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Copyright of Tapuya: Latin American Science, Technology & Society is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper studies the conditions under which quality conventions in coffee can be revised. It shows how value is captured by a collective composed by Colombian producers overseeing coffee quality attributes, engaging in relational approaches and building knowledge with international buyers. Interviews were conducted with selected organic producers in Santa Marta, Colombia and buyers (e.g. in Germany, the Netherlands). Due to the sound relations between the staff of the producer organization and a German buyer, the manager of the collective proposed to also export roasted coffee in addition to green coffee. Although roasting at origin is not common in coffee exports, in the case analyzed existing hesitations were abandoned. Eye-level relationships, trust based on a relational approach and knowledge were key to achieving a collective quality construction and subsequent value capture by producers. Over time, these producers have improved their material quality techniques and become more familiar with the places where their coffee circulates and is valued, allowing them to influence the commercial spheres of the coffee business. The discussion is not about changing quality conventions, but on how quality conventions are institutionalized and the narratives behind them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers and practitioners recognise the importance of context when implementing healthcare interventions, but the influence of wider environment is rarely mapped. This paper identifies the country and policy-related factors potentially explaining the country differences in outcomes of an intervention focused on improving detection and management of heavy alcohol use in primary care in Colombia, Mexico and Peru. Qualitative data obtained through interviews, logbooks and document analysis are used to explain quantitative data on number of alcohol screenings and screening providers in each of the countries. Existing alcohol screening standards in Mexico, and policy prioritisation of primary care and consideration of alcohol as a public health issue in Colombia and Mexico positively contributed to the outcome, while the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact. In Peru, the context was unsupportive due to a combination of: political instability amongst regional health authorities; lack of focus on strengthening primary care due to the expansion of community mental health centres; alcohol considered as an addiction rather than a public health issue; and the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare. We found that wider environment-related factors interacted with the intervention implemented and can help explain country differences in outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how belonging and aspirations interact to shape marginalized young Colombians' strategies for upward social mobility. Recent literature has argued that in the context of inequality and poverty, social mobility is constrained by people's inability to aspire to and/or achieve their aspirations. The majority of this literature is from the economics field and looks at the way poverty acts as a brake on social mobility. This paper provides an additional interdisciplinary analysis of the role of 'belonging' (to places and social class) in influencing aspirations of young Colombians. Findings are based on ethnographic fieldwork with young people from two marginalized neighborhoods in Cartagena. It is argued that aspirations are closely linked to belonging and the extent to which young people feel integral to or distanced from their localities. Using a Bourdieusian perspective, the paper examines how belonging is developed and how it influences behavior, orientations and future prospects. This approach generates insights into young people's apparent low aspirations beyond the explanation of internal behavioral poverty traps. In so doing, it provides a more comprehensive understanding of how societal structures limit aspiration development and achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Young people in Colombia present high rates of mental health problems, to which the country’s history of armed internal conflict contributes in complex ways. Mental health services in Colombia are fragmented, inadequate, and difficult to access for many. Young people’s help)seeking is often hindered by mental health stigma and/or poor experiences with services. This paper presents a thematic analysis of qualitative data from a mixed-methods study aimed at developing and testing a mental health intervention for Colombian youths. We draw upon theoretical lenses from scholarly work on stigma and Sen’s ‘capabilities approach’ to inform our analysis of interviews and group discussions with staff and young people involved in the state-funded human capital building programme ‘Jovenes en Acción’ (JeA). By illustrating how study participants talked about stigma, vulnerability, mental health services organisation, and the challenges of discussing mental health topics in a learning environment, we illuminate aspects of mental health support and anti-stigma interventions that might need enhancing. In particular, we suggest that more emphasis on ‘community competencies’ as complementary to and interrelated with individual competencies would strengthen young people’s individual and collective resources for mental wellbeing while being in line with the sociocritical principles of existing human capital-enhancing programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to suggest a mathematical model of unpaid housework and empirically test its main predictions using data from Mexico (2014) and Colombia (2017) time-use surveys. The model, based upon the Marxist-feminist approach, suggests that the magnitude of unpaid housework is determined by the super-exploitation of labor, i.e. the gap between wages and the value of labor-power. The outcome is an equation that relates positively the magnitude of unpaid housework with the super-exploitation of labor. The parametric and nonparametric regression estimates applied in both countries show preliminary empirical support for the theoretical model. The theoretical and empirical findings have several implications for Marxist-feminist literature as well as for empirical research on unpaid housework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents original information on the mobility and settlement patterns of the Nukak, who live between the Guaviare and Inirida rivers in the Colombian Amazon. The objective of this paper is to provide a better understanding of how egalitarian societies produce spatial arrangements in order to organize their settlements and to exploit the tropical rain forest resources. Traditional Nukak subsistence is based on hunting and the gathering of plants and animal products such as honey, turtle eggs and palm grubs: fishing and small-scale horitculture are also practised. High residential mobility is practised in both the rainy and the dry season; it is estimated that bands make between seventy and eighty residential mares per year. Residential camps comprise two to five domestic units and usually cover under 130 m². The Nukak case shows that forager mobility in tropical rain forests is not exclusively the consequence of avoiding over-exploitation of an easily depleted environment. On the contrary, mobility is partly a complex way of concentrating forest resources in patches: the Nukak 'move to produce'. Sanitation, abandonment due to a death, social/ritual activities, and inter-band marriage also play a role. Therefore we must seek historical and socio-ideological reasons as well as environmental ones [or the high mobility and low population density of tropical hunter-gatherers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that we need to broaden the understanding of political economy beyond the circulation of 'things' so as to include forms of production, transformation and exchange of meanings. To illustrate the argument, the paper focuses on the contradictory encounter between two regimes of representation in nineteenth-century Colombia: the 'will to civilization' and laissez-faire. Because political economy was founded upon the desire to civilize classes, races and gender, the premises for laissez-faire could not be achieved. Arguments about local artisanship, the causes of poverty or the international division of labour were embedded in distinctions between the local and the European: ignorant artisans were contrasted with English workers, theory was preferred to reality and coarse textiles were compared to imported ones. Negative representation of female and Indian dresses increased the desire for imported textiles, which in turn led to the displacement of local manufactures in favour of European ones. In those nations imagined as deprived of civilization, the idea of a self-regulatory principle did not prosper. In Colombia, the formation of gender, class and racial identities within the 'will to civilization' regime of representation arrested the formation of an 'indifferent' capitalist labour market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our cost-of-illness (COI) model adopted payer and societal perspectives over five years to measure the economic burden of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) in Colombia. A prevalence-based model was constructed to estimate costs and economic consequences for SLE patients in Colombia. The model included four health states: three phenotypes of SLE representing mild, moderate, and severe states and death. The clinical inputs were captured from the published literature and validated by the Delphi panel. Our model measured direct medical and indirect costs, including disease management, transient events, and indirect costs. One-way sensitivity analysis was also performed. The number of Colombian SLE patients was 37,498. The number of SLE patients with mild, moderate, and severe phenotypes was 5343, 28757 and 3,397, respectively. SLE-patients with moderate (Colombian pesos; COP 146 billion) and severe phenotypes (COP276 billion) incurred higher costs than those with mild phenotypes (COP2 billion), over 5 years. The total SLE cost in Colombia over five years from the payer and societal perspectives was estimated to be COP 915 billion and 8 trillion, respectively. The costs per patient per year from the payer and societal perspectives were COP 4,881,902 ($3,510) and COP 46,637,054 ($33,528), respectively. The burden of SLE in Colombia over five years is substantially high, mainly due to the consequences of economic loss because it affects women and men of working age, in addition to the costs of SLE management and its consequences, such as flares, infection, and organ damage. Our COI indicated that disease management costs among patients with moderate and severe SLE were substantially higher than those among patients with a mild phenotype. Therefore, more attention should be paid to limiting the progression of SLE and the occurrence of flares, with the need for further economic evaluation of novel treatment strategies that help in disease control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that a new agenda for the relations between the European Union (EU) and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is necessary, and that city regions can play an important role in it. Due to the shortcomings of the previous interregional strategy and the futile discussion if Latin America follows the European integration model, this new agenda should focus more on triangular and decentralized forms of cooperation aid, trade issues, and the knowledge transfer of poverty- and polarization-reduction strategies. Based on the foreign policy approaches of two Colombian case studies (the city-regions of Barranquilla and Medellin), it is shown that the international activities of Latin American city-regions can open new perspectives for EU-LAC relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study assesses the economic and environmental impacts that have arisen from the adoption and use of genetically modified (GM) cotton and maize in Colombia in the fifteen years since GM cotton was first planted in Colombia in 2003. A total of 1.07 million hectares have been planted to cotton and maize containing GM traits since 2003, with farmers benefiting from an increase in income of US $301.7 million. For every extra US $1 spent on this seed relative to conventional seed, farmers have gained an additional US $3.09 in extra income from growing GM cotton and an extra US $5.25 in extra income from growing GM maize. These income gains have mostly arisen from higher yields (+30.2% from using stacked (herbicide tolerant and insect resistant cotton and +17.4% from using stacked maize). The cotton and maize seed technology have reduced insecticide and herbicide spraying by 779,400 kg of active ingredient (−19%) and, as a result, decreased the environmental impact associated with herbicide and insecticide use on these crops (as measured by the indicator, the Environmental Impact Quotient (EIQ)) by 26%. The technology has also facilitated cuts in fuel use, resulting in a reduction in the release of greenhouse gas emissions from the GM cotton and maize cropping area and contributed to saving scarce land resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this paper was to assess how the EU Generalised System of Preferences incentive scheme to combat drugs production and trafficking (GSP+) affected carnation imports in the United Kingdom (UK). Colombian carnations enter the EU duty-free under the GSP+ incentive scheme which is less secure than the trade agreement between the EU and Kenya. If the EU withdrew preferences from Colombia, would Kenyan flower exporters be better off in the UK carnation market? The results of study showed that Colombian exports benefited from tariff-free access to the UK where the benefit was due to both trade creation and trade diversion. Additionally, the competition between Colombian and Kenyan carnations was found to be insignificant and there was no evidence that GSP+ negatively affected Kenyan carnations. The results showed that competing exporters (Kenya, the Netherlands and Spain) could actually be better off when Colombian carnations are given duty-free to the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the strategic environmental assessments (SEAs) that were prepared to incorporate environmental considerations in water supply and sanitation sector (WSS) reforms in Argentina and Colombia. Based on the reviewed cases and on existing literature, the paper proposes a methodology specifically designed to incorporate environmental considerations in the design and implementation of public policies, in this case water supply and sanitation policies. The proposed methodology has the potential to overcome the limitations that arise when traditional SEA methodologies are applied in the policy context. It can be conceptualized as consisting of: identification of sector priorities; incorporation of the perspectives of multiple stakeholders; institutional and political economy analysis; incorporation of environmental considerations in public policies; and social learning for continuous policy improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More than 13 million people worldwide survive on artisanal small-scale mining (ASM). ASM has a very weak track record in terms of various developmental problems such as poverty, health, black markets, struggles for the rights to natural resources and degradation of the environment with impacts on communities. The operation of an artisanal mine is most often seen as an activity for survival. This paper focuses on the experience of Oro Verde, a process of green certification in artisanal mining in the Chocó region of Colombia, during the period 2000-2008. This experience has contributed to addressing a number of local economic, social and environmental issues, and its achievements have earned several global sustainability-related awards. This paper examines processes of community-building for the sake of organisational coordination, protection and management of natural resources. It identifies lessons such as transformation of practices and of connections between organisations in the process of developing a certification programme in an ASM context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper the question whether reproductive behaviour is consciously altered by the death of a child is answered by using World Fertility Survey data from Colombia, Costa Rica, and Korea. Alternative strategies are proposed by which women replace children who have died. They may choose to contracept for a shorter period following the death of a child, or they may cease using contraception. Each strategy is analysed separately for selected birth intervals and its effect estimated with loglinear techniques. It is found that the timing and nature of the response to child mortality appear to depend on the stage reached in a country's fertility transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the long-lasting civil war in Colombia, thousands of people were displaced mainly from rural to urban areas, causing social disruption and prolonged poverty. This study aimed at analyzing the traumatic experience many years ago on the current psycho-emotional status of displaced families as well as the ongoing inequalities regarding displaced and non-displaced communities in one of the most affected areas by the armed conflict. An interview survey was conducted among 211 displaced families and 181 non-displaced families in 2 adjacent compounds in Valledupar, Colombia. The questionnaire used questions from the validated national survey and was revised and applied by staff members of the departmental secretary of health who conducted additional in-depth interviews. The study showed that the living conditions of the displaced community were precarious. The past traumatic events many years ago and the current difficult living conditions are associated with psychological problems being more frequent among the displaced people. The displaced people had experienced more violent acts and subsequently had a larger number of emotional symptoms (fright, headache, nervousness, depression, and sleeplessness). Other stress factors like economic problems, severe disease or death of family members and unemployment prevailed among displaced persons. The non-displaced lived in a more protected environment with less exposure to violence and stress, although belonging to a similarly low socio-economic stratum. It is recommended to take measures for a better protection of the displaced community, improve their access to the job market, offer different leisure activities and facilitate public transport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After more than fifty years of guerrilla warfare, Colombia is enduring a peace process with the most important guerrilla group through a peace agreement signed by the end of 2016. Despite this achievement, the basic conditions determined by John Fagg Foster for institutional adjustment were not fulfilled, affecting the implementation of the accord and facing strong opposition from conservative sectors. The resistance of the institutional matrix of this country's elites shows the difficulties and resistance to even moderate institutional changes in a society with a deep divide in political, social, and economic conditions. The case is unique, despite the obvious economic and social advantages of the peace deal and reveals the deep crucial role of traditional and ceremonial institutions in blocking social progress. The pandemic and the more conservative political orientation of the present government just worsened the difficulties amidst the current conditions, increasing the distance from the requirements established by J. Fagg Foster. An evaluation of the current process is presented and conclusions about possible outcomes are explored given the present upheaval and social movements we endure today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A major theoretical issue about health system reform involving decentralization has been whether it promotes equity of health system funding. An article by the principal author and others in 2003 showed that, under certain conditions and policies, decentralization improved the equity of allocation of financial resources to different income levels of municipalities in Colombia and Chile. Another recurring issue has been whether reforms can be sustained over time. In a follow-up study in 2015, we found that the equity of national allocations was sustained even though the allocation rules for intergovernmental transfers and insurance funding sources had changed, as long as per capita allocation rules were retained. Nevertheless, the wealthier municipalities in Chile were able to increase their own source funding contributing to a larger gap between wealthy and poor municipalities, suggesting that in order to assure continued equity some compensation for these funds be included in intergovernmental transfer rules or that local source funding be restricted by national policy. These reforms may be more likely to be sustained if they become embedded in existing financial systems and if they receive support of status quo constituencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Skeletal-related events (SREs) are major bone complications that frequently occur in patients with solid tumors (ST) and bone metastases, and in patients with multiple myeloma (MM). SREs include pathological fracture, spinal cord compression, radiation to bone, and surgery to bone. Limited data are available regarding the burden of SREs in Latin America. We built an economic model to quantify the current and future economic burden of SREs among adults in four Latin American countries: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico. Methods: A comprehensive literature review with a systematic search strategy was conducted to parameterize the economic burden of illness (BOI) model. Economic analyses were conducted using a prevalence-based model. Aggregate SRE costs obtained from country-specific sources were used. We also included patient productivity losses. Costs were expressed in 2020 USD for the total annual burden, annual burden per 1,000 at risk, and projected five-year burden. Results: The estimated total number of SREs was 251,503 in 2020, amounting to a total annual cost of USD 1.4 billion. The total projected five-year cost was USD 6.9 billion. Annual costs were highest in Brazil (USD 779.1 million), followed by Mexico (USD 281.8 million), Argentina (USD 174.6 million), and Colombia (USD 120.1 million). The average financial burden per 1,000 at risk was greatest in Brazil (USD 3.6 million), followed by Mexico (USD 3.4 million), Colombia (USD 2.9 million), and Argentina (USD 2.7 million). Conclusion: Despite recommendations by medical societies for the use of bone-targeted agents in patients with solid tumors and bone metastasis or with multiple myeloma and bone lesions, a large proportion of patients at risk of experiencing SREs are not treated. Early detection of bone metastases and SREs and the use of the most effective preventative treatments are needed to decrease the clinical and economic burden of SREs in Latin America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Fracture liaison services (FLS) use a multidisciplinary approach to treat patients who have experienced an osteoporotic fracture to reduce the risk of subsequent fractures. To date, there has been minimal FLS implementation in Latin America where fractures continue to be undertreated. This study aims to estimate the number of fractures averted, bed days avoided, and costs saved resulting from universal FLS implementation in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, and Argentina. Materials and methods: A calculator was developed to estimate the annual benefits of FLS programs in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, and Argentina from a public hospital perspective. It was assumed all patients with a hip, vertebral, or wrist fracture were referred to an FLS program. Country-specific data were obtained from a previous systematic review and interviews with osteoporosis experts. Hospitalization and post-hospitalization costs were expressed in 2019 USD without discounting. Costs of FLS implementation were not considered. Results: In 2019, the number of FLS patients prevented from having a subsequent hip, vertebral, or wrist fracture was estimated as 15,607 in Brazil, 8,168 in Mexico, 5,190 in Argentina, and 2,435 in Colombia with total bed days saved of 142,378 in Brazil, 75,877 in Mexico, 52,301 in Argentina, and 21,725 in Colombia. The annual cost savings in 2019 were highest in Argentina (28.1 million USD), followed by Mexico (19.6 million USD), Brazil (7.64 million USD) and Colombia (3.04 million USD). Over five years (2019-2023) the cumulative cost savings were 145 million USD in Argentina, 106 million USD in Mexico, 40.5 million USD in Brazil, and 16.1 million USD in Colombia. Conclusion: Universal FLS implementation in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, and Argentina was predicted to prevent 31,400 fractures, avoid 292,281 bed days, and save 58.4 million USD in 2019, though caution is warranted in the interpretation of these results due to high uncertainty. Increased implementation of FLS programs in Latin American countries may help to realize these benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tuberculosis continues to be an important public health problem. Particularly considering Beijing-family strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which have been associated with drug-resistance and hypervirulence. The Beijing-like SIT190 (BL) is the most prevalent Beijing strain in Colombia. The pathogenic mechanism and immune response against this pathogen is unknown. Thus, we compared the course of pulmonary TB in BALB/c mice infected with Classical-Beijing strain 391 and BL strain 323. The disease course was different among infected animals with Classical-Beijing and BL strain. Mice infected with BL had a 100% mortality at 45 days post-infection (dpi), with high bacillary loads and massive pneumonia, whereas infected animals with Classical-Beijing survived until 60 dpi and showed extensive pneumonia and necrosis. Lung RNA extraction was carried out at early (day 3 dpi), intermediate (day 14 dpi), and late (days 28 and 60 dpi) time points of infection. Transcriptional analysis of infected mice with Classical-Beijing showed several over-expressed genes, associated with a pro-inflammatory profile, including those for coding for CCL3 and CCL4 chemokines, both biomarkers of disease severity. Conversely, mice infected with BL displayed a profile which included the over-expression of several genes associated with immune-suppression, including Nkiras, Dleu2, and Sphk2, highlighting an anti-inflammatory milieu which would allow high bacterial replication followed by an intense inflammatory response. In summary, both Beijing strains induced a non-protective immune response which induced extensive tissue damage, BL strain induced rapidly extensive pneumonia and death, whereas Classical-Beijing strain produced slower extensive pneumonia later associated with extensive necrosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Skeletal-related events (SREs) are major bone complications that frequently occur in patients with solid tumors (ST) and bone metastases, and in patients with multiple myeloma (MM). SREs include pathological fracture, spinal cord compression, radiation to bone, and surgery to bone. Limited data are available regarding the burden of SREs in Latin America. We built an economic model to quantify the current and future economic burden of SREs among adults in four Latin American countries: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico. A comprehensive literature review with a systematic search strategy was conducted to parameterize the economic burden of illness (BOI) model. Economic analyses were conducted using a prevalence-based model. Aggregate SRE costs obtained from country-specific sources were used. We also included patient productivity losses. Costs were expressed in 2020 USD for the total annual burden, annual burden per 1,000 at risk, and projected five-year burden. The estimated total number of SREs was 251,503 in 2020, amounting to a total annual cost of USD 1.4 billion. The total projected five-year cost was USD 6.9 billion. Annual costs were highest in Brazil (USD 779.1 million), followed by Mexico (USD 281.8 million), Argentina (USD 174.6 million), and Colombia (USD 120.1 million). The average financial burden per 1,000 at risk was greatest in Brazil (USD 3.6 million), followed by Mexico (USD 3.4 million), Colombia (USD 2.9 million), and Argentina (USD 2.7 million). Despite recommendations by medical societies for the use of bone-targeted agents in patients with solid tumors and bone metastasis or with multiple myeloma and bone lesions, a large proportion of patients at risk of experiencing SREs are not treated. Early detection of bone metastases and SREs and the use of the most effective preventative treatments are needed to decrease the clinical and economic burden of SREs in Latin America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indigenous peoples are key actors for environmental management because they hold valuable indigenous and local knowledge (ILK) for the sustainable stewardship of nature. However, the consideration of ILK in environmental management is still limited. We explore how environmental government institutions in Colombia have involved indigenous communities in 2212 environmental management projects between 2004 and 2015. Only 1% of these projects involved indigenous peoples as main actors. We applied the Leverage Points (LP) perspective in a content analysis to identify 'where' and 'how' these projects promote transformative changes within indigenous territories. Moreover, we investigated the interactions between projects targeting shallow and deep LP using cluster analysis. Our results show that these projects mainly seek to improve the well-being of indigenous peoples and consider ILK in their interventions, which suggests changes in deep LP. Additionally, these projects usually combined interventions targeting both shallow and deep LP while using ILK to improve environmental management practices (e.g., Life Plans) and developing participatory land-use planning in the indigenous territories. We argue that the involvement of ILK in environmental management can lead to stronger human–nature connectedness and thus to more successful conservation policies. However, this involvement is still at an early stage in Colombia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Neotropical Biodiversity is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Tapuya: Latin American Science, Technology & Society is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This research article seeks to specify and measure the determinants of multidimensional poverty in Colombia using the Unsatisfied Basic Needs (UBN) Index based on information from the latest available 2005 population census applying a spatial econometric approach. An exploratory analysis of the spatial distribution of the UBN and a confirmatory analysis through spatial models are conducted using municipalities as the unit of analysis. This spatial analysis confirms diffusion effects of poverty between neighbouring municipalities, the existence of clusters and hot spots in the Pacific Chocó region, the Caribbean Coast, and the southern region of the country. Within those clusters, we find high levels of unemployment, low levels of urban population, as well as a high proportion of ethnic minorities, and large size municipalities. This research contributes to public policymaking and the improvement of governance in the third largest Latin American country by population size and the region's fourth largest economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on research in Colombia, this article argues that violent economic situations in specific spaces can be productively studied through a hybrid style of research that combines techniques of investigative journalism with the conceptual and methodological commitments of ethnographic inquiry. "Investigative ethnography," as this marriage of epistemologies and methods could be called, can help researchers manage the practical problems of access—meaning access to people, sites, and information—within the spaces produced by violent forms of capital accumulation. Questions of space and spatiality are central to investigative ethnography's approach to these violent economic ensembles. Although oriented toward research on the systematic use of force for profit, this article's methodological considerations and practical recommendations are also relevant for scholars conducting fieldwork in other kinds of violent spaces and difficult settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the effect of social networks (SNW) by investigating how mobilizing family, friendship or kindship ties in job searches affects the quality of employment (QoE) using quantitative and qualitative data. Drawing from socioeconomic literature on the segmented labor market, the authors propose an original and multidimensional measure of job quality and a fruitful estimation of the effect of SNW on QoE that allows for dealing with complex inter-groups heterogeneity. Using the Great Integrated Household Survey and a sample on Bogota's workers in 2013, they provide empirical support that the use of ties is negatively correlated with the QoE for those who are vulnerable. Likewise, the use of social relations is not significant for protected workers. Complemented by focus groups interviews, these results raise questions about the difference prevailing in relational practices between necessity networks for precarious workers and opportunity networks for protected workers in the Colombian capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Tapuya: Latin American Science, Technology & Society is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Tapuya: Latin American Science, Technology & Society is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Platyrrhinus is a genus of leaf-nosed frugivorous bats that are endemic to the Neotropics. P. umbratus occurs in the Andean and costal mountain systems of Venezuela and Colombia. P. nigellus occurs along the Andes from Venezuela to Bolivia. Both species are medium-sized members of the genus possessing confusing taxonomic histories that have never intersected. Four of the 21 recognized species of Platyrrhinus, among them P. umbratus, do not have their taxonomic identification confirmed by molecular analyses. We provide the first genetic data (Cyt-b and ND2 sequences) for the species. Phylogenetic analyses including the new genetic data lead to the conclusion that P. umbratus and P. nigellus are conspecific. Through the use of Principal Components Analysis (PCA) and Ecological Niche Modeling (ENM), we confirm that P. umbratus and P. nigellus share high morphometric and environmental similarities. Based on such integrative approach, we regard P. nigellus as a junior synonym of P. umbratus. We provide an emended diagnosis of P. umbratus (subsuming P. nigellus) and draw morphological comparisons with other species of the genus with which it is sympatric. The conservation status of P. umbratus needs to be determined. The high rate of habitat destruction in the tropical Andes may soon cause P. umbratus to be reassigned to the Near-Threatened (NT) category of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In land planning strategies, methods to quantify ecosystem services (ESs) are now used to complement biodiversity assessments. Tension arises when areas important for biodiversity do not spatially co-occur with important areas for ESs. We investigate the effectiveness of protected areas in simultaneously protecting biodiversity and ESs in central Colombia and identify complementary areas. We map, integrate using a multi-criteria technique and correlate five indicators (sensitive species, ecological systems, habitat quality, scenic beauty and water provision). Reflecting the uncertainty in criteria weights, multiple maps were created and overlain with current protected areas to investigate their effectiveness. A consensus and an uncertainty map were calculated to identify multifunctional areas (high value for biodiversity and high provision of ESs and low uncertainty). Protected areas show low to intermediate levels of effectiveness (3–56% percentage overlap with simulated areas), with water provision being the service least effectively protected. Indicators do not show high levels of correlation (allp < 0.57). Sensitive species are negatively correlated with all other indicators. High representativeness levels were found around the city of Bogotá; still, extensive multifunctional areas are not contemplated under any protection status. We advocate the use of our approach to identify multi-purpose areas that are robust to divergent stakeholder opinions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land cover–land use (LCLU) classification tasks can take advantage of the fusion of radar and optical remote sensing data, leading generally to increase mapping accuracy. Here we propose a methodological approach to fuse information from the new European Space Agency Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 imagery for accurate land cover mapping of a portion of the Lower Magdalena region, Colombia. Data pre-processing was carried out using the European Space Agency’s Sentinel Application Platform and the SEN2COR toolboxes. LCLU classification was performed following an object-based and spectral classification approach, exploiting also vegetation indices. A comparison of classification performance using three commonly used classification algorithms was performed. The radar and visible-near infrared integrated dataset classified with a Support Vector Machine algorithm produce the most accurate LCLU map, showing an overall classification accuracy of 88.75%, and a Kappa coefficient of 0.86. The proposed mapping approach has the main advantages of combining the all-weather capability of the radar sensor, spectrally rich information in the visible-near infrared spectrum, with the short revisit period of both satellites. The mapping results represent an important step toward future tasks of aboveground biomass and carbon estimation in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Health inequalities often result from social inequities, and those, in turn, are generated by social determinants of health (SDoH). Hence, to reduce health inequalities, it is necessary to consider all health-related determinants. Disadvantages arise even before birth, and they tend to accumulate throughout an individual’s life. Thus, policy actions intended to overcome these health inequalities should take place before birth and continue throughout life. This review aimed to describe the first steps of that Colombia has taken to reduce health inequalities during generational transitions through an inter-sectorial coordination upon SDoH. The review was guided by the question ‘What are the implemented policy responses aimed to reduce health inequalities during generational transitions in Colombia, and what can be considered in order to improve inter-sectorial coordination?’ Given the novelty of this area of research, the existent literature is presented more as narrative, rather than systematic review. Seven policies focused on five SDoH have been taken as examples. These policies show how Colombia plans to reduce health inequalities by acting upon these five SDoH: (1) early childhood development, (2) opportunities for education and first employment, (3) improved housing conditions, (4) social protection for families, and (5) vulnerable populations (e.g. elderly population). Additionally, more specific cases are examined in more detail that take place during sensitive periods in a person’s life, such as pregnancy, birth, early childhood, entry to higher education, first time job search, family building, elderly years, and so on. The evidence represents Colombian’s first steps toward reducing health inequalities during generational transitions. Elimination of health inequalities becomes feasible when governments recognize the importance of bringing opportunities to the worst-off populations, as well as the pivotal role of properly and well-coordinated inter-sectorial actions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]