Participation in biocultural diversity conservation : insights from five Amazonian examples

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-MThe past three decades have seen the emergence of myriads of initiatives focused on conserving, revitalizing, and maintaining Indigenous and Local Knowledge (ILK) as part of biocultural approaches to conservation. However, the extent to which these efforts have been participatory has been often overlooked. In this chapter, we focus on five prominent ILK conservation initiatives in the Amazon Basin to examine the participation of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) in ILK conservation. Our review illustrates several examples of ILK conservation initiatives offering substantial opportunities for meaningful IPLC participation over the long term. Overall, our case studies suggest that the development of robust and inclusive decision-making processes is essential to optimize IPLC participation in ILK conservation, thereby increasing the legitimacy of these initiatives. Our review is not an exhaustive account of the breadth and depth of all initiatives promoting participatory biocultural conservation in this region, but it illustrates that there are many strategies that can help foster IPLC engagement and lead the participatory turn in biocultural conservation

An inhibitory mono-ubiquitylation of the Drosophila initiator caspase Dronc functions in both apoptotic and non-apoptotic pathways

Apoptosis is an evolutionary conserved cell death mechanism, which requires activation of initiator and effector caspases. The Drosophila initiator caspase Dronc, the ortholog of mammalian Caspase-2 and Caspase-9, has an N-terminal CARD domain that recruits Dronc into the apoptosome for activation. In addition to its role in apoptosis, Dronc also has non-apoptotic functions such as compensatory proliferation. One mechanism to control the activation of Dronc is ubiquitylation. However, the mechanistic details of ubiquitylation of Dronc are less clear. For example, monomeric inactive Dronc is subject to non-degradative ubiquitylation in living cells, while ubiquitylation of active apoptosome-bound Dronc triggers its proteolytic degradation in apoptotic cells. Here, we examined the role of non-degradative ubiquitylation of Dronc in living cells in vivo, i.e. in the context of a multi-cellular organism. Our in vivo data suggest that in living cells Dronc is mono-ubiquitylated on Lys78 (K78) in its CARD domain. This ubiquitylation prevents activation of Dronc in the apoptosome and protects cells from apoptosis. Furthermore, K78 ubiquitylation plays an inhibitory role for non-apoptotic functions of Dronc. We provide evidence that not all of the non-apoptotic functions of Dronc require its catalytic activity. In conclusion, we demonstrate a mechanism whereby Dronc's apoptotic and non-apoptotic activities can be kept silenced in a non-degradative manner through a single ubiquitylation event in living cells

Molecular investigation of lymph nodes in colon cancer patients using one-step nucleic acid amplification (OSNA): a new road to better staging?

BACKGROUND: A new diagnostic system, called one-step nucleic acid amplification (OSNA), has recently been designed to detect cytokeratin 19 mRNA as a surrogate for lymph node metastases. The objective of this prospective investigation was to compare the performance of OSNA with both standard hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) analysis and intensive histopathology in the detection of colon cancer lymph node metastases. METHODS: In total, 313 lymph nodes from 22 consecutive patients with stage I, II, and III colon cancer were assessed. Half of each lymph node was analyzed initially by H&E followed by an intensive histologic workup (5 levels of H&E and immunohistochemistry analyses, the gold standard for the assessment of sensitivity/specificity of OSNA), and the other half was analyzed using OSNA. RESULTS: OSNA was more sensitive in detecting small lymph node tumor infiltrates compared with H&E (11 results were OSNA positive/H&E negative). Compared with intensive histopathology, OSNA had 94.5% sensitivity, 97.6% specificity, and a concordance rate of 97.1%. OSNA resulted in an upstaging of 2 of 13 patients (15.3%) with lymph node-negative colon cancer after standard H&E examination. CONCLUSIONS: OSNA appeared to be a powerful and promising molecular tool for the detection of lymph node metastases in patients with colon cancer. OSNA had similar performance in the detection of lymph node metastases compared with intensive histopathologic investigations and appeared to be superior to standard histology with H&E. Most important, the authors concluded that OSNA may lead to a potential upstaging of >15% of patients with colon cancer

Manual de etnobotânica: plantas, artefatos e conhecimentos indígenas

Book synopsis: Considering the importance of collecting, preserving and researching collections of indigenous plants and artifacts (called biocultural collections) to strengthen the cultural processes of indigenous peoples today, the manual seeks to provide practical guidelines on how to collect samples of plants and artifacts, document them , classify and preserve them. It also addresses questions about the ethics of biocultural research in accordance with current Brazilian legislation; gives guidelines on how to access data from biocultural collections available in scientific institutions and how to disseminate the new collections created. In 2019, the Baniwa and Tukano editions of the Manual were published. Considerando a importância de coletar, preservar e pesquisar acervos de plantas e artefatos indígenas (chamados acervos bioculturais) para o fortalecimento dos processos culturais dos povos indígenas na atualidade, o manual busca fornecer orientações práticas de como coletar amostras de plantas e artefatos, documentá-las, classificá-las e preservá-las. Aborda também questões sobre a ética de pesquisa biocultural de acordo com a legislação brasileira vigente; dá orientações sobre como acessar dados de acervos bioculturais disponíveis em instituições científicas e como divulgar os novos acervos criados. Em 2019, foram publicadas as edições nas línguas baniwa e tukano do Manual

A maloca entre artefatos e plantas: guia da coleção Rio Negro de Richard Spruce em Londres

Book synopsis: The publication is the result of activities carried out within the scope of the project for the digital repatriation of biocultural collections, that is, collections of objects made with raw materials from plants and animals, which were collected in the Brazilian Amazon, in the past, and which are today held in institutions in Europe. The guide brings a representative collection of these artifacts gathered 170 years ago by the English traveler botanist Richard Spruce. In addition to detailed information on the physical characteristics, uses (current and/or past) and raw materials related to each object, this guide includes a description of the artifacts, where they are produced and currently used. It presents historical and ethnographic aspects of the upper Rio Negro region in the 19th century and a brief account of European collectors. It provides an overview of scientific collections and their importance for intercultural research practices, concluding with a reflection on digital repatriation and ethical and legal procedures for dealing with these collections. A publicação é resultado das atividades desenvolvidas no âmbito do projeto de repatriação digital de coleções bioculturais, isto é, coleções de objetos feitos com matérias-primas provenientes de plantas e animais, que foram coletados na Amazônia brasileira, no passado, e que hoje se encontram guardados em instituições na Europa. O guia traz uma coleção representativa desses artefatos reunida há 170 anos por pelo botânico viajante inglês Richard Spruce. Além de informações detalhadas sobre as características físicas, os usos (atuais e/ou passados) e as matérias-primas relacionadas a cada objeto, este guia inclui a descrição dos artefatos, onde são produzidos e usados atualmente. Apresenta aspectos históricos e etnográficos da região do alto rio Negro no século XIX e um breve relato sobre os coletores europeus. Traz uma visão geral das coleções científicas e sua importância para práticas de pesquisa intercultural, concluindo com uma reflexão sobre o repatriamento digital e os procedimentos éticos e legais para lidar com essas coleções

One-step nucleic acid amplification (OSNA): a new road to better staging in colon cancer patients?

Introduction: Approximately one fifth of stage I and II colon cancer patients will suffer from recurrent disease. This is partly due to the presence of small nodal tumour infiltrates, which are undetected by standard histopathology using Haematoxylin & Eosin (H&E) staining on one slice and thus may not receive beneficial adjuvant therapy. A new diagnostic, semi-automatic system, called one-step nucleic acid amplification (OSNA), was recently designed for the detection of cytokeratin 19 (CK19) mRNA as a surrogate for lymph node metastases. The objective of the present investigation was to compare the performance of OSNA with both standard H&E as well as intensive histopathologic analyses in the detection of colon cancer lymph node micro- and macro-metastases.Methods: In this prospective study 313 lymph nodes from 22 consecutive stage I - III colon cancer patients were assessed. Half of each lymph node was analysed initially based on one slice of H&E followed by an intensive histologic work-up (5 levels of H&E and immuno-histochemistry staining for each slice), the other half was analysed using OSNA.Results: All OSNA results were available after less than 40 minutes. Fifty-one lymph nodes were positive and 246 lymph nodes negative with both OSNA and standard H&E. OSNA was more sensitive to detect small nodal tumor infiltrates compared to H&E (11 OSNA pos. /H&E neg.). Compared to intensive histopathologic analyses, OSNA had a sensitivity of 94.5% and a specificity of 97.6% to detect lymph node micro- and macro-metastases with a concordance rate of 97.1%. An upstaging due to OSNA was found in 2/13 (15.3%) initially node negative colon cancer patients.Conclusion: OSNA appears to be a powerful and promising molecular tool for the detection of lymph node macro- and micro-metastases in colon cancer patients. OSNA has a similar performance in the detection of micro- and macro-metastases compared to intensive histopathologic investigations and appears to be superior to standard histology with H&E. Since the use of OSNA allows the analysis of the whole lymph node, the problem of sampling bias and undetected tumor deposits due to uninvestigated material will be overcome in the future and OSNA may thus improve staging in colon cancer patients. It is hoped that this improved staging will lead to better patient selection for adjuvant therapy and consecutively improved local and distant control as well as better overall survival