Motherlands? Some Notes on Women and Nationalism in India and Africa

The relation of women to nationalism is problematic, both in political adjudications of nationalism and in women's status both as subjects and as objects of signification, in narrating the nation. This is nowhere more poignantly patent than in the relation of motherhood and nationalism. This paper compares some recent approaches to representations of ‘mothers of the nation’ in India and South Africa. Three aspects of the problem are highlighted. Firstly, how far images of the mothers of the nation are masculinist creations, rather than ones which women themselves author? Secondly, how does the glorification of the mother in nationalist representations relate to the corporeal experiences of real mothers? Thirdly, how far does such imagery unite or divide women in its rhetorical stress on their identity as mothers?     

Peopling of South Asia: investigating the caste-tribe continuum in India

In recent years, mtDNA and Y chromosome studies involving human populations from South Asia and the rest of the world have revealed new insights about the peopling of the world by anatomically modern humans during the late Pleistocene, some 40,000-60,000 years ago, over the southern coastal route from Africa. Molecular studies and archaeological record are both largely consistent with autochthonous differentiation of the genetic structure of the caste and tribal populations in South Asia. High level of endogamy created by numerous social boundaries within and between castes and tribes, along with the influence of several evolutionary forces such as genetic drift, fragmentation and long-term isolation, has kept the Indian populations diverse and distant from each other as well as from other continental populations. This review attempts to summarize recent genetic studies on Indian caste and tribal populations with the focus on the information embedded in the socially defined structure of Indian populations.     

Some aquatic oligochaetes of the Nilgiris,South India

Eight species of aquatic oligochaetes, belonging to the families Naididae and Tubificidae, are reported, of which six species are new to the Nigiris. Tubifex tubifex known from Coonoor is reported again from this area.     

Comparative Limnology of Several Reservoirs in Central India

Twenty four reservoirs in Central India were investigated for their physical, chemical and biological features. These reservoirs differed significantly in their size, physical features, chemical composition and vegetation. Three medium and major reservoirs recorded comparatively low electrical conductivity. All the eighteen minor reservoirs showed high conductivity and low transparency since they were all situated in densely populated urban areas polluted by human faeces and domestic sewage. The most abundant ions in water are calcium, carbonate and chloride. The phytoplankton was found to be dominated by Cyanophyceae. Rotifers dominated among zooplankton. All the minor reservoirs are highly eutrophicated. Among the major reservoirs Tawa Reservoir is oligotrophic while others are mesotrophic to eutrophic in nature.     

Survey of two beet viruses in South Kazakhstan and Central Asia

During two surveys of beet root crops in South Kazakhstan and Central Asia conducted in 1988 and 1989, 465 of 990 samples were found to contain beet mosaic virus (BMV) by double-antibody sandwich (DAS) ELISA. BMV infection was widely scattered in the area surveyed, and its incidence varied considerably, reaching 100% in some fields adjacent to beet seed crops. BMV isolates from Kazakhstan, Kirgizia, Uzbekistan and Ukraine were found to be serologically closely related in DAS-ELISA test. Beet yellows virus (BYV) was not detected in any location surveyed in South Kazakhstan and Central Asia. BYV spread into the area is probably prevented by its geographical isolation.     

Stable isotope analysis of modern human hair collected from Asia (China,India, Mongolia,and Pakistan)

We report isotopic data (δ²H, δ¹⁸O n = 196; δ¹³C, δ¹⁵N n = 142; δ³⁴S n = 85) from human hair and drinking water (δ²H, δ¹⁸O n = 67) collected across China, India, Mongolia, and Pakistan. Hair isotope ratios reflected the large environmental isotopic gradients and dietary differences. Geographic information was recorded in H and O and to a lesser extent, S isotopes. H and O data were entered into a recently developed model describing the relationship between the H and O isotope composition of human hair and drinking water in modern USA and pre‐globalized populations. This has anthropological and forensic applications including reconstructing environment and diet in modern and ancient human hair. However, it has not been applied to a modern population outside of the USA, where we expect different diet. Relationships between H and O isotope ratios in drinking water and hair of modern human populations in Asia were different to both modern USA and pre‐globalized populations. However, the Asian dataset was closer to the modern USA than to pre‐globalized populations. Model parameters suggested slightly higher consumption of locally producedfoods in our sampled population than modern USA residents, but lower than pre‐globalized populations. The degree of in vivo amino acid synthesis was comparable to both the modern USA and pre‐globalized populations. C isotope ratios reflected the predominantly C₃‐based regional agriculture and C₄ consumption in northernChina. C, N, and S isotope ratios supported marine food consumption in some coastal locales. N isotope ratios suggested a relatively low consumption of animal‐derived products compared to western populations. Am J Phys Anthropol 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Cynocephalid dermopterans from the Palaeogene of South Asia (Thailand, Myanmar and Pakistan): systematic, evolutionary and palaeobiogeographic implications

Cynocephalid dermopterans (flying lemurs) are represented by only two living genera (Cynocephalus and Galeopterus), which inhabit tropical rainforests of South‐East Asia. Despite their very poor diversity and their limited distribution, dermopterans play a critical role in higher‐level eutherian phylogeny inasmuch as they represent together with Scandentia (tree‐shrew) the sister group of the Primates clade (Plesiadapiformes + Euprimates). However, unlike primates, for which the fossil record extends back to the early Palaeogene on all Holarctic continents and in Africa, the evolutionary history of the order Dermoptera sensu stricto (Cynocephalidae) has so far remained undocumented, with the exception of a badly preserved fragment of mandible from the late Eocene of Thailand (Dermotherium major). In this paper, we described newly discovered fossil dermopterans (essentially dental remains) from different regions of South Asia (Thailand, Myanmar, and Pakistan) ranging from the late middle Eocene to the late Oligocene. We performed microtomographic examinations at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF, Grenoble, France) to analyse different morphological aspects of the fossilized jaws. The abundant material from the late Oligocene of Thailand (Nong Ya Plong coal mine) allows us to emend the diagnosis of the genus Dermotherium and to describe a new species: Dermotherium chimaera sp. n. This species exhibits an interesting mosaic of plesiomorphic cynocephalid characters shared with Cynocephalus and Galeopterus, and as such, it probably documents a form close to the ancestral morphotype from which the two extant forms are derived (supported by cladistic assessment of the dental evidence). The discovery of Palaeogene cynocephalids is particularly significant since it attests to the great antiquity of the order Dermoptera in Asia, and besides, it provides the first spatio‐temporal glimpse into the evolutionary history of that enigmatic mammal group. In that respect, these fossils testify to a long history of endemism in South Asia for dermopterans, and demonstrate that their modern geographic restriction in south‐eastern Asia is clearly a relictual distribution. Cynocephalids had a more widespread distribution during the Palaeogene, which extended from the Indian subcontinent (the rafting Greater India) to South‐East Asia. Their subsequent extinction on the Indian subcontinent was probably mediated by the major palaeogeographic and geomorphologic events related to the India‐Eurasia collision (retreat of the Paratethys Sea, formation of orogenic highlands) that have strongly affected the climate of South Asia at the end of the Oligocene.     

Emission of Volatiles From Brown Boronia Flowers: Some Comparative Observations

Extensive research has focused on the concentration of aglyconeswithin brown boronia (Boronia megastigma) flowers, however emissionof volatiles into the headspace above these flowers is not welldocumented. Using solid-phase microextraction (SPME) to trapvolatiles and GCMS analysis, we observed 23 volatiles in theheadspace above buds and flowers throughout flower maturation,above dissected floral organs and above whole plants held for36 h under either continuous light, continuous dark or 12 hlight:12 h dark:12 h light treatments. Fully-opened flowersemitted the most complex mixture of volatiles and in the greatestquantity, with a rapid decline in senescent flowers. Caryophyllene,humulene and bicyclogermacrene declined as flower buds matured;ß-ionone increased. From the individual floral organs,emission from the petaline anthers comprised 38% of total emissionsfrom the (calculated) ‘whole flower’, with 27% contributedby the petals and 10.5% by the stigma. Monoterpenes dominatedthe headspace from the calyx; dodecyl acetate, methyl jasmonateand (Z)-n-heptadec-8-ene were relatively predominant in emissionsfrom the androecium. ß-Ionone, the major floral volatilein brown boronia, dominated volatiles emitted from the stigma(87%). However, the relatively tiny petaline anthers, activein pollen production and high in carotenoids, contributed thegreatest overall amount of ß-ionone to emission fromthe whole flower. There were three different patterns in emissionof volatiles from plants in response to different light conditions:(1) emission patterns identical irrespective of light environment,with maximum emission in the ‘endogenous’ dark period,i.e. when the plant would normally have been in the dark (-pinene);(2) similar emission in all treatments, with an increase anddecline over a period of 26 h (5-acetoxy linalool, cyclic ß-ionone,dodecyl acetate and (Z)-n-heptadec-8-ene); and (3) emissionin all treatments but enhanced in the dark, with a 27.5 h periodin some cases (cyclic ß-ionone endoperoxide, dihydroß-ionone, ß-ionone, and ‘total volatiles’).Preliminary evidence is presented for endogenous control ofemission of a number of volatiles such as -pinene, with perhapsdiurnal control of others such as ß-ionone. Copyright2000 Annals of Botany Company Boronia megastigma, brown boronia, SPME, headspace, floral volatiles, ß-ionone     

Some blood genetic markers in the Korkus of Central India

A sample of 102 individuals from the Korkus tribe, an Australoid race inhabiting Central India, was studied for the distribution of haemoglobin and ten red cell enzyme types. Polymorphism was observed in G6P dehydrogenase, acid phosphatase, adenylate kinase and glyoxalase I types and in phosphoglucomutase subtypes. The lactate and malate dehydrogenases, glucose phosphate isomerase and superoxide dismutase systems were monomorphic. A single case of HbAS was observed. The Korkus were found to have GdA+; lower frequencies of pa, AK2, GLO1 and PGM2+ were observed in the Korkus in comparison to other related tribes and caste Hindus of the same region.     

Centers, Margins, and Women in South Asia

Women as Subjects: South Asian Histories. Nita Kumar. ed Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 1994.239 pp.
From the Margins of Hindu Marriage: Essays on Gender, Religion and Culture. Lindsey Harlan and Paul B. Courtright. eds. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.250 pp.
The White Woman's Other Burden: Western Women and South Asia during the British Rule. Kumari Jayawardena New York: Routledge, 1995.310 pp.     

Ecological Nationalisms: Nature, Livelihood, and Identities in South Asia

Ecological Nationalisms: Nature, Livelihood, and Identities in South Asia . Gunnel Cederlöf and K. Sivaramakrishnan, eds. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2006. 399 pp.     

Vitiligo,Psoralen, and Melanogenesis: Some Observations and Understanding

Since the etiology of vitiligo is still unknown, we searched for some abnormal biochemical parameters, if any, in subjects with vitiligo. Higher urinary excretion of indole metabolites in vitiliginous patients have been noted, in association with higher dioxygenase, superoxide dismutase, and tyrosine aminotransferase activity in their serum. Similar results have also been found in an animal model, Bufo melanostictus, during induced tyrosinase inhibition. Treatment with psoralen can reverse the parameters, except tyrosine aminotransferase, to a normal level. Although psoralens are not the magic bullet for the therapy of vitiligo, they are still being used as a chemotherapeutic agent against vitiligo on a major scale to date. Tryptophan was found to participate in the pathway of melanogenesis, as a precursor as well as a positive regulator of tyrosinase. Its behavior in this regard is much more similar to the conventional substrates tyrosine and dopa (dihydroxyphenylalanine). In consideration of combined participation of tyrosine and tryptophan in the synthesis of melanin and its breakdown, the possible influence of different enzymatic reactions, like mono-oxygenase, dioxygenase, and deamination, has been suggested.