scholarly journals Animals in the Zika virus life cycle: what to expect from megadiverse Latin American countries

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina Galvão Bueno ◽  
Nádia Martinez ◽  
Lívia Abdala ◽  
Claudia Nunes Duarte dos Santos ◽  
Marcia Chame

ABSTRACTZika virus (ZIKV) was first isolated in 1947 in primates in Uganda, West Africa. The virus remained confined to the equatorial regions of Africa and Asia, cycling between infecting monkeys, arboreal mosquitoes, and occasional humans. The ZIKV Asiatic strain was probably introduced into Brazil in 2013. In the current critical human epidemic in the Americas, ZIKV is transmitted primarily by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, especially where the human population density is combined with poor sanitation. Presently, ZIKV is in contact with the rich biodiversity in all Brazilian biomes, bordering on other Latin American countries. Infections in Brazilian primates have been reported recently, but the overall impact of this virus on wildlife in the Americas is still unknown. The current epidemic in the Americas requires knowledge on the role of mammals, especially non-human primates, in ZIKV transmission to humans. The article discusses the available data on ZIKV in host animals, besides issues of biodiversity, rapid environmental change, and impact on human health in megadiverse Latin American countries. The authors reviewed scientific articles and recent news stories on ZIKV in animals, showing that 47 animal species from three orders (mammals, reptiles, and birds) have been investigated for the potential to establish a sylvatic cycle. The review aims to contribute to epidemiological studies and the knowledge on the natural history of ZIKV. The article concludes with questions that require urgent attention in epidemiological studies involving wildlife in order to understand their role as ZIKV hosts and to effectively control the epidemic.

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. e0005073 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina Galvão Bueno ◽  
Nádia Martinez ◽  
Lívia Abdalla ◽  
Claudia Nunes Duarte dos Santos ◽  
Marcia Chame

1993 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-17
Author(s):  
Alice B. Lentz

Alice Lentz offers a brief view of the role of the Americas Fund for Independent Universities (AFIU) in relation to significant initiatives in various Latin American countries. In a region where the function and development of private higher education institutions is especially important, the focus of the AFIU's activities is on private universities' ability to provide trained business leaders with the skills necessary to meet the challenges of enterprise growth in these developing economies. She mentions in particular the strengthening of financing capabilities within the university, and the evolution of three-way partnerships among business corporations, AFIU, and universities in Latin America.


2010 ◽  
Vol 54 (5) ◽  
pp. 488-497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arnaldo Schainberg ◽  
Antônio Ribeiro-Oliveira Jr. ◽  
José Marcio Ribeiro

It has been well documented that there is an increased prevalence of standard cardiovascular (CV) risk factors in association with diabetes and with diabetes-related abnormalities. Hyperglycemia, in particular, also plays an important role. Heart failure (HF) has become a frequent manifestation of cardiovascular disease (CVD) among individuals with diabetes mellitus. Epidemiological studies suggest that the effect of hyperglycemia on HF risk is independent of other known risk factors. Analysis of datasets from populations including individuals with dysglycemia suggests the pathogenic role of hyperglycemia on left ventricular function and on the natural history of HF. Despite substantial epidemiological evidence of the relationship between diabetes and HF, data from available interventional trials assessing the effect of a glucose-lowering strategy on CV outcomes are limited. To provide some insight into these issues, we describe in this review the recent important data to understand the natural course of CV disease in diabetic individuals and the role of hyperglycemia at different times in the progression of HF.


2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 921-942 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel A. Baeza ◽  
Jorge A. Gonzalez ◽  
Yong Wang

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study how job flexibility influences job satisfaction among Mexican professionals, and focus on the role of key socio-cultural moderators relevant to Mexican society. Design/methodology/approach The paper explore how this relationship may be more important for women, employees with dependents such as children and elder parents and younger generations of professionals (e.g. Millennials). Findings The authors find that job flexibility is positively related to job satisfaction. This relationship is stronger for employees without dependents, as well as for younger generations of professionals (e.g. Millennials). Surprisingly, the relationship between job flexibility and job satisfaction does not differ by gender. The findings explain why job flexibility is more conductive to job satisfaction for employees without dependents, who tend to belong to younger generations. Originality/value Overall, the findings present important implications for managing job flexibility in Mexico and other Latin American countries, particularly for younger professionals.


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 15-21
Author(s):  
Madhusudan Subedi

  Most epidemiological studies focus on the direct causes of diseases while wider, social causal factors are ignored. This paper briefly highlights the history of major epidemics and the role of Anthropocene and Capitalocene for the emergence and reemergence of pandemics like COVID-19. Books, journal articles, and statistics offer information that can explain the phenomena. A historical inquiry can inform us about the fundamental causes of pandemics. Human security and ecology are intertwined, and the global effect of pandemics responded to at the national level is inadequate. The lessons from the past and present help us devise effective ethically and socially appropriate strategies to mitigate the threats. If the present crisis is not taken seriously at the global level, the world has to face more difficult challenges in years to come.


Author(s):  
Angel Belzunegui Eraso ◽  
David Dueñas Cid

In this chapter we focus on the growth of “new religions” and new religious movements in Latin America and attempt to find explanations for this growth. Although other explanations for the increase in religious plurality exist, we focus on the role of women in this development. The expansion of movements such as Pentecostalism is challenging the centrality of Catholicism in many Latin American countries. Basically, we therefore aim to answer the following question: Why has Pentecostalism grown so much in some Latin American countries while Catholicism has experienced a certain decline? One possible explanation for this is the role of women in this expansion, which has fostered greater social cohesion within families and communities. Pentecostalism has led to a certain empowerment of the women living in precarious conditions, affording them greater visibility and importance within their communities and giving them a role in the re-education of behaviours that are rooted in male domination.


Author(s):  
Nicola Miller

This chapter recounts the Latin American countries that welcomed foreign innovation and expertise for technically demanding infrastructure projects. It mentions how the American continent's first railways were built by Spanish American engineers under contract to the respective states, contrary to the common belief that British or US American companies always led the way. It also focuses on the visibility and intensity of public concern about the relationship between science and sovereignty in late nineteenth-century Latin America. The chapter reviews the overlooked history of resistance in Latin American countries on handing over infrastructure projects to private companies, especially if they were foreign owned. It disputes conceptions of the role of the state and provides further evidence for the argument that free-market liberals did not have their own way in nineteenth-century Latin America.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Székely

This paper documents the recent trends in access and completion of higher education (HE) in 18 Latin American countries, and explores the relation with a series of context variables in order to verify different hypothesis about the changes observed. We find that access to HE among individuals in the working age population has risen in the region, while completion rates have fallen. Our cohort-level analysis shows that the recent expansion in HE enrollment has been mostly associated with the increase in Upper Secondary completion rates as opposed to an increase in the fraction of USE graduates who enroll in HE. Other factors associated with this expansion include economic growth and favorable labor market conditions. Nonetheless, the dominant role of “the pipeline” underscores the need to continue increasing USE completion in order to expand HE access. Since “the pipeline” effect will at some point exhaust its role driving HE expansion, our findings also underscore the need for policies that raise the enrollment of USE graduates.


2019 ◽  
pp. 204946371987175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matias Noll ◽  
Cláudia Tarragô Candotti ◽  
Bruna Nichele da Rosa ◽  
Adriane Vieira ◽  
Jefferson Fagundes Loss

Owing to the lack of longitudinal studies in Latin American countries, we aimed to evaluate back pain and its risk factors in a 3-year longitudinal study of Brazilian adolescents. We analysed data of 525 adolescents (aged 11–16 years) attending primary school (fifth to eighth grade) in Brazil. The students were administered the self-reported Back Pain and Body Posture Evaluation Instrument (BackPEI) questionnaire in 2011 and at a follow-up evaluation that was conducted 3 years later (2014). Back pain was the outcome variable; the exposure variables included exercise, behavioural, hereditary and postural factors. Generalized estimating equations were used to perform a Poisson regression model with robust variance to evaluate the risk factors for back pain. The prevalence of back pain at baseline was 56% ( n = 294); this increased significantly at the 3-year follow-up evaluation to 65.9% ( n = 346). The frequency of experiencing back pain also significantly increased after 3 years in both boys ( p = 0.002) and girls ( p = 0.001). The prevalence of back pain increased significantly in adolescents up to the age of 13 years, stabilized in those aged 14 years and older and was higher among girls. A family history of back pain (in the parents), watching television for lengthy periods and carrying a backpack asymmetrically were predictors for back pain.


Author(s):  
Andrés Felipe Castro Torres

Abstract Theories of demographic change have not paid enough attention to how factors associated with fertility decline play different roles across social classes that are defined multidimensionally. I use a multidimensional definition of social class along with information on the reproductive histories of women born between 1920 and 1965 in six Latin American countries to show the following: the enduring connection between social stratification and fertility differentials, the concomitance of diverse fertility decline trajectories by class, and the role of within- and between-class social distances in promoting/preventing ideational change towards the acceptance of lower fertility. These results enable me to revisit the scope of theories of fertility change and to provide an explanatory narrative centred on empirically constructed social classes (probable social classes) and the macro- and micro-level conditions that influenced their life courses. I use 21 census samples collected between 1970 and 2005 in Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Paraguay.


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