Incorporating regional-scale ecological knowledge to improve the effectiveness of large-scale conservation programmes

Land-stewardship programmes are a major focus of investment by governments for conserving biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. These programmes are generally large-scale (e.g. >1000 km) spanning multiple biogeographic regions but developed using spatially limited (e.g. landscape-scale; <100 km) ecological data interpolated across broad areas for one, or a few, well-studied taxonomic groups. Information about how less-studied taxa respond to regional differences in management and environmental effects has potential to further inform land-stewardship conservation programmes, but suitable data sets are rarely available. In this study, we sought to enhance planning of large-scale conservation programmes by quantifying relationships between reptile assemblages and key environmental attributes at regional scales within a large-scale (>172 000 km2) Australian land-stewardship programme. Using 234 remnant woodland monitoring sites spanning four distinct biogeographic regions, we asked: Do reptile assemblages show different environmental associations across biogeographically distinct regions? We found that environmental features important to reptile diversity differed over each region. Abundance and rare species richness of reptiles responded at regional-scales to elevation, native groundcover and aspect. We identified four implications from our study: (1) large-scale conservation schemes can achieve better outcomes for reptiles using regional-scale knowledge of environmental associations; (2) regional-scale knowledge is particularly valuable for conservation of rare reptile taxa; (3) consideration of abiotic environmental features which cannot be directly managed (e.g. aspect, elevation) is important; (4) programmes can be tailored to better support reptile groups at higher conservation risk. Our study shows that reptile-environment associations differ among biogeographic regions, and this presents opportunity for tailoring stronger policy and management strategies for conserving large-scale agricultural landscapes globally.

Landscape strategies in Bronze Age Southwestern Cyprus (2500-1100 B.C.)

This thesis concerns the analysis of the socio-economic transformation of communities in Bronze Age southwestern Cyprus. Through the adoption of a dialectical perspective of analysis, individuals and environment are considered part of the same unity: they are cooperating agents in shaping society and culture. The Bronze Age is a period of intense transformation in the organization of local communities, made of a continuous renegotiation of the socio-economic roles and interactions. The archaeological record from this portion of the island allows one to go beyond the investigation of the complex and articulated transition from the EBA-MBA agro-pastoral and self-sufficient communities to the LBA centralized and trade-oriented urban-centres. Through a shifting of analytical scales, the emerging picture suggests major transformations in the individual-community-territory dialectical relations. A profound change in the materials conditions of social life, as well as in the superstructural realm, was particularly entailed by the dissolution of the relation to the earth, due to the emergence of new forms of land exploitation/ownership and to the shift of the settlement pattern in previously unknown areas. One of the key points of this thesis is the methodological challenge of working with legacy survey data as I re-analysed a diverse archaeological legacy, which is the result of more than fifty years of survey projects, rescue and research-oriented excavations, as well as casual discoveries. Source critique and data evaluation are essential requirements in an integrative and cross-disciplinary regional perspective, in the comprehensive processing of heterogeneous archaeological and environmental datasets. Through the estimation of data precision and certainty, I developed an effective - but simple - method to critically evaluate existing datasets and to inter-correlate them without losing their original complexity. This powerful method for data integration can be applied to similar datasets belonging to other regions and other periods as it originates from the evaluation of larger methodological and theoretical issues that are not limited to my spatial and temporal focus. As I argue in this thesis, diverse archaeological legacies can be efficiently re-analysed through an integrative and regional methodology. The adoption of a regional scale of analysis can provide an excellent perspective on the complexity of transformations in ancient societies, thus creating a fundamental bridge between the local stories and grand landscape narratives.

Um ensaio sobre burnout, engagement e estratégias de coping na profissão docente

Investigadores, um pouco por todo o mundo, começaram a preocupar-se com o fenómeno do burnout, ao identificarem este sintoma essencialmente nas profissões que envolviam uma relação assistencial ou de ajuda, como o caso dos médicos, enfermeiros e psicólogos. Contudo, não tardou que se percebesse que este fenómeno pudesse também estar presente na profissão docente de uma forma muito significativa. A docência é, na atualidade, uma das profissões mais sujeitas a altos níveis de stresse, podendo levar ao burnout, caso se torne recorrente. Muitos docentes conseguem adaptar-se e reagir de uma forma funcional perante as dificuldades próprias da profissão, tornando-se profissionais engaged, ou seja, enquanto alguns professores vivenciam as dimensões negativas do burnout (exaustão emocional, despersonalização e perda de realização profissional), outros experienciam as três dimensões positivas do engagement (vigor, dedicação e absorção profissional). Com a entrada da chamada “psicologia positiva”, surge uma nova perspectiva de estudo que procura respostas para determinadas formas de envolvimento profissional. Assim, apesar do fenómeno do engagement ainda não estar muito estudado, encontrar professores engaged com a sua profissão também é uma realidade presente em muitos países. O recurso a estratégias de coping é uma forma de lidar com as dificuldades inerentes ao exercício da profissão docente. Logo, é importante perceber de que forma a utilização de determinado tipo de estratégia de coping poderá conduzir ao burnout ou, preferencialmente, ao engagement.

Estado de las enfermedades raras que cursan con discapacidad intelectual en Colombia

Las enfermedades raras o huérfano son una problemática que ha tomado mucha importancia en el contexto mundial del presente siglo, estas se han definido como crónicas, de difícil tratamiento de sus síntomas y con baja prevalencia en la población; muchas de estas enfermedades cursan con varios tipos de discapacidad, siendo el objetivo del presente trabajo el enfocarse en aquellas enfermedades raras que cursan con discapacidad intelectual. Para poder profundizar en estas enfermedades se realizó una revisión teórica sobre las enfermedades raras, así como de la discapacidad psíquica y su importancia a nivel mundial y nacional. A partir de estas definiciones, se revisaron en profundidad 3 enfermedades raras que cursan con discapacidad intelectual en el contexto colombiano, como son: el síndrome de Rett, el síndrome de Prader-Willi y el síndrome de X frágil. En cada una de estas enfermedades además se explicaron los tipos de diagnóstico, intervención, prevención, grupos de apoyo y tipos de evaluación que más se usan en el contexto nacional