The Gepiden of Viminacium during population migration. An anthropological contribution

The archaeological excavations at the cemetry Vise Grobalja on Viminacium were finished in the year 1985. Altogether 94 skeletons which were attributed to the Gepiden were examined anthropologically. The graveyard was dated about the middle of the 6th century. Of special importance were the 31 artificial deformed skulls. The deformation was done with a circular bandaging which is graphically illustrated. Farkas (1973), Winkler (1979) and Schr?ter (1988) identified the same type of bandaging on skulls of the ethnic migration period. The anthropological examination identified 46 as male and 27 as female skeletons: 16 were determined as infants and juveniles. About 5 skeletons were indeterminable because of their bad state of preservation. There was a deficit of women and infants. The average lifespan was less than 33 years. The influence or the presence of other anthropological types was not identified. But there should be further proof why, for example these groups of Gepiden from Viminacium have disappeared relatively rapidly from the historical stage and the Balkan.     

The significance of primate paleontology for anthropological studies

The correct use of taxonomic names must become widespread if a clear understanding of primate paleontology is to exist among anthropologists. Physical anthropologists are urged to acquire genuine competence in the paleontology, systematics, and taxonomy of mammals. Examples are given of improper taxonomic procedure and of the perpetuation of invalid names. The need for a stable and correct nomenclature of the primates is emphasized. The importance of examining actual fossil specimens is stressed. The taxonomy of the Hominoidea is discussed and a summary of invalid names in current use is given. Recently discovered fossils from Oligocene strata in the Egyptian Fayum are figured and the pertinence of these to the origins of higher primates is suggested.     

Smoking and leanness: evidence for change in Finland.

Many studies have shown smokers to weigh less than non-smokers, which is plausible given the metabolic effects of cigarette smoke. The interrelation between smoking and relative body weight and its change over time were analysed by using data from Finnish population based surveys from 1982 and 1987. Among both men and women the inverse association between smoking and body mass index was clearly weakened between 1982 and 1987. In 1987 among men aged 25-44 smoking was positively related to body mass index. Moreover, the relation between smoking and waist to hip girth ratio was positive in both sexes at all ages. Years of smoking was nevertheless confirmed as a significant inverse predictor of relative weight. A cluster of unfavourable health habits, including high consumption of alcohol and saturated fats, especially emerged among younger smokers. This may have been due to different selection of smokers in Finland, where smoking increasingly seems to be a form of deviant or risk taking behaviour. It is concluded that at a population level the metabolic effects of smoking seem to be increasingly overridden by several other unfavourable health behaviours of smokers.     

Genetic structure of a population of Valparaiso. II. Distribution of two dental traits with anthropological importance

The frequency of Carabelli's cusp (27.24%) and shovel-shaped incisors (45.72%) were determined in a sample of students from the city of Valparaíso. These values are intermediate between those found in Caucasian and Mongolian populations. A sexual dimorphism was observed for shovel-shaped incisors; the relation of this trait to a socio-economic index and occlusal type is indicated. Carabelli's cusp is found to vary with the number of foreign ancestors of an individual and his or her ABO blood group and color vision. There is also evidence that Carabelli's cusp serves better as an ethnic marker in a mixed population such as ours than does shovel-shaped incisors. This is thought to be due to the less complicated genetic basis of the former. It is also shown that the two traits are independent in their expression.     

The genetic-demographic approach in anthropological research. VIII. The ethnic subdivisions of the Khakass populations

Khakass families can be considered as a fundamental ethnic determinant. Based on the family subdivision the analysis of intensity and genetic effectiveness of marriage migrations has revealed the speed of formation of a new ethnic-territorial community--Khakass nationality--on the territory of the Minusinsk hollow.     

Genetic evidence reveals temporal change in hybridization patterns in a wild baboon population

The process and consequences of hybridization are of interest to evolutionary biologists because of the importance of hybridization in understanding reproductive isolation, speciation, and the influence of introgression on population genetic structure. Recent studies of hybridization have been enhanced by the advent of sensitive, genetic marker-based techniques for inferring the degree of admixture occurring within individuals. Here we present a genetic marker-based analysis of hybridization in a large-bodied, long-lived mammal over multiple generations. We analysed patterns of hybridization between yellow baboons (Papio cynocephalus) and anubis baboons (Papio anubis) in a well-studied natural population in Amboseli National Park, Kenya, using genetic samples from 450 individuals born over the last 36 years. We assigned genetic hybrid scores based on genotypes at 14 microsatellite loci using the clustering algorithm implemented in STRUCTURE 2.0, and assessed the robustness of these scores by comparison to pedigree information and through simulation. The genetic hybrid scores showed generally good agreement with previous morphological assessments of hybridity, but suggest that genetic methods may be more sensitive for identification of low levels of hybridity. The results of our analysis indicate that the proportion of hybrids in the Amboseli population has grown over time, but that the average proportion of anubis ancestry within hybrids is gradually decreasing. We argue that these patterns are probably a result of both selective and nonselective processes, including differences in the timing of life-history events for hybrid males relative to yellow baboon males, and stochasticity in long-distance dispersal from the source anubis population into Amboseli.     

Placental alkaline phosphatase: population studies in Sardinia and data on the anthropological value of this genetic marker.

The analysis of human placental alkaline phosphatase polymorphism in Sardinia has shown a further difference in the genetic structure of this population in comparison with the populations of Continental Italy and Western Europe. Ethnic and geographic variations in world distribution of placental alkaline phosphatase gene frequencies suggest the considerable anthropological value of this genetic marker.     

The native energy landscape for interleukin-1beta. Modulation of the population ensemble through native-state topology

A minimalist Go-model, with no energetic frustration in the native conformation, has been shown to describe accurately the folding pathway of the beta-trefoil protein, interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta). While it appears that these models successfully model transition states and intermediates between the unfolded and native ensembles, it is unclear how accurately they capture smaller, yet biologically relevant, structural changes within the native ensemble after energetic perturbation. Here, we address the following questions. Can a simple Go-model of interleukin-1beta, based on native topology, describe changes in structural properties of the native ensemble as the protein stability is changed? Or is it necessary to include a more explicit representation of atoms, electrostatic, hydrogen bonding, and van der Waals forces to describe these changes? The native ensemble of IL-1beta was characterized using a variety of experimental probes under native (0 M NaCl, guanidine hydrochloride (Gdn-HCl)), moderately destabilized (0 M NaCl, 0.8 M Gdn-HCl), and in moderate salt concentration (0.8 M NaCl, 0 M Gdn-HCl). Heteronuclear (1)H-(15)N nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy (NOESY) and heteronuclear single quantum correlation (HSQC) NMR spectra confirmed that the beta-trefoil global fold was largely intact under these three conditions. However, 25 of the 153 residues throughout the chain did demonstrate (13)C and (1)H-(15)N chemical shifts when perturbed with 0.8 M NaCl or Gdn-HCl. Despite large differences in protection factors from solvent hydrogen-deuterium exchange for all residues between stable (0 M Gdn-HCl) and destabilized (0.8 M Gdn-HCl) IL-1beta, no difference in steady-state (15)N-(1)H NOE enhancements were measured. Thus, the chemical shifts correlate with a global but limited increase in residue flexibility in the presence of Gdn-HCl. Minimalist simulations highlight the regions of greatest position shift between native and 0.8 M Gdn-HCl, which were determined experimentally. This correlation demonstrates that structural changes within the native ensemble of IL-1beta are, at least partially, governed by the principle of minimal energetic frustration.     

The diversity of population responses to environmental change

The current extinction and climate change crises pressure us to predict population dynamics with ever‐greater accuracy. Although predictions rest on the well‐advanced theory of age‐structured populations, two key issues remain poorly explored. Specifically, how the age‐dependency in demographic rates and the year‐to‐year interactions between survival and fecundity affect stochastic population growth rates. We use inference, simulations and mathematical derivations to explore how environmental perturbations determine population growth rates for populations with different age‐specific demographic rates and when ages are reduced to stages. We find that stage‐ vs. age‐based models can produce markedly divergent stochastic population growth rates. The differences are most pronounced when there are survival‐fecundity‐trade‐offs, which reduce the variance in the population growth rate. Finally, the expected value and variance of the stochastic growth rates of populations with different age‐specific demographic rates can diverge to the extent that, while some populations may thrive, others will inevitably go extinct.     

The effect of structural behavior change on the spread of HIV in a one-sex population.

Within a preferred mixing type of model for the spread of HIV in a one-sex population, the effects of structural behavior change, that is movements of individuals from one activity class to another, with accompanying changes of contact pattern are investigated. It is concluded that such behavior change makes it more difficult for an epidemic to arise if the contact pattern is of the restricted type, whereas the effect is indeterminate in the proportional mixing case. Some of the problems in analyzing sexual activity data from a population within which this behavior change mechanism is at work are also commented upon.     

The genetic-demographic approach in anthropological research. IX. The spatial structure of Khakass populations]

The rural population of Khakassia is characterized by genetic isolation due to marital traditions and ethnic-territorial subdivisions. The type of Khakass settling limits the choice of a marital partner within the territory occupied by one ethnographic group, preventing an active migration of alleles from one population to another. Formation of local zonal anthropologic type (84% of marital couples) occurs on the territory approximately equal to the area of one administrative district.