How did Death become a Saint in Mexico?

Over the last decade, the cult of La Santa Muerte (St Death) has attracted a remarkable number of followers in Mexico and the USA. Whereas the social context of her devotees, who tend to live on the fringes of society, has attracted ample attention from scholars and journalists, one of the principal puzzles is still how a skeleton image of death has come to be seen as a saint by large numbers of Catholics. How is it possible for this figure to embrace such antagonistic qualities as death and sainthood in a Christian context? In this semiotic-material exploration of the image's genealogy, I suggest that La Santa Muerte should be seen as a coalescing of two radically distinct images of death: the popular-secular Catrina and the occult-biblical Santísima Muerte. The St Death venerated today encompasses the ambiguities of the two and creates an exceptionally vibrant and popular Catholic image.     

Broad supernatural punishment but not moralizing high gods precede the evolution of political complexity in Austronesia

Supernatural belief presents an explanatory challenge to evolutionary theorists—it is both costly and prevalent. One influential functional explanation claims that the imagined threat of supernatural punishment can suppress selfishness and enhance cooperation. Specifically, morally concerned supreme deities or ‘moralizing high gods'' have been argued to reduce free-riding in large social groups, enabling believers to build the kind of complex societies that define modern humanity. Previous cross-cultural studies claiming to support the MHG hypothesis rely on correlational analyses only and do not correct for the statistical non-independence of sampled cultures. Here we use a Bayesian phylogenetic approach with a sample of 96 Austronesian cultures to test the MHG hypothesis as well as an alternative supernatural punishment hypothesis that allows punishment by a broad range of moralizing agents. We find evidence that broad supernatural punishment drives political complexity, whereas MHGs follow political complexity. We suggest that the concept of MHGs diffused as part of a suite of traits arising from cultural exchange between complex societies. Our results show the power of phylogenetic methods to address long-standing debates about the origins and functions of religion in human society.     

Political ecology and environmental management in the Loess Plateau,China

This paper explores the changing political ecology of soil and water management—the articulation of physical and political-economic processes—in the Loess Plateau of north-central China. Market-oriented reforms and the shift from collective to household farming have created a diverse array of tenure, management, and financing arrangements. In the process relationships between farm households, the collective, and the state have been altered, with profound implications for land use and sustainability. The paper reviews the political ecology approach and its relevance to environmental management in China. An outline of the physical and economic context of soil erosion in the Loess Plateau is followed by examination of the impact of reform on rural environmental management. Local innovations in the organization of environmental management are highlighted. The conclusion comments on the utility of the regional political ecology approach and suggests some critical issues for further research.     

The Sanctification of Dreams: Prevalence and Implications

Many scientists and practitioners have debated about the function of dreams. Though some researchers have described dreams as purposeless random neuronal firings, others have suggested that dreams serve an adaptive function with certain dream characteristics having positive implications. Drawing on other studies of sanctification, this study examines whether imbuing a dream with qualities of the sacred relates to beneficial outcomes. Examining a college student sample of 168, it was found that the more sacred the dream was perceived, the more beneficial the outcome reported from a stressful life event which related to the dream. These outcomes include less negative affect and more positive affect, psychological and spiritual growth. Sanctification of dreams predicted these outcome variables over and above other religious measures as well as dream measures. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

When "personhood" begins in the embryo: avoiding a syllabus of errors

The following essay was delivered at the conference "Ontogeny and Human Life" at the Ponifical Athenaeum "Regina Apostolorum," November, 2007. Sponsored by the Legion of Christ, the Pontifical Academy for Life, and the John Templeton Foundation, the sessions focused on when the conceptus became a "person." My essay focused on the scientific conclusions that could aid such discussions. Moreover, after listening to the philosophical, legal, and theological discussions that ensued, I responded theologically as well. New concepts in modern embryology have made scientists revise their views concerning the autonomy of embryos and the mechanisms that generate such embryos. There are interactions between the sperm and the female reproductive tract and egg which had never been known until recently. There are also interactions between the developing organism and its environment that had been unsuspected a decade ago. Gut bacteria induce the development of the mammalian digestive system and immune system by changing the gene expression patterns in the mammalian intestine. Conversely, chemicals in our technological society can adversely affect the embryo, rendering it sterile or prone to tumors later in life. While there is no consensus among scientists as to when human life begins, both Church and science can become allies in persuading governments to regulate or ban the production and use of these fetotoxic chemicals. These new views of embryonic development change many of the stories told about human embryos and fetuses, and they have implications concerning the use of science as evidence for theological positions.     

Metakinesis: How God Becomes Intimate in Contemporary U.S. Christianity

Contemporary U.S. religion is shaped by a new emphasis on bodily and trance experience. This article describes the learning process through which evangelical congregants come to use language and bodily experiences in particular ways, which I call here "metakinesis." Through this process, congregants build remarkably intimate relationships with God.     

长江滩地杨树林生态系统水分利用效率及影响因子

通过涡度相关设备监测湖南岳阳长江外滩地杨树人工林生态系统与大气间的碳、水交换,研究生态系统水分利用效率(WUE=FCO2/FH2O)的规律及其与环境因子的响应变化关系。测定了杨树林生态系统WUE不同季节10个晴朗日09:0016:00时半小时平均值的日变化,不同季节,WUE的变化不同。生态系统WUE受环境因子的影响较大,4 9月份,WUE随着温度升高有减小的趋势;10月到翌年3月份,系统WUE随着气温升高而升高。汛期林地土壤淹水的情况下,系统WUE随土壤体积含水量(SWC)增加而增大;林地没淹水情况下,生态系统WUE随着含水量的增加变化不规律。非讯期土壤热通量5d平均值与系统WUE的关系,随着土壤热通量的增加,WUE也增加。生态系统WUE与系统饱和水汽压差呈负相关。经主成分分析,土壤含水量与大气温度在杨树林生态系统WUE影响因子中占较大的特征比例。     

广州白云山风景名胜区的植被特点及其林分改造

论述了广州白云山风景名胜区的自然环境和植被演变历史,分析了植被特点和植被演替趋势,提出了林分改造建议。     

“质量工程”背景下的环境工程微生物学实验教学改革探索

传统的环境工程微生物学实验在教学内容方面多是一些操作性和验证性的实验,在教学手段上多采用灌输式被动教学,这些教学内容和教学方式极大的抑制了学生的自主创新能力。作者结合自己的教学改革实践,以培养学生的自主创新兴趣和能力为目标,对环境工程微生物学实验进行了一系列教学改革尝试,并取得了良好的结果。在总结教学改革实践的基础上,从优化实验教学内容和改进教学方法两个方面进行系统阐述。     

生物化学实验教学的现状分析与改革思路

现行的生物化学实验教学在“学习知识、验证理论”等方面是可取的,但这种以验证生化过程为主的实验,教学目的过于单一、教学方式高度“程式化”,已不能适应高校培养创新型人才的需要。应从培养学生的创新能力和探索精神出发,深化对生物化学实验教学的改革：一、重新认识实验教学的重要性;二、增加综合性、探索型实验,重点培养学生的创新能力;三、灵活运用多样化的教学形式和教学方法;四、建立科学的实验考核体系。     

Religious Coping with Chronic Pain

This study examined the role of religious and nonreligious cognitive-behavioral coping in a sample of 61 chronic pain patients from a midwestern pain clinic. Participants described their chronic pain and indicated their use of religious and nonreligious cognitive-behavioral coping strategies. Results supported a multidimensional conceptualization of religious coping that includes both positive and negative strategies. Positive religious coping strategies were associated significantly with positive affect and religious outcome after statistically controlling for demographic variables. In contrast, measures of negative religious coping strategies were not associated significantly with outcome variables. Several significant associations also were found between nonreligious cognitive-behavioral coping strategies and outcome variables. The results underscore the need for further research concerning the contributions of religious coping in adjustment to chronic pain. Practitioners of applied psychophysiology should assess their chronic pain patients' religious appraisals and religious coping as another important stress management strategy.