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This paper aims to research different strategies for developing the green economy in shrinking cities. Considering urban shrinkage and the green economy as two extended concepts, a French town in post-Fordist transition and a Mexican post-mining town are selected as the most diverse/similar systems to indicate different strategies for sustainable development in shrinking cities. Embedded into different national backgrounds, including urban dynamics and support schemes for the green economy, the selected cases share the objectives of greening and regrowing strategies relying on other sectors of the green economy. The methodology applied is qualitative, including fieldwork, semi-structured interview techniques, carried out in person or remotely, and questionnaires. Findings show some positive results regarding sustainability and ecological transition in the French case, while regrowth trends were reached in the Mexican case. However, the analysis leads to uncertain scenarios for positive long-term impacts, especially due to uncertainty around future supporting policies for territorial cohesion and sustainability at national and regional levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cysticercosis is an infestation of Cysticercus cellulosae. When it occurs in the brain, chronic neurological complications can ensue, most commonly seizures. Neurocysticercosis is usually diagnosed by neuroimaging, a technique not available in most endemic countries. Hence immunological tests are valuable for diagnosis and epidemiological surveys. We evaluated the suitability of paper for storing blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) until subsequent testing by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), by testing whole blood samples on filter paper from 305 patients and CSF samples from 117 patients stored on ordinary white typing paper and on filter paper. Optimal preservation of biological samples is achieved when whole blood is stored on filter paper, CSF on white paper, and when samples are frozen within 1 week after collection. Our results could improve diagnostic capabilities and facilitate epidemiological surveys in endemic countries where immunodiagnostic tests cannot be rapidly performed because of inadequate laboratory infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers and practitioners recognise the importance of context when implementing healthcare interventions, but the influence of wider environment is rarely mapped. This paper identifies the country and policy-related factors potentially explaining the country differences in outcomes of an intervention focused on improving detection and management of heavy alcohol use in primary care in Colombia, Mexico and Peru. Qualitative data obtained through interviews, logbooks and document analysis are used to explain quantitative data on number of alcohol screenings and screening providers in each of the countries. Existing alcohol screening standards in Mexico, and policy prioritisation of primary care and consideration of alcohol as a public health issue in Colombia and Mexico positively contributed to the outcome, while the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact. In Peru, the context was unsupportive due to a combination of: political instability amongst regional health authorities; lack of focus on strengthening primary care due to the expansion of community mental health centres; alcohol considered as an addiction rather than a public health issue; and the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare. We found that wider environment-related factors interacted with the intervention implemented and can help explain country differences in outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims at exploring trade opportunities between Mexico, Indonesia, and Turkey, presently members of MIKTA, by comparing their respective Macroeconomic and socioeconomic variables. We use the GDP per capita as a key indicator of productivity and market size to see which MIKTA members are similar and therefore have a potential to set trade and business projects among them. To do that we conducted an ANOVA test and skiped Australia and South Korea of the analysis due to their high income per capita. We then focused on Mexico, Indonesia, and Turkey, whose economies proved to be equivalent and compared their key macroeconomic and social indicators, outstanding their most competitive sectors, commodities, foreign trade, and trade partners. A total of 87 observations were rated from one to three to identify which country was better. Mexico scored 205 points followed by Indonesia with 164 and Turkey, 153 points. Finally, we ran a second ANOVA test, taking the value of all observations in a logarithmic scale to prove that in spite of the different scores, the mean of the three countries was equal. The results are relevant as the three of them present a wide business scope to be exploited, which could allow them to lead the MIKTA in the coming decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some interpretations frequently argue that three Disability Models (DM) (Charity, Medical/Rehabilitation, and Social) correspond to historical periods in terms of chronological succession. These views permeate a priori within major official documents on the subject in Mexico. This paper intends to test whether this association is plausible by applying a timeline method. A document search was made with inclusion and exclusion criteria in databases to select representative studies with which to depict milestones in the timelines for each period. The following is demonstrated: 1) models should be considered as categories of analysis and not as historical periods, in that the prevalence of elements of the three models is present to date, and 2) the association between disability models and historical periods results in teleological interpretations of the history of disability in Mexico. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In Mexico, despite that the fact that several social programs have been implemented, chronic undernutrition is still a public health problem affecting 1.5 million children of <5 years. Chiapas ranks first in underweight and stunting at national level with a stunting prevalence of 31.4 % whereas for its rural population is 44.2 %. The purpose of this paper is to determine if the nutritional status of a cohort of children living in poor rural communities under Oportunidades has changed. We were interested in assessing the nutrition evolution of the children who were initially diagnosed as stunted and of those who were diagnosed as normal. Oportunidades is an anti-poverty program of the Mexican government consisting mainly in monetary transfers to the families living in alimentary poverty.Methods: A 9-year cohort prospective study was conducted with nutritional evaluations of 222 children. Anthropometric indices were constructed from measurements of weight, height, and age of the children whose nutritional status was classified following WHO standards.Results: The results showed that although these children were Oportunidades beneficiaries for 9 years and their families improved their living conditions, children still had a high prevalence of stunting (40.1 %) and 69.6 % had not recovered yet. Children who were initially diagnosed with normal nutritional status and became stunted 2 years later had a higher risk (relative risk (RR) 5.69, 2.95-10.96) of continuing stunted at school age and adolescence.Conclusions: Oportunidades has not impacted, as expected, the nutritional status of the study population. These findings pose the question: Why has not the nutritional status of children improved, although the living conditions of their families have significantly improved? This might be the result of an adaptation process achieved through a decrease of growth velocity. It is important to make efforts to watch the growth of the children during their first 3 years of age, to focus on improving the diet of women at fertile age and pay special attention to environmental conditions to break the vicious cycle of malnutrition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aim is to make a comparison between two nomadic markets of the metropolitan area of Toluca, México. It shows the origin of each one of the products that are exchanged in these markets and the forms of articulation of urban and country or indigenous economies, contrasting them with global markets. This work recognizes the importance of street markets in the supply and demand economical cycle, which tendency, is to consider only supermarkets and elite markets into the economical competition rates of a city. Street markets are commonly left behind, but for societies like Toluca, they represent a common place of recognition and gathering processes. Tianguis (as in the pre-Hispanic word) from Toluca and Ixtlahuaca are been analyzed in this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper, which is part of a parallel study between Mexico and Spain, analyzes the environmental information requests that are made by users in the Spanish public sector bodies. Furthermore, a webcrawler, which was designed for this purpose, analyzes many parameters of the information displayed on the website of 30 environmental public bodies such as the number of documents, providers, types of environmental information, document formats ... Results highlight the use of metatags instead of metadata and descriptor analysis shows a lack of relationship between the requests and the descriptors which are used to identify such information on the Web. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]