Distribution of Cervicocephalic Atherosclerotic Lesions and Their Correlation with Cardiovascular Risk Factors in a Population of Amerindians. The Atahualpa Project.

Background: No information is available on the distribution of cervicocephalic atherosclerosis in Amerindians. We aimed to assess the distribution of these lesions and their correlation with cardiovascular risk factors in Amerindians living in rural Ecuador.

Methods: Atahualpa residents aged ≥40years underwent head CT for assessment of carotid siphon calcifications (CSC) and sonographic examination for measurement of the carotid intima media thickness (cIMT).

[Human resources for health in Ecuador's new model of care].

Objective: Describe strategies implemented by Ecuador's Ministry of Public Health (MPH) to strengthen human resources for health leadership and respond to the new model of care, as a part of the reform process in the period 2012-2015.

Methods: A documentary review was carried out of primary and secondary sources on development of human resources for health before and after the reform.

Results: In the study period, Ecuador developed a new institutional and regulatory framework for developing human resources for health to respond to the requirements of a model of care based on primary health care.

Temporal bone thickness and texture are major determinants of the high rate of insonation failures of transcranial Doppler in Amerindians (the Atahualpa Project).

Purpose: To assess the role of temporal bone characteristics in transcranial Doppler (TCD) insonation failures in Amerindians living in rural Ecuador.

Methods: We evaluated thickness and texture of temporal bones in community-dwelling Amerindians ≥65 years old undergoing TCD. Using receiver operator characteristics curve analysis and generalized estimating equations, we investigated factors associated with insonation failures.

Technical difficulties due to poor acoustic insonation during transcranial Doppler recordings in Amerindians and individuals of European origin. A comparative study.

Background: There is no information on transcranial Doppler (TCD) failures due to poor insonation among native inhabitants of Latin America.

Methods: Seventy Ecuadorian natives and 70 age- and sex-matched individuals of European origin underwent TCD. The same investigators performed all exams using the same equipment and protocol.

Cellular colocalization and coregulation between hypothalamic pro-TRH and prohormone convertases in hypothyroidism.

The prohormone convertases (PCs), PC1/3 and PC2, are involved in the tissue-specific endoproteolytic posttranslational processing of many hormonal precursors within the secretory pathway. One important prohormone, pro-thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH), is expressed in both hypophysiotropic (where it regulates the secretion of thyroid-stimulating hormone) and nonhypophysiotropic regions of the brain. Pro-TRH is processed at specific sites in the secretory pathway, primarily by PC1/3 followed by PC2.