The series of studies accomplished and compiled in the present thesis had as a main objective the evaluation of the suitability of the Colombian Artemia franciscana for the aquaculture industry. Further, an evaluation of six newly reported populations (Salina Cero, Kangarú, Tayrona, Bahía Hondita, Pusheo and Warrego) is included. In addition to the description of biotypes, physicochemical parameters were recorded for each population studied. The habitats where Artemia has actually been registered in Colombia are of marine (thalassohaline) origin, thus they are sodium and chloride rich. The application of biometric tools to determine possible cyst and nauplius size differences among the different Colombian populations has been successful at further separating some of the most promising Artemia populations of potential aquaculture use.Further, cysts from Tayrona show the smallest size, followed by Galerazamba, Kangarú, Manaure, Salina Cero and Pozos Colorados. Galerazamba has the thinnest chorion, followed by Tayrona, Salina Cero, Manaure, Pozos Colorados and Kangarú. Additionally, nauplii from Galerazamba present a small size followed by Manaure, Salina Cero, Pozos Colorados and Tayrona. The determination of FAME from Manaure, Galerazamba, Salina Cero and Tayrona, suggested high EPAs but low DHAs. Hence, all four populations sampled are not considered suitable for marine aquaculture unless fortified with DHA rich emulsions, according to actual aquaculture quality standards. The cyst quality study, conducted on cysts batches, shows that cyst collection and processing techniques need to be improved in order for them to be suitable for the growing Colombian aquaculture industry.The outcome of the population distribution study, shows Manaure, Galerazamba and Salina Cero as having a stable mean population distribution with a balanced adult (38%, 36% and 19%, respectively) to juvenile+nauplius proportion (62%, 64% and 81%, respectively), as well as a stable female:male sex ratio (1:0.84, 1:0.88 and 1:0.84, respectively). In contrast, Tayrona exhibits an unstable population distribution with a high proportion of adults (82%) and low juvenile+nauplius (18%) and female:male ratio (0.88:1), thus recruitment of the juvenile and nauplius cohort to assure continuity of the species in this biotope is below sustainable levels. The results for the reproductive experiments (mean cyst production per female) do not entirely agree with the estimated cyst production potential at each site (field work results).These results difference is likely to be due to the interaction in the field among the three parameters (salinity, percent O2 saturation, and nitrate) on cyst production, particularly in the case of Salina Cero. Similarly, nitrate levels might have been affected by salinity. The latter may be supported, in part, by the observation of low nitrate levels during the peak of cyst production during this study. The genetic study on some Caribbean Artemia franciscana strains based on RAPDs generated two similar dendrograms with the same separation for the two Caribbean population clusters (middle Caribbean: Pozos Colorados, Tayrona, Manaure, Venezuela-PAV, Bonaire and Curaçao and lower Caribbean: Galerazamba and Salina Cero). Moreover, the clustering pattern obtained suggests that the populations in these two clusters are not genetically identical.Further, the splitting of the Artemia populations coincides with the existence of a geographical barrier in Colombia named the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. The Sierra Nevada might constitute a geographic barrier to shorebirds and hence Artemia cyst dispersal further south. The discriminant analysis based on morphometric characters, assigns male and female individuals into their proper population group (North American and Caribbean coast) to which they belong by only one discriminant function (100% confidence). However, male morphometric characters separate better population groups than the female characters, since all Colombian populations are correctly clustered in the Caribbean coast whereas the SFB population fall into the North American group, with no overlapping between both, as it happens with females.Similarly, for Artemia populations classified by their geographic origin, male and female individuals again separate the Colombian populations from the North American (SFB) populations. According to the analysis, Salina Cero male population is similar to its neighboring Galerazamba population and is also related to the other Colombian populations, and this is consistent with the previous findings using RAPDs and also likely to be explained by the existence of a geographic barrier (Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta). Apparently, as deduced from the influence of lunar cycles and sampling time study the conglomerates formed by brine shrimp are asynchronous. Finally, it is recommended to conduct Artemia surveys preferably late in the evening or alternatively during early morning since Artemia tends to distribute more uniformly during the evening (dark and cool), when water temperature is lower, particularly in saltworks, where the evaporation basins are shallow.

Desde la fantasía y la magia de la creación indígena hasta la derrota del conquistador como resultado de la ambición y la destrucción, son algunos de los elementos que se combinan para ofrecer un nuevo comienzo a lo que hoy se llama Cultura Latinoamericana. Con el juego de formas, colores y sonido se produce un pieza en la que se busca el regreso a una identidad propia.Principales objetivos:Presentar tres escenarios de la civilización latinoamericana a través del uso de símbolos precolombinos, elementos históricos, el formato de cuento y la animación como medio de crítica política y social en contra de la discriminación cultural en Norte América.Entender el concepto de cultura como un evento cíclico de tesis, antitesis y síntesis.Crear una interpretación personal sobre lo que es la cultura en Latino América.Comentario Técnico: Tres historias para la creación es una producción bi y tridimensional que utiliza los programas de animación Maya y After effects como fuente principal para generar imágenes en continua transformación explorando el uso de máscaras de vectores y cámaras múltiples en el mismo cuadro. También explora el juego con el área de encuadre como un elemento variable que forma parte de la historia.Programas utilizados:Alias Wavefront Maya 3.0Sensable Technologies Freeform 4.0Adobe Photoshop 6.0Adobe After effects 5.0Final Cut Pro 2.0Sound Edit 16 2.0Adobe Ilustrator 10.0Fractal Painter 6.0

Nowadays, the development of global competition has been one of the main factors that have driven the efforts toward the optimisation development. Therefore, oil refineries have been encouraged to be restructured for competing successfully in this new scenario with low profit margin, tighter environmental regulations and more efficient plant operation. However, many years and a lot of human and computational efforts have been dedicated to improve the techniques applied for the overall refinery optimisation.Good developments have come successfully operating at the planning level; but developing and solving rigorous overall plant optimisation models at the production scheduling level still are at research stage and much more work must be done to continue improving in this field through the involvement of difficult tasks due to the mathematical complexity of the models which have the compulsory use of a large quantity of equations and variables that hugely increase the size of the problem. This Thesis presents a new generic mixed integer linear programming model for optimising the scheduling of crude oil unloading, inventories, blending and feed to oil refineries that usually unload several kinds of crude oils with different compositions. The objective function of the model consists on minimising the operational cost generated during the mentioned operation.Case studies are presented and compared each other illustrating the capabilities of the model to solve operation scheduling problems in this area and to support future expansion projects for the system as they happen in real situations. The solution involves optimal operation of crude oil unloading, optimal transfer rates among equipments in accordance with the pumping capacities and tank volume limitations, optimal oscillation of crude oil blended compositions and fulfilment of the oil charging demand per process unit. border’s fringe. 

This thesis provides a description of political conflicts derived from differences in perspectives of environmental management and governance for Northwest Amazonia (NWA). A chapter is devoted to analysing the impact of State security policy in the development of indigenous’ territorial rights. The chapter concludes that the Colombian and USA government discourses of security coincide that the derived policies increase environmental risks and hinder indigenous peoples’ rights.Survey forms are treated as an additional source of discourse and are used to illustrate different perspectives with respect to governance and territorial ordering in Amazonia. It is argued that inhabitants of the industrialised countries with access to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in many senses share the responsibility for the actual state of affairs in NWA, as well as other parts of the developing world where there is precarious access to ICT.Central to the thesis is the idea that we are passing through a moment of conceptual ‘dissolution’: dissolution of the divide ‘Indigenous Knowledge’ / ‘Western Sciences’, of the distinction between ‘Social Resistance’ and ‘Social Adaptation’, and of the differentiation between ‘Corporate Management’ and ‘State Security policy’. The thesis describes how this dissolution is occurring at the same time as cultural identity is mutating. The thesis goes beyond discourses surrounding the governance of NWA, by offering a contemporary critique of the concept of ‘globalisation’, and an attempt to locate it in the a 21st century cultural context.

La industria hotelera se ha convertido en un ‘jugador’ central dentro de la economía global. La creciente movilidad de la fuerza de trabajo y el proceso de globalización de la industria son una realidad. Las organizaciones expandiéndose más allá de las fronteras locales están enfrentando, más que nunca, el reto de dirigir una fuerza de trabajo culturalmente diversa. Por tanto, la importancia de desarrollar métodos de selección culturalmente sensitivos dentro de un ambiente multicultural, representa un gran reto para la industria. La primera parte comprende una revisión de la literatura, la cual destaca temas claves como el proceso de globalización, los mercados laborales internacionales, el concepto de cultura, las prácticas en el área de los Recursos Humanos, la diversidad cultural, las prácticas discriminatorias, la validez y sensibilidad cultural de los métodos de selección, y las reacciones de los candidatos ante el proceso de selección.Un modelo es sugerido con el propósito de comprender la interacción de estos elementos. La segunda parte describe la investigación empírica llevada a cabo en tres grupos hoteleros internacionales establecidos en el Reino Unido. Las conclusiones advierten que los ‘nuevos’ individuos que están llegando a la industria hotelera están retando las prácticas tradicionales en las organizaciones. Hay una falta de conciencia (preocupación) cultural de la industria en cuanto a los métodos de selección. El reto de seleccionar empleados multiculturales no ha sido logrado por la industria aún. Las recomendaciones apuntan a que podría ser tiempo de revaluar, revisar y, de ser necesario, cambiar las prácticas de la industria.El talento debería ser más importante que la nacionalidad cuando los reclutadores seleccionen aspirantes de diferentes orígenes étnicos. Los aspirantes mismos también podrían necesitar el desarrollo de una actitud diferente ante el proceso de selección. Finalmente, es evidente que no existen estudios enfocados a la selección dentro de un ambiente multicultural.Investigaciones posteriores deberían ser dirigidas a identificar las dimensiones de las diferencias culturales que afectan los métodos de selección así como a medir su objetividad y sensibilidad cultural. De igual forma, se sugiere el diseño de un modelo conceptual consistente que procure comprender la interacción de los factores internos y externos que inciden sobre el proceso de selección.

In the first part of this paper selected narratives of early exploration of Northwest Amazonia are analysed with the intention to reveal the values that colonisers and scientist hold at the moment of encountering indigenous peoples. It is argued that these values were transformed and adapted for the development of Economic Botany. The discussion continues on questioning: ‘Were ethnosciences shaped by imperialistic motives?’, ‘Has the ethnology of Northwest Amazonia contributed to intercultural dialogue or has it all been part of a colonialist project of Northwest Amazon?’.In the second part of the paper a narrative is presented. The narrative describes a process through which the values of liberal democracy were to be imprinted in indigenous peoples’ organisations of the Colombian Amazonia during the 1990s. Leví-Strauss’ perspective of intervention: “the society we belong to is the only society we are in a position to transform without risk of destroying it” (Levi-Strauss1973: 392) its taken to develop a critical appraisal of the process described.The paper finalises with a call for ethnoscientists to consider ‘fair play’ rather than ‘objectivity’ when attempting research in Northwest Amazonia. It is concluded that Amazonia and its indigenous population would gain much if each political actor (including scientists) would express their own subjectivity clearly and without hesitation.

This paper summarises the views of outsiders with respect to indigenous forest management. The information on foreign perspectives was collected between May and December of 2001 through an on-line survey. It is argued that even the most knowledgeable people in the industrialised world have no precise idea of how ‘vulnerable’ rainforest is and few have accurate knowledge about the political conditions facing indigenous peoples or other human inhabitants of the Amazonian rainforest.It is signalled that conservationists, armed groups, governmental officers, churches and NGOs are used to attach themselves to certain narratives, be them hegemonic/managerial or counter-hegemonic/populist, aiming to make alliances and enhance their own power. However, the paper calls the attention on the fact that the responses analysed seem to indicate that a large group of people is unhappy with the assumptions behind either populists or hegemonic discourses with respect to rainforest management and, that they are seeking for new ways of formulating environmental policy.The paper concludes that each group has a way of intervening and exercising a certain amount of power to modify the global political agenda for the governance of Amazonia, in function of their own particular interest. It is suggested that such tendency does not facilitate the development of indigenous peoples’ own strategies for the management of Amazonian environments and, that it makes difficult for them to exercise their right to self-determination.

This essay continues with a discussion concerning the intersection between indigenous technological adoption/adaptation and the range of perspectives with respect to local communities’ use of technology in general. Analytical instruments will be presented at the end of this article. First, however, the reader will have the opportunity to examine the ‘views’ of outsiders with respect to the debate surrounding sustainability, environmental management and territorial ordering. Responses to an on-line survey concerning the above issues together with my own comments, will add to the discussion.

The authors seek to investigate the articulation of human / environmental security agenda to justify military action under ‘Plan Colombia / Plan Andino’ (PC/PA), the USA anti drugs trafficking strategy for Amazonia. It is observed that PC/PA exacerbates existing inequities in the region and are ineffective at controlling ‘narco-trafficking’. The paper explores the relation between culture and human/environmental security.The discussion illustrates how cultural and aesthetics beliefs provide the background for agroecological practices adopted by indigenous Amazonian peoples. It is argued that political developments in the region have undermined the ability of this people to maintain their livelihood strategies. It is conclude that PC/PA, which effectively exclude indigenous peoples from the management of the rainforest environments where they have lived for centuries, is justified by the Colombian and USA governments on the ground that they improve security of the very people they displace.

Tesis presentada por la investigadora Claudia Leipold para optar por el título de Doctora en Ciencias Históricas y Filosofía, de la Universität de Marburg (Alemania), en 2002. A lo largo de la investigación, cuyo objetivo principal es estudiar la historia de la isla de San Andrés y la noción de conciencia histórica de sus habitantes, para de esta manera, comprender la forma en que el pasado es utilizado como herramienta de definición de la cultura local; la autora parte de la etnohistoria para conocer a la comunidad nativa de la isla, su percepción sobre el pasado, los cambios y transofrmaciones de su cultura, así como aspectos relacionados con sus creencias, su lengua y la música que escuchan. En la parte final del documento se adjuntan varias entrevistas y conversaciones que sirvieron de insumo para la investigación de Leipold como se muestra a continuación. Apendice - Entrevistas realizadas para el Estudio sobre la imagen histórica de los Sanandresanos en el Mar Caribe Colombiano: Cecilia Francis Hall: http://babel.banrepcultural.org/cdm/ref/collection/p17054coll11/id/100 Iris Abrahams: http://babel.banrepcultural.org/cdm/ref/collection/p17054coll11/id/92 Thomas Livingston: http://babel.banrepcultural.org/cdm/ref/collection/p17054coll11/id/96 Alvaro Archbold: http://babel.banrepcultural.org/cdm/ref/collection/p17054coll11/id/93 Orly Livingston: http://babel.banrepcultural.org/cdm/ref/collection/p17054coll11/id/97 Walwin Peterson: http://babel.banrepcultural.org/cdm/ref/collection/p17054coll11/id/94 Lolia Pomare (Primera parte): http://babel.banrepcultural.org/cdm/ref/collection/p17054coll11/id/98 Lolia Pomare (Segunda parte): http://babel.banrepcultural.org/cdm/ref/collection/p17054coll11/id/91 Delwin May: http://babel.banrepcultural.org/cdm/ref/collection/p17054coll11/id/95 Miss Bowie y al reverendo George M. May: http://babel.banrepcultural.org/cdm/ref/collection/p17054coll11/id/99