Child´s and adolesecent sexual explotation in the city of Medellín

La Explotación Sexual Infantil y Adolescente en la Ciudad de Medellín, se ha convertido en uno de los principales problemas sociales, sumergiéndose en una variedad de factores como la Pobreza, la crisis humanitaria y el Desarrollo de la Industria Sexual. El objetivo de este artículo, es identificar los componentes sociales, causas y consecuencias que han sido devastadores en la iniciación de los niños, niñas y adolescentes de 7-17 años del sector la Comuna 10 en el ejercicio de la Explotación Sexual. Es de anotar, que los Entes públicos y privados, en conjunto con distintas organizaciones Nacionales realizan un trabajo unificado lo cual hacen cumplir las normas que están en Pro de los Derechos vulnerados de los niños, niñas y adolescentes, lo que contribuye 2 a la disminución de esta problemática social, causando impactos positivos en la Población afectada

Child´s and adolesecent sexual explotation in the city of Medellín

La Explotación Sexual Infantil y Adolescente en la Ciudad de Medellín, se ha convertido en uno de los principales problemas sociales, sumergiéndose en una variedad de factores como la Pobreza, la crisis humanitaria y el Desarrollo de la Industria Sexual. El objetivo de este artículo, es identificar los componentes sociales, causas y consecuencias que han sido devastadores en la iniciación de los niños, niñas y adolescentes de 7-17 años del sector la Comuna 10 en el ejercicio de la Explotación Sexual. Es de anotar, que los Entes públicos y privados, en conjunto con distintas organizaciones Nacionales realizan un trabajo unificado lo cual hacen cumplir las normas que están en Pro de los Derechos vulnerados de los niños, niñas y adolescentes, lo que contribuye 2 a la disminución de esta problemática social, causando impactos positivos en la Población afectada

TARGETING THE ROLE OF SUBTILISIN-LIKE PROTEASE 2 FOR INHIBITION OF ERYTHROCYTE INVASION BY THE MALARIA PARASITE, PLASMODIUM

Malaria is a mosquito-harbored infectious disease causing approximately half a million deaths every year around the world. Out of the five Plasmodium species that infect humans, P. falciparum is the deadliest. Despite the relative success in decreasing malaria-related deaths through various efforts, emergence of parasite resistance against antimalarials remains a major challenge. This is mainly because the parasite develops resistance before new effective drugs can become available. In addition, there is no approved vaccine for malaria that will prevent the infection in most groups affected. The protection offered by the malaria vaccine candidate, RTS,S, currently on phase III clinical trials, is less than 40% in children when used along with bed nets and other malaria prevention recommendations. Additional vaccine candidates are needed to provide better protection against malaria. The characterization of molecular targets allows the development of inhibitors against the parasite via rational design, helping to advance the development of vaccine and treatment. Subtilisin-like protease 2 (SUB2) is the only Plasmodium subtilisin playing a direct role during invasion of the red blood cell (RBC), a critical step in malaria parasite development during the asexual, symptom-causing stages. SUB2 merozoite surface sheddase (MeSh) activity is essential for parasite survival and RBC invasion. A SUB2-specic inhibitor will lead to impairment of invasion. Additionally, SUB2 is secreted onto the surface of the parasite to access its substrates, staying exposed to the antibodies in the blood, making it a merozoite surface antigen itself and a candidate for antibody-mediated inhibition. This makes SUB2 both a potential drug target and a vaccine candidate. At the present, our understanding of SUB2 biochemistry and biophysical properties is limited and now studies have tested this subtilisin as a vaccine candidate. In this dissertation, we show that antibody-mediated inhibition results in decreased parasite infection in a proof-of-principle experiment with mice. We have also attempted to characterize the two SUB2 peptides utilized in immunization experiments by using a self-assembling protein nanoparticle on a different, but related, experiment using a mouse model of malaria. Finally, we develop an expression system for active SUB2 as well as a SUB2-specific protease assay with native SUB2 substrates

Decision-Making as a Latent Construct and its Measurement Invariance in a Large Sample of Adolescent Cannabis Users

OBJECTIVE: Relative to the vast literature that employs measures of decision-making (DM), rigorous examination of their psychometric properties is sparse. This study aimed to determine whether three measures of DM assess the same construct, and to measure invariance of this construct across relevant covariates. METHOD: Participants were 372 adolescents at risk of escalation in cannabis use. DM was assessed via four indices from the Cups Task, Game of Dice Task (GDT), and Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). We used confirmatory factor analysis to assess unidimensionality of the DM construct, and moderated nonlinear factor analysis (MNLFA) to examine its measurement invariance. RESULTS: The unidimensional model of DM demonstrated good fit. MNLFA results revealed that sex influenced mean DM scores, such that boys had lower risk-taking behaviors. There was evidence of differential item functioning (DIF), such that IQ and age moderated the IGT intercept and GDT factor loading, respectively. Significant effects were retained in the final model, which produced participant-specific DM factor scores. These scores showed moderate stability over time. CONCLUSIONS: Indices from three DM tasks loaded significantly onto a single factor, suggesting that these DM tasks assess a single underlying construct. We suggest that this construct represents the ability to make optimal choices that maximize rewards in the presence of risk. Our final DM factor accounts for DIF caused by covariates, making it comparable across adolescents with different characteristics. (JINS, 2019, 25, 661-667)

Characterization of HIV-1 RNA forms in the plasma of patients undergoing successful HAART

An assay to characterize plasma human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) sequences for patients with low viral loads was developed by combining the selective binding of anti-CD44 MicroBeads with a nested RT-PCR targeting the env C2V4 region. Sequences were obtained from 10 of 20 HIV+ patients who had viral loads below 48 copies/ml. Sequences derived from plasma were compared to those from CD14+ CD16 +monocytes and CD4+ T cells. The plasma sequences were most closely related to those amplified from monocytes, suggesting that during successful antiretroviral therapy, the predominant plasma virus originates from myeloid cells. By characterizing HIV-1 RNA sequences from 8 ml of plasma while avoiding multiple steps, which can lead to contamination and deterioration, this method can help elucidate the viral forms in patients with therapeutically suppressed HIV-1. Understanding the source of residual viremia is crucial in developing approaches for viral eradication

Infectious Complications of Ventricular Assist Device Use in Children in the US: Data from the Pediatric Interagency Registry for Mechanical Circulatory Support (Pedimacs)

Background Infections are frequent in pediatric ventricular assist device (VAD) patients. In this study we aimed to describe infections in durable VAD patients reported to Pedimacs. Methods Durable VAD data from the Pedimacs registry (September 19, 2012 to December 31, 2015) were analyzed. Infections were described with standard descriptive statistics, Kaplan–Meier analysis and competing outcomes analysis. Results There were 248 implants in 222 patients, with a mean age and a median follow-up of 11 ± 6.4 years and 2.4 patient-months (<1 day to 2.6 years), respectively. Device types were pulsatile flow (PF) in 91 (41%) patients and continuous flow (CF) in 131 (59%) patients. PF patients were younger (4 ± 4 vs 14 ± 4 years; p < 0.0001) and were more likely to have congenital heart disease (25% vs 12%; p = 0.03), prior surgery (53% vs 26%; p < 0.0001) and prior extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (24% vs 7%; p = 0.0003). Infection accounted for 17% (96 of 564) of the reported adverse events (AEs). A non-device infection was most common (51%), followed by sepsis (24%), external pump component infection (20%) and internal pump component infection (5%). Most infections were bacterial (73%) and required intravenous therapy only (77%). The risk of infection in the constant phase was higher in patients with a history of prior infection and in patients with a history of a non-infectious major AEs. Survival was lower after infection only in CF patients (p = 0.008). Conclusions Infection was the most common AE after pediatric VAD implantation. Non-device infections were most common. The best predictor of a future infection was a past infection. CF patients have higher risk of death after an infection

The Creation of a Critical Care Admission Pressure Injury Prevention Cart to Reduce Hospital-Acquired Pressure Injuries

The goal of this process improvement initiative is to reduce hospital-acquired pressure injuries related to Covid-19 with Critical Care patients. Critically ill and ventilated patients require prone position therapy and prolonged ventilator times place the patient at risk for hospital acquired conditions and pressure injuries. The Critical Care team created a Critical Care Admission Pressure Injury Prevention Cart that contains preventative dressings for all pressure areas at risk. The Critical Care Admission Pressure Injury Prevention Cart has significantly reduced the pressure injury rate. With the emergence of the pandemic and additional surges, pressure injuries continued to be on the rise due to prone position therapy. The Critical Care team worked with the system and developed prone position protocols, which included preventative dressings for all areas at risk. Prior to the implementation of the admission cart, Critical Care ended fiscal year 2022, quarter one, with fifty-three hospital acquired pressure injuries. Last December and early January 2022 there was another surge of Covid-19. The Critical Care team implemented the admission cart in January 2022. From January 2022 through September 2022, there has been an 98% reduction. The cart has been successful for Critical Care, and Baptist Hospital implemented the cart in all high acuity areas. This cart was a multidisciplinary practice, which consists of nursing, the wound and skin team, respiratory care, and leadership working together towards the goal of patient safety and pressure injury prevention

State Variation in Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the anus incidence and Mortality, and association With Hiv/Aids and Smoking in the United States

PURPOSE: Squamous cell carcinoma of the anus (SCCA) incidence and mortality rates are rising in the United States. Understanding state-level incidence and mortality patterns and associations with smoking and AIDS prevalence (key risk factors) could help unravel disparities and provide etiologic clues. METHODS: Using the US Cancer Statistics and the National Center for Health Statistics data sets, we estimated state-level SCCA incidence and mortality rates. Rate ratios (RRs) were calculated to compare incidence and mortality in 2014-2018 versus 2001-2005. The correlations between SCCA incidence with current smoking (from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System) and AIDS (from the HIV Surveillance system) prevalence were evaluated using Spearman\u27s rank correlation coefficient. RESULTS: Nationally, SCCA incidence and mortality rates (per 100,000) increased among men (incidence, 2.29-3.36, mortality, 0.46-0.74) and women (incidence, 3.88-6.30, mortality, 0.65-1.02) age ≥ 50 years, but decreased among men age \u3c 50 years and were stable among similar-aged women. In state-level analysis, a marked increase in incidence (≥ 1.5-fold for men and ≥ two-fold for women) and mortality (≥ two-fold) for persons age ≥ 50 years was largely concentrated in the Midwestern and Southeastern states. State-level SCCA incidence rates in recent years (2014-2018) among men were correlated ( CONCLUSION: During 2001-2005 to 2014-2018, SCCA incidence and mortality nearly doubled among men and women age ≥ 50 years living in Midwest and Southeast. State variation in AIDS and smoking patterns may explain variation in SCCA incidence. Improved and targeted prevention is needed to combat the rise in SCCA incidence and mitigate magnifying geographic disparities