Public History,Private Memory: Notes from the Ethnography of Colonial Williamsburg,Virginia, USA

Colonial Williamsburg, and U.S. history museums generally, claim to transform public history into collective memory. That is, they convey an objective documented history to the public who, absorbing that history, acquires an appropriate collective or national memory. We argue that the emphasis on consumer (visitor) experience at such museums collapses the distance between the reconstructed past (the museum's history lesson) and the visitor's touristic or familial experience at the site. Visitors indeed remember their visits to Colonial Williamsburg, but their specific memories would seem to have little to contribute to any 'collective memory' of a 'national history.'     

The New History in an Old Museum: Creating the Past at Colonial Williamsburg

The New History in an Old Museum: Creating the Past at Colonial Williamsburg. Richard Handler and Eric Gable. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1997.260 pp.     

Sultans of Spin: Syrian Sacred Music on the World Stage

This article examines how the performance of a variety of Islamic music in transnational cultural circuits helps to promote the idea of a style of sacred music within the category of world music. Taking as an example the performance of the mawlawiyya, or "Whirling Dervish," music and dance by a Syrian–based ensemble, I show how the idea of an authentic local Syrian sacred music tradition requires its performance globally. I use the concept of the "world stage" to examine how musical performance practices that are represented as authentic local traditions obtain both their authenticity and their local specificity through their staging in global contexts. I further explore how such musical styles as sacred and Sufi emerge as naturalized categories in world music discourse, and how processes of differentiation and commodification reconfigure both the "local" and "global." [Keywords: world music, globalization, style, Syria, Islam]     

Powhatan's Werowocomoco: Constructing Place, Polity, and Personhood in the Chesapeake, C.E. 1200--C.E. 1609

Colonial encounters within the Powhatan village of Werowocomoco in Tidewater Virginia have captured the public's imagination through romantic literature and popular films. Shifting the focus of inquiry away from English colonial narratives and toward a history of landscape provides an alternative understanding of Werowocomoco as a Native place. Archaeological investigation has identified evidence of earthworks and related social practices that altered Werowocomoco's built environment and subjective experiences of its spaces in ways that colonial chroniclers failed to appreciate. A landscape history combining built environments, cognitive maps, and spatial practices across the historic—precontact divide indicates that the settlement became a ritualized location for the production of political status and social personhood well before English colonization in the Chesapeake. Spatial practices rooted in Algonquian cosmology and centered on Werowocomoco shaped the origins of the Powhatan chiefdom and early colonial history through which Powhatans sought to incorporate Jamestown colonists into their world. A biography of Werowocomoco as a Native place illustrates how a deep historical anthropology may challenge notions of a "prehistoric" past comprised of homogenized societies lacking history.     

Systems of Production and Social Discourse: The Skipper Effect Revisited

We have argued that differences in success in Icelandic fishing are statistically explained more by technical and ecological factors than by personal qualities of skippers, the "skipper effect." Research by other scholars has reopened the discussion of the skipper effect. We assess some of the statistical arguments, pointing out that while there may be a strong skipper effect in some societies, in other societies it is weak or negligible. We suggest that it is important to distinguish between the statistical reality of the skipper effect and its sociology and that the concept of skipper effect is of limited utility in comparative studies, since different researchers using it have not always been talking about the same phenomena and fishing success is conceived differently in different societies. The discussion of the skipper effect echoes debates on resource management and the authenticity of folk models, as well as larger debates in social theory on the relationship between the symbolic and the real and the role of history and agency. Folk theories of production, we argue, are best regarded as cultural accounts constructed in social discourse, in the context of production systems.     

Regulation of neurexin 1beta tertiary structure and ligand binding through alternative splicing

Neurexins and neuroligins play an essential role in synapse function, and their alterations are linked to autistic spectrum disorder. Interactions between neurexins and neuroligins regulate inhibitory and excitatory synaptogenesis in vitro through a "splice-insert signaling code." In particular, neurexin 1beta carrying an alternative splice insert at site SS#4 interacts with neuroligin 2 (found predominantly at inhibitory synapses) but much less so with other neuroligins (those carrying an insert at site B and prevalent at excitatory synapses). The structure of neurexin 1beta+SS#4 reveals dramatic rearrangements to the "hypervariable surface," the binding site for neuroligins. The splice insert protrudes as a long helix into space, triggers conversion of loop beta10-beta11 into a helix rearranging the binding site for neuroligins, and rearranges the Ca(2+)-binding site required for ligand binding, increasing its affinity. Our structures reveal the mechanism by which neurexin 1beta isoforms acquire neuroligin splice isoform selectivity.     

A Conceptual Framework for Biology Part II

This essay is part of the seventh yearly presentation of aneducational project of the American Society of Zoologists, Scienceas a Way of Knowing. It is also the second part of a "ConceptualFramework for Biology." Part II begins a discussion of evolutionand deals with an overview of living metazoans and then discussestheir history during the Phanerozoic Eon. Part III will completethe discussion of evolution and then consider "Classification,"Ecology," "Geographic Distribution," "Methods of Science,"and "Science and Human Welfare." The intended readers are thosewho teach the first-year biology courses in colleges and universitiesas well as teachers of the precollege grades.     

Immunoelectron microscopic localization of glutamyl-/ prolyl-tRNA synthetase within the eukaryotic multisynthetase complex

A high molecular mass complex of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases is readily isolated from a variety of eukaryotes. Although its composition is well characterized, knowledge of its structure and organization is still quite limited. This study uses antibodies directed against prolyl-tRNA synthetase for immunoelectron microscopic localization of the bifunctional glutamyl-/prolyl-tRNA synthetase. This is the first visualization of a specific site within the multisynthetase complex. Images of immunocomplexes are presented in the characteristic views of negatively stained multisynthetase complex from rabbit reticulocytes. As described in terms of a three domain working model of the structure, in "front" views of the particle and "intermediate" views, the primary antibody binding site is near the intersection between the "base" and one "arm." In "side" views, where the particle is rotated about its long axis, the binding site is near the midpoint. "Top" and "bottom" views, which appear as square projections, are also consistent with the central location of the binding site. These data place the glutamyl-/prolyl-tRNA synthetase polypeptide in a defined area of the particle, which encompasses portions of two domains, yet is consistent with the previous structural model.     

Identical behavior of the two active sites of myosin with respect to trinitrophenylation.

Myosin and its active subfragments were trinitrophenylated under conditions in which mainly the active site(s) was modified. Proteins modified at the active site(s) could be separated by affinity chromatography on agarose-ATP columns. By two independent methods, ATPase activity measurements and analysis of elution patterns on agarose-ATP columns, it was shown that the introduction of two trinitrophenyl groups per myosin or one per heavy meromyosin subfragment 1 molecule is responsible for the remarkable change in the ATPase activities. Heavy meromyosin subfragment 1 prepared from trinitrophenylated myosin retained the original degree of trinitrophenylation per "active head." The kinetic constant of trinitrophenylation of the epsilon-amino group of lysine at the active site was found to be 2000 S-1-M-1, whereas a much smaller constant of 2.2 S-1-M-1 was obtained for the trinitrophenylation of the unessential lysyl residues of myosin. By using affinity chromatography, we could follow the formation of mono- and ditrinitrophenyl myosin. The amounts of these myosin derivatives at various extents of the reaction corresponded approximately to the calculated amounts, assuming a random and independent trinitrophenylation of the two myosin "heads." It is concluded that in each of the two heads of myosin there is one ATPase active site and these two sites behave in an identical manner with respect to trinitrophenylation.     

From "butyribacterium" to "E. coli": an essay on unity in biochemistry

New ideas in science frequently arise from neglected or distorted antecedents. This essay deals with the idea of biochemical unity, encapsulated in Jacques Monod's well-known phrase, dating from 1954: "Anything found to be true of E. coli must also be true of elephants." An earlier version of this phrase,--"From the elephant to butyric acid bacterium--it is all the same!"--was coined in 1926 by the Dutch microbiologist Albert Jan Kluyver. In that year Kluyver and his associate Hendrick Jean Louis Donker published a celebrated paper, "Unity in Biochemistry." The concept of biochemical unity had many antecedents, but these had never caught on. The Kluyver-Donker paper has often been regarded to provide a boost to biochemical and especially to microbiological thinking. Its interpretations and misinterpretations represent an encapsulated history of biochemistry. The present paper examines the history of the concept of biochemical unity from before to beyond Kluyver, investigates the two "elephant" phrases and their possible relationships, and ends with a discussion of the attractiveness of unifying ideas in science.     

The evolution of patient selection criteria and indications for extracorporeal life support in pediatric cardiopulmonary failure: next time, let's not eat the bones

Bill James, baseball statistician and author, tells the story of hungry cavemen sitting about a campfire, waiting for tomatoes to ripen. One has the inspiration to throw an ox on the fire, and the first barbecue ensued and was endured. After eating, the conversation goes something like this. "There were some good parts." "Yeah, but there were some bad parts." And the smart one says, "This time, let's not eat the bones." The evolution of patient selection criteria for the use of extracorporeal support (ECLS) is a bit like those cavemen and their first barbecued ox. Extracorporeal life support technology and application to patient care is the unique result of a long standing history of ambitious attempt, evaluation, debate, collaboration and extension.     

Oxygen and sulfur esters of "inverse substrates": different responses of amidinophenol and amidinothiophenol in the activation of the rate of tryptic hydrolysis of the inverse esters

Kinetic parameters for the trypsin-catalyzed hydrolysis of the oxygen and sulfur "inverse substrates," p-amidinophenyl and p-amidinothiophenyl acetates and trimethylacetates, have been compared. The results suggest that both series of compounds are hydrolyzed via an identical pathway. Appreciable differences, however, were observed in the efficiency of the acylation process in both series, possibly reflecting the spatial requirements of the enzyme's active site toward these substrates. As reported previously, acceleration in deacylation by a positively charged molecule is a characteristic feature of trypsin-catalyzed hydrolysis of "inverse substrates." In the present investigation, it was shown that p-amidinothiophenol is ineffective as an activator, whereas its oxygen counterpart behaves as a potent activator toward oxygen and sulfur substrates. It is assumed that some ionic interaction between the enzyme and the ligand molecule could prevent the rate enhancement.     

Historical overview of immunological tolerance

A fundamental property of the immune system is its ability to mediate self-defense with a minimal amount of collateral damage to the host. The system uses several different mechanisms to achieve this goal, which is collectively referred to as the "process of immunological tolerance." This article provides an introductory historical overview to these various mechanisms, which are discussed in greater detail throughout this collection, and then briefly describes what happens when this process fails, a state referred to as "autoimmunity."     

A pathway for conformational diversity in proteins mediated by intramolecular chaperones.

Conformational diversity within unique amino acid sequences is observed in diseases like scrapie and Alzheimer's disease. The molecular basis of such diversity is unknown. Similar phenomena occur in subtilisin, a serine protease homologous with eukaryotic pro-hormone convertases. The subtilisin propeptide functions as an intramolecular chaperone (IMC) that imparts steric information during folding but is not required for enzymatic activity. Point mutations within IMCs alter folding, resulting in structural conformers that specifically interact with their cognate IMCs in a process termed "protein memory." Here, we show a mechanism that mediates conformational diversity in subtilisin. During maturation, while the IMC is autocleaved and subsequently degraded by the active site of subtilisin, enzymatic properties of this site differ significantly before and after cleavage. Although subtilisin folded by Ile-48 --> Thr IMC (IMCI-48T) acquires an "altered" enzymatically active conformation (SubI-48T) significantly different from wild-type subtilisin (SubWT), both precursors undergo autocleavage at similar rates. IMC cleavage initiates conformational changes during which the IMC continues its chaperoning function subsequent to its cleavage from subtilisin. Structural imprinting resulting in conformational diversity originates during this reorganization stage and is a late folding event catalyzed by autocleavage of the IMC.     

Population studies of two colonial orb-weaving spiders

Colonial spiders have individual capture webs (territories) within a communally shared web structure. I describe here the life histories and colony population dynamics of two communal species, Ctrtophora moluccensis (Doleschall) (Araneidae) in Papua New Guinea and Philoponella republicana (Simon) (Uloboridae) in the Panama Canal Zone. In both species, dispersal and foundation of new colonies are primarily by groups of immatures. Population growth of new-colonies was rapid during the first generation, but then colony population size decreased markedly. Colonies of P. republicana rarely lasted more than one generation, whereas those of C. moluccensis attained an equilibrium population size and often persisted for many generations at the same site. Reproduction occurred during the wet season in P. republicana colonies and year-round in colonies of C. moluccensis. Reproduction was synchronized in widely separated colonies of P. republicana. Factors controlling population growth and survival of colonies are discussed. Cyrtophora moluccensis colonies were probably regulated by density dependant factors, especially predation and parasitism, and perhaps a shortage of flying insects due to colony visibility. Philoponella republicana colonies were most likely limited by climatic conditions and instability of the habitat (i.e. density independent factors). Colonial social organization influences both dispersal and colony population growth. Coloniality is, however, compatible with various life history strategies.     

The crystal structure of (S)-3-O-geranylgeranylglyceryl phosphate synthase reveals an ancient fold for an ancient enzyme

We report crystal structures of the citrate and sn-glycerol-1-phosphate (G1P) complexes of (S)-3-O-geranylgeranylglyceryl phosphate synthase from Archaeoglobus fulgidus (AfGGGPS) at 1.55 and 2.0 A resolution, respectively. AfGGGPS is an enzyme that performs the committed step in archaeal lipid biosynthesis, and it presents the first triose phosphate isomerase (TIM)-barrel structure with a prenyltransferase function. Our studies provide insight into the catalytic mechanism of AfGGGPS and demonstrate how it selects for the sn-G1P isomer. The replacement of "Helix 3" by a "strand" in AfGGGPS, a novel modification to the canonical TIM-barrel fold, suggests a model of enzyme adaptation that involves a "greasy slide" and a "swinging door." We propose functions for the homologous PcrB proteins, which are conserved in a subset of pathogenic bacteria, as either prenyltransferases or being involved in lipoteichoic acid biosynthesis. Sequence and structural comparisons lead us to postulate an early evolutionary history for AfGGGPS, which may highlight its role in the emergence of Archaea.     

Embryology of the diffuse neuroendocrine system and its relationship to the common peptides.

The diffuse neuroendocrine system is constituted by the cells, now more than 40 in number, of the central and peripheral divisions of the amine precursor uptake and decarboxylation (APUD) series. At one time presumed to be derived from a common "neural" ancestor, all are now deemed to be "neuroendocrine-programmed," arising either in the embryonic epiblast itself or in one of its principal descendants. The APUD cells produce more than 35 physiologically active peptides and a small number of equally active amines. Within the last 3 years, 17 of these peptides have been identified jointly in endocrine cells and in neuronal cell bodies or processes. Sharing in this way a neural and an endocrine location and site of production, they are called the "common peptides." The diffuse neuroendocrine system is to be regarded as a third division of the nervous system, whose products suppress, amplify, or modulate the activities of the other two divisions. The relationship of its products to the cells and processes of these two divisions is currently the object of intensive inquiry.     

ONTOGENY AND THE HIERARCHY OF TYPES

Abstract— The long history of belief in a parallelism between ontogeny and a hierarchical order of natural things is reviewed. The meaning of von Baerian recapitulation is analyzed and its implications for cladistic methodology are discussed at two levels: ontogeny and homology. The basic problem inherent in the purported parallelism is that the order of natural things (i.e., the taxic approach to homology) is part of the "world of being" of Platonic ideas, whereas ontogeny and phylogeny (i.e., the transformational approach to homology) belong to Plato's "world of becoming." These two "genera of existence," as Plato put it, being and becoming, are incompatible but complementary views of nature.     

On ecological fitting, plant–insect associations, herbivore host shifts, and host plant selection

"Pests soon colonize plants that are cultivated extensively, plant species recruit different pest species in different regions, and associations of insects with plants are often more casual, fortuitous, and labile than those usually interpreted as coevolutionary." ( Strong 1979 , pp. 89)

"…  when a parasite arrives in a new habitat, it will feed on those species whose defense traits it can circumvent because of the abilities it carries at the time. Such a parasite cannot be distinguished from one that evolved the ability to circumvent a defense while in trophic contact with its host." ( Janzen 1980 , pp. 611)

"We believe that a reasonable null hypothesis  …  is that many associations between insects and plants can occur without much evolution…" (Rey, McCoy and Strong 1981, pp. 620)

"The main role of secondary plant substances in insect/host plant relationships is that they form the 'fingerprint'  …  by which the insect recognizes the plants  …  The recognition of a plant as host is unrelated to whether the plant and the insect have evolved together or whether they meet for the first time in their evolutionary history." ( Jermy 1984 , pp. 620)