Can Rubber Crop Systems Recover Termite Diversity in Previously Degraded Pastures in the Colombian Amazon Region?

Livestock production extension in Amazon has caused deforestation and soil degradation, with negative consequences on diversity and environmental services. Recently, rubber crops have been established in deteriorated soils of the Colombian Amazon as an option to restore hectares of unproductive degraded pastures. Bioindicator insects, such as termites, have been used to assess soil quality and fertility restoration.

Two Triatoma dimidiata clades (Chagas disease vector) associated with different habitats in southern Mexico and Central America.

Triatoma dimidiata is the only reported Chagas disease vector in Campeche, Mexico. The purpose of this study was to determine the genetic variability of vectors from Campeche coastal and rain forest areas and establish a phylogenetic relationship with other T. dimidiata populations by analyzing the internal transcribed spacer-2 (ITS-2) region.

Isolation, vancomycin resistance and biofilm production of Staphylococcus epidermidis from patients with conjunctivitis, corneal ulcers, and endophthalmitis.

The infection frequency associated to bacterial conjunctivitis, corneal ulcers (CU), and endophthalmitis was studied along a five years period. The isolation and identification of microorganisms were performed by culture-based methods and biochemical test respectively. Also, a nested PCR to detect gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria in the clinical samples was assayed.