The effect of age, sex, and physical activity on entheseal morphology in a contemporary Italian skeletal collection

Entheseal changes are traditionally included in a large array of skeletal features commonly referred to as "skeletal markers of activity." However, medical studies and recent anthropological analyses of identified skeletal series suggest a complex combination of physiological and biomechanical factors underlying the variability of such "markers." The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between age, sex, physical activity, and entheseal variability. To this end, 23 postcranial entheses are examined in a large (N = 484) Italian contemporary skeletal series using standardized scoring methods. The sample comprises subjects of known age, sex and, mostly, occupation. Results show a strong relationship between age and entheseal changes. Differences between sexes are also highlighted, while the effects of physical activity appear moderate. Altogether, our study indicates that entheseal morphology primarily reflects the age of an individual, while correlation with lifetime activity remains ambiguous.     

Enhanced process understanding and multivariate prediction of the relationship between cell culture process and monoclonal antibody quality

This work investigates the insights and understanding which can be deduced from predictive process models for the product quality of a monoclonal antibody based on designed high‐throughput cell culture experiments performed at milliliter (ambr‐15^®) scale. The investigated process conditions include various media supplements as well as pH and temperature shifts applied during the process. First, principal component analysis (PCA) is used to show the strong correlation characteristics among the product quality attributes including aggregates, fragments, charge variants, and glycans. Then, partial least square regression (PLS1 and PLS2) is applied to predict the product quality variables based on process information (one by one or simultaneously). The comparison of those two modeling techniques shows that a single (PLS2) model is capable of revealing the interrelationship of the process characteristics to the large set product quality variables. In order to show the dynamic evolution of the process predictability separate models are defined at different time points showing that several product quality attributes are mainly driven by the media composition and, hence, can be decently predicted from early on in the process, while others are strongly affected by process parameter changes during the process. Finally, by coupling the PLS2 models with a genetic algorithm first the model performance can be further improved and, most importantly, the interpretation of the large‐dimensioned process–product‐interrelationship can be significantly simplified. The generally applicable toolset presented in this case study provides a solid basis for decision making and process optimization throughout process development. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 33:1368–1380, 2017     

A multivariate study of the relationship between the genetic code and the physical-chemical properties of amino acids

Summary The 20 naturally occurring amino acids are characterized by 20 variables: pK_{NH 2}, pK_COOH, pI, molecular weight, substituent van der Waals volume, seven¹H and¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance shift variables, and eight hydrophobicity-hydrophilicity scales. The 20-dimensional data set is reduced to a few new dimensions by principal components analysis. The three first principal components reveal relationships between the properties of the amino acids and the genetic code. Thus the amino acids coded for by adenosine (A), uracil (U), or cytosine (C) in their second codon position (corresponding to U, A, or G in the second anticodon position) are grouped in these components. No grouping was detected for the amino acids coded for by guanine (G) in the second codon position (corresponding to C in the second anticodon position). The results show that a relationship exists between the physical-chemical properties of the amino acids and which of the A (U), U (A), or C (G) nucleotide is used in the second codon (anticodon) position. The amino acids coded for by G (C) in the second codon (anticodon) position do not participate in this relationship.     

Exploring the relationship between land cover and the distribution of water beetle species (Coleoptera) at the regional scale

The advent of remote-sensed satellite land cover data has provided the opportunity to assess the relationship between invertebrate species distributions and individual land cover types. Water beetle species occur in habitats within specific land cover types and the relationship between the distribution of water beetle species and land covers at the regional scale was investigated using records of 154 species from 1018 sites in north-east England. The land covers of tilled land and urban in the lowlands and of shrub heath and heath grassland in the upland areas proved to be most important in explaining the distribution of species. There were both positive and negative associations between some species and other covers such as woodland and the coast. However, a considerable number of species, generally those with a large number of records, showed no strong relationships with any land cover types. The integration of water beetle species recording data and remote-sensed land cover data as a basis for predicting and monitoring both species distribution and environmental change is discussed.     

A multivariate study of resource partitioning in soft bottom lotic Chironomidae

For two years a community of larval chironomid midges was studied in a sandy-run portion of a fourth order natural stream in SE Ohio, U.S.A. in order to determine if the species partitioned the spatial resources. The habitat structure was simplified from ten habitat variables to three significant principal components. The three eigenvectors were easily interpreted as sediment size, sediment heterogeneity, and organic deposition. Species abundances were loaded on these axes and niche metrics examined. Strong differences in habitat preference were demonstrated for midge species on each component. Also, there were no differences in distributions for the intraspecific instars for each species tested at a given time, but for each of the instars tested, their distributions were found to change from time to time. Apparently, individuals of a species, regardless of instar, simultaneously choose the same habitat, however, the preferred habitat may shift temporally due to change in resource availability, or niche expansion or compression due to competition.     

Morphological evolution in the day gecko Phelsuma sundbergi in the Seychelles: a multivariate study

Geographic variation was investigated in populations of the day gecko Phelsuma sundbergi from 22 islands in the Seychelles, using multivariate ordination procedures. Multiple group principal components analysis was used to negate ontogenetic variation. Seventy-eight characters from three character systems (body proportions, scalation and colour pattern) were analysed from 349 specimens. Three phenetic aggregations of granitic island populations were detected from the northwestern, northeastern and southern island groups. A comparison of the results from the three character systems analysed separately suggests that the separation of the southern form preceded that of the northern forms. Colour pattern characters reflect this closely, while body proportions and scalation characters follow evolution of body size. The populations of Phelsuma sundbergi on the coralline islands are not well differentiated from the races on the granitic islands, and probably represent recent colonizations or introductions by man.     

Spatial relationship between climatologies and changes in global vegetation activity

Vegetation forms a main component of the terrestrial biosphere and plays a crucial role in land‐cover and climate‐related studies. Activity of vegetation systems is commonly quantified using remotely sensed vegetation indices (VI). Extensive reports on temporal trends over the past decades in time series of such indices can be found in literature. However, little remains known about the processes underlying these changes at large spatial scales. In this study, we aimed at quantifying the spatial relationship between changes in potential climatic growth constraints (i.e. temperature, precipitation and incident solar radiation) and changes in vegetation activity (1982–2008). We demonstrate an additive spatial model with 0.5° resolution, consisting of a regression component representing climate‐associated effects and a spatially correlated field representing the combined influence of other factors, including land‐use change. Little over 50% of the spatial variance could be attributed to changes in climatologies; conspicuously, many greening trends and browning hotspots in Argentina and Australia. The nonassociated model component may contain large‐scale human interventions, feedback mechanisms or natural effects, which were not captured by the climatologies. Browning hotspots in this component were especially found in subequatorial Africa. On the scale of land‐cover types, strongest relationships between climatologies and vegetation activity were found in forests, including indications for browning under warming conditions (analogous to the divergence issue discussed in dendroclimatology).     

Multivariate assessments of activity-related skeletal changes: Interpreting Bell Beaker specialized male archery and social organization in Central Europe

Objectives

The Bell Beaker period witnessed the rise of individual inhumations with “wealthy” burial contexts containing archery-related grave goods, leading archaeologists to label the individuals in these tombs as “archers.” This study looks to (1) compare the skeletons from male “archer” burials with those from male “non-archer” burials—those not having archery-related grave goods—in order to assess a possible link between burial context and physical activity, and (2) apply a biomechanics profile to evaluate whether the individuals associated with these “archer” burials practiced specialized archer activity.

Materials and Methods

The corpus (males only) included 46 “archers” and 40 “non-archers” from Bell Beaker individual inhumations. Osteological data included measurements, scores of entheseal changes, and a diagnosis of certain pathologies. Data analyses involved visual observations, hypothesis tests, dimension reduction, and MANOVA, with approaches aimed at exploring the treatment of data missingness.

Results

Measurement data revealed no differences between the two groups. Evaluations of entheseal changes found that “non-archers” had consistently more instances of bone surface modifications than “archers.” Individual assessments of specialized archer occupation identified 11 possible specialized archers.

Discussion

These findings indicate a possible labor differentiation represented through the presence of a probably prestigious “archer” burial context. This suggests a link between grave good presence and labor, but not between a Bell Beaker archery occupation and an “archer” burial context. Data analyses support the application of biomechanics to osteological analyses in order to assess specialized activity on the skeleton.     

昆虫区系多元相似性分析方法

由植物学领域首先提出的相似性概念已广泛应用于动植物区系地理研究以及生物学、生态学等诸多自然学科乃至社会科学领域.根据Jacard提出的二元相似性系数公式SI=C/(A B-C)和Sprensen提出的二元相似性系数公式SI=2C/(A B),分别推导出2个计算多元相似性系数的数学表达式,SIJab…n=[(∑Hij)2/n (∑Hijk)3/n … Hab…n]/[∑Si-∑Hij-2∑Hijk-…-(n-1)Hab…n]和 SISab…n=[2(∑Hij)2/n (3∑Hijk)3/n … nHab…n]/ ∑Si,并用中国夜蛾广布种类在中国7个动物地理区的分布资料为例进行验证,从而可以直接从整体角度和宏观规模上简便、快捷地考量多个系统间的亲疏程度和相似关系.建议在以相似性为基础的聚类分析中,不必再先把2个系统合并成一个新系统后,再和第3个系统比较,而可直接计算多个系统的相似性系数,以避免由于合并带来的信息损失.还讨论了应该提高Sprensen公式0.5的显著性标准,以使同一组数据的两种计算结果趋向一致.     

Population systematics of Russell's viper: a multivariate study

A multivariate analysis of the population systematics of Russell's viper, based on scalation and colour pattern characters, reveals that the populations of this viper constitute two well-defined taxa: a western form, comprising all populations from the Indian subcontinent, and an eastern form, comprising all populations from east of the Bay of Bengal. The two forms could be considered either as subspecies of one species, or as two separate species, depending on the species concept used. Within the western form, there is no clear pattern of geographic variation. Within the eastern form, the populations from the Lesser Sunda Islands are clearly divergent from the populations of mainland Asia and Java. The conventionally recognized subspecies of Vipera russelli fail to portray this pattern of geographic variation. There is no clear relationship between the pattern of geographic variation in morphology and the pattern of geographic variation in the clinical effects of the venom in human bite victims: some populations with considerable differences in venom effects are equally distinct morphologically, whereas other populations with equally strong venom differences are morphologically very similar. The distribution of Russell's viper can be attributed to Pleistocene changes in climate and sea level, coupled with the viper's ecological requirements, which appear to include a seasonally dry climate.