La Amistad Research Articles

The Role of Sustainability in the Implementation of Tourism Projects as a Conservation Strategy of the Sierra Patlachique ANP, Case Cuevas de la amistad

The Role of Sustainability in the Implementation of Tourism Projects as a Conservation Strategy of the Sierra Patlachique ANP, Case Cuevas de la amistad

Geoheritage Assessment for the Geoconservation and Geotourism Promotion of in the Altamira Sector of the La Amistad International Park, Costa Rica

Geoheritage Assessment for the Geoconservation and Geotourism Promotion of in the Altamira Sector of the La Amistad International Park, Costa Rica

El poder unitivo del abrazo: reciprocidad franciscano-dominica en Geroglífico Sagrado de Alonso de Hita

In this paper I analyse Geroglífico Sagrado de la amistad más verdadera y vivo traslado de la divina y celestial en los gloriosos patriarcas Sancto Domingo y San Francisco (1692) by Alonso de Hita. My research explores how the allusions to the hug between St Francis of Assisi and Saint Dominic de Guzmán serve to promote the importance of the Franciscan and Dominican communities. As a result, I mention the relevance of the pair predication-caritas has in the book, I enquire how the hug represents the theological evolution of the members of the L’Ordine dei Frati Minori and La Orden de predicadores. In addition, I examine the foundation of the Franciscan-Dominican covenant of friendship. Finally, I mention the motifs that make of St Francis and St Dominic the prototypes of the good Christian.

Key for Identification of Bumblebee Queens from Costa Rica (Apidae: Apinae: Bombini)

In Costa Rica, five species of bumblebees of the Bombus genus are reported, however, two of these species have practically identical coloration, which makes it difficult to distinguish between populations that reside in the same site. A dichotomous key was generated to identify the bombus queens, and it is determined that the species B. ephippiatus and B. digressus can only be identified by observing their jaw characteristics. On the other hand, it is concluded that the distribution of the species B. weisi, B. digressus and B. mexicanus present more restricted distributions than those of B. pullatus, B. ephippiatus and B. volucelloides, of the latter it is also concluded that it had been confused with B. melaleucus, which is determined to be a species restricted to South America for the moment, although it is not ruled out that it can be collected in the southern part of the country, on the Pacific slope, especially in the La Amistad International Park and the Corcovado National Park.

New strategies for standardised and appropriate access to a complete acute lymphocytic leukaemia diagnostic panel for children in Mexico: an observational study

Approximately 50% of all childhood cancer cases in Mexico are acute lymphocytic leukaemia. Survival rates are suboptimal when compared with those in high-income countries, and poor access to standardised testing and treatment has been identified as a contributing factor. Mexico in Alliance with St Jude (MAS) is a multisite intersectoral collaboration created in 2016 to improve childhood cancer outcomes. MAS conducted a retrospective analysis of childhood acute lymphocytic leukaemia where diagnostic disparities and risk-group classification emerged as a challenge; 419 (72%) of 578 of patients with confirmed acute lymphocytic leukaemia did not have access supporting fluorescent in-situ hybridisation (FISH) testing and 226 (39%) of 578 patients did not have minimal residual disease evaluation. FISH results were reported in a median of 15 days (SD 17) and cytogenetic results were reported after a median of 22 days (SD 27). In response, MAS launched The Bridge Project, in 2019, to improve access, accuracy, and timeliness of diagnostic information for children with acute lymphocytic leukaemia in Mexico. A consensus-derived standardised diagnostic panel for children aged 0-18 years with suspected acute lymphocytic leukaemia was developed, including morphology, immunophenotype, karyotype, FISH, DNA index, and minimal residual disease evaluation at two timepoints: day 15 and after consolidation. Participating centres shipped diagnostic samples to a single central laboratory. Paediatric oncologists, nurses, clinical research coordinators, and laboratory technicians held weekly meetings for quality improvement. The Bridge Project has benefited 255 children by providing consistent access to a comprehensive diagnostic panel. 556 (94%) of 591 samples arrived within the target timeframe (≤48 h). Immunophenotype, karyotype, DNA index, FISH, and minimal residual disease access increased from 97%, 76%, 77%, 28%, and 61%, respectively, to 100%. The single central laboratory produced flow cytometry results (immunophenotype and minimal residual disease) and FISH results within 5 days and karyotype results within 13 days of sample arrival. Many structural and logistical challenges were successfully addressed through multidisciplinary and intersectoral collaboration. Eleven additional institutions joined the project in 2022, up from five in 2021. Timely access to standard specialised diagnostic testing for children with suspected acute lymphocytic leukaemia following a centralised approach is possible in lower-resource settings through multisite intersectoral collaboration. This synergistic action is benefiting children by providing timely access to a comprehensive diagnostic panel and serves as an example of health system resilience. Fundación Gonzalo Río Arronte (Mexico City, Mexico); Casa de la Amistad para niños con Cáncer (Mexico City, Mexico); St Jude Children's Research Hospital (Memphis, TN, USA).

Fértil provincia y señalada: Raúl Ruiz y el campo del cine chileno ed. by Verónica Cortínez

Reviewed by: Fértil provincia y señalada: Raúl Ruiz y el campo del cine chileno ed. by Verónica Cortínez Andreea Marinescu Cortínez, Verónica, ed. Fértil provincia y señalada: Raúl Ruiz y el campo del cine chileno. Editorial Cuarto Propio, 2018. 265 pp. This edited collection seeks to bring Raúl Ruiz's filmic work into conversation with the field of Chilean cinema. Ruiz (1941–2011), exiled to France since 1973 after Pinochet's military coup, is a towering presence in the field of global cinema, his importance attested by numerous scholarly works dedicated to his prolific and multifaceted artistic production, as well as by captivating cinephiles and inspiring independent filmmakers around the world. In fact, the Prologue to the collection states that the critical attention received by Ruiz threatens to eclipse other Chilean independent films. Indeed, it is a worthwhile effort to both consider Ruiz's work in the context of Chilean independent film production and to pay attention to other independent films produced in the past decades. The book is divided into two parts: "Raúl Ruiz: un chileno en el mundo" is comprised of four chapters on Ruiz while "Fértil provincia: el mundo chileno en el cine" features another four chapters on several Chilean-made independent films. The first chapter, "El cine chileno en el contexto mundial: Raúl Ruiz en Locarno," by Manfred Engelbert, offers a necessary corrective to the dominant claim that European cinema shaped Latin American cinema, and seeks to demonstrate how Ruiz's original films were an integral part of a world phenomenon of new filmmaking and provided an important reference for the development of European cinema. The second essay, "Las funciones del plano según Raúl Ruiz," by Cortínez, discusses Ruiz's work as a film theorist, tracing the trajectory of his ideas on the relative autonomy of the shot through several books, interviews, and films. Ruiz's practice anticipates its theorization; it is a way to conceptualize his own filmic praxis. In the third essay, "Cuatro guiños para Ruiz," Roberto Castillo Sandoval develops the theme of death—or, more accurately, the constant interaction among the living and the dead—as a constant feature throughout Ruiz's work, as a means to express a certain way of being in the world, allowing him to move with facility from the experimental realm to the popular culture realm. The last piece in this section, "La amistad es un misterio insondable," is provided by filmmaker Miguel Littín, who recounts memories from his longstanding friendship with Ruiz, defined by early activism and a shared iconoclastic filmic style during the New Latin American Cinema, exile, and ultimately death. This first part offers a variety of texts developing specific aspects of Ruiz's work; however, the overreliance on Tres tristes tigres (1968) in the first two essays undercuts the more expansive claims and this first section as a whole does not cohere into a unified thesis. Unfortunately, the second part suffers from similar problems as well as new issues. Providing an abrupt departure from Ruiz, it is dedicated to a number of independent Chilean films made several decades apart from each other. The loose theme that unites them is an implied sense of "Chileanness," mainly based on the evocation of the countryside and rural popular culture. Two scholarly essays in the second part provide valuable analyses of two intriguing documentaries. The first, "Mimbre: Sergio Bravo y Violeta Parra" by Claudio Guerrero y Alekos Vuskovic, highlights the 1957 legendary collaboration [End Page 298] of Bravo and Parra, two foundational figures of the Nuevo Cine Chileno and the Nueva Canción Chilena. The 10-minute documentary is an ethnographic and aesthetic study of Manzanito, a wicker-weaving master representative of a newly found appreciation for popular art by urban intellectuals and artists at the time. Even though the problematic potential of this fascination with popular art is not examined, the essay analyzes and highlights the impressive merits of this early experiment in filmic montage and musical improvisation. Hernán Delgado's piece, "Luchando por el derecho de un suelo para vivir: Cine documental regional y memoria hist...

Trenes cordilleranos en documentales argentinos de la década del 40: figuras de integración territorial y trabajo épico

En este texto se revisa la presencia de imágenes de vehículos motorizados, que aparecen en documentales argentinos de la década del cuarenta, y que dan cuenta de problemáticas como el territorio, la frontera chileno-argentina o el trabajo épico. Se analiza La amistad de dos naciones (Sucesos Argentinos, productor Ángel Díaz, 1942-1943) a partir de tensiones limítrofes entre Chile y Argentina; y El trasandino del Norte (Fernando Ayala, 1949), en relación a la figura del trabajador. Se consideran, como antecedentes o contrastes, filmes del periodo silente argentino y chileno, en este último caso, por medio de registros de prensa.

Survey of medium-sized and large mammals of Piedras Blancas National Park, Costa Rica

Piedras Blancas National Park, in southern Costa Rica, is an important component of two biological corridors connecting the Osa Peninsula (Corcovado National Park) and La Amistad International Park. Understanding the mammal community composition of Piedras Blancas will provide baseline data to evaluate the success of conservation efforts. We used camera traps and opportunistic observations to describe the medium-sized and large mammals of the park. We deployed camera traps for 1,440 trap nights (2016-2018). We detected 19 mammal species from seven orders and 13 families. Five species are globally threatened: Leopardus wiedii (Schinz, 1821), Saimiri oerstedii (Linnaeus, 1758), Ateles geoffroyi (Kuhl, 1820), Alouatta palliata (Gray, 1849), and Tapirus bairdii (Gill, 1865). We did not detect two locally threatened species, Panthera onca (Linnaeus, 1758) and Tayassu pecari (Link, 1795). Our research highlights a need for critical conservation work within the proposed biological corridor to support Costa Rica’s most threatened wildlife.

<p><strong>A new species of <em>Blakea</em> (Melastomataceae: Blakeeae) with pendulous flowers from Costa Rica</strong></p>

We describe Blakea ricardoi (Melastomataceae: Blakeeae), a species known only from the Parque Internacional La Amistad in Costa Rica side. It can be distinguished by the long peduncles up to 6.5 cm long, pendant flowers with green petals and indumentum of roughened trichomes. A key to other species of Blakea with pendulous flowers and connivent petals is provided.

Effectiveness of Panama as an intercontinental land bridge for large mammals.

Habitat fragmentation is a primary driver of wildlife loss, and establishment of biological corridors is a common strategy to mitigate this problem. A flagship example is the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor (MBC), which aims to connect protected forest areas between Mexico and Panama to allow dispersal and gene flow of forest organisms. Because forests across Central America have continued to degrade, the functioning of the MBC has been questioned, but reliable estimates of species occurrence were unavailable. Large mammals are suitable indicators of forest functioning, so we assessed their conservation status across the Isthmus of Panama, the narrowest section of the MBC. We used large-scale camera-trap surveys and hierarchical multispecies occupancy models in a Bayesian framework to estimate the occupancy of 9 medium to large mammals and developed an occupancy-weighted connectivity metric to evaluate species-specific functional connectivity. White-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari), jaguar (Panthera onca), giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), and tapir (Tapirus bairdii) had low expected occupancy along the MBC in Panama. Puma (Puma concolor), red brocket deer (Mazama temama), ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), and collared peccary (Pecari tajacu), which are more adaptable, had higher occupancy, even in areas with low forest cover near infrastructure. However, the majority of species were subject to ≥1 gap that was larger than their known dispersal distances, suggesting poor connectivity along the MBC in Panama. Based on our results, forests in Darien, Donoso-Santa Fe, and La Amistad International Park are critical for survival of large terrestrial mammals in Panama and 2 areas need restoration.

Bush Dogs in Central America: Recent Range Expansion, Cryptic Distribution, or Both?

Bush dogs ( Speothos venaticus) are a small, wide-ranging neotropical pack-hunting canid whose ecology is relatively poorly known. Here, we document new, repeated observations of bush dog groups in east-central (Barbilla National Park) and south-eastern (La Amistad International Park) Costa Rica that suggest either that their recent or historic range has been underestimated, or that their potential range in Central America may have recently expanded and could now include not only borderlands with Panama but perhaps a substantial portion of the Talamanca Mountains up to 120 km to the north-northwest and at elevations up to 2,119 m. In light of their inherently low density, documenting the current and future distribution of bush dogs in Central America will be challenging.

El video tutorial como herramienta de educación no formal en estudiantes de Bogotá, Colombia

Esta investigación buscó conocer cuál es el uso del video tutorial como alternativa para la educación no formal, en estudiantes de los colegios La Amistad y Distrital Kennedy de Bogotá, Colombia (2016-2017). Se diseñó una metodología mixta, que empleó setenta encuestas físicas y ochenta digitales, para una muestra de 150 de un total de 300 educandos. Además de un grupo focal, realizado en dos jornadas de una hora con diez estudiantes de décimo y undécimo grado, en ambos colegios. Los resultados indicaron que la relación de los jóvenes con las nuevas tecnologías favorece el aprendizaje. La mayoría de los estudiantes usan YouTube constantemente para consultar sus actividades académicas y otros contenidos. Esta plataforma contiene una gran cantidad de videos tutoriales de fácil acceso, donde predominó el interés por la investigación, los idiomas y la tecnología, además saber sobre profesiones y oficios. De este modo, se evidenció que la web es una fuente de educación no formal y el video tutorial una excelente opción por sus características didácticas y su diversidad de temáticas.

A New Anthurium from La Amistad International Park (PILA), Panama-Costa Rica Border

La Amistad International Park (PILA) is a binational protected area from Costa Rica and Panama, which comprises 401,000 ha of natural vegetation. This nature reserve contains 3,046 vascular plant species, including 114 species of Araceae. Anthurium represents the second largest genus in the area, which consists of 62 species (six endemic to PILA). In this paper, a new endemic species of Anthurium is decribed from PILA, A. jorgemendietanum. The affinities are discussed; also photographs and illustrations of this new species are provided.

Anuran inventory in a locality of the buffer area of La Amistad International Park, Costa Rica: pilot study for Citizen Science application

Presentamos un inventario de anuros en la zona de amortiguamiento del Parque Internacional La Amistad, realizado por personas locales. Discutimos los resultados en torno al marco de Ciencia Ciudadana y su aplicación para estudios de anfibios, así como el nivel de incertidumbre de la identificación de especies por fotografías. Registramos 15 especies de anuros, de las cuales seis fueron identificadas de forma confiable, la estimación de riqueza extrapolada fue de ~20 especies. Reconocemos la extensión altitudinal de Scinax boulengeri. En muchas áreas rurales del Neotrópico los ciudadanos que podrían involucrarse en investigación son campesinos. Además, los datos que pueden proveer son de áreas aisladas por lo que pueden ser útiles para contribuir en el conocimiento de los anfibios. We present an anuran inventory in the buffer area of La Amistad International Park performed by local people. Results are discussed around the Citizen Science framework and their application for amphibian studies, as well as the uncertainty level of the species’ identification by photographs. Fifteen anuran species were recorded, of which six where considered to be reliably identified, and extrapolated species richness estimate was ~20 species. We recognized the altitudinal extension range of Scinax boulengeri. In many rural areas in the Neotropic the citizens that could be involved in research are farmers. Also, the data they can provide is usually from isolated areas, and therefore can be useful for contributing on amphibian knowledge.

A new moss salamander, genus Nototriton (Caudata: Plethodontidae), from the Cordillera de Talamanca, in the Costa Rica-Panama border region.

A new salamander belonging to the genus Nototriton, subgenus Nototriton, is described from the Caribbean slopes of the southeastern Cordillera de Talamanca in Costa Rica, within Parque Internacional La Amistad, at an elevation ca. 1500 m a.s.l. This new taxon is distinguished from its congeners by its morphological characteristics and by its differentiation in DNA sequences of the 16S rRNA, cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI), and cytochrome b mitochondrial genes. This new species represents the southernmost extension known for the genus Nototriton.

Avatares de lo invisible: espacio y subjetividad en los siglos de oro by Luis F. Avilés

Reviewed by: Avatares de lo invisible: espacio y subjetividad en los siglos de oro by Luis F. Avilés Alicia R. Zuese Avilés, Luis F. Avatares de lo invisible: espacio y subjetividad en los siglos de oro. Iberoamericana/Vervuert, 2017. 227 pp. Luis F. Avilés's Avatares de lo invisible: espacio y subjetividad en los siglos de oro starts from the notion that the texts studied conjure "spaces" that may be inaccessible or imperceptible: the beloved, the court, the frontier, and the home. Avilés details how characters enunciate strategies to grapple with their subjectivities in these spaces, and how these discourses enable readers to perceive the effects of their sociopolitical contexts. Avilés focuses on a wide range of primary texts, reaching beyond the title's announced Golden Age to include some classical and medieval works. Several chapters revise previous publications dating from as far back as 2001, whereas others, such as chapter four on Lazarillo de Tormes, represent new areas of inquiry. It is refreshing to see Avilés weave his studies together so carefully, to the point that he revises conclusions of previous publications in light of his new insights, specifically regarding El celoso extremeño (208). Avilés engages throughout his book with a range of theorists, including Jacques Rancière, Michel Foucault, Giorgio Agamben, and Judith Butler, in addition to well-known Hispanists. He seldom dialogs with scholars of visual or spatial studies such as Fernando R. de la Flor, whose approach he rejects due to "su excesiva defensa de lo visual" (9), or Enrique García Santo-Tomás, who is, however, cited briefly and acknowledged for reading the manuscript. Avilés also infrequently enters into debates surrounding gender or ethnic studies, as might have been expected given the spaces on which he focuses. Instead, he interrogates the works through close readings and attention to key words ("adamado," "casa encantada"). The book [End Page 1015] is organized into four chapters with footnotes, a brief preface, a conclusion, a bibliography of works cited, and an index of names. Chapter one, which focuses on "el amor distante y de oídas," or how characters conjure the image of the distant beloved, approaches the topic through the most wide-ranging sources: in classical works of philosophy (Cicero's De amicitia), a medieval Hispano-Arabic love treatise (Ibn Hazm's El collar de la paloma), troubadour poetry, a medieval Castilian love poem, and in relation to the role of Dulcinea in Don Quijote. The verbal portraits of Dulcinea by Cervantes's characters parody the techniques for visualizing the distant beloved that Avilés presents in the first part of the chapter. The coexistence of competing discourses representing Dulcinea—by Don Quijote, Sancho, the duke and duchess—reveals the "perpetua inestabilidad" of the verbal image created of the beloved (58). Chapter two investigates the court-rural duality in Menosprecio de la corte y alabanza de la aldea through Antonio de Guevara's advice to courtiers to manage the obstacles for handling their identities inherent in both spaces. Guevara extols privacy, cautioning his audience to investigate the lives of others from a legal perspective, instead of prying, while trying to achieve self-knowledge (65–66, 74). In Avilés's analysis, the exterior space of the court threatens the inner self, whereas the problems of boredom and leisure derail the rural village-dweller, but the pitfalls of the latter can be escaped by establishing family life in the home (79, 95, 100–01). Chapter three investigates the space of the frontier/battlefield in El Abencerraje as one of a porous "zone of contact," following Mary Louise Pratt (106). Avilés traces how Narváez's reaction to Abindarráez's sigh drives the transformation of a hostile war zone into a territory of "la amistad, el amor y la generosidad" (111–12). The moor's sigh externalizes his "interioridad velada e invisible" and his vulnerability (120, 124). For Avilés, the unexpected relationship between the supposed enemies in the permeable frontier of the fictional world displays an idealized "convivencia" that was impossible in reality (145). Chapter four is the most accessible chapter to non-specialists because Avilés...

Desenlaces Problemáticos en comedias de Ruiz de Alarcón

This article studies the perplexing and problematic denouements of three important comedias of Ruiz de Alarcón (La crueldad por el honor, La amistad castigada, El dueño de las estrellas). The explanations and interpretative orientations offered by the dramatic texts do not align with the general action and behavior of the characters. An analysis of the endings shows some flaws in the dramatic coherence of these plays.

«En los mayores peligros se conoce la amistad», auto sacramental de José de Valdivielso, representado en el Corpus hispalense de 1619. Estudio y reconstrucción virtual

This paper studies Jose de Valdivieso’s En los mayores peligros se conoce la amistad ( Friendship is best acknowledged when in danger ) one of the five autos sacramentales (Eucharistic morality plays) staged at the Corpus Christi feast in Seville, in 1619, by Diego de Vallejo. It also bears the title La amistad en el peligro (Friendship when in danger), and has never been published in a modern critical edition, though two published records (1622 and 1624) bear witness to the play, of which there are two 17 th Century manuscript versions extant. This article, based on contemporary records, studies the historical socio-religious- urban context of the Corpus Christi feast in Seville and virtually reconstructs the play’s performance, on pageant wagons, and its subsequent procession within the town.

A first checklist to the vascular plants of La Amistad International Park (PILA), Costa Rica-Panama

La Amistad International Park is a World Heritage Site, which comprises 401,000 ha of mainly upland continuous natural vegetation straddling the Costa Rica and Panama border. We present a first checklist of vascular plant diversity for the park and a brief discussion of how this diversity is distributed by elevation and vegetation type together with a superficial assessment of floristic affinities. The checklist recognises 3,046 vascular plant species, 26 of which are lycopods, 433 are ferns and 2,586 are seed plants. Of these, 16 are new records for Costa Rica and 39 are for the flora of Panama; 14 represent undescribed or new species to science and 73 are endemic to La Amistad or its buffer zone. For each species we document its presence within the Park by citing herbarium specimens and the associated elevational range, together with their global distribution, extinction risk assessments where undertaken, whether the taxon is exotic.

Are landscape attributes a useful shortcut for classifying vegetation in the tropics? A case study of La Amistad International Park

AbstractEffective vegetation classification schemes identify the processes determining species assemblages and support the management of protected areas. They can also provide a framework for ecological research. In the tropics, elevation‐based classifications dominate over alternatives such as river catchments. Given the existence of floristic data for many localities, we ask how useful floristic data are for developing classification schemes in species‐rich tropical landscapes and whether floristic data provide support for classification by river catchment. We analyzed the distribution of vascular plant species within 141 plots across an elevation gradient of 130 to 3200 m asl within La Amistad National Park. We tested the hypothesis that river catchment, combined with elevation, explains much of the variation in species composition. We found that annual mean temperature, elevation, and river catchment variables best explained the variation within local species communities. However, only plots in high‐elevation oak forest and Páramo were distinct from those in low‐ and mid‐elevation zones. Beta diversity did not significantly differ in plots grouped by elevation zones, except for low‐elevation forest, although it did differ between river catchments. None of the analyses identified discrete vegetation assemblages within mid‐elevation (700–2600 m asl) plots. Our analysis supports the hypothesis that river catchment can be an alternative means for classifying tropical forest assemblages in conservation settings.