Mexico Research Articles

Updated checklist of the bopyrid isopods (Epicaridea: Bopyroidea) from Mexico

Based on an extensive bibliographic review, an updated checklist of epicaridean isopods belonging to Bopyroidea recorded from Mexico is provided. A total of 55 species distributed in 3 families, 10 subfamilies and 39 genera are listed. Of these, 8 species (14.5%) have been registered only in Mexico so far, 36 species (65.4%) are distributed along the Atlantic coast and 19 (34.5%) along the Pacific coast. The lower diversity of these parasites in the latter region could reveal insufficient sampling of potential hosts. Approximately 80% of the bopyrid species parasitize individuals belonging to the infraorders Caridea (27 species, 50%) and Anomura (17 species, 30.9%). Type-localities and updated data on their known geographic ranges along both Mexican coast and those of other regions are included for all the species.

Evaluating Access to Health Care in Mothers and Caregivers of Children under Five Years of Age in Rural Communities of Yucatán, Mexico.

Populations in rural communities have more limited access to health care and attention than urban populations. The present study aimed to evaluate barriers to access to health care in mothers and caregivers of children under five years of age, twelve months after an educational intervention. The study was carried out from February to September 2022, and 472 mothers from eight communities in the state of Yucatán, in the southeast of the United Mexican States, participated. A comparative analysis was carried out on help-seeking times, obstacles to reaching it, and illnesses in children. The results revealed that the main barriers to access to care were long times to decide to seek help, lack of financial resources to pay for the transfer to another health unit, lack of someone to accompany the mother or caregiver when the child needed be transferred, and lack of transportation for the transfer. Disease knowledge remained at different levels in the eight communities; the significant differences occurred in four communities, one specifically for heart defects. It was concluded that, in the rural populations studied, there are barriers to access to health care which have to do with neglected social determinants, such as those related to conditions of gender, income, social support network, and the health system. Access to health care must be universal, so public health interventions should be aimed at reducing the barriers that prevent the population from demanding and using services in a timely manner.

Challenges in teacher-student communication during family medicine residency: A qualitative study.

Deficiencies in communication among healthcare professionals, recognized by medical educators and healthcare institutions, can negatively impact medical education and clinical practice. Analyzing teacher-resident communication difficulties shed light on this issue and propose practical strategies for its mitigation. To identify common communication challenges between teacher and residents during Family Medicine residency and to analyze their impact on interactions with peers, the work team, and patients. Qualitative study, the critical incident technique was used to collect information of interest. Seventy teachers, and fifty third-year residents from the Mexican Republic described critical incidents related to their communication experiences during Family Medicine residency. 192 critical incidents were collected (several participants reported more than one incident), comprising 127 reports from teachers, and 65 from residents. Four themes were identified: 1) asymmetric communication, 2) assertive communication, 3) organizational communication, and 4) effective communication. The main challenges identified were abuse of power in communication, lack of communication skills, and the absence of institutional communication channels. These issues significantly impacted learning, work environment, interpersonal relationships, and medical care. This study highlights communication issues within Family Medicine residency in Mexico. The issues detected hindered learning and effective collaboration and negatively impacted the work environment, interpersonal relationships, and the quality of medical care. These findings underscore the urgent need to reorient the medical specialty curriculum towards an approach that includes communication skills.

Trilobites from the upper middle Cambrian (Miaolingian, Guzhangian) of the Sierra Los Ajos, northern Sonora, Mexico: Biostratigraphic and paleogeographic considerations

A Cambrian sedimentary sequence with a predominant lithology of limestone, sandy limestone, and quartzite pertaining to the Bolsa and Abrigo formations is exposed in the Sierra Los Ajos to the east of Cananea city (northeastern Sonora, Mexico). Two fossil assemblages from Guzhangian layers of the Abrigo Formation are described herein. The trilobites identified comprise Tricrepicephalus texanus (Shumard), Crepicephalus sp., Coosia ariston (Walcott), Coosia sp., Cedaria cf. eurycheilos Palmer, Coosella sp., Llanoaspis modesta Lochman, and Llanoaspis? sp., representing the Cedaria and Crepicephalus zones (Miaolingian, Guzhangian). The Cambrian rocks of northeastern Sonora (Sierra Los Ajos, El Tule, and Mesteñas hills), southern Arizona, and Texas, were deposited as part of a thick sedimentary sequence on the southwestern margin of Laurentia, associated with an inner shelf marine environment. The distribution of the trilobites identified confirms the existence of a widespread Cambrian faunal province that includes the southeastern United States of America and northwestern Mexico.

First record of Halysites catenularius (Cnidaria-Tabulata) from the Silurian of Rancho Placeritos, Central Sonora, Mexico: Paleoecological and paleogeographical considerations

Halysites catenularius Linnaeus is reported from the Silurian strata that form outcrop in the Rancho Placeritos (San Antonio dolostone) located west of Hermosillo, capital of Sonora, Mexico. In this region, a sequence of Paleozoic sedimentary rocks of ages ranging from the Upper Ordovician to the Lower Mississippian is exposed. Halysites catenularius is identified as a reef buildings tabulate coral associated with calcareous algae, sponges, rugose corals, other tabulate corals, bryozoans, brachiopods and, pelmatozoans. The biota developed in shallow tropical seas from southwest of the North American craton, which was located near the paleoecuatorial line. The Silurian platform deposits of Sonora correlate with localities in the southern United States of America and northern Mexico (Sonora and Chihuahua) that were part of the margin of the North American craton. The description of Halysites catenularius contributes to the knowledge of the biota of the lower Paleozoic of Mexico, particularly the Silurian.

Analysis of Surface Temperature Modified by Atypical Mobility in Mexican Coastal Cities with Warm Climates

This study takes a unique approach, using satellite remote sensing to analyze the land surface temperature (LST) in seven coastal cities located at latitudes between 18° and 22° and longitudes between 106° and 91°. The methodology consists of obtaining the LST on two selected days, one in July 2019 and one in July 2020, to determine how the temperature was modified by the atypical mobility caused by Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and social distancing. Using these data, we determine the representative surface temperature that tended to rise (RHST) and the representative surface temperature that tended to decrease (RLST), depending on the affected area. This approach allows us to comprehensively compare how mobility modified the four variables studied: territorial extension, population, types of soil (paving), and vegetation. We concluded that, among the factors analyzed, the types of paving and vegetation were those that generated a more significant decrease in temperature; the variables of territorial extension and the number of inhabitants had a smaller impact. This study paves the way for a discussion of the significant influence of mobility on the behavior of the LST.

Mexican Registry of Cardiomyopathies: baseline data, diagnostic strategies, and treatment approaches in Mexico.

The study aimed to know the clinical, demographic, diagnostic, and treatments characteristics in patients with cardiomyopathies in Mexico. The Mexican Registry of Cardiomyopathies (REMEMI) is an observational, prospective and national study of patients with cardiomyopathies, which includes: Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), restrictive cardiomyopathy (RCM) and arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy of the right ventricle (ARVC). A total of 1026 patients from most states of the Mexican Republic (19) were included, with 494 corresponding to DCM, 490 to HCM, 35 to RCM, and seven to ARVC. We found significant differences between the various cardiomyopathy phenotypes (p < 0.05) in the coexistence with diabetes, use of implantable defibrillator, presence of ventricular tachycardia, and NYHA functional class ≥ 1. There were no significant differences in age and predominant gender between each one. When analyzing by phenotype, we found that patients with HCM have limited use of diagnostic methods considered indispensable, such as cardiac magnetic resonance, Holter monitoring, and genetic testing in patients and their relatives. Seeking contemporary information through observational registries in Mexico is a valuable opportunity to understand the characteristics of the methods used in the study and treatment of diseases such as cardiomyopathies by Mexican physicians. It can provide information for the implementation of management guidelines and strategies to disseminate findings to improve healthcare in our country.

Annual and Seasonal Variation of the Ocean Thermal Resources off the Mexican Coast

A large amount of thermal energy is stored in the oceans between the tropics, available for conversion into electrical energy using OTEC technology. The aim of this study was to determine the annual and seasonal variability of the oceanic thermal resource in Mexico. Using the WOA18 database, we mapped surface temperature at a 10 m depth, deep cold water (&lt;5 °C), vertical temperature difference (18 and 20 °C), and temperature anomalies. From the results, four areas were analyzed as being suitable for the installation of OTEC technology: Pacific (A), Los Cabos (B), Caribbean (C), and Gulf of Mexico (G). The optimal thermal resource (≥20 °C) was found between a 400 and 1000 m depth in all seasons in A and C, in spring, summer, and autumn in G, and only in summer and autumn in B. The suboptimal thermal resource (between 18 and 20 °C) was present between 400 and 800 m in all seasons in A, C, and G, and in summer and autumn in B. These results provide new information of utmost importance for future location and design considerations of OTEC plants on Mexican coasts, and the methodology can be used in other areas where there is a lack of field data and the development of OTEC technology is being considered.

Medicinal Orchids of Mexico: A Review.

Some species of the Orchidaceae family are used in Mexican traditional medicine. However, there are no current and critical compilations of the medicinal uses and pharmacological effects of the members of the Orchidaceae family. This review provides a current, critical, and comprehensive analysis of the traditional medicinal uses, pharmacological reports, and active compounds isolated from Mexican orchids. A total of 62 Mexican orchids with medicinal potential have been recorded, of which 14 have scientific evidence. The remaining 48 plant species have ethnomedicinal information but have not been validated with scientific studies. These orchids are distributed in 14 states of the Mexican Republic, mainly in the southern region of Mexico. The most common pharmacological activities reported are anti-inflammatory, vasorelaxant, antinociceptive, antioxidant, spasmolytic, antihypertensive, and hallucinogenic activities. It is necessary to increase the number of pharmacological, phytochemical, and toxicological studies with medicinal orchids from Mexico because there are scientific studies on only 22.5% of these species. In further studies, it will be possible to evaluate the pharmacological effects of Mexican orchids in clinical trials. In addition, the mechanisms of action by which plant extracts and their active compounds exert medicinal effects remain to be studied. Plant extracts from orchids and their active compounds show promising antinociceptive and spasmolytic effects, respectively.

A baseline of natural radionuclides in water and sediment of a pristine coastal ecosystem: The Xcalak and Mahahual coral reef lagoons in the western Caribbean

In ecosystems, natural radionuclides are present in the environment and living organisms. The 238U natural decay chain produces multiple radioactive elements, such as 234U, 226Ra, 210Pb, and 210Po. These radionuclides can be found in air, water, rocks, soil, and other biotic and abiotic components, mainly derived from minerals, such as zircon and apatite. In this study, we determined the activity concentration of radionuclides from the 238U decay chain in the sediment of a coastal ecosystem on the southern Mexican coast in the western Caribbean, an ecosystem minimally affected by industrial activities. Methods included high-resolution gamma-ray spectrometry and alpha-particle spectrometry. Results showed that the sediment samples had an activity concentration range of 18.2–36.6 Bq/kg for 238U, 25.0–41.4 Bq/kg for 234U, 10.1–37.3 Bq/kg for 210Pb, and 29.9–46.0 Bq/kg for 210Po. Water samples ranged between 17.9 and 36.3 mBq/L and 27.9–66.0 mBq/L for 238U and 234U, respectively. The activity concentration of these radionuclides in the sediment and water of this area is compared with that of other coral reefs worldwide, providing a radiometric baseline for comparison purposes.

Modeling Sea Level Rise Using Ensemble Techniques: Impacts on Coastal Adaptation, Freshwater Ecosystems, Agriculture and Infrastructure

Sea level rise (SLR) is a crucial indicator of climate change, primarily driven by greenhouse gas emissions and the subsequent increase in global temperatures. The impact of SLR, however, varies regionally due to factors such as ocean bathymetry, resulting in distinct shifts across different areas compared to the global average. Understanding the complex factors influencing SLR across diverse spatial scales, along with the associated uncertainties, is essential. This study focuses on the East Coast of the United States and Gulf of Mexico, utilizing historical SLR data from 1993 to 2023. To forecast SLR trends from 2024 to 2103, a weighted ensemble model comprising SARIMAX, LSTM, and exponential smoothing models was employed. Additionally, using historical greenhouse gas data, an ensemble of LSTM models was used to predict real-time SLR values, achieving a testing loss of 0.005. Furthermore, conductance and dissolved oxygen (DO) values were assessed for the entire forecasting period, leveraging forecasted SLR trends to evaluate the impacts on marine life, agriculture, and infrastructure.

Contribution of field schools to extensionism in Mexico

Extensionism in Mexico until 2000 was unidirectional, without taking into account the user of the technology or the processes to be transferred. After the introduction of the Field School Model to Mexico, the way of doing extensionism changed, the National Institute of Forestry, Agricultural and Livestock Research (INIFAP), since that year in the implementation of said model and 20 years later through the FORDECyT Projects, Territorial Development (PRODETER) and then through the technical support strategy (EAT ) inserted at the national level as part of the methodology to carry out an extension where the producers were not users but subjects and beneficiaries of the extension process, that is, based on their problems, they decide what to do in their Family Production Units with the technological options available at your disposal. The results indicate that through Field Schools and “learning-by-doing” there is a greater understanding of the technologies and greater expectations of their adoption, given that they work with producers over 53 years old on average. The objective of this work is to relate how this model has permeated public policies and has been inserted into the taste of producers in three strategies of bringing technologies to producers in the Mexican Republic and its contribution to food self-sufficiency and less dependence on external inputs based on the agroecological transition and more environmentally friendly practices.

Environmental and structural factors associated with bacterial diversity in household dust across the Arizona-Sonora border

We previously reported that asthma prevalence was higher in the United States (US) compared to Mexico (MX) (25.8% vs. 8.4%). This investigation assessed differences in microbial dust composition in relation to demographic and housing characteristics on both sides of the US–MX Border. Forty homes were recruited in the US and MX. Home visits collected floor dust and documented occupants’ demographics, asthma prevalence, housing structure, and use characteristics. US households were more likely to have inhabitants who reported asthma when compared with MX households (30% vs. 5%) and had significantly different flooring types. The percentage of households on paved roads, with flushing toilets, with piped water and with air conditioning was higher in the US, while dust load was higher in MX. Significant differences exist between countries in the microbial composition of the floor dust. Dust from Mexican homes was enriched with Alishewanella, Paracoccus, Rheinheimera genera and Intrasporangiaceae family. A predictive metagenomics analysis identified 68 significantly differentially abundant functional pathways between US and MX. This study documented multiple structural, environmental, and demographic differences between homes in the US and MX that may contribute to significantly different microbial composition of dust observed in these two countries.

Localized GIST in Hispanic population in North and South America.

e23513 Background: Most studies of gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) focus upon patients in a single country. However, differences in patient presentation, treatment, and outcomes may differ between nations. We sought to compare Hispanic patients with localized GIST treated in North and South America. Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis including all Hispanic GIST patients treated at 3 tertiary referral centers in the United States (US), Mexico (MX) and Argentina (AR), as well as those enrolled by 2 patient advocacy groups in US and MX from 2000-2022. Demographic, clinicopathologic and survival data were collected and compared using Pearson’s chi-square or one-way ANOVA test. Disease-specific survival (DSS) was calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared using the log-rank test. Results: Overall, 1,504 Hispanic patients (54.5% female) were analyzed. Median age at diagnosis was significantly lower in US (48 y) than MX/AR (55/57 y, p = 0.001). Presentation stage varied by country. Localized presentation was more frequent in US/MX (77%/88%) than AR (60%, p = 0.001). In 1,208 patients (80.4%) with localized disease, 97.9% underwent surgical resection. Rates of adjuvant imatinib treatment varied from 82.4%/77.0% in US/MX to 35.6% in AR (p &lt; 0.001). Median duration of adjuvant therapy was longer in US (29 mos; range: 16-48) than MX (12 mos; range: 4-36, p &lt; 0.001). With a median follow up of 44 mos (range: 24-78) for patients presenting with localized GIST, the estimated median DSS was 136 mos (95% CI 104-167), being significantly longer in US (267 mos, 95% CI 95-439, p = 0.02). Conclusions: While most studies of disparities focus on differences between races/ethnicities in a single country, we found that disparities also exist within similar ethnic groups across nations. Underappreciated sociopolitical determinants of health likely lead to differences in presentation, management, and long-term outcomes of Hispanic GIST patients in the Americas. Prospective cooperative studies are needed to better define barriers to care in order to improve patient outcomes in Hispanic GIST patients. [Table: see text]

Nuevos registros para Morelos y Puebla, con algunas anotaciones de la ranita costera Craugastor occidentalis (Taylor, 1941) endémica de México

The genus Craugastor, commonly called barking frogs, is very diverse. In Mexico it is usually distributed in restricted areas, climates and types of vegetation. On the contrary, Craugastor occidentalis has an extraordinarily wide distribution that covers various states of the country, extending over very different climates and vegetation types. We make an extensive review of the species, complementing and updating its distribution map, and we report new records of the coastal barking frog for Morelos and Puebla, extending its distribution to the easternmost part of the Mexican Republic.

Characterization of Homicides in Mexico: Analysis of 2015-2022.

In Mexico, homicides are the leading cause of death among men aged 15 to 44 years; however, despite their increase in recent decades, the study of this issue is insufficient, given its magnitude and impact. Therefore, this study aimed to characterize the spatial and temporal patterns and associated factors of homicides in Mexico from 2015 to 2022. An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted, analyzing death records from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography's general mortality databases. Simple frequencies and incidence rates per 100,000 inhabitants by sex, year, and state of the Mexican Republic were calculated. Mortality was evaluated by age groups and geographic areas, and bivariate logistic regression models with sociodemographic variables were performed. Records of 229,182 homicides in Mexico were analyzed, with a median age of 33 years, interquartile range 18. A total of 203,898 (88.96%) were men and 25,284 (11.04%) were women. The majority of deaths occurred in public places and were caused by firearms; women had a higher percentage of homicides at home. States with high incidence rates for both sexes were Chihuahua, Zacatecas, Michoacán, Colima, and Estado de México. The total years of life lost were 9.19 million years. The national incidence of homicides in men showed an upward trend from 2015 to 2019; however, in the case of women, this incidence increased in various age groups during the study period. Occupation, education, marital status, and place of occurrence had significant associations in the logistic regression models. This study provides a spatial-temporal characterization of homicides in Mexico between 2015 and 2022, highlighting the high incidence in men and the upward trend in certain age groups among women. These findings underscore the need for preventive measures and public policies to address this issue in a multisectoral manner.

Tree-ring wood density reveals differentiated hydroclimatic interactions in species along a bioclimatic gradient

Climate variations are influencing the growth dynamics of forests, with direct consequences on their biomass productivity. The scientific community, concerned with refining the understanding of tree-climate interactions, has recently used tree-ring density to elucidate ecological mechanisms that may be overlooked by earlywood, latewood, and total tree-ring widths. In this study, we model the sensitivity of intra-annual wood density in tree-rings for 15 species distributed across a broad bioclimatic and biodiverse gradient in the Mexican Republic. Maximum, minimum, latewood, and earlywood density (MaxD, MinD, LWD, and EWD, respectively) were associated with climatic data through correlation analysis and mixed-effects models. Maximum temperature (TMAX) and precipitation (P) stand out as key drivers of temporal density fluctuations, notably influencing MaxD and LWD as indicators of hydroclimatic regime changes. MinD and EWD are less responsive but prove valuable in gauging environmental sensitivity. Abies religiosa from the Southern Semi-Arid Highlands and Picea martinezii from Mediterranean California were the most responsive species to climate variables. These results open new paradigms for densitometry as a proxy for ecological processes that species face in anticipating dieback phenomena, mortality rates, and resilience mechanisms, with implications for productivity and carbon rates in the face of predicted climate variations. However, the wood density-climate relationship is even more complex, and integrative research combining other proxies (e.g., wood anatomy and chemical composition) is recommended to refine wood density variations and understand the causes of the interspecific differences found in this study.

¡Raza Sí! ¡Guerra No!

On August 29, 1970, thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in Los Angeles to protest the Vietnam war as part of the National Chicano Moratorium. In response to highly disproportionate numbers of Chicano casualties listed among the wounded, protestors from all factions of the Chicano Movement marched to demand an end to the war. By the end of the day, the police had killed three protestors while dozens more were critically injured. The massacre at the Chicano Moratorium was a low point in the civil rights history of the United States, but it is also clear evidence of how numerous actors, institutions, and events unified the Chicano movement towards one goal during the Vietnam War. Its violent suppression by the Los Angeles Police Department also situates the event in a larger history of government supported violence against minorities and civil rights groups. This paper tracks the development of the Chicano identity, civil rights movement, and the development of anti-war sentiment from the early twentieth century up to the 1970 moratorium.

Mango Fruit Detachment of Trees after Applying a Blend Composed of HNO3 and Charcoal Activated.

As young workers prefer urban labors and migrate to USA and Canada, mango harvesting is becoming scarce on Mexican coasts. This seasonal labor is becoming expensive and when many orchards produce fruit simultaneously, grower losses increase. In this research, an innovative fruit detachment method was tested after applying a viscous paste to the pedicel of mango fruits hanging in the tree. Activated carbon or charcoal (AC), was mixed with different amounts of nitric acid to provide three AC composite blends named: light, medium, and dense. The nanomaterial was applied with a brush to the fruit pedicel/peduncle taking up to 4 h before the mango fruits felt to a net below the tree canopy. Mango detachment experiments indicated that the medium blend was the most efficient in releasing the fruit, taking an average of 2 h. The dense nano-material decreased latex exudation to 7% of the fruits. Fruit maturity emerged as a crucial factor for detachment time, followed by mango weight.

Height growth of Mexican boys by geographic region: an evaluation based on nationally representative data of ENSANUT 2012 and 2018.

Existing research on human growth in Mexico is regionally focused, creating a gap in the understanding of growth patterns of children and adolescents at national level and regional variation. The objective of the present study was to characterize the height growth curve of the Mexican population by geographic area and to cluster the states of the Mexican Republic according to their somatic maturation characteristics, based on a national representative sample of boys. Data on age, height, socioeconomic level, and geographic area of 18,219 boys were obtained from the National Health and Nutrition Survey 2012 (ENSANUT) and ENSANUT 2018, carried out in 32 Mexican states. Both surveys had representative samples. Preece-Baines 1 model was applied to fit height growth curves. Biological parameters were estimated; principal component analysis and cluster analysis were performed to group Mexican states based on these biological parameters. The estimated age at peak height velocity (PHV) was 12.3 years in the sample. Significant regional differences in the timing and tempo of PHV among Mexican boys were observed. Boys in the northern region experienced PHV at an earlier age and had a shorter duration of growth compared with boys in the central and southern regions. Boys in the central region had a longer duration of growth and a later age of PHV compared with the boys in the southern region. The cluster that included the southern states of the country showed estimated lower adult height and earlier somatic maturation. A lower height was found in the low and low-middle socioeconomic levels compared with the medium-high and high socioeconomic levels. Future research in Mexico should focus on longitudinal studies to analyse the timing and tempo of growth and maturation, considering the impacts of environmental and genetic factors. Public health strategies should account for geographic variations.