Estanho na Amazônia: o apogeu e o caso da produção

No Brasil, na Região Amazônica, o minério de estanho (cassiterita) é obtido por dragagem em depósitos aluvionares, extração de minério primário e lavra de pequeno porte. O concentrado de estanho obtido (Sn02, contendo 60% de estanho), sendo transformado, via redução, nos fornos elétricos, transformando-o em lingotes de estanho. O metal é primeiramente usado para a produção de folhas de flandres – chapas de aço recobertas com estanho e utilizadas para fabricação de latas para alimentos, bebidas e produtos químicos, bem como na produção de soldas e outras ligas para a indústria em geral (particularmente em segmentos elétricos e eletrônicos). A mina mais importante é a de Pitinga (pureza de 55,3%), localizada a 300 km ao norte de Manaus (AM) e proprietária da Paranapenema. Pitinga dispõe de reservas provadas de columbita-tantalita, criolita e zirconita, contendo terras raras e itrium, cuja viabilidade econômica ainda está sendo estudada. Há inda veios mineralizados no estado de Rondônia, incluindo a mina de Bom Futuro (pureza de 58%), no município de Ariquemes, onde operam os mineradores de pequeno porte. O Brasil é o quinto maior produtor do metal, após Indonésia, China e Peru.

Fungal Planet description sheets: 320-370

Novel species of fungi described in the present study include the following from Malaysia: Castanediella eucalypti from Eucalyptus pellita, Codinaea acacia from Acacia mangium, Emarcea eucalyptigena from Eucalyptus brassiana, Myrtapenidiella eucalyptorum from Eucalyptus pellita, Pilidiella eucalyptigena from Eucalyptus brassiana and Strelitziana malaysiana from Acacia mangium. Furthermore, Stachybotrys sansevieriicola is described from Sansevieria ehrenbergii (Tanzania), Phacidium grevilleae from Grevillea robusta (Uganda), Graphium jumulu from Adansonia gregorii and Ophiostoma eucalyptigena from Eucalyptus marginata (Australia), Pleurophoma ossicola from bone and Plectosphaerella populi from Populus nigra (Germany), Colletotrichum neosansevieriae from Sansevieria trifasciata, Elsinoë othonnae from Othonna quinquedentata and Zeloasperisporium cliviae (Zeloasperisporiaceae fam. nov.) from Clivia sp. (South Africa), Neodevriesia pakbiae, Phaeophleospora hymenocallidis and Phaeophleospora hymenocallidicola on leaves of a fern (Thailand), Melanconium elaeidicola from Elaeis guineensis (Indonesia), Hormonema viticola from Vitis vinifera (Canary Islands), Chlorophyllum pseudoglobossum from a grassland (India), Triadelphia disseminata from an immunocompromised patient (Saudi Arabia), Colletotrichum abscissum from Citrus (Brazil), Polyschema sclerotigenum and Phialemonium limoniforme from human patients (USA), Cadophora vitícola from Vitis vinifera (Spain), Entoloma flavovelutinum and Bolbitius aurantiorugosus from soil (Vietnam), Rhizopogon granuloflavus from soil (Cape Verde Islands), Tulasnella eremophila from Euphorbia officinarum subsp. echinus (Morocco), Verrucostoma martinicensis from Danaea elliptica (French West Indies), Metschnikowia colchici from Colchicum autumnale (Bulgaria), Thelebolus microcarpus from soil (Argentina) and Ceratocystis adelpha from Theobroma cacao (Ecuador). Myrmecridium iridis (Myrmecridiales ord. nov., Myrmecridiaceae fam. nov.) is also described from Iris sp. (The Netherlands). Novel genera include (Ascomycetes): Budhanggurabania from Cynodon dactylon (Australia), Soloacrosporiella, Xenocamarosporium, Neostrelitziana and Castanediella from Acacia mangium and Sabahriopsis from Eucalyptus brassiana (Malaysia), Readerielliopsis from basidiomata of Fuscoporia wahlbergii (French Guyana), Neoplatysporoides from Aloe ferox (Tanzania), Wojnowiciella, Chrysofolia and Neoeriomycopsis from Eucalyptus (Colombia), Neophaeomoniella from Eucalyptus globulus (USA), Pseudophaeomoniella from Olea europaea (Italy), Paraphaeomoniella from Encephalartos altensteinii, Aequabiliella, Celerioriella and Minutiella from Prunus (South Africa). Tephrocybella (Basidiomycetes) represents a novel genus from wood (Italy). Morphological and culture characteristics along with ITS DNA barcodes are provided for all taxa.

Past and present distribution, densities and movements of blue whales Balaenoptera musculus in the Southern Hemisphere and northern Indian Ocean

1. Blue whale locations in the Southern Hemisphere and northern Indian Ocean were obtained from catches (303 239), sightings (4383 records of ≥ 8058 whales), strandings (103), Discovery marks (2191) and recoveries (95), and acoustic recordings. 2. Sighting surveys included 7 480 450 km of effort plus 14 676 days with unmeasured effort. Groups usually consisted of solitary whales (65.2%) or pairs (24.6%); larger feeding aggregations of unassociated individuals were only rarely observed. Sighting rates (groups per 1000 km from many platform types) varied by four orders of magnitude and were lowest in the waters of Brazil, South Africa, the eastern tropical Pacific, Antarctica and South Georgia; higher in the Subantarctic and Peru; and highest around Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Chile, southern Australia and south of Madagascar. 3. Blue whales avoid the oligotrophic central gyres of the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, but are more common where phytoplankton densities are high, and where there are dynamic oceanographic processes like upwelling and frontal meandering. 4. Compared with historical catches, the Antarctic (‘true’) subspecies is exceedingly rare and usually concentrated closer to the summer pack ice. In summer they are found throughout the Antarctic; in winter they migrate to southern Africa (although recent sightings there are rare) and to other northerly locations (based on acoustics), although some overwinter in the Antarctic. 5. Pygmy blue whales are found around the Indian Ocean and from southern Australia to New Zealand. At least four groupings are evident: northern Indian Ocean, from Madagascar to the Subantarctic, Indonesia to western and southern Australia, and from New Zealand northwards to the equator. Sighting rates are typically much higher than for Antarctic blue whales.

HAWAIIAN SUGAR CANE RAT CONTROL METHODS AND PROBLEMS

The problem of rats in our Hawaiian sugar cane fields has been with us for a long time. Early records tell of heavy damage at various times on all the islands where sugar cane is grown. Many methods were tried to control these rats. Trapping was once used as a control measure, a bounty was used for a time, gangs of dogs were trained to catch the rats as the cane was harvested. Many kinds of baits and poisons were used. All of these methods were of some value as long as labor was cheap. Our present day problem started when the labor costs started up and the sugar industry shifted to long cropping. Until World War II cane was an annual crop. After the war it was shifted to a two year crop, three years in some places. Depending on variety, location, and soil we raise 90 to 130 tons of sugar cane per acre, which produces 7 to 15 tons of sugar per acre for a two year crop. This sugar brings about $135 dollars per ton. This tonnage of cane is a thick tangle of vegetation. The cane grows erect for almost a year, as it continues to grow it bends over at the base. This allows the stalk to rest on the ground or on other stalks of cane as it continues to grow. These stalks form a tangled mat of stalks and dead leaves that may be two feet thick at the time of harvest. At the same time the leafy growing portion of the stalk will be sticking up out of the mat of cane ten feet in the air. Some of these individual stalks may be 30 feet long and still growing at the time of harvest. All this makes it very hard to get through a cane field as it is one long, prolonged stumble over and through the cane. It is in this mat of cane that our three species of rats live. Two species are familiar to most people in the pest control field. Rattus norvegicus and Rattus rattus. In the latter species we include both the black rat and the alexandrine rats, their habits seem to be the same in Hawaii. Our third rat is the Polynesian rat, Rattus exlans, locally called the Hawaiian rat. This is a small rat, the average length head to tip of tail is nine inches and the average body weight is 65 grams. It has dark brownish fur like the alexandrine rats, and a grey belly. It is found in Indonesia, on most of the islands of Oceania and in New Zealand. All three rats live in our cane fields and the brushy and forested portions of our islands. The norway and alexandrine rats are found in and around the villages and farms, the Polynesian rat is only found in the fields and waste areas. The actual amount of damage done by rats is small, but destruction they cause is large. The rats gnaw through the rind of the cane stalk and eat the soft juicy and sweet tissues inside. They will hollow out one to several nodes per stalk attacked. The effect to the cane stalk is like ringing a tree. After this attack the stalk above the chewed portion usually dies, and sometimes the lower portion too. If the rat does not eat through the stalk the cane stalk could go on living and producing sugar at a reduced rate. Generally an injured stalk does not last long. Disease and souring organisms get in the injury and kill the stalk. And if this isn't enough, some insects are attracted to the injured stalk and will sometimes bore in and kill it. An injured stalk of cane doesn't have much of a chance. A rat may only gnaw out six inches of a 30 foot stalk and the whole stalk will die. If the rat only destroyed what he ate we could ignore them but they cause the death of too much cane. This dead, dying, and souring cane cause several direct and indirect tosses. First we lose the sugar that the cane would have produced. We harvest all of our cane mechanically so we haul the dead and souring cane to the mill where we have to grind it with our good cane and the bad cane reduces the purity of the sugar juices we squeeze from the cane. Rats reduce our income and run up our overhead.

Crossing over does occur in males of Drosophila ananassae from natural populations

Spontaneous crossing over in males of Drosophila ananassae has been well demonstrated using F-1 individuals from crosses between marker stocks and wild type strains. However, the question of its occurrence in males from natural populations remained open. Here we present the cytological evidence that crossing over does occur in males of D. ananassae from two Brazilian populations, sampled nearly 21 years apart, and in two recently sampled populations, one from Indonesia and one from Okinawa, Japan. Cytological analysis of meiosis in males collected from nature and in sons of females from the same population inseminated in nature revealed the presence of chiasmata, inversion chiasmata, and isosite chromosome breakages in the diplotene cells in all sampled populations. These data demonstrate that reciprocal and nonreciprocal exchanges and chromosome breakages, previously reported as related events of male crossing over, do occur at variable frequencies among males from natural populations.

Ontogenetic and evolutionary change of external morphology of the neotropical shrimp potimirim (Holthuis, 1954) explained by a molecular phylogeny of the genus

A phylogenetic analysis of a fragment of the mitochondrial gene 16S was used to test the monophyletic status of Potimirim. Existing doubts on the taxonomic status of brasiliana (once P glabra) and P potimirim (once P mexicana) were clarified. Potimirim mexicana and P potimirim are distinct species according to molecular data and appendix masculina morphology. A new species (Potimirim sp. 1) from Puerto Rico was revealed with molecular data, and it is evolutionarily related to P potimirim and P mexicana according to our analysis. We found out three distinct species under the name P glabra. Then, we recommend the application of the name P glabra for the populations of the Pacific slope of Central America and revalidation of P brasiliana for the Brazilian ones. The need for a new name to those "P glabra" of the Caribbean is highlighted, and it was provisionally referred as Potimirim sp. 2. The ontogenetic (juveniles to adults) development of the appendix masculina of P brasiliana was observed and compared to the other species of Potimirim (adults). In the light of our phylogenetic hypothesis, we postulate a pattern of character addition for the evolution of the appendix masculina of Potimirim. This hypothesis is plausible for two key reasons. First. Potimirim is a monophyletic group according to our hypothesis. Second, the shape of appendix masculina found in adults of P. americana is similar and comparable to those found in the earliest juvenile stages of P brasiliana, a derived species according to our phylogeny (P americana, ((P mexicana, Potimirim sp. 1. P potimirim), (P glabra, (brasiliana, Potimirim sp. 2)))). As so, the basal P americana retain the ancestral morphological state of the appendix masculina when compared to the other species of Potimirim. In our interpretation the ontogeny of the appendix masculina recapitulated the proposed phylogeny, giving further support to it.

Worldwide spread of Dengue virus type 1

BACKGROUND: DENV-1 is one of the four viral serotypes that causes Dengue, the most common mosquito-borne viral disease of humans. The prevalence of these viruses has grown in recent decades and is now present in more than 100 countries. Limited studies document the spread of DENV-1 over the world despite its importance for human health. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We used representative DENV-1 envelope gene sequences to unravel the dynamics of viral diffusion under a Bayesian phylogeographic approach. Data included strains from 45 distinct geographic locations isolated from 1944 to 2009. The estimated mean rate of nucleotide substitution was 6.56 × 10⁻⁴ substitutions/site/year. The larger genotypes (I, IV and V) had a distinctive phylogenetic structure and since 1990 they experienced effective population size oscillations. Thailand and Indonesia represented the main sources of strains for neighboring countries. Besides, Asia broadcast lineages into the Americas and the Pacific region that diverged in isolation. Also, a transmission network analysis revealed the pivotal role of Indochina in the global diffusion of DENV-1 and of the Caribbean in the diffusion over the Americas. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The study summarizes the spatiotemporal DENV-1 worldwide spread that may help disease control.

Experiencia turística, imagen, seguridad y centros culturales

Programa de doctorado "Economía: aplicaciones a las finanzas y seguros, a la economía sectorial, al medio ambiente, y a las infraestructuras"

Studio di fenomeni d'instabilità gravitativa sui fondali marini, con particolare riferimento all'isola di Stromboli

In the last decade the interest for submarine instability grew up, driven by the increasing exploitation of natural resources (primary hydrocarbons), the emplacement of bottom-lying structures (cables and pipelines) and by the development of coastal areas, whose infrastructures increasingly protrude to the sea. The great interest for this topic promoted a number of international projects such as: STEAM (Sediment Transport on European Atlantic Margins, 93-96), ENAM II (European North Atlantic Margin, 96-99), GITEC (Genesis and Impact of Tsunamis on the European Coast 92-95), STRATAFORM (STRATA FORmation on Margins, 95-01), Seabed Slope Process in Deep Water Continental Margin (Northwest Gulf of Mexico, 96-04), COSTA (Continental slope Stability, 00-05), EUROMARGINS (Slope Stability on Europe’s Passive Continental Margin), SPACOMA (04-07), EUROSTRATAFORM (European Margin Strata Formation), NGI's internal project SIP-8 (Offshore Geohazards), IGCP-511: Submarine Mass Movements and Their Consequences (05-09) and projects indirectly related to instability processes, such as TRANSFER (Tsunami Risk ANd Strategies For the European region, 06-09) or NEAREST (integrated observations from NEAR shore sourcES of Tsunamis: towards an early warning system, 06-09). In Italy, apart from a national project realized within the activities of the National Group of Volcanology during the framework 2000-2003 “Conoscenza delle parti sommerse dei vulcani italiani e valutazione del potenziale rischio vulcanico”, the study of submarine mass-movement has been underestimated until the occurrence of the landslide-tsunami events that affected Stromboli on December 30, 2002. This event made the Italian Institutions and the scientific community more aware of the hazard related to submarine landslides, mainly in light of the growing anthropization of coastal sectors, that increases the vulnerability of these areas to the consequences of such processes. In this regard, two important national projects have been recently funded in order to study coastal instabilities (PRIN 24, 06-08) and to map the main submarine hazard features on continental shelves and upper slopes around the most part of Italian coast (MaGIC Project). The study realized in this Thesis is addressed to the understanding of these processes, with particular reference to Stromboli submerged flanks. These latter represent a natural laboratory in this regard, as several kind of instability phenomena are present on the submerged flanks, affecting about 90% of the entire submerged areal and often (strongly) influencing the morphological evolution of subaerial slopes, as witnessed by the event occurred on 30 December 2002. Furthermore, each phenomenon is characterized by different pre-failure, failure and post-failure mechanisms, ranging from rock-falls, to turbidity currents up to catastrophic sector collapses. The Thesis is divided into three introductive chapters, regarding a brief review of submarine instability phenomena and related hazard (cap. 1), a “bird’s-eye” view on methodologies and available dataset (cap. 2) and a short introduction on the evolution and the morpho-structural setting of the Stromboli edifice (cap. 3). This latter seems to play a major role in the development of largescale sector collapses at Stromboli, as they occurred perpendicular to the orientation of the main volcanic rift axis (oriented in NE-SW direction). The characterization of these events and their relationships with successive erosive-depositional processes represents the main focus of cap.4 (Offshore evidence of large-scale lateral collapses on the eastern flank of Stromboli, Italy, due to structurally-controlled, bilateral flank instability) and cap. 5 (Lateral collapses and active sedimentary processes on the North-western flank of Stromboli Volcano), represented by articles accepted for publication on international papers (Marine Geology). Moreover, these studies highlight the hazard related to these catastrophic events; several calamities (with more than 40000 casualties only in the last two century) have been, in fact, the direct or indirect result of landslides affecting volcanic flanks, as observed at Oshima-Oshima (1741) and Unzen Volcano (1792) in Japan (Satake&Kato, 2001; Brantley&Scott, 1993), Krakatau (1883) in Indonesia (Self&Rampino, 1981), Ritter Island (1888), Sissano in Papua New Guinea (Ward& Day, 2003; Johnson, 1987; Tappin et al., 2001) and Mt St. Augustine (1883) in Alaska (Beget& Kienle, 1992). Flank landslide are also recognized as the most important and efficient mass-wasting process on volcanoes, contributing to the development of the edifices by widening their base and to the growth of a volcaniclastic apron at the foot of a volcano; a number of small and medium-scale erosive processes are also responsible for the carving of Stromboli submarine flanks and the transport of debris towards the deeper areas. The characterization of features associated to these processes is the main focus of cap. 6; it is also important to highlight that some small-scale events are able to create damage to coastal areas, as also witnessed by recent events of Gioia Tauro 1978, Nizza, 1979 and Stromboli 2002. The hazard potential related to these phenomena is, in fact, very high, as they commonly occur at higher frequency with respect to large-scale collapses, therefore being more significant in terms of human timescales. In the last chapter (cap. 7), a brief review and discussion of instability processes identified on Stromboli submerged flanks is presented; they are also compared with respect to analogous processes recognized in other submerged areas in order to shed lights on the main factors involved in their development. Finally, some applications of multibeam data to assess the hazard related to these phenomena are also discussed.

Emissions of volatile organic compounds from tropical savanna vegetation and biomass burning

This dissertation focuses on characterizing the emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from grasses and young trees, and the burning of biomass mainly from Africa and Indonesia. The measurements were performed with a proton-transfer-reaction mass spectrometer (PTR-MS). The biogenic emissions of tropical savanna vegetation were studied in Calabozo (Venezuela). Two field campaigns were carried out, the first during the wet season (1999) and the second during the dry season (2000). Three grass species were studied: T. plumosus, H. rufa and A. canescens, and the tree species B. crassifolia, C. americana and C. vitifolium. The emission rates were determined with a dynamic plant enclosure system. In general, the emissions increased exponentially with increasing temperature and solar radiation. Therefore, the emission rates showed high variability. Consequently, the data were normalized to a standard temperature of 30°C, and standard emission rates thus determined allowed for interspecific and seasonal comparisons. The range of average daytime (10:00-16:00) emission rates of total VOCs measured from green (mature and young) grasses was between 510-960 ngC/g/h. Methanol was the primary emission (140-360 ngC/g/h), followed by acetaldehyde, butene and butanol and acetone with emission rates between 70-200 ngC/g/h. The emissions of propene and methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) were <80 ngC/g/h, and those of isoprene and C5-alcohols were between 10-130 ngC/g/h. The oxygenated species represented 70-75% of the total. The emission of VOCs was found to vary by up to a factor of three between plants of the same species, and by up to a factor of two between the different species. The annual source of methanol from savanna grasses worldwide estimated in this work was 3 to 4.4 TgC, which could represent up to 12% of the current estimated global emission from terrestrial vegetation. Two of the studied tree species, were isoprene emitters, and isoprene was also their primary emission (which accounted for 70-94% of the total carbon emitted) followed by methanol and butene + butanol. The daytime average emission rate of isoprene measured in the wet season was 27 mgC/g/h for B. crassifolia, and 123 mgC/g/h for C. vitifolium. The daytime emissions of methanol and butene + butanol were between 0.3 and 2 mgC/g/h. The total sum of VOCs emission measured during the day in the wet season was between 30 and 130 mgC/g/h. In the dry season, in contrast, the methanol emissions from C. vitifolium saplings –whose leaves were still developing– were an order of magnitude higher than in the wet season (15 mgC/g/h). The isoprene emission from B. crassifolia in the dry season was comparable to the emission in the wet season, whereas isoprene emission from C. vitifolium was about a factor of three lower (~43 mgC/g/h). Biogenic emission inventories show that isoprenoids are the most prominent and best-studied compounds. The standard emission rates of isoprene and monoterpenes of the measured savanna trees were in the lower end of the range found in the literature. The emission of other biogenic VOCs has been sparsely investigated, but in general, the standard emissions from trees studied here were within the range observed in previous investigations. The biomass burning study comprised the measurement of VOCs and other trace-gas emissions of 44 fires from 15 different fuel types, primarily from Africa and Indonesia, in a combustion laboratory. The average sum of emissions (excluding CO2, CO and NO) from African fuels was ~18 g(VOC)/kg. Six of the ten most important emissions were oxygenated VOCs. Acetic acid was the major emission, followed by methanol and formaldehyde. The emission of methane was of the same order as the methanol emission (~5 g/kg), and that of nitrogen-containing compounds was ~1 g/kg. An estimate of the VOC source from biomass burning of savannas and grasslands worldwide suggests that the sum of emissions is about 56 Tg/yr, of which 34 Tg correspond to oxygenated VOCs, 14 Tg to unsaturated and aromatic compounds, 5 Tg to methane and 3 Tg to N-compounds. The estimated emissions of CO, CO2 and NO are 216, 5117 and 9.4 Tg/yr, respectively. The emission factors reported here for Indonesian fuels are the first results of laboratory fires using Indonesian fuels. Acetic acid was the highest organic emission, followed by acetol, a compound not previously reported in smoke, methane, mass 97 (tentatively identified as furfural, dimethylfuran and ethylfuran), and methanol. The sum of total emissions of Indonesian fuels was 91 g/kg, which is 5 times higher than the emissions from African fuels. The results of this study reinforces the importance of oxygenated compounds. Due to the vast area covered by tropical savannas worldwide, the biogenic and biomass burning emission of methanol and other oxygenated compounds may be important for the regional and even global tropospheric chemistry.

Ownership, Multiple Blockholders and Performance: A study of the Indonesian Banking Industry

The objective of this study is to provide empirical evidence on how ownership structure and owner’s identity affect performance, in the banking industry by using a panel of Indonesia banks over the period 2000–2009. Firstly, we analysed the impact of the presence of multiple blockholders on bank ownership structure and performance. Building on multiple agency and principal-principal theories, we investigated whether the presence and shares dispersion across blockholders with different identities (i.e. central and regional government; families; foreign banks and financial institutions) affected bank performance, in terms of profitability and efficiency. We found that the number of blockholders has a negative effect on banks’ performance, while blockholders’ concentration has a positive effect. Moreover, we observed that the dispersion of ownership across different types of blockholders has a negative effect on banks’ performance. We interpret such results as evidence that, when heterogeneous blockholders are present, the disadvantage from conflicts of interests between blockholders seems to outweigh the advantage of the increase in additional monitoring by additional blockholder. Secondly, we conducted a joint analysis of the static, selection, and dynamic effects of different types of ownership on banks’ performance. We found that regional banks and foreign banks have a higher profitability and efficiency as compared to domestic private banks. In the short-run, foreign acquisitions and domestic M&As reduce the level of overhead costs, while in the long-run they increase the Net Interest Margin (NIM). Further, we analysed NIM determinants, to asses the impact of ownership on bank business orientation. Our findings lend support to our prediction that the NIM determinants differs accordingly to the type of bank ownership. We also observed that banks that experienced changes in ownership, such as foreign-acquired banks, manifest different interest margin determinants with respect to domestic or foreign banks that did not experience ownership rearrangements.

Indonesien in der ASEAN des 21. Jahrhunderts: eine Analyse des indonesischen Einflusspotenzials in der Assoziation südostasiatischer Staaten

Die Geschichte und Entwicklung der ASEAN und Indonesiens im Zeitraum von 1967rnbis ins frühe 21. Jahrhundert sind eng miteinander verknüpft. Um der Frage nachrndem indonesischen Einflusspotenzial in der ASEAN im 21. Jahrhundert nachgehenrnund dann einen Ausblick auf die Zukunft der Rolle Indonesiens in der ASEAN gebenrnzu können, bedarf es zunächst einer Analyse dessen, was in der Vergangenheitrndazu führte, dass Indonesien in der Region als primus inter pares wahrgenommenrnwurde, und der Rolle, die Indonesien im Rahmen der Erweiterung und Vertiefung der ASEAN bisher spielte. So ist der Fokus der Arbeit auf vier Phasen gerichtet: (1) die Gründungszeit der ASEAN sowie die Etablierung Indonesiens als einer der einflussreichsten Mitgliedstaaten; (2) die asiatische Finanzkrise, die nicht nur der Entwicklung der ASEAN als erstem Erfolgsmodell regionaler Kooperation in Südostasien vorläufig ein Ende setzte, sondern auch Indonesien in große wirtschaftliche wie politische Turbulenzen trieb; (3) die überregionale Erweiterung der ASEAN und der Beginn der politischen Transformation in Indonesien sowie (4) die Vertiefung der ASEAN-Kooperation und die Stabilisierung Indonesiens als demokratischer Akteur. rnFür alle vier Phasen werden das materielle Machtprofil, die institutionellen Verknüpfungen sowie ideelle Faktoren des Einflusspotenzials Indonesiens untersucht, um sich einer Antwort auf die Frage zu nähern, über welches Einflusspotenzial Indonesien in der ASEAN des 21. Jahrhunderts verfügt. Die Analyse bringt zutage, dass es Indonesien vor der Asienkrise trotz erheblicherrnEntwicklungsrückstände möglich war, gestaltenden Einfluss auf die ASEANrnauszuüben und an regionaler Bedeutsamkeit sowie Einflusspotenzial in der ASEANrnzu gewinnen. Trotz deutlich erkennbarer Entwicklungsfortschritte ist dasrngegenwärtige Indonesien jedoch nicht in der Lage, sein Einflusspotenzial in derrnASEAN zu steigern, sich als relevanter Akteur zu etablieren und erneut einernSchlüsselrolle einzunehmen. Die Akteure der ASEAN folgen nicht wie einst denrnIdeen Indonesiens, und die regionale Fremdwahrnehmung Indonesiens wird ganzrnerheblich vom derzeitigen politischen und sozialen Wertesystem beeinflusst, mit dem sich kein anderer ASEAN-Staat ohne Einschränkung identifizieren kann. rnDie Erkenntnisse der Arbeit führen letztlich zu dem Fazit, dass es aktuell kaum Raum für eine Steigerung des indonesishen Einflusse innerhalb des ostasiatischenrnRegionalismus gibt. Für die Gegenwart und vielleicht die kommenden Dekaden mussrnfür Indonesien attestiert werden, dass es sich mit der Rolle als Teilnehmer in den ASEAN-Prozessen begnügen muss.

Von der geographischen Analyse über die Bestandsaufnahme der anzutreffenden Krankheiten und der Anwendung traditioneller Medizin zu einem geomedizinischen Informationssystem am Beispiel einer Bergregion im Kabupaten Sikka (Insel Flores, Indonesien)

Im Rahmen der interdisziplinären Zusammenarbeit zur Durchsetzung des »Menschenrecht Gesundheit« wurde ein geomedizinisches Informationssystem erstellt, das auf die nordexponierten Bergdörfer zwischen 350 m ü. NN und 450 m ü. NN des Kabupaten Sikka auf der Insel Flores in Indonesien anwendbar ist. Es wurde eine Analyse der Zeit-Raum-Dimension der Gesundheitssituation in Wololuma und Napun Lawan - exemplarisch für die nordexponierten Bergdörfer - durchgeführt. Im Untersuchungsraum wurden Gesundheitsgefahren und Gesundheitsrisiken analysiert, Zonen der Gefahren herausgearbeitet und Risikoräume bewertet. Trotz eines El Niño-Jahres waren prinzipielle Bezüge der Krankheiten zum jahreszeitlichen Rhythmus der wechselfeuchten Tropen zu erkennen. Ausgehend von der Vermutung, dass Krankheiten mit spezifischen Klimaelementen korrelieren, wurden Zusammenhänge gesucht. Für jede Krankheit wurden Makro-, Meso- und Mikrorisikoräume ermittelt. Somit wurden Krankheitsherde lokalisiert. Die Generalisierung des geomedizinischen Informationssystems lässt sich auf der Makroebene auf die nordexponierten Bergdörfer zwischen 350 m ü. NN und 450 m ü. NN des Kabupaten Sikka übertragen. Aus einer Vielzahl von angetroffenen Krankheiten wurden sechs Krankheiten selektiert. Aufgrund der Häufigkeitszahlen ergibt sich für das Gesundheitsrisiko der Bevölkerung eine Prioritätenliste:rn- Dermatomykosen (ganzjährig)rn- Typhus (ganzjährig)rn- Infektionen der unteren Atemwege (Übergangszeit)rn- Infektionen der oberen Atemwege (Übergangszeit)rn- Malaria (Regenzeit)rn- Struma (ganzjährig)rnDie Hauptrisikogruppe der Makroebene ist die feminine Bevölkerung. Betroffen sind weibliche Kleinkinder von null bis sechs Jahren und Frauen ab 41 Jahren. Die erstellten Karten des zeitlichen und räumlichen Verbreitungsmusters der Krankheiten und des Zugangs zu Gesundheitsdienstleistungen dienen Entscheidungsträgern als Entscheidungshilfe für den Einsatz der Mittel zur Primärprävention. Die Geographie als Wissenschaft mit ihren Methoden und dem Zeit-Raum-Modell hat gezeigt, dass sie die Basis für die interdisziplinäre Forschung darstellt. Die interdisziplinäre Zusammenarbeit zur Gesundheitsforschung im Untersuchungszeitraum 2009 hat sich bewährt und muss weiter ausgebaut werden. Die vorgeschlagenen Lösungsmöglichkeiten dienen der Minimierung des Gesundheitsrisikos und der Gesundheitsvorsorge. Da die Systemzusammenhänge der Ätiologie der einzelnen Krankheiten sehr komplex sind, besteht noch immer sehr großer Forschungsbedarf. rnDas Ergebnis der vorliegenden Untersuchung zeigt, dass Wasser in jeder Form die primäre Ursache für das Gesundheitsrisiko der Bergdörfer im Kabupaten Sikka auf der Insel Flores in Indonesien ist.rnDer Zugang zu Wasser ist unerlässlich für die Verwirklichung des »Menschenrecht Gesundheit«. Das Recht auf Wasser besagt, dass jeder Mensch Zugang zu nicht gesundheitsgefährdendem, ausreichendem und bezahlbarem Wasser haben soll. Alle Staaten dieser Erde sollten sich dieser Forderung verpflichtet fühlen.rn

Gene expression responses to acute and chronic heat stress in the common reef-building coral Pocillopora verrucosa

Global climate change is impacting coral reefs worldwide, with approximately 19% of reefs being permanently degraded, 15% showing symptoms of imminent collapse, and 20% at risk of becoming critically affected in the next few decades. This alarming level of reef degradation is mainly due to an increase in frequency and intensity of natural and anthropogenic disturbances. Recent evidence has called into question whether corals have the capacity to acclimatize or adapt to climate changes and some groups of corals showed inherent physiological tolerance to environmental stressors. The aim of the present study was to evaluate mRNA expression patterns underlying differences in thermal tolerance in specimen of the common reef-building coral Pocillopora verrucosa collected at different locations in Bangka Island waters (North Sulawesi, Indonesia). Part of the experimental work was carried out at the CoralEye Reef Research Outpost (Bangka Island). This includes sampling of corals at selected sites and at different depths (3 and 12 m) as well as their experimental exposure to an increased water temperature under controlled conditions for 3 and 7 days. Levels of mRNAs encoding ATP synthase (ATPs) NADH dehydrogenase (NDH) and a 70kDa Heat Shock Protein (HSP70) were evaluated by quantitative real time PCR. Transcriptional profiles evaluated under field conditions suggested an adaptation to peculiar local environmental conditions in corals collected at different sites and at the low depth. Nevertheless, high–depth collected corals showed a less pronounced site-to-site separation suggesting more homogenous environmental conditions. Exposure to an elevated temperature under controlled conditions pointed out that corals adapted to the high depth are more sensitive to the effects of thermal stress, so that reacted to thermal challenge by significantly over-expressing the selected gene products. Being continuously exposed to fluctuating environmental conditions, low-depth adapted corals are more resilient to the stress stimulus, and indeed showed unaffected or down-regulated mRNA expression profiles. Overall these results highlight that transcriptional profiles of selected genes involved in cellular stress response are modulated by natural seasonal temperature changes in P. verrucosa. Moreover, specimens living in more variable habitats (low-depth) exhibit higher basal HSP70 mRNA levels, possibly enhancing physiological tolerance to environmental stressors.

Assessment of the resilience of coral reefs to natural and human disturbances by means of recruitment panels in Indo-Pacific

Indo-Pacific region encompasses about 75% of world's coral reefs, but hard coral cover in this region experienced a 32% region-wide decline since 1970s. This great change is primarily ascribable to natural and anthropogenic pressures, including climate change and human activities effects. Coral reef conservation requires management strategies oriented to maintain their diversity and the capacity to provide ecosystem goods and services. Coral reef resilience, i.e. the capacity to recover after disturbances, is critical to their long-term persistence. The aims of the present study were to design and to test field experiments intended to measure changes in recruitment processes, as a fundamental aspect of the coral reef resilience. Recruitment experiments, using artificial panels suspended in the water column, were carried out in two Indo-Pacific locations affected by different disturbances: a new mine in Bangka Island (Indonesia), and the increased sedimentation due to coastal dynamics in Vavvaru Island (Maldives). One (or more) putatively disturbed site(s) was selected to be tested against 3 randomly selected control sites. Panels’ arrangement simulates 2 proximities to living corals, i.e. the sources of propagules: few centimetres and 2 meters over. Panels were deployed simultaneously at each site and left submerged for about five months. Recruits were identified to the lowest possible taxonomic level and recruited assemblages were analysed in terms of percent cover. In general it was not possible to detect significant differences between the benthic assemblages recruited in disturbed and control sites. The high variability observed in recruits assemblages structure among control sites may be so large to mask the possible disturbance effects. Only few taxa showed possible effects of the disturb they undergo. The field tests have highlighted strengths and weaknesses of the proposed approach and, based on these results, some possible improvements were suggested.