Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

Many European and North American travelers arrived in Mexico in the 19th century, driven by the archaeological wealth of the country and by a natural and economic interest in the region. Many of these travelers left testimonies of their travels, and in many of those, the observations and studies carried out by Alexander von Humboldt were an unavoidable reference. This article’s purpose is to review Humboldt’s reception by some of these travelers, to know who were his followers, who his detractors, and what were the reasons for support or rejection. Underlying this interest, to understand how Humboldt’s image was configured as an “authority”.

Introduction. There have been few cross-national studies of the prevalence of the frailty phenotype conducted in low or middle income countries. Objectives: The aim is to study the variation in prevalence and correlates of frailty in rural and urban sites in Latin America, India and China.Methods. Cross-sectional door-to-door population-based surveys were conducted in eight urban areas and four rural ones in eight countries: Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Peru, Mexico, China, and India. We assessed walking speed, exhaustion, weight loss, and low physical activity. Therefore, frailty phenotype was defined based on two or more criteria.Results. 17,031 adults at age 65 or more were surveyed. Overall frailty prevalence was 15.2% (95% CI 14,6-15,7%). Controlling for age, gender and education, frailty was positively associated with old age, female sex, lower socioeconomic status, physical impairments, stroke, depression, dementia, disability and dependence, and high healthcare costs. There was substantial variation in the prevalence of frailty, and its indicators across sites studied in Latin America, India and China. Culture and other contextual factors significantly impact on the assessment of frailty even utilizing the usual questionnaires and physical performance-based measuring.

This paper includes some aspects related to the characteristics of viruses in general. In particular, it addresses the characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 virus and the mechanism by which it enters the cell, subsequently creating millions of copies and beginning the creation of viral proteins. The main objective of the paper is to explain how to prevent contamination with the SARS-CoV-2 virus complementing traditional prevention methods with the use of chemical products as an effective option. A chemical explanation is given in order to show the reason for the disintegration of this virus with hand washing using soap and water, the use of disinfectants, as well as the use of sodium hypochlorite, among others. It also includes a set of recommendations and warnings to take into account for the use of these chemicals.

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Introduction. The use of predictive models of the local evolution of the epidemic is of great help for the authorities to take decisions and to evaluate the impact produced by it. Objective. The objective of this work is to elaborate a phenomenological model that allows for making approximate long-term predictions, of the evolution COVID-19 epidemic will have in Cuba, aimed at offering key information to the decision makers for a better organization of the containment actions. Methods. In this work, mathematical modeling, simulation and computational optimization are employed to implement the use of a SEIR-type compartment model, with seven kinetic parameters. These parameters were identified with the observed data of the epidemic and a solid nonlinear adjustment procedure for complex models. Results. The predictions of one year indicate a favorable scenario in the country, if everything remains as it is until now. The interpretation of the identified kinetic parameters reveals important information on the characteristics of the virus and the host under the conditions of our nation.

COVID-19 is a new severe acute respiratory syndrome, caused by SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. There are variants in ACE2 and TMPRSS2 genes potentially associated with susceptibility/severity to COVID-19, although the literature on this topic is scattered and poorly systematized. The aim of this work is to highlight the relevance of variants in ACE2 and TMPRSS2 genes for susceptibility/severity to COVID-19. Variants in the ACE2 and TMPRSS2 genes were described, with potential repercussions on the structure and function of these proteins, or on their levels of expression. Some of these variants are differentially distributed among Asian, European, African or American populations, and are potentially associated with increased susceptibility/severity to COVID-19. Results referring to the role of ACE2 expression levels on the clinical severity of the disease are inconsistent. None of these studies establish associations between identified genetic variants, or ACE2 and TMPRSS2 expression levels, and specific clinical markers of disease severity. In conclusion, variants in ACE2 and TMPRSS2 genes have been identified as potentially associated with a higher susceptibility/severity to COVID-19, although it is necessary to replicate research in other populations around the world, and to develop clinical genotype-phenotype correlation studies in patients with this disease, for its adequate stratification by risk groups, and to adjust personalized preventive or therapeutic interventions, based on the patient profile for relevant genetic variants.

Since Hippocrates, the role of the brain in mental illness has been accepted and Neuropsychiatry has been presented as the specialty integrating psychiatry, neurology, neuropsychology, and neuroscience in general. Considering the patients diagnosed with Acute Respiratory Syndrome in Wuhan, China, which has spread and is considered a pandemic, a summary of the scientific evidence available is made regarding the impact of coronavirus 2019 and its relationship with neuropsychiatric disorders. To prepare it, the search engine Google Academic and the descriptors COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2 and neuropsychiatric manifestations were used. Medline, SciELO, Scopus and Medscape databases were used. The general clinical manifestations of COVID-19 and the subacute or chronic psychiatric sequelae are described in relation to infection with SARS. COV-2, which include depression, anxiety and stress related to the pandemic. Emphasis is made on the care needed for health personnel, patients with previous mental illness and chronic neurological diseases, in whom symptoms can worsen and even lead into suicide.

In social communication research done in Cuba, discourse analysis by means of what Jürgen Habermas calls "the paradigm of linguistics" has been conducted by a considerable number of researchers. This method always involves the determination of relations between texts and contexts, but Habermas considers the opposites and identifies another methodology, i.e., the "mentalist paradigm". Insistence on contrast leads into asking two questions whose answers ought to be able to legitimate how profitable a methodology aimed at humanism should become. Those two questions are: what methodological challenges and contributions are involved in discourse analysis for doctorate research? What requisites and crossroads can a discourse analyst stumble upon in a given context? The answers are research premises.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a challenge for health care systems around the world. The effects on mental health run parallel to the pandemic and appear in both healthy and sick people. It is estimated that those effects will be among the most serious sequels. Despite this, Interventions on health care personnel have lacked consistency and specificity, arousing little interest within the programs for confronting the disease internationally, where the population has been prioritized through actions characterized by spontaneity. This article shows a protocol for distance psychological care directed to health personnel, drawn up and implemented by psychologists from Holguin´s Neuropsychology Group at Lucía Iñiguez Hospital. The work system and instruments developed for proactive management of psychological safety of health personnel are presented, as well as the results achieved after its application so far. The protocol for distance psychological care constitutes a guide to manage psychological safety of health care personnel. Its implementation during 4 weeks at Lucía Iñiguez Hospital demonstrated its relevance in the current health situation.