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

In recent decades, cocoa has gained more attention in the world market allowing it to become one of the most lucrative and traded food products in the world. This has led to interesting, continued increases in cocoa production around the world (Afoakwa, 2010). The largest cocoa trading centers are in Europe due to their industrial clusters where traders, mills and manufacturers are well connected and work in synchronization (CBI, 2018). In the 2018-2019 closing report, it was indicated that 89% of industrial crops correspond to sugarcane, which shows the little contribution of cocoa within industrial crops. Panama currently has 2,050 producers that produce 175 tons equivalent to 3,771 quintals of cocoa. It is important to note that a large percentage of cocoa beans are exported (MIDA, 2020). This article aims to characterize the Panamanian cocoa supply chain to identify how it is composed, which is one of the objectives developed in the doctoral thesis "Sustainability Model of the Supply Chain". Therefore, interviews with cocoa experts and 112 surveys of producers were carried out. Achieving the characterization diagram of the supply chain in which it was evidenced that it is made up of three links: (1) Planting, Harvest and Postharvest, (2) Collection (3) Transformation.

This article establishes the importance of neuropsychological diagnosis as a tool that can detect brain dysfunction, scientifically consolidating and in a coordinated way the preventive work of criminology to understand the origin of the antisocial behaviors that are gestated in minors and that are not well diagnosed or attended by the personnel and authorities of the school facilities. Behaviors characterized by aggressiveness, impulsivity, inattention and low academic performance, to name a few, tend to be normalized by those who make up the minor's close circle: the family. While the teachers and academic staff of the educational campus lack the preparation and resources to deal with such behaviors that become habitual. A timely scientific and clinical-educational detection of the origin of antisocial behaviors with a solid neuropsychological support can be the difference between the academic and social success of the minor against the path of school dropout and the antisociality that will lead to criminal behaviors that damage the community.

This case study is a follow up on a previous article and explores the adaptation strategies of a seasonal worker in Midwestern United States. The extensive literature on Latinos in the US does not analyze such transnational, growing communities in Midwestern cities. The complex definitions of identity, literacy and bilingualism added two more layers to the conflicted concepts of transnationalism and respeto to adapt to a foreign culture as defined by Farr (2006). Although the participant is recognized bilingual by himself and others, his definition of belonging to a culture does not allow him to see as neither fully Hispanic nor American. A partnership between community members would help integrate individuals in similar circumstances to an area not as demographically diverse as other North American cities.  

Quality Leadership University presents to the educational community volume 2 of issue 16 of the year 2022 of the journal Latitude: Multidisciplinary Research Journal, an issue in which articles developed by professors and students of Quality Leadership University and international researchers are published. This new presentation of the journal deals with topics related to education, geology, psychology, logistics and economics.  

This article presents the results of the empirical study on the consumption and saving decisions of economic entities in Panama, in this case the university students of the University of Panama, during the pandemic. These results were analysed under the lens of the theoretical approaches of neoclassical, Keynesian, and behavioral theories in relation to the theoretical laws of supply and demand. Data were collected through digital surveys that looked at three scenarios: Savings and consumption in general; judgement and consumption conditional on price increases; and self-preservation. The research led to the conclusion that Keynesian and behavioral theory may have better mechanisms to explain individuals' savings and consumption decisions. At the same time, it could be observed that the study subjects, for the most part, did not exhibit the rationality defined by neoclassical theory.

El acceso universal a la vacunación, y a una vacuna segura contra el virus SARS-CoV-2 causante de la enfermedad denominada COVID-19, está sustentado en el imperativo ético de garantizar los derechos humanos, especialmente los de preservar la salud y la vida de la especie humana

Introducción: los tumores retroperitoneales primarios son sólidos o quísticos, benignos o malignos. Se desarrollan en el espacio retroperitoneal, a partir de tejidos (linfático, nervioso, vascular, muscular de sostén, conectivo y fibroareolar) independientes de los órganos y los grandes vasos contenidos en él, como el riñón, las glándulas suprarrenales y las partes retroperitoneales del páncreas, colon y duodeno. Los más frecuentes son los sarcomas en sus distintas variedades, fundamentalmente el liposarcoma y el leiomiosarcoma. Ambos se presentan como masas abdominales de consistencia dura y superficie irregular, rodeados de una cápsula que con rapidez es sobrepasada por el crecimiento tumoral. Estos tumores infiltran el peritoneo parietal y las vísceras intraabdominales adosadas a él.Objetivo: presentar el caso de un paciente con diagnóstico de sarcoma retroperitoneal gigante, tratado de forma exitosa en el Hospital Clínico Quirúrgico “Hermanos Ameijeiras”.Presentación del caso: paciente masculino de 67 años de edad, con cuadro clínico de aumento de volumen hacia el hemiabdomen izquierdo, asociado a decaimiento y pérdida de peso. La biopsia de la lesión tumoral informó la presencia de un sarcoma fusocelular. Fue tratado al inicio con quimioterapia, y posteriormente se le realizó una intervención quirúrgica con exéresis del tumor y esplenectomía.Conclusiones: la intervención quirúrgica continúa siendo la opción terapéutica de elección, y el manejo de estos pacientes debe ser realizado de forma oportuna. Debido a la complejidad y características de la intervención quirúrgica, es necesaria una alta curva de aprendizaje y experiencia del especialista

Introducción: en la adultez mayor la insuficiencia renal crónica es un problema de salud pública.Objetivo: establecer la posible relación entre la progresión de la insuficiencia renal crónica y los marcadores de daño renal en los adultos mayores.Métodos: se desarrolló un estudio analítico prospectivo de cohorte en 104 adultos mayores del territorio sur de Ciego de Ávila, que cumplieron con los criterios de inclusión, entre noviembre de 2017 y junio de 2019. Se estimó el índice de filtrado glomerular a los seis, 12 y 18 meses. Se utilizó un modelo lineal para medidas repetidas (nivel de significación de 95 %). Se cumplieron los principios éticos de las investigaciones.Resultados: al inicio, en 59,62 % de los pacientes se detectaron marcadores de daño renal. A los seis meses 54,81 % tuvieron progresión del daño, a los 12 el porcentaje se incrementó a 56,73 % y a los 18 a 57,69 %. No se observó progresión en aquellos que no se detectaron marcadores al inicio del estudio. Se demostró la relación entre la presencia del marcador y la progresión de la enfermedad. La causa más frecuente fue la diabetes mellitus (42,31 %), y la complicación más usual fue la cardiovascular (9,62 %). Las glomerulopatías primarias fueron las de más rápida progresión (9,62 %).Conclusiones: durante el seguimiento de los pacientes se demostró la relación entre la presencia de marcadores de daño renal y la progresión de la enfermedad renal crónica.

Precipitation is the start-up factor of multiple process in arid zones. To address the temporal and spatial variability of precipitation at north Patagonia is difficult given the large area of the region and the low measurement density. The objective of this work is to characterize temporal and spatial variability of precipitation, and to evaluate satellite derived rainfall products for this region. Based on six measurement stations’ daily records we calculated monthly, seasonal and annual precipitation, their averages and trends. In addition, we evaluated the relationship between these records with GPM and TRMM satellite products. Annual precipitation varied from 100 to 640 mm.year-1, with a 100 to 300 mm average in the last five years, and a downward trend in the last decades. We detected a downward trend in the average number of days with precipitation below 10 mm.day-1. The average daily precipitation showed a slight tendency to increase, as well as the frequencies of records greater than 10 mm.day-1. GPM was an acceptable estimator of the variability but none of the magnitude of rainfall. Precipitation variability updates, more detailed data and monitoring are needed.

The objective of the present work is to calibrate a hydrological simulation tool to be used on the Sauce Grande River High Basin (CASG), Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, which is of crucial importance for the Bonaerense southwest. Rain fall and flow rate field data are used to feed the HEC-HMS 4.2.1. Soil Conservation Service Curve number method is implemented. Muskingum method is used to solve the flood routing. Very good to excellent fit is obtained according to the Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency index. The calibrated hydrological tool turns up to simulate satisfactorily real storm events on the basin. Great variability is observed associated to the initial humidity, so at least two initial states related to intervals between storms should be defined to simulate project storms. Adjustment parameters averages and standard deviations are presented for each sub-basin.