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The diverse morphological configurations in teeth present clinical challenges in root canal treatment, complicating instrumentation and irrigation processes, which can lead to treatment failure. Understanding anatomical variations, such as C-shaped canals and radix entomolaris, enhances clinical skills and improves long-term endodontic treatment success rates. Cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) offers superior diagnostic capabilities over conventional radiography, enabling the pre-operative detection of root configurations and canal numbers, facilitating personalized endodontic treatments. A total of 2173 teeth of a Mexican population, including 1057 first mandibular molars and 1116 s mandibular molars, were studied using only CBCT to identify C-shaped canals and radix configurations of patients who were treated from 2018 to 2023 at the Department of Radiology at the Faculty of Dentistry, Juarez University of the State of Durango, Mexico. C-shaped canals were identified in 160 teeth, with a prevalence of 0.2% in first mandibular molars and 14.1% in second mandibular molars. The highest frequency was in the left second mandibular molar (3.7) at 14.8%. Gender differences were significant, with higher prevalence in females (27.3%) compared to males (13.3%). The most common C-shaped canal configuration was type C2 (39.3%). Radix entomolaris was found in 52 teeth, with a prevalence of 3.4% in first mandibular molars and 1.4% in second mandibular molars. This research on a Mexican population using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) highlights significant findings in the prevalence and types of C-shaped canals and radix entomolaris in mandibular molars for this population. The left second mandibular molar (3.7) showed the highest prevalence at 14.8%, followed closely by the right second mandibular molar (4.7) at 13.5%, with a significant difference (p < 0.001). We found a significant difference in the prevalence of C-shaped canals between genders (p = 0.004, OR 1.78). Additionally, radix entomolaris (p < 0.001) was more frequently identified in first mandibular molars to a significant degree. These insights underscore the importance of CBCT in diagnosing complex root anatomies, which can greatly enhance the success rates of endodontic procedures by allowing for more tailored and precise treatments for this population.

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Ataxia-telangiectasia (AT) is a rare genetic disorder leading to neurological defects, telangiectasias, and immunodeficiency. We aimed to study the clinical and immunological features of Latin American patients with AT and analyze factors associated with mortality. Referral centers from 9 Latin American countries participated in this retrospective cohort study, and 218 patients were included. Median (IQR) ages at symptom onset and diagnosis were 1.0 (1.0-2.0)  and 5.0 (3.0-8.0) years, respectively. Most patients presented recurrent airway infections, which was significantly associated with IgA deficiency. IgA deficiency was observed in 60.8% of patients and IgG deficiency in 28.6%. T- and B-lymphopenias were also present in most cases. Mean survival was 24.2 years, and Kaplan-Meier 20-year-survival rate was 52.6%, with higher mortality associated with female gender and low IgG levels. These findings suggest that immunologic status should be investigated in all patients with AT.

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Bovine babesiosis, caused by the protozoan Babesia bigemina, is one of the most important hemoparasite diseases of cattle in Mexico and the world. An attenuated B. bigemina strain maintained under in vitro culture conditions has been used as a live attenuated vaccine; however, the biological mechanisms involved in attenuation are unknown. The objective of this study was to identify, through a comparative transcriptomics approach, the components of the B. bigemina virulent parasites that are differentially expressed in vivo, as opposed to those expressed by B. bigemina attenuated vaccine parasites when inoculated into naïve cattle. The biological material under study was obtained by inoculating spleen-intact cattle with infected erythrocytes containing either the attenuated strain or a virulent field strain. After RNA extraction, transcriptomic analysis (RNA-seq) was performed, followed by bioinformatic Differential Expression (DE) analysis and Gene Ontology (GO) term enrichment. The high-throughput sequencing results obtained by analyzing three biological replicates for each parasite strain ranged from 9,504,000 to 9,656,000, and 13,400,000 to 15,750,000 reads for the B. bigemina attenuated and virulent strains, respectively. At least 519 differentially expressed genes were identified in the analyzed strains. In addition, GO analysis revealed both similarities and differences across the three categories: cellular components, biological processes, and molecular functions. The attenuated strain of B. bigemina derived from in vitro culture presents global transcriptomic changes when compared to the virulent strain. Moreover, the obtained data provide insights into the potential molecular mechanisms associated with the attenuation or pathogenicity of each analyzed strain, offering molecular markers that might be associated with virulence or potential vaccine candidates.

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Antecedentes: la perspectiva temporal es un proceso psicológico mediante el cual los flujos continuos de experiencias personales y sociales se asignan a categorías temporales o marcos de tiempo que dan orden, coherencia y significado a esos eventos. El Inventario de PerspectivaTemporal de Zimbardo (ZTPI, por sus siglas en inglés) mide esta orientación con cinco factores: pasado positivo, pasado negativo, presente fatalista, presente hedonista y futuro. Sin embargo, su validación ha sido con población europea y estadounidense y en menor proporción conlatinoamericanos. Objetivo: adaptar el ZTPI para población adulta que habita zonas marginadas de México. Método: a través de un diseño no experimental de tipo ex post facto con alcance descriptivo y muestreo bietápico. Participaron117 mujeres y 61 hombres, con 44.6 años en promedio.Resultados: los valores de fiabilidad son adecuados y el modelo estructural con cuatro factores con medidas deajuste cercanos a los umbrales sugeridos (χ²/df = 1.523;CFI = .914; GFI = .883; TLI = .899; AGFI = .848; RMSEA =.054; y SRMR = .029). Conclusiones: la adaptación de la escala resulta ser sensible a la población de referencia. Palabras clave: perspectiva ¡temporal; ZTPI; pasado positivo; marginación.

Background: The temporal perspective is a psychological process through which the continuous streams of personal and social experiences are assigned to temporal categories or frames of time that provide order, coherence, andmeaning to those events. The Zimbardo Time PerspectiveInventory (ZTPI) measures this orientation with fivefactors: positive past, negative past, fatalistic present,hedonistic present, and future. However, its validation hasbeen conducted with European and American populations, and to a lesser extent with Latin Americans. Objective: Adapt the ZTPI for the adult population living in marginalized areas of Mexico. Method: Through a non-experimental ex post facto design with a descriptive scope and two-stage sampling. Where, 117 women and 61 menparticipated, with an average age of 44.6 years. Results:The reliability values are adequate, and the structuralmodel with four factors shows fit measures close to thesuggested thresholds (χ²/df = 1.523; CFI = .914; GFI = .883;TLI = .899; AGFI = .848; RMSEA = .054; y SRMR = .029).Conclusions: The adaptation of the scale appears to besensitive to the reference population. Keywords: temporal perspective; ZTPI; positive past; marginalization.

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Introducción: La prevención en el progreso de la prediabetes hacia la diabetes, debe hacerse desde un enfoque holístico y considerar el funcionamiento afectivo - motivacional de quienes la padecen. Objetivo: Determinar las particularidades del funcionamiento afectivo - motivacional de pacientes prediabéticos. Métodos: Se desarrolló un estudio exploratorio descriptivo con metodología mixta, se integraron los análisis cuantitativo y cualitativo; la muestra quedó conformada por 10 sujetos prediabéticos. Para la pesquisa se realizó el análisis psicológico de los pacientes, según su historia clínica y se aplicaron el Registro de la Actividad. Método Directo e Indirecto (RAMDI), la Escala Dembo-Rubinstein, las Técnicas de Completamiento de Frases y de Composición, así como la entrevista semiestructurada. Resultados: Los sujetos prediabéticos no se reconocen como enfermos, no valoran los riesgos que contraen por esa condición y no se comprometen con un cambio de estilo de vida. Conclusiones: En los pacientes prediabéticos la categoría salud no es un motivo rector que oriente y regule su conducta de modo estable; predominó la actitud de «no aceptación de la enfermedad», con una marcada tendencia a la autovaloración inadecuada que limita la responsabilidad personal ante la condición mórbida.

Introduction: the prevention of the progression from prediabetes to diabetes must be done from a holistic approach considering the motivational and affective functioning of the patients who suffer from this condition. Objective: to determine the particularities of the motivational and affective functioning of prediabetic patients. Methods: a descriptive exploratory study was carried out with a mixed-method research where quantitative and qualitative analyzes were integrated; the sample was made up of 10 prediabetic subjects. A psychological assessment was made based on their clinical history and the Register of the Activity. Direct and Indirect Method (RAMDI in Spanish), the Dembo-Rubinstein Scale, the Sentence Completion and the Composition Techniques, as well as the semi-structured interview were applied for screening. Results: the prediabetic subjects do not recognize themselves as sick, do not value the risks they incur with their condition, and do not commit to a lifestyle change. Conclusions: health category in prediabetic patients is not a guiding motive that guides and regulates their behaviour in a stable way; a predominance of an attitude of "non-acceptance of the disease", with a marked tendency to inadequate self-assessment that limited personal responsibility for the morbid condition.

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BACKGROUND: Cryptococcosis is a potentially life-threatening fungal disease caused by encapsulated yeasts of the genus Cryptococcus, mostly C. neoformans or C. gattii. Cryptococcal meningitis is the most frequent clinical manifestation in humans. Neutralizing autoantibodies (auto-Abs) against granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) have recently been discovered in otherwise healthy adult patients with cryptococcal meningitis, mostly caused by C. gattii. We hypothesized that three Colombian patients with cryptococcal meningitis caused by C. neoformans in two of them would carry high plasma levels of neutralizing auto-Abs against GM-CSF. METHODS: We reviewed medical and laboratory records, performed immunological evaluations, and tested for anti-cytokine auto-Abs three previously healthy HIV-negative adults with disseminated cryptococcosis. RESULTS: Peripheral blood leukocyte subset levels and serum immunoglobulin concentrations were within the normal ranges. We detected high levels of neutralizing auto-Abs against GM-CSF in the plasma of all three patients. CONCLUSIONS: We report three Colombian patients with disseminated cryptococcosis associated with neutralizing auto-Abs against GM-CSF. Further studies should evaluate the genetic contribution to anti-GM-CSF autoantibody production and the role of the GM-CSF signaling pathway in the immune response to Cryptococcus spp.

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INTRODUCTION: Common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) is the most prevalent symptomatic humoral deficiency; however, its heterogeneous presentation makes the diagnosis difficult. The present study is aimed to verify the CVID diagnostic criteria as established by the European Society for Immunodeficiencies in 42 CVID patients from our outpatient clinic. METHODS: Information was collected from their medical records and when needed, lymphocyte subpopulations in peripheral blood (PB) were performed by flow cytometry. RESULTS: All the patients fulfilled the clinical working definition for CVID and showed decreased serum IgG and IgA at diagnosis. Over two-thirds of the patients had decreased memory B cell percentages. However, the remaining patients exhibited other quantitative B cell defects in PB. Evaluation of vaccination responses was only found in 13 records and 69% were not responsive. None of the patients were subjected to vaccination studies to both, T-cell dependent and independent antigens. The two required tests to evaluate T cell responses were performed in 84.2% of the patients and reported normal. Without the support of third-party payers, only 34.2% of our patients would have completed the required evaluations. CONCLUSIONS: Further efforts are needed to speed up CVID diagnosis in low-resourced settings, increasing the availability of the required resources and optimizing the healthcare supply chain.

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Resumen Introducción: El trauma representa la primera causa de mortalidad en edades tempranas en el mundo. Objetivo: Analizar la tendencia en la mortalidad debida a lesiones por trauma en Colombia entre 2007 y 2017. Metodología: Se trata de un estudio a partir de información oficial del Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadística (DANE). Incluyó análisis de tendencia de las tasas de mortalidad ajustada por edad y sexo, análisis bivariado para demostrar diferencias de proporciones con la prueba de independencia de ji-cuadrado y un análisis multivariado para calcular la razón de probabilidad (odds ratio, OR) para mortalidad por trauma mediante la regresión logística multivariada. Resultados: Se atribuyeron a trauma 214 258 defunciones; 88,2 % ocurrieron en hombres. La tasa media anual de mortalidad fue de 40,9 por 100 000 habitantes: 75,2 en hombres y 9,7 en mujeres. La primera causa de muerte en la población masculina se atribuye a lesiones por arma de fuego (OR multivariado=2,287; IC 95 % 2,217 - 2,358) mientras que en la población de sexo femenino fueron los accidentes de tránsito (OR multivariado= 2,224; IC 95 % 2,163 - 2,286). Conclusiones: En general, la mortalidad por traumatismos fue mayor en los hombres de todas las edades, sobre todo en el grupo de 25 a 29 años (149,5 por 100 000 hombres/año) y los de 30 a 34 años (133,9 por 100 000 hombres) tenían más probabilidades de morir debido a lesiones relacionadas con la violencia.

Abstract Introduction: Trauma injuries are the leading cause of premature mortality worldwide. Objective: To analyze trends in mortality due to trauma injuries in Colombia from 2007 to 2017. Methods: We conducted a study of association based on official information from the National Administrative Department of Statistics (In Spanish, DANE). It included a trend analysis of mortality rates adjusted for age and sex, bivariate analysis to demonstrate differences in proportions with the chi-square test and multivariate analysis to calculate the Odds Ratio (OR) for trauma mortality using multivariate logistic regression. Results: 214,258 deaths were attributed to trauma injuries, and 88.2 % of them occurred among men of all ages. The mean mortality rate during the study period was 40.9 deaths per 100,000 people (75.2 among men and 9.7 in women). The main causes of death among men were firearms injuries (OR multivariate=2,287; IC 95% 2,217 - 2,358) while road traffic among women (OR multivariate= 2,224; IC 95% 2,163 - 2,286). Conclusion: Overall, mortality rates due to trauma injuries were higher among men of all ages than women, but 25 to 29 (149,5 per 100 000 men/year) and 30 to 34 year-old (133,9 per 100 000 men). males were more likely to die due to violence-related injuries.

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This study analyzed the effects of cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) on growth, sexual couples, and histological structures of Artemia franciscana exposed to individual concentrations of these metals and combined. No histological effects were observed at tissue level in digestive, respiratory, nervous, and reproductive systems (i.e., necrosis, loss of regular structure) in individual and mixed applications on A. franciscana for 20 days of exposure. No significant differences (p > 0.05) were determined in final size and growth rate among the organisms exposed to Cd and those of control. For Pb, only the final size (3.59 ± 0.59 mm) of organisms exposed to the highest concentration was significantly lower (p < 0.05) than those of the control (4.53 ± 0.34 mm) group, whereas for the combined experiment, no significant differences (p > 0.05) were observed in final size and growth rate. At all Cd concentrations, mean sexual couples were significantly lower (p < 0.05) than those of the control, as well as for Pb. For the combined experiment (8 µg/L of Cd + 8 µg/L of Pb), sexual couples were not observed, indicating synergism and negative reproduction effects. The results showed that Cd and Pb aquatic environmental regulations (as the Criterion of Continuous Concentration) proposed by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should include their interactions with other metals.

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OBJECTIVES: International growth charts have been used in the past decades to identify atypical growth and diagnose the nutritional status of individuals. The aim of this study was to construct and compare growth patterns of normo-nourished children between 6-59 months from Afghanistan, Haiti, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to assess if it would be worth developing growth charts at a national level. METHODS: We used an international sample of 46 466 subjects (53.7% female; 46.3% male) from the aforementioned regions. To create the growth charts, we used different statistical methodologies: the Lambda-Mu-Sigma (LMS), LMSP, and LMST models, and regression models based on fractional polynomials. The LMSP models were the ones that fitted our data best and were therefore the ones used to make comparisons between countries using percentiles (3rd, 50th, and 97th). RESULTS: We found that Haitian children were both, taller and heavier than their Afghan and Congolese equals of the same ages. Moreover, differences were bigger in the highest percentiles (i.e., 97th percentile). These differences might be the result of the influence that genetics and diverse social and environmental contexts have on growth rates. CONCLUSIONS: Using the same international reference standards for all populations could result in the overestimation or underestimation of the proportion of malnourished children. In light of our results, we recommend the future development of national and regional growth charts to provide health workers with more precise tools to evaluate the nutritional status in the child population.

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