Introduction. The water of aquatic ecosystems considered extreme, given the values of its physicochemical and chemical parameters, such as high concentrations of salts, oligotrophic environments, extreme pH, high radiation and extreme temperatures, there is a bacterial population that has adapted to these conditions and that they can be an important reservoir of natural resistomes. Objective. The objective of the present work was to know the profiles of susceptibility to various antibiotics in strains of the Bacillus genus isolated from mineromedicinal water spas and water from a volcanic crater lake in Ecuador. Materials and methods. A total of 16 mineromedicinal water samples and 32 samples of crater volcanic lake water were analyzed. The isolation of the Bacillus colonies was carried out by the membrane filtration technique, using Millipore filters of 0.45 μm pore, a sample volume of 100 mL and R2A agar. The isolated strains were identified following the schemes of MacFaddin (2004), complemented with the biochemical tests of the Microgen galleries for Bacillus. The antibiotic resistance profile was determined by the plate diffusion method of Kirby and Bauer (1966), interpreted according to the CLSI (2019). Results. 19 Bacillus strains were identified. Most of the strains were resistant and multi-resistant to the antibiotic clindamycin, erythromycin, gentamicin, oxacillin, and penicillin. Conclusions. The results indicate the presence of Bacillus species and resistomes associated with this genus in the water of extreme natural environments in Ecuador, which suggests that these environments may be an important reservoir of bacteria resistant to antibiotics.

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Los lagos de alta montaña son ecosistemas muy frágiles sujetos a variaciones en las características fisicoquímicas que influyen en sus condiciones biológicas y ecológicas. En Ecuador existe una gran diversidad de lagos de alta montaña que se han estado investigando en los últimos años. En este sentido, se realizó el presente trabajo para conocer los factores fisicoquímicos actuales en los lagos Colta y Cuicocha situados en las provincias del Chimborazo e Imbabura del Ecuador. Se realizaron mediciones de conductividad eléctrica, pH, sólidos totales disueltos y temperatura por un periodo de dos años utilizando un equipo multiparámetro. Los resultados obtenidos indican para el lago Colta un pH con valores entre 8,69 y 9,10 y valor promedio de 8,87, temperatura entre 17,36 y 18,31°C con un valor promedio de 17,91 °C, conductividad eléctrica con valores desde 1024 a 1123 μS/cm y valor promedio de 1085 μs/cm y para los sólidos totales disueltos valores entre 627 a 742 mg/L y valor promedio de 680 mg/L. Para el lago Cuicocha se obtuvo un pH con valores entre 7,88 y 7,99 y valor promedio de 7,96, temperatura entre 14,1 y 14,5°C y valor promedio de 14,2°C, conductividad eléctrica con valores desde 763 a 770 μS/cm y valor promedio de 766 μs/cm, sólidos totales disueltos entre 504 a 508 mg/L y valor promedio de 506 mg/L. Los resultados obtenidos indican características fisicoquímicas constantes a lo largo del espacio y del tiempo en ambos lagos, aunque difieren en algunas de ellas.

The California Tax Credit Allocation Committee awards select financing to affordable housing developers based on an accrual of points during an annual bidding process. Project proposals which include a serviceenriched model of affordable housing amass more points, and are thereby more likely to be awarded the tax benefits. This study examines the effectiveness of the service-enriched affordable housing model in Southern California. Onsite health, nutrition, and educational programs in three low-income complexes were evaluated on the bases of effectiveness and service dosage. This longitudinal research design included both qualitative and quantitative methods and followed three sample groups corresponding to each site. Variables included participating subjects' health, nutrition, education, and quality of life perceptions. Although crime and occupancy rates in the three complexes yielded no significant differences over a 3-year period, the data results indicate that residents receiving full-time programs (experimental group) increased health and nutritional knowledge and developed a greater sense of community than the group receiving part-time services (comparison group) and the group receiving no services (control group). Comparisons between preliminary (year 1) and final results (year 2) also suggest that cultural competency and quality of services is a determinant factor and may contribute to more favorable program outcomes.

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