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

Virtual Reality (VR) technologies aim at transporting their users to a virtual space. From the different fields of application, cultural heritage is a field with much to explore. A fact is that everyday pieces of cultural heritage are lost, whether due to natural phenomena that can destroy the natural landscapes or cultural traditions that are slowly and naturally disappears. What if we could leverage Virtual Reality to mitigate this issue?

Virtual Reality (VR) technologies have been proven valuable in various application fields, ranging from entertainment to more serious purposes such as education and training.

The green areas in the city of Quito represent essential habitats for the conservation of amphibians. Pristimantis unistrigatus, is present in different Andean ecosystems in the country including urban settlements. The population size of Cutín de Quito was estimated in the campus of the Central University of Ecuador, where very limited green areas can be found. A population estimate of 1749 individuals was obtained, showing a high number of presences in the sampled area, most of the individuals were females using as a perch a herbaceous stratum due to human activities. The morphological variation of P. unistrigatus in the studied area presents six morphological patterns, without presenting a sexual dimorphism. Apparently, the population success of Cutín de Quito to benefit directly from human interactions, can be explained by the mimicry between habitats presented by individuals along with their morphological variation.

This work focused on the evaluation of four essential aspects of biomass based on peach trees grown in the Andean region of Ecuador. In one case, mathematical models have been developed allowing the amount of lignocellulosic material to be quantified from easily measurable parameters such as crown diameter, stem diameter and plant height. Performing quick surveys, these equations led to obtain the amount of biomass contained in a plot. In a second case, elemental analysis of biomass was performed in order to determine the amount of CO2 captured from the atmosphere through photosynthesis during its growth, and thus to assess the contribution of these plots in mitigating climate change. Afterwards, residual biomass from pruning was quantified and a proximal analysis was carried out. This allowed us to assess the suitability of these materials as solid biofuels. The models obtained to determine the volume of the branches gave determination coefficients of 0.98. Models to quantify the biomass of the whole plant had r2 of 70%. The density of the dried material was 0.92 g/cm3, obtaining an average dry wood weight of 44.8 kg per plant. This represents a content of 1682 moles of captured CO2 of a developed plant crop (3 years). The average ash on dry wood was 3%, fixed carbon content on dry wood was 7%, and volatile content dry wood was 78%. The moisture content of waste materials after pruning was 45.96%. The drying time in store for humidity below 10%, suitable for burning boiler, was 15 days. The higher heating value of peach wood was 18.92MJ/kg.

Human milk is recognized as the best form of nutrition for infants. However, where breast-feeding is not possible, infant milk formulae are used as breast milk substitutes. These formulae provide infants essential nutrients for their normal growth and development, but pathogenic microbes responsible for serious illness could contaminate them. The purpose of this study was to investigate the microbial quality of powdered formulae sold in Quito A total of 12 powdered infant formula and 12 powdered follow-up formula were collected from markets in Quito in 2019. Microbiological quality of samples was analyzed using conventional culture methods. According to the microbiological criteria specified in the Ecuadorian regulation, all powdered infant formulae comply with the total count of aerobic mesophilic organisms and enterobacteria. However, 6 powered follow-up samples do not comply with the regulation. The isolated bacterial genus in the samples were Klebsiella oxytoca (41.7%), Pantoea agglometans, Citrobacter freundii (25%), Bacillus subtilis (16.7%) and Pseudomonas (8.3%). The isolated bacteria genus in follow-up formula were Bacillus subtilis (75%), Bacillus cereus, Klebsiella oxytoca (25%) and Enterobacter aerogenes (25%), Hafnia alvei (16.7%) Escherichia coli (8,3%) and Pantoea agglomerans in the 8.3% of the samples. Salmonella was not found in any sample. This study indicates the necessity of conducing further microbial contamination research in powdered formula products because they could be a potential source of food contaminants and a risk for infants and babies.

Banana (Musa × paradisiaca L.) cultivation is one of the most important agricultural activities for many countries, and it is the primary fruit consume worldwide. Integrated soil management and fertilization programs aims to enhance soil fertility while maintaining crop yields. A large body of literature examined the changes in soil properties associated with different fertility regimens. Despite the critical role of the plant-associated microbiome in plant health and productivity, the effects of different agricultural management systems on microbial communities' response in banana are poorly understood.  This study reports the structure, diversity, and richness of the microbial community of the bulk soil, rhizosphere, and leaf of banana plants under organic and conventional management. Samples were obtained from two banana plantations located in the province of El Oro, Ecuador. The analysis was based on DNA sequencing of the V3-V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene for bacteria and the ITS2 region for fungi. Here, we found a significant effect of the management system in the bacterial and fungi community composition. In general terms, under a conventionally managed system, the richness and evenness of the bacterial and fungal community increased among the soil and rhizosphere compared to the organic farming system. Soil and rhizosphere under organic farming were associated with a higher relative abundance of Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, and Bacteroidetes and exhibited an overrepresentation of microbial genus know as plant growth-promoting, as well as genera involved in essential ecosystem processes. We also found that ASVs of the same genus respond differently to the two types of agricultural management on the soil and the rhizosphere. In comparison, the bacterial communities in the leaves were more similar in both types of management.  Understanding how long-term cropping management systems shift the microbial diversity and structure at the level of individual microbial taxa, such as presented in this research, can help to design farming systems that can maintain high profitability of the banana crops by stimulating growth-promoting bacteria and those responsible for the suppression of the soil-borne disease.

We describe the bacterial and fungal microbiome of the banana (Musa x paradisiaca) leaf in healthy and necrotic phases of Black Sigatoka or black leaf streak disease (Pseudocercospora fijiensis), evaluated under organic and conventional agronomic management in El Oro province, Ecuador. Samples were collected for subsequent DNA sequencing and analysis of the 16S (V3-V4) and ITS markers. This study suggests that the fungal microbiome from the organic farming system decreases its diversity due to pathogen's presence while diversity increases upon conventional practices. Also, we observed that bacteria from the genus Pseudomonas fluorescens was more abundant in the healthy organic leaf, a known beneficial microorganism for plants. The banana"™s phyllosphere endophyte microbiome depends on the cultivation system, and diseased conditions significantly change the microbiome in the presence of black leaf streak disease. Key words: necrotic, sequencing, diversity, ASV, phyllosphere

The present work pursued the development of a system to detect and quantify methylxanthines in Ilex guayusa. The system, called IPMA (In situ Plant Metabolite Aptasensor), is based on an optical aptasensor that integrates a DNA complex and a porphyrin (NMM IX). IPMA's ability to detect known amounts of theophylline and caffeine in solution and infiltrated in guayusa's leaves was evaluated. The detection limits determined were: 0.25 mM for theophylline in solution, 0.1 mM for caffeine in solution, and 130 mM for caffeine in I. guayusa leaves. These results demonstrate the potential of IPMA to detect and quantify metabolites of interest directly from biological samples. Developing this type of tool will provide a wide range of applications such as the in situ determination of physiological stress in plants and the characterization of plant varieties with a higher content of compounds of pharmaceutical or food interest. 

I study how involuntary job loss affects workers' inter-temporal labor earnings mobility. I use Panel Study Income Dynamics (PSID) 1973-2017 survey waves to construct transition probability matrices and compute ordered logistic regression estimates. I find that being displaced increases downward mobility compared to never displaced workers. The reduction of hours worked, large spells of unemployment and the destruction of firm-specific human capital depreciate the market value of a displaced worker generating significant labor income losses.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had enormous consequences, mainly on human health and the economy, but it is also important to highlight its impact on nature conservation. One of the animal groups most affected by the current reality are bats, since press reports have incorrectly associated them with the transmission of this virus. We visited a cave located in a seasonal ravine next to the Tocagón Alto community, San Rafael de la Laguna, Imbabura, Ecuador during August 2020, and determined the loss of a population of Anoura peruana. We identified bonfires inside this speleological body due to the rejection against bats associated to the COVID-19 pandemic. As per May 2022, this cave is still uninhabited by the bats under study and there are no signs of its recolonization by possible survivors.