Beel fisheries of Assam - community-based co-management imperative

The freshwater wetlands (beels) of Assam, India, cover an area of 101 232 ha. For the rural poor, the neighboring wetlands are the only source of fish. They depend on them for their daily consumption of fish as well as a source of livelihood. Ecoenergy studies indicate that these wetlands have a fairly high production potential. However, the current regulations and system of management are not conducive to sustainable production from these water bodies. It is resulting in overexploitation and degradation. It is imperative some form of co-management with local communities be established for the beels of Assam.

The activity view of inner speech

We distinguish two general approaches to inner speech (IS) the "format" and the "activity" views and defend the activity view. The format view grounds the utility of IS on features of the representational format of language, and is related to the thesis that the proper function of IS is to make conscious thinking possible. IS appears typically as a product constituted by representations of phonological features. The view also has implications for the idea that passivity phenomena in cognition may be misat-tributed IS. The activity view sees IS as a speaking activity that does not have a proper function in cognition. It simply inherits the array of functions of outer speech. We argue that it is methodologically advisable to start from this variety of uses, which suggests commonalities between internal and external activities. The format view has several problems; it has to deny "unsymbolized thinking"; it cannot easily explain how IS makes thoughts available to consciousness, and it cannot explain those uses of IS where its format features apparently play no role. The activity view not only lacks these problems but also has explanatory advantages: construing IS as an activity allows it to be integrally constituted by its content; the view is able to construe unsymbolized thinking as part of a continuum of phenomena that exploit the same mechanisms, and it offers a simple explanation for the variety of uses of IS

Tornar-se doCENte: uma viagem pelas experiências formativas de professores da Educação Infantil do Centro Educacional de Niterói de 1980 a 2006

Esta dissertação tem como centralidade investigar as narrativas de professores que atuaram no segmento da Educação Infantil do Centro Educacional de Niterói (CEN), entre 1980 e 2006. Esta pesquisa busca compreender, em um mergulho nas abordagens (auto)biográficas, como estes docentes viveram as ações de formação, ou de (trans)formação, desenvolvidas no espaçotempo desta escola, percebidas como movimentos instituintes. Por último, busca compreender os impactos que a experiência de ser docente no CEN, ou tornar-se doCENte, trouxe para a construção de sua identidade e de sua atuação pedagógica. Para a consecução destes objetivos, tornou-se necessário, em paralelo, compreender a escola e suas principais marcas identitárias. Sendo assim, a dissertação contempla também uma investigação sobre o contexto histórico de sua criação no final da década de 1950 e início da década de 1960. Elementos de uma viagem foram tomados como metáfora a fim de elucidar o itinerário da pesquisa e, assim, refletir acerca dos referenciais teóricos metodológicos que a perpassam e fundamentam, tais como os conceitos de história, experiência, narrativas (auto)biográficas, formação docente, movimentos instituintes, conversas e análise de conteúdo. A partir do entrelaçamento destes conceitos, tomados como fundamentais à investigação, da interlocução com o contexto histórico institucional e das conversas com os professores, vividas como parte do trabalho de pesquisa, esta dissertação busca compreender discursos, processos de formação e espaços formativos. Dentre as muitas reflexões que a pesquisa proporciona, destaco: a importância da busca pelo conhecimento como elemento constitutivo da identidade docente, ou seja, a formação docente deve ter com preocupação central a formação de professores pesquisadores; a necessidade do estreitamento do diálogo entre escola e universidade; e a transformação de cada escola em centro de formação docente, em fórum de discussão e construção de saberes e fazeres, em uma perspectiva pessoal e coletiva.

Abundance and distribution of California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) in central and northern California during 1998 and summer 1999

The abundance and distribution of California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) in central and northern California was studied to allow future evaluation of their impact on salmonids, the ecosystem, and f isheries. Abundance at-sea was estimated by using the strip transect method from a fixed-wing aircraft with a belly viewing port. Abundance on land was estimated from 126-mm-format aerial photographs of animals at haulouts between Point Conception and the California−Oregon border. The sum of these two estimates represented total abundance for central and northern California. Both types of survey were conducted in May−June 1998, September 1998, December 1998, and July 1999. A haulout survey was conducted in July 1998. The greatest number of sea lions occurred near Monterey Bay and San Francisco Bay for all surveys. Abundance was high in central and northern California in 1998 when warm water from the 1997−98 El Niño affected the region and was low in July 1999 when cold water La Niña conditions were prevalent. At-sea abundance estimates in central and northern California ranged from 12,232 to 40,161 animals, and haulout abundance was 13,559 to 36,576 animals. Total abundance of California sea lions in central and northern California was estimated as 64,916 in May−June 1998, 75,673 in September 1998, 56,775 in December 1998, and 25,791 in July 1999. The proportion of total abundance to animals hauled-out for the four complete surveys ranged from 1.77 to 2.13, and the mean of 1.89 was used to estimate a total abundance of 49,697 for July 1998. This multiplier may be applicable in the future to estimate total abundance of California sea lions off central and northern California if only the abundance of animals at haulout sites is known.