Old Discipline, New Trajectories: Theories, Methods and Practices in Anthropology

Going under the title “Old Discipline, New Trajectories: Theories, Methods and Practices in Anthropology”, the conference seeks to provide a “home” for socio-cultural and linguistic anthropologists as well as archeologists and bio-evolutionary anthropologists who identify themselves and seek to connect with scientifically minded anthropologists. It does not neglect the humanistic aspect of anthropology and embraces it as part of the unity implicit in the study of human lifeways and the cultural stuff that gives meaning, direction and collective identities to us. The conference might be seen as an important foundational step to establishing closer collaboration and integration among different disciplinary and methodological strands within the discipline of anthropology. The conference will broadly focus on theory, methods and practices in anthropology and will address the following questions: -  Can we still say that anthropology is the most scientific of humanities and most humanistic of social sciences?-  What does a scientific approach to the study of culture imply theoretically and methodologically?-  Should ethnography still hold a central place in anthropology?-  How can the results of the study of human evolution, cultural evolution and language evolution contribute insights into the current human condition?-  What are the consequences the current rapid technological change is having on culture?-  What can anthropology contribute to the important questions of today’s world such as pandemics, growing economic inequality, fascism, second demographic transition, climate change, etc.

Desynchronization during anticipatory attention for an upcoming stimulus: A comparative EEG/MEG study

Objectives: Our neurophysiological model of anticipatory behaviour (e.g. Acta Psychol 101 (1999) 213; Bastiaansen et al., 1999a) predicts an activation of (primary) sensory cortex during anticipatory attention for an upcoming stimulus. In this paper we attempt to demonstrate this by means of event-related desynchronization (ERD). Methods: Five subjects performed a time estimation task, and were informed about the quality of their time estimation by either visual or auditory stimuli providing Knowledge of Results (KR). EEG and MEG were recorded in separate sessions, and ERD was computed in the 8± 10 and 10±12 Hz frequency bands for both datasets. Results: Both in the EEG and the MEG we found an occipitally maximal ERD preceding the visual KR for all subjects. Preceding the auditory KR, no ERD was present in the EEG, whereas in the MEG we found an ERD over the temporal cortex in two of the 5 subjects. These subjects were also found to have higher levels of absolute power over temporal recording sites in the MEG than the other subjects, which we consider to be an indication of the presence of a `tau' rhythm (e.g. Neurosci Lett 222 (1997) 111). Conclusions: It is concluded that the results are in line with the predictions of our neurophysiological model

The development of hemispheric asymmetry in human motion VEPs

AbstractIn six healthy adults we examined the sources underlying P1 and N2 of the motion VEP. For this purpose we acquired, in addition to the VEP, MRI images and patterns of regional cerebral blood flow with SPECT for three of the subjects. With the same motion stimulus we also examined the spatial distribution of N2 in children. In both adults and children left and right half-field responses were compared. It was found that N2 is generated by extrastriate activity and that motion stimuli are not equivalently processed in the two cerebral hemispheres. In adults, N2 dominates in one hemisphere irrespective of the visual half-field used for stimulation whereas children show an ipsilateral maximum for N2 upon half-field presentation

The time of the Roma in times of crisis: Where has European neoliberal capitalism failed?

This paper argues that the economic and financial crisis that has ensnared Europe from the late 2000s has been instrumental in reshaping employment and social relations in a detrimental way for the majority of the European people. It argues that the crisis has exacerbated the socio-economic position of most Roma people, immigrants as well as of other vulnerable groups. This development is approached here as an outcome of the widening structural inequalities that underpin the crisis within an increasingly neoliberalised Europe. Through recent policy developments and public discourses from a number of European countries I show how rising inequalities nurture racialised social tensions. My account draws on classic and contemporary theoretical propositions that have been propounded about the nature of capitalism, its contemporary re-articulation as well as its ramification for the future of Europe

Should We Continue to Measure Endometrial Thickness in Modern-Day Medicine? The Effect on Live Birth Rates and Birth Weight

The evaluation of endometrial thickness (EMT) is still part of standard cycle monitoring during IVF, despite the lack of robust evidence of any value of this measurement to predict little revalidation in contemporary medical practice; other tools, however, such as endocrine profile monitoring, have become increasingly popular. The aim of this study was to reassess whether EMT affects the outcome of a fresh embryo transfer in modern-day medicine, using a retrospective, single-centre cohort of 3350 IVF cycles (2827 women) carried out between 2010 and 2014. In the multivariate regression analysis, EMT was non-linearly associated with live birth, with live birth rates being the lowest with an EMT less than 7.0 mm (21.6%; P < 0.001) and then between 7.0 mm and 9.0 mm (30.2%; P = 0.008). An EMT less than 7.0 mm was also associated with a decrease in neonatal birthweight z-scores (-0.40; 95% CI -0.69 to -0.12). In conclusion, these results reaffirm the use of EMT as a potential prognostic tool for live birth rates and neonatal birthweight in contemporary IVF, namely when considered together with other ovarian stimulation monitoring methods, such as the late-follicular endocrine profile.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Topographical Organization of Mu and Beta Band Activity Associated with Hand and Foot Movements in Patients with Perirolandic Lesions

To study the topographical organization of mu and beta band event-related desynchronization (ERD) associated with voluntary hand and foot movements, we used magnetoencephalographic (MEG) recordings from 19 patients with perirolandic lesions. Synthetic aperture magnetometry (SAM) was used to detect and localize changes in the mu (7 - 11 Hz) and beta (13 - 30 Hz) frequency bands associated with repetitive movements of the hand and foot and overlaid on individual coregistered magnetic resonance (MR) images. Hand movements showed homotopic and contralateral ERD at the sensorimotor (S/M) cortex in the majority of cases for mu and to a lesser extent for beta rhythms. Foot movements showed an increased heterotopic distribution with bilateral and ipsilateral ERD compared to hand movements. No systematic topographical segregation between mu and beta ERD could be observed. In patients with perirolandic lesions, the mu and beta band spatial characteristics associated with hand movements retain the expected functional-anatomical boundaries to a large extent. Foot movements have altered patterns of mu and beta band ERD, which may give more insight into the differential functional role of oscillatory activity in different voluntary movements