Abstract. In Peru, the population of a very rare monkey species called the red uakari (Cacajao calvus ucayalii) lives in the Amazon rainforest in an area called Loreto. The natural resources of Loreto have been exploited due to large anthropogenic pressure which has affected the biodiversity. This thesis focuses on two areas that are now protected; one conservation concession and one community-based conservation reserve, each led by two biologists and researchers. The theory of the tragedy of the commons – a concept first described by Garrett Hardin in an article in the scientific journal Science in 1968 – will be taken into consideration and analysed when studying the common gains to protect the forest, as well as the over usage of resources. This thesis investigates in a qualitative way the risks of overexploiting the rainforest and the actions taken to preserve it, and hence saving the red uakari from becoming extinct. A combination of semi-structured interviews with the two biologists and content analysis of some of their work, amongst others, will assist in the outcome of this thesis, which is intended to be used for future protection of inhabited lands in rainforests that run the risk of being overexploited due to external commercial interests. The supposition of my study was to get a better understanding of community-based action to protect a specific space in an area that is under a great deal of external pressure and it shows that collective action and involvement of local community often has positive outcome.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate consumers’ attitudes against the technique one-click purchasing. One-click purchasing is a method allowing the customers to transact a purchase with only one click. The customer has entered the payment information necessary to complete the purchase at a previous occasion. Within the next buying opportunity, the customer can purchase products with one single click. The analysis and conclusions is based on both primary and secondary sources. The primary sources represent the result of a questionnaire performed with 200 respondents. The top findings in this study are that the one-click purchasing method is used on a regular basis and most of the consumers’ trust that the method correctly cares for personal information. However the conclusion is that the demand of the method is not high and it seems like the consumers does not care if the method is available upon payment completions or not.

Cloud services are popular for hosting applications because they offer simplicity and cost efficiency. There are a lot of different providers offering many different services, which can make it hard to find the one most suitable for you. To make informed decisions you need to evaluate different services. This project evaluates a cloud service, called Amazon Lambda, from one of the biggest cloud service providers. Amazon Lambda is a simple service which runs one function in response to an event. In this project it is evaluated on suitability, performance and cost. To evaluate suitability, a certain kind of applications, games, were selected. The game industry is innovative and put high requirements on performance. A few simple Lambda functions were implemented and integrated in a prototype game. Some calculations were made for determining the cost of hosting such a game on Amazon Lambda. A few tests were implemented and run in order to further evaluate the performance.

Understanding how structure and function change across environmental gradients is a fundamental goal of ecology, with important applications in a changing world. In this dissertation, I explore how environmental variations in temperature and precipitation affect three-dimensional canopy structure, and how this, in turn, affects forest function. Characterising how climatic variations affect forest structure and function is particularly important in tropical forests, which are globally important carbon stores that have already shown vulnerability to climate change. The future of tropical forest carbon stocks is highly uncertain, with plant physiological responses representing the largest source of model uncertainties. As such, my dissertation research comprises empirical investigations into how tropical forests will respond to high temperatures and drought. Firstly, I examine tropical forest response to high temperature by conducting a comparison of natural forest sites and a tropical forest mesocosm using eddy-covariance data. I present evidence that high temperature declines in tropical forest photosynthesis are not due to direct temperature effects (i.e., that cause damage to the photosynthetic machinery), but instead are predominantly due to indirect temperature effects that result from concurrent increases in vapour pressure deficit (VPD). While both mechanisms reduce photosynthesis, the impact of increased VPD under future climate may be partly mitigated by enhanced water-use efficiency associated with rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations, suggesting that tropical forests may have opportunities for resilience in the face of global warming. The second part of my dissertation research examines how tropical forest canopy structure responds to seasonal dry periods and anomalous droughts on seasonal and interannual timescales, using data from ground-based LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging). I show that total leaf area index (LAI) does not represent the seasonality of forest structure, since the upper and lower canopy levels exhibit divergent seasonal responses. The seasonal pattern of upper canopy LAI shows good agreement with the seasonal pattern of enhanced vegetation index (EVI) measured from satellites, suggesting that satellites are not capturing the response of the lower canopy. These results indicate that smaller trees are responding to seasonal water limitations and larger trees to light availability. I found that the response of canopy structure to anomalous (El Niño-induced) drought was similar to seasonal dry periods, but that the trends in LAI and vertical canopy structure were amplified. In particular, I document a delayed loss of LAI from the upper canopy following extreme drought, which supports the idea that while smaller trees may be more responsive to shorter, less severe dry periods, larger trees are more susceptible to prolonged or more severe droughts. Finally, I combine a long-term ground-based LiDAR dataset with tree inventory data in order to identify the mechanisms (i.e., changes in leaf area and/or woody biomass) of structural changes caused by droughts. I present evidence that loss of lower canopy LAI following an El Niño-induced drought was due to the mortality of small trees, not loss of leaf area, while an increase in LAI in the upper canopy predominantly resulted from plastic leaf area changes. If small trees are susceptible to drought-induced mortality and the incidence of droughts increases, this could prevent the recovery of tropical forests from drought-induced disturbances.

Kateřina Petružálková: The Ayahuasca Subculture in Prague Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague, Department of Cultural Studies, MA Thesis, 95 pages, 2013 The aim of the thesis is to describe the phenomenon of ayahuasca, the sacred amazonian psychotropic beverage. The structure of the thesis is divided into the theoretical and practical part. In the theoretical part the thesis deals with the attributes of ayahuasca, shamanism in the Upper Amazon, globalization of ayahuasca and ayahuasca syncretic churches. It is also described a variety of ritualized usage of ayahuasca and the current position in the Czech Republic. The practical part consists of a qualitative research among the members of ayahuasca subculture in Prague and self reflection of ayahuasca experience. Keywords: ayahuasca, shamanism, Upper Amazon, ritual

Denna kvalitativa studie undersöker den ständigt ökande internationella konkurrensen för svenska e-handelsföretag inom hemelektronik och hur de arbetar för att bemöta den. Detaljhandeln har till följd av en ökad globalisering och digitalisering förändrats, e-handeln har successivt tagit marknadsandelar från den traditionella handeln. I samband med e-handelns framfart, inte minst inom hemelektronikbranschen, tampas svenska aktörer med pressade marginaler och konkurrens på en global skala. Denna utveckling har suddat ut gränser inom detaljhandeln och den ökande internationella konkurrens som utreds i studien exemplifieras med e-handelsjätten Amazon.   I takt med denna digitalisering av handeln har kunder idag högre krav på detaljhandelsföretag, och inom e-handel är denna kravbild än mer påtaglig. Kunders krav på pris, kvalitet, leveranshastighet etcetera sätter press på företag att ständigt förbättra sin verksamhet och sitt kunderbjudande. Studien baseras, utöver Amazon, på två teoretiska grundpelare, kundrelationer och logistik. Utmaningen för många e-handelsföretag idag är att etablera kundlojalitet online och bygga långsiktiga kundrelationer. Inom e-handel är ofta kunden lojal till varumärken, inte till företagen. Logistiken är central inom e-handel och är tydligt kopplad till ovan nämnda kravbild från kunder, för att leva upp till dessa förväntningar krävs effektiv och optimerad logistik.   Hur hanterar svenska e-handelsföretag inom hemelektronik den internationella konkurrensen som exemplifieras av Amazon?   Studiens resultat visar på de utmaningar men framförallt, enligt empirin, möjligheter som svenska e-handelsföretag inom hemelektronik idag står inför. För att bygga kundrelationer används en personalisering av kundupplevelsen, där hemsida, köp, leverans och efterköpsservice samtliga behöver kundanpassas för att skapa nöjda och återkommande kunder. Resultatet visar att de svenska e-handelsföretagen inte är särskilt oroliga över Amazons kommande svenska etablering, främst för att de inte tror att Amazon kommer lyckas leverera enligt sin standard, på en svensk marknad.   Vi anser att svenska företag kommer behöva etablera fler, och starkare, kundrelationer för att kunna konkurrera med Amazon. Trots att Amazon vid en svensk etablering inte kommer ha en logistisk infrastruktur för att leverera enligt sin standard är det viktigt att svenska företag arbetar proaktivt mot detta “hot”. Ingen vet hur denna etablering kommer utspela sig och hur “väl Amazon kommer vilja lyckas” i Sverige, för att det ska bli lönsamt för dem. Vi tror konkurrensen om kunder i de svenska storstäderna framförallt blir aktuell och svenska företag behöver inte bara behöva differentiera och utmärka sin personalisering, utan även logistik, för att överleva den internationella konkurrensen och Amazon.

A geração de excedentes agrícolas sustentou o crescimento populacional dos últimos 10.000 anos. Historicamente, a relação entre produção de alimentos e número de habitantes foi vista como positiva, mesmo quando em detrimento do meio ambiente. Desde o século XIX, o questionamento sobre a disponibilidade de oferta suficiente para atender o aumento da população foi afastado com a abertura de novas terras, o desenvolvimento de técnicas e tecnologias inovadoras e a intensificação do comércio internacional. Porém, novas preocupações surgiram, notadamente a capacidade de suporte do planeta frente ao aumento da produção, seus impactos sobre a biodiversidade e as emissões de Gases de Efeito Estufa. Esses elementos modificaram a percepção sobre as consequências do crescimento econômico sem a observância de condicionantes socioambientais e ensejaram negociações internacionais com o objetivo de propor soluções para esse problema. O Brasil, detentor de vastas extensões de florestas, tornou-se central nas discussões, nas quais obteve avanços com a efetiva consolidação do conceito de desenvolvimento equilibrado. Contudo, pouco se evoluiu na compensação aos países em desenvolvimento pelas externalidades geradas ao planeta pelos ativos ambientais. A despeito desse fato, houve significativas melhorias na proteção ao meio ambiente no Brasil com a aprovação de legislação restritiva à abertura de novas áreas, programas governamentais e estrutura burocrática voltada à sua implementação, além de ferramentas para o dimensionamento do uso e ocupação do solo no bioma Amazônia. A partir dessas informações, foram analisados econometricamente por painéis espaciais dois temas pertinentes à relação entre a fronteira agrícola e o desflorestamento nos municípios do bioma Amazônia dos estados de Mato Grosso, Pará e Rondônia. No primeiro, foram estimados os condicionantes dos usos da terra, no qual se concluiu que as políticas e os instrumentos públicos, eficazes na redução das taxas de desflorestamento, não atuaram de forma eficiente na intensificação e melhor aproveitamento do uso da terra, em particular das pastagens, e da melhoria das condições econômicas e sociais da região. Também se observou que a valorização dos produtos florestais tem efeitos positivos sobre as áreas de vegetação. No segundo, foi estimada a relação entre a expansão da área de soja e as ações de políticas públicas e setoriais. As conclusões são de que a redução da participação de plantios nos desflorestamentos após 2006 se deu, em primeiro lugar, pela queda das taxas de desflorestamento, a qual diminuiu a abertura de novas áreas disponíveis para a soja, e foi, em seguida, complementada pela restrição de compra pelas empresas signatárias da Moratória da Soja. Os setores público e privado, portanto, agiram em conjunto para que os cultivos de soja passassem a representar percentual pequeno das novas áreas desflorestadas. A partir desses dois estudos, conclui-se que o desenvolvimento da agricultura da região depende de políticas públicas coordenadas que promovam o uso mais intensivo das lavouras e pastagens e o fortalecimento de pagamentos por serviços ambientais para conservação e preservação dos recursos naturais. Dada a forte dependência espacial, recomenda-se que as ações sejam direcionadas de forma mais homogênea entre os municípios a fim de potencializar seus efeitos. / The generation of agricultural surpluses has sustained population growth for the last 10,000 years. Historically, the relationship between food production and the number of inhabitants was seen as positive, even when it was at the expense of the environment. Since the nineteenth century, the question of having a sufficient food supply to meet population growth has been averted by opening new lands, developing innovative techniques and technologies, and intensifying international trade. However, new concerns have emerged: notably the planet\'s capacity to support increased food production, its impacts on biodiversity and greenhouse gas emissions. These elements have modified perceptions about the consequences of economic growth without observing socio-environmental constraints, and have led to international negotiations that aim to propose solutions to this problem. Brazil, which has vast tracts of forests, has become central to these discussions, in which it has made progress with the effective consolidation of the concept of balanced development. However, little progress has been made in compensating developing countries for the externalities their environmental assets generate for the planet. In spite of this fact, there were significant improvements in the protection of Brazil\'s environment, with the approval of legislation restricting the opening of new areas, government programs and bureaucratic structures for their implementation, and tools for ascertaining land use and occupation of the Amazon Biome. Based on this information, two topics pertaining to the relationship between the agricultural frontier and deforestation in the municipalities of the Amazon Biome in the states of Mato Grosso, Pará and Rondônia were econometrically analyzed by spatial panels. In the first topic, land use determinants were estimated, with the conclusion that the policies and public instruments that effectively reduced deforestation rates have not been as efficient in intensifying and improving land use, especially pastures, and in improving the region\'s social and economic conditions. Appreciation of forest products has also had a positive effect on areas of vegetation. In the second, the relationship between soybean acreage expansion and the actions of public and sector policies was estimated, concluding that the reduction in the share of plantings in deforestation rates after 2006 was primarily due to the fall in deforestation rates, which reduced the opening of new areas for soybeans, and this was complemented by the restrictions imposed on purchases by the companies signing the Soy Moratorium. The public and private sectors, therefore, acted together so that soybean crops would represent a small percentage of newly deforested areas. Based on these two studies, the conclusion is that development of agriculture in the region depends on coordinated public policies that promote a more intensive use of crops and pastures, and the strengthening of payments for environmental services related to the conservation and preservation of natural resources. Given the strong spatial dependence, actions should be directed more homogeneously among the municipalities in order to maximize their effects.

A Catedral Metropolitana de Manaus - Igreja Nossa Senhora da Conceição surgiu de uma capela carmelita construída no século XVII e depois de várias reconstruções, recebeu vários acréscimos durante os anos até atingir a dimensão atual. A pesquisa arqueológica na Catedral Metropolitana de Manaus ocorreu entre os dias 15 de abril e 06 de outubro de 2002. Neste período foram realizados trabalhos no edifício, concentrados na sacristia oeste da igreja, nave central e varanda oeste. Nos jardins foram encontrados uma diversidade de materiais como, louça, vidro, ferro, provenientes em sua maioria do aterro realizado pelo prefeito Jorge Teixeira com material proveniente do, então, lixão da cidade. Já no aterro realizado no séc. XIX foram encontrados basicamente material argiloso. As evidências biológicas aparecem em todos os aterros, algumas são inerentes aos aterros, outras são resultado de atividades de insetos. O ciclo econômico da borracha contribuiu fortemente para o desenvolvimento da região e Manaus. Tanto que suas principais obras arquitetônicas e de infra-estrutura foram efetuadas durante o apogeu do ciclo da borracha. Se por um lado Manaus tinha recursos para obras como o Teatro Amazonas, por outro, faltava mão-de-obra, tanto pela pequena população como pelo atrativo dos seringais / The Cathedral of Manaus, started as a Carmelite chapel constructed in century XVII and after some reconstructions, it received some additions during the years until reaching the current dimension. The archaeological research in the Cathedral Metropolitan of Manaus occurred enters days 2002 15 and 06 of October. In this period works in the building had been carried through, concentrated in the sacristy west of the church, central ship and veranda west. In the gardens they had been found a diversity of materials as, ware, glass, iron, proceeding in its majority from I fill with earth it carried through for mayor Jorge Teixeira with material proceeding from, then, earth sanitary of the city. No longer I fill with earth carried through in XIX century had been found basically material argillaceous. The biological evidences appear in all the earth earth, some are inherent to the earth and others are resulted of activities of insects. The rubber economic cycle contributed to the development in that all region and Manaus. The city of Manaus changed, not only in this architectonic aspect, but in all segments. The progress of Manaus had a dramatic effect on the public administration

O presente trabalho tem por objetivo discutir a relação homem-natureza no Tesouro Descoberto no Máximo Rio Amazonas, obra escrita pelo jesuíta João Daniel, em meados do século XVIII. Expulso pelo ministério pombalino em 1757, o jesuíta, nos catorze anos em que ficou preso em Portugal, escreveu uma extensa obra sobre a região amazônica, na qual traça um panorama de sua natureza, suas populações e sua cultura. Seus escritos, entretanto, têm por objetivo apresentar um programa de reformas nos métodos de aproveitamento das riquezas naturais da região no intuito de fomentar o aumento do Estado. Seu projeto conta com duplo alicerce: os tesouros descobertos na região e a experiência que serve de guia para o desenvolvimento dos métodos mais adequados de usufruto dos tesouros. / This paper aims to discuss the relationship between men and nature in \"Tesouro Descoberto no Máximo Rio Amazonas\", a book written by the Jesuit João Daniel, in the middle of the eighteenth century. Banned by the pombaline ministry in 1757, João Daniel, during the fourteen years while he was arrested in Portugal, wrote an extensive work on the Amazon region, which depicts its nature, people and culture. His writings, however, aim to present a program of reforms in the methods of exploitation of that region\'s natural resources in order to foment the growth of the state. His project is based on two principles: the treasures discovered in the region and the experience that serves as a guide for the development of more appropriate methods of using the mentioned treasures.

A presente tese é oriunda de uma análise da obra cinematográfica de Adrian Cowell (1934-2011), sobretudo, a partir das produções inerentes à Amazônia brasileira no período de 1980 a 1990, através da série A década da destruição, bem como as produções documentais mais recentes que revisitam a referida década da destruição e apresentam seus possíveis legados a partir de diferentes resistências e territorialidades da Amazônia Legal brasileira e suas implicações e conexões numa escala mundializada. Dessa maneira, objetivou-se comprovar, no decorrer da referida pesquisa, a importância da obra cinematográfica de Cowell ancorado em quatro dimensões indissociáveis: a primeira visa comprovar que seu acervo cinematográfico é o maior sobre a Amazônia, o segundo versa sobre os intensos e atuais registros dos conflitos no campo, o terceiro remete ao papel das políticas públicas territoriais na Amazônia em consonância com a teoria dos conflitos agrários envolvendo indígenas, posseiros, sem terras, camponeses, entre outras populações extrativistas/tradicionais e, por fim, a última dimensão indica uma contribuição pedagógica, ou seja, os documentários como instrumento de pesquisa, linguagem, denúncia e recurso político-pedagógico para as escolas. Assim, o argumento central da tese é, justamente, defender que a década da destruição proposta por Cowell ultrapassa qualquer limitação temporal, pois constata-se que as terras públicas são constantemente griladas na Amazônia e em outras regiões do país. Por isso, é possível inferir, no decorrer das análises da sua obra cinematográfica em consonância com a revisão bibliográfica, atualização dos dados advindos da Comissão Pastoral da Terra (CPT), bem como trabalhos de campo que as resistências e territorialidades filmadas por Adrian Cowell no período de cinquenta anos (1958-2008) evidenciam uma leitura profícua sobre a teoria dos conflitos agrários na Amazônia, cujas marcas remetem às lutas de classes antagônicas, conflitos ambientais e territoriais e demais contradições no seio da formação da sociedade capitalista. / This thesis is based on an analysis of Adrian Cowells cinematographic work (1934-2011), particularly from the productions inherent to the Brazilian Amazon from 1980 to 1990, through the series - The Decade of Destruction, as well as recent documentary productions that revise the decade of destruction and present their possible legacies from different resistances and territorialities of Brazilian Legal Amazon and its implications and connections on a world scale. Thus, this research aims to prove the importance of Cowell\'s cinematographic work anchored in four inseparable dimensions: the first aims to prove that its cinematographic collection is the largest on the Amazon, the second is about the intense and current records of conflicts in the countryside, the third refers to the role of territorial public policies in the Amazon, in line with the theory of agrarian conflicts involving indigenous, squatters, landless, peasants, among other extractivists/traditional populations, and finally the last dimension indicates a pedagogical contribution, that is, documentaries as instrument of research, language, denunciation and political-pedagogical resource for schools. So, the central argument of the thesis is precisely to defend that the decade of the destruction, proposed by Cowell, exceeds any temporal limitation, since it is shown that public lands are constantly Illegally-held in the Amazon forest and in other regions of the country. Therefore, it is possible to infer, in the course of the analyzes of his cinematographic work, in consonance with the bibliographical revision, to update the data coming from the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT), as well as field works that resistances and territorialities filmed by Adrian Cowell, in the period of fifty (1958-2008), show a fruitful reading on the theory of agrarian conflicts in Amazonia, whose marks refer to struggles of antagonistic classes, environmental and territorial conflicts and other contradictions in the formation of capitalist society.