Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
|
Your cart is empty |
|||
Books > Science & Mathematics > Biology, life sciences > Human biology & related topics
Living with Diabetes and Uncertainty in Cairo offers an ethnographic exploration of the interactions of two different understandings of type-2 diabetes: one related to the notion of á¸aghá¹, translated as “pressure†or “stress,†and another related primarily to obesity. The book is set in Egypt but draws links to a diabetes clinic in Denmark and a multinational medical company, as well as engaging with international diabetes research and guidelines. It tells a story of uncertainty, not only among people in Cairo, but also within medical research, and considers what uncertainty may generate in both bodies and societies at large. The chapters provide valuable insight into the lives of those in Cairo who are diagnosed with type-2 diabetes, and explore how those lives are linked to global movements. The book ultimately reflects on the question of what is overlooked and why in prevention strategies and treatments of type-2 diabetes in Egypt. It will be of particular interest to scholars of anthropology, global and public health, and the Middle East and North Africa.
Despite the centrality of migration in our contemporary world, scholarship on mobility and health frequently separates migrants according to legal status, country of origin, destination, or health concern. Yet people on the move and health systems face challenges and opportunities that transcend these boundaries, including border fortification, neoliberal agendas, and climate change. This volume explores these epistemic borders, recognizing the necessity of a new conversation about migration and health. Each of the empirically grounded chapters introduces readers to pressing questions of migration and health in diverse social, political, and geographical settings.
This book offers a critical reading of the Anthropocene that draws on archaeological, ecological, geological, and ethnographic evidence to argue that the concept reproduces the modernist binary between society and nature, and forecloses a more inclusive politics around climate change. The authors challenge the divisions between humans as biological and geophysical agents that constitute the ontological foundations of the period. Building on contemporary critiques of capitalism, they examine different conceptions of human-environment relationships derived from anthropology to engage with the pressing problem of global warming.
It should not come as too much of a surprise that biological
membranes are considerably more complex than lipid bilayers. This
has been made quite clear by the fluid-mosaic model which considers
the cell membrane as a two-dimensional solution of a mosaic of
integral membrane proteins and glycoproteins firmly embedded in a
fluid lipid bilayer matrix. Such a model has several virtues, chief
among which is that it allows membrane components to diffuse in the
plane of the membrane and orient asymmetrically across the
membrane. The model is also remarkable since it provokes the right
sort of questions. Two such examples are: Does membrane fluidity
influence enzyme activity? Does cholesterol regulate fluidity?
However, it does not go far enough. As it turns out, there is now
another version of this model, the so-called post-fluid mosaic
model which incorporates two concepts, namely the existence in the
membrane of discrete domains in which specific lipid-lipid,
lipid-protein and protein-protein interactions occur and ordered
regions that are in motion but remain separate from less ordered
regions. We must admit that both are intriguing problems and of
importance in guiding our thinking as to what the next model might
be.
Frontiers of Citizenship is an engagingly-written, innovative history of Brazil's black and indigenous people that redefines our understanding of slavery, citizenship, and the origins of Brazil's 'racial democracy'. Through groundbreaking archival research that brings the stories of slaves, Indians, and settlers to life, Yuko Miki challenges the widespread idea that Brazilian Indians 'disappeared' during the colonial era, paving the way for the birth of Latin America's largest black nation. Focusing on the postcolonial settlement of the Atlantic frontier and Rio de Janeiro, Miki argues that the exclusion and inequality of indigenous and African-descended people became embedded in the very construction of Brazil's remarkably inclusive nationhood. She demonstrates that to understand the full scope of central themes in Latin American history - race and national identity, unequal citizenship, popular politics, and slavery and abolition - one must engage the histories of both the African diaspora and the indigenous Americas.
This book investigates the neuroscientific knowledge on addiction as an epistemic project.
Offering a study of biological, biomedical and biocultural
approaches, the second edition of "Human Growth and Development "is
a valued resource for researchers, professors and graduate students
across the interdisciplinary area of human development. With timely
chapters on obesity, diet / lifestyle, and genetics, this editionis
the only publication offering a biological, biomedical and
biocultural approach. The second edition of "Human Growth and
Development" includes contributions from the well-known experts in
the field and is the most reputable, comprehensive resource
available.
Bringing a fresh perspective to multicultural studies, Greaves illuminates the current situation of 13 of our most traditional peoples in the United States and Canada. Included are small tribal groups, ethnic groups with a unique way of life, new immigrants, and refugees with strong roots in war-torn homelands. A broad diversity of cultures is presented, including the Lummi in Washington State, the African Americans in the coastal zone of Georgia, the Amish of Lancaster County, and the Hmong in Wisconsin. The relevant issues of their survival in today's global culture will engage students and general readers alike. Each chapter covers a specific group, including sections on the land, people, traditional subsistence strategies, political and social organization, religion and worldview, threats to survival, and response to those threats. A common format to each chapter facilitates comparisons between cases. A Food for Thought section has questions for discussion or paper topics, and a helpful Resource Guide lists further reading, films and videos, websites, and organizations. Maps and photos complement the text.
1) Classic anatomical atlases 2) Detailed labeling of the earliest phases of prenatal neurological development 3) Appeals to neuroanatomists, developmental biologists and clinical practitioners. 4) Persistent relevance - brain development is not going to change
The coronavirus pandemic forces us to rethink our contemporaneity. It has brought to the surface dimensions of human fragility that partially contradict the euphoria and human hubris of the fourth industrial revolution (artificial intelligence). It has also aggravated the social inequality and racial discrimination that characterize our societies. The book argues that the virus, rather than an enemy, must be viewed as a pedagogue. It is trying to teach us that the deep causes of the pandemic lie in our dominant mode of production and consumption. The systemic overload of natural resources creates a metabolic rift between society and nature that destabilizes the habitat of wild animals and the vital cycles of natural regeneration whereby pandemics become an increasingly recurrent phenomenon. In trying to take seriously this lesson the book proposes a paradigmatic shift from the current civilizatory model to a new one guided by a more equitable relationship between nature and society and the priority of life, both human and non-human.
A focus throughout on lifespan perspectives and a consideration of palliative care across all ages. Consideration of different cultural perspectives, beliefs, thoughts and practices outside Western societies and dominant paradigms. Integrates primary research throughout, including a focus on contemporary research from social media. Complements mainstream psychological approaches to life-limiting illness by exploring death, dying and palliative care with a critical health psychology lens.
This book is the compilation of papers presented at the International Symposium on in vivo Body Composition Studies, held at the University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, June 20 - 23, 1989. The purpose of this conference was to report on advances in techniques for the in vivo measurement of body composition and to present recent data on normal body composition and changes during disease. This conference was the most recent of several meetings on body composition studies, and follows two successful such meetings, one at Brookhaven National Laboratory in 1986, and at Edinburgh in 1988. The large number of excellent research papers and posters presented at these conferences demonstrates the rapid growth of the field and the broad interest in the subject of in vivo body composition studies. The proceedings of the Brookhaven meeting "In Vivo Body Composition Studies", is published by The Institute of Physical Sciences in Medicine, London. Both the Brookhaven and the current Toronto meeting emphasized the clinical applications, together with the techniques employed. The Edinburgh meeting placed more emphasis on the methodological problems and design of instrumentation. Because of the number of papers presented at the meeting it was necessary to ask the authors from the same institution to combine their presentations into a single paper where appropriate. The editors wish to thank the authors for their cooperation and for graciously accepting the minor revisions made to each manuscript.
"Fractals in Biology and Medicine, Volume 2" explores the potential of the fractal geometry in understanding how to analyse natural shapes. The volume devotes special emphasis to the complex field of human tumours.
The seventh volume of a multi-volume work designed for medical students with rudimentary knowledge of cellular biology. It is the key discipline for the basic medical sciences and clinical medicine to be taught in an integrated curriculum. This text features developmental biology.
It has been over 50 years since Hans Selye formulated his concept of stress. This came after the isolation of epinephrine and norepinephrine and after the sympathetic system was associated with Walter Cannon's "fight or flight" response. The intervening years have witnessed a number of dis coveries that have furthered our understanding of the mechanisms of the stress response. The isolation, identification and manufacture of gluco corticoids, the identification and synthesis of ACTH and vasopressin, and the demonstration of hypothalamic regulation of ACTH secretion were pivotal discoveries. The recent identification and synthesis of CRR by Willie Vale and his colleagues gave new impetus to stress research. Several new concepts of stress have developed as a result of advances in bench research. These include the concept of an integrated "stress sys tem," the realization that there are bi-directional effects between stress and the immune system, the suggestion that a number of common psychiatric disorders represent dysregulation of systems responding to stress, and the epidemiologic association of stress with the major scourges of humanity."
Min Li and a panel of hands-on experimentalists detail
state-of-the-art molecular techniques for studying NMDA
ligand-gated ion channels and developing assays for nontherapeutic
lead selection. The topics range from cDNA cloning to in vitro and
in vivo investigation of the channel complex in the mammalian
brain. Additional topics include the biochemical analysis of the
channel protein and the construction of various heterologous
systems for both basic research and high throughput screens (HTS)
for pharmaceutical chemicals. Although the focus is on NMDA
receptors, the methods are applicable to other ligand-gated ion
channels and with some modification may be extended to related
membrane signaling receptors. NMDA Receptor Protocols offers
today's scientists powerful methods for basic research on NMDA
receptor structure and function, as well as enormous opportunities
for clinical investigation toward the development of novel
bioactive compounds.
This book attempts to establish a more holistic approach to the rehabilitation of war-injured civilians, one that adjusts to the patients' long-term needs. Kovacic not only offers an insight into the daily realities of patients during and after rehabilitation, but seeks to develop a new way to perceive, respect and involve them in health care. Based on comprehensive interviews with patients and MSF staff, as well as extended field observations, Reconstructing lives follows Syrian and Iraqi war-injured civilians in their journey to recovery. From their improvised medical treatment in their home countries, to the MSF-run hospital in Amman Jordan, to their return home, Kovacic explores how individuals attempt to pick up the pieces of their previous lives, add new elements from their treatment and travel experiences, and finally establish a new reconstructed reality. The book explores how the interaction between MSF staff and their patients contributes to the immense task of healing that awaits victims of war. The reader visits the intimate medical and domestic spaces that usually remain closed to the outside observer, spaces rich with human contact, perceptions, emotions, conflicts and reconciliations. -- .
1) Classic anatomical atlases 2) Detailed labeling of the earliest phases of prenatal neurological development 3) Appeals to neuroanatomists, developmental biologists and clinical practitioners. 4) Persistent relevance - brain development is not going to change.
This book explores the experiential and affective dimensions of structural transformation in South Asia through contemporary and historical accounts of life, ageing, illness, and death. The contributions to this book include analyses from various regions in South Asia, and topics discussed uncover how people's experiences of life, ageing, illness, and death are entangled with the technology of governance, biomedicine, neoliberal restructuring and other national/international policies. Structured in three parts - governance, technology, and citizenship; well-being and restructuring of the social; waiting, hesitation, and hope as attitudes in facing the precariousness and fundamental uncertainty of life - the book brings to light the ways in which people face and continue to engage with their own and others' lives cautiously, waveringly, but with a sense of hope. A novel contribution to the study of how people struggle or navigate their lives through the conditions of inequity and precariousness in South Asia, this book will be of interest to researchers studying anthropology, sociology, history, medical and development studies of South Asia, as well as to those interested in cultural and social theory.
Zsuzsa Berend presents a methodologically innovative ethnography of SurroMomsOnline.com, the largest surrogacy support website in the United States. Surrogates' views emerge from the stories, debates, and discussions that unfold online. The Online World of Surrogacy documents these collective meaning-making practices and explores their practical, emotional, and moral implications. In doing so, the book works through themes of interest across the social sciences, including definitions of parenthood, the symbolic role of money, reproductive loss, altruism, and the moral valuation of relationships.
A GUARDIAN, ECONOMIST AND PROSPECT BOOK OF THE YEAR 'A superb book' Simon Sebag Montefiore 'An empowering story of human ingenuity' Economist 'Full of curious facts' The Times Causes of death have changed irrevocably across time. In the course of a few centuries we have gone from a world where disease or violence were likely to strike anyone at any age, and where famine could be just one bad harvest away, to one where in many countries excess food is more of a problem than a lack of it. Why have the reasons we die changed so much? How is it that a century ago people died mainly from infectious disease, while today the leading causes of death in industrialised nations are heart disease and stroke? And what do changing causes of death reveal about how previous generations have lived? University of Manchester Professor Andrew Doig provides an eye-opening portrait of death throughout history, looking at particular causes - from infectious disease to genetic disease, violence to diet - who they affected, and the people who made it possible to overcome them. Along the way we hear about the long and torturous story of the discovery of vitamin C and its role in preventing scurvy; the Irish immigrant who opened the first washhouse for the poor of Liverpool, and in so doing educated the public on the importance of cleanliness in combating disease; and the Church of England curate who, finding his new church equipped with a telephone, started the Samaritans to assist those in emotional distress. This Mortal Coil is a thrilling story of growing medical knowledge and social organisation, of achievement and, looking to the future, of promise.
This book provides a unique ethnographic account of women living with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in India. It examines how contaminated environments and political-economic changes render urban middle-class women in India vulnerable to PCOS, a condition which has the potential to disrupt conventional, normative feminine biographies of marriage and childbearing. The volume revolves around two main themes: how toxic landscapes, the endocrine disrupting chemicals suffusing them, and the political-economic environments related to them are linked to endocrine disorders such as PCOS; and how the biosocial disruptions caused by PCOS are both affecting women and reflective of changes in contemporary urban India. The author draws on anthropological fieldwork to investigate these connections through a fresh approach, combining a political ecological framework with perspectives from the anthropology of toxic exposures and health-environment systems. The first of its kind, this volume will be indispensable to students and researchers of anthropology, particularly medical anthropology, medical sociology, human geography, science and technology studies, medical humanities, health-environment systems, endocrine disorders, public health, and South Asian studies.
This book observes the idea of race as a false representation for the cause of disease. Race-based medicine, an emerging field in pharmacology, aims to create a specialty market based on racial groups. Within this market, the drug BiDil set a precedent in this area of medicine targeting African Americans as its first racial group. Consequently, selecting African Americans as a "starter group" led to ethical questions regarding the motive behind race-based medicine within the context of the larger treatment of blacks in American medical history. This book therefore links medicine and American eugenics, examines race-based medicine's influence on the perception of the black body, traces the influence of BiDil's approval on the resurgence of race-based medicine, and assesses the black church's response to race-based medicine using black liberation theology as a means to social justice.
Chronic diseases have rapidly become the leading global cause of morbidity and mortality, yet there is poor understanding of this transition, or why particular social and ethnic groups are especially susceptible. In this book, Wells adopts a multidisciplinary approach to human nutrition, emphasising how power relations shape the physiological pathways to obesity, diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease. Part I reviews the physiological basis of chronic diseases, presenting a 'capacity-load' model that integrates the nutritional contributions of developmental experience and adult lifestyle. Part II presents an evolutionary perspective on the sensitivity of human metabolism to ecological stresses, highlighting how social hierarchy impacts metabolism on an intergenerational timescale. Part III reviews how nutrition has changed over time, as societies evolved and coalesced towards a single global economic system. Part IV integrates these physiological, evolutionary and politico-economic perspectives in a unifying framework, to deepen our understanding of the societal basis of metabolic ill-health. |
You may like...
Anatomy & Embalming - A Treatise on the…
Albert John Nunnamaker, Charles O Dhonau
Hardcover
R955
Discovery Miles 9 550
Adaptation and Human Behavior - An…
Lee Cronk, Napoleon A Chagnon, …
Hardcover
R3,905
Discovery Miles 39 050
|