Conference Report: East meets West

Second International Conference on Transgenic Animals, Beijing, China, October 23–26, 1998. Organized by the Bilong Institute for Transgenic Animals and the China International Conference Center for Sciences and Technology     

Naturalists and Natural History Institutions of the American West: A Preview

SYNOPSIS. The nineteenth century was a time of active explorationof the American West. This symposium details the individualsand institutions that initiated the natural history studiesassociated with the accumulation of the geographic informationand relates the natural history studies to the growth and developmentof science and the scientific community.     

Informosomes,East and West

Biochemistry (Moscow) - Although Alexander Spirin was most known for his ribosome work, his earlier research on RNA synthesis during vertebrate embryogenesis was also pioneering. There he...     

Treating childhood asthma in Singapore: when West meets East.

Though Western medicines and ideas about asthma have become popular in many Asian nations, local beliefs about treatment prevail. The multiracial society of Singapore shows a variety of beliefs about causes of asthma attacks (for example, the balance of yin and yang) and types of treatment--herbal remedies, inhaled versus eaten medicines, the influence of Ramadan. Many of the cultural practices mentioned are probably preserved among south east Asian minorities residing in the United Kingdom. Eastern treatments typically take a holistic approach to asthma and do not ignore the psychosomatic component of the disorder.     

Felting Between East and West

The tradition of felt-making today is closely associated with nomadic peoples. The archaeological remains of felt are sparse. Sizable fragments have been recovered from graves at Pazyryk and Noin Ula. Designs from felt occur in other arts, spanning a longer time frame that makes reconstructing a tentative history of felt-making possible. There is clear evidence from China expressed in ceramic designs and from felt designs on Turkish coins. Modern felts made in Hungary could be part of a very long tradition of felt-making by Central Asian nomads, or might be part of a historical “revival” of a transplanted historical tradition. There is certainly a perceived sense of identity with Central Asia that is supported by a long period of shared history.     

Love Food: Exchange and Sustenance in the Cook Islands Diaspora

This paper analyses the dynamics of food exchange among Cook Islanders. The majority of Cook Islanders live abroad (primarily in New Zealand and Australia), familial and community relationships are maintained by frequent visits to and from the Cook Islands. For many Cook Islanders, the difference between home and abroad is signified through food. Its lack in New Zealand is contrasted with the bounty of home, bounty of food, and the bounty of sustaining caring relationships. As a result, when Cook Islanders from home visit family abroad, they take large quantities of local food with them. This paper explores the affective materiality of food that travels between Cook Islands     

A History of Orthopedics in San Francisco and the West

The unique development of early medical specialization in the West can be traced to California''s geography and economic development. Such early specialization produced men with orthopedic inclinations. Early orthopedists founded the first medical school and the first modern teaching hospital, helped to found Stanford''s Lane Medical Library and made the first use of x-rays in the West. In addition many of these orthopedists were prominent in the political and social activities of the time.