The lack of a rapid and clinically accurate diagnostic tool remains a major obstacle to optimal care of patients with stroke. Cytokine changes in patients with acute stroke have been insufficiently studied. The purpose of this study is to delineate the relevance of IL-6 as a biochemical marker of stroke diagnosis, taking into account the genetic basis, and changes of the protein in serum and cerebrospinal fluid in relation to stroke development. Inflammation has an important role in ischemic cerebrovascular disease pathophysiology. Proinflammatory cytokines, such as IL-6, have been implicated in several mechanisms that might promote ischemic brain injury and an early neurological worsening. Cardiovascular diseases constitute one of the principal health problems in developing countries. Over the past few years, several studies have found evidence of the important role of inflammation in the ischemic cerebrovascular disease. The availability of a diagnostic biomarker panel for patients with stroke symptoms would be enormously valuable to complement clinical data and to precede radiological findings. IL-6 levels in cerebrospinal fluid and serum seem to reflect either the extent of tissue damage, or the accompanying clinical worsening. The -174 G/C functional polymorphism in the IL-6 gene might not be solely involved in disease susceptibility but also in linkage disequilibrium with other functional polymorphisms. Further studies are needed to solve this. Presently, the association between IL-6 genotype and stroke remains undetermined. Development of new neuroprotective therapies targeted to modulate cytokine-induced inflammation could be a promising way to prevent early deterioration in acute ischemic stroke.

The Internet and social networks are full of nutrition information, offering people guidance to make healthy eating choices. These sources always present themselves as a gateway to reliable information on healthy eating; however, too often this is not the case. Far from being trustworthy, there are usually plenty of food myths. A food myth is a widespread false belief about food, nutrition, and eating facts that gives rise to certain behaviors, from fashionable trends to diets. Academic training is a valuable tool to combat food myths and the pseudoscience linked to them, but educators must participate in this battle. To test this idea, we analyzed the prevalence of nine highly popular food myths held by 201 secondary school Spanish teachers. The aim was to assess whether expertise in science areas prevents teachers from falling into these food misconceptions. Our study results showed that food myths are held regardless of specialty area. The power of the media in popularizing and spreading nutrition myths among educators may be the cause, even more potent than academic training. We conclude that since scientific knowledge is not enough to erase food myths, we need further actions if we aim to prevent the problems that food myths may cause.

Time atomisation trends, leisure economy, and social and technological changes are causing a reframe of the leisure and free-time industry. This study aims to analyse the assessment of nine cross-cutting contents by the main agents involved in leisure-time instructor courses, and a group of young subjects in Spain. The study sample consisted of 1049 individuals, including management and technical teams, leisure and free-time schoolteachers, leisure and free-time school students (receiving the leisure-time instructor course), and finally a group of external young subjects. An ad hoc questionnaire was used, and the results were analysed through a correlational study using contingency tables and chi-square and Somers’ D statistics, Spearman’s correlation to determine within-population correlations, and the Kruskal–Wallis test to establish that these relationships were not randomly established. The results show that all the analysed agents valued the training proposal of cross-cutting contents as a consolidated item. This indicates that the nine cross-cutting contents should be maintained in these courses. Social Skills content was crowned as the defining content of this training, and there was dissonance in the ICT-Use content, which was not highly valued by main agents but was highly valued by young people, leading to the need to review this content to adjust it to the real needs of the young population.

Cultural family leisure refers to participation in cultural events, visits to museums, attending concerts, and/or any other activity with an artistic or cultural component. Its characteristics shape family coexistence, bonds, lived experiences, memories, and quality family moments. Several authors argue that it influences children’s development and the adolescent stage, as it provides a safe space to explore interests, express emotions, strengthen self-esteem, develop creativity, and foster positive bonds with culture and art. Social changes, globalization and immediacy, and the shortage of time needed to “do it all” (work, studies, health, family, friends, etc.) are reducing its presence, thereby decreasing the quality of family time. This study, in compliance with the ethical principles of research with human beings, analyzes adolescents’ perception of cultural family leisure. The participating sample consists of 1,054 Spanish students aged 11–16 who answered an ad hoc questionnaire composed of 48 items. The study is descriptive, correlational, cross-sectional, and non-experimental. The results show that adolescents perceive that little time is shared as a family and that little importance is attached to family leisure, and that, for the most part, it is organized by external agents rather than within the family itself. However, they underscore the importance of family leisure for communication and personal development. In conclusion, the study proposes socio-educational and cultural actions within the family sphere to promote cultural leisure.