scholarly journals Edible Biological Resource Use in an Agricultural Heritage System and Its Driving Forces: A Case of the Shuangjiang Mengku Ancient Tea and Culture System

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (18) ◽  
pp. 7791
Author(s):  
Nan Ma ◽  
Siyuan He ◽  
Qingwen Min
Keyword(s):  
Culture System ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
Biological Resource ◽  
Biological Resources ◽  
Economic Forces ◽  
Key Informant ◽  
Farmer Income ◽  
Edible Parts

An agricultural heritage system is a special type of protected area that is both culturally and ecologically important. Biological resources are an essential component of an agricultural heritage system. They are necessary to support human livelihood, and their usage is key to ensuring biodiversity. This study used a survey questionnaire and key informant interviews to investigate the use of edible biological resources (EBRs) in the Shuangjiang Mengku ancient tea and culture system (SMATCS). We investigated similarities and differences in EBR use between four minority groups as well as the driving forces behind them. The four groups used 245 EBR species in 113 families, and diversity of EBR use was found in terms of species, edible parts, harvest season, and usage. EBR use within groups was driven by natural, cultural, social, and economic forces. Two social factors (infrastructure and communication), two economic factors (overall economic development and farmer income), and a biological resource (species diversity) drove EBR utilization in all the groups convergently, while three cultural factors drove EBR utilization divergently. To assure the long-term sustainability of EBRs, the preservation of cultural diversity should be combined with the conservation of biodiversity. Targets must be set to adjust the impacts of the driving factors, and more stakeholders must be involved in the conservation of EBRs.

Electoral Systems and Ethnic Minority Representation

2017 ◽  
pp. 158-174
Author(s):  
David Lublin ◽  
Shaun Bowler
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Minority ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Electoral Systems ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Demographic Characteristics ◽  
Democratic Process ◽  
Minority Representation ◽  
Ethnic Geography

Every democratic process short of unanimity produces opinion minorities. Political divisions along anchored demographic characteristics like language, religion, race, or ethnicity challenge pluralist models of governance by threatening to entrench the exclusion of minority groups from political power. Especially when attuned to ethnic geography, electoral engineering through manipulation of the electoral system and other rules governing the electoral process, such as boundary delimitation, reserved seats, ballot-access requirements, and ethnic party bans, can help promote either inclusion or exclusion of minorities. Ensuring long-term interethnic peace has proved more difficult. Scholars continue to grapple with how to ensure minority inclusion without freezing existing divisions.

scholarly journals Addressing inequities in maternal health among women living in communities of social disadvantage and ethnic diversity

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Fernandez Turienzo ◽  
◽  
Mary Newburn ◽  
Agnes Agyepong ◽  
Rachael Buabeng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Social Disadvantage ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged ◽  
Structural Racism ◽  
Community Stakeholders ◽  
Public Health Strategies ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe response to the coronavirus outbreak and how the disease and its societal consequences pose risks to already vulnerable groups such those who are socioeconomically disadvantaged and ethnic minority groups. Researchers and community groups analysed how the COVID-19 crisis has exacerbated persisting vulnerabilities, socio-economic and structural disadvantage and discrimination faced by many communities of social disadvantage and ethnic diversity, and discussed future strategies on how best to engage and involve local groups in research to improve outcomes for childbearing women experiencing mental illness and those living in areas of social disadvantage and ethnic diversity. Discussions centred around: access, engagement and quality of care; racism, discrimination and trust; the need for engagement with community stakeholders; and the impact of wider social and economic inequalities. Addressing biomedical factors alone is not sufficient, and integrative and holistic long-term public health strategies that address societal and structural racism and overall disadvantage in society are urgently needed to improve health disparities and can only be implemented in partnership with local communities.

scholarly journals Chemically defined and xeno-free culture condition for human extended pluripotent stem cells

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bei Liu ◽  
Shi Chen ◽  
Yaxing Xu ◽  
Yulin Lyu ◽  
Jinlin Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cells ◽  
Pluripotent Stem Cells ◽  
Culture Condition ◽  
Human Fibroblast ◽  
Culture System ◽  
Disease Modeling ◽  
Directed Differentiation

AbstractExtended pluripotent stem (EPS) cells have shown great applicative potentials in generating synthetic embryos, directed differentiation and disease modeling. However, the lack of a xeno-free culture condition has significantly limited their applications. Here, we report a chemically defined and xeno-free culture system for culturing and deriving human EPS cells in vitro. Xeno-free human EPS cells can be long-term and genetically stably maintained in vitro, as well as preserve their embryonic and extraembryonic developmental potentials. Furthermore, the xeno-free culturing system also permits efficient derivation of human EPS cells from human fibroblast through reprogramming. Our study could have broad utility in future applications of human EPS cells in biomedicine.

scholarly journals How Do Trade-Offs and Synergies between Ecosystem Services Change in the Long Period? The Case Study of Uxin, Inner Mongolia, China

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (21) ◽  
pp. 6041 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhang ◽  
Li ◽  
Buyantuev ◽  
Bao ◽  
Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Inner Mongolia ◽  
Stepwise Regression ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
Extended Period ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Development And Utilization ◽  
Long Term Trends

Ecosystem services management should often expect to deal with non-linearities due to trade-offs and synergies between ecosystem services (ES). Therefore, it is important to analyze long-term trends in ES development and utilization to understand their responses to climate change and intensification of human activities. In this paper, the region of Uxin in Inner Mongolia, China, was chosen as a case study area to describe the spatial distribution and trends of 5 ES indicators. Changes in relationships between ES and driving forces of dynamics of ES relationships were analyzed for the period 1979–2016 using a stepwise regression. We found that: the magnitude and directions in ES relationships changed during this extended period; those changes are influenced by climate factors, land use change, technological progress, and population growth.

scholarly journals The human hepatoma Hep3B cell line as an experimental model in the study of the long-term regulation of acute-phase proteins by cytokines

1992 ◽  
Vol 287 (1) ◽  
pp. 255-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Hiron ◽  
M Daveau ◽  
P Arnaud ◽  
J Bauer ◽  
J P Lebreton
Keyword(s):  
Cell Line ◽  
Acute Phase ◽  
Culture System ◽  
Acute Phase Protein ◽  
Hepatoma Cell Line ◽  
Mrna Levels ◽  
Human Hepatoma ◽  
Long Term Culture ◽  
Phase Protein

The regulation of the synthesis by the cytokines interleukin-1 (IL-1) and IL-6 of the positive acute-phase protein alpha 1-acid glycoprotein (AGP) and of the negative acute-phase protein alpha 2-HS glycoprotein (AHSG) has been studied in a long-term culture system of the human hepatoma cell line Hep3B. The culture system contained 30 nM-sodium selenite as the only supplement. This allowed maintenance of the synthesis of the proteins under study at a near steady state for over 3 months. An increase in AGP mRNA and a decrease in AHSG mRNA were observed when cells were treated for two successive 48 h-periods with monocyte-conditioned medium. A return to basal levels was obtained after cessation of the cytokine addition. Two further additions of cytokines led to alterations in mRNA levels similar to those observed following the first cytokine treatment. The amounts of AGP and AHSG secreted were altered in accordance with the mRNA modifications. These results suggest that new cytokine receptors were being constantly synthesized during cell culture. When cytokines were present in the culture medium for 10 days, maximum alterations in AGP and AHSG synthesis were obtained following 2 and 4 days of treatment respectively, but further alterations in protein levels could not be observed afterwards. Expression of IL-6 receptor mRNA was not up-regulated by cytokines, but only by 1 microM-dexamethasone. Our results show that, in this long-term culture system, cytokines induce a response in hepatoma cells similar to that observed in vivo during human inflammatory states. This model could be used to evaluate the effects of agonists or antagonists of cytokines responsible for the hepatic acute-phase protein response.

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