Associative cultural landscape approach to interpreting traditional ecological wisdom:A case of Inuit habitat

Global climate change and the accelerated melting of glaciers have raised concerns about the ability to manage ice-snow environments.Historically,human ancestors have mastered the ecological wisdom of working with ice-snow environments,but the phenomenon has not yet been articulated in cultural landscape methodologies that emphasize“nature-culture relevance”.The challenging living environment often compels indigenous people to form a strong bond with their surroundings,leading to the creation of long-term ecological wisdom through synergistic relationships with the environment.This ecological environment is conceptualized as a cognitive space in the form of the landscape,with which the aboriginal community norms and individual spirits continually interact.Such interactions generate numerous non-material cultural evidences,such as culture,art,religion,and other ideological aspects of the nation.These evidences symbolize the intellectual outcome of the relationship between humans and the landscape,and they create the“spiritual relevance”through personification and contextualization.The aim of the study is to explore the traditional ecological wisdom of the Inuit people who live in the harsh Arctic,and analyze the Inuit’s interaction with the landscape through the lens of“associative cultural landscape”,and decode the survival experience that the Inuit have accumulated through their long-term synergy with the Arctic environment.The findings focus on the synergy between the Inuit and the ice-snow landscape,examining the knowledge and ecological wisdom that the Inuit acquire from the ice-snow landscape.Our goal is to develop a perspective of the ecological environment from the viewpoint of aboriginal people and establish a methodology,model,and framework for“associative cultural landscape”that incorporates ethnic non-material cultural evidences.From the results,a total of nine models for interpreting traditional Inuit ecological wisdom are generated based on the“diamond model”of“associative cultural landscape”,covering the transition from the physical landscape to a spiritual one and demonstrating the associative role of the landscape in stimulating potential spiritual cognitive abilities in humans.

Techniques of Domestication and Carbon Sequestration of Jatropha curcas Associated with Vigna unguiculata in Marginal Soil of Garoua Region, Cameroon

In order to reduce the increase of fuel prices, and improve the living conditions of the population, a study was carried out by Convention No. 1/IRAD/PCS ESA2-SDCC in the region of Garoua in Cameroon. The study aimed to characterize the behaviour ofJ. curcas associated with V. unguiculata in marginal soils in the Sahel region in order to improve the livelihoods of the farmers and promote its domestication in rural areas. It also aimed at pointing out the influence of two implantation techniques of d. curcas on the germination, the different quantities of NPK and cow dung, planting techniques and association with V. unguiculata var. lori on growth parameters of development and yield of J. curcas on the degraded marginal soils in the region. The experimental design was a completely randomized block with five levels of fertilization （F0： control; FI： 50 g; F2：100 g of NPK 15-20-15; F3：1 kg and 2 kg of cow dung） per plant. Two types of establishment propagator （Ge） and direct seedling （Se） with three replications were used. Data were analysed by Stratigraphic ＋ and XLSTAT. Results showed that the propagator germination was higher than the direct seeding, 95% and 40% respectively. The Principal Component Analysis （PCA） of the parameters of growths and yield of J. curcas showed high correlation between the production of the leaves and the length of the leaves （R = 0.861; P 〈 0.001）. These parameters were correlated with the Biplot （F1 and F2） to 53.24%. It was opposed to the positives and imperfect correlation between the height and the recover parameters （R = 0.486; P 〈 0.05）. The treatments 100 g of NPK per plant and 2 kg of cow dung per plant induced strongly the development and yield ofJ. curcas and V. unguiculata adapted to marginal soils.

Expression Profile of Immune-Associated Genes in the Kidney of Cultured Large Yellow Croaker Larimichthys crocea in the East China Sea Area

To explore the effect of environment conditions on immune activity of fish, eight immune-associated genes responsible for innate immunity were selected from the Gen Bank, i.e. Pgrn-a, Ifit2, P-hepcidin, Lect2, β2m, Irf1, Il25 and Hsp96, and the m RNA expressions of them in the kidney of cultured large yellow croaker Larimichthys crocea in different sea areas in the East China Sea were examined with q PCR techniques. In the contrasts of immune-associated gene expression between areas and populations, significant differences were found, expression levels of these immune-associated genes were lower in the clear water area than in the poor water quantity area, and lower in May than in October. MY was more sensitive to environmental factors than DQ, which was coincident with the water quality in the culturing areas. Differential analyses of the expression levels of these immune-associated genes showed that significant up-regulation could be triggered by poor environmental factors. The expression patterns indicated that the expression levels of these genes were sensitive to ecological changes, thereby the immune-associated genes, especially Pgrn-a, Ifit2, β2m, Il25 and Hsp96, might serve as immediate and sensitive indicators of population immunologic vigor and ecosystem health. But the expression of immunity-associated genes at the level of gene transcription is highly influenced by multiple factors, and the exact causes or influencing factors of the up-regulation or down-regulation of these genes still need further thorough investigation.

On Lexical Differences in Chinese and English Caused by Culture

The paper first introduces to readers what culture really is, and then focuses on the lexical differences in Chinese and English ——lexical vacancy and lexical association. Through a detailed analysis, it is concluded that lexical differences between Chinese and English result from cultural diversities, with which particular languages are associated. Obviously, culture plays a significant role in determining the uniqueness of a lexical system. Therefore, the lexical differences caused by culture should be taken into account in any cross-cultural exchange.

Incredible Donor──Jamyangling Soinam, President of the Swedish Association for Tibetan Education and Culture

Mr. Jamyangling Soinam and his friends have raised more than 13 million yuan as a donation to Tibet and other Tibetan areas in China. People who visited him in Sweden reveal that he lives in a small house of less than 10 square meters, which he leased from others. He has no car....