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

This work develops criteria on the wrong actions of state authorities, especially in relation to the validity of fundamental rights, during the pandemic caused by COVID-19. The author has considered that, in order to face the current events that are plaguing humanity, and particularly Ecuador, it is necessary to restructure public institutions, in order to redirect their purposes to benefit the most vulnerable sectors, focusing efforts on the axes: health, work, education and housing. Public policies, over time, have not been focused on impacting the axes detailed above, considered key to alleviating poverty; consequently, the current figures move Ecuador away from the fulfillment of objectives and commitments before the international community. Said public policies and state organization were not only obsolete to face the fight against the pandemic, whose ravages are suffered by those most in need of State protection. However, another evil joined the viral tragedy: corruption.

In pedagogical practice, the didactic process is generally developed in three important stages: presentation, practice, and production. The object of this research is focused on the students’ collective knowledge building in virtual settings. Therefore, to carry out this study, five strategies based on cooperative learning were selected. The aim of this research is to analyze the possibilities these strategies offer to generate knowledge in collaborative, dynamic, and participatory ways, seeking the development of cognitive and socio-affective skills. The research approach was qualitative with an interpretive perspective. Thus, the main method was action research which was utilized from the diagnosis, design, and application of an action plan to its evaluation. The main results demonstrate that the following strategies: “gallery of authors, research groups and joining heads” are applied in building knowledge in the practice stage; while, “searching for cases and weekly sharing content” are utilized in consolidating knowledge in the production stage. All of the strategies mentioned previously have allowed the development of cognitive and socio-affective skills in university students. The cognitive skills include critical thinking, verbal reasoning, and mastery of content; and the socio-affective skills involve active listening and consensus.

The global Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated inequalities and the wage gap. In this sense, we plan to assess the increase in inequalities and the wage gap among young women in Ecuador during the pandemic. Through the processing of information obtained from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) survey database. To estimate this problem, a descriptive statistical study method was used, using tables and data visualisation. Under this consideration, an effective comparison was conceptualised between young men and women between 18 and 29 years of age in the cities of Guayaquil, Quito, Loja and Machala, during the months of May to June and August to September, taking into account their change in employment status, the decrease in income and the increase in household burdens, based on the sexual division of labour. Thus, the increase in the increase of household activities in young Ecuadorian women was evidenced, as well as a greater loss of employment compared to the male population surveyed.

This paper studies the factors driving the Ecuadorian economic growth through the analysis of three stages of structural changes (1950-1972, 1973-1999, 2000-2017) experimented by the Ecuadorian economy. We perform a statistical growth accounting decomposition to quantify the relative importance of the different factors explaining output growth: inputs accumulation (extensive growth) and technological progress (intensive growth). The results obtained confirm the importance that the accumulation in physical capital and employment had played in explaining per capita output growth during the last decades, whereas the contribution of total factor productivity has been more modest.

Summary  The objective of the present work is to expose which behavior of the repetition has been in the Superior Institute of Technology and Applied Sciences (InSTEC) from the course 2014-2015 until the course 2019-2020.  Methodologically was used in the investigation of observational type; developed in a retrospective field, with traverse mensuration and applying methods of the descriptive statistic, and the non-parametric statistic. A subpopulation was studied conformed by all the repeaters of the period that is analyzed according to the registration in the educational secretary of the institute.   It was determined that there is poor use of the repetition that exists, this is greater in the current study plan than in the previous one. There is no apparent difference in repetition between the careers that are studied in the faculty and are concentrated in the first years of the careers   Keywords: higher education, desertion, repetition, quality.

Background: Seedling establishment depends on the quality of the seeds and environmental conditions. Differential biomass allocation in emergent seedlings probably constitutes a relevant adaptive response of populations along environmental gradients. Questions: Are there differences in seed mass and biomass allocation in seedlings among Prosopis laevigatapopulations? Is this variation correlated with environmental variables? Studied species: Prosopis laevigata (Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd.) M.C.Johnst (Fabaceae). Study site and dates: Thirteen localities along the distribution of P. laevigata in México. From 2016 to 2020. Methods: Seeds were collected from four or five mother trees per locality. Seed mass (SM) was obtained in ten seeds per mother and six functional traits indicative of biomass allocation were measured in the seedlings after 10 days of germination. Population mean values were obtained for the six traits plus SM and subjected to a principal component analysis (PCA). Population scores on the first two axis of the PCA were regressed against environmental variables from the collection localities using a stepwise regression model. Results: Populations displayed functional variation congruent with alternative biomass allocation strategies. The conservative strategy was characterized by larger seeds and seedlings with denser tissues and a higher investment in root biomass, while the opposite characterized the acquisitive strategy. Actual evapotranspiration in May, isothermality and soil water content in February were environmental variables that significantly predicted population scores on the first two axes of the PCA. Conclusion: Water availability gradients influence seed mass and seedling biomass allocation variation among P. laevigata populations.

Background: The Rubiaceae family is one of the most diverse in Mexico, and it is the fourth in diversity among angiosperms. There have been several efforts to characterize its diversity, resulting in differences in the number of genera and species registered for Mexico: 77-113 genera and 510-707 species. This discrepancy highlights the need to critically review the studies that list the diversity of Rubiaceae of Mexico, with the aim of presenting an overview to elucidate the state of their knowledge. Questions: What is the diversity of the Rubiaceae in Mexico? At what taxonomic level is the problem? How are diversity and endemism distributed? What is the collection effort? Studied species: Rubiaceae Study site: Mexico Methods: A database was generated from the review of the main floristic works of Rubiaceae from Mexico, complemented with information from herbarium databases. Results: The Rubiaceae family in Mexico is represented by 111 genera, of which 17 are endemic, with 711 native species, 363 of which are endemic, and 13 exotic species. The most speciose states are Oaxaca (416), Chiapas (365) and Veracruz (318), in which 50 % of the endemism is concentrated. The collection effort suggests that 43 % of the territory sufficient collections. Conclusions: This work presents a revised taxonomic list and proposals that solve conflicts at generic level; highlighting the need to carry out taxonomic work focused on some groups and to continue with the efforts of collecting and reviewing herbaria for a more accurate approach to assessing the Rubiaceae diversity in Mexico.

Background: Magnolia alejandrae is a critically endangered species and endemic to the Sierra Madre Oriental in northeastern Mexico. The abiotic requirements for its germination, such as light and temperature, are unknown. Hypotheses: White light and temperature fluctuations will promote the germination of M. alejandrae and seeds from site with higher humidity will have increased germination percentage. Study species: Magnolia alejandrae. Study sites and dates: El Farallón in the Jaumave municipality and Los San Pedros in the Güémez municipality, Tamaulipas, Mexico. May-June 2019. Methods: Four light-quality treatments (white, red, far-red and darkness) were evaluated, along with two temperature treatments: constant (18/18 ºC) and fluctuating temperatures (8/18 ºC) and two populations (El Farallón and Los San Pedros) on the germination of M. alejandrae. We used twenty seeds of the study species per experimental unit with five repetitions for each treatment. Results: Light quality influenced the germination of M. alejandrae seeds, having the highest germination (76 %) under white light, followed by 45 % under red light, 9 % under far-red and 5 % in darkness, demonstrating that the seeds of this species are neutral photoblastic. Temperature fluctuation (8/18 °C) enhanced germination of M. alejandrae more than constant temperature (18/18 °C). Conclusions: M. alejandrae seeds respond differentially to light quality and temperature, which has important implications in the reforestation and conservation of the species.

Background. The Gracilariaceae is one of the most diverse and abundant families of marine red algae. Most species in this family exhibit high morphological variability and overlapping of characters. In the Yucatan Peninsula 30 species have been historically recorded, but the phylogenetic identity for many of them is still unknown. Questions: Is the current diversity of the family in the area overestimated? Studied species: Crassiphycus caudatus, C. corneus, C. usneoides, Gracilaria flabelliformis, G. hayi, G. cf isabellana, G. microcarpa, G. occidentalis, G. suzanneae, Gracilariopsis tenuifrons. Study site and dates: Campeche: km 33 carretera Champotón, Bahía Tortuga, Puente Xen Kan III, Punta Xen, Sabancuy, 2017, 2018; Yucatan: Puerto Sisal, Puerto Progreso, Puerto Chicxulub, Puerto Telchac, 2018; Quintana Roo: Playa 88, Xcalacoco, Punta Esmeralda, 2019. Methods. Phylogenetic analysis (with COI-5P and rbcL sequences), supported by DNA species delimitation methods, genetic distances and morphological comparisons, allowed us to molecularly identify the specimens collected. Results. The phylogenetic identity of 10 species of Gracilariaceae was confirmed, two of which are new records for the Mexican Atlantic: G. hayi and G. suzanneae. Conclusion. The study demonstrated that the molecular assessment has proved to be very useful for the diversity evaluation, thus, the future phylogenetic identifies for the rest of morphospecies recorded in the area will allow a better approximation of Gracilariaceae diversity species.

Background: The physical and biological factors involved in the survival and mortality risks of seedlings are important to understand the natural processes associated with their establishment in a spatio-temporal context. Objectives: Identify which environmental factors define the regeneration niche of Abies religiosa based on the survival and mortality risks of its seedlings. Methods: Seventeen plots of 1 m2 were established and all the seedlings of the 2019 cohort were located, numbered and measured in height, number of embryonic leaves, number of nodes and visible damage and followed for a year. The properties of the soil surrounding the plots were determined. In each plot, hemispheric photographs were taken and based on them, the canopy was stratified into two categories: partially closed and open. Analyses were performed with the SAS LIFETEST and LIFEREG procedures. Results: The seedling survival curves were different between the canopy categories (Log-Rank: χ2 = 8.35, gl = 1, P < 0.05). The probability of survival under open canopy was higher (0.29 ± 0.01) than under partially closed canopy (0.20 ± 0.01). The variables with positive effects on survival times were: height and number of nodes; proportion of direct sunlight, bulk density of the soil, mean temperature, mean humidity and its coefficient of variation, and the variation of the soil saturation point. Conclusions: These covariates define the regeneration niche of A. religiosa.