Biodiversity and Sacred Sites: Vernacular Conservation Practices in Northwest Yunnan, China

2008 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Hakkenberg
Keyword(s):  
International Organizations ◽  
Southwest China ◽  
Environmental Policies ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
Conservation Practices ◽  
Sacred Sites ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Northwest Yunnan ◽  
Global And Local

AbstractBiodiversity conservation strategies around the world have been criticized when the goals of international organizations clash with the needs and traditions of local people. While the characterization of global conservation initiatives as a clash between scientifically-informed environmental policies and indigenous knowledge may retain discursive value in explaining the interaction of contending epistemologies, it is nonetheless an over-simplification of a dynamic, complicated and sometimes opaque and contradictory process. This paper sheds light on some of the conservation programs in southwest China as a case where these seemingly distinct knowledge regimes lie not in stark contrast, but in fact coexist within a localized discourse on biological and cultural diversity. In the example of the sacred site tradition of northwest Yunnan, disparate knowledge regimes have been negotiated and reinterpreted at the local, and even individual level to form dynamic and unique motivations for a conservation ethic. In this negotiation of indigenous and global epistemologies, classic distinctions separating global and local interests prove erroneous, or at the very least, unnecessary.

3-D Characterization of Global and Local Microstructural Effects on Spall Damage in Shock Loaded FCC Metals: Experimental and Modeling

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Brown ◽  
K. Krishnan ◽  
L. Wayne ◽  
P. Peralta ◽  
S. N. Luo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Weak Link ◽  
Heat Treatments ◽  
Taylor Factor ◽  
Weak Links ◽  
Spall Damage ◽  
Heat Treated ◽  
Microstructural Effects ◽  
Global And Local ◽  
Low Pressures

Global and local microstructural weak links for spall damage were investigated using 3-D characterization in polycrystalline (PC) and multicrystalline (MC) copper samples, respectively. All samples were shocked via flyer-target plate experiments using a laser drive at low pressures (2–6 GPa). The flyer plates measured approximately 500 μm thick and 8 mm in diameter and the target plates measured approximately 1000 μm thick and 10 mm in diameter. Electron Backscattering Diffraction (EBSD) and optical microscopy were used to determine to presence of voids and relate them to the surrounding microstructure. Statistics on the strength of grain boundaries (GBs) was conducted by analyzing PC samples and collecting the misorientation across GBs with damage present, and it was found that a misorientation range of 25–50° is favorable for damage. Statistics were also taken of copper PC samples that had undergone different heat treatments and it was found that although the 25–50° range is less dominant, it is still favorable for damage nucleation. Removal of initial plastic strain via heat treatments and an increase in Σ3 CSL boundaries, indicative of strong annealing twins, also led to an increased amount of transgranular damage. 3-D X-ray tomography data were used to investigate the shape of the voids present in untreated, as received and heat treated samples. It was found that the as received sample contained a higher amount of “disk”, or, “sheet-like” voids indicative of intergranular damage, whereas the heat treated samples had a higher fraction of spherical shaped voids, indicative of transgranular damage. MC samples were used to study microstructural weak links for spall damage because the overall grain size is much larger than the average void size, making it possible to determine which GBs nucleated damage. Simulations and experimental analysis of damage sites with large volumes indicate that high Taylor factor mismatches with respect to the crystallographic grain GB normal is the primary cause for the nucleation of damage at a GB interface and a low Taylor factor along the shock direction in either grain drives void growth perpendicular to the GB. Cases where experimental results show damage and simulation results show no damage are attributed to the presence of an intrinsic microstructural weak link, such as an incoherent twin boundary.

scholarly journals The Small and Efficient Language Network of Polyglots and Hyper-polyglots

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-76
Author(s):  
Olessia Jouravlev ◽  
Zachary Mineroff ◽  
Idan A Blank ◽  
Evelina Fedorenko
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Default Mode Network ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Neural Architecture ◽  
Initial Characterization ◽  
The One ◽  
Multiple Languages ◽  
Language Network

Abstract Acquiring a foreign language is challenging for many adults. Yet certain individuals choose to acquire sometimes dozens of languages and often just for fun. Is there something special about the minds and brains of such polyglots? Using robust individual-level markers of language activity, measured with fMRI, we compared native language processing in polyglots versus matched controls. Polyglots (n = 17, including nine “hyper-polyglots” with proficiency in 10–55 languages) used fewer neural resources to process language: Their activations were smaller in both magnitude and extent. This difference was spatially and functionally selective: The groups were similar in their activation of two other brain networks—the multiple demand network and the default mode network. We hypothesize that the activation reduction in the language network is experientially driven, such that the acquisition and use of multiple languages makes language processing generally more efficient. However, genetic and longitudinal studies will be critical to distinguish this hypothesis from the one whereby polyglots’ brains already differ at birth or early in development. This initial characterization of polyglots’ language network opens the door to future investigations of the cognitive and neural architecture of individuals who gain mastery of multiple languages, including changes in this architecture with linguistic experiences.

scholarly journals Human paleodiet and animal utilization strategies during the Bronze Age in northwest Yunnan Province, southwest China

PLoS ONE ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. e0177867 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lele Ren ◽  
Xin Li ◽  
Lihong Kang ◽  
Katherine Brunson ◽  
Honggao Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Yunnan Province ◽  
Southwest China ◽  
Northwest Yunnan ◽  
Animal Utilization ◽  
The Bronze Age

scholarly journals Predicting time to dementia using a quantitative template of disease progression

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bilgel Murat ◽  
Bruno M. Jedynak
Keyword(s):  
Verbal Memory ◽  
Hippocampal Volume ◽  
Onset Age ◽  
Sporadic Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
History Of ◽  
Longitudinal Biomarker ◽  
T Tau ◽  
Dementia Onset

AbstractIntroductionCharacterization of longitudinal trajectories of biomarkers implicated in sporadic Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in decades prior to clinical diagnosis is important for disease prevention and monitoring.MethodsWe used a multivariate Bayesian model to temporally align 1369 AD Neuroimaging Initiative participants based on the similarity of their longitudinal biomarker measures and estimated a quantitative template of the temporal evolution cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) Aβ1-42, p-tau181p, and t-tau, hippocampal volume, brain glucose metabolism, and cognitive measurements. We computed biomarker trajectories as a function of time to AD dementia, and predicted AD dementia onset age in a disjoint sample.ResultsQuantitative template showed early changes in verbal memory, CSF Aβ1-42 and p-tau181p, and hippocampal volume. Mean error in predicted AD dementia onset age was < 1.5 years.DiscussionOur method provides a quantitative approach for characterizing the natural history of AD starting at preclinical stages despite the lack of individual-level longitudinal data spanning the entire disease timeline.

Dam construction impacts on multiscale characterization of sediment discharge in two typical karst watersheds of southwest China

2018 ◽  
Vol 558 ◽  
pp. 42-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhenwei Li ◽  
Xianli Xu ◽  
Chaohao Xu ◽  
Meixian Liu ◽  
Kelin Wang
Keyword(s):  
Southwest China ◽  
Dam Construction ◽  
Sediment Discharge

scholarly journals The protected tree Dimorphandra wilsonii (Fabaceae) is a population of inter-specific hybrids: recommendations for conservation in the Brazilian Cerrado/Atlantic Forest ecotone

2020 ◽  
Vol 126 (1) ◽  
pp. 191-203
Author(s):  
André Carneiro Muniz ◽  
José Pires Lemos-Filho ◽  
Helena Augusta Souza ◽  
Rafaela Cabral Marinho ◽  
Renata Santiago Buzatti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Atlantic Forest ◽  
Cytogenetic Analysis ◽  
Taxonomic Status ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
F1 Hybrids ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Intermediate Phenotypes ◽  
Eastern Brazil ◽  
Heterozygosity Excess ◽  
The Individual

Abstract Backgrounds and Aims Dimorphandra wilsonii Rizzini, a critically endangered and protected tree, has a restricted distribution in the ecotone between the Cerrado and the Atlantic Forest in south-eastern Brazil. In this area, it co-occurs with D. mollis Benth., a common tree from the Cerrado, and D. exaltata Schott., a rare tree from the Atlantic Forest. Previous studies of D. wilsonii indicated heterozygosity excess at the individual level. Field observation of some intermediate phenotypes between D. wilsonii and both congeners suggests hybridization of D. wilsonii with D. mollis and/or D. exaltata. Here, we tested the hypothesis that D. wilsonii may have originated from hybridization between D. exaltata and D. mollis. We also performed cytogenetic analysis to examine if the heterozygosity excess could be explained by polyploidy in D. wilsonii. Methods We evaluated the genetic diversity and population structure of D. wilsonii using 11 nuclear simple sequence repeats (SSRs) genotyped in 152 individuals sampled across the taxon’s range. We performed comparative genetic analyses using overlapping SSR markers between D. wilsonii and previously published SSR data in D. mollis and D. exaltata to subsequently perform a series of allelic comparisons, multivariate and Bayesian analysis. Key Results Our results suggest that D. wilsonii individuals are most likely to correspond to F1 hybrids between D. exaltata and D. mollis. Cytogenetic analysis indicated that D. wilsonii is diploid with the same chromosome number as D. mollis (2n = 2x = 28). Conclusions Our study raises questions about the taxonomic status and the evolutionary future of D. wilsonii. We suggest that the conservation and management strategy for D. wilsonii should be revised and that it should take into account both parental Dimorphandra species in the ecotone, with special emphasis on the threatened D. exaltata. Finally, this study highlights the value of genetic information for the design of conservation strategies.

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