Reduced Violence-Related Burden and Mortality at Higher Altitudes: Examining the Association between High Altitude Living and Homicide Rates in Ecuador.

Ortiz-Prado, Esteban, Juan Sebastian Izquierdo-Condoy, María G. Dávila-Rosero, Jorge Vásconez-González, Ana M. Diaz, Carla E.

Female homicides and femicides in Ecuador: a nationwide ecological analysis from 2001 to 2017.

Background: Gender-based violence is a major public health concern arising from the structural discrimination of women and girls. In 2014, Ecuador criminalized acts of femicide in response to a growing crisis across the region. As no epidemiological studies on the state of female homicides and femicides have been published, we estimated patterns of female homicides and femicides nationally and the burden through economic cost per years of life lost, between 2001 and 2017.

Digital Medication Adherence Support: Could Healthcare Providers Recommend Mobile Health Apps?

Adherence to prescribed medication is suboptimal in 50% of the chronic population, resulting in negative medical and economic outcomes. With the widespread use of mobile phones worldwide, medication adherence apps for mobile phones become promising medication adherence aids thanks to simplicity, user-friendliness, and accessibility for the public. Yet, until today, there is insufficient evidence in favor of using mobile health (mHealth) apps to increase medication adherence.

Epidemiological, socio-demographic and clinical features of the early phase of the COVID-19 epidemic in Ecuador.

The SARS-CoV-2 virus has spread rapidly around the globe. Nevertheless, there is limited information describing the characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19 patients in Latin America. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 9,468 confirmed COVID-19 cases reported in Ecuador.

Expanding the application of stir bar sorptive-dispersive microextraction approach to solid matrices: Determination of ultraviolet filters in coastal sand samples.

This work describes a new method for the determination of organic compounds in solid samples based on the equilibrium desorption of the analytes in an aqueous phase followed by stir bar sorptive-dispersive microextraction (SBSDME). Sand samples, contaminated with UV filters due to bathing and recreational activities, were dispersed in an aqueous medium by using a coated stir bar with CoFeO@oleic acid magnetic nanoparticles. The UV filters were physically desorbed from the surface of the sand particles and rapidly adsorbed on the hydrophobic coating of the nanoparticles, which were retrieved by means of their magnetism after stopping the stirring.