Culturally Situated Design Tools: Ethnocomputing from Field Site to Classroom

Ethnomathematics is the study of mathematical ideas and practices situated in their cultural context. Culturally Situated Design Tools (CSDTs) are web-based software applications that allow students to create simulations of cultural arts—Native American beadwork, African American cornrow hairstyles, urban graffiti, and so forth—using these underlying mathematical principles. This article is a review of the anthropological issues raised in the CSDT project: negotiating the representations of cultural knowledge during the design process with community members, negotiating pedagogical features with math teachers and their students, and reflecting on the software development itself as a cultural construction. The move from ethnomathematics to ethnocomputing results in an expressive computational medium that affords new opportunities to explore the relationships between youth identity and culture, the cultural construction of mathematics and computing, and the formation of cultural and technological hybridity.     

Gradients in the Nitrogenous Constituents of the Sap extracted from Apple Shoots of Different Ages

A comparison was made of the nitrogenous constituents in thesap extracted under vacuum from apple shoots of different ages,as regards changes both with season and in response to fertilizernitrate applied in summer or autumn. Before blossoming the N concentration of the sap changed markedlywith age of shoot, with the values doubling in the samples fromthe proximal half of the 3-year-old wood to the distal 2-year-oldsection, followed by a significant decrease in the 1-year-oldshoot. After blossoming the gradients in sap concentration wereless pronounced but usually the lowest values were found inthe youngest part of the shoot. Fourteen days after a soil application of nitrate in July therewas a marked increase in the concentration of asparagine inthe sap, but only in the 3-year-old section of the shoot. Sevendays later the xylem sap from all parts of the shoot containedincreased levels of asparagine, aspartic acid, and glutamine. No changes in the xylem sap of shoots in response to fertilizerapplied in October were observed until the following April.Then increased amounts of asparagine and glutamine were foundin all sections, with the greatest increase being seen in theyoungest part. It is suggested that this was due to acceleratedmobilization of N reserves into the xylem sap in response togrowth regulators originating in the roots rather than to movementof recently absorbed nutrients.     

The cytology of Halidrys siliquosa (L) Lyngb

Resting nuclei in vegetative apices and developing receptaclesof Halidrys siliquosa (L) Lyngb. contain several large, Feulgen-positivegranules. The number of granules varies from two to nine inboth vegetative cells and developing gametangia. Approximately55 chromosomes have been counted in the meristoderm cells ofthe apical groove, and approximately 30 in the first, second,and third divisions of the antheridial initials.     

Hatching of the winter eggs of the fruit-tree red spider mite (Panonychus ulmi (Koch))

Observations on the hatching of winter eggs of Panonychus ulmi (Koch) from apple orchards in England over the 5 years 1962-6 are described. Differences of 2–3 weeks between orchards in the date at which 50% hatch was reached were quite common and this was out of step with petal fall in the majority of orchards. There was a continuous range between early and late hatching populations and a tendency for the populations to hatch in the same order every year. In 1966 populations on Cox's Orange Pippin hatched earlier than those on Worcester Pearmain but the difference was unlikely to be of practical importance. Neither recording accumulated day degrees for populations hatched out-of-doors nor hatching in an incubator after chilling was considered to give a sufficiently reliable forecast of 50% hatch but observations in 1966 suggested that this might be predicted from the total eggs hatched in an incubator expressed as a percentage of total healthy eggs.     

Anatomical Characteristics Affecting the Musical Performance of Clarinet Reeds Made fromArundo donaxL. (Gramineae)

The musical performance of clarinet reeds made fromArundo donaxstemswas assessed by two experienced clarinettists, and the anatomyof the reeds was studied using confocal laser scanning microscopyto determine the relationship between anatomical characteristicsand musical performance. Statistically significant differencesbetween musically good and poor reeds were found in the anatomyof the cortical vascular bundles. Good musical performance wasassociated with reeds with a high proportion of vascular bundleswith continuous fibre rings, and bundles with a high proportionof fibre and a low proportion of xylem and phloem. Significantdifferences in these anatomical characteristics were also foundbetween reeds originating from cultivated plantation plantswhen compared to reeds produced from agricultural windbreakplants.Copyright 1998 Annals of Botany Company Arundo donax; clarinet reeds; stem anatomy; musical performance.     

The Development of Cooperative Associations Between Animals and Bacteria: Establishing Detente Among Domains

SYNOPSIS. détente = n.(fr.) the relaxation of tensionsbetween two nations, usually through cooperation and negotiation.[The Random House Dictionary, 2nd Edition, 1987] Despite the ubiquitous occurrence of cooperative associationsbetween animals and bacteria, there is little understandingof how these interactions arose, how they evolved, and how theypersist. Thus, an extensive database concerning the influenceof bacteria on developmental pathways is not yet available.However, in much the same way that mutually beneficial liaisonsare created between nations with vastly different historiesand cultures, it is likely that highly refined developmentalmechanisms exist in which a type of detente is created to retainthe integrity of the associations between the partners, bothwithin and between generations. These developmental pathwayswould be responsible for insuring that a balance of cell growthis established and maintained among the community members, comprisedof animal and microbial cells, such that neither form of pathogenesis,i.e., overgrowth (war) or aposymbiosis (isolation), ensues.This contribution examines aspects of how alliances with prokaryotesmay have been integrated into the mechanisms and patterns ofhost animal developmental programs.     

Dove Habitat Association Based on Remotely Sensed Land Cover Types in South Texas

Abstract: We tested whether presence of white-winged doves (Zenaida asiatica) and mourning doves (Z. macroura) in South Texas, USA, was associated with any of the land cover types recorded in the 2001 National Land Classification Database. We used the point-transect method to conduct presence—absence surveys for both species at 236 points encompassing 744 observations. Within predefined land cover types surrounding each survey point, we used Geographic Information Systems to determine the proportions of each land cover type present. We used randomization tests to compare proportions of land cover types present at points with and without doves. We used Program DISTANCE to estimate dove densities at survey points and to test whether certain land cover types were associated with greater dove densities. Our results indicated white-winged dove occurrence in South Texas was positively associated with urban land and cropland, whereas mourning dove occurrence was positively associated with cropland. For land cover types found to be associated with dove presence, estimated density for each dove species increased as the proportion of associated land cover type increased. These results can assist wildlife biologists in the development of a more efficient and targeted protocol for censusing doves. In addition, our methods can be applied to other species across several geographic areas and landscape scales.