Short-Term Effects of Vestibular Training on Gross Motor Function in Children and Youth with Cerebral Palsy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials.

AIMS: To review the literature on the effects of vestibular training on motor function and balance in children and youth with cerebral palsy. METHODS: Eight databases (MEDLINE-PubMed, PEDro, Cochrane Library, OTSeeker, Web of Science, Scopus Database, CINAHL and SPORTDiscus.) were searched up to May 15th, 2023. Studies comparing vestibular training with other types of interventions. The DerSimonian and Laird method was employed using random effects models to calculate the pooled estimate of the effect size with confidence intervals of 95%. The risk of bias was assessed with the Cochrane Collaboration's tool and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach was used to judge the certainty of the evidence for all outcomes. RESULTS: Eight studies were included comprising 226 participants with cerebral palsy. The meta-analyses demonstrated significant standardized mean differences in favor of vestibular training program compared to other technique(s) for Gross Motor Function Measure (-0.471; 95% confidence intervals: -0.919 to -0.023) and balance (-0.546; 95% confidence intervals: -0.916 to -0.176). CONCLUSIONS: Vestibular training has potential benefits in the short-term as a therapeutic approach for improving gross motor function and the balance in children and youth with cerebral palsy, but further research is needed.

eWoT: A Semantic Interoperability Approach for Heterogeneous IoT Ecosystems Based on the Web of Things.

With the constant growth of Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystems, allowing them to interact transparently has become a major issue for both the research and the software development communities. In this paper we propose a novel approach that builds semantically interoperable ecosystems of IoT devices. The approach provides a SPARQL query-based mechanism to transparently discover and access IoT devices that publish heterogeneous data. The approach was evaluated in order to prove that it provides complete and correct answers without affecting the response time and that it scales linearly in large ecosystems.

Novel mechanisms involved in leptin sensitization in obesity.

Leptin is a hormone that is secreted by adipocytes in proportion to adipose tissue size, and that informs the brain about the energy status of the body. Leptin acts through its receptor LepRb, expressed mainly in the hypothalamus, and induces a negative energy balance by potent inhibition of feeding and activation of energy expenditure. These actions have led to huge expectations for the development of therapeutic targets for metabolic complications based on leptin-derived compounds. However, the majority of patients with obesity presents elevated leptin production, suggesting that in this setting leptin is ineffective in the regulation of energy balance. This resistance to the action of leptin in obesity has led to the development of "leptin sensitizers," which have been tested in preclinical studies. Much research has focused on generating combined treatments that act on multiple levels of the gastrointestinal-brain axis. The gastrointestinal-brain axis secretes a variety of different anorexigenic signals, such as uroguanylin, glucagon-like peptide-1, amylin, or cholecystokinin, which can alleviate the resistance to leptin action. Moreover, alternative mechanism such as pharmacokinetics, proteostasis, the role of specific kinases, chaperones, ER stress and neonatal feeding modifications are also implicated in leptin resistance. This review will cover the current knowledge regarding the interaction of leptin with different endocrine factors from the gastrointestinal-brain axis and other novel mechanisms that improve leptin sensitivity in obesity.

Clinical response to growth hormone in children with intrauterine growth retardation without catch-up growth in Castilla y León (Spain). / Respuesta clínica al tratamiento con hormona de crecimiento en niños con retraso de crecimiento intrauterino sin recuperación posnatal de talla en Castilla y León.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Growth hormone (rhGH) is used in children with intrauterine growth retardation without catch-up growth. The Advisory Committee of Castilla y León was implemented in 2010 to watch for consistent application of the criteria for using rhGH. The aim is to assess anthropometric and clinical changes in children treated with growth hormone. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective, longitudinal study of patients diagnosed with intrauterine growth retardation without catch-up growth in Castilla y León since 2010 who have received treatment for at least 3 years. Changes in anthropometric, clinical, and laboratory parameters were assessed. RESULTS: Forty-three children with a mean age of 6.06 years (58.14%<5 years) were enrolled and treated with a mean dose of 0.038mg/kg/day. A significant increase was seen in height (-3.05 to -1.58SD). Both weight and BMI (14.51 to 15.80kg/m2) increased throughout the study. Growth rate peaked during the first year of treatment (0.74SD). IGF-1 levels increased throughout the study (99.96 to 392.88ng/mL). There were significant increases in glycosylated hemoglobin levels in the first year, and in basal blood glucose and insulin levels during the second year. The LDL/HDL ratio decreased during the study period (1.70 to 1.50). CONCLUSION: Treatment with rhGH promotes growth in children with intrauterine growth retardation. Peak effect occurs in the first 12 months of treatment, and is greater when growth hormone is started before the age of 5 years.

[Smoking impact on mortality in Spain in 2012]. / Impacto del consumo de tabaco sobre la mortalidad en España en el año 2012.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Smoking is an important public health problem, and is one of the main avoidable causes of morbidity and early mortality. The aim was to estimate the mortality attributable to smoking and its impact on premature mortality in Spain in the year 2012. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Descriptive, cross-sectional study, carried out on the Spanish population aged ≥ 18 years in 2012. The prevalence of smoking by age and sex was obtained from the National Health Survey 2011-2012, and the number of deaths by age, sex and cause was obtained from the vital statistics of the National Institute of Statistics. The proportion of deaths attributable to smoking was calculated according to sex and age group, from the etiological fraction of the population. Likewise, loss of potential years of life lost (PYLL) and the mean potential years of life lost (MPYLL) were also calculated. RESULTS: In 2012, smoking caused 60,456 deaths which accounted for 15.23% of all deaths. Trachea-bronchial-lung cancer in men and other cardiopathies in women mostly contributed to this mortality. The PYLL were 184,426, and the MPYLL were 3.25 years in men and 2.42 years in women. CONCLUSIONS: In 2012, every day, 125 men and 40 women die from smoking-related conditions. The smoking prevalence has diminished in comparison with previous years and the number and percentage of deaths attributable to the smoking have increased in the last 20 years.

Trabajo con farmacodependientes en una comunidad marginal de Guadalajara, Jalisco / Work with drugdependents in a marginal comunity of Guadalajara, Jalisco

Resultado de un trabajo realizado con un grupo de farmacodependientes con el que se estableció contacto en una zona marginada de Guadalajara, México. El grupo estaba integrado por aproximadamente 30 jovenes del sexo masculino, entre 14 y 22 años, con bajo nivel de escolaridad, subempleados, provenientes de familias numerosas y desintegradas y que usaban fármacos en forma ocasional o permanente, sólo se reunian para intoxicarse y realizar actividades deportivas. Y en la sección de comentarios y conclusiones plasman el tipo de aceptación que tuvierón en la comunidad, tanto con los farmacodependientes, como con los padres y la comunidad, el enfoque que se le debe dar al problema de salud y de educación comunitaria; y que si se muestra interés por los farmacodependientes en un ambiente de aceptación, de confianza y afecto, ellos aprenden a creer, a confiar, a expresar sus deseos e inquietudes por ampliar su mundo, experiencias y conocimientos, reconociendo de esta manera, que son personas que pueden luchar y obtener logros, así como que, por ello, pueden vivir mejor