On WEIRD Anthropologists and Their White Skeletons

Most forensic anthropologists and the populations they study are WEIRD—that is, Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic. In their interventions into the WEIRD, Clancy and Davis (2019) contend that WEIRD is a euphemism for white and that it is the white, Western European–derived scientists and subjects that skew the predominating narrative of the human condition. While they demonstrate how biological anthropology can decenter the WEIRD, it is fruitful to extend their framework specifically to forensic anthropology. We argue that the scientific enterprise of forensic anthropology is unique in that: (1) it is touted as an objective tool that must operate within medicolegal systems, (2) it involves board certification and accreditation standards, and (3) it holds ancestry and race as core to its practice. In a bibliometric survey of journal articles over the past five years (n = 793), we find that up to 79% of authors originate from WEIRD contexts. In articles specifically studying ancestry, European-derived populations are included 88% of the time as a category for comparison to other groups, while only 12% do not include Europeans. Furthermore, 49% of articles unrelated to ancestry use white subjects solely or in part, reinforcing a historic tendency to measure all human variation against one particular norm. We also find that WEIRD articles receive significantly more recognition than non-WEIRD counterparts. In this reflexive and positional exercise, we hope to make visible how whiteness as WEIRDness informs the history, values, and practices of forensic anthropology on a global scale.

The multiplicity of halal standards: a case study of application to slaughterhouses

Food products suitable for Muslim consumers should be halal certified, particularly when their origins or production processes are doubtful. However, there is a multiplicity of halal standards. This situation may generate confusion, particularly for producers in Western countries who would like to certify their products in order to export them to Islamic countries. This study analyzed the reasons underlying the multiplicity of standards and reviewed the attempts of harmonization over time. Then, the case study of application to slaughterhouses was considered, by comparing four different halal standards (namely GSO 993:2015, OIC/SMIIC 1:2019, HAS 23103:2012, and MS 1500:2019) representative of different geographic areas. Animal stunning was critically examined, comparing tradition with modernity. The study evidenced that the basic requirements related to slaughtering are common to all the halal standards considered, but several differences occur in more specific details. Only a close collaboration between the authorities of all the countries involved in issuing halal certifications will lead to a homogeneous regulatory framework with unified certification and accreditation procedures, increasingly required in a globalized market.

Use of gamma spectroscopy for characterization and traceability of beans

<p>The ϒ-ray spectroscopy is the quantitative study of the ϒ spectra of and finds applications in a very large number of fields, from the astrophysics to the geochemistry. The radionuclides are instable isotopes because of an excess of nuclear energy that must be released, leading to the formation of more stable nuclides. One of the possible releasing mechanisms is the emission of gamma radiation. A spectrum is characteristic, in terms of energies and intensities, of the nuclides present and allows to determine their quantity and the nature of sample under investigation. This offers the possibility of obtaining specific information, which can be acquired only with difficulty or even not at all by other techniques.</p><p>This is also true in the field of food characterization and their traceability.</p><p>The traceability in the food industry has become a fundamental request for the modern society. It consists in the ability of tracing any food, feed or substance used for consumption, through all stages of production, processing and distribution. For this reason, it is essential to provide transparency and safety to consumers who are demanding high quality products, with good nutritional characteristics. In the same moment, it is also important for producers, because it ensures certification and accreditation of their products. Traceability is indeed a way for ensuring that all food products are safe.</p><p>In order to achieve this goal, it is necessary to use specific experimental techniques, sometime developing innovative solutions. In this paper, an application of the ϒ spectroscopy to the food traceability is presented.</p><p>The gamma-emitting radionuclides can be used as markers for establishing correlations between soil and plants. Actually, a plant cannot have a much different amount of radioisotopes and a different isotopic composition than the soil in which it grows. This can make possible to trace a product and ascertain the place where it was produced.</p><p>A study of the γ characterization of some Italian bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) varieties with different geographic origins, using a portable AMETEK ORTEC High Purity Germanium (HPGe) Radiation Detector, is presented.</p><p>Beans are suitable for this study because they are rich in potassium, which exists in nature with a relatively high abundance of its radioactive isotope <sup>40</sup>K. Its content in different parts of the plant, such as seeds, pods, leaves, has been measured, along with the presence of other radioisotopes. This has also allowed us to establish correlations between this element and macro elements, such as carbon and nitrogen, measured by elementary combustion.</p><p>It was possible to verify the relationship between the concentration in the seeds and in the soil. Attention was also paid to the content of other radioisotopes, especially those of alkaline metals such as cesium. Due to their chemical nature, they can mimic the biological behavior of potassium and be absorbed. This may suggest further use of the cultivation of beans or leguminous plants as a possible method of bioremediation for polluted soils, because they can accumulate some specific contaminants. In principle it is also possible to recognize radioactivity arising from natural and anthropogenic origin in  the soil.</p>

Healthy Workspaces: Strategies for Increasing the Indoor Environmental Quality at Call Centre Interiors for Employee Wellbeing and Productivity

Indoor environmental quality is a requirement for good architectural and interior design. The definition of indoor environmental quality refers to the conditions of the interior space that provide health and wellbeing for its occupants. Elements of indoor environmental quality are thermal comfort, indoor air quality, ventilation, ergonomics, natural and artificial lighting, odor, and acoustic quality. Indoor environmental quality is required in every type of interior space including ones with residential, educational, and cultural functions and workspaces. It is also included as one of the factors of energy efficient and sustainable design in building energy certification and accreditation systems. This study focuses on call center interiors as a type of workspaces, where the employees spend a long time in the interior space communicating with customers on the phone. The aim is to provide theoretical information and practical application suggestions for higher quality design in call center interiors. The methodology of this paper consists firstly of a literature review to study and analyze the definition and elements of indoor environmental quality, and its implementation into call center interiors as workspaces. Analytical studies lead to strategy proposals for better designed call center interior spaces. The results of the study indicate that better designed interior spaces in call centers lead to better health and wellbeing of the employees, resulting with higher performance and service quality.

La Convergencia en los procesos de Certificación ISO y Acreditación CONAIC en Instituciones de Educación Superior IES.

Actualmente los procesos de Certificación ISO y Acreditación CONAIC juegan un papel muy importante en laGestión de la Calidad de los productos y servicios que las Instituciones de Educación Superior (IES) ofertan a la sociedad. Es por ello, que sin distinción al sector que pertenezca, sea privado o público han comprendido que someterse a los procesos de evaluación y cumplir con una lista extensa y detallada de requerimientos que solicitan las organizaciones, promueven un retorno de inversión orientado en beneficios a la misma institución. Este documento, presenta una nueva visión de las similitudes que existen entre los componentes y la estructura de ambos procesos, entre las ventajas se puede mencionar que las Instituciones que ya aprobaron una acreditación pueden someterse con mayor confianza a una certificación, o viceversa; y además, promueve áreas de oportunidades para fortalecer el mecanismo de evaluación del CONAIC. Currently the process of ISO Certification and Accreditation CONAIC play an important role in the quality management of products and services that Higher Education Institutions (IES) offer to society. That is why, regardless the sector they belong, whether private or public have understood that undergo evaluation processes and meet an extensive and detailed list of requirements applying organizations, promote a return -oriented investment in benefits to same institution. This paper presents a new point of view in the similarities that exist in the components and structure of both processes, the advantages may be mentioned that the institutions that have already approved accreditation can undergo more confidence to certification, or vice versa ; and also it promotes areas of opportunity to strengthen the assessment mechanism CONAIC .

On Australia’s Cyber and Critical Technology International Engagement Strategy Towards 6G

In response to the call by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for submissions on the development of Australia’s Cyber and Critical Technology International Engagement Strategy, this paper reviews the most critical technologies; related risks and opportunities; best practices, policies and security frameworks in other countries; relevant government, industry, civil society and academia cooperation initiatives; and proposes how Australia may became a leader in the global Cyberspace. To realise this vision, Australia should play a major role among selected international organizations; support the continuous evolution of critical technologies; adopt a proper technology security assurance scheme; and enforce a certification and accreditation process – against a predetermined set of appropriate security standards and policies – for security authorisation in Australia. This could be achieved with the formulation and implementation of an Australia’s defence-in-depth strategy, augmented by a Zero-Trust model, which enhances security for untrusted domains, and within trusted domains, and meets the baseline requirements of cyber security for the Internet of Things.

A pilot study of methodology for the development of farmland habitat reports for sustainability assessments

The inclusion of farm maps of habitat features is becoming an urgent requirement for assessments of farm-scale sustainability and for compliance or benchmarking with national and international sustainability certification and accreditation schemes. Traditional methods of habitat assessment rely strongly on field-based surveys, which are logistically demanding and relatively costly. We describe and investigate a process that relies on information technology to develop a scalable method that can be applied across multiple farms to reduce the significant logistical challenges and financial costs of traditional habitat surveys. A key impediment to the routine development of farm habitat maps is the lack of information on the type of habitats that occur on a land parcel. Within a pilot project comprising 187 farms, we developed and implemented a process for creating farm habitat reports and investigate the accuracy of visual interpretation of satellite imagery by an ecologist aiming to identify habitat types. We generated customised farm reports that included a colour-coded farm habitat map and habitat information (type, area, relative wildlife importance). Visual assessment of satellite imagery achieved an overall accuracy of 96% in its ability to discriminate between land parcels with habitats categorised by this study as being of either high or low nature conservation value. Assessment of satellite imagery achieved an overall accuracy of 90% in its ability to discriminate among Fossitt level II habitat classes, and an overall accuracy of 81% when using individual habitat classes (Fossitt level III). There was, however, considerable variation in the accuracy associated with individual habitat classes. We conclude that this methodology based on satellite imagery is sufficiently accurate to be used for the incorporation of farmland habitats into farm-scale sustainability assurance, but should, at most, use Fossitt level II habitat classes. We discuss future challenges and opportunities for the development of farm habitat maps and plans for their use in sustainability certification schemes.