Universidad San Francisco de Quito

To evaluate the effect of different self-etching primer (Monobond Etch & Prime-MEP) application protocols and aging on micro shear bond strength (µSBS) and surface etching patterns of zirconia-reinforced lithium silicate (ZLS) and lithium disilicate (LD) ceramics. Twenty-eight blocks of Vita Suprinity (VS), Celtra Duo (CD), and IPS e.max CAD (EM) were cut into two sections each (n = 56 specimens per ceramic) and divided into groups: 5% hydrofluoric acid with silane (HF + S, control), and MEP scrubbing for 20, 40, and 60 s, with a 40-s reaction time (n = 14 per condition; n = 10 for µSBS and n = 4 for scanning electron microscopy [SEM]). For µSBS, resin cement was applied and light-cured; half of the resin cylinders were stored for 24 h, while the other half underwent thermocycling (TC) (10,000 cycles; dwell time of 30 s between 5°C and 55°C) before testing. Data were analyzed using three-way repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Bonferroni post hoc tests (α = 0.05). The HF + S group showed higher µSBS for EM than VS and CD (p < 0.001). MEP100 achieved comparable µSBS with HF + S for CD (p < 0.001) and improved µSBS for VS and EM (p = 0.128). TC decreased the µSBS values in most groups. The only exception was observed when the VS and CD surfaces were treated with MEP100, and when the CD surface was treated with MEP80. Adhesive fractures were predominantly seen. SEM revealed MEP100 produced etching patterns like HF, with lithium metasilicate and orthophosphate crystals present. Prolonged MEP application (MEP100) produced etching patterns and µSBS values comparable to HF + S, making it a viable surface treatment alternative for ZLS and LD ceramics.

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have garnered attention due to their antimicrobial properties and applications in nanomaterials. The objective of this study is to compare the antimicrobial activities of AgNPs synthesized using green and traditional methods with silver ions (Ag+). The characterization of AgNPs was conducted through the utilization of UV-Vis spectroscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). AgNPs presented quasi-spherical nature and well-dispersed characteristics, with a mean diameter around 10nm and 25nm for the traditional and green methods respectively. DPV measurements showed a decline of the area under the curve from 1.79 μA mm-2 to 0.7679 μA mm-2, indicating limited colloidal stability of green AgNPs. In contrast, traditional AgNPs demonstrated stability over time, maintaining an area under the curve of around 31 μA mm-2 over a 30-day period. The antimicrobial efficacy against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli was assessed via the broth dilution method. The results indicated that there were similar minimum inhibitory concentrations and minimal bactericidal concentrations (MIC and MBC) for both nanoparticle types and Ag+ against S. aureus (≈ 1 mM). While differences were detected against E. coli: traditional AgNPs evidenced lower MIC and MBC values on day 30 (≈ 0.5 mM) and Ag+ evidenced MIC and MBC values of 0.5 and 0.75 mM on both days 1 and 30. Green AgNPs exhibited heightened antimicrobial activity over time, as evidenced by the planktonic growth of S. aureus and E. coli in days 1 and 30. This observation is concomitant with an increase in Ag⁺ release evidenced by DPV, underscoring the key role of silver ions in mediating antibacterial effects. This research contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of how synthesis method, nanoparticle stability, silver ion release, and testing methodology influence the antimicrobial performance of AgNPs, offering insights critical for their practical application.

Recurrent anterior shoulder instability with subcritical glenoid bone loss poses a treatment dilemma. Arthroscopic Bankart repair with additional remplissage and the open Latarjet procedure are commonly used, but their real-world economic impact in Latin America is poorly defined. To compare midterm clinical outcomes and real-world costs between the Latarjet procedure and arthroscopic Bankart repair with additional remplissage in Ecuadorian patients with subcritical glenoid bone loss, representing a surgical decision "gray zone" rather than prognostically equivalent populations. A retrospective cohort of 40 patients (20 per group) with ≥48 months of follow-up was analyzed. Functional outcomes (Constant, Rowe, SANE) and direct and indirect costs were assessed and standardized to 2022 USD. Functional outcomes were comparable, with no recurrent dislocations observed. Total costs were significantly lower for the Latarjet procedure (USD 4625 vs. USD 10,092), mainly due to implant-related expenses. When clinical outcomes are comparable, the Latarjet procedure was associated with lower overall costs, supporting a value-based surgical approach tailored to local healthcare settings. IV - Retrospective Comparative Study.

Abstract Linear elastic finite element analyses (LEFEAs) have become more frequent in the design and assessment of reinforced concrete slabs under concentrated loads, as they enable low‐cost evaluation of the distribution of shear forces over critical sections. However, few publications have addressed the benefits of combining LEFEA with mechanical‐based models to predict the most critical shear failure mechanism and the corresponding shear and punching capacities. Notably, most previous studies employed a similar approach for a specific boundary condition or evaluated only the one‐way shear capacity of slabs under concentrated loads near line supports. This study investigates the accuracy of the expressions based on the critical shear crack theory (CSCT) combined with LEFEA to assess the shear and punching capacity of one‐way slabs under concentrated loads. Since such slabs may develop different failure mechanisms, this study also evaluates the level of accuracy to predict the governing shear failure mechanism identified in the tests, a topic rarely discussed until now. For this purpose, a dataset of 112 experiments was selected, covering different boundary conditions and loading arrangements. LEFEA was used to evaluate the uneven distribution of shear forces and bending moments on the critical shear regions. Some outputs from LEFEA were used in the analytical calculations with the CSCT‐based expressions to predict the shear and punching capacity of such tests. The use of LEFEA also aided in understanding the change of shear failure mechanisms according to parameters such as the member width to load size ratio b slab / l load and the shear slenderness a v / d l . The combination of the CSCT expressions with the LEFEA allows for predicting the governing shear failure mechanism and the shear capacity of the slabs for most tests accurately at a low computation cost. When the governing failure mechanism was not correctly identified, a conservative estimate of the shear capacity was provided, which is desirable in such cases.

Biotic homogenization and differentiation are two possible outcomes of tropical forest fragmentation with ramifications for biodiversity conservation. The extent of either outcome may vary depending on spatial scale and heterogeneity of climate and habitats, but these relationships remain poorly understood for taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic metrics of diversity. Our goal was to determine the extent to which fragmentation is associated with biotic homogenization and/or differentiation across multiple levels of diversity at landscape versus regional scales. We examined diversity and similarity of understory bird communities in northwestern Ecuador, an ecoregion characterized by climatic variation, habitat loss and fragmentation, and high levels of biodiversity and endemism. At the landscape level, fragmentation was associated with biotic differentiation of understory bird communities between formerly contiguous intact and fragmented humid forests. At the regional scale, we found taxonomic homogenization across climate zones and forest types: the bird community in the fragmented humid landscape was as similar to the nearby intact humid forest community (mean distance = 3.1 km) as it was to that of drier, seasonal intact forest 60 km away. Patterns of landscape-level differentiation and regional homogenization were present but substantially less pronounced for functional and phylogenetic diversity, indicating functional and phylogenetic redundancy despite turnover and abundance shifts among dominant species. Our results suggest fragmentation of tropical forest (associated with homogenization between humid and drier/seasonal forest) may have similar impacts on communities as climate drying, and while many species may be lost, fragmented communities may retain some functional and evolutionary resilience against environmental stressors.

Growth is a dynamic process and a mirror of health. Documenting child and adolescent growth includes careful, and if possible, longitudinal recordings of height, weight, and indicators of the state of maturity. Measurements should be translated into centiles or z-scores. Changes in height z-scores are related to the progress in maturation, and sensitive to growth arrests and catch-up growth. Heritability studies and genome-wide association studies have traditionally been applied to assess the intrinsic regulators of growth. Nutritional, environmental and socio-economic factors are usually considered the major extrinsic regulators of growth. Human growth is not a target seeking process, but a process that unfolds within a frame shaped and regulated primarily by the social community of family, peers, and neighbors. Community effects on height protect against being "too tall" or "too short" within a given social group. In the healthy individual, height is a social signal which is strongly conserved in evolution. Height refers to social status among members of the same group, and is strategically regulated through neuroendocrine signals. Strategic adjustments of growth are part of social interactions. Being taller signals supremacy and dominance, being shorter signals inferiority. Global growth charts are insufficient to reflect the social and historic plasticity of human growth, and can lead to misclassification of "normal" and "abnormal" growth within a given population.

Total thyroidectomy is the established surgical standard for hereditary and sporadic medullary thyroid cancer (sMTC). However, for unilateral sporadic tumors, its benefit over lobectomy remains uncertain. To compare oncologic outcomes between total thyroidectomy and lobectomy in patients with sMTC. MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched from inception to December 2025 to identify comparative studies on patients with sMTC who underwent total thyroidectomy or lobectomy. Reviewers working independently and in duplicate screened titles, abstracts, and full-text articles for eligibility using standardized instructions. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (MOOSE) guidelines were used for reporting. Primary outcomes were mortality, overall survival, structural recurrence, biochemical cure, and distant metastasis development. The secondary outcome was postoperative complications. Effect measures were calculated as odds ratios (ORs) or relative risks (RRs) with 95% CIs using a random-effects model. The risk of bias was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Nine retrospective studies met inclusion criteria and comprised 1371 patients (295 of 397 patients [74.3%] with documented sex were female, and median age ranged from 45.0 to 58.2 years). A total of 531 patients (38.7%) underwent lobectomy and 840 (61.3%) underwent total thyroidectomy. Of 341 tumors, 280 (82.1%) lacked extrathyroidal extension, 284 of 401 tumors (70.8%) measured smaller than 2 cm (70.8%), and 197 of 343 tumors (57.4%) were node negative; central neck dissection was performed in 445 of 492 patients (90.4%). Multifocal disease was uncommon and reported in 30 of 330 patients (9.1%). Mortality did not differ at 5 years (RR, 0.30; 95% CI, 0.07-1.35) or beyond (RR, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.40-2.47). Overall survival at 5 years was similar (RR, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.94-1.11). Total thyroidectomy was not associated with lower structural recurrence rates at 5 years (OR, 0.45; 95% CI, 0.14-1.49), but it was associated beyond 5 years (OR, 7.26; 95% CI, 1.07-49.21). No differences were observed for biochemical cure at 5 years (OR, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.47-1.56) or beyond 5 years (OR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.26-2.89). Distant metastasis development did not differ at 5 years (OR, 1.64; 95% CI, 0.09-31.52). Sensitivity analyses revealed no differences across any outcomes. Postoperative complications were more common in total thyroidectomy. Risk of bias was high in 4 studies, moderate in 4, and low in 1. Findings in this systematic review and meta-analysis, based on data from retrospective studies, suggest that thyroid lobectomy may be associated with oncologic outcomes comparable to total thyroidectomy in selected patients with sMTC.

Selective oestrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) are a standard treatment for breast cancer and osteoporosis. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that is a serious public health concern. This study aimed to identify potential pharmacovigilance signals related to dementia and AD for SERMs in menopausal and postmenopausal women. To investigate this possible association, a disproportionality analysis was performed in VigiBase, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) global database of individual case safety reports (ICSRs). Disproportionality was quantified using the reporting odds ratio (ROR). We found risk of reporting dementia for tamoxifen [ROR = 1.74 (1.23–2.45)] and raloxifene [ROR = 1.63 (1.05–2.53)] and AD for raloxifene [ROR = 5.12 (3.26–8.05)]. No statistically significant association was detected for fulvestrant and bazedoxifene with dementia or AD. Most of the reports were severe and affected women over the age of 75. The latency of the reactions was predominantly long, suggesting that dementia is a late-onset reaction. The duration of treatment varied from a few months to more than three years, which may indicate that long-term exposure to SERMs is not necessary to develop dementia associated with these drugs. Signals of disproportionate reporting have been observed between the incidence of dementia and AD with SERMs. There are conflicting results from the different studies that have been conducted on the relationship between these drugs and AD. More research is needed to find out what factors determine the risk of cognitive impairment associated with SERMs.

Killer whales (Orcinus orca) are cosmopolitan apex predators that interact with numerous species, including sharks, skates, and rays (subclass Elasmobranchii). Interactions between killer whales and elasmobranchs have garnered attention from the scientific community, but the dynamics of these events are poorly understood, as interactions are often challenging to observe. In this study, we collated imagery of interactions between killer whales and elasmobranchs to create the first image-based repository of interspecific interactions between marine predators. A total of 320 photos and videos from 82 unique interactions were collected from 12 countries. A minimum of 18 elasmobranch species across 16 genera were identified from the imagery. Furthermore, 10 different interaction types were documented, encompassing both predatory and non-predatory behavior. This dataset can provide insight into various research topics, including killer whale predation techniques, elasmobranch behavior, and the identification of individual killer whales that specialize in elasmobranch prey. As a new and openly accessible resource, this dataset provides the foundation to support future ecological and behavioral research on killer whale and elasmobranch interactions.