Settlement and mortality of the Christian site (1050 A.D.–1300 A.D.) of Meinarti (Sudan)

Demographic analysis of cemetery data can be a useful complement to archaeological studies. Skeletal remains, when they comprise a representative sample, can serve to define certain relationships between the cultural and biological aspects of human adaptation. Furthermore, differential mortuary practices often mirror the status system of a society.Specifically, this paper examines the status system and mortality pattern of the community of Meinarti in the Sudan. Stationary life table analysis shows age, sex, and an additional factor (reflected in survival) as determinants of status. In addition, the analysis of mortality supports Adam's hypothesis of village growth and decline.     

R. A. Fisher, Lancelot Hogben, and the Origin(s) of Genotype–Environment Interaction

This essay examines the origin(s) of genotype–environment interaction, or G × E. “Origin(s)” and not “the origin” because the thesis is that there were actually two distinct concepts of G × E at this beginning: a biometric concept, or G × E_B, and a developmental concept, or G × E_D. R. A. Fisher, one of the founders of population genetics and the creator of the statistical analysis of variance, introduced the biometric concept as he attempted to resolve one of the main problems in the biometric tradition of biology – partitioning the relative contributions of nature and nurture responsible for variation in a population. Lancelot Hogben, an experimental embryologist and also a statistician, introduced the developmental concept as he attempted to resolve one of the main problems in the developmental tradition of biology – determining the role that developmental relationships between genotype and environment played in the generation of variation. To argue for this thesis, I outline Fisher and Hogben’s separate routes to their respective concepts of G × E; then these separate interpretations of G × E are drawn on to explicate a debate between Fisher and Hogben over the importance of G × E, the first installment of a persistent controversy. Finally, Fisher’s G × E_B and Hogben’s G × E_D are traced beyond their own work into mid-20th century population and developmental genetics, and then into the infamous IQ Controversy of the 1970s.     

Evolutionary aspects of sleep–wake cycle development in vertebrates (Modern state of the I.G. Karmanova’s sleep evolution theory)

The genetic basis of rest–activity circadian alternation in animal behavior is considered in the evolutionary range from bacteria to mammals. We scrutinize various concepts of sleep development in the animal world evolution as well as the I.G. Karmanova’s theory of the sleep–wake cycle evolution in vertebrates, beginning from wakefulness–primary sleep (or protosleep) in fish and amphibians through wakefulness–intermediate sleep in reptiles to wakefulness–slow wave sleep (SWS) and paradoxical sleep (PS) in birds and mammals. Primary sleep is represented by the three major sleep-like immobility states: catalepsy, catatonia and cataplexy. The main behavioral, somatovegetative and neurophysiological characteristics of primary sleep and the ancient activation pattern during primary sleep are described. The issues of which of these sleep manifestations are homologous to SWS, PS, hibernation and stress response are discussed. In conclusion, the general diagram of sleep evolution in vertebrates is presented, and the I.G. Karmanova’s contribution to evolutionary somnology is highlighted.     

Dead Media Objects and the Experience of the (Once) Modern. Ethnographic Perspectives from the Living Rooms of Kinshasa’s Old Aged

ABSTRACT

This article departs from the observation that in many living rooms of elderly Kinois (inhabitants of Kinshasa), old and defunctive radio and television sets are put on display. When their primary function, to inform, has been rendered obsolete, we are faced with the question why people continue to display these objects, often next to newer models, in their living rooms. The main argument is that Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) commodities, old and new, defective and repaired, are primarily social objects that are embedded in complex webs of practices and expectations which unsettle the taken-for-granted associations between technology and time. ICT objects are shown to be metonyms of dynamics in social relationships between owners of these ICT goods and others; and, although seemingly paradoxically, these same objects, even when damaged, inhabit promises for a better future. The article thus offers an alternative perspective on electronic modernity, and in particular, the role of Africa therein.     

50 Years after the Death of D.A. Sabinin (1889–1951)

Russian Journal of Plant Physiology -     

The Contribution of Lev Konstantinovich Kaipiainen (1937–2004) to the Studies of Plant Water Regime and Productivity

Russian Journal of Plant Physiology -     

A Revision of Fritillaria L. (Liliaceae) in the Hengduan Mountains and Adjacent Regions,China ( 1 )—A Study of Fritillaria cirrhosa D. Don and Its Related Species

A study was made on Fritillaria cirrhosa D．Don and its related species based on both field observation and herbarium material．As a result,four species are recognized and 16 specific names and 18 variety names are reduced as synonyms．