Estudio descriptivo del perfil de investigadoras hondureñas en Google Académico / Descriptive study of the profile of Honduran female researchers in Google Scholar

Introducción: El rol de la mujer en el área científica ha crecido con el paso de los años, pero aún persiste una gran brecha de género en ciencia. Para conocer y manejar esa brecha, es necesario hacer un mapeo de la situación de las mujeres investigadoras en Honduras. Objetivo: Describir la participación y contribuciones de las investigadoras hondureñas en la producción científica nacional según su perfil en Google Académico. Metodología: Se usó Power BI para analizar las variables sexo, institución, índice H, número de citaciones, número de publicaciones, año de la primera publicación, y áreas de investigación registradas en su perfil, utilizando la versión 2 del Ranking de Investigadores Hondureños según su Perfil de Google Académico disponible en https://bit.ly/38s6YuT, el cual es un registro depurado. Resultados: El 35% de todos los perfiles eran de mujeres, 41% vinculadas a las ciencias médicas y de la salud y en su mayoría (92%), afiliadas a universidades. Pese al creciente número de mujeres investigadoras registradas en Google Académico, el crecimiento no es simétrico respecto a los hombres. Solamente el 3.1% de las investigadoras tenía un índice H que supera los dos dígitos. Conclusión: A pesar de los avances, se mantiene la inequidad de género entre investigadores hondureños según la data de Google Académico. Se requiere de políticas públicas e institucionales, para corregir esa brecha...(AU)

Trends and factors related to adolescent pregnancies: an incidence trend and conditional inference trees analysis of northern Nicaragua demographic surveillance data.

BACKGROUND: We aimed to identify the 2001-2013 incidence trend, and characteristics associated with adolescent pregnancies reported by 20-24-year-old women. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of the Cuatro Santos Northern Nicaragua Health and Demographic Surveillance 2004-2014 data on women aged 15-19 and 20-24. To calculate adolescent birth and pregnancy rates, we used the first live birth at ages 10-14 and 15-19 years reported by women aged 15-19 and 20-24 years, respectively, along with estimates of annual incidence rates reported by women aged 20-24 years. We conducted conditional inference tree analyses using 52 variables to identify characteristics associated with adolescent pregnancies. RESULTS: The number of first live births reported by women aged 20-24 years was 361 during the study period. Adolescent pregnancies and live births decreased from 2004 to 2009 and thereafter increased up to 2014. The adolescent pregnancy incidence (persons-years) trend dropped from 2001 (75.1 per 1000) to 2007 (27.2 per 1000), followed by a steep upward trend from 2007 to 2008 (19.1 per 1000) that increased in 2013 (26.5 per 1000). Associated factors with adolescent pregnancy were living in low-education households, where most adults in the household were working, and high proportion of adolescent pregnancies in the local community. Wealth was not linked to teenage pregnancies. CONCLUSIONS: Interventions to prevent adolescent pregnancy are imperative and must bear into account the context that influences the culture of early motherhood and lead to socioeconomic and health gains in resource-poor settings.

Ethical considerations in animal research: the principle of 3r's

In the last century, progress in the knowledge of human diseases, their diagnosis and treatment have grown exponentially, due in large part to the introduction and use of laboratory animals. Along with this important progress, the need to provide training and guidance to the scientific community in all aspects related to the proper use of experimental animals has been indispensable. Animal research committees play a primary role in evaluating experimental research protocols, from their feasibility to the rational use of animals, but above all in seeking animal welfare. The Institutional Committee for the Care and Use of Animals (IACUC) has endeavored to share several relevant aspects in conducting research with laboratory animals. Here, we present and discuss the topics that we consider of utmost importance to take in the account during the design of any experimental research protocol, so we invite researchers, technicians, and undergraduate and graduate students to dive into the fascinating subject of proper animal care and use for experimentation. The main intention of these contributions is to sensitize users of laboratory animals for the proper and rational use of them in experimental research, as well as to disseminate the permitted and unpermitted procedures in laboratory animals. In the first part, the significance of experimental research, the main functions of IACUC, and the principle of the three R's (replacement, reduction, and refinement) are addressed.

Un ranking de investigadores hondureños basado en criterios de webometría con perfiles de Google Académico / A ranking of Honduran researchers based on webometry criteria with Google Scholar profiles

Justificación: la webometría se ha usado para medir la actividad y visibilidad científica en los países. Objetivo: construir un ranking de investigadores hondureños según las citaciones en sus perfiles de Google Académico y su afiliación institucional. Metodología: se realizó una búsqueda sobre publicaciones científicas de investigadores e instituciones académicas e independientes de Honduras registradas en Google Académico. La información se organizó en Microsoft Excel y se analizó con la herramienta Tableau, con la cual también se creó un tablero interactivo para acceso público, mostrando frecuencias, porcentajes y promedios de las citaciones de los investigadores y otros criterios. Resultados: el 72% (110/151) de los investigadores con perfiles disponibles eran hombres; la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras lideró el porcentaje de investigadores con el 55.6% (84/151), seguida por la Universidad Tecnológica Centroamericana con el 13.9% (21/151) y la Escuela Agrícola Panamericana con el 12.6% (19/151). Los investigadores de la Escuela Agrícola Panamericana mostraron el mayor promedio de citaciones por investigador (390), seguida por los investigadores de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras (179) y los de la Universidad Tecnológica Centroamericana (177). Los investigadores en los primeros 20 lugares, clasificados con el índice H, también pertenecían a estas universidades. Las disciplinas más frecuentemente reportadas por los investigadores fueron las ciencias sociales (27.2%), de la salud (22.53%), agrícolas (9.32%) y las naturales (8.6%). Conclusiones: el mayor número de investigadores con perfiles en Google Académico pertenecían a la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras, pero los investigadores de dos universidades privadas tuvieron un promedio de citación por autor casi igual o mayor a los de dicha institución. El tablero público de ranking de investigadores hondureños https://tabsoft.co/3wK3vym, puede orientar estrategias de visibilidad de los científicos del país...(AU)

Ethical Considerations in Animal Research: The Principle of 3R's.

In the last century, progress in the knowledge of human diseases, their diagnosis and treatment have grown exponentially, due in large part to the introduction and use of laboratory animals. Along with this important progress, the need to provide training and guidance to the scientific community in all aspects related to the proper use of experimental animals has been indispensable. Animal research committees play a primary role in evaluating experimental research protocols, from their feasibility to the rational use of animals, but above all in seeking animal welfare. The Institutional Committee for the Care and Use of Animals (IACUC) has endeavored to share several relevant aspects in conducting research with laboratory animals. Here, we present and discuss the topics that we consider of utmost importance to take in the account during the design of any experimental research protocol, so we invite researchers, technicians, and undergraduate and graduate students to dive into the fascinating subject of proper animal care and use for experimentation. The main intention of these contributions is to sensitize users of laboratory animals for the proper and rational use of them in experimental research, as well as to disseminate the permitted and unpermitted procedures in laboratory animals. In the first part, the significance of experimental research, the main functions of IACUC, and the principle of the three R's (replacement, reduction, and refinement) are addressed.

Ethical Considerations in Animal Research: The Principle of 3R's.

In the last century, progress in the knowledge of human diseases, their diagnosis and treatment have grown exponentially, due in large part to the introduction and use of laboratory animals. Along with this important progress, the need to provide training and guidance to the scientific community in all aspects related to the proper use of experimental animals has been indispensable. Animal research committees play a primary role in evaluating experimental research protocols, from their feasibility to the rational use of animals, but above all in seeking animal welfare. The Institutional Committee for the Care and Use of Animals (IACUC) has endeavored to share several relevant aspects in conducting research with laboratory animals. Here, we present and discuss the topics that we consider of utmost importance to take in the account during the design of any experimental research protocol, so we invite researchers, technicians, and undergraduate and graduate students to dive into the fascinating subject of proper animal care and use for experimentation. The main intention of these contributions is to sensitize users of laboratory animals for the proper and rational use of them in experimental research, as well as to disseminate the permitted and unpermitted procedures in laboratory animals. In the first part, the significance of experimental research, the main functions of IACUC, and the principle of the three R's (replacement, reduction, and refinement) are addressed.

Assessing the Multiple Dimensions of Poverty. Data Mining Approaches to the 2004-14 Health and Demographic Surveillance System in Cuatro Santos, Nicaragua.

We identified clusters of multiple dimensions of poverty according to the capability approach theory by applying data mining approaches to the Cuatro Santos Health and Demographic Surveillance database, Nicaragua. Four municipalities in northern Nicaragua constitute the Cuatro Santos area, with 25,893 inhabitants in 5,966 households (2014). A local process analyzing poverty-related problems, prioritizing suggested actions, was initiated in 1997 and generated a community action plan 2002-2015. Interventions were school breakfasts, environmental protection, water and sanitation, preventive healthcare, home gardening, microcredit, technical training, university education stipends, and use of the Internet. In 2004, a survey of basic health and demographic information was performed in the whole population, followed by surveillance updates in 2007, 2009, and 2014 linking households and individuals. Information included the house material (floor, walls) and services (water, sanitation, electricity) as well as demographic data (birth, deaths, migration). Data on participation in interventions, food security, household assets, and women's self-rated health were collected in 2014. A K-means algorithm was used to cluster the household data (56 variables) in six clusters. The poverty ranking of household clusters using the unsatisfied basic needs index variables changed when including variables describing basic capabilities. The households in the fairly rich cluster with assets such as motorbikes and computers were described as modern. Those in the fairly poor cluster, having different degrees of food insecurity, were labeled vulnerable. Poor and poorest clusters of households were traditional, e.g., in using horses for transport. Results displayed a society transforming from traditional to modern, where the forerunners were not the richest but educated, had more working members in household, had fewer children, and were food secure. Those lagging were the poor, traditional, and food insecure. The approach may be useful for an improved understanding of poverty and to direct local policy and interventions.

Food insecurity and self-rated health in rural Nicaraguan women of reproductive age: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Access to food is a basic necessity, and food insecurity may impair the individual's well-being and health. Self-rated health measurements have frequently been used to assess population health. Little is known, however, as to whether food security is associated with self-rated health in low- and middle-income settings. This study aims at analyzing the association between food security and self-rated health among non-pregnant women of reproductive age in a rural Nicaraguan setting. METHODS: Data was taken from the 2014 update of a health and demographic surveillance system in the municipalities of Los Cuatro Santos in northwestern Nicaragua. Fieldworkers interviewed women about their self-rated health using a 5-point Likert scale. Food insecurity was assessed by the household food insecurity access (HFIAS) scale. A multilevel Poisson random-intercept model was used to calculate the prevalence ratio. RESULTS: The survey included 5866 women. In total, 89% were food insecure, and 48% had poor self-rated health. Food insecurity was associated with poor self-rated health, and remained so after adjustment for potential confounders and accounting for community dependency. CONCLUSION: In this Nicaraguan resource-limited setting, there was an association between food insecurity and poor self-rated health. Food insecurity is a facet of poverty and measures an important missing capability directly related to health.

The Influence of Maternal and Household Resources, and Parental Psychosocial Child Stimulation on Early Childhood Development: A Cross-Sectional Study of Children 36⁻59 Months in Honduras.

Optimal early childhood development (ECD) is currently jeopardized for more than 250 million children under five in low- and middle-income countries. The Sustainable Development Goals has called for a renewed emphasis on children’s wellbeing, encompassing a holistic approach that ensures nurturing care to facilitate optimal child development. In vulnerable contexts, the extent of a family’s available resources can influence a child’s potential of reaching its optimal development. Few studies have examined these relationships in low- and middle-income countries using nationally representative samples. The present paper explored the relationships between maternal and paternal psychosocial stimulation of the child as well as maternal and household resources and ECD among 2729 children 36⁻59 months old in Honduras. Data from the Demographic and Health Surveys conducted in 2011⁻2012 was used. Adjusted logistic regression analyses showed that maternal psychosocial stimulation was positively and significantly associated with ECD in the full, rural, and lowest wealth quintile samples. These findings underscore the importance of maternal engagement in facilitating ECD but also highlight the role of context when designing tailored interventions to improve ECD.

Breaking the cycles of poverty: Strategies, achievements, and lessons learned in Los Cuatro Santos, Nicaragua, 1990-2014.

BACKGROUND: In a post-war frontier area in north-western Nicaragua that was severely hit by Hurricane Mitch in 1998, local stakeholders embarked on and facilitated multi-dimensional development initiatives to break the cycles of poverty. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this paper is to describe the process of priority-setting, and the strategies, guiding principles, activities, achievements, and lessons learned in these local development efforts from 1990 to 2014 in the Cuatro Santos area, Nicaragua. METHODS: Data were derived from project records and a Health and Demographic Surveillance System that was initiated in 2004. The area had 25,893 inhabitants living in 5,966 households in 2014. RESULTS: A participatory process with local stakeholders and community representatives resulted in a long-term strategic plan. Guiding principles were local ownership, political reconciliation, consensus decision-making, social and gender equity, an environmental and public health perspective, and sustainability. Local data were used in workshops with communities to re-prioritise and formulate new goals. The interventions included water and sanitation, house construction, microcredits, environmental protection, school breakfasts, technical training, university scholarships, home gardening, breastfeeding promotion, and maternity waiting homes. During the last decade, the proportion of individuals living in poverty was reduced from 79 to 47%. Primary school enrolment increased from 70 to 98% after the start of the school breakfast program. Under-five mortality was around 50 per 1,000 live births in 1990 and again peaked after Hurricane Mitch and was approaching 20 per 1,000 in 2014. Several of the interventions have been scaled up as national programs. CONCLUSIONS: The lessons learned from the Cuatro Santos initiative underline the importance of a bottom-up approach and local ownership of the development process, the value of local data for monitoring and evaluation, and the need for multi-dimensional local interventions to break the cycles of poverty and gain better health and welfare.

Consumption of highly processed snacks, sugar-sweetened beverages and child feeding practices in a rural area of Nicaragua.

Appropriate feeding behaviours are important for child growth and development. In societies undergoing nutrition transition, new food items are introduced that may be unfavourable for child health. Set in rural Nicaragua, the aim of this study was to describe the infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices as well as the consumption of highly processed snack foods (HP snacks) and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs). All households with at least one child 0- to 35-month-old (n = 1371) were visited to collect information on current IYCF practices in the youngest child as well as consumption of SSBs and HP snacks. Breastfeeding was dominant (98%) among 0- to 1-month-olds and continued to be prevalent (60%) in the second year, while only 34% of the 0- to 5-month-olds were exclusively breastfed. Complementary feeding practices were deemed acceptable for only 59% of the 6- to 11-month-old infants, with low dietary diversity reported for 50% and inadequate meal frequency reported for 30%. Consumption of HP snacks and SSBs was frequent and started early; among 6- to 8-month-olds, 42% and 32% had consumed HP snacks and SSBs, respectively. The difference between the observed IYCF behaviours and World Health Organization recommendations raises concern of increased risk of infections and insufficient intake of micronutrients that may impair linear growth. The concurrent high consumption of SSBs and HP snacks may increase the risk of displacing the recommended feeding behaviours. To promote immediate and long-term health, growth and development, there is a need to both promote recommended IYCF practices as well as discourage unfavourable feeding behaviours.

Socio-economic resources, young child feeding practices, consumption of highly processed snacks and sugar-sweetened beverages: a population-based survey in rural northwestern Nicaragua.

BACKGROUND: Socio-economic resources may be associated with infant feeding in complex patterns in societies undergoing a nutrition transition. This study evaluates associations of housing quality, food security and maternal education to the World Health Organization (WHO) feeding recommendations and to consumption of highly processed snacks (HP snacks) and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) in rural Nicaragua. METHODS: Data were collected from May to November 2009, with mothers of 0- to 35-month-olds being asked about young child feeding using a food frequency questionnaire. A validated questionnaire was used to assess household food insecurity and data were collected on maternal education and housing quality. Pearson's chi-squared test was used to compare proportions and determine associations between the resources and young child feeding. The three socio-economic resources and other confounders were introduced to multivariate logistic regression analyses to assess the independent contribution of the resources to the feeding practices and consumption of HP snacks and SSBs. RESULTS: Mothers with the lowest education level were more likely to be exclusively breastfeeding (EBF) their infants (OR not EBF: 0.19; 95% CI: 0.07, 0.51), whilst mothers of 6- to 35-month-olds in the lowest education category had more inadequate dietary diversity (DD) (OR for not meet DD: 2.04; 95% CI: 1.36, 3.08), were less likely to consume HP snacks (OR for HP snacks: 0.47; 95% CI: 0.32, 0.68) and SSBs (OR for SSBs: 0.68; 95% CI: 0.46, 0.98), compared to mothers with the highest level of education. Similarly, children residing in households with the highest food insecurity were also more prone to have inadequate dietary diversity (OR for not meet DD: 1.47; 95% CI: 1.05, 2.05). The odds for double burden of suboptimal feeding (concurrent inadequate diet and consumption of HP snacks/SSBs) were significantly lower in children of least educated mothers (OR: 0.64; 95% CI: 0.44, 0.92). CONCLUSIONS: Higher level of education was associated with both more and less adherence to the WHO recommended feeding practices as well as with more consumption of HP snacks and SSBs. Regardless of educational strata, the children in the community were exposed to suboptimal feeding practices conducive to both under- as well as overnutrition.

Women's autonomy and social support and their associations with infant and young child feeding and nutritional status: community-based survey in rural Nicaragua.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the associations of women's autonomy and social support with infant and young child feeding practices (including consumption of highly processed snacks and sugar-sweetened beverages) and nutritional status in rural Nicaragua. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. Feeding practices and children's nutritional status were evaluated according to the WHO guidelines complemented with information on highly processed snacks and sugar-sweetened beverages. Women's autonomy was assessed by a seventeen-item questionnaire covering dimensions of financial independence, household-, child-, reproductive and health-related decision making and freedom of movement. Women's social support was determined using the Duke-UNC Functional Social Support Questionnaire. The scores attained were categorized into tertiles. SETTING: Los Cuatro Santos area, rural Nicaragua. SUBJECTS: A total of 1371 children 0-35 months of age. RESULTS: Children of women with the lowest autonomy were more likely to be exclusively breast-fed and continue to be breast-fed, while children of women with middle level of autonomy had better complementary feeding practices. Children of women with the lowest social support were more likely to consume highly processed snacks and/or sugar-sweetened beverages but also be taller. CONCLUSIONS: While lower levels of autonomy and social support were independently associated with some favourable feeding and nutrition outcomes, this may not indicate a causal relationship but rather that these factors reflect other matters of importance for child care.

Relación del engagement académico con características académicas y socioafectivas en estudiantes de Odontología / Relation between Academic Engagement and academic and affective characteristics of dental students

Dada la relación del engagement, un tipo intenso de compromiso, con el desempeño en contextos laborales y educacionales, así como su importancia como factor motivacional en la formación de estudiantes autónomos, el presente estudio analiza qué características académicas y sociodemográficas se asocian con él. Para esto se encuestó a 109 estudiantes de Odontología de una universidad privada, aplicándoseles la Utrech Work Engagement Scale Student, el Cuestionario de satisfacción académica y un cuestionario sociodemográfico, además de recabar datos de sus fichas académicas. Los resultados muestran que los estudiantes con un mayor engagement global eran mujeres, quienes ingresaron con mayores puntajes en Matemáticas, llevaban más tiempo en la universidad, tenían mejores calificaciones y los más satisfechos con la carrera. Las relaciones en los dos factores del instrumento difieren de las anteriores, pero apuntan a la importancia de las prácticas clínicas y la experiencia estudiantil en el desarrollo del engagement.

Given the relationship of engagement - an intensive type of commitment - and the performance in work and educational settings as well as the importance of engagement as a motivational factor for the formation of autonomous students, the present study analyzed the academic and sociodemographic characteristics associated to it. To this end, 109 dentistry students from a private university were surveyed by using Utrech Work Engagement Scale Student, the academic satisfaction questionnaire and a sociodemographic questionnaire in addition to collecting data from their academic records. The results showed that those students with greatest global engagement were women, who entered the university with the highest scores in Mathematics, stayed longer at the university, had better marks in general and were the most satisfied with their career. The relationships in the two factors of this instrument differed from the previous ones, but pointed to the importance of clinical practices and of the student´s experiences for the development of engagement.

Interaction of a peptide derived from the N-heptad repeat region of gp41 Env ectodomain with model membranes. Modulation of phospholipid phase behavior.

The HIV-1 gp41 envelope protein mediates the entry of the virus into the target cell by promoting membrane fusion. With a view toward possible new insights into the protein membrane alteration leading to the viral fusion mechanism, we have studied by infrared and fluorescence spectroscopies a fragment of 21 amino acids corresponding to the N-heptad repeat region of the gp41 ectodomain. Information on the structure of the peptide both in solution and in the presence of model membranes, its incorporation and location in the phospholipid bilayer, and the modulation of the phase behavior of the membrane has been gathered. Here we demonstrate that the peptide binds to and interacts with phospholipid model membranes, changing its conformation and inducing leakage of vesicle contents. These characteristics suggest that different specific regions of gp41 are capable of modifying the biophysical properties of phospholipid membranes and, therefore, might be essential for the assistance and enhancement of the viral and cell fusion process.