Perceptions of Interpersonal Versus Intergroup Violence: The Case of Sexual Assault

The social identity approach makes a distinction between behavior motivated by intergroup versus interpersonal identities, which may be relevant to victim blaming in the case of rape. Using a mock jury paradigm, we examined the impact of defining rape as an act of interpersonal violence (personal assault) versus intergroup violence (a “hate crime”), crossed with a manipulation describing the attacker as either an acquaintance or stranger. Defining rape in intergroup terms led to less victim blame than when it was defined in interpersonal terms, and participants blamed the victim more when she was assaulted by an acquaintance than a stranger.     

In memoriam: Gustaf Bolinder 19/12 1888–16/7 1957

Veena Das's work on suffering suggests that the appropriate approach to the subject is one that grounds research in social experience. To honor this pitch of anthropology, I examine the global mediatization of the trauma of political violence and its moral implications. I also describe the professional appropriation of suffering that transforms political economic conditions into medical realities. Because social experience is itself undergoing a profound alteration in the present period of disordered capitalism, the very phenomenological conditions that we have assumed as an ‘existential’ basis for responding to human misery are also being ominously transformed.     

Riding the perennial gale: working-class Puerto Ricans and the involution of colonial capitalism

Hurricane María devastated Puerto Rico in September 2017, deepening an already dire economic situation and amplifying an ongoing wave of out-migration. In the age of permanent man-made climate change, hurricanes, like extended economic crises, are “big events” produced by the capitalist despoiling of nature and labor, further exposing the dispossessed and displaced to structural violence. A colony of the USA since 1898, perhaps Puerto Rico has now once again “changed forever,” as the popular belief goes in the wake of María. If so, these changes will continually be experienced and enacted differently by subjects unevenly positioned in terms of unequal relationships of power and privilege. I propose an empirically informed research orientation that examines the situation of contemporary working-class Puerto Ricans in terms of their strategic responses to the involution of colonial capitalism. As a dimension of social life, working-classness is not contracting but expanding, in the context of an ongoing “debt crisis” better understood in terms of the self-consumption, or involution, of the modality of colonial capitalism established in Puerto Rico in the 1940s. In this light, strategic actions of working-class Puerto Ricans such as migration, informal labor, and subsistence/domestic production are not evidence of alternate modes of being, but part of the very conditions of working-classness today. I conclude by briefly identifying three areas for future research to flesh out the proposed orientation, focusing in the immediate term on responses to María by working-class communities in the island and the diaspora, in interaction with local and US elites.     

Interlocked: kinship,intimate precarity,and plantation labour in India

This article examines the employment of kinship relations in sustaining the plantation economy and in perpetuating the precariousness of child labourers who later became temporary workers in the tea plantations of Kerala, South India. Kinship ties locked diverse workers into a moral obligation of care that could easily be manipulated by plantation management as a form of labour control. Plantation capitalism, therefore, sustained itself not only through overt forms of violence but also through manipulating the precarity of employment in relation to intimate forms of love, care, and obligation that were bound up with kinship ties. Kinship networks of different kinds need to be understood as integral to the plantation society and as occupying a fundamental place within the capitalist order of plantations. I observe that the entangled relationship between workers’ precarity and plantation capitalism can be understood only if we pay attention to what I call the intimate precarity produced by the employment of kinship networks within plantation capitalism.     

Uroleucon sonchi (Linnaeus) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) in Australia

Uroleucon sonchi, an aphid species of Palaearctic origin, is a recent adventive to Australia. It is now widespread in anthropic areas of all states and the Australian Capital Territory, principally on sowthistles ( Sonchus spp.) but also on lettuce. It is occasionally parasitised by Aphidius sonchi Marshall (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). Its possible economic importance in Australia is discussed. The species is also recorded for the first time from Norfolk and Philip Islands.     

Marshall syndrome associated with a splicing defect at the COL11A1 locus.

Marshall syndrome is a rare, autosomal dominant skeletal dysplasia that is phenotypically similar to the more common disorder Stickler syndrome. For a large kindred with Marshall syndrome, we demonstrate a splice-donor-site mutation in the COL11A1 gene that cosegregates with the phenotype. The G+1-->A transition causes in-frame skipping of a 54-bp exon and deletes amino acids 726-743 from the major triple-helical domain of the alpha1(XI) collagen polypeptide. The data support the hypothesis that the alpha1(XI) collagen polypeptide has an important role in skeletal morphogenesis that extends beyond its contribution to structural integrity of the cartilage extracellular matrix. Our results also demonstrate allelism of Marshall syndrome with the subset of Stickler syndrome families associated with COL11A1 mutations.     

Factors influencing reproductive success and litter size in captive island foxes

A severe decline of island foxes (Urocyon littoralis) on the northern Channel Islands in the 1990s prompted the National Park Service to begin a captive breeding program to increase their numbers. Using detailed records of all the fox pairs (N = 267) that were part of the program on San Miguel, Santa Rosa, and Santa Cruz Islands from its inception in 2000 through 2007, we identified factors influencing the breeding success of pairs in captivity in the interest of formulating strategies that could increase captive productivity. We compiled a database of variables including litter size, reproductive success, distance to nearest occupied pen during the breeding season, subspecies, exposure, female age, male age, age difference, female and male origin (wild vs. captive born), same versus different origin, years paired, previous reproductive success by the pair, previous reproductive success by the female, mate aggression-related injuries, male previous involvement in a pair with mate aggression, and female previous involvement in a pair with mate aggression. We used multiple linear regression to identify factors predictive of litter size, and logistic regression to predict the probability of reproductive success. A larger inter-pen distance, older male age, less exposure, and a smaller intra-pair age difference positively affected litter size. The probabilities of reproductive success increased with fewer years paired and less exposure. Comparatively, pairs with wild born females (vs. captive born females), and previously successful pairs (vs. previously unsuccessful and new pairs) were most likely to be successful. These results indicate that the optimal situation was to pair wild-caught females with older males in sheltered pens that were as far from other pens as possible, to maintain successful pairs and repair unsuccessful ones. Published 2013. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.     

Digitally supported public health interventions through the lens of structural injustice: The case of mobile apps responding to violence against women and girls

Mobile applications (apps) have gained significant popularity as a new intervention strategy responding to violence against women and girls. Despite their growing relevance, an assessment from the perspective of public health ethics is still lacking. Here, we base our discussion on the understanding of violence against women and girls as a multidimensional, global public health issue on structural, societal and individual levels and situate it within the theoretical framework of structural injustice, including epistemic injustice. Based on a systematic app review we previously conducted, we evaluate the content and functions of apps through the lens of structural injustice. We argue that technological solutions such as apps may be a useful tool in the fight against violence against women and girls but have to be situated within the broader frame of public health that considers the structural dimensions of such violence. Ultimately, the concerns raised by structural injustice are—alongside key concerns of safety, data privacy, importance of human supportive contact, and so forth—crucial dimensions in the ethical assessment of such apps. However, research on the role and relevance of apps as strategies to address the structural and epistemic dimensions of violence remains scarce. This article aims to provide a foundation for further discussion in this area and could be applicable to other areas in public health policy and practice.     

Rust fungi (Uredinales) found in Marshall Islands and Pohnpei

Uromyces wedeliae, Coleosporium plumeriae, andUredo guettardae are reported for the first time from Kwajalein Atoll, Republic of Marshall Islands, and Pohnpei, Federal States of Micronesia.     

Chest Radiographic Patterns and the Transmission of Tuberculosis: Implications for Automated Systems

BackgroundComputer-aided detection to identify and diagnose pulmonary tuberculosis is being explored. While both cavitation on chest radiograph and smear-positivity on microscopy are independent risk factors for the infectiousness of pulmonary tuberculosis it is unknown which radiographic pattern, were it detectable, would provide the greatest public health benefit; i.e. reduced transmission. Herein we provide that evidence.Objectives1) to determine whether pulmonary tuberculosis in a high income, low incidence country is more likely to present with “typical” adult-type pulmonary tuberculosis radiographic features and 2) to determine whether those with “typical” radiographic features are more likely than those without such features to transmit the organism and/or cause secondary cases.MethodsOver a three-year period beginning January 1, 2006 consecutive adults with smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis in the Province of Alberta, Canada, were identified and their pre-treatment radiographs scored by three independent readers as “typical” (having an upper lung zone predominant infiltrate, with or without cavitation but no discernable adenopathy) or “atypical” (all others). Each patient’s pre-treatment bacillary burden was carefully documented and, during a 30-month transmission window, each patient’s transmission events were recorded. Mycobacteriology, radiology and transmission were compared in those with “typical” versus “atypical” radiographs.FindingsA total of 97 smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis cases were identified, 69 (71.1%) with and 28 (28.9%) without “typical” chest radiographs. “Typical” cases were more likely to have high bacillary burdens and cavitation (Odds Ratios and 95% Confidence Intervals: 2.75 [1.04–7.31] and 9.10 [2.51–32.94], respectively). Typical cases were also responsible for most transmission events—78% of tuberculin skin test conversions (p<0.002) and 95% of secondary cases in reported close contacts (p<0.01); 94% of secondary cases in “unreported” contacts (p<0.02).ConclusionAs a group, smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis patients with typical radiographic features constitute the greatest public health risk. This may have implications for automated detection systems.     

Cranial injuries as evidence of violence in prehistoric southern California

Crania from the Channel Island area of southern California were examined for evidence of traumatic injuries. Well-healed depressed fractures in the outer table of the cranial vault are common in skeletal remains from the northern Channel Islands (18.56% n = 598) but rare in those from the mainland coast (7.5% n = 146). This prevalence of traumatic injuries among the islanders may be a result of intense competition over resources in a geographically circumscribed environment. The frequency of cranial injuries increases significantly between the early and late prehistoric periods on the Channel Islands. This temporal variation appears to reflect changes in patterns of violence associated with population growth and environmental instability.     

Mass spawning of Caesio teres (Pisces: Caesionidae) at Enewetak Atoll,Marshall Islands

Synopsis Mass spawning of Caesio teres occurred between March and August, 1983 on a reef emerging from deep water just inside the East Channel of Enewetak Atoll, Marshall Islands. Aggregations and spawning were observed from one day before until three days after the full moon. Spawning aggregations were not observed during the new or quarter moons. Spawning commenced after high tide, when the current began to flow out the pass from lagoon to ocean. The spawning aggregation of close to 1000 individuals migrated to the spawning site. Spawning occurred when the aggregate ascended to near the water's surface. Subgroups dashed horizontally within the aggregate, releasing a highly visible gamete cloud. Predation on spawning adults was not observed. Predation on spawned eggs was noted. The eggs of C. teres are described. Mid-Pacific Research Laboratory, Enewetak Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands Present address: Motupore Island Research Station, P.O. Box 320, University of Papua New Guinea, Papua New Guinea     

Capitalist Contexts for Darwinian Theory: Land, Finance, Industry and Empire

When socio-economic contexts are sought for Darwin’s science, it is customary to turn to the Industrial Revolution. However, important issues about the long run of England’s capitalisms can only be recognised by taking a wider view than Industrial Revolution historiographies tend to engage. The role of land and finance capitalisms in the development of the empire is one such issue. If we historians of Darwin’s science allow ourselves a distinction between land and finance capitalisms on the one hand and industrial capitalism on the other; and if we ask with which side of this divide were Darwin and his theory of branching descent by natural selection aligned, then reflection on leading features of that theory, including its Malthusian elements, suggests that the answer is often and largely, though not exclusively: on the land side. The case of Wallace, socialist opponent of land capitalism, may not be as anomalous for this suggestion as one might at first think. Social and economic historians have reached no settled consensuses on the long-run of England’s capitalisms. We historians of Darwin’s science would do well to import some of these unsettled states of discussion into our own work over the years to come.     

Reflections on Teaching Social Violence in an Age of Genocide and a Time of War

This article is a reflection by a teacher and a student on "structural-violence pedagogy," the process of teaching and learning about the structures of inequality implicated in various forms of social violence, including those of everyday life, massacre, and genocide. Using a case study of an undergraduate course in anthropology, we explore the complexity and emotionally charged nature of this field, some innovative teaching strategies, and contributions of anthropology to understanding a world marked and marred by war, genocide, racialization, and structural poverty. The teacher shapes a course of study informed by critical pedagogy and theories about violence and power. The student draws on her personal experiences, her intellectual interests, and her yearning for fuller answers to deeper questions as she seeks to reciprocate what is being taught to her. Together, teacher and student explore the promise in the power of teaching for understanding the world as it does exist.     

Chocolate cities: A brief note from a race and capitalism perspective

Marcus Hunter and Zandria Robinson have provided us with an innovative methodology for analysing “maps” of African Americans’ lived political, social and cultural experiences past and present. Their powerful innovation is creating maps of the black experience based on black people’s lived experience. They argue that carefully tracing spatially blacks’ political, social and cultural patterns over time leads one to the conclusion that the shared experiences of blacks throughout the polity (and indeed throughout the Diaspora) have far more in common than not. I argue that we can better understand not only the maps that black people have created, but also chocolate cities themselves by using an analytical framework that integrates the analysis of the lived experience of black people with a structural analysis that interrogates the articulation of white supremacy, capitalism and patriarchy. This framework is related to the developing research into racial capitalism that is now being conducted globally.     

Protein targets for structure-based anti-Mycobacterium tuberculosis drug discovery

Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which belongs to the genus Mycobacterium, is the pathogenic agent for most tuberculosis (TB). As TB remains one of the most rampant infectious diseases, causing morbidity and death with emergence of multi-drug-resistant and extensively-drug-resistant forms, it is urgent to identify new drugs with novel targets to ensure future therapeutic success. In this regards, the structural genomics of M. tuberculosis provides important information to identify potential targets, perform biochemical assays, determine crystal structures in complex with potential inhibitor(s), reveal the key sites/residues for biological activity, and thus validate drug targets and discover novel drugs. In this review, we will discuss the recent progress on novel targets for structure-based anti-M. tuberculosis drug discovery.     

Preconception and Prenatal Environmental Factors Associated with Communication Impairments in 9 Year Old Children Using an Exposome-Wide Approach

Although speech and language deficits are common in children and strongly associated with poor educational and social outcomes, little attention has been paid to the antecedents. In this study we used the information from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children to examine preconception and prenatal environmental risk factors that were related to communication difficulties in children using the Children’s Communication Checklist (CCC). We used an exposome-wide approach to identify environmental factors univariably associated with the CCC. Taking account of the False Discovery rate, we used a P value of 0.000157 to identify 621 of 3855 items tested. These were then subjected to a series of stepwise linear regression analyses, firstly within 10 domains: personal characteristics, health, development, education, socio-economic variables, lifestyle, home and social environments, life events and chemical and other exposures; and then with the predictive variables from each domain. The final model consisted of 19 variables independently associated with the communication scale. These variables suggested 6 possible mechanisms: stressors primarily associated with socio-economic disadvantage although other lifestyle choices such as a social network of family or friends can ameliorate these effects; indicators of future parenting skills primarily associated with aspects of parental personality; aspects of the home environment; poor maternal health with a novel finding concerning maternal hearing loss; and maternal education which was partially mediated by the child’s IQ. Finally, there may be a mechanism via the maternal diet in pregnancy in particular the consumption of fatty or processed foods. This is the subject of ongoing investigation.     

Non-sedentarism,Violence and Politics of Assertive Egalitarianism among Calon Gypsies of Bahia,Brazil

The community life of Calon Romanies (Gypsies) in Bahia, northeast Brazil, is politically instituted through and by violence. Violence and fear of violence underlie Calon sociability and serve as a way to mark Calon as distinct from Jurons (non-Gypsies). Within communities, it undermines the tendency for personal power and efficacy to coalesce into rank, as well as the tendency for settlements to petrify into entities with fixed identities. Ultimately, the article argues, what makes violence practicable as a mode of fabricating social relations in the first place is Calon non-sedentarism, which posits one’s readiness to move as a mechanism through which belonging and relatedness are expressed, and which values flexibility in spatial arrangements rather than a fixed domicile.     

Lipidomic analyses of Mycobacterium tuberculosis based on accurate mass measurements and the novel "Mtb LipidDB"

The cellular envelope of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is highly distinctive and harbors a wealth of unique lipids possessing diverse structural and biological properties. However, the ability to conduct global analyses on the full complement of M. tuberculosis lipids has been missing from the repertoire of tools applied to the study of this important pathogen. We have established methods to detect and identify lipids from all major M. tuberculosis lipid classes through LC/MS lipid profiling. This methodology is based on efficient chromatographic separation and automated ion identification through accurate mass determination and searching of a newly created database (Mtb LipidDB) that contains 2,512 lipid entities. We demonstrate the sensitive detection of molecules representing all known classes of M. tuberculosis lipids from a single crude extract. We also demonstrate the ability of this methodology to identify changes in lipid content in response to cellular growth phases. This work provides a customizable framework and resource to facilitate future studies on mycobacterial lipid biosynthesis and metabolism.     

Alcohol consumption and rates of personal violence (suicide and homicide)

The present study examined the association between alcohol consumption and rates of personal violence (suicide and homicide) over regions within a nation. Although suicide rates were higher in regions with a higher per capital consumption of alcohol, other social variables were also found to be associated with both alcohol consumption and suicide rates, such as divorce rates and inter-region migration. Thus, it appears that alcohol consumption may be but one index of a broader sociocultural dimension that is associated with regional rates of suicidal behavior.