Search Results (161)

The efficiency of epidemiological models is based on two characteristics: speed and accuracy. While Equation-Based Modeling (EBM) enables agile calculations, its approximations lack precision because they exclude population heterogeneity. On the other hand, Agent-Based Modeling (ABM) integrates individuality into the model, but it requires considerable processing time to obtain results. In this work, a sequential strategy is developed to generate ABM that preserves population heterogeneity while reducing processing time. This model is obtained through an optimization process that identifies the set of parameters whose approximation to the pandemic’s real data minimizes error. The process begins with Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), whose cost function is implemented via EBM, enabling comparison of the population projections against the real data recorded by health institutions in three major Mexican cities. The resulting parameters are transferred to an ABM modeled in NetLogo and validated using Mean Absolute Error (MAE), Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE), and the Coefficient of Determination (R²). The results show that calibrated parameters during the optimization stage, when applied in ABM simulations, generate epidemiological scenarios that reflect the pandemic’s actual behavior. These findings indicate that EBM-based calibration supports ABM experimentation while reducing the computational cost of agent-level optimization. Full article

In an increasingly urbanized world, green spaces provide Cultural Ecosystem Services (CES) that support human well-being and are often perceived as the most valued benefits in cities. Yet, their perception and co-occurrence remain underrepresented in Latin American regions. In this study, we assess the diversity and bundling of CES perceived by visitors across five urban parks in the Mexican city of Xalapa, Veracruz, and examine how park identity (synthesizing park-specific ecological and structural characteristics) and sociodemographic factors influence these perceptions. Using a mixed-methods approach, we analyzed 373 surveys using general linear models. We identified 13 CES, with an average of three services per park. ‘Recreation’, ‘Mental health’, ‘Physical health’, and ‘Contact with nature’, the most frequently mentioned services, together with ‘Social relations’, consistently formed a dominant CES bundle, suggesting patterns in how cultural benefits are co-experienced. Park identity, visitor Age, and Gender were key predictors of CES perception variation, highlighting joint spatial and social influences. By integrating CES bundles with park-specific characteristics and sociodemographic drivers, this study advances current understanding of CES perception comprehensively and demonstrates that CES are not uniformly experienced across urban green spaces, underscoring the need for context-sensitive planning and management that account for both place identity and user diversity. Full article

Fragmented urban growth in Latin American intermediate cities has increasingly displaced low-income populations to peripheral areas, creating spatial mismatches between residential areas and educational opportunities provided by public higher education institutions. These patterns reflect inequalities that constrain educational accessibility and limit urban resilience. To examine these dynamics, this study applies a geospatial framework to develop an Educational Spatial Injustice Index (ESII) that quantifies disparities in Chihuahua, Mexico. Mobility metrics derived from Google Maps API are combined with census microdata, to analyze 108 high-demand census tracts (AGEBs) linked with seven public higher education institutions. The ESII is constructed through a multi-criteria weighting scheme based on travel time, monetary cost and network distance. Results show a clear north–south pattern, with higher ESII values concentrated in southern peripheries (0.85/1.0), where mean daily travel time reaches 3.45 h. Statistical analysis shows that the Social Lag Index (IRS; ρ = 0.729) has the strongest association with the Global ESII. Furthermore, spatial regression modeling reveals that while operational transit connectivity (bus routes) is a significant mitigating factor (p < 0.001), the mere physical presence of infrastructure (bus stops) is not. These findings suggest that spatial injustice in educational accessibility is more deeply rooted in structural urban growth patterns and socio-spatial inequalities than in simple infrastructure provision. The results support targeted planning strategies to improve accessibility and strengthen urban resilience in intermediate cities. Full article

This research addresses the low productivity of manufacturing SMEs in Mexico City. Digital Transformation (DT) is described as a solution to combat this issue. However, many SMEs implement technology in isolation. A qualitative methodology was used to conduct the study. Through a systematic literature review, the proposed DT-TOC methodology was developed. It integrates technology adoption with the Theory of Constraints as a problem-identification tool. It was found that technological investment alone is not sufficient. Furthermore, a strong commitment to staff training is necessary for the technological transition to be effective. The main contribution of this research is the creation of a diagnostic framework focused on the Mexican context. The DT-TOC methodology offers SMEs a logical and sequential guide to technology adoption, with the goal of process optimization. This contributes to technological sovereignty and the strengthening of the manufacturing industry, one of the country’s largest contributors to the economy. Full article

The current global population trend is towards greater concentration in cities, which presents a potential negative risk to wetlands and the species that inhabit them, especially birds, when they are encroached upon by urban growth that destroys the vegetation used for perching, roosting, nesting, and feeding. Bird species capable of adapting to urban environments are the ones that ensure their permanence and success over other species with less adaptive capacity. Therefore, in the present study, the abundance and distribution of the Mexican Grackle Quiscalus mexicanus were obtained in two urban wetlands with different levels of urbanization and land-use policies. The point count method was used, and the behavior of the species, types of vegetation, urban infrastructure, and human activities were also recorded. The results showed that the lowest abundance occurred in the wetland that was the most urbanized, with a land-use policy for urban development, intensive recreational use, and a preference for street lighting and sidewalks. In contrast, the highest abundance was found in the wetland with a land-use policy focused on protection, showing habitat preference for areas with trees and guided visit activities for environmental education. It can therefore be concluded that this species develops better in less urbanized environments with abundant trees. Full article

Rs9939609 marker in FTO Alpha-Ketoglutarate-Dependent Dioxygenase (FTO) gene, rs7895307 in Transcription Factor 7-Like 2 (TCF7L2) gene, and rs75493593 in Solute Carrier Family 16 Member 11 (SLC16A11) gene have been associated with anthropometric, metabolic, and clinical variables, but have not been concurrently studied in Mexican children and adolescents with adiposity or mental disorders. In this cross-sectional association study, we genotyped these markers by means of TaqMan real-time polymerase chain reaction in two at-risk pediatric cohorts recruited in Mexico City. Group 1 (n = 175) comprised children and adolescents with overweight/obesity. Group 2 (n = 296) consisted of non-medicated adolescents meeting the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition criteria for Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder or a mood disorder. Anthropometric measurements (body mass index —BMI—, waist circumference, body fat percentage), metabolic indices (fasting glucose, lipid profile, Homeostatic Model Assessment for Insulin Resistance), and psychiatric diagnoses were evaluated. In Group 1, the FTO A allele (genotypes AA/AT) was significantly associated with severe obesity according to BMI Z scores (p = 0.004, O.R. 3.33, 95% CI [1.42–7.77]), and it was a predictor of waist circumference (B = 6.16, 95% CI [1.78–10.55], p = 0.006) and muscle percentage (B = 4.21%, 95% CI [0.91–7.51%], p = 0.013) using linear regression models adjusted for age and sex. In Group 2, TCF7L2 AA genotype was associated with increased odds of depression (B = 0.83, p = 0.003, OR = 2.29, 95% CI [1.32–3.96]). While SLC16A11 G allele showed a possible association with insulin resistance or glucose levels, confirmation is needed. These exploratory results highlight the need for larger, well characterized cohort studies to confirm the associations. Full article

Medium-sized cities in the Global South are at the center of future urban growth, yet their transportation systems remain dominated by car-dependent trajectories. This paper examines how urban infrastructure shapes inclusive access to active commuting using a latent class model across three Mexican cities. We identify two distinct commuter environments defined by infrastructure quality. In low-infrastructure settings, active commuting is concentrated among younger men, consistent with existing literature. In contrast, in high-infrastructure environments, the baseline probability of active commuting is nearly three times higher, so that women and older individuals commute actively at substantially higher absolute rates even though demographic penalties remain present in both environments. Attitudinal variables, often emphasized in policy discourse, are not significant predictors of mode choice. These findings suggest that infrastructure investment is not only a tool for increasing active commuting rates but also a mechanism for expanding mobility access across demographic groups. For rapidly growing medium-sized cities, prioritizing non-motorized infrastructure can play a central role in building inclusive, low-carbon transportation systems. Full article

The question of the presence and active participation of artists of African descent is an obscure one in the art history of Mexico. We know that Black hands were vital participants in the arts of the Americas, and their contributions to Spanish American art were innumerable, but the full extent of this contribution remains frustratingly unclear. Relatively little scholarly research has focused on the Black artists of the colonial world; the most famous are the rare exceptions, including Juan Correa of Mexico (1646–1716). Even in this instance, however, misinformation and confusion abound. A distinguished painter of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, Correa was of a mixed-race family and was himself Afro-Mexican. The son of a physician from Cádiz, Spain and a free Black woman, Pascuala de Santoyo, Correa became one of the most prolific painters of his day with upwards of four hundred works identifiably of his oeuvre. He executed a number of works for the cathedral in Mexico City, while others were sent half a world away to Spain. The Correa family was one of the most active families of painters in colonial Mexico City, and his nephew Nicolás Correa was also a mixed-race artist of note. Yet, only recently has Correa’s Black heritage publicly marked his identity. While not overtly hidden from modern viewers, the assertion and emphasis of Correa’s status as Afro-Mexican is relatively new. This is the result of a long history of racial erasure(s), slippage, public disinterest, and modern narratives of Mexicanidad that began in the colonial period. Already a maestro pintor when the painters’ guild in Mexico City instituted new policies in the late seventeenth century designed to prevent artists of othered racial categories from achieving the highest levels of success, Correa stands out as an artist of Black heritage in Mexico who renders the African history of the Americas visible through his own personhood, but who participates in the invisibility of that African-ness in the visual canon. This article therefore proposes to begin from Juan Correa and cast a wide net to examine the invisibility of the Black artist in Mexico and the visibilities of race and rhetorical bodies in New Spain as the larger Viceregal territory. Full article

Urban mobility is increasingly conceptualized as a multidimensional, user-centered domain of transport system evaluation with potential implications for population health. This study examined the association between user-reported urban mobility experiences and perceived stress among adults using a high-intensity corridor in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. A quantitative cross-sectional analytical study was conducted with 423 participants using the Urban Mobility Experiences Scale (UMES) and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-14). Spearman’s correlation analyses showed inverse associations between perceived stress and several mobility dimensions, although only Sustainability and Urban Environment remained statistically significant after Bonferroni correction (ρ = −0.266; p < 0.001). In multivariate analysis, Sustainability and Urban Environment, Accessibility and Connectivity, and Travel Time and Efficiency were retained as significant predictors, jointly explaining 14.1% of the variance in perceived stress (R² = 0.141; f² = 0.152). These findings suggest that multidimensional urban mobility experiences, particularly environmental and accessibility conditions, are associated with perceived stress beyond traditional operational indicators in high-intensity urban corridors. Full article

Adaptive traffic signal control (ATSC) remains a critical challenge for urban mobility. In this direction, deep reinforcement learning (DRL) has been widely investigated for ATSC, showing promising improvements in simulated environments. However, a noticeable gap remains between simulation-based results and practical implementations, due to reward formulations that do not address phase instability. Stochastic variations may trigger premature phase changes (“flickers”), affecting signal behavior and potentially limiting deployment in real scenarios. Although several works have examined delay, queues, and decentralized coordination, stability-focused variables remain comparatively less explored, particularly in single yet complex intersections. This study proposes a decentralized DRL model for ATSC with noise injection (ATSC-DRLNI) applied to a single intersection, introducing a stability-oriented reward function that integrates flickers, queue length, and advantage actor-critic (A2C) learning feedback. The model is evaluated in the Simulation of Urban MObility (SUMO) platform and compared against seven baseline methods, using real traffic data from a Mexican city for calibration and validation. Results suggest that penalizing flickers may contribute to more stable phase transitions, while reductions of up to 40% in queue length were observed in heavy-traffic scenarios. These findings indicate that incorporating stability-related variables into reward functions may help in implementing DRL-based ATSC studies. Full article

Background: The Perri Auditory Verbal Learning Test (Perri-AVLT) is a cognitive tool designed to assess verbal learning and memory. Currently, demographically adjusted norms for the Perri-AVLT are not available for elderly Mexican adults. Objective: This study aimed to develop regression-based norms from elderly Mexican adults to enable demographic adjustments for clinical interpretation. Methods: The sample included 294 elderly Mexican adults aged 60–89 (224 cognitively normal individuals, and 70 clinical cases) from Mexico (Jalisco, Guanajuato, and Mexico City). Participants were administered the Perri-AVLT. A multivariate regression-based norming approach was used to evaluate the effects of age, sex, and years of education on test performance. Results: The multivariate regression model showed that years of education were a significant predictor of cognitive performance across all Perri-AVLT trials. The Pearson correlation for all Perri-AVLT trials was high. Conclusion: This study provides regression-based normative data for the Perri-AVLT adjusted for sociodemographic factors. These norms can be used to evaluate verbal learning and memory in elderly Mexican adults. This information can support a neuropsychologist in cognitive assessment, rehabilitation, and research. Full article

Background/Objectives: Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) remain a major contributor to maternal morbidity and mortality worldwide, yet early-life reproductive factors such as age at menarche have been insufficiently explored in relation to HDP. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the association between age at menarche and the risk of HDP in a cohort of Mexican pregnant women. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study among 1344 women with singleton pregnancies receiving care at a tertiary hospital in Mexico City in 2024. Age at menarche was categorized as <12, 12–14, and >14 years. HDP diagnoses were extracted from clinical records. Poisson regression with robust variance was used to estimate adjusted risk ratios (RRs). Sensitivity analyses included alternative menarche categorizations and restricted cubic spline models. Counterfactual mediation analyses assessed indirect effects through reconstructed prepregnancy BMI and gestational diabetes. Results: Both early (<12 years) and late (>14 years) menarche were associated with higher HDP risk than the 12–14-year reference (adjusted RR = 1.81; 95% CI 1.42–2.30, and 1.74; 95% CI 1.27–2.38, respectively). Spline models confirmed a U-shaped association. Mediation analyses indicated that prepregnancy BMI did not meaningfully mediate the association for either early or late menarche (<5% mediated). Gestational diabetes explained a modest proportion of the association for early menarche (≈14%), but not for late menarche. Conclusions: Age at menarche showed a robust U-shaped association with HDP, mostly independent of adiposity and gestational diabetes, within the limits of the available measurements. Incorporating pubertal timing into routine reproductive history taking may enhance contextual risk assessment for HDP. Full article

Background/Objectives: Acute leukemia, the most common childhood cancer, poses a significant public health challenge in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) due to its high incidence and mortality rates. Survival rates in these regions are often lower, primarily due to delayed and inaccurate diagnoses, limited access to treatment, therapy abandonment, therapy-related toxicity, and inadequate healthcare infrastructure. In Mexico, a new initiative called OncoCREAN has been developed to address this urgent need by establishing local treatment centers near pediatric patients’ home cities, ensuring timely cancer detection and comprehensive disease treatment. Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted on pediatric patients treated at the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) between 18 May 2022 and 30 June 2025. Patients presenting clinical suspicion of acute leukemia were referred to OncoCREAN centers for sample collection and subsequent shipment to the Oncoimmunology and Cytomics Laboratory (OCL), where immunophenotyping confirmed the diagnoses. Results: The implementation of the OncoCREAN model significantly reduced diagnostic turnaround times, facilitating timely therapeutic decisions, minimized uncertainty, and optimized clinical management. The decentralized framework demonstrated feasibility across diverse geographic regions, ensuring access to advanced diagnostic technology for vulnerable populations and generating valuable data on disease incidence and molecular profiles. Conclusions: The OncoCREAN model highlights the critical importance of decentralizing high-technology diagnostic resources in modern pediatric oncology. This new approach to translational research that is accessible, inclusive, and relevant to society creates a paradigm shift in the management of childhood cancer and other diseases. Full article

Acculturation and social networks shape ideals of weight perception, given that the construct is steeped in cultural perceptions of beauty and norms. This study leverages social network data from New York City (n = 80_participants; 1600_{network members}) who were asked “Would you like to weigh more, less, or stay the same?” as well as questions regarding their acculturation stress levels and the perceived weight of social network members. Body Mass Index (BMI) was objectively measured. Regression models evaluated the association between BMI, weight satisfaction, and acculturation stress, net of sociodemographic variables, weight loss attempts, and health behaviors. Those who were dissatisfied with their weight and experienced high acculturation stress had a significantly higher BMI (β = 5.4, 2.8–8.1, p < 0.001) in the fully adjusted model. However, with every 25% increase in the perception of network members with obesity/overweight, there was a significant decrease in individual BMI. No other social network variables were significantly associated with BMI. More research is needed among Latinos/as across the acculturative stress spectrum to fully understand how social norms regarding weight affect both social networks and individuals, as well as how these might be influenced by cross-cultural differences between US and Latino/a norms regarding ideal weight perceptions. Full article

The prevalence of eating disorders (ED) has grown in recent decades, associated with sociocultural pressures that partly stem from body stereotypes and increased stress in daily life. However, even though college constitutes a high-risk life stage, this group has received little attention, leaving a significant gap in prevention and early intervention. This cross-sectional and comparative study included 610 Mexican college students aged 18–30 enrolled in two public universities in Mexico: one sample comprised undergraduate students from Yucatan’s UADY (n = 457), and another one from Mexico City’s UNAM (n = 153). Screening tools included the EAT-26, BES, BSQ, DMS, HADS and AUDIT. We determined the frequency of ED symptomatology across both universities. Linear and multiple logistic regressions were conducted to identify factors associated with ED symptomatology. Overall, 19.8% of participants displayed significant ED symptomatology (UADY 15.5%, UNAM 32.7%). Significant ED symptomatology was more common among women (31.8%) than men (11.7%). Non-cisgender students (27.8%) showed a higher frequency than cisgender women (24.7%) and cisgender men (11.2%). High BD was the strongest predictor of significant ED symptomatology (OR = 13.35; 95% CI 6.79–26.26), followed by symptoms of anxiety (OR = 1.11, 95% CI 1.03–1.19). Our findings highlight the need for early screening and targeted interventions among college students in Mexico. Full article