Occurrence of deformed fish and their fitness-related traits in Kirikuchi charr, Salvelinus leucomaenis japonicus, the southernmost population of the genus Salvelinus

Kirikuchi charr, Salvelinus leucomaenis japonicus, is the southernmost population of the genus Salvelinus. It is endemic to the Kii Peninsula, central Honshu Island, Japan. As a consequence of anthropogenic disturbances, a few populations of Kirikuchi charr with low genetic diversity now survive only in small, isolated habitats. This study investigated the occurrence of deformed individuals and assessed differences between deformed and nondeformed fish in fitness-related traits, i.e., body size, body condition, growth rate, reproductive traits, survival rate, and habitat use, for two small isolated populations of Kirikuchi charr in the upper drainage of the Totsu River system of the Kii Peninsula. The two populations contained deformed fish in the respective proportions of 8.0-17.4% and 3.0-5.8% between 2003 and 2005. Annual survival rates of deformed fish were approximately half those of nondeformed fish. Other traits were not significantly different between deformed and nondeformed fish. These results indicate that the occurrence of deformities is an important ecological indicator that reflects the decline in fitness of small, isolated populations.     

Rhinoplasty: a simplified, three-stitch, open tip suture technique. Part II: secondary rhinoplasty

Tip suture techniques have proven effective in managing many secondary tip deformities. The open approach is used in most cases because it allows analysis and utilization of the alar remnants. If the alar rim strip is intact and not deformed, then a three-stitch technique (strut, domal creation, and domal equalization) is used. If the domes were previously transected, they are repaired and an attempt is made to shape them with sutures. If sutures are ineffective or the domes are deformed, judicious excisions and tip-shaping sutures are employed to achieve an aesthetic "tip shape," as expressed through the overlying skin. Removal of sutures from previously sutured tips has proven effective in the columella and infralobular area, ineffective in the supratip midline, and unpredictable over the domal segment. Overall, tip suture techniques should be considered in secondary tip deformities whenever the alar cartilage remnants permit.     

Ontogeny as a whole: Some developmental trends

In many animal groups, rudimentary organs of adult organisms appear at early stages of egg cleavage, when there is no trace of morphological differentiation. More than half a century ago, I. I. Schmalhausen developed a profound concept of integrity of the organism in the course of development. He emphasized that mutual adaptation of organs is based on correlations, involving the so-called nonhereditary modifications, which are transformed into hereditary traits by means of natural selection. There are many exceptions to the biogenetic law, as it was understood by de Beer. In particular, embryo of the pouched tree frog Gastrotheca shows a retarded development and is spread over the yolk surface. As a result, it becomes similar somewhat to embryos of amniotes. After the metamorphosis, Xenopus returns to ammonotelism. The integrity of ontogeny at the molecular level has much in common with the neutrality theory.     

Understanding Mimicry – with Special Reference to Vocal Mimicry

The term mimicry was introduced to biology in 1862 by Henry Walter Bates in his evolutionary explanation of deceptive communication in nature, based on a three‐part interaction system of a mimicked organism or object (called model), a mimicking organism (called mimic), and one or more organisms as selecting agents. Bates gave two incongruous definitions of mimicry: one from the viewpoint of a natural agent that selects for, and in consequence is deceived by, the close resemblance of a toxic model's warning signal and the similar appearance of a palatable mimic, and another one from the viewpoint of a human taxonomist who under an evolutionary aspect focuses on convergent resemblance between model and mimic. Later definitions of Müllerian (F. Müller), arithmetic (A. Wallace) and social (M. Moynihan) mimicry abolish deception in the natural selecting agent, rely on the convergence criterion alone, fuse the roles of model and mimic but have to accept a mix of homologous and convergent resemblance amongst them for a functional explanation. The definition of vocal mimicry (E. Armstrong) refers to a learned resemblance between mimic and heterospecific model by character duplication (no convergence), so far without known (deceived or not deceived) natural selecting agents. It excludes Batesian vocal mimicry. The functional ethological understanding of mimicry as a tripartite communication system (W. Wickler) is consistent with Bates' concept and accepts deception as key element of Batesian mimicry beyond homologous and convergent resemblances. Deception is seen as caused by the divergence between a sign and its meaning for the natural selecting agent. This understanding covers mimicry in all behaviour domains, provides a generally applicable definition of mimic and model so far missing in any mimicry concept, and it distinguishes – still in line with Henry Bates – cultural from genetically determined model‐mimic‐resemblance; this applies to vocal mimicry in particular. Convergently evolved model‐mimic‐resemblance, not essential in Batesian mimicry but mandatory for its alternatives, marks a fundamental distinction between Batesian mimicry (including Mimesis) and all other conceptualized mimicries and accounts for the non‐existence of a unified meaning of the term mimicry. However, character convergence does not help to explain the mere existence of mimicry phenomena and is irrelevant for their permanence in nature. I therefore propose to remove the convergence argument from any mimicry definition.     

Anatomy,metaphysics, and values: The ape brain debate reconsidered

Conventional wisdom teaches that Thomas Huxley discredited Richard Owen in their debate over ape and human brains. This paper reexamines the dispute and uses it as a test case for evaluating the metaphysical realist, internal realist, and social constructivist theories of scientific knowledge. Since Owen worked in the Kantian tradition, his anatomical research illustrates the implications of internal realism for scientific practice. As an avowed Cartesian, Huxley offered a well developed attack on Owen's position from a metaphysical realist perspective. Adrian Desmond's political retrospective on the dispute affords the additional opportunity to contrast internal realism with social constructivism. I argue that since Huxley ultimately based his attack on his valuing Europeans as superior to blacks, his argument illustrates the hazards of accepting the metaphysical realist promise of value free science. Desmond overlooks this racial dimension of the dispute, and his work shows how social constructivism can distract the historian and philosopher from even the social meaning of science. As internal realists like Putnam have argued, values enter science not from without, but from within the very process of science itself.     

History of Ichnology: The Reverend William Buckland (1784–1856) and the Fugitive Poets

William Buckland not only was an eccentric scientist liked by virtually all his peers, but in the early 1800s he was also one of the foremost authorities on geology. Buckland's vivid sense of humor and the fact that he enjoyed working on rather strange subjects, such as coprolites, rain drop impressions, cave paleontology, and fossil footsteps, provoked a great deal of light-hearted jesting from both his friends and his students. A collection of humorous poems and caricatures were produced to pay homage to the “Geologic Wizard.” Among these fugitive poets and artists were Buckland's good friends Phillip Duncan, Philip Shuttleworth, Henry De la Beche, Richard Whately, William Conybeare, and Thomas Sopwith. Buckland was still the subject of humorous verse well into the 1950s by the contemporary South African poet William Plomer.     

Evidence of phenotypic and social assortative mating for anthropometric and physiological traits in couples from the Basque country (Spain)

This study examined 28 anthropometrical and physiological traits in 107 married couples living in the province of Biscay (Basque Country, Spain). The aim was to verify the existence of a phenotypic and/or social preference when choosing a mate. For this, correlations between pairs of spouses were estimated by maximum likelihood, and a model of familial transmission (path analysis) was applied in order to test if social homogamy between mates existed. The results provide significant evidence of phenotypic as well as social homogamy in several of the studied traits. Even if an assortment existed when choosing a mate for bony traits such as height, the effect of cohabitation cannot be discounted as the main causal factor for the high phenotypic resemblance observed between spouses for body composition traits. In addition, with the social homogeneity of the studied sample, significant evidence of the existence of social homogamy between mates was only found for 20% of the studied variables.     

Incidence of spinal deformities in natural populations of Aphanius fasciatus Nardo, 1827 from the Gulf of Gabes, Tunisia

Spinal deformities in Aphanius fasciatus were observed in fish collected from polluted (S1) and non-polluted (S2) areas in the Gulf of Gabes in Tunisia. Kyphosis, scoliosis and lordosis were detected and these basic deformities frequently co-occur in varying degrees of severity. A total of 612 specimens of A. fasciatus were caught and 54 were found to be deformed, which represents 8.82%. Deformed fish were eight times more frequent in S1 than in S2, possibly indicating a relationship between pollution levels and skeletal malformation. In both sexes, variation of deformities incidence with length was very similar. The highest occurrence of deformities was observed in fish with total length <25 mm and decreasing thereafter with fish length. The possible causes for such deformities as well as the suitability of this kind of study for environmental monitoring are discussed.     

Super-motifs and evolution of tandem leucine-rich repeats within the small proteoglycans--biglycan, decorin, lumican, fibromodulin, PRELP, keratocan, osteoadherin, epiphycan, and osteoglycin

Leucine-rich repeats (LRRs) with 20-30 amino acids in unit length are present in many proteins from prokaryotes to eukaryotes. The LRR-containing proteins include a family of nine small proteoglycans, forming three distinct subfamilies: class I contains biglycan/PG-I and decorin/PG-II; class II: lumican, fibromodulin, PRELP, keratocan, and osteoadherin; and class III: epiphycan/PG-Lb and osteoglycin or osteoinductive factor. Comparative sequence analysis of the 34 available protein sequences reveals that these proteoglycans have two types of LRRs, which we call S and T. The type S LRR is 21 residues long and has the consensus sequence of xxaPzxLPxxLxxLxLxxNxI. The type T LRR has 26 residues; its consensus sequence is zzxxaxxxxFxxaxxLxxLxLxxNxL. In both "x" indicates variable residue; "z" is frequently a gap; "a" is Val, Leu, or Ile; and I is Ile or Leu. These type S and TLRRs are ordered into two super-motifs--STT with about 73 residues in classes I and II and ST with about 47 residues in class III. The 12 LRRs in the small proteoglycans of I and II are best represented as (STT)4; the seven LRRs of class III as (ST)T(ST)2. Our analyses indicate that classes I/II and III evolved along different paths after the establishment of the precursor ST, and classes I and II also diverged after the establishment of the precursor (STT)4.     

Zezuru turn of the screw

Zezuru adults and children take into account concepts of evil in directing their lives, especially in managing incidents of trauma and sickness. Using the story The Turn of the Screw by Henry James to reflect on these notions, evil is traced in the expressions heard and treatment sessions witnessed during two years research with 60 traditional healers in Mashonaland, Zimbabwe.Evil, particularly as evidenced in witchcraft and possession by aggrieved spirits, is part of a discourse on human suffering — illness, misfortune, death — within a specific community. Healers' treatment of children and their conceptions of childhood form the base for a discussion of evil.     

Darwin,Veblen and the problem of causality in economics

This article discusses some of the ways in which Darwinism has influenced a small minority of economists. It is argued that Darwinism involves a philosophical as well as a theoretical doctrine. Despite claims to the contrary, the uses of analogies to Darwinian natural selection theory are highly limited in economics. Exceptions include Thorstein Veblen, Richard Nelson, and Sidney Winter. At the philosophical level, one of the key features of Darwinism is its notion of detailed understanding in terms of chains of cause and effect. This issue is discussed in the context of the problem of causality in social theory. At least in Darwinian terms, the prevailing causal dualism--of intentional and mechanical causality--in the social sciences is found wanting. Once again, Veblen was the first economist to understand the implications for economics of Darwinism at this philosophical level. For Veblen, it was related to his notion of 'cumulative causation'. The article concludes with a discussion of the problems and potential of this Veblenian position.     

PSYCHOTHERAPY OF FUNCTIONAL DERMATOSES,Its Value and Limitations as Applied to Neurodermatitis

Etiologically, neurodermatitis is interpreted as an often manifestly hereditary diathesis which is frequently complicated and exacerbated by disturbances of the patient''s emotional and psychic structure. The following traits are commonly exhibited, singly or in combination: a tendency toward excitability and an exaggerated capacity for response to stimuli, polyvalent dermal hypersensitivity, a propensity to vascular disturbances, a personality somewhat obsessional in structure and evidence of deep-seated emotional conflict.Shallow psychotherapy, an indispensable adjunct to the treatment of neurodermatitis, can be successfully applied by any dermatologic physician adequately endowed with patience, sympathy and tact. This method does not achieve a cure, but, properly applied, it can immeasurably improve the patient''s lot.     

Differential facial resemblance of young children to their parents: who do children look like more?

In humans, paternal investment is highly variable and is modulated by paternity uncertainty. Facial phenotypic similarity between a father and a child is one possible paternity indicator. However, whether such paternal-biased traits are expressed in children is unclear, as previous empirical results are contradictory. Therefore, we quantified the facial resemblance between a child and each of his or her parents, from birth to 6 years old. Resemblance was assessed from pictures of the face by nonrelated judges. We found that, at all ages, children resemble both their parents more than would be expected by chance, although there is a differential resemblance toward one or the other parent depending on the age and sex of the child. For newborns, boys and girls resemble their mothers more, this differential resemblance persisting through time for girls. For boys, an inversion occurs and they resemble their fathers more between 2 and 3 years of age. The resemblance ascribed by the parents shows that, at birth, mothers ascribe a resemblance to the father, as previously found, although assessment by external judges revealed the opposite. These results suggest that facial appearance is a cue for kin recognition between a father and a child. Patterns of differential resemblance are discussed within the context of evolutionary theories on parental investment.     

Sex differences in nonhuman primate grooming

In this article, sex differences in nonhuman primate social grooming are reviewed. In general, female nonhuman primates groom more than do males. This conclusion is tempered somewhat by acknowledgements of exceptions and qualifications, and by evidence for experiential control of grooming.     

Coetzee, Agamben, and the Passion of Abu Ghraib

In this article, I address J. M. Coetzee's chapter "The Problem of Evil" in Elizabeth Costello (2003); specifically, I discuss the danger of texts that attempt to represent evil letting loose that evil in the world. This insight is pushed by connecting it to the problem of sovereignty as put forth in Agamben's Homo Sacer (1998). To demonstrate the connection of evil and sovereignty, three different sets of images are analyzed that circulated in the global public sphere in 2004: frames from the Mel Gibson movie, The Passion of the Christ (2004); pictures of the abuse and torture of Iraqi prisoners from Abu Ghraib; and beheading videos of U.S. citizens and other nationals working for the U.S.-led occupation forces in Iraq. Different explanations have been given for their circulation, but it is argued, following Agamben's notion of "homo sacer," that they are contestations over sovereignty of Iraq and more widely of the Middle East.     

A toxic thionin from Pyrularia pubera: purification, properties, and amino acid sequence

A low-molecular-weight cytotoxic protein has been purified from Pyrularia pubera Michx. (Santalaceae). By comparison with the behavior of proteins of known molecular weight during Sephadex G-75 gel filtration and denaturing electrophoresis, a molecular weight of somewhat less than 6000 is indicated. Purification involves ammonium sulfate fractionation followed by either gel filtration on Sephadex G-75 or separation on a carboxymethyl cellulose CM52 column. At concentrations of 0.04 mg/ml the protein causes visible disruption of cultured mouse B16 melanoma cells. The complete amino acid sequence has been determined. The toxin contains 47 amino acids arranged as follows:Lys-Ser-Cys-Cys-Arg-Asn-Thr-Trp-Ala-Arg-Asn-C ys-Tyr-Asn-Val-Cys-Arg-Leu-Pro-Gly-Thr-Ile-Ser-Arg-Glu-Ile-Cys-Ala-Lys- Lys-Cys-Asp-Cys-Lys-Ile-Ile-Ser-Gly-Thr-Thr-Cys-Pro-Ser-Asp-Tyr-Pro-Ly s-OH. The protein is clearly a thionin, as shown by its close resemblance to the thionins from wheat and barley, to the viscotoxins from mistletoes, and to crambin.     

Epigenetics and the renaissance of heresy.

Classic neo-Darwinian theory is predicated on the notion that all heritable phenotypic change is mediated by alterations of the DNA sequence in genomes. However, evidence is accumulating that stably heritable phenotypes can also have an epigenetic basis, lending support to the long-discarded notion of inheritance of acquired traits. As many of the examples of epigenetic inheritance are mediated by position effects, the possibility exists that chromosome rearrangements may be one of the driving forces behind evolutionary change by exerting position effect alterations in gene activity, an idea articulated by Richard Goldschmidt. The emerging evidence suggests that Goldschmidt's controversial hypothesis deserves a serious reevaluation.     

Familial Resemblance in Eating Behaviors in Men and Women from the Quebec Family Study

Objective: It is commonly recognized that genetic, environmental, behavioral, and social factors are involved in the development of obesity. The family environment may play a key role in shaping children's eating behaviors. The purpose of this study was to estimate the degree of familial resemblance in eating behavioral traits (cognitive dietary restraint, disinhibition, and susceptibility to hunger). Research Methods and Procedures: Eating behavioral traits were assessed with the Three‐Factor Eating Questionnaire in 282 men and 402 women (202 families) from the Quebec Family Study. Familial resemblance for each trait (adjusted for age, sex, and BMI) was investigated using a familial correlation model. Results: The pattern of familial correlation showed significant spouse correlation for the three eating behavior phenotypes, as well as significant parent‐offspring and sibling correlations for disinhibition and susceptibility to hunger. According to the most parsimonious model, generalized heritability estimates (including genetic and shared familial environmental effects) reached 6%, 18%, and 28% for cognitive dietary restraint, disinhibition, and susceptibility to hunger, respectively. Discussion: These results suggest that there is a significant familial component to eating behavioral traits but that the additive genetic component appears to be small, with generalized heritability estimates ranging from 6% to 28%. Thus, non‐familial environmental factors and gene‐gene and gene‐environmental interactions seem to be the major determinants of the eating/behavioral traits.     

Facial resemblance enhances trust

Organisms are expected to be sensitive to cues of genetic relatedness when making decisions about social behaviour. Relatedness can be assessed in several ways, one of which is phenotype matching: the assessment of similarity between others' traits and either one's own traits or those of known relatives. One candidate cue of relatedness in humans is facial resemblance. Here, I report the effects of an experimental manipulation of facial resemblance in a two-person sequential trust game. Subjects were shown faces of ostensible playing partners manipulated to resemble either themselves or an unknown person. Resemblance to the subject's own face raised the incidence of trusting a partner, but had no effect on the incidence of selfish betrayals of the partner's trust. Control subjects playing with identical pictures failed to show such an effect. In a second experiment, resemblance of the playing partner to a familiar (famous) person had no effect on either trusting or betrayals of trust.