scholarly journals An Anthropological Perspective: Another Dimension to Modern Dental Wear Concepts

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
John A. Kaidonis ◽  
Sarbin Ranjitkar ◽  
Dimitra Lekkas ◽  
Grant C. Townsend

For many years, research on tooth wear by dental academics has been diametrically opposite to that of anthropological research, with each discipline having a different understanding as to the nature of the wear processes. Dental focus revolved around preventive and restorative considerations while the anthropological focus was a biological understanding related to human evolution, diet, environment, form, and function and included all the craniofacial structures. Introducing the anthropological perspective into modern dentistry gives an insight into the “bigger picture” of the nature and extent of tooth wear. By combining anthropological evidence with clinical knowledge and experience, it is most likely to provide the best-informed and biologically based approach to the management of tooth wear in modern societies.

Author(s):  
Gopala Krishna Ganta ◽  
Rama Krishna Alla ◽  
Kamala Cheruvu ◽  
Bharathi Ram Guduri

Bone grafts are often used to retrieve the lost bone in the most acceptable, technical and skilful manner that enables to restore the form and function of the bone. Numerous bone graft materials have been developed to fill and/or remodel the bony defects. Though, autografts were considered to be the gold standard among the grafts available; they have got some inherent disadvantages. The current research is more focused on allografts, which addressed the problems associated with autografts. This article provides an insight into the remodeling process, and various types of bone grafts currently available. Also, the emphasis was given on the recent advances of the bone grafts.


Author(s):  
Caroline R. Wiltshire

This study uses data from Indian English as a second language, spoken by speakers of five first languages, to illustrate and evaluate the role of the emergence of the unmarked (TETU) in phonological theory. The analysis focusses on word-final consonant devoicing and cluster reduction, for which the five Indian first languages have various constraints, while Indian English is relatively unrestricted. Variation in L2 Indian Englishes results from both transfer of L1 phonotactics and the emergence of the unmarked, accounted for within Optimality Theory. The use of a learning algorithm also allows us to test the relative importance of markedness and frequency and to evaluate the relative markedness of various clusters. Thus, data from Indian Englishes provides insight into the form and function of markedness constraints, as well as the mechanisms of Second Language Acquisition (SLA).


2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 414-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa Vogel ◽  
Kristin Buhrow ◽  
Caroline Cornish

In the Andean region, spindle whorls have been the subject of archaeological analysis less often than other artifact classes, such as pottery. Nevertheless, spindle whorls may have much more to contribute to archaeological interpretations of production, status, and exchange patterns than previously acknowledged. The case study presented here examines the spindle whorl collection from the site of El Purgatorio, Peru, the capital city of the Casma polity (ca. A.D. 700–1400). Spindle whorls were not only expertly crafted utilitarian tools for spinning yarn, but also items of personal adornment, symbols of wealth or status, and possible indicators of intra-polity exchange patterns. The analysis of spindle whorls in regard to form and function provides insight into Casma social and economic organization. The spindle whorls discovered at El Purgatorio also reflect varying degrees of standardization and technical knowledge, suggesting that at least some may have been manufactured by specialists in metallurgical and ceramic workshops.


2014 ◽  
Vol 369 (1654) ◽  
pp. 20130598 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manoj K. Gottipati ◽  
Alexei Verkhratsky ◽  
Vladimir Parpura

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have shown much promise in neurobiology and biomedicine. Their structural stability and ease of chemical modification make them compatible for biological applications. In this review, we discuss the effects that chemically functionalized CNTs, applied as colloidal solutes or used as strata, have on the morpho-functional properties of astrocytes, the most abundant cells present in the brain, with an insight into the potential use of CNTs in neural prostheses.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. eaax5145
Author(s):  
Eugene L. Starostin ◽  
Robyn A. Grant ◽  
Gary Dougill ◽  
Gert H. M. van der Heijden ◽  
Victor G. A. Goss

This paper reports on an analytical study of the intrinsic shapes of 523 whiskers from 15 rats. We show that the variety of whiskers on a rat’s cheek, each of which has different lengths and shapes, can be described by a simple mathematical equation such that each whisker is represented as an interval on the Euler spiral. When all the representative curves of mystacial vibrissae for a single rat are assembled together, they span an interval extending from one coiled domain of the Euler spiral to the other. We additionally find that each whisker makes nearly the same angle of 47∘ with the normal to the spherical virtual surface formed by the tips of whiskers, which constitutes the rat’s tactile sensory shroud or “search space.” The implications of the linear curvature model for gaining insight into relationships between growth, form, and function are discussed.


Rangifer ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 79
Author(s):  
Anna Järpe

When we talk publicly about landscape and land use, both in legal and in popular contexts, the evaluation of our natural environment is usually based on an industrial concept of land and landscape. "Nature" is seen as a resource to be used or managed in different ways. My research originates in a questioning of this assumption: can we take for granted that the same perceptions and evaluations are shared by all concerned parties? In this article, I will use an ecologic anthropological perspective to consider the livelihood of reindeer tending and suggest an alternative to what can be called a scientific understanding of the world. I maintain that the relations that people have with their environment, and the values that they ascribe to it, are perceptions that are shaped and affected in our interactions with the surrounding world, and that these perceptions vary between different groups of people. Land use, land rights, access to fishing waters, and who gets to hunt what; these are not only questions about how we should manage the landscape, but also about whose landscape we are managing. Arguing that the reindeer tenders' landscape is a shifting mosaic of varying conditions that they must relate to rather than an object to be used and controlled by human interests, I want to show how anthropological research can provide an insight into the different perspectives and modes of understanding that we need to consider in the formulation of future policies and laws. At least if we want to resolve land use conflicts in contested areas fairly and on a sustainable long-term basis.


2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 253-283
Author(s):  
Stephanie J. Harris

Ancient Egyptian women’s headdresses in the form of circlets, fillets and diadems are intriguing in their complexity. In response to the increased need to indicate social status in a poorly literate dynastic society, these items of personal adornment became a powerful form of non-verbal communication. Garlands, originally made from handfuls of river plants, gradually developed into innovative and imaginatively powerful visual symbols when fashioned from metal and a variety of semi-precious stones. Botanical motifs symbolic of the Nile River and the duality of a unified Sema Tawy (Two Lands) were incorporated into magical and superstitious symbolism that encompassed social, political, religious, mythological and amuletic contexts. The headdresses that were worn were not purely ornamental but, it was believed, also provided apotropaic protection for the head. Flower motifs, material and colour played an important role in their belief system. The iconography and symbolism incorporated into a delicately crafted gold wire diadem excavated from Princess Khnumet’s 12th Dynasty (Middle Kingdom) tomb at Dashur (and currently housed in the Cairo Museum) will be systematically interpreted at primary and secondary levels in order to provide some insight into its owner. Given the relationship between form and function, a novel connection has been proposed between the iconography and symbolism, and the diadem’s use during an annual Nile inundation cultic festival.


Multilingua ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Barron ◽  
Irina Pandarova ◽  
Karoline Muderack

AbstractThe present study, situated in the area of variational pragmatics, contrasts tag question (TQ) use in Ireland and Great Britain using spoken data from the Irish and British components of the International Corpus of English (ICE). Analysis is on the formal and functional level and also investigates form-functional relationships. Findings reveal many similarities in the use of TQs across the varieties. They also point, however, to a lower use of TQs in Irish English and in a range of variety-preferential features on both the formal and functional levels. The paper shows how an in-depth analysis of form-function relations together with a fine-tuned investigation of sub-functions gives an insight into formal preferences.


Symmetry ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 1142
Author(s):  
Ameline Bardo ◽  
Tracy L. Kivell ◽  
Katie Town ◽  
Georgina Donati ◽  
Haiko Ballieux ◽  
...  

Although hand grip strength is critical to the daily lives of humans and our arboreal great ape relatives, the human hand has changed in form and function throughout our evolution due to terrestrial bipedalism, tool use, and directional asymmetry (DA) such as handedness. Here we investigate how hand form and function interact in modern humans to gain an insight into our evolutionary past. We measured grip strength in a heterogeneous, cross-sectional sample of human participants (n = 662, 17 to 83 years old) to test the potential effects of age, sex, asymmetry (hand dominance and handedness), hand shape, occupation, and practice of sports and musical instruments that involve the hand(s). We found a significant effect of sex and hand dominance on grip strength, but not of handedness, while hand shape and age had a greater influence on female grip strength. Females were significantly weaker with age, but grip strength in females with large hands was less affected than those with long hands. Frequent engagement in hand sports significantly increased grip strength in the non-dominant hand in both sexes, while only males showed a significant effect of occupation, indicating different patterns of hand dominance asymmetries and hand function. These results improve our understanding of the link between form and function in both hands and offer an insight into the evolution of human laterality and dexterity.


Author(s):  
Geoffrey H. Sperber

A review of the surface ablation of hominin teeth by attrition, abrasion and erosive wear. The occurrence of these lesions is explored in a sample of South African fossil australopithecine dentitions revealing excessive wear. Interpretation of the nature of the dietary components causing such wear in the absence of carious erosion provides insight into the ecology of the Plio-pleistocene epoch (1-2 million years ago). Fossil teeth inform much of the living past by their retained evidence after death. Tooth wear is the ultimate forensic evidence of lives lived.


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