Weight-for-age percentile and its association to community acquired methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus among pediatric patients in Houston, TX

BACKGROUND: Weight has been implicated as a risk factor for symptomatic community-acquired methicillin resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (CA-MRSA). Information from Texas Children's Hospital (TCH) in Houston, TX was used to implement a case-control study to assess weight-for-age percentile (WFA), race and seasonal exposure as risk factors. ^ METHODS: A retrospective chart review to collect data from TCH was conducted covering the time period January 1st, 2008 to May 31st, 2011. Cases were confirmed and identified by the infectious disease department and were matched on a 1:1 ratio to controls that were seen by the emergency department for non-infected fractures from June 1st, 2008 to May 31st, 2011. Data abstraction was performed using TCH's electronic medical records (EMR) system (EPIC ®). ^ RESULTS: Of 702 CA-MRSA identified cases, ages 9 to 16.99, 564 (80.3%) had the variable `weight' present in their EMR, were not duplicates and not determined to be outliers. Cases were randomly matched to a pool of available controls (n=1864) according to age and gender, yielding 539 1:1 matched pairs (95.5% case matching success) with a total study sample size, N=1078. Case median age was 13.38 years with the majority being White (66.05%) and male (59.4%). Adjusted conditional logistic regression analysis of the matched pairs identified the following risk factors to presenting with CA-MRSA infection among pediatric patients, ages 9 to 16.99 years: a) Individual weight in the highest (75th-99.9th) WFA quartile (OR=1.36; 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.06-1.74; P= 0.016), b) Infection during summer months (OR: 1.69; 95% CI=1.2-2.38; P= 0.003), c) patients of African American race/ethnicity (OR= 1.48; 95% CI=1.13-1.95; P= 0.004). ^ CONCLUSIONS: Pediatric patients, 9 to 16.99 years of age, in the highest WFA quartile (75th-99.9th), or of African-American race had an associated increased risk of presenting with CA-MRSA infection. Furthermore, children in this population were at a higher risk of contracting CA-MRSA infection during the summer season.^

Ethnic comparisons of adolescent sexual risk -taking and preventive behavior

For adolescents, unprotected sexual intercourse is the primary cause of sexually transmitted disease (STD), including Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection (virus which causes Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS)), and pregnancy. Although many studies on adolescent sexual behavior have addressed racial/ethnic differences, few studies have examined the relation between race/ethnicity while controlling for other sociocultural and psychosocial variables. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between racial/ethnic categories and selected sociocultural and psychosocial variables, with reported adolescent sexual risk-taking and preventive behavior.^ A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect information from 3132 students in a Texas school district (Section 3.5.2). The instrument contained approximately 100 questions on demographic characteristics, sexual behavior, and psychosocial determinants of sexual behavior. Based on the findings of this study, the following major conclusions are made: (1) There are differences in reported sexual risk-taking and preventive behavior among Black, Hispanic and White adolescents in this study. The stratified analysis by gender further suggests significant gender differences in reported sexual behavior among the three racial/ethnic groups. (2) Gender, living arrangement, academic grades, and language spoken at home modified the association between reported sexual risk-taking and preventive behavior and race/ethnicity in this study. This suggests that these sociocultural variables should be considered in future research and practice involving multicultural populations. (3) There are differences in selected psychosocial determinants among the three racial/ethnic groups and between males and females. These differences were consistent with the reported sexual risk-taking and preventive behaviors among race/ethnicity and gender for adolescents in this study. The findings support the consideration of psychosocial determinants in research and interventions addressing adolescent sexual behavior among different racial/ethnic groups.^ Based on the results of this study, two recommendations for practice are made. First, health professionals developing interventions for adolescents from different cultural backgrounds and gender need to be familiar with the specific sociocultural and psychosocial factors which will reduce risky sexual behavior, and promote protective behavior. Second, the need for immediate, realistic, and continuous HIV/STD and pregnancy prevention programs for children and adolescents should be considered. ^

Physiological and biochemical characteristics of polar cod (Boreogadus saida) from Kongsfjorden

Seasonality of biomarker baseline levels were studied in polar cod (Boreogadus saida), caught in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard, in April, July, September and December, 2006-2007. Physiological parameters (condition factor, gonado- and hepato-somatic indexes, energy reserves, potential metabolic activity and antifreeze activity) in polar cod were used to interpret the seasonality of potential biomarkers. The highest levels of ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) activity occurred concomitantly with the highest potential metabolic activity in July due to e.g. intense feeding. During pre-spawning, EROD showed significant inhibition and gender differences. Hence, its potential use in environmental monitoring should imply gender differentiation at least during this period. Glutathione S-transferase and catalase activities were stable from April to September, but changed in December suggesting a link to low biological activity. Knowledge of the biomarker baseline levels and their seasonal trends in polar cod is essential for a trustworthy interpretation of forthcoming toxicity data and environmental monitoring in the Arctic.

Seawater carbonate chemistry and Astrangia poculata mass and zooxanthellate during experiments, 2012

The effects of nutrients and pCO2 on zooxanthellate and azooxanthellate colonies of the temperate scleractinian coral Astrangia poculata (Ellis and Solander, 1786) were investigated at two different temperatures (16 °C and 24 °C). Corals exposed to elevated pCO2 tended to have lower relative calcification rates, as estimated from changes in buoyant weights. Experimental nutrient enrichments had no significant effect nor did there appear to be any interaction between pCO2 and nutrients. Elevated pCO2 appeared to have a similar effect on coral calcification whether zooxanthellae were present or absent at 16 °C. However, at 24 °C, the interpretation of the results is complicated by a significant interaction between gender and pCO2 for spawning corals. At 16 °C, gamete release was not observed, and no gender differences in calcification rates were observed - female and male corals showed similar reductions in calcification rates in response to elevated CO2 (15% and 19% respectively). Corals grown at 24 °C spawned repeatedly and male and female corals exhibited two different growth rate patterns - female corals grown at 24 °C and exposed to CO2 had calcification rates 39% lower than females grown at ambient CO2, while males showed a non-significant decline of 5% under elevated CO2. The increased sensitivity of females to elevated pCO2 may reflect a greater investment of energy in reproduction (egg production) relative to males (sperm production). These results suggest that both gender and spawning are important factors in determining the sensitivity of corals to ocean acidification, and considering these factors in future research may be critical to predicting how the population structures of marine calcifiers will change in response to ocean acidification.

The morphofunctional approach to emotion modelling in robotics

In this conceptual paper, we discuss two areas of research in robotics, robotic models of emotion and morphofunctional machines, and we explore the scope for potential cross-fertilization between them. We shift the focus in robot models of emotion from information-theoretic aspects of appraisal to the interactive significance of bodily dispositions. Typical emotional phenomena such as arousal and action readiness can be interpreted as morphofunctional processes, and their functionality may be replicated in robotic systems with morphologies that can be modulated for real-time adaptation. We investigate the control requirements for such systems, and present a possible bio-inspired architecture, based on the division of control between neural and endocrine systems in humans and animals. We suggest that emotional epi- sodes can be understood as emergent from the coordination of action control and action-readiness, respectively. This stress on morphology complements existing research on the information-theoretic aspects of emotion.

Associations among Physician Advice, Physical Activity, and Sociodemographic Groups in Older Spanish Adults

This study examined the relationship between medical advice to engage in physical activity with type of demand required by physical activity and demographic variables. A cross-sectional study was developed, featuring a questionnaire on physicians? advice, and type of demand. The questionnaire was completed by a probability and nationwide sample of older adults in Spain ( n = 933, M = 74.1, range 65?93), randomly selected using multistage sampling. More physically active older adults have, more often than the less active, received physicians? advice to engage in physical activity. There is a signifi cant relationship between medical advice and type of demand ( p menor que .01) and age ( p menor que .05). However, no relationship was found between physician medical advice and gender, social class, or income. Physicians can effectively promote physical activity among sedentary older adults through appropriate advice. Consequently, health authorities should promote physicians' advising older patients to pursue physical activity.

Thermal body patterns for healthy Brazilian adults (male and female)

The aim of this study was to establish the skin temperature (Tsk) thermal profile for the Brazilian population and to compare the differences between female and male Brazilian adults. A total of 117 female and 103 male were examined with a thermographic camera. The Tsk of 24 body regions of interest (ROI) were recorded and analyzed. Male Tsk results were compared to female and 10 ROI were evaluated with respect to the opposite side of the body (right vs. left) to identify the existence of significant contralateral Tsk differences (?Tsk). When compared right to left, the largest contralateral ?Tsk was 0.3 °C. The female vs. male analysis yielded significant differences (p menor que0.05) in 13 of the 24 ROI. Thigh regions, both ventral and dorsal, had the highest ?Tsk by sex (? 1.0 °C). Tsk percentile below P5 or P10 and over P9o or P95 may be used to characterize hypothermia and hyperthermia states, respectively. Thermal patterns and Tsk tables 2 were established for Brazilian adult men and women for each ROI. There is a low Tsk variation between sides of the body and gender differences were only significant for some ROIs.

Onyx: A Linked Data approach to emotion representation

Extracting opinions and emotions from text is becoming increasingly important, especially since the advent of micro-blogging and social networking. Opinion mining is particularly popular and now gathers many public services, datasets and lexical resources. Unfortunately, there are few available lexical and semantic resources for emotion recognition that could foster the development of new emotion aware services and applications. The diversity of theories of emotion and the absence of a common vocabulary are two of the main barriers to the development of such resources. This situation motivated the creation of Onyx, a semantic vocabulary of emotions with a focus on lexical resources and emotion analysis services. It follows a linguistic Linked Data approach, it is aligned with the Provenance Ontology, and it has been integrated with the Lexicon Model for Ontologies (lemon), a popular RDF model for representing lexical entries. This approach also means a new and interesting way to work with different theories of emotion. As part of this work, Onyx has been aligned with EmotionML and WordNet-Affect.

Engineering Computational Emotion - A Reference Model for Emotion in Artificial Systems

Emotion is generally argued to be an influence on the behavior of life systems, largely concerning flexibility and adaptivity. The way in which life systems acts in response to a particular situations of the environment, has revealed the decisive and crucial importance of this feature in the success of behaviors. And this source of inspiration has influenced the way of thinking artificial systems. During the last decades, artificial systems have undergone such an evolution that each day more are integrated in our daily life. They have become greater in complexity, and the subsequent effects are related to an increased demand of systems that ensure resilience, robustness, availability, security or safety among others. All of them questions that raise quite a fundamental challenges in control design. This thesis has been developed under the framework of the Autonomous System project, a.k.a the ASys-Project. Short-term objectives of immediate application are focused on to design improved systems, and the approaching of intelligence in control strategies. Besides this, long-term objectives underlying ASys-Project concentrate on high order capabilities such as cognition, awareness and autonomy. This thesis is placed within the general fields of Engineery and Emotion science, and provides a theoretical foundation for engineering and designing computational emotion for artificial systems. The starting question that has grounded this thesis aims the problem of emotion--based autonomy. And how to feedback systems with valuable meaning has conformed the general objective. Both the starting question and the general objective, have underlaid the study of emotion, the influence on systems behavior, the key foundations that justify this feature in life systems, how emotion is integrated within the normal operation, and how this entire problem of emotion can be explained in artificial systems. By assuming essential differences concerning structure, purpose and operation between life and artificial systems, the essential motivation has been the exploration of what emotion solves in nature to afterwards analyze analogies for man--made systems. This work provides a reference model in which a collection of entities, relationships, models, functions and informational artifacts, are all interacting to provide the system with non-explicit knowledge under the form of emotion-like relevances. This solution aims to provide a reference model under which to design solutions for emotional operation, but related to the real needs of artificial systems. The proposal consists of a multi-purpose architecture that implement two broad modules in order to attend: (a) the range of processes related to the environment affectation, and (b) the range or processes related to the emotion perception-like and the higher levels of reasoning. This has required an intense and critical analysis beyond the state of the art around the most relevant theories of emotion and technical systems, in order to obtain the required support for those foundations that sustain each model. The problem has been interpreted and is described on the basis of AGSys, an agent assumed with the minimum rationality as to provide the capability to perform emotional assessment. AGSys is a conceptualization of a Model-based Cognitive agent that embodies an inner agent ESys, the responsible of performing the emotional operation inside of AGSys. The solution consists of multiple computational modules working federated, and aimed at conforming a mutual feedback loop between AGSys and ESys. Throughout this solution, the environment and the effects that might influence over the system are described as different problems. While AGSys operates as a common system within the external environment, ESys is designed to operate within a conceptualized inner environment. And this inner environment is built on the basis of those relevances that might occur inside of AGSys in the interaction with the external environment. This allows for a high-quality separate reasoning concerning mission goals defined in AGSys, and emotional goals defined in ESys. This way, it is provided a possible path for high-level reasoning under the influence of goals congruence. High-level reasoning model uses knowledge about emotional goals stability, letting this way new directions in which mission goals might be assessed under the situational state of this stability. This high-level reasoning is grounded by the work of MEP, a model of emotion perception that is thought as an analogy of a well-known theory in emotion science. The work of this model is described under the operation of a recursive-like process labeled as R-Loop, together with a system of emotional goals that are assumed as individual agents. This way, AGSys integrates knowledge that concerns the relation between a perceived object, and the effect which this perception induces on the situational state of the emotional goals. This knowledge enables a high-order system of information that provides the sustain for a high-level reasoning. The extent to which this reasoning might be approached is just delineated and assumed as future work. This thesis has been studied beyond a long range of fields of knowledge. This knowledge can be structured into two main objectives: (a) the fields of psychology, cognitive science, neurology and biological sciences in order to obtain understanding concerning the problem of the emotional phenomena, and (b) a large amount of computer science branches such as Autonomic Computing (AC), Self-adaptive software, Self-X systems, Model Integrated Computing (MIC) or the paradigm of models@runtime among others, in order to obtain knowledge about tools for designing each part of the solution. The final approach has been mainly performed on the basis of the entire acquired knowledge, and described under the fields of Artificial Intelligence, Model-Based Systems (MBS), and additional mathematical formalizations to provide punctual understanding in those cases that it has been required. This approach describes a reference model to feedback systems with valuable meaning, allowing for reasoning with regard to (a) the relationship between the environment and the relevance of the effects on the system, and (b) dynamical evaluations concerning the inner situational state of the system as a result of those effects. And this reasoning provides a framework of distinguishable states of AGSys derived from its own circumstances, that can be assumed as artificial emotion.

Methods and Techniques for Segmentation of Consumers in Social Media

Los medios sociales han revolucionado la manera en la que los consumidores se relacionan entre sí y con las marcas. Las opiniones publicadas en dichos medios tienen un poder de influencia en las decisiones de compra tan importante como las campañas de publicidad. En consecuencia, los profesionales del marketing cada vez dedican mayores esfuerzos e inversión a la obtención de indicadores que permitan medir el estado de salud de las marcas a partir de los contenidos digitales generados por sus consumidores. Dada la naturaleza no estructurada de los contenidos publicados en los medios sociales, la tecnología usada para procesar dichos contenidos ha menudo implementa técnicas de Inteligencia Artificial, tales como algoritmos de procesamiento de lenguaje natural, aprendizaje automático y análisis semántico. Esta tesis, contribuye al estado de la cuestión, con un modelo que permite estructurar e integrar la información publicada en medios sociales, y una serie de técnicas cuyos objetivos son la identificación de consumidores, así como la segmentación psicográfica y sociodemográfica de los mismos. La técnica de identificación de consumidores se basa en la huella digital de los dispositivos que utilizan para navegar por la Web y es tolerante a los cambios que se producen con frecuencia en dicha huella digital. Las técnicas de segmentación psicográfica descritas obtienen la posición en el embudo de compra de los consumidores y permiten clasificar las opiniones en función de una serie de atributos de marketing. Finalmente, las técnicas de segmentación sociodemográfica permiten obtener el lugar de residencia y el género de los consumidores. ABSTRACT Social media has revolutionised the way in which consumers relate to each other and with brands. The opinions published in social media have a power of influencing purchase decisions as important as advertising campaigns. Consequently, marketers are increasing efforts and investments for obtaining indicators to measure brand health from the digital content generated by consumers. Given the unstructured nature of social media contents, the technology used for processing such contents often implements Artificial Intelligence techniques, such as natural language processing, machine learning and semantic analysis algorithms. This thesis contributes to the State of the Art, with a model for structuring and integrating the information posted on social media, and a number of techniques whose objectives are the identification of consumers, as well as their socio-demographic and psychographic segmentation. The consumer identification technique is based on the fingerprint of the devices they use to surf the Web and is tolerant to the changes that occur frequently in such fingerprint. The psychographic profiling techniques described infer the position of consumer in the purchase funnel, and allow to classify the opinions based on a series of marketing attributes. Finally, the socio-demographic profiling techniques allow to obtain the residence and gender of consumers.

Decreased atherosclerosis in mice deficient in both macrophage colony-stimulating factor (op) and apolipoprotein E.

To develop a murine model system to test the role of monocyte-derived macrophage in atherosclerosis, the osteopetrotic (op) mutation in the macrophage colony-stimulating factor gene was bred onto the apolipoprotein E (apoE)-deficient background. The doubly mutant (op/apoE-deficient) mice fed a low-fat chow diet had significantly smaller proximal aortic lesions at an earlier stage of progression than their apoE-deficient control littermates. These lesions in the doubly mutant mice were composed of macrophage foam cells. The op/apoE-deficient mice also had decreased body weights, decreased blood monocyte differentials, and increased mean cholesterol levels of approximately 1300 mg/dl. Statistical analysis determined that atherosclerosis lesion area was significantly affected by the op genotype and gender. The confounding variables of body weight, plasma cholesterol, and monocyte differential, which were all affected by op genotype, had no significant additional effect on lesion area once they were adjusted for the effects of op genotype and gender. Unexpectedly, there was a significant inverse correlation between plasma cholesterol and lesion area, implying that each may be the result of a common effect of macrophage colony-stimulating factor levels. The data support the hypothesis that macrophage colony-stimulating factor and its effects on macrophage development and function play a key role in atherogenesis.

Sea lions, sacrifice, and ritual : The symbolism of Moche Island imagery

The Mochica, or Moche (c. 100-800 AD) culture, flourished along the northern Peruvian coast. The Moche did not have a formal written language; as such, contemporary scholars base their analysis on Moche iconography and archaeological burial remains. Especially renown for their ceramic artistry, Moche vessels exhibit a wide range of subject matter, including animal and enigmatic figural representations that evoke terrestrial, marine and possibly, spiritual realms. While research has focused on political organization and the interrelationship between sacrifice and warfare, many marine themes have not been fully explored in the discourse. An exploration of sea lion imagery and sacrifice themes suggests that the marine mammals were ritually hunted. A careful iconographic analysis of island scenes demonstrates ritual and gender affiliations held by the Moche about sea lions. In a multi-disciplinary approach, scientific, archaeological and ethnographic resources substantiate this claim.

Inequality in analgesic prescription in Spain: a gender development issue

Objectives: It is well known that sex differences in analgesic prescription are not merely the logical result of greater prevalence of pain in women, since this therapeutic variability is related to factors such as educational level or social class. This study aims to analyse the relationship between analgesic prescription and gender development in different regions of Spain. Methods: Cross-sectional study of sex-differences in analgesic prescription according to the gender development of the regions studied. Analgesic prescription, pain and demographic variables were obtained from the Spanish Health Interview Survey in 2006. Gender development was measured with the Gender Development Index (GDI). A logistic regression analysis was conducted to compare analgesic prescription by sex in regions with a GDI above or below the Spanish average. Results: Once adjusted by pain, age and social class, women were more likely to be prescribed analgesics than men, odds ratio (OR) = 1.74 (1.59-1.91), as residents in regions with a lower GDI compared with those in region with a higher GDI: ORWomen = 1.26 (1.12-1.42), ORMen = 1.30 (1.13-1.50). Women experiencing pain in regions with a lower GDI were more likely than men to be treated by a general practitioner rather than by a specialist, OR = 1.32 (1.04-1.67), irrespective of age and social class. Conclusions: Gender bias may be one of the pathways by which inequalities in analgesic treatment adversely affect women's health. Moreover, research into the adequacy of analgesic treatment and the possible medicalisation of women should consider contextual factors, such as gender development.

Gender-sensitive reporting in medical research

Sex and gender differences influence the health and wellbeing of men and women. Although studies have drawn attention to observed differences between women and men across diseases, remarkably little research has been pursued to systematically investigate these underlying sex differences. Women continue to be underrepresented in clinical trials, and even in studies in which both men and women participate, systematic analysis of data to identify potential sex-based differences is lacking. Standards for reporting of clinical trials have been established to ensure provision of complete, transparent and critical information. An important step in addressing the gender imbalance would be inclusion of a gender perspective in the next Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) guideline revision. Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals, as a set of well-recognized and widely used guidelines for authors and biomedical journals, should similarly emphasize the ethical obligation of authors to present data analyzed by gender as a matter of routine. Journal editors are also promoters of ethical research and adequate standards of reporting, and requirements for inclusion of gender analyses should be integrated into editorial policies as a matter of urgency.

Teachers’ beliefs about diversity: an analysis from a personal and professional perspective

The purpose of this study was to examine the beliefs that teachers have about diversity and their level of sensitivity towards some topics related to it. Moreover, beliefs were compared according to teachers’ personal and professional views and teaching experience. The Personal and Professional Beliefs about Diversity Scales (Pohan and Aguilar, 1999) were administered to a sample of 233 teachers. Results showed highly positive beliefs towards diversity in all its dimensions (cultural, linguistic and social diversity, ability, gender, sexual orientation and religion), especially regarding its personal implications compared to the professional ones. Likewise, it was observed a significant relationship between years of teaching experience and professional beliefs about diversity, so teachers with no school experience showed a higher tolerance than those with teaching experience, mainly in aspects related to cultural, linguistic and social differences, ability and gender. The implications that these results have for educational practice and the need for the development of multicultural education courses that favour an effective teaching are discussed.