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Introduction: The first COVID-19 wave in Ecuador started in March 2020 and extended until November. Several types of drugs have been proposed as a potential treatment during this period, and some affected people have self-medicated. Method: A retrospective study was conducted with 10,175 individuals who underwent RT-PCR tests for SARS-CoV-2 from July to November 2020. We compared the number of positive and negative cases in Ecuador with symptoms and drug consumption. The Chi-square test of independence compared clinical and demographic data and PCR test results. Odds ratios analyzed drug consumption dynamics. Results: Of 10,175 cases, 570 were positive for COVID-19, while 9,605 were negative. In positive cases, there was no association between the RT-PCR result and sex, age, or comorbidities. When considering demographic data, Cotopaxi and Napo had the highest rates of positive cases (25.7% and 18.8%, respectively). Manabí, Santa Elena, and Guayas regions had fewer than 10% positive cases. The Drug consumption dynamic analysis showed that negative COVID-19 cases presented higher drug consumption than positive cases. In both groups, the most consumed medication was acetaminophen. Acetaminophen and Antihistamines had higher odds of consumption in positive PCR cases than in negative. Symptoms like fever and cough were more related to positive RT-PCR results. Conclusion: The first COVID-19 wave in Ecuador has affected the provinces differently. At a national level, the consumption of drugs has been highly associated with self-medication.

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A hydro-geochemical characterization was conducted in the northern part of the Sonora River basin, covering an area of 9400 km2. Equipotential lines indicated that groundwater circulation coincided with the surface water flow direction. Based on the groundwater temperature measured (on average ∼21 °C), only one spring exhibited thermalism (51 °C). Electrical conductivity (160-1750 µS/cm), chloride and nitrate concentrations (>10 and >45 mg/L) imply highly ionized water and anthropogenic pollution. In the river network, δ18O values revealed a clear modern meteoric origin. Focused recharge occurred mainly from the riverbeds during the rainy season. During the dry season, diffuse recharge was characterized by complex return flows from irrigation, urban, agricultural, mining, and livestock. Drilled wells (>50 m) exhibited a strong meteoric origin from higher elevations during the rainy season with minimal hydrochemical anomalies. Our results contribute to the knowledge of mountain-front and mountain-block recharge processes in a semi-arid and human-altered landscape in northern Mexico, historically characterized by limited hydrogeological data.

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Stable isotope ratios of nitrogen and oxygen (15N/14N and 18O/16O) of nitrate (NO3-) are excellent tracers for developing systematic understanding of sources, conversions, and deposition of reactive atmospheric nitrogen (Nr) in the environment. Despite recent analytical advances, standardized sampling of NO3-) isotopes in precipitation is still lacking. To advance atmospheric studies on Nr species, we propose best-practice guidelines for accurate and precise sampling and analysis of NO3- isotopes in precipitation based on the experience obtained from an international research project coordinated by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The precipitation sampling and preservation strategies yielded a good agreement between the NO3- concentrations measured at the laboratories of 16 countries and at the IAEA. Compared to conventional methods (e.g., bacterial denitrification), we confirmed the accurate performance of the lower cost Ti(III) reduction method for isotope analyses (15N and 18O) of NO3- in precipitation samples. These isotopic data depict different origins and oxidation pathways of inorganic nitrogen. This work emphasized the capability of NO3- isotopes to assess the origin and atmospheric oxidation of Nr and outlined a pathway to improve laboratory capability and expertise at a global scale. The incorporation of other isotopes like 17O in Nr is recommended in future studies.

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Bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas) is a near-threatened elasmobranch species capable of moving between the fresh and salty waters of tropical and subtropical coastal areas, for which we still lack important ecological information. During their first years of life, bull sharks use estuarine systems as nursery areas, making them highly susceptible to environmental and anthropogenic pressures. We studied the trophic ecology of juveniles found in the Coyote estuary, a potential nursery area in Costa Rica, to understand the potential impact of further bull shark declines and gain knowledge that could aid in their conservation. We analysed the trophic ecology of juvenile bull sharks [81-103 cm total length (TL)] in the Coyote estuary, Costa Rica, using stable isotopes of δ15 N and δ13 C. Since one problem using this technique in juveniles is the confounding effect of the maternal signature, we sampled different tissues (muscle and plasma), verified the status of the shark's umbilical scar and identified the size at which the isotope signature is a result of the animal's current diet. The isotopic values of the muscle tissue reflected the maternal isotopic signature. In contrast, plasma values reflected the diet of juvenile bull sharks >95 cm TL and with a closed umbilical scar. Juvenile bull sharks fed primarily on teleost fishes of the order Anguilliformes and Siluriformes, and have a high trophic position (≥4.0) in the Coyote estuary. Our findings suggest that this estuary is an important feeding site for juvenile bull sharks of the Pacific of Costa Rica. Thus, the protection of essential habitats such as the Coyote estuary will benefit not only bull shark conservation, but also the conservation of an array of fish species that also use this habitat as a rookery, many of which are of commercial interest.

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Introducción: una alternativa para mitigar los efectos del virus de inmunodeficiencia humana (VIH) es la medicina complementaria, alternativa o integrativa (MCAI); sin embargo, esta puede tener una influencia negativa en los pacientes con VIH. Objetivo: estimar la relación entre la carga viral y el uso de MCAI en pacientes con VIH/SIDA. Metodología: estudio analítico con 232 pacientes de la clínica de VIH/SIDA de una unidad médica de segundo nivel de atención en Cancún, México. Previo consentimiento informado, a cada paciente se le aplicó un cuestionario para identificar el uso de la MCAI y simultáneamente se obtuvo el conteo de carga viral y el CD4 del expediente electrónico. Resultados: el 47.8% utilizaron herbolaria como tratamiento alternativo. No se encontró diferencia estadística entre la utilización de herbolaria y su conteo de carga viral (p > 0.646). La terapia cuerpo-mente, los suplementos vitamínicos, la homeopatía y la acupuntura se usaron del 5 al 24.6%, sin diferencia estadística (p > 0.05) entre los grupos. Por el contrario, el uso de sesiones de manipulación del cuerpo mostró diferencia en relación con quienes no las utilizaban (p < 0.05). Conclusiones: es importante que el profesional de la salud identifique los efectos adversos o benéficos de las terapias alternativas y complementarias, con la finalidad de orientar a sus pacientes y no afectar su tratamiento antirretroviral y, en consecuencia, su conteo de carga viral.

Introduction: An alternative to mitigate the effects of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is the complementary and alternative medicine (CAM); however, this could have a negative influence in patients with HIV. Objective: To estimate the relationship between viral load and the use of CAM in patients with HIV/AIDS. Method: Analytical study with 232 patients from the HIV/AIDS Clinic of a second-level healthcare unit in Cancun, Mexico. With prior informed consent, a questionnaire was administered to each patient to identify the use of CAM, and, simultaneously, the viral load and CD4 counts were obtained from their electronic file. Results: 47.8% used herbal medicine as an alternative treatment. No statistical difference was found between the use of herbal products and their viral load (p > 0.646). Body-mind therapy, vitamin supplements, homeopathy and acupuncture were used from 5 to 24.6% without statistical difference (p > 0.05) among groups. However, the use of massage therapy showed a difference in relation to those who did not use it (p < 0.05). Conclusions: It is important that health professionals identify the adverse or beneficial effects of alternative and complementary therapies, so that they can guide their patients and not affect their antiretroviral treatment and, consequently, their viral load.

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Global bottled water consumption has largely increased (14.35 billion gallons in 2020) [1], [2], [3], [4], [5] during the last decade since consumers are demanding healthier and safer forms of rehydration. Bottled water sources are normally labeled as mountainous and pristine mineral springs (fed by rainfall and snow/glacier melting processes), deep groundwater wells or industrial purified water. The advent of numerous international and national-based bottled water brands has simultaneously raised a worldwide awareness related to the water source and chemical content traceability [6]. Here, we present the first database of stable isotope compositions and reported chemical concentrations from imported and national-based bottled waters in Costa Rica. In total, 45 bottled waters produced in Costa Rica and 31 imported from USA, Europe, Oceania, and other countries of Central America were analyzed for δ18O, δ2H, and d-excess. Chemical compositions were obtained from available bottle labels. National-based bottle waters ranged from -2.47‰ to -10.65‰ in δ18O and from -10.4‰ to -78.0‰ in δ2H, while d-excess varied from +4.2‰ up to +17.0‰. International bottle waters ranged between -2.21‰ and -11.03‰ in δ18O and from -11.3‰ up to -76.0‰ in δ2H, while d-excess varied from +5.0‰ up to +19.1‰. In Costa Rica, only 19% of the brands reported chemical parameters such as Na+, K+, Ca+2, Mg+2, F-, Cl-, NO3 -, SO4 -2, CO3 -2, SiO2, dry residue, and pH; whereas 27% of the international products reported similar parameters. The absence of specific geographic coordinates or water source origin limited a spatial analysis to validate bottled water isotope compositions versus available isoscapes in Costa Rica [7]. This database highlights the potential and relevance of the use of water stable isotope compositions to improve the traceability of bottled water sources and the urgent need of more robust legislation in order to provide detailed information (i.e., water source, chemical composition, purification processes) to the final consumers.

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Increasing energy consumption and food production worldwide results in anthropogenic emissions of reactive nitrogen into the atmosphere. To date, however, little information is available on tropical urban environments where inorganic nitrogen is vastly transported and deposited through precipitation on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. To fill this gap, we present compositions of water stable isotopes in precipitation and atmospheric nitrate (δ18O-H2O, δ2H-H2O, δ15N-NO3-, and δ18O-NO3-) collected daily between August 2018 and November 2019 in a tropical urban atmosphere of central Costa Rica. Rainfall generation processes (convective and stratiform rainfall fractions) were identified using stable isotopes in precipitation coupled with air mass back trajectory analysis. A Bayesian isotope mixing model using δ15N-NO3- compositions and corrected for potential 15N fractionation effects revealed the contribution of lightning (25.9 ± 7.1%), biomass burning (21.8 ± 6.6%), gasoline (19.1 ± 6.4%), diesel (18.4 ± 6.0%), and soil biogenic emissions (15.0 ± 2.6%) to nitrate wet deposition. δ18O-NO3- values reflect the oxidation of NOx sources via the ·OH + RO2 pathways. These findings provide necessary baseline information about the combination of water and nitrogen stable isotopes with atmospheric chemistry and hydrometeorological techniques to better understand wet deposition processes and to characterize the origin and magnitude of inorganic nitrogen loadings in tropical regions.

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The Corumbataí River basin (São Paulo, Brazil) has a critical situation regarding water availability due to the intensive use to support agriculture and urbanization, requiring scientific information to face water demand. The aim of this study is to present a hydrological characterization based on the analysis of seasonal isotope variations (rainfall, groundwater, and surface water) and hydrometric data. Results indicate that baseflow contribution varies from 50 % to 70 % of the total flow, and water isotopic composition denotes a seasonal regime marked by the mixing of surface and groundwater in the wet period and groundwater discharge during the dry season. The results presented indicated the strong seasonal connection between atmospheric inputs and water movement across the basin, which poses an urgent need to diversify monitoring methods and create feasible regional and political regulations to control the effects on basin water resilience in the face of climate change and growing demand.

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The Chaco-Pampean Plain (Argentina) is the strongest economic region and the most inhabited in the country, comprising approximately 66% of the country's population (26,500 million) [1]. In this region, surface slopes are very low (<0.1%) and due to the current climatological features, floods and droughts alternate over time. Salinity and alkalinity of water and soil increase towards the flattest sector of the basin, as well as the contents of arsenic and fluoride, which restrict their human use. Worldwide, population growth and global warming, in addition to political decisions, are leading to abrupt land use changes. Under this premise, identifying and quantifying the hydrological processes that control water quantity and its chemical quality become an imperative task [2]. This data article provides a long-term hydrological dataset from a sector of the Chaco-Pampean Plain, the Del Azul creek basin. Hydrological data such as flow rates and piezometric levels, and physical-chemical (i.e., major and minor solutes, and trace elements) and isotopic (δ18O, δ2H; and d-excess) data from rainwater, surface (creek and wetland) and groundwater (at two depths) are available. Rainwater samples are derived from three precipitation collectors installed at different altitudes (monitoring period: 2010-2019; n = 57). Surface water samples were collected at three sampling sites located along the Del Azul Creek and six wetlands (monitoring period: 2018-2019; n = 12). Groundwater samples were collected from 17 piezometers with depths ranging between 3 and 10 m, and from 12 piezometers of 30 m depth, all located throughout the entire basin (monitoring period: 2018-2019; n = 115). Sampling campaigns were performed during the austral dry (summer) and wet (spring) seasons. This dataset provides useful information to understand a) how water moves from recharge to discharge areas, b) how water acquires salinity, and c) how particular solutes of concern, such as arsenic and fluoride, are distributed in space and time across in an extensive plain.

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Water use by anthropogenic activities in the face of climate change invokes a better understanding of headwater sources and lowland urban water allocations. Here, we constrained a Bayesian mixing model with stable isotope data (2018-2019) in rainfall (N = 704), spring water (N = 96), and surface water (N = 94) with seasonal isotope sampling (wet and dry seasons) of an urban aqueduct (N = 215) in the Central Valley of Costa Rica. Low δ 18O rainfall compositions corresponded to the western boundary of the study area, whereas high values were reported to the northeastern limit, reflecting the influence of moisture transport from the Caribbean domain coupled with strong orographic effects over the Pacific slope. The latter is well-depicted in the relative rainfall contributions (west versus east) in two headwater systems: (a) spring (68.7 ± 3.4 %, west domain) and (b) stream (55.8 ± 3.9 %, east domain). The aqueduct exhibited a spatial predominance of spring water and surface water during a normal wet season (78.7 %), whereas deep groundwater and spring water were fundamental sources for the aqueduct in the dry season (69.4 %). Our tracer-based methodology can help improve aqueduct management practices in changing climate, including optimal water allocation and reduced evaporative losses in the dry season.

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