This study is the first to investigate CRP variability in a nonindustrialized, high infectious disease environment. It documents a pattern of variation over time that is distinct from prior research, with no evidence for chronic low-grade inflammation. These results may have substantial implications for research on inflammation and diseases of aging globally, as well as for scientific understandings of the regulation of inflammation.

ABSTRACT. The global environmental conservation community recognizes that the participation of local communities is essential for the success of conservation initiatives; however, much work remains to be done on how to integrate conservation and human wellbeing. We propose that an assets-based approach to environmental conservation and human well-being, which is grounded in a biocultural framework, can support sustainable and adaptive management of natural resources by communities in regions adjacent to protected areas. We present evidence from conservation and quality of life initiatives led by the Field Museum of Natural History over the past 17 years in the Peruvian Amazon. Data were derived from asset mapping in 37 communities where rapid inventories were conducted and from 38 communities that participated in longer term quality of life planning. Our main findings are that Amazonian communities have many characteristics, or assets, that recent scholarship has linked to environmental sustainability and good natural resource stewardship, and that quality of life plans that are based on these assets tend to produce priorities that are more consistent with environmental conservation. Importantly, we found that validating social and ecological assets through our approach can contribute to the creation of protected areas and to their long-term management. As strategies to engage local communities in conservation expand, research on how particular methodologies, such as an assets-based approach, is needed to determine how these initiatives can best empower local communities, how they can be improved, and how they can most effectively be linked to broader conservation and development processes.

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Despite the abundance of water in the Amazon rainforest, people living in Awajún communities in northern Peru express concern over their water security. In this article, I employ a critical biocultural approach to examine how shifts from subsistence to market‐based livelihoods have created threats to water security that can “get under the skin” to influence the mental health of Awajún community members. Specifically, I show how highway construction, colonization, resource extraction, market integration, and overall transitions in settlement patterns have polluted rivers with sewage, refuse, and hazardous waste. I connect this broader context to ethnographic data from Awajún communities documenting struggles with water security in the form of contamination and accessibility. Finally, I quantitatively examine whether water insecurity scores are associated with psychological distress. Data drawn from 225 Awajún men and women from four communities in the province of Amazonas, Peru, revealed that higher water insecurity scores were associated with higher levels of perceived stress (β = 0.35, p < .01), depressive symptoms (OR = 1.32, p < .01), and somatic symptoms (OR = 1.51, p < .01). This study adds a critical political–economic perspective to anthropological literature focused on water insecurity and distress and advocates for future subdisciplinary collaborations to address growing concerns with the contamination and accessibility of local water sources.

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Inflammation is a central part of innate immunity, but its role in anti-pathogen defenses has been overshadowed by recent interest in the contribution of inflammation to a wide range of chronic degenerative diseases. Current research on chronic inflammation is conducted primarily in affluent populations with low levels of infectious disease; comparative research in different ecological settings is needed to advance understandings of the causes and consequences of variation in the regulation of inflammation. This paper investigates the levels and predictors of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-10 (IL-10)–two cytokines important to the regulation of inflammation—in a large, population-based study in the Philippines. Concentrations of IL-6 and IL-10 were determined in N=1569 healthy young adults (20-22 yrs) in Metro Cebu, Philippines. IL-6 and IL-10 concentrations were positively correlated, and body mass index and symptoms of infectious disease were both associated with higher concentrations of IL-6 and IL-10. Median concentrations of IL-6 (1.0 pg/mL) and IL-10 (7.56 pg/mL) were substantially lower and higher, respectively, than levels reported for other populations based on a systematic review of prior research. This study contributes to a growing body of research in human ecological immunology, and suggests that there may be substantial population differences in the regulation of inflammation that has implications for the association between inflammation and disease.

We reviewed the existing literature documenting the association between water insecurity and gender-based violence to (1) describe the characteristics and contexts of available studies, and (2) identify and classify documented gender-based violence across domains of water insecurity (access, affordability, adequacy, reliability, and safety). 18 peer-reviewed articles mentioned associations between water insecurity and gender-based violence. All studies were conducted in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia and were published in English. The most common manifestation of the relationship between water insecurity and gender-based violence was an increased risk of sexual and physical violence for women who walked long distances to access water. This was followed by intimate partner violence sparked by the inability to meet domestic obligations due to household water inadequacy. Despite these trends, the domains of water insecurity, and the types of violence experienced by women, were often intertwined. We conclude that there is a dearth of information assessing gender-based violence and water insecurity, especially in Latin America, North America, and Southeast Asia, and involving locally-based scholars. We suggest that the spectrum of what is considered "violence" in relation to water insecurity be expanded and that scholars and practitioners adopt the term "gender-based water violence" to describe water-related stressors that are so extreme as to threaten human health and well-being, particularly that of women and girls. Finally, we encourage the development of cross-culturally validated measures of gender-based violence, which can be deployed in conjunction with standardized measures of water insecurity, to evaluate interventions that target these linked threats to global health.

Background Although maternal infection and inflammation during pregnancy can adversely affect offspring birth weight (BW), whether low grade inflammation in the non-pregnant state predicts BW is unknown. Aim Evaluate relationships between offspring BW and pro- and anti-inflammatory factors measured in parous but non-pregnant women. Subjects and methods Data come from 234 parous Filipino females (21.5 ± 0.3 yr) in the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey, a population-based birth cohort in Metropolitan Cebu, Philippines. Pro-inflammatory [Interleukin-6 (IL-6), Interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα), C-reactive protein (CRP)] and anti-inflammatory [Interleukin-10 (IL-10)] factors were measured in fasting plasma when the women were not pregnant, and related to recalled offspring BW. Results BW in female offspring was lower only among women with high IL-1β. Although pro-inflammatory cytokines did not predict BW in male offspring, women with higher anti-inflammatory IL-10 gave birth to larger males. Women with a combination of low inflammatory (IL-6) and high anti-inflammatory (IL-10) factors (interaction p<0.104) gave birth to the largest males. Conclusion Immune factors measured outside of pregnancy predict offspring BW in these young women. Stable variation in inflammatory phenotype could impact the gestational environment of offspring, thus pointing to potential intergenerational effects of chronic low-grade inflammation.