Central American Countries Research Articles

EU interregional policy towards Mercosur

The European Union cooperates with lots of regional organizations within the Latin American region. The most intensive interregional cooperation is developing between the EU and Mercosur that launched in 1995 with the signing of the Framework Agreement, which envisaged a phased liberalization of foreign trade on the way to the establishment of an intercontinental free trade zone. Negotiations on its creation lasted for 20 years and ended with the signing of the political and economic agreement between the EU and Mercosur in 2019. The signing of the free trade zone agreement was remarkable in the development of EU-Mercosur interregional cooperation, although the EU negotiated with individual states of the region, for example, with Mexico and Chile, as well as with the Andean and Central American countries. This article examines the main stages of signing of this agreement, the potential benefits for both sides, the reasons preventing ratification, and also gives a forecast regarding the possible fate of the agreement in the coming years. The author comes to the conclusion that regarding the elections held in Brazil, the political course of the country will be probably changed towards rapprochement with the EU, which could be one of the decisive factors in the ratification of the deal. However, if the countries do not ratify the agreement, the influence of the EU in the region will weaken what will give rise to a more rapid development of relations with such states as China and the United States.

Developing new parametric insurance models for Caribbean and Central American countries

Developing new parametric insurance models for Caribbean and Central American countries

Molecular detection of Trypanosoma cruzi in equids in a semiarid zone of Pernambuco - Brazil

Trypanosoma cruzi is the etiological agent of Chagas disease, a neglected and frequently occurring zoonosis in Central and South American countries. Wild mammals and domestic dogs are the main reservoirs of the parasite in the wild and domestic cycles, respectively. The vectors have a wide variety of food sources that can influence transmission cycles. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of T. cruzi infection in donkeys (Equus asininos) and mules (Equus mulus) living in rural areas of the Brazilian semi-arid region. Whole-blood samples from 72 equids (65 donkeys and 7 mules) were analyzed by nested polymerase chain reaction (nested PCR). A total of 51.39% of the samples (37/72) were positive. Phylogenetic analysis identified discrete typing units TcI and TcII, which suggested the possibility that donkeys and mules might be participating in domestic/peridomestic and wild transmission cycles. This was the first report of T. cruzi infection in donkeys and mules in Brazil, with high prevalence of positive animals. This places these animals as potential reservoirs for the parasite and the particular features of these hosts, the presence of vectors and the socioeconomic characteristics of the population under semiarid conditions create interactions that may favor transmission and overlapping T. cruzi infection cycles.

Social Challenges for Families in Teaching of the Latin American Bishops (CELAM)

According to the teaching of the Second Vatican Council, the task of the Catholic Church is to observe the processes taking place in people's lives and to read God's plans in them, and, through events in the world, appeal to believers to take appropriate actions. The purpose of analyzing the final documents of the general conferences of Latin American bishops (CELAM) meeting Medellín (1968), Puebla (1979), Santo Domingo (1992) and Aparecida (2007) is to present their specific, i.e. pastoral theological approach to the situation of families in South and Central American countries. Taking into account sociological data, the Latin American bishops indicate the opportunities and threats which the modern family has to face. They do not forget that Catholic families are called to actively participate in shaping social life and to serve for the formation of mature personal attitudes of their members. Their particular task is to spread Gospel values in the world. Their implementation allows people to achieve the fullness of humanity. Thus, Latin American bishops show how to read the signs of the times and respond to them in the practice of Christian life.

Protest reporting across clientelist media systems

Most protest paradigm studies examining news media's portrayals of protesters are based on an assumption that the way the paradigm operates within the U.S. media system is similar around the globe. To overcome these weaknesses, this content analysis (n = 1200) of protest-related news coverage in two Balkan and two Central American countries examines how media clientelism-manifested via ownership, concentration, and state advertising-influences media representations of protesters. Results highlight important regional differences in protest coverage, and confirm the role of government and elites in clientelist environments is more complex than hypothesized. We found that while clientelism contributes to the protest paradigm, delegitimizing coverage is not automatic, and varies by frame and media ownership, as political and economic interests differentially influence protest coverage depending not just on the outlets’ ties to the state, but also the social contexts surrounding the protests themselves.

Molecular Genetic Epidemiology of an Emerging Antimicrobial-Resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae Clone (ST307) Obtained from Clinical Isolates in Central Panama.

We conducted an epidemiological study in three reference hospitals in the central region of Panama, using isolates of K. pneumoniae involved in infections, and identifying their AMR profile, associated clinical risk factors, and molecular typing using a multilocus sequence typing (ST) scheme. Six STs were detected: 307 (55%), 152, 18, 29, 405, and 207. CTX-M-15- and TEM-type beta-lactamases were identified in 100% of ESBL-producing strains; substitutions in gyrA Ser83Ile and parC Ser80Ile were identified in all ST307s; and in ST152 gyrA Ser83Phe, Asp87Ala, and parC Ser80Ile, the qnrB gene was detected in all strains resistant to ciprofloxacin. We present the first report on ST307 in three reference hospitals in the central region of Panama, which is a high-risk emerging clone and represents a public health alert for potential difficulties in managing K. pneumoniae infections in Panama, and which may extend to other Central American countries.

Acknowledging Cocaine Capital in Central American Development

Cocaine trafficking has a significant but understudied influence on Central American economies. The economic implications of this trade have repercussions for both regional development and drug control policy debates, and therefore deserve greater attention. Towards that end, in this paper we provide estimates of 1) the value of trade of primary cocaine movements that were delivered to Central America, by country (excluding El Salvador) between 2000 and 2018; and 2) the value added by the cocaine trade to Central American economies. Due to limits in data availability, we compare several estimation approaches to impute missing price and volume data using information available to us. We then use available and imputed figures to estimate the value of cocaine movements for each country over time, and the value added as a measure of difference between the Central American country of arrival and the source country of Colombia. In interpreting and discussing our findings we draw attention to the economic pressures, volatility, and development challenges faced by countries that have become important waypoints in the cocaine trade because of supply-side cocaine control efforts.

White Feminism and Carceral Industries: Strange Bedfellows or Partners in Crime and Criminology?

In this article, we examine the existing policy and academic literature on punitive responses to gender-based and family violence, focusing, in particular, on women’s police stations. Specialist women’s police stations have been a feature of policing in Argentina, Brazil, and other South American as well as Central American countries since the late 1980s. They are considered to be a phenomenon of ‘the global South’, having also been set up in some African and Asian countries including Sierra Leone and India. In this article, we critique research on women’s police stations as well as the public discourse within which women’s police stations are being proposed as a solution to domestic violence – looking at questions of research design, methodology, empiricism, ethics, and criminological claims to knowledge or ‘truth’. We reflect on the significant dangers posed by the potential transfer of women’s police stations to the Australian context, especially for sovereign Indigenous women and girls. Finally, we critique what we see as deep-seated contradictions and anomalies inherent in ‘southern theory’ and white feminist carceralism.

A draft of the genome of the Gulf Coast tick, Amblyomma maculatum

The Gulf Coast tick, Amblyomma maculatum, inhabits the Southeastern states of the USA bordering the Gulf of Mexico, Mexico, and other Central and South American countries. More recently, its U.S. range has extended West to Arizona and Northeast to New York state and Connecticut. It is a vector of Rickettsia parkeri and Hepatozoon americanum. This tick species has become a model to study tick/Rickettsia interactions. To increase our knowledge of the basic biology of A. maculatum we report here a draft genome of this tick and an extensive functional classification of its proteome. The DNA from a single male tick was used as a genomic source, and a 10X genomics protocol determined 28,460 scaffolds having equal or more than 10 Kb, totaling 1.98 Gb. The N50 scaffold size was 19,849 Kb. The BRAKER pipeline was used to find the protein-coding gene boundaries on the assembled A. maculatum genome, discovering 237,921 CDS. After trimming and classifying the transposable elements, bacterial contaminants, and truncated genes, a set of 25,702 were annotated and classified as the core gene products. A BUSCO analysis revealed 83.4% complete BUSCOs. A hyperlinked spreadsheet is provided, allowing browsing of the individual gene products and their matches to several databases.

Spread of the African spotted orchid <i>Oeceoclades maculata</i> in the New World

Oeceoclades maculata (Lindl.) Lindl. (= Eulophia maculata (Lindl.) Rchb.f.) has a broad native range across tropical Africa and Madagascar. Here, we document the spread of O. maculata in the New World, using published records, herbarium specimens, photographs posted online, and our own collections. The earliest known New World record of O. maculata is from Brazil dating to before 1790. Until 1962, O. maculata was known in the New World only from South America. Since then, this species has spread north through Central America into Mexico and across the West Indies to Florida and the Bahamas. It was first found in Florida in 1974, and until 1994 all Florida records of O. maculata were restricted to Miami-Dade County (except one record of greenhouse escapees in Gainesville). Here, we document O. maculata records from the following geographic areas in the New World: 11 South American countries (all except Chile and Uruguay), all 7 Central American countries, Mexico, 22 West Indian island-groups, and Florida. We also document records from 31 counties in peninsular Florida. Oeceoclades maculata has now been recorded in the New World from northeastern Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil (~28.5°S) and Estancia Santa Teresa, Corrientes, Argentina (28.0°S) in the south, to Gainesville (29.7°N) and Palm Coast, Florida (29.6°N) in the north. A report of O. maculata populations in Gainesville dying out after a hard frost suggests that this species may have reached its northern outdoor limit in peninsular Florida. Although its impact on native species in the New World appears to be minor, there are efforts to eradicate O. maculata in some natural areas.

New records of Ctenolepismacalvum (Ritter,1910) (Zygentoma, Lepismatidae) from Japan.

Silverfish are known as one of the major pests which feed on paper and starch-based materials and can cause serious problems in museums, libraries and archives.Ctenolepismacalvum (Ritter, 1910) was first recorded from Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and has also been known from Central American countries including Guyana and Cuba. Recently, its rapid spread to European countries, including Austria, Czech, Germany and Norway, has been reported. In addition, there are unverified records of C.calvum from 17 more countries in the on-line citizen-science platforms iNaturalist. We report C.calvum in Japan for the first time, from Hokkaido, Miyagi, Tokyo, Fukuoka and Nagasaki Prefectures. The specimens in Japan were observed in detail by stereomicroscope, optical microscope and scanning electron microscope. The occurrence of this species is a serious problem from the viewpoint of protection of cultural properties. We also registered their mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene in EMBL/GenBank/DDBJ.

Climate change adaptation in Central America: A review of the national policy efforts

AbstractThe latest comparative studies of climate policies reinforce the fundamental importance of employing adaptation planning alongside national development strategies. While these studies are necessary to document and share the knowledge of the practices and experiences undertaken at the national level, documents are still scarce on regions of interest such as Central America. This article scrutinizes the state of adaptation planning through an exhaustive investigation of adaptation policy documents, consisting of National Adaptation Strategies, National Climate Legislation, and National Adaptation Action Plans, which are common in all six Central American countries. The findings reveal a region with an intricate yet progressive trend toward adaptation policies, with each country showing different speeds and qualities of adoption. An increasing learning curve has allowed for the emergence of two generations of adaptation policies with several improved features, including horizontal and vertical coordination, monitoring systems, and the inclusion of heterogeneous instruments to implement these systems. Yet, institutional challenges outside the adaptation realm could hinder the progress attained, due to factors such as political and economic crisis and institutional fragility. Further research into the broader political and governance landscape is needed, focusing on if and how climate policies should address political instability and institutional fragility as vulnerability stressors.

Higher Diet Quality in Latina Women during Pregnancy May Be Associated with Sociodemographic Factors.

Acculturation contributes to low diet quality and can foster health inequities for Latina women during pregnancy. Conversely, nutrition literacy (NL) increases diet quality and could promote health equity. This study assessed the associations between the diet quality, acculturation, and NL of Latina women (n = 99) participating in the Assessment of Docosahexaenoic Acid On Reducing Early Preterm Birth (ADORE) study. Acculturation and nutrition literacy factored together tended to modify diet quality, but this was not statistically significant. Diet quality was associated with acculturation, age, and nativity. Most (76.8%) demonstrated low nutrition literacy. Women who were bicultural and were born in Latin American countries other than Mexico had lower diet quality scores than women who had lower acculturation and were born in Mexico. Women who were 35 years or older had better diet quality than those who were younger. Future studies are needed to explore diet quality differences for pregnant Latina women with high nutrition literacy and high acculturation, as well as for women from the Caribbean, Central and South American countries living in the US, to promote nutrition and maternal health for Latina women.

Rank‐based data synthesis of common bean on‐farm trials across four Central American countries

AbstractLocation‐specific information is required to support decision making in crop variety management, especially under increasingly challenging climate conditions. Data synthesis can aggregate data from individual trials to produce information that supports decision making in plant breeding programs, extension services, and of farmers. Data from on‐farm trials using the novel approach of triadic comparison of technologies (tricot) are increasingly available, from which more insights could be gained using a data synthesis approach. The objective of our study was to present the applicability of a rank‐based data synthesis approach to several datasets from tricot trials to generate location‐specific information supporting decision making in crop variety management. Our study focuses on tricot data from 14 trials of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) performed between 2015 and 2018 across four countries in Central America (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua). The combined data of 17 common bean genotypes were rank aggregated and analyzed with the Plackett–Luce model. Model‐based recursive partitioning was used to assess the influence of spatially explicit environmental covariates on the performance of common bean genotypes. Location‐specific performance was predicted for the three main growing seasons in Central America. We demonstrate how the rank‐based data synthesis methodology allows integrating tricot trial data from heterogenous sources to provide location‐specific information to support decision making in crop variety management. Maps of genotype performance can support decision making in crop variety evaluation such as variety recommendations to farmers and variety release processes.

When He Speaks: Neo-Pentecostal Space Making in Costa Rica

Sociologists of religion have identified the gradual transformation from “garage churches” to megachurches since the 1980s as consistent with the political impact of neo-Pentecostal groups in Latin America today. A challenge arises for architecture to address this spatial impact upon the city fabric. Through on-site visits to neo-Pentecostal churches and interviews held with their pastors in 2019, this article takes up the challenge with reference to two case studies in Costa Rica. Analyzing the church as part of a spatial network that fosters extensive links to urban and social life far beyond the scale of the building in which worship takes place, the aim of this study is twofold: spatially to contextualize neo-Pentecostalism in a Central-American country which is Catholic by constitution; and to explore understudied dimensions in architectural historiography, such as visions and voices, as sources informing space making and site decisions.

Informal compliance mechanisms in the EU ‘development’ and ‘integration without membership’ association agreements: a quest for capacity and ownership?

ABSTRACT Association Agreements between the EU and third countries lie at the heart of the EU’s foreign policy. The Association Agreements the EU concluded with Eastern Neighbours and the Caribbean Forum and Central American countries are marked with partner countries’ ambitious obligations, and the multi-instrument toolbox the EU applies to ensure partner countries’ compliance, including official consultations and dispute settlement. Nevertheless, the EU has demonstrated to prefer informal compliance instruments, such as statements or informal meetings in both the ‘integration without membership’ and ‘development’ contexts. The article focuses on the rationale behind the EU’s preference for ‘soft’ compliance instruments. It isdemonstrates that the European Commission and Delegations may in many cases prioritize partners’ commitment to and ownership of change over a particular result (compliance), despite being able to make use of the asymmetries of its power relations with partner countries. The confluence of the EU’s or Member States’ strong interest in a partner country’s compliance with a specific obligation and the persistence of non-compliance will, nonetheless, lead to the recourse to formalized compliance mechanisms. The focus on the management perspective of compliance in isolation from formal enforcement mechanisms is presented as hardly possible, notwithstanding the EU’s quest for ownership.

Association mapping of resistance to tar spot complex in maize

AbstractTar spot complex (TSC) is a major fungal disease of maize in Mexico and several Central and South American countries. The causal agents of the disease are Phyllachora maydis and Monographella maydis. Yield losses of up to 58% associated with this disease have been reported previously. The majority of commercial maize germplasm in the United States is considered highly susceptible to TSC. In order to accelerate the disease resistance improvement process, genes for resistance to TSC and molecular markers linked to these genes, need to be identified and characterized. Here, we used an association mapping technique to detect quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for TSC resistance using genome‐wide association study (GWAS)‐based genotyping‐by‐sequencing (GBS) and Diversity Arrays Technology Sequencing (DArTseq) single‐nucleotide polymorphisms. An association mapping panel of 228 CIMMYT maize lines was used for the GWAS. One major QTL explaining 27.66% of the phenotypic variance and four minor QTLs explaining 10.18%, 12.72%, 10.14% and 13.38% of the phenotypic variance, respectively, were identified by the GBS‐based association mapping. Two QTLs were identified by DArTseq‐based association mapping explaining 1.07% and 18.29% of the phenotypic variance, respectively. These QTLs are expected to facilitate subsequent maize improvement using marker‐assisted selection.

Optimal heat stress metric for predicting warm-season mortality varies from country to country

BACKGROUND AND AIM: While heat combined with high humidity is frequently described as the main driver of heat stress, this remains unclear in epidemiological literature. A range of heat stress metrics, each being a different combination of temperature and humidity and sometimes other variables, are available in the literature. We compared eight heat stress metrics with warm-season mortality, with the aim of finding the optimal metric(s) for predicting mortality. METHODS: We performed a two-stage time-series approach using quasi-Poisson regression with distributed lag nonlinear models to derive warm-season exposure-response associations between each heat stress metric and mortality, over 604 locations in 39 countries within the Multi-Country Multi-City (MCC) Collaborative Research Network. The metrics studied were dry-bulb temperature (Tmean), wet-bulb temperature (Tw), apparent temperature (AT), discomfort index, and swamp cooler temperatures at 20, 40, 60 and 80% efficiencies (Swmp20 to Swmp80). The goodness-of-fit of each exposure-response model was assessed using the Quasi-Akaike Information Criterion (qAIC). For each metric and country, we summed the qAIC values across all locations and identified the metric with the lowest country-level qAIC as the optimal metric. We also compared the heat-mortality fraction for each metric. RESULTS: According to qAIC, AT, a metric combining temperature, humidity and wind speed, is the dominant driver of warm-season mortality, especially in Northern and Eastern Europe. Metrics with no or little humidity modification (Tmean and Swmp20) dominate in Southern and Western Asia, Eastern Asia, and Australia. Tw, a metric with large humidity modification, dominate in Caribbean, Central and South American countries but with large uncertainties. However, using Tmean as the only exposure metric does not result in significantly different attributable fractions compared to using the optimal metric. CONCLUSIONS: There is no one-size-fits-all metric for predicting heat-related mortality, but Tmean is suitable enough for estimating impacts in present-day climate. KEYWORDS: heat stress, mortality

Cortex Uncariae: A Review on Pharmacology, Toxicology, Precautions, and Dosage

Cortex Uncariae is the stem of Uncaria tomentosa plant, which belongs to the family Rubiaceae. Cat's thorn and unha de gato are the famous names of Cortex Uncariae. Uncaria tomentosa plant is widely geographically distributed in Central and South American countries. The aim of this review was to focus on pharmacology, toxicology, precautions, and dosage of Cortex Uncariae. The indole alkaloids such as speciophylline, mitraphylline, pteropodine, uncarine F, and isomitraphylline, as well as tetracyclic alkaloids oxindoles such as isorhynchophylline and rhynchophylline are the major Cortex Uncariae chemical constituents. There are many medical applications of Cortex Uncariae, such as immunostimulant agents, increases the white blood cells and immunity, treatment of gastrointestinal ulcers, rheumatism, arthritis, viral infection, urinary tract infections, fever, asthma, abscesses, high blood pressure, high blood glucose, and high total cholesterol. Pharmacology of Cortex Uncariae includes experimental pharmacology and clinical pharmacology. Experimental pharmacology contains anti-inflammatory, antidepressant, neuroprotection, antitumor, immune-stimulating, and anti-obesity activities, while clinical pharmacology contains immune-stimulating activity. No acute or chronic toxicity was recorded after Cortex Uncariae water extract administration. Cortex Uncariae extract did not accompany loss of food intake, body or organ weight decrease, and no histopathological changes were recorded in the main body organs such as kidney, liver, spleen, and heart after Cortex Uncariae intake. Cortex Uncariae must store in a closely black container to avoid heat and light. In conclusion, Cortex Uncariae had anti-inflammatory, antidepressant and neuroprotection, antitumor, immune-stimulating, anti-inflammatory, and anti-obesity activities without acute or chronic toxicity.

Amplification of Cherimoya (Annona cherimola Mill.) with Chloroplast-Specific Markers: Geographical Implications on Diversity and Dispersion Studies

Previously developed Annona cherimola specific primers based on the plant barcode gene matK were tested in 546 cherimoya accessions. Of those, 296 belong to an ex situ world reference germplasm collection maintained at the IHSM La Mayora-CSIC-UMA in Málaga (Spain) and 250 to cherimoya samples collected in situ in three Central American countries (Honduras, Guatemala and Costa Rica). Results showed the existence of two different haplotypes in the samples analyzed with geographical association. A new marker that amplified all the samples was designed based on the trnL-F locus using DNA information from seven species of the Annona genus. The information generated will be useful to analyze and conserve the extant genetic diversity present in situ and ex situ and to understand de dispersion of the crop from its center of origin in Central America.