Regarding the Amazon environment as a complex world defined by the interaction of natural and human elements, the aim of this thesis is to present the intellectual framework that characterized the ethnobotanical collecting of Richard Evans Schultest for the Harvard Botanical Museum. The thesis contextualizes the case study as part of the scientific drive of natural history museums from the nineteenth-century onwards, and focuses in the mid twentieth-century in regard to the specific collection and fieldwork. The issue of appropriation refers to the assumed role of museums, as Western institutions, of collecting, describing, and classifying the natural plant kingdom. Appropriation also refers to the assimilation, through scientific endeavors, of plants and knowledge that are significant to other cultures’ views of their natural and social environment. The issue of representation deals with showcasing natural and ethnographic collections in museums as non-contested, self-explanatory identities of other peoples’ culture through the mediation of a neutral observer’s standpoint and different museum practices. The thesis touches upon the role of study collections in a university museum setting to further knowledge for science. In particular, the Economic Botany Collection was intended to further the understanding of psychoactive plants used by traditional cultures for medicinal purposes. The outcome was quite complex, and the influence of this surveying effort still stands as one of the most compelling studies any museum has engaged with in the twentieth-century.

This paper analyses how contemporary Colombian social studies and South African history textbooks represent notions of race and racism to combat the historical legacies of these countries. It uses Critical Discourse Analysis to argue that, while there has been significant progress made in overcoming racism in the new textbooks in the two countries, there are still many challenges. In particular the paper notes that notwithstanding the more equal and balanced representation of traditionally excluded subjects, new forms of exclusion still permeate new social studies and history textbooks in Colombia and South Africa. In reviewing the textbooks produced in the two countries, the paper provides markers for researchers and policy makers seeking to transform deep-seated inequities in society. 

For drug delivery applications, it is desirable that the drug is released with a maintained therapeutic level, at a specific site and with a specific rate in the body. To achieve this, drug molecules have to be encapsulated in a carrier. Ordered mesoporous silicas (OMSs) have been suggested to be used as a reservoir for drug molecules, since they have mesoporous structure, biocompatibility, high loading capacity, efficient encapsulation of cargo molecules, high surface areas and tunable pore sizes and volumes. OMSs have shown to enhance the dissolution rate of poorly water soluble drugs. At least 40% of drugs developed exhibit poor water solubility, which limits drug dissolution rate, reducing drug bioavailability. A method for improving the dissolution rate is to increase its surface area in contact with the dissolution media, which can be achieved by loading the drug onto a high surface area carrier as that of OMSs. The aim of this work was to evaluate different amorphous silicas for incorporation of a water insoluble antifungal agent, Clotrimazole, by using scCO2 as impregnation process. Clotrimazole was incorporated on three different silicas (Formac, SBA-15 and SYLOID® AL-1 FP). It was possible to determine the relationship between pore volume, size and morphology and surface area with the incorporation degree. An important observations is that OMSs are much more efficient at incorporating drugs than the commercial formulation Syloid® AL-1 FP, which indicates that OMSs are a promising carrier to achieve enhanced oral bioavailability for drugs with low water solubility. Moreover, OMSs showed to be stabilizers for amorphous clotrimazole, which represents an interesting approach in the dissolution enhancement.

Unnamed Aerial Vehicles (UAV) are known for their application in surveillance and tracking with on-board cameras. Videos from UAV usually suffer from jitter and high frequency unintended movements which makes necessary stabilize the footage. This is a Computer Vision problem, particularly difficult due to level of noise in acquisition and different types of scenarios which make hard to implement online stabilizer (on the fly). The present thesis explains in depth algorithms, methods and implementations of the OpenCV module videostab. We presented a version in C++ of videostab in context of video from UAV. Two main blocks constitute the current implementation: motion estimation and motion stabilization. In the former, the system robustly estimates global displacement in between every consecutive pair of frames. The latter can be used in two possible ways: Assuming that estimated motion contains intended UAV motion and high frequency vibrations or assuming that all estimated motion is undesirable. The first case is solved with a Gaussian filter to smooth motions and, in the second case, a filter called Zero Motion was implemented to give sensation of stillness. Results show that the implementation is robust and can work in different scenarios of UAV. Moreover, it is possible to run it in a general purpose computer with high speed performance. Online performance can be achieved using some function with graphic processing unit (GPU).

The benefit-effort analysis methodology was designed as a decision making tool in the provision of water and sanitation in rural communities in developing countries. This is an innovative approach that evaluates environmental projects during the complete project life cycle. The methodology provides a framework that incorporates social, political, economic, technical and ecological aspects which are essential to identify good solutions for the provision of water and sanitation in rural and isolated communities. It is based on the knowledge of experts that are recognized by their know-how in the specific topic and in the validation with local communities that can easily participate by providing personal opinions and suggestions. The methodology makes evident both, benefits and efforts during the complete project life cycle, in order to minimize or maximize them and to improve the decision making process guiding the identification of the best sustainable result.

This research project is focused on bioprospecting activities in Colombia. As its main objectives, the research will describe and compare nature and biodiversity constructions among different social actors, analyse education and participation processes in three regions where bioprospecting research has been conducted taking into account benefit sharing, intellectual property rights and genetic access; and finally, identify knowledge and technology transfer of biopropespecting research in the three regions under study. Content analysis of media and documents along with ethnography will be conducted as research methods.

OBJECTIVES: Unintentional asphyxia among preadolescents and adolescents by compression of the neck and other means of inducing hypoxia / anoxia in order to get exhilarating effects are not new or uncommon behaviors and can lead to death by accident. Medical science has described autoerotic asphyxiation and more recently asphyxial games “choking games” as different entities. This study addresses both behaviors to understand the characteristics of how these practices are presented as well as the risks factors to them in order to determine if there are substantial differences between the two practices, or if instead they are related behaviors. Accurate knowledge of these behaviors based on scientific evidence will facilitate the understanding of the etiology and manifested features and facilitate the implementation of preventive measures to avoid such deaths. METHODS: A retrospective study of fatal cases published in recognized scientific journal articles of both autoerotic asphyxiation and choking game behaviors in the adolescent population was made. Articles on sociology, psychoanalysis and psychiatry as well as studies previously published case series and epidemiological studies to assess student population etiological factors and risk factors associated with behaviors were included in this review. Features of both behaviors, such as prevalence, age distribution, gender, type of asphyxia and place of occurrence are presented. RESULTS: The results are consistent in all variables analyzed for both behaviors. Most practitioners are men. Cases of both behaviors in preadolescence show a tendency to increase with age. The most frequent type of asphyxia identified was hanging conducted in private quarters. Psychiatric and psychoanalytic literature identifies common elements between male castration complex, failed oral psychosexual development and the practice of asphyxia in its integration with sociological theories of risk and confrontation ordeal in adolescence. The review of epidemiological studies reveals common elements in the development of both practices in terms of risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: The evidence suggests a link between both practices and allows to theorize that they are part of the same syndrome. Integrating psychoanalytic and sociological concepts as well as the risk factors suggests a linear sequential model of development in four stages: childhood syndrome rope, asphyxial games associated to masturbation, Adolescent autoerotic asphyxia and Adult Autoerotic Asphyxia fetishist / bondage Syndrome. Death is explained in each of the stages as failed physiological and emotional adaptation mechanisms. It is important to disseminate knowledge of these practices among health professionals and further studies should be carried out in regarding deaths by hanging in children and adolescents.

En centros educativos que cuentan con un profesorado reflexivo e innovador y donde se ha logrado construir una buena relación de colaboración entre éstos y el equipo de orientación, es posible encontrarse con demandas relacionadas con la revisión de la propia práctica docente. El presente trabajo es un acercamiento a la práctica profesional como orientadora psicopedagógica, particularmente de la etapa de Educación Infantil. Se trata de una respuesta de orientación a la demanda hecha por el equipo de maestras del Centro de Educación Infantil Verbena en Leganés-Madrid, relacionada con la revisión de su práctica docente en el contexto de la Asamblea. El objetivo final de esta propuesta fue generar un espacio de reflexión sobre la práctica docente que contribuyera a la búsqueda de estrategias para la mejora. Partiendo de una perspectiva de orientación educativa que defiende el ejercicio de subrayar no solo las debilidades, sino sobre todo los puntos fuertes de la metodología del aula y en particular, del estilo del educador, se llevó a cabo el análisis de 8 vídeos de asambleas realizadas en las Aulas de 3 y 5 años con el fin de identificar buenas prácticas y servir de espejo para reflejar de manera sistemática y argumentada un sinfín de recursos con los que el equipo de maestras contaba. De esta manera surgió, además de la identificación de buenas prácticas, una guía de autoevaluación modificada y aprobada por las propias maestras, que sirvió como marco de análisis y reflexión sobre sus prácticas docentes en la Asamblea y favoreció el diseño de un plan de acción hacia la mejora.

One of the principal goals of science education is that students develop an understanding of the nature of science (NOS), which is considered to be a key element in the achievement of scientific literacy. The capacity to learn, know and use science and technology to cope with the challenges of everyday life has become a commonly desired outcome of science education. Through the teaching of the NOS it is believed that our children will become better citizens, more conscious of their role within their community and environment. Ultimately, the goal is to safeguard our world for future generations. (Martin et al., 2000; W. F. McComas & Olson, 1998). How to properly and accurately address the NOS teaching in classroom practice has been the subject of diverse and intense debates (Bell, Abd-El-Khalick, Lederman, McComas, & Matthews, 2001). The disputes revolve around different aspects of NOS teaching and learning and each brings various issues into play. Educators need a more practical way of thinking about NOS when developing their curriculums. In my thesis work I provide a survey of the contemporary debates about the NOS and science education improvement. After reviewing the literature, I developed a set of curriculum design principles that I call the Basic Principles for Curriculum Development (BPCD). These, I propose, should be taken into account when developing science curricula that effectively addresses primary NOS principles. I want to emphasize that rather than pretending to use these curricular principles as the ultimate tool for science instruction, the BPCD should be used in combination with other curriculum development ideas and pedagogical strategies.

El arte público abre sin lugar a dudas un amplio panorama en cuanto a la construcción de la ciudad y su imagen. Si leemos la forma en que se disponen dichos espacios y las obras que lo conforman, se pueden identificar los diversos momentos y cambios que ha sufrido la ciudad y la complejidad de la misma. En el espacio público confluyen una serie de elementos que hablan más allá de su materialidad, de la sociedad y la cultura que habita y dinamiza dichos escenarios. La ciudad de Barcelona ha sido pionera en la implementación de estrategias y políticas públicas orientadas a la organización del espacio público involucrando el arte y conviven en ella una serie de espacios que hablan de la historia de la ciudad así como de las decisiones, ideas y planes que han estado detrás de su creación. Esta situación se debe en gran parte al papel central que el espacio público ha jugado en la reconstrucción de la ciudad tras la dictadura franquista; que produjo una experiencia social y urbana que dejó una serie de cicatrices en la ciudad. Dicho panorama de crisis socio-política, económica y cultural fue el punto de partida de una serie de ideas, movimientos y políticas que recondujeron las intervenciones en la ciudad. Este trabajo busca, a partir de la selección y el estudio de unas obras de Arte público definidas y enmarcadas dentro de unas etapas específicas que expresan unas ideas e imaginarios de ciudad, entender las relaciones físicas que existen entre la obra y su contexto , así como el papel de éstas dentro del proyecto de construcción de la ciudad.