Metropolitan Area Of Monterrey Research Articles

Epidemiological profile of allergic respiratory disease in Mexican children

Objective: Report the prevalence and severity of the most common allergic diseases in children living in Monterrey, México. Methods: Cross-sectional multi-center survey on the most common allergic diseases, completed by parents of 6-7-year-old children and by 13-14- year-old adolescents in the Monterrey metropolitan area, between January 2018 and December 2019. Results: A total of 3,044 questionnaires were eligible for the analysis. Among children between 6-7 years old, 30.2% (n = 143/473) presented wheezing at any time in their life; with a higher prevalence in the male population. In the adolescent group, 26.4% reported having experienced wheezing at some point in their life, with a slight predominance in the female group (54.9%). Conclusions: Knowing the prevalence of allergic diseases in our population gives us tools to generate strategies that allow us to provide the best quality healthcare to our patients. Keywords: Asthma; Rhinitis; Eczema; Wheezing; Allergy And Immunology; Child.

Epidemiological profile of allergic respiratory disease in Mexican children

Objective: Report the prevalence and severity of the most common allergic diseases in children living in Monterrey, México. Methods: Cross-sectional multi-center survey on the most common allergic diseases, completed by parents of 6-7-year-old children and by 13-14- year-old adolescents in the Monterrey metropolitan area, between January 2018 and December 2019. Results: A total of 3,044 questionnaires were eligible for the analysis. Among children between 6-7 years old, 30.2% (n = 143/473) presented wheezing at any time in their life; with a higher prevalence in the male population. In the adolescent group, 26.4% reported having experienced wheezing at some point in their life, with a slight predominance in the female group (54.9%). Conclusions: Knowing the prevalence of allergic diseases in our population gives us tools to generate strategies that allow us to provide the best quality healthcare to our patients. Keywords: Asthma; Rhinitis; Eczema; Wheezing; Allergy And Immunology; Child.

Spatial Barriers to Transforming toward a Healthy Food System in the Noreste of Mexico.

In the past five decades, global food systems have undergone a notable transition, moving from predominantly rural settings to increasingly urban and industrialized environments, largely driven by processes of globalization and supply chain integration. However, this evolution has not adequately addressed equitable access to nutritious diets and food environments, resulting in adverse health outcomes. This study delves into the spatial and non-spatial barriers that impede the adoption of healthy diets in the Noreste of Mexico, particularly focusing on the challenges associated with accessing and cultivating plant-based foods. Through an examination of suitable areas for urban agriculture and an exploration of the socio-cultural factors influencing the adoption of plant-based diets, the research focuses on interventions aimed at promoting healthier and more sustainable eating practices in Monterrey. The findings of the study reveal significant disparities in food access across the Monterrey metropolitan area, with central urban zones exhibiting superior access to fresh foods compared to suburban and peripheral regions. This inequality disproportionately affects marginalized areas characterized by higher poverty rates, exacerbating issues of food insecurity. Nevertheless, traditional dietary practices could offer promising avenues for creating culturally significant and healthier dietary transitions, even amidst the ongoing process of urbanization.

Frequency of seropositivity against porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) in the metropolitan area of Monterrey, Nuevo León, and its peripheral area

El circovirus porcino tipo 2 (PCV2) es un virus de tipo DNA que tiene afinidad por células del sistema inmune y que genera depleción de linfocitos por lo que favorece el desarrollo de enfermedades causadas por otros agentes oportunistas, así mismo está relacionado con la generación de diferentes síndromes. Por lo anterior, este virus produce importantes afecciones a la industria porcícola, sin embargo, fácilmente se pueden prevenir los síndromes asociados a PCV2 mediante la adecuada aplicación de medidas de bioseguridad y vacunación. Por otro lado, las unidades de producción a pequeña escala (UPPs) suelen carecer de este tipo de manejo preventivo, así como de vigilancia rutinaria por parte de un médico veterinario. Si bien, el PCV2 se considera un virus ampliamente distribuido, no existen reportes de su presencia en las UPPs en Nuevo León. Se determinó la presencia de anticuerpos contra PCV2 mediante el uso de un kit comercial y se realizó la biometría hemática de los animales. Se localizaron 48 UPPs en las que se encontró un 91.67% de positividad, así como un 89.7% de seropositividad en los animales. En la biometría se encontró que la HGB y el HCT se presentaron disminuidos en los individuos que resultaron positivos a anticuerpos comparados contra los negativos (P=0.03 y P=0.01, respectivamente), por el contrario, el valor de células blancas totales se encontró disminuido en los individuos que resultaron negativos a la presencia de anticuerpo contra PCV2 (P=0.01).

What security and for whom? The social construction of exclusion of migrants from citizen security and health security in Mexico

AbstractThis article explores the social construction of international migrants as a threat to public health and public safety in Mexico, specifically in the case of the Metropolitan Area of Monterrey, since relations within this new sense of “otherness” in this city cause issues for public health and citizen security as traditionally conceived. An in‐depth review of the secondary literature on citizen security and health security related to migration and of the Mexican legal framework was conducted, and public information requests were made to Mexican public agencies. If citizen and health security are complementary paradigms, migrants seem excluded from their application. Far from being considered holders of rights, they are primarily restricted in their exercise of rights because they are not “citizens.” These “newcomers” are perceived as “pathogenic agents” and “criminal illegal immigrants” rather than as deserving of these rights by the authorities, the media, and the majority population of Monterrey. These dynamics are likely to keep them not only on the fringes of “the city” but also in a very vulnerable position to fall victim to of all kinds of exploitation, resulting in a form of “management” of human mobility based on exclusion.

Forecasting PM2.5 concentration levels using shallow machine learning models on the Monterrey Metropolitan Area in Mexico

The Monterrey Metropolitan Area is one of the most densely populated and polluted regions in Latin America. Hence, providing early warnings to the population when pollutant concentrations reach high levels is critical. This allows people at higher health risk to make informed decisions about when to go out, mitigating future health complications. Using forecasting models, we can produce timely warnings for future concentration levels. In this work, we implement a set of short-term shallow machine learning models that would serve as a baseline for future forecasting analyses of PM2.5 concentration levels in the Monterrey Metropolitan Area. The proposed approach starts with multiple imputation through chained equations for missing value imputation, the incorporation of time metadata, and target winsorization. Then, we rely on the well-known random search for parameter optimization of the machine learning models and k-fold cross-validation, obtaining favorable results. We devise these models for a single-step and single-station analysis on an hourly multivariate air quality dataset (containing 77203 rows and 16 columns from the first hour of January 1, 2015 00:00:00 to April 17, 2022 23:00:00) and compare them using standard regression metrics. Therefore, we identify the forecasting model with the best performance, which was an Extra Trees Regressor with a Root Mean Squared Error of 0.013, a Mean Absolute Error of 0.006 (equivalent to a Mean Absolute Percentage Error of 0.294% and a Symmetric Mean Absolute Percentage Error of 0.078%), and a Maximum Error of 0.187μg/m3.

Anthropogenic activities and COVID-19 effects on natural water bodies: Arroyo Seco’s case

Concerns about pollution in Arroyo Seco, an important natural water body in the Monterrey Metropolitan Area, have been reported due to possible wastewater discharges and solid waste mismanagement, turning the river into a potential public health hazard in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, a volunteer clean-up campaign denominated “Arroyo Vivo” has been promoted by Distrito Tec and the Campana-Altamira initiative. To aid in the efforts, ammonium, nitrates, nitrites, and sulfate concentrations, total solids, and total organic matter were measured in parallel with SARS-CoV-2 detection and quantification in river water samples. Compared with applicable regulations (NOM-001-SEMARNAT-2021, NOM-127-SSA1-2021), total suspended solid levels (55-365 mg/L) were found above the maximum limit (84 mg/L), while ammonium (0.0175-0.198 mg/L), nitrite (0.0585-0.169 mg/L), nitrate (1.065-3.285 mg/L), sulfate (91.2-111 mg/L), and chemical oxygen demand (16.95-43.1 mg/L) were consistently below the maximum limits (0.50, 0.90, 11.00, 84.00, 400.00, and 100.00 mg/L, respectively), showing that no large-scale wastewater discharges had taken place in Arroyo Seco. However, SARS-CoV-2 genetic material was detected at three sampling sites, indicating some degree of sewage leakage and inadequate management of solid waste containing respiratory fluids of infected patients. While reports indicate that water bodies are not sources of SARS-CoV-2 infection in surrounding populations, it proves that waste disposal policies must be enforced more strictly to ensure water quality and environmental protection towards sustainable development. Nonetheless, continued efforts to screen concerning contaminants are still needed to fully assess the environmental status of the stream and propose relevant public policy.

Evolution of Air Pollution in the Monterrey Metropolitan Area, Mexico

The Monterrey Metropolitan Area (MMA) is considered the second most populated metropolis in Mexico, with around 5,341,171 inhabitants, making it necessary to maintain a constant rate of growth of urban services which has caused it to be one of the cities with the greatest increase in air pollution rates in recent years as a result of human activities. Likewise, the MMA is located in a place with diverse natural formations that extend throughout the city, receiving the nickname of the "City of the mountains". These formations together with the polluting emissions product of various sources such as industries, vehicles, natural phenomena; and weather conditions, considerably increase the concentrations of pollutants that impact the quality of life of living beings.
 Objective: The objective of this research is to show the evolution of air pollution in the first two decades of this century, evaluate its trend and highlight the risks to which urban inhabitants and ecosystems are subjected.
 Materials and Methods: Data from the Environmental Monitoring Integral System (SIMA) of the Ministry of Environment of the Government of the State of Nuevo León, which has 14 monitoring stations of criteria pollutants, were used to evaluate the evolution and distribution of air pollution in the MMA. Concentrations of CO, NO2, SO2, PM10, PM2.5 and O3 were evaluated. The trend of the hourly, daily, monthly and annual time series was evaluated to see patterns and the distribution of pollutants in the MMA have changed during the last years.
 Results: The results show that the pollutants have a great variability and these are based on multiple natural factors (thermal inversion, wind speed and direction, orography, among others) and/or anthropogenic factors (mobility, agricultural, industrial, services, fires, among others). They also depend on the time of year with an increase in particulate matter in the dry season and ozone in the wet season.
 Conclusions: The criteria pollutants that recorded the highest number of days out of the norm and with the greatest tendency to increase during the last two decades are PM10, O3 and PM2.5, which represents a risk to environmental and human health. The pollutants CO, NO2, SO2, so far do not represent a risk to the population, since these are within the norm both for the number of days and for the daily, annual and monthly averages.

Assessment of major ions in groundwater supplied to Monterrey metropolitan area, Mexico: quality assurance, technical analysis, and addenda

Assessment of major ions in groundwater supplied to Monterrey metropolitan area, Mexico: quality assurance, technical analysis, and addenda

PM2.5-bound trace metals in an urban area of Northern Mexico during the COVID-19 pandemic: characterization, sources, and health risk.

A field study was carried out in the Metropolitan Area of Monterrey (MAM), the second most populated city in Mexico, characterized by increasing urbanization, high traffic density, and intense industrial activity. These characteristics commonly present high concentrations of air pollutants leading to the degradation of air quality. PM2.5 was analyzed for heavy metals at two urban sites located within the MAM (Juarez and San Bernabe) in order to determine sources, health risk, morphology, and elemental content during the COVID-19 pandemic (autumn 2020 and spring 2021). Twenty-four-hour samples of PM2.5 were collected at each site during 30-day periods using high-volume equipment. Gravimetric concentrations and 11 metals were measured (Ca, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Ni, Cr, and Pb) by different analytical techniques (flame atomic absorption spectroscopy, graphite furnace atomic absorption spectroscopy, and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy). Selected samples were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy-energy-disperse spectroscopy in order to characterize their morphology and elemental content. PM2.5 concentrations exceeded the Mexican standard and WHO guidelines in Juarez during spring 2021. Cu, Cd, and Co were highly enriched by anthropogenic sources, and Ni, K, Cr, and Pb had a moderate enrichment. Mg, Mn, and Ca were of crustal origin. Bivariate statistics and PCA confirmed that alkaline metals originated from crustal sources and that the main sources of trace metals included traffic emissions, resuspension from soil/road dust, steel industry, smelting, and non-exhaust emissions at both sites. Lifetime cancer risk coefficients did not exceed the permissible levels established by EPA and WHO, implying that local residents are not at risk of developing cancer. Non-carcinogenic risk coefficients revealed that there is a possible risk of suffering cardiovascular and respiratory diseases due to inhalation of cobalt at the study sites. The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11869-023-01372-7.

Women’s perception of urban insecurity in the Monterrey metropolitan area during COVID-19

The purpose of this paper it to explore women’s perception of urban insecurity prevailing during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Monterrey metropolitan area (MMA) in Mexico. In recent decades, large cities have grown and with them, so has crime increased. As a result, the issue of urban insecurity has become important, particularly during this COVID-19 pandemic. For this purpose, a cross-sectional, descriptive, non-probabilistic study was conducted involving 69 women aged 18 to 58, with Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León being taken as the sample frame. Our findings show that 74% of the participants indicate that urban safety near their homes, ranges fair to very bad, while 81% feel the same about safety near their workplaces. Ninety- three per cent say that crime has increased. Meanwhile, 55% say that the situation has affected their quality of life severely to very severely, denoting the MAM population’s transition from one of social well-being to one of vulnerability, which has been further aggravated by the health contingency.

Spatial and Multivariate Statistical Analyses of Human Health Risk Associated with the Consumption of Heavy Metals in Groundwater of Monterrey Metropolitan Area, Mexico

Groundwater is the main source of drinking water supply in most urban environments around the world. The content of potentially toxic elements is increasing in many groundwater systems owing to inadequate groundwater recharge, aquifer overexploitation, natural source release, or various anthropogenic activities that lead to groundwater quality degradation. The ingestion of groundwater contaminated with potentially toxic elements has been reported to have harmful health effects. This study aimed to assess the presence of several potentially toxic elements (Al, As, B, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn) in groundwater of the Monterrey metropolitan area in Northern Mexico and the carcinogenic and noncarcinogenic human health risks associated with exposure. Multivariate statistics and geospatial analysis were applied to identify the causative determinants that modify the groundwater quality along the metropolitan area. Mean concentrations of trace metals remained below drinking water standards and World Health Organization guidelines. The risk of harmful effects on human health due to ingestion of all eight metal(loid)s in groundwater was assessed as 2.52 × 10−2 for adults and 2.16 × 10−2 for children, which can be considered as negligible chronic risk and a very low cancer risk. However, the risks of oral consumption of Cr being carcinogenic to children and adults were 7.9 × 10−3 and 9.2 × 10−4, respectively. As these values exceeded the target risk of 1 × 10−4, it can thus be considered “unacceptable”.

Digital Habits of Users in the Post-Pandemic Context: A Study on the Transition of Mexican Internet and Media Users from the Monterrey Metropolitan Area

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the transformation of digital interactions, a development that has been growing in the last decade. Digital platforms have become indispensable in the institutional communication of public and private organizations. The magnitude of this change was evident during the pandemic at a time when several countries implemented social distancing measures to contain the contagion. This situation caused a certain degree of user dependence on information and communication technologies. The objective of this research is to analyze the time of use, the changes, and habits of digital consumption at the beginning and during the COVID-19 pandemic in the metropolitan area of Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. Access to both social networks and digital entertainment platforms was examined during the period in which Internet users had resumed a large part of face-to-face activities, and 1500 questionnaires were conducted considering the current data of the population of the urban area according to what was reported by the INEGI (National Institute of Statistics and Geography). The results indicate that after COVID-19, a digital transformation was accelerated, and, in that period, social media helped to build trust according to the users consulted in the Monterrey metropolitan area. However, trust was given at an interpersonal level due to motivations such as the prior user relationships in offline spaces and not so much because of the institutional campaigns that were behind the digital transformation.

El consumo de información y de conversación política interactiva en las actitudes y la participación política de los jóvenes en la zona metropolitana de Monterrey, Nuevo León, México. Escenario preelectoral 2018

Traditional media (print media, radio and television) or those represented by the digital age (Internet and social networks) are suitable channels for the process represented by political communication; in turn, this is a factor that impacts on political attitudes and political participation of citizens. In correlation to the above, the main objective of this research is to determine the explanatory level of the consumption of political information and interactive political conversation against the political attitudes and participation of young people. The research design is quantitative, since an opinion poll was applied in the pre-electoral scenario 2018 in the Metropolitan Area of Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. The main results indicates that the consumption of political content online is the variable that has a higher level of explanation about the interest in the policy of the participants of the study, There is also evidence that could bring the results of the research closer to the theories of political mobilization. On the other hand, in relation to political attitudes there is a very important contrast since there is a political interest and a feeling of openness of the relatively high political system in opposition to a very marked political cynicism on the part of young people.

Frequency of needle stick injuries among healthcare providers during large-scale SARS-CoV-2 vaccination brigades.

The frequency of needle stick-related accidents in large-scale vaccination brigades during the COVID-19 pandemic is unknown. We determined the incidence of needle stick injuries (NIs) from the SARS-CoV-2 vaccination brigades in the Monterrey metropolitan area. We calculated the rate of NI by 100,000 doses administered from a registry of over 4 million doses.

Application of a sustainable location index approach to landfill site selection in Monterrey, Mexico.

Landfilling is the main method to manage municipal solid waste (MSW) in Latin America due to the economic, technological and political characteristics of the region. The disposal of MSW in landfill sites may affect the quality of the environment and compromise a considerable share of the municipal budgets. The selection of suitable sites reduces the environmental and economic impact of landfills. In the present study the sustainable location index (SLI) is proposed as a methodology to assess environmentally, and economically, sanitary landfill site selection in the Metropolitan Area of Monterrey, a representative large-size city of Latin America. EVIAVE methodology was modified to include administrative and economic dimensions, which are assessed as a sustainable approach using together the SLI integrated with geospatial and multicriteria analysis tools. The assessment showed that the zones with the lowest SLI changes drastically when the importance of the economic or environmental factor varies. This result suggest that the inclusion of sustainability in landfill site selection decision-making is complex and it may requires the inclusion of local particularities such as municipal budgets, policies of MSW management and public perception about environmental deterioration.

Assessment of Artificial Sweeteners as Wastewater Co-Tracers in an Urban Groundwater System of Mexico (Monterrey Metropolitan Area)

Contamination from wastewater infiltration, typically from leaky sewers, poses a threat to urban groundwater resources. Artificial sweeteners (Asws), used as sucrose substitutes in many products of daily consumption, are released into groundwater systems and may be used as tracers of wastewater in urban groundwater environments, because most of these compounds are discharged directly into sewer systems. Here, for the first time, we investigated the occurrence of Asws in an urban groundwater system in Mexico. Artificial sweetener concentrations of acesulfame (ACE), aspartame (ASP), cyclamate (CYC), saccharin (SAC), and sucralose (SUC) were tested in 42 production wells in the Monterrey Metropolitan Area (MMA). The detection frequencies of quantified Asws observations were in the order ACE (57%) > SUC (54%) > SAC (7%), with SUC being the most abundant Asws, with concentrations below the quantification limit (BQL) of 2.9 µg/L, followed by ACE (BQL 0.73 µg/L) and SAC (BQL 1.4 µg/L). ASP and CYC were not detected at any sampling site. Considerable Asws ingestion amongst the MMA population is the main input source of Asws into the city’s wastewater network, percolating into the urban groundwater system due to leaky sewers. Our work shows that the application of Asws as wastewater tracers (SUC and ACE) effectively determines wastewater sources affecting urban groundwater.

Chemical Composition, Optical Properties and Sources of PM2.5 From a Highly Urbanized Region in Northeastern Mexico

Here, we report the chemical composition and optical properties of the fine particles (PM2.5) and water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) of these particles. Additionally, the potential sources of WSOC emission were determined through the study on fluorescence excitation–emission matrix spectra and parallel factor analysis (EEM-PARAFAC). Samples were collected in an urban site of the Monterrey Metropolitan Area in Mexico during summer and winter and characterized using attenuated total reflectance-Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), ultraviolet-visible-near infrared-diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV–Vis-NIR-DRS), fluorescence spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. The ATR-FTIR analyses allowed the identification of inorganic ions (e.g., CO32−, SO42−, and NO3−), organic functional groups [e.g., carbonyls (C=O), organic hydroxyl (C-OH), carboxylic acid (COOH)], and aromatic and unsaturated aliphatic hydrocarbons. The results obtained by XRD and XPS revealed the presence of organic and inorganic chemical species in PM2.5. The diffuse reflectance spectra of PM2.5 provided the absorption bands in the UV region for CaSO4, CaCO3, and aluminosilicates. The absorption coefficient at 365 nm (Abs365) and Ångström absorption exponent (AAE) values obtained for the aqueous extracts suggest that many of the water-soluble organic compounds corresponded to brown carbon (BrC) chromophores. The mass absorption efficiency values at 365 nm (MAE365) were higher in the winter than summer samples, suggesting the presence of more BrC compounds in the winter samples. The fluorescence indices combined with EEM-PARAFAC analysis showed that the WSOC fraction was mainly composed of humic-like substances (HULIS) which are both of terrestrial and microbial origin.

Extensive Wastewater-Based Epidemiology as a Resourceful Tool for SARS-CoV-2 Surveillance in a Low-to-Middle-Income Country through a Successful Collaborative Quest: WBE, Mobility, and Clinical Tests

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged healthcare systems worldwide. Efforts in low-to-middle-income countries (LMICs) cannot keep stride with infection rates, especially during peaks. A strong international collaboration between Arizona State University (ASU), Tec de Monterrey (TEC), and Servicios de Agua y Drenaje de Monterrey (Local Water Utilities) is acting to integrate wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) of SARS-CoV-2 in the region as a complementary approach to aid the healthcare system. Wastewater was collected from four sewer catchments in the Monterrey Metropolitan area in Mexico (pop. 4,643,232) from mid-April 2020 to February 2021 (44 weeks, n = 644). Raw wastewater was filtered and filter-concentrated, the RNA was extracted using columns, and the Charité/Berlin protocol was used for the RT-qPCR. The viral loads obtained between the first (June 2020) and second waves (February 2021) of the pandemic were similar; in contrast, the clinical cases were fewer during the first wave, indicating poor coverage. During the second wave of the pandemic, the SARS-CoV-2 quantification in wastewater increased 14 days earlier than the COVID-19 clinical cases reported. This is the first long-term WBE study in Mexico and demonstrates its value in pandemic management.

Woody plant community structure and composition of an urban riparian forest in Monterrey metropolitan area, Northeast Mexico1

This work details the structure and composition of the woody plant community of a gallery forest located in the La Silla River, between Monterrey and Guadalupe urban areas in Nuevo León, Mexico. For the analysis, the woody vegetation was categorized into upper and lower strata. The upper stratum maximum height was 38 m, and the canopy cover was 100%. The canopy consisted of 22 species from 16 families, of which seven species represented 82.3% of the importance value index (IV); Taxodium huegelii had the highest IV (34.32%). The lower stratum maximum height was 2.5 m, and the cover was 48%. Thirteen species from 10 families were identified, five of which reached 81.3% of the IV; Ricinus communis had the highest IV (23.42%). The plant community diversity was 3.8 and 2.29, based on Margalef and Shannon indices, respectively. As one finding in the present study, it can be stated that the main threat is the presence of widely distributed exotic species such as Ricinus communis and Leucaena leucocephala, with high importance values. However, the presence of a well-established tree stratum, as well as the presence of species typical of the gallery forest, suggest a good state of conservation of this gallery forest. The present results highlight the importance of studying the composition, structure, and diversity, taking into consideration the flora of floristic provinces, as an analytic strategy for the diagnosis of riparian lentic community health.