The Australian Aborigines and the Human Past

Indifference to events which may actually have taken place between the Dreamtime and European contact is commonly held to be a salient feature of traditional Aboriginal thought. This contention contains a significant element of truth but it may have been exaggerated by some anthropologists. Structural-functionalist emphases on myth as charter led not only to the rejection of historical interpretations of Aboriginal myths which were ill-considered and naïve, but also to an excessive neglect of potentially fruitful attempts to extract from myths clues about post-Dreamtime experiences. This neglect has unduly strengthened the view that Aboriginal thought is entirely sui generis and that its supposed indifference to human history is an inescapable cultural attribute of Aboriginality. A sketch is offered for a reappraisal of the significance of Aboriginal myths for Aboriginal history.     

Patterns of smallpox mortality in London,England, over three centuries

Smallpox is unique among infectious diseases in the degree to which it devastated human populations, its long history of control interventions, and the fact that it has been successfully eradicated. Mortality from smallpox in London, England was carefully documented, weekly, for nearly 300 years, providing a rare and valuable source for the study of ecology and evolution of infectious disease. We describe and analyze smallpox mortality in London from 1664 to 1930. We digitized the weekly records published in the London Bills of Mortality (LBoM) and the Registrar General’s Weekly Returns (RGWRs). We annotated the resulting time series with a sequence of historical events that might have influenced smallpox dynamics in London. We present a spectral analysis that reveals how periodicities in reported smallpox mortality changed over decades and centuries; many of these changes in epidemic patterns are correlated with changes in control interventions and public health policies. We also examine how the seasonality of reported smallpox mortality changed from the 17th to 20th centuries in London.

This study presents the complete historical weekly record of smallpox mortality in London over more than 250 years (1664-1930), describes it using spectral analyses, and discusses it in the context of events and interventions that might have influenced infectious disease dynamics.     

Development of smallpox vaccine candidates with integrated interleukin-15 that demonstrate superior immunogenicity, efficacy, and safety in mice

The potential use of variola virus, the etiological agent of smallpox, as a bioterror agent has heightened the interest in the reinitiation of smallpox vaccination. However, the currently licensed Dryvax vaccine, despite its documented efficacy in eradicating smallpox, is not optimal for the vaccination of contemporary populations with large numbers of individuals with immunodeficiencies because of severe adverse effects that can occur in such individuals. Therefore, the development of safer smallpox vaccines that can match the immunogenicity and efficacy of Dryvax for the vaccination of contemporary populations remains a priority. Using the Wyeth strain of vaccinia virus derived from the Dryvax vaccine, we generated a recombinant Wyeth interleukin-15 (IL-15) with integrated IL-15, a cytokine with potent immunostimulatory functions. The integration of IL-15 into the Wyeth strain resulted in a >1,000-fold reduction in lethality of vaccinated athymic nude mice and induced severalfold-higher cellular and humoral immune responses in wild-type mice that persisted longer than those induced by the parental Wyeth strain. The superior efficacy of Wyeth IL-15 was further demonstrated by the ability of vaccinated mice to fully survive a lethal intranasal challenge of virulent vaccinia virus even 10 months after vaccination, whereas all mice vaccinated with parental Wyeth strain succumbed. By integrating IL-15 into modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA), a virus currently under consideration as a substitute for the Dryvax vaccine, we developed a second vaccine candidate (MVA IL-15) with greater immunogenicity and efficacy than Dryvax. Thus, Wyeth IL-15 and MVA IL-15 viruses hold promise as more-efficacious and safe alternatives to the Dryvax vaccine.     

Peopling of Sahul: mtDNA variation in aboriginal Australian and Papua New Guinean populations.

We examined genetic affinities of Aboriginal Australian and New Guinean populations by using nucleotide variation in the two hypervariable segments of the mtDNA control region (CR). A total of 318 individuals from highland Papua New Guinea (PNG), coastal PNG, and Aboriginal Australian populations were typed with a panel of 29 sequence-specific oligonucleotide (SSO) probes. The SSO-probe panel included five new probes that were used to type an additional 1,037 individuals from several Asian populations. The SSO-type data guided the selection of 78 individuals from Australia and east Indonesia for CR sequencing. A gene tree of these CR sequences, combined with published sequences from worldwide populations, contains two previously identified highland PNG clusters that do not include any Aboriginal Australians; the highland PNG clusters have coalescent time estimates of approximately 80,000 and 122,000 years ago, suggesting ancient isolation and genetic drift. SSO-type data indicate that 84% of the sample of PNG highlander mtDNA belong to these two clusters. In contrast, the Aboriginal Australian sequences are intermingled throughout the tree and cluster with sequences from multiple populations. Phylogenetic and multidimensional-scaling analyses of CR sequences and SSO types split PNG highland and Aboriginal Australian populations and link Aboriginal Australian populations with populations from the subcontinent of India. These mtDNA results do not support a close relationship between Aboriginal Australian and PNG populations but instead suggest multiple migrations in the peopling of Sahul.     

The threat of smallpox

Smallpox is a highly contagious disease mainly transmitted by aerosols with a high case-fatality. The smallpox virus has evolved from a long adaptation to humans during Evolution, explaining that the virus is highly specific for humans and nonpathogenic for animals. Smallpox was eradicated in 1977 and vaccination was abandoned in the 1980's. This virus is a dreadful potential biological weapon since the reemergence of smallpox on the planet might be expected to be devastating, due to its high 'contagiosity', which would rapidly spread in naive populations, especially those living in urban areas, and worldwide through air travels. There is no anti-viral treatment and vaccine is active in the first four days post-exposure. Today, the stocks of smallpox virus constitute one of the most dangerous threats for humanity. There is a need for improving the safety of the vaccine and to reconsider the preventive strategy to face a possible attack by smallpox virus.     

Human skeletal remains from Cossack,Western Australia

Human remains of a male individual from Cossack, northwestern Australia are described. Absolute dating is not possible but site geomorphology restricts the upper limit to 6500 B.P. Morphologically and metrically the skull differs from those of recent Western Australian male Aborigines, but it is very similar to that of Kow Swamp I and others included in the “robust” prehistoric Australian Aboriginal group (Thorne, 1977). The specimen is important as indicating the widespread nature and probable recency of a large, robust Australian Aboriginal population demonstrably different to recent populations.     

The hemochromatosis 845 G-->A and 187 C-->G mutations: prevalence in non-Caucasian populations.

Hemochromatosis, the inherited disorder of iron metabolism, leads, if untreated, to progressive iron overload and premature death. The hemochromatosis gene, HFE, recently has been identified, and characterization of this gene has shown that it contains two mutations that result in amino acid substitutions-cDNA nucleotides 845 G-->A (C282Y) and 187 C-->G (H63D). Although hemochromatosis is common in Caucasians, affecting >=1/300 individuals of northern European origin, it has not been recognized in other populations. The present study used PCR and restriction-enzyme digestion to analyze the frequency of the 845 G-->A and 187 C-->G mutations in HLA-typed samples from non-Caucasian populations, comprising Australian Aboriginal, Chinese, and Pacific Islanders. Results showed that the 845 G-->A mutation was present in these populations (allele frequency 0.32%), and, furthermore, it was always seen in conjunction with HLA haplotypes common in Caucasians, suggesting that 845 G-->A may have been introduced into these populations by Caucasian admixture. 187 C-->G was present at an allele frequency of 2.68% in the two populations analyzed (Australian Aboriginal and Chinese). In the Australian Aboriginal samples, 187 C-->G was found to be associated with HLA haplotypes common in Caucasians, suggesting that it was introduced by recent admixture. In the Chinese samples analyzed, 187 C-->G was present in association with a wide variety of HLA haplotypes, showing this mutation to be widespread and likely to predate the more genetically restricted 845 G-->A mutation.     

Collaborations of Biocultural Hope: Community Science Against Industrialisation in Northwest Australia

ABSTRACT

The article discusses two community science projects organised in opposition to large-scale industrialisation in the Kimberley region of Northwestern Australia. Between 2006 and 2013, a significant conflict took place on the region’s Indian Ocean coast. It was triggered by the proposal of Australia’s largest independent oil and gas company Woodside Ltd. to build a $45 billion AUD liquefied natural gas facility at James Price Point, 50?km north of the tourist town of Broome. The community science initiatives highlight particular ways in which the local community was able not only to enter into the debate, but to significantly influence its outcome. This points towards alternate configurations of the political subjectivities involved in this conflict. Drawing on the Aboriginal notion of ‘living country’, the article presents these projects as signs of biocultural hope, that hint towards a world different from the one built on neoliberal ideals and dreams of economic opportunity alone.     

The appropriation of an Aboriginal landscape in northern New South Wales

The attachment of Australian Aboriginal people to land has not only been amply documented by anthropologists since the late 19^th century, it is also one of their own enduring tropes of differentiation from non‐Aboriginal and “official” Australian state society. In the face of widespread and concerted alteration of the pre‐settlement landscape engendered by industrial and commercial development, Aboriginal people seek to reclaim or reappropriate remnants of a pristine environment untransformed by modern development. Alteration of the landscape, as far as Aboriginal people are concerned, also goes hand in hand with the progressive decimation of Aboriginal populations in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries through violence and disease. Contemporary Aboriginal communities seek to protect the sites of violent death, believed heavily populated with the frustrated spirits of the deceased, from disturbance, particularly by non‐Aboriginal people. In this chapter I discuss some of the anthropological implications of seeing landscape as a terrain of intercultural conjunction in such a bifold society in northern New South Wales, and what levels of transformation are and are not acknowledged by a marginal, minority indigenous population seeking to insulate their historical landscape from development.     

American Indian Population Recovery following Smallpox Epidemics

Scholars generally agree that American Indian populations were reduced substantially following European contact by a variety of Old World diseases. However, scholarly attention has been devoted almost exclusively to ascertaining mortality during smallpox and other disease episodes and its impact on population size, as typified in "working backwards" to ascertain earlier population size. American Indian populations were dynamic entities, and were constantly changing as members were born, died, or migrated, even if population size from one year to the next was relatively constant. The interaction of disease, mortality, and fertility as well as the age structure of mortality and resulting rates of population growth influenced changes in American Indian population size following experiences with any particular disease. These factors operated to produce either greater or lesser declines than simple mortality rates would suggest. This article presents simulations developed to understand changes in American Indian population size following hypothetical episodes of smallpox.     

The ‘Island Rule’ Acting on Anuran Populations (Bufonidae: Rhinella ornata) of the Southern Hemisphere

Darwin and Wallace, in the mid‐nineteenth century, were the first to document examples of natural selection acting on island dwellers. A century later a pattern of morphological differences among organisms on islands was coined the ‘island rule’, which states that on islands species with small individuals tend toward gigantism and large individuals tend toward dwarfism. Selective pressures such as limited resources and increased intraspecific competition modulate the size of organisms in these environments. Of the several works that have tested vertebrates for adherence to the island rule only two have addressed amphibians. This work is the third record of body size variation of island amphibian populations, and the first for the Southern Hemisphere. The islands investigated were once continuous with mainland, and now are isolated as a result of sea level fluctuations that took place in the Pleistocene and Holocene. This study compared morphometric variation in populations of Rhinella ornata (Bufonidae) occurring on three islands of the Costa Verde to populations on five continental areas in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. We measured 18 morphometric variables of 177 individuals. There was a shift toward smaller body size (dwarfism) in two of the three island populations studied. We attribute this general pattern to geographic factors, verifying the expression of the island rule in tropical frogs populations (insular dwarfism) operating inversely in relation to those of temperate environments (island gigantism).     

Sudden infant death syndrome and Canadian Aboriginals: bacteria and infections

Aboriginal populations in Canada, America and Australia have higher incidences of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) than non-Aboriginal groups. Canadian Aboriginal populations (known also as first nation, native or Indian) experience infant morbidity/mortality rates 3-7 times that of non-Aboriginals, with upper track respiratory infection and SIDS recorded as the leading causes. The aim of this investigation was to examine the home environment of Aboriginal infants, particularly during winter months when respiratory tract infections and SIDS are more common. Environmental bacteria, fungi and air particulates were examined in the residences of Aboriginal infants during visits to individual homes on an Aboriginal reserve. The physical histories of SIDS victims were gathered from medical files. Air and surfaces were sampled by agar strips which were processed by a commercial laboratory. The levels of fungi, bacteria and air particulate rates recorded in the reserve homes of Aboriginal infants registered levels considered to be detrimental to the health of the inhabitants. Such extreme levels could contribute to the high incidence of respiratory disease and SIDS experienced by Canadian Aboriginal infants.     

Whole-Genome Genetic Diversity in a Sample of Australians with Deep Aboriginal Ancestry

Australia was probably settled soon after modern humans left Africa, but details of this ancient migration are not well understood. Debate centers on whether the Pleistocene Sahul continent (composed of New Guinea, Australia, and Tasmania) was first settled by a single wave followed by regional divergence into Aboriginal Australian and New Guinean populations (common origin) or whether different parts of the continent were initially populated independently. Australia has been the subject of relatively few DNA studies even though understanding regional variation in genomic structure and diversity will be important if disease-association mapping methods are to be successfully evaluated and applied across populations. We report on a genome-wide investigation of Australian Aboriginal SNP diversity in a sample of participants from the Riverine region. The phylogenetic relationship of these Aboriginal Australians to a range of other global populations demonstrates a deep common origin with Papuan New Guineans and Melanesians, with little evidence of substantial later migration until the very recent arrival of European colonists. The study provides valuable and robust insights into an early and important phase of human colonization of the globe. A broader survey of Australia, including diverse geographic sample populations, will be required to fully appreciate the continent''s unique population history and consequent genetic heritage, as well as the importance of both to the understanding of health issues.     

Niche construction and Dreaming logic: aboriginal patch mosaic burning and varanid lizards (Varanus gouldii) in Australia

Anthropogenic fire is a form of ecosystem engineering that creates greater landscape patchiness at small spatial scales: such rescaling of patch diversity through mosaic burning has been argued to be a form of niche construction, the loss of which may have precipitated the decline and extinction of many endemic species in the Western Desert of Australia. We find evidence to support this hypothesis relative to one keystone species, the sand monitor lizard (Varanus gouldii). Paradoxically, V. gouldii populations are higher where Aboriginal hunting is most intense. This effect is driven by an increase in V. gouldii densities near successional edges, which is higher in landscapes that experience extensive human burning. Over time, the positive effects of patch mosaic burning while hunting overwhelm the negative effects of predation in recently burned areas to produce overall positive impacts on lizard populations. These results offer critical insights into the maintenance of animal communities in the desert, supporting the hypothesis that the current high rate of endemic species decline among small animals may be linked to the interaction between invasive species and mid-century removal of Aboriginal niche construction through hunting and patch mosaic burning.     

Gonad maturation,morphological and physiological changes during the first reproductive cycle of the crayfish Cherax quadricarinatus female

Summary

Concurrent morphological, anatomical and physiological changes took place during the first reproductive cycle in the Australian red-claw crayfish Cherax quadricarinatus, which prepared the female for spawning and holding of the newly deposited eggs. The endopod became longer and wider than the exopod and developed a mixture of plumose and long thin simple (ovigerous) setae. Small oocytes (0.24±0.05 mm) were present in the immature ovary. The growing ovary contained two distinct oocyte populations: one consisted of small (0.55±0.07 mm), barely growing oocytes, while the other consisted of large oocytes, which increased in size continuously (0.73 to 2.55 mm) until egg laying took place. A gradual change in the relative abundance of ovarian polypeptides occurred until the late vitellogenic stage (large oocytes < 1.8 mm). Three predominant female-specific, SDS-PAGE separated, polypeptides were observed (103, 78 and 73 kDa) that may represent vitellin subunits. The most abundant carotenoid in the ovary was astaxanthin, while β-carotene was present at a lower concentration. The strong correlation between the increasing diameter of the oocyte and the concentration of astaxanthin in the ovary and in the hemolymph suggested an association of astaxanthin with vitellin and vitellogenin.     

Countermeasures to the bioterrorist threat of smallpox

Variola, the agent of smallpox, is a bioterrorist threat, as is monkeypox virus, which also occurs naturally in Africa. Development of countermeasures, in the form of improved vaccines, antiviral drugs, and other therapeutic strategies are a high priority. Recent advances in molecular biology and in animal model development have provided fresh insight into the virulence determinants for smallpox and the pathophysiology of disease. The complex replication cycle for orthopoxviruses, and the pivotal role for viral-specific immunomodulatory proteins which contribute to escape from immunologic surveillance, provide many unique targets for therapeutic intervention. The "toxemia" of smallpox has been elucidated in part by variola-infected primate studies which revealed the central role of apoptosis and the evolution of a cytokine storm leading to hemorrhagic diathesis, resembling fulminent "black" smallpox. This suggests a potential role for therapeutic strategies developed for septic shock, in treatment of smallpox. Drugs licensed for other viruses which share molecular targets with orthopoxviruses (e.g. Cidofovir) or cancer drugs (e.g. Gleevec and other tyrosine kinase inhibitors) have immediate application for treatment of smallpox and monkeypox and provide leads for second generation drugs with higher therapeutic indices. Recent advances in identification of virulence determinants and immune evasion genes facilitate the design of alternative vaccines to replace live vaccinia strains that are unsuitable for a large proportion of individuals in a mass immunization campaign.     

European Settlement and the Making and Unmaking of Aboriginal Identities

This paper explores variation and change in Aboriginal people's connections to places, and place‐related identity, as a function of their differential historical relationship to a town. Among Aboriginal people who have lived for some decades in camps around Katherine, Northern Territory, descendants of those who appear to have the most clearly discernable long‐term relationship with the area in the vicinity of the town do not relate to places, nor conceptualise them, in stereotypically ‘traditional’ terms. Their relationships to town and nearby places tend to be of an ideologically unelaborated, homely sort. Kinds of territorial relationships their antecedents can be shown to have had to the area have undergone dissolution. The paper seeks to develop discussion of such variation and the historical and sociological processes involved. The Katherine case brings the social and historical significance of ‘towns’ as sites of Aboriginal/non‐Aboriginal interrelationship into focus, and also requires a critical view of notions of ‘group’ that have tended to dominate recent public process and understanding in Australia.     

The Future of Smallpox Vaccination: is MVA the key?

Eradication of the smallpox virus through extensive global vaccination efforts has resulted in one of the most important breakthroughs in medical history, saving countless lives from the severe morbidity and mortality that is associated with this disease. Although smallpox is now extinct in nature, laboratory stocks of this virus still remain and the subject of smallpox vaccination has gained renewed attention due to the potential risk that smallpox may be used as a biological weapon by terrorists or rogue states. Despite having the longest history of any modern vaccine, there is still much to be learned about smallpox vaccination and the correlates of protection remain to be formally defined. This Commentary will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of traditional smallpox vaccination in comparison with immunization using modified vaccinia virus Ankura (MVA), a non-replicating virus with a strong safety record but weakened immunogenicity.     

HLA-DRB1 frequencies of non-Austronesian-speaking Gidra in south New Guinea and their genetic affinities with Oceanian populations

DNA typing of HLA-DRB1 genes was conducted for 192 samples from the Gidra who speak one of the non-Austronesian languages and inhabit the southern lowlands of New Guinea. Comparison of the allele frequencies with those of eight other Oceanian populations reveals that the Gidra are genetically closest to the non-Austronesian-speaking Goroka and, next, to the Aboriginal Australian groups, but are remote from the Austronesian-speaking groups in mainland New Guinea and the rest of Melanesia. This finding clearly supports the hypothesis that non-Austronesians and Aboriginal Australians are descendants of the first-stage migrants to Oceania. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Lessons from the eradication of smallpox: an interview with D. A. Henderson

It has been more than 35 years since the last naturally occurring case of smallpox. Sufficient time has passed to allow an objective overview of what were the key factors in the success of the eradication effort and what lessons smallpox can offer to other campaigns. Professor D. A. Henderson headed the international effort to eradicate smallpox. Here, we present a summary of D. A. Henderson''s perspectives on the eradication of smallpox. This text is based upon the Unither Baruch Blumberg Lecture, delivered by D. A. Henderson at the University of Oxford in November 2012 and upon conversations and correspondence with Professor Henderson.