Dinoflagellate cysts in western equatorial Atlantic surface sediments

In contrast to the wide range of studies carried out in temperate and high-latitude oceanic regions, only a few studies have focused on recent and Holocene organic-walled dinoflagellate cyst assemblages from the tropics. This information is, however, essential for fully understanding the ability of species to adapt to different oceanographic regimes, and ultimately their potential application to local and regional palaeoenvironmental and palaeoceanographic reconstructions. Surface sediment samples of the western equatorial Atlantic Ocean north of Brazil, an area greatly influenced by Amazon River discharge waters, were therefore analysed in detail for their organic-walled dinoflagellate cyst content. A diverse association of 43 taxa was identified, and large differences in cyst distribution were observed. The cyst thanatocoenosis in bottom sediments reflects the seasonal advection of Amazon River discharge water through the Guyana Current and the North Equatorial Countercurrent well into the North Atlantic. To establish potential links between cyst distribution and the environmental conditions of the upper water column, distribution patterns were compared with mean temperature, salinity, density and stratification gradients within the upper water column (0-100 m) over different times of the year, using correspondence analysis and canonical correspondence analysis. The analyses show that differences in these parameters only play a subordinate role in determining species distribution. Instead, nutrient availability, or related factors, dominates the distribution pattern. The only possible indicators of slightly reduced salinities are Trinovantedinium applanatum and Lingulodinium machaerophorum. Four assemblage groups of cyst taxa with similar environmental affinities related to specific water masses/currents can be distinguished and have potential for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction.

Learning from one another: evaluating the impact of horizontal knowledge exchange for environmental management and governance

There is increasing advocacy for inclusive community-based approaches to environmental management, and growing evidence that involving communities improves the sustainability of social-ecological systems. Most community-based approaches rely on partnerships and knowledge exchange between communities, civil society organizations, and professionals such as practitioners and/or scientists. However, few models have actively integrated more horizontal knowledge exchange from community to community. We reflect on the transferability of community owned solutions between indigenous communities by exploring challenges and achievements of community peer-to-peer knowledge exchange as a way of empowering communities to face up to local environmental and social challenges. Using participatory visual methods, indigenous communities of the North Rupununi (Guyana) identified and documented their community owned solutions through films and photostories. Indigenous researchers from this community then shared their solutions with six other communities that faced similar challenges within Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela, Colombia, French Guiana, and Brazil. They were supported by in-country civil society organizations and academics. We analyzed the impact of the knowledge exchange through interviews, field reports, and observations. Our results show that indigenous community members were significantly more receptive to solutions emerging from, and communicated by, other indigenous peoples, and that this approach was a significant motivating force for galvanizing communities to make changes in their community. We identified a range of enabling factors, such as building capacity for a shared conceptual and technical understanding, that strengthens the exchange between communities and contributes to a lasting impact. With national and international policy-makers mobilizing significant financial resources for biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation, we argue that the promotion of community owned solutions through community peer-to-peer exchange may deliver more long-lasting, socially and ecologically integrated, and investment-effective strategies compared to top-down, expert led, and/or foreign-led initiatives.

Community owned solutions: identifying local best practices for social-ecological sustainability

Policies and actions that come from higher scale structures, such as international bodies and national governments, are not always compatible with the realities and perspectives of smaller scale units including indigenous communities. Yet, it is at this local social-ecological scale that mechanisms and solutions for dealing with unpredictability and change can be increasingly seen emerging from across the world. Although there is a large body of knowledge specifying the conditions necessary to promote local governance of natural resources, there is a parallel need to develop practical methods for operationalizing the evaluation of local social-ecological systems. In this paper, we report on a systemic, participatory, and visual approach for engaging local communities in an exploration of their own social-ecological system. Working with indigenous communities of the North Rupununi, Guyana, this involved using participatory video and photography within a system viability framework to enable local participants to analyze their own situation by defining indicators of successful strategies that were meaningful to them. Participatory multicriteria analysis was then used to arrive at a short list of best practice strategies. We present six best practices and show how they are intimately linked through the themes of indigenous knowledge, local governance and values, and partnerships and networks. We highlight how developing shared narratives of community owned solutions can help communities to plan governance and management of land and resource systems, while reinforcing sustainable practices by discussing and showcasing them within communities, and by engendering a sense of pride in local solutions.

Glimpses of British Guiana at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition, 1886

This paper uses the example of the British Guiana Court at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition of 1886 as a case study to demonstrate how British Guiana (now Guyana) was represented in Britain at the time, by cross-referencing different materials (e.g. objects, correspondence, reports, and newspapers from that period). This exhibition also shows which raw materials from the British Guiana were of interest to Britain and the involvement of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in this matter. Nevertheless, the exhibition not only displayed objects and commodities, such as the case of sugar, but also displayed people. Here, particular attention is paid to the Amerindians who were portrayed as living ethnological exhibits at the exhibition. This paper aims to understand how British Guiana was seen and administered by its mother country and also how Everard im Thurn (1852-1932), the explorer, sought to manoeuvre that representation, as well as his relation with RBG, Kew. Taking into consideration that this colony was a neglected area of the British Empire, even in im Thurn’s time, this exhibition was an opportunity not only to display the empire but also for advertising the potential of the neglected colony and to ensure that it would not be forgotten.

Entre limites e distanciamentos : alguns aspectos das formações de coletivos “Waiwai” e percursos etnológicos pela Amazônia Oriental

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Ciências Sociais, Departamento de Antropologia, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Antropologia Social, 2015.

Librarians, professionals and paraprofessionals

Ms. Van Patten Elia Maria de Ocampo attended the Ninth International Conference on City Library Associations Guyana from 14 to 17 July 1980, Venezuela. Elia was very inspiring to see that the Costa Rican school library system up to the head of the whole region. There are big plans in other countries but have not been able to practice in that it has successfully done in our country. This told us Elia Maria:  Venezuela was chosen by the International Association of School Librarians to host its ninth Annual Conference. The event was held in Ciudad Guayana from 14 to 18 July 1980 and its importance lies in the fact that he offered an excellent and unique opportunity to meet and exchange ideas on the situation of school libraries in America and other regions . Conference was attended by 160 delegates from 13 different countries. Representing the school libraries of the Ministry of Education and with funding from the OAS through the Multinational Project on School Library Resource Centers that attended this important library activity.

Mise en oeuvre de la surveillance pour la Directive Cadre Européenne sur l’Eau dans les départements d’Outre-Mer - Volet littoral

The implementation of the WFD in the French overseas takes into account local, morphological, climatic and socioeconomic peculiarities, as well as specificities of their ecosystems. This document provide an up-to-date assessment of the state of characteristics of the coastal water bodies, of development of indicators and of WFD monitoring programs in each of the French overseas departments: Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Guyana, Reunion Island and Mayotte.

El plurilingüismo: retos sociales y transformaciones educativas

Se analiza el papel del plurilingüismo como mediador de la pluralidad en el mundo contemporáneo, a partir de varios aspectos por atender: lo programático, lo económico, lo político, lo ecológico, lo epistemológico y lo ético. A partir de ellos, se reflexiona sobre su relación con las mentalidades y los comportamientos sociales de hoy día. Se propone la pertinencia de tres principios o paradigmas: el de las representaciones, el de las identidades y el de las competencias.An analysis is carried out of the role of plurilingualism as a facilitator for plurality in the contemporary world. It addresses programmatic, economic, political ecological, epistemological and ethical aspects requiring attention. With this basis, its relation with present-day social behavior and mentalitiesis reflected upon. The pertinence of three principies or paradigms is proposed: that of representations, that of identities and that of competences.

Modelo predictivo para uso del condón y consumo de alcohol como conductas de riesgo relacionadas con el contagio de VIH/SIDA en trabajadoras sexuales de Bogotá- 2015

Objetivo: Determinar un modelo predictivo para uso del condón y consumo de alcohol como conductas de riesgo relacionadas el contagio de VIH/Sida en mujeres trabajadoras sexuales de la ciudad de Bogotá en el año 2015. Métodos Estudio de tipo transversal con diseño observacional, se tomaron 255 mujeres trabajadoras sexuales de la ciudad de Bogotá; La información analizada fue tomada del estudio realizado en cinco ciudades de Colombia en el año 2015, las hipótesis planteadas se soportaron en la asociación entre las condiciones sociodemográficas, de conocimiento, practicas, hábitos, apoyo social y de ocupación propia de las mujeres trabajadoras sexuales que podían explicar y predecir la adopción de conductas riesgosas para VIH/sida como son el uso del condón y el consumo de alcohol en ejercicio de su ocupación. Resultados El promedio de edad de inicio en el trabajo sexual fue 22,1±7,1 años, tres cuartas partes son solteras y residen en estrato dos y tres; el 96,5% dijo usar el condón con el último cliente y el 27,8% de ellas consumió alcohol durante su último servicio. En la conducta de riesgo uso del condón, se encontraron asociados entre otras, la edad [OR=1,10(1,03-1,17)], vivir en estrato dos [OR=7,7(1,5-39,5)], el ingreso por trabajo sexual [OR=1,0(1,0-1,0)], la disponibilidad del condón para el servicio [OR=0,03(0,008-0,16)] y contar con otro método de planificación (ligadura de trompas) [OR=4,47(1,0-18,3)]. En la conducta de riesgo consumo de alcohol, se encontró asociado ente otros: estrato socioeconómico dos [OR=5,8(1,54-22,3)], nivel de escolaridad secundaria [OR=0,12(0,16-0,96)], vivir con otros familiares [OR=3,45(1,7-7,02)], ingreso por trabajo sexual [OR=1,0(1,0-1,0)] y el sitio donde se ofrece el servicio [OR=0,07(0,04-0,15)]. Después de ajustar, se encontró que las variables que mejor explican el uso del condón fueron edad [OR=1,1(1,02-1,17)] y disponibilidad del condón [OR=0,04(0,008-0,024)], el modelo tuvo poca sensibilidad 33,3% y buena capacidad predictiva (84,6%). Las variables que mejor explicaron el consumo de alcohol durante el servicio fueron edad [OR= 0,95(0,91-0,98)], Número de clientes por semana [OR=0,9(0,90-0,98)], sitio donde ofrece el servicio [OR=7,1(3,45-14,8)], y estrato socioeconómico [OR=1,8 (0,90-3,83)], resultando un modelo con buena sensibilidad (71,8%) y buena capacidad predictiva (86,4%). Conclusiones Aspectos como la edad, el estrato socioeconómico, escolaridad, estado civil, ingreso económico por trabajo sexual, edad de inicio en el trabajo sexual, número de clientes antiguos en la última semana, disponibilidad del condón para prestar el servicio y ligadura de trompas como método diferente de planificación, se asociaron estadísticamente con el uso del condón. Sin embargo al ajustar las variables solo la edad y la disponibilidad del condón se mantuvieron como variables explicativas. Cabe anotar, que aunque el modelo mostró buena capacidad predictiva (84,6%), la precisión en sus estimaciones fue baja debido a la poca frecuencia del no uso del condón con el ultimo cliente (3,5%), y la sensibilidad del modelo apenas fue del 33,3%. Por otro lado, factores como la edad, el estrato socioeconómico, nivel educativo, ingreso económico, sitio de oferta del servicio, composición familiar, número de hijos, número de clientes atendidos en la última semana y número de clientes antiguos mostraron asociación estadística con el consumo de alcohol. Sin embargo, al ajustar las variables solo edad, estrato socioeconómico, sitio donde se ofrece el servicio y número de clientes por semana mantuvieron asociación estadística; observándose además que el estrato socioeconómico (uno y dos) y sitio donde se ofrece el servicio (establecimiento), son factores de riesgo para el consumo de alcohol en ejercicio de la ocupación y la poca edad y un número reducido de clientes por semana se comportan como factores de protección para el consumo de alcohol. El modelo predictivo que se desarrolló para la conducta de riesgo de consumo de alcohol, con una sensibilidad del 71,8% y un poder predictivo del 86,4%. .

The genetic diversity of the American oil palm, Elaeis oleifera (Kunth), Cortes revealed by nuclear RFLP markers.

The genetic diversity of E. oleifera is strongly structured by geographical origin, with four groups clearly distinguished: Brazil, Surinam/French Guyana, north of /Colombia/Central America and Peru. Within the Amazon basin, thereis a moderate structure that corresponds to the major tributaries of the Amazon river. From the 37 polymorphic RFLP probe/enzyme combinatios used, 19 probes (51%) presented simple restriction profiles, with one (1) or two bands/plant, suggesting a single locus with different alleles, allowing allelic co-dominant coding for them.