Nosema ceranae is an old resident of honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies in Mexico, causing infection levels of one million spores per bee or higher during summer and fall.

This study was conducted to identify Nosema spp. and to determine their infection levels in honey bee (Apis mellifera) samples collected in Mexico in 1995-1996. Samples of historical surveys from different countries are of particular interest to support or challenge the hypothesis that the microsporidium Nosema ceranae is a new parasite of A. mellifera that has recently dispersed across the world. We demonstrate that N. ceranae has parasitized honey bees in Mexico since at least 1995 and that the infection levels of this parasite during summer and fall, exceed the threshold at which treatment of honey bee colonies is recommended.

Factors behind job preferences of Peruvian medical, nursing and midwifery students: a qualitative study focused on rural deployment.

BACKGROUND: Deployment of health workforce in rural areas is critical to reach universal health coverage. Students' perceptions towards practice in rural areas likely influence their later choice of a rural post. We aimed at exploring perceptions of students from health professions about career choice, job expectations, motivations and potential incentives to work in a rural area. METHODS: In-depth interviews and focus groups were conducted among medical, nursing and midwifery students from universities of two Peruvian cities (Ica and Ayacucho). Themes for assessment and analysis included career choice, job expectations, motivations and incentives, according to a background theory a priori built for the study purpose. RESULTS: Preference for urban jobs was already established at this undergraduate level. Solidarity, better income expectations, professional and personal recognition, early life experience and family models influenced career choice. Students also expressed altruism, willingness to choose a rural job after graduation and potential responsiveness to incentives for practising in rural areas, which emerged more frequent from the discourse of nursing and midwifery students and from all students of rural origin. Medical students expressed expectations to work in large urban hospitals offering higher salaries. They showed higher personal, professional and family welfare expectations. Participants consistently favoured both financial and non-financial incentives. CONCLUSIONS: Nursing and midwifery students showed a higher disposition to work in rural areas than medical doctors, which was more evident in students of rural origin. Our results may be useful to improve targeting and selection of undergraduate students, to stimulate the inclination of students to choose a rural job upon graduation and to reorient school programmes towards the production of socially committed health professionals. Policymakers may also consider using our results when planning and implementing interventions to improve rural deployment of health professionals.

Modelo de ecuaciones estructurales para predecir el bienestar y la dependencia funcional en adultos mayores de la República Dominicana / Structural equation model for predicting well-being and functional dependency of the elderly in the Dominican Republic

OBJETIVO: Generar un modelo estructural multifactorial que explique la dependencia funcional y el bienestar a partir de algunas características sociodemográficas asociadas con esos dominios, en adultos mayores de la República Dominicana. MÉTODOS: Estudio transversal mediante encuesta en una muestra de 1397 personas de 65 años o más representativa de la población de adultos mayores de la República Dominicana. Se recabó información sociodemográfica de los entrevistados (sexo, edad, nivel de estudios, si realizaba alguna actividad remunerada y nivel de ingresos) y los datos necesarios para calcular el índice de Barthel y las respuestas a las preguntas de las escalas del bienestar psicológico de Ryff. Para identificar las relaciones entre las variables de interés se probaron tres modelos de ecuaciones estructurales. RESULTADOS: El modelo estructural de ajuste más satisfactorio relacionó las características sociodemográficas con la capacidad para realizar las actividades básicas de la vida diaria (ABVD) y las dimensiones del bienestar psicológico de las escalas de Ryff sin proponer factores latentes. La capacidad predictiva del modelo para las variables endógenas fue débil. La edad se relacionó negativamente con algunas dimensiones del bienestar y con la capacidad para realizar las ABVD; el sexo se relacionó con la dimensión de relaciones positivas con otros; y el nivel de estudios influyó positivamente sobre el dominio del ambiente, el crecimiento personal y el propósito en la vida, así como en la capacidad para realizar las ABVD. CONCLUSIONES: Los modelos validados brindan información necesaria para desarrollar políticas orientadas a dos niveles de acción complementarios: la promoción de la autonomía de los adultos mayores y el aumento de la cobertura de los sistemas de enseñanza formal. Estos resultados respaldan la conveniencia de aumentar las inversiones en políticas sociales.

OBJECTIVE: To produce a multivariate structural model that explains functional dependence and well-being in terms of certain related sociodemographic factors among elderly adults in the Dominican Republic. METHODS: A cross-sectional study that surveyed a sample of 1397 individuals 65 or more years of age, representing the Dominican Republic's elderly population. Those surveyed were asked for sociodemographic information (sex, age, level of education, employment status, and income level), data needed to determine their Barthel Index, and responses to questions from Ryff's Scale of Psychological Well-being. Three structural equation models were used to identify relationships among the key variables. RESULTS: The most fitting structural adjustment model linked sociodemographics to the ability to perform basic activities of daily living (BADL) and the Ryff's Scale of Psychological Well-being, without suggesting latent factors. With regard to endogenous variables, the model's predictive power was weak. Age was negatively associated with some areas of well-being and with the ability to perform BADL; sex was related to the area of positive relationships with others; and educational level positively influenced environment, personal growth, and having a sense of purpose, as well as the ability to perform BADL. CONCLUSIONS: The proven models provide information necessary for developing policies aimed at two levels of coordinated action: promoting autonomy among elderly adults and expanding enrollment in formal education programs. These results support efforts to increase investment in social policies.

[Structural equation model for predicting well-being and functional dependency of the elderly in the Dominican Republic]. / Modelo de ecuaciones estructurales para predecir el bienestar y la dependencia funcional en adultos mayores de la República Dominicana.

OBJECTIVE: To produce a multivariate structural model that explains functional dependence and well-being in terms of certain related sociodemographic factors among elderly adults in the Dominican Republic. METHODS: A cross-sectional study that surveyed a sample of 1,397 individuals 65 or more years of age, representing the Dominican Republic's elderly population. Those surveyed were asked for sociodemographic information (sex, age, level of education, employment status, and income level), data needed to determine their Barthel Index, and responses to questions from Ryff's Scale of Psychological Well-being. Three structural equation models were used to identify relationships among the key variables. RESULTS: The most fitting structural adjustment model linked sociodemographics to the ability to perform basic activities of daily living (BADL) and the Ryff's Scale of Psychological Well-being, without suggesting latent factors. With regard to endogenous variables, the model's predictive power was weak. Age was negatively associated with some areas of well-being and with the ability to perform BADL; sex was related to the area of positive relationships with others; and educational level positively influenced environment, personal growth, and having a sense of purpose, as well as the ability to perform BADL. CONCLUSIONS: The proven models provide information necessary for developing policies aimed at two levels of coordinated action: promoting autonomy among elderly adults and expanding enrollment in formal education programs. These results support efforts to increase investment in social policies.

Cinética de excreción de huevos y títulos de anticuerpos a Fasciola hepatica, en gando bovino tratado con triclabendazol en clima cálido-húmedo en México / Kinetics of egg-excretion and antibody titres of Fasciola hepatica in cattle treated with triclabendazole in humid warm climate in Mexico

El objetivo fue determinar la prevalencia, la intensidad en la excreción de huevos y los títulos de anticuerpos anti-Fasciola hepatica expresados en densidades ópticas, en ganado vacuno tratado con triclabendazol cada 56 y 112 días durante 7 meses. Se utilizaron 42 bovinos divididos en tres grupos de 14 animales cada uno. El grupo A fue tratado con triclabendazol cada 56 días, el B cada 12, el C fue el testigo. Se emplearon las técnicas de sedimentación y Elisa. En el grupo A el número de animales positivos se redujo del 100 por ciento (día 0) a 0 por ciento (día 168). La media de huevos se redujo de 86.57 ñ 10.5 (día 0), a 0 (día 168). En el grupo B el número de animales positivos se redujo de 100 por ciento (día 0) a 14.28 por ciento (día 168), y la media de huevos de 82.85 ñ 14 (día 0) a 0.85 ñ 0.5 (día 168). En el grupo C la prevalencia siempre fue de 100 por ciento y la media de huevos excretados fluctuó de 68.14 a 78.85 durante el estudio. Entre el grupo A y el B se observaron diferencia estadísticas (P ó 0.05) en los días 84 y 112, 140 y 168 y siempre hubo diferencias con el grupo C (P ó 0.01) después del tratamiento. Las densidades ópticas se encontraron por debajo de 0.679 nm. No se encontraron diferencias estadísticas (P = 0.05) en el mismo grupo ni entre los tres grupos. La correlación entre títulos de anticuerpo y la excreción de huevos fue baja (0.26, 0.0022 y 0.011) para los grupos A, B, y C, respectivamente. Se concluye que el tratamiento con triclabendazol en ganado vacuno, aplicado cada 56 días, reduce significativamente (Pó 0.05) la excreción de huevos de F. Hepatica en comparación con el aplicado cada 112 días, y la correlación entre la cantidad de huevos y los títulos de anticuerpos expresados en densidades ópticas fueron bajas