Effectiveness of the CoronaVac® vaccine in a region of the Colombian Amazon, was herd immunity achieved?

Introduction Currently, more than 4.5 billion doses of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines have been applied worldwide. However, some developing countries are still a long way from achieving herd immunity through vaccination. In some territories, such as the Colombian Amazon, mass immunization strategies have been implemented with the CoronaVac® vaccine. Due to its proximity to Brazil, where one of the variants of interest of SARS-CoV-2 circulates. Objective To determine the effectiveness of the CoronaVac® vaccine in a population of the Colombian Amazon. Methods Between February 24, 2021, and August 10, 2021, a descriptive observational study was carried out in which a population of individuals over 18 years of age immunized with two doses of the CoronaVac® vaccine was evaluated. The study site was in the municipality of Mitú, Vaupés, in southeastern Colombia, a region located in the Amazon bordering Brazil. Results. 99% of the urban population of the Mitú municipality were vaccinated with CoronaVac®. To date, 5.7% of vaccinated individuals have become ill, and only 0.1% of these require hospitalization. One death was attributable to COVID-19 has been reported among vaccinated individuals, and the vaccine has shown 94.3% effectiveness against mild disease and 99.9% against severe infection. Conclusions The herd immunity achieved through mass vaccination in this population has made it possible to reduce the rate of complicated cases and mortality from COVID-19 in this region of the Colombian Amazon. Highlights CoronaVac® has shown 94.3% effectiveness against mild disease and 99.9% against severe infection in this indigenous population. CoronaVac® reduces the mortality rate from 2.2% in 2020 to 0.22% in 2021. The herd immunity was achieved through mass vaccination in this region of the Colombian Amazon.

The representation of Indigenous peoples in chronic disease clinical trials in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States

Background Indigenous peoples are overrepresented with chronic health conditions and experience suboptimal outcomes compared with non-Indigenous peoples. Genetic variations influence therapeutic responses, thus there are potential risks and harm when extrapolating evidence from the general population to Indigenous peoples. Indigenous population–specific clinical studies, and inclusion of Indigenous peoples in general population clinical trials, are perceived to be rare. Our study (1) identified and characterized Indigenous population–specific chronic disease trials and (2) identified the representation of Indigenous peoples in general population chronic disease trials conducted in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States. Methods For Objective 1, publicly available clinical trial registries were searched from May 2010 to May 2020 using Indigenous population–specific terms and included for data extraction if in pre-specified chronic disease. For identified trials, we extracted Indigenous population group identity and characteristics, type of intervention, and funding type. For Objective 2, a random selection of 10% of registered clinical trials was performed and the proportion of Indigenous population participants enrolled extracted. Results In total, 170 Indigenous population–specific chronic disease trials were identified. The clinical trials were predominantly behavioral interventions (n = 95). Among general population studies, 830 studies were randomly selected. When race was reported in studies (n = 526), Indigenous individuals were enrolled in 172 studies and constituted 5.6% of the total population enrolled in those studies. Conclusion Clinical trials addressing chronic disease conditions in Indigenous populations are limited. It is crucial to ensure adequate representation of Indigenous peoples in clinical trials to ensure trial data are applicable to their clinical care.

The Instructions of Melanesian Cargo Cults for the Asia-Pacific Future

So-called cargo cults are new religious movements best known among the indigenous population of Oceania, especially Melanesia. Their focus of attention is the mystery surrounding the new goods brought by light-skinned strangers in awe-striking ocean-going vessels and (later) in great flying ‘bird-like’ containers. Various socio-religious movements arose in response to these European-style wares (later internationally-marketed commodities), or “the Cargo” (pidgin: Kago), often in agitated collective expectation of an extraordinary arrival of new riches. The Melanesian outbursts have been typically inspired by prophet-type leaders, with their messages reflecting a transition between indigenous traditions and more settled islander Christianities. This paper moves on from describing and explaining southwest Pacific cargo-type movements to the issue of the ethos out of which they arose, and addresses the sociology of hope for Cargo (or modern commodities in plenty) as a global issue, best described as “Cargoism.” Sets of beliefs in the coming bounty and changing power of Cargo have much more than ‘provincial’ or local-indigenous implications. They point to a worldwide plethora of expectations wherein material items define the essential comforts of life and capture the individual, family and collective imaginations about the preferred human future. Exploring some of the ‘universally human’ implications within the logic of cargo-cult thinking in its Pacific context, this paper introduces Cargoism as a transoceanic and intercontinental issue that has enormous environmental and politico-economic ramifications. Presages of environmental stress lie with globalizing cargoist dreams and pressures, including hopes for progress and technological solutions offered by trade and commercial expansions (proffered by powerful nations, including China, for the Asia-Pacific future).

The View of Yakutsk Town in art from the collection of the National Art Museum of The Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)

Визуальные образы, сохраненные в виде рисунков, гравюр, фотодокументальных материалов, являются важной частью реконструкции исторического прошлого народа. Раннее конструирование образа г. Якутска нашло отражение в рисунках и гравюрах российских и зарубежных исследователей и художников XVII–XVIII веков. Так, Вторая Камчатская экспедиция, работавшая в 1733–1743 годах по государственному заказу, одним из направлений своей работы избрала визуальную фиксацию и точную информацию по географии, этнографии коренного населения региона, проспектов городов. Цель представленного в статье исследования — выявление и комплексный анализ ранних изображений города Якутска в графических произведениях XVII–XVIII веков. На основе гравюры художника Гравировальной палаты Академии наук А.Г. Рудакова с рисунка И.В. Люрсениуса, рисовальщика академического отряда Второй Камчатской экспедиции, и графической работы французского пейзажиста Л.Н. Леспинасса из собрания Национального художественного музея Республики Саха (Якутия) показано значение видовых проспектов г. Якутска как ранних художественных репрезентаций города Якутска. Сделан вывод о том, что эти материалы способствовали накоплению сведений о Якутске, одном из старинных городов Сибири. Visual images that were preserved in the forms of drawings, engravings, and photographic documentations are an important part of the reconstruction of the historical past of the people. The early reconstruction of the image of Yakutsk was reflected in drawings and engravings by Russian and foreign researchers and artists of the 17th and 18th centuries. Thus, the Second Kamchatka expedition, which worked under the state order in 1733 to 1743, was aimed at visual fixation and accurate information on geography, ethnography of the indigenous population of the region, city avenues. The purpose of the study is to identify and comprehensively analyze the early images of Yakutsk in the graphic pictures of the 17th – 18th centuries. Based on the works of the draftsman of the academic detachment of the Second Kamchatka Expedition I.V. Lursenius, the artist of the Engraving Chamber of the Academy of Sciences A.G. Rudakov, the French landscape painter L.N. Lespinass from the collection of the National Art Museum of The Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the significance of the view avenues of Yakutsk as early artistic representations of Yakutsk is shown. It is concluded that these materials contributed to the accumulation of information about Yakutsk, one of the ancient towns of Siberia.

Traditional arts and crafts of the peoples of Chukotka and its traditions in the modern subculture

В статье представлен обзор объектов декоративно-прикладного искусства коренного населения в Чукотском автономном округе. Материалом исследования послужили музейные коллекции Чаунского краеведческого музея, основу которых составляют предметы быта, этнографии и декоративно-прикладного искусства «оленных» (кочевых) и «сидячих» (оседлых) чукчей, эскимосов и других народов; а также архив Певекской школы искусств. Опираясь на опыт Чаунского краеведческого музея в области комплектования и экспонирования предметов декоративно-прикладного искусства, предлагается рассмотреть образцы традиционного чукотского искусства, а также его традиции в современной субкультуре. Под традиционным искусством понимается косторезное искусство народов Чукотки, а также вышивка из кожи и меха — такое разделение соответствует делению коренных жителей на кочевых и оседлых. Под современной субкультурой в данном случае понимается культура, созданная в многонациональном регионе в процессе ассимиляции местных жителей и так называемого «пришлого» населения — русских, украинцев и многих других. В результате происходили не только смешанные браки, но и взаимное обогащение культурных традиций — это ярко проявилось в проведении праздников, создании литературных произведений, а также в создании предметов декоративно-прикладного искусства. В собрании Чаунского краеведческого музея представлены подобные образцы декоративно-прикладного искусства как чукотских мастеров, так и мастеров других национальностей. The article presents an overview of objects of decorative and applied art of the indigenous population in the Chukotka. The research material was the museum collections of the Chaunsky Museum of Local Lore, which are based on household items, ethnography and decorative and applied art of the "reindeer" (nomadic) and "sedentary" Chukchi, Eskimos and other peoples; as well as the archive of the Pevek School of Arts. Based on the experience of the Chaunsky Museum of Local Lore in the field of acquiring and exhibiting objects of decorative and applied art, the author examines examples of traditional Chukchi art and its traditions in the modern subculture. Traditional art is understood as bone carving art of the peoples of Chukotka, as well as embroidery from leather and fur — this division corresponds to the division of indigenous people into nomadic and sedentary. In this case, the modern subculture is understood as a culture created in a multinational region in the process of assimilation of local residents and the so-called “newcomer” population — Russians, Ukrainians and many others. As a result, not only mixed marriages took place, but also the mutual enrichment of cultural traditions — this was clearly manifested in the celebration of holidays, the creation of literary works, as well as in the creation of objects of decorative and applied art. In the collection of the Chaunsky Museum of Local Lore, there are similar examples of decorative and applied art of both Chukchi masters and masters of other nationalities.

Perspectives, dimensions, and references that shape the notion of nature: A semiotic model based on socioecological relations

If the significance of nature is a crucial phenomenon in understanding the forms of relations societies establish with the environment, in what way is this significance built? This paper presents the results of a case study focused on exploring how the meanings of nature and socioecological relationships relate to each other in an indigenous population. The first part of the article explains the theoretical scaffolding used to collect and analyse data, based on ecological anthropology and Ogden and Richards’ semiotic scheme. The second part describes the methodological procedures and the first findings, that is, the elements and dimensions that integrate the meanings of nature and land for the inhabitants of this population. It is also explained how those meanings are built and how they are fused to local socioecological relationships in an ontological way. The findings reveal that the inhabitants of this community configure their meanings of ‘nature’ from multiple references of biological, spiritual, axiological, and cultural character, often represented by its referent ‘land’. The notion of ‘nature’ (as land) is created from subjective and social experiences with the environment and the territory, and in turn provides meaning to the biocultural identity of the population. However, historical learning, worldview, and social organization also emerge as the main structuring elements of the social meanings of nature and land.

Copper technology in the Arabah during the Iron Age and the role of the indigenous population in the industry

Following the Egyptian withdrawal in the mid-12th century BCE from their involvement in the Arabah copper production, and after an additional period of organization, the degree of copper efficiency and production at Timna and Faynan increased in the Early Iron Age (11th–9th centuries), rendering the region the largest and most advanced smelting centre in the Levant. The existing paradigm offered as an explanation for this technical and commercial success is based on extraneous influence, namely, the campaign of Pharaoh Sheshonq I near the end of the 10th century BCE that spurred a renewed Egyptian involvement in the Arabah copper industry. An alternative paradigm is suggested here, viewing the advances in Arabah copper technology and production as a linear development and the outcome of continuous and gradual indigenous improvements on the part of local craftsmen, with no external intervention. Behind these outstanding technical achievements stood excellent managerial personnel, supported by an innovative technical team. They employed two techniques for copper-production optimization that can be defined based on concepts taken from the world of modern industrial engineering: (i) "trial and error", in which the effect of each production variable was tested individually and separately, and (ii) "scaling-up", in which the size of some production elements (i.e., tuyère) was increased by using existing techniques which required minimum developmental costs and experimental risks.