Systemic Sclerosis: Elevated Levels of Leukotrienes in Saliva and Plasma Are Associated with Vascular Manifestations and Nailfold Capillaroscopic Abnormalities.

The role of leukotrienes (LTs) in the pathogenesis of systemic sclerosis (SSc) needs clarification. We analyzed the association of salivary (sa) and plasma (p) levels (pg/mL) of cysteinyl-leukotrienes (CysLT) and LTB4 with SSc vascular manifestations and nailfold capillaroscopy (NFC) in a cross-sectional study. Patients and healthy controls were evaluated for vascular manifestations and NFC.

Social Class for Collective Health Research: A Conceptual and Empirical Challenge.

Social Determination of Health (SDH)/Collective Health is a Latin American framework that sees the Marxist core concept of social class as fundamental for understanding health inequalities. In contrast to social stratification approaches, Marxist proposals seek to understand health as part of the historical transformations of capitalism's mode of production. In this article we aim to analyze the relationship between social class and health inequalities using data from the IV Oral Health National Study in Colombia.

[Level of clinical competence in seven cohorts of medical students at the end of the internship].

Introduction: Objective structured clinical examination is the instrument with more validated evidence to assess the degree of clinical competence of medical students.

Objectives: To assess the degree of clinical competence of medical students at the end of their internship; to assess the reliability of the instruments with G theory.

Methods: This was an observational, longitudinal, and comparative study.

Reliability analysis of the objective structured clinical examination using generalizability theory.

Background: The objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) is a widely used method for assessing clinical competence in health sciences education. Studies using this method have shown evidence of validity and reliability. There are no published studies of OSCE reliability measurement with generalizability theory (G-theory) in Latin America.

Stability of unstimulated and stimulated whole saliva flow rates in children.

Objective: To analyze the stability of the unstimulated saliva flow rate (USFR) and the stimulated saliva flow rate (SSFR) in children followed from age 7 to 12 years old.

Methods: Longitudinal study. Whole saliva samples were collected from school children (50 girls and 50 boys).

A Water and Education Provision Intervention Modifies the Diet in Overweight Mexican Women in a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: There is minimal information on the impact of replacing sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption with water on diet quality from randomized controlled trials.

Objective: We evaluated the effect of a water intake intervention on diet quality in overweight Mexican women.

Methods: Women with a body mass index ≥25 and <39, 18-45 y old, and a self-reported high intake of SSBs (≥250 kcal/d) were randomly allocated to either the water and education provision (WEP) group (n = 120) or the education provision (EP) only group (n = 120).

[Clinical competence evaluation using the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) in medical internship at UNAM].

Introduction: The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) is a widely used measurement tool to assess clinical competence in the health sciences. There is little published evidence of its use in Mexican medical schools.

Objective: To assess clinical competence in medical students with an OSCE, before and after the Medical Internship.

Aflatoxin (B1 , B2 , G1 , and G2 ) contamination in rice of Mexico and Spain, from local sources or imported.

Rice is an important cereal but it is often contaminated with aflatoxins (AFs). The purpose of this study was to identify and quantify AF (B1 , B2 , G1 , and G2 ) in 67 rice samples cultivated in Mexico and Spain, and from imported crops collected in 2008 and 2009. The methodology was validated, the rice samples were concentrated and purified with immunoaffinity columns and were quantified by high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC).

Polymorphisms associated with the risk of lung cancer in a healthy Mexican Mestizo population: Application of the additive model for cancer.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality in Mexico and worldwide. In the past decade, there has been an increase in the number of lung cancer cases in young people, which suggests an important role for genetic background in the etiology of this disease. In this study, we genetically characterized 16 polymorphisms in 12 low penetrance genes (AhR, CYP1A1, CYP2E1, EPHX1, GSTM1, GSTT1, GSTPI, XRCC1, ERCC2, MGMT, CCND1 and TP53) in 382 healthy Mexican Mestizos as the first step in elucidating the genetic structure of this population and identifying high risk individuals.

Tracheal dimensions in the Mexican population.

Background: There are few studies regarding the measurement of tracheal dimensions. Most are focused on morphology and tracheal development. The aim of this study was to determine the length and tracheal diameter of adults in our population and its correlation with external measurements.

Stimulated saliva flow rate patterns in children: A six-year longitudinal study.

Objective: To find out whether the stimulated saliva flow rate (SSFR) is a variable and unpredictable characteristic as healthy children grow-up.

Design: Seven-year-old school children (53 boys and 57 girls) were recruited to measure their SSFR in mL/min. Paraffin-stimulated saliva was collected from each child at baseline and once annually, over six years.

[Tobacco smoking in urban and rural adolescents and its association with individual and familiar characteristics].

Objective: The purpose was to estimate the prevalence of smoking in adolescents and its association with some individual and family characteristics in urban and rural areas.

Methods: An analytic cross-sectional study was carried out in 3161 junior high school students, of eight public and two private urban schools and three public rural schools. Some student behaviors on tobacco use, patterns of smoking and alcohol consumption in the family and socioeconomic status were measured.

Testing a test: Analysis of the consistency of a pharmacology exam.

In higher education, learning variables are critical for professional activity and they should be properly assessed. Therefore, adequacy of evaluation instruments is very important. Consistency of an exam is one characteristic frequently studied to determine exam reliability.

Motor response of 14-month-old female mice exposed to diazepam prenatally.

The response of adult female mice to diazepam (DZ) can be sculpted by the prenatal experience with the drug. Experiments were performed in ICR strain (Harlan México) mice exposed in utero to DZ. They were born from dams injected (s.

Prevalence of anemia and deficiency of iron, folic acid, and zinc in children younger than 2 years of age who use the health services provided by the Mexican Social Security Institute.

Background: In Mexico, as in other developing countries, micronutrient deficiencies are common in infants between 6 and 24 months of age and are an important public health problem. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of anemia and of iron, folic acid, and zinc deficiencies in Mexican children under 2 years of age who use the health care services provided by the Mexican Institute for Social Security (IMSS).

Methods: A nationwide survey was conducted with a representative sample of children younger than 2 years of age, beneficiaries, and users of health care services provided by IMSS through its regular regimen (located in urban populations) and its Oportunidades program (services offered in rural areas).

Maternal dietary omega fatty acid intake and auditory brainstem-evoked potentials in Mexican infants born at term: cluster analysis.

Objective: To identify biological and socioeconomic factors associated with the neurological development of Mexican infants born at term, as measured by brainstem auditory-evoked potentials (BAEPs).

Subjects And Methods: We conducted a cohort study among 76 women with low risk pregnancies recruited in their third trimester of pregnancy and followed their infants until 12 months of age. BAEP tests were conducted on the infants before 3 months of age during physiologic sleep, using 100 msec bipolar clicks.

[Adjustment of the Andersen's model to the Mexican context: access to prenatal care].

Unlabelled: The aim of this work was to propose an adjustment to the Model of Andersen who answers better to the social inequality of the population in the Mexico City and allows to evaluate the effect of socioeconomic factors in the access to the prenatal care of a sample stratified according to degree of marginalization.

Material And Methods: The data come from a study of 663 women, randomly selected from a framework sample of 21,421 homes in Mexico City. This work collects information about factors that affect utilization of health services, as well as predisposing factors (age and socioeconomic level), as enabling factors (education, social support, entitlement, pay out of pocket and opinion of health services), and need factors.

Prevalence and interrelations of cardiovascular risk factors in urban and rural Mexican adolescents.

Purpose: To examine the prevalence of coronary risk factors in Mexican adolescents, and their relations to school type, gender, and residence in urban and rural areas.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 3121 junior high school students, aged 12 to 16 years, attending urban schools (eight public, n = 1850, two private, n = 480) and three rural public (n = 791) schools. Weight, height, waist circumference, blood pressure, and fasting glucose and lipid-lipoprotein levels were measured.

[The debate on lower back pain and its relationship to work: a retrospective study of workers on sick leave].

Lower back pain has a high prevalence among the Mexican working population, with extensive social and economic repercussions. Official figures show that lower back pain accounts for 10.0 to 15.

[Construct validity, reliability, and cutoff point of the Subjective Symptoms of Fatigue Test in Mexican workers].

Objective: To evaluate the construct validity and the internal reliability of the Subjective Symptoms of Fatigue Test (SSFT), as well as to establish its best cutoff point.

Materials And Methods: The SSFT was developed in Japan to measure fatigue in a population of workers; the test includes 30 items in three spheres. Construct validity was explored through differences among groups, using a population of 1399 workers from eight industries studied in Mexico City in 1999.

Prediction equations for spirometric parameters in Mexican adult population.

Background: Our objective was to develop prediction equations for spirometric parameters that included the following: forced vital capacity (FVC); 1st-sec forced expiratory volume (FEV1); FEV1/FVC ratio; peak expiratory flow (PEF); maximal expiratory flow 50% FVC (VF50) and maximal expiratory flow 75% FVC (VF75); maximal mid-expiratory flow (FEF25-75), and forced late expiratory flow rate (FEF75-85) in a sample of adult Mexican population of both sexes. Age and height variables were utilized.

Methods: Spirometric studies were carried out, observing the international recommendations and norms in force and effected under basal conditions and post-bronchodilator.

A cluster analysis model for caries risk assessment.

Cluster analysis was applied to determine, the natural grouping of individuals, among sixty 8-10-year-old children, and to identify the most significant set of markers for risk assessment. The risk clusters were obtained with initial clinical and bacteriological measurements including dmf + DMFS, active caries, mutans streptococci and lactobacilli counts in plaque or saliva on two media, and Snyder's test results. The morbidity clusters were constructed with the final clinical indexes and incidence after 18 months (dependent variables).

Methods of the National Nutrition Survey 1999.

Objective: To describe the methods and analyses of the 1999 National Nutrition Survey (NNS-99).

Material And Methods: The 1999 National Nutrition Survey (NNS-99) is a probabilistic survey with nationwide representativity. The NNS-99 included four regions and urban and rural areas of Mexico.

Esophageal anastomotic failure: an experimental study.

Background: Postsurgical complications in patients with esophageal atresia have remained unchanged during the last three decades. This study was aimed at investigating certain risk factors for small-sized esophageal anastomosis and to assess the probable relationship between esophageal length and body weight in rabbit.

Methods: Six groups of 10 adult rabbits were subjected to section or 1-cm segmental resection of thoracic esophagus followed by end-to-end anastomosis.

Computer use increases the risk of musculoskeletal disorders among newspaper office workers.

Background: Our objectives were to estimate prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among office workers at a newspaper in Mexico City, analyze the relationship between musculoskeletal disorders and use of the personal computer (PC) and associated ergonomic factors in the aforementioned population, and to analyze the modifying effect that psychosocial factors have on the relationship between ergonomic factors and musculoskeletal disorders and extant jobs at the newspaper.

Methods: A total of 73% (218 of 298) of office workers at a newspaper were studied. Information was collected by a questionnaire completed by participants.