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Introduction The potential of regenerative medicine to improve human health has led to the rapid expansion of stem cell clinics throughout the world with varying levels of regulation and oversight. This has led to a market ripe for stem cell tourism, with Tijuana, Mexico, as a major destination. In this study, we characterize the online marketing, intervention details, pricing of services, and assess potential safety risks through web surveillance of regenerative medicine clinics marketing services in Tijuana. Methods We conducted structured online search queries from March to April 2019 using 296 search terms in English and Spanish on two search engines (Google and Bing) to identify websites engaged in direct-to-consumer advertising of regenerative medicine services. We performed content analysis to characterize three categories of interest: online presence, tokens of scientific legitimacy, and intervention details. Results Our structured online searches resulted in 110 unique websites located in Tijuana corresponding to 76 confirmed locations. These clinics’ online presence consisted of direct-to-consumer advertising mainly through a dedicated website (94.5%) or Facebook page (65.5%). The vast majority of these websites (99.1%) did not mention any affiliation to an academic institutions or other overt tokens of scientific legitimacy. Most clinics claimed autologous tissue was the source of treatments (67.3%) and generally did not specify route of administration. Additionally, of the Tijuana clinics identified, 13 claimed licensing, though only 1 matched with available licensing information. Conclusions Regenerative medicine clinics in Tijuana have a significant online presence using direct-to-consumer advertising to attract stem-cell tourism clientele in a bustling border region between Mexico and the USA. This study adds to existing literature evidencing the unregulated nature of online stem cell offerings and provides further evidence of the need for regulatory harmonization, particularly to address stem cell services being offered online across borders.

Con enfoque en la movilidad social como posible indicador de bienestar para los ocupantes de la vivienda de interés social, en este trabajo registramos resultados de un estudio que revisa las condiciones de movilidad social en Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, durante el periodo 2002- 2010, como consecuencia de la adquisición de vivienda nueva. Se toma en cuenta este periodo porque coincide con el de aplicación de la política nacional de vivienda impulsada en México durante los mismos años. Los resultados de este análisis reflejan los efectos de la política, diseñada en primer término para afrontar el déficit de vivienda que se ha identificado en México. Para el análisis utilizamos la variable del cambio de vivienda como indicador de la movilidad social, en el supuesto de que mudarse a una casa nueva debería significar una mejora en la calidad de vida de una familia. Utilizando este y otros supuestos, analizamos si la movilidad social presenta componentes de ese cambio en la vida de los habitantes, al aprovechar las múltiples ofertas del mercado inmobiliario en Ciudad Juárez.

Homeownership has become a crucial element in constructing and confirming social position in western societies. Housing can be an effective social mobility strategy. In the societies of developing countries, however, the potentially positive effects of homeownership might be hindered by financial conditions and quality of housing to which large population sectors can have access. Taking into account the main implications of housing access for social welfare and the unwanted effects produced by national housing policy in Mexico, due to the distortions of the housing and land markets, is necessary to assess if such a policy has produced the desired positive effects in terms of social mobility and if those are being perceived so by the beneficiary population. Thus, the objective of this study is to assess the perception of social mobility derived from the access to social housing in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua from 2002 to 2010. For this purpose, we derive and represent spatially three indices of households social mobility perception related to dwelling quality, complex location and urban environment, and housing ownership advantages of their current housing in comparison with their previous or parents´ homes. In general, we found that households have a perception of social descent derived from the quality of their new dwelling units; an even more pronounced perception of social descent with respect to the complex location and urban environment conditions; and a regular perception of social ascent with regards to the housing ownership advantages. These results indicate that the supposedly positive social effects of the national housing policy in Ciudad Juárez have not been fully deployed or at least perceived by the intended beneficiaries. This requires a review of the basic definitions of the policy and to emphasize the social character of housing provision in order to promote the conditions for ascending social mobility.

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This work proposes a portable, handheld electronic device, which measures the cleanliness in fiber optic connectors via digital image processing and artificial neural networks. Its purpose is to reduce the evaluation subjectivity in visual inspection done by human experts. Although devices with this purpose already exist, they tend to be cost-prohibitive and do not take advantage of neither image processing nor artificial intelligence to improve their results. The device consists of an optical microscope for fiber optic connector analysis, a digital camera adapter, a reduced-board computer, an image processing algorithm, a neural network algorithm and an LCD screen for equipment operation and results visualization. The image processing algorithm applies grayscale histogram equalization, Gaussian filtering, Canny filtering, Hough transform, region of interest segmentation and obtaining radiometric descriptors as inputs to the neural network. Validation consisted of comparing the results by the proposed device with those obtained by agreeing human experts via visual inspection. Results yield an average Cohen's Kappa of 0.926, which implies a very satisfactory performance by the proposed device.

Objective: Phantoms that mimic healthy or diseased organ properties can complement animal models for surgical planning, training, and medical device development. If urodynamic studies rely on pressure-volume curves to assess lower urinary tract symptoms, there is an unsatisfied need for a bladder phantom that accurately mimics the bladder stretching capabilities and compliant behaviour during physiological filling. 
Approach: We demonstrate the suitability of water-soluble 3D-printed moulds as a versatile method to fabricate accurate phantoms with anatomical structures reconstructed from medical images. We report a phantom fabricated with silicone rubber. A wire net limits the silicone expansion to model the cystometric capacity. A mathematical model describes the pressure increase due to passive hyperelastic properties. 
Main results: The phantom reproduces the bladder’s mechanical properties during filling. The pressure-volume curve measured on the phantom is typical of cystometric studies, with a compliance of 25.2 ± 1 mL cmH_2O^(-1). The root-mean-square error between the theoretical model and experimental data is 2.7 cmH_2O. The compliance, bladder wall thickness, cystometric capacity and pressure near the cystometric capacity of the phantom can be tuned to mimic various pathologies or human variability. 
Significance: The manufacturing method is suitable for fabricating bladder and other soft and hollow organ phantoms. The mathematical model provides a method to determine design parameters to model healthy or diseased bladders. Soft hollow organ phantoms can be used to complement animal experimentations for developing and validating medical devices aiming to be anchored on these organs or monitor their activity through pressure and strain measurement.