Osteoarthritis in Siberia's Cis-Baikal: Skeletal indicators of hunter-gatherer adaptation and cultural change

This examination of osteoarthritis in Siberia's Cis-Baikal region focuses on the reconstruction of mid-Holocene mobility and activity patterns with particular interest in an alleged fifth millennium BC biocultural hiatus. Five cemetery populations--two representing the pre-hiatus Kitoi culture (6800-4900 BC) and three the post-hiatus Serovo-Glaskovo (4200-1000 BC)-are considered. The objective is to investigate osteoarthritic prevalence and distribution (patterning) within and among these populations in order to reconstruct mobility and activity patterns among the Cis-Baikal foragers, and to test for possible disparities that may reflect differing adaptive strategies. The data reveal that levels of activity remained relatively constant throughout the mid-Holocene but that mobility and specific activity patterns did not. Although results are consistent with the current understanding of distinct Kitoi and Serovo-Glaskovo subsistence regimes, specifically the lower residential mobility and narrower resource base of the former, they also draw attention to adaptive characteristics shared by all occupants of the Cis-Baikal.     

Population affinities of Neolithic Siberians: a snapshot from prehistoric Lake Baikal

Archaeological evidence supports the inhabitation of the Lake Baikal region since the Paleolithic. Both metric and nonmetric osteological studies suggest that Neolithic Cis-Baikal populations are the ancestors of contemporary inhabitants of the region. To date, ancient DNA data have not been used to corroborate this biological continuity hypothesis. This study presents a temporal snapshot of the Cis-Baikal Neolithic by examining mtDNA diversity in two cemetery populations situated on the Angara River downstream of Lake Baikal. The 800 years separating the use of the two cemeteries is thought to represent a biocultural hiatus in the Cis-Baikal region, one that ended when a new group migrated into the area. To assess the likelihood that genetic continuity exists between these two Neolithic groups, we examined both mtDNA coding region and hypervariable region I (HVI) polymorphisms from skeletal remains excavated from both cemeteries (Lokomotiv and Ust'-Ida). The mtDNA haplogroup distributions of the two cemetery populations differ significantly, suggesting that they were biologically distinct groups. When the biological distance between these Neolithic groups is compared with modern Siberian and other East Eurasian groups, the posthiatus group (Serovo-Glazkovo) generally aligns with contemporary Siberians, while the prehiatus (Kitoi) individuals are significantly different from all but modern Kets and Shorians living in the Yenisey and Ob River basins to the west of Lake Baikal. These results suggest that the Lake Baikal region experienced a significant depopulation event during the sixth millennium BP, and was reoccupied by a new immigrant population some 800 years later.     

Upper limb musculoskeletal stress markers among middle Holocene foragers of Siberia's Cis‐Baikal region

This evaluation of musculoskeletal stress markers (MSMs) in the Cis‐Baikal focuses on upper limb activity reconstruction among the region's middle Holocene foragers, particularly as it pertains to adaptation and cultural change. The five cemetery populations investigated represent two discrete groups separated by an 800–1,000 year hiatus: the Early Neolithic (8000–7000/6800 cal. BP) Kitoi culture and the Late Neolithic/Bronze Age (6000/5800–4000 cal. BP) Isakovo‐Serovo‐Glaskovo (ISG) cultural complex. Twenty‐four upper limb MSMs are investigated not only to gain a better understanding of activity throughout the middle Holocene, but also to independently assess the relative distinctiveness of Kitoi and ISG adaptive regimes. Results reveal higher heterogeneity in overall activity levels among Early Neolithic populations—with Kitoi males exhibiting more pronounced upper limb MSMs than both contemporary females and ISG males—but relative constancy during the Late Neolithic/Bronze Age, regardless of sex or possible status. On the other hand, activity patterns seem to have varied more during the latter period, with the supinator being ranked high among the ISG, but not the Kitoi, and forearm flexors and extensors being ranked generally low only among ISG females. Upper limb rank patterning does not distinguish Early Neolithic males, suggesting that their higher MSM scores reflect differences in the degree (intensity and/or duration), rather than the type, of activity employed. Finally, for both Kitoi and ISG peoples, activity patterns—especially the consistently high‐ranked costoclavicular ligament and deltoid and pectoralis major muscles—appear to be consistent with watercraft use. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Dental variation among four prehispanic Mexican populations

In this paper, the dental morphology of prehispanic Mesoamerican populations is described, compared, and examined within the context of New World dental variation. Twenty-eight morphological dental traits were studied and compared in four samples of prehispanic Mexican populations. After eliminating intra- and interobserver error, the dental morphological characteristics observed show evidence of heterogeneity among the populations. In particular, the oldest population, Tlatilco (1300–800 BC ), was significantly different from the other three groups, Cuicuilco (800–100 BC ), Monte Albán (500 BC –700 AD ) and Cholula (550–750 AD ). When the four samples were compared to other Mongoloid populations, either univariately or multivariately, it was observed that the Mexican groups did not follow a strict Sinodont (characteristic of Northeast Asia)/Sundadont (characteristic of Southeast Asia) classification (Turner [1979] Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 51:619–636). From the traits examined, 27% presented frequencies consistent with Sinodont variation, while 73% of the traits showed similar incidence to Southeast Asian groups. Multivariately, the Mexican populations were found to fit an overall Sundadont classification. These results indicate that there is more dental morphological variation among American Indian populations than previously shown. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Investigating health at Kerma: sacrificial versus nonsacrificial individuals

This analysis examines heterogeneity in risks by assessing the health status of individuals in two distinct burial contexts from the Nubian site of Kerma: sacrificial (n = 100) and nonsacrificial (n = 190) burial areas dated to the classic Kerma period ( approximately 1750-1500 BC). Indicators of physiological stress that were examined include cribra orbitalia, dental enamel hypoplasia, tibial osteoperiostitis, and femur length. The analysis presented here shows that the people interred in the sacrificial and nonsacrificial burial contexts at Kerma in Upper Nubia had similar health profiles that were comparable with other contemporaneous samples from the region. If sacrificial individuals did not experience the same risk of death as nonsacrificial individuals, it was not evident in the frequencies of nonspecific stress indicators. However, this differential risk of death may be blurred by our inability to examine nonadults for childhood disease. This research demonstrates the complexities involved in understanding the multiple factors that result in heterogeneity in skeletal samples.     

Assessing oral health promotion determinants in active Greek elderly

doi: 10.1111/j.1741‐2358.2011.00491.x
Assessing oral health promotion determinants in active Greek elderly Objective: To explore older adults’ patterns and risk behaviours to be invoked in the allocation of strategies to promote oral health. Background: Access to dental services is determined by factors that serve as barriers to or enablers of older adults’ behaviour and attitudes towards oral health. Appropriate oral health promotion activities are of particular importance among the elderly in altering oral health behaviour through education, prevention and health protection. Methods: A cross‐sectional study was conducted among 108 dentate elderly subjects. They were attending a University Prosthetic Dentistry Clinic in Greece as patients seeking treatment. Participants underwent a clinical examination and an interview. Results: Data extracted revealed that cost and no disease awareness were the most frequently mentioned barriers to regular dental visits. Most of the participants presented low level of income and education and reduced presence of adverse dental health symptoms compared with the actual oral health status. Besides some predisposing factors, enabling and need variables significantly affected access to dental care services, participants’ number of remaining teeth and as a consequence oral health status. Conclusion: Profiling older adults’ demographics, economic, social and cultural status and their attitudes and beliefs could further contribute in developing universal activities and strategies for oral health promotion so as ageing challenges are favoured.     

The usefulness of caries frequency,depth, and location in determining cariogenicity and past subsistence: A test on early and later agriculturalists from the Peruvian coast

Dental markers have been used to unravel particularities of paleodiet, subsistence, social structure, and health. This article aims to compare oral pathology among four pre‐Columbian groups with different degrees of agricultural and socio‐cultural development but comparable ecological conditions who lived on the coastal desert of Peru. Three of these groups are assigned to distinct phases of the Formative Period (2500–1 BC), a time critical for our understanding of the development of agriculture and social complexity. The fourth group corresponds to the Late Intermediate Period (1000–1470 AD), when agriculture had its apogee and society was highly stratified. In this study we test whether there is an increase (1) in the frequency of carious lesions and (2) in caries depth, and (3) if there is a shift from occlusal to extra‐occlusal caries locations with the development of agriculture. Therefore, we analyze the frequencies of carious lesions and antemortem tooth loss (AMTL), the caries distributions by age, sex, and type of tooth, as well as the tissues affected by, and the location of the carious lesions. Since there are no significant differences in the frequencies of carious lesions and AMTL between the groups, we reject hypothesis 1. In contrast, caries depth does increase, and caries location changes from occlusal to extra‐occlusal sites with agricultural development. However, we can only corroborate hypothesis 2 and 3 when taking into consideration dental wear. Thus, we recommend that caries depth and locations should be used with evaluations of dental wear to reconstruct subsistence in ancient populations. Am J Phys Anthropol 143:75–91, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Dental and general health in a population of wild ring-tailed lemurs: a life history approach

Data are presented on dental and general health for seven groups of wild ring-tailed lemurs, Lemur catta, from the Beza Mahafaly Reserve, in southern Madagascar. As part of a study of population demography, adults were captured, collared, and tagged, and biometric measurements, dental casts, and analyses of dental and general health were made. Results indicate that patterns of dental health vary by individual, age, sex, and habitat. Prime adults show more dental attrition than young adults. Prime males living in more marginal habitats show greater mean attrition than those living in richer habitats. Dental damage, specifically to the toothcomb, indicates that mechanical stresses to this region may include the initial harvesting of foods, in addition to grooming. Males exhibit more evidence of past trauma, including scars and chipped teeth. These results indicate that environmental as well as social factors, such as female dominance, may lead to sex differences in health patterns among lemurs.     

Dental anthropology of Central-Southern,Iron Age Italy: The evidence of metric versus nonmetric traits

Discrete and metric dental traits are used to assess biological similarities and differences among 13 bioarchaeological populations located on each side of the Apennine mountains in central-southern Italy and dated to the first millennium BC . An initial hypothesis, that the mountain chain might provide a significant geographical barrier for population movement (resulting in greater biological affinities among those groups on the same side), is not supported. Instead, the samples appear to cluster more on the basis of time than geography. Archaeological evidence, however, supports an association between populations on opposite sides of the mountains and thus is in accord with the dental data. As anticipated, discrete dental traits appear to be more useful than metric dental traits in assessing such population affinities. This research represents a beginning to a better comprehension of the complexity of the biological and cultural dynamics of Italian populations during recent millennia. Am J Phys Anthropol 107:371–386, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Coca chewing in prehistoric coastal Peru: dental evidence

In this study, we describe the dental health of four prehistoric human populations from the southern coast of Peru, an area in which independent archaeological evidence suggests that the practice of coca-leaf chewing was relatively common. A repeated pattern of cervical-root caries accompanying root exposure was found on the buccal surfaces of the posterior dentition, coinciding with the typical placement of coca quids during mastication. To further examine the association between caries patterning and coca chewing, caries site characteristics of molar teeth were utilized as indicators for estimating the likelihood of coca chewing for adults within each of the study samples. Likelihood estimates were then compared with results of a test for coca use derived from hair samples from the same individuals. The hair and dental studies exhibited an 85.7% agreement. Thus, we have demonstrated the validity of a hard-tissue technique for identifying the presence of habitual coca-leaf chewing in ancient human remains, which is useful in archaeological contexts where hair is not preserved. These data can be used to explore the distribution of coca chewing in prehistoric times. Simultaneously, we document the dental health associated with this traditional Andean cultural practice.     

Lower limb activity in the Cis‐Baikal: Entheseal changes among middle holocene siberian foragers

Lower limb entheseal changes are evaluated in order to reconstruct activity levels and more fully understand cultural and behavioral variation among the middle Holocene (ca. 9,000–3,000 years BP) foragers of Siberia's Cis‐Baikal region. The four cemetery samples examined span a period of diachronic change characterized by an 800‐ to 1,000‐year discontinuity in the use of formal cemeteries in the region. Two of the cemetery samples represent the early Neolithic Kitoi culture, dating from 8,000 to 7,000/6800 cal. BP; the other two represent the late Neolithic‐early Bronze Age Isakovo‐Serovo‐Glazkovo (ISG) cultural complex, dating from 6,000/5,800 to 4,000 cal. BP. Findings suggest a dynamic pattern of cultural variability in the Cis‐Baikal, with spatial distribution (i.e., site location within particular microregions) appearing to be just as important a factor as cultural/temporal affiliation in explaining intersample differences in entheseal morphology. In addition, intrasample comparisons reveal increasing sexual disparity with advancing age at death, emphasizing the influence of sex‐related activities on lower limb entheseal changes. Finally, results from the separate fibrous and fibrocartilaginous datasets appear to be largely congruous, implying that activity patterns in the Cis‐Baikal may have similar effects on the morphology of both types of entheses. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

不同形态型雄性罗氏沼虾的交配能力

从行为生态学角度,对采自孟加拉国库尔纳专区羌纳县布苏尔河罗氏沼虾原产地池塘种群中3种不同形态型雄虾的繁殖行为及交配能力进行了初步研究.结果表明：社群中蓝螯型（BC）、橙螯型(OC)和小型(SM)雄性罗氏沼虾的交配行为模式没有明显的区别,但BC、OC和SM雄虾在交媾前守卫、交媾及精荚传递和交媾后守卫3个典型行为中投入的时间存在明显差异.BC雄虾交媾前守卫、交媾及精荚传递用时明显比OC、SM雄虾短,而交媾后守卫用时明显比OC 、SM雄虾长.SM雄虾在交媾前守卫和精荚传递上投入的时间最长,而交媾后守卫用时最短.在雌虾体质量为雄虾体质量的80%,且♀∶♂为8∶1性比条件下,BC、OC和SM雄虾在120 h内平均交媾次数分别为4.6、2.2、1.3,BC雄虾具有较强的连续交媾能力.罗氏沼虾的交配能力与其体质量相关,雄、雌虾的体质量相匹配才能保证成功交媾.否则会出现“假交”现象.     

Association between dental health behaviours, mental/physical function and self-feeding ability among the elderly: a cross-sectional survey

Objectives : The aim of this study was to determine the association between dental health behaviour, mental/physical function and self‐feeding ability among the elderly. Subjects : A total of 414 elderly dental patients aged 65 years and older participated in this study. Methods : A survey was carried out for three years and seven months starting in January 1998 at the Chubu National Hospital. The patients or their carers were examined/interviewed about the severity of senile dementia, dental health behaviour, ability to rinse their mouths, ability to manage dentures, and ability to sit at a table during meals. To assess the association with self‐feeding ability among the elderly, cut‐offs were given for these variables, and then the odds ratios were calculated. Results : The strongest association to self‐feeding ability was marked by inability to rinse their own mouth, followed by inability to manage dentures, inability to sit at a table during meals, severe senile dementia and less frequency of toothbrushing. Conclusion : Elderly who have lost the feeding ability often could not maintain their dental health by themselves. Carers must provide not only a feeding service with acknowledgement of aspiration but oral care to prevent dental disease and fatal pneumonia in the elderly.     

Increase of tooth size in prehistoric coastal Peru, 10,000 B.P.-1,000 B.P.

Teeth increase in size during a 9,000-year period in an archaeologically derived, radiocarbon dated sample of skeletons from a geographically restricted area of coastal Peru. Although cultural change is extensive, including the transition to food production and pottery making, teeth do not reduce as predicted under these conditions by Brace's Probable Mutation Effect. Since most of the dental literature dealing with size change of teeth focuses upon dental reduction, hypotheses explaining why teeth increase through time are not well developed. No obvious selective forces explaining size increase are apparent in the present data. Attrition decreases through time. The increase in tooth size in this collection may be a function of overall cranialfacial size increase, which (pending further data) may be related to a general body size increase.     

Cultural Consonance and Psychological Well-Being. Estimates Using Longitudinal Data from an Amazonian Society

Researchers have hypothesized that the degree to which an individual’s actual behavior approximates the culturally valued lifestyle encoded in the dominant cultural model has consequences for physical and mental health. We contribute to this line of research by analyzing data from a longitudinal study composed of five annual surveys (2002–2006 inclusive) of 791 adults in one society of foragers-farmers in the Bolivian Amazon, the Tsimane’. We estimate the association between a standard measure of individual achievement of the cultural model and (a) four indicators of psychological well-being (sadness, anger, fear and happiness) and (b) consumption of four potentially addictive substances (alcohol, cigarette, coca leaves and home-brewed beer) as indicators of stress behavior. After controlling for individual fixed effects, we found a negative association between individual achievement of the cultural model and psychological distress and a positive association between individual achievement of the cultural model and psychological well-being. Only the consumption of commercial alcohol bears the expected negative association with cultural consonance in material lifestyle, probably because the other substances analyzed have cultural values attached. Our work contributes to research on psychological health disparities by showing that a locally defined and culturally specific measure of lifestyle success is associated with psychological health.     

Oral health and the postcontact adaptive transition: A contextual reconstruction of diet in Mórrope,Peru

This work explores the effects of European contact on Andean foodways in the Lambayeque Valley Complex, north coast Peru. We test the hypothesis that Spanish colonization negatively impacted indigenous diet. Diachronic relationships of oral health were examined from the dentitions of 203 late‐pre‐Hispanic and 175 colonial‐period Mochica individuals from Mórrope, Lambayeque, to include observations of dental caries, antemortem tooth loss, alveolar inflammation, dental calculus, periodontitis, and dental wear. G‐tests and odds ratio analyses across six age classes indicate a range of statistically significant postcontact increases in dental caries, antemortem tooth loss, and dental calculus prevalence. These findings are associated with ethnohistoric contexts that point to colonial‐era economic reorganization which restricted access to multiple traditional food sources. We infer that oral health changes reflect creative Mochica cultural adjustments to dietary shortfalls through the consumption of a greater proportion of dietary carbohydrates. Simultaneously, independent skeletal indicators of biological stress suggest that these adjustments bore a cost in increased nutritional stress. Oral health appears to have been systematically worse among colonial women. We rule out an underlying biological cause (female fertility variation) and suggest that the establishment of European gender ideologies and divisions of labor possibly exposed colonial Mochica women to a more cariogenic diet. Overall, dietary change in Mórrope appears shaped by local responses to a convergence of colonial Spanish economic agendas, landscape transformation, and social changes during the postcontact transition in northern Peru. These findings also further the understandings of dietary and biocultural histories of the Western Hemisphere. Am J Phys Anthropol 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Oral health related to demographic features in Bosnian children aged six

The main aim of this paper is to present epidemiological indicators of oral health among six-year olds in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH) and to analyze values of dmft index and dental treatment needs in order to identify differences in parts of the country. Another aim is to identify the needs from the public oral health care system in Bosnia and Herzegovina related to early permanent dentition by analyzing the condition of first permanent molars (FPM) as an indicator of oral health of permanent dentition. Survey was carried out in 2004 in 8 cantons of the Federation of BH (FBH) and in the Republic of Srpska (RS). Final sample included 560 participants aged six (mean 6.2, SD +/- 0.87). One dental team clinically examined all participants according to WHO methodology and criteria. The parameters used were: dmft index, DMFT index of first permanent molars (FPM), presence of sealants and treatment needs. A questionnaire about oral health habits had been administered. Dmft was 6.71 in that the d-component constituted the major part of the index. DMFT index of FPM was 0.61 (SD +/- 1.08). Percentage of caries free participants aged 6 was 6.8%. Average number of FPM with fissure sealants in BH was 0.25 (SD +/- 0.78). Significant demographic differences in dmft index, DMFT FPM and treatment needs were identified. Most participants (48.5%) had their first dental visit between the ages of five and seven. National oral health goal for Bosnia and Herzegovina should be to develop and implement disease prevention programs based on education of both parents and dental practitioners. It is necessary to improve access to dental care and shift focus from curative to preventive procedures. It is also necessary to set real goals for improvement of oral health which can be achieved within a desired time frame, as well as to precisely define measures to be taken.     

A framework to assess adaptive capacity of the water resources system in Nepalese river basins

This paper discusses an indicator-based framework – consisting of seven indicators, four parameters, and an index – to assess adaptive capacity of the water resources system in the Nepalese context and applies this framework to the Bagmati River Basin (BRB) in Nepal. With respect to the BRB, and Nepal in general, the study results show variations in adaptive capacity of the water resources system across the river basin (eight districts within the BRB), at different geographical (district, river basin and national level) as well as temporal (over decades) scale. Such variations suggest a need of differential policy interventions at different spatial scale to achieve adaptive management of the water resources. The adaptive capacity index can be used to prioritize basins, the adaptive capacity parameters can be used to identify the broader areas of intervention in the selected basin, and adaptive capacity indicators reveal the degree of attention required to strengthen adaptive capacity of the water resources system.     

Demonstration of insulin-like growth factor (IGF-I and -II) receptors and binding protein in human breast cancer cell lines

The insulin like growth factors (IGFs), potent mitogens for a variety of normal and transformed cells, have been reported to be secreted by several human breast cancer cell lines (BC). We have investigated the binding characteristics of IGF-I and -II in four human BC: MCF-7, T-47D, MDA 231 and Hs578T. Binding studies in microsomal membrane preparations detected high specific binding for both IGF in all four BC studied. Cross-linking with 125I-IGF-I, followed by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) under reduced conditions, revealed the presence of an alpha subunit of apparent Mr = 130,000 in MCF-7, T-47D and MDA 213 cells. When 125I-IGF-II was cross-linked, a major band of apparent Mr = 260,000 was seen in all BC. This band was inhibited by IGF-II, but not by insulin. Cross-linking of 125I-IGF-I to conditioned media from BC demonstrated the presence of three binding proteins of apparent Mr = 45,000, 36,000 and 29,000 in all BC but T-47D, in which the 36,000 band was not seen. These data demonstrate that BC possess classical receptors for both IGF-I and -II and, furthermore, that BC produce specific binding proteins for these growth factors.     

Canary islands-north African population affinities: measures of divergence based on dental morphology

This investigation addresses two related questions about the origins and biological affinities of the Canary Islands' aboriginal inhabitants. First: With which North African populations do the pre-conquest inhabitants of the Canary Islands have their greatest affinities? Second: Does inter-island biological variability among the Canary Islanders, as has been suggested by other researchers (Hooton 1925, Schwidetzky 1963), imply that potentially different founding populations remained distinct during the pre-conquest period? This study employs dental morphology data derived from pre-conquest skeletons to answer these questions. Non-metric dental traits appear to be controlled by polygenic systems with a low to moderate environmental contribution to the resulting phenotype (Berry 1978, Harris & Bailit 1980, Nichol 1990) and can thus be assumed to reflect genetic relationships. The dental morphology of a sample of Canary Islanders (n = 397) is compared to that of Northwest African samples of Algerian Shawia Berbers (n = 26), Kabyle Berbers (n = 32), Bedouin Arabs (n = 49) and Punic Carthaginians (n = 28) as well as to six samples from Northeast Africa (n = 307) included for the purpose of understanding Canary Islanders' affinities within a wider context. The analysis employs 28 dental traits, quantifying differences in their expression among the various samples through a summary statistic, CAB Smith's Mean Measure of Divergence (MMD). The MMD analysis indicates that the Canary Island sample is most similar to the four samples from Northwest Africa: the Shawia Berbers, Kabyle Berbers, Bedouin Arabs and Carthaginians, less similar to the three Egyptian samples and least like the three Nubian samples. An intra-island comparison among samples from La Gomera, Gran Canaria and Tenerife reveals low, insignificant MMD values in all cases, implying that inter-island dental morphology differences are not so great as to require hypotheses of separate founding populations.