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Based on findings from a qualitative case study focused on Mexican postgraduate international students at a prestigious university in the south of England, this article explores the coping strategies implemented by the participants prior to departing to their study abroad experience. Findings revealed varying degrees of involvement with pre-arrival preparations where some participants employed a series of creative tactics to ease their adaptation upon arrival, and some others who did not envision any strategies to prepare. However, as afterthoughts, the latter group of students realised such omission had hindered their transition to the new culture. This led to the conceptualisation of the studying abroad experience as a dynamic process enhancing the perspective of the international student as an active agent of their process of adaptation Ward et al., 2001).

Resumen Objetivo Determinar las prevalencias ajustadas por edad y sexo de concentraciones bajas de colesterol HDL (cHDL-bajo) y de dislipidemia aterogenica (DA), y valorar sus asociaciones con factores de riesgo cardiovascular, enfermedad renal cronica, enfermedades cardiovasculares y cardiometabolicas. Metodos Estudio observacional transversal de base poblacional realizado en atencion primaria, con sujetos adultos seleccionados aleatoriamente. Se considero DA si los pacientes tenian hipertrigliceridemia (trigliceridos ≥ 150 mg/dL) y cHDL-bajo ( Resultados Poblacion de estudio con 6.588 adultos (55,9% mujeres) con edad media de 55,1 (± 17,5) anos. Las medias de cHDL fueron 49,2 (± 12,6) mg/dL en hombres y 59,2 (± 14,7) mg/dL en mujeres. Las prevalencias crudas de cHDL-bajo y de DA fueron 30,8% (IC95%: 29,7-31,9), y 14,3% (IC95%: 13,5-15,2), respectivamente. Las prevalencias ajustadas de cHDL-bajo fueron 28% en hombres y 31% en mujeres, y de DA fueron 16,4% en hombres y 10,6% en mujeres. El 73% de la poblacion con DA tenia riesgo cardiovascular alto o muy alto. Los factores independientes asociados con cHDL-bajo o con DA fueron diabetes, tabaquismo, obesidad abdominal y obesidad. Los principales factores asociados con cHDL-bajo y con DA fueron hipertrigliceridemia y diabetes, respectivamente. Conclusiones Casi un tercio de la poblacion adulta presentaba cHDL-bajo y la mitad de ellos cumplia criterios de DA. Los factores cardiometabolicos se asociaban con cHDL-bajo y DA, destacando la hipertrigliceridemia con el cHDL-bajo, y la DM con la DA.

Previous studies showed that mecamylamine a noncompetitive and nonspecific blocker of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), stimulates the activity of the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) serotonergic neurons and DRN serotonin (5-HT) release. In the present study, the mechanisms involved in these mecamylamine-induced effects were examined using electrophysiology and calcium-imaging studies, both performed in Wistar rat midbrain slices. Mecamylamine (0.5-9 μM), bath administered, increased the firing frequency of identified 5-HT DRN neurons by a maximum of 5% at 3 μM. This effect was accompanied by a 112 % increase in the frequency of spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic currents of 5-HT DRN neurons. It was blocked by the AMPA/kainate receptor blocker CNQX (10 μM) and by the specific α4β2 nAChRs blocker dihydro-β-erythroidine (100 nM) but was not affected by tetrodotoxin (TTX, 500 nM). Simultaneously, mecamylamine produced a 58 % decrease in the frequency of GABAergic spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic currents, an effect that was not influenced by TTX. Calcium-imaging studies support the results obtained with the electrophysiological studies by showing that mecamylamine (3 μM) increases the activity of a cell population located in the midline of the DRN, which was sensitive to the inhibitory effects of 8-OH-DPAT, an agonist at 5-HT1A receptors. It is assumed that mecamylamine, in low concentrations, acts as an agonist of α4β2 nAChRs present on the glutamatergic DRN terminals, thus increasing intra-raphe glutamate release. This stimulatory effect is reinforced by the decrease in DRN GABA release, which is dependent on the mecamylamine-induced blockade of α7 nAChRs located on DRN GABAergic terminals. We hypothesize that at least a part of mecamylamine antidepressant effects described in animal models of depression are mediated by an increase in DRN 5-HT release.

Aim To determine in the adult population the crude and the sex- and age-adjusted prevalence rates of hypertriglyceridaemia (HTG) and to assess its association with cardiovascular risk factors, chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular and cardiometabolic diseases. Methods Cross-sectional observational study conducted in Primary Care, with 6,588 adult study subjects, randomly selected on base-population. Patients had HTG if the triglyceride level was ≥150 mg/dL (≥1.7 mmol/L), or were on lipid-lowering therapy to lower triglyceride. Associations were assessed by univariate and multivariate analysis, and crude and sex- and age-adjusted prevalence rates were determined. Results The arithmetic and geometric means of triglyceride levels were respectively 120.5 and 104.2 mg/dL in global population, 135.7 and 116.0 mg/dL in men, and 108.6 and 95.7 mg/dL in women. The crude HTG prevalence rates were 29.6% in global population, 36.9% in men and 23.8% in women. The sex- and age-adjusted HTG prevalence rates were 27.0% in global population, 34.6% in men and 21.4% in women. The independent variables that were most associated with HTG were hypercholesterolemia (OR: 4.6), low HDL-C (OR: 4.1), hepatic steatosis (OR: 2.8), diabetes (OR: 2.0), and obesity. (OR: 1.9). Conclusions The means of triglyceride levels and HTG prevalence rates are intermediate between those of other national and international studies. A fifth of the female adult population and more than a third of the male population had HTG. The independent factors associated with HTG were hypercholesterolemia and low HDL-C, and the cardiometabolic variables diabetes, hepatic steatosis and obesity.

An assessment of the thermal behavior of a room with a Solar Facade (SF) for ventilation under the tropical wet climate of the Mexican southeast zone is presented. Both a summer day and a winter day of Merida Yucatan were considered. The effects of the size of the vents, thickness of the wall, channel width, location of the inlet air and the material of the wall were analyzed to obtain the optimal configuration of the SF. The optimal configuration was considered to simulate the thermal behavior of the SF considering two-dimensional flow. Results indicate that SF removed enough energy from the room to reduce the average temperature of the indoor air up to 9.1 °C compared to the ambient temperature. For the winter day, from 8 to 14 h, the SF increased the temperature of the indoor air on average 1 °C. According to the standard ASHRAE 62.2, the SF complies the ventilation requirements during 8 h. In addition, the natural ventilation supplied by the SF allows to reduce an electricity consumption equivalent to a fan shaft power up to 0.693 kWh per day. Based on the results, SF is highly recommended to be used in the Mexican southeast zone.

Resumen Introduccion Los objetivos del estudio fueron determinar las tasas de prevalencia brutas y ajustadas por edad y sexo de diabetes mellitus (DM), DM tipo 1 (DM1) y DM tipo 2 (DM2), y comparar la asociacion de factores de riesgo cardiovascular, enfermedades cardiovasculares, enfermedad renal cronica y enfermedades metabolicas entre las poblaciones con y sin DM. Metodos SIMETAP-DM es un estudio observacional transversal realizado en atencion primaria, con una muestra aleatoria de base poblacional de 10.579 adultos. Tasa de respuesta: 66%. Los diagnosticos de DM, DM1 y DM2 se basaron en criterios clinicos y bioquimicos y/o en la comprobacion de estos diagnosticos en las historias clinicas. Se determinaron las prevalencias brutas y ajustadas por edad y sexo (estandarizadas con la poblacion espanola). Resultados Las prevalencias brutas de DM1, DM2 y DM fueron del 0,87% (intervalo de confianza al 95% [IC 95%]: 0,67-1,13), el 14,7% (IC 95%: 13,9-15,6) y el 15,6% (IC 95%: 14,7-16,5), respectivamente. Las prevalencias ajustadas por edad y sexo de DM1, DM2 y DM fueron del 1,0% (1,3% para hombres y 0,7% para mujeres), el 11,5% (13,6% para hombres y 9,7% para mujeres) y el 12,5% (14,9% para hombres y 10,5% para mujeres), respectivamente. La prevalencia de DM en la poblacion ≥ 70 anos era el doble (30,3% [IC 95%: 28,0-32,7]) que en la poblacion entre 40 y 69 anos (15,3% [IC 95%: 14,1-16,5%]). La hipertension arterial, la enfermedad arterial periferica, el indice cintura-talla aumentado, la albuminuria, la enfermedad coronaria, la dislipidemia aterogenica y la hipercolesterolemia se asociaban con la DM. Conclusiones En el ambito de la atencion primaria espanola, las prevalencias ajustadas por edad de DM1, DM2 y DM en la poblacion adulta fueron del 1,0, el 11,5 y el 12,5%, respectivamente. Un tercio de la poblacion mayor de 70 anos padecia DM.