Molecular Epidemiology of Sapovirus in Children Living in the Northwest Amazon Region

Sapovirus is an important etiological agent of acute gastroenteritis (AGE), mainly in children under 5 years old living in lower-income communities. Eighteen identified sapovirus genotypes have been observed to infect humans. The aim of this study was to identify sapovirus genotypes circulating in the Amazon region. Twenty-eight samples were successfully genotyped using partial sequencing of the capsid gene. The genotypes identified were GI.1 (n = 3), GI.2 (n = 7), GII.1 (n = 1), GII.2 (n = 1), GII.3 (n = 5), GII.5 (n = 1), and GIV.1 (n = 10). The GIV genotype was the most detected genotype (35.7%, 10/28). The phylogenetic analysis identified sapovirus genotypes that had no similarity with other strains reported from Brazil, indicating that these genotypes may have entered the Amazon region via intense tourism in the Amazon rainforest. No association between histo-blood group antigen expression and sapovirus infection was observed.

Nova Pesquisa Sobre as Coleções de Richard Spruce na Amazônia: uma Colaboração Brasil - Reino Unido

The Northwest Amazon comprises a large region of equatorial forest on the border of Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela, which has been inhabited by indigenous peoples since the pre-colonial period. Today they occupy 80% of its area. Travellers such as Richard Spruce, who visited the region in the 1850s-1860s, described the vitality and dynamics of these populations, demonstrated by the size of their longhouses, their extensive inter-communal ceremonies, and their rich material culture. The biocultural objects and associated information collected by Richard Spruce constitute a unique point of reference for the useful plants, ethnobotany, anthropology and environmental history of the region. Housed at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the British Museum, both in London, this under-researched collection incorporates indigenous plant-based artefacts, samples of useful plant products, detailed archival notes on the use of plants by inhabitants of the Amazon, and accompanying herbarium voucher collections. This paper focusses on an ongoing research programme aimed at building capacity in Brazil to research, cataloguing and mobilising data from these biocultural collections, and developing these important resources for improved understanding of the useful and cultural properties of plants. It aims to build collaborative relationships, making biocultural collections and associated data freely accessible online, and above all to strengthen capacity of indigenous communities on the Rio Negro for autonomous research into material culture and plant use. We present the activities we have developed in the first two years of the programme. Workshops at Kew, Rio de Janeiro and São Gabriel da Cachoeira have enabled the Spruce collections to be fully digitised and artefacts made available through the Reflora portal (reflora.jbrj.gov. br). Training has been given in collection and study of biocultural objects, both to museum staff and representatives of indigenous communities, and a research agenda developed that focuses on better understanding of the shifting relationships between people and natural resources over the last 200 years. We discuss how a broad collaboration has led to constructive, culturally appropriate engagement with local communities, providing a portal into the world of scientific knowledge and helping to mobilise both scientific and indigenous knowledge in a mutually beneficial manner.

First record of Embiratermes ignotus Constantino 1991 (Termitidae: Syntermitinae) in Colombia

Embiratermes parvirostris Constantino 1992 is recorded for the first time in Colombian Amazon in soil of secondary rain forest. With current report E. parvirostris distribution is not only restricted to east and southwest Amazon, but includes northwest Amazon too. But, the distribution of this species continues being restricted to the Amazon basin.

Nova Pesquisa Sobre as Coleções de Richard Spruce na Amazônia: uma Colaboração Brasil - Reino Unido

<p>The Northwest Amazon comprises a large region of equatorial forest on the border of Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela, which has been inhabited by indigenous peoples since the pre-colonial period. Today they occupy 80% of its area. Travellers such as Richard Spruce, who visited the region in the 1850s-1860s, described the vitality and dynamics of these populations, demonstrated by the size of their longhouses, their extensive inter-communal ceremonies, and their rich material culture. The biocultural objects and associated information collected by Richard Spruce constitute a unique point of reference for the useful plants, ethnobotany, anthropology and environmental history of the region. Housed at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the British Museum, both in London, this under-researched collection incorporates indigenous plant-based artefacts, samples of useful plant products, detailed archival notes on the use of plants by inhabitants of the Amazon, and accompanying herbarium voucher collections. This paper focusses on an ongoing research programme aimed at building capacity in Brazil to research, cataloguing and mobilising data from these biocultural collections, and developing these important resources for improved understanding of the useful and cultural properties of plants. It aims to build collaborative relationships, making biocultural collections and associated data freely accessible online, and above all to strengthen capacity of indigenous communities on the Rio Negro for autonomous research into material culture and plant use. We present the activities we have developed in the first two years of the programme. Workshops at Kew, Rio de Janeiro and São Gabriel da Cachoeira have enabled the Spruce collections to be fully digitised and artefacts made available through the Reflora portal (reflora.jbrj.gov. br). Training has been given in collection and study of biocultural objects, both to museum staff and representatives of indigenous communities, and a research agenda developed that focuses on better understanding of the shifting relationships between people and natural resources over the last 200 years. We discuss how a broad collaboration has led to constructive, culturally appropriate engagement with local communities, providing a portal into the world of scientific knowledge and helping to mobilise both scientific and indigenous knowledge in a mutually beneficial manner.</p>

Reducing language to rhythm: Amazonian Bora drummed language exploits speech rhythm for long-distance communication

Many drum communication systems around the world transmit information by emulating tonal and rhythmic patterns of spoken languages in sequences of drumbeats. Their rhythmic characteristics, in particular, have not been systematically studied so far, although understanding them represents a rare occasion for providing an original insight into the basic units of speech rhythm as selected by natural speech practices directly based on beats. Here, we analyse a corpus of Bora drum communication from the northwest Amazon, which is nowadays endangered with extinction. We show that four rhythmic units are encoded in the length of pauses between beats. We argue that these units correspond to vowel-to-vowel intervals with different numbers of consonants and vowel lengths. By contrast, aligning beats with syllables, mora or only vowel length yields inconsistent results. Moreover, we also show that Bora drummed messages conventionally select rhythmically distinct markers to further distinguish words. The two phonological tones represented in drummed speech encode only few lexical contrasts. Rhythm thus appears to crucially contribute to the intelligibility of drummed Bora. Our study provides novel evidence for the role of rhythmic structures composed of vowel-to-vowel intervals in the complex puzzle concerning the redundancy and distinctiveness of acoustic features embedded in speech.