An open-access platform for camera-trapping data

In southern Mexico, local communities have been playing important roles in the design and collection of wildlife data through camera-trapping in community-based monitoring of biodiversity projects. However, the methods used to store the data have limited their use in matters of decision-making and research. Thus, we present the Platform for Community-based Monitoring of Biodiversity (PCMB), a repository, which allows storage, visualization, and downloading of photographs captured by community-based monitoring of biodiversity projects in protected areas of southern Mexico. The platform was developed using agile software development with extensive interaction between computer scientists and biologists. System development included gathering data, design, built, database and attributes creation, and quality control. The PCMB currently contains 28,180 images of 6478 animals (69.4% mammals and 30.3% birds). Of the 32 species of mammals recorded in 18 PA since 2012, approximately a quarter of all photographs were of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Platforms permitting access to camera-trapping data are a valuable step in opening access to data of biodiversity; the PCMB is a practical new tool for wildlife management and research with data generated through local participation. Thus, this work encourages research on the data generated through the community-based monitoring of biodiversity projects in protected areas, to provide an important information infrastructure for effective management and conservation of wildlife

Book Review Essay: The Mature Phase: Four Generations of Scholarship on Colonial Mesoamerica and New Spain

This essay reviews the following works: Native Wills from the Colonial Americas: Dead Giveaways in a New World. Edited by Mark Christensen and Jonathan Truitt. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2016. Pp. vii + 276. $55.00 cloth. ISBN: 9781607814160. Strange Lands and Different Peoples: Spaniards and Indians in Colonial Guatemala. By W. George Lovell, Christopher H. Lutz, with Wendy Kramer and William R. Swezey. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2013. Pp. ix + 339.$34.95 cloth. ISBN: 9780806143903. Indians and the Political Economy of Colonial Central America, 1670–1810. By Robert W. Patch. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2013. Pp. ix + 284. $36.95 cloth. ISBN: 9780806144009. The Mixtecs of Oaxaca: Ancient Times to the Present. By Ronald Spores and Andrew K. Balkansky. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2013. Pp. xvi + 328.$45.00 cloth. ISBN: 9780806143811. Emotions and Daily Life in Colonial Mexico. Edited by Javier Villa-Flores and Sonya Lipsett-Rivera. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2014. Pp. ix + 257. $29.95 paper. ISBN: 9780826354624

Master's research project : transient migrations and responses to effective change for Mixtec indigenous youth

Master's Project (M.A.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2014This qualitative research was developed not knowing the outcome. The primary goal was to find an indigenous group that resided in the Monterey Bay region of the Central Coast of California. Thanks to the Pajaro Valley Unified School District's Migrant Education Office, this goal was accomplished by the introduction of the Mixtec culture of Oaxaca, in Southern Mexico. The research began by 'hanging out' with the Mixtecs at Adult Education English class building a trust and familiarity. Their primary language is Mixteco,. Lessons were in Spanish to learn English. The project all fell into place after being introduced to Lucia, a trilingual 25 yr. old Mixteca. The secondary goal was in understanding their environmental relationship to identity. Since the Mixtecs are immigrants it was necessary to 1) get acquainted with their history, and homeland 2) attempt to understand purpose and risks to 'sneak across the border' 3) adjustment to life in California. Eight interviews were performed. Seven interviews were in their native language, Mixteco. Lucia's interview was in English and Spanish. A hand held device recorded the interviews. All interview questions were formulated in a partnership with Lucia. The translations are composed genuinely from her indigenous perspective. To acquire first hand photos, three cameras were used by the informants as they worked 'on the job' in the agricultural fields. The interviewees from their personal files donated pictures of their Oaxacan villages. Common themes were identified and are summarized in this report. The data was collected and compiled. The research brought forth a narrative nonfiction, young adult book, requested by the Mixtec students, as the rest of this project lays it out

Electronic properties of SnO2-based ceramics with double function of varistor and humidity sensor

This is the post-print version of the article. The official published version can be obtained from the link below - Copyright @ 2010 AD-Tech.Tin dioxide based varistor ceramics SnO2-Co3O4-Nb2O5-Cr2O3-xCuO (x=0; 0.05; 0.1 and 0.5) were made and their electrical properties were studied. The highest nonlinearity coefficient and electric field (at current density 10-3 A cm-2) were obtained for 0.1 mol.% CuO addition. It was observed that low-field electrical conductivity is increased with relative humidity, therefore, materials obtained exhibit double function of varistor and humidity sensor. The highest humidity sensitivity coefficient is found for SnO2-Co3O4-Nb2O5-Cr2O3 ceramics (without CuO). Observed varistor and humidity-sensitive properties are explained in the frames of grain-boundary double Schottky barrier concept as a decrease of the barrier height with electric field or relative humidity. Using suggested simple theory and data obtained on isothermal capacitance relaxation, the energy of the grain-boundary monoenergetic trapping states were estimated. These values are less than found for activation energy of electrical conduction (as a measure of the barrier height). These observations confirm the barrier concept.This work is funded by the Royal Society, United Kingdom (2007R1/R26999)

Aquaculture in tropical Mexican lakes and dams: achievements and perspectives

Mexico, with highly diverse physiography, geology, soils and climate, is a country with a broad mosaic of aquatic ecosystems within 320 watersheds. This paper presents a brief picture of Mexican fresh waters, the distribution of rainfall and the potential for aquaculture. The main fish species and water bodies, dams and lakes, are highlighted. The country faces problems of surface water shortage which requires better management

Native breeds of the oaxaqueña Mixteca of México

The Mixteca region is one of the most important areas of the Pacific Mexico with respect to the extensive farming, where the special richness of the Creole population of hens, sheep, goats, cattle, pigs and in a lower wake horses, turkeys and honey bees. Instead of this richness and its socio-economic importance in this region, few scientific studies have been developed about these animals. In this communication, we are developing a description of the most important population existing in this region, pointing out some aspects about their origin, geographical localization, management system, etc. Presently, the lines proposed by FAO for the conservation of the genetic resources is sensitising Mexico and all Latin-America for the conservation of their own resources. In this way, we can stand out the decay of this region in the enclosing of their breed in the international scientific community, what it is shown in the absence of most of them in publications such us the world watch list or the DAD-IS program.La Mixteca es una de las regiones ganaderas extensivas más importantes del México Pacífico, destacada por su gran riqueza en poblaciones criollas de gallinas, ovinos, caprinos, bovinos, porcinos y en menor medida equinos, pavos y abejas. A pesar de esta riqueza y de su importante repercusión socio-económica en esta región, son escasos los estudios científicos realizados sobre estos animales. En este trabajo se realiza una descripción de las principales poblaciones existentes, precisando algunos aspectos sobre su origen, ubicación geográfica, sistema de manejo, producción y opciones de futuro. En la actualidad las líneas impuestas por el programa global de la FAO para la conservación de los recursos genéticos está sensibilizando a México y a toda América Latina en pro de la conservación de sus propios recursos. En este sentido cabe destacar el retraso de esta región en incorporar sus razas a la comunidad científica internacional, lo que queda demostrado por la ausencia de la mayoría de ellos en publicaciones como el World Watch List o el programa DAD-IS

Review of the genus Dendrocoris Bergroth with descriptions of new species (Pentatomidae: Heteroptera)

The procleticine genus Dendrocoris Bergroth is revised with the descriptions of three new species from the United States, D. nelsoni, Mexico, D. inermis, and Guatemala, D. guatemalensis. A diagnosis is provided for each species with notes on distribution and host plants. Akeyis provided for determination of all fourteen species