Style and Function; Conceptual Issues in Evolutionary Archaeology.

Style and Function; Conceptual Issues in Evolutionary Archaeology. Teresa D. Hurt and Gordon F. M. Rakita. eds. Westport, CT: Bergin and Garvey, 2001. 240 pp.     

Differences among marine and hospital strains of Vibrio cholerae during Peruvian epidemic

During a period of 18 months of an epidemic of Vibrio cholerae, cultures from 450 samples of fish, shellfish and seawater were isolated. The highest frequencies of occurrence observed were 5.2% in fish from inshore waters, 3.9% in marine snails, and 1.8% in mussels and crabs. No incidents were isolated from cultures of fish in the open seas or cultures from frozen shrimp. Cultures of marine origin were compared with cultures from hospitalized patients, and these revealed marked serological and toxigenic differences. Marine strains were mainly non-O1 V. cholerae, non toxigenic. We presume fishing off-shore not to be the cause of this outbreak. However, marine species from contaminated waters could contain toxigenic V. cholerae remaining viable and potentially pathogenic. Methods used were more sensitive and specific for detecting marine strains. In this paper the need to use more specific methods is discussed.     

An Allometric Modelling Approach to Identify the Optimal Body Shape Associated with,and Differences between Brazilian and Peruvian Youth Motor Performance

Children from developed and developing countries differ in their body size and shape due to marked differences across their life history caused by social, economic and cultural differences which are also linked to their motor performance (MP). We used allometric models to identify size/shape characteristics associated with MP tests between Brazilian and Peruvian schoolchildren. A total of 4,560 subjects, 2,385 girls and 2,175 boys aged 9–15 years were studied. Height and weight were measured; biological maturation was estimated with the maturity offset technique; MP measures included the 12 minute run (12MR), handgrip strength (HG), standing long jump (SLJ) and the shuttle run speed (SR) tests; physical activity (PA) was assessed using the Baecke questionnaire. A multiplicative allometric model was adopted to adjust for body size differences across countries. Reciprocal ponderal index (RPI) was found to be the most suitable body shape indicator associated with the 12MR, SLJ, HG and SR performance. A positive maturation offset parameter was also associated with a better performance in SLJ, HG and SR tests. Sex differences were found in all motor tests. Brazilian youth showed better scores in MP than their Peruvian peers, even when controlling for their body size differences The current study identified the key body size associated with four body mass-dependent MP tests. Biological maturation and PA were associated with strength and motor performance. Sex differences were found in all motor tests, as well as across countries favoring Brazilian children even when accounting for their body size/shape differences.     

A-B-O and Rh affinities between highland and lowland Quechua-speaking Peruvian populations

According to the accounts of the Spanish chronicles and various historical analyses the Quechua-speaking population inhabiting the Province of Lamas in the Eastern Tropical Lowlands of Peru are descendants of the Chanca Tribes that migrated from the highlands about 500 years ago. The results of the present study indicate that in terms of the A-B-O and Rh systems the lowland Quechua-speaking population from the Province of Lamas and the highland Quechua population from the Province of Junin are more similar to each other than to other tropical tribes. Therefore, it is quite possible that the present lowland Quechua-speaking population from the Province of Lamas may be descendants of Andean populations.     

An association between phlebotomine sandflies and aphids in the Peruvian Andes

Abstract. As the composition of natural sugars in the diet of adult sandflies (Diptera: Psychodidae: Phlebotominae) may affect the development of Leishmania (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae) in sandfly guts, and so play an important role in the epidemiology of leishmaniasis, there is increasing interest in the sources of sugars for wild sandflies. Advanced chromatography techniques have provided indirect evidence that wild sandflies feed on honeydew, a substance released by aphids (Hemiptera: Aphididae) when feeding. Our objective was to determine whether sandfly density can be influenced directly by the local density of aphids. Aphid density was determined by counting absolute numbers of aphids on alfalfa stems in Purisima Valley, Peru, where sandflies transmit Leishmania peruviana causing Andean cutaneous leishmaniasis (uta). Sandfly relative abundance was measured using sticky trap sampling repeatedly in alfalfa fields. Lutzomyia verrucarum accounted for 92% of the total sandflies collected. As there was a female bias in sandflies collected close to houses, only the numbers of male sandflies were used in analysis. Most of the adult aphids found feeding on alfalfa were either Therioaphis trifolii forma maculata (97%) or Acyrthosiphon pisum (3%). By regression analysis, a significant relationship was found between the density of Lu. verrucarum males and the density of adults of both aphid species. This is the first ecological study to support the hypothesis that aphid honeydew may be a source of sugar for sandflies.     

No Differences in Soil Carbon Stocks Across the Tree Line in the Peruvian Andes

Reliable soil organic carbon (SOC) stock measurements of all major ecosystems are essential for predicting the influence of global warming on global soil carbon pools, but hardly any detailed soil survey data are available for tropical montane cloud forests (TMCF) and adjacent high elevation grasslands above (puna). TMCF are among the most threatened of ecosystems under current predicted global warming scenarios. We conducted an intensive soil sampling campaign extending 40 km along the tree line in the Peruvian Andes between 2994 and 3860 m asl to quantify SOC stocks of TMCF, puna grassland, and shrubland sites in the transition zone between the two habitats. SOC stocks from the soil surface down to the bedrock averaged (±standard error SE) 11.8 (±1.5, N = 24) kg C/m² in TMCF, 14.7 (±1.4, N = 9) kg C/m² in the shrublands and 11.9 (±0.8, N = 35) kg C/m² in the grasslands and were not significantly different (P > 0.05 for all comparisons). However, soil profile analysis revealed distinct differences, with TMCF profiles showing a uniform SOC distribution with depth, shrublands a linear decrease, and puna sites an exponential decrease in SOC densities with soil depth. Organic soil layer thickness reached a maximum (~70 cm) at the upper limit of the TMCF and declined with increasing altitude toward puna sites. Within TMCF, no significant increase in SOC stocks with increasing altitude was observed, probably because of the large variations among SOC stocks at different sites, which in turn were correlated with spatial variation in soil depth.     

Intracultural Differences in Local Botanical Knowledge and Knowledge Loss among the Mexican Isthmus Zapotecs

This study reports on the socio-demographic and locality factors that influence ethnobiological knowledge in three communities of Zapotec indigenous people of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico. It uses local botanical nomenclature as a proxy for general ethnobiological knowledge. In each of these communities (one urban and two rural), 100 adult men were interviewed aided with a field herbarium. Fifty had a background in farming, and 50 worked in the secondary or tertiary sector as their main economic activity, totaling 300 interviews. Using a field herbarium with samples of 30 common and rare wild regional species, we documented visual recognition, knowledge of the local life form, generic and specific names and uses (five knowledge levels measuring knowledge depth). The relationship between sociodemographic variables and knowledge was analyzed with simple correlations. Differences between the three communities and the five knowledge levels were then evaluated with a discriminant analysis. A general linear analysis identified factors and covariables that influenced the observed differences. Differences between the groups with different economic activities were estimated with a t-test for independent samples. Most of the relationships found between sociodemographic variables and plant knowledge were expected: age and rurality were positively related with knowledge and years of formal schooling was negatively related. However, the somewhat less rural site had more traditional knowledge due to local circumstances. The general linear model explained 70–77% of the variation, a high value. It showed that economic activity was by far the most important factor influencing knowledge, by a factor of five. The interaction of locality and economic activity followed. The discriminant analysis assigned interviewees correctly to their localities in 94% of the cases, strengthening the evidence for intracultural variation. Both sociodemographic and historic intracultural differences heavily influence local knowledge.     

Differences between human and rabbit transferrins

Rabbit reticulocyte incorporation of iron from rabbit transferrin was independent of transferrin iron saturation but uptake from human transferrin was saturation dependent. Unlike human transferrin, rabbit transferrin does not surrender its iron from any unique preferred iron-binding site and can be described as functionally homogeneic.The two proteins also differ in their acid-base iron-binding properties. One human transferrin iron binding site retains an ability to bind iron at somewhat acid pH but this property is not shared by rabbit transferrin.     

Archaeology and Prohibition

Abstract

The importance of alcohol to the archaeologist is investigated through a study of archaeological productivity before, during and after Prohibition. This contribution to the ethno-science of archaeology reveals that archaeological productivity is positively related to alcohol and its concomitant sin qua non: the bull session.

Archaeologists are self-selected from a specific genetic type, one of whose characteristics is the consumption of great quantities of alcoholic beverages while maintaining their ability to function {at least to communicate) with other archaeologists.     

Gender and Archaeology

Gender and Archaeology. Rita P. Wright. ed. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1996. 296 pp.     

Patterns of isozyme variation between maize and Mexican annual teosinte

Isozyme variation in 94 accessions of Mexican maize (Zea mays ssp. mays) and 37 collections of Mexican annual teosinte (Z. mays ssp. mexicana and var. parviglumis) are compared. Variety parviglumis (a predominantly wild plant) shows a closer genetic relationship to maize than does ssp. mexicana (a weedy teosinte often found in maize fields). The isozyme data suggest that maize and Z. mays var. parviglumis share a more recent common ancestor than either of these taxa share with other members of the genus Zea. In this sense, the isozyme data support the theory that maize is a domesticated form of teosinte. Isozyme data provide no evidence for independent origin of Mexican maize races from different taxa of teosinte. Isozyme analysis suggests that gene flow between maize and ssp. mexicana exists, but that it is highly restricted and more probably goes from weed into crop. Maize and var. parviglumis are isozymically too similar and too variable to allow patterns of gene flow between them (if any) to be discerned. The maize- teosinte complex does not fit a model applied to some other crops in that (I) weedy teosinte (ssp. mexicana) does not appear to be a hybrid of the wild form (var. parviglumis,) and maize and (2) the weedy form does not act as a genetic bridge between wild form and crop.     

Relationship Patterns between Ichthyoplankton and Zooplankton: A Conceptual Model

Selected cases of plankton studies were analyzed to illustrate the main types of relationships between the zooplankton and the ichthyoplankton abundance observed in the pelagic realm. Such relationships may exhibit a positive, a negative, or a random pattern. In the conceptual model here proposed, short-term oscillations among these patterns were attributed to small-scale biological processes, such as competition, predation, and intraguild predation, acting in conjunction with water turbulence. A negative relationship between zooplankton and ichthyoplankton abundance may be caused both by predation on fish eggs and larvae, and by detrimental competition and intraguild predation interactions for fish larvae. In contrast, positive relationships emerge from the absence or low abundance of major predators on the ichthyoplankton, and from food availability for fish larvae and competing species. The random pattern may appear as a gradual transitional stage between the negative and positive patterns, or be promoted by strong water turbulence – which generates random movements of individuals. The size of zooplankters greatly influences these small-scale phenomena. Hence, their role in the trophic web, the success in competition interactions and vulnerability to water turbulence depends on their size. Intra- and interspecific competition may be reduced by variability in body size within or among fish larvae populations. Owing to a strong interaction among phenomena at different scales, these small-scale processes are also influenced by larger scale features, such as seasonal changes in zooplankton biomass, water currents, or spawning periods of fish. At the space level, some theoretical studies have emphasized the role of water currents as a vector for fish larvae to reach the nursery grounds (migration triangle hypothesis), or to allow them to remain within their own population’s distributional area (member/vagrant hypothesis). At the temporal level, the match/mismatch theory insists in a synchrony between reproductive strategies of fish and cyclical changes in abundance and size spectrum of potential prey items for their larvae. In any case, a coincidence between favorable abiotic and biotic features during the whole life-cycle of fish would assure a success in survival of larvae and their subsequent recruitment to adult population.     

Differences in susceptibility and physiological fitness of Mexican field Trichoplusia ni strains exposed to Bacillus thuringiensis

The use of different commercial Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) products in the Bajio guanajuatense area in Mexico began 12 yr ago, and resistance to Bt in this area has been reported for Plutella xylostella (L.) The current study provides a baseline response and resistance potential to Bt in field and laboratory strains of Bajio Trichoplusia ni (Hübner). Differences in susceptibility to Bt among T. ni populations were observed. T. ni neonates collected in Romita, Guanajuato, were more susceptible to Bt than those collected in Salvatierra or San Luis de la Paz, Guanajuato. After five generations of exposure to XenTari in the laboratory, decreased susceptibility was found only in the Salvatierra insects, with an LC50 that was 2.1-fold greater than that of a Mexican laboratory strain. The XenTari-selected San Luis de la Paz strain was from 16- to 87-fold more resistant to CrylA protoxins than U.S. (US) and Mexican laboratory strains. Although CrylAb is not a component of XenTari, this strain also was significantly less susceptible to CrylAb toxin compared with a US strain, with a resistance ratio of 40.4. The larval weights and lengths, pupal lengths, and percentage of pupation were significantly lower for the Salvatierra strain than for all other strains. The relationship of T. ni susceptibilities to Bt Cry toxins and protoxins after several generations of exposure to XenTari and its similarity to P. xylostella behavior.     

Genetic parameters and relationships between fibre and type traits in two breeds of Peruvian alpacas

Four fibre traits (fibre diameter, FD; coefficient of variation of FD, comfort factor; and standard deviation of FD) were jointly analysed with six subjectively scored type traits (fleece density, crimp, lock structure, head, coverage, and balance) in two breeds of Peruvian Altiplano alpaca (Suri, SU; and Huacayo, HU) to ascertain their genetic relationship. A total of 2405 fibre records and 2194 type scores were available for the HU breed whereas these figures were 709 for fibre records and 650 for type scores for the SU breed. Estimated heritabilities for fibre traits were moderate to high, ranging from 0.565 to 0.699 in the SU breed and from 0.255 to 0.417 in the HU breed. Genetic and permanent environmental correlations between fibre related traits were extremely similar across breeds suggesting that these traits are fairly the same. Heritabilities estimated for the type traits tended to be lower than those estimated for the fibre traits particularly in the SU breed (ranging from 0.173 to 0.272). Fibre and type traits were, in general, genetically poorly correlated except for crimp in the HU breed, which had favourable correlations, from moderate to high, for fibre traits. In Altiplano areas in which fibre performance recording could not be implemented, crimp scoring makes it feasible to carry out mass selection in the Huacayo breed and furthermore include rural communities in national or regional selection programmes.