Search

Abstract Collaborative, situated, and critical methodologies (CSCM) foster processes that provide dialogic and experiential working tools for emerging transdisciplinary agroecologies (TA). CSCM emphasize how local knowledge and practice (praxis) contribute to ensuring care for the common and the personal, safeguarding regenerative processes, actively protecting native seeds, and interweaving biodiverse life systems that support the multifunctional networks of agriculture. This work aimed to understand a selection of collaborative methodologies related to transdisciplinary agroecological processes. We identify these groups: 1. Agroecologies, 2. Popular and own pedagogies, 3. Engaged and transformative pedagogies, 4. Assessment of agroecological sustainability and incidence in public policy, and 5. Participatory marketing and guarantee mechanisms or systems. The CSCM contribute to understanding the relationships, times, meanings, and identities and the heterogeneity of context of each community. Thus, CSCM are essential positions and tools to strengthen the openness and respect required by intercultural spaces of praxis and shared dialogues between different epistemic communities while nourishing TA. TA are complexes of relationships and practices between humans and the diversity of life, and they delve into epistemological, ethical, ontological positions and heterogeneous praxis. These diverse methodological paths characterize the interactions that arise from the heterogeneity of knowledge, experience, and wisdom of interacting epistemic communities crossed by power relations. The shifts in positions and research journeys toward epistemological and environmental justice among biocultural diversities developed by the revised CSCM provide the tools to continue articulating processes, designs, and forms of organization of life networks converging with TA.

Abstract Intervalley excitons with electron and hole wavefunctions residing in different valleys determine the long-range transport and dynamics observed in many semiconductors. However, these excitons with vanishing oscillator strength do not directly couple to light and, hence, remain largely unstudied. Here, we develop a simple nanomechanical technique to control the energy hierarchy of valleys via their contrasting response to mechanical strain. We use our technique to discover previously inaccessible intervalley excitons associated with K, Γ, or Q valleys in prototypical 2D semiconductors WSe2 and WS2. We also demonstrate a new brightening mechanism, rendering an otherwise “dark” intervalley exciton visible via strain-controlled hybridization with an intravalley exciton. Moreover, we classify various localized excitons from their distinct strain response and achieve large tuning of their energy. Overall, our valley engineering approach establishes a new way to identify intervalley excitons and control their interactions in a diverse class of 2D systems.

This study aimed to describe the development of the Perceived Therapist’s Knowledge about Gender Identity Diversity Scale and to preliminarily validate this scale by describing its psychometric properties. This research instrument was constructed based on the existing literature and recommendations for instrument development. Initially, a 36-item scale was devised to assess perceived openness and knowledge about gender identity diversity in therapy. The content validation process involved 12 expert judges, leading to a refined 25-item scale. Participants consisting of 57 trans and non-binary Puerto Rican individuals completed the scale. Exploratory factor analysis revealed a unidimensional structure, supporting a single factor named “perceived knowledge about gender identity diversity in therapy.” The final scale demonstrated excellent reliability (α = 0.978; Sα = 0.980; ω = 0.979), indicating strong internal consistency. This validated scale contributes to assessing primarily Hispanic trans and non-binary individuals’ perceptions of their therapists’ knowledge about gender identity diversity.

This paper employs a new framework based on internationally available indicators to conduct a comparative analysis of electricity generation among Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries, using data from 2021, the most recent available. Two multivariate techniques, cluster analysis and factor analysis, are used in this study. In recent years, electricity generation in the region has increased significantly, largely driven by the economic growth of these nations. A notable trend is the rising contribution of renewable energy sources, which accounted for 55 % of total generation in 2021, thanks to the region's exceptional climatic and geographic conditions. However, the absence of overarching supranational policies has led to significant disparities in energy strategies across these countries, both in design and implementation. Among the 20 LAC countries studied, 35 % do not reach a 50 % share of sustainable electricity generation. Understanding how these countries group regarding sustainable electricity generation is essential for identifying their key characteristics. The analysis yields three fundamental conclusions: first, the selected indicators are highly effective in achieving the study's objectives; second, the principal differences between the identified groups are largely influenced by each country's level of development and reliance on renewable energy sources; and third, from a policy perspective, there is a clear need for a supranational framework to support the national efforts and strategies being independently pursued by these countries, particularly regarding the design and implementation of energy policies. This paper contributes to bridging the gap in the international academic literature concerning sustainable electricity generation in LAC region, and it aligns with studies focused on the analysis of renewable energy sources and sustainable development.

Ciguateric syndrome is a food poisoning associated with the consumption of some species of fish that have accumulated ciguatoxins (CTXs) in their tissues. The effects of the syndrome occur with nervous imbalances which have been described for quite some time, and mentioned in sailing literature for centuries. In the last decade, research has been focused on the implementation of analytical methods for toxin identification and the study of action modes of CTXs to design effective treatments. However, an important aspect is to determine the damage that CTXs caused in the organs of affected individuals. In this work, the damages observed in tissues of mice, mainly in the small intestine, were analyzed. The animals were fed with CTX-contaminated fish muscle at concentrations 10-times below the median lethal dose (LD50) for 10 weeks. The analysis of tissues derived from the oral treatment resulted in an increased occurrence of Paneth cells, presence of lymphoid tissue infiltrating the mucosa and fibrous lesions in the mucosal layer of the small intestine. A decreasing weight in animals fed with toxic muscle was observed.

This research set out to explore the role that online fandom participation had in the language learning process of pre-graduate English teachers in Mexico. To this end, the data were collected by means of five individual interviews with students, who had previously identified themselves as former participants of online fandom and who claimed that they significantly developed their English skills as a result of this fandom participation. The evidence indicates that by becoming invested in fan communities of predominantly English-speaking media, the participants became fluent in the target language, mostly by themselves. This learning took place outside the language classroom in an engaging and stress-free environment; regardless of whether the participants were conscious of it or not. This study’s implications suggest as technology and education move forward, alternatives to incorporate extra-curricular tools aligned with the learners’ interest and in the benefit of their language learning process, should be sought.

El presente documento tiene por objetivo realizar una caracterización sobre la gastronomía tradicional lacustre entre los habitantes de lo que fueron, y todavía quedan, reminiscencias de la zona lacustre de la cuenca del Alto Lerma, en particular de la laguna del Chimaliapan en el Valle de Toluca. Utiliza el estudio etnográfico que explora la memoria de estos habitantes sobre el conocimiento local de su gastronomía y la importancia que tiene como patrimonio cultural. Se realizaron una serie de entrevistas abiertas y a profundidad para la caracterización de la gastronomía tradicional lacustre de esta localidad. Por último, la información obtenida permitió conocer la manera de clasificar culturalmente la gastronomía lacustre y su importancia como patrimonio cultural intangible.

Land use and water resources are closely linked. Every single type of land use has a different influence on the hydrologic cycle, consequently impacting the people and the natural resources. The use of advanced technologies, for example monitoring the agricultural resources with remote sensing, offers the possibility to assess the water demand, to know the total cultivated area with the precise distribution of crops and enables the regularly acquisition of data distributed in space and time. The citrus sub-sector is of paramount importance in the Tunisian agricultural sector. The Cap Bon region has the main production area with 75 % of the total citrus area. The possibility of classifying citrus crops is important for water resource management at regional scale and for economic stability. Given the socio-economic importance of the citrus sector in the Cap Bon region, it is very important to have accurate estimation of the total area of citrus plots in this region. Therefore, the main objectives of this current work are: To integrate multitemporal synthetic aperture radar SAR data, Sentinel-1, and optical data Sentinel-2, together to determine the best machine learning algorithm that allowed obtaining the most accurate citrus crop classification in the region. To study and analyze the temporal signatures of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) of the classified crops, mainly the citrus, with the purpose to provide the maximum amount of information that allow the differentiation between the crops. To study the potential relation between NDVI and Actual Evapotranspiration (ETa) fluxes measured with the eddy covariance method for a citrus orchard to extrapolate the eddy tower measurements to greater scales. To achieve these objectives, we evaluated the performance of 22 nonparametric classifiers during the period September 2020–June 2021. Additionally, ET measured by the eddy covariance method was available for the same period, so we tried to find the potential relation between NDVI and Actual Evapotranspiration (ETa). The results revealed that the best performing classifier is the Support Vector Machine SVM with an accuracy around 91 %. Consequently, our results provided a significant contribution to the citrus classification in the Cap Bon region but can be further improved. Also, the obtained results highlighted the potential to extrapolate accurate ET estimation to larger scales using the vegetation index obtained from Sentinel-2 data.

Sugarcane bagasse (SCB) is a waste product from Mexico’s sugar industry that is generally burned or discarded. It contains around 48% cellulose, representing a significant source of this component from industrial waste. Eugenol is found in clove oil; it has been used for its medicinal and antimicrobial benefits in the food and pharmaceutical industries. This study aims to develop a filtering material using sugarcane bagasse (SCB) and encapsulated eugenol as an antimicrobial agent. The study involves extracting cellulose from SCB using alkaline hydrolysis with ultrasound, followed by forming composite materials encapsulated in alginate with eugenol concentrations from 0 to 1% v/v. These materials were characterized and tested for antimicrobial efficacy. The findings indicate that the cellulose–eugenol–alginate composite displays high eugenol encapsulation efficiency and effective short-term release. In well-diffusion assays, the material showed inhibition halos up to 20.47 mm against S. aureus, suggesting its potential as an eco-friendly alternative to traditional antimicrobial agents in filter materials.

Antecedentes: Lobelia villaregalis es una especie endémica y en peligro de extinción en Jalisco, México. Conocer la estructura y diversidad genética de las poblaciones de especies en riesgo puede contribuir a mejorar las estrategias para su conservación. Esta información no se ha generado para L. villaregalis. Preguntas: 1) ¿Presenta L. villaregalis niveles bajos de diversidad genética?, 2) ¿Existen diferencias genéticas entre sus poblaciones? Especies de estudio: Lobelia villaregalis T.J. Ayers (Campanulaceae: Lobelioideae), herbácea perenne. Sitio y años de estudio: Durante 2018-2020 se realizó trabajo de campo en el Área Natural Protegida Bosque La Primavera, Zapopan, Jalisco, para localizar nuevas poblaciones de la especie y recolectar material foliar. Métodos: Se evaluó la diversidad y estructura genética de 87 individuos en cinco poblaciones utilizando marcadores moleculares ISSR. Resultados: La diversidad genética promedio de L. villaregalis es baja (He = 0.057, P = 48.17 %, I = 0.110) así como la diversidad total (HT = 0.069). El análisis de varianza molecular mostró que la mayor parte de la variación genética (92 %) ocurrió dentro de las poblaciones. La prueba de Mantel indica que no hay correlación entre las distancias genéticas y las distancias geográficas para las cinco poblaciones estudiadas (R = 0.64, P = 0.18). Con el análisis de asignación genética se identificaron 4 grupos, sin embargo, no existe estructura genética (GST = 0.060). Conclusiones: Lobelia villaregalis requiere acciones urgentes de conservación para mantener la diversidad genética de todas sus poblaciones, dando máxima prioridad a tres de ellas.

The present numerical study reports the performance of a cooling system for solar photovoltaic panels (PV) using different nanofluids (Al2O3, CuO, and ZnO). A novel parallel flow channel with strategically placed baffles was analyzed to improve the heat transfer between the back of PV and the nanofluid. The nanoparticles' Brownian motion and the nanofluid temperature effect were considered. Computational fluid dynamics was used to simulate the interaction between the fluid in motion and panel materials. Various nanoparticle concentrations, Reynolds numbers (18–1800), and solar radiation values (200–1000 W/m2) were examined. The results showed that the nanofluid composed of CuO was the most effective, improving thermal efficiency by 5.67 % compared to pure water in the lowest Re range. A 10 % vol. concentration of Al2O3 reduced temperature by up to 15 % and increased electrical efficiency by 4 % when the Re varied from 18 to 42. However, increasing the Re number and having low solar radiation values decreased the contribution of the nanofluid. Additionally, using baffles in the flow channel improved electrical efficiency by 2 %.

Desde finales del año 2018 hemos sido testigos del arribo de miles de personas de origen centroamericano, caribeñas, sudamericanas y extracontinentales que huyendo de sus países en “caravanas” por diferentes razones y circunstancias buscan llegar a los Estados Unidos, en cuyo tránsito padecen un sinfín de vicisitudes que se asocian a su condición de irregularidad, a la restricción de las políticas migratorias y la falta de capacidad en las políticas de protección. En dicho escenario, el sur de México se ha convertido en un espacio de espera forzada, a razón de que la legislación mexicana establece que quien solicita el reconocimiento de la condición de refugiado en el país, deberá permanecer en la entidad federativa en el que inició su procedimiento. Este artículo tiene a bien analizar, por un lado, las acciones tomadas por el gobierno mexicano en el sur de México a través de su política migratoria, y por el otro lado, contrastar cómo se vive la contención, espera, de la población solicitante de la condición de refugiado. Desde un abordaje etnográfico, nos interesa mostrar la vida cotidiana e imaginarios de esta población en los espacios locales, a nivel laboral y de construcción de redes sociales.

Employing traditional approaches for cross-cultural adjustment, this paper presents findings from a qualitative case study about the early adaptation of Mexican international students pursuing a postgraduate degree at a British university during the 2016-2017 academic calendars. Data was collected from 15 participants using focus groups and interviews during their third and fourth week of stay. In consonance with empirical evidence (Brown 2008; Schartner 2014), findings revealed that the participants' feelings within the initial stage of their arrival were not associated with those of "the honeymoon", but were associated with those of "the crisis" stage (Oberg 1960). Nonetheless, evidence suggests the students, particularly those without previous experience abroad, did go through a "honeymoon" period, which took place prior to the sojourners departure. The implications of these findings for a holistic understanding of the international experience are discussed.