Rubber tappers of the Upper Juruá River, Brazil: the making of a forest peasant economy

This thesis studies the forest labour process of seringueiros (rubber tappers) in the contemporary Amazon. It investigates labour processes from a Marxist anthropological perspective, focusing on value and exploitation on the capitalist periphery. The analysis is supported by an ethnographic description of contemporary seringais (rubber estates) in the State of Acre, where I was born. This work is organised in three independent parts. Chapters 1 to 4 constitute a study of the local history of rubber estates and their interface with world and national history. They deal with the the cycle of expansion and decline of the rubber trade on the Upper Jurua region of Acre (1870-1943), the renewed prosperity of the extractive economy in the post-war period (1943-1980) and the conflicts between rubber patrons (patroes) and tappers during the last decade (1980-1990). I conclude that the contemporary rubber estate system was a product of regional Brazilian politics rather than a response to the imperatives of the world economy. It developed into its present form as a result of Brazilian State economic policies, which favoured and subsidised a technologically stagnant regional elite in an area marginal to the world market. Another conclusion holds that a forest peasantry with a highly-diversified local economy developed on the contemporary estates. This forest peasantry possesses its own stakes in the forest economy. It is not simply a proletariat forced to remain in the forest and supply the world or national market by virtue of debts. Chapters 5 and 6 describe in detail the trade-post system and the debt system on the basis of field work done on the Tejo River Valley. I describe the trade-post institution as based on the monopoly of natural resources and of trade, supported by state agencies, extracting rents and mercantile profits from a population of rubber tappers operating independent economic units in the heart of the forest. I argue that system is unable to control the forest labour process. I also interpret debt relations as a consequence of the extractive character of the forest economy and not as an imposition of trade-posts. Chapters 7 through 10 proposes the model of a forest house economy, including its social groups, its use of the natural resources, its labour process and its overall working. Far from specialised rubber producers, the rubber tappers' forest house economy is characterised in technical terms by the amplitude of forest niches they occupy (including hunting, collecting and cultivation). The technological and social patterns of this economy possesses ecological and technological characteristics that are essentially different from non-forest peasant economies ("settler" economies in the Amazon), and also from the large-scale productive units (fazendas). My argument favours the inclusion of the tappers' extensive economic strategies in the forest as part of a wider development policy.My studies at the University of Cambridge and the initial field research (1981-1984) were financed by the Brazilian National Research Council (CNPq) and by the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP). A second research trip (June-August 1987) was funded by UNICAMP while CNPq financed a second stay in Cambridge (September 1990-February 1991)

Polymorphisms in the MBL2 gene are associated with the plasma levels of MBL and the cytokines IL-6 and TNF-α in severe COVID-19

IntroductionMannose-binding lectin (MBL) promotes opsonization, favoring phagocytosis and activation of the complement system in response to different microorganisms, and may influence the synthesis of inflammatory cytokines. This study investigated the association of MBL2 gene polymorphisms with the plasma levels of MBL and inflammatory cytokines in COVID-19.MethodsBlood samples from 385 individuals (208 with acute COVID-19 and 117 post-COVID-19) were subjected to real-time PCR genotyping. Plasma measurements of MBL and cytokines were performed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and flow cytometry, respectively.ResultsThe frequencies of the polymorphic MBL2 genotype (OO) and allele (O) were higher in patients with severe COVID-19 (p< 0.05). The polymorphic genotypes (AO and OO) were associated with lower MBL levels (p< 0.05). IL-6 and TNF-α were higher in patients with low MBL and severe COVID-19 (p< 0.05). No association of polymorphisms, MBL levels, or cytokine levels with long COVID was observed.DiscussionThe results suggest that, besides MBL2 polymorphisms promoting a reduction in MBL levels and therefore in its function, they may also contribute to the development of a more intense inflammatory process responsible for the severity of COVID-19

More than 10,000 pre-Columbian earthworks are still hidden throughout Amazonia

Indigenous societies are known to have occupied the Amazon basin for more than 12,000 years, but the scale of their influence on Amazonian forests remains uncertain. We report the discovery, using LIDAR (light detection and ranging) information from across the basin, of 24 previously undetected pre-Columbian earthworks beneath the forest canopy. Modeled distribution and abundance of large-scale archaeological sites across Amazonia suggest that between 10,272 and 23,648 sites remain to be discovered and that most will be found in the southwest. We also identified 53 domesticated tree species significantly associated with earthwork occurrence probability, likely suggesting past management practices. Closed-canopy forests across Amazonia are likely to contain thousands of undiscovered archaeological sites around which pre-Columbian societies actively modified forests, a discovery that opens opportunities for better understanding the magnitude of ancient human influence on Amazonia and its current state

Mortality from gastrointestinal congenital anomalies at 264 hospitals in 74 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study

Summary Background Congenital anomalies are the fifth leading cause of mortality in children younger than 5 years globally. Many gastrointestinal congenital anomalies are fatal without timely access to neonatal surgical care, but few studies have been done on these conditions in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared outcomes of the seven most common gastrointestinal congenital anomalies in low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries globally, and identified factors associated with mortality. Methods We did a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of patients younger than 16 years, presenting to hospital for the first time with oesophageal atresia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, intestinal atresia, gastroschisis, exomphalos, anorectal malformation, and Hirschsprung’s disease. Recruitment was of consecutive patients for a minimum of 1 month between October, 2018, and April, 2019. We collected data on patient demographics, clinical status, interventions, and outcomes using the REDCap platform. Patients were followed up for 30 days after primary intervention, or 30 days after admission if they did not receive an intervention. The primary outcome was all-cause, in-hospital mortality for all conditions combined and each condition individually, stratified by country income status. We did a complete case analysis. Findings We included 3849 patients with 3975 study conditions (560 with oesophageal atresia, 448 with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, 681 with intestinal atresia, 453 with gastroschisis, 325 with exomphalos, 991 with anorectal malformation, and 517 with Hirschsprung’s disease) from 264 hospitals (89 in high-income countries, 166 in middleincome countries, and nine in low-income countries) in 74 countries. Of the 3849 patients, 2231 (58·0%) were male. Median gestational age at birth was 38 weeks (IQR 36–39) and median bodyweight at presentation was 2·8 kg (2·3–3·3). Mortality among all patients was 37 (39·8%) of 93 in low-income countries, 583 (20·4%) of 2860 in middle-income countries, and 50 (5·6%) of 896 in high-income countries (p<0·0001 between all country income groups). Gastroschisis had the greatest difference in mortality between country income strata (nine [90·0%] of ten in lowincome countries, 97 [31·9%] of 304 in middle-income countries, and two [1·4%] of 139 in high-income countries; p≤0·0001 between all country income groups). Factors significantly associated with higher mortality for all patients combined included country income status (low-income vs high-income countries, risk ratio 2·78 [95% CI 1·88–4·11], p<0·0001; middle-income vs high-income countries, 2·11 [1·59–2·79], p<0·0001), sepsis at presentation (1·20 [1·04–1·40], p=0·016), higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score at primary intervention (ASA 4–5 vs ASA 1–2, 1·82 [1·40–2·35], p<0·0001; ASA 3 vs ASA 1–2, 1·58, [1·30–1·92], p<0·0001]), surgical safety checklist not used (1·39 [1·02–1·90], p=0·035), and ventilation or parenteral nutrition unavailable when needed (ventilation 1·96, [1·41–2·71], p=0·0001; parenteral nutrition 1·35, [1·05–1·74], p=0·018). Administration of parenteral nutrition (0·61, [0·47–0·79], p=0·0002) and use of a peripherally inserted central catheter (0·65 [0·50–0·86], p=0·0024) or percutaneous central line (0·69 [0·48–1·00], p=0·049) were associated with lower mortality. Interpretation Unacceptable differences in mortality exist for gastrointestinal congenital anomalies between lowincome, middle-income, and high-income countries. Improving access to quality neonatal surgical care in LMICs will be vital to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 of ending preventable deaths in neonates and children younger than 5 years by 2030

ON THE STRUCTURE OF DRAVIDIAN RELATIONSHIP SYSTEMS

We propose a calculus for kinship and affinity relationships that generates the classification of Dravidian terminologies proposed by Dumont (1953 and 1958) in the form given to them by Trautmann (1981). This calculus operates on the language D* of words for kinship and affinity, endowed with rules that select amongst the words in D* a sub-set of words in canonical Dravidian form. We prove that these rules generate uniquely the Dravidian structure (as in Trautmann's model B), and we demonstrate that that Trautmann's model B is the correct version of his model A. We discuss the meaning of the anticommutative structure of D*, and finally point to a generalization of the proposed calculus allowing its rules to be seen in the more general Iroquois context

ANSWER TO COMMENTS BY DOUGLAS WHITE, DWIGHT READ AND F. K. LEHMAN

The goal in constructing this artificial language is not to construct a grammar for a subset of natural languages. In other words, the artificial language of kin terms built by means of symbols B, Z, F, M, S and D is not intended as a grammar that would generate strings having syntactical or phonetic similitude with strings in any natural language, even in the restricted domain of kinship. This would have been a linguistic problem, not a problem in cultural theory. The formal language K* is a means to construct a genealogical space endowed with a very simple structure. The basic hypothesis is that kinship terminologies in natural languages are distinguished in the way they classify the paths in the genealogical space. To describe these actually existing classifications is a task of empirical research. The task of the theory is to construct a theoretically-based classification of the genealogical space that should reproduce the empirically given classification, or some relevant feature of it

Lewis Morgan: 140 anos dos Sistemas de Consanguinidade e Afinidade da Família Humana (1871-2011)

.Lewis Henry Morgan costuma seragrupado com McLennan, Lubbock e Tylor comoum dos evolucionistas de gabinete cuja obra é men-cionada no início de cursos de antropologia, mascuja leitura não é recomendada. Na verdade, Mor-gan foi um pioneiro da pesquisa de campo, cujo pri-meiro projeto teórico foi provar a unidade humanae a origem asiática dos povos ameríndios, utilizandopara isso um método que pode legitimamente serchamado de estrutural. O evolucionismo de Mor-gan, ou o que ele chamou de “explicação conjetu-ral” da diversidade de terminologias de parentescopor meio de uma sequência progressiva de formasde família, foi um adendo à sua monumental obraSistemas de Consanguinidade e de Afinidade na Fa-mília Humana, publicada em 1871. A “explicaçãoconjetural” é o foco central de sua obra mais conhe-cida que é A Sociedade Antiga, publicada em 1877.Mas, ainda que esta segunda obra não tivesse sidopublicada, Morgan mereceria o reconhecimento deter sido o criador do objeto “sistema de parentesco”,de ter criado um método para estudá-lo, e de terrealizado um esforço de pesquisa comparativa semigual até os dias de hoje. Lewis Morgan foi aindaum pioneiro na pesquisa de sistemas políticos, daarquitetura e da comensalidade de indígenas ame-ríndios, além de ter sido um naturalista que defen-deu os seres “mudos”, a quem atribuiu inteligênciaigual em sua natureza à dos seres dotados de fala