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

Microplastics (MPs) are already considered emerging pollutants because they are found in every analyzed waterbody and because they can have adverse effects on human health. Estimating the amount and type of MPs in surface waters is relevant to understand the problem. However, there is still no established methodology for the quantitative and qualitative determination of these pollutants in aquatic environments, and because of this lack of standardization, the comparison between articles becomes complicated. A standard methodology could allow future research to focus on solving the problem. This review presents the advantages and limitations of the different methods for sampling, detection, and characterization of PMs in water and sediments, so that future experimental investigations of microplastics can use the methods presented in the literature in an informed manner.

Mexico is a country of contrasts, even in the allocation of water for public use by state. The southern entities receive less water flow, despite having the highest availability of annual average renewable water in the entire country, compared to those in the center and north of Mexico. The research objective was to find out if there was inequality in the allocation of water for public supply to the states whose Indigenous language-speaking population represented 2 % or more, and if the maximum temperature was relevant in said allocation. For this, an econometric model was proposed, whose explained variable was the water assigned for public use, and the explanatory ones, the population and the maximum temperature by state, were estimated by means of ordinary least squares. The main results were that the population-allocation elasticity of water for public supply for the northern entities that have an indigenous-speaking population of 2 % or more was 1.099 %; for those in the south, only 0.667 %, and for the rest of the country, 1.074 %. It was concluded that inequality does exist, and that it is greater if the states are located in southern Mexico and 2 % or more of their population speaks an indigenous language.

Satellite-estimated precipitation represent an alternative source of information for different hydrological applications, hence understanding the skill of satellite products to capture the spatial and temporal variability of precipitation is crucial for the development of hydrometeorological monitoring and early warning systems. This study evaluates the reliability of three satellite precipitation products (SPP) in the Pampean region of Argentina, before and after applying the Quantile Mapping bias correction method. The SPP used are TMPA, CMORPH and IMERG in their near real time versions. The evaluation was carried out using categorical and descriptive statistics in order to assess their skills to provide reliable estimates and correctly detect the magnitude of precipitation events. The categorical statistical analysis was carried out at a daily time step, in this case SPPs better estimate the observations for low intensities (less than 5 mm) and medium (between 5 and 20 mm) than for high intensities (greater than 20 mm). The evaluation of the descriptive statistics at the monthly level showed that the CMORPH has the highest detection skill in the EFM and AMJ quarters, while the IMERG obtained the lowest errors for the JAS and OND quarters. The incorporation of a bias removal method in the SPP validation process introduced significant improvements in the evaluated statistics. Especially the CMORPH which significantly improved its performance when compared with the IMERG, being the TMPA the one showing the larger errors in the region.

Frequency analysis (FA) allows estimating magnitudes for the maximum annual data of floods and daily rains associated with low exceedance probabilities. Such estimates or predictions allow the hydrological design of hydraulic works of exploitation or protection. The FA comprehends five stages: (1) verification of the randomness of the data; (2) adoption of a probability distribution function (PDF); (3) fitting the PDF; (4) evaluation of the goodness of fit, and (5) selection of the results. In this study, the theoretical bases of the Kappa distribution of four parameters (u, α, k, h), obtained through the L-moment method, which is described in detail, are exposed. The Kappa distribution, when its second shape parameter h takes values of -1, 0, and 1 reproduces the Generalized Logistics (GLO), Generalized Extreme Value (GEV), and Generalized Pareto (GPA) distributions. Three joint records of annual floods of peak flow (Qp) and runoff volume (Vol) were processed, and two yearly records of Qp and three of maximum annual daily precipitation. Five distributions were used to fit each of the eleven processed records: Kappa, the distribution reproduced according to the value of h (GLO, GEV o GPA); Log-Pearson type III; Log-Normal, and Wakeby. The statistical quality of each fit was quantified with the standard error of fit and the mean absolute error. The Conclusions highlight the similarity of the results (errors and predictions) in the eleven records processed and suggest the systematic application of the Kappa distribution, to complement those prescribed by government agencies and those of generalized use.

The planning and management of a river´s water resources, and the preparation of non-structural plans for flood damage mitigation, depend on the relationship between the annual maximum flows and their date of occurrence. Such dates, as they occur all year long, can be treated as circular data, whose statistics of mean direction and dispersion or seasonality index define the two parameters of a von Mises distribution (dvM). Such distribution allows the probabilistic characterization of the dates of occurrence of annual floods; that is, it defines their probability distribution function. This study describes the dvM and its maximum likelihood parameter estimation method when the annual data or dates are unimodal and cover the entire year. When the annual dates are concentrated in a period of the year, the dvM is fitted with numerical optimization, via the Rosenbrock algorithm. Finally, when dates of occurrence are bimodal, they are represented by a mixture of three dvMs, which are fitted by means of restricted numerical optimization, using the complex algorithm. As a case study, the dates of occurrence of 777 annual floods registered in 21 hydrometric stations of Hydrological Region No. 10 (Sinaloa), Mexico were processed; detailing seven typical applications of the three types of dvM fittings. The conclusions ratify the dvM, as a probabilistic model of the dates of occurrence of annual floods, either unimodal or bimodal.

The results of the estimation of the daily design rainfall in Argentina are presented for 97 % of the continental national territory. This analysis was based on the processing of the Satellite-Derived Precipitation Data (DPDS) of the CHIRPS product (Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station data), with a spatial resolution of 5 km and a temporal coverage of 37 years. The extraction of the Annual Maximum Daily Precipitation (pdMa) maps was carried out by means of ad-hoc codes developed through the Google Earth Engine platform. The pdMa series from CHIRPS were compared with those obtained from 64 rainfall stations provided by the National Meteorological Service (SMN), determining the slopes of the linear regression. These regression parameters were interpolated to the territory under study, to enhance the pdMa maps. These corrected maps were processed through codes developed in Python, to associate non-exceedance empirical probabilities and adjust the optimal theoretical probability distribution to each of the 106 778 pixels considered. From these results, daily design rainfall maps were generated for 2-100 year return periods. These results were validated against 30 stations from the National Water Information System, obtaining an acceptable agreement. It is considered that the results obtained will be useful in hydrological design, especially in regions that lack adequate rainfall records for a traditional statistical analysis.

Stable isotopes monitoring of rainfall in México has been limited. This study presents the characterization of the isotopic composition (δ18O, δ2H, Excess-d) of meteoric water that occurred in the Querétaro Valley from September 2017 to July 2021. Laser water isotope analyzers Picarro L2110-i and Los Gatos Research LWIA-45EP were used to carry out the stable isotope analyses. The local meteoric water line was obtain using a least squares regression of the isotope data, δ2H = 7.65 δ18O + 6.97. This Line has a slope and an intercept lower than the World Meteoric Line (LMM). The data show that the Local Meteoric Line has a lower slope and intercept than the LMM, due to secondary evaporation of small rainfall (< 30 mm per month). This collector forms part of the National Network for Monitoring the Isotope Composition of Rain that the Mexican Institute of Water Technology installed in various physiographic provinces of the country.

The article discusses the results and presents the research products “Challenges for mental health in basic care: building collaborative strategies, care networks and psychosocial approaches in the Family Health Strategy” supported by the PMA/VPCCB/ Fiocruz edition (2015 -2020). Research of a participatory and collaborative nature that developed two interconnected products: o Portfolio of Inspiring Practices in Psychosocial Care and o Support and Facilitation Guide for Training Processes in Mental Health for Basic Care. We built a site that brings together the two products, creating their interface, systematizing the field of knowledge and practices for an interdisciplinary and deinstitutionalizing perspective of mental health. The research set aims to give visibility, create connections and make scientific dissemination of territorial psychosocial approaches developed in basic care and community spaces throughout the country and that integrate the Portfolio. Nesse artigo we intend to discover the methodology, discuss the results, a collaborative perspective and a shared research management. With the construction and wide access to the site we intend to contribute to the renewal of practs, strengthening of mental health in basic care and community spaces, bringing the fields of education, research and health care closer together.

Cytopathology technicians are fundamental for cervical cancer screening, but there are gaps in their training. In this literature review, with a qualitative approach, carried out in the Virtual Health Library and in SciELO, without temporal clipping, we describe the history of public policies to combat cervical cancer, relating it to the history of technical professional education in cytopathology, analyzing the connections between such sequences of events. In a historical perspective, professional education in pathological anatomy was mainly through in-service training, but the field of technical training in cytopathology differs from this model. Various efforts have been made to structure curricula in the area and reduce discrepancies in this training. However, disputes between political and economic interests, marking the technical division of labor in the country, added to corporate clashes in the work on cytopathology, and the mismatch between education and screening actions prevented the effective materialization of these efforts. The demand for the incorporation of new technologies further accentuates the fragility in the formation of the category. Only with concrete government actions of training and professional regulation will it be possible to transform this scenario, favoring the development and expansion of campaigns forearly detection of cancer in Brazil.

Permanent Education in Health legitimized health education based on meaningful learning, experiences in daily work and collective problem solving, in addition to being based on the four-way approach, based on teaching, management, attention and social control. The COVID-19 pandemic has required new ways of doing health and education, especially in the prison system, where overcrowding is an impediment to social isolation. This study aimed to identify, through virtual conversation circles, the challenges encountered in daily work and discuss proposals for intervention with the actors of the prison system in the pandemic period, from the perspective of Permanent Education in Health. It was used a qualitative research approach with descriptive, interpretative and comprehensive analysis of the social phenomenon, through Minayo’s thematic analysis of content. From the thematic analysis of content, four categories emerged: challenges of health care in the prison system in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic; challenges for health management in prisons; dialogue between educational institutions and the prison system; and social control and family representation. The virtual conversation rounds provided in-depth discussions and collective constructions, proposing referrals based on the four-way approach of Permanent Education in Health.