Mexico Environment Research Articles

Assessment by portable gamma spectrometry of the radiological hazard associated with built environments in northeastern Mexico

Assessment by portable gamma spectrometry of the radiological hazard associated with built environments in northeastern Mexico

Grieving geographies, mourning waters: Life, death, and environmental gendered racialized struggles in Mexico

AbstractGrieving geographies are spaces of complex collective loss due to multiple interconnected forms of violence. Engaging with critical race theory, feminist geography and anthropology, and political ecology, this paper explores the intersections of gender, race, and the environment in Mexico. Black and Indigenous women in the Coast of Oaxaca grieve for the lagoons that are dying in front of them due to governmental and neoliberal policies, but also for the loss of members of their communities due to violence. I argue that facing the slow death of their lagoons system, plus everyday forms of violence, Black and Indigenous women organize to defend life, livelihood, and the lagoons in their community. These women have created everyday practices of resistance and alternative economies based on care and solidarity. This article explores environmental racism in Latin America, specifically where mestizaje ideology was imposed, and the affective relationship between human and other‐than‐human beings.

Homogeneity in Rural and Urban Areas and its Influence on Microcredit Group Performance

Both microcredit groups and work place teams consist of members who work interdependently on a specific, common goal in order to achieve a desired result for their businesses. Some literature suggests that peer-group and community pressure that increase group repayment rates will be more prominent in rural areas. In rural areas a greater emphasis on harmonious social relations, such as group and community solidarity, may also increase repayment rates. This study compares social sanctions, harmonious social relations, loan repayments and financial capital formation between micro-business entrepreneurs in rural and urban environments of central Mexico. We utilise social categorisation theory to explain how the less diverse rural groups will obtain superior outcomes. A structural equation model based on 182 micro-entrepreneurs in distinct solidarity groups tests these constructs. Support is found for the presence of higher levels of harmonious social relations within rural microfinance groups. Also loan repayments and financial capital formation by micro-entrepreneurs are significantly higher in rural areas. However, surprisingly, social sanctions do not raise loan repayments in either rural or urban areas.

The impact of IFRS on earnings management: evidence from Mexico

PurposePrior literature investigating the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) finds that managerial incentives, capital market institutions and accounting standards interact to endogenously determine accounting outcomes. In this paper, we investigate the impact of changing from local GAAP to IFRS in 2012 on earnings management by public firms in Mexico. Given the institutional environment and managerial incentives in Mexico, there is not a clear theoretical prediction for the impact of Mexico's adoption of IFRS on earnings management. Thus, it is an empirical question whether a change in accounting standards had any effect on earnings management.Design/methodology/approachWe use three measures of earnings smoothing and one measure of upwards earnings management. Logistic regression analysis along with t-tests across two time periods, pre-IFRS (2009–2011) and post-IFRS (2013–2015) are used to determine if there is a significant change in the earnings management of Mexican firms, and if this change is different for companies cross-listed in the US and companies listed only in the Bolsa.FindingsWe hypothesize and find that adopting IFRS is associated with lower earnings management via earnings smoothing in Mexico, and the reduction is greater for firms cross-listed in the United States. Our results support the contention that strong institutions and enforcement aid in the implementation of new accounting standards.Originality/valueFirst, we contribute to the literature on the adoption of IFRS around the world. The consensus in the literature is that the impact of IFRS on financial reporting is country-specific. To our knowledge, we are the first to conduct such research on Mexico. Second, our findings indicate that IFRS adoption is associated with a reduction in earnings management through income smoothing by firms in Mexico. This contributes to a small but growing body of literature documenting consequences of improvements in Mexican capital markets. Results of research in this area provide important insights to capital market participants and regulators in Mexico.

Epigenetic inheritance of DNA methylation changes in fish living in hydrogen sulfide–rich springs

Environmental factors can promote phenotypic variation through alterations in the epigenome and facilitate adaptation of an organism to the environment. Although hydrogen sulfide is toxic to most organisms, the fish Poecilia mexicana has adapted to survive in environments with high levels that exceed toxicity thresholds by orders of magnitude. Epigenetic changes in response to this environmental stressor were examined by assessing DNA methylation alterations in red blood cells, which are nucleated in fish. Males and females were sampled from sulfidic and nonsulfidic natural environments; individuals were also propagated for two generations in a nonsulfidic laboratory environment. We compared epimutations between the sexes as well as field and laboratory populations. For both the wild-caught (F0) and the laboratory-reared (F2) fish, comparing the sulfidic and nonsulfidic populations revealed evidence for significant differential DNA methylation regions (DMRs). More importantly, there was over 80% overlap in DMRs across generations, suggesting that the DMRs have stable generational inheritance in the absence of the sulfidic environment. This is an example of epigenetic generational stability after the removal of an environmental stressor. The DMR-associated genes were related to sulfur toxicity and metabolic processes. These findings suggest that adaptation of P. mexicana to sulfidic environments in southern Mexico may, in part, be promoted through epigenetic DNA methylation alterations that become stable and are inherited by subsequent generations independent of the environment.

Buen Vivir: A Path to Reimagining Corporate Social Responsibility in Mexico after COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the unsustainable relations between business, society, and the natural environment in Mexico and around the world. Given these unsustainable relations, this essay asks the question: How can Mexican and multinational corporations enable human flourishing both at work and in the communities where they operate? It answers the question by examining how the Indigenous concept of Buen Vivir (living well) can serve as a basis for reimagining corporate social responsibility (CSR). Methodologically, it draws on ancient and contemporary Nahua poets as sources of ancestral Indigenous knowledge. Using these poets, the paper first establishes the applicability of Buen Vivir for Mexico. Relevant concepts include the quality of life, the relationship of humans to nature, the goal of economic growth, and the value of Indigenous knowledge. Using Buen Vivir as a framework for rethinking CSR, the paper integrates business within nature and dialogues with ancestral knowledge. It also focuses on localism and particularism, on quality in addition to quantity, on alternatives to economic growth, and on community. It ends by examining the implications of Buen Vivir for CSR theory and practice by incorporating Indigenous practices of communal work and conceptualizing the firm as a member of the community.

Land use change around hydroelectric dams using Landsat multi-temporal data: a challenge for a sustainable environment in Mexico

Dams must provide human development with economic viability, social equitability, and be environmentally sustainable However, environmental and social impacts are often negative and seldom considered in the design of these projects. We made a multitemporal analysis classifying 26 satellite images of several Mexican hydroelectric power stations between 1972 and 2016 to evaluate the effect of dams on the change in land use. Eleven socio-economic indicators were also compared before and after the construction of the dam to document effects on local communities. We use the Land Change Modeler to quantify the net changes in land use and land cover. We found a mean decrease in tropical forest (1,404.19 km2) and temperate forest (1,191.26 km2) and an increase in agriculture (2,241.26 km2) and urban use (92.9 km2). The results also show that although some indicators improved, the environmental deterioration around these projects shows that they are not sustainable.

Target Population of Environments for Wheat Breeding in India: Definition, Prediction and Genetic Gains.

In this study, we defined the target population of environments (TPE) for wheat breeding in India, the largest wheat producer in South Asia, and estimated the correlated response to the selection and prediction ability of five selection environments (SEs) in Mexico. We also estimated grain yield (GY) gains in each TPE. Our analysis used meteorological, soil, and GY data from the international Elite Spring Wheat Yield Trials (ESWYT) distributed by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) from 2001 to 2016. We identified three TPEs: TPE 1, the optimally irrigated Northwestern Plain Zone; TPE 2, the optimally irrigated, heat-stressed North Eastern Plains Zone; and TPE 3, the drought-stressed Central-Peninsular Zone. The correlated response to selection ranged from 0.4 to 0.9 within each TPE. The highest prediction accuracies for GY per TPE were derived using models that included genotype-by-environment interaction and/or meteorological information and their interaction with the lines. The highest prediction accuracies for TPEs 1, 2, and 3 were 0.37, 0.46, and 0.51, respectively, and the respective GY gains were 118, 46, and 123 kg/ha/year. These results can help fine-tune the breeding of elite wheat germplasm with stable yields to reduce farmers’ risk from year-to-year environmental variation in India’s wheat lands, which cover 30 million ha, account for 100 million tons of grain or more each year, and provide food and livelihoods for hundreds of millions of farmers and consumers in South Asia.

More fear, less walking: taking a walk in fortified housing environments in urban Mexico

The effects of gated community environments on walking are well documented. Most contributions focus on the built environment, and show how the lack of street connectivity usually discourages walking, along with long and defensive walls, dull public spaces, and the absence of retail shops and interesting places. This paper takes a complementary approach, as it questions why people in housing developments with access barriers stopped taking a walk outside, due to security concerns. It is based on the National Survey on Victimization and Perception of Public Security, 2018, carried out in households by the National Bureau of Statistics in Mexico. Results did not allow to conclusively confirm that people in fortified developments avoided taking a walk outside to a larger extent than people in non-fortified enclaves due to security concerns. Nevertheless, the study discovered that different drives led people to cease to take a walk outside, depending on the kind of development. Residents in housing developments with access barriers refrained more from taking a walk outside because of security perception and fear of crime. Concurrently, inhabitants in non-fortified housing developments stopped taking a walk outside owing to ‘objective’ conditions, such as socio-spatial disorder in the neighborhood and the state of residence.

Influence of Silver Nanoparticle–Based Coating on Calcareous Rock Surfaces on Microbial Biofilm Colonization in Intertidal Environments in Campeche, Mexico

The influence of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) on microbial biofilm colonization on natural calcareous rocks was studied in the Campeche marine intertidal environment in southeast Mexico. The biofilm formation was assessed by color spectrophotometer measurements represented in the CIELAB color space, digital image analysis, confocal laser scanning microscopy, biochemical biomarkers, and enumeration of morphologically characterized cells by FlowCAM®. Coupons were exposed with or without polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) coatings and without or with various concentrations of AgNPs. Initial colonizers on all surfaces were diatoms of the species Coscinodiscus centralis. After 60 days’ exposure to the marine environment, other genera of microalgae and cyanobacteria were observed. Biofilm formation was reduced on all coated coupons to a greater or lesser extent than bare rock, indicating that these nanomaterials’ presence altered biofilms’ formation on calcareous rock negatively on microbial communities’ essentials for ecosystem health.

Agricultural soils of the Animas River watershed after the Gold King Mine spill: An elemental spatiotemporal analysis via portable X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy.

In August 2015, 11.3 million L of heavy metal-contaminated water spilled into the Animas River from the Gold King Mine (Colorado, USA).National attention focused on water quality and agricultural production in areas affected by the spill. In response to local concerns, surface soil elemental concentrations were analyzed in three New Mexico agricultural fields to determine potential threats to agronomic production. Irrigated fields in the Animas watershed were scanned using portable X-ray fluorescence (PXRF) spectrometry to monitor the spatiotemporal variability of Pb, As, Cu, and Cr. A total of 175 locations were scanned using PXRF before and after the growing season for 3 yr. The geostatistical model with the lowest RMSE was chosen as the optimal model. The lowest RMSE for the elements ranged from to 0.10 to 0.44 m for As, from 0.50 to 0.98m for Cr, from 0.15 to 0.91m for Cu, and from 0.14 to 0.44m for Pb across the models selected. The spatial dependence between the measured values exhibited strong to moderate autocorrelation for all metals except for As, for which spatial dependence was strong to weak. Some areas in each field exceeded the New Mexico Environment Department soil screening limit of 7.07mg As kg-1 . All sampling locations were below the screening limit at last sampling time in 2019. Mixed models used for temporal analysis showed a significant decrease only in As below the screening value at the end of the study. Results indicate that the agricultural soils were below the soil screening guideline values.

Ecological distribution of Stephanodiscus niagarae Ehrenberg in central Mexico and niche modeling for its last glacial maximum habitat suitability in the Nearctic realm

Stephanodiscus niagarae Ehrenberg is currently restricted to specific regions of central Mexico, however, during the late Pleistocene, it had a wider distribution in the country. This change in distribution is similar to those observed for several organisms that migrated southwards during cold, glacial climates, supporting the hypothesis that central Mexico acted as glacial refugia for these species. This study aims to support this hypothesis for S. niagarae as well as to analyze its ecological distribution in modern environments in central Mexico. For this purpose we studied 18 samples from 16 lakes located around Mexico City, selected among 46 lakes along the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. Diatom assemblages in superficial sediments, and climatic, hydrochemistry, and nutrient parameters of each lake were analyzed by means of canonical correspondence analyses. Additionally, we created an ecological niche model (ENM) with modern occurrence data (n = 47) and environmental variables (WorldClim) to produce potential distribution maps of S. niagarae during the present time and under the LGM conditions in the Nearctic realm. S. niagarae was recorded only in 4 sites in central Mexico (abundances < 10%) associated with temperate, subhumid conditions in freshwater lakes with [Mg2+] − [Ca2+] − [HCO3−] ionic dominance and high turbidity, mesotrophic to hypertrophic systems (based on chlorophyll a values), but with a tendency to P-limitation. In our study sites S. niagarae showed low abundances in diatom assemblages dominated by Aulacoseira spp. Temperature (annual mean, coldest and warmest quarters means) was identified by ENM as the main environmental variable controlling its distribution, with its highest modern support in the USA, southern Canada, and a restricted distribution in the highlands of western and central Mexico. Whereas, the LGM scenario (− 5.5 °C) identified the western and central highlands in Mexico and southern USA as the highest probability distribution areas supporting the approach that the Sierra Madre Occidental could have acted as a migration corridor offering suitable habitats for a southward migration into central Mexico during colder (glacial) periods. In conclusion, S. niagarae distribution in the central and western mountains of Mexico is controlled by temperature changes and its presence may be associated with colder (glacial) periods.

Prospects for Gulf of Mexico Environmental Recovery and Restoration

Previous oil spills provide clear evidence that ecosystem restoration efforts are challenging, and recovery can take decades. Similar to the Ixtoc-I well blowout in 1979, the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill was enormous both in volume of oil spilled and duration, resulting in environmental impacts from the deep ocean to the Gulf of Mexico coastline. Data collected during the National Resource Damage Assessment showed significant damage to coastal areas (especially marshes), marine organisms, and deep-sea habitat. Previous spills have shown that disparate regions recover at different rates, with especially long-term effects in salt marshes and deep-sea habitat. Environmental recovery and restoration in the northern Gulf of Mexico are dependent upon fundamental knowledge of ecosystem processes in the region. Post-DWH research data provide a starting point for better understanding baselines and ecosystem processes. It is imperative to use the best science available to fully understand DWH environmental impacts and determine the appropriate means to ameliorate those impacts through restoration. Filling data gaps will be necessary to make better restoration decisions, and establishing new baselines will require long-term studies. Future research, especially via NOAA’s RESTORE Science Program and its state-based Centers of Excellence, should provide a path to understanding the potential for restoration and recovery of this vital marine ecosystem.

El medio ambiente, la pobreza y el crecimiento económico en México

La presente investigación busca contribuir a la discusión y análisis empírico de los factores socioeconómicos que afectan a la degradación del medio ambiente para el caso específico de México. El objetivo consistió en determinar si el crecimiento económico (Producto interno bruto real per cápita) del país contribuye a la degradación del medio ambiente, y si paralelo a la actividad económica, la población pobre también inciden sobre ella; claramente, se busca validar la existencia de una Curva de Kuznets Ambiental (CKA-extendida) para México durante el periodo 2003-2017; tomando como indicador de la degradación ambiental a los costos totales por agotamiento de los recursos naturales y la degradación ambiental. Se estimaron dos modelos de regresión, uno lineal múltiple y otro polinomial cúbico, mediante el método de mínimos cuadrados ordinarios. A partir de su estimación se encontró que existe una relación positiva entre la degradación ambiental y el crecimiento económico, así como con la población pobre; confirmándose la existencia de la CKA-extendida para México.

The Journal of James A. Brush: The Expedition and Military Operations of General Don Francisco Xavier Mina in Mexico, 1816–1817 ed. by Karen Racine and Graham Lloyd

Reviewed by: The Journal of James A. Brush: The Expedition and Military Operations of General Don Francisco Xavier Mina in Mexico, 1816–1817 ed. by Karen Racine and Graham Lloyd Francis X. Galán The Journal of James A. Brush: The Expedition and Military Operations of General Don Francisco Xavier Mina in Mexico, 1816–1817. Edited by Karen Racine and Graham Lloyd. (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2020. Pp. 265. Illustrations, appendices, notes, bibliography, index.) Historians of many stripes will be absolutely delighted with this hidden gem from the Huntington Library in San Marino, California. Latin American scholar Karen Racine and fellow editor Graham Lloyd transcribed and annotated this action-packed yet even-keeled memoir from the Scottish-born James A. Brush, a British military veteran of the Napoleonic wars who joined the expedition of Francisco Xavier Mina, which launched from Liverpool, England, on May 15, 1816, and landed in Norfolk, Virginia, the following month. Mina, a native of the Spanish kingdom of Navarre in the Basque region of northern Spain, fought against Napoleon’s occupation of the Iberian Peninsula. The editors explain that a Mexican priest encouraged Mina “to fight with the patriots of Mexico, arguing that any blow against Spanish tyranny in one place would advance the cause of liberty everywhere” (7). Although several other unpublished document-memoirs by foreign contemporaries describe the revolutionary events in Mexico that followed, the editors claim Brush’s account is not only the longest and most detailed but “the one written without an immediate personal or political motivation,” which includes many “crossover personnel” in Texas. (15). Racine and Lloyd deftly contextualize this journal with succinct biographies of both Mina and Brush in the introduction before picking up Brush’s insightful descriptions about the richness of the environment, minerals, and people of Mexico. His observations include sympathetic portrayals of ordinary folk such as Privateer Luis Aury’s Black Haitian troops, Indigenous Mexican rebels, and women. Brush unsurprisingly [End Page 205] reveals prejudice toward the Roman Catholic Church, especially the Inquisition, and comments on the general state of war between the viceroy of Mexico and independent Indians. Whereas priests offered civilization, which the Indians viewed “as a state of slavish subjection to the Spaniards,” Brush also notes the success of some missions in Upper California in converting a few natives. Yet he seemed bewildered at “those children of the forest, who disdain to barter their independence for what are called the conveniences of civilized life” (27–28). Paradoxically, Brush also observes syncretic practices of the Indians who carry images of the saints interspersed with representations of the moon and sun while “on solemn occasions they still use the ancient religious dances . . . performed in the churches after Mass is celebrated” (28–30). As for the peasants of Nuevo Santander, where Mina’s expedition landed on April 15, 1817, at the mouth of the Santander River in the Gulf of Mexico, Brush appeared to marvel at their cowboy skills and promise. He noted how these people of the country “are mostly rancheros and excellent horsemen,” whose “heels are equipped with huge iron spurs” and legs “eased in very strong boots,” adding they would “make excellent dragoons if properly disciplined” (53). Joining with their cause for liberty, Brush discusses the roles of various foreigners, such as American colonel Henry Perry and his fifty-man infantry, against Spanish royalists, as well as Commodore Aury, who then left Mina’s expedition to make an establishment at Matagorda in Texas, fearing that Soto la Marina, the small village inland base off the Santander River, was not a suitable port for their purpose. One of the first major engagements occurred at the three-hour Battle of Peotillos, where three hundred insurgents under Mina defeated two thousand royalists under Colonel Benito Armiñán. Brush added that, despite being surrounded by the royalists, rebel infantry under Colonel Guilford Dudley Young let out destructive firepower and then yelled “Hurrah!” (70), which panicked Spanish infantry and cavalry to flee. However, near the end of Mina’s successful expeditionary campaigns in Guanajuato, Brush saved perhaps his greatest disdain for a couple of jealous Mexican rebel officers (General Torres and Colonel Noboa), who withheld promised support...

Neither ant dominance nor abundance explain ant-plant network structure in Mexican temperate forests.

BackgroundAnt-plant mutualistic networks tend to have a nested structure that contributes to their stability, but the ecological factors that give rise to this structure are not fully understood. Here, we evaluate whether ant abundance and dominance hierarchy determine the structure of the ant-plant networks in two types of vegetation: oak and grassland, in two temperate environments of Mexico: Flor del Bosque State Park (FBSP) and La Malinche National Park (MNP). We predicted that dominant and abundant ant species make up the core, and submissives, the periphery of the network. We also expected a higher specialization level in the ant trophic level than in plant trophic level due to competition among the ant species for the plant-derived resources.MethodsThe ant-plant interaction network was obtained from the frequency of ant-plant interactions. We calculated a dominance hierarchy index for the ants using sampling with baits and evaluated their abundance using pitfall traps.ResultsIn MNP, the Formica spp. species complex formed the core of the network (in both the oak forest and the grassland), while in FBSP, the core species were Prenolepis imparis (oak forest) and Camponotus rubrithorax (grassland). Although these core species were dominant in their respective sites, they were not necessarily the most dominant ant species. Three of the four networks (oak forest and grassland in FBSP, and oak forest in MNP) were nested and had a higher number of plant species than ant species. Although greater specialization was observed in the ant trophic level in the two sites and vegetations, possibly due to competition with the more dominant ant species, this was not statistically significant. In three of these networks (grassland and oak forest of MNP and oak forest of FBSP), we found no correlation between the dominance hierarchy and abundance of the ant species and their position within the network. However, a positive correlation was found between the nestedness contribution value and ant dominance hierarchy in the grassland of the site FBSP, which could be due to the richer ant-plant network and higher dominance index of this community.ConclusionsOur evidence suggests that ant abundance and dominance hierarchy have little influence on network structure in temperate ecosystems, probably due to the species-poor ant-plant network and a dominance hierarchy formed only by the presence of dominant and submissive species with no intermediate dominant species between them (absence of gradient in hierarchy) in these ecosystems.

Productivity and Fruit Quality Influenced by Bioestimulant in Olive under Hot and Arid Environment of Mexico

Actually modern fruit trees physiology is focused on the stimulation of plant cell development and fruit production using bioestimulant. This study evaluated the effect of bioestimulant ‘Engordone’ under two doses (0.5 and 1.0 L ha-1) and two times (pea-size fruit and 28 days later) in olive tree cv Manzanilla under hot and arid environment of Mexico. The experiment was carried out during 2018 and 2019 at National Research Institute for Forestry, Agriculture and Livestock (INIFAP) in the Experimental Station Coast of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. The experiment was carried out on olive tree of eight years old, planted at distance of 10 x 5 m (200 trees ha-1) and under drip irrigation system. The experiment was analyzed using a randomized complete block design and four replications. The variables evaluated were olive yield, classification by size and fruit characteristics (fruit weight and pulp-pit ratio). The results showed that bioestimulant application had little effect on olive yield which increased the yield by 14.1 and 6.5% in 2018 and 2019, respectively compared to untreated trees, but without statistical difference. Fruit characteristic were no affected by treatments. Only the percentage of non-marketable fruit was statistically (P&lt;0.05) reduced in the first year. Finally, new biostimulants and times of application are necessary to carried out to improve the size of table olives.

Measuring transformational leadership style and its effectiveness on virtual work-teams in Mexico

Objective: To examine transformational leadership factors that promote effectiveness in virtual work-team performance, generating empirical basis theoretical knowledge in management of virtual environments in Mexico. Method: Design and development of a questionnaire to assess determinants of transformational leadership and its effectiveness in virtual work-team performance. Results: this instrument is supported by evidences according to several perspectives founded at the conducted literature review. Limitations: this questionnaire do not use statistical productivity nor quality indicators in organizations. Originality: there is no instrument that address these factors in Mexico. Conclusions: this study will contribute to administrative sciences by developing an instrument to assess leadership capability and its effectiveness on virtual work team as new key parameters and strategies to be used by those business environment stakeholders.

Longitudinal changes in the retail food environment in Mexico and their association with diabetes.

The retail food environment is a potential population-level determinant of diet and nutrition-related chronic diseases, yet little is known about its composition and association with diabetes in low- and middle-income countries. Our objectives were: (1) to describe changes in the composition of the retail food environment in Mexican neighborhoods from 2010 to 2016 and (2) to examine the association between these changes and diabetes cases diagnosed over the same period. Individual level data came from the 2016 Mexican Health and Nutrition Survey (N = 2808 adults). Neighborhood level retail food environment data for 2010 and 2016 came from the National Directory of Economic Units of Mexico. Multilevel logistic regression was used to examine the adjusted association between changes in the neighborhood density per km2 of fruit and vegetable stores, chain convenience stores and supermarkets with diabetes. Small store formats still predominate in Mexico's food environment, however there is evidence of fast increase in chain convenience stores and supermarkets. Adults living in neighborhoods that saw a decline in fruit and vegetable store density and a simultaneous increase in chain convenience store density experienced higher odds of diabetes, compared to adults who lived in neighborhoods where fruit and vegetable and convenience stores did not change (OR 3.90, 95% CI 1.61, 9.48). Considering the complex interplay between store types, understanding the mechanisms and confirming the causal implications of these findings could inform policies that improve the quality of food environments in cities.

Genetic analysis revealed a quantitative trait loci (QTL2A.K) on short arm of chromosome 2A associated with yellow rust resistance in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Yellow rust, caused by Puccinia striiformis, is one of the most devastating diseases in wheat. A synthetic by elite recombinant inbred line (RIL) population derived from a cross, Botnol/Aegilops squarrosa (666)//Kachu was evaluated for yellow rust resistance in two different environments in Mexico. The population was subjected to DArT-seq analysis for an in-depth genetic characterization. A major effect rust resistance QTL (QTL2A.K) explaining up to 45% phenotypic variance was found to be contributed by Kachee, an elite line of International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) Mexico. The QTL2A.K was found to be contributed by a segment of 2NS Chromosome of Triticum ventricosum translocated into the short arm of bread wheat chromosome 2A (QTL2A.K). The position of QTL2A.K was confirmed using T. ventricosum specific primer VENTRIUP-LN2. Identified genomic regions are being introgressed in to the popular but susceptible wheat varieties through marker-assisted breeding for enhancing yellow rust resistance.