Fishing and fertility: a study of a Nova Scotia fishing village.

The relationship between fertility and occupation is compared for: 1) deep-sea fishermen who are away from home as long as 21 days at a time with short rests between; 2) in-shore fishermen who are away at sea most nights; and 3) plant workers in the locality, used as controls. Particular attention was given to the families of fishermen who had done the same job since marriage. The population was old, relatively speaking, due to outmigration of younger people. 73% of the wives were over 30 years of age. Deep-sea fishermen are younger and have higher incomes than in-shore men (42.1 years vs 49.7 and $3544 vs $2900). Among women 15-44 years of age mean number of children for deep-sea fishermen was 3.35; in-shore, 3.60; plant workers, 3.62. Among those whose husbands had held the same job since marriage the variation was greater: deep-sea, 2.54; in-shore, 3.46; plant workers, 3.35. Among women over 45-years-old whose husbands had held the same job since marriage the number of children was 2.61, 3.94, and 4.27, respectively. 33% of plant workers had more children than desired and 66.7% said they had as many as desired. However, 25.9% of in-shore fishermen and 50% of deep-sea fishermen had fewer than desired. Interval between births was similar for all occupational groups (23.5-26.7 months) but the wives of deep-sea fishermen terminated childbearing earlier. Contraception was used only by the younger women, usually coitus interruptus or rhythm. Sterilization may have been important but it was hard to find out whether the 15% of wives who reported operations which made further childbearing impossible intended sterilization. 35.7% of deep-sea fishermens' wives reported such operations, generally women with larger families.     

Man-made eutrophication in a newfoundland (Canada) harbour

A comparative study in 1969-1970 of the phytoplankton and certain other parameters in St. John's Harbour and Aquaforte Harbour, located on the southeast coast of Newfoundland, led to the conclusion that St. John's Harbour which receives untreated sewage as a prime source of nutrients was by far the more eutrophic. Evidence for the eutrophic state was especially observed in the central basin (Station 1) of the harbour. Here the bottom waters were deficient in oxygen especially during the summer months. Secchi disc readings were generally lower at this station, and the annual standing crop of phytoplankton was almost three times that at unpolluted Aquaforte Harbour. Also the proportion of the biomass contributed by the nannoplankton was greater in St. John's Harbour. One euglenoid occurred in bloom concentrations throughout the summer months and may possibly be considered as an indicator of organically-polluted waters.     

The meaning of a minuscule ribozyme

The smallest ribozyme that carries out a complex group transfer is the sequence GUGGC-3', acting to aminoacylate GCCU-3' (and host a manifold of further reactions) in the presence of substrate PheAMP. Here, I describe the enzymatic rate, the characterization of about 20 aminoacyl-RNA and peptidyl-RNA products and the pathways of these GUGGC/GCCU reactions. Finally, the topic is evolution, and the potential implications of these data for the advent of translation itself.     

Investigating the complexities of sustainable fishing at a prehistoric village on western Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada

Zooarchaeological data provide direct evidence of long-term human resource utilization relevant to the modern study of sustainability and conservation. On the northwest coast of North America, prehistoric aboriginal communities relied heavily on nearshore marine fish species, many of which have life history characteristics that make them vulnerable to overexploitation. This study examines temporal trends in the abundance and distribution of nearshore fish from skeletal remains recovered from three separate areas of a prehistoric coastal village on the west coast of Vancouver Island (ca. 1800–250 yr BP). Over the course of 1500 years, site inhabitants from these contemporaneously occupied areas regularly utilized Sebastes spp. (rockfish), with varying impacts on abundance and total length. Contrasting temporal trends in Sebastes spp. total length in separate village areas suggest different consequences to prehistoric harvesting practices, differences that can be linked to ethnographic and archaeological evidence of lineage-based territories. These long-term zooarchaeological data provide unique insights into the context and challenges of sustainable resource use in prehistory and can inform contemporary conservation efforts focused on similar species in this modern-day marine protected area.     

Comparison of the urinary metabolites of prostacyclin and thromboxane of the 2- and 3-series in a Japanese fishing and a Japanese farming village

We measured PGI2-, PGI3-, and TXA2/3-M (the main urinary metabolites of prostacyclin and thromboxane of the two and three series) in 24-hour urine in a fishing village (21 participants) and a farming village (19 participants) in Japan, expecting to find more PGI3-M in the fishing village than in the farming village. The food consumption for three consecutive days prior to a blood collection was recorded and analyzed for eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) content. Urine was collected for 24 hours prior to the blood sampling. When our studies were performed (April, 1985), catches of fish were the lowest on record around the fishing village, and the consumption of EPA in the fishing village was less than half of that in the farming village. EPA levels in red cell membrane phospholipids were higher in the fishing village than in the farming village. PGI2-, PGI3-, and TXA2/3-M levels were higher in the farming village than in the fishing village. There was a significant correlation between PGI2- and PGI3-M (r=0.80, n=40) and between PGI3-M and the EPA consumption during the day of urine collection (r=0.52, n=40). We conclude that PGI3 production is probably dependent less on the levels of EPA in tissues estimated by the EPA levels in red cell membranes than on the EPA consumption at the moment.     

The evolution of functionally referential meaning in a structured world

Animal communication systems serve to transfer both motivational information--about the intentions or emotional state of the signaler--and referential information--about external objects. Although most animal calls seem to deal primarily with motivational information, those with a substantial referential component are particularly interesting because they invite comparison with words in human language. We present a game-theoretic model of the evolution of communication in a "structured world", where some situations may be more similar to one another than others, and therefore require similar responses. We find that breaking the symmetry in this way creates the possibility for a diverse array of evolutionarily stable communication systems. When the number of signals is limited, as in alarm calling, the system tends to evolve to group together situations which require similar responses. We use this observation to make some predictions about the situations in which primarily motivational or referential communication systems will evolve.     

The meaning of pausing

Pausing of RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) at the 5' end of genes is a widespread phenomenon in metazoans, but the role of this event in gene regulation is poorly understood. Gilchrist et al. (2010) now demonstrate that RNAPII pausing counteracts DNA-influenced nucleosome organization to allow precise gene activation.     

The meaning of interaction

Although recent studies have attempted to dispel the confusion that exists in regard to the definition, analysis and interpretation of interaction in genetics, there still remain aspects that are poorly understood by non-statisticians. After a brief discussion of the definition of gene-gene interaction, the main part of this study addresses the fundamental meaning of statistical interaction and its relationship to measurement scale, disproportionate sample sizes in the cells of a two-way table and gametic phase disequilibrium.     

The meaning of Hominidae

Traditional taxonomy of Hominoidea collides head on with the latest proposals of classification, grounded on molecular studies. Therefore, the common-sense meaning of “hominidae” does not fit some of the current technical meaning anymore. Besides, there is no consensus among molecular scholars about what genera should be placed into the Hominidae family. Some possible solution to this problem are examined in this article. It is eventually proposed a tentative classification of humans and great apes that, keeping the traditional Hominidae family (Simpson), might be accepted from the point of view of cladistic and molecular studies.