Chocolate and Cognac: Gifts and the Recognition of Social Worlds in Post-Soviet Russia

This paper examines the culture of gift-giving in contemporary urban Russia, illuminating in the process broader post-socialist deliberations about social identity and personal worth. Drawing upon ethnographic research in St. Petersburg (1998-99), I consider how marketization influences, informs, and overlaps with logics of gift-giving and with the social networking practices so central to Soviet-era consumer strategies. In contrast to most previous analyses of such phenomena, this article attends closely to the items of exchange themselves, asking why certain goods are chosen as gifts in particular contexts (such as the chocolate and cognac typically given as tokens of gratitude to doctors, teachers, and others whom one wishes to thank for services well provided). Social theorists have commented on the 'misrecognition' inherent in such gift-giving, in that transactors tend to view these presents not as pragmatic investments but simply - as Russian teachers put it - 'signs of attention' Yet here I push further to consider what it is people are actually recognizing about their shifting social worlds in these activities, as they take stock of one another's claims to cultural and moral value (as well as material wealth) and conceptualize the kind of 'society' in which they are participating.     

Inter-ethnic coexistence in Israeli plants: the job experiences and attitudes of Arab and Jewish workers

Through personal interviews, we examine the job experiences and attitudes of Arab and Jewish workers sharing the same work site in five manufacturing facilities. We find that Arabs and Jews differ in terms of demographic, job status, and job treatment factors, as well as in levels of job satisfaction. Using hierarchical multiple regression analyses, we determine that average Arab-Jewish differences in job satisfaction are not related to generic racial/ethnic differences. Rather, group disparities in job satisfaction primarily derive from differences in worker perceptions of their environment as well as in the nature of inter-ethnic work relations. Our results suggest employer efforts to establish a more supportive work environment and the promotion of positive cross-ethnic relationships at work may reduce the Arab-Jewish job satisfaction gap.     

The white coat trap: pharmacy as an ethnic-dominated occupation in Israel

Health professions are perceived by the Arab minority in Israel as a desired path of education and employment. Arabs in Israel are thus highly represented in these professions, especially pharmacy. This study analyses the unique ethnic and gender composition of pharmacists in Israel and explores their career experiences and perceptions. Both quantitative and qualitative methodologies are employed. The findings reflect dual marginality in the pharmacy profession in Israel, that is currently both female and ethnic-dominated. This situation is described in the Arab pharmacists’ stories, that delineate the disparity between their aspirations when starting their careers and their hardships after working for several years as pharmacists. Arabs in Israel face unique difficulties in the labour market. Many choose the health professions, including pharmacy, as a path of mobility. Pharmacy, however, is perceived as a niche (ethnic and female-dominated) profession in Israel. Hence, its practitioners suffer from devaluation in wage and prestige.     

Marriage promotion and missing men: African American women in a demographic double bind

Since 1996, state legislators, members of the U.S. Congress, and more recently President George W. Bush, have called for the protection of monogamous, heterosexual marriage and the promotion of marriage among poor women. The thrust of this policy making is directed at African American families, among which female headship doubled between 1965 and 1990. This doubling is temporally associated with enacting the legislation directed toward the War on Drugs, which resulted in a tripling of the African American prison population. In Syracuse, New York, the swelling African American population behind bars has resulted in a skewed sex ratio, in which women significantly outnumber men. The authors use national, state, and local epidemiological, environmental, and ethnographic data to argue that the proliferation of marriage-promotion policies is heterosexist and blames African American women for demographic realities over which they have little control.     

Nonalimentary tooth use in prehistory: an example from early Holocene in Central Sahara (Uan Muhuggiag,Tadrart Acacus,Libya)

Signs of nonalimentary tooth use were observed on the dentition of an adult male from a single burial excavated in an area close to the Uan Muhuggiag rock shelter (Tadrart Acacus, Libya), dated to more than 7800 uncalibrated years BP, that represents the most ancient human remain found in the Libyan Sahara, and provides a first glimpse of human adaptation in the early Holocene of this region. The wear pattern shows large grooves running across the occlusal surfaces of maxillary and mandibular anterior teeth and premolars. The results of macroscopic and microscopic observation, together with scanning electron microscope (SEM) examination and experimental tests, suggest that the microdamage might be due to repeated friction of vegetal fibers, probably as a consequence of basket making, net production, or mat processing. Further data are needed to allow us to distinguish among plant-oriented activities related to food acquisition (e.g., rope and net processing), food storage (e.g., basket making), or domestic handicraft (e.g., mat processing), whose implications may generate different interpretations of sexual division of labor.     

Gc subtypes in the middle east: Report on an Arab Moslem population from Israel

Gc subtypes were determined by isoelectrofocusing and immunofixation on 342 blood samples from an Arab Moslem population in Israel. Observed allele frequencies were: Gc^1F 0.2120, Gc^1S 0.6023, and Gc² 0.1857. Those are similar to formerly reported frequency data for other Middle Eastern populations. A discriminant analysis, performed on data from 35 populations, resulted in a satisfactory classification of population groups related through geographic and racial origin.     

Sharks that pass in the night: using Geographical Information Systems to investigate competition in the Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway

One way the effects of both ecology and environment on species can be observed in the fossil record is as changes in geographical distribution and range size. The prevalence of competitive interactions and species replacements in the fossil record has long been investigated and many evolutionary perspectives, including those of Darwin, have emphasized the importance of competitive interactions that ultimately lead one species to replace another. However, evidence for such phenomena in the fossil record is not always manifest. Here we use new quantitative analytical techniques based on Geographical Information Systems and PaleoGIS tectonic reconstructions to consider this issue in greater detail. The abundant, well-preserved fossil marine vertebrates of the Late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway of North America provide the component data for this study. Statistical analysis of distributional and range size changes in taxa confirms earlier ideas that the relative frequency of competitive replacement in the fossil record is limited to non-existent. It appears that typically, environmental gradients played the primary role in determining species distributions, with competitive interactions playing a more minor role.     

Movement and egg laying in Monarchs: To move or not to move,that is the equation

Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) populations are in decline in agricultural landscapes, in which genetically modified crops that are resistant to herbicides (‘Roundup Ready’) have resulted in the decimation of milkweed (Asclepias spp.) hosts over large areas due to the increased use of glyphosate. Movement is the key ecological process linking individual fitness traits to the utilization of sparse resources distributed across landscapes with emergent population level consequences. Often, movement ecology is highly simplified or even abstracted into a simple rate of flow between populations (i.e. a metapopulation) separated by a hostile ‘matrix’. Whereas, we can gain important insights into the population dynamic as a whole if we explore movement as an explicit, complex, behavioural process in which the matrix is not simply a void. We developed a spatially explicit individual‐based model to describe host‐seeking behaviour over the lifetime of a monarch butterfly, which utilizes hosts both aggregated in patches and scattered across the wider landscape as a substrate for laying eggs. We examine the simulated movement distances and spatial population distribution (eggs laid) as a result of different movement rules (directionality), perceptive distance (ability to find) and landscape configuration (how milkweed is distributed). This indicates the potential consequences of cleaning up the matrix (i.e. the obliteration of non‐crop vegetation with Roundup) and changing habitat configurations at a landscape scale on individual movement behaviours and the emergent number of eggs laid, essentially the birth term in any population model. Our model generates movement distances of the order of 12 km commensurate with summer breeding monarchs and suggests that milkweed removal has reduced egg laying by up to 30%. We suggest possible amelioration strategies.     

Movement coordination and signalling in ravens (Corvus corax): an experimental field study

Vagrant non-breeding ravens frequently attract conspecifics to rich ephemeral food sources. There, grouping may allow them to overcome the defence of territorial breeders. Here, we focus on ravens making use of regular food supplies in a game park, where they divert food from the provision of park animals. We investigated if ravens foraging in the Cumberland game park (Grünau, Austria) are attentive towards one another when they experience some unpredictability in food provisioning. We confronted a group of 30–50 ravens with two different treatments. Ten minutes ahead of the feeding of either wolves or wild boars we showed buckets containing pieces of meat to the ravens flying overhead. In the reliable cue treatment (RCT), the meat was placed next to one of the two enclosures, whereas in the unreliable cue treatment (UCT), the buckets were placed simultaneously in front of both enclosures though only in one of the enclosures were the animals fed 10 min later. Thus, during RCT but not during UCT, ravens could predict where food would become available. Only during UCT, ravens moved in large groups between the two feeding sites. Many ravens moving at the same time in the same direction may indicate some co-ordination in space and time, which is most likely achieved by social attraction among individuals. Furthermore, the number of ravens approaching and leaving, respectively, a feeding site cross-correlated with a temporary increase in the rate of a food-associated call, the yell. This suggests that in addition to watching each other, calling may have contributed to group formation. Possible benefits of group formation during food inspection are discussed. Received: 9 February 2000 / Received in revised form: 30 May 2000 / Accepted: 1 June 2000     

Re‐contemplate an entangled bank: The Power of Movement in Plants revisited

We review the ways in which two of Charles Darwin's lesser known works, The Movement and Habit of Twining Plants and The Power of Movement in Plants, stimulated 20th and 21st century research findings and philosophies. The legacy of Darwin's work permeates research on plant movement. For example, Darwin's demonstration that coleoptiles and roots fail to bend in response to light or gravity if their tips are removed helped researchers work toward the discovery of auxin and other plant hormones. Darwin's methodical observations on vine twining directions and circumnutation foreshadowed the recent discovery that 92% of vines twine in right‐handed helices, regardless of their location on the planet. Finally, Darwin's observation of the similarity between plant responses to stimuli and the responses of lower animals foreshadowed the current debate over whether plants have ‘behaviour’. Thus, even Darwin's lesser‐known works continue to influence research in the present day. © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 160 , 111–118.     

Population of goats related to climate in western India: an ecological assessment

Western India experiences arid to dry subhumid ecoclimate. Aridity increases from east to west to the Great Indian Desert or Thar Desert. The desert economy is animal based and goats are the most common livestock; density of goats increases with increase in aridity. There are large morphological variations in goats warranting the recognition of population differences throughout the region. The present investigations were therefore undertaken to see whether there are population differences and, if so, to establish the populations on a sound ecological basis. Eleven physical measurements of the animals were made in the fields of western India in a total of 518 animals (255 adults). Five populations were initially segregated by means of a scatter diagram. Population differences were confirmed by mathematical treatments using analysis of variance (one-way and two-way) and Students-Newman-Keuls test, which yields a critical comparison among means. Discriminant analysis was used to determine whether the goat populations differed significantly between the five climo-edaphic-vegetational zones. Each population was designated according to the locality having the greatest density as: POP1Ku, POP2Sa, POP3Jh, POP4Ga, POP5Pa. The five populations occurring in distinct climo-edaphic-vegetational zones or ecological niches in western India may be referred to as ecotypes.     

Relationships between DOC bioavailability and nitrate removal in an upland stream: An experimental approach

The Catskill Mountains of southeastern New York State have among thehighest rates of atmospheric nitrogen deposition in the United States. Somestreams draining Catskill catchments have shown dramatic increases in nitrateconcentrations while others have maintained low nitrate concentrations. Streamsin which exchange occurs between surface and subsurface (i.e. hyporheic) watersare thought to be conducive to nitrate removal via microbial assimilationand/ordenitrification. Hyporheic exchange was documented in the Neversink River inthesouthern Catskill Mountains, but dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and nitrate(NO₃ ^–) losses along hyporheic flowpaths werenegligible. In this study, Neversink River water was amended with natural,bioavailable dissolved organic carbon (BDOC) (leaf leachate) in a series ofexperimental mesocosms that simulated hyporheic flowpaths. DOC and N dynamicswere examined before and throughout a three week BDOC amendment. In addition,bacterial production, dissolved oxygen demand, denitrification, and sixextracellular enzyme activities were measured to arrive at a mechanisticunderstanding of potential DOC and NO₃ ^– removalalong hyporheic flowpaths. There were marked declines in DOC and completeremoval of nitrate in the BDOC amended mesocosms. Independent approaches wereused to partition NO₃ ^– loss into two fractions:denitrification and assimilation. Microbial assimilation appears to be thepredominant process explaining N loss. These results suggest that variabilityinBDOC may contribute to temporal differences in NO₃ ^–export from streams in the Catskill Mountains.     

Scale‐dependent Orientation in Movement Paths: A Case Study of an African Viper

Decisions relating to the orientation of movement by animals and how this translates into movement patterns can occur at multiple spatial scales simultaneously, but this interaction is poorly understood for many groups of animals. Using the tracks left by moving snakes in their sandy habitat, we studied the movement paths of the African snake Bitis schneideri (Namaqua dwarf adder) for evidence of broad‐scale directional persistence and short‐range avoidance of exposure. Although snakes clearly displayed directional persistence, they preferentially moved to nearby shrubs, thereby minimizing exposure to solar and thermal radiation and/or predation. Thus, snakes made decisions relating to orientation at a minimum of two scales, the interaction of which resulted in snakes moving ≈17% (mean straightness index = 0.85) further than the simple broad‐scale straight‐line distance. We assert that the actual path chosen by moving snakes represents a trade‐off of various costs and risks that include risk of predation, exposure to the elements, time and energy expenditure. Our study highlights the need for cognizance of the possibility of the scale dependence of orientation and movement in studies of snake movement, and adds to a growing literature demonstrating previously unrecognized behavioural complexity in snakes.     

Naturally occurring wild relatives of temperate fruits in Western Himalayan region of India: an analysis

Wild relatives (WR) of temperate fruits belonging to genera viz., Malus, Prunus, Pyrus, Vitis, Rubus, Fragaria and others showed a wide range of diversity thereby possibility of utilizing large numbers of desirable genes/traits particularly the resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses which is generally lacking in their cultivated allies. About 55 WR of 23 temperate fruits, occurring in WH, including those naturalized, are discussed. Wild forms of crops such as Asiatic pear, apricot, Japanese plum, peach, walnut and pomegranate, blackberry, black and redcurrant existing in WH are also narrated. Wild relatives, their area of distribution, important traits, utilization potential and possible strategies for their effective conservation and utilization have been discussed.     

An inducible humoral factor in the American cockroach (Periplaneta americana): Precipitin activity that is sensitive to a proteolytic enzyme

The humoral factor induced in the American cockroach, Periplaneta americana, by the soluble protein venoms, honeybee venom (HBT) and Western cottonmouth moccasin venom (CMV), was shown to behave like a precipitating antibody-like molecule, since it formed specific precipitin bands with homologous antigen in Ouchterlony gels. In addition, the humoral factor was demonstrated to be protein in nature, since it was sensitive to the proteolytic enzyme trypsin. Hyperimmune hemolymph treated with trypsin no longer passively protected animals from the lethal effects of HBT, and lost its ability to form precipitin bands with the antigen in Ouchterlony gels.     

Movement behaviour of the pine weevil Hylobius abietis in relation to soil type: an arena experiment

Pine weevil, Hylobius abietis (L.) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), movement behaviour on different substrates was studied in an indoor arena using a video camera and digital image processing technique. We analysed individual variation in movement characteristics, i.e. turning angles, movement directions, and distance moved per unit time on the bare and level arena surface which consisted of mineral soil (sand) and/or humus sections in various spatial configurations. Pine weevils on humus did not turn back when they came to the border with the sand. However, most individuals moved faster on sand than on humus. Thus, the results suggest that interactions between substrate differences and individual movement behaviour may to some extent explain why pine weevils have been observed to feed less frequently on coniferous seedlings planted on mineral soil than on those planted on humus.     

Relationships between hormones and aggressive behavior in green anole lizards: an analysis using structural equation modeling

We investigated the relationship between aggressive behavior and circulating androgens in the context of agonistic social interaction and examined the effect of this interaction on the androgen-aggression relationship in response to a subsequent social challenge in male Anolis carolinensis lizards. Individuals comprising an aggressive encounter group were exposed to an aggressive conspecific male for 10 min per day during a 5-day encounter period, while controls were exposed to a neutral stimulus for the same period. On the sixth day, their responses to an intruder test were observed. At intervals, individuals were sacrificed to monitor plasma androgen levels. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test three a priori interaction models of the relationship between social stimulus, aggressive behavior, and androgen. Model 1 posits that exposure to a social stimulus influences androgen and aggressive behavior independently. In Model 2, a social stimulus triggers aggressive behavior, which in turn increases circulating levels of androgen. In Model 3, exposure to a social stimulus influences circulating androgen levels, which in turn triggers aggressive behavior. During the 5 days of the encounter period, circulating testosterone (T) levels of the aggressive encounter group followed the same pattern as their aggressive behavioral responses, while the control group did not show significant changes in their aggressive behavior or T level. Our SEM results supported Model 2. A means analysis showed that during the intruder test, animals with 5 days of aggressive encounters showed more aggressive responses than did control animals, while their circulating androgen levels did not differ. This further supports Model 2, suggesting that an animal's own aggressive behavior may trigger increases in levels of plasma androgen.     

Elements of disturbance that affect epiphyte vitality in a temperate rainforest: an experimental approach

AimsEpiphytes are an abundant and diverse component of many wet temperate forests and have significant roles in ecosystem processes. Little is known about the processes and rates of their death and decomposition when they fall from the canopy, which limits our understanding of their role in forest carbon sequestration and nutrient cycling. In the temperate rainforest of the Quinault River Valley, Washington State, our aim was to test hypotheses regarding four elements of disturbance that might contribute to their decline.