Over the past decades, overweight and obesity has become a global epidemic and the leading threat for death. To prevent the serious risk, an overweight or obese individual must apply a long-term weight-management strategy to control food intake and physical activities, which is however, not easy. Recently, with the advances of information technology, more and more people can use wearable devices and smartphones to obtain physical activity information, while they can also access various health-related information from Internet online social networks (OSNs). Nevertheless, there is a lack of an integrated approach that can combine these two methods in an efficient way. In this paper, we address this issue and propose a novel mobile-social framework for health recognition and recommendation, namely, H-Rec². The main ideas of H-Rec² include (1) to recognize the individual's health status using smartphone as a general platform, and (2) to recommend physical activity and food intake based on personal health information, life science principles, and health-related information obtained from OSNs. To demonstrate the potentials of the H-Rec² framework, we develop a prototype that consists of four important components: (1) an activity recognition module that senses physical activity using accelerometer, (2) a health status modeling module that applies a novel algorithm to generate personalized health status index, (3) a restaurant information collection module that collects relevant information from OSN, and (4) a restaurant recommendation module that provides personalized and context-aware recommendation. To evaluate the prototype, we conduct both objective and subjective experiments, which confirm the performance and effectiveness of the proposed system.

The generation of platform chemicals and hydrochar is of great interest because they reduce dependence on fossil resources and contribute to climate change mitigation by reducing carbon emissions. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of biomass particle size and biomass water ratio in a hydrothermal conversion system for the generation of value-added products obtained from sugarcane bagasse. Biomass characterization was performed using proximal, elemental, and structural analysis; hydrothermal carbonization was carried out at 220 to 260 °C for one hour; and conversion was monitored using pH, conductivity, and IR spectroscopy. Platform chemicals were quantified by HPLC-IR. Hydrochars were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy. The results show that with a biomass:water ratio of 1:50 and a particle size of 212 μm at 220 °C, a yield of 31.07 % of platform chemicals was obtained on a dry basis. Likewise, the hydrochar with the highest carbon content and a higher porosity appearance was obtained with a biomass-to-water ratio of 1:50 and a particle size of 600 μm at 260 °C.

Chromosomal instability (CIN), defined by variations in the number or structure of chromosomes from cell to cell, is recognized as a distinctive characteristic of cancer, associated with the ability of tumors to adapt to challenging environments. CIN has been recognized as a source of genetic variation that leads to clonal heterogeneity (CH). Recent findings suggest a potential association between CIN and CH with the prognosis of BC patients, particularly in tumors expressing the epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2+). In fact, information on the role of CIN in other BC subtypes, including luminal B BC, is limited. Additionally, it remains unknown whether CIN in luminal B BC tumors, above a specific threshold, could have a detrimental effect on the growth of human tumors, or if low or intermediate CIN levels could be linked to a more favorable BC patient prognosis when contrasted with elevated levels. Clarifying these relationships could have a substantial impact on risk stratification and the development of future therapeutic strategies aimed at targeting CIN in BC. This study aimed to assess CIN and CH in tumor tissue samples from ten patients with luminal B BC, and compared them with established clinicopathological parameters. The results of our study show that luminal B BC patients exhibit intermediate CIN and stable aneuploidy, both of which correlated with lymphovascular invasion. These findings suggest that evaluating CIN, CH and aneuploidy could improve risk stratification, the prediction of clinical outcomes and future therapeutic approaches in luminal B BC patients.

Aqueous dispersions of magnetic nanocomposites have been proposed as draw electrolytes in forward osmosis. One possible approach for the production nanocomposites based on magnetite nanoparticles and sodium polyacrylate, is the synthesis of the magnetic iron oxide by coprecipitation or oxidative precipitation in presence of an excess of the polymer. In this work we explored the effect of the polymer proportion on the nanomaterials produced by these procedures. The materials obtained were compared s with the obtained by the coating of magnetite nanocrystals produced beforehand with the same polymer. The samples were characterized by chemical analysis, photon correlation spectroscopy, thermogravimetry, X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and magnetometry. The general trend observed is that part of the polymer is incorporated to the magnetic material during the synthesis heavily modifying its texture, with a drastic reduction of the particle size and magnetic response. The aqueous dispersions of the nanocomposites were highly stable with hydrodynamic size roughly independent on the polymer proportion. Their osmotic pressure proportional to the concentration of the polyelectrolyte, was similar than the generated by the equivalent amount of free polymer in the case of samples generated by oxidative precipitation and smaller in the case of samples generated by coprecipitation. Finally the possibilities of using these materials as draw electrolytes in forward osmosis will be briefly discussed.

Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is an inherited disorder that impairs motile cilia, essential for respiratory health, with a reported prevalence of 1 in 16,309 within Hispanic populations. Despite having the RSPH4A [c.921+3_921+6del (intronic)] founder mutation in 70% of Puerto Rican patients, the characterization of the ciliary dysfunction remains unidentified due to the unavailability of advanced diagnostic modalities like High-Speed Video Microscopy Analysis (HSVA). Our study implemented HSVA for the first time on the island as a tool to better diagnose and characterize the RSPH4A [c.921+3_921+6del (intronic)] founder mutation in Puerto Rican patients. By applying HSVA, we analyzed the ciliary beat frequency (CBF) and pattern (CBP) in native Puerto Rican patients with PCD. Our results showed decreased CBF and a rotational CBP linked to the RSPH4A founder mutation in Puerto Ricans, presenting a novel diagnostic marker that could be implemented as an axillary test into the PCD diagnosis algorithm in Puerto Rico. The integration of HSVA technology in Puerto Rico substantially enhances the framework for PCD evaluation and diagnosis, facilitating prompt detection and early intervention for improved disease management. This initiative, demonstrating the potential of HSVA as an adjunctive test within the PCD diagnostic algorithm, could serve as a blueprint for analogous developments throughout Latin America.

In the present work, the interactions between hydrocortisone and cyclodextrins were investigated. The cyclodextrins selected for this study were hydroxypropyl-α-cyclodextrin, hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin and hydroxypropyl-γ-cyclodextrin. The study was carried out using density measurements, 1H-NMR and FT-IR spectroscopy. Preliminary studies show that hydroxypropyl-α-cyclodextrin has a low affinity for hydrocortisone, while hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin and hydroxypropyl-γ-cyclodextrin have a good affinity for hydrocortisone in both solid state and solution. The study was carried out at two temperatures: 298.15 K and 310.15 K. The results suggest that at both temperatures, the system 2-HP-β-CD + HC induces an increase in the solvent structure, with increasing the solute concentration in the solution, while on the contrary the system 2-HP-γ-CD + HC induces a decrease in the solvent structure when the concentration of the solute in the system increases.

The Bacillus megaterium LVN01 species native to Colombia has demonstrated the ability to metabolize different co-products or industrial waste (such as fique juice, cane molasses, residual glycerol) and accumulate polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), giving it potential in the bioplastics industry. In this research, the potential of liquid digestate as a carbon source for the production of PHA in fermentation processes with this bacterial strain was evaluated. Favorably, it was found that B. megaterium utilizes the nutrients from this residual substrate to multiply appropriately and efficiently synthesize poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV). Bench scale aerobic batch fermentation, under the operational conditions of this research [Volume: 3L; Temperature: 30.8°C; Agitation: 400 rpm; pH: 7.0 ± 0.2; Disolved Oxygen: 100% saturation; Antifoam 10% (v/v)], generated maximum values of DCW (0.56 g cell L-1) at 60 h, while the maximum PHB yield (360 mg PHB L-1) occurred at 16 h, which is very favorable for sustainable degradable bioplastics production. Additionally, GC-MS and NMR analyses confirmed that the PHBV copolymer synthesized by B. megaterium is made up of the monomers 3-hydroxybutyrate (3HB) and 3-hydroxyvalerate (3HV). Furthermore, the thermal properties determined by TGA (Tonset=283.1 ºC, Tendset= 296.98 ºC. Td =290.114 °C) and DSC (Tm= ºC155.7 °C, ΔHf= 19.80 J g-1, Xcr = 18.17%), indicate that it is a thermally stable biopolymer with low percentages of crystallinity, providing flexibility that facilitates molding, adaptation, and application in various industrial sectors.

Research on fall and movement detection with wearable devices has witnessed promising growth. However, there are few publicly available datasets, all recorded with smartphones, that prevent authors to evenly compare their new proposals. Here, we present a dataset of falls and activities of daily living (ADL) acquired with a self-developed device composed of two types of accelerometer and one gyroscope. It consists of 19 ADL and 15 fall types performed by 23 young adults, 15 ADL types performed by 14 healthy and independent participants over 62 years old, and data from one participant of 60 years old that performed all ADL and falls. These activities were selected based on a survey and a literature analysis. We test the dataset with widely used feature extraction and a simple to implement threshold based classification, achieving up to 96~\% of accuracy in fall detection. An individual activity analysis demonstrates that most errors coincide in a few number of activities where algorithms could be focused on. Finally, validation tests with elderly people significantly reduced the fall detection performance of the tested features. This validates findings of other authors and encourages to develop new strategies with this new dataset as benchmark.

Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are a diverse group of microorganisms including genera such as Pseudomonas, Bacillus, Serratia, Enterobacter and Klebsiella. These bacteria have the ability to colonize roots externally and internally, and to directly enhance plant growth employing various mechanisms like phytohormone production and nutrient mineralization. These microbes can also promote plant growth indirectly by secreting antimicrobial compounds (e.g., siderophores, hydrogen cyanide) to antagonize root pathogens or by inducing defensive responses in the plant. Interestingly, there are also cases where production of antibiotic compounds such as 2,4-Diacetylphloroglucinol have the direct effect of enhancing plant growth and yield, irrespective of their biocontrol effects. The objective of this paper is to review publications showcasing PGPRs that have the capacity to both control root pathogens and stimulate plant growth, and to discuss what mechanisms might be involved.

Introduction: Bovine tuberculosis is a zoonotic disease of considerable impact, especially in livestock countries, which can cause human disease. Despite its importance, Colombia is a country in which few studies analyse its behaviour, and none develop maps using geographic information systems to characterise it. Objective: To describe the temporal-spatial distribution of bovine tuberculosis in Colombia between 2001 and 2019. Methods: Retrospective cross-sectional descriptive study, based on reports by the Colombian Agricultural Institute, of tuberculosis surveillance in cattle on farms in Colombia from 2001 to 2019. The data were converted into databases in Microsoft Access 365®, and multiple epidemiological maps were generated with the Kosmo RC1®3.0 software coupled to shape files of all the country's departments. Results: During the study period, 5,273 tuberculosis cases in bovines were identified in the different departments of Colombia (mean 278 cases/year). Regarding its temporal distribution, the number of cases varied from a maximum of 903 cases (17.12% of the total) in 2015 to a minimum of 0 between 2001 and 2004 and between 2017 and 2019 (between 2005 and 2016, the minimum was 46 cases, 0.87%). Conclusions: GIS is an essential tool for understanding the temporospatial behaviour of zoonotic diseases in Colombia, as is the case of bovine tuberculosis, with its potential implications for Human and One Health.

The genome sequencing of Botrytis cinerea has supplied a general overview of the map of genes involved in secondary metabolite synthesis. B. cinerea genomic data have revealed that this phytopathogenic fungus has seven sesquiterpene cyclase (Bcstc) genes that encode proteins involved in the farnesyl diphosphate cyclization. Three sesquiterpene cyclases (BcStc1, BcStc5 and BcStc7) have been characterized, related to the biosynthesis of botrydial, abscisic acid and (+)-4-epi-eremophilenol, respectively. However, the role of the other four sesquiterpene cyclases (BcStc2, BcStc3, BcStc4 and BcStc6) remains unknown. BcStc3 is a well-conserved protein with homologues in many fungal species, and here, we have undertaken its functional characterization in the life cycle of the fungus. A null mutant ΔBcstc3 and an overexpressed–Bcstc3 transformant (OvBcstc3) were generated, and both strains show deregulation of those other sesquiterpene cyclase-encoding genes (Bcstc1, Bcstc5, Bcstc7). These results suggest a co-regulation of the expression of the sesquiterpene cyclase gene family in B. cinerea. Phenotypic characterization of both transformants revealed that BcStc3 is involved in oxidative stress tolerance, production of reactive oxygen species and virulence. The metabolomic analysis allowed the isolation of characteristic polyketides and eremophilenols from the secondary metabolism of B. cinerea, although no sesquiterpenes different from those already described were identified.

Inadequately managed agricultural waste significantly impacts the environment, health, and economy. This form of pollution arises from the underutilization, poor awareness, and insufficient treatment of agricultural waste. Fruit and vegetable wastes are valuable sources of bioactive compounds. This study aims to revalorize discarded waste from red habanero chili peppers (Capsicum chinense) by extracting bioactive compounds through different extraction processes: maceration (ME), maceration assisted by ultrasound (US), Soxhlet extraction (SE), supercritical fluid extraction (SFE), and supercritical fluid extraction with a co-solvent (SFEC). Extraction processes have significant effects on extraction efficiency and phytochemical profile (capsaicinoids and carotenoids recovery). The results indicate that the highest efficiency process is obtained with SFEC, also a high phytochemicals recovery (14.9 mg of total capsaicinoids and total carotenoids 292.09 µg per gram of sample). Concerning to phytochemical profile in the extract, the maceration process gets the highest concentration of compound followed by US and SFEC. These data reveal that the use of SFE and SFEC extraction is recommended for extraction of phytochemicals with biologically activity from red habanero chili pepper waste for diverse industries application.

Wood is poised to become a material of choice for future construction. When appropriately managed, it is a renewable material with unique mechanical properties. Beyond its inherent sustainability, the use of wood has a crucial role in addressing climate change concerns due a significantly lower energy consumption and emissions during manufacturing and transportation, while simultaneously acting as a carbon sink. Thus, there has been a growing demand for hardwoods for structural applications, including Castanea sativa Mill., the focal point of this investigation. Albeit in a limited capacity, Eurocode 5-2 offers friction coefficients for softwoods, but it falls short for hardwoods which it is a gap to bridge with this research. These coefficients play a critical role in numerical simulations involving friction, enabling the optimization of joints and, by extension, the overall structural integrity. Test samples were evaluated at 18% moisture content, which is typical of Service Class 2, for various orientations of timber-to-timber and timber-to-steel friction. Considering previous friction coefficients at 12% moisture content, the linear variation was evaluated at an intermediate value of 15%. The results provide an experimental database for numerical simulations and highlight the influence of moisture content on the coefficients, which increase linearly along moisture percentages.

We hereby describe an efficient method for the preparation of a series of new 1-substituted 1,2,3-triazole-based acetaminophen derivatives through a clean, good-yielding, simple, and expeditious procedure based on the O-propargylation reaction of the acetaminophen (APAP) obtained from expired commercial tablets and the CuBr(PPh3)3-catalyzed Huisgen reaction be-tween O-propargylated APAP and diverse organoazides prepared from commercially available anilines as available starting reagents. An interesting nitric oxide-releasing 1,2,3-triazole hybrid of APAP was also obtained easily using the developed method. The structures of the designed hybrid compounds, which are expected to be pharmacologically active, were fully characterized by FT-IR, 1H- and 13C-NMR and are reported for the first time. According to the in-silico studies performed in this work and literature analysis, these hybrids are interesting models in search of new pharmacological nontoxic agents endowed with anti-inflammatory and anticancer properties.

Utilizing bioinformatics tools, this study expands our understanding of secondary metabolism in Botrytis cinerea, identifying novel genes within polyketide synthase (PKS), non-ribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS), sesquiterpene cyclase (STC), diterpene cyclase (DTC), and dimethylal-lyltryptophan synthase (DMATS) families. These findings enrich the genetic framework associ-ated with B. cinerea's pathogenicity and ecological adaptation, offering insights into uncharted metabolic pathways. Significantly, the discovery of previously unannotated genes provides new molecular targets for developing targeted antifungal strategies, promising to enhance crop pro-tection and advance our understanding of fungal biochemistry. This research not only broadens the scope of known secondary metabolites but also opens avenues for future exploration into B. cinerea's biosynthetic capabilities, potentially leading to novel antifungal compounds. Our work underscores the importance of integrating bioinformatics and genomics for fungal research, paving the way for sustainable agricultural practices by pinpointing precise molecular interven-tions against B. cinerea. This study sets a foundation for further investigations into the fungus's secondary metabolism, with implications for biotechnology and crop disease management.

The development of biofuels and biodiesel industry specifically, has resulted in the generation of large amounts of glycerol as a surplus. The conversion of glycerol, into chemicals with indus-trial interest, through anaerobic fermentation using E. coli as a biocatalyst is an attractive alter-native to improve economic performance in the biodiesel industry, for example through the bi-otransformation of residual glycerol into ethanol. For 2019, the size of the global ethanol market was valued at $ 89.1 billion US dollar. Biodiesel can be produced from several materials like rapeseed, palm, soya, corn, palm kernel, frying oil or olive-pomace oil (OPO). The last, can be extracted from alperujo, byproduct of olive oil process. However, olive-pomace oil converting into biodiesel is not enough established to achieve a global olive-oil/biodiesel derived process with minimized waste generation. Traditionally biodiesel production process produces an equivalent of 10% by mass of glycerol as a waste or by-product. This work explores the conver-sion of residual glycerol into chemicals like ethanol and hydrogen with a focus on projecting raw material potential availability from OPO, contributing to the promotion of the use of biofu-els and biodegradable compounds.

Risk management for technological hazards mainly focuses on the consequences on human lives. Although technological risk analysis evaluates environmental vulnerability, it does not reflect the consequences on environmentally exposed elements, such as rivers, water springs, flora, and fauna. This paper's objective was to propose a conceptual framework and create a multidisciplinary evaluation model for environmental risk analysis in the oil and gas industry. Initially, the problem was approached from a global perspective to justify the necessity of a holistic environmental risk analysis methodology in the oil industry, using environmental risk factors as well as underlying factors, such as environmental fragility and lack of resilience. The holistic assessment was carried out based on probabilistic risk analysis methodologies to obtain a holistic environmental risk index, HERI. This methodology was applied to an oil and gas industry company in Colombia. This allowed greater disaggregation of the results to establish priorities for risk reduction actions and identify the company's weaknesses.

This paper presents a state machine based architecture which enhances flexibility and reusability of industrial robots, more concretely dual-arm multisensor robots. The proposed architecture, in addition to allowing absolute control of the execution, eases the programming of new applications by increasing the reusability of the developed modules. Through an easy-to-use graphical user interface, operators are able to create, modify, reuse and maintain industrial processes increasing the flexibility of the cell. Moreover, the proposed approach is applied in a real use case in order to demonstrate its capabilities and feasibility in industrial environments. A comparative analysis is presented for evaluating presented approach versus traditional robot programming techniques.

"Suero costeño" a type of sour cream, is a traditional dairy product made mainly in the Colombian Caribbean region and has a variety of uses. The objective was to characterize the physicochemical and rheological properties of “suero costeño” produced in department of Córdoba-Colombia. Samples of " suero costeño " were obtained from local producers, characterized physicochemically (protein, fat, crude fiber, moisture, ash, carbohydrates, chlorides, pH and acidity), and rheologically (stationary tests), adjusting their behavior to the power-law model. The results show great variability in the physicochemical characteristics of the “suero costeño” made by the different artisanal producers, classifying it as a full-fat sour cream or light sour cream, and values of protein, pH and acidity similar to similar traditional dairy products from other countries, such as Reindeer sour cream and Curd or cottage cheese. “Suero costeño” can be classified as a pseudoplastic fluid and depending on the raw materials used and the production process, some present thixotropy, which may be the product of interactions between proteins and fats, which cause changes in the internal structure. Due to this great variability in its physicochemical and rheological characteristics, it is necessary to standardize the process of producing to improve the marketing of this Colombian culinary product.

The Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect (SZe) is a global distortion of Cosmic Microwave Bckground (CMB) spectrum as result of its interaction with a hot electron plasma in the intracluster medium for large gravitational virialized structures such as galaxy clusters. Furthermore, this hot gas of electrons emits X-Rays due to its fall in the gravitational potential well of the cluster. The analysis of SZe and X-Ray data, provide a method for calculating distances to galaxy clusters at any redshift (Angular diameter distance (d_A) and gas mass fraction (f_gas)). On the other side, many of these galaxy clusters produce a Strong Gravitational Lens effect (SGL), which has become an useful astrophysical tool for cosmology. We use these cosmological tests, in addition to the more traditional ones (SNIa, CMB, BAO), to constraint alternative models of dark energy (ωCDM, CPL, IDE, EDE) and study the history of expansion through the cosmographic parameters (H(z), q(z), j(z)). Using Akaike and Bayesian Information Criterion (AIC, BIC) we find that the ωCDM and ΛCDM models are the most favored by the observational data. In addition, we found that at low redshift appears an peculiar behavior of slowdown of aceleration, which occurs only on dynamical dark energy models using only galaxy clusters (d_A,clusters + f_gas).

The international literature shows a polarised debate on the impacts of climate change on migration. Some studies find a positive linkage, whereas others find a negative one. It is, without a doubt, a complex process better considered case-specific. There is no available information on the relationship between climate change and migration in Colombia, despite past research exploring each of these subjects independently. This study intends explicitly to investigate this linkage gap. Consequently, this paper's essential contribution is that it builds a bridge between climate change scenarios and migratory science for the first time in Colombia. Despite their limitations, the theoretical and methodological framework suggested by IOM (2009b pp. 86, Section B, Chapter II) is demonstrated in this study to be very valid since it provides a methodology to predict where future flows will occur (based on past evidence). The methodological approaches of SLA and NELM explained in section A in the IV Chapter are also valuable for analysing and approaching this study's conclusions. The primary conclusions of this study indicate that the "Coffee Region," Valle, and Atlantic (or Caribbean Coast) provinces that mainly send emigrants to Spain and the US are the key internal regions responsible for most of the international migration from Colombians. The same areas are especially vulnerable to the impacts of upcoming climate change in the A1B scenario produced by the IDEAM (2010) for 2040 and 2100. Thus, future flows of migrants are expected from these regions (2040-2100). However, issues such as visa requirements or the costs associated with migration constitute international barriers to this flow. The sensitivity of these regions can also be associated with internal migration flows, more armed conflict, and forced displacement in a cyclical process. Theoretically, a resurgence of Colombia's armed conflict and displacement due to climate change can be expected. However, the need for empirical studies in Colombia to support this analysis is imperative and is the most crucial recommendation arising from this study.

Colombia has one of the largest numbers of internally displaced populations in the world and recently entered a period of post-conflict. These socio-political processes and trends have increased the migration of people towards cities and accordingly are affecting the distribution and occurrence of tropical diseases in its urban and peri-urban areas. Studies have suggested that many human phenomena such as urbanization scale according to the size of human populations regardless of cultural context. But other studies show that health epidemics such as malarial and human immunodeficiency virus infections, follow a scale-free distribution in terms of population size and density. We explore these relationships and dynamics in a tropical context using statistical analyses and available geospatial data to identify the scale dynamics between urbanization processes and disease transmission in Colombia. We found that rural populations and certain disease dynamics were described by power-laws that are frequently mentioned in urbanization studies. However, we found that malaria presented higher intensity of infection in human settlements of less than 50,000 individuals, particularly for ethnic indigenous populations. Results indicate that epidemics and urbanization dynamics do indeed follow scales in Colombia; findings that differ from previous epidemiological studies such as those for malarial infection. Additionally, we identified trends showing that malarial infections become endemic in peri-urban areas. Targeting such peri-urban locations and certain demographic groups are key for managing public health issues in the urbanizing tropics.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) raise quality employability, gender equity in access to employment and increase coverage in education, however, in Colombia, high unemployment rates and informality of young people are risks of fulfilling these objectives. This is verified by a study with cohorts on access to employment, labor mobility and entry to quality occupations, through the use of probabilistic models. This study found that young people are less likely to be employed than adults, education has increased in the new generations and allowing them to enter a higher quality occupation, job segmentation and lack of experience of young people are the main cause of unemployment and Women are less likely to be employed than men and to do so in quality jobs. To comply with the SDGs, you must increase coverage in education, make a differential gender policy and expand programs as learners and insert dual education.

Objective: To examine the burnout syndrome among the healthcare personnel in Puerto Rico during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Descriptive study that pursues to understand burnout syndrome in the clinical personnel in Puerto Rico. The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) was sent via email to healthcare professionals around the island. Furthermore, open questions were asked to the participants. Results: The overall burnout level on the clinical personnel was found to be moderate. Nonetheless, in physicians, 12.1% had severe burnout levels compared to a 13.1% score in nurses. Additionally, 92.4% of physicians and 100% of nurses had moderate to severe burnout. In the three subscales, nurses scored high levels in all of them, and physicians were high in Emotional Exhaustion and moderate level in Depersonalization and Personal Accomplishment at Work. There were high levels of burnout syndrome of the clinical personnel in Puerto Rico. Conclusion: Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, over 90% of healthcare professionals in Puerto Rico have been working with moderate to severe burnout syndrome, being the nurses the most affected. Key Words: Burnout syndrome, MBI, Clinical personnel, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2

Background: Variations in several clopidogrel-pharmacogenes have been linked to clopidogrel response variability and clinical outcomes. We aimed to determine the frequency distribution of major polymorphisms on CYP2C19, PON1, ABCB1 and P2RY12 pharmacogenes in Puerto Ricans. Methods: This was a cross-sectional, population-based study of 200 unrelated “Guthrie” cards specimens from newborns registered in the Puerto Rican Newborn Screening program (PRNSP) between 2004 and 2014. Taqman® SNP assay techniques were used for genotyping. Results: Minor Allele Frequencies (MAF) were 46% for PON1 (rs662), 41% for ABCB1 (rs1045642), 14% for CYP2C19*17, 13% for CYP2C19*2, 12% for P2RY12-H2 and 0.3% for CYP2C19*4. No carriers of the CYP2C19*3 variants were detected. All alleles and genotype proportions were found to be in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE). Overall, there were no significant differences between MAFs of these variants in Puerto Ricans and the general population (n=453) of the 1,000 Genome project, except for the Yoruba in Ibadan from Nigeria (YRI, West-African ancestry; p<0.05). As expected, the prevalence of these markers in Puerto Ricans most resembled those in the 181 subjects from reference populations of the Americas. Conclusions: These prevalence data provide a necessary groundwork for future clinical studies of clopidogrel pharmacogenetics in Caribbean Hispanics.

Landscape changes based on spectral responses allow showing plant cover changes through diversity, composition, and ecological connectivity. The spatial and temporal vegetation dynamics of the Bijagual Massif from 1986 to 2021 were analyzed as a measure of ecological integrity, conservation, and territory. The covers identified were high open forest (Hof), dense grassland of non-wooded mainland (Dgnm), a mosaic of pastures and crops (Mpc), lagoons (Lag), and bare and degraded lands (Bdl). The Bijagual Massif has 8,574.1 ha. In 1986, Dgnm occupied 42.6% of the total area, followed by Mpc (32.8%) and Hof (24.5%); by 2000, Mpc and Hof increased (43.7 and 28.1%, respectively), while Dgnm decreased (28%); by 2021, Dgnm was restricted to the northeastern zone and continued to decrease (25.2%), Mpc occupied 52.9%, Hof 21.7% and Bdl 0.1%. Of the three fractions of the connectivity probability index, only dPCintra and dPCflux contribute to ecological connectivity. Hof and Dgnm show patches with biota habitat quality and availability. Between 1986 and 2021, Dgnm lost 1,489 ha (41%) and Hof 239.5 ha (11%). Mpc replaced various covers (1,722.2 ha; 38%) in 2021. Bijagual has a valuable biodiversity potential limited by Mpc. Territorial planning and sustainable agroecological and ecotourism proposals are required due to the context of the ecosystems.

The construction industry has a notable negative impact on the environment; thus, the promotion of the use of timber structures is an alternative to mitigate its effects. The research develops an artificial intelligence-based decision approach in the calculation of timber structures focused on the enhancement of the sustainability of roof structures. Based on the optimization carried out through genetic algorithms and the framework established in Eurocode 5, a general set of equations has been proposed for a laminated timber roof structure. The tool, which determines the most suitable roof structure for each strength class of laminated timber, allows for the determination of the dimensions of beams and purlins and their respective separations in order to minimize wood consumption. The ultimate goal is to offer multiple solutions regarding strength classes and structural designs in order to foster informed sustainable choices that promote efficient use of resources in construction.

Different nematodes affect canines, however, Dirofilaria immitis is the most prevalent filariae. D. immitis causes heartworm disease that can be fatal for dogs and potentially transmitted to humans. Climate change, animal migration, among other factors have changed the dynamics of vector-borne diseases, including filariasis. In the last four years, a sudden increase of dogs with microfilaremia was reported by different veterinary centers in Cali, the main city of Southwest Colombia. The objective of this study was to molecularly identify the etiologic agent of this filariasis outbreak reported in this area from 2018-2019, using a novel PCR–RFLP method. Those filariasis cases were initially detected by microscopic and serological tests. A total of 82 canine filariasis cases were molecularly analyzed, identifying 55 (67%) of them as Acantacheilonema reconditum. PCR-sequencing was performed in eight cases confirming this finding. The filariasis cases were statistically associated with male dogs who had clinical signs of anemia, with low levels of hemoglobin and hematocrit (p &lt;0.0001), and high levels of plasma proteins (p &lt;0.001). This emerging canine disease constitutes an important public health concern among clinicians and advises active surveillance to explore its zoonotic potential.

Anthropogenic change is associated with population growth, land use change, and changing economies. However, internal migration patterns and armed conflicts are also key drivers behind anthropogenic and demographic processes. To better understand this sort of change, we explore the spatial relationship between forced migration due to armed conflict and changing demographic factors in Colombia, a country which has a recent history of 7 million internal migrants. In addition, we use remote sensing, Google Earth Engine, as well as spatial statistical analyses of demographic data in order to measure anthropogenic change between 1984 and 2008; and we look into spatiotemporal relationships between both demographic and anthropogenic changes, which are caused by forced migration. We find, thus, that the latter is significantly and positively related to an increasing rural-urban kind of migration which originates in armed conflict, and results show that it is also negatively associated with interregional expulsion. Indeed, anthropogenic prints (term hereafter used to denote changes in nighttime satellite imagery) pertaining to different regions have had different sensitivities towards forced migration, and across different time periods. Finally we discuss how social and political phenomena such as Colombia’s armed conflict can have significant effects on the dynamics and motions of humans and territories in countries of the Global South.

This study introduces a Fiber Specklegram Sensor (FSS) design for temperature measurement utilizing a single-multi-single mode optical fiber configuration. FSS technology offers unique advantages for potential development into portable sensing systems. This investigation explores an FSS design compatible with miniaturization by optimizing the interrogation system based on the relationship between speckle grain size and filtering fiber area. Temperature variations are detected through fluctuations in optical power at the sensor output, offering a simple and reduced interrogation scheme. The performance of the FSS is assessed through post-calibration measurements compared to a commercial Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensor, demonstrating comparable results. These findings pave the way for compact and portable fiber optic temperature sensing systems leveraging FSS advantages while maintaining compatibility with established fiber optic measurements.

Mental health in Puerto Rico is a complex and multifaceted issue that has been shaped by the island’s unique history, culture, and political status. Recent challenges, including disasters, economic hardships, and political turmoil, have significantly affected the mental well-being of the population coupled with the limitations in the accessibility of mental health services. Puerto Rico has fewer mental health professionals per capita than any other state or territory in the United States. This comprehensive review examines the impact of disasters on mental health and mental health services in Puerto Rico. Given the exodus of Puerto Ricans from the island, the review also provides an overview of mental health resources available on the island as well as the continental United States. The review identifies efforts to address mental health issues, with the intent of gaining a proper understanding of the available mental health services, key trends, as well as observable challenges and achievements within the mental health landscape of the Puerto Rican population.

Highly diverse agroecosystems are increasingly of interest as the realization of farms' invaluable ecosystem services grows. Simultaneously there has been an increased use of uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) in remote sensing as drones offer a finer spatial resolution and faster revisit rate than traditional satellites. With the combined utility of UAS and the attention on agroecosystems, there exists an opportunity to assess UAS practicality in highly biodiverse settings.  In this study, we utilized UAS to collect fine-resolution 10-band multispectral imagery of coffee agroecosystems in Puerto Rico. We created land cover maps through a pixel-based supervised classification of each farm and assembled accuracy assessments for each classification. To bolster our understanding of the classifications, we interviewed farmers to understand their thoughts on how these maps may be best used to support their land management. The average overall accuracy (53.9%), though relatively low, was expected for such a diverse landscape with fine-resolution data. After sharing imagery and land cover classifications with farmers, we found that while the prints were often a point of pride or curiosity for farmers, integrating the maps into farm management was perceived as impractical. These findings highlight that while remote sensing of diverse agroecosystems may provide a detailed way of estimating land cover classes and ecosystem services for researchers and government agencies for example these maps may be of limited use to land managers without additional interpretation.

Coffee production around the world is under threat due to climate variability and change, and drought stress will increase in many coffee regions, nutrient management practices could enhance the adaptation capacity of coffee production. Considering that coffee is a sensitive crop to boron (B) deficiency, this research investigated how B nutrition improves resistance to drought stress in coffee under controlled conditions as well how with interaction with calcium (Ca+2) influences productivity, seed compositions, and soil fertility during a production cycle of 5 year. Under controlled conditions for seven months, coffee plants were submitted to water stress with and without B nutrition. In the field, coffee plantation was submitted to two B rates (0,6 and 1,1 kg. ha-1-year-1) with fixed calcium (Ca+2) rate and, a control without Ca+2 and B. After 9 months of growth and seven months of water deficit, under controlled conditions, the application of B significantly (p&lt;0,05) reduced the negative effect of water stress on coffee growth. Under field conditions, after a production cycle of 5 years, the application of 0,6 kg B and 77 kg CaO. ha-1. year-1 yielded 14% more than the control without B and Ca+2. An increase of the B rate to 1.1 kg.ha-1.year-1 with the same Ca+2 rate increased the productivity significantly (p&lt;0,05) by 37% compared to the control. B application also improved significantly (p&lt;0,05) the B content in the soil at 0-30 cm. The B treatments influenced the biochemical composition of the green coffee beans, with a significant (p&lt;0,05) inverse correlation between the B content of the green coffee beans with caffeine, and unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs) mainly, oleic, linoleic, and linolenic acids which are considered negative descriptors of the coffee quality.

In recent years the yield of fruits and vegetables have been decreasing in Colombia, threatening national food security. Analysis of crop production data may lead to identifying cropping systems that have shown better adaptability to changes in climatic and non-climatic factors associated with agricultural production. The open database AGRONET keeps data of the agricultural activities conducted in Colombia, allowing to find the information organized by crops, regions and years; each row of the database registers farm information in Colombia. Aiming to identify resilient crops systems, agricultural data of fruits and vegetables were analyzed. First, trends in crop production were studied by year and locations, detecting the regions and crops with highest yields in the period from 2006 until 2020. Then, mixed linear regression and principal components analysis were applied to elucidate the relation between non-climatic factors and crop yield. In Colombia, vegetable production was more efficient than fruits, observing yields of 10.23 and 13.33 t ha^-1, respectively. On the other hand, the Colombian central region showed high yields for vegetables, while for fruits this was exhibited in northern and eastern locations. In the present study, yield variation responded to changes in the location of crop systems, while years had no effect on vegetable production. Furthermore, the price of the agricultural product and the cost of fertilizers were associated with the yield of the analyzed crops systems. In Colombia, carrot, cabbage, tomato papaya and pineapple are resilient crops whose yield increases especially by the regions where they are cultivated.

Background: It is well known the adverse effect of mercury exposure on pregnant women and newborns. Interactions between environmental factors and individual genetic susceptibility have been identified, particularly polymorphisms of codifying genes for the Glutathione S-transferase family (GSTs). Herein, we report a case series of patients with high Hg levels in biosamples. Case Series: Fourteen cases with high Hg levels were identified. Non-occupational or home exposure risk factors were identified. All mothers reported fish consumption during pregnancy. Almost 60% of the individuals were null for either one GSTs gene. To date, in the subsequent mother-child pairs toxicology controls no signs or symptoms of poisoning were identified and most of the mercury levels decreased and are below the accepted limit. Discussion: In this case series we found some similarities with the literature; among them, the relation of Hg ratio in maternal blood and umbilical cord, a possible exposure factor is the consumption of fish during pregnancy and, the high levels of Hg may be related with susceptibility biomarkers such as GSTs gene polymorphisms. This case series highlights the need to develop studies that evaluate the interactions between environmental factors and individual genetic susceptibility. Additionally, the importance of evaluating which Colombian fish species present the highest levels of Hg.

This article makes a general analysis of the supply chain of photovoltaic systems in Colombia, taking as a starting point a conceptual base and the current situation of the country in this sector. This article especially will contemplate the non-interconnected areas (ZNI) to the electricity grid in the national, due to its complexity in the logistics issues. Likewise, the work performs a graphical representation of the stages and processes of the supply chain using a powerful-modeled tool such as the Petri Nets (PNs). Finally, it identifies some of the flaws in the operation and the joint of all the links of the logistic part and from there it is based the importance of the strategy of orientation to the supply chain (SCO) as a possible alternative to improve and to enhance the logistic processes of this type of systems.

A continuous spatio-temporal database of accurate soil moisture (SM) measurements is an important asset for agricultural activities, hydrologic studies, and environmental monitoring. The Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2), launched in May 2012, has been providing SM data globally with a revisit period of two days. It is imperative to assess the quality of this data before performing any application. Since resources of accurate SM measurements are very limited in Puerto Rico, this research will assess the quality of the AMSR2 data by comparing with ground-based measurements and perform a downscaling technique to provide a better description of how the sensor perceives the surface soil moisture as it passes over the island. The comparison consisted of the evaluation of the mean error, root mean squared error, and the correlation coefficient. Two downscaling techniques were used and their performances were studied. The results revealed that AMSR2 products tend to underestimate. This is due to the extreme heterogeneous distributions of elevations, vegetation densities, soil types, and weather events on the island. This research provides a comprehensive study on the accuracy and potential of the AMSR2 products over Puerto Rico. Further studies are recommended to improve the AMSR2 products.

Canine leptospirosis is a zoonosis of epidemiological importance. Dogs are recognized as primary reservoirs of Leptospira interrogans serogroup Canicola and a source of infection to the environment through urine. This study aimed to determine the presence of antibodies against Leptospira in canines from 49 municipalities in the Department of Antioquia, Colombia. We performed a cross-sectional study of dogs included in a neutering control program. We collected 1335 sera samples, assayed by a microagglutination test (MAT), and performed PCR detection in 21 urine samples. We also surveyed 903 dog owners. We found a seroreactivity of 11.2% (150/1335) in Antioquia with titers 1:50. Municipalities with the highest number of cases were Belmira (46.1%), Turbo (34.5%), and Concepción (31.0%). L. santarosai was identified by phylogenetic analysis in one urine sample from the municipality of Granada. The most important factor associated with a positive result was the lack of vaccination against leptospirosis (PR 3.3, p < 0.014). Environmental factors such as water presence and bare soil around the household were also associated with Leptospira seroreactivity in the Department of Antioquia. We reviewed a national epidemiological surveillance database for human cases in those municipalities. We found a correlation between the high number of cases in canines and humans, especially in the Uraba. Serological and molecular results showed the circulation of Leptospira. Future public health efforts in the municipalities with the highest numbers of seroreactivity should be directed towards vaccination to prevent animal disease and decrease the probability of transmission of Leptospira. Dogs actively participate in the Leptospira cycle in Antioquia and encourage the implementation of vaccination protocols and coverage.

This study uses Landsat 8 and Digital Elevation Models (DEM) to show the dominant orientations of digital lineaments and morphotectonic features between measured trends and the tectonic evolution of the Upper Guajira, Colombia, in the northernmost region of the South American plate. Data from Landsat-8 and hillshaded images of three Digital Elevation Model (DEM) images with different resolutions (SRTM: 90m, ASTER-GDEM: 30m and Alos-Palsar: 12.5m), were used for the extraction and mapping of morpholineaments, drainage network and morphological features. Lineaments were analyzed by means of north azimuth frequency, length, density distributions, lithological distributions and geochronological periods. Tectonic control was supported by using the digitized geological map created by the Colombian Geological Service (SGC). Lineaments and faults were analyzed through the interpretation of a Riedel shear model as a result of the transtensional/transpressional tectonic arrangement of the Caribbean and South American plates. The directional trends of lineaments and faults indicate two dominant directions: NE-SW and E-W. The azimuth distribution analysis of measured structures and drainage channels show similar trends, except for some differences in the predominant directions of some drainage channels. The similarity in the orientation of lineaments, faults and drainage system highlights the degree of control exerted by underlying structures on the surface geomorphological features. Drainage channel classification illustrates the morphological and neo-tectonic complexity of the region. The extracted lineaments were divided into five geochronological groups based on the main ages of host rock formations according to the Colombian Geological Service (SGC) geological map. From the Cretaceous onward, the lineament azimuth frequency rotates from a NE-SW trend to a prominent E-W direction, which resembles the translation that Caribbean plate has been undergoing since the Cretaceous. Our results confirm that Remote Sensing techniques are reliable and useful to study the morphotectonic of an area and can be applied to zones of difficult access.

This paper presents a methodology to calculate day-ahead wind speed predictions based on historical measurements done by weather stations. The methodology was tested for three locations: Colombia, Ecuador, and Spain. The data is input into the process in two ways: 1) as a single time series containing all measurements, and 2) as twenty-four separate parallel sequences, corresponding to the values of wind speed at each of the 24 hours in the day over several months. The methodology relies on the use of three non-parametric techniques: Least-Squares Support Vector Machines, Empirical Mode Decomposition, and the Wavelet Transform. Also, the traditional and simple Auto-Regressive model is applied. The combination of the aforementioned techniques results in nine methods for performing wind prediction. Experiments using a MATLAB implementation showed that the Least-squares Support Vector Machine using data as a single time series outperformed the other combinations, obtaining the least mean square error.

Aedes aegypti transmits major arboviruses of public health importance, including dengue, chikungunya, Zika, and yellow fever. The use of insecticides represents the cornerstone of vector control, however insecticide resistance in Ae. aegypti has become widespread. Understanding the molecular basis of insecticide resistance in this species is crucial to design effective resistance management strategies. Here, we applied Illumina RNA-Seq to study the gene expression patterns associated with resistance to three widely used insecticides (malathion, alpha-cypermethrin and lambda-cyhalothrin) in Ae. aegypti populations from 2 sites (Manatí and Isabela) in Puerto Rico (PR). Cytochrome P450s were the most over-expressed detoxification genes across all resistant phenotypes. Some detoxification genes (CYP6Z7, CYP28A5, CYP9J2, CYP6Z6, CYP6BB2, CYP6M9, and two CYP9F2 orthologs) were commonly over-expressed in mosquitoes that survived exposure to all three insecticides (independent of geographical origin) while others including CYP6BY1 (malathion), GSTD1 (alpha-cypermethrin), CYP4H29 and GSTE6 (lambda-cyhalothrin) were uniquely overexpressed in mosquitoes that survived exposure to specific insecticides. The gene ontology (GO) terms associated with monooxygenase, iron binding, and passive transmembrane transporter activities were significantly enriched in 4 out of 6 resistant vs susceptible comparisons while serine protease activity was elevated in all insecticide resistant groups relative to the susceptible strain. Interestingly, cuticular-related protein genes (chinase and chitin) were predominantly downregulated, which was also confirmed in the functional enrichment analysis. This RNA-Seq analysis presents a detailed picture of the candidate detoxification genes and other pathways that are potentially associated with pyrethroid and organophosphate resistance in Ae. aegypti populations from PR. These results could inform development of novel molecular tools for detection of resistance-associated gene expression in this important arbovirus vector and guide the design and implementation of resistance management strategies.

The participation of civil society is essential for environmental health policies to be effective. The objective of this study was to know the perceptions of government officials, members of civil society, and academics about environmental health problems and its governance in Bucaramanga Metropolitan Area, Colombia. In the region there is a strong citizen movement that defends the moorland ecosystem (paramo) as source of drinking water, of large-scale mining projects. A multi-method study was carried out including the review of newspaper and scientific articles, a citizen survey, and interviews and focus groups with identified key stakeholders. The findings indicate that government officials prioritize their actions on issues related to air and water pollution and environmental education. In contrast, citizens prioritize water availability from the moorland ecosystem. There are some advances in the management of environmental health, mainly related to greater citizen awareness. The participation of civil society in the environmental health governance must be enforced to broaden the issues of interest and prioritize the activities in the short- and long-term policy planning. An experience between high school students and the academy that measures air pollutants can be the first meeting point with government officials in the pathway to improve the environmental governance in the territory.

Artificial enteral nutrition (AEN) is defined as the delivery of nutrients through feeding tubes for special medical purposes. Patients usually suffer from chronic or critical illnesses and are generally polymedicated, which represents a high probability of interactions and incompati-bilities with the AEN that can cause adverse events and loss of effectiveness of pharmacological treatment. This study aimed to determine the potential incompatibilities and drug-enteral nu-trition interactions in patients hospitalized in a clinic in the city of Cartagena. A retrospective cross-sectional study design was used, in a sample of 218 patients with a stay of at least three days, who were prescribed at least five medications and AEN. The data was collected from medical records. The information was screened with the CheckTheMeds software, using the APPs: drug-interactionchecker and https://www.rccc.eu/ppc/Drogas/DrogasxSNG.htm. A prevalence of pharmaceutical type incompatibilities of 50% and physicochemical type of 31.65%, interactions of pharmacokinetic type 10.55% and physiological type of 6.42% was re-vealed. The adverse events identified were tube obstruction 54.78% (n=126), mobility disorders and/or gastric emptying disorders 22.61% (n=52), diarrhea 12.51% (n=29), mesenteric ischemia with 0.87% (n=2) and seizures 6.96% (n=16). The p and OR values were variable according to the interaction and/or incompatibility vs. adverse events. Drugs-AEN incompatibilities and inter-actions were frequent, which is why active pharmacovigilance is necessary to intervene in the safety, quality and cost-effectiveness of the care provided in the different care services.

This study seeks to measure the degree of agglomeration of educational quality in Colombia, based on the non-socialization of the population that exhibits low educational quality, with the population that exhibits high educational quality, and thus determine how such agglomeration affects the phenomenon of academic segregation. To this end, we perform a spatial analysis of the educational quality in Colombia and of variables that may influence to the phenomenon of educational agglomeration. The level of agglomeration in educational quality in Colombia is demonstrated by the calculation of the Moran’s Index, in which a result of 0.62 was obtained. High educational quality is concentrated in the Andean region, while low educational quality is agglomerated in the periphery of the country, in areas such as the Pacific region. A spatial regression model was carried out to measure the dependence of municipalities on their neighbors, and to determine the main socio-economic factors affecting the phenomenon of educational agglomeration in Colombia, finding that living conditions, unsatisfied basic needs and fiscal transparency have all an impact on the educational quality of the municipalities. It is also found that the number of homicides in the municipalities does not seem to have a significant relationship with education.

The recovery and valorization of waste are some of the key aspects of sustainable production. The crustacean exoskeletons can be potentially used to obtain value-added products such as chitosan. A comprehensive analysis including both safety and sustainability aspects of chitosan production from shrimp shells is presented in this study. The inherent safety analysis and sustainability evaluation was performed using the Inherent Safety Index (ISI) methodology and the Sustainable Weighted Return on Investment Metric (SWROIM), respectively. The process was designed for a processing capacity of 57,000 t/y according to shrimp production in Colombia. The economic (%ROI), environmental (PEI output), energy (exergy efficiency), and safety (ITI) technical parameters were included in the sustainability evaluation. The three first were obtained from the previous analysis performed by the authors. The total inherent safety index was estimated at 25 indicating that the process is inherently unsafe. The main process risks were given by the dangerous substance, reactivity, and inventory subindices. The overall sustainability evaluation showed a SWROIM of 36.23% indicating that the case study showed higher weighted performance compared to the return on investment (ROI) metric of 18.08%.

The research focuses on the electrochemical behavior of TiVN trilayers in a liquid that simulates a physiological environment (blood plasma). TiVN films are obtained through Physical Direct Current Vapor (PVD) Deposition on titanium bases, depositing TiN and VN layers as an intermediate layer during the procedure. Impedance measurements are carried out before and during the wear test to determine the impact on the sample. The results show that the TiVN trilayer enhances corrosion resistance according to the time of exposure to the electrolyte. Initially, the load resistance (Rct) was 10.50 Ohms, but after 16 days, the Rct rose markedly to 13.87 Ohms, signaling an advance in corrosion resistance, a valuable property for wide applications.

This article presents a low-cost insurance system developed for small-hold farms in disaster-prone regions, primarily using free Earth Observation (EO) data and Free Open Source Software (FOSS) – collectively termed sustainable geoinformatics - with a proprietary mobile phone app that enables verification. The study examined 30 farms in Risaralda department, Colombia. A Digital Elevation Model (12.5m pixels) from the ALOS PALSAR satellite sensor was used with a Geographical Information System (GIS) to map the terrain, drainage and geohazards of each farming district. Google Earth Engine (GEE) was used to carry out Time Series Analysis of 15 EO and weather datasets for 1998 to 2020. This analysis enabled the levels of risk from hydrometeorological hazards to be determined for each farm of the study, providing key data for the setting of insurance premiums. A parametric insurance product was piloted using GPS-tagged, time-stamped mobile phone photos to verify crop health. Key features of this insurance system are its low operational cost and rapid damage verification, relative to conventional approaches to farm insurance. It is an affordable form of insurance for small-scale farmers, with the rapid verification and payment of claims. This relatively fast, low-cost and affordable approach to insurance for small-scale farming enhances sustainable development by enabling policy-holder farmers to recover more quickly from disasters.

Environmental perception is a powerful tool for identifying community needs and potential within their surroundings. This study assessed tourists' environmental perception regarding solid waste and its impact on the Hurtado balneary, located in Valledupar, Colombia. From May to July 2023, the investigation delved into the environmental attitudes and behaviors of 769 balneary users by employing a combination of observation, photographic documentation, and a comprehensive 21-question online survey. The findings unveiled compelling insights: an overwhelming 98.8% of participants acknowledged the adverse effects of solid waste on the environment, with an impressive 98% demonstrating a willingness to participate in waste management efforts. Alarmingly, 42.13% exhibited limited awareness of waste management practices, reflecting a lack of public interest and commitment (41.61%). Statistically significant disparities emerged: 59% of waste items were not appropriately disposed of in designated receptacles. Reasons for this included a lack of a sense of belonging (50.2%) and inadequate environmental education (45.6%). 96% expressed the need for river conservation signage, while 59.8% had not engaged in environmental training. The implications of these results extend beyond the Hurtado balneary, potentially informing solid waste management strategies in other aquatic environments. Furthermore, this investigation aligns with three critical Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 12, emphasizing responsible consumption and production; SDG 13, addressing climate action; and SDG 15, advocating for life on land and below water. Keywords: Tourism; solid waste; surface water; environmental management.

Introduction: The SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 pandemic has triggered the need for developing rapidly effective and safety vaccines to prevent infection, particularly in those at-risk populations such as medical personnel. The objective of this study was to assess perception of COVID-19 vaccination amongst Colombian physicians featuring two different sceneries of COVID-19 vaccination. Methods: A cross-sectional analytical study was carried out through an online survey, directed at medical staff in several cities in Colombia. The percentage of physicians who have a positive perception to be vaccinated and the associated factors that determine that decision were determined. A binomial regression analysis adjusted for age and sex was carried out, taking as a dependent variable the acceptance of free vaccination with an effectiveness of 60 and 80%. The most significant factors were determined in the non-acceptance of vaccination. Results: Between 77.1% and 90.8% of physicians in Colombia, accept COVID-19 vaccination, according to the scenario evaluated where the effectiveness of the vaccine was 60 or 80%, respectively. Medical specialty, have ever paid for a vaccine, recommend administrating the vaccine to their parents or people over 70 years and dispense the vaccine to their children were the factors to be vaccinated for free with an effectiveness of 60% and 80%. Conclusions: There is a high perception of the intention to vaccinate physicians in Colombia against COVID-19. But it is very similar to that of the general population, according to results reported in other studies.

Introduction: Sex with animals is a male practice with a social acceptance in many areas of the Colombian Atlantic coast; however, this behavior has been little studied. The aim of this study was to characterize the practice of sex with animals in a group of men living in Cordoba department, Colombia. Methods: descriptive quantitative study was made. Forty-seven adults were interviewed. The information was collected through a survey which asked about sociodemographic aspects, characteristics and beliefs around the behavior. Results: Total participants knew about the practice, 68,1% stated to have had it and they said it happened between the ages of 7 and 30 years old, for an average time of seven years gap; 65,6% had it in presence of friends and relatives. 87,6% said the practice feels really good at the first time; 35,6% stated it was a beneficial practice and 37,5% said they would like their sons to experience it. Conclusion: Having sex with animals is a social accepted behavior and it is thought to be positive since it helps the correct psychosexual development and it prevents other behaviors, not culturally accepted, such as drug use or homosexuality.

The study seeks to unravel the intricate operational sequence involved in preparing prehistoric pigments for rock art within the Puerto Roque rock art shelter. Sixteen pigment samples, identified as Lab Code Puerto_1 to Puerto_16, were meticulously collected from specific figurative representations. Additionally, three ochre samples (Puerto_17, Puerto_18, and Puerto_19) were sourced from the shelter's soil. Employing a comprehensive multi-analytical approach, including Raman microspectroscopy, X-ray microfluorescence (EDxrf), Fourier-transform Infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), all nineteen samples underwent thorough analysis. The research unveiled a spectrum of distinct red pigments within the rock art depictions. The sampling strategy for the 16 panels in the Puerto region was meticulously designed to capture the diverse array of rock art manifestations, each presenting unique characteristics that warranted detailed scientific investigation. The selection of these panels was guided by the recognition of various artistic techniques employed in the creation of the paintings, the nuanced hues exhibited, prevalent erosion issues, potential effects of sunlight exposure, and the intriguing hypothesis of distinct chronological periods due to several superimpositions detected. Notably, darker pigments in samples Puerto_02, Puerto_10, and Puerto_19 revealed a composition of hematite with the added presence of carbon. Meanwhile, Puerto_08 exhibited an orange hue primarily composed of goethite. Bright red pigments in samples Puerto_01, Puerto_03, Puerto_05, Puerto_07, Puerto_09, and Puerto_11 were predominantly characterised by hematite, as confirmed by Raman analysis. EDxrf analysis demonstrated an elemental composition akin to the three ochre pieces examined. Furthermore, ATR-FTIR spectroscopy suggested the potential influence of a heating process in enhancing red coloration, corroborated by spectral results from specific samples. This finding aligns with prior research, underscoring the technological sophistication embedded in early artistic endeavours. The detailed understanding of pigment types and their preparation methods provides insights into the artistic choices and technological adeptness of prehistoric communities. Beyond the archaeological implications, these findings contribute significantly to the ongoing conservation efforts of rock art sites. The amalgamation of diverse analytical techniques showcased their efficacy in elucidating the intricate world of pigment preparation. Recognizing the unique microclimates at each rock art site that influence pigment preservation, this localised approach aids informed decisions in safeguarding these invaluable cultural resources. In essence, this study not only unravels the artistic past but also advocates for the sustainable conservation of our shared cultural heritage.

The anthropogenic deterioration of aquatic ecosystems affects water resources due to agricultural malpractices, pollution from domestic septic tanks, recreational activities, and poor watershed management, among others. This study examines the management of Las Curias Reservoir (176,974 m2), San Juan, Puerto Rico, post the 2016 arrival of the invasive aquatic fern Salvinia molesta. In December 2019, a community-led initiative introduced the Cyrtobagous salviniae weevil, an effective biological control agent for S. molesta, and commenced a mechanical removal campaign using an aquatic harvester. Limnological sampling (September 2019 to March 2022) and drone flights were employed to measure physicochemical and floating plant cover changes, respectively, in the reservoir. Monitoring of weevils in the reservoir demonstrated a rapid establishment and dispersal, which resulted in visible damage including browning of plants and eventually sinking of entire mats. By January 29, 2021, 71% (125,652 m2) of the reservoir surface was covered by salvinia. In 2022, the reservoir recorded an average dissolved oxygen concentration of 2.38 mg/L -1 (± 0.021, n = 144), the highest in the study period and indicative of ecosystem recovery. After three years of control efforts, dissolved oxygen, pH, and specific conductance returned to levels recorded prior to Salvinia molesta introduction. This ecosystem recovery, a first in Puerto Rico, could be attributed to an early use of mechanical control and a long-term impact of biological control.

This study investigates the intricate relationship between Venezuelan migration and urban growth in Colombia from 2018 to 2021. The study employs remote sensing data and social network metrics to uncover migration patterns and their impact on urban expansion. The methodology consists of three stages. Firstly, nighttime satellite imagery is used to analyze year-over-year urban growth in Colombia. Secondly, social network data estimates Venezuelan migration, overcoming challenges of underreporting and informal border crossings. Lastly, an econometric analysis explores the quantitative link between Venezuelan migration and urban growth, integrating socioeconomic variables to address endogeneity. The findings reveal the complex interplay of Venezuelan migration, socioeconomic factors, and urban growth. The study outlines remote sensing analysis, introducing the Anthropogenic Footprint Expansion Index (AFEI) to quantify urban growth. Facebook API data estimates migration trends and explores socioeconomic impacts on urban expansion. The analysis uncovers migration, poverty, aging, and urban population proportion as key factors affecting Colombia's urban landscape. Furthermore, the research underscores how Venezuelan migration affected short-term urban expansion pre- and post-COVID-19. Migration had a notable effect before the pandemic, but this influence waned afterward. The study highlights migration's short-term nature and emphasizes age demographics' role in medium-term dynamics.

Vaccination has proven to be one of the most effective strategies against the COVID 19 pandemic. Several studies have evaluated and confirmed its effectiveness in different populations, particularly in reducing severe outcomes such as hospitalization and death. However, the potential of vaccination to protect against infection itself has been overlooked. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the booster dose in a sample of Colombian patients during the fourth wave of COVID-19 pandemic, which was associated with the emergence and predominance of the Omicron variant. A cross-sectional study was conducted on individuals who underwent RT-PCR testing for COVID-19 detection in a dedicated laboratory in Bogotá, Colombia, between December 30th 2021 and February 7th 2022. A total of 1,468 subjects were included in the study. The comparison between fully vaccinated individuals with a booster dose and those without the booster dose revealed a 28% reduction in the odds of infection (OR = 0.719 CI 0.531 - 0.971). Age (OR = 1,009 CI 1,001 - 1,018) and low economic status (OR= 1,812 CI 1,416- 2,319) were associated with an increased risk of infection.These findings suggest the need for booster vaccination in the general population to improve the prevention rates of SARS-CoV-2 infection and mitigate severe outcomes.

Inorganic pollutants in Colombian cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) agrosystems cause problems in the production, quality, and exportation of this raw material. There has been an increased interest in bioprospecting studies of different fungal species focused on the biosorption of heavy metals. Furthermore, fungi constitute a valuable, profitable, ecological, and efficient natural soil resource that could be considered in the integrated management of cadmium mitigation. In this study, we report a new species of Talaromyces, isolated from cocoa soil from San Vicente de Chucurí-Colombia. The characterization of the culture was performed on six different standardized media and was distinguished by characteristic colony morphology: biverticillate and monoverticillate penicilli, acerose phialides, and slightly globose smooth-walled conidia. Culture was featured by bright yellow mycelium in young culture on CYA and CYAS medium. Colonies grew faster on Malt and Oat agar, attaining 36 and 32 mm diameter after seven days at 20 ºC. High acid production on CREA medium at 20-30 ºC was observed. Phylogenetic analysis was based on the ITS region and the RPB2, Calmodulin (CaM) and β-Tubulin genes that indicate that it is new to science and is named Talaromyces santanderensis sp. nov. This new species belongs to the Talaromyces section and is closely related to T. lentulus and related to T. soli, T. tumuli and T. pratensis (inside the T. pinophilus species complex) in the inferred phylogeny. Mycelia growth of the fungal strains was subjected to a range of 0-400 ppm Cd and incorporated into malt extract agar (MEA) in triplicates. Fungal radial growth was recorded every three days over a 13-days incubation period and In vitro cadmium tolerance tests showed a high tolerance index = 0,81 when the mycelium was exposed to 300 ppm of Cd. Results suggest T. santanderensis showed tolerance to Cd concentrations that exceed the permissible limits for contaminated soils, and it is promising for its use in bioremediation strategies to eliminate Cd from highly contaminated agricultural soils.

Hispanic/Latino communities have suffered a disproportionate burden due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although Puerto Rico has one of the highest COVID-19 primary series vaccination rates nationwide, this estimate contrasts with the low uptake of booster doses (32.7%). This study aimed to assess health belief correlates of COVID-19 vaccine booster uptake. PR-CEAL recruited 787 participants via an online survey between December 2021 and January 2022. Sociodemographic characteristics and questions framed using the Health Belief Model were assessed. Analyses included adjusted Poisson regression models to estimate prevalence ratios (PR) of booster refusal. Overall, 22% of participants planned (10%) or refused (12%) the vaccine booster. Participants with lower income [PR=1.92; 95%CI=1.30, 2.84], in disagreement with vaccine benefits [PR=4.16; 95%CI=3.06, 5.64], and in agreement with booster concerns [PR=2.93; 95%CI=2.12, 4.04], efficacy [PR=2.76; 95%CI=2.00, 3.82], and safety [PR=2.97; 95%CI=2.15, 4.08] were significantly more likely to refuse the booster. Booster vaccination refusal was associated with lower perceived vaccine benefits and higher barriers among adults in Puerto Rico. Results informed CEAL team intervention strategies for public health campaigns to increase booster vaccine uptake.

Huge amounts of wastes are generated during shrimp processing, representing approximately 65% of the initial shrimp weight, which can become an environmental problem when accumulated. Residues such as shrimp shells can be processed to obtain value-added products such as chitin, chitosan, astaxanthin, and a nitrogenous extract under the biorefinery concept. In this work, the economic evaluation and the techno-economic sensibility analysis for a mass integrated biorefinery based on shrimp were developed to determine the economic feasibility of the project and to identify the critical techno-economic variables that affect the profitability of the process. The results showed that a biorefinery for the annual processing of 4,113.09 tons of fresh shrimp in Colombia is profitable, with a return on investment percentage (%ROI) equal to 65.88% and a net present value (NPV) of 10.40 MM USD. The process supports decreases of up to 28% in capacity of production and increases of 12% and 11% in the cost of raw materials and variable operating costs without incurring losses, respectively. However, the decrease over 500 USD/t in the shrimp meat selling price is not supported, thus it is mainly recommended to increase the selling price of this product.

Health differences across socioeconomic strata have always pointed out that poorer and minorities have higher mortality and morbidity than richer and majorities. This difference is exacerbated for particular populations such as the victims of ongoing armed conflicts, who are also much harder to quantify due to the conflict itself. This study applies network analysis to a combination of three large administrative records for the health system and mortality records in the province of Risaralda (Colombia) between 2011 and 2016. It produces the most common causes of morbi-mortality for both victims of violence and the poorest inhabitants of Risaralda, defined as those who qualify as recipients of subsidies from the Colombian welfare program called SISBEN in the categories of highest need. Both populations show high morbidity frequencies for non-communicable diseases such as Type II diabetes, hypertension, and hyperglyceridaemia, mostly associated with exposure to unhealthy lifestyles. Additionally, the mortality outcomes reflect the different lifestyles and medical treatments of both subpopulations. While the poorest replicate the same causes identified for morbidity, the victims of armed conflict die of additional causes including Type II diabetes, which reflects the even worse conditions they face.

Our study examines how dengue incidence is associated with spatial (demographic and socioeconomic) alongside temporal (environmental) factors at multiple scales. We used the incidence of dengue in Ibagué, Colombia, from 2013 to 2018, to examine the associations with climate, socioeconomic and demographic factors from the census and satellite imagery at various levels of local spatial aggregation, including Manzanas, Secciones, Sectores, and Comunas. Our findings show a significant effect of spatial variables at finer levels of aggregation, showing varying degrees of correlation with dengue incidence. Temporal variables such as temperature and precipitation displayed consistent patterns across all spatial levels, with notable variations in Relative Risk (RR). Our study employs Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) to identify relevant socioeconomic and demographic predictors. Then, these predictors were integrated into hierarchical models implemented in Integrated Nested Laplace Approximation (INLA) at each spatial level to assess spatiotemporal interactions. We comprehensively analyzed the three distinct models developed for each level: spatial, temporal, and spatiotemporal. A comparative evaluation of the models reveals that while higher aggregation levels often yield a better overall model fit, finer levels offer more detailed insights into the localized impacts of socioeconomic and demographic variables on dengue incidence. Our results underscore the importance of considering macro and micro-level factors in epidemiological modeling and highlight the potential for targeted public health interventions based on localized risk factor analysis. Notably, the intermediate level Secciones emerged as the most informative, balancing spatial heterogeneity and case distribution density, thereby providing a robust framework for understanding the spatial determinants of dengue.

Cocoa bean quality depends mainly on genetic material, edaphoclimatic factors and post-harvest processes such as fermentation. The impact of the fermentation process on the chemical and func-tional composition of different cocoa clones grown in southern Colombia was analyzed. A facto-rial design with repeated measures over time was used to analyze the effect of clone and fermen-tation time on chemical characteristics (bromatology, phenolic compounds and antioxidant ac-tivity). The bromatological characteristics showed significant differences between clones and fermentation time. Clones EET-8 and CCN-51 showed higher contents of acidity (0.51%), fat (63.61%), protein (12.85%) and carbohydrates (1.63 mg g-1). Moisture, acidity and sucrose in-creased their values between day 4 and day 6 of fermentation (P<0.05). Phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity had significant differences between clones, where clones CCN-51 and ICS-95 had high contents of phenols (64.56 mg g-1), flavonoids (3.30 mg g-1) and DPPH reducing capacity (325.55 µmol g-1). In this sense, we consider the FSV-41 clone as the major grain quality index based on the results of chemical composition at bromatological level, antioxidant activity and phenolic compounds.

Multi-stakeholder participation processes in watershed management face challenges due to limited monitoring and baseline data, resulting in a lack of awareness among stakeholders about the current state of the watershed. This knowledge gap often leads to conflicts of interest, where the broader impacts of individual decisions are overlooked. To overcome these limitations, this paper explores the design and implementation of a Serious Game (SG) aimed at co-producing a watershed management plan at the basin scale within the specific context of the Campoalegre River basin in Colombia. By providing an interactive platform, the SG facilitates collaboration between local actors, who may be unfamiliar with existing watershed plans, and decision-makers. The goal is to create a participatory space where stakeholders can comprehend the watershed management plan structure and prioritize actions based on various climatic, social, and economic conditions. Following the application of the SGs, stakeholders demonstrated an improved understanding of the basin, fostering increased participation, open debate, and the proposal of actions. These outcomes serve as valuable inputs for the implementation of water management planning policies, showcasing the potential of SGs in bridging knowledge gaps, and fostering effective multi-stakeholder engagement.

Leptospirosis is a globally distributed zoonotic disease caused by pathogenic bacteria of the genus Leptospira. This zoonotic disease affects humans, domestic, or wild animals. Colombia is considered an endemic country for leptospirosis; and Antioquia is the second department in Colombia with the highest number of reported leptospirosis cases. Currently, many studies report bats as reservoirs of Leptospira spp. but its prevalence in these mammals is unknown. In the present study we aimed to better understand the role of bats as reservoir hosts of Leptospira species and to evaluate the genetic diversity of circulating Leptospira species in Antioquia-Colombia. We captured 206 bats in the municipalities of Chigorodó (43 bats), Carepa (43 bats), Apartadó (39 bats), Turbo (40 bats), and Necoclí (41 bats) in the Urabá region (Antioquia-Colombia). Twenty bats were positive for Leptospira spp. infection (20/206 - 9,70%) and the species of infected bats were Carollia perspicillata, Dermatura rava, Glossophaga soricina, Molossus molossus, Artibeus planirostris, and Uroderma convexum. These species have different feeding strategies such as frugivorous, insectivores, and nectarivores. The infecting Leptospira species identified were Leptospira borgpetersenii (3/20 – 15%), Leptospira alexanderi (2/20 – 10%), Leptospira noguchii (6/20 – 30%), Leptospira interrogans (3/2 – 15%), and Leptospira kirschneri (6/20 – 30%). The results of this research show the importance of bats in the epidemiology, ecology and evolution of Leptospira in this host-pathogen association. This is the first step in deciphering the role played by bats in the epidemiology of human leptospirosis in the endemic region of Uraba (Antioquia-Colombia).

The negative effect of COVID-19 pandemic has reach world economy due to absence from work for SARS-CoV-2 infection in workers, among other things. However, some economic areas are essential to society and people must continue working outside home, to support economic reactivation; their serological profile could be different from global population. Cross-sectional study. Workers from health, construction, public transportation, public force, bike delivery messengers, independent or informal commerce areas, and residents of Bucaramanga or its metropolitan area were invited to participate. All participants self-completed a virtual survey and a blood test was taken to assess IgG and IgM with ARC COV2 test. Seroprevalence was estimated considering a complex survey design, correcting for finite population effect and adjusting for test performance. 7.045 workers were enrolled; 59.9% were women, most were residents of Bucaramanga and working in health occupations. Global adjusted seroprevalence was 19.5% (IC95% 18.6 - 20.4), being higher for Girón [27.9% (CI95% 24.5 - 31.30]). Workers with multiple contact with people during working hours or using public transportation to go to work had higher frequency of seropositivity for SARS-CoV-2. Seroprevalence among workers living in these four municipalities from the Colombian northeast area is still low.

Climate change has become a major concern for developing countries given the risk that it posses on energy and food independence, and on general productivity. Despite having an energy system with low carbon intensity when compared to other Latin American countries, Colombia is already facing climate change impacts and requires urgent efforts to mitigate them. As a developing country, the challenge is bigger as policies for economic growth should be in line with the global commitment of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. With the aim of contributing to the design of climate policies, this study assesses the impact of economic development on the environment by examining the validity of the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis for Colombia. Statistically validated and stable autoregressive distributed lag models are estimated for three different environmental indicators: carbon dioxide emissions, methane emissions, and ecological footprint. Moreover, the effects of other variables such as urbanization, foreign direct investment, value added of agricultural and industrial sectors, and energy use are analyzed with dynamic simulations. Empirical evidence supports a long-run equilibrium relationship among investigated variables and the existence of an inverted U-shaped EKC relationship between Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and methane emissions, and GDP and ecological footprint. Shifting to renewable energy sources and leveraging the use of cleaner technologies in agricultural and industrial sectors are found to be key for economic growth without harming the environment.

(Background) the aim was to determine related factors to recurrent vitreous hemorrhage (RVH) in a sample of proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) patients. (Methods) A retrospective, review-based study. We studied 183 eyes from 121 type 2 diabetes patients with PDR. We recorded diabetes duration, history of hypertension, retinal photocoagulation status, the posterior vitreous status, the mean HbA1c, mean hemoglobin, the renal function, and the systemic complications related to diabetes. We also recorded the use of ranibizumab prior to vitrectomy and the following surgical variables: the application of segmentation and diathermy on fibrovascular proliferative tissue, the use of silicone oil, and the occurrence of surgical complications, to study which independent variables were significantly related to the presence of RVH. (Results) Duration of diabetes (P= 0.028), hemoglobin (P=0.02), status of the posterior vitreous (P=0.03), retinal photocoagulation (P=0.002) and use of segmentation surgery technique (P=0.003) have significant link to the presence of RVH. In addition, patients with diabetic polyneuropathy, myocardial infarction and ischemia in lower limbs had more vitreous hemorrhage events (p&lt;0.001). (Conclusions) Patients with PDR and with longer diabetes duration, anemia, attached posterior vitreous, deficient retinal photocoagulation, and previously cardiovascular events, were more prone to RVH.

Background Out-of-pocket costs are key expenses that many individuals incur in order to receive health services. They have been identified as a key access barrier for vulnerable populations, in particular for populations affected by neglected diseases with a chronic progression, such as Chagas disease. It is important to understand the costs of accessing healthcare services that are borne by patients with T. cruzi infection. Methodology We prepared a structured survey for patients with T. cruzi infection/Chagas disease who were all treated by the healthcare system in endemic municipalities in Colombia. The results were analyzed according to three categories: 1. the socioeconomic profiling of the patients; 2. the costs of and time spent on transportation; and 3. the opportunity costs (money that was not earned) related to treatment at the local primary care hospital or at the high-complexity reference hospital. Main findings Ninety-one patients answered the survey voluntarily. The data revealed that, when treated at the specialized reference hospital, patients spent 5.5 times more on food and accommodation, transportation costs were five times higher, and the loss of earnings was three times higher than when they were treated at the local primary care hospital. Moreover, the amount of time spent on transportation was 4 times higher at the reference hospital. Conclusions Providing comprehensive healthcare services for Chagas management at local primary healthcare hospitals would allow the most vulnerable patients to save on expenses related to medical and non-medical costs (out-of-pocket costs), in turn leading to higher adhesion to treatment thus benefiting the health system as a whole. These findings are in alignment with the WHO’s World Health Assembly 2010 Resolution on the importance of treating Chagas at local primary care hospitals, thereby saving patients time and money, allowing for timely care, and promoting access to healthcare.

The development of biofortified and stress tolerant common bean lines contribute to counteract micronutrient malnutrition in the current condition of climate variability. Our objective was to evaluate the adaptive responses of biofortified common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) lines under acidic soils and high temperature stress conditions in the Amazon region of Colombia. Adaptive responses were evaluated based on phenological, physiological and agronomic differences under combined stress conditions. A total of 247 common bean lines from the Mesoamerican gene pool were evaluated under field conditions at Florencia, Caquetá, Colombia. The common bean lines evaluated included 146 from F4 families with high iron (Fe) content and 99 common bean lines from F5 families that were obtained from simple crosses, double crosses and backcrosses among different bean lines. Lines with tolerance to combined stress conditions of acidic soil and high temperature were found with grain yields greater than 1,400 kg ha-1 from the F5 (lines: 859, 805, 865, 657) and F4 (lines: 2853, 2796) families. This improved agronomic response is likely due to the greater partitioning of photosynthates from canopy biomass (CB) toward pod formation (pod partitioning index, PPI) and grain filling (pod harvest index, PHI; harvest index, HI), which translated into higher grain yields (GY). GY was correlated with CB (r = 0.36), PPI (r = 0.6), PHI (r = 0.68), and HI (r = 0.8, P&lt;0.001). The physiological responses that contributed toward superior agronomic performance of biofortified common bean lines include greater allocation of energy to the photosynthetic machinery (ΦII) and its dissipation in the form of heat (ΦNPQ) as the leaf temperature differential (LTD) increased under combined stress conditions. Six biofortified common bean lines (F5 lines: 859, 805, 865, 657; F4 lines: 2853, 2796) were identified with multiple stress resistance traits and these lines can serve as parents for further genetic improvement of common bean for multiple stress tolerance in the Amazon region of Colombia.

Guava (Psidium guajava L.) is a species is widely distributed in Córdoba, despite this, there are few studies that have been carried out to understand its genetic diversity. For this reason, the objective of this research was to evaluate the genetic diversity and variability of guava (Psidium guajava L) using microsatellite markers in Montería, Córdoba-Colombia. Forty-five accessions were evaluated. For DNA extraction, the CTAB 2x extraction protocol was used with modifications. The extracted DNA was amplified by the PCR technique using seven microsatellite markers. A total of 46 alleles were found with an average of 6.5 alleles per locus. A total of 28 private alleles were identified in the populations, possibly fixed by different evolutionary forces. The evaluated population presented an average expected heterozygosity of 0.572 and the observed heterozygosity was lower (0.058). The fixation index presented a total average of 0.906, indicating that in Montería there is an excess of homozygotes. The PIC values allowed us to determine that the markers mPgCIR9, mPgCIR11, mPgCIR13, mPgCIR16, mPgCIR19 and mPgCIR22 are highly informative, while mPgCIR23 is moderately informative. The guava population in Montería presented a low genetic diversity within the subpopulations, which could be related to inbreeding events such as self-pollination..

With the recent coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19) online sales of clothing retail have become a necessity to survive in the market. It is for this reason that the objective of the research was to know the purchase intention of clothing by young consumers through the online channel of small and micro companies (MiPyMe) located in the countries of Mexico, Colombia and Peru. To do this, using a structural equations model, it was intended to analyze the relationships between the variables trust, satisfaction, perceived value, quality of interaction and image in the electronic context as antecedent variables of online purchase intention, in accordance with the theoretical framework. 638 surveys were applied to young consumers in Mexico, Colombia and Peru. Sociodemographic characteristics included gender, age, country, and knowledge of a MiPyMe online clothing store. The results reveal that, of the total of young people surveyed, 62.7% stated that they did not know of any online clothing store of a MiPyMe. The contrasting of the hypotheses indicates that the quality of interaction directly and positively influences perceived value, that the image directly and positively influences the satisfaction and purchase intention of the consumer of the MiPyMe of Colombia, Mexico and Peru. These results may be useful for entrepreneurs in this business sector to rethink their online business strategies, as well as for the governments of these nations to promote this sector with training and specialized technical assistance.

We study epidemic spreading in complex networks by a multiple random walker approach. Each walker performs an independent simple Markovian random walk on a complex undirected (ergodic) random graph where we focus on Barabási-Albert (BA), Erdös-Rényi (ER) and Watts-Strogatz (WS) types. Both, walkers and nodes can be either susceptible (S) or infected and infectious (I) representing their states of health. Susceptible nodes may be infected by visits of infected walkers, and susceptible walkers may be infected by visiting infected nodes. No direct transmission of the disease among walkers (or among nodes) is possible. This model mimics a large class of diseases such as Dengue and Malaria with transmission of the disease via vectors (mosquitos). Infected walkers may die during the time span of their infection introducing an additional compartment D of dead walkers. Infected nodes never die and always recover from their infection after a random finite time. This assumption is based on the observation that infectious vectors (mosquitos) are not ill and do not die from the infection. The infectious time spans of nodes and walkers, and the survival times of infected walkers, are represented by independent random variables. We derive stochastic evolution equations for the mean-field compartmental populations with mortality of walkers and delayed transitions among the compartments. From linear stability analysis, we derive the basic reproduction numbers R M , R 0 with and without mortality, respectively, and prove that R M < R 0 . For R M , R 0 > 1 the healthy state is unstable whereas for zero mortality a stable endemic equilibrium exists (independent of the initial conditions) which we obtained explicitly. We observe that the solutions of the random walk simulations in the considered networks agree well with the mean-field solutions for strongly connected graph topologies, whereas less well for weakly connected structures and for diseases with high mortality. Our model has applications beyond epidemic dynamics, for instance in the kinetics of chemical reactions, the propagation of contaminants, wood fires, among many others.

The management and classification of solid waste is one of the most important challenges around the world, in order to sustain economic growth and preserve the environment. The objective is to propose the use of Smart Ecological Points as a strategy to address the problem related to the solid waste management system at the source, which has become one of the biggest problems globally and Colombia is no exception. The article describes the current state of the problem in the country and in turn, presents the possibility of developing a prototype corresponding to a low-cost Smart Ecological Point supported by the use of an experimental capacitive sensor and Machine Learning algorithms, which will reduce the time necessary for the classification of recyclable and non recyclable waste, minimizing the health risks and increasing the percentage of waste that can be reused, by reducing the probability of being contaminated at the source, an aspect that is very common when done manually. According to the results obtained, it was evident that the proposed prototype made an adequate classification of waste, generating the possibility of being manufactured with existing technology in the environment, in order to promote adequate waste classification at the source.

The purpose of this article is to present a multi-criteria model designed to evaluate the potential of Sincelejo's cultural identity for tourism development. A descriptive quantitative methodology was used, which included a survey of 211 participants. A decision support method was applied, using the Weighted Additive Sum approach, following the multi-attribute method. Based on the information gathered, the elements of cultural identity shared by most of the criteria were identi-fied, highlighting the gastronomic, social, and cultural traditions and customs of the region, the results of which made it possible to design a composite indicator to evaluate the tourism potential of cultural identity in the area.

Artificial insemination (AI) is considered as the most efficient feasible tool to improve the dairy cows’ profitability and productivity. In bovines, AI helps to promote genetic improvement and can positively impact the rural economy. The achievement of education in rural populations was one of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), made by the United Nations. During the last World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), it was concluded that most of the world’s poor, illiterate and undernourished population lives in rural areas; therefore, access to education is considered one of the greatest challenges for governments in countries with developing economies. To determine the effects of a theoretical-practical training program related to rural management and leadership, AI, and bovine genetic improvement, on the perception and level of knowledge in a rural Colombian population that has been affected by the armed conflict. Phase 1. Included the practical and theoretical training of undergraduate animal sciences students in three dimensions rural management; leadership (D-ML), AI in bovines (D-AI), and genetic improvement (D-GI) after training students were evaluated and selected according to their skills, characteristics, solidarity skills, and their social sensitivity was identified. Phase 2. Included the socioeconomic characterization and training of rural residents by students and field experts in three dimensions D-ML, D-AI, and D-GI. After training we evaluated the perception and level of knowledge before and after training in 63 rural residents using an evaluative instrument. The data before and after (post-test) of the theoretical-practical training, were analyzed to obtain a statistical significance. The perception of knowledge in rural residents was low for general knowledge (2.48±0.76, p ˂ 0.05), D-ML (2.89±1.18, p ˂ 0.05) and D-AI and D-GI (2.17±0.83, p ˂ 0.05). On the other hand, before the theorical-practical training the level of general knowledge was 45.9%, however, after the training increased at 77.6% (p<0.01), while the level of knowledge for the D-AI was increased from 38.5 % to 80.6 % (p ˂ 0.05) after training. Regarding the level of knowledge for the D-GI pre-training was 50.8 and increased to 73.0% (p<0.01) then after. Finally, the level of knowledge for the D-ML was increased (p<0.01) from 54.8 before training to 75% after training. Altogether, the rural extension programs contribute to the closing of knowledge gaps in relation to the use of reproductive biotechnologies and bovine management in rural areas affected by armed conflict.

Since 2017 Cartagena UNESCO World Heritage has threatened to be categorized as "in Danger" by UNESCO. This research analyzes two main critical aspects, Governance and Current state of the Site. Regarding Governance, the study aims to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and treats in the UNESCO Site. Exemplary heritage management systems are studied to propose an adaptable management approach specifically for Cartagena. On the other hand, a comprehensive analysis is conducted utilizing a photographic report that highlights the major issues arising from inadequate heritage management. Hyperspectral images obtained from a previous study are employed to identify vegetation and asbestos-cement roofs within the cultural heritage Site. The study reveals that the ambiguity surrounding decision-making authority for heritage management, distributed between the Mayor's Office and the Ministry of Culture, is a primary challenge. This fragmentation has resulted in duplicated efforts and a lack of coordinated action, significantly compromising the conservation and protection of the cultural heritage Site. Moreover, twelve current shortcomings of cultural heritage in Cartagena are identified through authors' five-year on-site regular visits, photographic reports and observation. To address the prevailing concerns, a new line of command for cultural heritage management is proposed as the most effective means of tackling these challenges. Additionally, general recommendations are presented to mitigate the existing problems and prevent the classification of Cartagena's heritage as "at risk" by UNESCO in the near future. This research provides a scientific perspective, drawing upon years of experience studying heritage and residing in the city, devoid of political influences or conflicts of interest.

The local electrical response in alkaline-doped CuInSe₂ films prepared by single step electrodeposition onto Cu substrates was studied by current sensing atomic force microscopy. The CIS films were prepared from single baths containing the dopant ions (Li, Na, K or Cs) and were studied by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and photocurrent response. Increased crystallinity and surface texturing as the ion size increases was observed as well as enhanced photocurrent response in Cs doped CIS. Li and Na doped films have larger conductivity than the undoped film while the K and Cs doped samples display shorter currents and the current images indicate strong charge accumulation in the K and Cs doped films forming surface capacitors. Corrected CAFM IV curves were adjusted with Shockley equation.

The initial dilution generated by the final disposal of untreated wastewater through a submarine outfall in Santa Marta was examined with a near-field dilution model. Northward and eastward seawater velocity, salinity, and temperature profiles from a 3D hydrodynamic model were used to provide the oceanic conditions to calculate the dilution. At the wastewater discharge site, the upwelling phenomenon occurs two times a year, the major from December to March and the minor in July, eliminating the stratification condition of seawater. The results of the dilution model showed that in these periods the plume reaches the water surface achieving dilutions greater than 100. In addition, the external wave effect on the initial dilution of submarine outfall discharge in Santa Marta was determined. Surface waves increase dilution during the dry period of the year when trade winds increase the surge and start the upwelling phenomenon. The Dilution with/without waves factor is up to 1.90 for the center of the plume on the water column.

Tropical rainforests have the highest rates of net primary productivity (NPP) of the world. Hypotheses about the effect of edaphic nutrient contents, especially the availability of P, propose that they limit NPP of tropical forests or promote the redistribution of its above and belowground components. However, these hypotheses have not been tested experimentally in highly rainy tropical forests. To test such hypotheses, the effects of soil fertilization on the above and belowground NPP were evaluated in forests of two localities of Chocó (Colombia), one of the rainiest regions of the world. Five fertilization treatments (N, P, K, NPK and Control) were applied, and the above and belowground NPP were determined in permanent plots. There were no significant effects of treatments on total NPP; only the application of N significantly increased litter NPP. Additionally, a redistribution of the above and belowground NPP was found with the application of P, which increased the proportion of fine roots and litter, and decreased the woody components of forest NPP. This change of carbon allocation is interpreted as an ecophysiological mechanism to capture additional nutrients in soils with very low content of available P.

Economic burden due to premature mortality has a negative impact not only in health system even though in the society. The aim of this study was to estimate the potential years of work tenure lost (PYWL) due to Chagas disease in Colombia from 2010-2017. National data on mortality by sex and ages between 15 and 62 dues to Chagas from 2010 to 2017. The PYWL methodology was applied to assess the impact of Chagas disease in workers who suffer from them. In total, 1,261 deaths were analyzed in the study, of which 60% corresponded to males. The loss of labor productivity caused by Chagas disease was estimated at $29 million. Overall, 48,621 PYWL were lost, and there was an average of 21 years for all subjects with Chagas. Throughout the analyzed period, PYWL increased substantially, and it is necessary to continue with early detection programs to avoid premature death in working age population.

Hydrological modeling allows us to make a comprehensive assessment of the interaction between dynamics of the hydrological cycle, climate conditions, and land use. These modeling results are relevant in water resources management field. We use TopModel (TOPography based hydrological MODEL for the hydrological modeling of an area of 17 000 km² in the Middle Magdalena Valley (MMV), a tropical basin located in Colombia. This study is located in the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) which is characterized by special meteorological conditions and fast water fluxes over the year. This area has been subjected to significant land use changes, as a result of intense economic activities, e.g., agriculture, hydropower energy and oil & gas production (Avellaneda, 2003). The proposed model is based on a record of 12 years of: i.) daily precipitation data from observed gauges, ii.) daily evapotranspiration data from temperature data and iii.) daily streamflow data as observed data. A calibration process was performed using data from 2000 to 2008, and a validation was performed with data from 2009 to 2012. The Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient was used as an objective function to assess the quality of these processes (values of this metric are between 0.74 and 0.73 respectively, for model calibration and validation). The results show us an adequate performance of the model in areas of the tropical region and allow us to analyze the relationship between water storage capacity in the soils of the area with subsurface runoff. This conclusion is consistent with the characteristics of the region. The calibrated model provides an idea about the hydrological functioning of the basin and estimates an approximation of the groundwater recharge in the region. The estimation of the recharge is important to quantify the interaction of surface water and groundwater, especially during the dry season, due to its importance in the analysis of scenarios with climate variability.

This article addresses the emergence of a niche for sustainable agricultural production in the province of García Rovira, Colombia. It examines the intervention of the Colombian planning regime, which implements agendas for sustainable territorial development. However, these agendas are not adequately aligned with provincial realities, resulting in a productive decline. From a multi-level perspective, a niche of production linked to the landscape is identified, highlighting sustainable practices and innovation. The study seeks to understand how planning influences the emergence of such niches and what factors boost their transition to sustainability. Through a mixed methodology, growing sectors are highlighted, and the profiles of the producers involved are outlined. The main conclusion is that the planned intervention is inefficient, as the niche of sustainable production emerges without its clear influence. Therefore, it is proposed to re-evaluate planning using alternative analysis frameworks to detect emerging productive dynamics, serving as a basis for future plans.

The review of previous works shows this study is the first attempt to analyse the lockdown effect using Natural Language Processing Techniques, particularly sentiment analysis methods applied at large scale. On the other hand, it is also the first of its kind to analyse the impact of COVID 19 on the university community jointly on staff and students and with a multi-country perspective. The main overall findings of this work show that the most often related words were family, anxiety, house and life. On another front, it has also been shown that staff have a slightly less negative perception of the consequences of COVID in their daily life. We have used artificial intelligence models like swivel embedding and the Multilayer Perceptron, as classification algorithms. The performance reached in terms of accuracy metric are 88.8% and 88.5%, for student and staff respectively. The main conclusion of our study is that higher education institutions and policymakers around the world may benefit from these findings while formulating policy recommendations and strategies to support students during this and any future pandemics.

This document evaluates the impact of computer use on wages in Colombia in 2018. For this analysis, a Propensity Score Matching model is used to evaluate the impact of the use of learning technologies on the wages and years of education of Colombians, based on the 2018 quality of life survey. The results show that the use of the computer, laptop, tablet, internet, transferred files, Excel and radio for learning have a positive impact on the wages of Colombians. This research allows a better understanding of the technological effects on wages and provides information for the design of public policies in the development of technological skills.

For broadcast spawning invertebrates such as the crown-of-thorns starfish, early life history stages (from spawning to settlement) may be exposed to a wide range of environmental conditions, and could have a major bearing on reproductive success and population replenishment. Arrested development in response to multiple environmental stressors at the earliest stages can be used to define lower and upper limits for normal development. Here, we compared sperm swimming speeds and proportion of motile sperm and rates of fertilization and early development under a range of environmental variables (temperature: 20-36°C, salinity: 20-34 psu, and pH: 7.6-8.2) to identify environmental tipping points and thresholds for reproductive success. We also tested the effects of water-soluble compounds derived from eggs on sperm activity. Our results demonstrate that gametes, fertilization, and early development are robust to a wide range of temperature, salinity, and pH levels that are outside the range found at the geographical limits of adult distribution and can tolerate environmental conditions that exceed expected anomalies as a result of climate change. Water-soluble compounds associated with eggs also enhance sperm activity, particularly in environmental conditions where sperm motility is initially limited. These findings suggest that fertilization and embryonic development of crown-of-thorns starfish are tolerant to a wide range of environmental conditions, though environmental constraints on recruitment success may occur at later ontogenic stages.

Cocoa beans of the CCN-51 clone harvested in the Tumaco region (Nariño, Colombia) were fermented following four different treatments: (1) spontaneously (at room temperature for 120 h) in traditional conditions (Control); (2) traditional processing with a pre-drying (sun-dried for 24 h) treatment (PD); (3) with fermentation (for 120 h) after inoculation of a yeast starter culture (YS); and (4) including both treatments, pre-drying and yeast inoculation (PD+YS). Chemical composition, fatty acids, total polyphenol, methylxanthines (theobromine and caffeine) and lactic acid content of cocoa beans were determined. Chemical and fatty acid composition and theobromine content were not affected by the different fermentation treatment applied. When analysing total polyphenol content, YS and PD+YS treatments significantly increased the content of these compounds at the end of the fermentation process, while PD treatment decreased the caffeine content of cocoa beans. Finally, lactic acid content decreased as a consequence of both inoculation of yeast starter and mainly the pre-drying treatment. In conclusion, solar pre-drying in the open air and the inoculation of a yeast starter treatments could improve the final quality of coca beans.

Optimizing intensive care resources using predicting modeling is paramount for fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. In this paper, we model the admission of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units (ICU) in Colombia using openly available data gathered from 18 March 2020 to 14 October 2020. After an intensive preprocessing of the data, we trained four different machine learning models using four different strategies for handling the imbalanced features. Our findings show that our best model (XGBoost) effectively predicts an Area Under the Curve (AUC-ROC) of 0.94, in line with the state-of-the-art results obtained in other predictive models obtained with medical data.

Air pollution includes particle-bound Polycyclic Aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) which eventually reach the placenta triggering adverse perinatal outcomes by long-term exposure. Late-ly, air pollution has increased over the Metropolitan Area of Medellin-Colombia (MAMC) but its effects on pregnancy are still unknown. In this research, we made a real-time analysis of airborne total PAHs using a photoelectric sensor for residential places influenced by industrial and traffic sources contrasting southern and northern MAMC during the second peak of the bimodal ten-dency for PM2.5 emissions in this region. Additionally, we analyzed individual PAHs by GC/MS coupled to pressurized hot water extraction methodology. Data was applied in an Inhalation In-take Model to assess pregnancy exposure. The average concentration of PAHs over southern MAMC was three times higher than over northern MAMC where the abortion rate has been 1.4 times higher presented in database. Previous research found that PAHs act as an Endo-crine-Disrupting Chemical (EDC) during pregnancy and even heavy congeners could reside in umbilical cord blood. Finally, the annual series of abortion rates in the MAMC showed a signifi-cant correlation with the annual average levels of PM2.5 which are associate to PAHs. Although this significant correlation does not imply causality, our results suggest an important connection between both variables. This latter finding opens a gap in deeply understanding how regions with high PAHs-convergence influences abortion rates in MAMC.

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) and Zika virus (ZIKV) have recently emerged as global infections with consequential disability adjusted life years (DALYs) and economic burden. This study aimed to explore the spatiotemporal heterogeneity in the occurrence of CHIKV and ZIKV outbreaks throughout Barranquilla, Colombia during 2014 and 2016 and explored the potential for clustering. Incidence data were fitted using multiple Bayesian Poisson models based on a suite of explanatory variables as potential risk factors and multiple options for random effects. A best fit model was used to analyse the case incidence risk for both epidemics to identify any risk factors during their epidemics. Neighbourhoods in the northern region of Barranquilla were hotspots for the outbreaks of both CHIKV and ZIKV. Additional hotspots occurred in the south-western and central regions of the CHIKV and ZIKV outbreaks, respectively. Multivariate conditional autoregressive models strongly identified higher socioeconomic strata (SES) and residing in detached houses as risk factors for ZIKV case incidences. These novel findings challenge the belief that these infections are driven by social vulnerability and merits further study both in Barranquilla and throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world.

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) and Zika virus (ZIKV) have recently emerged as global infections with consequential disability adjusted life years (DALYs) and economic burden. This study aimed to explore the spatiotemporal heterogeneity in the occurrence of CHIKV and ZIKV outbreaks throughout Barranquilla, Colombia during 2014 and 2016 and explored the potential for clustering. Incidence data were fitted using multiple Bayesian Poisson models based on a suite of explanatory variables as potential risk factors and multiple options for random effects. A best fit model was used to analyse the case incidence risk for both epidemics to identify any risk factors during their epidemics. Neighbourhoods in the northern region of Barranquilla were hotspots for the outbreaks of both CHIKV and ZIKV. Additional hotspots occurred in the south-western and central regions of the CHIKV and ZIKV outbreaks, respectively. Multivariate conditional autoregressive models strongly identified higher socioeconomic strata (SES) and residing in detached houses as risk factors for ZIKV case incidences. These novel findings challenge the belief that these infections are driven by social vulnerability and merits further study both in Barranquilla and throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world.

The quinoline derivative, N-(7-chloro-4-morpholinoquinolin-2-yl)benzamide, was synthesized in a conventional three-step procedure from 4,7-dichloroquinoline using N-oxidation reaction/C2-amidation reaction/C4 SNAr reaction sequence. The structure of the compound was fully characterized by FT-IR, 1H‐, 13C-NMR, DEPT-135°, and ESI-MS techniques. Its physicochemical parameters (Lipinski’s descriptors) were also calculated using the online SwissADME database. Such derivatives are relevant therapeutic agents exhibiting potent anticancer, antibacterial, antifungal, and antiparasitic properties.

Background: In 2020, the incidence of cancer was 844,778 cases among the population aged 0 to 19 years. Ninety percent of the population under 18 years of age lives in low- and middle-income countries, where cancer survivors report adverse outcomes. disease, which negatively impacts individuals’ general health, emotional state and external factors such as academic performance. Therefore, the objective of this article was to report the performance of the WCST and the sociodemographic characteristics of oncopediatric patients from Cali, Colombia. We report the reliability of the WCST instrument and indicate the association between the type of cancer and executive functioning in patients. Methods: In a cross-sectional observational study, 24 oncopediatric patients were interviewed and evaluated via the WCST. Results: The mean age was 12.08 years (3.98), 20.8% were women, 70.8% had a diagnosis of leukemia, 8 patients had acquired brain deficits, and more than 75% had adequate functioning in terms of the indicators of executive functions. Robust statistics were used to explore the differences between the types of diagnoses and performance in executive functions, and no statistically significant differences were found (p = 0.156). We accumulated evidence that the WCST has a reliable Cronbach's α of 0.804 and that oncopediatric patients without brain deficits had high scores for executive functions (p = 0.002) with a moderate effect size (0.727). Conclusions: The WCST is reliable for discriminating executive function among pediatric cancer patients. The evidence suggests that there are no differences between the types of cancer evaluated and executive functioning in the participants.

Montes de María is the best-preserved tropical dry forest fragment in the Colombian Caribbean, making it an ideal location for studying the impacts of human disturbance on local ecosystems. This study analyzed the ecological structure of diurnal butterflies in both forested and disturbed areas using 16 circular plots to identify relationships between alpha and beta diversity, and the geographic distance between disturbed areas and native forests, using a range of metrics, including range-abundance and rarefaction curves, nonlinear models, and the Bray–Curtis dissimilarity index. Results revealed three distinct species assemblages associated with forest, intermediate disturbed areas (IDA), and disturbed areas (DA). Nonlinear models show that IDA are more diverse than forest and DA. However, forests have more beta diversity among plots than IDA and DA. Indicator species for each butterfly assemblage were also identified. Thus, although new butterfly species assemblages emerge from a new human land-scape, it is clear that species that only occur within dry forest fragments are lost when forest fragments disappear. Overall, these findings have important implications for conservation efforts and understanding how human disturbance affects biodiversity in tropical ecosystems.

Background: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2. In Colombia, many commercial methods are now available to perform the RT-qPCR assays, and the laboratories must evaluate its diagnostic accuracy to ensure reliable results to suspected COVID-19 patients. The purpose of the study was to compare four commercial RT-qPCR assays for detection of SARS-CoV2 virus, from nasopharyngeal swab samples referred to Laboratorio Carvajal IPS, SAS of Tunja, Boyacá - Colombia. Methods: This prospective study was conducted on 152 samples of respiratory tract samples (Nasopharyngeal Swab) from patients with suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection. Diagnostic accuracy of GeneFinderTM COVID-19 Plus RealAmp (In Vitro diagnostic), One-Step Real-Time RT-PCR (Vitro Master diagnostica), Berlin modified protocol and gold standard Berlin protocol (Berlin Charite Probe One-Step RT-qPCR Kit, New England Biolabs) as reference was assessed. Operational characteristics were estimated in terms of sensitivity, specificity, agreement, and predictive values. Results: Using Berlin Charite Probe One-Step RT-qPCR Kit as reference, the sensitivity/specificity for the diagnostic tests were found to be GeneFinderTM COVID-19 Plus RealAmp Kit 100%/92.7%, One-Step Real-Time RT-PCR, One-Step Real-Time RT-PCR 92.75%/67.47%, and Berlin modified protocol 100%/96.39%. The results of four commercially available methods were found to be consistent with those obtained from Berlin Modified protocol analysis for % of the samples and showed good agreement (κ= 0.96). Concordant SARS-CoV2 negative and positive RT-qPCR results were reported for xxx and xxx samples, respectively. Summarize something about the Ct. Conclusion: Our data demonstrate that all commercially available methods are rapid and reliable for the identification of SARS-CoV-2 virus associated with COVID-19. One-Step RT-qPCR Kit and GeneFinderTM COVID-19 Plus RealAmp assay show optimal sensitivity compared with Belin modified protocol. In addition, there is no significant correlation between xxxxx

The paper focuses on the application of a multilevel, integrative and territorial approach to the protection of cultural heritage through planning instruments in Serbia. It points out the problems of the sectoral approach and discusses international recommendations that can be integrated into the planning methodology. The case study is the area of Djerdap National Park, which has an already established international and national importance. The research suggests that the cultural heritage in the area, with the exception of the Roman limes, is still recognized at the level of individual localities. The study emphasizes the importance of aligning all levels of governance to safeguard the whole spatial entity rather than focusing solely on its particular areas. The interna-tional and national importance of the planning area contributes to the strengthening of awareness of heritage and its institutional protection. However, the vitality of the area, which is key to its sustainable development, comes from the local level. Planning documents contribute to the inte-gration of local values and local communities into development programs and projects.

Glycosidic linkage analysis was conducted on the unfractionated polysaccharides in the alcohol-insoluble residues (AIRs) prepared from six red seaweeds (Gracilariopsis sp., Prionitis sp., Mastocarpus papillatus, Callophyllis sp., Mazzaella splendens, and Palmaria palmata) using GC-MS/FID analysis of partially methylated alditol acetates (PMAAs). The cell walls of P. palmata primarily contained mixed-linkage xylans and small amounts of sulfated galactans and cellulose. In contrast, the unfractionated polysaccharides of the other five species were rich in galactans displaying diverse 3,6-anhydro-galactose and galactose linkages with varied sulfation patterns. Different levels of cellulose were also observed. This glycosidic linkage method offers advantages for cellulose analysis over traditional monosaccharide analysis that is known for underrepresenting glucose in crystalline cellulose. Relative linkage compositions calculated from GC-MS and GC-FID measurements showed that anhydro sugar linkages generated more response in the latter detection method. This improved linkage workflow presents a useful tool for studying polysaccharide structural variations across red seaweed species. Furthermore, for the first time, relative linkage compositions from GC-MS and GC-FID measurements, along with normalized FID and total ion current (TIC) chromatograms without peak assignments, were analyzed using principal component analysis (PCA) as a proof-of-concept demonstration of the technique's potential to differentiate various red seaweed species.

Background: Educating college students about the importance of good sleep habits could lead to the adoption of healthier sleep routines, including sufficient sleep duration and sleep quality. The current pre-post study examines the impact of completing a sleep education program called “Sleep 101” on (1) sleep hygiene practices, (2) sleep quality, and (3) weekday and weekend sleep behaviors among college students. “Sleep 101” is an interactive online course developed to educate college students about the importance of sleep by addressing basic sleep physiology, the impact of sleep on mood, academic and physical performance, the interactions between sleep and various substances, and common sleep disorders. Methods: 338 college students were recruited from a midsized public university in the US and invited to participate in “Sleep 101”, of which 25 participants completed the baseline and post-intervention questionnaire. The Sleep Hygiene Index (SHI) was utilized to evaluate sleep hygiene practices, while standard questions were employed to assess weekday and weekend sleep behaviors and overall sleep quality. Results: Those who completed the study demonstrated a significant increase in weekday sleep duration and were less likely to engage in negative prior bedtime activities. In addition, 40% of those who completed baseline and post-intervention assessments noticed improvements in their sleep quality. Conclusion: These findings suggest that a brief online program is beneficial in improving sleep behaviors among college and could be a scalable approach to addressing current sleep issues and preventing future sleep problems in college students.

The profile of secondary metabolites occurring in apple cuticular layer is not only characteristic for particular apple cultivar, but also dynamically reflects various external factors in growing environment. In this study, the possibility to authenticate apple samples based on analysis of their cuticular layer extracts was investigated. Ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to high resolution tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS/MS) was employed for obtaining metabolomic fingerprints. In total, 274 authentic apple samples, four cultivars harvested within the seasons 2020 to 2022 in the Czech Republic and Poland were analysed. The generated complex data processed by univariate and multivariate statistical methods enabled to build classification models for discrimination of apple cultivars as well as their geographical origin. The models showed very good performance in differentiation of Czech and Polish samples for three of four cultivars: ‘Gala’, ‘Golden Delicious’ and ‘Idared’, moreover, the validity of the models was verified over harvest seasons. The diagnostic markers, besides metabolites of triterpene biosynthetic pathway, mainly represented wax esters. ‘Jonagold’, which is known to be susceptible to mutations, was the only cultivar for which the unambiguous classification of geographical origin was not possible.

Strawberry root rot caused by Neopestalotiopsis clavispora is one of the main diseases of strawberry and significantly impacts the yield and quality of strawberry fruit. There are now no effective control techniques available except for fungicide sprays, which may directly impact consumers. Biological control is becoming an alternative method for the control of plant diseases to replace or decrease the application of traditional synthetic chemical fungicides. Trichoderma is widely used as a biological agent for controlling strawberry root rot. In order to provide resources for screening the highly effective biocontrol fungus for controlling strawberry root rot caused by Neopestalotiopsis clavispora, the biocontrol mechanism,the control effects of Trichoderma asperellum CMT10 against strawberry root rot and growth-promoting effects on strawberry seedlings were investigated by plate culture, microscopy observation and root drenching methods.The results showed that CMT10 had obvious competitive, antibiotic and hyperparasitism effects on Neopestalotiopsis clavispora CMGF3. The CMT10 could quickly occupy nutritional space, and the inhibition rates of CMT10 against CMGF3 in confrontation culture on 7 d was 65.49%. The inhibition rates of volatile metabolite and fermentation metabolite produced by CMT10 against CMGF3 were 79.67% and 69.84%, respectively. The mycelium of strain CMT10 can act as hyperparasites by making contacting, winding and penetrating hyphae of CMGF3. Pot experiment showed that the biocontrol efficacy of CMT10 on strawberry root rot caused by Neopestalotiopsis clavispora was 63.00%. CMT10 had obvious promotion effect on strawberry growth, the plant height, root length, total fresh weight, root fresh weight, stem fresh weight and root dry weight, with the promotion rates were 20.09%, 22.39%, 87.11%, 101.58%, 79.82% and 72.33%, respectively. Overall, this study showed the ability of Trichoderma asperellum CMT10 to control strawberry root rot and their potential to develop as novel biocontrol agents to replace chemical fungicides for eco-friendly, sustainable agriculture.

Apis mellifera, especially weak ones, are highly vulnerable to Carpoglyphus lactis mites, which can rapidly infest and consume stored pollen, leading to weakened colonies and potentially colony collapse. This study aimed to ascertain and investigate the prevalence of this mite in honeybee colonies across 9 provinces in the Republic of Korea (ROK). A total of 615 honeybee colonies were collected, from 66 apiaries during the spring and 58 apiaries during the summer of 2023. A 1,242 bp segment of the the Cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) gene was amplified using the polymerase chain reaction method. The detection levels of C. lactis in the honeybees were compared between winter and summer. Based on the COI sequence analysis, the nucleotide sequence similarity of C. lactis mites isolated in the ROK with those from China (NC048990.1) was found to be 99.5%, and with those from the United Kingdom (KY922482.1) was 99.3%. This study is the first report of C. lactis in Korean apiaries. The findings in this study demonstrate a significantly higher detection rate in winter, which is 4.1 times greater than that in summer (p &lt; 0.001). Furthermore, the results underscore the usefulness of molecular diagnostic techniques for detecting C. lactis mites.

COX II containing a dual core CuA active site is one of the three core subunits of mitochondrial Cco, which plays a significant role in the physiological process. In this report, the full-length cDNA of COXⅡ gene was cloned from Sitophilus zeamais, which had an ORF of 684 bp encoding 227 amino acids residues. The predicted COXⅡ protein had a molecular mass of 26.2 kDa with pI value of 6.37, and multiple sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis indicated that Sitophilus zeamais COXⅡ had high sequence identity 78.51% with the COXⅡ of other insect species, especially similarity to sitophilus oryzae. This gene was subcloned into the prokaryotic expression vector pET-32a, and induced by IPTG in E.coli Transetta (DE3) expression system. Finally the COXⅡ with 6-His tag was purified using affinity chromatography with Ni²⁺-NTA agarose. WB showed the recombinant COXⅡ was about 44 kD, and the concentration of fusion protein was 50μg/mL. UV-spectrophotometer and infrared spectrometer analysis showed that recombinant COXⅡ could catalyze the oxidation of substrate Cytc, and influenced by AITC. It was found that AITC could form a hydrophobic region with COXⅡ protein via molecular docking, besides, a sulfur atom of AITC structure could form a length of 2.9 Å hydrogen bond with Leu-31. These results will provide valuable information for elucidating the role of COXⅡ in Sitophilus zeamais responses to AITC, meanwhile, it will helpful to carry out a point mutation in AITC binding sites for the future research.

The properties of the annual, semiannual and triennial oscillations (AO, SAO and TO) in the middle atmosphere have been investigated using the TIMED/SABER temperature data. The Lomb-Scargle and wavelet spectra were used to determine the dominant oscillations in the background temperature field. The AO is prominent at the mid-latitudes. The AO amplitudes present an asymmetry between the two Hemispheres, being larger in the mesosphere than in the stratosphere. The SAO dominates the tropical regions, with three amplitude maxima at altitudes of 45, 75, and 85 km. The SAOs in the upper mesosphere (75 km) are out of phase with those in the mesopause (85 km) in the tropical regions, which can generate an enhancement of 11 K at each equinox, contributing to the lower mesospheric inversion layer. The TO is significant in the tropical region, with amplitude being maximum at 35, 45 and 85 km. Result shows that there may be potential interaction by the TO with SAO at 85km at the equator. The relation between ENSO and TO has also been discussed. The ENSO signal may modulate the amplitude of the TO, mainly in the lower stratosphere. The real origin of the TO may lie in the wave-mean-flow interaction.