Perspectives of health practitioners on the challenges to accessing sexual and reproductive health care services for Venezuelan migrant women during the COVID-19 pandemic in Quito, Ecuador.

Objectives: To describe the perspectives of health practitioners on the barriers, gaps, and opportunities that Venezuelan migrant women experienced to accessing sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services during the COVID-19 pandemic and how SRH services were affected in Quito, Ecuador.

Methods: Health practitioners involved in SRH services at nine public health care facilities in three zones of Quito were surveyed. The Minimum Initial Service Package readiness assessment tool survey, available from the Inter-Agency Working Group on Reproductive Health in Crisis, was adapted for use and data collection in Ecuador.

Microstructured click hydrogels for cell contact guidance in 3D.

The topography of the extracellular matrix (ECM) is a major biophysical regulator of cell behavior. While this has inspired the design of cell-instructive biomaterials, the ability to present topographic cues to cells in a true 3D setting remains challenging, particularly in ECM-like hydrogels made from a single polymer. Herein, we report the design of microstructured alginate hydrogels for injectable cell delivery and show their ability to orchestrate morphogenesis via cellular contact guidance in 3D.

High prevalence of chronic malnutrition in indigenous children under 5 years of age in Chimborazo-Ecuador: multicausal analysis of its determinants.

Background: Despite the multiple initiatives implemented to reduce stunting in Ecuador, it continues to be a public health problem with a significant prevalence. One of the most affected groups is the rural indigenous population. This study aimed to analyze the prevalence of chronic malnutrition in indigenous children under 5 years of age and its association with health determinants, focusing on one of the territories with the highest prevalence of stunting.

Breastfeeding, feeding practices and stunting in indigenous Ecuadorians under 2 years of age.

Background: The indigenous child population in Ecuador has a high prevalence of stunting. There is limited evidence of the association between breastfeeding, feeding practices, and stunting in indigenous children. This study aimed to analyze the prevalence of breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices and explore their association with stunting in Ecuadorian indigenous children under two years of age.

Nursing Students' Perceptions on Healthcare-Associated Infection Control and Prevention Teaching and Learning Experience in Portugal.

Healthcare-associated infections (HAI) are one of the major concerns worldwide, posing significant challenges to healthcare professionals' education and training. This study intended to measure nursing students' perceptions regarding their learning experiences on HAI prevention and control. In the first phase of the study, a cross-sectional and descriptive study with a convenience sample composed of undergraduate nursing students from Portugal, Spain, Poland, and Finland was conducted to develop the InovSafeCare questionnaire.

Engineering injectable vascularized tissues from the bottom-up: Dynamics of in-gel extra-spheroid dermal tissue assembly.

Modular tissue engineering approaches open up exciting perspectives for the biofabrication of vascularized tissues from the bottom-up, using micro-sized units such as spheroids as building blocks. While several techniques for 3D spheroid formation from multiple cell types have been reported, strategies to elicit the extra-spheroid assembly of complex vascularized tissues are still scarce. Here we describe an injectable approach to generate vascularized dermal tissue, as an example application, from spheroids combining fibroblasts and endothelial progenitors (OEC) in a xeno-free (XF) setting.

Nursing Students' Perceptions on Healthcare-Associated Infection Control and Prevention Teaching and Learning Experience: Development and Validation of a Scale in Four European Countries.

Healthcare-associated infections are one of the major concerns worldwide. This study presents the development and the validation process of the InovSafeCare scale and aimed at identifying and measuring the ecosystem variables related to healthcare-associated infection (HCAI) prevention and control practices in European nurse students. Qualitative and quantitative approaches were used to (1) elaborate an item pool related to the educational environment, the healthcare setting environment, and the attitudes, beliefs, and performance of the nursing students regarding HCAI prevention and control and (2) analyze psychometric properties of the scale using factor analysis.

Social capital and its relationship with malnutrition and anemia in children from rural coastal Ecuador.

Introduction: Social capital is considered an important determinant of health and overall wellbeing; however, to the best of the authors' knowledge, literature relating social capital to malnutrition in developing countries is still relatively small. This article examines the relationships between social capital and chronic malnutrition and anemia in a population of rural coastal children in Ecuador.

Methods: A cross-sectional study in two groups of 246 and 282 children under 5 years and their families was performed.

Engineering a Vascularized 3D Hybrid System to Model Tumor-Stroma Interactions in Breast Cancer.

The stromal microenvironment of breast tumors, namely the vasculature, has a key role in tumor development and metastatic spread. Tumor angiogenesis is a coordinated process, requiring the cooperation of cancer cells, stromal cells, such as fibroblasts and endothelial cells, secreted factors and the extracellular matrix (ECM). models capable of capturing such complex environment are still scarce, but are pivotal to improve success rates in drug development and screening.

A Multi-causal Model for Chronic Malnutrition and Anemia in a Population of Rural Coastal Children in Ecuador.

Objectives: Chronic malnutrition and anemia are prevalent in developing countries. This research aimed to determine the prevalence of chronic malnutrition and anemia and their associated factors in children under five using a multi-causal model in a rural community in the coast of Ecuador.

Methods: The study included 314 children under 5 years old who were residents of San Isidro, Ecuador.

Conjugation of the T1 sequence from CCN1 to fibrin hydrogels for therapeutic vascularization.

Hydrogel matrices with angiogenic properties are much desirable for therapeutic vascularization strategies, namely to provide vascular supply to ischemic areas, transplanted cells, or bioengineered tissues. Here we report the pro-angiogenic effect of fibrin (Fb) functionalization with the T1 sequence from the angiogenic inducer CCN1, forseeing its use in the injured brain and spinal cord. Fibrin functionalization with 40 μM of T1 peptide effectively improved cellular sprouting of human brain microvascular endothelial cells (hCMEC/D3) in the absence of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), without impacting the viscoelastic properties of Fb, cell viability, or proliferation.

Osteogenic, anti-osteoclastogenic and immunomodulatory properties of a strontium-releasing hybrid scaffold for bone repair.

Strontium (Sr) is known to stimulate osteogenesis, while inhibiting osteoclastogenesis, thus encouraging research on its application as a therapeutic agent for bone repair/regeneration. It has been suggested that it may possess immunomodulatory properties, which might act synergistically in bone repair/regeneration processes. To further explore this hypothesis we have designed a Sr-hybrid system composed of an in situ forming Sr-crosslinked RGD-alginate hydrogel reinforced with Sr-doped hydroxyapatite (HAp) microspheres and studied its in vitro osteoinductive behaviour and in vivo inflammatory response.

Distribution of mesenchymal stem cells and effects on neuronal survival and axon regeneration after optic nerve crush and cell therapy.

Bone marrow-derived cells have been used in different animal models of neurological diseases. We investigated the therapeutic potential of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) injected into the vitreous body in a model of optic nerve injury. Adult (3-5 months old) Lister Hooded rats underwent unilateral optic nerve crush followed by injection of MSC or the vehicle into the vitreous body.

Chitosan drives anti-inflammatory macrophage polarisation and pro-inflammatory dendritic cell stimulation.

Macrophages and dendritic cells (DC) share the same precursor and play key roles in immunity. Modulation of their behaviour to achieve an optimal host response towards an implanted device is still a challenge. Here we compare the differentiation process and polarisation of these related cell populations and show that they exhibit different responses to chitosan (Ch), with human monocyte-derived macrophages polarising towards an anti-inflammatory phenotype while their DC counterparts display pro-inflammatory features.

Labeling stem cells with superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles: analysis of the labeling efficacy by microscopy and magnetic resonance imaging.

Stem cell therapy has emerged as a potential therapeutic option for cell death-related heart diseases. Application of non-invasive cell tracking approaches is necessary to determine tissue distribution and lifetime of stem cells following their injection and will likely provide knowledge about poorly understood stem cells mechanisms of tissue repair. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a potentially excellent tool for high-resolution visualization of the fate of cells after transplantation and for evaluation of therapeutic strategies.

Optimized labeling of bone marrow mesenchymal cells with superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles and in vivo visualization by magnetic resonance imaging.

Background: Stem cell therapy has emerged as a promising addition to traditional treatments for a number of diseases. However, harnessing the therapeutic potential of stem cells requires an understanding of their fate in vivo. Non-invasive cell tracking can provide knowledge about mechanisms responsible for functional improvement of host tissue.

[Erythrocytic acid phosphatase genetic polymorphism and cardiovascular risk in health children and adolescents].

Objective: To correlate, in a sample of healthy children and adolescents, the activity of the enzyme acid phosphatase (ACP) with its different genetic phenotypes and of these with some cardiovascular risk parameters such as body mass index (BMI), percentage of total fat mass (%TFM), trunk fat (TF), insulin resistance, and the arterial blood pressure (BP).

Design And Methods: The sample was composed of 173 healthy children and adolescents, 96 (55.5%) F and 77 (44.