Based on the characteristics of the study area, and those of the fauna studied, corridor designs were proposed using a methodology that considered three main elements: 1) Evaluation of habitat use by wildlife; 2) Use of a Geographical Information System (GIS) to define corridor boundaries (pathways between habitat quality ranks); 3) Management regulations using the corridor as part of the landscape. Herbivores were consistently present in those areas covered by primary forest. Omnivores were located in a wider variety of covers (grass and agriculture, secondary forest, primary forest, melina).Wildcats were located in primary and secondary forest cover types (mainly used by their herbivore prey). The three guilds were maintained far from highways and human settlements but near forest and water resources. Several species crossed the highways that surround the Golfo Dulce Forest Reserve (GDFR). Maps show that available habitat areas of ""excellent"" and ""good"" habitat quality features, were reduced for the species Panthera onca and Puma concolor, and their conflict areas were more extensive; this fact probably pushed these wildcats to move into heavily altered environments.This study reinforced affirmations about the necessity of corridors, based on identification of habitat that meets minimum quality requirements for wildlife (corridor users), and that defines or modifies their spatial distribution. The pathways designed by this procedure coincide with prior studies showing that critical areas for all wildcats species (and for other species related to them) were located north of Corcovado National Park (CNP), San Juan, Mogos, and the area where Piedras Blancas National Park (PBNP) borders the Golfo Dulce Forest Reserve (GDFR). However, the spatial location of corridors is quite different in this proposal and other possible pathway was identified for P. onca and its prey. This pathway was found to be in conflict toward Drake and wetlands of Sierpe Terraba too.

This dissertation is a research studies on the dynamics of Crafts its consumerism and contemporary significance within the developed and the developing countries leading to a better understanding of the critical factors and necessary conditions to build up effective strategies to enable craftspeople and organisations to adapt better to the requirements of contemporary society. This study contains relevant reference material to understand the meaning of crafts in different cultural contexts. It also analyses collaborative efforts and promotional strategies which local and international organisations are undertaking in response to new market opportunities for crafts. The outcome is to provide guidance and recommendations on possible new directions for successful exports to organisations and craftspeople concerned with these issues.Following the abstract and introduction, information on “crafts” as an economic issue in the UK and information about International organisations working for the development of crafts in the world such as UNESCO, the World Crafts Council and Aid to Artisans is given in Section I. Section II starts addressing the question that originated from the findings that arise from the review of the topic in section I followed by an explanation of the method of investigation used to carry out the research. This section will provide the reader with information of the Crafts Council and Artesanías de Colombia, the British and Colombian organisations selected as case studies.This section investigates what are the collaborative efforts and the strategies these organisations have undertaken to help craftspeople export their products. Literature review on the relationship design management and marketing and Internet-based research on craft’s promotion are also analysed. Section III will go on to analyse the critical factors that have an impact on the success of British and Colombian crafts within international markets. I will be attempting to respond the key question by discussing the following issues: Understanding the role of crafts in a consumer society, International organisations Vs national organisations, International markets – obstacles for successful exports, The market link – what it is necessary?, Internet – an economically viable promotional medium. Finally, this dissertation concludes with lessons drawn from current practices, which instruct on possible directions for a Colombian craft export model.

La creación de estados-nación posteriores al resquebrajamiento de los grandes imperios coloniales implicó la constitución de un aparato administrativo y legal acompañado por una idea específica de la “identidad nacional” en un territorio cuyos límites definían el ámbito espacial de aplicación de tales premisas políticas y culturales. Esta concepción de la organización social, que tuvo su manifestación primera en los países europeos de la modernidad y fue luego promovida por las élites locales que heredaron el modelo “occidental” en los antiguos territorios coloniales, entró en conflicto con las premisas culturales de los pueblos nativos.A pesar de la conciencia creciente que en las últimas décadas se ha generado en torno a la autonomía de los pueblos y la importancia que ha cobrado el respeto a las reivindicaciones de las minorías étnicas, la mayor parte de los estados actuales no ha asumido la responsabilidad histórica de restituir la dignidad y el patrimonio cultural de sus habitantes originarios. Los intereses políticos y económicos que se han manifestado sobre los territorios ocupados por las comunidades autóctonas dificultan el establecimiento de procesos de concertación que permitan las reformas necesarias para otorgarles a los indígenas mayores niveles de autonomía en el marco del ordenamiento legal del Estado.La constitución de Nunavut es un ejemplo de cómo emprender procesos de conciliación multicultural en un contexto pacífico y democrático, respetuoso de los derechos de las minorías y consecuente con las expectativas de desarrollo económico, social y humano para el resto de los integrantes de la sociedad estatal.

Se parte de la exposición sobre la política oficial de la República Popular China respecto de los componentes étnicos y nacionales del país, y de la definición oficial del conjunto como una unidad de nacionalidades. Se avanza luego en la discusión sobre la existencia de un centro cultural hegemónico (los Han), frente a los múltiples grupos étnicos que habitan en el país. Se examina el concepto de “nacionalidad minoritaria” y sus limitaciones frente al modelo civilizador de larga duración promovido por los Han. Luego se introducen estudios de caso que tienden a mostrar la relación entre etnicidad, historia e ideologías dominantes: se tratan los casos de la minoría de los Yi, situados en el sur de China, y el de los Premi, en Yunan.También se hace mención al proceso de identidad en Mongolia Interior. Se mencionan varias implicaciones políticas de importancia, a partir del trabajo etnohistórico. La reproducción de la cultura central en los modelos educativos, se aborda comenzando por algunas consecuencias políticas de la utilización del mandarín y de las lenguas locales y la relación entre el nacionalismo chino del Estado central y las versiones particulares de las minorías. También se analizan algunas relaciones entre la ortodoxia central y los sistemas de creencias de algunas comunidades rurales. Finaliza el artículo con algunas consideraciones sobre las ideas de Estado nacional y Estado multicultural.

El problema de la cultura en el marco de las relaciones entre los Estados y las comunidades minoritarias adquiere unas connotaciones particulares en las diferentes regiones del planeta. En el caso del Occidente desarrollado, caracterizado por organizaciones estatales con regímenes constitucionales democráticos y economías prósperas donde el Estado de bienestar tiene un tamaño considerable, las etnias o naciones que no tiene un marco político-territorial apropiado para la plena expresión de sus elementos culturales tienden a buscar la satisfacción de este objetivo a través de vías pacíficas como la negociación o los canales democráticos garantizados por la justicia y las leyes.La presencia de instituciones como la Iglesia y los partidos políticos, alrededor de las cuales se genere un sentimiento de solidaridad que facilite y dirija la acción colectiva; la voluntad de hallar estrategias que permitan abstraerse del Estado central y alcanzar formas propias de soberanía; la posibilidad material de emprender con éxito procesos separatistas debido al sustento de economías regionales sólidas; un mínimo de garantías democráticas que abren el campo a posibilidades de negociación y diálogos entre las partes enfrentadas; los límites que la preservación de un modelo democrático en ámbitos heterogéneos como los de las actuales sociedades pueden traer para la satisfacción del objetivo independentista; y la existencia de contextos estables de intercambio comercial con otros países que contribuyen a crear nexos económicos duraderos entre las naciones sin Estado y el contexto mundial, son algunos de los elementos encontrados en el análisis sobre los nacionalismos del “Occidente” tomado en consideración.El caso de Quebec es ilustrativo de la manera como las reivindicaciones de identidad conducen a expresiones particulares de la etnicidad y el nacionalismo, las cuales intentan impulsar procesos de independencia a partir de ciertas variables comunes a otras latitudes.

El discurso filosófico que consagra la libertad de pensamiento y la igualdad de oportunidades para todos los individuos logra consolidarse como parte fundamental de la estructura política de los nuevos Estados de Europa Occidental a lo largo del siglo XIX. La colonización se presentó de forma paralela a los inicios de la era moderna, la cual estuvo vinculada al surgimiento de una concepción civilizadora de la cultura occidental basada en las ideas ilustradas.Esto hizo que las dinámicas de encuentro entre los pueblos sujetos a la dominación de las metrópolis europeas y sus colonizadores se produjeran en un marco de percepción dominado por las oposiciones civilización / atraso, sociedades modernas / sociedades tradicionales, sociedades industriales / sociedades preindustriales. Esta concepción del “otro” como inferior por parte de los pueblos situados a la “vanguardia de la civilización” dio como resultado la negación de las costumbres y prácticas culturales propias de las comunidades nativas en los territorios coloniales para privilegiar el referente de valores universales propuesto por Occidente.En Sudán, el discurso civilizador occidental se halla enfrentado a una ideología islámica que intenta instaurar en el plano nacional una serie de preceptos contrarios a los fundamentos de la organización social propuestos desde Occidente. El tema de la esclavitud es un capítulo más en esta lucha de ideologías y sistemas de creencias, que expresa de la mejor manera la dimensión adquirida por los conflictos locales en el contexto de un mundo globalizado.

Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) is an important pathogen of cattle that has been frequently associated with in vitro produced (IVP) embryos. The zona pellucida (ZP) of IVP embryos shows higher affinity for BVDV than the ZP of in vivo produced embryos and treatments that can eliminate BVDV from in vivo produced embryos are unsuccessful in the case of the IVP embryos. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether different culture conditions change the affinity of the ZP of day-7 IVP bovine embryos to BVDV. Morula and blastocysts were produced under four different culture systems: 1) in vitro culture in Menezo's B2 media and coculture with bovine oviductal epithelial cells (B2-BOEC culture); 2) in vitro culture in modified synthetic oviductai fluid with aminoacids (mSOFaa culture); 3) in vivo culture in ligated oviducts of synchronized sheep; and 4) in vivo produced embryos flushed from superovulated cows seven days after breeding. The embryos were exposed to BVDV for 24 hours, and washed 10 times and treated with trypsin, according to the recommendations of the international Embryo Transfer Society. After pooling the embryos in groups of five, the samples were homogenized and tested for the presence of BVDV by indirect immimoperoxidase assay (IIP) or reverse transcription-polymerase chah reaction (RT-PCR). No significant differences were found between the two detection systems but the IIP assay tended to detect a higher number of positive sarnples.According to the IIP assay, the mSOFaa group had a significantliy higher number of positive findings (78.6%) followed by the B2-BOEC group (32.1%), and the oviductal culture group (7.1%). None of the in vivo embryos tested positive for BVDV. These results show that different culture conditions in which embryos develop alter the way the ZP interacts with pathogens. The oviductal culture of in vitro produced zygotes seems to be beneficial in reducing the affinity of the ZP to BVDV and the washes and trypsin treatments applied to these embryos after culture appear to be more effective than in embryos completely produced in vitro.

The need for sustainable agricultural production is generally accepted, and it is increasingly investigated. However, although much has been written about the socio?economic causes of problems with sustainability and the policies needed to overcome them, this has generally been from the viewpoint of the farmer and/or government (FAO, 1991). There has been no assessment of sustainability problems and needs from of the perspective of the marketing system. What is the optimal match between marketing system and sustainability in agriculture ? This study is a first attempt to consider the question of sustainability of agricultural systems from a marketing system perspective. A stable commercial relationship between farmer and enterprise may be an economic incentive for investments in the productive natural resource.AimTo elucidate the contribution of different marketing arrangements on the sustainability of production systems under different conditioning environments. The performance of certain marketing systems may be driven to obtain sustainable effects on the farmer's use of resources.ResearchA conceptual framework is proposed. Different methods are used to assess and validate the stated hypotheses. Firstly, a positive model approach relates sustainability to physical (e.g. land slope), personal (e.g. attitudes), economic (e.g. income), and institutional (e.g. marketing) factors. Secondly, a normative model approach includes sustainability, but also other goals such as profitability, risk avoidance, and income distribution. The simulation optimizes multiple objectives under different marketing scenarios.Preliminary findings confirm that farmers more integrated to the market are adopters of sustainable technology. Conversely, farmers facing market imperfections do not make an appropriate use of the land. Market imperfections such as transport and communications handicaps, high interests of commercial loans, or ambiguity of input and output prices, can result in sub-optiomal managements of the natural resource. 

Among the Tukano an indigenous peoples there is a ritual that reflects refined ecological management: ""The March of the Manikins"". By understanding this and similar cultural practices, we could attempt the re-definition of ""sustainability"" concept. A fundamental part of the process for the appropriation of a new meta-language that could set up new patterns for environmental management practices and policy delivering.

Engineered barriers are used in the containment of hazardous materials and are usually a composite of compacted clayey soil and a synthetic membrane. Containment elements such as landfill liners should be designed to control or prevent leachate migration or groundwater ingress. Engineering specifications for a compacted clay liner are based mainly in a hydraulic conductivity less than 10-9 m/s and the need for stability during construction and operation of the landfill. Sandbentonite mixtures are often used as a barrier material. The addition of relatively small amounts of bentonite (5-15%) can improve the performance of a granular material providing both a low permeability and an enhanced mechanical stability.However not all the possible compaction conditions produce a low permeability and mechanically stable material. Changes in water content after compaction can cause swelling or collapse depending on the stress and suction conditions before the water content change occurs. A laboratory investigation of the swelling-collapse behaviour of compacted mixtures of Sand-bentonite has been undertaken. Compaction and suction characteristics were established. The suction and volume change characteristics were investigated through a series of oedometer tests. The central part of the experimental programme focused on the detailed investigation of the processes of swelling and collapse during controlled wetting.To do this, a significant number of modifications were required to the existing apparatus. Fabric studies including Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy and Mercury Intrusion Porosimetry were also undertaken. Intrinsic behaviour and the relationship between suction and water content were comprehensively studied. A parametric study of the influence of bentonite content and sand grading was also undertaken. The results are presented and analysed. Recommendations for future research are made.