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The purpose of the current study was to qualitatively explore the home mathematical environment across two regions in two different countries (i.e., Cuba and Mexico), replicating a qualitative study previously conducted in Northern Ireland (NI), United Kingdom (Cahoon et al., 2017). Semi-structured interviews with parents/caregivers of children (3- to 5-year-olds) in both Mexico (n = 13) and Cuba (n = 40) were completed to investigate their views, experiences and attitudes towards the home mathematical environment. Thematic analysis was used to explore themes relevant to the home mathematical environment. Three consistent themes were found in the Mexican and Cuban data: Numeracy Environment Structure, Expectations and Attitudes and Views of Technology. Two unique themes were found in the Mexico data: Interactions Related to Reading or Mathematics, and Child's Attitudes in Relation to Mathematics. One unique theme was found in the Cuban interviews: Interactions for Learning. Although diverse themes were identified, consistencies were also observed. This suggests that some home numeracy practices may be universal in nature. This research increases the understanding of human development in context.

Home numeracy and literacy environments are related to the development of children's early academic skills. However, the home learning environments of preschool children have been mainly explored with children from North America, Europe, and Asia. In this study we assessed the home numeracy and literacy environments of three-to-five-year-old children from Mexico (n = 54) and Chile (n = 41) and compared the patterns of results to those of children from Canada (n = 42). Parents completed a questionnaire about their expectations for children's academic performance prior to Grade 1 and the home numeracy and literacy activities they provide for their children. To analyze differences among countries in the home learning environments, we performed mixed and one-way ANOVAs (Analysis of Variance), followed-up by post-hoc comparisons. Mexican parents had higher expectations for children's early skills than Chileans or Canadians. The frequency with which Mexican, Canadian, and Chilean parents reported home numeracy and literacy activities showed both similarities and differences. Our findings speak to the importance of developing culturally sensitive models of early home learning environments and illustrate the complexities of comparing home learning environments across countries.

• Exotic angiosperms represent an important threat to Mexican biodiversity. • Angiosperm invasion risk is higher at intermediate values of human influence. • Sites with high and extreme conservation priority in Mexico are at higher risk of invasion by angiosperms. • Models of ecological niche and its internal structure are useful to assess angiosperm invasion risk. Biological invasions are a growing threat to biodiversity. The control and eradication of exotic species established in earnest are of limited success despite high financial investments. Anticipating biological invasions based on species' suitabilities is a cost-effective strategy given it helps identifying areas where exotic species can prosper, which can then translate in improving management and conservation efforts. Based on information from 191 invasive angiosperm species worldwide, we used ecological niche models to identify areas at high risk of invasion (cumulative predicted distribution of invasive species) in Mexico. Further, we explored the importance of bioclimatic and human influence variables as drivers of the distribution of invasive species and analyzed the status of the currently recognized priority conservation sites in Mexico. We found that areas with intermediate human activity scores had a high risk of invasion. Additionally, we found that many of the current priority conservation sites in Mexico had a high risk of invasion. Our findings contribute to disentangling the factors that drive environment susceptibility to invasions and urge management strategies to minimize the impacts of biological invasions in priority conservation sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Mexico City (MC) residents are exposed to severe air pollution and exhibit olfactory bulb inflammation. We compared the olfactory function of individuals living under conditions of extreme air pollution to that of controls from a relatively clean environment and explore associations between olfaction scores, apolipoprotein E (APOE) status, and pollution exposure. The olfactory bulbs (OBs) of 35 MC and 9 controls 20.8±8.5 years were assessed by light and electron microscopy. The University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT) was administered to 62 MC/25 controls 21.2±2.7 years. MC subjects had significantly lower UPSIT scores: 34.24±0.42 versus controls 35.76±0.40, p=0.03. Olfaction deficits were present in 35.5% MC and 12% of controls. MC APOE ε 4 carriers failed 2.4±0.54 items in the 10-item smell identification scale from the UPSIT related to Alzheimer''s disease, while APOE 2/3 and 3/3 subjects failed 1.36±0.16 items, p=0.01. MC residents exhibited OB endothelial hyperplasia, neuronal accumulation of particles (2/35), and immunoreactivity to beta amyloid βA42 (29/35) and/or α-synuclein (4/35) in neurons, glial cells and/or blood vessels. Ultrafine particles were present in OBs endothelial cytoplasm and basement membranes. Control OBs were unremarkable. Air pollution exposure is associated with olfactory dysfunction and OB pathology, APOE 4 may confer greater susceptibility to such abnormalities, and ultrafine particles could play a key role in the OB pathology. This study contributes to our understanding of the influences of air pollution on olfaction and its potential contribution to neurodegeneration. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

By the end of May 2006, a series of earthquakes had occurred in the Mexicali Valley, Baja California, México. This activity, which included an Mw 5.4 event, developed in the vicinity of the Cerro Prieto geothermal field. The earthquakes occurred on the Morelia fault, one of the east-dipping normal faults in the Mexicali Valley. Cracks and fissures visible on the ground after the stronger earthquake defined two parallel fault segments of 4 and 2 km length, the shorter segment being 1 km to the east of the other one. Down-dip displacements of up to 25-30 cm were measured at some places along this surface break zone. The ten larger events of the series were recorded by strong-motion stations that operate in the epicenter area, so that accurate hypocenter locations were obtained on the basis of P-wave arrival times from the strong-motion recordings. The estimated shallow depths, combined with the earthquake magnitude, explain the strong shaking felt by residents and some damage observed on the Cerro Prieto geothermal plant. The Mw 5.4 event produced peak ground accelerations that go from 0.002g at CUC (on rock) to 0.5g at GEO (on sediments), at 13 and 1.7 km from the epicenter, respectively. The station GEO recorded closer to the epicenters and on the hangingwall side of the fault. Static ground displacements and a predominance of the strike-normal over the strike-parallel velocity components were determined from the acceleration records of this station. These and other ground-motion characteristics are also seen on pseudovelocity and absolute acceleration response spectra calculated from data of the larger event. Altogether, the observed ground-motion characteristics provide useful insights into the levels of ground shaking that near-fault structures in the Mexicali Valley should be designed to withstand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on the prevalence and correlates of dating violence in Mexican teens is challenged by the lack of culturally and linguistically appropriate assessment tools. This study modified, translated, and back-translated the Conflict in Adolescent Dating Relationships Inventory (CADRI; Wolfe et al., 2001) and the Attitudes Towards Dating Violence Scales (Price, Byers, & the Dating Violence Research Team, 1999) for Mexican adolescents. Analyses on 307 adolescents (15-18 years old) from Monterrey and Mexicali, Mexico, revealed that most of the translated CADRI subscales and Attitudes Towards Dating Violence Scales had acceptable internal consistency and test-retest reliability coefficients. The study offers some evidence that the measures may be useful in assessing dating violence in Mexican teens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]