Browsing by Subject "Colombia"
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Item A 4600-year record of lake level and hydroclimate variability from an eastern Andean lake in Colombia(2016-05) Rudloff, Owen M.; Bird, Broxton Williams; Gilhooly, William, III; Filippelli, Gabriel M.Hydroclimatic variability in the eastern Colombian Andes is examined using a decadally-resolved, multiproxy lake sediment record from Laguna de Ubaque, Colombia. Hydroclimate trends are examined and compared to existing local, regional, and trans-Andean records to enhance existing knowledge of Late Holocene Colombian precipitation and assess potential hydroclimatic forcing mechanisms in tropical South America. Sedimentological analyses, including percent lithics, grain size, C:N and magnetic susceptibility are sensitive to hydroclimate and lake level while charcoal size and concentrations reflect fire variability. Results show that deep lacustrine conditions characterized by laminated deposits were not established until approximately 3500 cal yr B.P., prior to which, terrestrial C:N values and unstructured sediments indicate that drier, marsh-like conditions prevailed. Between 3500 and 2000 cal yr B.P., interrupted only by a 300-year arid interval from 2800 to 2500 cal yr B.P., greatly increased overall clastic deposition indicates a broad precipitation maximum while decreased sand deposition and the preservation of finely laminated sediment indicate deep lake conditions. After 2000 cal yr B.P., decreased clastic deposition suggests reduced precipitation, but the continued accumulation of laminated sediments indicates that conditions were wet enough to fill the basin continuously until the present day. These observations address two of the driving questions of Andean paleoclimate: were the northern and southern Andes in vi phase during the Holocene, or out of phase, and what are the main drivers of Holocene Andean climate? We find that the early part of Ubaque’s record more closely resembles southern Andean precipitation records until 2000 cal yr B.P., at which point it abruptly switches to resemble northern precipitation records. We attribute this to a combination of the southward migration of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ), and an increase in eastern Pacific sea surface temperatures (SST). In addition, we find that Colombian hydroclimate records exhibit a bimodal precipitation pattern, which we attribute to their location either on the Andean slopes or in the high interior Andes.Item The civil society of Colombia(2016-05-16) Evans, Van C.; Burlingame, Dwight F.; Bies, Angela; Schneider, William H.; Latz, GilThe Republic of Colombia, with approximately 48 million inhabitants, is the fourth largest country by population in the Americas, after the U.S., Brasil, and México. It is divided politically into 32 departments and 10 districts with 1101 municipalities. Colombia has a rich history of philanthropy and solidarity since colonial times. Together, with the political strife of the past, these shed light on present day philanthropic practices and trends toward thriving civil society formation in the country. In order to strategically address human challenges and strengthen civil society in Colombia, a vision of what the civil society landscape looked like was needed. No such system existed in Colombia, and the extent and breadth of the sector was not known. The federal government has no single database that tracks the sector. Therefore, the primary research question for this case study is—What is the size and scope of civil society in Colombia? This dissertation, in good measure, provides the answer. It provides a geographical and taxonomical map of civil society organizations (CSOs) in Colombia. This dissertation also examines how Colombia came to have a thriving civil society sector yet lack a federal registry. Findings show there are 24 federal and capital district registries of different types of civil society. Moreover, each of the 32 departments have registries for health and education and some also register CSOs related to environment, culture, sports, and recreation. Findings from 21 of the 24 federal or district registries and three of the 32 departments reveal a total of 296,467 CSOs. This constitutes an estimate of 98.60 percent of all possible records. There is approximately one CSO for every 163 inhabitants or 61.5 CSOs for every 10,000 inhabitants, giving Colombia the highest number of registered CSOs per capita in the Americas, save the United States. The National Taxonomy of Exempt Entity (NTEE) codes were applied to CSOs, where possible. Findings reveal Colombia has a balanced civil society, with no subsector greater than 33 percent of total CSOs.Item Comorbidities in Early-Onset Sporadic versus Presenilin-1 Mutation-Associated Alzheimer’s Disease Dementia: Evidence for Dependency on Alzheimer’s Disease Neuropathological Changes(medRxiv, 2023-08-16) Sepulveda-Falla, Diego; Lanau, Carlos Andrés Villegas; White, Charles, III; Serrano, Geidy E.; Acosta-Uribe, Juliana; Mejía-Cupajita, Barbara; Villalba-Moreno, Nelson David; Lu, Pinzhang; Glatzel, Markus; Kofler, Julia K.; Ghetti, Bernardino; Frosch, Matthew P.; Restrepo, Francisco Lopera; Kosik, Kenneth S.; Beach, Thomas G.; Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, School of MedicineAutopsy studies have demonstrated that comorbid neurodegenerative and cerebrovascular disease occur in the great majority of subjects with Alzheimer disease dementia (ADD), and are likely to additively alter the rate of decline or severity of cognitive impairment. The most important of these are Lewy body disease (LBD), TDP-43 proteinopathy and cerebrovascular disease, including white matter rarefaction (WMR) and cerebral infarcts. Comorbidities may interfere with ADD therapeutic trials evaluation of ADD clinical trials as they may not respond to AD-specific molecular therapeutics. It is possible, however, that at least some comorbidities may be, to some degree, secondary consequences of AD pathology, and if this were true then effective AD-specific therapeutics might also reduce the extent or severity of comorbid pathology. Comorbidities in ADD caused by autosomal dominant mutations such as those in the presenilin-1 (PSEN1) gene may provide an advantageous perspective on their pathogenesis, and deserve attention because these subjects are increasingly being entered into clinical trials. As ADD associated with PSEN1 mutations has a presumed single-cause etiology, and the average age at death is under 60, any comorbidities in this setting may be considered as at least partially secondary to the causative AD mechanisms rather than aging, and thus indicate whether effective ADD therapeutics may also be effective for comorbidities. In this study, we sought to compare the rates and types of ADD comorbidities between subjects with early-onset sporadic ADD (EOSADD; subjects dying under age 60) versus ADD associated with different types of PSEN1 mutations, the most common cause of early-onset autosomal dominant ADD. In particular, we were able to ascertain, for the first time, the prevalences of a fairly complete set of ADD comorbidities in United States (US) PSEN1 cases as well as the Colombian E280A PSEN1 kindred. Data for EOSADD and US PSEN1 subjects (with multiple different mutation types) was obtained from the National Alzheimer Coordinating Center (NACC). Colombian cases all had the E280A mutation and had a set of neuropathological observations classified, like the US cases according to the NACC NP10 definitions. Confirmatory of earlier reports, NACC-defined Alzheimer Disease Neuropathological Changes (ADNC) were consistently very severe in early-onset cases, whether sporadic or in PSEN1 cases, but were slightly less severe in EOSADD. Amyloid angiopathy was the only AD-associated pathology type with widely-differing severity scores between the 3 groups, with median scores of 3, 2 and 1 in the PSEN1 Colombia, PSEN1 US and EOSADD cases, respectively. Apoliprotein E genotype did not show significant proportional group differences for the possession of an E-4 or E-2 allele. Of ADD comorbidities, LBD was most common, being present in more than half of all cases in all 3 groups. For TDP-43 co-pathology, the Colombian PSEN1 group was the most affected, at about 27%, vs 16% and 11% for the US PSEN1 and sporadic US cases, respectively. Notably, hippocampal sclerosis and non-AD tau pathological conditions were not present in any of the US or Colombian PSEN1 cases, and was seen in only 3% of the EOSADD cases. Significant large-vessel atherosclerosis was present in a much larger percentage of Colombian PSEN1 cases, at almost 20% as compared to 0% and 3% of the US PSEN1 and EOSADD cases, respectively. Small-vessel disease, or arteriolosclerosis, was much more common than large vessel disease, being present in all groups between 18% and 37%. Gross and microscopic infarcts, however, as well as gross or microscopic hemorrhages, were generally absent or present at very low percentages in all groups. White matter rarefaction (WMR) was remarkably common, at almost 60%, in the US PSEN1 group, as compared to about 18% in the EOSADD cases, a significant difference. White matter rarefaction was not assessed in the Colombian PSEN1 cases. The results presented here, as well as other evidence, indicates that LBD, TDP-43 pathology and WMR, as common comorbidities with autosomal dominant and early-onset sporadic ADD, should be considered when planning clinical trials with such subjects as they may increase variability in response rates. However, they may be at least partially dependent on ADNC and thus potentially addressable by anti-amyloid or and/anti-tau therapies.Item Country Report 2018: Colombia(2018) Ruiz-Restrepo, AdrianaThe Constitution guarantees Colombians’ right to freedom of assembly and to freedom of association. The right to endow an organization with legal personality is an option to be exerted in accordance to the free will of the individual or group of individuals who may choose to establish their organization either as a separate, juristic person or as an informal and unregistered organization, one that is directly tied to the personalities of its members.Item Dimensions of Colombian Philanthropy: How Giving is Linked to Social Capital(2012-06-20) Mendenhall, Susan Elizabeth; Burlingame, Dwight; Huehls, Frances A.; Thomson, Ann Marie, 1954-In recent years, social capital has emerged at the forefront of comparative research in the areas of philanthropy, community development and international aid. The predominant body of research has been conducted in the United States, Netherlands, and other Northern/Western contexts. From this body of knowledge, the academic community has begun to tease out how philanthropic traditions arise within and adapt to a given cultural context. Stemming from the assertions of Fukuyama, Putnam and Banfield, a theory has emerged that high levels of social capital is connected to high levels of philanthropic support (money and time), and low levels of social capital is connected to low levels of philanthropic support. This is to be expected since, theoretically, in cultures with less trust and civic behavior, there is a higher cost to giving and volunteering, and therefore people give less. Research conducted in American and Dutch communities suggests that a high level of philanthropic behavior is expected to be found in places where people share a high level of social capital (Putnam, 2000); that individuals who have more social capital in terms of access to social networks are more likely to be charitable (Brooks, 2005; Brown and Ferris, 2007); that a donor’s perception that a nonprofit organization is trustworthy affects his or her decision to give (Bekkers, 2003); and that an individual’s participation in different types of civic networks relies on varying levels of social trust (Uslaner, 2002). Colombia offers an interesting case study of the interplay between social capital and philanthropy because much is known about the Colombian citizenry’s propensity to trust and associate. Additionally, the incredible growth of nonprofits in Colombia and Latin America since the early 1990s has spurred an increase in qualitative research surrounding Latin American philanthropy.Item EL REGGAETÓN COMO VEHÍCULO PARA LA ENSEÑANZA DE LA VARIACIÓN LINGÜÍSTICA EN EL AULA DE ESPAÑOL L2(2023-05) Huete Guerrero, Wilfredo Antonio; Zulaica, Iker; Tezanos-Pinto, Rosa; Quintanilla, Alex J.R.La música popular de hace años ha cambiado, en particular el reggaetón ha tomado el mundo por asalto. Artistas que han revolucionado la escena musical, música latina, hispana que se puede escuchar por cada rincón del mundo. Sin embargo, el reggaetón tiene su propia historia, no se hizo popular de un día al otro sino ha alcanzado su nivel actual gracias a los esfuerzos de sus pioneros, los fanáticos y los artistas de hoy en día. Estos artistas reggaetoneros no son únicamente del mismo país, sino que nacieron en todas partes del mundo. Cada uno de estos artistas traen su propio español, el español de sus países, algo que expone a los oyentes a distintas variedades del español. La variedad lingüística que se puede escuchar por medio de las canciones es inmensa y es una manera auténtica de oír como realmente se habla el español en los diferentes países hispanohablantes. La cantidad de información sobre la fonética, la morfología, sintaxis o léxico que se puede aprender sobre los distintos países es incontable y sumamente importante. Información que se puede aplicar en un aula de clase L2 para enriquecer y fortalecer el aprendizaje de estos estudiantes. Empleando el reggaetón como base en las lecciones y actividades en el aula L2 se puede enseñar la variedad lingüística de cualquier país hispanohablante.Item Exploring for Municipality-Level Socioeconomic Variables Related to Zika Virus Incidence in Colombia(MDPI, 2021-02-13) Kellemen, Marie; Ye, Jun; Moreno-Madriñan, Max J.; Global Health, School of Public HealthColombia experienced an outbreak of Zika virus infection during September 2015 until July 2016. This study aimed to identify the socioeconomic factors that at the municipality level correlate with this outbreak and therefore could have influenced its incidence. An analysis of publicly available, municipality-aggregated data related to eight potential explanatory socioeconomic variables was conducted. These variables are school dropout, low energy strata, social security system, savings capacity, tax, resources, investment, and debt. The response variable of interest in this study is the number of reported cases of Zika virus infection per people (projected) per square kilometer. Binomial regression models were performed. Results show that the best predictor variables of Zika virus occurrence, assuming an expected inverse relationship with socioeconomic status, are “school”, “energy”, and “savings”. Contrary to expectations, proxies of socioeconomic status such as “investment”, “tax”, and “resources” were associated with an increase in the occurrence of Zika virus infection, while no association was detected for “social security” and “debt”. Energy stratification, school dropout rate, and the percentage of the municipality’s income that is saved conformed to the hypothesized inverse relationship between socioeconomic standing and Zika occurrence. As such, this study suggests these factors should be considered in Zika risk modeling.Item Farming in the Face of Uncertainty: How Colombian Coffee Farmers Conceptualize and Communicate Their Experiences With Climate Change(USC, 2020) Lambert, Natalie J.; Eise, Jessica; Medicine, School of MedicineClimate change is impacting agricultural systems around the globe, but little research has focused on how agricultural producers communicate their firsthand experiences with climate change impacts. Coffee, Colombia’s largest agricultural export (indirectly responsible for the livelihood of 2 million Colombians), is uniquely vulnerable to climate change. This study lays the groundwork for future adaptation communication efforts by analyzing 45 in-person, in-depth interviews of coffee farmers in Risaralda, Colombia. Dimensionalization, a grounded theory approach, is used to offer a theoretical data matrix to capture the major factors involved in Colombian farmers’ experiences with climate change from the farmers’ own perspective. The findings illustrate the conditions underlying Colombian coffee farmers’ belief that climate change impacts threaten their livelihoods and put farmers in a constant state of uncertainty.