Papers by Gabriela Castro
“Hablemos de Alzheimer”: Words Mexican Americans use to talk about Alzheimer’s disease genetic testing. Implications for precision medicine education
Alzheimer's & Dementia
There’s something about a pattern: Choice between pattern and random sequences in implicit learning
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, Sep 29, 2022
Linking churches and parks to promote physical activity among Latinos: Rationale and design of the Parishes & Parks cluster randomized trial
Contemporary Clinical Trials
AME Case Reports
Background: Papillary thyroid carcinoma is the most common type of thyroid carcinoma, making up 8... more Background: Papillary thyroid carcinoma is the most common type of thyroid carcinoma, making up 85-90% of all thyroid carcinomas. Medullary thyroid carcinoma is the third most common type of thyroid carcinoma, making up less than 5% of all thyroid carcinomas. However, synchronous papillary-medullary thyroid carcinoma is exceedingly rare and has not been well described historically. There have been fewer than 40 cases reported in the current literature. Case Description: In this case report we present a 65-year-old man with synchronous papillary-medullary thyroid carcinoma. A 65-year-old man presented with a symptomatic multinodular thyroid goiter. Ultrasound (US) confirmed bilateral thyroid nodules, and he was initially managed nonoperatively. Fine needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy of the left dominant nodule revealed atypia of undetermined significance (AUS) (Bethesda class III). Further assessment of the FNA specimen with ThyGeNEXT ® (mutation panel) revealed no mutations and the ThyraMIR ® (microRNA risk classifier) was negative, which classified the results as very highly likely to be benign. Due to worsening local compressive symptoms, a total thyroidectomy was performed. Final surgical pathology revealed incidental multicentric, multifocal micropapillary carcinoma foci from (0.1 to 0.5 cm), and a 0.3 cm medullary carcinoma in the left thyroid lobe on the background of nodular hyperplasia. Conclusions: Synchronous papillary-medullary thyroid carcinoma is a rare finding that should be considered in patients with symptomatic multinodular thyroid goiters. It is important to report this case to increase awareness and improve our understanding and management of these unusual carcinomas in the future.
Church Contextual Factors Associated With Latinx Physical Activity and Park Use
Family & Community Health
Death, Don’t Talk About It: A Taiwanese Case Study
親人的死亡對任何一個人來說都是一個很難釋懷的經驗。在台灣，面對親人死亡的議題，是個圍繞著靜默、隱藏情緒以及只能對家屬表露的複雜過程。 這篇論文是一篇根據Eric Chan的死亡個案研究，Eric... more 親人的死亡對任何一個人來說都是一個很難釋懷的經驗。在台灣，面對親人死亡的議題，是個圍繞著靜默、隱藏情緒以及只能對家屬表露的複雜過程。 這篇論文是一篇根據Eric Chan的死亡個案研究，Eric Chang 是筆者的親友以及學生。這篇研究提供研究框架從一個外國的觀點來瞭解台灣人如何處理他們親人的死亡議題。這研究描述台灣社會加諸在其家族成員的預測行為以及描繪台灣人直至今日是如何毫無任何質疑地去遵循部分傳統與信仰。 這篇論文回顧文化衝擊傳統，例如在下葬前仍長期保存死者的大體，大部分台灣家庭必須為死者舉行某些儀式來使亡者的"來生"完整，在他人面前保有面子及以及在先人的面前遵守承諾等。 此研究揭露台灣人遵守他們的眾多傳統並非依據他們的宗教信仰而是主要依據儒家思想強調子孫應盡孝道的義務。The death of a loved one is an experience hard to understand and difficult to manage for any person in any society. In Taiwan, dealing with the death of a loved one, is a complex process surrounded with strict silence, hidden feelings and utter privacy shared only with the closest family members. This thesis is a Case Study based on the events that followed the death of Eric Chang, who was a close friend and student of the researcher. This research will provide a framework to understand how Taiwanese people deal with the death of their loved ones from a foreign perspective. The study also gives a description of the expected behavior tha...
SoLuz: solar energy project for the Bay Islands in honduras
In the emerging countries access to electricity is still an issue for many families and this is t... more In the emerging countries access to electricity is still an issue for many families and this is the reality for most of the underprivileged households in Honduras. Approximately, 21% of the families living in rural areas are out of the electric grid of the country, and matters added to this, is that these individuals live with USD 1.90 (WorldBank, 2017) per day reducing their possibilities of affording alternative solutions to gain access to electricity. SoLuz provides a fast and affordable substitute to the conventional sources of energy, through the solar panel home systems, which families with low income, whom most of the times are not reliable sources to obtain credit at financial institutions, can purchase a solar panel home kit. Through a daily mobile payment of USD0.50, a household will now have access to electricity to improve not only their lives conditions but also boost the economy, as is the case for people living in the Bay Islands in the northern part of Honduras which...
Revista Wímb Lu, 2011
Resumen. El conflicto entre la vida y la muerte, es expresado psicoanalíticamente por la relación... more Resumen. El conflicto entre la vida y la muerte, es expresado psicoanalíticamente por la relación entre Eros y Tánatos. El nacimiento nos empuja a la vida, donde el "Trieb" consiste en procurar la satisfacción de nuestras necesidades, difícil tarea pues son ilimitadas. Desde la perspectiva Freudiana de 1920, la vida es fuente de dolor, desorden, caos, tensión de la cual el sujeto inconscientemente buscará librarse. Así, el actuar de la Pulsión de Muerte dirigirá todo su esfuerzo en eliminar aquello que aumenta la tensión psíquica, tratando de reducirla al mínimo (Estado de Nirvana). Así, como cualquier otro instinto, la Pulsión de Muerte buscará la satisfacción, esa que de forma completa solo le es posible a través de la muerte, el grado cero de la tensión, ese estado de paz que ha precedido a la estimulación, es decir, la recuperación de un estado de alivio anterior. Para llegar a ello la Pulsión de Muerte, presente y manifiesta en el inconsciente del sujeto, va a crear una infinidad de formas de muerte. Miles de caminos por los cuales el sujeto transitará hacia un destino fatal, siendo esto una clara señal de su nostalgia inconsciente por la armonía que disfrutaba y luego perdió.
Replication of Griskevicius, V., Tybur, J. M., & Van den Bergh, B. (2010) at Brigham Young University - Idaho
Methods and Analysis Plan
Uso del Internet del estudiantado de la Universidad Centroamericana, con enfoque en las redes sociales
Encuentro, 2009
El art ículo presenta los resultados de un estudio sobre los usos de Internet que hace el estudia... more El art ículo presenta los resultados de un estudio sobre los usos de Internet que hace el estudiantado de la UCA, enfocándose en los hábitos de participación en las redes sociales existentes en línea. Fue realizado en el primer cuatrimestre de 2009 con un universo de aproximadamente siete mil estudiantes de las veinte carreras de Pregrado. Se aplicó una encuesta que indagaba sobre lugar y frecuencia de acceso a Internet, tipo de uso de la red, conocimiento y uso de las redes sociales y sus políticas de uso. Los principales resultados muestran que los estudiantes utilizan la Internet con mucha frecuencia y la principal actividad es la búsqueda de información. Otras actividades importantes están enfocadas a la comunicación con amigos a través del correo electrónico y el chat, y el entretenimiento a través de descarga de música, películas y juegos en línea. Dos terceras partes de los estudiantes participan como miembros de redes sociales, siendo Facebook y Hi5 las preferidas. La mayorí...
Phainomenon, 2009
Starting from the question of Émile Bernard to Cézanne: “nature and art are not different?”, and ... more Starting from the question of Émile Bernard to Cézanne: “nature and art are not different?”, and the painter’s answer: “ I would like to join them”, we thought that it would be possible to link the spirit of this sentence with the advances of the art in the 21st century. Cézanne’s attitude designs the union between the two realities: art and nature. This union, in the 21st century, has a new artistic representation called bio-art. With bio-art the dichotomy between art and nature disappears and the artistic-scientific product, as a phenomenological object, is a new substance and opens a new ontology.
Inter professional work in schools : changing trajectories of vulnerability to school dropout among secondary students
Preventing school drop-out requires inter professional work that addresses in a coordinated manne... more Preventing school drop-out requires inter professional work that addresses in a coordinated manner the multiple individual, school and structural factors that lead a young person to leave formal schooling. This study examines the configuration of inter professional work that is designed and implemented in two Municipal Departments of Education in Chile to prevent the truancy and drop-out among students in secondary education growing in a situation of social vulnerability. Data were produced through in-depth interviews with a total of 63 actors, including municipal-level and school level professionals, parents and students. These two cases show contrasting models in their approaches. The first model is oriented to offer psychosocial support so that adolescents can develop their life project; psychologists, social workers and teachers, under the leadership of the municipal-level coordinator and the school principal, deploy relational agency and relational expertise to develop common k...
Revista Argentina de Anatomía Clínica, 2016
Las ramas precoces de la arteria cerebral media son ramas corticales originadas del tronco de la ... more Las ramas precoces de la arteria cerebral media son ramas corticales originadas del tronco de la citada arteria. Se trata de arterias que pueden nutrir importantes áreas de los lóbulos temporal, frontal o la ínsula. Por lo tanto, la oclusión de una de estas ramas producirá un área de isquemia con potenciales consecuencias. Se estudiaron 20 hemisferios cerebrales de cadáveres adultos conservados en formol, y 20 angiografías silvianas realizando una comparación y correlación. En las piezas anatómicas, la arteria cerebral media terminó por bifurcación en el 100% de los casos y dicha bifurcación se sitúo en la porción esfenoidal (M1) en la mayoría de las piezas. Se encontraron ramas precoces en número de1 a4 en el 80%, totalizando 28 arterias, de las cuales 23 tenían destino temporal y 5 frontales. En el material angiográfico la cerebral media terminó por bifurcación en el 95% de los casos y la misma se ubicó en M1 en la mayoría de los casos. Se encontraron ramas precoces en el 70% de ...
Nutrients, 2021
This study aimed to describe the current practices in the diagnosis and dietary management of phe... more This study aimed to describe the current practices in the diagnosis and dietary management of phenylketonuria (PKU) in Latin America, as well as the main barriers to treatment. We developed a 44-item online survey aimed at health professionals. After a pilot test, the final version was sent to 25 practitioners working with inborn errors of metabolism (IEM) in 14 countries. Our results include 22 centers in 13 countries. Most countries (12/13) screened newborns for PKU. Phenylalanine (Phe) targets at different ages were very heterogeneous among centers, with greater consistency at the 0–1 year age group (14/22 sought 120–240 µmol/L) and the lowest at >12 years (10 targets reported). Most countries had only unflavored powdered amino acid substitutes (10/13) and did not have low-protein foods (8/13). Only 3/13 countries had regional databases of the Phe content of foods, and only 4/22 centers had nutrient analysis software. The perceived obstacles to treatment were: low purchasing p...
Financial Fragmentation Shocks
We define "financial fragmentation shocks" as fluctuations in credit market frictions i... more We define "financial fragmentation shocks" as fluctuations in credit market frictions in a small euro area economy. The shock changes the financial integration status quo of the monetary union, given its negligible international spillover. An increase in credit market frictions triggers a recession in the small economy. Perfect competition and the absence of nominal rigidities attenuate output volatility. Expectations also matter: real impacts weaken when long fragmentation time spans are perceived to be short lived. Contrarily to "risk shocks", defined as fluctuations in borrowers' riskiness, fragmentation shocks do not imply strongly countercyclical bankruptcy rates. The results are based on PESSOA, a general equilibrium model with a Bernanke-Gertler-Gilchrist financial accelerator mechanism.
Acta Pediátrica de México, 2014
Chilean newborn screening program began in 1984 through of a covenant between the National Minist... more Chilean newborn screening program began in 1984 through of a covenant between the National Ministry of Health and the Chilean University through its Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology (INTA) with the aim of implementing a pilot study for neonatal detection of phenylketonuria (PKU) in Santiago’s central area. In 1989 a program for neonatal diagnosis of PKU and congenital hypothyroidism (HC) was initiated by INTA along with Santiago´s occidental health ministry rural area, which covered 20% of newborn population. PKU and HC had an incidence of 1:14,640 and 1:2000 living newborns respectively. These findings allowed the establishment of a favorable cost/benefit ratio which validated the implementation of a program with National character. In 1992 the Chilean Ministry of Health ruled the initiation of PKU and HC newborn screening program and by 1998 the coverage across the country was achieved. INTA is the National Reference Center for confirmation and long term treatment for PK...
Philosophica: International Journal for the History of Philosophy, 2010
This paper tries to show, through examples from Azores paintings, in particular in the works of D... more This paper tries to show, through examples from Azores paintings, in particular in the works of Domingos Rebelo and Borba Vieira, some of the fundamental categories of aesthetics and hermeneutics of painting.
Toxics, 2021
There is a growing concern about the occurrence of bisphenols and benzophenone UV filters in natu... more There is a growing concern about the occurrence of bisphenols and benzophenone UV filters in natural ecosystems, while data are limited regarding their actual occurrence in wildlife species, especially in raptors. In this study, concentrations of bisphenol and benzophenone UV filter analogues were determined in liver tissue samples (n = 38) from white-tailed eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla) that were found dead in Smøla (2006–2018), which is a Norwegian municipality that holds one of the densest breeding populations of white-tailed eagles in Europe. Bisphenol AF (BPAF; a fluorinated analogue) was the most ubiquitous contaminant since it was detected in 32 liver samples at concentrations ranging from 1.08 to 6.68 ng/g wet weight (w.w.), followed by bisphenol A (BPA, mean 10.4 ng/g w.w.), benzophenone-1 (BzP-1, mean 3.24 ng/g w.w.), and 4-hydroxybenzophenone (4-OH-BzP, mean 0.62 ng/g w.w.). The concentrations found in livers suggested that white-tailed eagles potentially accumulate bisph...
Maple syrup urine disease: Characteristics of diagnosis and treatment in 45 patients in Chile
American Journal of Medical Genetics Part C: Seminars in Medical Genetics, 2021
Maple urine syrup disease (MSUD) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by deficient ac... more Maple urine syrup disease (MSUD) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by deficient activity of the branched‐chain alpha ketoacid dehydrogenase (BCKAD) enzymatic complex due to biallelic variants in the alpha (BCKDHA) or beta (BCKDHB) subunits or the acyltransferase component (DBT). Treatment consists in leucine (LEU), isoleucine (ILE), and valine (VAL) (branched‐chain amino acids) dietary restriction and strict metabolic control. to determine the characteristics of the Chilean cohort with MSUD currently in follow‐up at Instituto de Nutrición y Tecnología de los Alimentos, during the 1990–2017 period Retrospective analytical study in 45 MSUD cases. Measured: biochemical parameters (LEU, ILE, and VAL), anthropometric evaluation, and neurocognitive development. In 18 cases undergoing genetic study were analyzed according to the gene and protein location, number of affected alleles, and type of posttranslational modification affected. Then, 45 patients with MSUD diagnosis were identified during the period: 37 were alive at the time of the study. Average diagnosis age was 71 ± 231 days. Average serum diagnosis LEU concentrations: 1.463 ± 854.1 μmol/L, VAL 550 ± 598 μmol/L and ILE 454 ± 458 μmol/L. BCKDHB variants explain 89% cases, while BCKDHA and DBT variants explain 5.5% of cases each. Variants p.Thr338Ile in BCKDHA, p.Pro240Thr and p.Ser342Asn in BCKDHB have not been previously reported in literature. Average serum follow‐up LEU concentrations were 252.7 ± 16.9 μmol/L in the <5 years group and 299 ± 123.2 μmol/L in ≥5 years. Most cases presented some degree of developmental delay. Early diagnosis and treatment is essential to improve the long‐term prognosis. Frequent blood LEU measurements are required to optimize metabolic control and to establish relationships between different aspects analyzed.
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Papers by Gabriela Castro