brain and other tissues, with mainly hepatic, neurological, psychiatric and ophthalmologic signs and symptoms. Nowadays, it still represents a diagnostic challenge due to it being an uncommon disease, with unspecific clinical manifestations, and limitations in the accuracy of the available diagnostic tests. The risk that it remains undiagnosed together with the availability of effective treatments stresses the importance of an early and correct diagnosis, with the clinic laboratory playing an essential the role (AU)

Comparison of two analytical methods for the evaluation of the complexed metal in fertilizers and the complexing capacity of complexing agents.

The aim of this research is to develop an analytical methodology for the determination of complexed element in fertilizers and, then, to obtain an adequate criteria for the inclusion of these products in European Regulations on Fertilizers. This paper compares the CEN method EN 13366:2001, based on the retention of the cations into a sulfonated resin, and an AOAC modified method, based on the precipitation of the inorganic forms at pH 9. A limited interlaboratory trial was carried out to demonstrate the applicability of the AOAC modified method and to study the effect of the removal of organic compounds and the addition of a matrix modifier solution before the element quantification. Then, a global interlaboratory trial was developed to evaluate the validation and quality parameters of the method. As a second objective, the AOAC modified method was applied to the determination of the complexing capacity of complexing agents based on lignosulfonates and amino acids. The AOAC modified method was the choice methodology because it is adequate for the determination of complexing capacity of micronutrients in fertilizer.

Potential use of biodegradable chelate N-(1,2-dicarboxyethyl)-D,L-aspartic acid/Fe3+ as an Fe fertilizer.

In the past several years, concern about the environmental fate of recalcitrant synthetic ligands (e.g., EDTA) has increased. The used of new biodegradable chelating agents such as imidodisuccinic acid (IDHA) has been proposed as an alternative. However, its application as an iron ligand to correct iron chlorosis in agriculture has not yet been studied. Then the objective of this work is to determine the fertilizer capacity of IDHA/Fe3+ using interaction assays with soils and soil materials and evaluating Fe nutrition of efficient and susceptible plants. Interaction of IDHA/Fe3+ with soil materials produces a reduction of the amount of soluble Fe. This is in good agreement with studies on the stability of the IDHA/Fe3+ chelate. In general, plant response to IDHA/Fe3+ in hydroponics is acceptable and better than that to EDTA/Fe3+. This good behavior seems to be related to the lower coordination of the iron in IDHA/Fe3+ with respect to EDTA/Fe3+.

Iniciativa regional de reforma del sector de la salud en America Latina y el Caribe / Regional initiative on health care reform in Latin America and the Caribbean

Many countries throughout Latin America and the Caribbean are introducing reforms that can profoundly influence how health services are provided and who receives them. Governments in the region identified the need for a network to support health reform by building capacity in analysis and training, both at the summit of the Americas in 1994 and at the Special Meeting on Health Sector Reform, which was convened in 1995 by an interagency committee of the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization, the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank, and other multilateral agencies. In response, in 1997, the Pan American Health Organization and the United States Agency for the International development launched the Latin America and Caribbean Health Sector Reform Initiative. The Initiative has approximately US$ 10 million in funding through the year 2002 to support activities in Bolivia, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraquay, and Peru. Now in its third year of implementation, the Initiative supports regional activities seeking to promote more equitable and effective delivery of basic health services. (AU)

Iniciativa regional de reforma del sector de la salud en America Latina y el Caribe / The Latin America and Caribbean regional health sector reform initiative

Many countries throughout Latin America and the Caribbean are introducing reforms that can profoundly influence how health services are provided and who receives them. Governments in the region identified the need for a network to support health reform by building capacity in analysis and training, both at the Summit of the Americas in 1994 and the Special Meeting on Health Sector Reform, which was convened in 1995 by an interagency committee of the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization, the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank, and other multilateral and bilateral agencies. In response, in 1997 the Pan American Health Organization and the United States Agency for the International Development launched the Latin America and Caribbean Regional Health Sector Reform Initiative. The Initiative has approximately US$ 10 million in funding through the year 2002 to support activities in Bolivia, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, and Peru. Now in its third year of implementation, the Initiative supports regional activities seeking to promote more equitable and effective delivery of basic health services (AU)

Iniciativa regional de reforma del sector de la salud en America Latina y el Caribe / The Latin America and Caribbean regional health sector reform initiative

Muchos paises de America Latina y el Caribe estan introduciendo reformas que pueden influir profundamente en la forma como se prestan los servicios de salud y en quienes los reciben. Tanto en la Cumbre de las Americas de 1994 como en la "Reunion Especial sobre Reforma del Sector de la Salud" de 1995, organizada por la Organizacion Panamericana de la Salud/Organizacion Mundial de la Salud (OPS/OMS), el Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, el Banco Mundial y otros organismos multilaterales y bilaterales, los gobiernos de la Region decidieron apoyar la generacion de capacidad de analisis y la capacitacion en lo relativo a las reformas del sector de la salud. En consecuencia, en 1997, la OPS y la Agencia de los Estados Unidos para el Desarrollo Internacional lanzaron la "Iniciativa Regional de Reforma del Sector de la Salud en America Latina y el Caribe". Esta iniciativa tiene un financiamiento de aproximadamente US$ 10 millones hasta el ano 2002 para apoyar actividades en Bolivia, Brasil, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru y Republica Dominicana, busca promover una prestacion mas equitativa y eficaz de los servicios basicos de salud sustentando actividades regionales, y se encuentra ya en su tercer ano de implementacion

Iniciativa regional de reforma del sector de la salud en America Latina y el Caribe / The Latin America and Caribbean regional health sector reform initiative

Muchos paises de America Latina y el Caribe estan introduciendo reformas que pueden influir profundamente en la forma como se prestan los servicios de salud y en quienes los reciben. Tanto en la Cumbre de las Americas de 1994 como en la "Reunion Especial sobre Reforma del Sector de la Salud" de 1995, organizada por la Organizacion Panamericana de la Salud/Organizacion Mundial de la Salud (OPS/OMS), el Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, el Banco Mundial y otros organismos multilaterales y bilaterales, los gobiernos de la Region decidieron apoyar la generacion de capacidad de analisis y la capacitacion en lo relativo a las reformas del sector de la salud. En consecuencia, en 1997, la OPS y la Agencia de los Estados Unidos para el Desarrollo Internacional lanzaron la "Iniciativa Regional de Reforma del Sector de la Salud en America Latina y el Caribe". Esta iniciativa tiene un financiamiento de aproximadamente US$ 10 millones hasta el ano 2002 para apoyar actividades en Bolivia, Brasil, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru y Republica Dominicana, busca promover una prestacion mas equitativa y eficaz de los servicios basicos de salud sustentando actividades regionales, y se encuentra ya en su tercer ano de implementacion