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Challenges and opportunities of global change for sustainability in Central America
(2025) Quesada Román, Adolfo
[Introduction]: Global change presents pressing challenges for Central America, including increasing hydrometeorological disasters, environmental pollution, and soil degradation. [Aims]: This study examines socio-environmental trends from 1990 to 2020 using comprehensive datasets from the World Bank and EMDAT. [Methodology]: Through country-specific correlation analyses, we uncover complex statistical relationships between socioeconomic and environmental variables. [Results]: The findings highlight critical interactions, such as the link between economic diversification away from agriculture and GDP growth, which is paradoxically accompanied by rising CO2 emissions. Renewable energy consumption emerges as a pivotal factor in mitigating carbon footprints, while sustainable freshwater management is shown to be essential for long-term economic resilience. [Conclusions]: These results offer valuable insights into the dynamics of economic growth, agricultural practices, and environmental sustainability in the region. By addressing these multifaceted challenges through coordinated and integrated strategies, Central America could enhance regional perspective and potential research gaps, safeguard its natural resources, and foster a sustainable and resilient future through international, regional and national institutions initiatives and projects.
Systematic Biases in Tropical Drought Monitoring: Rethinking SPI Application in Mesoamerica’s Humid Regions
(2025-07-08) Romero H., David; Alfaro Martínez, Eric J.
The Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) is widely used to determine drought severity worldwide. However, inconsistencies exist regarding its application in warm, humid tropical climatic zones. Originally developed for temperate regions with a continental climate, the index may not adequately reflect drought conditions in tropical environments where rainfall regimes differ substantially. This study identifies the following two principal reasons why the traditional calculation method fails to characterize drought severity in tropical domains: first, the marked humidity contrast between the consistently humid rainy season and the rest of the year, and second, the diverse drought types in tropical regions, which include both long-term and short-term events. Using data from meteorological stations in Mexico’s humid tropics and comparing them with temperate regions, the study demonstrates significant discrepancies between SPI-based drought classifications and actual precipitation patterns. Our analysis shows that the abundant precipitation during the rainy season causes biases in longer time scales integrated into multivariate drought indices. Considerations are established for adapting the SPI for decision makers who monitor drought in humid tropics, with specific recommendations on time scale limits to avoid biases. This work contributes to more accurate drought monitoring in tropical regions by addressing the unique climatic characteristics of these environments.
How rare was the 2016–2022 tropical cyclone activity near the Caribbean coasts of Nicaragua and Costa Rica?
(2025-06-22) Hidalgo León, Hugo G.; Nakaegawa, Tosiyuki; Romero, David; Alfaro Martínez, Eric J.; Maldonado Mora, Tito José; Imada, Yukiko; Yoshida, Kohei
Tropical cyclones (TC) are one of the synoptic systems that most affect Central America, from late spring to northern autumn, because they cause many direct and indirect impacts on the isthmus. Observational data of hurricane tracks and a suite of 10 downscaled General Circulation Models from the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project round 3 and a Large Ensemble Global Simulation along with off-line TC trajectory generation and tracking algorithms in the Atlantic/Caribbean basin were used in a detection and attribution study to determine if the observed run of 8 cyclonic events in 7 years (2016–2022) near the coasts of Nicaragua and Costa Rica, could be unequivocally attributed to anthropogenic climate change. The results showed there is a large model to model variability, but that although the event is rare, it could not be proved that anthropogenic forcings have increased the probabilities of this high run of cyclones considering the 95% confidence level. More studies are needed to determine the exact time of possible emergence of a stronger signal in the near future.
Identificación y caracterización de posibles clústeres de genes biosintéticos de actinobacterias cultivables asociadas a insectos con actividad antimicrobiana frente a bacterias gram negativas de interés clínico
(2025-09-10) Artavia León, Allan; Pinto Tomás, Adrián A.
Las actinobacterias constituyen una fuente promisoria de compuestos bioactivos con potencial terapéutico, especialmente antibióticos. En este estudio, se obtuvieron 577 aislamientos de actinobacterias a partir de insectos pertenecientes a distintos órdenes, recolectados en dos zonas biológicas de Costa Rica, con el objetivo de identificar aislamientos con actividad antimicrobiana específica contra bacterias Gram-negativas de relevancia clínica. Se llevaron a cabo bioensayos de co-cultivo frente a un panel de 24 cepas de referencia clínicamente significativas, compuesto por 9 bacterias Gram-negativas, 8 Gram-positivas, 3 hongos filamentosos y 4 levaduras. Diez aislamientos presentaron perfiles bioactivos promisorios, destacándose por su actividad antimicrobiana selectiva contra bacterias Gram-negativas. Los genomas de estos aislamientos fueron secuenciados, identificándose representantes de los géneros Streptomyces, Pseudonocardia y Gordonia. La anotación genómica de estos aislamientos reveló un total de 233 clústeres de genes biosintéticos (CGBs). Además, se realizó un análisis filogenómico para determinar los genomas de referencia más cercanos, seguido de un análisis pangenómico que permitió identificar genes únicos en comparación con cepas filogenéticamente relacionadas. Posteriormente, dos aislamientos del género Streptomyces fueron seleccionados para estudios transcriptómicos en condiciones de co-cultivo con Acinetobacter baumannii, evidenciando la expresión diferencial de 31 CGBs en respuesta a la interacción directa entre ambos microorganismos. Estos resultados destacan el potencial biosintético no explorado de actinobacterias simbiontes de insectos como fuente de nuevas moléculas antimicrobianas, y subrayan la importancia de investigar nichos ecológicos alternativos para el descubrimiento de antibióticos ante la creciente amenaza de bacterias multirresistentes.
Relevancia social, profesional y disciplinar del abordaje de enfermería de la salud cardiovascular en población trabajadora
(2019-08-11) Vílchez Barboza, Vivian; Carrillo Díaz, Denis
El objetivo del presente artículo es efectuar una reflexión sobre la relevancia social, profesional y disciplinar de abordar la salud cardiovascular en población trabajadora, en el Módulo Intervención de Enfermería en la Adultez Sana, ubicado en el VIII semestre del plan de estudios de la carrera de Enfermería de la Universidad de Costa Rica. Se inicia con una mirada sobre el estado del arte en Costa Rica, los retos que representan las enfermedades cardiovasculares al sector salud y la importancia que representa para la Enfermería incorporar esta temática en su plan de estudios.