Quality Control Assessment of Human Adipose-Derived Hydrogels.

Decellularized human-adipose tissue (hDAT) can serve as an alternative to two-dimensional monolayer culture and current ECM hydrogels due to its unlimited availability and cytocompatibility. A major hurdle in the clinical translation and integration of hDAT and other hydrogels into current in vitro culture processes is adherence to current good manufacturing practices (cGMP). Transferring of innovative technologies, including hydrogels, requires the establishing standardized protocols for quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) of the material.Integration of basic characterization techniques, including physiochemical characterization, structural/morphological characterization, thermal and mechanical characterization, and biological characterization, in addition to the reduction of batch-to-batch variability and establishment of proper sterilization, storage, and fabrication processes verifies the integrity of the hydrogel. Obatala Sciences has established a characterization protocol that involves a series of assays including the evaluation of gelation properties, protein content, glycosaminoglycan content, soluble collagen content, and DNA content of hDAT.

Determinantes del estado de vacunación infantil: abordando la brecha de equidad en República Dominicana-2019 / Determinants of childhood immunization status: addressing the equity gap in the Dominican Republic­2019

Introducción: Las desigualdades amenazan el progreso del país hacia la equidad y la cobertura de vacunación infantil. Siendo la cobertura inferior a la meta del 90% de la Organización Mundial de la Salud. Objetivo: Identificar los determinantes sociales y las desigualdades en el estado de vacunación infantil en República Dominicana, 2019. Métodos: Se realiza un análisis basado en la Encuesta de Indicadores Múltiples por Conglomerados. Incluyendo una muestra ponderada de 1674 niños de 12-23 meses. Se calcula la regresión logística multinomial para identificar factores asociados a la vacunación. Adoptando p<0,05 para significación estadística. Utilizando una razón de probabilidades ajustada con intervalo de confianza del 95%. Empleando HEAT 4.0 para medir desigualdades y SPSS.23 para gestión y análisis de datos. Resultados: La edad media de los niños fue 17,4±3,5 meses. El 33% de ellos estaban completamente vacunados. La cobertura fue significativamente menor entre hijos de madre sin educación [AOR= 7,27; IC95%= 2,98­17,74]. La mayor cobertura se concentra en niños con altos niveles de educación y riqueza. Conclusión: Para lograr una cobertura de vacunación completa y equitativa, las intervenciones de salud pública deben diseñarse para satisfacer las necesidades de grupos de alto riesgo.

Introduction: In the Dominican Republic, inequalities threaten progress towards childhood vaccination equity and coverage, the latter being inferior to the World Health Organization's 90% goal. Objective: Identify the social determinants and inequalities in the state of childhood vaccination in the Dominican Republic, 2019. Methods: An analysis based on the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys is conducted. Including a weighted sample of 1674 children aged 12-23 months. The multinomial logistic regression is calculated to identify factors associated with vaccination. Using p<0,05 for statistical significance and an adjusted probability ratio with a 95% confidence interval. Employing HEAT 4.0 to measure inequalities and SPSS.23 for data management and analysis. Results: The children's mean age was 17,4±3,5 months. 33% of them were completely vaccinated. Coverage was significantly lower in children of mothers without education [AOR= 7,27; CI95%= 2,98­17,74]. Coverage was the highest in kids with high levels of education and wealth. Conclusion: To achieve complete and equitable vaccine coverage, public health interventions should be designed to satisfy the needs of high-risk groups.

Blood Transcriptomics Analysis of Fish Exposed to Perfluoro Alkyls Substances: Assessment of a Non-Lethal Sampling Technique for Advancing Aquatic Toxicology Research.

In contrast to mammals, the blood from other vertebrates such as fish contains nucleated red cells. Using a fathead minnow ( Pimephales promelas) oligonucleotide microarray, we compared altered transcripts in the liver and whole blood after exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations of perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and a mixture of seven types of perfluoro alkyl substances (PFAS), including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). We used quantitative polymerase chain reactions and cell-based assays to confirm the main effects and found that blood responded with a greater number of altered genes than the liver. The exposure to PFAS altered similar genes with central roles in a cellular pathway in both tissues, including estrogen receptor α and peroxisome proliferator activator ß and γ, indicating that the genes previously associated with PFAS exposure are differentially expressed in blood and liver. The altered transcripts are involved with cholesterol metabolism and mitochondrial function. Our data confirmed that PFAS are weak xenoestrogens and exert effects on DNA integrity. Gene expression profiling from blood samples not related with the immune system, including very-low-density lipoprotein, vitellogenin, estrogen receptor, and thyroid hormone receptor, demonstrated that blood is a useful tissue for assessing endocrine disruption in non-mammalian vertebrates. We conclude that the use of blood for non-lethal sampling in genomics studies is informative and particularly useful for assessing the effects of pollution in endangered species. Further, using blood will reduce animal use and widen the experimental design options for studying the effects of contaminant exposure on wildlife.

Characterization of polyphenols, sugars, and other polar compounds in persimmon juices produced under different technologies and their assessment in terms of compositional variations.

Persimmon juice is emerging in the global juice market as a new wholesome commercial juice that could effectively complement a healthy diet, given the epidemiological evidence linking a diet rich in fruits and vegetables with reduced incidences of chronic diseases. However, little data are available on the persimmon-juice composition or on the effect of the technological treatment employed for its production. The present work performs a complete qualitative analytical characterization through high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HPLC-DAD-ESI-TOF/MS) of the diverse persimmon juices produced under different technologies in a pilot plant (clarification, astringency removal, flash vacuum expansion, centrifugation and pasteurization) in order to evaluate the effect of the different production procedures on the polar chemical profile of persimmon juice. Persimmon-juice extracts have been found to be a source of sugars, protein derivatives, organic acids, vitamins, and polyphenols, including simple polyphenols (phenolic acids and flavonoids) and polymerized flavan-3-ols. A marked influence of processing on the composition of the juices has been noticed. Extracts 3 and 7 (undergoing the combinations of clarification and centrifugation, and astringency removal, centrifugation and pasteurization, respectively) contained more polyphenols, which may help reduce risk of chronic diseases.

Evaluación del programa de salud escolar realizado por el Centro de Salud Hospital - Yaruquí, en siete escuelas de la zona sur - oriente del cantón Quito, en el año 1984 / Evaluation of the program of scholastic health made by the Center of Health Hospital - Yaruquí, in seven schools of the South zone - orients of the Exempt corner, in year 1984

Esta investigación se realizó considerando la situación de salud de la comunidad y del escolar de Yaruquí como también el beneficio del programa de salud escolar implementado por el Ministerio de Salud Escolar. Para iniciar el trabajo se consultó bibliografía referente al programa de salud escolar, encontrándose tan solo un programa piloto en el centro de salud hospital Sangolquí, además se consultó temas que sirvieron como base para conocer al escolar tanto en sus aspectos normales como patológicos de su desarrollo físico, mental y emocional. Para verificar nuestras hipótesis utilizamos tres instruimentos aplicados a los recursos humanos que participaron en el programa de salud escolar, a padres de familia de los niños de primer grado y para la revisión de historias clínicas de niños de 1o. y 6o. grados del programa de salud escolar. La muestra propositiva fue de 418 niños de 1o. y 6o. grados encontrándose solamente 179 historias clínicas referentes al programa de salud escolar, de 203 padres de familia de los niños de 1o. grado se aplicó a 190 padres; del equipo de salud se entrevistó a 8 personas de las 10...