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Social capital has many applications in the adoption and management of voluntary certifications such as Fair trade, Rainforest Alliance, Utz, and CAFE Practices. We used a mixed-methods approach to assess social capital in five Costa Rican coffee cooperatives. We applied this information to its effects on the management of sustainable coffee certifications We found that the level of social capital affects the manner in which cooperatives manage certifications in terms of incentivizing certified members, distributing the profits from certification, and cooperating with outside organizations. Generalized trust was found to have an important link with voluntary participation in Rainforest Alliance certification when no financial incentive was provided. However, given the small differences among the cooperatives in micro-scale social capital, we conclude that certifications have not or have not yet made great impacts on the social capital on the micro-scale. This research presents important considerations for employing certifications and other sustainable development projects in different national contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Focuses on the fine-scale mapping of a locus for severe bipolar mood disorder on chromosome 18p11.3 in the Costa Rican population. Map of the genes contained in the 331-kb bipolar disorder-I candidate interval on 18p11.3; Pedigree CR001; Marker development.

Background: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of substance use disorders (substance abuse or substance dependence: SA/SD) in a large sample of Bipolar Type I (BPI) patients drawn from the Costa Rican population and to describe the effects of SA/SD on the course of their bipolar disorder. Method: 110 subjects from two high-risk (for BPI) Costa Rican pedigrees and 205 unrelated Costa Rican BPI subjects were assessed using structured interviews and a best estimate process. χ2 and survival analyses were performed to assess the effect of gender on comorbidity risk, and the effect of comorbidity on the clinical course of BPI. Results: SA/SD (primarily alcohol dependence) occurred in 17% of the BPI patients from the population sample and 35% of the BPI patients from the pedigree sample. Comorbid SA/SD was strongly associated with gender χ2=16.84, P=0.00004). In comorbid subjects, alcohol dependence tended to predate the first manic episode (χ2=6.54, P<0.025). History of SA/SD did not significantly alter the prevalence of psychosis or age of onset of mania in BPI subjects. Conclusions: These results suggest that SA/SD comorbidity rates are lower in this type of population than in BPI patient populations in the US. Gender is a strong predictor of comorbidity prevalence in BPI patients from this population. Although SA/SD may be a risk factor for precipitating BPI in those at risk, in this population comorbid BPI subjects do not have a different onset or course of BPI in comparison to BPI patients without comorbidity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Investigates the feasibility of linkage disequilibrium (LD) methods for genome screening in person affected with severe bipolar mood disorder (BP-I) in Costa Rica. Limitation of LD screening in identifying loci for complex traits; Usefulness of LD methods for mapping BP-I; Performance of genotype on chromosomes 18.

Genomewide association studies may offer the best promise for genetic mapping of complex traits. Such studies in outbred populations require very densely spaced single-nucleotide polymorphisms. In recently founded population isolates, however, extensive linkage disequilibrium (LD) may make these studies feasible with currently available sets of short tandem repeat markers, spaced at intervals as large as a few centimorgans. We report the results of a genomewide association study of severe bipolar disorder (BP-I), using patients from the isolated population of the central valley of Costa Rica. We observed LD with BP-I on several chromosomes; the most striking results were in proximal 8p, a region that has previously shown linkage to schizophrenia. This region could be important for severe psychiatric disorders, rather than for a specific phenotype.

Linkage disequilibrium (LD) methods offer great promise for mapping complex traits, but have thus far been applied sparingly. In this paper we describe an LD mapping study of severe bipolar disorder (BP-I) in the genetically isolated population of the Central Valley of Costa Rica. This study provides the first complete screen of a chromosome for a complex trait using LD mapping and presents the first application of a new LD mapping statistic (ancestral haplotype reconstruction (AHR)) that evaluates haplotype sharing among affected individuals. The results of this chromosome-wide analysis are instructive for genome-wide LD mapping in isolated populations. Furthermore, the analysis continues to support a possible BP-I locus on 18pter, suggested by previous analyses in this population. Evidence for a possible BP-I locus on 18q12.2 is also described., (Copyright 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

Bipolar mood disorder (BP) is a debilitating syndrome characterized by episodes of mania and depression. We designed a multistage study to detect all major loci predisposing to severe BP (termed BP-I) in two pedigrees drawn from the Central Valley of Costa Rica, where the population is largely descended from a few founders in the 16th-18th centuries. We considered only individuals with BP-I as affected and screened the genome for linkage with 473 microsatellite markers. We used a model for linkage analysis that incorporated a high phenocopy rate and a conservative estimate of penetrance. Our goal in this study was not to establish definitive linkage but rather to detect all regions possibly harboring major genes for BP-I in these pedigrees. To facilitate this aim, we evaluated the degree to which markers that were informative in our data set provided coverage of each genome region; we estimate that at least 94% of the genome has been covered, at a predesignated threshold determined through prior linkage simulation analyses. We report here the results of our genome screen for BP-I loci and indicate several regions that merit further study, including segments in 18q, 18p, and 11p, in which suggestive lod scores were observed for two or more contiguous markers. Isolated lod scores that exceeded our thresholds in one or both families also occurred on chromosomes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 13, 15, 16, and 17. Interesting regions highlighted in this genome screen will be followed up using linkage disequilibrium (LD) methods.

Despite the evidence that major gene effects exist for bipolar disorder (BP), efforts to map BP loci have so far been unsuccessful. A strategy for mapping BP loci is described, focused on investigation of large pedigrees from a genetically homogenous population, that of Costa Rica. This approach is based on the use of a conservative definition of the BP phenotype in preparation for whole genome screening with polymorphic markers. Linkage simulation analyses are utilized to indicate the probability of detecting evidence suggestive of linkage, using these pedigrees. These analyses are performed under a series of single locus models, ranging from recessive to nearly dominant, utilizing both lod score and affected pedigree member analyses. Additional calculations demonstrate that with any of the models employed, most of the information for linkage derives from affected rather than unaffected individuals.

Linkage disequilibrium (LD) analysis provides a powerful means for screening the genome to map the location of disease genes, such as those for bipolar disorder (BP). As described in this paper, the population of the Central Valley of Costa Rica, which is descended from a small number of founders, should be suitable for LD mapping; this assertion is supported by reconstruction of extended haplotypes shared by distantly related individuals in this population suffering low-frequency hearing loss (LFHL1), which has previously been mapped by linkage analysis. A sampling strategy is described for applying LD methods to map genes for BP, and clinical and demographic characteristics of an initially collected sample are discussed. This sample will provide a complement to a previously collected set of Costa Rican BP families which is under investigation using standard linkage analysis.

Manic depressive illness, or bipolar disorder (BP), is characterized by episodes of elevated mood (mania) and depression. We designed a multistage study in the genetically isolated population of the Central Valley of Costa Rica to identify genes that promote susceptibility to severe BP (termed BPI), and screened the genome ot two Costa Rican BPI pedigrees (McInnes et al., submitted). We considered only individuals who fulfilled very stringent diagnostic criteria for BPI to be affected. The strongest evidence for a BPI locus was observed in 18q22-q23. We tested 16 additional markers in this region and seven yielded peak lod scores over 1.0. These suggestive lod scores were obtained over a far greater chromosomal length (about 40 cM) than in any other genome region. This localization is supported by marker haplotypes shared by 23 of 26 BPI affected individuals studied. Additionally, marker allele frequencies over portions of this region are significantly different in the patient sample from those of the general Costa Rican population. Finally, we performed an analysis which made use of both the evidence for linkage and for association in 18q23, and we observed significant lod scores for two markers in this region.