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School site leadership has commanded the attention of researchers and policymakers in Anglo-American jurisdictions for at least two decades, but little is known about how many other parts of the globe have addressed this topic. This paper reviews published research and policy documents related to school leadership in Latin America between 2000-2016. Applying rapid mapping techniques used for scoping studies, we review 359 research and policy documents and give "coherent, meaningful shape" to what we know and what we don't know about school leadership in the region. Attention in research and policy to school leadership in Latin America was relatively slow to arrive: whilst it grew steadily in the first decade of this century it remains low compared to other regions of the world. We provide an overview of the school leadership policy environment in several countries, describing recruitment, selection, evaluation, and job responsibilities of principals; relevant leadership frameworks; and requirements for training or professional development. We speculate on what might explain the diverse ways that school leadership has been taken up in the region: degree of school system centralization; policy borrowing; stage of development; technocratic problem solving; and neoliberal accountability.

Higher education institutions have been complicit with the ongoing coloniality project that reinforces and perpetuates inequities, dismisses interests, knowledges, alternative discourses, and world views different from Western European thought (Bell, 2018; Dastile & Ndlovu-Gatsheni, 2013; Harms-Smith & Rasool, 2020). Education is rooted in colonialism, which raises doubts about the feasibility of universities implementing a decolonial agenda (Dhillon, 2021). To contribute to the conversation about decolonial praxis and the documented efforts in the literature on how to enact a decolonial rehumanizing agenda, this paper presents a systematic literature review of works from the Global South that attempt to disentangle universities from colonial practices in higher education. The works reviewed describe a variety of practices from pedagogical practices, curriculum changes, and institutional connections with marginalized communities that make visible knowledges, languages, and perspectives traditionally excluded from universities.

Purpose: This study aims to identify the strategic leadership and change management used to obtain the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accreditations as well as the research development on AACSB in the past decade. Design/methodology/approach: This study used a systematic literature review following Petticrew and Roberts' study. The articles were limited to empirical studies published from 2013 to 2022, taken from the Dimensions AI database. Findings: The findings suggested that two leadership styles were used to obtain AACSB accreditation: dominance-oriented transformational and financial leadership, alongside three traits of academic leaders: commitment, engagement and encouragement. Additionally, three change management models/processes were found in the articles: teaching evaluation framework, temporary isomorphism and authenticity. Finally, they discovered that the object of the studies on AACSB accreditation had been narrowed down from the organizational level to smaller objects consisting of schools' identity, teaching, learning and business schools' key players. Research limitations/implications: As this study only used Dimensions AI, potential articles related to the topic outside the database could not be obtained. Thus, it limits the scope of the findings of this paper. Practical implications: This study informs academic leaders in business schools about the role of strategic leadership and change management in obtaining AACSB accreditation. Originality/value: Through a systematic scoping review, this study presented a decade of research development on AACSB in addition to the strategic leadership and change management needed to obtain it.

A bibliometric analysis was carried out on the production and publication of research papers related to the study of the management variable in the quality of education in Latin America. The purpose of the analysis proposed in this document is to know the main characteristics of the volume of publications registered in Scopus database during the period 2016-2021 in Latin American countries, achieving the identification of 1183 publications in total. The information provided by said platform was organized by means of tables and figures categorizing the information by year of publication, Country of Origin, Area of Knowledge and Type of Publication. Once these characteristics were described, a qualitative analysis was used to refer to the position of different authors on the proposed topic. Among the main findings of this research, it is found that Brazil, with 589 publications, is the Latin American country with the highest production. The area of knowledge that made the greatest contribution to the construction of bibliographic material referring to the study of management in the quality of education was Medicine with 538 published documents, and the type of publication that was most used during the period mentioned above was the journal article, representing 71% of the total scientific production.

This article introduces a special issue of EPAA/AAPE devoted to recent higher education reforms in Latin America. The last two decades have seen much policy development in higher education in the region, examined and discussed by scholars in each country, but dialog with the international literature on higher education reform, or an explicit comparative focus, have been mostly absent from these works. By way of presentation of the papers included in this issue, we first provide an overview of major policy changes in higher education in the Latin American region since the 1990s. We then turn to the six works in this special issue to describe the theories and methods supporting them. Next, we illustrate how general analytic categories can be derived from single or multi country case studies to illuminate themes capable of cutting across the particulars of national contexts, with their unique traditions, policy paths, and politics. Our three common threads are, first, the types of drivers for reform, that is, how policy change originates, either bottom-up from the institutions, or top-down from the government, and various possibilities in between. Second, understanding challenges to institutional autonomy in a continuum of intensity of state intended intervention in higher education. Third, explaining different levels of strain between public and private sectors in higher education based on conditions of competition for economic resources. While the papers in this special issue do not cover all countries, nor all issues on which policy has been crafted in the last two decades across the region, the collection of articles herein account for topics of enduring importance: faculty work in Ecuador, financial aid in Colombia, public policy decentralization in Argentina, quality assurance models in Colombia and Uruguay, the emerge of new institutions and universities in Argentina and Uruguay, and social justice, access, and inclusion in higher education, in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Ecuador. The articles presented in this special issue provide much insight onto higher education policy in Latin America and, additionally, offer ample opportunity to develop social science knowledge on the basis of strong comparative work.

The purpose of this paper is to comprehend the importance that grammar has in the teaching of writing in the Hispanic American countries and Spain. To achieve this, the discussion that has taken place in these countries about the importance of sentence grammar in the teaching of writing is analysed. Three proposals for the contextualised teaching of grammar are systematised from the literature review: those that are focused in the writing process, those focused on metalinguistic reflection and those with a greater emphasis in the grammar of text. Besides, the school curricula of 14 Spanish-speaking countries that were involved in the international assessment of TERCE are examined. This analysis shows an evident attachment to the communicative approach of grammar. This means that in almost all countries grammar is taught linked to the linguistic skills of reading, writing or orality, with an especial emphasis in writing. Also, two tendencies can be observed in the curricula of this countries, that guide the way in which curricula use sentence grammar to have an impact on written communication: (i) from sentence grammar to text grammar and (ii) from text grammar to sentence grammar.

This paper presents a review of peer-reviewed publications (2007-2017) on digital open educational practices (OEPs). It explores trends and patterns in this emerging area of study by examining paper abstracts and bibliographic data indexed in the Scopus database using a combination of descriptive statistics, text mining, social network analysis, and content analysis. Findings demonstrated two major strands of OEP research: those who discuss OEP in the context of open educational resources, mostly in terms of open educational resource creation, adoption and use, and those who discuss OEP in relation to other areas, including open scholarship, open learning, open teaching or pedagogy, open systems and architectures, and open source software. Based on the findings of this study and in the light of the broader literature on OEPs, we echo the calls for a need to conceptualize OEPs as a multidimensional and unifying construct.

Media and information literacy is the process of empowering people to seek, evaluate, use and create information effectively in order to achieve their personal, social, occupational and educational goals. This paper presents the dimensions and categories of an instrument (the MIL questionnaire) developed within the University of the Basque Country's UNESCO Chair in Communication and Educational Values, which aims to analyse media and information literacy levels amongst adolescents. The instrument is based on four dimensions that encompass basic aspects of the field of educommunication. These dimensions are: (1) Media access and use; (2) Media language and critical comprehension; (3) Production and programming processes; and (4) Transforming one's situation through communication. The aim of this piece of research was to test the reliability and validity of this instrument in a pilot study conducted with 167 adolescents aged between 13 and 15, from schools in Colombia, Ecuador and Spain. With the exception of the first dimension, the results indicate that the questionnaire has an acceptable reliability level and is an adequate instrument for evaluating media and information literacy among adolescents.

Purpose: This paper aims to present an approach to achieve accessible and inclusive Virtual Education for all, but especially intended for students with disabilities. This work proposes main steps to take into consideration for stakeholders involved in the educational process related to an inclusive e-Learning. Design/methodology/approach: The paper pays particular regard to accessibility in Virtual Education. This work is based on the activities prepared from years 2012 to 2015 within the initiative called ESVI-AL. This initiative was carried out in conjunction with Latin American and European Universities; for this paper, experiences and best practices from the initiative were used to prepare the proposed approach. Findings: The aim of ESVI-AL initiative was to offer products that can help in the development of an accessible and inclusive e-Learning education. Among the main results were reports, case studies, practical guidelines, training courses and software to install virtual campuses with accessibility features. Social implications: Nowadays, few countries have laws promoting and enforcing accessibility for e-Education and e-Society. This work aims to sensitize educators from different countries and raise awareness on the importance of working together toward an inclusive society based on accessible e-Learning. Originality/value: Based on a literature review and ESVI-AL initiative results, a descriptive overview was prepared as a starting point for the four identified main actors of an educational project, namely, educators, technical staff, quality auditors and students, with special emphasis on students with disabilities.

The academic programs at the graduate level are increasingly interested about the enrollment management challenges in terms of international student mobility. Understanding fundamental enrollment concepts to attract international students provides the essential key to consider the competitive environment concerning university resources, academic program potential, complex cultural dynamics, and workplaces among others. Based on a six-year quantitative and descriptive statistical study, this paper addresses the trends of first-time graduate enrollment and patterns of international student mobility by faculty at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez. Results revealed the sustained trend of graduate enrollment of international students mainly from South America, Central America, and the Caribbean among others. Moreover, the presence of international graduate students adds a dimension of diversity to UPRM between teaching and research undertakings that enhance the Colleges of Engineering, Arts and Sciences, Agricultural Sciences, and Business Administration. The international student mobility has a consistent tendency mainly in the Colleges of Engineering, Arts and Sciences, and Agricultural Sciences. This consistency resembles the quality and reputation recognized by educational institutions and organizational world rankings. In-depth, understanding the trends related to international graduate enrollment and mobility should be considered by institutional leaders and administrators at UPRM to make knowledgeable decisions and to effectively set priorities to recruit highly qualified international students.

In many countries, the advancement of hydropower resources has been hindered by economic factors and insufficient data on topography, streamflow, environmental sensitivity, power grid, and, most importantly, the location of potential hydropower sites. This challenge is particularly pronounced in certain African and Latin American river systems. Developing web-based maps of hydropower resources based on geographic information systems and advanced mapping technologies can facilitate the initial assessment of hydropower sites. This is especially relevant for developing sites in remote areas and data-scarce regions. The available geospatial datasets, remote sensing technologies, and advanced GIS modelling techniques can be used to identify potential hydropower sites and assess their preliminary characteristics. This paper reviews web-based hydropower atlases in African and Latin American countries. Their main features are represented and compared with the recently launched HYPOSO map viewer covering two African countries (Cameroon and Uganda) and three Latin American countries (Bolivia, Colombia, and Ecuador). This hydropower atlas consists of 20 spatial layers. Its particular focus is to present a geospatial dataset of new hydropower sites with concise information for potential investors. These so-called virtual hydropower atlases can be only one type of discovery at the early project stage, automatically identifying sites worthy of further investigation. A formal validation of the web-based atlases, including the HYPOSO hydropower atlas, is briefly considered. Creating open-access hydropower map viewers is anticipated to significantly enhance the hydropower development database in these nations, offering valuable insights for small and medium-scale projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Investigium IRE: Ciencias Sociales y Humanas is the property of Editorial Institucion Universitaria Centros de Estudios Superiores Maria Goretti and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The history of physiotherapy in Latin America has received little attention thus far in the English-speaking literature. In this paper, we draw on narratives from activists, educators, and professional leaders who have been instrumental in shaping the development of physiotherapy in Argentina, Colombia, and Ecuador. Physiotherapists in the Latin American countries faced many similar challenges, including developing physiotherapy in the shadow of medicine, overcoming conservative attitudes toward women professionals, and frequent social upheaval. The paper explores the disputed story of physiotherapy's origins in the polio epidemics, the influence of Swedish remedial gymnastics, and the educational colonialism of North American and European educators. We examine some of the effects of social unrest and trauma, military rule, and economic instability on the professions attempts to establish itself in the face of competition from other professions allied to medicine. And we consider the efforts taken to establish the profession's autonomy and its shifting relationship with the state. We employed two different methods for data collection to explore aspects of physiotherapy's history in Latin America from a political and socio-cultural context: 1) A reconstruction of memories from activist physiotherapists in Colombia, Ecuador, and Argentina, who have seen, lived, and promoted the development of physiotherapy in their own countries, gleaned from in-depth interviews; and 2) Analysis of secondary sources. Data were analyzed following the method described by Maynes, Pierce, and Laslett (2008), exploring personal narratives. Textual data were analyzed using documentary research (Prior, 2003) using thematic analysis, to inductively discover, and describe relevant themes about the two main guiding study questions. A constant comparative method as outlined by Boeije (2002) was used to form categories, establish boundaries, and discerning conceptual similarities between participants' narrative. Five physiotherapists were interviewed. One from Colombia, two from Argentina and two from Ecuador. Three main themes were identified: 'A Female Profession?', 'training and education', and 'Present Day in Argentina, Ecuador, and Colombia'. Tensions between the interests of the State, professionals, patients, cultures, urban and rural services, and practices are prevalent throughout physiotherapy in Argentina, Colombia, and Ecuador. Operating within these tensions is very much the reality for physiotherapists in Latin America today. Multiple histories emerge from the research, opening up a space for a more nuanced, polyphonic reading of physiotherapy in Colombia, Ecuador, and Argentina than has been heard to date. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various financing structures for nonformal education are presented, using examples from Colombia, Brazil, Costa Rica, and Ecuador. Many resources of the formal education system can be used in the planning, coordination, and execution of nonformal education. The importance of community involvement and financial backing is stressed. (JA)

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Copyright of Tropical Lepidoptera Research is the property of Association for Tropical Lepidoptera and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper reviews Hippotis Ruiz & Pav. and Schradera Vahl, two Rubiaceae genera with centers of diversity in western South America. Both are inadequately known and in need of field study. Recent authors' circumscriptions of H. albiflora H. Karst. and H. mollis Standl. are narrowed here, and four new species of Hippotis are described: H. antioquiana C. M. Taylor from northwestern Colombia, H. ecuatoriana C. M. Taylor from central-southern Ecuador, H. elegantula C. M. Taylor & M. Calderón from the western Amazon basin in Ecuador, and H. vasqueziana C. M. Taylor from lowland northeastern Peru. Four new species of Schradera Vahl are also described here: S. cernua C. M. Taylor and S. francoae C. M. Taylor from western Colombia, S. condorica C. M. Taylor & D. A. Neill from southern Ecuador, and S. morindoides C. M. Taylor from southern Ecuador and northern Peru. Schradera condorica at least sometimes is a free-standing tree, a habit newly documented for this genus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of algorithmic political communication has arisen through the joint development of propaganda and communication theories, as well as the findings of computer science. This is a field that generates results that amplify and extend to political communication, such as microsegmentation or automated diffusion of content; likewise, it produces some adverse effects that hinder citizen participation in the cybersphere. This paper presents a review of works published in three Latin American countries (Colombia, Ecuador, and Mexico) with artificial intelligence, communication, and democracy as their constituent elements. The data come from a total of 206 documents, including reports from supranational organisms and associations, and publications in scientific journals indexed in databases such as Google Scholar and Scopus between 2011 and 2021. The selection criterion is based on the total or partial appearance of certain keywords, plus filters by relevance and impact factors. This systematic review is structured based along four axes that explain democracy according to Landman et al. (2009): electoral participation, participation of civil society, media integrity, and impartial administration. The main conclusions indicate that many of the practices in the studied countries are still at an incipient or experimental stage, with algorithmic political communication being used especially during electoral campaigns. Similarly, an increasing resistance from civil society to the influence of social networks is starting to be detected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Family policy initiatives in Colombia and Ecuador have targeted primarily families living in poverty. This paper discusses some of the major policy initiatives oriented to improve the living conditions of economically disadvantaged families in both countries. We argue that, even though governments recognize the importance of family policies, existing policies and programs for families living in poverty do not directly focus on family issues. They represent more implicit than explicit family policies. We analyze some of the issues that may hinder the development, implementation, and evaluation of family policies in Colombia and Ecuador. Such issues stem from political and economic instability, legislation, changing family demographics, as well as coordination among agencies that develop, implement, and evaluate policies. We discuss challenges related to family policies in both countries and recommendations to improve existing policy initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eight species of Notopleura (Benth.) Bremek. are newly described here, all but one in Notopleura subg. Notopleura. Notopleura aurantiaca C. M. Taylor is found from Ecuador to Peru and western Brazil; N. bracteata C. M. Taylor in central Peru; N. cajamarcana C. M. Taylor in northern Peru; N. divaricata C. M. Taylor in western Colombia; N. harlingii C. M. Taylor in central Ecuador; N. kosnipatana C. M. Taylor in southern Peru; N. valenzuelae C. M. Taylor in central Peru; and N. stevensonii C. M. Taylor, which belongs to Notopleura subg. Viscagoga (Baill.) C. M. Taylor, in central Colombia. The identities of several published names that apply to species of Notopleura are clarified, new combinations are made for three older names that apply to previously described species, and several other names are newly synonymized here. Notopleura chasaliodes (Kunth) C. M. Taylor is based on Uragoga chasaliodes Kunth and is an older name for N. plagiantha (Standl.) C. M. Taylor; N. paramorum (Standl.) C. M. Taylor is based on Psychotria paramorum Standl. and is an older name for N. pithecobia (Standl.) C. M. Taylor; and N. semimetralis (K. Krause) C. M. Taylor is based on P. semimetralis K. Krause and is an older name for N. vargasiana C. M. Taylor. The identities of several other names are also newly clarified: P. albacostata Rusby is a distinct species, treated here as the new combination N. albacostata (Rusby) C. M. Taylor; Hoffmannia striata Rusby is a synonym of N. tolimensis (Wernham) C. M. Taylor; and P. dudleyi Steyerm. is a synonym of N. paramorum. Additionally, eight names are lectotypified and the nomenclatural status of Uragoga Baill. is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The type material of Pamphobeteus ultramarinus Schmidt, 1995 and P. vespertinus (Simon, 1889) are redescribed. The male of P. lapolaSherwood, Gabriel, Brescovit & Lucas, 2022 is described for the first time. Six new species are described: P. amazonas Sherwood, Gabriel, Peñaherrera-R., Cisneros-Heredia., León-E., Brescovit & Lucas sp. nov. from Brazil, and P. gangotenai Cisneros-Heredia, Peñaherrera-R., León-E., Sherwood, Gabriel, Brescovit & Lucas, sp. nov., P. jamacoaque Peñaherrera-R., Cisneros-Heredia., León-E., Sherwood, Gabriel, Brescovit & Lucas sp. nov., P. lasjuntas Peñaherrera-R., Cisneros-Heredia., León-E., Sherwood, Gabriel, Brescovit & Lucas sp. nov., P. matildeae Sherwood, Gabriel, Peñaherrera-R., Cisneros-Heredia., León-E., Brescovit & Lucas sp. nov., and P. skis León-E., Peñaherrera-R., Cisneros-Heredia, Sherwood, Gabriel, Brescovit & Lucas sp. nov. from Ecuador. We report, for the first time, the presence of Type III urticating setae in PamphobeteusPocock, 1901. New interpretations of tibial apophysis morphology are presented, alongside a comparison of the palpal bulb morphology of all known male congeners. New distribution and/or museum records are made for P. antinousPocock, 1903, P. crassifemurBertani, Fukushima & Silva, 2008, P. lapola, and P. urvinaeSherwood, Gabriel, Brescovit & Lucas, 2022. Pamphobeteus petersiSchmidt, 2002 is illustrated and transferred to the genus MegaphobemaAusserer, 1875, based on palpal bulb morphology, and proposed as a junior synonym of Megaphobema velvetosoma Schmidt, 1995 syn. nov. Two Costa Rican species currently housed in Megaphobema are found to be misplaced, based on genital, femoral, and stridulation organ morphology, and are transferred to Abdomegaphobemagen. nov., Thus creating the new combinations Abdomegaphobema mesomelas (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1892) comb. nov. and Abdomegaphobema peterklaasi (Schmidt, 1994) comb. nov. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The montane Argyrogrammana Strand, 1932, fauna (Riodinidae: Symmachiini) of the eastern Andes is reviewed. There are five described species from the region, and an additional three species are described here from Ecuador and Peru: A. janiceae Ahrenholz & Hall, n. sp., A. aurora Hall & Willmott, n. sp. (both occidentalis group), and A. cosnipata Hall, n. sp. (amalfreda group). A ninth species, known from only a single Peruvian female, is figured but not described. These nine east Andean endemics range in elevation from 550 to 2200 m. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With about 70 species Virola, is the largest genus of Myristicaceae in the Neotropics, the genus ranked in the top ten genera of abundance across Amazonia. Ten new species are proposed in this striking genus, which are described based on morphology, and are illustrated. The new species were discovered thanks to herbarium specimens collected mainly in the 1980s and 1990s when field documentations were more active. The new species come from Colombia (V. calimensis sp. nov., V. cogolloi sp. nov., V. excisa sp. nov., V. tuckerae sp. nov.), Ecuador (V. alvaroperezii sp. nov., V. bombuscaroensis sp. nov., V. calimensis, V. excisa, V. yasuniana sp. nov.), Peru (V. aguarunana sp. nov., V. cumala sp. nov., V. excisa, V. parkeri sp. nov.), and Brazil (V. excisa, V. yasuniana). Additionally, a lectotype is designated for V. macrocarpa, a name used to identify some specimens of the new species here described, and V. kwatae is reported for the first time for Brazil. We provide a comparation table between the new species and the species that is morphologically close to it, a preliminary list of species for the genus, and notes of how the new species were treated in floras, checklists, or collections that need more study and herbarium specimens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The purpose of this paper is to investigate those socio-cultural process generated by the participation of a group of sudamerican children in inmigratory family project. This involves asking questions about what kind of mechanisms are used by children to define, interpret and re-intepret their identities when their frames of socialization change, especially at school. Two arguments are developed. First, inmigration responsability, from children's view, is placed on their role as students, while education is understood as an opportunity for social and economic promotion. Second, at school, etnic and national belongings become important when they are stressed by different looks and interpretations that single them out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transparency and public accountability are two essential aspects of public administrations because they help to prevent possible cases of corruption and encourage citizen participation. In this sense, transparency is a communicative, not merely administrative or legal, process between public institutions and citizens. The main objective of this study is to identify predictive factors of transparency in government healthcare centers in Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Spain in 2021. To do this, we analyzed the websites of 64 public administrations from these countries. Content analysis was applied to assess the presence of 24 indicators on each website. The results for the studied cases reveal an association between the level of transparency and three factors: healthcare systems, internet access, and administration levels. We also identified a predictive factor that should be considered in future studies on the transparency of healthcare websites: the likelihood of decreased transparency was reduced by 91% for public healthcare systems (Ecuador and Spain) as opposed to mixed public –private healthcare systems (Chile and Colombia). We thereby conclude that the involvement of the State, at least in matters related to the healthcare field, favors greater access to information by the community, at the same time as providing greater social responsibility because of substantial communication of the activities carried out by these centers, as well as how and by whom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antoine Cleef (1941) is a pioneer of geobotanical exploration in neotropical mountains. His 50 year-long relationship with the spectacular nature and stunning biodiversity of Colombia developed in him humboldtian characteristics. He made large botanical collections of the páramo flora and boosted the understanding of high mountain vegetation in the neotropics. He studied tropical lowland forest, montane forests, and tropical alpine vegetation between sea-level and ice-capped mountains. Most of his work was concentrated in Colombia, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Mexico. Studies on vegetation composition and structure and identifying plant communities along the elevational gradient were based on plant collections, vegetation relevés and observations. He supervised over 27 PhD students and some 150 master students in a wide range of subjects of tropical vegetation ecology. His collections are conserved as plant vouchers in herbaria, plot data in GBIF, and microscope slides in pollen reference collections. His understanding of the páramo and montane forest vegetation is instrumental in calibrating pollen-based reconstructions in deep ecological time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Species delimitation in the Poa taxa of the ' Cucullata complex' from the páramos of north-west South America, morphologically defined by open panicles and webbed calluses, among other characters, has been complicated by their large morphological variability coupled with a lack of available taxonomic treatments. Using multivariate morphometric and phylogenetic analyses, distinct groupings of taxa were identified including the new páramo taxa, P. bricenoi sp. nov. from Venezuela and P. cucullata subsp. cucullatella subsp. nov. from Ecuador, which are described and illustrated. Poa scabrivaginata is also presented as a new record for Ecuador and páramo vegetation in general. Based on the results from this study, updated descriptions and images are also presented for P. chirripoensis , P. cucullata s.s. , P. petrosa and P. scabrivaginata , and an identification key is provided for the species of the Cucullata complex and other open-panicled Poa spp. from Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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While hypsodonty mostly is associated with medium to large body sizes in sigmodontine rodents, high-crowned molars combined with small bodies rarely are recorded. This latter condition is present in Neomicroxus (Sigmodontinae, incertae sedis), a genus of high-Andean cricetids also characterized by a noticeable set of cranial traits, including enlarged turbinals and rostrum, slanting zygomatic plate, and a marked backward displacement of the vertical ramus of the dentary, linked with an enlargement of the basicranial region. These morphological features, combined with the isolated position of this lineage in molecular-based phylogenies, indicate that Neomicroxus should be situated in a new tribe. We name and describe this Páramo novelty monotypic clade here. As a working hypothesis, the hypsodonty displayed by this group is considered an evolutionary response to continued volcanic ash falls that characterized the region during the Neogene. A reappraisal of tribe recognition within the two cricetid largest subfamilies, arvicolines and sigmodontines, is made, coupled with a discussion about the role of morphological convergence in "long-nose" cricetids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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'What there is to fear', is how a taxi driver put it. That is, in different worlds 'what there is to fear' shifts. It's a dark definition of a world – a universe of shared fears. But in Ecuador's Amazon, snakes are one thing there is to fear, while in metropolitan Quito, among Colombian forced migrants, other Colombians are what there is to fear: paramilitaries, decommissioned guerillas or extortionists who cross the border to exact a price – in blood, pain or money. Yet, in therapeutic encounters several forced migrants I know were told they suffered from persecution anxiety or that the face of the killer they saw across the market stall was probably just another Ecuadorean face. Working through a series of 'scenes' this article asks how fear works to create and break human kinship–or what Sahlins has called the 'mutuality of being'–and what I am calling a world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Background: Four Andean countries of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru introduced national health-focused conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs in the 2000s. This study probes whether policymakers in these countries targeted CCT programs to subregions with the highest prevalence of ill-health or those with the lowest socioeconomic status (SES) to evaluate the equity of geographic targeting and means-testing, as well as the potential role of normative frames, bounded rationality, and clientelism as explanatory mechanisms for inequities in social spending. Methods: The distribution of vaccination coverage, underweight, stunting, and child deaths is established both within and between subnational regions and SES quintiles from 1998 to 2012 using every available nationally representative household survey. The equity of CCT program targeting and strength of association with subregional SES and health outcomes are measured using generalized entropy index decomposition and meta-regression. Finally, simple predictive models for CCT targeting are created using lagged subregional SES, health outcomes, and concentration indices. Results: Bolivia and Peru both effectively targeted at-risk subregions, but subregions in Peru with no CCT program coverage result in higher mistargeting rates for the country as a whole. Only Bolivia failed to attain CCT coverage concentration indices that are at least as large as the health inequalities they are targeting. Despite this insufficient progressivity, Bolivia has the most efficient subregional targeting, while the lowest rates of mistargeting for child deaths are found in Colombia and Ecuador. Finally, the simple predictive model performs as well or better than observed CCT coverage distribution for every country, year, and outcome. Conclusions: Both Peru and Ecuador have targeted programs to their poorest populations effectively, demonstrating that this is possible with both universal and geographic targeting. No clear evidence of clientelism was found, while the dominant normative frame underlying CCT program targeting decisions appears to be the relative SES of subregions, rather than absolute SES, prevalence of health outcomes, or health inequalities. To reduce the inequitable impacts of bounded rationality, policymakers can use simple predictive models to target CCT coverage effectively and without leaving behind the most vulnerable populations that happen to live in more affluent subregions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While moderate wind and wave conditions prevail in the eastern equatorial Pacific, modeling waves in this area remains challenging due to the presence of multiple wave systems converging from different parts of the ocean. This area is covered by swells originated far away including the storm belts of both hemispheres, coexisting with local generation due to the regular action of both the southern trade winds and the wind jets from Central America. In this context, our ability to predict waves in the area depends on the overall quality (i.e., at Pacific scale) of the meteorological input, and also on the skills of the wave model itself. Clearly any error at the remote generation areas translates into larger errors the further waves go, especially if attention is focused on coastal areas. A relevant aspect is that the traditional integral parameters do not offer the possibility to properly assess the errors associated with the different parts of the spectrum (e.g., wind sea and swell). To gain insight in this direction, we make use of partitioning techniques, which enables us to neatly cross-assign and evaluate three spectral components. Not surprisingly, the performance for the swell part is lower than that of the corresponding wind sea. This is further explored with a couple of tests modifying both the wind input and the wave model physics. We find that although at first sight the initial scheme (i.e., ST4) seems to provide the better estimate, the spectral analysis reveals a substantial underestimation of wind sea, compensated with a substantial overestimation of swell. This suggests a problem with too high winds and wave generation in the storm belts together with a likely lack of dissipation or dispersion of swell. In turn, local waves are generally underestimated due to a corresponding underestimation of the local winds. This insight emphasizes the need and advantages of evaluation methods able to look at the different sectors of the wave spectrum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interactivity is among the main characteristics of online journalism because it helps to build bridges between the media, journalists and the users to whom the news is directed. This article, based on in-depth interviews with 35 journalists, examines the concept of interaction as understood by media sources in Colombia, Peru and Ecuador. These three countries are culturally and historically similar and have similar levels of Internet access. Most of the journalists indicated that they have adjusted their practice to incorporate some aspects of Internet-based interaction, such as social network presence and increased transparency to users. However, the media organizations for which they work have adopted few such procedures and maintain limited capacity to manage online participation. The journalists expressed their desire for the development of further ways to facilitate interaction with users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historical data indicate that the Middle America subduction zone represents the primary tsunamigenic source that affects the Central American coastal areas. In recent years, the tsunami potential in the region has mainly been assessed using maximum credible earthquakes or historical events showing moderate tsunami potential. However, such deterministic scenarios are not provided with their adequate probability of occurrence. In this study, earthquake rates have been combined with tsunami numerical modeling in order to assess probabilistic tsunami hazard posed by local and regional seismic sources. The common conceptual framework for the probabilistic seismic hazard assessment has been adapted to estimate the probabilities of exceeding certain tsunami amplitudes along the Central American Pacific coast. The study area encompasses seismic sources related to the Central America, Colombia and Ecuador subduction zones. In addition to the classical subduction inter-plate events, this study also incorporates sources at the outer rise, within the Caribbean crust as well as intra-slab sources. The study yields conclusive remarks showing that the highest hazard is posed to northwestern Costa Rica, El Salvador and the Nicaraguan coast, southern Colombia and northern Ecuador. In most of the region it is 50 to 80% likely that the tsunami heights will exceed 2 m for the 500 year time exposure (T). The lowest hazard appears to be in the inner part of the Fonseca Gulf, Honduras. We also show the large dependence of PTHA on model assumptions. While the approach taken in this study represents a thorough step forward in tsunami hazard assessment in the region, we also highlight that the integration of all possible uncertainties will be necessary to generate rigorous hazard models required for risk planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In recent years, Ecuador and other South American countries have experienced an increase in arboviral diseases. A rise in dengue infections was followed by introductions of chikungunya and Zika, two viruses never before seen in many of these areas. Furthermore, the latest socioeconomic and political instability in Venezuela and the mass migration of its population into the neighboring countries has given rise to concerns of infectious disease spillover and escalation of arboviral spread in the region. Results: We performed phylogeographic analyses of dengue (DENV) and chikungunya (CHIKV) virus genomes sampled from a surveillance site in Ecuador in 2014–2015, along with genomes from the surrounding countries. Our results revealed at least two introductions of DENV, in 2011 and late 2013, that initially originated from Venezuela and/or Colombia. The introductions were subsequent to increases in the influx of Venezuelan and Colombian citizens into Ecuador, which in 2013 were 343% and 214% higher than in 2009, respectively. However, we show that Venezuela has historically been an important source of DENV dispersal in this region, even before the massive exodus of its population, suggesting already established paths of viral distribution. Like DENV, CHIKV was introduced into Ecuador at multiple time points in 2013–2014, but unlike DENV, these introductions were associated with the Caribbean. Our findings indicated no direct CHIKV connection between Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela as of 2015, suggesting that CHIKV was, at this point, not following the paths of DENV spread. Conclusion: Our results reveal that Ecuador is vulnerable to arbovirus import from many geographic locations, emphasizing the need of continued surveillance and more diversified prevention strategies. Importantly, increase in human movement along established paths of viral dissemination, combined with regional outbreaks and epidemics, may facilitate viral spread and lead to novel virus introductions. Thus, strengthening infectious disease surveillance and control along migration routes and improving access to healthcare for the vulnerable populations is of utmost importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]