Ethnobotanical study on plants used to dye traditional costumes by the Baiku Yao nationality of China

Background The Baiku Yao is a branch of the Yao nationality in China. The unique dying process of traditional clothing employed by these people has distinct national characteristics, a profound impact on the production and life of local people, and important research value. For this reason, it is important to investigate and document the dyeing plants and the traditional knowledge involved in the dyeing of Baku Yao traditional clothing. Methodology Information on dyeing plants was obtained using the free-list method and interviews with 61 Baiku Yao informants in Guangxi and Guizhou from January 2020 to August 2021. Based on the free-list method, we evaluated and screened out important plants by calculating the cognitive salience value of each plant. Results The results showed that the people of Baiku Yao have accumulated rich traditional knowledge of dyeing plants and long-term dyeing and other processes. We collected 23 species and recorded the related traditional knowledge, such as the Baiku Yao name, life form, habitat, part(s) used, application type, usage, and area used. The utilization of dyeing plants has a strong relationship with ethnic culture. The Baiku Yao uses unique anti-dyeing material (Ailanthus vilmoriniana) in the cotton dyeing process, they call it “the mother tree”. As well as, the results also showed that 15 plants (65.2%) have medicinal value and can be used to treat 18 aliments, and wild plants play a very important role in the life of the Baiku Yao. Conclusion These plants not only meet the color needs of the Baiku Yao people but also have health care effects, aligning with the trends toward green dyeing and the health contentiousness of modern people. This study provides a reference for the inheritance and development of Baiku Yao traditional clothing dyeing culture, will aid the identification of new natural, safe and healthy textile dyes, and is of positive significance in promoting regional economic development, national cultural inheritance, and biodiversity protection.

Cannabis Cultivator Phenotype and Attribute Preferences in Legal Recreational and Medical Cannabis Cultivation Operations in Oregon and Colorado

BackgroundAs recreational and medicinal Cannabis sativa production increases across the United States, concerns have arisen regarding declines in cannabis biodiversity. Studies have suggested genetic bottlenecking has occurred primarily because of breeder and cultivator preferences and practices which over-emphasize the selection of strains with high contents of the psychoactive cannabinoid, Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). No study to-date, however, has sought to systematically assess grower and breeder knowledge, preferences, and practices within legal operations within the United States. MethodsTwenty-one licensed recreational and medical cannabis growers in the states of Colorado and Oregon were provided with free lists to ascertain cultural domains of knowledge regarding cannabis phenotypes and attributes within commercial cannabis production operations. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with participants to provide more nuanced explanations of free-list responses, and to clarify responses where necessary. Free-list results were initially ungrouped excepting those variables whose meanings had been triangulated utilizing interview data. Free list data was assessed utilizing Smith’s S formula to ascertain cultural salience for listed attributes and phenotypes. A second analysis was then conducted for grouped terpene-related data. Results Results from the ungrouped free list identified Yield as the most culturally salient category (.29) followed by High THC Content (.26) and Smell (.25). Overall, horticultural characteristics such as yield, plant structure, and morphology garnered were the most frequently listed, followed by chemometrics, economics, and phenology, with some overlap between these categorizations. Though THC content was described as important within commercial operations by most growers both within free-list responses and interviews, growers also expressed that this preference was due to state testing regulations and a misinformed consumer base, rather than grower partialities. Respondents also noted that they believed consumer preferences were changing as consumer demographics were beginning to trend towards “older” consumers. When terpene-related attributes within free-listed results were combined utilizing triangulation from semi-structured interviews to verify the free list data, terpenes became the most cultural-salient attribute listed by growers (.42). Conclusions The results from this study suggest that cannabis biodiversity may indeed be declining due to breeder practices that emphasize THC content, but that these practices are informed by state policies and consumer purchasing metrics rather than grower preferences.

Ethnobotanical Study On Plants Used To Dye Traditional Costumes By The Baiku Yao Nationality of China

Background: The Baiku Yao are a branch of the Yao nationality in China. The unique dyeing process of traditional clothing employed by these people has distinct national characteristics, a profound impact on the production and life of local people, and important research value. For this reason, it is important to investigate and document the dyeing plants and the traditional knowledge involved in the dyeing of Baiku Yao traditional clothing. This study provides a reference for the inheritance and development of Baiku Yao traditional clothing dyeing culture, will help to find new natural, safe and healthy textile dyes, and provides materials for green dyeing of modern clothing. At the same time, it is also expected that the research results will have positive significance in promoting regional economic development, national cultural inheritance and biodiversity protection. Methodology: Information on dyeing plants was obtained using the free-list method and interviews with 61 Baiku Yao informants in Guangxi and Guizhou from January 2020 to August 2021. Based on the free-list method, we evaluated and screened out important plants by calculating the cognitive salience value of each plant. Results: The results showed that the people of Baiku Yao have accumulated rich traditional knowledge of dyeing plants and the long-term dyeing and other processes. We collected 23 kinds of plants and recorded the related traditional knowledge, such as the Baiku Yao name, life form, habitat, part(s) used, application type, usage, and area used. The results also showed that 15 plants (65.2%) have medicinal value and can be used to treat 18 aliments, and wild plants play a very important role in the life of the Baiku Yao. Conclusion: These plants not only meet the color needs of the Baiku Yao people but also have health care effects, aligning with the trends toward green dyeing and the health contentiousness of modern people. This study will aid the identification of new natural, safe and healthy textile dyes and is of positive significance in promoting regional economic development, national cultural inheritance and biodiversity protection.

Appealing to the minds of gods: A novel cultural evolutionary account of religious appeals and an empirical assessment using ethnographic data from eight diverse societies

While appeals to gods and spirits are ubiquitous throughout human societies past and present, deities’ postulated concerns vary across populations. How does the content of beliefs about and appeals to gods vary across groups, and what accounts for this variation? With particular emphasis on locally important deities, we develop a novel cultural evolutionary account that includes a set of predictive criteria for what deities will be associated with in various socioecological contexts. We then apply these criteria in an analysis of individual-level ethnographic free-list data on what pleases and angers locally relevant deities from eight diverse societies. We conclude with a discussion of how alternative approaches to cross-cultural variation in god beliefs and appeals fare against our findings and close by considering some key implications of our methods and findings for the cognitive and evolutionary study of religion.

Rural Populations of Alagoinhas and Herpetofauna: Knowledge, Uses and Interactions

Background: Brazil has one of the greatest diversity of species of herpetofauna in the world. Associated with this diversity of species, rural communities in Brazil have developed a vast knowledge about these animals. The present research aimed to characterize the knowledge and influence of the socioeconomic variables of the population in the interaction between humans and herpetofauna of the rural area of the municipality of Alagoinhas.Methods: The free list method and semistructured questionnaire was used to list the species of the herpetofauna known by the informants.Results: A total amount of 39 species of amphibians and reptiles was cited by the informants. These interact with residents in the categories of food use, magical-religious purposes, medicine, pets and in conflicting relationships.Conclusion: Regarding the results of socioeconomic variables influencing knowledge, time of residence, gender, the location of the community, education level, explained the knowledge associated with the reptiles. For amphibians, time of residence and gender explained the knowledge associated.

Does Climatic Seasonality of the Caatinga Influence the Composition of the Free lists of Medicinal Plants? A Case Study

The free list is a key data collection tool in ethnobotanical studies. For this reason, it is currently receiving a great deal of attention regarding possible methodological limitations. To this end, we aim to investigate the influence of climatic seasonality of the Caatinga ecosystem on the composition of free lists of medicinal plants provided by people from a rural community located in the northeast region of Brazil. People were asked the same trigger question (which medicinal plants do you know?), during the rainy and dry seasons. Comparing the plant lists described during both periods (68 plants), respondent salience in the rainy period was significantly higher than the dry period. However, similarities can be observed between the two lists, especially with respect to their composition and the continued importance of hortelã (Mentha sp.) and alecrim (Lippia sp.), which maintained prominent positions during the rainy and dry seasons. The general analysis of the free lists revealed that there were no significant differences due to temporality, especially in relation to plants with a higher salience value. Since these plants are found mainly in homegardens, it is possible to deduce that the daily conduct of activities in these environments is stimulating and keeping plants in homegardens active in people’s memory. However, much still needs to be investigated about the free list technique in ethnobotanical data collection, especially with regard to the influence of seasonality on stimulating seasonal diseases.

Rural Populations of Alagoinhas and Herpetofauna: Knowledge, Uses and Interactions

Background: Brazil has one of the greatest diversity of species of herpetofauna in the world. Associated with this diversity of species, rural communities in Brazil have developed a vast knowledge about these animals. Methods: The present research aimed to characterize the knowledge and influence of the socioeconomic variables of the population in the interaction between humans and herpetofauna of the rural area of the municipality of Alagoinhas. The free list method and semistructured questionnaire was used to list the species of the herpetofauna known by the informants. Results: A total amount of 39 species of amphibians and reptiles was cited by the informants. These interact with residents in the categories of food use, magical-religious purposes, medicine, pets and in conflicting relationships. Conclusion: Regarding the results of socioeconomic variables influencing knowledge, time of residence, gender, the location of the community, education level, explained the knowledge associated with the reptiles. For amphibians, time of residence and gender explained the knowledge associated.

Organization of multi-access in databases

A particular, but important problem of freeing database memory in multi-access conditions is considered. A number of solutions to this problem are proposed and their advantages and disadvantages are noted. Three methods of organizing work with free space are considered. The first method assumes two additional modes of capturing pages: “Joint deletion” and “deletion”. In the second method, the pages after the last tuple have been deleted are inserted at the end of the free list. The third method involves the actual presentation of the freed pages of the relationship to the free memory pool of the segment and is postponed until the relationship is reorganized.

Examining Values, Virtues, and Tradition in the Republic of Tuva with Free-List and Demographic Data

This article illustrates how using qualitative and quantitative social scientific methods together can help us examine sociocultural phenomena in precise, informative, and potentially useful ways. Using freely listed ethnographic data about what qualities Tuvans associate with “good” and “bad” Tuvan people, we examine general cultural patterns of Tuvan virtues. The data was collected in Tuva in 2009–2010 by interviewing nearly 100 Tuvans in Kyzyl and Western Tuva. We also explore within-group contrasts by applying standard modeling techniques to this ethnographic data, finding demographic associations with listing specific items and those items’ salience. We conclude with a discussion of the promise and limitations of these methods.

The Cultural Aspect and Concept of Lithuanian Kinship: Validity of Free List Method for Creating a Representative Kinship Model

The article presents a detailed and methodologically systematic description of the Lithuanian kinship system. A study of kinship relationships was conducted in order to describe the formal and pragmatic structure of the modern kinship system as it is conceptualized by different generations of Lithuanians. We show how this system both remains a formal system, but the salience of kin types changes across different generations. The authors of the article are aware that there are many formal methods of kinship analysis, but a semi-formal research method that priviledges a pragmatic ‘bottom’s up’ approach is used in order th analyse kinship as an interpersonal and dynamic rather than static system. Our free list methodology was chosen because of its emic perspective that allows for comparative etic (i.e. statistical) cross-generational analysis.The results of our research show that Lithuanian kinship systems are not only holistic, but also holographic, and the main structure with its attendant terminology is flexible and adaptive to the requirements of different generational concerns such as courtship, mating, parenting and being grandparents. The results confirm a premise of the anthropological sciences – that thoughts are expressed in language and language (as thoughts or concepts) in turn shapes behaviour. This idea is given credence and supported by our study: the observed approach to change is a non-linguistic result, i.e. it is determined by behaviours, experiences that fall into the linguistic category, and shapes them not according to an imaginary monolithic configuration, but according to individual experience and relationships. Based on the data, it can be concluded that they reflect different collective conceptualizations of kinship – both blood-related and marital kinship. The study found that different behavioural requirements create assumptions for emphasizing appropriate social relations; it is particularly noticeable that the displacement of certain kinship names in the periphery is associated with a corresponding absence of kinship relations. The results also motivate a subsequent study that would look at testing the behavioural systems between kin that are indicated by this study.