This study, conducted in Talca, Chile, a year and a half after a massive natural disaster, focused on creative thinking and art production as manifestations of resilience. Purposive sampling was used to recruit participants through community leaders and programs. Ten survivors whose houses were damaged or destroyed during the 2010 earthquake were willing to participate in semi-structured interviews that included verbal narratives and an art response. Systematic analysis illuminated conscious and latent psychological content. Three overarching themes were identified as central to survivors' recovery process and were then contrasted with data from New Orleans after hurricane Katrina, exploring universality and contextual factors in post disasters' creativity and resilience. Specifically, in Talca, the creation of craft for sale, instead of art making for emotional expression in New Orleans, was observed; idealism and future-oriented thinking were heightened in Talca, while humor and spirituality seemed more pronounced in New Orleans; and connections to natural surroundings in Talca were juxtaposed with New Orleans' residents' strong neighborhood affiliations and cultural festivities.

CYP2D6 is an important cytochrome P450 enzyme that plays an important role in the metabolism of about 25% of currently prescribed drugs. The presence of polymorphisms in the CYP2D6 gene may modulate enzyme level and activity, thereby affecting individual responses to pharmacological treatments. The most prevalent diseases in the admixed population from Venezuela are cardiovascular and cancer, whereas viral, bacterial and parasitic diseases, particularly malaria, are prevalent in Amerindian populations; in the treatment of these diseases, several drugs that are metabolized by CYP2D6 are used. In this work, we reviewed the data on CYP2D6 variability and predicted metabolizer phenotypes, in healthy volunteers of two admixed and five Amerindian populations from Venezuela. The Venezuelan population is very heterogeneous as a result of the genetic admixture of three major ethnical components: Europeans, Africans and Amerindians. There are noticeable inter-regional and inter-population differences in the process of mixing of this population. Hitherto, there are few published studies in Venezuela on CYP2D6; therefore, it is necessary to increase research in this regard, in particular to develop studies with a larger sample size. There is a considerable amount of work remaining before CYP2D6 is integrated into clinical practice in Venezuela.

Seven polymorphic sites in the β-globin gene cluster were analyzed on a sample of 96 chromosomes of Venezuelan sickle cell patients from the State of Aragua. The Benin haplotype was predominant with a frequency of 0.479, followed by the Bantu haplotype (0.406); a minority of cases with other haplotypes was also identified: atypical Bantu A2 (0.042), Senegal (0.031), atypical Bantu A7 (0.021) and Saudi Arabia/Indian (0.021) haplotypes; however, the Cameroon haplotype was not identified in this study. Our results are in agreement with the historical records that establish Sudanese and Bantu origins for the African slaves brought into Venezuela.

No abstract

El objetivo del estudio fue determinar la frecuencia de las variantes del gen CYP2D6: *4, *6 y *10 y predecir el fenotipo metabolizador en una muestra de 145 individuos no consanguíneos, aparentemente sanos, residentes del estado Aragua, Venezuela. Los genotipos fueron determinados mediante ensayos de reacción en cadena de la polimerasa seguidos de digestión con endonucleasas de restricción. La predicción del fenotipo metabolizador se realizó con base al sistema Activity score. Las frecuencias de CYP2D6 *4, *6 y *10 fueron de 14,5%, 0,3% y 1%, respectivamente; un porcentaje significativo de individuos fueron categorizados como metabolizador rápido heterocigoto/metabolizador intermedio (23,5%) y metabolizador lento (4,1%). Esta información tiene impacto clínico potencial, porque CYP2D6 interviene en el metabolismo de fármacos de prescripción frecuente como: carvedilol, captopril, cloroquina, codeína, fluoxetina, fluvastatina, haloperidol, idarrubicina, indinavir, imatinib, loperamida, nifedipina, ondansetrón y tamoxifeno.

The effect of edeine on the translation of mRNA or poly(U)-directed polyphenylalanine synthesis has been studied in an edeine-resistant mutant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae under three different experimental conditions : in the whole lysate system, in a micrococcal-nuclease-treated lysate, and in a high-salt-treated lysate. The results indicate that translation of messenger is more resistant to edeine in the whole lysate than in the depleted lysates; these observations suggest that resistance to edeine is associated with the presence of endogenous mRNA.It is shown that 40s mutant subunits have a higher affinity for polysomal RNA than 40s wild-type subunits. Since the mRNA binding is inhibited by 7-methylguanosine 5'-monophosphate, the interaction between polysomal RNA and 40s ribosomes is specific for mRNA.The data demonstrate that in each of the depleted lysates, with edeine initially present, the formation of the 80s initiation complex is inhibited. However, edeine inhibition of t3H]methionine binding to 80s ribosomes is overcome completely in the mutant extract by preincubation of this lysate with polysomal RNA.The results indicate that the mutant may carry a specific change in a messenger-binding factor or in a ribosomal protein thereby permitting an increased stability of the messenger-ribosome complex which consequently results in an increased resistance of the mutant lysate to edeine.

No abstract

A safe and effective dengue vaccine is not ready yet; therefore, dengue prevention is necessary to control the spread of this infection. Lowering dengue disease depends on controlling mosquitoes by reducing Aedes habitats counting with community participation. We studied community participation on habitat reduction for immature stages of Aedes aegypti in two urban communities of the Aragua State from May 2009 to November 2018. The sample consisted of 100 houses of one community and 400 houses of the other. Fisher´s exact test was used to compare the proportions of positive houses or containers through the study period. House index, container index, and Breteau Index were calculated. The data were analyzed using Minitab 20.4 statistical software. The research team initiated the approach to the communities by contacting some of their natural leaders in January 2009.  The methodological strategies included workshops, lectures, seminars, document and video reviews, practices, discussions, and knowledge sharing within and with the community. After six months of the intervention, a significant reduction in the Aedes larval indices was found in both communities and lasted for the entire study period. The intervention increased public consciousness and participation in dengue vector control measures in residential areas, and this behavior change was sustainable over time.