Flora diversity survey and establishment of a plant DNA barcode database of Lomas ecosystems in Peru.

Lomas formations or "fog oases" are islands of vegetation in the desert belt of the west coast of South America, with a unique vegetation composition among the world's deserts. However, plant diversity and conservation studies have long been neglected, and there exists a severe gap in plant DNA sequence information. To address the lack of DNA information, we conducted field collections and laboratory DNA sequencing to establish a DNA barcode reference library of Lomas plants from Peru.

[Decision making among older adults in hemodialysis. A qualitative assessment].

Background: In Chile there are 22,310 people in Chronic Hemodialysis (CHD), 53% of them older adults (OA). Shared decision-making and advance directives (AD) are especially important in OA with end-stage chronic renal failure, since they have greater levels of disability, morbidity and mortality, raising doubts about the benefit of therapy.

Aims: To understand the experience in decision making and explore ways to express AD, in OA in CHD.

'If I feel something wrong, then I will get a mammogram': understanding barriers and facilitators for mammography screening among Chilean women.

Background: Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer among women in Chile and in many Latin American countries. Breast cancer screening is an effective strategy to reduce mortality, but it has a very low compliance among Chilean women.

Objective: To understand barriers and facilitators for breast cancer screening in a group of Chilean women aged 50-70.

[A predictive model for the quality of sexual life in hysterectomized women].

Background: The effects of hysterectomy on sexuality has been extensively studied.

Aim: To establish a model to predict the quality of sexual life in hysterectomized women, six months after surgery.

Material And Methods: Analytical, longitudinal and prospective study of 90 hysterectomized women aged 45+/-7 years.