Transnationalism and Identity: the Concept of Community in Ghanaian Literature and Contemporary Ghanaian Culture

In my thesis, I use anthropology, literature, and adinkra, an indigenous art, to study Ghanaian concepts of community from an interactive standpoint. While each of these disciplines has individually been used to study the concept of community, the three have not previously been discussed in relation to one another. I explore the major findings of each field—mainly that in anthropology, transnational informants find communities upheld; in literature, transnational characters find the opposite; and in adinkra, there are elements of both continuity and dissolution—to discuss Ghanaian constructs of community in the transnational world. Throughout time, there have always been transnational individuals and concepts, but as globalization continues, transnationalism has become an ever-more vital topic, and combined with the common anthropological discussion of tradition and modernity, its influence on developing countries, like Ghana, is significant. Therefore, in my thesis, I explore how differing conceptions of community present themselves in each discipline, and how those divergences create a new understanding of place and identity.

Representations of the Human/ Nonhuman Primate Divide: the Influence of Science, Fiction, and Science-Fiction on the Concept of 'Being Human'

For as far back as human history can be traced, mankind has questioned what it means to be human. One of the most common approaches throughout Western culture's intellectual tradition in attempts to answering this question has been to compare humans with or against other animals. I argue that it was not until Charles Darwin's publication of The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex (1871) that Western culture was forced to seriously consider human identity in relation to the human/ nonhuman primate line. Since no thinker prior to Charles Darwin had caused such an identity crisis in Western thought, this interdisciplinary analysis of the history of how the human/ nonhuman primate line has been understood focuses on the reciprocal relationship of popular culture and scientific representations from 1871 to the Human Genome Consortium in 2000. Focusing on the concept coined as the "Darwin-Müller debate," representations of the human/ nonhuman primate line are traced through themes of language, intelligence, and claims of variation throughout the popular texts: Descent of Man, The Jungle Books (1894), Tarzan of the Apes (1914), and Planet of the Apes (1963). Additional themes such as the nature versus nurture debate and other comparative phenotypic attributes commonly used for comparison between man and apes are also analyzed. Such popular culture representations are compared with related or influential scientific research during the respective time period of each text to shed light on the reciprocal nature of Western intellectual tradition, popular notions of the human/ nonhuman primate line, and the development of the field of primatology. Ultimately this thesis shows that the Darwin-Müller debate is indeterminable, and such a lack of resolution makes man uncomfortable. Man's unsettled response and desire for self-knowledge further facilitates a continued search for answers to human identity. As the Human Genome Project has led to the rise of new debates, and primate research has become less anthropocentric over time, the mysteries of man's future have become more concerning than the questions of our past. The human/ nonhuman primate line is reduced to a 1% difference, and new debates have begun to overshadow the Darwin-Müller debate. In conclusion, I argue that human identity is best represented through the metaphor of evolution: both have an unknown beginning, both have an indeterminable future with no definite end, and like a species under the influence of evolution, what it means to be human is a constant, indeterminable process of change.

Virtopsy - the concept of a centralized database in forensic medicine for analysis and comparison of radiological and autopsy data

Recent developments in clinical radiology have resulted in additional developments in the field of forensic radiology. After implementation of cross-sectional radiology and optical surface documentation in forensic medicine, difficulties in the validation and analysis of the acquired data was experienced. To address this problem and for the comparison of autopsy and radiological data a centralized database with internet technology for forensic cases was created. The main goals of the database are (1) creation of a digital and standardized documentation tool for forensic-radiological and pathological findings; (2) establishing a basis for validation of forensic cross-sectional radiology as a non-invasive examination method in forensic medicine that means comparing and evaluating the radiological and autopsy data and analyzing the accuracy of such data; and (3) providing a conduit for continuing research and education in forensic medicine. Considering the infrequent availability of CT or MRI for forensic institutions and the heterogeneous nature of case material in forensic medicine an evaluation of benefits and limitations of cross-sectional imaging concerning certain forensic features by a single institution may be of limited value. A centralized database permitting international forensic and cross disciplinary collaborations may provide important support for forensic-radiological casework and research.

A Model to quantify Disease state based on the ayurvedic concept of Tridosa

The ancient Indian system of Ayurveda revolves around the concept of tridosha namely vata, pitta and kapha. The disturbance in the steady state of these three factors is said to be the starting point of the development of diseases. Even though the diseases and their associated symptoms are well- described in the medical system, no mention is directly made in the basic texts about the quantification. We offer here a specific protocol to quantify a disease in terms of ayurvedic principles