The faunal drugstore: Animal-based remedies used in traditional medicines in Latin America

Zootherapy is the treatment of human ailments with remedies made from animals and their products. Despite its prevalence in traditional medical practices worldwide, research on this phenomenon has often been neglected in comparison to medicinal plant research. This review discusses some related aspects of the use of animal-based remedies in Latin America, identifies those species used as folk remedies, and discusses the implications of zootherapy for public health and biological conservation. The review of literature revealed that at least 584 animal species, distributed in 13 taxonomic categories, have been used in traditional medicine in region. The number of medicinal species catalogued was quite expansive and demonstrates the importance of zootherapy as an alternative mode of therapy in Latin America. Nevertheless, this number is certainly underestimated since the number of studies on the theme are very limited. Animals provide the raw materials for remedies prescribed clinically and are also used in the form of amulets and charms in magic-religious rituals and ceremonies. Zootherapeutic resources were used to treat different diseases. The medicinal fauna is largely based on wild animals, including some endangered species. Besides being influenced by cultural aspects, the relations between humans and biodiversity in the form of zootherapeutic practices are conditioned by the social and economic relations between humans themselves. Further ethnopharmacological studies are necessary to increase our understanding of the links between traditional uses of faunistic resources and conservation biology, public health policies, sustainable management of natural resources and bio-prospecting

Sequestro esplênico agudo em coorte de crianças com anemia falciforme

OBJECTIVE: To analyze acute splenic sequestration (ASS) in children with sickle cell anemia diagnosed through a newborn screening program in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, and followed up at the hematology center in the city of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. METHODS: Retrospective cohort of 255 children with sickle cell anemia (Hb SS/Sβ0) born between January 01, 2000, and December 31, 2004, and followed up until December 31, 2006. Data were abstracted from the patients' medical records. RESULTS: A total of 89 patients had 173 episodes of ASS (10.2 first episodes per 100 patient-years); 75% of the first episodes occurred before 2 years of age. The estimated probability of occurrence of the first episode of ASS during the study period was 40%. Recurrence rate reached 57.3%. After the first episode, splenectomy was indicated in only 12.4% of the cases; after the second, in 60.4% of the cases. After the third episode, 41.7% of the patients remained under clinical observation. The median time between indication for splenectomy and the actual surgical procedure was 2 months. During the intervening period, 37.2% of the children suffered a new episode of ASS and one child died. Case-fatality rate was 1.1% for the first episode and 7.8% for the subsequent episodes. Among a total of 255 children, 19 died: 36.8% due to infections and 26.3% after ASS. CONCLUSIONS: ASS is relatively common in sickle cell anemia, mainly in the first 2 years of life; relapse occurs in more than half of the cases. Conservative management instead of immediate splenectomy was the method of choice. Although the case-fatality rate was low, ASS was the second most common cause of death. These results disclose some fragilities of the health system in the state of Minas Gerais and the need for better professional education to approach ASS crises.Originally published at http://www.scielo.br/pdf/jped/v85n2/en_v85n2a13.pd

Towards a data publishing framework for primary biodiversity data: challenges and potentials for the biodiversity informatics community

Background: Currently primary scientific data, especially that dealing with biodiversity, is neither easily discoverable nor accessible. Amongst several impediments, one is a lack of professional recognition of scientific data publishing efforts. A possible solution is establishment of a ‘Data Publishing Framework’ which would encourage and recognise investments and efforts by institutions and individuals towards management, and publishing of primary scientific data potentially on a par with recognitions received for scholarly publications. Discussion: This paper reviews the state-of-the-art of primary biodiversity data publishing, and conceptualises a ‘Data Publishing Framework’ that would help incentivise efforts and investments by institutions and individuals in facilitating free and open access to biodiversity data. It further postulates the institutionalisation of a ‘Data Usage Index (DUI)’, that would attribute due recognition to multiple players in the data collection/creation, management and publishing cycle. Conclusion: We believe that institutionalisation of such a ‘Data Publishing Framework’ that offers socio-cultural, legal, technical, economic and policy environment conducive for data publishing will facilitate expedited discovery and mobilisation of an exponential increase in quantity of ‘fit-for-use’ primary biodiversity data, much of which is currently invisible

Utility of WHOQOL-BREF in measuring quality of life in Sickle Cell Disease

BACKGROUND: Sickle cell disease is the commonest genetic disorder in Jamaica and most likely exerts numerous effects on quality of life (QOL) of those afflicted with it. The WHOQOL-Bref, which is a commonly utilized generic measure of quality of life, has never previously been utilized in this population. We have sought to study its utility in this disease population. METHODS: 491 patients with sickle cell disease were administered the questionnaire including demographics, WHOQOL-Bref, Short Form-36 (SF-36), Flanagan's quality of life scale (QOLS) and measures of disease severity at their routine health maintenance visits to the sickle cell unit. Internal consistency reliabilities, construct validity and "known groups" validity of the WHOQOL-Bref, and its domains, were examined; and then compared to those of the other instruments. RESULTS: All three instruments had good internal consistency, ranging from 0.70 to 0.93 for the WHOQOL-Bref (except the 'social relationships' domain), 0.86-0.93 for the SF-36 and 0.88 for the QOLS. None of the instruments showed any marked floor or ceiling effects except the SF-36 'physical health' and 'role limitations' domains. The WHOQOL-Bref scale also had moderate concurrent validity and showed strong "known groups" validity. CONCLUSION: This study has shown good psychometric properties of the WHOQOL-Bref instrument in determining QOL of those with sickle cell disease. Its utility in this regard is comparable to that of the SF-36 and QOLS.Originally published at http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1477-7525-7-75.pd

Promoting Agriculture and Food Sustainability through Apprenticeship Programs in the Caribbean: A Case Study in Trinidad and Tobago

The urgent need for developing nations to ensure food security has driven efforts to increase youth participation in agriculture within recent times. The Youth Apprenticeship Programme in Agriculture (YAPA) in Trinidad and Tobago is a government-sponsored programme for youth 17-25 years. It was launched in 2003 and its primary purpose is to provide an opportunity for young people to become involved in farming. It is expected that this experience will show them that farming can be pursued successfully as a career and in a business –like manner. This should have the desired outcome of increased numbers of young persons entering the agriculture sector, a necessity for sustainable agricultural development. The program is linked to overall policy goals of food security, poverty alleviation, employment and rural development. This paper assesses the YAPA and outlines key points related to challenges and success faced by the program. A mixed method approach was used to gather information. Focus group sessions were conducted with all programme coordinators and a sample of trainees. This was followed by a formal survey using a self administered questionnaire with all current trainees (n=57), a survey among past trainees (n=37) and an examination of archival data. Results were mixed and showed that the majority of trainees in the programme had positive attitudes towards agriculture. They entered the program because of their strong belief in the future of farming and to generate additional. Those trainees who had negative attitudes disrupted the programme and upset the coordinators. Results also showed that there are several shortcomings with the overall structure of the YAPA program. The government needed to be more supportive of the program and follow through with promised resources and post YAPA funding

Invertebrate recruitment patterns inside and outside Discovery Bay, Jamaica

Coral recruitment was recorded on tiles deployed at Columbus Park reef (CPR) within Discovery Bay, Jamaica and at the CARICOMP site on the West Fore Reef Slope (WFR) outside Discovery Bay. Spiny lobster pueruli and motile invertebrates were recorded using Witham collectors deployed at approximately the same sites as well as two additional sites: the Blue Hole (BH) (within Discovery Bay) and Dairy Bull Reef (DBR) (outside Discovery Bay). Prior to the early 1980's CPR, WFR and DBR had high scleractinian coral cover. Today CPR is characterized by coral rubble, zooanthids and Millepora, WFR is characterized by high algal cover and low percent coral cover, and DBR still has high coral cover. The rate of coral recruitment on the WFR was higher (203 spat m-2) than on the CPR (136 spat m-2). Acroporid recruitment was low, with only 3 spat m-2 (<1% of total recruitment) on the WFR and no acroporid spat on tiles at CPR. Agariciids and poritids were the dominant taxa recruiting to tiles at CPR and the WFR, respectively. While protected inshore waters are the preferred settlement habitat for spiny lobster (Panulirus argus) pueruli in other Caribbean studies, this was not true for Discovery Bay. No pueruli settled on Witham collectors deployed at CPR and BH. The numbers of other invertebrate species and individuals settling on collectors at the CPR and BH were much lower than on the WFR and DBR. It is hypothesized that anthropogenic activities are adversely affecting the water quality in Discovery Bay, and this, in turn, is adversely affecting the recruitment of scleractinian corals and motile invertebrates.Originally published at: http://www.reefbase.org/download/download.aspx?type=1&docid=1230

The Return of Diadema antillarum to Discovery Bay: Patterns of Distribution and Abundance

By 1999, populations of the sea urchin Diadema antillarum had begun a dramatic resurgence on the north coast of Jamaica after 23 years of stasis at very low levels. This increase in D. antillarum, from population levels near zero in 1984 to densities as high as 16 m2 in 2000, is associated with increases in abundance of the sympatric echinoids Echinometra viridis and Eucidaris tribuloides. In contrast, Tripneustes ventricosus was abundant on the fore reef in 1999 (unusual in that T. ventricosus generally inhabits back reef environments) but declined dramatically by 2000. Geographical Information Systems (GIS) analysis showed that D. antillarum rarely occurred alone: in 1999 and 2000, D. antillarum co-occurred with a second urchin species in 89.95% and 65.47% of the area surveyed respectively. Findings suggest that interactions between members of the echinoid complex are potentially important for reef recovery. Recent research conducted on the recovery of the D. antillarum population suggest that the presence of T. ventricosus on the fore reef may have created a disturbance large enough to facilitate a phase transition from algal to coral dominated substratum (Woodley et al. 1999). Our results are consistent with the findings of Woodley et al. (1999). We propose that recruitment of D. antillarum is facilitated by the presence of sympatric echinoids and is not dependent upon food availability. Sizes of D. antillarum populations at five sites were normally distributed, indicating strong, continued recruitment and suggesting that conditions conducive to reef recovery on the north coast of Jamaica have begun.This article was originally published at http://www.reefbase.org/download/download.aspx?type=1&docid=1231

Development of a locally-managed fisheries reserve at Discovery Bay, Jamaica

Jamaican north coast coral reef fish populations have been severely over-exploited. In 1976, the Discovery Bay Marine Laboratory (University of the West Indies) made preliminary moves toward reef management. In 1988, its Fisheries Improvement Programme began helping local fishing communities to introduce management measures. Products of this collaboration include the formation of fishermen’s organizations; support for gear changes; and, in 1996, creation of the Discovery Bay Fishery Reserve. The Reserve depended on voluntary compliance and daily patrols. Legal protection was not obtained, funding for patrols ran out, and compliance declined. Lessons were learned by biologists, who found they lacked the training to manage people. They learned that changes in behaviour take longer to achieve than they had expected. The fishermen learned the value of group solidarity and saw some benefits to their catches. However, local action required government support in a co-management framework: legal protection for the Reserve was essential.The paper was originally published at http://www.coremap.or.id/downloads/IRCS9th-Woodley.pd