Integrating mental health and psychosocial support into economic inclusion programming for displaced families in Ecuador.

Background: Poverty is a key social determinant of mental health among forcibly displaced persons. This study aimed to design and pilot test a strategy to integrate existing mental health and economic inclusion interventions for displaced families in Ecuador.

Methods: We conducted a series of qualitative interviews (n = 30), focus groups (n = 6), and workshops (n = 3) to develop a set of strategies for integrating cross-cutting and focused mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) strategies into an existing economic inclusion program for displaced families in Quito.

Implementation of problem-based learning modules in an introduction to public health course.

Introduction: With traditional lecture-based learning methods often criticized for their limited ability to foster critical thinking and cognitive engagement, problem-based learning (PBL) has emerged as a promising alternative. This research investigates the impact of PBL on student learning outcomes, specifically focusing on the development of higher-order thinking skills, communication, growth mindset, and metacognitive abilities.

Methods: PBL was implemented in an undergraduate public health course at a private university in the southeast US.

Strategies to improve the implementation and effectiveness of community-based psychosocial support interventions for displaced, migrant and host community women in Latin America.

As evidence supporting the effectiveness of mental health and psychosocial interventions grows, more research is needed to understand optimal strategies for improving their implementation in diverse contexts. We conducted a qualitative process evaluation of a multicomponent psychosocial intervention intended to promote well-being among refugee, migrant and host community women in three diverse contexts in Ecuador and Panamá. The objective of this study is to describe the relationships among implementation determinants, strategies and outcomes of this community-based psychosocial intervention.

M1-derived extracellular vesicles polarize recipient macrophages into M2-like macrophages and alter skeletal muscle homeostasis in a hyper-glucose environment.

Background: Macrophages release not only cytokines but also extracellular vesicles (EVs). which are small membrane-derived nanovesicles with virus-like properties transferring cellular material between cells. Until now, the consequences of macrophage plasticity on the release and the composition of EVs have been poorly explored.

Artificial intelligence in medicine: mitigating risks and maximizing benefits via quality assurance, quality control, and acceptance testing.

The adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in medicine poses challenges to existing clinical workflows. This commentary discusses the necessity of context-specific quality assurance (QA), emphasizing the need for robust QA measures with quality control (QC) procedures that encompass (1) acceptance testing (AT) before clinical use, (2) continuous QC monitoring, and (3) adequate user training. The discussion also covers essential components of AT and QA, illustrated with real-world examples.

Classic and Atypical Late Infantile Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis in Latin America: Clinical and Genetic Aspects, and Treatment Outcome with Cerliponase Alfa.

Introduction: Late infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis type 2 (CLN2), is a neurodegenerative autosomal recessive disease caused by gene variants with a spectrum of classic and atypical phenotypes. The aim of treatment is to slow functional decline as early as possible in an attempt to improve quality of life and survival. This study describes the clinical characteristics as well as the response to treatment with cerliponase alfa.

A Structure-Activity Relationship Study of Amino Acid Derivatives of Pterostilbene Analogues Toward Human Breast Cancer.

Pterostilbene is the dimethylated analogue of Resveratrol, a compound with well-known biological activities, such as antioxidant, chemopreventive, anti-diabetic, anti-obesity, and cardioprotective. Despite many studies on the general effect of such polyphenolic molecules and their derivatives, a deep comprehension of their action and systematic structure-activity relationship studies are still rare. Herein, three different analogues of functionalizable Pterostilbene were efficiently synthesized and derivatized with a selected library of antioxidant amino acids, allowing for a highly diversified exploration of the chemical space.

Senescent Endothelial Cells Sustain Their Senescence-Associated Secretory Phenotype (SASP) through Enhanced Fatty Acid Oxidation.

Cellular senescence is closely linked to endothelial dysfunction, a key factor in age-related vascular diseases. Senescent endothelial cells exhibit a proinflammatory phenotype known as SASP, leading to chronic inflammation (inflammaging) and vascular impairments. Albeit in a state of permanent growth arrest, senescent cells paradoxically display a high metabolic activity.

Assessment of bone marrow fat by 3-Tesla magnetic resonance spectroscopy in patients with chronic kidney disease.

Background: Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (H MRS) is an imaging method for quantification of bone marrow fat. It has been used for evaluation of bone marrow changes in patients with chronic disorders, such as chronic kidney disease (CKD). In these patients, there is a high turnover state, with an excessive amount of non-mineralized component of bone, leading to skeletal fragility and subsequent increased fracture risk.

Genotype and Phenotype Characterization of Patients with Mucopolysaccharidosis IV-A in Chile.

Introduction: Morquio syndrome or mucopolysaccharidosis type IV-A (MPS IV-A) is an autosomal recessive disease caused by biallelic variants in the gene, encoding the lysosomal enzyme GalN6S, responsible for glycosaminoglycan keratan sulfate and chondroitin-6-sulfate degradation. Studies have shown that the degree of evolutionary and chemical divergence of missense variants in GalN6S when compared to ancestral amino acids is associated with the severity of the syndrome, suggesting a genotype-phenotype correlation. There is little information on Latin American patients with MPS IV-A that replicate these findings.

Functionalizing Dendrimers for Targeted Delivery of Bioactive Molecules to Macrophages: A Potential Treatment for Infection-A Review.

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by that replicates inside human alveolar macrophages. This disease causes significant morbidity and mortality throughout the world. According to the World Health Organization 1.

Mixed-methods evaluation of a group psychosocial intervention for refugee, migrant and host community women in Ecuador and Panamá: Results from the cluster randomized feasibility trial.

Community-based psychosocial interventions are key elements of mental health and psychosocial support; yet evidence regarding their effectiveness and implementation in humanitarian settings is limited. This study aimed to assess the appropriateness, acceptability, feasibility and safety of conducting a cluster randomized trial evaluating two versions of a group psychosocial intervention. Nine community clusters in Ecuador and Panamá were randomized to receive the standard version of the intervention, a community-based group psychosocial intervention co-designed with community members, or an enhanced version of that integrated a stress management component.

PCOS and vitamin D: a clinical appraisal.

Purpose: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrine-reproductive disease linked not just to infertility but also to serious comorbidities. There is a reported association between low vitamin D levels and multiple health conditions including PCOS. This narrative review aims to analyze the role of vitamin D in PCOS development, use of the vitamin D in the treatment of PCOS, and the molecular basis of these observations.

Dataset for polyphonic sound event detection tasks in urban soundscapes: The synthetic polyphonic ambient sound source (SPASS) dataset.

This paper presents the Synthetic Polyphonic Ambient Sound Source (SPASS) dataset, a publicly available synthetic polyphonic audio dataset. SPASS was designed to train deep neural networks effectively for polyphonic sound event detection (PSED) in urban soundscapes. SPASS contains synthetic recordings from five virtual environments: park, square, street, market, and waterfront.

Co-Encapsulation of Curcumin and α-Tocopherol in Bicosome Systems: Physicochemical Properties and Biological Activity.

A novel co-encapsulation system called bicosomes (bicelles within liposomes) has been developed to overcome the limitations associated with the topical application of curcumin (cur) and α-tocopherol (α-toc). The physicochemical properties and biological activity in vitro of bicosome systems were evaluated. Bicelles were prepared with DPPC, DHPC, cur, and α-toc (cur/α-toc-bicelles).

An aqueous olive leaf extract (OLE) ameliorates parameters of oxidative stress associated with lipid accumulation and induces lipophagy in human hepatic cells.

Fatty liver is a disease characterized by a buildup of lipids in the liver, often resulting from excessive consumption of high-fat-containing foods. Fatty liver can degenerate, over time, into more severe forms of liver diseases, especially when oxidative stress occurs. Olive leaf extract (OLE) is a reliable source of polyphenols with antioxidant and hypolipidemic properties that have been successfully used in medicine, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical products.

Thoracic ultrasound combined with low-dose computed tomography may represent useful screening strategy in highly exposed population in the industrial city of Taranto (Italy).

Objectives: We validated a screening protocol in which thoracic ultrasound (TUS) acts as a first-line complementary imaging technique in selecting patients which may deserve a second-line low-dose high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) scan among a population of asymptomatic high-risk subjects for interstitial lung abnormalities (ILA) and lung cancer. Due to heavy environmental pollution burden, the district Tamburi of Taranto has been chosen as "case study" for this purpose.

Methods: From July 2018 to October 2020, 677 patients aged between 45 and 65 year and who had been living in the Tamburi district of Taranto for at least 10 years were included in the study.

Community-based participatory design of a psychosocial intervention for migrant women in Ecuador and Panama.

There is increasing evidence supporting the effectiveness of scalable mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) interventions delivered by non-specialists for improving wellbeing among migrant populations in humanitarian settings. Balancing fidelity in the implementation of evidence-based MHPSS interventions with their fit to the needs and preferences of new populations and contexts remains a challenge when introducing MHPSS interventions in new settings. This paper describes a community-based participatory approach to MHPSS intervention design incorporating processes to promote local adaptability and fit while maintaining standardized elements of existing MHPSS interventions.

On the Influence of the University Tenure on the Digital Pandemic Stress in Higher Education Faculty.

This paper conducts quantitative research on the levels of stress generated in Latin American professors due to the abrupt digitalization of higher education resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the differences in this digital stress between professors from private and public universities are analyzed. For this purpose, a validated questionnaire has been used and passed to a sample of 750 professors from 20 different Latin American countries, whose responses have been statistically analyzed.

Perception of Bullying in Early Childhood Education in Spain: Pre-School Teachers vs. Psychologists.

In this work, quantitative research is carried out on the perceptions of early childhood education teachers and child psychologists about the incidence of bullying behaviors in early childhood education (3 to 6 years old) and their knowledge and experience in this regard. For this purpose, two questionnaires were used, each of them oriented to one of the two groups of professionals analyzed, whose answers were subjected to statistical analysis. As for results, it has been obtained that early childhood education teachers express having received deficient training in school bullying and have little experience in its detection and treatment.