scholarly journals The relative abundance of languages: Neutral and non-neutral dynamics

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. e0259162
Author(s):  
Luís Borda-de-Água ◽  
Stephen P. Hubbell
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Relative Abundance ◽  
Neutral Theory ◽  
Species Abundance ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cultural Factors ◽  
Extinction Rates ◽  
The World ◽  
Predictive Theory ◽  
Shaped Pattern

Credible estimates suggest that a large number of the nearly 7000 languages in the world could go extinct this century, a prospect with profound cultural, socioeconomic, and political ramifications. Despite its importance, we still have little predictive theory for language dynamics and richness. Critical to the language extinction problem, however, is to understand the dynamics of the number of speakers of languages, the dynamics of language abundance distributions (LADs). Many regional LADs are very similar to the bell-shaped distributions of relative species abundance predicted by neutral theory in ecology. Using the tenets of neutral theory, here we show that LADs can be understood as an equilibrium or disequilibrium between stochastic rates of origination and extinction of languages. However, neutral theory does not fit some regional LADs, which can be explained if the number of speakers has grown systematically faster in some languages than others, due to cultural factors and other non-neutral processes. Only the LADs of Australia and the United States, deviate from a bell-shaped pattern. These deviations are due to the documented higher, non-equilibrium extinction rates of low-abundance languages in these countries.

scholarly journals Intersex Management in the United States and Non-Western Cultures

2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (1&2) ◽  
pp. 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shoshana Tell
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cultural Factors ◽  
Gender Assignment ◽  
The World ◽  
Potential Patient ◽  
Universal Human Rights ◽  
Ethical Approaches

In Western nations, there is growing agreement about ethical approaches to clinical intersex management. At the same time, as Western-trained physicians increasingly encounter intersex patients in other parts of the world, new ethical tensions arise. Which cultural values are fair parameters for gender-assignment decision-making, particularly in cultural milieus where there is social and economic inequality between the sexes? How can physicians uphold universal bioethical principles while remaining culturally sensitive? Physicians have a primary commit- ment to patient beneficence and universal human rights, requiring physicians to promote concordance between the child’s assigned gender and his or her likely future gender identity. Ultimately, the potential patient distress posed by gender dysphoria fundamentally outweighs the influence of local cultural factors such as economics, gender politics, and homophobia. 

Governmental and Cultural Factors in Broadband Adoption

2011 ◽  
pp. 260-277
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Fife ◽  
Laura Hosman ◽  
Francis Pereira
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Growth Rate ◽  
Social Factors ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cultural Factors ◽  
Social Benefits ◽  
Broadband Internet ◽  
The World ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
High Level

Though the potential benefits of broadband Internet adoption are great, the levels of take-up vary greatly around the world. Some governments have adopted aggressive policies to deploy broadband networks and to encourage the use of these applications, while others have not. In the former cases, governments are motivated to promote broadband adoption in order to realize both economic and social benefits. This chapter argues that the high level of broadband adoption rates witnessed in certain Asian economies is attributable in part to the aggressive policies pursued by these governments. Independent of these policies however, social factors can also have an impact on whether broadband-related technology will be adopted. Even if economic and social benefits exist therefore, as in the case of telemedicine in the United States, cultural and social factors may in fact hinder the deployment of such applications and retard the growth rate of broadband access.

Cultural Aspects of Psychopharmacology

2018 ◽  
pp. 387-391
Author(s):  
S. Nassir Ghaemi
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Psychotropic Drugs ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cultural Factors ◽  
Psychological States ◽  
Cultural Aspects ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
To Receive ◽  
Pragmatic Attitude

The practice of psychopharmacology is influenced by cultural factors, including a tendency in the United States for patients and doctors to want to receive pills for symptoms. This therapeutic activism dates back centuries, and it has influenced aggressive treatments in the past such as bleeding the patient. The proponents of DSM-III sought to make psychiatry more empirical, and much of this drive came from the need to diagnose entities that could be treated with the newly emerging psychotropic drugs. In retrospect, it could be concluded that what happened was that the DSM-III–oriented practitioners implemented an American pragmatic attitude to psychiatry that has tended toward both polynosology and polypharmacy. The spirit of pragmatism still lives in the world of contemporary psychiatry. A debate still exists culturally between caution and liberality in the use of medication, for psychological states in particular.

Political Culture in the United States' Treaty-Making: A New Century, Familiar Behavior So Far

2002 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 207-223
Author(s):  
Alastair Iles
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Political Culture ◽  
International Law ◽  
21St Century ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cultural Factors ◽  
Constructivist Approach ◽  
The Us ◽  
The World ◽  
Us Government

At the beginning of the 21st century, the United States is criticized widely for its attitudes to treaty-making. It has sought to oppose, or withdraw from, a number of treaties such as the Kyoto Protocol or the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. Such behavior is conventionally attributed, in neo-realistic international law and political science theories, to the interests and ideologies that the US Government articulates. This essay uses a constructivist approach, namely focusing on how treaty-making is shaped by the interpretive work of people regarding the world they live in, to expand the analysis to include structural and cultural factors. The United States' treaty-making is also affected by the decentralized and participatory system of government, and by broader societal commitments to political transparency and culturally contingent understandings of risk.

Sex Differences in Mass Media Preferences Across Four Asian Countries

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 186-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malini Ratnasingam ◽  
Lee Ellis
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Sex Differences ◽  
Mass Media ◽  
The United States ◽  
Female Students ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Evolutionary Explanation ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
The World ◽  
Media Preferences

Background. Nearly all of the research on sex differences in mass media utilization has been based on samples from the United States and a few other Western countries. Aim. The present study examines sex differences in mass media utilization in four Asian countries (Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, and Singapore). Methods. College students self-reported the frequency with which they accessed the following five mass media outlets: television dramas, televised news and documentaries, music, newspapers and magazines, and the Internet. Results. Two significant sex differences were found when participants from the four countries were considered as a whole: Women watched television dramas more than did men; and in Japan, female students listened to music more than did their male counterparts. Limitations. A wider array of mass media outlets could have been explored. Conclusions. Findings were largely consistent with results from studies conducted elsewhere in the world, particularly regarding sex differences in television drama viewing. A neurohormonal evolutionary explanation is offered for the basic findings.

Sandra Ramos Revisited

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 32-54
Author(s):  
Silvia Spitta
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Graphic Arts ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
The World ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Political Choices ◽  
The Rich

Sandra Ramos (b. 1969) is one of the few artists to reflect critically on both sides of the Cuban di-lemma, fully embodying the etymological origins of the word in ancient Greek: di-, meaning twice, and lemma, denoting a form of argument involving a choice between equally unfavorable alternatives. Throughout her works she shines a light on the dilemmas faced by Cubans whether in Cuba or the United States, underlining the bad personal and political choices people face in both countries. During the hard 1990s, while still in Havana, the artist focused on the traumatic one-way journey into exile by thousands, as well as the experience of profound abandonment experienced by those who were left behind on the island. Today she lives in Miami and operates a studio there as well as one in Havana. Her initial disorientation in the USA has morphed into an acerbic representation and critique of the current administration and a deep concern with the environmental collapse we face. A buffoonlike Trumpito has joined el Bobo de Abela and Liborio in her gallery of comic characters derived from the rich Cuban graphic arts tradition where she was formed. While Cuba is now represented as a rotten cake with menacing flies hovering over it ready to pounce, a bombastic Trumpito marches across the world stage, trampling everything underfoot, a dollar sign for a face.

The Unquiet Frontier

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jakub J. Grygiel ◽  
A. Wess Mitchell ◽  
Jakub J. Grygiel ◽  
A. Wess Mitchell
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Great Powers ◽  
Global Order ◽  
American Power ◽  
Alliance Networks ◽  
Effective Strategies ◽  
The World ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
Critical Regions

From the Baltic to the South China Sea, newly assertive authoritarian states sense an opportunity to resurrect old empires or build new ones at America's expense. Hoping that U.S. decline is real, nations such as Russia, Iran, and China are testing Washington's resolve by targeting vulnerable allies at the frontiers of American power. This book explains why the United States needs a new grand strategy that uses strong frontier alliance networks to raise the costs of military aggression in the new century. The book describes the aggressive methods which rival nations are using to test American power in strategically critical regions throughout the world. It shows how rising and revisionist powers are putting pressure on our frontier allies—countries like Poland, Israel, and Taiwan—to gauge our leaders' commitment to upholding the American-led global order. To cope with these dangerous dynamics, nervous U.S. allies are diversifying their national-security “menu cards” by beefing up their militaries or even aligning with their aggressors. The book reveals how numerous would-be great powers use an arsenal of asymmetric techniques to probe and sift American strength across several regions simultaneously, and how rivals and allies alike are learning from America's management of increasingly interlinked global crises to hone effective strategies of their own. The book demonstrates why the United States must strengthen the international order that has provided greater benefits to the world than any in history.

Bringing the Real World of Science to Children: A Partnership of the American Museum of Natural History and the City University of New York

2008 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony G Picciano ◽  
Robert V. Steiner
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
Natural History ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Compulsory Education ◽  
Development Program ◽  
The United States ◽  
American Museum ◽  
The World ◽  
The City

Every child has a right to an education. In the United States, the issue is not necessarily about access to a school but access to a quality education. With strict compulsory education laws, more than 50 million students enrolled in primary and secondary schools, and billions of dollars spent annually on public and private education, American children surely have access to buildings and classrooms. However, because of a complex and competitive system of shared policymaking among national, state, and local governments, not all schools are created equal nor are equal education opportunities available for the poor, minorities, and underprivileged. One manifestation of this inequity is the lack of qualified teachers in many urban and rural schools to teach certain subjects such as science, mathematics, and technology. The purpose of this article is to describe a partnership model between two major institutions (The American Museum of Natural History and The City University of New York) and the program designed to improve the way teachers are trained and children are taught and introduced to the world of science. These two institutions have partnered on various projects over the years to expand educational opportunity especially in the teaching of science. One of the more successful projects is Seminars on Science (SoS), an online teacher education and professional development program, that connects teachers across the United States and around the world to cutting-edge research and provides them with powerful classroom resources. This article provides the institutional perspectives, the challenges and the strategies that fostered this partnership.

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