the province of Bocas del Toro, Panama, Oncidium maduroi Dressler is here reported for the first time from Costa Rica, based on the following collection: Alajuela: San Carlos, road to the Río La Vieja, along a path at the right of the road about 4 km before the river, 1 000 m, collected by C. Cambronero Araya in 1995, flowered in cultivation, 7 October 2000, F. Pupulin 2437 (USJ, SEL). In Costa...

BACKGROUND Costa Rica, like other developing countries, is experiencing an increasing burden of chronic conditions such as diabetes mellitus (DM), especially among its elderly population. This article has two goals: (1) to assess the level of metabolic control among the diabetic population age >or= 60 years old in Costa Rica, and (2) to test whether diabetic elderly patients of community health...

The taxonomy and geographic distribution of the freshwater crabs of the family Pseudothelphusidae Ortmann, 1893, of Costa Rica, Central America, particularly of the genus Ptychophallus Smalley, 1964, are revised. Historical materials deposited in major collections of several institutions were examined, as well as valuable collections in the Zoological Museum of the University of Costa Rica that...

High cancer mortality in Costa Rica, especially stomach cancer mortality, has long attracted the attention of local doctors and statisticians. Nervertheless, as in many parts of the world with relatively young populations and limited resources, this matter has in the past been overshadowed by larger health problems, and the statistics that are available have received scant attention. Despite th...

Costa Rica has one of the greatest percentages (26%) of protected land in the world. The National Protected Areas System (NPAS) of Costa Rica was established in 1976 and currently includes >190 protected areas within seven different protection categories. The effectiveness of the NPAS to represent species, populations, and areas with high species richness has not been properly evaluated. Such e...

Bacteria of the Brucella genus are facultative intracellular class III pathogens. These bacteria are able to control the intracellular trafficking of their vacuole, presumably by the use of yet unknown translocated effectors. To identify such effectors, we used a high-throughput yeast two-hybrid screen to identify interactions between putative human phagosomal proteins and predicted Brucella sp...

Objectives. To estimate and compare disability-free life expectancy (DFLE) and current age patterns of disability onset and recovery from disability between the United States and countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Method. Disability is measured using the activities of daily living scale. Data come from longitudinal surveys of older adult populations in Costa Rica, Mexico, Puerto ...

BACKGROUND The carotid artery plaque score (PS) is an independent predictor of Coronary Heart Disease (CHD). This study aims to evaluate the combination of PS and carotid hemodynamics to predict CHD. METHODS A total of 476 patients who underwent carotid ultrasonography and coronary angiography were divided into two groups depending on the presence of CHD. PS, carotid intima-media thickness, a...

Accurate estimates of forest cover and forest fragmentation are critical for developing countries such as Costa Rica, which holds four to five percent of the world’s plant and bird species. We estimated forest cover for Costa Rica using Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper satellite scenes acquired between 1986 and 1991. In 1991, 29 percent (ca 14,000 km2) of the land cover of Costa Rica was closed forest...

Based on almost 1,700 recently reared and wild-collected specimens, the genus Dunama Schaus (Notodontidae, Nystaelinae) in Costa Rica is reviewed. Eight species are recorded of which seven are newly described: Dunama jessiehillae Chacón, Dunama jessiebarronae Chacón, Dunama janewaldronae Chacón, Dunama jessiebancroftae Chacón, Dunama janecoxae Chacón, Dunama biosise Chacón, Dunama indereci Chac...