Human Ecological Factors Research Articles

How human ecology landscapes shape the circulation of H5N1 avian influenza: A case study in Indonesia

BackgroundHighly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 virus consistently threatens global public health. A better understanding of the virus' circulation mechanism is needed for future epidemic prevention. Previous studies have focused on the correlations between the presence of H5N1 virus and wild bird populations, domestic poultry production, and sociodemographic factors. However, human cultural landscapes and their impact on H5N1 spread have not been adequately explored. MethodsUsing 196 HA gene sequences of H5N1 influenza viruses from Indonesia with district-level geographic information, we performed Monmonier barrier and Louvain community detection analyses to explore how human ecological factors impact the circulation of virus and identify barriers to or corridors of dispersal. ResultsSpatial discontinuity in the genetic characteristics identified by the Monmonier algorithm were found to mirror the differences in key landscape factors. Our Louvain community detection analysis also found the co-existence of different geographic circulation patterns. The community detection analysis suggests that direct human-related interactions such as poultry transportations between remote areas may result in similar viruses spreading in two distant regions whilst dense localities supported genetically heterogeneous viruses in geographically adjacent areas. ConclusionHuman ecological landscapes shape the circulation mechanism of H5N1 virus in multiple ways contingent upon local context. Physical and cultural barriers may impede its movement between adjacent areas, while natural or human-induced corridors such as wild bird flyways and poultry production networks facilitate its spread between geographically distant areas. Further focus on the importance of cultural landscapes has great potential for increasing our understanding of the circulation of pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus in Southeast Asia.

Complex Networks and Fundamental Urban Processes

Complex networks provide a particularly compelling theoretical and modeling approach to cities and urban systems. While cities are made of people, places and organizations, it is the social, economic and physical connections among these entities that start to reveal how and why cities exist, are sustained and grow (Hall 1998; Jacobs 1985). These connections also play a role in structuring individual entities themselves, for example, via firm interactions in markets, the role of institutions in shaping behavior and the general tendency for creating knowledge and labor specialization so characteristic of professional occupations in cities. Thus, a shift in perspective away from places and individuals, towards emphasizing various types of interaction networks has been advocated as one of the cornerstones for constructing a more integrated and general science of cities (Batty 2017; Bettencourt 2021), for emphasizing the importance of human ecological factors (Sampson 2012) and, even, as a general philosophical stance for capturing the complexity and fluidity of human social phenomena (Deleuze et al. 2012). Empirical and theoretical developments now underway are also starting to show how quantitative network properties and concepts constitute a natural target for developing general urban theory (Bettencourt 2013), beyond the descriptive statistics of data.

An Experimental Study on Factors Influencing the Musical Intelligence of Young Adolescents

In order to confine the full array of abilities and talents that people possess, Gardner theorizes that people do not havejust an intellectual capacity, but have many different kinds of intelligence, including intrapersonal, logicalmathematical, naturalistic, body-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, spatial-visual, existential and linguistic intelligences. According to Howard Gardner, people who are musically intelligent have good thinking in patterns, rhythms and sounds. Such entities have a strong appreciation for music and often they are good at musical composition and performance. By keeping in view above facts, this study was designed to identity the types of multiple intelligences among young adolescents along with, to assess the effect of various human ecological factors (as stated by Bronfenbrenner) on Multiple Intelligences of secondary level students. To achieve this aim, standardized Multiple Intelligence Assessment Tool developed by Kaur (2006) was implemented on a sample consisting of 200 students from higher secondary schools of both areas of Mahendergarh (Haryana), i.e., rural and urban. Results revealed that fathers' education and occupation, residence of location and relationship with the peers of the young adolescents were observed to be significantly associated with musical intelligence of the respondents. Other variables had no significant association with the musical intelligence of the young adolescent girls.

Exploring Relationship of Family Variables on Intrapersonal Intelligence of Young Adolescent Girls

There is a wide gap between the popularity of intrapersonal intelligence as a concept and its application in society. People often misinterpret intrapersonal intelligence for a form of magnetism or gregariousness. They don't perceive it as something that can be improved and they identify it as, “either one has it or one doesn't”. By understanding what intrapersonal intelligence really is and how we can administer it in our lives, we can commence to leverage all if that intelligence, education and experience stored over a period of time. Similar idea was proposed by Howard Gardner in the theory of multiple intelligences, where human intelligence differentiates into specific 'modalities', rather than seeing intelligence as dominated by a single general ability. Ecological Systems Theory bestowed by Bronfenbrenner (1979) discribes that there are five systems arranged from the closest to the individual to the farthest and these systems directly or indirectly affects the human development. The present study was designed to study the level of intrapersonal intelligence and impact of various human ecological factors affecting it. To achieve this aim, standardized Multiple Intelligence Assessment Tool developed by Kaur (2006) was administered on a study sample consisting of 200 students from higher secondary schools of both areas of Mahendergarh (Haryana), i.e., rural and urban. Results revealed that parental occupation, caste and discipline by the parents were found to be significantly associated with intrapersonal intelligence of the respondents. Yet other human ecological factors such as frequency of visit to relatives/ friends by respondents, exposure to mass media, type of people living in nearby area and availability of newspaper at home had no effect on intrapersonal intelligence of the young adolescents.

Farm Dependence and Population Change in China

The existing literature has documented a negative association between farm dependence and population change in Western countries. Theories have also been proposed to explain such a negative association. Whether prior findings based on the western social context can be generalized to less developed countries, such as China, has largely eluded researchers. Using five waves of Chinese Census data and data from China’s Statistical Yearbooks, I investigate the dynamics between farm dependence and population change, particularly, in counties of Chinese provinces that are highly dependent on farms. I find that after controlling for mechanization, nonfarm industries and the human ecological factors that are rooted in the theoretical explanations of rural population change, high farm dependence does not necessarily lead to a lower population growth. The results imply that the existing theories on farm dependence and population change may need to be modified when being applied to less developed regions. The regional variation approach is proposed to understand population change in high-farm-dependent areas of China.

Structural Integration and The Trees: An Analysis of Deforestation in Less-Developed Countries, 1990–2005

This study tests a hypothesis derived from an expanded theory of foreign investment dependence. The tested hypothesis states that less-developed countries with higher levels of primary sector foreign investment exhibit greater rates of deforestation. Findings for cross-national analyses of deforestation from 1990 to 2005 for 40 less-developed countries confirm the hypothesis, providing support for the proposed theorization. Additional results indicate that the presence of environmental international nongovernmental organizations is beneficial for natural forest areas, while population growth is a key driver of deforestation in less-developed countries. Besides confirming the hypothesis, this research underscores the importance for sociologists to consider both political–economic forms of integration and human-ecological factors when investigating how humans impact the environment.

Human ecology and malaria.

SummaryProblems of malaria eradication are discussed in terms of relevant human ecological factors. Principal human factors seen as related to the success or failure of malaria eradication programs are: poverty, ignorance, illiteracy, social deprivation, migration and local mobility of populations, differential exposure of populations to Anopheles mosquitoes, alterations in the physical environment associated with development programs, cultural attitudes toward mosquitoes and malaria, and population-malaria program relationships. It is suggested that as malaria eradication programs progress, the relative importance of human factors in determining their effectiveness is likely to increase.