Variation of minor non-metrical cranial variants in Australian Aborigines

1254 Australian Aboriginal crania from various parts of Australia were classified for 30 minor non-metrical variants. Australia was split into various regions, and using statistical methods which give mean overall measures of difference between regions, some regional differences were found. Of the 30 variants used, it was found that 10 of them accounted for about 90% of the variation, and so much of the discussion was restricted to them. The regional differences in cranial morphology appeared, so far as could be assessed, to culminate in two extreme populations: one in the north and the north-west of the continent, and the other in southeastern Australia. The relationship of these findings to the two main theories on the origin and composition of the Aborigines is discussed. The first considers that the Aborigines represent a homogeneous population with no significant regional variation, and the second, that they are a product of hybridization between two or more racial groups. Based on the cranial data given, and other published work, it is considered that, as yet, we have insufficient evidence to favour one of these theories at the expense of the other.     

Sex and side differences in the minor non-metrical cranial variants

Thirty-three epigenetic traits were examined on 260 skulls from present-day Sardinian population. Side and sex differences were studied, together with possible differences between the methods commonly used. The Authors concluded that side and sex differences are practically irrelevant. They also recommend research-workers to use one method only in comparing the traits studied.     

Materialising Oceania: New ethnographies of things in Melanesia and Polynesia

Oceania occupies an intriguing place within anthropology’s genealogy. In the introduction to this collection of essays, we examine the role of the ethnography of Oceania in the development of our anthropological perspectives on materialisation, the dynamic process by which persons and things are inter‐related. Building upon the recent resurgence of theoretical interests in things we use the term materialisation (rather than material culture or materiality) to capture the vitality of the lived processes by which ideas of objectivity and subjectivity, persons and things, minds and bodies are entangled. Taking a processual view, we advocate for an Oceanic anthropology that continues to engage with things on the ground; that asks what strategies communities use to materialise their social relations, desires and values; and that recognises how these processes remain important tools for understanding historical and contemporary Oceanic societies. Examining these locally articulated processes and forms contributes to a material (re)turn for anthropology that clarifies how we, as scholars, think about things more widely.     

The frequency of private electrophoretic variants in Australian aborigines and indirect estimates of mutation rate.

The number of "private" electrophoretic variants of enzymes controlled by 25 loci has been used to obtain estimates of mutation rate in Australian Aborigines. Three different methods yield values of 6.11 X 10(-6), 2.78 X 10(-6), and 12.86 X 10(-6)/locus per generation for the total sample of Aborigines. One tribal population of Waljbiri in central Australia gives values of 2.99 X 10(-6) and 2.04 X 10(-6) for two of the methods, the third being unapplicable. The mean mutation rate for the total Aboriginal sample of 7.25 X 10(-6) is very similar to the value obtained by Neel and his colleagues for Amerindians in South America.     

Evaluation of trends in middle ear disease among Australian aborigines

The Gompertz hazard model of age incidence of disease is applied to estimation of disease trends in a community. The trend estimate is based on proportions of individuals with disease experience in different age groups at one point of time, and may be used as an indicator of the changing health of a community. A major application of the method is to ear health data collected among Australian aboriginal children by the National Trachoma and Eye Health Program of the Royal Australian College of Ophthalmologists.     

Molecular characterisation of the Wx-B1 allelic variants identified in cultivated emmer wheat and comparison with those of durum wheat

Emmer wheat is a neglected crop that could be used in the breeding of modern durum wheat for quality, one important aspect of which is the starch composition that is related to the waxy proteins. A collection of 87 accessions of Spanish emmer wheat was analysed for waxy protein composition by SDS?CPAGE. No polymorphism was found for the Wx-A1 gene. However, for the Wx-B1 gene, three alleles were detected, two of them new. The whole gene sequence of these alleles was amplified by PCR in three fragments, which were digested with several endonucleases to determine internal differences in the sequence. These variants were also compared with the Wx alleles present in durum wheat. Differences in size and restriction sites were detected. DNA sequence analysis confirmed that the alleles found in emmer wheat are different from those in durum wheat. The first data suggested that these alleles showed a different influence on the amylose content of these lines. The variation found could be used to enlarge the gene pool of durum and emmer wheat, and design new materials with different amylose content.     

A comparison of the epidermis and pigment cells of the crocodile with those in two lizard species

Keratinization and pigmentation in Crocodilus niloticus skin were compared with the conditions in the lizards Lacerta viridis and Anolis carolinensis. The epidermis, both in the crocodile and in lizards, is arranged to form a surface pattern of scales and narrower intervening hinge regions. Similar keratin-bound substances were found in the crocodile and lizard stratum corneum. Nevertheless, the greater uniformity in histological structure and in distribution of chemical substances throughout the depth of the crocodile stratum corneum was in marked contrast to the lizards, which showed morphological differences, and differences in intensities of chemical reactions in the horny cells laid down early and late in each keratinization cycle. In the crocodile, keratin-bound S-S and SH are uniformly distributed in the horny scales, but in the lizards the superficial cells have most S-S and the lowermost keratinized cells most SH. The loosely arranged horny cells in the crocodile are shed in small flakes as in mammals, in contrast to lizards which undergo periodic sloughs of a compact stratum corneum. In the lizards, the intermediate layer between two horny layer generations contains no detectable S-S and is probably unkeratinized, so that when these cells die a fission zone is formed. The crocodile scales each contain a raised pigmented papule in which melanin is introduced into the epidermal cells, and keratinization is also different from the neighbouring area. Guanophores and lipophores are absent in the crocodile, although present in the lizards. All contain prominent dermal melanophores.     

A comparison of the Permian reptiles of North America with those of South Afrika

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A comparison of the Permian reptiles of North America with those of South Afrika

     

A comparison of lizard claw keratin proteins with those of avian beak and claw

Summary The outer shell of translucent keratin has been dissected from the claws of the lizard,Varanus gouldii. It is free of calcium and hydroxyproline, in contrast to the fibrous support, and contains proteins rich in glycine (28 residues %) and half-cystine (13%). These proteins have been obtained in soluble form by treatment with 2-mercaptoethanol in 8M urea at pH 11 followed by alkylation with iodoacetate to giveS-carboxymethyl kerateines. The three major components resolved by SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis have been isolated by fractional precipitation with ammonium sulfate followed by chromatography on DEAE-cellulose or Sephadex. Two of the components, low in tryptophan content, appear to be homologous and are relatively homogeneous with respect to both size and charge whereas the third, a tryptophan-rich material, appears to contain about 20 different molecular species as judged by gel electrophoresis in urea at pH 8.9. The molecular weights of two of the isolated omponents (the tryptophan-rich and the major of the two tryptophanpoor components) are about 13000 as determined by equilibrium ultracentrifugation studies.The major lizard claw proteins are therefore similar in size and glycine content to the proteins of avian beak and claw but differ in containing more cystine and less tyrosine. On the other hand, the reptilian proteins resemble the mammalian high-tyrosine proteins (Type II) in cystine content and overall amino acid composition, but differ in size with the lizard proteins being larger. It is suggested however that they are unlikely to be homologous.     

A comparison of the functional properties of two lepore hemoglobins with those of hemoglobin A1.

Lepore hemoglobins result from crossovers between normal beta and delta chain genes. Structural investigation of two newly discovered examples of Lepore hemoglobins revealed one of them to be structurally identical to hemoglobin Lepore Hollandia α₂^Aδ²² -x- β⁵⁰, a rarely occurring Lepore variant, while the second had the structure of hemoglobin Lepore Boston α₂^Aδ⁸⁷ -x- β¹¹⁶. Studies of the equilibrium and kinetic properties of the liganding reactions of these two Lepore hemoglobins, which differ only in three amino acid residues, and comparison of these with the known properties of hemoglobin A₁ (α₂β₂) and hemoglobin A₂ (α₂δ₂) have been carried out. A high value of n, the Hill coefficient, indicating normal heme-heme interaction, was observed in each hemoglobin along with a normal Bohr effect. However, a slight but definite increase in oxygen affinity was observed for each Lepore hemoglobin. Furthermore, kinetic studies indicated a slight but consistently increased rate of ligand combination and a somewhat decreased rate of oxygen dissociation for hemoglobins Lepore Hollandia and Lepore Boston at pH 7 and 20 °C. Apparently, the higher oxygen affinity of these Lepore hemoglobins over those of the normal hemoglobins A₁ and A₂ reflects changes of sequence that are common to both types of hemoglobin Lepore.     

Physiological activities of helminthosporol in comparison with those of gibberellin and auxin

Summary Helminthosporol, a metabolic product of Helminthosporium sativum, remarkably stimulated elongation of the second leaf sheath of rice seedlings of various varieties. It also stimulated the elongation of hypocotyls of cucumber seedlings. This substance did not have any effect on the growth of peas, tomato, sunflower and the dwarf mutants of maize. This substance did not have auxin-like activities.