Lawrence M Schell
Biographic Data
| ID | 82071 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Lawrence M Schell |
| GIVEN NAMES | Lawrence M |
| FAMILY NAME | Schell |
| SIGNATURE | SCHELL L M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University at Albany, State University of New York |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-6552-0398 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 60 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 97 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 59 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1978 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Integrating Measures of Pollutant Exposure in Human Biology Research
This toolkit paper describes the value of including pollutant measurements in human biology research and describes considerations to implement such research. Human biologists study populations that are exposed to a variety of pollutants including metals and organic compounds used in agriculture and pest control. These pollutants can affect biological outcomes investigated by human biologists. Considering the impact of one or more of these polluta…
The Biological Challenge of Urban Environments: Overview and Introduction to the Special Issue on Urbanism
By 2050, the World Bank estimates that 7 out of 10 humans will live in cities. Human biologists have recognized that urban environments involve biological challenges. Historically, cities present challenges from ineffective waste disposal, impure water and food, pollution, violence from internal and external sources, and socioeconomic inequality. For the past half century, human biologists have engaged in the study of biological responses to thes…
Palaeoanthropology and the study of pre-adult fossil remains
The workshop advanced efforts to understand human evolution, particularly the selective pressures shaping patterns of growth and maturity across a broad range of hominin species
Why religion and spirituality are important in human biological research
The study of human biology includes exploration of all the genetic and environmental influences on human variation and life history, including impacts of sociocultural and physical environments. Religious practice and spirituality may be one of these influences. There are more than 5.8 billion religiously affiliated adults and children, accounting for 84% of the world's 6.9 billion people. Furthermore, 70% of Americans consider themselves spiritu…
American Indian/Alaskan Native Child and Adolescent Mortality
Maternal–infant interaction quality is associated with child NR3C1 CpG site methylation at 7 years of age
OBJECTIVE: Infancy is both a critical window for hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis development, and a sensitive period for social-emotional influences. We hypothesized that the social-emotional quality of maternal-infant interactions are associated with methylation of HPA-axis gene NR3C1 later in childhood. METHODS: Using a subsample of 114 mother-infant pairs from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), linear regre…
Factors associated with fruit and vegetable consumption among Burmese refugees
Objective: The Burmese population is one of the fast-growing refugee populations in the USA. This study investigated behavioural and environmental factors associated with fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption among Burmese refugees. Design: We conducted a cross-sectional interview survey in 2018–2019. The 24-h recall was used to assess dietary behaviour. Multivariable logistic regression models were constructed with meeting the daily FV consumptio…
Age at menarche and chemical exposure: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT), dichloro-diphenyl-dichloroethylene (DDE), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB…
CONTEXT: Humans are now exposed to a multitude of chemicals throughout the life course, some of which may affect growth and development owing to their endocrine-like activity. OBJECTIVE: To assess the relationship of suspect toxicants to maturation, specifically to age at menarche. METHODS: We conducted two systematic reviews of age at menarche and PFOA, PFOS, PCBs and DDE/DDT based on publications indexed by pubmed. RESULTS: 16 unique reports we…
Deep phenotyping of pubertal development in Norwegian children: The Bergen Growth Study 2
Ultrasound-based assessments of puberty provided novel references for breast developmental stages and enabled the measurement of testicular volume on a continuous scale. Endocrine z -scores allowed for an intuitive interpretation of changing hormonal levels during puberty on a quantitative scale, which, in turn, provides opportunities for further analysis of pubertal development using machine-learning approaches
Linking infant size and early growth with maternal lifestyle and breastfeeding – the first year of life in the CRIBS cohort
Infant size and early growth in Croatia is in line with WHO standards and risk factors for obesity development were detectable in the first year of life, but not highly pronounced. However, more effective BMI monitoring and promotion of a healthy diet and lifestyle of women before and during pregnancy is needed
Addressing the growing fossil record of subadult hominins by reaching across disciplines
The field of paleoanthropology lacks a coherent methodology to study ontogeny in extinct hominins. During the past two decades in this field, several factors have served as an impetus to better define this subfield of study within human evolution. First is the increased recovery of immature hominin remains that span multiple genera-Australopithecus, Paranthropus, and Homo
Associations between autoimmune dysfunction and pollutants in Akwesasne Mohawk women: Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane and polychlorinated biphenyl exposure
BACKGROUND: Pollutant exposures, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), have been found to disrupt normal immune function. Native American communities are disproportionately affected by autoimmune dysfunction and are more likely to be exposed to harmful pollutants than the general population. OBJECTIVE: To determine the association between autoimmune dysfunction and pollutant exposure levels, this st…
Testing the Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommendations on maternal reproductive health and associated neonatal characteristics in a transitional, Mediterranean population
High maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and excessive GWG were both significantly associated with deviated biochemical parameters and neonatal size. More careful monitoring of maternal nutritional status can lead to better pre- and perinatal maternal healthcare
Prenatal Lead and Depression Exposures Jointly Influence Birth Outcomes and NR3C1 DNA Methylation
Many gestational exposures influence birth outcomes, yet the joint contribution of toxicant and psychosocial factors is understudied. Moreover, associated gestational epigenetic mechanisms are unknown. Lead (Pb) and depression independently influence birth outcomes and offspring NR3C1 (glucocorticoid receptor) DNA methylation. We hypothesized that gestational Pb and depression would jointly influence birth outcomes and NR3C1 methylation. Pregnanc…
Prenatal Exposure to Favorable Social and Environmental Neighborhood Conditions Is Associated with Healthy Pregnancy and Infant Outcomes
Neighborhood and individual level risks commonly co-occur for pregnant women and may cumulatively contribute to birth outcomes. Moreover, the relationship between favorable social and environmental neighborhood conditions and perinatal outcomes has been understudied. This study considered the accumulated impact of prenatal exposure to positive neighborhood social, environmental, and educational conditions in relation to maternal health during pre…
Sex differences in the association of measures of sexual maturation to common toxicants: Lead, dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT), dichloro-diphenyl-dichloroethylene (DDE), and polychlorinated bi…
Many studies of human toxicant exposure examine the hypothesis that human sexual maturation can be affected through endocrine disruption. Within this body of literature there is significant variation in the findings. Variation may be related to the differential effects by toxicants between males and females as well as variation in sample size, toxicant levels, and the timing of exposure. We review sexual maturation outcomes between males and fema…
In memoriam: Francis E. Johnston (1931–2020)
Modern water: A biocultural approach to water pollution at the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation
OBJECTIVES: The goal of this article is to review a body of research around water contamination conducted in the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation between 1995 and 2016, place these findings in a biocultural context, and consider implications for a human biology of water. METHODS: This review draws on research projects conducted in partnership with the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation living along the St. Lawrence River as well as published research by others on wa…
Doing biocultural anthropology: Continuity and change
Biocultural anthropology has long represented an important approach in the study of human biology. However, despite demonstrated utility, its somewhat amorphous identity leaves some scholars questioning just what it means to be biocultural. In this article, rather than providing proscriptive doctrine, we contribute to these conversations about the nature of biocultural anthropology by considering what biocultural research does. We begin with a co…
In memoriam: Francis E. Johnston (1931‐2020)
Social Support During Pregnancy Modifies the Association Between Maternal Adverse Childhood Experiences and Infant Birth Size
Environmental Toxicology
Since the industrial age, humans have added new compounds and elements (toxicants) to the environment in far greater concentrations than ever before and they are changing our biology (reproduction, growth, development, disease, and health profile) and our social structure. Heavy metals (e.g., lead and mercury) are neurotoxicants. Lead can delay sexual maturation in girls. Polychlorinated biphenyl burden is associated with girls' faster sexual mat…
Towards the demise of the urban–rural contrast: A research design inadequate to understand urban influences on human biology
Maternal‐infant interaction as an influence on infant adiposity
OBJECTIVES: The aim of this research is to identify whether specific aspects of the early life psychosocial environment such as quality of home and maternal-infant interaction are associated with increased infant adiposity, in a disadvantaged population in the United States. METHODS: Data on 121 mother-infant pairs from the Albany Pregnancy and Infancy Lead Study were analyzed using three multiple linear regression models with subscapular skinfol…
Power and pollutant exposure in the context of American Indian health and survival
BACKGROUND: American Indians and Alaskan Natives (AI/AN) are a highly diverse group in terms of culture and language, but share a history of oppression and attempted extermination that has left many with a legacy of poverty and poor health. Cultural and biological survival are important issues for many AI/AN groups. METHODS: Using US criteria, AI/AN groups are more likely to be poor. The US National Center for Health Statistics reports that US AI…
Community Health Assessment Through Physical Anthropology: Auxological Epidemiology
Child growth and development was used as an indicator of individual and group well-being by the English health reform advocates of the 19th century. While epidemiology developed using mortality and morbidity rates to assess community health, anthropologists continued the study of child growth, and their techniques can be adapted to study today's difficult problems in community health assessment. Although morbidity and mortality measures will cont…
Directional asymmetry of body dimensions among white adolescents
Asymmetry of paired dimensions has been recognized as a methodological problem in anthropometry and more recently as an indicator of environmental stress. This study seeks to determine the extent of directional asymmetry for some of the measurements commonly made in anthropometry. Upper arm circumference, biepicondylar breadth, triceps and subscapular skinfolds, bicondylar breadth of the femur, and calf circumference were measured on right and le…
Environmental noise and human prenatal growth
To determine whether chronic exposure to relatively loud noise has demonstrable biological effects in humans, a study was conducted on the effect of mother's exposure to airport noise while pregnant, and of social and biological characteristics of the family upon birthweight and gestation length. The sample of births was drawn from a community located adjacent to an international airport in the U.S., where noise levels had been measured previousl…
Environmental Pollution in Urban Environments and Human Biology
The biocultural approach of anthropologists is well suited to understand the interrelationship of urbanism and human biology. Urbanism is a social construction that has continuously changed and presented novel adaptive challenges to its residents. Urban living today involves several biological challenges, of which one is pollution. Using three different types of pollutants as examples, air pollution, lead, and noise, the impact of pollution on hu…
The relationship of body fat weight, determined densitometrically, to relative weight and triceps skinfold in American youths, 12–17 years of age
The relationship between fat weight, measured densitometrically, and the triceps skinfold and Quetelet's Index has been analyzed by means of linear regression analysis of 235 American youths, 12–17 years of age; 48 males and 41 females were from Minneapolis and 121 males and 25 females from the Greater Philadelphia area. Validation was accomplished by using the results of 10 separate regression analysis, each on 90% of the sample, the remaining 1…
Effects of pollutants on human prenatal and postnatal growth: Noise, lead, polychlorobiphenyl compounds, and toxic wastes
Industrialization is a major force altering the environment for human habitation. Pollution from industrialization may pose new adaptive challenges for Homo sapiens as well as for other species. The study of human biological adaptation is a traditional area of physical anthropology, but until recently it has not focused on the adaptative challenges of the modern anthropogenic environment. By combining research from anthropology, epidemiology, and…
Power analysis in biological anthropology
Power in statistical terms is the probability of rejecting a false null hypothesis. Power analysis, although generally not employed by biological anthropologists, is especially useful in interpreting statistical tests in which the null hypothesis is not rejected, and in determining appropriate sample sizes. In this report, the utility of statistical power analysis and the level of variation in power is illustrated by performing power analysis on …
Airport noise exposure and the postnatal growth of children
To determine whether chronic exposure to airport noise affects children, a study was conducted of the physical growth of children, aged 5–13 years, from two communities, one exposed to airport noise (n = 148) and another, not exposed (n = 102). Ten standard anthropometric measurements were made according to U.S. Health Examination Survey guidelines, and information on the social and biological characteristics of each family was collected in inter…
Addressing the growing fossil record of subadult hominins by reaching across disciplines
The field of paleoanthropology lacks a coherent methodology to study ontogeny in extinct hominins. During the past two decades in this field, several factors have served as an impetus to better define this subfield of study within human evolution. First is the increased recovery of immature hominin remains that span multiple genera-Australopithecus, Paranthropus, and Homo
Religious-Commitment Signaling and Impression Management amongst Pentecostals: Relationships to Salivary Cortisol and Alpha-Amylase
Religious-commitment signaling is thought to indicate willingness to cooperate with a religious group. It follows that a desire to signal affiliation and reap concomitant benefits would lend itself to acting in socially desirable ways. Success or failure in such areas, especially where there is conscious intent, should correspond to proximal indicators of well-being, such as psychosocial or biological stress. To test this model, we assessed relig…
Distribution of albumin variants Naskapi and Mexico among Aleuts, Frobisher Bay Eskimos, and Micmac, Naskapi, Mohawk, Omaha and Apache Indians
In order to help define the boundaries of the distribution of the albumin variants Naskapi and Mexico which are polymorphic among several American Indian groups, we examined sera from Micmac, Mohawk, Northwest River Naskapi, Omaha and Apache Indians, and from Aleuts and Eskimos. Sera from a total of 1,524 individuals were examined. Using a cellulose acetate membrane electrophoretic system with Tris‐Citric acid at pH 5.4 we were able to distinguis…
Palaeoanthropology and the study of pre-adult fossil remains
The workshop advanced efforts to understand human evolution, particularly the selective pressures shaping patterns of growth and maturity across a broad range of hominin species
Alloalbuminemia and the migrations of native Americans
Genetic variants of serum albumin are known from populations around the world. Most are quite rare and limited to one family or population, but among several North and Central American Indian populations, two variants, albumins Naskapi and Mexico, reach polymorphic frequencies. No selective advantage to either of these variants has yet been discovered. Their distribution may reflect, in part, prehistoric and historic population movements, and int…
Variation in size at birth and cigarette smoking during pregnancy
The influence of cigarette smoking during pregnancy and other familial factors on size at birth and gestation length is investigated among 458 births to 227 mothers living in a suburban community in the U.S. In this sample, 56% of the births were to mothers who reported not smoking during the pregnancy and 35% were to mothers who reported smoking 20 cigarettes or less. Multiple stepwise regression analysis was employed to examine the influence of…
Longitudinal study of growth status and airport noise exposure
A study of children living adjacent to an international airport was conducted to learn whether noise exposure affected physical growth. Prenatal and postnatal noise exposures were estimated for each subject based on noise levels at their residences during jetplane takeoffs. Subjects' birthweights were standardized for sex and parity, and their postnatal heights and weights were standardized for sex and age (range 6–11 years). The difference betwe…
Distribution of albumin variants Naskapi and Mexico among Aleuts, Frobisher Bay Eskimos, and Micmac, Naskapi, Mohawk, Omaha and Apache Indians
In order to help define the boundaries of the distribution of the albumin variants Naskapi and Mexico which are polymorphic among several American Indian groups, we examined sera from Micmac, Mohawk, Northwest River Naskapi, Omaha and Apache Indians, and from Aleuts and Eskimos. Sera from a total of 1,524 individuals were examined. Using a cellulose acetate membrane electrophoretic system with Tris‐Citric acid at pH 5.4 we were able to distinguis…
Environmental noise and human prenatal growth
To determine whether chronic exposure to relatively loud noise has demonstrable biological effects in humans, a study was conducted on the effect of mother's exposure to airport noise while pregnant, and of social and biological characteristics of the family upon birthweight and gestation length. The sample of births was drawn from a community located adjacent to an international airport in the U.S., where noise levels had been measured previousl…
The relationship of body fat weight, determined densitometrically, to relative weight and triceps skinfold in American youths, 12–17 years of age
The relationship between fat weight, measured densitometrically, and the triceps skinfold and Quetelet's Index has been analyzed by means of linear regression analysis of 235 American youths, 12–17 years of age; 48 males and 41 females were from Minneapolis and 121 males and 25 females from the Greater Philadelphia area. Validation was accomplished by using the results of 10 separate regression analysis, each on 90% of the sample, the remaining 1…
Airport noise exposure and the postnatal growth of children
To determine whether chronic exposure to airport noise affects children, a study was conducted of the physical growth of children, aged 5–13 years, from two communities, one exposed to airport noise (n = 148) and another, not exposed (n = 102). Ten standard anthropometric measurements were made according to U.S. Health Examination Survey guidelines, and information on the social and biological characteristics of each family was collected in inter…
Variation in size at birth and cigarette smoking during pregnancy
The influence of cigarette smoking during pregnancy and other familial factors on size at birth and gestation length is investigated among 458 births to 227 mothers living in a suburban community in the U.S. In this sample, 56% of the births were to mothers who reported not smoking during the pregnancy and 35% were to mothers who reported smoking 20 cigarettes or less. Multiple stepwise regression analysis was employed to examine the influence of…
Longitudinal study of growth status and airport noise exposure
A study of children living adjacent to an international airport was conducted to learn whether noise exposure affected physical growth. Prenatal and postnatal noise exposures were estimated for each subject based on noise levels at their residences during jetplane takeoffs. Subjects' birthweights were standardized for sex and parity, and their postnatal heights and weights were standardized for sex and age (range 6–11 years). The difference betwe…
Directional asymmetry of body dimensions among white adolescents
Asymmetry of paired dimensions has been recognized as a methodological problem in anthropometry and more recently as an indicator of environmental stress. This study seeks to determine the extent of directional asymmetry for some of the measurements commonly made in anthropometry. Upper arm circumference, biepicondylar breadth, triceps and subscapular skinfolds, bicondylar breadth of the femur, and calf circumference were measured on right and le…
Community Health Assessment Through Physical Anthropology: Auxological Epidemiology
Child growth and development was used as an indicator of individual and group well-being by the English health reform advocates of the 19th century. While epidemiology developed using mortality and morbidity rates to assess community health, anthropologists continued the study of child growth, and their techniques can be adapted to study today's difficult problems in community health assessment. Although morbidity and mortality measures will cont…
Alloalbuminemia and the migrations of native Americans
Genetic variants of serum albumin are known from populations around the world. Most are quite rare and limited to one family or population, but among several North and Central American Indian populations, two variants, albumins Naskapi and Mexico, reach polymorphic frequencies. No selective advantage to either of these variants has yet been discovered. Their distribution may reflect, in part, prehistoric and historic population movements, and int…
Power analysis in biological anthropology
Power in statistical terms is the probability of rejecting a false null hypothesis. Power analysis, although generally not employed by biological anthropologists, is especially useful in interpreting statistical tests in which the null hypothesis is not rejected, and in determining appropriate sample sizes. In this report, the utility of statistical power analysis and the level of variation in power is illustrated by performing power analysis on …
Biomedical Anthropology in a Multidisciplinary, Multi-institutional Research Project: The Albany Lead Study
Biomedical research is often a collaborative effort involving anthropologists, epidemiologists, and clinically based medical researchers and care givers. In multidisciplinary, multi-institutional research projects barriers to successful research collaboration multiply easily, in part because different disciplines conceptualize study design and other research issues differently. Institutional requirements for research (human subjects' approval, fo…
Effects of pollutants on human prenatal and postnatal growth: Noise, lead, polychlorobiphenyl compounds, and toxic wastes
Industrialization is a major force altering the environment for human habitation. Pollution from industrialization may pose new adaptive challenges for Homo sapiens as well as for other species. The study of human biological adaptation is a traditional area of physical anthropology, but until recently it has not focused on the adaptative challenges of the modern anthropogenic environment. By combining research from anthropology, epidemiology, and…
Unequal adaptive value of changing cigarette use during pregnancy for heavy, moderate, and light smokers
To determine the effects of changes in maternal cigarette use during pregnancy on birthweight, a sample of Caucasian births free of major malformations (n = 9,943) was examined. Births were stratified by level of maternal smoking in the first trimester and subdivided according to whether the mother continued at the same level, reduced, or quit by the second trimester. Birthweights were adjusted statistically for extraneous variables. As expected,…
Culture as a stressor: A revised model of biocultural interaction
Culture as a stressor: A revised model of biocultural interaction
Contemporary urban societies display in high relief the action of social stratification on human biology. Recent studies of biological responses to urban environments and of socioeconomically disadvantaged people indicate that culture allocates risks disproportionately to some individuals and groups within society through its constituent values and related patterns of behavior. Although risk allocation is present in all societies, it is very clea…
Longitudinal study of energy and nutrient intakes for infants from low-income, urban families
Objective: To assess the energy and nutrient intakes of healthy infants from low-income families and to compare intakes with current recommendations. Design: We interviewed mother–infant pairs longitudinally when the infants were 3, 6, 9, 12, 18 and 24 months old. Food intake data were obtained by 24-hour dietary recalls. Selected nutrient intakes were calculated and compared with the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs). Subjects/setting: Infan…
Studying the Effects of Pollutants on Mohawk Youth
Environmental Pollution in Urban Environments and Human Biology
The biocultural approach of anthropologists is well suited to understand the interrelationship of urbanism and human biology. Urbanism is a social construction that has continuously changed and presented novel adaptive challenges to its residents. Urban living today involves several biological challenges, of which one is pollution. Using three different types of pollutants as examples, air pollution, lead, and noise, the impact of pollution on hu…
Height, weight, and body mass index among Akwesasne Mohawk youth
Information on the growth of contemporary Native American adolescents is limited. A few studies have shown that Native Americans have growth patterns that may differ from U.S. reference values. We describe basic anthropometric characteristics (height and weight) of Mohawk youth between the ages of 10.0 and 16.99 years from the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated. Mean height of Akwesasne Mohawk youth approximates the 50t…
Effects of Pollution on Human Growth and Development: An Introduction
Pollution is a worldwide problem and its potential to influence the physiology of human populations is great. Studies of human growth and development in relation to pollution have increased in number and quality since the mid-twentieth century. Many studies have found that some pollutants have detrimental effects on human growth, particularly prenatal growth. The heavy metal, lead, is commonly found in human populations and is related to smaller …
Selected anthropometric measurements of Akwesasne Mohawk youth: Skinfolds, circumferences, and breadths
Nationally, Native American youth have been shown to be at risk for overweight, and an increased prevalence of obesity among Native American children has been consistently reported. We describe skinfolds, circumferences, and body breadths to assess body size and shape of Akwesasne Mohawk youth ( n = 271) between the ages of 10.0 and 16.99. Akwesasne is a sovereign nation with territory in New York state and Canada. Sex‐ and age‐specific compariso…
Advancing biocultural models by working with communities: A partnership approach
Culture and human behavior are recognized today as major forces acting on human biological variation around the world. Studies of the relationships between biology and processes, such as modernization, urbanization, and social stratification, are prominent in our journals and meetings. An ongoing study of the interrelationships between toxicant exposure (organochlorines, lead, and mercury), health, and culture among youth of the Mohawk Nation at …
Is there an elephant in the room? Addressing rival approaches to the interpretation of growth perturbations and small size
Two interpretations of growth perturbation and small size are commonly applied in human biology: an adaptationist approach in which small size is considered to be an a relatively beneficial adjustment to environmental stressors, and a biomedical approach in which small size is considered nonadaptive, a sign of dysfunction or pathology. These two interpretations conflict, but are used without acknowledging or addressing the conflict. This article …
Urban Ecology and Health in the Third World
Growth of infants' length, weight, head and arm circumferences in relation to low levels of blood lead measured serially
To determine whether levels of blood lead during gestation and infancy that are below the CDC action level of 10 μg/dl affect infant growth, we studied 211 disadvantaged mother–infant pairs from Albany, NY. Mothers' lead levels were low (second trimester $\bar{x}$ = 2.8 μg/dl) as were infants' ( $\bar{x}$ = 3.3 μg/dl at 6 months; 6.4 μg/dl at 12 months). Multiple linear regression analyses showed that second trimester lead levels were related to …
Medicine (42 works) · Biology (33 works) · Environmental health (22 works) · Demography (20 works) · Sociology (18 works) · Geography (16 works) · Internal Medicine (16 works) · Psychology (15 works) · Birth, Development, and Health (13 works) · Ecology (12 works)