RESUMO

The Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) and border closure to asylum seekers during the COVID-19 pandemic created a humanitarian crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border. This paper outlines the public health challenges and health care access barriers for asylum seekers living in a tent encampment in Matamoros, Mexico resulting from these policies. Thirty participants, including asylum seekers (n=20) and health care professionals (n=10) in the Matamoros asylum camp, were interviewed. Public health challenges included environmental exposures and inadequate infrastructure; poor sanitation and disease control; and limited safety, nutrition, education, and employment. Health care access barriers included lack of continuity of care and emergency services, resource insufficiencies, and interpersonal barriers. Policy responses to address these challenges include outlawing MPP and other immigration policies that infringe on human rights, collaborating with international partners, and implementing more creative and community-based approaches to asylum processing.

Assuntos

RESUMO

Purpose: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic presents health care challenges to asylum seekers living in congregate encampments, including those along the U.S.-Mexico border. It is necessary to understand the impact of the pandemic among this population to address health care needs, reduce transmission, and diminish COVID-19-related morbidity. Methods: Thirty interviews were conducted with asylum seekers and health care professionals in a temporary camp in Matamoros, Mexico to determine challenges, perceptions, and effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Interviews were coded in NVivo12 by using a team-based approach. Results: The pandemic caused significant mental health burdens but no perceived adverse physical effects, with the U.S. border closure and health care access barriers as more pressing concerns. Participants reported access to information about COVID-19 but had varied levels of knowledge and adherence to disease reduction strategies due to camp conditions. Most participants believed that they had special protection from COVID-19, including strong immune systems or from God. The nongovernmental organizations providing health care and sanitation faced multiple challenges to implement new policies to manage COVID-19. The institution of required temperature checks and quarantine of COVID-19 positive patients led to distrust, decreased seeking of health care services among asylum seekers, and possible underreporting of COVID-19 cases. Conclusion: Our findings among asylum seekers in a Matamoros camp highlight the challenges to implementing disease reduction policies in low-resource congregate camps. Policies to address disease outbreaks focusing on the social determinants of health, health care access barriers, and community engagement may be more acceptable to asylum seekers, suggesting the need for effective strategies to provide prevention information that complements such measures.

RESUMO

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the behavior of rat bone marrow stem cells seeded on a Ti-15Mo alloy surface modified by laser-beam irradiation followed by calcium phosphate deposition. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of four groups were evaluated: polished commercially pure titanium (cpTi): Ti-P; laser irradiation + calcium phosphate deposition on cpTi: Ti-LCP; polished Ti-15Mo alloy: Ti15Mo-P; and laser irradiation + calcium phosphate deposition on Ti-15Mo alloy: Ti15Mo-LCP. Before and after laser irradiation and calcium phosphate deposition on the surfaces, physicochemical and morphological analyses were performed: Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDX). The wettability of the samples was evaluated by contact angle measurement. In addition, the behavior of osteoblast-like cells to these surfaces was evaluated for cell morphology, adhesion, proliferation and viability, evaluation of alkaline phosphatase formation and gene expression of osteogenesis markers. RESULTS: Surfaces wet-abrade with grit paper (P) showed oriented groves, while the laser irradiation and calcium phosphate deposition (LCP) produced porosity on both cpTi and Ti15Mo alloy groups with deposits of hydroxyapatite (HA) crystals (SEM). EDX showed no contamination after surface modification in both metal samples. A complete wetting was observed for both LCP groups, whereas P surfaces exhibited high degree of hydrophobicity. There was a statistical difference in the intragroup comparison of proliferation and viability (p < 0.05). The ALP activity showed higher values in the Ti15Mo alloy at 10 days of culture. The gene expression of bone related molecules did not present significant differences at 7 and 14 days among different metals and surface treatments. CONCLUSION: Ti15-Mo seems to be an alternative alloy to cpTi for dental implants. Surface treatment by laser irradiation followed by phosphate deposition seems to positively interact with bone cells. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Ti-15Mo alloy surface modified by laser-beam irradiation followed by calcium phosphate deposition may improve and accelerate the osseointegration process of dental implants.

Assuntos

RESUMO

Stress is a normal part of life for fungi, which can survive in environments considered inhospitable or hostile for other organisms. Due to the ability of fungi to respond to, survive in, and transform the environment, even under severe stresses, many researchers are exploring the mechanisms that enable fungi to adapt to stress. The International Symposium on Fungal Stress (ISFUS) brings together leading scientists from around the world who research fungal stress. This article discusses presentations given at the third ISFUS, held in São José dos Campos, São Paulo, Brazil in 2019, thereby summarizing the state-of-the-art knowledge on fungal stress, a field that includes microbiology, agriculture, ecology, biotechnology, medicine, and astrobiology.

Assuntos