Life Sciences Commons^™

Ketoprak Dor: Awal Mula Keberadaannya Di Aceh Tengah, Susandro Susandro, Afrizal H

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

This article presents how the origin of the Ketoprak Dor art in Central Aceh. This topic is interesting because the change or development of an art scene does not only occur from within the artist's creative process alone, but perhaps by the surrounding factors that influence it. So, a qualitative research approach with descriptive analysis method is the choice to investigate this phenomenon. As a result, the Ketoprak Dor art in Central Aceh, to be precise in the gampong (village) of Paya Tumpi - Kebayakan, originates from Deli, North Sumatra. There were two events that prompted its emergence: 1) in …

Prioritizing Indigenous Participation And Compensation In Research, Amanda Sabin

Journal of Critical Global Issues

Throughout history, the dynamic between colonial entities and indigenous groups has been characterized by exploitation and power imbalance. Indigenous knowledge has the potential to positively impact the world, through medicinal breakthroughs, radical approaches to sustainability, cultural heritage, systems of learning and adaptation, and more. Particularly in the context of research, fields like anthropology, botany and pharmacology serve to benefit from indigenous knowledge, but these interactions cannot continue to be based on extraction at the cost of indigenous communities. This work will discuss the future of relationships between researchers and indigenous communities; how this power dynamic must be transformed into an …

Resolving Commingling, Restoring Identity: An Interdisciplinary Collaboration And Ethical Study Of Individuals From A Human Skeletal Teaching Collection, Morgann L. Lucas, Morgan J. Elmore, Christine Chen, Carolann Cockerill, Mekenzie Davis, Vivian N. Pham, Matthew Kolmann, Linda Fuselier, Kathryn E. Marklein

The Cardinal Edge

In Fall 2022, human skeletal remains were discovered in the Department of Biology’s Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy Laboratory. No documentation about the acquisition or curation history was found. With no current protocols for repatriating individuals in university skeletal teaching collections, an interdisciplinary research team analyzed the skeletal remains to resolve to commingle and identify the people. Using standardized methods in forensic anthropology, we estimated the minimum number of individuals represented through taphonomic, demographic, paleopathological, and morphological variables and variation. Results indicated, minimally, 36 to 56 individuals represented by 250 bones. Of these individuals, 12 were estimated as probable female, 16 as …

Self-Reported Water Competency Skills At A Historically Black College & University And The Potential Impact Of Additional Hbcu-Based Aquatic Programming, Knolan C. Rawlins Ph.D., Shaun M. Anderson Ed.D, Tiffany Monique Quash Ph.D.

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

This article provides an analysis of self-reported water competency skills at a Historically Black University (HBCU). A survey was administered to undergraduate students who lived on campus at one HBCU. Of the 254 respondents that reported the ability to swim, only 187 respondents self-reported the ability to swim and the ability to perform water competency skills. The biggest discrepancy occurred within individuals that identified as Black or African American. In this group, 142 out of 250 participants proclaimed the ability to swim. However, the number of Black or African Americans that could swim dropped to 84 when researchers operationally defined …

Comanagement In Maine: Integrating Fishermen’S Ecological Knowledge Into Government Oversight Of Fisheries, Anne Hayden

Maine Policy Review

Comanagement is the sharing of responsibility for management between fishermen and fisheries agencies. It shifts fishermen’s incentives to include longer term conservation goals, generates fine-scale information for management that would not otherwise be available, and develops fishing strategies that are consistent with conservation. Analysis of comanaged fisheries in Maine, for lobster, clams, river herring, and scallops, indicates that comanagement improves fisheries productivity and is more effective than standard, top-down, broad-scale fisheries management.

The Conquest Of Milk: The Rise Of Lactase Persistence And The Fall Of Scandinavian Hunter-Gatherers, Nicholas Mays

James Madison Undergraduate Research Journal (JMURJ)

Over half of the global human population suffers from lactase nonpersistence, a condition marked by losing the ability to digest lactose after infancy. However, a minority of the global population, primarily located in Central and Northern Europe, has a genetic mutation that results in lactase persistence, which is the continued ability to process lactose after infancy. This interdisciplinary analysis blends archaeology, cultural anthropology, evolutionary biology, and archaeogenetics to explore the origin and rise of lactase persistence in Europe and its contribution to the end of hunter-gatherer societies in Scandinavia. Furthermore, the paper uses gene-culture coevolutionary theory to argue that lactase …

Attitudes Toward Transgenic Corn Usage Among Amish & Conservative Mennonite Farmers In Ohio, Scot Long

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

Mass adoption and planting of genetically modified corn are part of the larger industrialized agricultural production system in the United States. Amish and conservative Mennonite farmers in the Holmes County settlement region offer an alternative production system often characterized by lower usage of chemical inputs, greater implementation of crop rotation, and significantly higher usage of hybrid versus GMO field corn. Moreover, the rationale among Amish/Mennonite farmers toward adoption of GMO (based on “convenience”) or rejection of GMO (based on “too many unknowns”) stems both from cultural diffusion of neighboring farms as well as variable need for nonfarm income. This article …

Lawrence Kaplan (14 April 1926-6 March 1918), Emily Kaplan

Andean Past

This is an appreciation of the life and work of archaeobotanist Lawrence Kaplan, a specialist in domesticated beans.

Invited Perspective - Nutritional Needs And Implications For Children In Subsistence Marketplaces, Nagendra Rangavajla

Subsistence Marketplaces

Today, while the number of stunted children is decreasing in all geographies, the progress is not consistent. Moreover, there is an increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity among children and adolescent. Globally, about half of all children under five do not receive essential nutrients, often unnoticed until too late. On the other end of the spectrum, the incidence of overweight and obesity in 5-19 year old has increased from 4% in 1975 to 18% in 2016 ¹. These trends reflect a ‘triple burden of malnutrition’, a burden that impacts the survival, growth, and development of children, and in turn, …

The Question Is Not “Can Humans Talk?” Or “Can They Suffer?” But “Can They Reason?”, Clive Phillips

Animal Sentience

In their target article, Rowan et al (2022) make a welcome attempt to chart the development of Western progress over the past two hundred years toward formally recognizing that animals feel. They outline the heroic efforts of Compassion in World Farming to gain for animals the status of sentient beings rather than merely human property. A broader view exists, from human prehistory to the present day, in which animals have been (and still are) understood to be sentient by indigenous peoples as well as by some Eastern religions. Growing recognition in the West that animals feel represents a new age …

How Sweet It Is: Fellowship And Continuity In A Church-Based Fall Prevention Program With African American Elders In The Northeastern United States, Michelle L. Ramirez, Cedric H. Jones Jr., Carol Maritz, Donna Jensen

Humboldt Journal of Social Relations

Deaths from unintentional injuries are the seventh leading cause of death among older adults and falls account for the largest percentage of these deaths, with individuals aged ≥85 particularly vulnerable. Physical activity can reduce frailty and prevent falls; however, many elders are not physically active and women, ethnic minorities, and those with low education levels are the least active. Moreover, experiences of racial discrimination can lead to increased stress and unhealthy adaptive behaviors, and the cumulative effects of age and race related stressors have been shown to negatively impact the physical and mental health of elderly African Americans. Thus, participation …

Black And White Health Disparities: Racial Bias In American Healthcare, Yasmeen Almomani

Bridges: An Undergraduate Journal of Contemporary Connections

This paper explores the historical implications of race in American society that have led to implicit racism in the healthcare system. Racial bias in healthcare against Black people is a factor in the health disparities between Black and white people in America, such as the gap in life expectancy, infant death, and maternal mortality. Black people are more likely to report racial discrimination from healthcare providers, which is a reason for the decreased quality of care received. The past justifications of slavery, the Tuskegee syphilis study, and the medical experimentations on Black women are horrifying but were considered acceptable in …

Empathy And Fairness In Nonhuman Primates: Evolutionary Bases Of Human Morality, Colt Halter

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

Darwin offered an evolutionary perspective on the origins of human morality, suggesting that humans share a biological foundation with nonhuman primates. This paper reviews the current literature on moral and prosocial behaviors of nonhuman primates, specifically examining whether nonhuman primates exhibit behaviors that are typical of empathy and fairness. The literature documents that nonhuman primates exhibit empathetic behaviors regarding emotional contagion and sympathetic concern. There is also evidence that nonhuman primates have a sense of fairness, seen in their reciprocal behaviors and aversion to inequity. Taken together, this suggests that there are evolutionary roots of morality, lending empirical support to …

Contemporary Brazilian Catholicism And Healing Practices: Notes On Environmentalism And Medicalization, Juliano F. Almeida

Journal of Global Catholicism

Anthropological studies on Brazilian Catholicism traditionally focused on popular variants of this religious practice and their relationship with the official Catholicism. Encouraged by recent anthropological perspectives, which highlight the relevance of devoting researches not only on the margins, but also on the center of social practices, this paper analyzes contemporary practices of Brazilian Catholic friars and priests on health promotion. The analysis of their publications (books that include practices and tips on health and that became best sellers etc.), as well as interviews, allows us to perceive a process of environmentalization on the contemporary Brazilian Catholicism. This process seems to …

Editor's Introduction, Marc Roscoe Loustau

Journal of Global Catholicism

No abstract provided.

Bacteria, Guano And Soot: Source Assessment Of Organic Matter Preserved In Black Laminae In Stalagmites From Caves Of The Sierra De Atapuerca (N Spain), Joeri Kaal, Virginia Martínez-Pillado, Antonio Martínez Cortizas, Jorge Sanjurjo Sánchez, Arantza Aranburu, Juan-Luis Arsuaga, Eneko Iriarte

International Journal of Speleology

Speleothems are a recognized source of paleoclimatic information, but their value as a source of signals from human activities in caves with an archaeological record has rarely been explored. Previous studies of speleothems in the Sierra de Atapuerca karst system (Burgos, northern Spain) revealed an important human fossil record, provided information about human activities in and around these caves, and the impacts on their natural environment. The present study reports the results of molecular characterization of dark-colored laminae from the stalagmites Ilargi (Galería de las Estatuas) and GS1, GS2, and GS3 (Galería del Silo), by pyrolysis-GC-MS (Py-GC-MS) and …

Yellowtail Snapper: Human-Ecological Relationships In The South Florida Fishery, Brent Stoffle, Amanda D. Stoltz

Journal of Ecological Anthropology

In 2018 over a period of five months researchers from National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) conducted a study with fishermen and local business owners who participate in the South Florida Yellowtail snapper fishery. Fishermen were asked about changes in their targeting strategies over the last several decades; and they perceive these changes to have altered the health and the biology of the snapper species. The changes are perceived as partially responsible for improving both the overall abundance of Yellowtail and having sped up its the growth and reproductive cycles. This is a case where …

Local People’S Perceptions Of Benefits And Costs Of Protected Areas: The Case Of Tarangire National Park And The Surrounding Ecosystem, Northern Tanzania, Felix J. Mkonyi

Journal of Ecological Anthropology

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A better understanding of the benefits and costs of conservation to people living adjacent to protected areas is fundamental to balancing their conservation goals and needs. This study, based in the Tarangire-Simanjiro ecosystem, explored the costs, benefits and attitudes of local people living adjacent to Tarangire National Park in northern Tanzania. In-depth interviews were conducted with 30 respondents which were randomly selected from the ‘population’ of 300 respondents used previously for the main survey. Results indicate mixed responses towards protected areas. The majority of respondents held positive attitudes toward the park (56.7%) and park staff (63.3%) but had negative …

‘Coronated’ Consumption In The Viral Market, Soonkwan Hong

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

The universal exposure to the virus has disrupted institutions, redefined values, and reshaped systems, including the market. Idling, uncertainty, and liquidity encapsulate the ever-precarious individual lives and the reflexive socio-politico-cultural changes. These conditions and consequences nonetheless create paradoxical opportunities in the viral market. The new meaning of connectivity that promotes high-viscosity relationships and high-visibility identities will transform the market to better acknowledge and support humans and the new sociality.

Botanical Tour Of Christian Art At The National Museum Of Ancient Art (Lisbon, Portugal), Luis Mendonça De Carvalho, Francisca Maria Fernandes, Maria De Fátima Nunes, Miriam Lopes, Maria Vlachou, Paula Nozes, Ana Maria Costa

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Christian works of art, from the middle XIV to early XIX centuries, were studied in order to contribute to a new perspective of the cultural history of plants in Portuguese and European art displayed at the National Museum of Ancient Art (NMAA). The symbolic use of trees, leaves, flowers and fruits in painting, sculpture and tapestry were compared with theological data from the Bible, Apocrypha Gospels and codes of symbols from the XVII to XX centuries, as well as pictorial data from academic literature and photographic databases. We found 40 botanical taxa used as symbols that aimed to reinforce moral …

Do Beetles Have Experiences? How Can We Tell?, Matt Cartmill

Animal Sentience

We attribute consciousness to other humans because their anatomy and behavior resembles our own and their verbal descriptions of subjective experiences correspond to ours. Nonhuman mammals have somewhat humanlike behavior and anatomy, but without the verbal descriptions. Their sentience is therefore open to Cartesian doubt. Robot "minds" lack humanlike behavior and anatomy, and so their sentience is generally discounted no matter what sentences they generate. Invertebrates lack both neurological similarity and language. Although it may be safest in making moral judgments to assume that some invertebrates are sentient, cogent reasons for thinking so must await an objective causal explanation for …

Black Drowning Deaths: An Introductory Analysis, Alena Gadberry, James Gadberry

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

Black children between the ages of 5 and 14 are 2.6 times more likely to drown than white children. A systematic exclusion from public pools and other forms of water activities over time has led to a lack of cultural capital involving aquatics among black families. Pierre Bourdieu has provided a theoretical foundation in which to understand this issue. The social fields created by generational socialization have made blacks feel like they have no place in the water. It will take a restructuring of the social institutions to set in motion the socialization (or a re-socialization) of new and more …

Hijab In The Indonesian National Struggle, Mangesti Rahayu

International Review of Humanities Studies

Fashion and history cannot be separated, because fashion is one indicator of a change in culture, civilization, behavior, and certain identities. Vice versa, changes and developments in fashion are influenced by conditions at the time the fashion is developing, both the social, cultural, political, religious, economic and others. Fashion that is developing in Indonesia is Muslim fashion. One part of Muslim clothing is the hijab, headgear worn by Muslim women. Hijab is not only part of religious observance, hijab is already part of fashion and we can examine the hijab style of a society from its historical period. We can …

Kuasa Atas Ruang Pembebasan’: The Resilience Ofwomen In Sasak Culture, Lucky Wijayanti

International Review of Humanities Studies

The Sasak tribe on Lombok island - West Nusa Tenggara, have traditional values and are applied through the social structure of their communities in daily life. Some existing customary values place women in irreplaceable positions. Even so, the existence of financial needs makes them work abroad as laborers, which indirectly results in the occurrence of divorce and early marriage. This is a problem for Sasak women in terms of survival in the Sasak culture. An ethnographic approach derived from Malinowski, the opinion of Svasek, and the value system framework from Kluckhohn are used in this study. This research concludes that …

Wai Puna: An Indigenous Model Of Māori Water Safety And Health In Aotearoa, New Zealand, Chanel Phillips Ph.D.

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

Māori (the indigenous peoples of Aotearoa, New Zealand) are intimately connected to wai (i.e., water) yet are overrepresented in New Zealand’s drowning statistics each year. On average Māori account for 20-24% of all preventable and non-preventable drowning fatalities, despite comprising only 15 percent of New Zealand’s population. Drowning remains a significant issue posing a threat to whānau (i.e., families) through premature death being imminent and whakapapa (i.e., genealogy) being interrupted. There is limited research that has examined Māori and indigenous understandings of water safety within the literature and limited studies that have investigated the issue of Māori drowning from a …

The Community Influence Of Sponge And Coral Aquaculture In Zanzibar, Hanna Gaertner, Asma Ahmada Hamad, J. Richard Walz

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

Aquaculture has been presented as a means of income for coastal communities, particularly in the context of climate change and resource exploitation. The NGO Marine Cultures in Jambiani, Zanzibar has established a sponge cultivation program for women in response to declining feasibility of seaweed farming from warming ocean temperatures. In addition, the organization strives to restore a severely damaged reef while providing employment for coral farmers and tour boat operators. This study analyzed the influence of aquaculture on community stakeholders, primarily with respect to sponge cultivation and secondarily in regard to coral farms. Using Marine Cultures as a case study, …

Impacts Of Invasive Rats On Hawaiian Cave Resources, Francis G. Howarth, Fred D. Stone

International Journal of Speleology

Although there are no published studies and limited data documenting damage by rodents in Hawaiian caves, our incidental observations during more than 40 years of surveying caves indicate that introduced rodents, especially the roof rat, Rattus rattus, pose significant threats to vulnerable cave resources. Caves, with their nearly constant and predictable physical environment often house important natural and cultural features including biological, paleontological, geological, climatic, mineralogical, cultural, and archaeological resources. All four invasive rodents in Hawai‘i commonly nest in cave entrances and rock shelters, but only the roof rat (Rattus rattus) habitually enters caves and utilizes areas …

Arranged Marriages: An Inappropriate Fabrication, Karika Sethi, Michael D. Reiter

Mako: NSU Undergraduate Student Journal

This paper explores what an inappropriate relationship is and the taxonomy scale used to evaluate different relationships, specifically, arranged marriages. Arranged marriage is a topic that is considered taboo depending on global location. It is more prevalent in Eastern nations such as India, China, Oriental countries, and the Middle East. However, Western influence plays a significant role on what is and is not acceptable, as societal norms differ from place to place. What is defined as normal by culture is what helps to define if a relationship is or is not viewed as inappropriate. This paper is designed to explore …

Rewilding And Mixed-Community Collaboration In Conservation, Liv Baker

Animal Sentience

Rewilding is a psychological and sociocultural event for nonhuman animals that goes beyond the traditional framework of ecology. Elephants need to be seen as political agents in a collaboration. Our commentators shed light on the hierarchical assumptions and politics involved. Mixed-community collaboration can create dynamic and sustainable conservation interventions that are crucial to reconceptualizing the human-elephant relationship beyond the concept of labor. The profound effects of the Covid-19 pandemic have laid bare the fundamental vulnerabilities of the elephant tourism industry. Moreover, how well an elephant has been buffered by the fallout of the pandemic is dependent on the specific relations …

The Illegal Wildlife Trade: Through The Eyes Of A One-Year-Old Pangolin (Manis Javanica), Lelia Bridgeland-Stephens

Animal Studies Journal

This paper explores the literature on the illegal wildlife trade (IWT) by following the journey of a single imagined Sunda pangolin (Manis javanica) through the entire trading process. Literature on IWT frequently refers to non-human animals in terms of collectives, species, or body parts, for example ‘tons of pangolin scales’, rather than as subjective individuals. In contrast, this paper centralizes the experiences of an individual pangolin by using a cross- disciplinary methodology, combining fact with a fictional narrative of subjective pangolin experience, in an empathetic and egomorphic process. The paper draws together known legislation, trade practices, and pangolin biology, structured …