The self‐conscious South

Richard Gray, WRITING THE SOUTH, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989, xiv + 333pp., £12.95 ($15.95) (paper).     

Genetic regulation of self‐incompatibility

Self‐incompatibility is a cell‐cell recognition system in higher plants that is based on the ability of the pistil to discriminate “self‐pollen from “non‐self"‐pollen. In the simplest systems, this recognition response is controlled by a single locus — the S‐locus — with multiple alleles. Pollination of a pistil with pollen bearing an S‐allele recognition factor identical to that expressed in the host plant stigma or style results in rejection of the “self"‐pollen. Most of the studies on the molecular genetics of self‐incompatibility that are summarized in this review have had as their goal the identification and characterization of the gene product(s) associated with the self‐incompatibility response. These studies have provided a great deal of new and important information about self‐incompatibility — despite the fact that many critical questions remain unresolved. Taken together, the present evidence from these studies indicates that the self‐incompatibility response is likely to be far more complex than suggested by historical models.     

Using self‐portrait photographs to understand self‐concepts of Chinese and American university students

This study examines differences between self‐concepts of Chinese and American university students. Both groups used 35mm cameras to show who they are. They wrote statements about the intended meaning of their best photo. The signs of other people, materials, and objects, and cultural ideas in each photograph were analyzed. Contrary to expectations, a higher percentage of Chinese students portrayed themselves as independent, and a higher percentage of Americans were oriented to other people. Consistent with expectations, Americans were more likely to be oriented towards materials and objects. Both groups were equally likely to be oriented towards cultural ideas.     

Self‐reflection or self‐presentation a study of the advocacy effect

Two films about the same ethnic minority, the Arhuaco‐Indians in Colombia, have been made; one was made with the method of self‐presentation and the other was based on the self‐reflective method. The purpose of this article is to describe the audience experience of these films, which were shown both to a Western audience and to the Arhuacos themselves. The analysis of the effect upon the audience touches a discussion of the status of subjectivity in anthropology and the anthropologist's advocacy.     

Individualism,self‐control,and the Finnish temperance movement*

This article analyzes the role of self‐control, moral and ethical doctrines in the rise of individualist world‐view in Finland. In the Finnish case, the formation of the modern individual was closely linked with the temperance movement, the ideology of which is therefore used as an illustrative example. The guiding line in the article is not to treat self‐control as a theoretical concept used in analyzing individual behavior, but as a legitimation of an increasing use of a utilitarian framework. The author discusses the developments in Finnish individualist world‐view by analyzing the main turning points in Finnish notions about drinking. First he discusses the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, the era of the strength of Finnish temperance movement. Secondly he analyzes the way in which conceptions about drinking changed when the temperance movement lost its appeal to the masses.     

Body odor evoked potentials: a new method to study the chemosensory perception of self and non‐self in humans

A new method will be presented which allows the perception of body odors in humans to be studied objectively. The analysis of body odor‐evoked potentials was used to investigate if and how the human brain is able to differentiate self from non‐self body odor for the first time. Six subjects (three females) participated in two experimental sessions. In each session, two body odors (axillary hair) were presented within an olfactory oddball paradigm. One of the odors was collected from the subject and the other from an odor donor of the same sex. In the first session the subjects' attention was distracted to a secondary task (passive paradigm), in the second session the subjects were asked to actively differentiate the odors (active paradigm). For the EEG recordings the odors were presented within a constantly flowing airstream. The results show that the subjects could hardly differentiate the body odors subjectively. However, it could be demonstrated that the central nervous processing of one's own odor was faster than the processing of the chemosensory non‐self signal. Moreover, in the active paradigm, the potentials appeared to be larger when the subjects perceived their own body odor. The conclusion is reached that the measurement of chemosensory event‐related potentials (CSERP) is the method of choice for the investigation of HLA‐associated body odors. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A re‐examination of the heritability of fertility in the British peerage

Abstract

The gene and phenotype frequencies for the ABO blood groups system were studied in two socioeconomically different subpopulations of Santiago, Chile. The data were taken from the maternity services and blood banks of two hospitals, one serving mainly low socioeconomic classes and the other serving middle and high socioeconomic groups. Results show a clear difference in gene and phenotype frequencies between the two subpopulations, a difference maintained in two generations (mothers and their children). These results reinforce other studies showing that socioeconomic forces have resulted in assortative mating and different genetic subpopulations in Chile.     

The language of ethnicity and self‐identity in American Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese*

This article investigates whether cultural models of behaviour can explain the persistently higher unemployment rate of non-whites in the UK. Such models argue that the prevalence of unemployment among non-whites may induce a greater tolerance of joblessness and poorer attitudes towards working which act to further reduce their employment chances. However, estimates from a hazard model of unemployment durations indicate that such factors play no role in explaining longer ethnic minority spells. This casts some doubt on the power of cultural models to account for the UK experience.     

Differential responses of the photoperiodic clock in two passerine birds possessing a strongly self‐sustained circadian system

To investigate whether the photoperiodic clocks of species possessing strongly self‐sustaining circadian clocks share identical features, we compared the full response cycle (initiation and termination of the response) in body mass and testes of the non‐migratory house sparrow (Passer domesticus) with that of the migratory redheaded bunting (Emberiza bruniceps) under Nanda‐Hamner experiments. Birds were exposed to a 36 h day (L∶D=6∶30 h), controls exposed to a 24 h day (L∶D=6∶18 h), for a period of 31 weeks. By week 18 of L∶D=6∶18 h, there was a small increase in body mass among sparrows, but not among buntings, and the testes of bunting did not grow, while those of sparrow grew slightly. The response to L∶D=6∶30 h is of particular interest. There was a rapid gain and subsequent loss in the body mass of bunting, but not of sparrows. Further, both species underwent a testicular cycle as if they were exposed to long days, but the response of sparrows was slower and hence delayed the attainment of peak testicular size. Such a differential response to exotic light cycles between these two photosensitive species, despite their similar circadian oscillatory properties (strong self‐sustainment), could suggest a species‐specific adaptation of the endogenous clock involved in photoperiodic regulation of avian seasonality.     

Women's access to health care in Ghana: Effects of education,residence, lineage and self‐determination

Abstract

Women's physical and psychological access to health care was analyzed using the 2003 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS), a nationally representative study for monitoring population and health in Ghana. Female respondents from the 2133 cases in the couple's data set were used in this study. Women's level of education was positively related to physical but not to psychological access to health care. Residing in an urban area was positively related to both types of access. Matriliny consistently showed positive effects on physical access. In addition to these demographic factors, both physical and psychological access were positively related to women's self‐determination, i.e., women's right and ability to make real choices about their lives including their health, fertility, sexuality, childcare and all areas where women are denied autonomy and dignity in their identities as women. Self‐determination factors both mediated the effects of background factors on access and added explanatory power to the models.     

The Interaction of Per‐O‐Acetylated Acyclic 1‐(1‐Butylindol‐3‐yl)‐1‐deoxy‐ketoses with Silylated Uracil

The per‐O‐acetylated open chain derivatives of 1‐(1‐butylindol‐3‐yl)‐1‐deoxy‐1‐L‐sorbose and 1‐(1‐butylindol‐3‐yl)‐1‐deoxy‐L‐tagatose, which are readily available by alkaline degradation of 1‐butylascorbigen followed by acetylation, were used in a nucleoside‐type synthesis. The interaction of these ketoses derivatives with bis‐(trimethylsilyl)‐uracil yielded in each case a mixture of (E)‐2,4,5,6‐tetra‐O‐acetyl‐1‐(1‐butylindol‐3‐yl)‐1,3‐dideoxy‐3‐(uracil‐1‐yl)‐L‐xylo‐hexa‐1‐enitol and (E)‐2,4,5,6‐tetra‐O‐acetyl‐1‐(1‐butylindol‐3‐yl)‐1,3‐dideoxy‐3‐(uracil‐1‐yl)‐L‐lyxo‐hexa‐1‐enitol, which were separated by preparative HPLC. The deacetylation of each of these compounds by MeONa in MeOH produced a mixture of 1‐(1‐butylindol‐3‐yl)‐1,3‐dideoxy‐4‐O‐methyl‐3‐(uracil‐1‐yl)‐α‐L‐sorbopyranose and 1‐(1‐butylindol‐3‐yl)‐1,3‐dideoxy‐4‐O‐methyl‐3‐(uracil‐1‐yl)‐β‐D‐fructopyranose, which were also separated by HPLC, the structures were confirmed by NMR.     

‘You may not know it,but I'm black’: White women's self‐identification as black*

This article shows ways in which five European American women intertwine and interweave the American discourses of race and ethnicity to talk about themselves as ‘black.’ This black identity both fits with their anti‐racist desires and makes strategic sense in the context of their everyday lives. Importantly, the women do not deny the European side of their heritage, rather they embrace a multi‐racial/ethnic identity. It is argued that the element of choice involved with American ethnic discourse, combined with a general shift toward the allowance of mixed identities, allows this identity construction to be understood as a sensible one. It is further argued that these women's constructions illustrate a type of identity configuration that has become a highly significant option in the United States.     

Acyclonucleoside Iron Chelators of 1‐(2‐Hydroxyethoxy)methyl‐2‐alkyl‐3‐hydroxy‐4‐pyridinones: Potential Oral Iron Chelation Therapeutics

The method of synthesizing acyclonucleoside iron chelators is both convenient and cost effective compared to that of synthesizing ribonucleoside iron chelators. The X‐ray crystal structural analysis shows that the 2‐hydroxyethoxymethyl group does not affect the geometry of the iron chelating sites. Therefore, the iron binding and removal properties of the acyclonucleoside iron chelators should remain similar to the ribonucleoside iron chelators, which is confirmed by the titration and competition reaction of the acyclonucleoside chelators with iron and ferritin, respectively. The acyclonucleoside iron chelators are more lipophilic with measured n‐octanol and Tris buffer distribution coefficients than ribonucleoside iron chelators.     

Selective chirality — A closer examination

The recent suggestion (Root-Bernstein, 1982) that the homochirality of amino acids and sugars in the current biosphere may have originated as a result of novel organic selector molecules is examined critically. It is concluded that such selector molecules are non-existent as described, and that their postulation is based on chemical and stereochemical misconceptions.