Of the numerous public policy debates currently taking place throughout the United States, perhaps no issue receives more attention than the persistence of “chronically” low-performing public schools. As of 2009, approximately 5,000 schools—5% of the nation’s total—qualified as chronically low performing (Duncan, 2009d). Certainly, these statistics merit the attention of policy scholars, yet the political contestation of interests attempting to influence how the federal government should address such issues has reached a new fevered crescendo. Given the increased politicization of the federal government’s role in education and the growing number of interests attempting to influence the debates concerning school reform, education policy scholars have recognized the need to extend the field of policy studies by using analytical frameworks that consider both the discourse and performative dimensions of deliberative policy making. Therefore, this study addresses this particular need by employing a critical interpretive policy analysis that illustrates how both dominant discourses and the deliberative performances of the federal government shaped the policy vocabularies embedded within the Title I School Improvement Grant program of 2009 as the commonsense solutions for the nation’s chronically low-performing schools. In addition, this study provides a historical analysis, illustrating how the omnipresent threat of an economic crisis has been a primary influence in the politics of federal governance since the global economic collapse of the 1970s. This study demonstrates how over the course of the last four decades the United States has consistently reduced its commitment to the public sector, choosing instead to promote economic policies informed by the ideals of market-based liberalism. Subsequently, this study presents the argument that education, specifically the “chronic failure” of public schools, has emerged as a “primary emblematic issue” (Hajer, 1995) and now serves as an “effective metaphor for the nation’s economic crisis.” Thus, with such issues presented as a contextual backdrop, this study examines how the Obama/Duncan Administration operationalized dominant discourses and performative practices to establish consensual support for a turnaround reform agenda, effectively defining the policy solutions made available to those who participated in the revision of the Title I SIG program of 2009. / text

In British Columbia, fifty-one First Nations have filed Statements of Intent signifying their interest in negotiating a treaty with Canada and the Province of British Columbia since the establishment of the British Columbia Treaty Commission in 1993. Twenty-seven of these First Nations participants claim ocean spaces within their traditional territories. Academic research and writing over the last decade has focussed on Aboriginal title to land, with little, if any reference, to ocean spaces. The concept of Aboriginal title was recently recognized by the courts in Delgamuukw v. British Columbia. My research will explore what information and legal principles could be utilized to recognize Aboriginal title to ocean spaces within the Canadian legal context, and therefore provide some bases for First Nations in substantiating their claims. My analysis will begin with a review of international law principles surrounding title to and jurisdiction over ocean spaces. Following which, I will delineate the sources available for recognizing such a theory, starting with a review of the concepts of Aboriginal title as determined in Delgamuukw and their applicability to ocean spaces. Delgamuukw has affirmed Aboriginal perspectives are an integral part of the investigation of Aboriginal title, and voices of members of two particular First Nations being the Haida Nation and the Tsawwassen First Nation, with whom I visited, will be included. Rounding out the sources will be a review of comparative legal concepts drawn from the United States and Australian experiences, and the principles espoused within international human rights materials. Having established the avenues for recognition of this concept, I then turn to discussion of its reconciliation within the Canadian legal context by reviewing theories of co-management and examining a number of settlement instruments that have yielded some degree of reconciliation between the federal government and the particular First Nation or Province involved. Comments from First Nations in respect of the obstacles that hold back reconciliation will be noted. In conclusion, my research will deduce Aboriginal title to ocean spaces is a viable legal concept in Canada, and First Nations have the resources necessary to substantiate their claims. Comments about the possibilities that may result at the treaty table or in the courts upon recognition of this concept will also be discussed. This analysis is timely and important as many First Nations are nearing the stage of the treaty process where discussions will be directed towards what territories these First Nations groups will retain and what ownership, jurisdiction and rights they will enjoy as to ocean spaces and resources. Such issues directly relate to the continued way of life, culture, and sustainable economic growth and stability of First Nation communities into the twenty-first century.

Is it possible to redefine Aboriginal title? This study intends to answer this question through the construction of an integral doctrine of aboriginal title based on a detailed analysis of its criticisms. The author uses international law to show a possible way to redefine this part of Canadian law. After a careful review of the most important aspects of aboriginal land in international law, the author chooses the law of the InterAmerican Court of Human Rights as its framework. Using the decisions of this Court he produces an internationalized redefinition of Aboriginal title.

The dissertation involves a threefold investigation of sculpture. Firstly, the interpretations are focused on particular artworks by three British sculptors: Antony Gormley (b. 1950), Anish Kapoor (b. 1954), and Rachel Whiteread (b. 1963), respectively. The notion of applied minimalism is tentatively applied to their sculptures. A primary argument is that these works are idiomatically, thematically, and theoretically founded on the heritage of American Minimalism from the 1960s. The sculptures by these three artists are seen as readings and transformations in themselves of the Minimalist sculptural idiom. Secondly, the dissertation aims at an investigation of the notion of sculpture, which is explored as a discursive term, i.e. as a working notion. Therefore, each specific sculpture in the study is analysed in terms of the means it is manifested as such. Thirdly, interpretation per se is recognised as a performative act inscribed and restricted by specific contextual features. The constituent aspects are acknowledged and employed in terms of the white cube gallery locality, minimalist theory, sign theory, sculpture as staged, and the crucial recognition of a/the corporeal viewer's own presence and movements within the gallery space. Especially pertinent to the interpretations are Michael Fried's notion of theatricality, notions of performativity, and meaning as site-specific, respectively. The dissertation argues that the notion of sculpture, specifically in the wake of Minimal sculpture and the artworks inscribed by that category in art critical discourse, relies on the imperative of a corporeal acknowledged viewer/interpreter and that significant relations as regards the notion of sculpture are therefore external to a high degree.

Τα Πνευματικά του Ήρωνα (1ος αιώνας μ.Χ.), προϊόν μακράς παράδοσης. Στην εισαγωγή του έργου εκτίθεται το θεωρητικό υπόβαθρο που υποστηρίζει τη λειτουργία των διατάξεων που παρουσιάζονται στη συνέχεια, αλλά και υποστηρίζεται πειραματικά από ορισμένες. Η δομή του έργου ακολουθεί τη δομή του ολοκληρωμένου μαθηματικού λόγου της κλασικής αρχαιότητας, προσαρμοσμένο κατάλληλα. Θέματα που αναδεικνύουμε είναι: Η ολοκλήρωση της αρχής των συγκοινωνούντων δοχείων με την αυστηρή απόδειξη του αντίστροφου της πρότασης του Αρχιμήδη για τη σφαιρικότητα της επιφάνειας του ηρεμούντος υγρού. Η πειραματική απόδειξη της υλικότητας του αέρα. Διαδικασία που εναρμονίζει το πείραμα με προϋπάρχουσα θεωρία. Η πειραματική απόδειξη της ελαστικότητας του αέρα, ο οποίος μέχρι και τον Αριστοτέλη θεωρείται ασυμπίεστος, καθώς και της ύπαρξης κενού σε μακροσκοπική κλίμακα. Θέση που υποστηρίζεται πειραματικά από τρείς διαφορετικές διατάξεις. Η εξέλιξη της θεωρίας της αναθυμίασης (δημιουργία των ανέμων), προσθέτοντας στη φωτιά την ιδιότητα (δυνατότητα) δημιουργίας κενού. Η πειραματική (με τη διάταξη Ι.23) επαλήθευση της θέσης (που ανάγεται στον 5ο π.Χ. αιώνα) ότι τα ρευστά εναλλάσσονται στον ίδιο χώρο κατά ίσους όγκους. Μέσα από τα θέματα αυτά και την ανάδειξη των διατάξεων που τα υποστηρίζουν, επισημαίνουμε την ενσυνείδητη αποκατάσταση ενότητας θεωρίας και πράξης, ενώ φέρνουμε στο φως μια όχι ιδιαίτερα προσεγμένη κατηγορία διατάξεων αυτή των πειραματικών. / Heron’s (1st century A.D.) Pneumatics is the product of a long tradition. In the introduction to the work the theoretical background which explains the functioning of the devices which are analysed later in the work is presented. At the same time it is endorsed experimentally by some of them. The structure of the work follows that of the integrated mathematical language of classical antiquity, but appropriately adapted to the task at hand. The subjects which are highlighted are the following: The completion of the proposition of communicating vessels with the rigorous proof of the inverse of Archimedes’ proposition for the sphericity of the surface of liquids in rest; the experimental demonstration of the corporeity of air, a procedure that harmonises the experiment with a pre-existing theory; the experimental demonstration of the elasticity of air, which, until Aristotle, had been considered to be incompressible, as well as the existence of the macroscopic vacuum, a position which is supported by three different experimental devices; the evolution of exhalation theory (wind creation) adding to fire the property of being able to create a vacuum; the experimental verification (by means of device I.23) of the position (dating from the 5th century BC) that liquids alternate in the same space in equal volumes. Through these issues and the examination of the devices that support them, we draw attention to the conscious unification of theory and practice, while we also bring to light a rather neglected area, that of experimental devices.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Our research has as objective to propose that book titles which carry linguistic knowledges are mobilized as devices of reflection concerning the archive reading. The proposal is developed according to the perspectives theoretical-methodological of History of Linguistic Ideas (HIL) in relation with Discourse Analysis (AD), as developed by Eni Orlandi, in Brazil. In order to do this, we consider Brazilian history of Linguistics focusing on works of Joaquim Mattoso Câmara Jr. as well as on facts and events that constitute the trajectory of this subject of knowledge. Considering the set of publications of this linguist, we noticed that two manuals and one Dictionary - Elementos de Portuguez (1935) and Princípios de Lingüística Geral: Como fundamento para os Estudos Superiores da Língua Portuguesa (1941), and Dicionário de Fatos Gramaticais (1956) - had been re-titled when reedited. Regarding this, we took as object of study the movement of designations - silenced or imposed - in the re-titled. Thus, the analysis of the mentioned titles, based on HIL/AD, leads us to consider the title as a place that has a singular functioning in works of an author because it is not a closed text. The title is open to the exteriority, to the production conditions, to the academic and life history, to the facts and events that constitute a subject of knowledge. / O presente trabalho tem por objetivo propor que títulos de publicações, que veiculam saberes lingüísticos, sejam mobilizados como dispositivos de reflexão na leitura do arquivo. A proposta é desenvolvida de acordo com as perspectivas teórico-metodológicas da História das Idéias Lingüísticas (HIL) em relação com a Análise de Discurso (AD), como concebidas por Eni Orlandi, no Brasil. Para tanto, voltamo-nos para a história da Lingüística Brasileira, com foco na obra de Joaquim Mattoso Câmara Jr., bem como em fatos e em acontecimentos constituintes do percurso desse sujeito do conhecimento. Considerando o conjunto das publicações desse lingüista, observarmos que dois manuais e um dicionário Elementos de Portuguez (1935) e Princípios de Lingüística Geral: como fundamento para os estudos superiores da língua portuguesa (1941) e o Dicionário de Fatos Gramaticais (1956) - haviam sido reintitulados quando reeditados. Em face disso, tomamos como objeto de análise o movimento de designações silenciadas ou (im)postas nas (re)intitulações. Desse modo, por meio da análise dos títulos/reintitulações das referidas publicações, sob o aporte da HIL/AD, pontuamos que o título é um lugar que tem um funcionamento singular na obra de um autor, pois não se fecha enquanto texto. O título é aberto à exterioridade, às condições de produção, à história de vida, à história acadêmica, aos fatos e acontecimentos que constituem um sujeito do conhecimento.

Esta dissertação tem o objetivo de analisar os determinantes socioeconômicos e culturais que levam alunos à procura de um programa de governo para inserção em instituição privada de ensino superior. No caso deste estudo, o foco recaiu sobre os alunos bolsistas do Prouni da Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro PUC-Rio. A pesquisa consiste em uma discussão sobre a natureza da procura por uma titulação de nível superior, fundamentada nas bases histórico-sociais que atravessam nossa sociedade, haja vista o universo do programa ser focado no espaço geográfico brasileiro, no qual os sujeitos são os alunos que estão cursando ou já cursaram o ensino médio ou médio técnico em instituição pública de ensino. Para análise dos dados, utilizamos o método do materialismo histórico dialético, e como ferramenta a análise crítica de discurso - ACD. Utilizamos entrevista semi-estruturada, tanto para os gestores quanto para os alunos, e um pequeno diário de campo. Tratamos da formação das políticas públicas para a educação no contexto macrossocial de modo a buscar compreender o fetiche sobre o que seja uma titulação em nível superior. Trazemos uma análise da fala dos alunos tendo como pano de fundo o discurso de profissionais da instituição, na procura de uma aproximação com as realidades vividas, a fim de saber quais são as reais expectativas de futuro percebida por estes alunos, e assim poder captar se a titulação visa, para além de atender a ordem capitalista, satisfazer necessidades que se expõe a partir da subjetividade dos indivíduos sociais. Concluímos que a titulação tem no imaginário social duas determinações: Por um lado acredita-se que o título vai propiciar ao aluno atender as necessidades concretas do mercado, proporcionando sua entrada no mundo do trabalho, por outro, o mundo social dá ao título de bacharel um peso simbólico que colocar o sujeito num patamar diferenciado dentro da sociedade. Todavia, todo este processo passa por uma dimensão de tomada de consciência do lugar social que coloca os alunos num confronto direto entre sua realidade objetiva e a realidade social concreta dos alunos pagantes da PUC-Rio, o que cria em alguns alunos momentos de adoecimento. Concluímos que o programa Prouni pode ser um caminho para a conscientização do lugar social das diferentes frações de classe, mas precisa de aperfeiçoamentos, pois nestes processos, onde o enfretamento da realidade é direto e envolve pessoas, a questão do cuidado deve se fazer presente. / The dissertation aims to analyze the socioeconomic and cultural factors that lead students to look for a government program through which they can get into a private institution of higher education. The case study was the students Prouni scholarships at Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro - PUC Rio. The research consists of a discussion about the reason for the search of an high level academic title, based on historical and social bases of our society, given that the universe of the program is focused on the Brazilian geographic space in which subjects are students who are or have attended high school or secondary technical institution in public schools. For data analysis we use the method of historical dialectical materialism, and as a tool to critical analysis of speech-CDA use of semi-structured interviews, both for managers and for students and a small field notebook. We analyze the formation of public policy for education in the macro social context in order to understand the social imagination about what means to have a high level academic title. We bring an analysis of students' speech against the backdrop background of professional discourse of the institution in seeking a rapprochement with the realities, the order to know what the real expectations of future, perceived by these students, and thus be able to capture titration aims, in addition to meet the order capitalist, meeting needs that are exposed to from the subjectivity of social individuals. We conclude that the title has two social imaginary determinations: On the one hand it is believed that the title will provide students meet the specific needs of market, providing its entry into the world of work, on the other, the social world gives the title Bachelor a symbolic weight that put the subject in one different level within society. However, all this process involves a dimension of decision social consciousness of the place that puts students in a direct confrontation between objective reality and concrete social reality of paying students of PUC- Rio, which creates a few moments of pupils illness. In the last chapter, we conclude that the Prouni program may be a way to raise awareness of the social position of the different fractions of class, but needs improvement, because in cases where the confrontation of reality is direct and involves people the issue of care is present in order to avoid unpleasant outcomes.

abstract: This project presents an institutional history of women’s intercollegiate athletics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. By looking to the individual campus, we learn about the ways in which administrators, coaches, faculty, and students understood the educational value of college sports. The UNC women’s program began in the 1950s as extramural play and quickly transformed into big-time college sports. By the early 1980s, the women experienced the same tension between academics and athletics at the heart of intercollegiate sports as the men. The National Collegiate Athletic Association, colleges, the media, and most Americans strongly associated the Big Time with the revenue-producing sports of football and men’s basketball. In Chapel Hill and across America, however, all sports teams, men’s and women’s, revenue and non-revenue, felt the effects of the increased professionalization and commercialization of the collegiate athletic enterprise. The history of women’s intercollegiate athletics provides a new window into exploring the benefits and challenges of big-time sports in higher education. Frances Burns Hogan, Director of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, and her colleagues worked hard to expand sporting opportunities for women. They helped create the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, which provided governance and began hosting national championships in 1971. They collaborated with university administrators and athletic officials to implement Title IX compliance during the 1970s. Hogan and many directors eagerly joined men’s athletic conferences to commence regular season play, and by the 1980s, supported the move to the NCAA. Providing the best competitive experiences for Carolina female student-athletes motivated Hogan’s decisions. Frances Hogan and women’s directors nationwide determined the nature of women’s intercollegiate athletics. Hogan and her colleagues debated whether women’s sports should be inclusive and participatory or competitive and elitist. They struggled over the tension between the drive to expand women’s sporting opportunities and the desire to maintain educational priorities. They grappled with men in the athletic department who resisted their efforts to gain publicity, access to better facilities, adequate operational support, and the legitimacy enjoyed by men’s teams. By 1985, Hogan’s tireless efforts created the premier women’s athletic program in the Southeast. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation History 2015

Esta dissertação tem o objetivo de analisar os determinantes socioeconômicos e culturais que levam alunos à procura de um programa de governo para inserção em instituição privada de ensino superior. No caso deste estudo, o foco recaiu sobre os alunos bolsistas do Prouni da Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro PUC-Rio. A pesquisa consiste em uma discussão sobre a natureza da procura por uma titulação de nível superior, fundamentada nas bases histórico-sociais que atravessam nossa sociedade, haja vista o universo do programa ser focado no espaço geográfico brasileiro, no qual os sujeitos são os alunos que estão cursando ou já cursaram o ensino médio ou médio técnico em instituição pública de ensino. Para análise dos dados, utilizamos o método do materialismo histórico dialético, e como ferramenta a análise crítica de discurso - ACD. Utilizamos entrevista semi-estruturada, tanto para os gestores quanto para os alunos, e um pequeno diário de campo. Tratamos da formação das políticas públicas para a educação no contexto macrossocial de modo a buscar compreender o fetiche sobre o que seja uma titulação em nível superior. Trazemos uma análise da fala dos alunos tendo como pano de fundo o discurso de profissionais da instituição, na procura de uma aproximação com as realidades vividas, a fim de saber quais são as reais expectativas de futuro percebida por estes alunos, e assim poder captar se a titulação visa, para além de atender a ordem capitalista, satisfazer necessidades que se expõe a partir da subjetividade dos indivíduos sociais. Concluímos que a titulação tem no imaginário social duas determinações: Por um lado acredita-se que o título vai propiciar ao aluno atender as necessidades concretas do mercado, proporcionando sua entrada no mundo do trabalho, por outro, o mundo social dá ao título de bacharel um peso simbólico que colocar o sujeito num patamar diferenciado dentro da sociedade. Todavia, todo este processo passa por uma dimensão de tomada de consciência do lugar social que coloca os alunos num confronto direto entre sua realidade objetiva e a realidade social concreta dos alunos pagantes da PUC-Rio, o que cria em alguns alunos momentos de adoecimento. Concluímos que o programa Prouni pode ser um caminho para a conscientização do lugar social das diferentes frações de classe, mas precisa de aperfeiçoamentos, pois nestes processos, onde o enfretamento da realidade é direto e envolve pessoas, a questão do cuidado deve se fazer presente. / The dissertation aims to analyze the socioeconomic and cultural factors that lead students to look for a government program through which they can get into a private institution of higher education. The case study was the students Prouni scholarships at Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro - PUC Rio. The research consists of a discussion about the reason for the search of an high level academic title, based on historical and social bases of our society, given that the universe of the program is focused on the Brazilian geographic space in which subjects are students who are or have attended high school or secondary technical institution in public schools. For data analysis we use the method of historical dialectical materialism, and as a tool to critical analysis of speech-CDA use of semi-structured interviews, both for managers and for students and a small field notebook. We analyze the formation of public policy for education in the macro social context in order to understand the social imagination about what means to have a high level academic title. We bring an analysis of students' speech against the backdrop background of professional discourse of the institution in seeking a rapprochement with the realities, the order to know what the real expectations of future, perceived by these students, and thus be able to capture titration aims, in addition to meet the order capitalist, meeting needs that are exposed to from the subjectivity of social individuals. We conclude that the title has two social imaginary determinations: On the one hand it is believed that the title will provide students meet the specific needs of market, providing its entry into the world of work, on the other, the social world gives the title Bachelor a symbolic weight that put the subject in one different level within society. However, all this process involves a dimension of decision social consciousness of the place that puts students in a direct confrontation between objective reality and concrete social reality of paying students of PUC- Rio, which creates a few moments of pupils illness. In the last chapter, we conclude that the Prouni program may be a way to raise awareness of the social position of the different fractions of class, but needs improvement, because in cases where the confrontation of reality is direct and involves people the issue of care is present in order to avoid unpleasant outcomes.

A bacia hidrográfica da Amazônia ocupa cerca de 40% do território brasileiro e possui mais de 60% de toda a disponibilidade hídrica do País. Os recursos hídricos desta região, abundantes e até hoje pouco explorados, constituem um patrimônio nacional para o qual a nação brasileira não pode voltar as costas. Além das mudanças nos usos e coberturas do solos, diversas hidroelétricas tem sua implantação planejadas em vários rios da região, entres os quais o rio Teles Pires, no Mato Grosso. Pouco se sabe sobre as características químicas, variações sazonais das mesmas e sobre a biogeoquímica de muitos dos rios que compõe a bacia Amazônica. Para sanar esta lacuna de nosso conhecimento, estabeleceu-se uma rede de monitoramento contínuo em diversos curso d\'água, onde as condições logísticas e de pessoal permitiram, dentro da chamada Rede Beija-Rio. Este é um grande esforço multi-institucional para entender o funcionamento da bacia Amazônica. Neste trabalho apresentamos alguns dos aspectos deste estudo particulares aos rios Teles Pires e Cristalino, no estado do Mato Grosso, nas cercanias do município de Alta Floresta. Observou-se que a variabilidade sazonal no regime de precipitação resulta em variações significativas das vazões em ambos os rios, mas com conseqüências na qualidade das águas nem sempre idênticas. Em termos da composição química, o aumento da vazão é acompanhado, no rio Teles Pires de um incremento na quantidade de sais dissolvido, ao passo que no rio Cristalino observa-se o contrário. Este fato, associado a uma predominância de cálcio e à presença de sulfato nas águas do último, indicam uma importância relativamente maior do intemperismo de rochas calcáreas, ao passo que no rio Teles Pires a lixiviação dos solos pela chuva acarreta um predomínio de sódio. Entretanto, no que tange às variações sazonais das concentrações de oxigênio dissolvido, carbono orgânico e inorgânico dissolvidos, sedimentos em suspensão e no pH, ambos os sistemas apresentam respostas idênticas ao aumento da descarga. Tal comportamento tem sido observado em outros rios que compõe a rede Beija-Rio, indicando que, apesar do controle da composição química das águas da bacia Amazônica ter distintas origens, parâmetros mais relacionados com a atividade biótica, como carbono orgânico e oxigênio dissolvido, apresentam padrão único, independentemente da origem química das águas. Pode-se deduzir, mesmo que este não seja enfoque deste trabalho, que a biota que depende destes sistemas (como peixes, por exemplo) esteja adaptada a estas condições específicas. Esta característica fundamental do funcionamento destes sistemas fluviais deve ser melhor compreendida e incorporada aos planos de uso e manejo destes recursos que, apesar de ainda abundantes, podem vir a ser rapidamente esgotados com a adoção de práticas inadequadas e/ou insustentáveis. / The Amazon basin occupies around 40% of the brazilian territory and contains more than 60% of the water resources of the country. Abundant and yet little exploited region water resources constitute a national treasure to which the nation can not turn its back. Besides changes in land use/cover, several hydroelectrical plants are planned for rivers in the region, among which the Teles Pires, in Mato Grosso. Little is known about the chemistry and its seasonal variations of many of the rivers in the basin. To supply more information in this regard, a sampling network was established in rivers where logistical and human resources conditions were available, within the so-called Beija-Rio network. This is a large multi-institutional effort to understand the functioning of the Amazon basin. In this study we present some aspects of this study particular to rivers Teles Pires and Cristalino, in the state of Mato Grosso, near the city of Alta Floresta. We observed that seasonal changes in precipitation result in significant variations in discharge for both rivers, but with consequences in water quality that no always identical. Regarding chemical composition discharge increases at the Teles Pires are followed by increases in solute amounts, whereas at the Cristalino the opposite occurs. This fact, associated with the predominance of calcium and with the presence of sulfate in the latter, indicate a relatively more important role of carbonate weathering, whereas at the Teles Pires flushing of soils by rain result in a predominance of sodium. However, in relation to seasonal variations in dissolved oxygen, dissolved organic and inorganic carbon concentrations, suspended sediments and pH, both rivers show identical responses to increased discharges. Such behavior has been observed in several other rivers of the Beija-Rio network, indicating that although the chemical composition of amazonian rivers might have distinct sources, parameters controlled by biotic processes, such as organic carbon and dissolved oxygen, show common patterns, independently of chemical nature of the waters. Although this is not the focus of this work, we can deduce that life forms that feed on this system (such as fish) are adapted to such environmental conditions. These fundamental characteristics of the functioning of these fluvial systems should be better understood and incorporated into use and management plans for these systems which, although still abundant, might become scarce rapidly as a result of inadequate or unsustainable practices.