Chagas Disease among the Latin American Adult population attending in a primary care center in Barcelona, Spain

Background/Aims: The epidemiology of Chagas disease, until recently confined to areas of continental Latin America, has undergone considerable changes in recent decades due to migration to other parts of the world, including Spain. We studied the prevalence of Chagas disease in Latin American patients treated at a health center in Barcelona and evaluated its clinical phase. We make some recommendations for screening for the disease. Methodology/Principal Findings: We performed an observational, cross-sectional prevalence study by means of an immunochromatographic test screening of all continental Latin American patients over the age of 14 years visiting the health centre from October 2007 to October 2009. The diagnosis was confirmed by serological methods: conventional in-house ELISA (cELISA), a commercial kit (rELISA) and ELISA using T cruzi lysate (Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics) (oELISA). Of 766 patients studied, 22 were diagnosed with T. cruzi infection, showing a prevalence of 2.87% (95% CI, 1.6-4.12%). Of the infected patients, 45.45% men and 54.55% women, 21 were from Bolivia, showing a prevalence in the Bolivian subgroup (n = 127) of 16.53% (95% CI, 9.6-23.39%). All the infected patients were in a chronic phase of Chagas disease: 81% with the indeterminate form, 9.5% with the cardiac form and 9.5% with the cardiodigestive form. All patients infected with T. cruzi had heard of Chagas disease in their country of origin, 82% knew someone affected, and 77% had a significant history of living in adobe houses in rural areas. Conclusions: We found a high prevalence of T. cruzi infection in immigrants from Bolivia. Detection of T. cruzi��infected persons by screening programs in non-endemic countries would control non-vectorial transmission and would benefit the persons affected, public health and national health systems.

Ground- and excited-state properties of M-center oxygen vacancy aggregates in the bulk and the surface of MgO

Aggregates of oxygen vacancies (F centers) represent a particular form of point defects in ionic crystals. In this study we have considered the combination of two oxygen vacancies, the M center, in the bulk and on the surface of MgO by means of cluster model calculations. Both neutral and charged forms of the defect M and M+ have been taken into account. The ground state of the M center is characterized by the presence of two doubly occupied impurity levels in the gap of the material; in M+ centers the highest level is singly occupied. For the ground-state properties we used a gradient corrected density functional theory approach. The dipole-allowed singlet-to-singlet and doublet-to-doublet electronic transitions have been determined by means of explicitly correlated multireference second-order perturbation theory calculations. These have been compared with optical transitions determined with the time-dependent density functional theory formalism. The results show that bulk M and M+ centers give rise to intense absorptions at about 4.4 and 4.0 eV, respectively. Another less intense transition at 1.3 eV has also been found for the M+ center. On the surface the transitions occur at 1.6 eV (M+) and 2 eV (M). The results are compared with recently reported electron energy loss spectroscopy spectra on MgO thin films.

Mysids from a submarine cave emerge each night to feed

The nycthemeralmigration of Hemimysis speluncola Ledoyer (1963) (Crustacea: Mysidacea)from a western Mediterranean cave to the open sea was studied in July andSeptember 1985 and September 1986. Light was the initiating factor. Feeding isthe main activity outside the cave. A mixture of assorted small organisms anddetritus makes up the mysids diet.

Gene Promoter Evolution Targets the Center of the Human Protein Interaction Network

Assessing the contribution of promoters and coding sequences to gene evolution is an important step toward discovering the major genetic determinants of human evolution. Many specific examples have revealed the evolutionary importance of cis-regulatory regions. However, the relative contribution of regulatory and coding regions to the evolutionary process and whether systemic factors differentially influence their evolution remains unclear. To address these questions, we carried out an analysis at the genome scale to identify signatures of positive selection in human proximal promoters. Next, we examined whether genes with positively selected promoters (Prom+ genes) show systemic differences with respect to a set of genes with positively selected protein-coding regions (Cod+ genes). We found that the number of genes in each set was not significantly different (8.1% and 8.5%, respectively). Furthermore, a functional analysis showed that, in both cases, positive selection affects almost all biological processes and only a few genes of each group are located in enriched categories, indicating that promoters and coding regions are not evolutionarily specialized with respect to gene function. On the other hand, we show that the topology of the human protein network has a different influence on the molecular evolution of proximal promoters and coding regions. Notably, Prom+ genes have an unexpectedly high centrality when compared with a reference distribution (P = 0.008, for Eigenvalue centrality). Moreover, the frequency of Prom+ genes increases from the periphery to the center of the protein network (P = 0.02, for the logistic regression coefficient). This means that gene centrality does not constrain the evolution of proximal promoters, unlike the case with coding regions, and further indicates that the evolution of proximal promoters is more efficient in the center of the protein network than in the periphery. These results show that proximal promoters have had a systemic contribution to human evolution by increasing the participation of central genes in the evolutionary process.

Intersecciones entre visi��n artificial y mirada art��stica. Semantic Intersections between Artificial and Artistic Vision.

En el presente art��culo se ha desarrollado un sistema capaz de categorizar de forma autom��tica la base de datos de im��genes que sirven de punto de partida para la ideaci��n y dise��o en la producci��n art��stica del escultor M. Planas. La metodolog��a utilizada est�� basada en caracter��sticas locales. Para la construcci��n de un vocabulario visual se sigue un procedimiento an��logo al que se utiliza en el an��lisis autom��tico de textos (modelo 'Bag-of-Words'-BOW) y en el ��mbito de las im��genes nos referiremos a representaciones 'Bag-of-Visual Terms' (BOV). En este enfoque se analizan las im��genes como un conjunto de regiones, describiendo solamente su apariencia e ignorando su estructura espacial. Para superar los inconvenientes de polisemia y sinonimia que lleva asociados esta metodolog��a, se utiliza el an��lisis probabil��stico de aspectos latentes (PLSA) que detecta aspectos subyacentes en las im��genes, patrones formales. Los resultados obtenidos son prometedores y, adem��s de la utilidad intr��nseca de la categorizaci��n autom��tica de im��genes, este m��todo puede proporcionar al artista un punto de vista auxiliar muy interesante.

Del gimn��s al lleure-salut. Centres de Fitness, Fitness Center, Fitness & Wellness, Spa, Balnearis, Centres de Talassoter��pia, Curhotel

Actualment, el sector ���gimnasos i centres esportius��� constitueix una parcel��la de gran import��ncia dins del panorama de la ind��stria del lleure. L���apogeu creixent del sector lleure-salut s���est�� produint des de fa diverses d��cades, de manera que a hores d���ara el lleure i el temps de lleure, i l���exercici f��sic i l���esport com a lleure s��n predictors de qualitat de vida. En aquest sentit, podem relacionar i hem de relacionar el lleure amb la qualitat de vida, un concepte multidimensional que inclou tots els ��mbits de la vida humana (estat de la salut, benestar, participaci�� social, condicions de vida...). En aquest treball analitzem de quina forma han anat evolucionat els centres dedicats a la practica esportiva i a la salut. Un sector que des de l���antiguitat fins als nostres dies ha hagut d���anar adaptant i ampliant la seva oferta d���activitats i productes, segons les necessitats dels usuaris.

Cyclicity versus center problem

We prove that there are one-parameter families of planar differential equations for which the center problem has a trivial solution and on the other hand the cyclicity of the weak focus is arbitrarily high. We illustrate this phenomenon in several examples for which this cyclicity is computed.

Integrability of a linear center perturbed by a fourth degree homogeneous polynomial

In this work we study the integrability of a two-dimensional autonomous system in the plane with linear part of center type and non-linear part given by homogeneous polynomials of fourth degree. We give sufficient conditions for integrability in polar coordinates. Finally we establish a conjecture about the independence of the two classes of parameters which appear in the system; if this conjecture is true the integrable cases found will be the only possible ones.

Integrability of a linear center perturbed by a fifth degree homogeneous polynomial

In this work we study the integrability of two-dimensional autonomous system in the plane with linear part of center type and non-linear part given by homogeneous polynomials of fifth degree. We give a simple characterisation for the integrable cases in polar coordinates. Finally we formulate a conjecture about the independence of the two classes of parameters which appear on the system; if this conjecture is true the integrable cases found will be the only possible ones.

Del gimnasio al ocio-salud Centros de Fitness, Fitness Center, Fitness & Wellness, Spa, Balnearios, Centros de Talasoterapia, Curhotel

Actualmente el sector ���gimnasios y centros deportivos��� se constituye como una parcela de gran importancia dentro del panorama de la industria del ocio. El auge creciente del sector ocio-salud se viene produciendo desde hace varias d��cadas, de modo que en la actualidad el ocio y tiempo de ocio, y ejercicio f��sico y deporte como ocio son predictores de calidad de vida. En este sentido es cuando podemos y debemos relacionar ocio con la calidad de vida, un concepto multidimensional que incluye todos los ��mbitos de la vida humana (estado de la salud, bienestar, participaci��n social, condiciones de vida...). En este trabajo se analiza como han ido evolucionado los centros dedicados a la practica deportiva y a la salud. Un sector que desde la antig��edad hasta nuestros d��as ha tenido que ir adaptando y ampliando su oferta de actividades y productos seg��n las necesidades de los usuarios.

Una visi��n actualizada de la did��ctica de la matem��tica en educaci��n infantil = An up-to-date vision of pre-school mathematics teaching

This article aims to investigate pre-school mathematics teaching from an uptodate perspective. To pursue this contemporary vision we focus on four key questions: what kind of maths is being worked on, who is doing it, how it is being done, and why it is being done