Men and Women in Southern Spain: "Domestic Power" Revisited

This article offers a definition of "domestic power" and attempts to operationalize this for comparative study of gender relations in southern Europe. It describes male-female relations in two stratified rural towns in Andalusia (southern Spain). The data show that working-class women in these towns, often united with their mothers, are able in many cases to prevail in domestic decision making despite opposition from their husbands. The article explores the cultural and psychological reasons for this apparent inversion of a constituted patriarchal ideal and the relative effect of social class upon male and female power asymmetries. The implications of limited access of male fieldworkers to Andalusian women are briefly addressed. Finally, these findings are discussed in the light of broader epistemological issues in gender study.     

Migration in Archeology: The Baby and the Bathwater

Migration has been largely ignored by archeologists for the last two decades. Yet prehistoric demography and population studies are accepted as central concerns, and neither of these can be studied profitably without an understanding of migration. Recent books by Rouse and Renfrew have resurrected migration as a subject of serious analysis. It is proposed here that systems-oriented archeologists, in rejecting migration, have thrown out the baby with the bathwater. Traditional archeological approaches to migration fall short because a methodology for examining prehistoric migration must be dependent upon an understanding of the general structure of migration as a patterned human behavior. Aspects of such a structure are suggested and an application to a particular case in Eastern Europe is described.     

High-performance liquid chromatography of sialic acid-containing oligosaccharides and acidic monosaccharides

Many sialic acid-containing oligosaccharides and five acidic monosaccharides have been separated by high-performance anion-exchange chromatography using a Dionex AS6 ion-exchange column eluted with aqueous 50 mM NaOH plus 50-175 mM sodium acetate. Using a pulsed amperometric detector, as little as 50 pmol oligosaccharide can be detected. Many factors, such as the presence of fucosyl groups or sialyl groups, glycosidic linkage positions, and branching structure, can have a tremendous influence on overall acidity of the oligosaccharide, which can lead to excellent separations and make this method an important addition to existing alternatives for the separation of sialic acid-containing oligosaccharides.     

Oxidation of Lignin-Related Aromatic Alcohols by Cell Suspensions of Methylosinus trichosporium

Cell suspensions of Methylosinus trichosporium oxidized the aromatic alcohols benzyl alcohol, vanillyl alcohol, and veratryl alcohol to the corresponding aldehydes, and with the exception of vanillyl alcohol, the aldehydes were further oxidized to the corresponding aromatic acids. No other transformation was observed, and the methoxyl moieties attached to the aromatic nucleus remained intact. More than 70% of the alcohol oxidized could be accounted for by aldehyde and/or acid. Investigation of the inhibitor kinetics of EDTA or p-nitrophenylhydrazine (specific for NAD⁺-independent methanol dehydrogenase in methylotrophs) on aromatic alcohol oxidation revealed noncompetitive inhibition in which the V_max was decreased but the K_m remained unchanged. The pattern of inhibition of aromatic alcohol oxidation matched that of methanol oxidation, and the K_m values for all of the substrates were similar (12 to 16 mM). The results indicate that the initial step in the oxidation of aromatic alcohols was similar to that for methanol, and because oxidation was incomplete (i.e., only the corresponding aldehyde or acid was produced), there may be some biotechnological advantages in using whole cells of methylotrophs to facilitate aromatic biotransformations.     

Inhibition and killing of fungi by the polyamine oxidase-polyamine system

Both components of the polyamine oxidase (PAO)-polyamine system are known to be present in phagocytes and have thus been postulated to contribute to the antimicrobial activity of these cells. Therefore, the effects of the PAO-polyamine system on three medically important opportunistic fungi were examined. Yeasts of Cryptococcus neoformans, but not Candida albicans blastoconidia or Aspergillus fumigatus conidia, were efficiently killed by the system. Two putative end products of the system, hydrogen peroxide and acrolein, both killed C. neoformans at concentrations attainable with the whole system. However, catalase failed to inhibit activity of the whole system, making hydrogen peroxide an unlikely mediator of killing. Although C. albicans blastoconidia and A. fumigatus conidia were not killed by the PAO-polyamine system, germ tube formation by the former, and hyphal growth by the latter, were markedly inhibited. These data establish that the PAO-polyamine system possesses antifungal activity.     

Catabolism of Tritiated Thymidine by Aquatic Microbial Communities and Incorporation of Tritium into RNA and Protein

The incorporation of tritiated thymidine by five microbial ecosystems and the distribution of tritium into DNA, RNA, and protein were determined. All microbial assemblages tested exhibited significant labeling of RNA and protein (i.e., nonspecific labeling), as determined by differential acid-base hydrolysis. Nonspecific labeling was greatest in sediment samples, for which ≥95% of the tritium was recovered with the RNA and protein fractions. The percentage of tritium recovered in the DNA fraction ranged from 15 to 38% of the total labeled macromolecules recovered. Nonspecific labeling was independent of both incubation time and thymidine concentration over very wide ranges. Four different RNA hydrolysis reagents (KOH, NaOH, piperidine, and enzymes) solubilized tritium from cold trichloroacetic acid precipitates. High-pressure liquid chromatography separation of piperidine hydrolysates followed by measurement of isolated monophosphates confirmed the labeling of RNA and indicated that tritium was recovered primarily in CMP and AMP residues. We also evaluated the specificity of [2-³H]adenine incorporation into adenylate residues in both RNA and DNA in parallel with the [³H]thymidine experiments and compared the degree of nonspecific labeling by [³H]adenine with that derived from [³H]thymidine. Rapid catabolism of tritiated thymidine was evaluated by determining the disappearance of tritiated thymidine from the incubation medium and the appearance of degradation products by high-pressure liquid chromatography separation of the cell-free medium. Degradation product formation, including that of both volatile and nonvolatile compounds, was much greater than the rate of incorporation of tritium into stable macromolecules. The standard degradation pathway for thymidine coupled with utilization of Krebs cycle intermediates for the biosynthesis of amino acids, purines, and pyrimidines readily accounts for the observed nonspecific labeling in environmental samples.     

Accumulation of a Polyhydroxyalkanoate Containing Primarily 3-Hydroxydecanoate from Simple Carbohydrate Substrates by Pseudomonas sp. Strain NCIMB 40135

A number of Pseudomonas species have been identified which accumulate a polyhydroxyalkanoate containing mainly 3-hydroxydecanoate monomers from sodium gluconate as the sole carbon source. One of these, Pseudomonas sp. strain NCIMB 40135, was further investigated and shown to accumulate such a polyhydroxyalkanoate from a wide range of carbon sources (C₂ to C₆); however, when supplied with octanoic acid it produced a polyhydroxyalkanoate containing mainly 3-hydroxyoctanoate monomers. Polymer synthesis occurred in batch culture after cessation of growth due to exhaustion of nitrogen. In continuous culture under nitrogen limitation up to 16.9% (wt/wt) polyhydroxyalkanoate was synthesized from glucose as the carbon source. The monomer units are mainly of the R-(−) configuration. Nuclear magnetic resonance studies confirmed the composition of the polymer. Differential scanning calorimetry suggested that the solvent-extracted polymer contained a significant proportion of crystalline material. The weight-average molecular weight of the polymer from glucose-grown cells was 143,000.     

The origin ofMentha X gracilis (Lamiaceae). I. Chromosome numbers,Fertility, and three morphological characters

Employing nine clones ofMentha arvensis and four clones ofM. spicata, 932 F, hybrids were synthesized and compared to 20 clones ofM. x gracilis. Two clones ofM. x gracilis with 60 somatic chromosomes were matched to a selected F₁ hybrid. The other 18 clones ofM. x gracilis had somatic chromosome numbers of 60, 72, 84, and 96, and while these chromosome numbers appeared in the F₁ progeny, morphological matches correlated with their correct chromosome numbers were not synthesized. The range of pollen and seed fertility, as well as the inheritance of male-sterility, leaf pubescence, and crispness, indicates that no one character can be used to identifyM. x gracilis, but all characters can be explained fromM. arvensis x M. spicata.     

Nucleoside and deoxynucleoside phosphorylation in formamide solutions

Nucleosides or deoxynucleosides were converted to a number of phosphorylated nucleotide and deoxynucleotide derivatives by ammonium or alkali dihydrogen phosphates in formamide. Conversions were smaller and slower at room temperature and greater and faster at elevated temperatures. Nucleotides afforded product mixtures similar to those obtained for nucleosides under the same conditions, indicating the occurrence of transphosphorylation processes. Products of reaction at elevated temperatures were cyclic nucleotides, nucleoside monophosphates, nucleoside diphosphates and cyclic nucleotide phosphates. The relative amounts of products formed were quite temperature dependent. Cyclic nucleotides were found to be in greatest abudance for reactions run at 125° or above. Relative yields of 2, 3 and 5 nucleotides and 3 and 5 deoxynucleotides from several experiments are reported. 5-Monophosphates were generally found to be present in larger quantities than 2 or 3 monophosphates. 2-Deoxyadenosine showed a preference for phosphorylation at the 3 position. Conclusions reached from mechanistic studies are that the phosphorylations are a series of equilibrium reactions, with cyclic nucleotides being formed irreversibly.Presented in part at the 3rd Northwest and 5th Rocky Mountain Joint Regional ACS Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Salt Lake City, Utah, June, 1980.     

Dynorphin immunocytochemistry in the rat central nervous system

The distribution of dynorphin in the central nervous system was investigated in rats pretreated with relatively high doses (300–400 μg) of colchicine administered intracerebroventricularly. To circumvent the problems of antibody cross-reactivity, antisera were generated against different portions as well as the full dynorphin molecule (i.e., residues 1–13, 7–17, or 1–17). For comparison, antisera to [Leu]enkephalin (residues 1–5) were also utilized. Dynorphin was found to be widely distributed throughout the neuraxis. Immunoreactive neuronal perikarya exist in hypothalamic magnocellular nuclei, periaqueductal gray, scattered reticular formation sites, and other brain stem nuclei, as well as in spinal cord. Additionally, dynorphin-positive fibers or terminals occur in the cerebral cortex, olfactory bulb, nucleus accumbens, caudate-putamen, globus pallidus, hypothalamus, substantia nigra, periaqueductal gray, many brain stem sties, and the spinal cord. In many areas studied, dynorphin and enkephalin appeared to form parallel but probably separate anatomical systems. The results suggest that dynorphin occurs in neuronal systems that are immunocytochemically distinct from those containing other opioid peptides.