Differing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on farmers and intermediaries: insights into the Ecuadorian cocoa value chain.

The COVID-19 pandemic generated diverse impacts and responses in agricultural value chains worldwide. Cocoa is a key crop for Ecuadorian exports, and the analysis of effects the pandemic had on value chain actors contributes to the understanding of their individual capacities to coping with a major shock. The purpose of this study was to assess the number and severity of impacts and responses implemented by two links in the cocoa value chain to the pandemic, based on a survey of 158 cocoa farmers and 52 cocoa intermediaries from the main cocoa-producing provinces of the northern coast of Ecuador in 2021.

Enhanced Two-Step Extraction from Biomass of Two Species Cultivated in Santander, Colombia.

The insertion of circular economy principles into the essential oil (EO) production chain aims to reduce waste generation and make integral use of harvested plant material. Higher profits from integral use with reduced waste generation contribute to the eventual use of the EO value chain as an alternative to illicit crops in Colombia (mostly coca). In this study, Java-type citronella () and palmarosa (.

Epidemiology and clinical features of venomous snake bites in the Northern Amazon of Ecuador (2017-2021).

Introduction: In Ecuador, poisonous snakebites are a public health problem. However, there is no recent hospital information from the Amazon. Objective: To retrospectively analyse the clinical-epidemiological characteristics of snakebites in patients admitted to a hospital in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

Predictors of Scientific Civic Engagement (PSCE) Survey: A Multidimensional Instrument to Measure Undergraduates' Attitudes, Knowledge, and Intention to Engage with the Community Using Their Science Skills.

Civic engagement is an individual's active participation that is intended to improve a community's socioeconomic status or help shape its future. Undergraduates who engage with a community during formal course work are more likely to participate civically later in life. This outcome is important for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) students since they use STEM knowledge to make informed decisions about public health, national security and the environment.

Dual-source computed tomography protocols for the pediatric chest - scan optimization techniques.

The gold standard for pediatric chest imaging remains the CT scan. An ideal pediatric chest CT has the lowest radiation dose with the least motion degradation possible in a diagnostic scan. Because of the known inherent risks and costs of anesthesia, non-sedate options are preferred.

Containment of a carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii complex outbreak in a COVID-19 intensive care unit.

Background: A carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii outbreak in the COVID intensive care unit of a community hospital was contained using multidrug resistant organism guidelines. The purpose of this study is to report on an outbreak investigation and containment strategy that was used, and to discuss prevention strategy.

Methods: A multidisciplinary approach contained the spread of infection.

Administration of Single-Dose Antibiotic Does Not Decrease Oronasal Fistula Rates After Primary Palatoplasty.

Objective: Oronasal fistula (ONF) is a known complication after primary palatoplasty (PP). Studies investigating the effect of perioperative antibiotics on fistula rates after PP are limited by inadequate sample size or reliance on self-reporting through national databases. In this study, the authors evaluated the association between single-dose perioperative antibiotics and postoperative fistula rates after PP at a single institution.

Low expression of galectin-3 is associated with poor survival in node-positive breast cancers and mesenchymal phenotype in breast cancer stem cells.

Background: Galectin-3 (Gal3) plays diverse roles in cancer initiation, progression, and drug resistance depending on tumor type characteristics that are also associated with cancer stem cells (CSCs). Recurrence of breast carcinomas may be attributed to the presence of breast CSCs (BCSCs). BCSCs exist in mesenchymal-like or epithelial-like states and the transition between these states endows BCSCs with the capacity for tumor progression.

Cell surface galectin-3 defines a subset of chemoresistant gastrointestinal tumor-initiating cancer cells with heightened stem cell characteristics.

Recurrence of gastrointestinal adenocarcinomas after surgery and chemotherapy may be attributed, in part, to the presence of a small population of tumor-initiating cancer stem cells (CSC). The expression of galectin-3 (Gal3), a multifunctional oncolectin, has been associated with biological behaviors associated with CSC. We examined the ability of Gal3 to characterize the CSC phenotype, and to identify a clinically important gastrointestinal cancer CSC population.

Tissue-specific microvascular endothelial cell lines from H-2K(b)-tsA58 mice for studies of angiogenesis and metastasis.

Microvascular endothelial cells play a critical role in tumor progression and metastasis by forming capillary networks that encourage tumor growth and by promoting the attachment of circulating tumor cells to the vascular wall of distant tissues. Efforts to study the molecular mechanisms that mediate these complex processes in different anatomical compartments have been impeded by difficulties in the isolation and propagation of endothelial cells from different organs. To overcome these limitations, we used two-color flow cytometry to identify and select microvascular endothelial cells from primary cultures obtained from different organs of mice whose tissues harbor a temperature-sensitive SV40 large T antigen (H-2K(b)-tsA58 mice; ImmortoMice).

Effects of speech accents on interpersonal evaluations: implications for counseling practice and research.

This article reviews literature from the fields of psycholinguistics, communications, and social psychology that has examined the effects of speech accents (i.e., regional, national, and international variations in same-language use) on interpersonal attitudes, casual attributions, and subsequent behaviors.