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La violencia intrafamiliar es un problema de salud pública que preocupa a nivel general a todos los países, sea por altos índices o por las consecuencias en la sociedad, además en circunstancias extremas vividas en la pandemia por COVID-19, las estadísticas de denuncias y alarmas no se hicieron esperar, y Ecuador no se escapa de esta realidad. Partiendo de la información oficial publicada entre marzo de 2020 a junio 2022 por el Ministerio de Salud Pública-MSP y el Servicio Integrado de Seguridad-ECU-911, se realiza una revisión sistemática (RS), a través de la cual se buscó, recopiló y analizó información relacionada a las variables seleccionadas para la investigación documental. Los hallazgos permitieron acceder a información sobre violencia intrafamiliar en tiempo de confinamiento por COVID-19 en Ecuador, teniendo como resultados que el MSP publicó 13 documentos potencialmente relevantes, de éstos, solo 2 cumplen con los criterios de inclusión de las variables objeto de estudio. Por su parte, de la página oficial del ECU911 se obtuvieron 31 documentos potencialmente relevantes, de los cuales se seleccionaron 12 documentos. Además, se evidencia cambios significativos en comportamiento de la población ecuatoriana en y luego del período de confinamiento, sin embargo, se podría pensar que, si bien la incidencia de violencia intrafamiliar se incrementó durante la pandemia, las causas estructurales y factores culturales siguen presentes en las familias. Por ello, la importancia de la “educación” para la transformacio?n de la sociedad, fomentando la construcción de una sociedad libre de conflictos a través del diálogo, participación y empatía.

Introducción: La telemedicina se implementó en muchos países en tiempo de pandemia por el nuevo Coronavirus, los beneficios que brinda y cómo podemos mejorar los servicios de atención en el sistema nacional de salud en el Ecuador. Objetivo: describir el proceso en telemedicinas en tiempos de COVID-19. Materiales y métodos: El presente artículo fue realizado bajo la perspectiva de una revisión bibliográfica de nivel descriptivo, monográfico. La técnica aplicada fue el fichaje bibliográfico y el análisis sistemático de los documentos encontrados en la web. Conclusión: Se describen brevemente los logros en los países como China, España, América latina y la implementación en el sistema nacional de salud ecuatoriano como estrategia para cubrir la demanda de atención que se presentaron en los meses con más altos de contagios por Covid-19, además de recomendaciones desde la medicina familiar para continuar implementando la Telemedicina en el primer nivel de atención en tiempos de pandemia.

The gene for galectin-13 (Gal-13, placental protein 13) is only present in primates, and its low expression level in maternal serum may promote preeclampsia. In the present study, we used pull-down experiments and biolayer interferometry to assess the interaction between Gal-13 and actin. These studies uncovered that human Gal-13 (hGal-13) and Saimiri boliviensis boliviensis (sGal-13) strongly bind to α- and β-/γ-actin, with Ca2+ and adenosine triphosphate, significantly enhancing the interactions. This in turn suggests that h/sGal-13 may inhibit myosin-induced contraction when vascular smooth muscle cells undergo polarization. Here, we solved the crystal structure of sGal-13 bound to lactose and found that it exists as a monomer in contrast to hGal-13 which is a dimer. The distribution of sGal-13 in HeLa cells is similar to that of hGal-13, indicating that monomeric Gal-13 is the primary form in cells. Even though sGal-13 binds to actin, hGal-13 ligand-binding site mutants do not influence hGal-13/actin binding, whereas the monomeric mutant C136S/C138S binds to actin more strongly than the wild-type hGal-13. Overall, our study demonstrates that monomeric Gal-13 binds to actin, an interaction that is independent of the galectin canonical ligand-binding site.

Dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase is one of the main pharmacological metabolizers of fluoropyrimidines, a group of drugs widely used in clinical oncology. Around 20 to 30% of patients treated with fluoropyrimidines experience severe toxicity caused by a partial or total decrease in enzymatic activity. This decrease is due to molecular variants in the

We correct the statement of lemma 3.5 in [Jaramillo et al (2018 Nonlinearity 31 4162)]. The lemma establishes Fredholm properties for a specific radial operator, which in the original paper is incorrectly defined. The error does not alter our main theorem, but does affect the proof of a subsequent result, lemma 4.11, which we fix in this corrigendum.

Background An annual incidence of pheochromocytoma (PHEO) has been reported between 0.4 to 9.5 cases per million inhabitants and a prevalence of 2.13 per 100 000 people. More than 40% of patients have a genetic predisposition, and its presentation is heterogeneous, from incidental findings (10-49%) to prominent clinical pictures attributable to hypersecretion of catecholamines. The epidemiological and descriptive studies referring to pheochromocytomas in South America are scarce. This study aimed to show a retrospective analysis of patients with pheochromocytomas attending in a cancer referral center to determine the clinical, histology, and surgery outcomes. Methods From January 2015 to December 2021, a cross-sectional study was conducted in a regional reference public hospital for endocrine neoplasia in adults. We identified the clinical manifestations, pharmacologic and surgical treatment modalities from a patient interview and review of clinical records. Results Twelve patients were included, with a mean age of 44.9 (SD 10.5) years old. Around 58.3% (n=7) of the patients were male, and 16.6% (n=2) had a family history of MEN2A. Clinical characteristics of PHEO were identified in 83.3% (n=10) of the patients. The most common clinical presentation included: hypertension 10/12, palpitations and headache 9/12, diaphoresis and dyspnea 8/12, abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting 7/12, and sensation of heat and dizziness 6/12. The classic triad of headache, palpitations, and sweating was observed in 8 patients. The CT image revealed adrenal tumors in the left (n=7/12), right (n=4/12), and one bilateral. The mean tumor diameter was 70.5 mm (SD +39.8 range 38 - 180 mm), and 91.7% of the patients (n=11/12) had tumors ≥ 4 cm. Most of the patients, 54.5%, underwent a laparoscopy procedure (n=6/11). In 2 cases, the procedure was converted to open surgery. The mean operative time was 201 ± 77.2 min. After surgery, all patients were admitted to the intensive care unit, where 75% (n=9/11) required vasoactive therapy with satisfactory recovery. The postoperative outcome showed 81.8% with normal blood pressure (n=9/11). Conclusion Most patients presenting to our hospital had large intra-abdominal tumors with a high cure rate and low mortality. Accurate diagnosis and optimal treatment are best achieved at 'centers of excellence' with expert multidisciplinary teams. Presentation: Sunday, June 12, 2022 12:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.

El propósito de este capítulo es analizar la conciencia ecológica y determinar las estrategias de marketing digital-comunicación en tiempo de crisis; cuyo planteamiento surge de los resultados obtenidos en investigaciones realizadas en torno al tema de comportamiento del consumidor y responsabilidad social empresarial (RSE). El capítulo se encuentra estructurado en tres partes; la primera centrada en clarificar teóricamente el consumo y conciencia ecológica; la segunda analiza la ética empresarial, economía circular y la RSE de los stakeholders, para finalmente desarrollar la tercera parte de estrategias de marketing online, direccionada a la comunicación a través de las redes sociales y el rol activo de los youtubers y los influencers. Se espera que esta contribución sea útil tanto para las organizaciones interesadas en satisfacer las necesidades de sus usuarios y/o clientes a través de estrategias empresariales-marketing online-como para la academia.

The effect of aqueous ozone at different doses on fungal incidence, microstructure, mechanical properties, and weight loss of blueberry fruit (Vaccinium corymbosum, cv. O’Neal) throughout 20 days of storage at 4 ± 1 °C was studied. Fruits were exposed to 10 and 18 mg O3 L-1 in a bubble column for different periods of time ranging from 10 to 30 min. Native mycobiota and Botrytis cinerea incidences were reduced by ozone exposure. After 15 days of storage, exposure to 18 mg O3 L-1 for 10 and 20 min reduced the percentage of infected fruit in ~ 34 and 40 %, respectively, when compared with untreated blueberries. Slight but no significant differences among ozone treatments were observed for native mycobiota and B. cinerea incidence. Stiffness, rupture force, and mechanical work required to break the fruit epidermis were not significantly affected by ozone treatments. The effect of ozone treatment on weight loss of blueberries was dose-dependent and was partially correlated with microstructural changes induced by ozone: disruptions in outer tangential and epidermal cell walls and alteration of the cuticle. Exposure times beyond 15 min significantly increased weight loss and did not achieve greater fungal inhibition with respect to 10- and 15-min ozonized fruit. Thus, the ozone dose to be selected would be limited by the negative effect on weight loss. Exposure to 18 mg O3 L-1 for 10 min would be the most suitable treatment to reduce fungal decay without causing an excessive loss of weight along cold storage.

Colorectal cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer death worldwide. Over the last decades, several studies have shown that tumor-related genomic alterations predict tumor prognosis, drug response, and toxicity. These observations have led to the development of several therapies based on individual genomic profiles. As part of these approaches, pharmacogenomics analyses genomic alterations which may predict an efficient therapeutic response. Studying these mutations as biomarkers for predicting drug response is of a great interest to improve precision medicine. We conduct a comprehensive review of the main pharmacogenomics biomarkers and genomic alterations affecting enzyme activity, transporter capacity, channels, and receptors; and therefore the new advances in CRC precision medicine to select the best therapeutic strategy in populations worldwide, with a focus on Latin America.

Galectin-13 (Gal-13) plays numerous roles in regulating the relationship between maternal and fetal tissues. Low expression levels or mutations of the lectin can result in pre-eclampsia. The previous crystal structure and gel filtration data show that Gal-13 dimerizes via formation of two disulfide bonds formed by Cys136 and Cys138. In the present study, we mutated them to serine (C136S, C138S and C136S/C138S), crystalized the variants and solved their crystal structures. All variants crystallized as monomers. In the C136S structure, Cys138 formed a disulfide bond with Cys19, indicating that Cys19 is important for regulation of reversible disulfide bond formation in this lectin. Hemagglutination assays demonstrated that all variants are inactive at inducing erythrocyte agglutination, even though gel filtration profiles indicate that C136S and C138S could still form dimers, suggesting that these dimers do not exhibit the same activity as wild-type (WT) Gal-13. In HeLa cells, the three variants were found to be distributed the same as with WT Gal-13. However, a Gal-13 variant (delT221) truncated at T221 could not be transported into the nucleus, possibly explaining why women having this variant get pre-eclampsia. Considering the normally high concentration of glutathione in cells, WT Gal-13 should exist mostly as a monomer in cytoplasm, consistent with the monomeric variant C136S/C138S, which has a similar ability to interact with HOXA1 as WT Gal-13.

The effect of different doses of UV-C light (5.3, 8.3 and 11.4 kJ/m2) on native mycobiota and Botrytis cinerea incidence, micro and ultrastructure, biomechanical properties and weight loss of blueberry fruit cv. O'Neal during 20 days of storage at 8 ± 1 °C was evaluated. Decay incidence was significantly reduced by all UV-C light doses for both, native mycobiota and inoculated B. cinerea. The highest UV-C dose studied (11.4 kJ/m2) was the most effective indelaying the onset of fungal and B. cinerea infection (6 and 4 days, respectively). UV-C irradiation caused some distinctive changes in fruit structure characterized by redistribution, alteration and partial removal of epicuticular waxes, reinforcement of epicarp cell walls, and modifications in the cuticle. Biomechanical parameters were not affected by UV-C treatments excepting at day 15 where irradiated samples showed higher values of rupture force (FR) and deformation (D). Structure changes partially explained the significant increase in weight loss, FR and D values in irradiated fruit after 15 days of storage. UV-C irradiation could be an alternative for delaying and reducing fungal infection. However, postharvest shelf-life of irradiated blueberries could be limited by the negative effect on weight loss., Blueberry, UV-C dose, B. cinerea infection, Structure, Weight loss.

La investigacion analiza la responsabilidad social y el comportamiento de compra de los estudiantes de educacion superior del Ecuador, con el proposito de determinar si sus decisiones y elecciones de compras durante la pandemia de la COVID-19 se rigen por factores prioritarios de responsabilidad social. El estudio cuantitativo utiliza el Modelo de Ecuaciones Estructurales (SEM) cuyas variables son: el comportamiento del consumidor, la responsabilidad social, relaciones sociales y factores psicologicos -salud mental y fisica-. A partir del muestreo por conveniencia, se aplico 403 encuestas a estudiantes de las universidades publicas y privadas. Los resultados obtenidos para las hipotesis H:1 son estadisticamente significativos entre el comportamiento del consumidor y factores personales (0.242, p

Fil: Contigiani, Eunice Valentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Industrias. Instituto de Tecnologia de Alimentos y Procesos Quimicos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Oficina de Coordinacion Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Tecnologia de Alimentos y Procesos Quimicos.; Argentina

Background: In contrast to the rapid increase in thyroid cancer (TC) incidence, thyroid cancer mortality has remained low and stable over the last decades. In Ecuador, however, TC mortality has increased. The objective of this study is to determine possible drivers of high rates of thyroid cancer mortality, through a cross-sectional analysis of all patients attending a thyroid cancer referral center in Ecuador.Methods: From June 2014 to December 2017, a cross-sectional study was conducted at the Hospital de Especialidades Eugenio Espejo (HEEE), a regional reference public hospital for endocrine neoplasia in adults in Quito, Ecuador. We identified the mechanism of detection, histopathology and treatment modalities from a patient interview and review of clinical records. Results: Among 452 patients, 74.8% were young adults and 94.2% (426) were female. 13.7% had a family history of thyroid cancer, and patients’ median tumor size was 2 cm. The incidental finding was 54.2% whereas 45.8% was non-incidental. Thyroid cancer histology reported that 93.3% had papillary thyroid cancer (PTC), 2.7% follicular, 1.5% Hurtle cells, 1.6% medullary, 0.7% poor differentiated, and 0.2% anaplastic carcinoma. The mean MACIS (metastasis, age, completeness, invasion, and size) score was 4.95 (CI 4.15-5.95) with 76.2% of the thyroid cancer patients having MACIS score less than or equal to 6. The very low and low risk of recurrence was 18.1% (79) and 62% (271) respectively. An analysis of 319 patients with non-metastatic thyroid cancer showed that 10.7% (34) of patients had surgical complications. Moreover, around 62.5% (80 from 128 patients with thyroglobulin laboratory results) of TC patients had a stimulated-thyroglobulin (sTg) value equal or higher than 2 ng/ml. Overall, a poor surgical outcome was present in 35.1% (112) patients. Out of 436 patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC), 86% (375) received radioactive iodine (RAI). Conclusion: Thyroid cancer histological characteristics and method of diagnosis are like those described in other reports without any evidence of the high frequency of aggressive thyroid cancer histology. However, we observed evidence of overtreatment and poor surgical outcomes that demand additional studies to understand their association with thyroid cancer mortality in Ecuador.

This work aimed to evaluate the effect of ozone washing (maximum concentration 3.5 mgL-1- 5 and 15 min) on Botrytis cinerea decay, physicochemical parameters, bioactive compounds, in vitro and in vivo antioxidant activity, and sensory properties of strawberries cv. Albion throughout refrigerated storage at 5 ± 1 °C. A 5 min long ozonation delayed the onset of B. cinerea infection by 4 days, and significantly reduced its incidence as storage progressed (~17 % lesser than in control at day 8), without impairing physicochemical parameters or sensory quality. This treatment did not affect the antioxidant activity of strawberry extracts neither in in vitro (ORAC and ABTS assays) or in vivo assays using Caenorhabditis elegans as a model organism. Higher ozone doses did not achieve greater reduction of B. cinerea decay throughout the storage period. This study demonstrated that exposing strawberries to a 5 min long aqueous ozone treatment could extend their storability at 5 °C., Food science; Food technology; Aqueous ozone; Strawberry; Sensory quality; Antioxidant properties; Colour; Caenorhabditis elegans.

Background The structure of human galectin-16 (Gal-16) has yet to be solved, and its function has remained elusive. Methods X-ray crystallography was used to determine the atomic structures of Gal-16 and two of its mutants. The Gal-16 oligomer state was investigated by gel filtration, its hemagglutination activity was determined along with its ability to bind lactose using ITC. The cellular distribution of EGFP-tagged Gal-16 in various cell lines was also investigated, and the interaction between Gal-16 and c-Rel was assessed by pull-down studies, microscale thermophoresis and immunofluorescence. Results Unlike other galectins, Gal-16 lacks the ability to bind the β-galactoside lactose. Lactose binding could be regained by replacing an arginine (Arg55) with asparagine, as shown in the crystal structures of two lactose-loaded Gal-16 mutants (R55N and R55N/H57R). Gal-16 was also shown to be monomeric by gel filtration, as well as in crystal structures. Thus, this galectin could not induce erythrocyte agglutination. EGFP-tagged Gal-16 was found to be localized mostly in the nucleus of various cell types, and can interact with c-Rel, a member of NF-κB family. Conclusions Gal-16 exists as a monomer and its ligand binding is significantly different from that of other prototype galectins, suggesting that it has a novel function(s). The interaction between Gal-16 and c-Rel indicates that Gal-16 may regulate signal transduction pathways via the c-Rel hub in B or T cells at the maternal-fetal interface. General significance The present study lays the foundation for further studies into the cellular and physiological functions of Gal-16.

To help address the scarcity of studies on the genetics of Parkinson's disease (PD) in Latin America, we screened 426 Ecuadorians with PD and 80 Colombians (PD = 55, Control = 26) for mutations within several PD-related genes. Among Colombians, we identified several variants within PARKIN and PINK1 genes.

Osteosarcoma is the most common subtype of primary bone cancer, affecting mostly adolescents. In recent years, several studies have focused on elucidating the molecular mechanisms of this sarcoma, however, its molecular etiology has still not been determined with precision. Therefore, we applied a consensus strategy with the use of several bioinformatics tools to prioritize genes involved in its pathogenesis. Subsequently, we assessed the physical interactions of the previously selected genes and applied a communality analysis to this protein&ndash, protein interaction network. The consensus strategy prioritized a total list of 553 genes. Our enrichment analysis validates several studies that describe the signaling pathways PI3K/AKT and MAPK/ERK as pathogenic. The gene ontology described TP53 as a principal signal transducer that chiefly mediates processes associated with cell cycle and DNA damage response It is interesting to note that the communality analysis clusters several members involved in metastasis events, such as MMP2 and MMP9, and genes associated with DNA repair complexes, like ATM, ATR, CHEK1, and RAD51. In this study, we have identified well-known pathogenic genes for osteosarcoma and prioritized genes that need to be further explored.

We study the effect of algebraically localized impurities on striped phases in one spatial dimension. We therefore develop a functional-analytic framework that allows us to cast the perturbation problem as a regular Fredholm problem despite the presence of the essential spectrum, caused by the soft translational mode. Our results establish the selection of jumps in wavenumber and phase, depending on the location of the impurity and the average wavenumber in the system. We also show that, for select locations, the jump in the wavenumber vanishes.

We analyze the effect of adding a weak, localized, inhomogeneity to a two dimensional array of oscillators with nonlocal coupling. We propose and also justify a model for the phase dynamics in this system. Our model is a generalization of a viscous eikonal equation that is known to describe the phase modulation of traveling waves in reaction-diffusion systems. We show the existence of a branch of target pattern solutions that bifurcates from the spatially homogeneous state when $\varepsilon$, the strength of the inhomogeneity, is nonzero and we also show that these target patterns have an asymptotic wavenumber that is small beyond all orders in $\varepsilon$. The strategy of our proof is to pose a good ansatz for an approximate form of the solution and use the implicit function theorem to prove the existence of a solution in its vicinity. The analysis presents two challenges. First, the linearization about the homogeneous state is a convolution operator of diffusive type and hence not invertible on the usual Sobolev spaces. Second, a regular perturbation expansion in $\varepsilon$ does not provide a good ansatz for applying the implicit function theorem since the nonlinearities play a major role in determining the relevant approximation, which also needs to be "correct" to all orders in $\varepsilon$. We overcome these two points by proving Fredholm properties for the linearization in appropriate Kondratiev spaces and using a refined ansatz for the approximate solution, which obtained using matched asymptotics., 39 pages, 1 figure

Storage life of strawberry fruit is limited due to its high softening rate and susceptibility to fungal attack. Thus, it is of interest to develop and improve preservation techniques to reduce postharvest losses. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of ozonized water washing (maximum concentration of 3.5 mg L−1; 5–15 min) on fungal spoilage, water loss, mechanical properties, and structure of strawberries (cv. Albion) harvested in different years and stored at 5 °C. The effect of ozone treatment on decontamination and weight loss was dose-dependent. Ozonization for 5 min significantly reduced fungal incidence (~ 22–25% lesser than control) and weight loss of strawberries throughout storage. High doses (10 or 15 min) did not reduce significantly fungal growth in relation to control, although weight loss in fruit treated for 15 min was higher than control. In both harvest years studied, cold storage provoked a diminution in deformability modulus and an increase in deformation but a significant effect of treatment was not observed. These changes were correlated with alteration of cell walls and turgor loss. Otherwise, cuticular membrane of strawberries treated for 5 min was observed thicker and more electron dense than in fruit ozonized for 15 min or control. It could partially explain the lower moisture loss observed in 5-min treated fruit. Results showed that ozonized water washing for 5 min can be an alternative strategy for extending postharvest strawberry shelf-life by decreasing fungal decay and water loss along cold storage, without affecting mechanical parameters. Fil: Contigiani, Eunice Valentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Industrias; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Jaramillo Sánchez, Gabriela Maribel. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Industrias; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Castro, Maria A.. No especifica; Fil: Gómez, Paula Luisina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Industrias; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Alzamora, Stella Maris. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Industrias; Argentina

Biological and physical systems that can be classified as oscillatory media give rise to interesting phenomena like target patterns and spiral waves. The existence of these structures has been proven in the case of systems with local diffusive interactions. In this paper the more general case of oscillatory media with nonlocal coupling is considered. We model these systems using evolution equations where the nonlocal interactions are expressed via a diffusive convolution kernel, and prove the existence of rotating wave solutions for these systems. Since the nonlocal nature of the equations precludes the use of standard techniques from spatial dynamics, the method we use relies instead on a combination of a multiple-scales analysis and a construction similar to Lyapunov-Schmidt. This approach then allows us to derive a normal form, or reduced equation, that captures the leading order behavior of these solutions.