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The arrival of Spaniards in the Caribbean islands introduced to the region the practice of applying pigments onto buildings. The pigments that remain on these buildings may provide data on their historical evolution and essential information for tackling restoration tasks. In this study, a 17th-century mural painting located in the Cathedral of Santo Domingo on the Hispaniola island of the Caribbean is characterised via UV-VIS-NIR, Raman and FTIR spectroscopy, XRD and SEM/EDX. The pigments are found in the older Chapel of Our Lady of Candelaria, currently Chapel of Our Lady of Mercy. The chapel was built in the 17th century by black slave brotherhood and extended by Spaniards. During a recent restoration process of the chapel, remains of mural painting appeared, which were covered by several layers of lime. Five colours were identified: ochre, green, red, blue and white. Moreover, it was determined that this mural painting was made before the end of the 18th century, because many of the materials used were no longer used after the industrialisation of painting. However, since both rutile and anatase appear as a white pigment, a restoration may have been carried out in the 20th century, and it has been painted white.

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BACKGROUND: There remains a dearth of cross-city comparisons on the impact of climate change through extreme temperature and precipitation events on road safety. We examined trends in traffic fatalities, injuries and property damage associated with high temperatures and heavy rains in Boston (USA) and Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic). METHODS: Official publicly available data on daily traffic outcomes and weather conditions during the warm season (May to September) were used for Boston (2002-2015) and Santo Domingo (2013-2017). Daily maximum temperatures and mean precipitations for each city were considered for classifying hot days, warm days, and warm nights, and wet, very wet, and extremely wet days. Time-series analyses were used to assess the relationship between temperature and precipitation and daily traffic outcomes, using a quasi-Poisson regression. RESULTS: In Santo Domingo, the presence of a warm night increased traffic fatalities with a rate ratio (RR) of 1.31 (95% CI [confidence interval]: 1.00,1.71). In Boston, precipitation factors (particularly, extremely wet days) were associated with increments in traffic injuries (RR 1.25, 95% CI: 1.18, 1.32) and property damages (RR 1.42, 95% CI: 1.33, 1.51). CONCLUSION: During the warm season, mixed associations between weather conditions and traffic outcomes were found across Santo Domingo and Boston. In Boston, increases in heavy precipitation events were associated with higher traffic injuries and property damage. As climate change-related heavy precipitation events are projected to increase in the USA, the associations found in this study should be of interest for road safety planning in a rapidly changing environment.

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OBJECTIVE: Being a Caribbean country, the Dominican Republic is considered endemic for HTLV-1. Viral screening in blood banks is recommended for this blood borne infection. The purpose of this work is to analyze the seroprevalence and trends of HTLV-1/2 in the Dominican Republic blood donors; it is focused on Santo Domingo, the capital of the country, which has the largest blood donation activity. We also aim at comparing our findings with published data from neighboring countries. METHODS: We performed a retrospective cross-sectional study of 10 blood centers of Santo Domingo, which reported HTLV and the other blood-transmitted infections in full. They represent more than 40% of the province's blood donations. Annual seroprevalence of HTLV-1/2, period prevalence (2012-2017), and time trend were determined. RESULTS: A total of 352,960 blood donations were evaluated. The HTLV-1/2 period prevalence was 0.26% (929/352,960)(95% CI: 0.24-0.28%). We also found a marked predominance of replacement donation (90.4%) in comparison to voluntary contributions (9.6%). Therefore, this blood donor study may provide clues on the general prevalence of the infection. CONCLUSIONS: Seroprevalence of HTLV-1/2 in blood donors of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, showed a relatively low and steady trend in the studied period.

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Background Bronchial asthma is an important health problem worldwide. There is insufficient data on the prevalence of bronchial asthma among school children in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Objective The objective of this study is to assess the prevalence of asthma and its related risk factors among school children in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Materials and methods A cross-sectional study using a modified questionnaire was conducted in Santo Domingo among 600 children aged three to 11 eleven years. The prevalence of asthma and its associated risk factors such as birth order, family history of asthma, family history of allergy, exposure to pets at home, exposure to tobacco smoke, and source of fuel used at home were collected. The relevant data collected was analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 24.0. (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY) software. Results The prevalence of asthma was found to be 22.0%. Age, family history of asthma, family history of allergy, exposure to tobacco smoke, and birth order showed statistical significance. The source of fuel used at home, gender, and exposure to pets were not statistically significant to be considered as risk factors associated with asthma in the population studied. Conclusion With an asthma prevalence of 22.0% in the pediatric population, the Dominican Republic has one of the highest national rates of asthma in the pediatric population in Latin America. Proper education, screening, and prevention can help lower the burden of this disease economically and socially.

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INTRODUCTION: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a major risk factor of coronary artery disease and a major complication of atherosclerosis. Peripheral arterial disease can be diagnosed with simple and low cost techniques. There are major risk factors of PAD that have been studied for different countries. However, no such study has been done for the Dominican Republic. We conducted a cross-sectional study to determine the prevalence of PAD and the risk factors among patients with diabetes in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Six hundred randomly chosen patients with previously diagnosed diabetes were enrolled in our study. Their blood pressure and ankle brachial index were calculated and a questionnaire was provided to gather information regarding gender, age, weight, ethnicity, known duration of diabetes along with any history of smoking, hypertension and hyperlipidemia. A physical examination was also done to assess for any active diabetic ulcers, previous foot ulcers and non-traumatic amputation. A microfilament test was conducted to check for peripheral neuropathy. RESULTS: Eighty-four diabetic patients were diagnosed with PAD with a prevalence of 14% in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Statistically significant associations (p < 0.05) was found for female gender, presence of active foot ulcers, history of past foot ulcer, non-traumatic amputation, hypertension, hyperlipidemia and peripheral neuropathy. Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), age and smoking were not statistically significant in our study. CONCLUSIONS: Diabetic patients who are either female, have active foot ulcers, a history of past foot ulcer, non-traumatic amputation, hypertension, hyperlipidemia or peripheral neuropathy are more at risk of developing PAD.

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BACKGROUND: Early detection and treatment of pediatric asthma could reduce morbidity and lessen burden on society. Currently there is no known research on the prevalence of pediatric asthma in the Dominican Republic (DR) and no known asthma risk assessment tool for one-time encounters in a fast-paced clinic. OBJECTIVES: To pilot a streamlined version of previously validated screening tools to estimate the prevalence of pediatric asthma risk in Santo Domingo Norte, DR. METHODS: A combined asthma questionnaire and clinical assessment tool was developed and administered to patients aged 2-12 years. FINDINGS: We found that 25.7% of the 74 study participants were categorized as probable asthma, 21.6% were at high risk for asthma, 14.9% elevated risk, and 37.8% not at risk. CONCLUSION: If the prevalence of 25.7% is representative of the DR as a whole, the DR would have one of the highest national rates in Latin America. The study assessment tool was convenient to use, but tool validation is needed.

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Analisa como as doenças que afetavam os cativos em áreas coloniais eram explicadas e nomeadas no tratado Observações sobre as enfermidades dos negros (1776), de Jean-Barthélemy Dazille, cirurgião francês das tropas na ilha de São Domingos. Sua tradução para a língua portuguesa pelo cirurgião-mor Antônio José Vieira de Carvalho (1801) indica a circulação de saberes entre os agentes que atuaram além-mar. Fortemente marcadas pelo neo-hipocratismo e por outras vertentes da medicina ilustrada, o tratado e a sua tradução suscitam considerações acerca dos perigos das 'zonas tórridas', das condições gerais de vida e trabalho 'dos negros' e de como tais questões eram remediadas.

The article analyzes how the diseases that struck captives in colonial areas were named and explained in the treatise Observações sobre as enfermidades dos negros (1776), written by French surgeon for the troops on Santo Domingo Island, Jean-Barthélemy Dazille. Its translation into Portuguese by Surgeon-Major Antônio José Vieira de Carvalho informs us about the circulation of knowledge among these agents who worked overseas. Strongly informed by neo-Hippocratism and by other lines of enlightened medicine, Dazille's treatise and its translation raises considerations about the dangers of the so-called torrid zones, the general living and working conditions of "Negroes," and the ways in which these were attenuated.

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