A Review of: “Images: A Reader”

Photographs are a ubiquitous feature of Aboriginal life in Northeastern Australia, with images of relatives being prominently displayed in most Aboriginal houses. This display of photographs is tied to a form of distributed personhood that draws on photographs to create a sense of social immediacy in the absence of close kin. This sense of immediacy also occurs in relation to photographs of the dead, giving these images a particular force for Aboriginal viewers. But further consideration of this force of photographic images suggests that they should be treated neither as things nor as aspects of persons, despite their seeming ability to manifest agency in Aboriginal life-worlds.     

A Review of: “Handbook of Material Culture”

The examination of a well‐documented petroglyph site, located near the northeastern shoreline of now‐dry Owens Lake, California, is used as a springboard for a review of explanatory models for the interpretation of rock art sites in California and the Great Basin. Interpretive models and methods of analysis used by Julian Steward, Robert Heizer, and others who have visited or reported on this site are reviewed. The persistence of Heizer's “hunting‐magic” explanation for the creation of the rock art is used as one of several examples of how preconceived notions can affect interpretations of ancient art.     

A Review of: “New Interpretations of Complex Trace Fossils”

Dinosaur Tracks and Traces, edited by David D. Gillette and Martin G. Lockley, 1989. Cambridge University Press, 110 Midland Avenue, Port Chester, New York 10573, USA. lvii + 454 pages. US$54.50.     

A Review of the Internet Site “Practical Molecular Biology”

In 2000, in the middle of September, the Russian Web site Practical Molecular Biology (http://molbiol.edu.ru) was opened. The main tasks of the project are (i) distribution of experimental work experience among Russian and foreign laboratories and (ii) organization of an information database in Russian for researchers connected with molecular biology or medicine.     

Isaac Lea's Palaeosauropus (= “Sauropus”) primaevus: A Review of His Discovery

In 1849, Isaac Lea named Sauropus primaevus for footprints from Mount Carbon, Pennsylvania, USA, then the oldest fossil vertebrate footprints reported. In 1902, O. P. Hay constructed a new ichnogenus Palaeosauropus for this ichnospecies. Palaeosauropus has been one of the most frequently reported Mississippian footprint ichnogenera in North America and remains a valid ichnotaxon. The holotype of Palaeosauropus (= “Sauropus”) primaevus (referred to as P. primaevus), consisting of a single manus/pes pair, is described and illustrated in Lea (1853) Lea, I. 1853. On the fossil foot-marks in the Red Sandstones of Pottsville, Schuylkill County, Penna. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, 10(new series): 307–315.  [Google Scholar] and is housed at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (ANS9752). Lea's large specimen of P. primaevus (approximately 86 cm by 53 cm), that included a trackway of six manus/pes pairs, described and illustrated in 1853 and 1855, was a combination of ANS9752 and a second specimen represented by a plaster cast housed at the National Museum of Natural History (USNM487148). Historical documents and examination of the Mauch Chunk Formation at Mount Carbon, Pennsylvania, enabled the identification of Lea's tracksite, originally reported to be a few hundred feet (about 75 m) from the former Mount Carbon Hotel. Our forensic evidence indicates the type locality for P. primaevus is approximately 90 m south from the southwest corner of Centre and Main Streets in Mount Carbon, Pennsylvania, with geographical coordinates of N 40° 40' 25.7”, W 76° 11' 14.9”. The type locality is within the middle member of the Mauch Chunk Formation, a fluvial sequence of late Mississippian (Visean) Age.     

Metabolomics enables precision medicine: “A White Paper,Community Perspective”

Introduction: Background to metabolomics

Metabolomics is the comprehensive study of the metabolome, the repertoire of biochemicals (or small molecules) present in cells, tissues, and body fluids. The study of metabolism at the global or “-omics” level is a rapidly growing field that has the potential to have a profound impact upon medical practice. At the center of metabolomics, is the concept that a person’s metabolic state provides a close representation of that individual’s overall health status. This metabolic state reflects what has been encoded by the genome, and modified by diet, environmental factors, and the gut microbiome. The metabolic profile provides a quantifiable readout of biochemical state from normal physiology to diverse pathophysiologies in a manner that is often not obvious from gene expression analyses. Today, clinicians capture only a very small part of the information contained in the metabolome, as they routinely measure only a narrow set of blood chemistry analytes to assess health and disease states. Examples include measuring glucose to monitor diabetes, measuring cholesterol and high density lipoprotein/low density lipoprotein ratio to assess cardiovascular health, BUN and creatinine for renal disorders, and measuring a panel of metabolites to diagnose potential inborn errors of metabolism in neonates.

Objectives of White Paper—expected treatment outcomes and metabolomics enabling tool for precision medicine

We anticipate that the narrow range of chemical analyses in current use by the medical community today will be replaced in the future by analyses that reveal a far more comprehensive metabolic signature. This signature is expected to describe global biochemical aberrations that reflect patterns of variance in states of wellness, more accurately describe specific diseases and their progression, and greatly aid in differential diagnosis. Such future metabolic signatures will: (1) provide predictive, prognostic, diagnostic, and surrogate markers of diverse disease states; (2) inform on underlying molecular mechanisms of diseases; (3) allow for sub-classification of diseases, and stratification of patients based on metabolic pathways impacted; (4) reveal biomarkers for drug response phenotypes, providing an effective means to predict variation in a subject’s response to treatment (pharmacometabolomics); (5) define a metabotype for each specific genotype, offering a functional read-out for genetic variants: (6) provide a means to monitor response and recurrence of diseases, such as cancers: (7) describe the molecular landscape in human performance applications and extreme environments. Importantly, sophisticated metabolomic analytical platforms and informatics tools have recently been developed that make it possible to measure thousands of metabolites in blood, other body fluids, and tissues. Such tools also enable more robust analysis of response to treatment. New insights have been gained about mechanisms of diseases, including neuropsychiatric disorders, cardiovascular disease, cancers, diabetes and a range of pathologies. A series of ground breaking studies supported by National Institute of Health (NIH) through the Pharmacometabolomics Research Network and its partnership with the Pharmacogenomics Research Network illustrate how a patient’s metabotype at baseline, prior to treatment, during treatment, and post-treatment, can inform about treatment outcomes and variations in responsiveness to drugs (e.g., statins, antidepressants, antihypertensives and antiplatelet therapies). These studies along with several others also exemplify how metabolomics data can complement and inform genetic data in defining ethnic, sex, and gender basis for variation in responses to treatment, which illustrates how pharmacometabolomics and pharmacogenomics are complementary and powerful tools for precision medicine.

Conclusions: Key scientific concepts and recommendations for precision medicine

Our metabolomics community believes that inclusion of metabolomics data in precision medicine initiatives is timely and will provide an extremely valuable layer of data that compliments and informs other data obtained by these important initiatives. Our Metabolomics Society, through its “Precision Medicine and Pharmacometabolomics Task Group”, with input from our metabolomics community at large, has developed this White Paper where we discuss the value and approaches for including metabolomics data in large precision medicine initiatives. This White Paper offers recommendations for the selection of state of-the-art metabolomics platforms and approaches that offer the widest biochemical coverage, considers critical sample collection and preservation, as well as standardization of measurements, among other important topics. We anticipate that our metabolomics community will have representation in large precision medicine initiatives to provide input with regard to sample acquisition/preservation, selection of optimal omics technologies, and key issues regarding data collection, interpretation, and dissemination. We strongly recommend the collection and biobanking of samples for precision medicine initiatives that will take into consideration needs for large-scale metabolic phenotyping studies.

     

The Tip of the “Celiac Iceberg” in China: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Objective

Until recently, celiac disease was considered to be rare in China. We aimed to estimate its true status.

Methods

By searching the MEDLINE database and four Chinese full-text databases (CNKI, CBM, VIP and WANFANG) (up to August 2012), as well as two HLA allele frequency net databases and the Chinese Statistics Yearbook databases, we systematically reviewed the literature on definite and suspected cases of celiac disease, the predisposing HLA allele frequencies, and on gluten exposure in China. Meta-analysis was performed by analyzing DQ2, DQ8 and DQB1*0201 gene frequencies and heterogeneity in populations from different geographic regions and ethnicities in China.

Results

At present, the number of reported celiac disease cases is extremely low in China. The frequencies of the HLA-DQ2.5 and HLA-DQ8 haplotypes were 3.4% (95% confidence interval 1.3–5.5%) and 2.1% (0.1–4.1%), respectively. HLA-DQ2 and HLA-DQ8 antigen frequencies were 18.4% (15.0–21.7%) and 8.0% (4.5–11.4%), respectively. The frequency of the DQB1*0201 allele was 10.5% (9.3–11.6%) and it was more common in the northern Chinese than in the southern Chinese populations. The chance of being exposed to gluten is rapidly increasing all over China nowadays.

Conclusion

The data on HLA haplotyping, in conjunction with increasing wheat consumption, strongly suggests that the occurrence of celiac disease is more common in China than currently reported. Coordinated measures by the Chinese government, medical and agricultural research institutions, and food industries, would be justified to create more awareness about celiac disease and to prevent it becoming a medical and societal burden.     

Modulation of α-Synuclein Aggregation by Dopamine: A Review

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that is characterized by (1) the selective loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra and (2) the deposition of misfolded α-synuclein (α-syn) as amyloid fibrils in the intracellular Lewy bodies in various region of the brain. Current thinking suggests that an interaction between α-syn and dopamine (DA) leads to the selective death of neuronal cells and the accumulation of misfolded α-syn. However, the exact mechanism by which this occurs is not fully defined. DA oxidation could play a key role is the pathogenesis of PD by causing oxidative stress, mitochondria dysfunction and impairment of protein metabolism. Here, we review the literature on the role of DA and its oxidative intermediates in modulating the aggregation pathways of α-syn.     

A Critical Review of the “Undoing Hypothesis”: Do Positive Emotions Undo the Effects of Stress?

Research in affective science has shown that trait positive affect reduces the risk of developing disease and is protective against the progression of certain diseases. Research also suggests that trait positive affect predisposes individuals to more frequent experiences of positive emotional states. The undoing effect has been proposed as a potential mechanism explaining how positive emotions influence health outcomes. According to this hypothesis, the experience of state positive emotions or positive affect contributes to faster recovery from the body’s physiological response to stress. This paper critically reviews literature concerning the undoing hypothesis. Several common methodological weaknesses were identified, including conceptual and design issues. Based on the reviewed studies two separate conclusions were drawn. First, there was insufficient evidence to conclude that the occurrence of positive emotional states speeds physiological recovery. Second, there was insufficient evidence to evaluate the undoing hypothesis as a potential mechanism through which state positive emotions affect health. Future research should focus on identifying the key parameters responsible for demonstrating the undoing effect when it is observed in order to understand how the experience of positive emotions may exert positive effects on health outcomes.