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Bovine leptospirosis is a bacterial disease that affects cattle herds, causing economic losses due to reproductive problems which require expensive treatments. The main source of transmission for cattle is still uncertain, but rodents and bats can play an important role in the transmission cycle by being maintenance hosts for the pathogenic species of the bacterium and spreading it through urine. In this study, we characterize possible risk areas for bovine leptospirosis exposure in the state of Veracruz, Mexico, based on the geographical distribution of flying (bats) and terrestrial (rodents and opossums) wild hosts of Leptospira sp. reported in Mexico, in addition to climate, geography, soil characteristics, land use and human activities (environmental variables). We used a generalized linear regression model to understand the association between the frequency of anti-Leptospira sp. antibodies (a proxy of exposure) in cattle herds exposed to Leptospira, the favourability of wild hosts of Leptospira as well as the environmental variables. The parameterized model explained 12.3% of the variance. The frequency of anti-Leptospira sp. antibodies exposure in cattle herds was associated with elevation, geographic longitude, pH of the soil surface and environmental favourability for the presence of rodents, opossums and bats. The variation in exposure was mainly explained by a longitudinal gradient (6.4% of the variance) and the favourability-based indices for wild hosts (9.6% of the variance). Describing the possible risks for exposure to Leptospira in an important and neglected livestock geographical region, we provide valuable information for the selection of areas for diagnosis and prevention of this relevant disease.

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Increases in depression are common in some elderly women. Elderly women often show moderate depressive symptoms, while others display minimal depressive symptoms. These discrepancies have produced contradictory and inconclusive outcomes, which have not been explained entirely by deficits in neurotransmitter precursors. Deficiency in some amino acids have been implicated in major depression, but its role in non-clinical elderly women is not well known. An analysis of essential amino acids, depression and the use of discriminant analysis can help to clarify the variation in depressive symptoms exhibited by some elderly women. The aim was to investigate the relationship of essential amino acids with affective, cognitive and comorbidity measures in elderly women without major depression nor severe mood disorders or psychosis, specifically thirty-six with moderate depressive symptoms and seventy-one with minimal depressive symptoms. The plasma concentrations of nineteen amino acids, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scores, Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) scores, global cognitive scores and comorbidities were submitted to stepwise discriminant analysis to identify predictor variables. Seven predictors arose as important for belong to the group based on amino acid concentrations, with the moderate depressive symptoms group characterized by higher BDI, GDS and cognitive scores; fewer comorbidities; and lower levels of l-histidine, l-isoleucine and l-leucine. These findings suggest that elderly women classified as having moderate depressive symptoms displayed a deficiency in essential amino acids involved in metabolism, protein synthesis, inflammation and neurotransmission.

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The medical career is considered highly stressful, especially during internships when academic and clinical demands, combined with changes in sleep patterns, increase students' likelihood to develop depression. Resilience, which is considered as opposite vulnerability to stress and, along with another protective factor, namely morningness, may cause a student to be less reactive to stimuli and, therefore, less prone to depression. The objective of this study was to evaluate the role of resilience and morningness facing to sleep quality and main risk factors, on the development of depression symptoms in a group of students with sleep pattern alterations. To this end, an observational and longitudinal study was performed with 30 undergraduate interns, with an average age of 22.63 years (SE ± 0.13), 33% men and 67% women. A survey was conducted in three different times during the year of internship: at the beginning (T1), in the middle (T2) and the end (T3). The instruments were the Brief Resilience Scale, Composite Scale of Morningness, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and Patient Health Questionnaire. The path analysis examined the roles of morningness, sleep quality and resilience as potential mediators between family history of depression and depression symptoms at different times. The results showed that resilience had a protective effect on depression symptoms at T2 (ß = -0.18, p < 0.05) and with greater power at T3 (ß = -0.41, p < 0.05), as did morningness, although less strongly, on the symptoms at T3 (ß = -0.13, p < 0.05). A relationship between these two mediating variables was also observed (ß = 0.30, p < 0.05). The initial sleep quality had an effect on the increase of depression symptoms at T1 (ß = 0.61, p < 0.05) and T3 (ß = 0.21, p < 0.05), while family history of depression had a direct effect on the measures of depression at T2 (ß = 0.49, p < 0.05) and T3 (ß = 0.19, p < 0.05). Aside from personal risk factors, it is possible to conclude that the levels of resilience, morningness and sleep quality manifested by students at the beginning of their internship may explain the decrease in depression symptoms at the end of the course.

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Polymorphisms of the estrogen receptor ESR1 and ESR2 genes have been linked with cognitive deficits and affective disorders. The effects of these genetic variants on emotional processing in females with low estrogen levels are not well known. The aim was to explore the impact of the ESR1 and ESR2 genes on the responses to the facial emotion recognition task in females. Postmenopausal healthy female volunteers were genotyped for the polymorphisms Xbal and PvuII of ESR1 and the polymorphism rs1256030 of ESR2. The effect of these polymorphisms on the response to the facial emotion recognition of the emotions happiness, sadness, disgust, anger, surprise, and fear was analyzed. Females carrying the P allele of the PvuII polymorphism or the X allele of the Xbal polymorphism of ESR1 easily recognized facial expressions of sadness that were more difficult for the women carrying the p allele or the x allele. They displayed higher accuracy, fast response time, more correct responses, and fewer omissions to complete the task, with a large effect size. Women carrying the ESR2 C allele of ESR2 showed a faster response time for recognizing facial expressions of anger. These findings link ESR1 and ESR2 polymorphisms in facial emotion recognition of negative emotions.

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BACKGROUND: There are various language adaptations of the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School Age Children Present and Lifetime Version (K-SADS-PL). In order to comply with the changes in DSM classification, the Spanish edition of the interview was in need of update and evaluation. METHODS: K-SADS-PL was adapted to correspond to DSM-5 categories. All clinicians received training, and a 90% agreement was reached. Patients and their parents or guardians were interviewed and videotaped, and the videos were exchanged between raters. Factor analysis was performed and inter-rater reliability was calculated only in the case of diagnoses in which there were more than five patients. RESULTS: A total of 74 subjects were included. The Factor Analysis yielded six factors (Depressive, Stress Hyperarousal, Disruptive Behavioral, Irritable Explosive, Obsessive Repetitive and Encopresis), representing 72% of the variance. Kappa values for inter-rater agreement were larger than 0.7 for over half of the disorders. CONCLUSIONS: The factor structure of diagnoses, made with the instrument was found to correspond to the DSM-5 disorder organization. The instrument showed good construct validity and inter-rater reliability, which makes it a useful tool for clinical research studies in children and adolescents.

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Changes to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders fifth edition (DSM-5) incorporate the inclusion or modification of six disorders: Autism Spectrum Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder, Intermittent Explosive Disorder, Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder, Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder and Binge Eating Disorder. The objectives of this study were to assess the construct validity and parent-child agreement of these six disorders in the Spanish language Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School Age Children Present and Lifetime Version (K-SADS-PL-5) in a clinical population of children and adolescents from Latin America. The Spanish version of the K-SADS-PL was modified to integrate changes made to the DSM-5. Clinicians received training in the K-SADS-PL-5 and 90% agreement between raters was obtained. A total of 80 patients were recruited in four different countries in Latin America. All items from each of the six disorders were included in a factor analysis. Parent-child agreement was calculated for every item of the six disorders, including the effect of sex and age. The factor analysis revealed 6 factors separately grouping the items defining each of the new or modified disorders, with Eigenvalues greater than 2. Very good parent-child agreements (r>0.8) were found for the large majority of the items (93%), even when considering the sex or age of the patient. This independent grouping of disorders suggests that the manner in which the disorders were included into the K-SADS-PL-5 reflects robustly the DSM-5 constructs and displayed a significant inter-informant reliability. These findings support the use of K-SADS-PL-5 as a clinical and research tool to evaluate these new or modified diagnoses.

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Chagas disease is one of the main zoonosis mediated by vectors in America. The etiologic agent Trypanosoma cruzi infects different mammals and is transmitted principally by the subfamily Triatominae. Mepraia is a genus endemic to Chile, responsible for transmitting T. cruzi in the sylvatic cycle. Mepraia includes three species: M. gajardoi and M. parapatrica inhabit coastal areas, while M. spinolai inhabits coastal and interior valleys. Previous studies reported the occurrence of Mepraia in Pan de Azucar Island, currently classified as M. parapatrica, but T. cruzi has not been reported in these insects. It is suggested that this could be due to infrequent insect feeding on mammalian hosts. In order to detect T. cruzi in insects from coastal islands, specimens from Pan de Azucar and Santa Maria Islands were examined. A region of kDNA of T. cruzi was amplified by PCR and hybridization assays were performed for T. cruzi genotyping of insect feces. The presence of infected insect and mixed T. cruzi infections was demonstrated. This is the first report of infected Triatominae in coastal islands in Chile. We discuss T. cruzi detection in insular zones, and the presumptive reservoirs that may participate in maintaining its transmission cycle in this habitat. Mixed and unidentified infections suggest that there are complex and unknown reservoir interactions in these habitats.

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The catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val(158)Met polymorphism impacts cortical dopamine (DA) levels and may influence cortical electrical activity in the human brain. This study investigated whether COMT genotype influences resting-state electroencephalogram (EEG) power in the frontal, parietal and midline regions in healthy volunteers. EEG recordings were conducted in the resting-state in 13 postmenopausal healthy woman carriers of the Val/Val genotype and 11 with the Met/Met genotype. The resting EEG spectral absolute power in the frontal (F3, F4, F7, F8, FC3 and FC4), parietal (CP3, CP4, P3 and P4) and midline (Fz, FCz, Cz, CPz, Pz and Oz) was analyzed during the eyes-open and eyes-closed conditions. The frequency bands considered were the delta, theta, alpha1, alpha2, beta1 and beta2. EEG data of the Val/Val and Met/Met genotypes, brain regions and conditions were analyzed using a general linear model analysis. In the individuals with the Met/Met genotype, delta activity was increased in the eyes-closed condition, theta activity was increased in the eyes-closed and in the eyes-open conditions, and alpha1 band, alpha2 band and beta1band activity was increased in the eyes-closed condition. A significant interaction between COMT genotypes and spectral bands was observed. Met homozygote individuals exhibited more delta, theta and beta1 activity than individuals with the Val/Val genotype. No significant interaction between COMT genotypes and the resting-state EEG regional power and conditions were observed for the three brain regions studied. Our findings indicate that the COMT Val(158)Met polymorphism does not directly impact resting-state EEG regional power, but instead suggest that COMT genotype can modulate resting-state EEG spectral power in postmenopausal healthy women.

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Introducción: la seguridad en la atención en salud se ha convertido en una prioridad mundial, por lo cual es importantecaracterizar los eventos adversos con elfin de tomar las medidas pertinentes para prevenirlos. Objetivo: caracterizar la población que presentó los eventos adversos, describiendo las características relacionadas con el paciente, el ambiente yel personal de enfermería. Métodos: análisis descriptivo de una cohorte hospitalariapiloto sobre los eventos adversos relacionados con el cuidado de enfermería, en Bucaramanga, Colombia. Fueron incluidos 198 pacientes, a quienes se les aplicó en las primeras horas de hospitalización un formato que evaluaba posibles factores de riesgo para la ocurrencia de eventos adversos: úlceras por presión, caídas, flebitis y retiros de dispositivos terapéuticos. Resultados: las características que prevalecieron con respecto al pacientefueron: lasalteraciones en el estado de ánimo, el confinamiento a la camay la dieta especial; en cuanto al ambiente, la falta de insumos para la prevención de UPP y timbres. El promedio de pacientes por enfermera profesional fue de 27,3 y en personal auxiliar de enfermería de 9,1. Conclusiones: el conocer las características que estuvieron presentes en los pacientes que desarrollaron un evento adverso, es una primera aproximación sobre la problemática y un elemento importante para que las organizaciones de salud tengan mayores argumentos e inviertan en prácticas más seguras(AU)

Introduction: safety in health care has become a priority in many countries. It is important to inquire about those fact involved in its occurrence for the organizations to respond appropriately to prevent them. Objective: To characterize the population who presented adverse events, describing the characteristics related to the patient, the environment and the nursing staff. Methodology: descriptive analysis of a cohort pilot hospital about adverse events related to nursing care, in Bucaramanga, Colombia. Results: Prevalent events found in patients were alterations in mood, confinement to bed and need for special diet; in the environment events were: lack of inputs for pressure ulcers prevention and lack of nurse call buttons. The average number of patients per nurse practitioner was 27.3 and auxiliary nurses of 9.1. Conclusions: The knowledge about the characteristics that were present in the patients who developed an adverse event, is a first approximation of the problem and an important element for health organizations have more arguments for investing in safer practices(AU)

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Vincular las fuentes de estrés, el afrontamiento y el desempeño académico en los estudiantes de medicina. Para ésto se llevó a cabo un estudio longitudinal en el que participaron 93 estudiantes en el primer año y 80 estudiantes de segundo año en el seguimiento, pertenecientes a un programa de alto desempeño académico de la carrera de medicina. Se aplicó el Cuestionario de Fuentes de Estrés en Estudiantes de Medicina y el Cuestionario de Estrategias de Afrontamiento en cuatro momentos (al inicio y al final del primero y segundo años). Se observó que el nivel de estrés se mantuvo sin cambios significativos para primero y segundo años, tanto en la primera como segunda evaluación (F=2.18, p=0.09). Sin embargo, sólo el puntaje de estrés detectado en la primera medición del primer año se relacionó de forma significativa con el promedio final de este año escolar (r=-0.33, p≤0.05). El afrontamiento predominante en ambos años de la carrera de medicina fue la estrategia de "Solución de problemas" y la menos utilizada fue el "Distanciamiento". Al comparar las estrategias de afrontamiento entre los estudiantes de primero y segundo años, se observaron diferencias en el uso del "distanciamiento", que fue más utilizado por los alumnos en segundo año y el "apoyo social" por los alumnos en primero. A pesar de que las calificaciones fueron menores en los estudiantes cuya estrategia de afrontamiento predominante fue el "pensamiento mágico" y los niveles de estrés más altos, no hubo diferencias significativas con respecto a las otras estrategias. Se concluyó, que los niveles de estrés permanecen constantes en los alumnos de primero y segundo años de la carrera de medicina, pero las fuentes que lo generan y el modo de afrontarlas, se modifican conforme transcurre el ciclo escolar y parecen asociarse al desempeño académico de esta población.

To link the sources of stress, coping strategies and academic performance among medical students. For this we conducted a longitudinal study involving 93 first-year undergraduates and with 80 second-year undergraduates in the follow up, enrolled on the Faculty of Medicine's high academic performance program. Two surveys-Sources of Stress among Medical Students and Coping Strategies-were carried out at four stages (at the start and end of the first and second years). It was observed that the stress level was maintained without significant changes to the first and second year, both at the first and at the second evaluation (F=2.18, p=0.09). However, only the stress scores detected at the initial measurement of the first year was related significantly to the final average of that year (r=-0.33, p≤0.05). In both year groups of medical students, "Problem Solving" was revealed as the main coping strategy, while "Distancing" was the strategy least used. By comparing the coping strategies between first and second-year students, differences were detected in the use of "Distancing," which was more prevalent among second-year students while "Social Support" was used more among first-year students. Although students whose coping strategy was mainly "Wishful Thinking" scored lower and experienced higher stress levels, no significant differences were found compared to other strategies. Was concluded that stress levels remained constant among first and second-year medical students but the sources that create them and the coping strategies change over the school year and appear linked to this population's academic performance.

Vincular as fontes de estresse, o afrontamento e o desempenho acadêmico nos estudantes de medicina. Para isto levou-se a cabo um estudo longitudinal no qual participaram 93 estudantes no primeiro ano e 80 estudantes de segundo ano no seguimento, pertencentes a um programa de alto desempenho acadêmico do curso de medicina. Aplicou-se o Questionário de Fontes de Estresse em Estudantes de Medicina e o Questionário de Estratégias de Afrontamento em quatro momentos (ao início e ao final do primeiro e segundo anos). Observou-se que o nível de estresse se manteve sem câmbios significativos para o primeiro e segundo anos, tanto na primeira quanto segunda avaliação (F=2.18, p=0.09). Porém, só a contagem de estresse detectada na primeira medição do primeiro ano se relacionou de forma significativa com a média final deste ano escolar (r=-0.33, p≤0.05). O afrontamento predominante nos dois anos do curso de medicina foi a estratégia de "Solução de problemas" e a menos utilizada foi o "Distanciamento". Ao comparar as estratégias de afrontamento entre os estudantes de primeiro e segundo anos, se observaram diferenças no uso do "distanciamento", que foi mais utilizado pelos alunos em segundo ano e o "apoio social" pelos alunos em primeiro. A pesar de que as qualificações foram menores nos estudantes cuja estratégia de afrontamento predominante foi o "pensamento mágico" e os níveis de estresse mais altos, não houve diferenças significativas com respeito às outras estratégias. Concluiu-se, que os níveis de estresse permanecem constantes nos alunos de primeiro e segundo anos do curso de medicina, mas as fontes que o geram e o modo de afrontá-las, modificam-se conforme transcorre o ciclo escolar e parecem associar-se ao desempenho acadêmico desta população.

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