It is valuable to extend genotyping studies of Helicobacter pylori to strains from indigenous communities across the world to better define adaption, evolution, and associated diseases. We aimed to genetically characterize both human individuals and their infecting H. pylori from indigenous communities of Mexico, and to compare them with those from other human groups. We studied individuals from three indigenous groups, Tarahumaras from the North, Huichols from the West and Nahuas from the center of Mexico. Volunteers were sampled at their community site, DNA was isolated from white blood cells and mtDNA, Y-chromosome, and STR alleles were studied. H. pylori was cultured from gastric juice, and DNA extracted for genotyping of virulence and housekeeping genes. We found Amerindian mtDNA haplogroups (A, B, C, and D), Y-chromosome DYS19T, and Amerindian STRs alleles frequent in the three groups, confirming Amerindian ancestry in these Mexican groups. Concerning H.pylori cagA phylogenetic analyses, although most isolates were of the Western type, a new Amerindian cluster neither Western nor Asian, was formed by some indigenous Mexican, Colombian, Peruvian and Venezuelan isolates. Similarly, vacA phylogenetic analyses showed the existence of a novel Amerindian type in isolates from Alaska, Mexico and Colombia. With hspA strains from Mexico and other American groups clustered within the three major groups, Asian, African or European. Genotyping of housekeeping genes confirmed that Mexican strains formed a novel Asian-related Amerindian group together with strains from remote Amazon Aborigines. This study shows that Mexican indigenous people with Amerindian markers are colonized with H. pylori showing admixture of Asian, European and African strains in genes known to interact with the gastric mucosa. We present evidence of novel Amerindian cagA and vacA alleles in indigenous groups of North and South America.

In this descriptive study we investigated the genetic structure of 513 Mexican indigenous subjects grouped in 14 populations (Mixteca-Alta, Mixteca-Baja, Otomi, Purépecha, Tzeltal, Tarahumara, Huichol, Nahua-Atocpan, Nahua-Xochimilco, Nahua-Zitlala, Nahua-Chilacachapa, Nahua-Ixhuatlancillo, Nahua-Necoxtla, and Nahua-Coyolillo) based on mtDNA haplogroups. These communities are geographically and culturally isolated; parents and grandparents were born in the community. Our data show that 98.6% of the mtDNA was distributed in haplogroups A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2, D1, and D2. Haplotype X6 was present in the Tarahumara (1/53) and Huichol (3/15), and haplotype L was present in the Nahua-Coyolillo (3/38). The first two principal components accounted for 95.9% of the total variation in the sample. The mtDNA haplogroup frequencies in the Purépecha and Zitlala were intermediate to cluster 1 (Otomi, Nahua-Ixhuatlancillo, Nahua-Xochimilco, Mixteca-Baja, and Tzeltal) and cluster 2 (Nahua-Necoxtla, Nahua-Atocpan, and Nahua-Chilacachapa). The Huichol, Tarahumara, Mixteca-Alta, and Nahua-Coyolillo were separated from the rest of the populations. According to these findings, the distribution of mtDNA haplogroups found in Mexican indigenous groups is similar to other Amerindian haplogroups, except for the African haplogroup found in one population.

In Honduras, 54 percent of deliveries are assisted by medical staff and 39 percent of deliveries take place at Ministry of Health of Honduras (MOH) health centers or hospitals. Although the unmet need for family planning services is relatively high (11% of women) and family planning helps protect mothers' and children's health, hospitals in Honduras rarely offer postpartum/postabortion contraceptive services.Between 1996 and 1999, the Ministry of Health and the Population Council's INOPAL III Project tested the acceptability of postpartum/postabortion contraception at the Escuela Hospital, the largest in the country. The project showed that more than 30 percent of the women seen for a delivery or a complication due to abortion, were interested in adopting a contraceptive method prior to discharge from the hospital. Given the success of the project, the MOH asked the Population Council's FRONTIERS Program for technical and financial support to extend those services to five additional hospitals in the country.As a first step, a baseline situational analysis study was carried out in seven hospitals in order to detect needs and identify the hospitals in which postpartum/postabortion contraceptive services could be most easily introduced or strengthened. In the five hospitals selected, the results of the diagnostic study were presented, staff were trained, equipment, clinical and educational materials were provided, surveys were conducted, and quarterly meetings were held to analyze achievements and plan new activities.The baseline diagnosis showed that a great demand existed for contraceptive methods before discharge from the hospital. Only 35 percent of the women who had given birth had planned the pregnancy, and close to one-half said they would have preferred to wait longer or not become pregnant. Seventeen percent were using a method of contraception when they became pregnant. Only 44 percent wished to become pregnant in the future, and 92 percent of these women wanted to space their next pregnancy for more than two years. Important improvements were found for the four indicators used to evaluate the project: 1) the proportion of women who received information about contraceptive methods during their hospital stay increased from 43 percent to 87 percent; 2) the proportion of women who were offered a contraceptive method increased from 42 percent to 82 percent; 3) the proportion of women who received a contraceptive method during their stay increased from 10 percent to 33 percent; and finally, 4) the proportion of women who had delivered and wanted a method before leaving the hospital but did not receive it decreased from 41 percent to 7 percent. Among the women who had been treated for an abortion (close to 10% of those who had delivered), the results were even better: information increased from 17 percent to 85 percent; offering of methods increased in the same proportion; acceptance of methods increased from 13 percent to 54 percent; and unmet need decreased from 48 percent to 21 percent. In both cases, the

El estudio tuvo como objetivo establecer las dimensiones, calcular la confiabilidad y estandarizar el cuestionario de habilidades gerenciales en el sector turismo. Se seleccionaron directivos vinculados a la actividad turística predominando la participación del género masculino (54%), las edades oscilaron entre 37 a 65 años. El cuestionario se sometió a la Prueba de KMO (.875) y Barlett (p=.000), en la cuarta aplicación se logró obtener el valor aceptable; la prueba de Alfa de Cronbach (α=.968) y Dos mitades de Guttman (G=.918) demostraron que el cuestionario es confiable. Finalmente, el instrumento quedó conformado por 31 ítems, las dimensiones son: a) habilidades técnicas se mide a través de los indicadores software, idioma, negociación y decisiones; b) habilidades de trato personal, integrada por los indicadores autocontrol, autoconfianza, equilibrio emocional y empatía; c) habilidades conceptuales compuesta por el desarrollo de nuevos conceptos y resolución de problemas.

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