The target article argues that whole groups can act as interactors in an evolutionary process. We believe that Smaldino's discussion would be advanced by a more thorough analysis of the appropriate replicators and lineages for this model. We show that cultural evolution is necessarily a separate process from cultural group selection, and we also illustrate that the two processes may influence e...

OBJECTIVES Market integration is an important source of cultural change exposing indigenous populations to epidemiologic and nutrition transitions. As children and adolescents are biologically sensitive to the health effects of market integration, we examine community variation of anthropometric indicators of nutritional status and growth among a cross-cultural sample of Kichwa, Shuar, Huaorani...

A remarkable aspect of cancer distribution in Europe is the large spatial variability of the male-female incidence ratio, from no difference up to 50%. Given the evidence of the predominantly environmental origin of cancer, we studied the ability of a set of socioeconomic indicators of the female condition to model the spatial variability of the sex difference in tumor incidence at two differen...

OBJECTIVE Francophones may experience poorer health due to social status, cultural differences in lifestyle and attitudes, and language barriers to health care. Our study sought to compare mental health indicators between Francophones and non-Francophones living in the province of Manitoba. METHODS Two populations were used: one from administrative datasets housed at the Manitoba Centre for H...

To facilitate sustainable agricultural development, this study developed a model of rice farming sustainability in Bangladesh and determined the key interventions for policy implementation. Data for the study were collected through a household survey and also via in-depth informal discussion with stakeholders. By constructing a composite indicator, path analysis results showed that major contri...

This study evaluated whether processing non-timber forest products (NTFPs) and establishing trade partnerships between forest communities and companies enhance the outcomes of NTFP commercialization. In particular, we evaluated whether product processing, partnerships, or their combination was associated with a number of outcomes related to the well-being of forest inhabitants and forest conser...

Although studies of domestic violence have been conducted over the past twenty years, they have yet to take into account the ways in which ethnicity influences victims' attitudes and behaviors. For example, little research has been done on domestic violence within the Japanese American community. In addition to cultural differences and language barriers, other variables such as: vertical societ...