Plant-parasitic nematodes are major constraints to the productivity of tropical farming operations. Intensive land use and climatic conditions favorable to nematode development contribute to increased crop losses due to these pests. Many farmers in developing tropical countries have limited resources and management options. Cropping systems research is a relatively low-cost, low-input method of...

To evaluate the prevalence of varicella-zoster virus infection in young adults from different Brazilian urban regions, 975 serum samples from blood donors aged 20 to 29 years, from tropical climate cities (Salvador and Fortaleza) and from temperate climate cities (S o Paulo, Curitiba and Porto Alegre) were tested by an in-house ELISA for detection of anti-varicella-zoster virus IgG antibodies. ...

Pyomyositis is a primary bacterial infection of the skeletal muscles. It is known as tropical myositis as most cases have been reported in patients living in tropical areas and, until recently, it was considered unusual in the temperate zone. The condition is usually diagnosed late, and for this reason it is followed by an increased morbidity and sometimes a significant mortality rate. A review...

BINABITROP is a bibliographical database of more than 38000 records about the ecosystems and organisms of Costa Rica. In contrast with commercial databases, such as Web of Knowledge and Scopus, which exclude most of the scientific journals published in tropical countries, BINABITROP is a comprehensive record of knowledge on the tropical ecosystems and organisms of Costa Rica. We analyzed its co...

Poultry housing Improvements to poultry housing systems in developing countries have focused on providing an environment that satisfies the birds’ thermal requirements. Newly hatched birds have a poor ability to control body temperature, and require some form of supplementary heating, particularly in the first few days after hatch. Many developing countries are located in tropical areas where m...

Botswana, Ghana, Mauritius and South Africa are sub-Saharan African countries that stand out for their development progress. Each of these countries has succeeded against the odds, against expectations. This paper synthesizes the common ingredients of these countries’ success, and derives lessons. It concludes that smallness, landlockedness, tropical location, distance from world markets, racis...

Although tropical forests cover only 6% of Earth's arable surface, they account for nearly 50% of all known species (National Research Council, 1992). Despite this diversity, these systems are increasingly threatened, as exemplified by a recent Food and Agriculture Organization report (FAa, 1999) which indicates that tropical countries are losing 127,300 km2 of forest annually; this does not co...

Background: Dengue viral infections are a major public health problem in many tropical and sub-tropical countries of the world. Early diagnosis and appropriate therapeutic interventions are critical for reducing both morbidity and mortality. The WHO has proposed a revised classification based on warning signs as the validity and usefulness of the WHO 1997 dengue classification has been question...

Juxta-articular nodes (Lutz, 1891; Jeanselme, 1924) have usually been reported from tropical countries where yaws and syphilis are endemic. Kalz and Newton (1943) state that only about 200 cases have been reported from non-tropical regions. In the Scandinavian literature only one report of such nodes (Fex, 1927) has come to our knowledge and we therefore wish to present four cases observed at t...

background: leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease that is recognized as a re-emerging global public health issue, especially in tropical and subtropical countries. malaysia, for example, has increasingly registered leptospirosis cases, outbreaks, and fatalities over the past decade. one of the major industries in the country is the palm oil sector, which employs numerous agricultural workers. the...