REBIOMA Data Portal, Tool for Conservation Planning in Madagascar

Recognizing the abundance and the accumulation of information and data on biodiversity that are still poorly exploited and even unfunded, the REBIOMA project (Madagascar Biodiversity Networking), in collaboration with partners, has developed an online dataportal in order to provide easy access to information and critical data, to support conservation planning and the expansion of scientific and professional activities in Madagascar biodiversity. The mission of the REBIOMA data portal is to serve quality-labeled, up-to-date species occurrence data and environmental niche models for Madagascar’s flora and fauna, both marine and terrestrial. REBIOMA is a project of the Wildlife Conservation Society Madagascar and the University of California, Berkeley. REBIOMA serves species occurrence data for marine and terrestrial regions of Madagascar. Following upload, data is automatically validated against a geographic mask and a taxonomic authority. Data providers can decide whether their data will be public, private, or shared only with selected collaborators. Data reviewers can add quality labels to individual records, allowing selection of data for modeling and conservation assessments according to quality. Portal users can query data in numerous ways. One of the key features of the REBIOMA web portal is its support for species distribution models, created from taxonomically valid and quality-reviewed occurrence data. Species distribution models are produced for species for which there are at least eight, reliably reviewed, non-duplicate (per grid cell) records. Maximum Entropy Modeling (MaxEnt for short) is used to produce continuous distribution models from these occurrence records and environmental data for different eras: past (1950), current (2000), and future (2080). The result is generally interpreted as a prediction of habitat suitability. Results for each model are available on the portal and ready for download as ASCII and HTML files. The REBIOMA Data Portal address is http://data.rebioma.net, or visit http://www.rebioma.net for more general information about the entire REBIOMA project

Étude des anomalies dentaires associées aux fentes labiopalatines : à propos d’une série de 85 cas

Les fentes labiopalatines (FLP) sont des dysmorphoses buccales de cause inconnue. Elles sont associées, même dans les formes mineures, à des anomalies dentaires plus ou moins marquées. Objectif : Cette étude a pour objectif d’évaluer l’importance et la nature des anomalies dentaires associées aux FLP. Patients et méthode : 85 patients porteurs de FLP ont été inclus dans cette étude. Il s’agit de patients recrutés entre 2007 et 2009 au cours des campagnes de chirurgie réparatrice au CHU d’Ampefiloha Antananarivo (Madagascar). Pour chaque patient, une fiche d’observation clinique et des photographies intrabuccales ont été réalisées. Les patients âgés de plus de 3 ans ont bénéficié d’un orthopantomogramme (OPT). Résultats : Les incisives maxillaires sont les plus touchées. La fréquence est de 71,8 % (p < 0 001) pour les anomalies de position, 34,1 % (p < 0 01) pour les anomalies de forme, 30,6 % pour les anomalies de structure (dysplasie), 17,6 % (p < 0 01) pour les retards d’éruption et 10,6 % (p < 0 05) pour les anomalies de nombre. Il n’y a pas de différence significative pour la dysplasie de l’émail. Les versions dentaires sont surtout observées dans les FLP unilatérales (p < 0 001). Conclusion : Ces résultats sont, dans l’ensemble, similaires aux données de la littérature. Des études sur une population plus large sont nécessaires, à Madagascar afin d’obtenir des résultats plus significatifs

Improving Access to Collection Information in Asia and Africa through the Global Registry of Scientific Collections

Global Registry of Scientific Collections, or GRSciColl, is a comprehensive registry of natural history collections maintained by the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), building upon previous efforts developed by the Consortium of the Barcode of Life (CBOL) and other organizations. Its primary purpose is to provide a centralized platform for accessing information on institutions, their collections and associated staff members. While both GBIF and GRSciColl aim to encompass data from all around the globe, Asian and African collections are often underrepresented. To address this disparity, initiatives like the Biodiversity Information for Development (BID) and the Biodiversity Information Fund for Asia (BIFA) have been established. These initiatives specifically focus on assisting institutions from underrepresented regions in sharing their data through GBIF.In addition to providing support in the framework of these initiatives, the GBIF Regional support teams are actively engaged in efforts to improve access to relevant data about Asian and African collections. This involves updating information on Asian and African institutions and their collections in GRSciColl. Furthermore, the teams assist towards publishing biodiversity data held by these institutions for open access.To support this objective, a Collection Mobilization repository has been established on GitHub, with more than 1,900 issues created at an institutional level and a systematic workflow is developed and followed. The overall aim of this workflow adheres to the goal of GRSciColl in providing an updated information on scientific collections, their host institutions, and relevant staff, also making the specimen data from those institutions open access when possible.Here are a few key points of this ongoing work:The process begins by compiling relevant information on institutions and their collections by browsing the institution’s web pages to gather accurate and up-to-date data.Based on the findings, necessary changes or additions to the existing data are made in the institution and collection page of the GRSciColl registry, and simultaneously noted in related GitHub issues in the collection mobilization repository, ensuring transparency and record keeping.When required, contact is established with the staff of the institution, to seek clarifications and ensure accuracy of the information in the registry.Appropriate GitHub labels are then assigned to the institutions based on their data mobilization or digitization status, to help prioritize the ongoing work.Institutions that are familiar with GBIF data infrastructure or those that have digitized records of the specimens are given priority for contact to gauge their interest in mobilizing their data for open access.Institutions interested in publishing their data are offered support in the process, and their datasets are added to the Data Mobilization Repository in GitHub as an issue, using the Suggest a Dataset tool on GBIF.org.Finally, progress on data preparation and then publication is tracked and relevant comments and labels are added in the GitHub issues. The ongoing work ensures continuous improvement and expansion of GRSciColl, while promoting open access to valuable scientific data. This presentation will highlight the work done so far, as well as the challenges and lessons learnt from this ongoing project