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Performing quality assurance checks on hydrochemical data prior to interpreting these data is important as shown in this case study. The informative hydrochemistry paper authored by Mora et al. (Environ Monit Assess 189:394–408, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-017-6096-y) presents a significant amount of hydrogeochemical data for 30 large-yield wells, interpretation (including advanced statistics), findings, and conclusions for the Monterrey metropolitan area (MMA), Mexico. The author concludes that the probable analytical inaccuracy (notable bias and imprecision) and data conversion errors contained in the Mora et al. (2017) paper do not appreciably impact negatively their hydrogeochemical findings and conclusions. The author performed the cation–anion balance (CAB) quality assurance (QA) check method and discovered systematic error (bias) ranging from − 20.8% (Well S1) to 16.5% (Well S9), with 14 well analyses associated with CAB errors ≥ 5.0%. Coupling this simple but effective QA check with other QA algorithms, the author determined for nine well major-ion analyses, HCO3 concentrations were notably low, and 10 well analyses were identified as possessing anomalously low Ca concentrations. These QA check methods will enhance: (1) the accuracy and defensibility of analytical results, and (2) potentially the interpretation and findings of hydrochemical investigations. Additionally, this paper provides new hydrogeochemical evaluation, interpretation, and findings for the MMA, i.e., Na/Cl molar ratios ≤ 0.88 for six studied wells strongly suggest that the groundwater supplying these wells has been impacted by seawater intrusion most likely sourced by the Western Interior Seaway. At least four of these wells occur in an area underlain by marine sedimentary rocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the predictions of real business cycle theory on the roles of total factor productivity (TFP) and financial frictions to explain business cycles in emerging market economies (EMEs). I obtain evidence about TFP, price of capital, risk premium, and collateral constraint shocks by estimating structural vector autoregressions (SVARs) on a Brazilian sample from 1999Q1 to 2018Q4 and a Mexican sample from 1997Q1 to 2018Q4. On each sample, two SVARs are estimated. One SVAR identifies shocks by imposing restrictions on their short-run impact. The other SVAR is grounded on restrictions that shocks have long-run effects on business cycles in EMEs. Estimates of the SVARs show the TFP shock is the main driver of business cycle movements in Brazil and Mexico. However, this evidence is produced by the SVAR under the long-run restrictions, which indicates the identification of shocks matters to the explanation of business cycles in EMEs. Next, the Brazilian and Mexican business cycles are markedly different, as the contributions of shocks to aggregate fluctuations vary across the two countries. Hence, findings of this paper suggest although not all business cycles are alike in EMEs, "the cycle is the trend" view on aggregate fluctuations in EMEs remains valid. The empirical results of this paper are in support of the economic policies that aim to robustify the productivity process of EMEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Ioannidis et al. (2020) reported a standardized estimate of scientific productivity obtained from a worldwide database of 6,880,389 scientists who published at least 5 papers picked up by the Scopus database, and elaborated a ranking of ca. 120,000 scientists by both whole trajectory (career-long) impact and their current impact at year 2019. The goal of our paper is to contextualize Latin American ecologists' contribution at the world level based on the four most scientifically productive countries in the region. Methods and findings: Ioannidis et al. (2020) proposed a composite index that is the sum of six scientometric indicators: (1) The number of allocites, (2) the h index, (3) a per capita corrected version of h, (4) the allocites received as single author, (5) those received as single + first author, and (6) those as single + first + last author. We selected data for ecologists from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico and comparatively analyzed their productivity according to the proposed index. We also compared these data with those obtained from a global sample of the top ecologists worldwide. Conclusions: Based on Ioannidis et al.'s proposition to evaluate scientific productivity we extract three lessons: (1) It does not pay to publish many papers; what counts is the number of allocites (i.e., self-citations do not add up). (2) Either be single, first, or last author; it does not pay to be in the middle of an authorship line. (3) Even worse it is to be among many co-authors because the proposed index allocates credits on a per capita basis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unhealthy behaviors such as poor diet and tobacco use contribute to disease burden and escalating healthcare costs. This paper evaluates potential savings from people adopting reduced risk behaviors in Mexico. Using the Preventable Risk Integrated Model, we compare actual consumption in 2016 (baseline) to optimal intake following WHO guidelines (counterfactual) for salt, fiber, fruit/vegetables, and fat to estimate reductions in coronary, cerebrovascular, cancer, diabetes and hypertensive diseases. We also model 50% of smokers switching to e-cigarettes/heated tobacco with 65–97% lower disease risk. Results indicate over 650,000 preventable cases annually, mostly from diet changes (fruits/vegetables, fat, salt). Healthcare cost savings reach $3.4 billion USD; $2.8 billion from nutrition and $0.3 billion from smoking substitution. Fruit/vegetable intake and reduced fat confer over $1 billion savings each. Salt and fiber also contribute significantly. Adding smoking transitions provides further savings. Shifting Mexicans towards healthier diets and alternative nicotine products could substantially lower disease burden and healthcare costs. These findings underscore the economic imperative of promoting reduced-risk behaviors through public health policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing expansion of the manufacturing sector, particularly in Mexico, has revealed a spectrum of nearshoring opportunities yet is paralleled by a discernible void in educational tools for various stakeholders, such as engineers, students, and decision-makers. This paper introduces a state-of-the-art framework, incorporating virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI) to metamorphose the pedagogy of advanced manufacturing systems. Through a case study focused on the design, production, and evaluation of a robotic platform, the framework endeavors to offer an exhaustive educational experience via an interactive VR environment, encapsulating (1) Robotic platform system design and modeling, enabling users to immerse themselves in the design and simulation of robotic platforms under varied conditions; (2) Virtual manufacturing company, presenting a detailed virtual manufacturing setup to enhance users' comprehension of manufacturing processes and systems, and problem-solving in realistic settings; and (3) Product evaluation, wherein users employ VR to meticulously assess the robotic platform, ensuring optimal functionality and customer satisfaction. This innovative framework melds theoretical acumen with practical application in advanced manufacturing, preparing entities to navigate Mexico's manufacturing sector's vibrant and competitive nearshoring landscape. It creates an immersive environment for understanding modern manufacturing challenges, fostering Mexico's manufacturing sector growth, and maximizing nearshoring opportunities for stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports the detection of transgenic DNA from the local varieties of genetically modified (GM) maize in Mexico. Assessment on the validity of the study; Utilization of the viral DNA to improve genetic activity of GM maize; Impact of GM maize on the environment.

One essential component that reflects the development of society and the economy of most countries is life expectancy (LEXP). Nevertheless, LEXP can be influenced by varying factors, including socioeconomic and medical factors. Therefore, this analysis's focal point and motivation is to explore how socioeconomic factors such as economic growth, technological innovation, carbon emission, human capital, and renewable energy affect LEXP. The study utilized panel data from 1990 to 2020 from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which consists of the USA, Mexico, and Canada. The initial test confirmed that the research series were stationary and cointegrated. Therefore, the research applied the cross-sectional autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL) model to predict the paper's short- and long-term estimates. The empirical estimated model concluded that human capital, renewable energy, technological innovation, and economic growth boost life expectancy. Contrarily, the outcome espoused that carbon emission has an inverse association with LEXP. The causality test confirmed a unidirectional interaction between human capital, economic growth, technological innovation, and life expectancy. On the other hand, there is a bidirectional connection between carbon emission, renewable energy, and life expectancy. The research suggests that stakeholders and policy-makers strengthen and enforce air quality standards to reduce pollution from industrial emissions and vehicle exhaust and encourage using cleaner technologies to promote LEXP. The research outcome is empirically and theoretically consistent, providing an essential breakthrough for environment-health-energy and economic development policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article the history of Ixtle, a perennial plant in Mexico. It states that the ixtle fiber was used in manufacturing paper during the 20th century and the Chinantla Region, Mexico was the center of the prosperous ixtle cottage industry during colonial times until the 20th century. It says that in 1990, the Europeans discovered the potential of ixtle as an industrial hard fiber and during the World War I, it was used in building the wings of German aeroplanes.

Provides information on a study which described the process of Mexican bank privatization in 1991. Three events that led to the shaping of the postprivatization banking structure; Technical process of bank privatization; Policy implications and conclusions.

This paper aims to introduce a novel family of probability distributions by the well-known method of the T–X family of distributions. The proposed family is called a "Novel Generalized Exponent Power X Family" of distributions. A three-parameters special sub-model of the proposed method is derived and named a "Novel Generalized Exponent Power Weibull" distribution (NGEP-Wei for short). For the proposed family, some statistical properties are derived including the hazard rate function, moments, moment generating function, order statistics, residual life, and reverse residual life. The well-known method of estimation, the maximum likelihood estimation method is used for estimating the model parameters. Besides, a comprehensive Monte Carlo simulation study is conducted to assess the efficacy of this estimation method. Finally, the model selection criterion such as Akaike information criterion (AINC), the correct information criterion (CINC), the Bayesian information criterion (BINC), the Hannan–Quinn information criterion (HQINC), the Cramer–von-Misses (CRMI), and the ANDA (Anderson–Darling) are used for comparison purpose. The comparison of the NGEP-Wei with other rival distributions is made by Two COVID-19 data sets. In terms of performance, we show that the proposed method outperforms the other competing methods included in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Past mining activities in northwestern Mexico have left a large number of abandoned mine tailings deposits, such as in San Felipe de Jesus, Sonora, that is known to be transferring metal(oid)s to nearby agricultural fields. Given the risk and the need to implement mitigation measures, in this paper, we describe the results of two experiments evaluating the phytostabilization potential of five plant species collected in the area. Methods: We evaluated the assisted phytostabilization approach using compost and nutrients and the soil capping approach using combinations of soil, gravel, clay, and tailings layers. Results: The assisted experiment revealed that seedlings were unable to establish under unamended treatments and only Ricinus communis showed potential under this approach. Compost and nutrients reduced the accumulation of As, Pb, Mn, and Zn in leaves of R. communis, but some were above the maximum tolerable levels for domestic animals. Under the capping approach, R. communis also showed better performance under some combinations of soil, gravel, and tailings layers than the other species. The accumulation of As, Pb, and Mn in leaves was below the maximum tolerable levels for domestic animals, indicating that soil capping has greater potential in this abandoned tailing deposit. Conclusion: The capping approach has more phytostabilization potential than the use of amendments, reducing the risk of incorporating metal(oid)s in the trophic web. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a detailed analysis of a previous work that described the dynamic behavior of an antique stamp mill. The stamp mill application was for breaking ore stones as part of silver production. The dynamic analysis was established from a modern description of the kinematic chain. Since there is no technical data or archeological reports, the model was reconstructed using the dimensions described in original documents and assuming the operation conditions from different technical references. The model was validated using the typical production rates from the pre-industrial revolution period (XVI to XVIII centuries). The results show a proper method for reconstructing the engineering data of antique mechanisms and provide the basis for reproducing these types of mechanisms with modern engineering concepts. The data can be extrapolated to other similar mills that were developed based on this functional principle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The National Science and Technology Council (CONACYT) was established in 1970 by the Mexican government. CONACYT was formed to promote the scientific development and technological modernization of Mexico through developing high-level human resources, encouraging research projects, and disseminating scientific/technological information. In 2009, CONACYT launched the Innovation Stimulus Program (PEI) to foster enterprises' innovation activities and to encourage collaboration on innovation activities among firms and between firms and public research institutes and higher education institutions. Based on an analysis of project data from the PEI program over the years 2009 through 2014, we found that large firms are more innovative than small firms. And, firms that are more innovative are those that had prior funded research, collaborated with universities in the funded research project, added new employees during the research project, and faced larger markets for their innovations. Plain English Summary Only a few studies have systematically compared publicly supported innovative behavior between groups of large and small firms within developing countries, and absent from this list is an analysis of Mexico. In this paper, we study research projects funded through Mexico's Innovation Stimulus Program, and we find that large firms are more innovative than small firms. We also find that firms with previously funded research, that collaborated with universities in the funded research project, that added new employees during the research project, and that faced larger markets for their innovations are more innovative. Thus, the findings in this paper might provide an initial indication about those firms that will have a greater innovation-related response to the public funding to support their research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID - 19 affected severely worldwide. The pandemic has caused many causalities in a very short span. The IoT-cloud-based healthcare model requirement is utmost in this situation to provide a better decision in the covid-19 pandemic. In this paper, an attempt has been made to perform predictive analytics regarding the disease using a machine learning classifier. This research proposed an enhanced KNN (k NearestNeighbor) algorithm eKNN, which did not randomly choose the value of k. However, it used a mathematical function of the dataset's sample size while determining the k value. The enhanced KNN algorithm eKNN has experimented on 7 benchmark COVID-19 datasets of different size, which has been gathered from standard data cloud of different countries (Brazil, Mexico, etc.). It appeared that the enhanced KNN classifier performs significantly better than ordinary KNN. The second research question augmented the enhanced KNN algorithm with feature selection using ACO (Ant Colony Optimization). Results indicated that the enhanced KNN classifier along with the feature selection mechanism performed way better than enhanced KNN without feature selection. This paper involves proposing an improved KNN attempting to find an optimal value of k and studying IoT-cloud-based COVID - 19 detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As more intense and more frequent natural hazards result in human and economic losses, fires, and more specifically wildfires in wildland-urban interface/intermix (WUI) are among the natural hazards that present a substantial, albeit preventable risk of ecological and human disasters. Although wildfires are a largely researched area of study in forest ecology and natural sciences across the globe, with social science and interdisciplinary studies of risk catching up, WUI areas across North, Central and South America that show an increase in wildfire risk are currently under-researched, with the exception of Canada and the US. In this paper, we focus on wildfires in the Mexican WUI, which have historically been seen as a threat to forest ecosystems rather than as a threat to populations. This paper sets out to understand to what extent the under-researched WUI wildfires present risk to WUI populations in Mexico using a mixed methods approach. We perform a Mexico WUI fire diagnostics by drawing on the official datasets, documentation regarding preparedness, mitigation and response to wildfires affecting urban populations, and where information is lacking, we review media news sources regarding the outcomes for populations in the past WUI wildfires in Mexico. We conclude that a substantial proportion of WUI territory in Mexico is at risk from wildfires, potentially causing harm to populations in the future. Thus, more should be done to prepare these populations to respond, and mechanisms for fire risk mitigation, wildfire adaptation and recovery from fire effects should be developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gravity anomaly inversion is a technique used to estimate underground density distribution using gravity data. This paper proposes a new three-dimensional (3D) gravity anomaly inversion method based on the LinkNet network. Compared with two-dimensional gravity anomaly inversion, 3D gravity anomaly inversion can determine the density distribution of the entire region below the observation surface. Additionally, compared with traditional methods, the neural network method does not require the selection of initial parameters, and several predictive models can be quickly sought during the prediction stage. The Tversky loss was used to improve the inversion accuracy of the boundary. By comparing the inversion of the fully convolutional network, UNet network, and LinkNet network proposed in this paper on simulated data, it was observed that the model reconstruction error obtained using the LinkNet network had the best fitting effect with gravity data, which were 0.3526 and 0.0521. The results reveal that this method can achieve accurate inversion. Using the San Nicolas deposit in Mexico as an example, the proposed method and the improved preconditioned conjugate gradient algorithm were compared to further illustrate the effectiveness of the algorithm. The results reveal that the position and shape trends of the geological body attained using the proposed approach are in good agreement with the drilling data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For young children, positive parenting is predictive of their prosocial development and positive emotional well-being. Understanding the factors that promote or undermine positive parenting is of particular importance for families at risk of child welfare involvement. For Latinx families, conceptualizations of risk are better viewed through a cultural lens. This paper explores predictors of positive parenting among Latinx families (Mexican and Puerto Rican) who are vulnerable to child welfare involvement. Weighted data were drawn from Wave 1 of the National Survey on Child and Adolescent Well-being II—Restricted Release (NSCAW-II), a national sample that approximated a probability sample of child welfare involved families. After controlling for all other variables in the model, being married and using only non-violent parenting were related to higher positive parenting scores. Experiencing IPV within the last 12 months was related to significantly lower positive parenting scores. Results from the study highlight the need for a trauma-informed approach to culturally specific services for Latinx families who are vulnerable to the child welfare system. The connection between IPV experiences and the context of positive parenting is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of high energy transients such as Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) as probes of the distant universe relies on the close collaboration between space and ground facilities. In this context, the Sino-French mission SVOM has been designed to combine a space and a ground segment and to make the most of their synergy. On the ground, the 1.3 meter robotic telescope COLIBRI, jointly developed by France and Mexico, will quickly point the sources detected by the space hard X-ray imager ECLAIRs, in order to detect and localise their visible/NIR counterpart and alert large telescopes in minutes. COLIBRI is equipped with two visible cameras, called DDRAGO-blue and DDRAGO-red, and an infrared camera, called CAGIRE, designed for the study of high redshift GRBs candidates. Being a low-noise NIR camera mounted at the focus of an alt-azimutal robotic telescope imposes specific requirements on CAGIRE. We describe here the main characteristics of the camera: its optical, mechanical and electronics architecture, the ALFA detector, and the operation of the camera on the telescope. The instrument description is completed by three sections presenting the calibration strategy, an image simulator incorporating known detector effects, and the automatic reduction software for the ramps acquired by the detector. This paper aims at providing an overview of the instrument before its installation on the telescope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid increase in deportations during the last decade has provided multiple avenues to analyze the experiences of deportees immediately after deportation. More than 90% of the deportations to Mexico occur in border cities. Deporting people to the border is problematic since most of these deportees are not familiar with the area and do not have a social support network. On top of that, Mexican border cities are experiencing a growing spiral of violence due to the aftermath effects of the "Mexican drug war." Within this context, migrant shelters have become one of the few survival resources for deportees. Using an ethnographic approach, in this study, I investigate how violence is not singular but multiple and multilayered by inspecting deportation policies and practices as the junction where migrant shelters interact with cartel forces and state-made violence to support deported migrants. The paper demonstrates how deportation policies produce or perpetuate various forms of violence toward Mexican deportees in already hyper-violent border cities in Tamaulipas. The empirical findings shed light on how violence against migrants is not exclusively about cartel forces. It is a matter of institutional and structural violence coming from US deportation policies and practices that migrant shelters can hardly handle. Therefore, in this paper, I approach violence not exclusively as direct violence that inflicts physical pain but as a complex process that uncovers other more subtle forms of structural and symbolic violence, carrying nonphysical injuries that can be more enduring and traumatic than those caused by physical pain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last century, Mexico witnessed a population rise in the northern border region which was largely connected to the availability of maquiladoras employment. The conditions of employment have been deplorable which impacts on the dwellers in the city into precarity. In the understanding of precarity, the paper defines the subject within the context of two positions, one from the epistemological and the class structure positions. This paper addresses what precarity means within the context of those living in the colonia Mexico 68, having considered the conditions of employment, either informal or formal work. The spatial identification of precarityin colonia Mexico 68, an irregular settlement to the west of the city was identified where the state of living based on the ethnographic findings underlying it within the subjective philosophical submission of Luckman and Berger, through random sampling of respondents across gender, age, formal and informal work disposition. Subjective philosophical positon of Berger Peter and Luckmann (1966) suggests that individual experiences explain inhabitants' lived realities. It was observed that the condition of precarity was largely pertinent with similar experiences amongst respondents, the habitat and work environment. It is of note that to curb the problem of precarity questions of the embodied state of those submerged in it must be uplifted beyond just safety-nets but inclusion through social trust disposition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of mobile health apps to improve diet and nutrition behaviors has increased in recent years. Several studies have described the benefits and advantages of this technology as a complement to interventions for improving nutrition behaviors and nutrition‐related health outcomes, including obesity indices and clinical parameters. Few of these works have developed clinical mobile health apps for children, and although parents play a critical role in children's nutrition behaviors, work targeting parents is scarce. The work presented in this paper describes the development of the PersuHabit app, a stand-alone mobile health app targeting parents to promote the intake of fruits and vegetables (FVs) and reduce the intake of ultra-processed foods (UPF) in children aged 6 to 10 years. The paper also presents the execution of an exploratory pilot study to assess the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effects of the PersuHabit app. The results are presented and discussed, and actions for further improvement of the PersuHabit app are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been found that people with disabilities remain at the margin as far as the different aspects of their lives are concerned. This paper tests the hypothesis that disability leads to lower quality of life among older adults in low and middle-income countries. The data from the Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) was used in this study which was conducted in Ghana, China, India, Russia, South Africa and Mexico. The disability scores have been made utilising Item Response Theory, Partial Credit Model and are centered on eight functioning and health areas. Bivariate analysis, binary logistic regression and pooled regression analysis have been used to fulfil the objectives of the paper. The findings reveal that disability acts as a hindrance in attaining a high quality of life (HQOL) amongst the older adults in the above mentioned low and middle-income countries. The older adults with disability are as much as 60% less likely to enjoy an HQOL with respect to the older adults without disability. Better socio-economic development like improved health care for disabled older adults with disability enhanced living standards for both abled and disabled, efficient pension schemes for older adults with disability and effective social service schemes would be very much essential to improve overall QOL among older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers some insights and clarifications of the paramount role that Mexico has had in the forging of first-order cybernetics. Our account starts with Arturo Rosenblueth as a key intellectual figure in the foundation and formation of the field. After revisiting a historical context of people and places, we proceed to a cultural and media archeological investigation that helps us obtain new insights into the ongoing effort to intertwine the complex intellectual networks across different countries in Latin America, North America, and Europe. We then present cases and first-hand interviews to discuss the legacy of cybernetics in Mexico around institutions where Rosenblueth was affiliated, mainly the Institute of Cardiology and, later on, the CINVESTAV at the Instituto Politécnico Nacional. We claim that subjective affinities are as important as common scientific goals to establish and keep connections alive, necessary to the development of a research field. As the active compound in spicy peppers, capsaicin represents a local component to the definition of cybernetics. Ultimately, the paper aims to contribute to the research on the importance of cybernetics in Latin America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large quantities of mango peel and seed are generated worldwide, representing up to 60% of the total weight of the fruit. However, despite being undervalued, these by-products have a high nutritional and bioactive potential of interest for multiple applications. This paper evaluated for the first time the trend on research approaches for the use of mango peel and seed. For this purpose, a mixed methodology based on a literature review and bibliometric analysis with VOSviewer was used. Most of the studies on this topic are carried out by researchers from institutions in India, Mexico and Brazil, due to the high level of mango production in these countries. In addition, due to the importance of the subject, these studies are published in journals with high impact. According to the keyword co-occurrence analysis, the studies focus on the bioactive compounds of mango peel and seed, mainly phenolic compounds and carotenoids, in addition to their antioxidant activity, suitable for combating various diseases. Taking advantage of these properties, it was determined that these by-products (as powder or extract) are generally used as an ingredient in the elaboration of functional foods, showing promising results. Finally, this review also detailed some current challenges and future trends in the topic, which are of crucial importance to give the deserved valorization to mango peel and seed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on extant literature on call centers and my own research in digitization in Mexico and Brazil, in this paper I address the relations between culture, labor, and digital technology in informational capitalism. Drawing on media theory and the anthropological work of Ana Tsing and Sidney Mintz, among others, I propose a conceptual framework on labor's digital dialectics, within which the contradictions between algorithmic logic and the cultural layer occur. I argue that current technological subordination is based on a set of frictions and tensions that intensificate the contradiction between technology and culture as subordinated digitization while at the same time extensificate capitalistic informatization as digital subordination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents an exploratory case study on the operation of intergovernmental relations (IGR) in Mexico during the management of the COVID-19 pandemic to identify and explain the main conflicts faced in the management of the emergency. The main findings are: Mexico is undergoing an aggressive re-centralization process encouraged by inequalities among states and their lack of professional public administrative systems; 2) formal rules for balancing IGR lose value versus informal rules based on transitory political-partisan agreements; 3) the weakness of the rule of law, power imbalances, lack of clear rules, and communication problems difficult intergovernmental collaboration in emergencies management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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When it comes to allocating contracts, governments must weigh the decision of whether to exercise discretion in hiring or to allow for greater competition without firm selection. It is not always clear which allocation format will lead to better outcomes. This trade-off is influenced by the government's ability to select the best firms when competition is restricted, as well as the likelihood that this practice will lead to corruption. In this paper, I examine the allocation of street pavement contracts in Mexico. By combining auction methods with a productivity analysis, I am able to indirectly analyze whether local governments select firms with low excess costs when competition is restricted. This indirect approach allows for monitoring contract allocation in situations where there is limited information available on firm reputation. I find that firms selected for settings with less competition have lower costs for complex pavement contracts, but higher costs for simple ones. These results suggest that the government would benefit from using public auctions for simple pavement contracts, which is the opposite of current practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper was to demonstrate that the promotion of aquaculture clusters as a policy option for developing tilapia aquaculture in Mexico, resulting from glocal externalities as competitive advantages to the global market, is necessary to further develop the sector. The farmed tilapia clusters were described using data from the Veracruz Aquaculture Census, 2010. We then utilise three theories. Firstly, we focus on North (1955) and Krugman (1995) and find that Economic geography and localisation verified that conglomeration is a function of natural resources and population zones. Secondly, we investigate the Porter value system. Cluster competitive advantage was identified in water availability and water access, electric supply coverage, product presentation, and the local market. Thirdly, we apply the Altenburg and Meyer-Stamer (1999) model to identify cluster type, which classifies typology based on natural resource access and the inputs and technologies commercial balance. The Veracruz Tilapia cluster diagnostic showed an incipient development with remarked opportunity areas, where efforts should be directed, supported by a cluster strategy. However, Mexico and the Port city of Veracruz should diversify their economy. We conclude that adopting a cluster strategy for aquaculture is necessary in Mexico to both increase global competitiveness and to supply the local market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An(other) world is already existing and present across place. Capitalist-style economic development occurs within and alongside multiple ways of knowing and creating 'livable worlds.' Moreover, as part of the multiple ontologies and epistemologies of what it means to live well together, people practice various forms of economic exchanges. In this paper, I examine how the performance of solidarity in the exchange of coffee assists with rethinking development and what it means to build dignified livelihoods and livable worlds. By decentering capitalism and considering multiple forms of economic exchange, such as those built through solidarity networks, I argue that not only is 'another world possible,' but that it is present and in the continuous and messy process of becoming. Drawing on over a decade of ethnographically informed work with coffee cooperatives in rebel autonomous zones in Chiapas, Mexico and coffee roasters in the U.S. I ask, how do capitalist and more-than-capitalist exchanges both foster and expose the friction in economic development solidarity work? Here, I address development as multiple, rather than other forms as 'alternative' as part of the project of destabilizing capitalist hegemony and making visible already existing performances and practices of development that transcend white, western, and Anglophone ways of knowing and being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the role of parental absence due to migration on education and labor market outcomes of children left behind in Mexico. I look at the effect of absence at different moments of a child's educational career and estimate the impact of the timing of a parent's migration in order to understand how mother's and father's inputs affect children's outcomes at different ages. Results show that a mother's migration when the child has to start a new level of schooling, i.e. when investment decisions on children's education must be made, has a significant negative impact on children's schooling. Also the duration of mother's absence plays a role: the longer the mother's migration, the less children are educated. I find that, when the mother migrates, daughters substitute the mother's work in or outside the household, depending on their age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Alcozauca Mixtec, an Otomanguean language spoken in Mexico, the prosodic word is ideally minimally and maximally bimoraic. On the one hand, all monosyllabic stems have a long vowel so that they would be bimoraic, which has been reported across Mixtec varieties. On the other hand, prosodic words that are longer than two moras often undergo truncation and allomorphic alternation to fit into this ideal template that consists of a bimoraic foot, especially in casual speech. In this sense, the bimoraic foot constitutes the perfect prosodic word (Ito and Mester 2015) in Alcozauca Mixtec. A set of prosodic-word size restrictor constraints, namely Foot-Binarity, Parse(μ) and All-Feet-Right, is proposed to account for minimality effects (McCarthy and Prince 1994:17); in this paper, it will be shown that maximality effects are also predicted by the same set of constraints, and that such a prediction is borne out in Alcozauca Mixtec. Such an analysis is contrasted with an analysis with a constraint against a non-head foot, *Ft- (de Lacy 2003), with an analysis with a cover constraint Perfect Word (Ito and Mester 2015), and with an economy constraint *Structure (Prince and Smolensky 1993); it will be argued that a reductionist approach with the three prosodic-word size restrictor constraints is more appropriate to account for the Mixtec data. Such an approach also makes a typological prediction that maximality always entails minimality, but not vice versa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Archaeologists have long compared the Hohokam world of the North American Southwest to contemporary traditions in Mesoamerica and West Mexico. A degree of cultural connectivity between the Southwest and Mesoamerica is evident in similarities in public architecture, ceramic technology and design, ritual paraphernalia, and subsistence, among other qualities. Researchers commonly frame this connectivity in economic or cultural evolutionary terms that position Hohokam communities as somehow descendant from or dependent on more complexly and hierarchically organized societies far to the south. In this paper, I examine this connectivity through the lens of iconography to show that shared religious themes and archetypes were strands within the nexus. I focus on three iconographic subjects in Hohokam media—serpents, flowers, and "pipettes"—each of which materializes seemingly Mesoamerican religious concepts. From a careful consideration of the inception and breadth of each, I argue that Hohokam artisans began to portray these subjects in concert with a religious revitalization movement that drew a degree of inspiration from the south. However, while the iconography may have been new to Hohokam media, the religious themes were not. I show that the iconography references Archaic religious archetypes and cosmological principles that probably accompanied the spread of agriculture millennia before the formation of the Hohokam world. Rather than representing a new religion, I suggest Hohokam artisans materialized these long-established and unquestioned principles in novel iconographic ways as a means of naturalizing and ordaining the rapid social change that accompanied the religious revitalization movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The human oral cavity is normally colonized by microorganisms including bacteria, fungi, archaea, viruses and protozoa. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of Candida spp., in de oral cavity in a group of medical students from the north of Mexico. Oral sample were obtained from 240 healthy students. The specimens were analyzed by traditional microbiology cultures and DNA sequencing. Candida spp., grew in Sabouraud dextrose agar from 57 samples and subsequently were isolated and phenotyped. The definitive identification to the species level was done by sequence analysis. The yeasts were identified as follow: 28 Clavispora lusitaniae, 20 Candida albicans, 5 Pichia kudriavzevii and 4 Candida parapsilosis. Our findings revealed that 23.75% of the healthy population has a potential pathogen in their mouth. Surprisingly, C. albicans is not the predominant yeast; instead other non-Candida species are the colonizers of the oral cavity as normal microbiota. C. lusitaniae is considered an emerging opportunistic pathogen in immunosuppressive patients. This paper pretends to highlight the presence of this yeast in the oral cavity in immunocompetent young adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multidisciplinary information such as geophysical, hydraulic, geological, and hydrogeological information combined with GIS can be a powerful tool to better understand aquifers. The aim of this paper is to assess groundwater pollution risk through regional hydrogeological and local hydrogeophysical models built from multidisciplinary information and geophysical well logs. Once the regional model of the Toluca Valley Aquifer (Mexico) was built, the critical area (CA) of the aquifer was identified through features such as fractures and faults, pollution sources, subsidence, groundwater table depletion, and well density, which were transformed into GIS with multicriteria analysis. With the CA a local hydrogeophysical model was set to extract lithological information and compute the intrinsic vulnerability (IV) through the Dar Zarrouk parameters according to the AVI-Fr method which considers the influence of fractures and faults as preferential paths for pollutants. On the other hand, the potential harmful load (PHL) of the different pollution sources was estimated with the POSH method. Finally, with the relation between the IV and PHL, risk pollution map could be made. The results of this study show that different areas are exposed to pollution risk due to their proximity to fractures, oil and gas subsurface infrastructure and high pumping ratios and their relationships. The available geophysical data and multidisciplinary information were powerful tools for identifying the critical area of the TVA and proposing actions to mitigate or control excessive withdrawals for sustainable management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The detection and the functioning of the mid-summer drought (MSD) represent valuable information due to its socio-economic implications for the Caribbean. Current methods using local-scale rainfall to define the MSD have some limitations. This paper presents a novel approach to detect MSD from regional-scale weather types (WT). Long sequences of a typical summertime anticyclonic WT allow the detection of the onset and demise dates of the MSD for most years in 1950–2021. The MSD defined with WT (MSD-WT) begins rather abruptly on June 13th and concludes on August 21st, on average. While the interannual variations of the MSD-WT onset are relatively weak, long-term trends since 1950 indicate progressive earlier onsets, longer durations, and weakening intensities of the MSD-WT. Our results do not show the anticipated westward shift of the North Atlantic subtropical high pressure typically related to MSD. Instead, they indicate a halt of its eastward shift close to the MSD-WT onset. The absence of significant correlations between MSD-WT onset and either the Tropical North Atlantic or the Eastern Tropical Pacific sea surface temperature (SST) in May–June also suggests a mostly intrinsic atmospheric mechanism locked to the annual cycle, thus limiting the seasonal predictability of the MSD-WT onset. Furthermore, our results indicate a lag between the timing of increased subsidence, acceleration of the Caribbean low-level jet (CLLJ), and intensification of the deep convection over Central America and Mexico. This leads us to develop a novel hypothesis putting forward the monsoon circulation over Meso-America as a potential precursor of the increased subsidence over the Caribbean basin and the synchronous acceleration of CLLJ. The MSD-WT demise is more gradual and corresponds to a decrease in regional-scale mean sea level pressure and a weakening of the CLLJ. MSD-WT demise dates exhibit also relatively larger interannual variations but, unlike its onset, do not show any significant long-term trend. Anomalously warm (cold) Tropical North Atlantic and cold (warm) East Pacific SST from early June are correlated with an earlier (later) MSD-WT demise than usual. MSD-WT demise seems to involve regional-scale air-sea couplings and exhibits thus more seasonal predictability. Finally, despite a consistent response to the CLLJ, distinct processes seem to produce the relatively dry conditions observed over the Pacific coast of Central America and the Caribbean basin during the MSD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we evaluate chemical weathering and its climatic significance in different periods (pre- and post-industrialization) in a basin impacted by 500 years of mining activities. We consider the geochemical and mineralogical composition of stream sediments and overbank deposits from the Guanajuato River Basin (GRB) in central Mexico. This research provides information about the weathering modifications caused by anthropogenic impacts before and after mining activities. The elemental concentrations of major elements were determined using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, and the clay mineralogy was determined using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The chemical weathering intensity was estimated using the chemical index of alteration (CIA), the plagioclase index of alteration (PIA), and the weathering index of Parker (WIP) indices. The clay minerals in overbank sediments are kaolinite > smectite > chlorite > and vermiculite influenced by climatically driven weathering. In-stream sediments, the clay minerals are chlorite > vermiculite > kaolinite > smectite, influenced by the origin of the sediments and showing that physical weathering has been dominant in recent times because of changes in the vegetation cover and accelerated erosion in the stream sediments of the GRB. The weathering indices show that chemical weathering was greater in the preindustrial epoch (overbank sediments) compared with the present day (stream sediments) in the GRB. According to the CIA, clay content, and chemical composition, we identified four paleoclimatic conditions from 2450 ± 40 yr BP to 9410 ± 40 BP. There is a wet period at the base of the column (9410 ± 40 BP), followed by an early cold period and a wet period surrounding 2450 ± 40 yr BP. The combination of weathering indices and the clay content proved to be a useful tool; it was used to determine the weathering evolution of the basin and the anthropogenic impacts in a basin where there are historical references to mining activity over the last 500 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: This paper examines ethnic disparities in the effective coverage (EC) of maternal healthcare for interventions carried out among Mexican women in the last decade. It also explores the proportion of this gap that can be explained by observable characteristics in indigenous and nonindigenous women, as well as by structural discrimination against indigenous women. Methods: We conducted a retrospective and repeated cross-sectional study using data from the two latest Health and Nutrition Surveys carried out in 2011/2012 and 2018/2019. We analyzed a total of 11,304 Mexican women aged 12–49 years at the time of their last pregnancy, who reported having received obstetric services from 2006 to 2018, the result of which was a live birth. We adjusted EC according to indigenous status and the time of the most recent obstetric episode using a pooled fixed-effects and robust logistic model. In order to analyze which ethnic disparities in EC might be attributable to discrimination, we used the nonlinear Blinder–Oaxaca (BO) decomposition technique. Results: Indigenous women were less likely to enjoy EC for maternal health than their nonindigenous peers (aOR = 0.86, 95% CI: 0.75,0.98). Interventions aimed at providing adequate antenatal care (ANC) and skilled, institutional delivery care were the EC components registering the largest gaps by ethnicity. BO decomposition results demonstrated that structural discrimination accounted for 33.29% of this gap. Conclusions and Policy Implications: It is possible that the largest proportion of the gap in EC attributable to differences in unobservable characteristics between women in both groups could be explained by omitted variables that are often predictors of EC. However, these differences in EC may also be related to discriminatory practices experienced by indigenous women. Such practices could also jeopardize the aspirations of LMICs for achieving universal health coverage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pointing with the chin is a practice attested worldwide: it is an effective and highly recognizable device for re-orienting the attention of the addressee. For the chin point to be observed, the addressee must attend carefully to the movements of the sender's head. This demand comes into conflict with the politeness norms of many cultures, since these often require conversationalists to avoid meeting the gaze of their interlocutor, and can require them to look away from their interlocutor's face and head. In this paper we explore how the chin point is successfully used in just such a culture, among the Chatino indigenous group of Oaxaca, Mexico. We analyze interactions between multiple dyads of Chatino speakers, examining how senders invite visual attention to the pointing gesture, and how addressees signal that attention, while both participants avoid stretches of mutual gaze. We find that in the Chatino context, the senior (or higher-status) party to the conversation is highly consistent in training their gaze away from their interlocutor. This allows their interlocutor to give visual attention to their face without the risk of meeting the gaze of a higher-status sender, and facilitates close attention to head movements including the chin point. Abstracts in Spanish and Quiahije Chatino are published as appendices. Se incluyen como apéndices resúmenes en español y en el chatino de San Juan Quiahije. SonG ktyiC reC inH, ngyaqC skaE ktyiC noE ndaH sonB naF ngaJ noI ngyaqC loE ktyiC reC, ngyaqC ranF chaqE xlyaK qoE chaqF jnyaJ noA ndywiqA renqA KchinA KyqyaC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we examine the relationship between socioeconomic vulnerabilities and due process violations in contemporary Mexico, using a novel survey of imprisoned populations. We further investigate whether institutional reforms—in particular, the 2008 reform that constitutionally mandated the provision of trained public defenders for those without private counsel—help offset the impact of preexisting socioeconomic disparities on the likelihood of suffering a due process violation. We find that women, indigenous people, and people with less schooling are more likely to suffer a due process violation. This finding, is, unfortunately, not surprising. The 2008 constitutionally mandated reform to provide quality public defenders has done little to alleviate this situation. Although it has improved the experience of defendants overall—whether represented by private or public counsel—it has failed to create an office of public defenders that successfully functions as an equalizing mechanism that offsets pre-existing socioeconomic inequalities. Instead, our analysis suggests that those most benefited by these reforms are those who did not need them as much to begin with: those who rely on private lawyers for their legal representation. This paper contributes to the literature that critically examines the idea of equality under the law and the mechanisms that seek to guarantee it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alternative food networks (AFN) are argued to provide platforms to re-socialize and re-spacealize food, establish and contribute to democratic participation in local food chains, and foster producer–consumer relations and trust. As one of the most recent examples of AFN, Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS) have gained notable traction in attempting to redefine consumer-producer relations in the organic value chain. The participation of stakeholders, such as consumers, has been a key element theoretically differentiating PGS from other organic verification systems. While research on farmer participation in PGS is attracting interest, consumer participation is still widely overlooked. Using a mixed methods approach, this paper describes five PGS markets in Mexico, Chile and Bolivia. A survey was conducted with consumers in the PGS markets to explore their awareness of the PGS, how consumers participate in the PGS, and their level of trust in the respective PGS and its certified products. Results showed a low level of awareness of PGS among market consumers, few participation possibilities, and minimal consumer participation overall. Nevertheless, trust in organic quality was generally high. Consumers primarily relied on the direct relationship with producers and the PGS market itself as sources of trust. These results provide novel insight into PGS consumer-market interactions, and contribute to discussions concerning social embeddedness, awareness and participation within AFN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate the relationships between trade and labor productivity for nine Latin American countries in terms of the trade-led growth hypothesis. We use a vector error-correction model and perform independent tests of the short-run and long-run relationship among exports, imports and productivity to examine the direction of causality. The results show that exports and imports have impacts on labor productivity. We find evidence that the export‐led growth hypothesis is significant for Bolivia, Chile and Mexico; the growth‐led export hypothesis is significant for Uruguay; the import‐led growth hypothesis is relevant for Brazil, Colombia and Mexico; and the growth‐led import hypothesis is relevant for Brazil, Colombia and Uruguay. Finally, we note an important role of imports in the long-run development of these economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Huexotzinco Codex is one of the earliest surviving manuscripts from the early colonial period of Mexico. The codex pertains to the legal case of conquistador Hernán Cortés and contains paintings and documents detailing the seizure of Cortés' personal properties and over-taxation of his Huexotzincan allies by the colonial government in New Spain (present-day Mexico). Eight paintings within the manuscript were subjected to non-invasive analytical techniques revealing the pigment palette and production methodology. The findings of this study show a mixture of pre- and colonial codex production practices as well a unique Maya blue formulation and the identification of a silicate material used as a matrix for an organic yellow dye. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green synthesis (GS), referred to the synthesis using bioactive agents such as plant materials, microorganisms, and various biowastes, prioritizing environmental sustainability, has become increasingly relevant in international scientific practice. The availability of plant resources expands the scope of new exploration opportunities, including the evaluation of new sources of organic extracts, for instance, to the best of our knowledge, no scientific articles have reported the synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) from organic extracts of T. recurvata, a parasitic plant very common in semiarid regions of Mexico. This paper presents a greener and more efficient method for synthesizing ZnO NPs using T. recurvata extract as a reducing agent. The nanoparticles were examined by different techniques such as UV–vis spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and BET surface analysis. The photocatalytic and adsorptive effect of ZnO NPs was investigated against methylene blue (MB) dye in aqueous media under sunlight irradiation considering an equilibrium time under dark conditions. ZnO nanoparticles were highly effective in removing MB under sunlight irradiation conditions, showing low toxicity towards human epithelial cells, making them promising candidates for a variety of applications. This attribute fosters the use of green synthesis techniques for addressing environmental issues. This study also includes the estimation of the supported electric field distributions of ZnO NPs in their individual spherical or rounded shapes and their randomly oriented organization, considering different diameters, by simulating their behavior in the visible wavelength range, observing resonant enhancements due to the strong light-matter interaction around the ZnO NPs boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For decades, human ecosystem disruptions (HEDs), including pandemics, natural disasters, and socio-economic crises, have shaped national and international responses affecting everyday life. These disruptions present challenges and opportunities for prevention science to address emerging behavioral and mental health research questions, intervention strategies, methodologies, analyses, and research collaboration. This paper introduces a special issue that aims to document examples of how prevention science research teams had (1) globally improved health and well-being through swift, scientifically based responses during HED events and (2) advanced our understanding of the conduct and outcomes of prevention intervention research during crises such as pandemics, natural disasters, and socio-economic crises. The issue presents six research studies conducted in over ten different countries (e.g., Australia, Mexico, China). This issue includes original empirical and descriptive work that addressed HED implications for preventive interventions at within-country and cross-national levels. The findings hold potential applications for responses during current and future pandemics and natural disasters. Participants reflected on methodological and contextual considerations during HEDs, such as navigating travel restrictions, adapting ongoing research efforts to accommodate scientific learning during disruptions, and assessing the impact of policies redistributing preventive resources during and after a HED. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid changes in geotechnical and geological ground conditions lead to significant ground motion variability. This condition mainly occurs at the so-called basin edges, where there is an abrupt transition between soft highly compressible soils and stiffer materials. This problem becomes more relevant in areas where ground subsidence drastically changes the dynamic response of high plasticity clay deposits, such as those found in Mexico City, due to fundamental site period evolution with time. This paper presents site response analyses at an abrupt transition area in the southeast Mexico City region, along the edges of the Xochimilco-Chalco lakes. Considerable damage associated with three-dimensional wave propagation effects was observed in this zone during the September 2017 Puebla-Mexico earthquake. A series of three-dimensional finite difference numerical models of the basin edge were developed to evaluate ground motion variability, considering topographic effects and soil non-linearities. Good agreement between the computed response and the observed damage during the 2017 Puebla-Mexico earthquake reconnaissance was found. In addition, several normal and subduction events with a return period of 250 years were considered to evaluate the effect that frequency content, and strong ground motion duration have on the soil response variability. From the results gathered here, it was established the relevance of accounting for three-dimensional wave propagation fields to assess site effects at basin-edge zones properly and to be able to implement proper risk mitigation measurements at these zones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mexico aims to develop highly productive and sustainable food systems that ensure national self-sufficiency. This paper employs an integrated land-use modeling tool—the FABLE Calculator—to estimate the degree of policy ambition required for the country to meet mid-century climate, conservation and production goals in the land-use sector. We generate national-level land-use pathways to mid-century in terms of agricultural production, land use change dynamics, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and availability of land supporting biodiversity under varying assumptions of national policy and productivity changes. We estimate the effects of plausible efforts to achieve sustainability in land-use and food systems to 2050 against a business-as-usual benchmark. In the sustainable pathway, assumptions on agricultural land expansion, reforestation, and protected area expansion reflect existing and aspirational Mexican government policies aiming to improve crop yields, livestock productivity with silvopastoral systems, and GHG mitigation goals. We also model diets that evolve toward Mexican dietary guidelines for a healthier consumption of fats and oils as well as a substantial increase in the intake of fruits and vegetables, pulses, nuts, and fish. Results suggest that Mexico can feasibly adopt a sustainable land-use pathway that provides adequate nutrition for the population by 2050, limit agricultural expansion, reduce GHG emissions, and expand forested lands. This type of integrated land-use modeling can help ensure policy coherence in land and food systems across national strategic plans for climate, biodiversity, and agricultural self-sufficiency, each spearheaded by different government agencies. Importantly, a sensitivity analysis highlights the transformative impact that diets have on land-use systems, and as such, dietary transformation should be considered in all climate mitigation plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Observations show that the seasonal cycle of precipitation in parts of southern Mexico and Central America exhibits a bimodal signal, known as the Midsummer drought (MSD), but there is no consensus on which processes are most relevant for the two-peak structure of the rainy season. This paper evaluates three hypotheses that could explain the MSD: the SST cloud-radiative feedback, the solar declination angle and the Caribbean Low-Level Jet (CLLJ) moisture transport hypotheses. Model experiments produced by the Met Office Hadley Centre (MOHC) for CMIP6 as well as ERA5 reanalysis data are used to critically assess the predictions of each hypothesis. The simulations capture the double peak signal of precipitation well and reasonably simulate the spatial and temporal variations of the MSD and other relevant climate features such as the CLLJ. Evidence from our analysis suggests that the Eastern Pacific SSTs do not increase in late summer in ERA5 data and only slightly increase in the simulations. More importantly, the Eastern Pacific SST variability in ERA5 and in the model experiments cannot explain the differences in the seasonality of precipitation. The net shortwave radiation at the surface shows a two-peak seasonal cycle; however, this behaviour appears to result from a strong anti-correlation of the incoming shortwave and convective activity due to cloud radiative-effects. There was no evidence found by this study of a causal link in which absorption of shortwave energy forces precipitation variations, as suggested by the solar declination angle hypothesis. The moisture convergence, CLLJ and the precipitable water vapor variations best explain the characteristics of the observed and simulated MSD, particularly for the onset of the MSD. The diagnosed variations of moisture convergence, which are synchronous with the timing of the MSD, point to a dynamic mechanism in which the low-level inflow from the Caribbean is more important for the MSD than other radiative mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coronavirus COVID-19 swept the world in early 2020, working from home was a necessity. In the software industry, thousands of software developers began working from home, many did so on short notice, under difficult and stressful conditions. The emotions of developers can be affected by this situation. On the other hand, some well-known soft skills have been emphasized as required for working remotely. Software engineering research lacks theory and methodologies for addressing human aspects in software development. In this paper we present an exploratory study with a survey applied to practitioners in the west border area of Mexico-USA. It is focused on the developers' wellbeing during pandemic, expressed as emotions, and the perceptions of the level in which soft skills are practiced/required in the working from home mode. The results show that high percent expressed to experience positive emotions, however, a portion of respondents expressed to feel negative emotions. In general terms, 91.0% of respondents expressed to be satisfied working from home, but some conditions should be improved. In the case of soft skills, some of them are revealed as practiced in high level in working from home, but still there is not consensus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]