Emotional associations with soundscape reflect human-environment relationships

In line with the development of socio-ecological perspectives in conservation science, there is increasing interest in the role of soundscape perception in understanding human-environment interactions; the impact of natural soundscapes on human wellbeing is also increasingly recognized. However, research to date has focused on preferences and attitudes to western, urban locations. This study investigated individual emotional associations with local soundscape for three social groups living in areas with distinct degrees of urbanization, from pristine forest and pre-urban landscapes in Ecuador, to urban environments in UK and USA. Participants described sounds that they associated with a range of emotions, both positive and negative, which were categorized according to an adapted version of Schafer’s sound classification scheme. Analyses included a description of the sound types occurring in each environment, an evaluation of the associations between sound types and emotions across social groups, and the elaboration of a soundscape perception map. Statistical analyses revealed that the distribution of sound types differed between groups, reflecting essential traits of each soundscape and tracing the gradient of urbanization. However, some associations were universal: Natural Sounds were primarily associated with positive emotions, whereas Mechanical and Industrial Sounds were linked to negative emotions. Within nonurban environments, natural sounds were associated with a much wider range of emotions. Our analyses suggest that Natural Sounds could be considered as valuable natural resources that promotes human wellbeing. Special attention is required within these endangered forest locations, which should be classified as a ‘threatened soundscapes’, as well as ‘threatened ecosystems’, as we begin to understand the role of soundscape for the wellbeing of the local communities. The methodology presented in this paper offers a fast, cheap tool for identifying reactions towards landscape modification and identifying sounds of social relevance. The potential contribution of soundscape perception within the current conservation approaches is discussed

Homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts for multicomponent reactions

[EN] Organic synthesis performed through multicomponent reactions is an attractive area of research in organic chemistry. Multicomponent reactions involve more than two starting reagents that couple in an exclusive ordered mode under the same reaction conditions to form a single product which contains the essential parts of the starting materials. Multicomponent reactions are powerful tools in modern drug discovery processes, because they are an important source of molecular diversity, allowing rapid, automated and high throughput generation of organic compounds. This review aims to illustrate progress in a large variety of catalyzed multicomponent reactions performed with acid, base and metal heterogeneous and homogeneous catalysts. Within each type of multicomponent approach, relevant products that can be obtained and their interest for industrial applications are presented.The authors wish to gratefully acknowledge the Generalitat Valenciana for the financial support in the project CONSOLIDER-INGENIO 2010 (CSD2009-00050)Climent Olmedo, MJ.; Corma Canós, A.; Iborra Chornet, S. (2012). Homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts for multicomponent reactions. RSC Advances. 2(1):16-58. https://doi.org/10.1039/c1ra00807bS16582

Circulating between Rural and Urban Communities: Multi-sited dwellings in Amazonian frontiers

This article argues that processes of indigenous urbanization in Amazonia differ from other types of migrations in the region. Indigenous migrations rarely signify full-time absences or dislocations from communities of origin nor necessarily the permanent moving to towns, but rather individuals positioning themselves in various degrees as potentially indigenous urbanites, creating a wide series of active links between cities and communities. By indigenous urbanization I refer to both the increased presence of indigenous peoples in cities as well as the growth of cities due to indigenous populations and argue for more nuanced attention to unique aspects of indigenous urbanization processes. After providing an overview of the various relationships and residence arrangements that link different indigenous Ese Eja communities to their closest urban centers in Amazonian Peru and Bolivia I turn my attention toward one community and town, describing some of the detailed and nuanced interactions, attitudes and dynamics associated with a combined and complex rural-urban existence. I focus in particular on the ways in which people craft urban and rural aspects of self, and the strategic interactions that these positionalities might entail across different types of communities and towns as individuals fashion themselves both as ‘urban’ subjects and as ‘indigenous others’. Furthermore, this paper contributes to debates that reconsider the relationships between the city and the rural in emerging literatures on indigenous cosmopolitanism arguing that lived experiences of navigating cityscapes need to feature more prominently in Amazonian ethnographies