American geneticists and the eugenics movement: 1905–1935

Conclusion I have attempted to show that between 1905 and 1935, both internal and external factors were important in producing and influencing geneticists' attitudes toward the eugenics movement. Internal factors operated in several ways during this period. In the first decade of the century, discoveries within genetics supplied geneticists a mode of expression to evoke their already existing social concern by providing a new vocabulary with which to present eugenic proposals. In addition, because these findings were relatively easy to explain to the layman, it became an easy matter for geneticists to popularize eugenics. After 1915, by suggesting the complexity of inheritance, other developments within genetics helped dim their initial enthusiasm for the movement. During this period, factors external to the science of genetics also were important. By producing a general interest in social affairs among many geneticists, the intellectual and social milieu of the late 1800's lay the foundations for their early participation in the eugenics movement. In the 1920's and 1930's the subjection of genetic theory to support preconceived social and political doctrines prompted them to renounce the movement publicly.While both internal and external factors operated on geneticists, the lesson of this study is that external factors were more important in influencing their attitudes toward the movement than internal factors. At the turn of the century, geneticists inherited from Social Darwinism a general interest in applying biological principles to the analysis of social problems; discoveries within genetics mainly provided a convenient and persuasive terminology with which to express their interest. Later, both internal and external factors caused their enthusiasm for the movement to wane, but their public renunciation of it was caused primarily by external factors alone.The importance of external factors is seen to be even greater by considering the model I suggested to explain the development of social responsibility in modern form among scientists. According to this model, social responsibility results after a crisis in the social uses of a given science—as a response to external factors. This model appears to account satisfactorily for the emergence of geneticists' sense of social responsibility: alarmed by eugenicists' frequent endorsement of Nazi eugenic programs, many geneticists claimed it was their duty to explain the facts of their science to the public so that the layman could see for himself the scientific errors of racism. Geneticists were now presenting the layman the facts, though not necessarily interpreting the facts for him. This same pattern—the emergence of modern social responsibility after an externally induced crisis-appears to be present in the other examples that I gave.The ironies revealed by this study are many. First, it is ironic that principles of genetics created feelings of both pessimism and optimism among many geneticists. Early developments in genetics-Mendel's laws, the concept of unit inheritance, and Weismann's theory-supplemented Social Darwinism in creating an atmosphere of pessimism among many geneticists by posing the grim assumption that human defects are hereditarily determined and incapable of medical cure. In recognizing the importance of heredity in development, many geneticists for a while were overly pessimistic in their forecasts of the evolutionary future of the human race. These same three genetic developments, however, by suggesting the feasibility of a eugenics program, of controlling reproduction to eliminate defective genes from the population, provided a remedy to the problem they had helped create.It is also ironic that even though the classical eugenics movement has been discredited in America for over thirty years, many individuals today are speaking of certain dangers to society in terms remarkably similar to those used by the classical eugenicists. The explosion of the atomic bomb created a sudden awareness among the public of the dangers of gene mutation from radiation and other sources⁴¹. Today, as topics such as the genetic load are increasingly discussed, many individuals are experiencing a growing alarm over the future genetic condition of the American people, a marked concern over the rising genetic and financial costs to society of modern medicine for preserving defectives and allowing them to reproduce.Although geneticists in the 1930's generally abandoned the ideal of using science to prescribe policy, to construct ends for social action, it was this ideal which initially attracted many of them to the eugenics movement in the first place. In the early years of the century, geneticists viewed science in a new light: as a restraint upon conduct. Hitherto, science had been valued for its products, for releasing man from old burdens, for supplying him new opportunities to enjoy and to explore life. In supporting the eugenics movement, geneticists departed from this mode. They now appealed to science, not for a particular product, but to determine who should and who should not reproduce. They let science act as a constraint upon their actions; they let science tell them that individual desires are less important than the biological and moral imperative of improving the human race⁴². Thus, it becomes understandable why many geneticists for a time regarded eugenics as a religion, for they had permitted biology to assume religion's traditional function of defining permissible conduct. The history of geneticists' involvement with the eugenics movement reminds us that science can play many roles and be put to many purposes.     

Connecting the typology and semantics of nominal possession: alienability splits and the morphology–semantics interface

Approaching possession as a phenomenon of the morphology–semantics interface, this paper combines two major perspectives, namely the typological and the semantic perspective. It offers a comprehensive approach that bears on the contrast of semantic and pragmatic possession. After portraying the most essential morphosyntactic strategies of split possession, the lexical distinction of nominal concept types and the resulting representation of non-relational and relational nouns is presented, following the theory of Löbner (2011). This allows to explain the use of a certain construction for a given noun by the mapping of lexical semantics to morphosyntactic realisation.Semantic possession is understood as involving a relation that is inherent to the meaning of the possessed noun, in the sense that the referent of the noun can only be established if the possessor is specified. In contrast, pragmatic possession implies that the relation POSS is established by the context rather than by the lexical semantics. This opposition enables a fresh look at the morphology of nominal possession under which the notion of (in)alienability is reinterpreted. The morphology of alienable constructions is analysed as establishing pragmatic possession by denoting an operation that shifts the head noun from a sortal to a relational concept. Thus, the innovation of the approach lies in its typologically justified radically compositional nature. It is shown in detail how this general methodical strategy accounts for all essential morphosyntactic oppositions known from the typology of nominal possession.     

Performing the Nation: Unauthorized Mexican Migration and the Politics of Language Use and the Body along the US–Mexico Border

ABSTRACT

Given the harsh environment for Mexican migrants in the US state of Arizona, migrants must think carefully about instantiating their identities in White public space through clothing, bodily movements, and language. This article explores the ways some unauthorized Mexican migrants in Arizona perform belonging to the USA by performing Chicano. Performing Chicano means passing as a US citizen, and migrants’ well-being can depend upon the recognition of those performances. Other unauthorized migrants perform the Supermexicana, to pass as Mexicans who are shopping in the USA, and need to hide the fact that they clandestinely live there. This article examines how some migrants perform a commitment to the USA in public while privately disavowing it, and how others perform a commitment to Mexico that they simply cannot have. This analysis argues that the experiences of unauthorized migrants in the USA can be productively seen through the lens of national performativity.     

Parsimony and the Fisher–Wright debate

In the past five years, there have been a series of papers in the journal Evolution debating the relative significance of two theories of evolution, a neo-Fisherian and a neo-Wrightian theory, where the neo-Fisherians make explicit appeal to parsimony. My aim in this paper is to determine how we can make sense of such an appeal. One interpretation of parsimony takes it that a theory that contains fewer entities or processes, (however we demarcate these) is more parsimonious. On the account that I defend here, parsimony is a ‘local’ virtue. Scientists’ appeals to parsimony are not necessarily an appeal to a theory’s simplicity in the sense of it’s positing fewer mechanisms. Rather, parsimony may be proxy for greater probability or likelihood. I argue that the neo-Fisherians appeal is best understood on this interpretation. And indeed, if we interpret parsimony as either prior probability or likelihood, then we can make better sense of Coyne et al. argument that Wright’s three phase process operates relatively infrequently.     

Intra-specific variability and the competition–colonisation trade-off: coexistence, abundance and stability patterns

Intra-specific variability often produces an overlap between species distributions of individual performances which can influence competition relations and community dynamics. We analysed a two-species competition–colonisation model of vegetation with intra-specific variability in juvenile growth. On each patch colonised by both species, the winner was the juvenile with higher individual growth. Intra-specific variability disproportionately favoured the more fecund species because the tail of its distribution represented more individuals. In some cases, this process could even lead to a reversal of competition hierarchy and exclusion of the species with higher mean juvenile performance. In the space of species 2 mean growth and fecundity traits, the combinations of traits allowing coexistence with species 1 appeared close to an ideal trade-off curve. Along this curve, species 2 and species 1 coexisted at similar abundance. The balance of relative abundances diminished with the distance of species 2 from this curve. For a given level of relative species performances, coexistence stability increased continuously as species differentiation increased. In contrast to classical models that exhibit abrupt changes of equilibrium community properties when species traits vary, our model displayed continuous changes of these properties in relation to the balance of life traits within and among species. Intra-specific variability allows flexible patterns of community dynamics and could explain discrepancies between observations and classical theories.     

Stress at the intestinal surface: catecholamines and mucosa–bacteria interactions

Psychological stress has profound effects on gastrointestinal function, and investigations over the past few decades have examined the mechanisms by which neural and hormonal stress mediators act to modulate gut motility, epithelial barrier function and inflammatory states. With its cellular diversity and large commensal bacterial population, the intestinal mucosa and its overlying mucous environment constitute a highly interactive environment for eukaryotic host cells and prokaryotic bacteria. The elaboration of stress mediators, particularly norepinephrine, at this interface influences host cells engaged in mucosal protection and the bacteria which populate the mucosal surface and gut lumen. This review will address growing evidence that norepinephrine and, in some cases, other mediators of the adaptation to stress modulate mucosal interactions with enteric bacteria. Stress-mediated changes in this delicate interplay may shift the microbial colonization patterns on the mucosal surface and alter the susceptibility of the host to infection. Moreover, changes in host-microbe interactions in the digestive tract may also influence ongoing neural activity in stress-responsive brain areas.     

Remembering the good and the bad: memory-based mediation of the food–safety trade-off in dynamic landscapes

Predator–prey interactions are central to fitness as animals simultaneously avoid death and consume resources to ensure growth and reproduction. Along with direct effects, predators can also exert strong non-consumptive effects. For example, prey shift habitat use in the presence of predators, a potentially learned behavior. The impact of cognition on movement and predator interactions is largely unexplored despite evidence of learned responses to predation threat. We explore how learning and spatial memory influence predator–prey dynamics by introducing predators into a memory-driven movement modeling framework. To model various aspects of risk, we vary predator behavior: their persistence and spatial correlation with the prey’s resources. Memory outperforms simpler movement processes most in patchy environments with more predictable predators that are more easily avoided once learned. In these cases, memory aids foragers in managing the food–safety trade-off. For example, particular parameterizations of the predation memory reduce encounters while maintaining consumption. We found that non-consumptive effects are highest in landscapes of concentrated, patchy resources. These effects are intensified when predators are highly correlated with the forager’s resources. Smooth landscapes provide more opportunities for foragers to simultaneously consume resources and avoid predators. Predators are able to effectively guard all resources in very patchy landscapes. These non-consumptive effects are also seen with the shift away from the best quality habitat compared to foraging in a predator-free environment.     

Forget Evil: Autonomy,the Physician–Patient Relationship,and the Duty to Refer

Aulisio and Arora argue that the moral significance of value imposition explains the moral distinction between traditional conscientious objection and non-traditional conscientious objection. The former objects to directly performing actions, whereas the latter objects to indirectly assisting actions on the grounds that indirectly assisting makes the actor morally complicit. Examples of non-traditional conscientious objection include objections to the duty to refer. Typically, we expect physicians who object to a practice to refer, but the non-traditional conscientious objector physician refuses to refer. Aulisio and Arora argue that physicians have a duty to refer because refusing to do so violates the patient’s values. While we agree with Aulisio and Arora’s conclusions, we argue value imposition cannot adequately explain the moral difference between traditional conscientious objection and non-traditional conscientious objection. Treating autonomy as the freedom to live in accordance with one’s values, as Aulisio and Arora do, is a departure from traditional liberal conceptions of autonomy and consequently fails to explain the moral difference between the two kinds of objection. We outline how a traditional liberal understanding of autonomy would help in this regard, and we make two additional arguments—one that maintains that non-traditional conscientious objection undermines society’s autonomy, and another that maintains that it undermines the physician-patient relationship—to establish why physicians have a duty to refer.     

Flexibility and specificity of the cohesin–dockerin interaction: implications for cellulosome assembly and functionality

Cellulosomes are highly elaborate multi-enzyme complexes of Carbohydrate Active enZYmes (CAZYmes) secreted by cellulolytic microorganisms, which very effectively degrade the most abundant polymers on Earth, cellulose and hemicelluloses. Cellulosome assembly requires that a non-catalytic dockerin module found in cellulosomal enzymes binds to one of the various cohesin domains located in a large molecular scaffold called Scaffoldin. A diversity of cohesin–dockerin binding specificities have been described, the combination of which may result in complex plant cell wall degrading systems, maximising the synergy between enzymes in order to improve catalytic efficiency. Structural studies have allowed the spatial flexibility inherent to the cellulosomal system to be determined. Recent progress achieved from the study of the fundamental cohesin and dockerin units involved in cellulosome assembly will be reviewed.     

Malaria Burden and Artemisinin Resistance in the Mobile and Migrant Population on the Thai–Myanmar Border, 1999–2011: An Observational Study

Background

The Shoklo Malaria Research Unit has been working on the Thai–Myanmar border for 25 y providing early diagnosis and treatment (EDT) of malaria. Transmission of Plasmodium falciparum has declined, but resistance to artesunate has emerged. We expanded malaria activities through EDT and evaluated the impact over a 12-y period.

Methods and Findings

Between 1 October 1999 and 30 September 2011, the Shoklo Malaria Research Unit increased the number of cross-border (Myanmar side) health facilities from two to 11 and recorded the number of malaria consultations. Changes in malaria incidence were estimated from a cohort of pregnant women, and prevalence from cross-sectional surveys. In vivo and in vitro antimalarial drug efficacy were monitored. Over this period, the number of malaria cases detected increased initially, but then declined rapidly. In children under 5 y, the percentage of consultations due to malaria declined from 78% (95% CI 76–80) (1,048/1,344 consultations) to 7% (95% CI 6.2–7.1) (767/11,542 consultations), p<0.001. The ratio of P. falciparum/P. vivax declined from 1.4 (95% CI 1.3–1.4) to 0.7 (95% CI 0.7–0.8). The case fatality rate was low (39/75,126; 0.05% [95% CI 0.04–0.07]). The incidence of malaria declined from 1.1 to 0.1 episodes per pregnant women-year. The cumulative proportion of P. falciparum decreased significantly from 24.3% (95% CI 21.0–28.0) (143/588 pregnant women) to 3.4% (95% CI 2.8–4.3) (76/2,207 pregnant women), p<0.001. The in vivo efficacy of mefloquine-artesunate declined steadily, with a sharp drop in 2011 (day-42 PCR-adjusted cure rate 42% [95% CI 20–62]). The proportion of patients still slide positive for malaria at day 3 rose from 0% in 2000 to reach 28% (95% CI 13–45) (8/29 patients) in 2011.

Conclusions

Despite the emergence of resistance to artesunate in P. falciparum, the strategy of EDT with artemisinin-based combination treatments has been associated with a reduction in malaria in the migrant population living on the Thai–Myanmar border. Although limited by its observational nature, this study provides useful data on malaria burden in a strategically crucial geographical area. Alternative fixed combination treatments are needed urgently to replace the failing first-line regimen of mefloquine and artesunate. Please see later in the article for the Editors'' Summary     

Host–parasitoid spatial models: the interplay of demographic stochasticity and dynamics

Host–parasitoid metapopulation models have typically been deterministic models formulated with population numbers as a continuous variable. Spatial heterogeneity in local population abundance is a typical (and often essential) feature of these models and means that, even when average population density is high, some patches have small population sizes. In addition, large temporal population fluctuations are characteristic of many of these models, and this also results in periodically small local population sizes. Whenever population abundances are small, demographic stochasticity can become important in several ways. To investigate this problem, we have reformulated a deterministic, host–parasitoid metapopulation as an integer-based model in which encounters between hosts and parasitoids, and the fecundity of individuals are modelled as stochastic processes. This has a number of important consequences: (1) stochastic fluctuations at small population sizes tend to be amplified by the dynamics to cause massive population variability, i.e. the demographic stochasticity has a destabilizing effect; (2) the spatial patterns of local abundance observed in the deterministic counterpart are largely maintained (although the area of ''spatial chaos'' is extended); (3) at small population sizes, dispersal by discrete individuals leads to a smaller fraction of new patches being colonized, so that parasitoids with small dispersal rates have a greater tendency for extinction and higher dispersal rates have a larger competitive advantage; and (4) competing parasitoids that could coexist in the deterministic model due to spatial segregation cannot now coexist for any combination of parameters.     

Managing the Human–Ecological Interface: Marine Resources as Example and Laboratory

The field of resource management integrates human and ecological systems. It is currently undergoing a difficult transition as it broadens to accommodate new values and interests. Some of the problems associated with this transition are evident in marine ecosystems, where the management of the ecological–human interface has been hindered by a lack of basic understanding. Using marine fisheries as examples, this paper describes the proximate and underlying causes of the human–ecological problem. It identifies areas in which basic research is needed on the behavioral dynamics of marine resource use, including incentives, feedbacks, management scale, monitoring and evaluation, alternative management approaches, the role of history, and human capital. It discusses the cost of failing to invest in social science research and identifies barriers to interdisciplinary research. Priorities for interdisciplinary research are listed. Received 30 November 2000; accepted 20 April 2001.     

Social Dimensions of the Human–Avian Bond: Parrots and Their Persons

Though birds are among the most popular companion animals in the United States, little scholarly research has focused on the human– companion parrot relationship. This study uses an ethnographic approach and qualitative analysis to examine the parrot–pet owner relationship. Two and onehalf weeks of ethnographic fieldwork were carried out in a veterinary clinic specializing in avian and exotic medicine. These observations complement the results of quantitative data and qualitative analysis of texts from questionnaires completed by 100 parrot owners outside the clinic. Both textual analysis and observations in the veterinary clinic revealed some interesting insights into the social dimensions of the human–companion parrot relationship, which was rated superior to that of cats and dogs by some bird owners. Various patterns of human–avian interactions emerged from the data, including childhood experience with birds, affection and physical contact with birds, birds as family members and the nature of the human–parrot bond, infantilization (delayed weaning and parrot as child surrogate), anthropomorphism (celebration of holidays, diet, death and spirituality, and misinterpretation of bird behavior), intersubjectivity and cognition, and anthropocentrism (bird as object). Misinterpretation of bird behavior and failure to recognize the unique physiological and social needs of their species may lead to impaired welfare. On the other hand, according the bird a social status as cherished family member, may enhance their welfare. In addition, other factors are considered that may enhance or detract from the welfare of companion parrots. In a discussion of hypotheses regarding the human–pet bond, it is concluded that the data presented by this study best support the social support hypothesis.     

Elasticity and geometry: a computational model of the Heineke–Mikulicz strictureplasty

Crohn’s disease is a challenging inflammatory process with a propensity for focal gastro-intestinal tract inflammation and stricture. Surgically, Crohn’s is often treated with resection. However, a subtype of diffuse disease with multiple strictures is treated by strictureplasty procedures in hope of avoiding short-gut syndrome. Prior work by Pocivavsek et al. defined the geometry of a Heineke–Mikulicz strictureplasty. Here, we bring this analysis one step closer to clinical and biological relevance by calculating the mechanical stresses and strains that the strictureplasty deformation generates on a model intestinal wall. The small bowel is simulated as a linearly elastic isotropic deformable cylindrical shell using finite element modeling. Data show a divergence in elastic response between the anti-mesenteric and mesenteric halves. The anti-mesenteric surface shows a bending dominated elastic response that correlates with the prior purely geometric analysis. However, the mesenteric half is not a neutral bystander during strictureplasty formation, as geometric arguments predict. Strong in-plane stretching strains develop in a rim around the image of the transverse closure, which may impact local perfusion and serve as sites of disease recurrence. Lastly, nearly all the deformation energy is stored in the central vertex stitch, placing this part at highest risk of dehiscence. This study enhances our understanding of mechanical response in complex nonlinear cylindrical geometries like the surgically manipulated intestinal tract. The developed framework serves as a platform for future addition of more complex clinically relevant parameters to our model, including real tissue properties, anisotropy, blood supply modeling, and patient deriver anatomic factors.     

Ecosystem engineering at the sediment–water interface: bioturbation and consumer-substrate interaction

In soft-bottom sediments, consumers may influence ecosystem function more via engineering that alters abiotic resources than through trophic influences. Understanding the influence of bioturbation on physical, chemical, and biological processes of the water–sediment interface requires investigating top-down (consumer) and bottom-up (resource) forces. The objective of the present study was to determine how consumer bioturbation mode and sediment properties interact to dictate the hydrologic function of experimental filtration systems clogged by the deposition of fine sediments. Three fine-grained sediments characterized by different organic matter (OM) and pollutant content were used to assess the influence of resource type: sediment of urban origin highly loaded with OM and pollutants, river sediments rich in OM, and river sediments poor in OM content. The effects of consumer bioturbation (chironomid larvae vs. tubificid worms) on sediment reworking, changes in hydraulic head and hydraulic conductivity, and water fluxes through the water–sediment interface were measured. Invertebrate influences in reducing the clogging process depended not only on the mode of bioturbation (construction of biogenic structures, burrowing and feeding activities, etc.) but also on the interaction between the bioturbation process and the sediments of the clogging layer. We present a conceptual model that highlights the importance of sediment influences on bioturbation and argues for the integration of bottom-up influence on consumer engineering activities. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Peroxisome Proliferator-activated Receptors and Alzheimer's Disease: Hitting the Blood–Brain Barrier

The blood–brain barrier (BBB) is often affected in several neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). Integrity and proper functionality of the neurovascular unit are recognized to be critical for maintenance of the BBB. Research has traditionally focused on structural integrity more than functionality, and BBB alteration has usually been explained more as a consequence than a cause. However, ongoing evidence suggests that at the early stages, the BBB of a diseased brain often shows distinct expression patterns of specific carriers such as members of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transport protein family, which alter BBB traffic. In AD, amyloid-β (Aβ) deposits are a pathological hallmark and, as recently highlighted by Cramer et al. (2012), Aβ clearance is quite fundamental and is a less studied approach. Current knowledge suggests that BBB traffic plays a more important role than previously believed and that pharmacological modulation of the BBB may offer new therapeutic alternatives for AD. Recent investigations carried out in our laboratory indicate that peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) agonists are able to prevent Aβ-induced neurotoxicity in hippocampal neurons and cognitive impairment in a double transgenic mouse model of AD. However, even when enough literature about PPAR agonists and neurodegenerative disorders is available, the problem of how they exert their functions and help to prevent and rescue Aβ-induced neurotoxicity is poorly understood. In this review, along with highlighting the main features of the BBB and its role in AD, we will discuss information regarding the modulation of BBB components, including the possible role of PPAR agonists as BBB traffic modulators.     

Reconstituting the kinetochore–microtubule interface: what, why, and how

The kinetochore is the proteinaceous complex that governs the movement of duplicated chromosomes by interacting with spindle microtubules during mitosis and meiosis. Faithful chromosome segregation requires that kinetochores form robust load-bearing attachments to the tips of dynamic spindle microtubules, correct microtubule attachment errors, and delay the onset of anaphase until all chromosomes have made proper attachments. To understand how this macromolecular machine operates to segregate duplicated chromosomes with exquisite accuracy, it is critical to reconstitute and study kinetochore–microtubule interactions in vitro using defined components. Here, we review the current status of reconstitution as well as recent progress in understanding the microtubule-binding functions of kinetochores in vivo.     

Parasitoid-mediated effects: apparent competition and the persistence of host–parasitoid assemblages

Indirect effects such as apparent competition (in which two hosts that do not compete for resources interact via a shared natural enemy) are increasingly being shown to be prevalent in the structure and function of ecological assemblages. Here, we review the empirical and theoretical evidence for these enemy-mediated effects in host–parasitoid assemblages. We first address questions about the design of experiments to test for apparent competition. Second, we consider factors likely to affect the coexistence of host species that share a parasitoid and are involved in apparent competition. We show that parasitoid aggregation, and the switching effect that this can generate when hosts occur in separate patches, not only promotes persistence but is also strongly stabilizing. The broader consequences of these effects are discussed. Received: November 6, 1998 / Accepted: January 13, 1999     

Gametophyte–Sporophyte Interactions in the Pollen–Pistil System: 4. The Hormonal Status and the Mechanism of Self-Incompatibility

Following 4 and 8 h after self-incompatible pollination of Petunia hybrida plants, ethylene evolution and the contents of IAA, ABA, and cytokinins were measured in pistils and their parts (stigma, style, and ovary). The germination and initial growth of pollen tubes within the initial 4 h of the experiment were accompanied with an almost tenfold increase of the rate of ethylene production by the stigma and a twofold increase of the ABA content in the stigma and style. The inhibition of pollen tube growth in the style tissues during next 4 h coincided with a fivefold increase in the cytokinin content in the style, while high ABA content was maintained in the stigma and style. The authors conclude that phytohormones participate in the mechanism of gametophyte self-incompatibility.