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Studies of humans provide evidence that dark chocolate is beneficial for cardiovascular health, particularly due to the antioxidant and vasorelaxant properties of polyphenols. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) delivered a health claim indicating that "cocoa flavan-3-ols help maintain the elasticity of blood vessels, contributing to normal blood flow". To obtain this claim, 200 mg of cocoa flavan-3-ols, equivalent to 10 g of dark chocolate, should be consumed daily. In addition to determining total antioxidant capacity (TAC) by four different methods, we examined if thirteen commercial dark chocolates of different origins (Ecuador, Panama, India, Guatemala, Mexico, Tanzania; % cocoa from 67 to 100%), handcrafted by a Belgian master chocolatier or produced on a large scale by a chocolate manufacturer both according to the more ethical bean-to-bar concept, may make this claim based on their flavan-3-ols content and ex vivo vasorelaxant activity. Among all chocolates tested, data showed that the two handcrafted Ecuadorian chocolates (70 and 100% cocoa) made with Arriba Nacional beans exhibited the highest TAC and total flavan-3-ols content, as well as the best ex vivo vasorelaxant effects. This contrasts with those produced by a chocolate manufacturer in Ecuador using the same beans. Nevertheless, their amount in total flavan-3-ols only reached, respectively 102.3 and 90.0 mg per 10 g raw material, thus none of the analyzed chocolates would meet the EFSA criteria for a cardiovascular health claim.

Emerging antibiotic-resistant Vibrio spp. strains have caused recurrent outbreaks, resulting in substantial losses in shrimp farming and aquaculture production. This ongoing crisis calls for innovative strategies to mitigate its impact, particularly in resource-limited countries that depend heavily on the shrimp industry. In this context, biodiscovery initiatives focused on snake venom toxins with antimicrobial properties represent a promising alternative. Accordingly, we investigated the anti-Vibrio activity of a catalytically inactive phospholipase A₂ (Lys49 PLA₂) purified from the venom of Bothrops asper, a venomous snake commonly found in Ecuador. This novel bioactive biomacromolecule, termed BaETx, was isolated from a venom pool using a one-step purification approach. Mass spectrometry analysis revealed a molecular mass of 13.6 kDa, consistent with its electrophoretic mobility in one-dimensional SDS-PAGE. Structurally, BaETx exhibits high similarity to the amino acid sequences of PLA₂s previously reported from B. asper venoms in other geographical regions. Bioactivity screening demonstrated that BaETx significantly inhibited the in vitro growth of three Gram-negative Vibrio spp. pathogens. Further mechanistic insights obtained through electron and fluorescence microscopy suggest a membrane-damaging actitvity. However, BaETx also significantly reduced shrimp hemocyte viability, indicating non-selective action and limiting its direct application in aquaculture. In addition, computational sequence analysis identified cationic antimicrobial fragments that warrant further investigation. Overall, this study reports the first purification and characterization of an antimicrobial protein from Ecuadorian snake venom, highlighting its potential as a molecular template for the development of shorter and more selective synthetic peptides targeting white shrimp pathogens.

Stunting remains a major development challenge in many countries, including Ecuador. In this paper, I examine whether agrarian reform policies implemented during the 1960s and 1970s help explain long-run patterns of child stunting. The Ecuadorian reform relied on two distinct land allocation strategies: Public land transfers (PLT), designed to promote frontier settlement, and expropriation, aimed at redistributing land from large estates. Combining household survey data with historical maps and administrative records, I estimate the long-run relationship between these policies and child stunting by exploiting historical variation in land allocation across parishes. I find that areas exposed to PLT exhibit significantly lower rates of child stunting, while expropriation shows no robust association. Across specifications, PLT exposure is associated with stunting rates that are 3-17 percent lower relative to the mean. Cohort evidence further indicates that the relationship is stronger for mothers plausibly exposed to PLT during early childhood. Consistent with this pattern, mothers from more exposed PLT cohorts attained higher levels of education, suggesting that maternal human capital may be one channel linking frontier settlement policies to lower child stunting.

The increasing resistance of Candida albicans to conventional antifungal agents has intensified the search for alternative therapies based on natural metabolites. This study aimed to evaluate the phytochemical profile and antifungal activity of a phytopharmaceutical formulation composed of essential oils from Cymbopogon citratus (lemongrass), Coriandrum sativum (coriander), and Origanum vulgare (oregano), obtained by steam distillation from plants collected in the southern region of Ecuador. The chemical composition was characterized by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). A total of 40 compounds were identified, with carvacrol (30.01%), α-citral (12.57%), β-citral (9.55%), linalool (8.47%), (E)-2-decenal (8.38%), and geraniol (2.81%) as the major constituents. Antifungal activity was assessed using the agar diffusion method against C. albicans ATCC 90028, comparing formulations at 2.5%, 5%, 10%, and 25%. The ternary formulation at 10% in an alcoholic vehicle exhibited the largest inhibition zone (77.89 ± 2.48 mm), significantly surpassing both positive controls, including 0.12% chlorhexidine gluconate (35.13 ± 0.01 mm) and fluconazole (21.63 ± 6.29 mm). The aqueous formulation also demonstrated considerable antifungal activity, although lower than the alcoholic system. The novel phytopharmaceutical formulation demonstrated notable antifungal activity and may represent a promising natural alternative for oral candidiasis management. Nevertheless, further studies incorporating complementary methodologies, such as minimum inhibitory and fungicidal concentration (MIC/MFC) assays, as well as in vivo and biocompatibility evaluations, would contribute to strengthening the translational potential and clinical applicability of these findings.

The use of generative artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT has transformed various academic practices in higher education, generating interest in understanding its perceived impact on the development of students' communicative and analytical skills. This study aimed to validate the Student Perception of ChatGPT instrument. A non-experimental quantitative design with an instrumental and comparative approach was applied to a sample of 2,579 students with prior experience using ChatGPT, from Ecuador, Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Colombia, and Guatemala. The questionnaire included 18 items organized into two key dimensions, communicative skills and analytical skills, measured on a five-point Likert scale. Internal consistency analyses (α = 0.943; ω = 0.944), as well as exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, were conducted. The results confirmed high reliability and a coherent two-factor structure, with consistent groupings among items related to academic writing, digital communication, critical thinking, and problem-solving. These findings provide empirical evidence of the instrument's validity to measure students' perceptions of ChatGPT's contribution to the development of such skills. It is recommended to conduct longitudinal, mixed-method, and performance-based studies to more precisely examine its actual effect on university learning.

Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) is a highly nutritious crop with remarkable tolerance to drought and salinity, making it a promising model for developing resilient crops. In model plant species, photoreceptors have been shown to mediate abiotic stress responses. Although quinoa's tolerance mechanisms have been extensively investigated, the influence of light on its growth and stress responses remains largely unexplored. This study evaluated the effects of broad-spectrum white light supplemented with narrow-bandwidth light on quinoa vegetative development under non-saline and moderate salinity conditions. Four genotypes were tested: two commercial varieties and two local Ecuadorian landraces. Light quality influenced physiological responses in a genotype-dependent manner. Supplemental far-red light promoted greater plant height under both control and salt conditions. Supplemental red light enhanced biomass accumulation under control conditions but not under salinity, suggesting that red light-mediated growth promotion may be constrained by higher salinity. Conversely, supplemental blue light mitigated the negative effects of salinity on growth, indicating a potential role as a positive mediator for salt tolerance in the species. The presence of salt altered several light-driven responses, supporting an interaction between responses to light and salt stress signaling. Our findings highlight the importance of incorporating light-related variables into quinoa stress physiology research which could ultimately provide breeding insights to enhance crop resilience through targeted photoreceptor breeding.

This study shows how deep-rooted inequalities-shaped by where a child is born, their family's income, and their mother's education-restrict access to essential services for early development. Using data from the National Survey on Childhood Malnutrition (ENDI), we use the Human Opportunity Index (HOI) and Shapley decomposition to assess disparities in healthcare, water, and sanitation in Ecuador. Although overall averages for services like prenatal care and immunization are high, children with chronic malnutrition (stunting) face much less access and greater inequality. The largest gaps are in access to safely managed drinking water and sanitation, where both coverage and equity remain low, particularly among stunted children. Geographic location is the main predictor of inequality, followed by economic status and maternal education. This study provides transferable insights to inform equitable public health policies in similar contexts worldwide.

Small coastal and insular communities in Latin America face critical sanitation challenges driven by seasonal flow variability, high-strength industrial discharges, limited budgets and sensitive marine ecosystems. This study develops a replicable multi-criteria decision framework integrating the Analytical Hierarchy Process and TOPSIS with Monte Carlo uncertainty analysis to compare four decentralized treatment configurations across two Ecuadorian scenarios: an island slaughterhouse generating high-strength wastewater and a coastal tourist town with sevenfold seasonal flow variation. For the slaughterhouse, a UASB reactor coupled with subsurface-flow constructed wetlands and UV disinfection ranked first, achieving 94.2% regulatory compliance probability and the lowest 20-year net present value. For the tourist town, stabilization ponds with polishing wetlands ranked first owing to passive hydraulic buffering, with 98.9% compliance probability during peak season. Probabilistic ranking confirmed that top-ranked options retained first position in 92% and 78% of iterations, respectively. Passive treatment trains reduced life-cycle costs by 44-63% relative to mechanized alternatives. Because performance estimates rely on literature-based design models rather than site-specific monitoring, results represent feasibility-level decision-support evidence. The framework offers a transparent, uncertainty-aware methodology for screening decentralized sanitation technologies in data-limited coastal settings.

The One Health approach is central to addressing pandemic and planetary crises. However, its framework, predominantly shaped by perspectives from the Global North, has significant limitations with respect to equity and effectiveness in the Global South, particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean. This article develops a critical and decolonial One Health perspective structured around arguments aimed at overcoming four central limitations of the current framework: 1) the predominance of perspectives from the Global North that prioritize health security over local endemic problems; 2) instrumental or superficial forms of community participation that reinforce power asymmetries; 3) the lack of interculturality and the marginalization of ancestral knowledge; and 4) the limitations in addressing the structural and interconnected causes of health problems. Results are based on the One Amazon project, a One Health participatory action research initiative conducted with Indigenous, Campesino, and Afro-descendant communities in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru between 2021 and 2024. Drawing on mixed qualitative and quantitative data, including participatory mapping, semi-structured interviews, and population surveys, the article demonstrates how these methods yielded empirically grounded insights into health, territory, and governance in Amazonian communities. Results show that collaborative research, focused on local needs and involving genuine participation from Amazonian organizations and their communities, including community co-investigators, intercultural dialogue that values ancestral knowledge, and a focus on territorial sovereignty, generated more relevant and sustainable solutions. Ultimately, the findings indicate that a decolonization process grounded in socio-environmental and epistemic justice would enhance the transformative potential of the One Health approach by enabling knowledge from the Global South to inform and enrich the global health agenda.

This study introduces a novel, sustainable method for biodiesel production using bifunctional heterogeneous catalysts derived from black tea waste. Catalysts were synthesized via sulfonation with H2SO4 followed by alkaline treatment with NaOH and KOH to produce NaS.T and KS.T, respectively. Characterization showed enhanced surface areas of 59.7 m2/g (NaS.T) and 47.6 m2/g (KS.T), supporting improved catalytic activity. Transesterification of waste cooking oil using these catalysts achieved maximum biodiesel yields of 98.7% (NaS.T) and 97.8% (KS.T) under optimal conditions (3 wt% catalyst, 10:1 methanol/oil ratio, 40 °C, 45 min). Kinetic modeling confirmed pseudo-first-order behavior (R2 > 0.90), with activation energies of 11.71 kJ/mol (NaS.T) and 24.56 kJ/mol (KS.T)-significantly lower than conventional ranges-indicating a diffusion-controlled reaction. The higher pre-exponential factor for KS.T (741.5 min-1 vs. 106.5 min-1 for NaS.T) suggests a greater frequency of effective molecular collisions. Thermodynamic analysis confirmed the endothermic nature of the process (ΔH* = 15.01-22.04 kJ/mol) and negative entropy values (- 25.81 to - 41.9 J/mol·K), reflecting the formation of an ordered transition state. Gibbs free energy values (ΔG* = 27.29-30.12 kJ/mol) affirmed the feasibility and spontaneity of the reactions under studied conditions. Optimization using Response Surface Methodology yielded models with high predictive accuracy (R2 = 0.979 for KS.T; 0.944 for NaS.T), enabling predicted yields of up to 99.6%. These results demonstrate the potential of black tea waste-derived catalysts for low-cost, energy-efficient biodiesel production, aligning with sustainable fuel and waste valorization goals.

Nutrition science is frequently characterized by heterogeneous findings, persistent controversy, and inconsistent interpretation of diet-disease relationships. These challenges are commonly attributed to limitations in measurement, confounding, and study design. However, an additional source of inconsistency may arise from recurrent inferential distortions that occur even when accepted analytical methods are correctly applied. We propose a conceptual framework describing how weak inferences can acquire an appearance of validity in nutrition research through misalignment between causal questions, analytical models, and interpretation of results. Drawing on principles of causal inference, epidemiology, and philosophy of science, we identify and categorize recurrent inferential fallacies across the research pipeline, including association, measurement, single-nutrient, plausibility, evolutionary, replacement, exposure contrast, and natural overadjustment fallacies. For each fallacy, we describe why the inference appears credible, why this credibility may be misleading, and how similar patterns arise in nutrition research. Across these domains, a common feature emerges: analytical outputs may retain statistical coherence while failing to correspond to clearly defined causal contrasts or meaningful real-world dietary interventions. We argue that many controversies in nutrition science may reflect not only limitations in available evidence but also ambiguity in how evidence is specified and interpreted. Improving nutritional inference therefore requires greater alignment between estimands, exposure definitions, comparators, and causal interpretation. By making these inferential distortions explicit, this framework provides a structured approach to strengthen interpretation, improve transparency, and enhance the evidentiary basis of dietary recommendations.

This research seeks to explore the possible application of wood ash (WA) and groundnut shell ash (GSA) for improving the geotechnical properties of lateritic soil for road subgrade. The materials were heated at 600 °C for a duration of 120 min; then used solely with the mixture and were applied at replacement levels of 0%, 2.5%, 5%, 7.5% and 10% by dry weight of soil. The laboratory tests were carried out which are standard proctor compaction test, unconfined compressive strength (UCS) test, California bearing ratio (CBR) test, and SEM with EDX. According to AASHTO classification, the untreated soil was found to be classifiable as A-7-6 unsuitable subgrade with 19.7% optimum moisture content, 1853 kg/m³ maximum dry density, 236 kPa UCS and 6% soaked CBR. After stabilization, the 10% replacement of GSA + WA gave the best results as UCS reached 287.9 kPa, which was an improvement of almost 22% over untreated soil. Soaked CBR also reached from 6% to 15% (around 150% improvement). The MDD increased to 1920 kg/m³ which indicates packing. Microstructural analysis confirmed a large quantity of pozzolanic reactions in all samples. The calcium content increased dramatically from 0.17% to 30.71% atomic concentration. Moreover, C-S-H and C-A-H were detected in all samples. The results show a better performance of using combined GSA + WA treatment as compared to individual treatments especially at higher level of replacement. It must be noted that the 10% replacement only if optimum in the range studied (0-10%); higher dosages and long-term durability need further research. The study results indicate that blended agro-waste ashes can replace conventional stabilizers for the improvement of lateritic soil.

For decades, eukaryotic circadian timing has been framed mainly through nuclear transcription-translation feedback loops (TTFLs). Here, we synthesize evidence supporting a broader organelle-centered model in which cellular time emerges from dynamic coupling between TTFL clocks, post-translational feedback loop (PTFL) oscillators, and entrained rhythmic modules across mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, lysosomes, peroxisomes, Golgi apparatus, plasma membrane, and cytoskeleton. Metabolic flux, redox cycling, proteostasis, ion handling, membrane excitability, trafficking, and mechanotransduction act as temporal currencies that either sustain selected transcription-independent rhythms or transmit phase information within a TTFL-coordinated network. In this layered architecture, the TTFL remains a central integrator that stabilizes inter-organelle phase relationships, aligns intracellular rhythms with environmental Zeitgebers, and links biochemical state to epigenetic and RNA-based regulation. We propose that circadian dysfunction reflects progressive intracellular desynchronization rather than isolated clock-gene failure, opening diagnostic and therapeutic opportunities aimed at restoring subcellular temporal coherence.

Incretin-based pharmacotherapies, including GLP-1 receptor agonists and dual GIP/GLP-1 receptor agonists, have transformed obesity management by producing substantial weight loss through appetite suppression, reduced energy intake, and gastrointestinal effects. These mechanisms may also modify dietary intake, gastrointestinal physiology, and weight-loss-related metabolic adaptations, raising concern about micronutrient disturbances during long-term treatment. This narrative clinical review synthesizes evidence on mechanistic pathways, clinical signals, and monitoring considerations related to micronutrient risk during incretin-based obesity pharmacotherapy. Evidence was integrated from dietary studies, observational cohorts, mechanistic investigations, clinical trials, pharmacovigilance reports, and literature on obesity-related micronutrient physiology. Micronutrient vulnerability appears to arise from the interaction between reduced food intake, lower dietary diversity, gastrointestinal intolerance, delayed gastric emptying, rapid weight loss, and baseline nutritional risk. The most relevant signals involve hematologic, fat-soluble, bone-related, trace element, and electrolyte domains, particularly iron, vitamin B12, vitamin D, calcium, magnesium, zinc, with additional context-dependent concerns involving thiamine, folate, vitamin A, other fat-soluble vitamins and potassium. Most abnormalities reported to date are subclinical or indirect, but clinically meaningful consequences may occur in susceptible individuals, including those with prior bariatric surgery, gastrointestinal disorders, poor baseline diet quality, older age, or prolonged nausea and vomiting. Micronutrient risk during incretin-based obesity pharmacotherapy is likely multifactorial and patient-specific. Individualized nutritional assessment and targeted laboratory monitoring should be considered for high-risk patients, while prospective studies are needed to define incidence, clinical relevance, and evidence-based monitoring strategies.