L'élucidation des liens réciproques unissant le génotype et le phénotype constitue un objectif central de la biologie moderne. De nombreux aspects de l'évolution à l'échelle moléculaire sont ainsi connus pour répondre aux caractéristiques démographiques ou d'histoire de vie des espèces. En particulier, la théorie quasi-neutre postule que les petites populations accumulent davantage de substitutions faiblement délétères dans leur génome, en raison d'une dérive génétique accrue. La composition en bases, à travers le mécanisme de la conversion génique biaisée, s'est également révélée obéir à l'influence de paramètres macroscopiques. Cependant, l'élaboration et la vérification empirique de ces théories se sont bien souvent fondées sur une gamme limitée de groupes d'organismes, incluant principalement les mammifères. Dans cette thèse, sur la base de l'étude comparative de plusieurs dizaines de transcriptomes, nous avons étendu à l'échelle des amniotes la compréhension des déterminants des patrons moléculaires observés. Grâce à l'analyse simultanée des principaux clades de reptiles, oiseaux et mammifères, nous avons pu confirmer et généraliser le rôle majeur de la taille efficace des populations sur la capacité des espèces à purger les changements d'amino-acide désavantageux, tout en exhibant un comportement inattendu du ratio dN/dS chez les oiseaux – soulevant au passage une énigme stimulante. La conversion génique biaisée est apparue comme le principal moteur de l'évolution du taux de GC des séquences codantes chez les vertébrés, y compris chez les reptiles et les poissons, dont la composition génomique homogène en avait masqué l'action. En parallèle, l'exploitation des relations entre traits d'histoire de vie et paramètres moléculaires nous a permis de réaliser de nouvelles avancées concernant l'objectif de reconstruction des masses ancestrales, pour lequel nous nous sommes focalisés sur l'ordre des cétartiodactyles, qui se caractérise aujourd'hui par une majorité de grosses espèces (comme le chameau, la girafe ou les cétacés). L'analyse combinée du marqueur mitochondrial, encore jamais testé, et des marqueurs nucléaires, incluant une vingtaine de transcriptomes nouvellement séquencés, a témoigné en faveur du résultat singulier d'un ancêtre cétartiodactyle de petite taille, comme suggéré par la paléontologie, démontrant ainsi le potentiel prometteur des données de séquence à dévoiler le passé des organismes. / Understanding the reciprocal influence between genotype and phenotype has been a long-standing goal of modern biology. Many aspects of evolution at the molecular level are well known to respond to demographic or life history characteristics of species. In particular, the nearly-neutral theory postulates that small populations accumulate a heavier load of slightly deleterious substitutions in their genome as a result of increased genetic drift. Base composition has also been shown to reflect the influence of macroscopic parameters through the mechanism of GC-biased gene conversion. However, the development and empirical validation of these theories are mostly based on a restricted diversity of organisms, in which mammals stand as a major contributor. In this thesis, using a comparative approach and tens of transcriptomes, we aimed at extending to Amniota our understanding of the determinants of molecular evolutionary patterns. With the incorporation of all clades of reptiles, we confirmed the major role of the effective population size on species ability to purge deleterious amino-acid changes, while revealing a paradoxical response of the dN/dS ratio in birds, raising a stimulating enigma. The biased gene conversion also emerged as the main driver of coding sequence GC content in vertebrates, including reptiles and fishes, whose genomic homogeneity had kept its signal hidden for long. In parallel, the relations between life-history traits and molecular parameters have enabled us to investigate and make progress in the field of ancestral body mass reconstruction. We focused on the Cetartiodactyla order, a group which is mainly characterized by large extant species (such as camel, giraffe or whales). The combined analysis of the yet untested mitochondrial marker and nuclear genes, including 21 newly sequenced transcriptomes, testified in favor of the singular result of a small cetartiodactyl ancestor, in agreement with the palaeontological record, demonstrating the strong potential of DNA sequences to reveal the past of organisms.

The present article seeks to approach to the constitutional content of the right of indigenous peoples to their territories, especially the one developed by the Inter American Court of Human Rights, in view of the substantial pronouncements of this important court, its guarantor rights character, and it’s binding to the operators of the justice system of our country character. / El presente artículo intenta aproximarse al contenido constitucional del derecho de los pueblos indígenas sobre sus territorios, de manera especial al desarrollado por la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos, en atención a los sustanciosos pronunciamientos de este importante tribunal, a su carácter garante de derechos, y de su carácter vinculante para los operadores del sistema de justicia de nuestro país.

La culture de la naissance peut être assimilée à un rituel de passage à la base de la construction identitairepour la mère et pour l’enfant. Cette transition est conçue de manière différente selon les contextesculturels.À partir d’un travail ethnographique au Portugal et dans l’Amazonie équatorienne, nous avons mis enévidence l’existence de trois systèmes de santé : le biomédical ou système officiel (qui se constituecomme tel à partir du XIX s.), le système traditionnel ou ancestral et le système alternatif (dans ce cas,incarné par les doulas).Autour de ces trois systèmes de santé se tisse une culture de la naissance porteuse, dans chaque cas, d’undiscours légitimant des pratiques présentées comme « adéquates » et les représentations associées.Malgré des différences importantes entre les procédures des protocoles médicaux – propres au systèmeofficiel de santé, au système traditionnel de santé et au système alternatif - pour la prise en charge del’accouchement, de l’alimentation pré-lactée (don du colostrum) et du postpartum, nous avons identifiédes points communs entre eux. Les frontières entre ces différents systèmes de santé, entre la tradition etla modernité, peuvent s’effacer ou demeurer floues.Les pratiques diverses sont associées à des représentations relatives à la mort, les corps, la douleur, lesparadigmes de santé et de maladie, la religion, la propreté et l’hygiène, les liens sociaux, entre autres. / The culture of birth is a ritual of passage which is the basis of the construction of identity for the motherand for the child. This transition is conceived in different ways in distinct cultural contexts.Based on an ethnographic work in Portugal and the Amazonia of Ecuador, we have identified threeexisting health systems: biomedicine or the official system (which was constituted as “official” from the19th century onwards), the traditional system or ancestral system, and the alternative system (in this case,embodied by doulas).In the framework of these three health systems, a culture of birth is woven into a discourse legitimizingtheir practices, which are presented as "adequate", and their representations.Although there are important differences between the procedures of the medical protocols - specific tothe formal health system, to the traditional health system, and to the alternative system - for the deliveryof childbirth, for pre-lactated feeding (colostrum feed), and for postpartum, we also found bridgesbetween them.Sometimes the boundaries between these different health systems, between tradition and modernity, areeither disappeared or blurred.Various practices are associated with representations relating to death, bodies, pain, health and diseaseparadigms, religion, cleanliness and hygiene, social ties, among others.

Land is a critical element in the formation of, maintenance and continuance of Native identity to tribes in North America. Since time immemorial, Native people have occupied these landscapes in a manner than can perhaps be best described as "persistent." Native views of the land can differ significantly from those of a Western, or Anglo-American tradition. And when managers of these lands come from a Western tradition, dissimilar views on how these lands should be used can become very problematic for Native people. This research examines how five tribes (Pueblo of Acoma, the Hopi Tribe, Pueblo of Laguna, Navajo Nation and Pueblo of Zuni) view their identity and future cultural continuity as their ancestral homelands are inundated by competing uranium mining interests that threaten to destroy the Mount Taylor landscape of northern New Mexico.

Thèse diffusée initialement dans le cadre d'un projet pilote des Presses de l'Université de Montréal/Centre d'édition numérique UdeM (1997-2008) avec l'autorisation de l'auteur.

Apesar da intensa mistura étnica na formação da população Brasileira, pequenos grupos isolados ainda podem ser encontrados, principalmente representados pelas tribos indígenas e comunidades remanescentes de quilombo. As comunidades de Barra (BA), São Gonçalo (BA) e Valongo (SC) apresentam diferentes histórias demográficas de formação. Os AIMs (Marcadores Informativos de Ancestralidade) são capazes de revelar essas diferenças pois apresentam grandes diferenciais de freqüência () entre os principais grupos populacionais parentais (africanos, ameríndios, europeus) e, por esta razão, constituem polimorfismos com maior poder discriminante em estimativas de mistura étnica. No presente trabalho, foram testados oito AIMs na análise de três remanescentes de quilombo, comparados a duas amostras de população urbana brasileira. Um destes marcadores, o alelo CYP1A1*2C, foi testado em sete aldeias de quatro tribos da Amazônia Central Brasileira, completando a análise dos outros sete marcadores previamente realizados nestas populações ameríndias. Os objetivos, além da descrição formal de tais populações, incluíam comparar eventuais diferenças entre as comunidades quilombolas e verificar a eficiência relativa destes marcadores em estudos deste tipo. A comparação das freqüências do alelo CYP1A1*2C entre os ameríndios e populações mundiais confirma este alelo como um excelente AIM para diferenciar ameríndios de europeus e africanos, informação importante em estimativas de mistura em populações trihíbridas Brasileiras. As freqüências de oito AIMs (FY-Null, RB, LPL, AT3, Sb19.3, APO, PV92 e CYP1A1*2C) foram então estimadas nas comunidades remanescentes de quilombo de Barra (n=47), São Gonçalo (n=51) e Valongo (n=25) e nas populações urbanas de Jequié (n=47) e Hemosc (Hemocentro de Santa Catarina, n=25) a partir dos fenótipos determinados por PCR e PCRRFLP. As análises estatísticas empregaram programas já descritos (GENEPOP, DISPAN, GDA, STRUCTURE, MVSP e ADMIX 2 e 3). As freqüências alélicas e genotípicas diferenciam todas as comunidades remanescentes e urbanas, fato corroborado pelos valores de FST (p<0,01) par a par entre elas. Outros valores de FST mostram similaridades da comunidade de Barra com africanos e da amostra Hemosc com Europeus, o que é confirmado pelas estimativas do componente africano em Barra (95%) e europeu no Hemosc (83%), como também pelas análises de componente principal. Nestas últimas, o locus FY foi a variável de maior peso (loading) sobre o primeiro componente principal e o PV92 o locus de maior peso sobre o segundo componente principal. Este método demonstrou-se particularmente adequado, pois, em ambas as análises, os dois componentes principais explicaram mais do que 95% da variância total. As estimativas dos componentes africano, europeu e ameríndio em São Gonçalo (68%, 22% e 10%) e JQ (52%, 31% e 17%) mostram que os AIMs geram estimativas de contribuição africana maiores do que as obtidas por STRs autossômicos, YSTRs e marcadores clássicos nas mesmas populações. A estimativa do componente africano em Valongo (68%) foi menor que a obtida a partir dos marcadores clássicos. Isto poderia ser considerado como evidência da maior eficiência destes marcadores na quantificação do componente africano, uma vez que o aumento das estimativas não foi generalizado e, portanto, provavelmente não viciado. Conclui-se que os AIMs seriam mais eficientes para o cálculo da proporção relativa dos diferentes componentes formadores destas populações, pois conduziriam a estimativas mais realistas. / In spite of the high degree of inter-ethnic admixture that characterizes the formation of the Brazilian population, small isolated groups, mainly represented by indigenous Amerindian tribes and communities known as quilombo remnants, can still be found. Barra (BA), São Gonçalo (BA) and Valongo (SC) are communities that presented different demographic histories during their formations. The AIMs (Ancestry Informative Markers) are capable of disclosing such differences due to the fact that they present large frequency differentials () between the major ethnic groups that gave origin to the Brazilian population. This provides more reliable information for interethnic admixture estimates. Given that, the present study aimed at establishing the differences regarding inter-ethnic admixture between these three quilombo remnants, which present different demographic histories. The CYP1A1*2C allele frequencies were established in four indigenous tribes from the Brazilian Amazon, which are characterized by low admixture degrees with non-Amerindian people (2-3%), and were compared with frequencies obtained in worldwide populations. This comparison evidenced that such allele is extremely useful for setting Amerindians apart from Europeans and Africans, which is an outstanding feature for estimation of admixture proportions in Brazilian tri-hybrid populations. Allele frequencies of eight AIMs (FY-Null, RB, LPL, AT3, Sb19.3, APO, PV92 and CYP1A1*2C) were obtained in three quilombo remnant communities, Barra (n=47), São Gonçalo (n=51) and Valongo (n=25), and in urban population samples from Jequié (n=47) and Hemosc (n=25), by means of PCR and PCR-RFLP. Statistical analysis were carried out employing the GENEPOP, DISPAN, GDA, STRUCTURE, MVSP and ADMIX 2 and 3 softwares. Allele and genotype frequencies are able to differentiate all quilombo remnant and urban samples, an aspect corroborated by the pair-wise FST (p<0.01) values. Other FST estimates reveal similarities between Barra and Africans and between Hemosc and Europeans, which are supported by the respective African and European admixture estimates in Barra (95%) and Hemosc (83%) and by the Principal Component Analysis. In the latter analysis, the FY locus consisted in the variable with greatest influence (loading) over the first component. On the other hand, the variable PV92 exhibited the highest influence over the second component analysis. This method has proven to be very reliable, given that, in both analyses, the first two principal components explained more than 95% of the total variance. African, European and Amerindian inter-ethnic admixture estimates in São Gonçalo (68%, 22% and 10%) and JQ (52%, 31% and 17%) emphasize the fact that the AIMs provides higher African contribution estimates than the ones obtained by means of autosomal and Y-linked STRs and classical markers in the same populations. African contribution estimated in Valongo (68%) was lower than the one obtained by means of classical markers. Taken together, these estimates may be an evidence of higher effectiveness of this set of markers in quantifying the African component, as long as the increase in African contribution was not generalized and, hence, probably unbiased. In conclusion, the AIMs are more effective in estimating the admixture proportions of the different ethnic components that gave origin to these populations, given that they resulted in more reliable estimates.

Thesis advisor: Gabor T. Marth / Thesis advisor: Eric F. Tsung / My work is part of an effort in Dr. Gabor Marth's population genetics lab to extend the work of Marth's 2004 Genetics paper "The allele frequency spectrum in genome-wide human variation data reveals signals of differential demographic history in three large world populations" by applying its methods to new datasets. My contribution toward this end has been to create computer code (in Perl and Bash) to quantify ascertainment bias and determine proxy ancestral alleles in human genome-wide polymorphic data for post-doctoral fellow Dr. Eric Tsung's use in the determination of human demographic history. The final results of my efforts will be part of a poster by Dr. Tsung (with myself as a second author) displayed at the 2007 Biology of Genomes Symposium at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in Cold Spring Harbor, New York. Our goal is to turn that poster into a paper (on which I will be an author) for submission for publication in a major scientific research periodical and which will also be available in the future at http://bioinformatics.bc.edu/marthlab/ascertainmentancestral/. / Thesis (BS) — Boston College, 2007. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Biology. / Discipline: College Honors Program.

A dissertação procura compreender os acontecimentos musicais derivados do contato da denominada Música Experimental com realidades musicais Nativo Ancestrais Indígenas do continente sul-americano. Para isso, realiza uma contextualização histórica da evolução do experimentalismo musical desde 1950, seguindo um percurso linear até a atualidade, onde se destacam trabalhos e pesquisas de compositores ativos, que têm abordado especificamente as relações entre música, cosmovisão indígena e o xamanismo dentro do processo de experimentação sonoro/musical. Nesse contexto, se evidencia a criação de relações transculturais, produzidas entre duas realidades heterogêneas que, na contemporaneidade, se complementam. Para finalizar a presente pesquisa apresenta o trabalho prático, decorrente da criação de partituras gráficas e instruções verbais, desenvolvidas com o grupo de pesquisa em improvisação e experimentação musical Orquestra Errante (ECA-USP), onde foram utilizados elementos conceituais e sonoro/musicais nativo-indígenas e eco-escuta em práticas regulares de improvisação livre, evidenciando as dificuldades e possíveis estratégias para a conjunção entre o nativo-natural e o experimental. / The thesis seeks to understand musical events derivate from the contact of the so called Experimental Music with musical realities of Indigenous Native-Ancestry of the South American continent. To do so, it performs a historical context of the evolution of musical experimentation since 1950, following a linear path to the present, which features work and research of active composers who have specifically addressed the relationship between music, indigenous worldview and shamanism within the process of sound/musical experimentation. In this context, it highlights the creation of cross-cultural relations, produced between two heterogeneous realities that, in contemporary times, complement each other. Finally this research presents the practical work, arising from the creation of graphic scores and verbal instructions, developed with the research group in improvisation and musical experimentation Orchestra Errante (ECA-USP), where are used conceptual and sound/musical elements forma indigenous native-ancestry of South America and eco-listening in regular practices of free improvisation, highlighting the difficulties and possible strategies for the conjunction between two antagonistic elements, native-experimental.

Este trabalho apresenta a Capoeira Angola proposta pela escola pastiniana como uma práxis pedagógica articulada a ancestralidade e que toma a ancestralidade, a oralidade e a comunidade como paradigmas de pertencimento à dinâmica das tradições africanas no Brasil, dialogando permanentemente com o entendimento sobre a resistência negra e sua permanência nos fazeres educacionais destas matrizes, e apresentando-se sob a forma de comunidades culturais. Este trabalho lida com uma realidade, marcada não apenas pelo ressurgimento, mas pelo crescimento do estilo Capoeira Angola, tida como a capoeira tradicional, africana, através de novas gerações de mestres e contramestres originários da linhagem pastiniana (Mestre Pastinha, 1889-1981), e orientados por ela, buscando apresentar os resultados das suas práticas como um rico material para se repensar o lugar das tradições quando em constante entrosamento com os saberes produzidos nos sistemas oficiais de ensino. Desta forma, busca encaminhar ao campo da Educação a proposta de ampliar as bases de entendimento destas tradições fazendo-as migrar do lugar ingênuo e fossilizado da sua folclorização, e também do seu entendimento meramente desportivo, para dialogar com professores, educadores e movimentos sociais, outros entendimentos - filosóficos, espirituais, políticos, etc. - sobre os saberes tradicionais africanos na formação do conhecimento e demais códigos civilizatórios brasileiros. Aqui, apontamos o lugar da identidade na compreensão sobre a importância da alteridade a partir de um exemplo que transcende barreiras culturais e geográficas, sócio-econômicas, religiosas, etárias e, mais recentemente, de gênero, como um enfoque pertinente à contemplação do corpo como espaço sagrado onde é possível elaborar estruturas de autoconhecimento e de construção reflexiva da sociedade mais ampla. Para isto, este trabalho recorreu à análise de materiais produzidos em algumas organizações de Capoeira Angola pertencentes a uma mesma linhagem, embora em localidades distintas, concluindo a existência de um conhecimento cujas bases de continuidade estão assentadas na pertença à escola pastiniana como aspecto de resistência cultural frente aos processos de massificação verificados sobre a capoeira hegemônica, conhecida como Capoeira Regional. / This work presents the Capoeira Angola proposed by the escola pastiniana as a pedagogical praxis. It includes the ancestral-root aspects and also the oral communication and community as a paradigm pertaining to the dynamics of the African traditions in Brazil. This work constantly expresses the understanding of the black resistance and its participation in the educational tasks of theses matrixes, and it is presented as cultural communities. It represents a new reality, which is not only marked by the revival, but also by the growth of the previously mentioned style of Capoeira, which is considered the traditional African one. This new reality is represented by new generations of mestres and contramestres from the linhagem pastiniana (Master Pastinha, 1889-1981), and guided by it, and it also tries to present the results of its practices as a rich material to rethink the importance of these traditions and their integration with the knowledge acquired at the official school systems. In so doing, the work tries to present to educational systems the proposal of enlarging the bases of understanding of these traditions by moving them from the naive and fossilized point of view of folklore, and also from their merely developmental and sports-approach understanding to a dialogue with the teachers, educators and social movements, about a new understanding (a philosophical, a spiritual, a political one, etc.) of the traditional African knowledge in education and in the Brazilian civil codes. Here, we show how identity plays a role in understanding the importance of alterity from a point of view that transcends cultural and geographical, socioeconomic, religious, age and, more recently, gender barriers. We focus on the socialization concerning the contemplation of the body as sacred space where it is possible to acquire self-knowledge and to ponder about the construction of a more advanced society. The study refers to cultural productions of some Capoeira Angola organizations, in diverse localities, that have the same ancestralroot. It conclusion takes the existence of a knowledge which bases of continuity are put on the pertaining to escola pastiniana as cultural resistance to massive processes that occurs in hegemonic capoeira or Capoeira Regional.

This thesis presents the results of a multi-disciplinary investigation of a variant Ancestral Pueblo mortuary rite at Wallace Ruin, southwest Colorado (USA). This multi-storey building is one of four Lakeview Group great houses connected to the Pueblo II regional system centred at Pueblo Bonito of Chaco Canyon some 100 km to the south. From c. AD 1060-1150, Wallace Ruin functioned as a ritual-economic centre with a small residential component. Then, habitation of this great house, the Lakeview Group and all domiciles within 10 kilometres ceased. However, three or more decades later at least six rooms were used as a non-residential, Pueblo III mortuary facility for a minimum of 32 individuals. This utilisation was in marked contrast to the enduring Ancestral Pueblo practice of residential burial, usually in the extramural midden. The interrogation of several hypotheses regarding this anomaly entails a bioarchaeological approach that integrates skeletal evidence with spatial analyses regarding diachronic mortuary location choices at Wallace Ruin. Taphonomic methods that segregate bone displacements during corpse decomposition in a filled versus a void space provide accurate determinations of the depositional versus discovered mortuary microenvironments. The diachronic analysis of data from roughly 200 San Juan Region sites reveals additional ways in which Wallace’s Pueblo III mortuary program departs from longstanding communities of practice, whether great house or domicile. Chief among these are the use of a surface room floor and the postural arrangement of supine bodies with knees upright. These results, in combination with material culture evidence, form the basis of this thesis: The Pueblo III mortuary program at Wallace Ruin is a variant rite that entails a Mesa Verde Region reformulation of a Pueblo Bonito house society. The sanctioned retrieval of objects of memory offers a plausible explanation for intentional intrusions into two mortuary contexts. Beyond addressing questions concerning Wallace Ruin, a major contribution of this study includes advancement of the house society model as an interpretive scheme for evaluating Mesa Verde Region socio-ritual dynamics. This research also demonstrates the effectiveness of anthropologie de terrain (Duday, 2006) to retrospectively determine the original status of Ancestral Pueblo mortuary microenvironments. The refinement developed for this study, in which Range of Motion criteria are used to detect large-scale movements of lower limbs during corpse decomposition, is suitable for bioarchaeological analyses the world over.