Through a combined adaptive cycle and political ecology approach, this article explores how the Afro-Brazilian Quilombolas of Bombas, living inside the protected area of PETAR, respond to and shape social-ecological changes in the Atlantic Forest. Field data reveal that both environmental restrictions and social policies of state transfer payments and food packages have contributed to decreased...

The TseTse ‡y is unique to the African continent and transmits a parasite harmful to humans and lethal to livestock. This paper tests the hypothesis that the presence of the TseTse reduced the ability of Africans to generate an agricultural surplus historically by limiting the use of domesticated animals and inhibiting the adoption of animal-powered technologies. To identify the e¤ects of the ‡...

Recent Thai research on Karen ethnicity and resource management places signiŽ cant emphasis on rotational shifting cultivation (rai mun wian). A broad consensus has emerged that this is a relatively sustainable, ecologically friendly and subsistence-oriented form of agriculture that is threatened by the recent intrusion of the state and the market. This paper argues that the portrayals encompas...

Chitosan/silk fibroin (CS/SF) blend films were prepared and evaluated for feasibility of using the films as biomaterial for skin tissue engineering application. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry analysis indicated chemical interaction between chitosan and fibroin. Chitosan enhanced β-sheet conformation of fibroin and resulted in shifting of thermal de...

Seeing others is a central metaphor in James Cameron’s film Avatar, used as a means to express empathy and empathic bonding throughout the film, both between humans and the Na’vi, and between the Na’vi and the animals that inhabit their world. Empathy entails an ability to see and feel the world from another’s perspective—feeling with rather than feeling for. Jake Sully’s shifting and boundary-...

Shifting agriculture in the tropics has been replaced by sedentary smallholder farming on a few hectares of degraded land. To address low yields and low income both, the soil fertility, the agroecosystem functions, and the source of income can be restored by diversification with nitrogen-fixing trees and the cultivation of indigenous tree species that produce nutritious and marketable products....

Consistent with the aims of this special issue, we present a systems perspective on self/identity, predicated on William James's classic distinction between I and Me, and use this perspective to explore conceptual relations between self/identity, motivation to learn, and self-regulated learning. We define the I self functionally in terms of the capacity for the conscious shifting and sustaining...

The cultivation of mindfulness has received increasing attention over the past 2 decades because of its association with increased psychological well-being and reduced stress-related health disorders. Given the robust positive association between perceived stress and cognitive impairment in late life, the current study evaluated the association between trait mindfulness, psychological well-bein...

The study implements the consequential life cycle assessment (CLCA) to provide a market based perspective on how overall environmental impact will change when shifting glass fibres to flax fibres as reinforcements in composite fabrication. With certain assumptions, the marginal flax fibre supply is identified to be a combination of Chinese flax fibre (70%) and French flax fibre (30%). Due to in...

Questions Human disturbance is increasingly affecting forest dynamics across the tropics. Forests can recover via natural secondary succession to pre-disturbance levels of biodiversity, species composition, and ecosystem carbon stocks. Central Africa will be subject high shifting-cultivation pressure in next decades, but trajectories these properties are still poorly known for Congo basin. We a...