Department of Anthropology (MU)
https://hdl.handle.net/10355/248
2024-03-29T07:11:31ZAgent-based modeling of seasonal population movement and the spread of the 1918-1919 flu: the effect on a small community
https://hdl.handle.net/10355/4103
Agent-based modeling of seasonal population movement and the spread of the 1918-1919 flu: the effect on a small community
Carpenter, Connie V.
Agent-based modeling provides a new approach to the study of virgin soil epidemics like the 1918-1919 flu. By using this bottom-up simulation approach, a landscape can be created and populated with a heterogeneous group of agents who move and interact in ways that more closely resemble human behavior than is usually seen in modeling techniques. This project uses the Norway House community in Manitoba, Canada as a framework for an agent-based model of the spread of the 1918-1919 flu epidemic. The epidemic arrived at Norway House, during the winter, when the community was dispersed in small, family hunting groups, leaving a small group of people running the fort. Hunters would return to the fort periodically for trade. In the summer, the entire community would gather near the fort. This travel pattern, along with the known characteristics of the influenza epidemic, is the basis for the model. Simulations are used to investigate the potential impact of seasonality in travel and population distribution on the spread of the flu epidemic. Results demonstrate that seasonality in travel and population distribution influence the spread of the flu epidemic. In the summer, when the people are congregated around the fort, the epidemic is short and intense. In the winter, when the people are dispersed on the land, the epidemic is long and less intense.
The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file.; Title from title screen of research.pdf file viewed on (June 29, 2006); Includes bibliographical references.; Vita.; Thesis (M.A.) University of Missouri-Columbia 2004.; Dissertations, Academic -- University of Missouri--Columbia -- Anthropology.
2004-01-01T00:00:00ZAgent-based modeling of the spread of the 1918-1919 Spanish Flu in three Canadian fur trading communities
https://hdl.handle.net/10355/4582
Agent-based modeling of the spread of the 1918-1919 Spanish Flu in three Canadian fur trading communities
Ahillen, Caroline
In this project, an agent-based computer simulation was developed to model the spread of the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic within and among three Aboriginal communities in central Manitoba. Data from model simulations indicate that social organization and mobility patterns help to explain the different epidemic experiences in the three communities, that outcomes other than that observed in the historic record would have been improbable, and that the epidemic would have been more severe if it had occurred in the summer, rather than in the winter. These findings are contrasted with those of an earlier population-based model, providing an important comparison of the two modeling techniques that illustrates the advantages of agent-based models for the study of small populations. They also provide insights into this historical pandemic.
The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file.; Title from title screen of research.pdf file viewed on (February 5, 2007); Includes bibliographical references.; Thesis (M.A.) University of Missouri-Columbia 2006.; Dissertations, Academic -- University of Missouri--Columbia -- Anthropology.
2006-01-01T00:00:00ZAlloparental care in two societies : who helps and in what circumstances
https://hdl.handle.net/10355/56826
Alloparental care in two societies : who helps and in what circumstances
Perry, Gretchen Cara
This dissertation investigated alloparental care in two societies. Most prior research on alloparental care finds that close kin, matrilateral kin (especially grandmothers) are more frequent and more beneficial alloparents than more distant kin, patrilateral kin, but is this true in more challenging circumstances when children require an alloparent to take over their primary care, or in a patrilocal society where women observe purdah? The first project involved out-of-home placements with Family and Children's Services of Waterloo Region, Canada. A database was created of children who were receiving child protection services and were placed with "kin". Maternal kin, particularly grandmothers, provided placements much more often than paternal and under more compromised conditions than paternal kin. Maternal kin placements resulted in permanency outcomes more often, whereas paternal kin placements were more likely to breakdown. Matlab, Bangladesh, is patrilocal and women observe purdah, reducing their easy access to matrilateral family. The data collected showed that where children resided, who served as their primary and secondary caregivers, and who provided material support differed across five family types, but matrilateral kin played a major role in all family types, especially as material resource providers. Mothers visited their own mothers and brothers more than their commensurate in-laws, even when controlling for likely confounds, showing their efforts to maintain contact with matrilateral family. The surviving children of deceased mothers had the most negative outcomes. The matrilateral bias in alloparental care and positive child outcomes were in keeping with predictions based on kin selection, paternity certainty theories, and the special role of grandmothers as alloparents.
Abstract from short.pdf file.; Dissertation supervisor: Dr. Karthik Panchanathan.; Includes vita.
2016-01-01T00:00:00ZAn analysis of mammalian taxonomic diversity and domposition of early Paleoindian zooarchaeological assemblages in the United States
https://hdl.handle.net/10355/48645
An analysis of mammalian taxonomic diversity and domposition of early Paleoindian zooarchaeological assemblages in the United States
DeAngelis, Joseph Anthony
[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Early Paleoindians in North America have historically been assumed to be big-game specialists. This hypothesis has come under question in lieu of a model of dietary generalization. In this thesis, I evaluate the big-game specialist hypothesis by conducting a quantitative analysis of the Early Paleoindian zooarchaeological record in the continental United States by utilizing measures of taxonomic diversity. Statistical tests are applied to two data sets. These data sets are derived from the approaches used by authors who have previously analyzed the Early Paleoindian archaeofaunal record. The first is a conservative data set, consisting only of taxa whose remains meet minimal criteria indicating they were part of the Early Paleoindian diet. The second is a liberal data set and includes all taxa in an Early Paleoindian component regardless of evidence that a taxon was a part of the diet. I explore richness, evenness, and heterogeneity of taxa and also body size classes (regardless of taxon), with a particular emphasis on camps sites, which are more indicative of a long-term, average Early Paleoindian diet. The results do not support a model of Early Paleoindians as big-game specialists but rather a model of dietary generalization.
2015-01-01T00:00:00Z