Caribbean Basin (caribbean + basin)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Upgrading, uneven development, and jobs in the North American apparel industry

GLOBAL NETWORKS, Issue 2 2003
Jennifer Bair
In this article we examine the developmental consequences of globalization at multiple scales, using a commodity chains framework to investigate the case of the North American apparel industry. In the first section we outline the apparel commodity chain and offer a brief typology of its lead firms. In the second section we discuss the concept of industrial upgrading and describe several main export roles in the global apparel industry. In the third section we focus on the regional dynamics resulting from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). We contrast the Mexican experience with that of countries in the Caribbean Basin to show the impact of distinct trade policies on export-oriented development. We argue that NAFTA is creating upgrading opportunities for some Mexican firms to move from the low value-added export-oriented assembly (or maquila) model to full-package production. In the fourth section we explore the unevenness of upgrading dynamics through a comparison of two blue jeans manufacturing clusters in the United States and Mexico: El Paso and Torreon. Our conclusions about upgrading and uneven development in the North American apparel industry emphasize the importance of local, national and regional institutional contexts in shaping inter-firm networks and their development impact. [source]


Colonial Crisis and Spanish Diplomacy in the Caribbean During the Sexenio Revolucionario, 1868,1874

BULLETIN OF LATIN AMERICAN RESEARCH, Issue 3 2009
AGUSTÍN S. ANDRÉS
During the nineteenth century, the Caribbean was the stage for a complex geopolitical confrontation involving the United States, Spain, Great Britain, and France. The precarious balance of powers in that region was upset by the outbreak of the Cuban crisis in 1868 and by the dawn of the period of severe instability in Spain following the overthrow of Isabel II and the onset of the reformist period characterised by the Sexenio Revolucionario. The Cuban crisis strongly constrained the foreign policy of the new regime in Spain and turned the Caribbean Basin into a zone of vital interest for Spanish diplomacy. [source]


Isolation and characterization of microsatellite markers in Pterocarpus officinalis Jacq.

MOLECULAR ECOLOGY RESOURCES, Issue 2 2006
FÉLIX MULLER
Abstract The leguminous Pterocarpus officinalis Jacq. is one of the dominant freshwater wetland tree species in the Caribbean basin. Anthromorphic factors threaten to reduce its population. In order to investigate the genetic diversity and structure of this species, we developed eight pairs of primers for nuclear microsatellites. One hundred ninety-one individuals were analysed within nine Caribbean and continental populations. These loci were polymorphic in all the populations, with four to 20 alleles per locus. Significant Hardy,Weinberg deviation was detected and was interpreted as a result of Wahlund effect. These loci constitute a powerful tool to investigate the genetic patterns within populations of the swamp species P. officinalis. [source]


Microsatellite loci isolated from the Caribbean coral, Montastraea annularis

MOLECULAR ECOLOGY RESOURCES, Issue 1 2004
E. G. Severance
Abstract We report the isolation and characterization of seven microsatellite loci from the Caribbean reef-building coral, Montastraea annularis. All loci are polymorphic with allele numbers ranging from five to 31 and observed heterozygosities from 0.17 to 0.89. These loci can be used in assessing gene flow patterns and diversity of this stony coral species both for local coral reef management purposes as well as for elucidating population connectivity within the greater Caribbean basin. These markers should also be applicable to other species of Montastraea and for resolving taxonomic relationships within the M. annularis species complex. [source]


PCR assays for the sugarcane rust pathogens Puccinia kuehnii and P. melanocephala and detection of a SNP associated with geographical distribution in P. kuehnii

PLANT PATHOLOGY, Issue 4 2010
N. C. Glynn
Puccinia kuehnii and P. melanocephala cause orange and brown rust of sugarcane, respectively. Puccinia kuehnii has been confirmed in Asia, Australia and recently, the Caribbean basin, whereas P. melanocephala is distributed among the majority of sugarcane growing regions. Differentiating these two economically significant pathogens visually is problematic and limited to material exhibiting mature disease symptoms or spores. Partial ITS1, ITS2 and complete 5·8S sequences were generated from P. kuehnii and P. melanocephala isolates from around the world. PCR primers and dual labelled hydrolysis probes were designed for each pathogen for use in real-time PCR and optimized using locked nucleic acids (LNA). The primers amplified DNA from their target pathogens and not from other species of Puccinia or fungal species isolated from sugarcane leaves. Optimized real-time PCR conditions allowed the detection of 0·19 pg of P. kuehnii or P. melanocephala genomic DNA and differentiated the pathogens on sugarcane leaves prior to observing typical symptoms in the field. Primer-introduced restriction analysis-PCR (PIRA-PCR) was used to detect a single nucleotide polymorphism (Pk ITS1 183A>G) in ITS1 of P. kuehnii. Allele 183A was observed in all samples, whereas 183G was detected in 52% of samples from Asia and Australia yet absent from all Caribbean basin samples. Long distance spore dispersal, dispersal through an intermediate location or improper movement of contaminated material could explain the introduction of P. kuehnii to the Western hemisphere. However, the current proliferation of the pathogen in the Americas is limited to isolates which contain only the 183A allele. [source]