Conservation and Wildlife Management in South African National Parks 1930s–1960s

In recent decades conservation biology has achieved a high position among the sciences. This is certainly true of South Africa, a small country, but the third most biodiverse in the world. This article traces some aspects of the transformation of South African wildlife management during the 1930s to the 1960s from game reserves based on custodianship and the “balance of nature” into scientifically managed national parks with a philosophy of “command and control” or “management by intervention.” In 1910 the four British colonies had formed the Union of South Africa, and by the 1920s there was wide acceptance of national parks, a development influenced by their success in the United States. It was not, however, until after the Second World War, that management of the expanding conservation estate altered from a rather unsystematic laissez faire variety, into more scientifically informed management practices with an efficient bureaucracy in charge. This was achieved by modifications in organizational structures and institutional cultures initiated by a change of government in 1948 which, this article argues, impacted in turn on wildlife management and shaped and professionalized many aspects of that field science. “Management by intervention” was the hallmark of South African wildlife and conservation biology from the 1960s until recently, when there have been shifts towards “adaptive resource management” in a period of further change in the country’s politics.     

Temperature,hydrochemistry and plankton in Wicken Brickpits, 1930–1931

Temperature, selected chemical constituents and plankton were analysed from three depths, fortnightly, by day and occasionally by night, in two flooded brickpits, between May 1930 and August 1931.Br was 3.3 m deep, with clear water and little weed; III was only 1.8 m deep, with thick submerged weed, more sheltered than Br and becoming eutrophic. Neither had direct inflow nor outlet. Both conformed to the second order for dimictic lakes, with summer and winter stratification, leading, for varying periods, to stagnation marked by pH between 6.6 and 7.2 and O₂ much depleted or absent at the bottom.During stagnation, release of SiO₂, soluble inorganic phosphate-P, ammonium ions and bases from the bottom was shown by sampling water close to the mud. This finding preceded the definition of redox potential by others.Thermistor temperature measurements, used for the first time, showed comparable summer gradients in both ponds: on windy days these were usually sigmoid, with discontinuity at various depths, or else nearly isothermal; on calm days, they were exponential, when transmission of heat, from surface to bottom, was apparently due to radiation alone, without water circulation. Stability was then high.Diatoms were abundant in both ponds; but planktonic Rotifera and Crustacea differed in the two, apart fromDiaptomus gracilis, which was dominant in both.     

Characteristics and distribution of β thalassemia haplotypes in South China

Summary Eleven restriction site polymorphisms in the -globin gene cluster were determined in 48 Chinese with homozygous -thalassemia and their parents. Seven haplotypes were identified as associated with the ^thal chromosome and 25 with the ^A chromosome. The distribution of the various ^thal haplotypes in different regions of South China was mapped and discussed in relation to prenatal diagnosis and migration of the Chinese people.     

The Sparrow Question: Social and Scientific Accord in Britain, 1850–1900

During the latter-half of the nineteenth century, the utility of the house sparrow (Passer domesticus) to humankind was a contentious topic. In Britain, numerous actors from various backgrounds including natural history, acclimatisation, agriculture and economic ornithology converged on the bird, as contemporaries sought to calculate its economic cost and benefit to growers. Periodicals and newspapers provided an accessible and anonymous means of expression, through which the debate raged for over 50 years. By the end of the century, sparrows had been cast as detrimental to agriculture. Yet consensus was not achieved through new scientific methods, instruments, or changes in practice. This study instead argues that the rise and fall of scientific disciplines and movements paved the way for consensus on “the sparrow question.” The decline of natural history and acclimatisation stifled a raging debate, while the rising science of economic ornithology sought to align itself with agricultural interests: the latter overwhelmingly hostile to sparrows.     

The Prevalence and Endemic Nature of Dengue Infections in Guangdong,South China: An Epidemiological,Serological, and Etiological Study from 2005–2011

Objectives

Frequent outbreaks of dengue are considered to be associated with an increased risk for endemicity of the disease. The occurrence of a large number of indigenous dengue cases in consecutive years indicates the possibility of a changing dengue epidemic pattern in Guangdong, China.

Methods

To have a clear understanding of the current dengue epidemic, a retrospective study of epidemiological profile, serological response, and virological features of dengue infections from 2005–2011 was conducted. Case data were collected from the National Notifiable Infectious Diseases Reporting Network. Serum samples were collected and prepared for serological verification and etiological confirmation. Incidence, temporal and spatial distribution, and the clinical manifestation of dengue infections were analyzed. Pearson''s Chi-Square test was used to compare incidences between different age groups. A seroprevalence survey was implemented in local healthy inhabitants to obtain the overall positive rate for the specific immunoglobulin (Ig) G antibody against dengue virus (DENV).

Results

The overall annual incidence rate was 1.87/100000. A significant difference was found in age-specific incidence (Pearson''s Chi-Square value 498.008, P<0.001). Children under 5 years of age had the lowest incidence of 0.28/100000. The vast majority of cases presented with a mild manifestation typical to dengue fever. The overall seroprevalence of dengue IgG antibody in local populations was 2.43% (range 0.28%–5.42%). DENV-1 was the predominant serotype in circulation through the years, while all 4 serotypes were identified in indigenous patients from different outbreak localities since 2009.

Conclusions

A gradual change in the epidemic pattern of dengue infection has been observed in recent years in Guangdong. With the endemic nature of dengue infections, the transition from a monotypic to a multitypic circulation of dengue virus in the last several years will have an important bearing on the prevention and control of dengue in the province and in the neighboring districts.     

Human–animal relationship influences husbandry practices,animal welfare and productivity in pig farming

The nature of the relationship between humans and farm animals has multiple repercussions on the animals and the farmers and varies with farmers attitudes towards their animals. In particular, this relationship influences animal welfare and human working conditions. The present study, part of a larger research project investigating human–animal relationship (HAR) in pig farming and ways to improve it, had two objectives: 1) to investigate the HAR in a diversity of pig farming situations and to evaluate the possible correlation between farmer attitudes, pigs' reactions to humans, husbandry practices, animal health, welfare and productivity and 2) to find a way to rapidly assign a farmer to a profile, in order to better adapt course content during training sessions on HAR. The study focused on 52 farrow-to-finish farms and consisted of a semi-structured interview with the farmer, observations of the farmer in contact with his/her livestock, two human approach tests conducted on sows and growers and productivity data. Finally, a questionnaire was left at the farm to be filled out by all stockpersons on the farm. Interviews, analyzed using a thematic analysis followed by multiple correspondence analysis and ascendant hierarchical clustering, showed that some farmers develop husbandry practices to improve their HARs and identified three farmer profiles that have been named in relation to the place of the HAR in their profession: Profile 1 farmers for whom HAR is secondary in their work with their pigs, Profile 2 for whom the HAR is useful in their work with their pigs and Profile 3 for whom HAR is central in their work with their pigs. Logistic regression models of the relationships between behavioral tests and productivity data showed that confident sows produce and wean more piglets than fearful sows and that sows of Profile 3 farmers trust more humans than those of Profile 1 or 2 farmers. Farmers' responses to the questionnaire did not predict their profile assignment. Our results confirm the main role of the farmer's attitude towards animals on their farming practices, animal welfare and productivity. The farmers who have more confident pigs and better productivity are those for whom the farm animal is central to their profession, express the most pleasure in working with them and convey empathy for them.     

Spatial patterns and associations of dominant woody species in desert–oasis ecotone of South Junggar Basin,NW China

Spatial patterns and associations of plant species are important for revealing how species interact with each other and with the environment, and hence have important implications for the understanding of species interaction and underlying ecological processes with apparent patterns in temperate desert vegetation. In this paper, the function g (r) was used to characterize the spatial patterns and associations of four dominant woody species in three 1-ha desert plant plots in the desert–oasis ecotone of South Junggar Basin, NW China. The complete spatial randomness null model showed four species exhibited significant aggregations at small scales (<20 m). Anabasis aphylla and Nitraria roborowskii, Haloxylon ammodendron and Reaumuria songarica were spatially positive associations at small scales with the independent null model, while A. aphylla and H. ammodendron, A. aphylla and R. songarica, R. songarica and N. roborowskii species pairs exhibited negative associations at small or moderate scales (20–60 m) in our study. The random labeling null model showed that dead standing plants of A. aphylla were largely determined by the combined effects of intra- and interspecific competition. In addition, the results also indicated that the two main factors of habitat heterogeneity and sandy desertification play important roles in determining spatial distribution patterns and associations of woody species in the desert–oasis ecotone of South Junggar Basin. Thus, the differences of species features in spatial patterns and associations should be paid more attention when planning afforestation and developing conservation strategies.     

Biodiversity patterns of Early–Middle Ordovician marine microphytoplankton in South China

Based on new materials from six sections and all available literature data, new diversity curves are presented for the phytoplankton (acritarchs) from South China, covering the Early–Middle Ordovician interval, when the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event took place. The total diversity curve and the origination data imply that a major radiation of the phytoplankton occurred during the analysed interval. A peak of the total acritarch diversity curve appears in the A. suecicus graptolite biozone. The diversity changes vary in the different parts of the investigated area, most probably depending on the position of the analysed sections on the carbonate shelf or the slope, reflecting diversity differences due to the position on an inshore–offshore transect.The Early–Middle Ordovician diversity pattern of the phytoplankton is compared with those of several marine invertebrate groups. Compared with the diversity curve peak of the acritarchs, the conodonts and brachiopods reached their highest diversities before the acritarchs, while the highest diversity of the chitinozoans appears slightly later. The graptolites show two peaks during the Early–Middle Ordovician, while the trilobites diversity curve shows a peak only in the Sandbian. The different fossil groups, such as chitinozoans, conodonts, graptolites, brachiopods and trilobites show therefore different evolutionary patterns to that of the acritarchs, that are not yet fully understood, and correlations are so far difficult.The acritarch diversity changes can partly be compared to the local sea-level changes from four sections in South China. At a larger scale, the acritarch radiation coincides with a general transgression. At a regional or local scale, correlations are not straightforward, pointing out that more detailed data, based on both acritarch studies and more precise sea-level investigations, are necessary.     

Inter-annual rainfall variations and suicide in New South Wales, Australia, 1964–2001

The suicide rate in New South Wales is shown to be related to annual precipitation, supporting a widespread and long-held assumption that drought in Australia increases the likelihood of suicide. The relationship, although statistically significant, is not especially strong and is confounded by strong, long-term variations in the suicide rate not related to precipitation variations. A decrease in precipitation of about 300 mm would lead to an increase in the suicide rate of approximately 8% of the long-term mean suicide rate.     

Onshore–offshore variations of copepod community in northern South China Sea

Previous studies which have tested the feeding preferences of shredders for fungal species and the food quality of fungi used detritus uniformly colonized by a fungus, which is not the case for decaying leaves in streams. It is not known whether shredders in different development stages exhibit variations in feeding preference and larval performance. This study examined the feeding preferences and the growth of the third and the fifth instars of Pycnopsyche gentilis larvae using fungal-colonized patches and whole leaves, respectively, having different fungal species compositions (Alatospora acuminata, Anguillospora filiformis, Articulospora tetracladia, Tetrachaetum elegans, and all species combined). The aquatic hyphomycetes used were co-dominant on leaves in the stream inhabited by the caddisfly. During 14 d of feeding, the larvae of both instars did not show significant differences in feeding preferences for the patches growing on oak leaves, although the third instar larvae were slightly more selective than the fifth instar larvae. When fed with maple leaves for 18 d, larval growth rates, gross growth efficiencies, and survivorship were not significantly different among the fungal treatments. However, the larval growth of both instars fed with fungal-colonized leaves was always significantly greater than the growth of larvae fed with diets of uncolonized leaves. The third instar larvae grew faster than the fifth instar larvae, but the growth efficiencies of the two instars were similar. These results suggest that P. gentilis larvae exhibit less selectivity in their feeding than other caddisfly shredders that have been examined and that the dominant fungi colonizing leaves in their habitat are similar in palatability and food quality for this shredder. Handling editor: B. Oertli     

Chen Ziying and Woods Hole: Bringing the Marine Biological Laboratory to Amoy,China, 1930–1936

Journal of the History of Biology - This article examines Chen Ziying, an American-trained Chinese biologist and his prewar efforts to bring his Woods Hole experience from the United States to...     

Interracial status competition and southern lynching, 1882–1930

This article provides theoretical grounds and empirical evidence that different types of lynching in the post-Reconstruction South were driven by social processes at different levels of analysis. County-level analyses based upon new detailed data on lynchings in Georgia and Louisiana from 1882 to 1930 reveal that ‘private' lynchings, perpetrated by small groups outside the public purview without manifest ritual, were related to whites’ interracial status and social identity concerns on the interpersonal level, whereas ‘public' lynchings, involving larger mobs and ritualized violence, appear unaffected by such dynamics. These results validate relational and interactionist perspectives on violence, lend support to calls for disaggregation in the study of racial, ethnic, and nationalist violence, and shed light on the intertwining of racial identity formation with the generation of racial inequalities. They also carry implications for the study of contemporary ethno-racial hate crime.     

The type III transforming growth factor-β receptor inhibits proliferation, migration, and adhesion in human myeloma cells

Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) plays an important role in regulating hematopoiesis, inhibiting proliferation while stimulating differentiation when appropriate. We previously demonstrated that the type III TGF-β receptor (TβRIII, or betaglycan) serves as a novel suppressor of cancer progression in epithelial tumors; however, its role in hematologic malignancies is unknown. Here we demonstrate that TβRIII protein expression is decreased or lost in the majority of human multiple myeloma specimens. Functionally, restoring TβRIII expression in myeloma cells significantly inhibited cell growth, proliferation, and motility, largely independent of its ligand presentation role. In a reciprocal fashion, shRNA-mediated silencing of endogenous TβRIII expression enhanced cell growth, proliferation, and motility. Although apoptosis was not affected, TβRIII inhibited proliferation through induction of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors p21 and p27. TβRIII further regulated myeloma cell adhesion, increasing homotypic myeloma cell adhesion while decreasing myeloma heterotropic adhesion to bone marrow stromal cells. Mechanistically, live cell imaging of myeloma and stroma cell cocultures revealed that TβRIII-mediated inhibition of heterotropic adhesion was associated with decreased duration of myeloma/bone marrow stromal cell interaction. These results suggest that loss of TβRIII expression during multiple myeloma progression contributes to disease progression through its functional effects on increased cell growth, proliferation, motility, and adhesion.     

Middle–Late Ordovician chitinozoans from Songliang of Qiaojia,western South China,and their biostratigraphic implications

Ordovician chitinozoans are as yet inadequately documented from the western Yangtze Platform, South China. Here we present a systematic study on chitinozoans from a Middle–Upper Ordovician succession at Songliang of Qiaojia, northestern Yunnan, southwestern China. Altogether 34 species of 12 genera are identified from the upper Hungshihyen and the Huadan formations. The top of the Hungshihyen Formation yields typical Early and Middle Ordovician forms, for instance, Lagenochitina obeligis and Belonechitina chenjiawuensis, with the latter only known from the lower Darriwilian in South China, thus suggesting an early Darriwilian age for this interval. The chitinozoans recovered from the Huadan Formation include Lagenochitina prussica and Spinachitina fossensis, both are mainly confined in Katian and sometimes ranging into younger strata. This indicates an age younger than the middle to late Darriwilian previously determined for the Huadan Formation. However, conflicts exist in age assignment of the Huadan Formation based on chitinozoan and other evidence, and further work is required.     

Distribution and pollution evaluation of fluoride in a soil–water–plant system in Shihezi,Xinjiang, China

Fluoride (F) pollution is a serious environmental problem in some areas of China, but it has yet to be reported in a soil–water–plant system in Shihezi, Xinjiang. This study was undertaken to investigate the distribution and migration rule of F in soil, water, and plants, and to evaluate F pollution of soil. Results showed that the average concentration of total F (T-F) in the topsoil in the northwest, north, and southeast of Shihezi was higher than the national average T-F (478 mg/kg), while it was lower in southwest. The highest T-F contents of the soil profile were detected in the depth of 20 cm. The F content in groundwater in the northwest region was higher than the GB/T 14848–93 (1.0 mg/L), whereas the F contents in other water samples were within the standard. The F contents (1.75?2.81 mg/kg) in plant leaves were higher than the food limits (1.0 mg/kg). The obtained comprehensive pollution index of the soil was 1.86, which means a mild concentration of F in Shihezi. This research has reference value for the study of F pollution and comprehensive control in the northwest oasis with the typical arid and saline conditions.     

Short‐term fluctuations in death by cause,temperature, and income in the United States, 1930–1985

Abstract

Disclosures that this decade has had the five hottest years ever recorded globally raise concern that extreme temperatures might be associated with higher mortality. An analysis of fluctuations in annual cause‐specific deaths, seasonal temperatures, and annual income per capita in Massachusetts, Michigan, Washington, Utah, North Carolina, and Mississippi, 1930 to 1985, suggests that, on the contrary, a temperature increase throughout the year was associated with fewer deaths from all causes combined, including deaths from infectious diseases, heart diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, pneumonia, and influenza. An average temperature increase of one degree Fahrenheit was associated with a more than 2 per cent decline in deaths from pneumonia and influenza. The only category of deaths showing no significant association was death from malignant neoplasms. Compared to spring, summer, and fall temperature fluctuations, unusually cold winter temperatures had the strongest fatal effects, but only in North Carolina and Mississippi. The greatest cumulative temperature effects on mortality were found in the same two states. Controlling for annual fluctuations in income per capita did not influence the relationship between temperature and mortality. There was evidence suggesting that the level of wealth ameliorated the fatal effects of extreme temperatures. In conclusion, unusually warm weather was followed by fewer deaths; unusually cold weather, by more deaths.