Multicentric study of cervical cancer screening with human papillomavirus testing and assessment of triage methods in Latin America : the ESTAMPA screening study protocol

Q1Q1Introduction Human papillomavirus (HPV) testing is replacing cytology in primary screening. Its limited specificity demands using a second (triage) test to better identify women at high-risk of cervical disease. Cytology represents the immediate triage but its low sensitivity might hamper HPV testing sensitivity, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), where cytology performance has been suboptimal. The ESTAMPA (EStudio multicéntrico de TAMizaje y triaje de cáncer de cuello uterino con pruebas del virus del PApiloma humano; Spanish acronym) study will: (1) evaluate the performance of different triage techniques to detect cervical precancer and (2) inform on how to implement HPV-based screening programmes in LMIC. Methods and analysis Women aged 30–64 years are screened with HPV testing and Pap across 12 study centres in Latin America. Screened positives have colposcopy with biopsy and treatment of lesions. Women with no evident disease are recalled 18 months later for another HPV test; those HPV-positive undergo colposcopy with biopsy and treatment as needed. Biological specimens are collected in different visits for triage testing, which is not used for clinical management. The study outcome is histological high-grade squamous intraepithelial or worse lesions (HSIL+) under the lower anogenital squamous terminology. About 50 000 women will be screened and 500 HSIL+ cases detected (at initial and 18 months screening). Performance measures (sensitivity, specificity and predictive values) of triage techniques to detect HSIL+ will be estimated and compared with adjustment by age and study centre. Ethics and dissemination The study protocol has been approved by the Ethics Committee of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), of the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) and by those in each participating centre. A Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) has been established to monitor progress of the study, assure participant safety, advice on scientific conduct and analysis and suggest protocol improvements. Study findings will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at scientific meetings. Trial registration number NCT01881659Revista Internacional - Indexad

Erratum: Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 84 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Interpretation: By quantifying levels and trends in exposures to risk factors and the resulting disease burden, this assessment offers insight into where past policy and programme efforts might have been successful and highlights current priorities for public health action. Decreases in behavioural, environmental, and occupational risks have largely offset the effects of population growth and ageing, in relation to trends in absolute burden. Conversely, the combination of increasing metabolic risks and population ageing will probably continue to drive the increasing trends in non-communicable diseases at the global level, which presents both a public health challenge and opportunity. We see considerable spatiotemporal heterogeneity in levels of risk exposure and risk-attributable burden. Although levels of development underlie some of this heterogeneity, O/E ratios show risks for which countries are overperforming or underperforming relative to their level of development. As such, these ratios provide a benchmarking tool to help to focus local decision making. Our findings reinforce the importance of both risk exposure monitoring and epidemiological research to assess causal connections between risks and health outcomes, and they highlight the usefulness of the GBD study in synthesising data to draw comprehensive and robust conclusions that help to inform good policy and strategic health planning

4to. Congreso Internacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación para la Sociedad. Memoria académica

Este volumen acoge la memoria académica de la Cuarta edición del Congreso Internacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación para la Sociedad, CITIS 2017, desarrollado entre el 29 de noviembre y el 1 de diciembre de 2017 y organizado por la Universidad Politécnica Salesiana (UPS) en su sede de Guayaquil. El Congreso ofreció un espacio para la presentación, difusión e intercambio de importantes investigaciones nacionales e internacionales ante la comunidad universitaria que se dio cita en el encuentro. El uso de herramientas tecnológicas para la gestión de los trabajos de investigación como la plataforma Open Conference Systems y la web de presentación del Congreso http://citis.blog.ups.edu.ec/, hicieron de CITIS 2017 un verdadero referente entre los congresos que se desarrollaron en el país. La preocupación de nuestra Universidad, de presentar espacios que ayuden a generar nuevos y mejores cambios en la dimensión humana y social de nuestro entorno, hace que se persiga en cada edición del evento la presentación de trabajos con calidad creciente en cuanto a su producción científica. Quienes estuvimos al frente de la organización, dejamos plasmado en estas memorias académicas el intenso y prolífico trabajo de los días de realización del Congreso Internacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación para la Sociedad al alcance de todos y todas

Vinculación entre los espacios de tipo hotelero y puntos de encuentro con el sector turístico a través de una identidad gráfica

“Este proyecto de investigación se basa en un estudio de casos de identidad desarrollados de forma internacional bajo la visión del diseño gráfico, el branding y los medios de difusión mismo que sirvieron de base para implementar un proyecto hotelero turístico de convenciones. Invitamos a todo lector de proyecto de investigación y diseño a analizar con detenimiento cada punto de este documento y su contenido el cual se presenta desde el marco teórico, que nos permite describir, comprender y mejorar cada parte de esta tesis, hasta lograr crear un proyecto viable para los desarrolladores del hotel, ya que de esta forma entenderán que cada aspecto antes mencionado tiene un porqué y un para qué (Capítulo I). A través de esta investigación recorreremos distintos aspectos de vital importancia, que invitan al lector a adentrarse cada vez más en su interesante contenido, ya que abordaremos aspectos de CUBA y la ciudad de Camagüey como sus aspectos culturales, geográficos, servicios y características hoteleras nacionales e internacionales, así como características del hotel que ha sido proyectado para ser centro de convenciones

Evaluación in vitro y QSAR de la actividad antifúngica de terpenoides que constituyen aceites esenciales frente a Alternaria alternata y Fusarium oxysporum

Introduction. Fungal genera Alternaria and Fusarium include human and plant pathogenic species. Several antifungals have been used for its control, but its excessive use has contributed to the development of resistant pathogens. An alternative for searching for and developing new antifungal agents is using essential oils and their main components, which have biological activities of interest in medicine and food production.Objective. Evaluate in vitro and in silico the antifungal activities of terpenoids against A. alternata and F. oxysporum.Materials and methods. Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and Minimum Fungicidal Concentration (MFC) of 27 constituent of essential oils against A. alternata and F. oxysporum were evaluated in vitro. In addition, using genetic algorithms, quantitative models of the structure-activity relationship were used to identify the structural and physicochemical properties related to the antifungal activity.Results. The evaluated compounds proved effective antifungals, with thymol being the most active, with a MIC value of 91.6 ± 28.8 µg/mL for both A. alternata and F. oxysporum. QSAR models include the octanol-water cleavage ratio as the molecular property and the phenolic group as the main functional group contributing to antifungal activity.Conclusion. Terpenoids have relevant antifungal activities to be incorporated into the study of medicinal chemistry. Incorporating in silico assays to in vitro evaluation is a valuable tool for searching, andrational design of terpene derivatives as new potential antifungal agents.Introducción: Los géneros Alternaria y Fusarium contienen especies patógenas para los humanos y los cultivos. Para su control se han utilizado diversos antifúngicos. Sin embargo, su uso desmedido ha contribuido al desarrollo de patógenos resistentes. Una alternativa para la búsqueda y desarrollo de nuevos agentes antimicóticos son los aceites esenciales y sus componentes principales, que poseen diversas actividades biológicas de interés para la medicina y la preservación de alimentos.Objetivo: Evaluar in vitro e in silico las actividades antifúngicas de terpenoides contra A. alternata y F. oxysporum.Materiales y métodos: Se evaluó in vitro la concentraciones mínimas inhibitorias (CMI) y la concentraciones mínimas fungicida (CMF) de 27 constituyentes de aceites esenciales contra A. alternata y F. oxysporum. Además, mediante algoritmos genéticos, se realizaron modelos cuantitativos de la relación estructura-actividad para determinar las propiedades estructurales y fisicoquímicas relacionadas con la actividad antifúngica.Resultados: Los compuestos evaluados demostraron ser antifúngicos activos, siendo el timol el de mayor actividad con un valor de CMI de 91.6 ± 28.8 µg/mL tanto para A. alternata como para F. oxysporum. Los modelos QSAR incluyeron la lipofilicidad y el grupo fenólico como los principales grupos funcionales que contribuyen en la actividad antifúngica.Conclusión: Los terpenoides poseen actividades antifúngicas relevantes para ser incorporados en el estudio de la química medicinal. La incorporación de ensayos in silico a la evaluación in vitro es una herramienta útil para la búsqueda y el diseño racional de derivados terpénicos como posibles nuevos agentes antifúngicos

Theoretical Characterization by Density Functional Theory (DFT) of Delphinidin 3-O-Sambubioside and Its Esters Obtained by Chemical Lipophilization

Anthocyanins are water-soluble phenolic pigments. However, their poor solubility in lipidic media limits their use. This hurdle can be overcome with the lipophilization of anthocyanins, which consists of adding an aliphatic chain to a hydrophilic compound, in order to increase its solubility in lipids. Still, the unspecific chemical lipophilization of anthocyanin-esters produces molecules with different properties from their precursors. In this work, experimental changes of anthocyanin-esters obtained by chemical lipophilization are investigated in silico aiming specifically at observing their molecular behavior and comparing it with their anthocyanin precursor. Thus, the analysis of delphinidin 3-O-sambubioside and its esters employing Density Functional Theory (DFT) methods, such as the hybrid functional B3LYP in combination with the 6-31++G(d,p) Pople basis set, provides the ground state properties, the local reactivity and the molecular orbitals (MOs) of these compounds. Excited states properties were analyzed by TD-DFT with the B3LYP functional, and the M06 and M06-2X meta-GGA functionals. Local reactivity calculations showed that the electrophilic site for all the anthocyanin-esters was the same as the one for the anthocyanin precursor, however the nucleophilic site changed depending localization of the esterification. TD-DFT results indicate that the place of esterification could change the electronic transitions and the MOs spatial distribution

Nueva ruta para la obtención de multiferroicos magnetoeléctricos monofásicos

Se describe una nueva estrategia para la síntesis de multiferroicos monofásicos mediante el diseño asistido por computadora. Hoy en día existe un gran interés científico en el logro de tales compuestos, debido a sus potenciales aplicaciones dentro de la nanotecnología. Se aborda el tema de la dificultad de obtención de materiales magnetoeléctricos monofásicos a temperatura ambiente. Se enumeran los requisitos para que un material cumpla con esta propiedad desde el punto de vista químico, estructural y eléctrico. Se presentan algunos ejemplos de cerámicos multiferroicos y sus rasgos principales. Se propone la búsqueda de magnetoeléctricos multiferroicos dentro de la familia de las cerámicas de Aurivillius. Se plantea una estrategia novedosa, basada en la modelación teórica, para el logro de compuestos con características superiores dentro de dicha familia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.54167/tecnociencia.v1i2.4

Quantitative structure-activity relationship of molecules constituent of different essential oils with antimycobacterial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium bovis.

<p>Background</p> <p>Essential oils and their constituents are commonly known for their antibacterial, antifungal and antiparasitic activity, and there are also reports on the antimycobacterial properties, but more experimental data are needed for the description of the mechanism of action or structural (and molecular) properties related to the antimicrobial activity.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Twenty-five constituents of essential oils were evaluated against Mycobacterium tuberculosisH37Rv and Mycobacterium bovis AN5 by the Alamar Blue technique. Twenty compounds were modeled using in silico techniques descriptor generation and subsequent QSAR model building using genetic algorithms. The p-cymene, menthol, carvacrol and thymol were studied at the quantum mechanical level through the mapping of HOMO and LUMO orbitals. The cytotoxic activity against macrophages (J774A) was also evaluated for these four compounds using the Alamar Blue technique.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>All compounds tested showed to be active antimicrobials against M. tuberculosis. Carvacrol and thymol were the most active terpenes, with MIC values of 2.02 and 0.78 μg/mL respectively. Cinnamaldehyde and cinnamic acid were the most active phenylpropanes with MIC values of 3.12 and 8.16 μg/mL respectively. The QSAR models included the octanol-water partition (LogP) ratio as the molecular property that contributes the most to the antimycobacterial activity and the phenolic group (nArOH) as the major structural element.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The description of the molecular properties and the structural characteristics responsible for antimycobacterial activity of the compounds tested, were used for the development of mathematical models that describe structure-activity relationship. The identification of molecular and structural descriptors provide insight into the mechanisms of action of the active molecules, and all this information can be used for the design of new structures that could be synthetized as potential new antimycobacterial agents.</p> <p> </p

Pyridyl Methylsulfinyl Benzimidazole Derivatives as Promising Agents against Giardia lamblia and Trichomonas vaginalis

Protozoan parasites, such as Giardia lamblia and Trichomonas vaginalis, cause the most prevalent infections in humans in developing countries and provoke significant morbidity and mortality in endemic countries. Despite its side-effects, metronidazole is still the drug of choice as a giardiacidal and trichomonacidal tissue-active agent. However, the emergence of metronidazole resistance and its evolved strategies of parasites to evade innate host defenses have hindered the identification and development of new therapeutic strategies against these parasites. Here, we tested five synthesized benzimidazole derivatives as possible drugs for treating giardiasis and trichomoniasis, probing the bifunctional enzyme glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase::6-phosphogluconolactone from G. lamblia (GlG6PD::6PGL) and T. vaginalis (TvG6PD::6PGL) as a drug target. The investigated benzimidazole derivatives were H-B2M1, H-B2M2, H2N-BZM6, O2N-BZM7, and O2N-BZM9. The recombinant enzymes were used in inhibition assays, and in silico computational predictions and spectroscopic studies were applied to follow the structural alteration of the enzymes and identify the possible mechanism of inhibition. We identified two potent benzimidazole compounds (O2N-BZM7 and O2N-BZM9), which are capable of inhibiting both protozoan G6PD::6PGL enzymes and in vitro assays with these parasites, showing that these compounds also affect their viability. These results demonstrate that other therapeutic targets of the compounds are the enzymes GlG6PD::6PGL and TvG6PD::6PGL, which contribute to their antiparasitic effect and their possible use in antigiardial and trichomonacidal therapies

Multicentric study of cervical cancer screening with human papillomavirus testing and assessment of triage methods in Latin America: the ESTAMPA screening study protocol.

IntroductionHuman papillomavirus (HPV) testing is replacing cytology in primary screening. Its limited specificity demands using a second (triage) test to better identify women at high-risk of cervical disease. Cytology represents the immediate triage but its low sensitivity might hamper HPV testing sensitivity, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), where cytology performance has been suboptimal. The ESTAMPA (EStudio multicéntrico de TAMizaje y triaje de cáncer de cuello uterino con pruebas del virus del PApiloma humano; Spanish acronym) study will: (1) evaluate the performance of different triage techniques to detect cervical precancer and (2) inform on how to implement HPV-based screening programmes in LMIC.Methods and analysisWomen aged 30-64 years are screened with HPV testing and Pap across 12 study centres in Latin America. Screened positives have colposcopy with biopsy and treatment of lesions. Women with no evident disease are recalled 18 months later for another HPV test; those HPV-positive undergo colposcopy with biopsy and treatment as needed. Biological specimens are collected in different visits for triage testing, which is not used for clinical management. The study outcome is histological high-grade squamous intraepithelial or worse lesions (HSIL+) under the lower anogenital squamous terminology. About 50 000 women will be screened and 500 HSIL+ cases detected (at initial and 18 months screening). Performance measures (sensitivity, specificity and predictive values) of triage techniques to detect HSIL+ will be estimated and compared with adjustment by age and study centre.Ethics and disseminationThe study protocol has been approved by the Ethics Committee of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), of the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) and by those in each participating centre. A Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) has been established to monitor progress of the study, assure participant safety, advice on scientific conduct and analysis and suggest protocol improvements. Study findings will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at scientific meetings.Trial registration numberNCT01881659