Epistemic artefacts: on the uses of complexity in anthropology

Distinctions between the ‘simple’ and the ‘complex’ have enjoyed a long and varied career in anthropology. Simplicity was once part of a collective fantasy about what life was like elsewhere, tingeing studies of tribal life with human longing for simpler ways of being. With the reflexive turn and the rise of cultural critique, simplicity has been all but excommunicated in favour of widespread diagnoses of complexity. In this article, I tease out some transformations in the uses of complexity in anthropology, and weave in some critical responses to these uses, spanning many decades, from within the discipline. I pay special attention to recent critiques by anthropologists who are beginning to grow weary of complexity as both an end‐in‐itself for scholarship and an empirical diagnosis. For these critics, complexity is deeply entwined with anthropological methods and knowledge practices. Drawing on these critical views, I suggest that complexity may be an epistemological artefact, rather than something that can be diagnosed ‘out there’, and offer a way of reframing complexity as a ‘dominant problematic’ in anthropology and beyond.     

Genetic parameters for body weight, carcass chemical composition and yield in a broiler-layer cross developed for QTL mapping

The objective of this study was to estimate genetic and phenotypic correlations of body weight at 6 weeks of age (BW6), as well as final carcass yield, and moisture, protein, fat and ash contents, using data from 3,422 F2 chickens originated from reciprocal cross between a broiler and a layer line. Variance components were estimated by the REML method, using animal models for evaluating random additive genetic and fixed contemporary group (sex, hatch and genetic group) effects. The heritability estimates (h(2)) for BW6, carcass yield and percentage of carcass moisture were 0.31 ± 0.07, 0.20 ± 0.05 and 0.33 ± 0.07, respectively. The h(2) for the percentages of protein, fat and ash on a dry matter basis were 0.48 ± 0.09, 0.55 ± 0.10 and 0.36 ± 0.08, respectively. BW6 had a positive genetic correlation with fat percentage in the carcass, but a negative one with protein and ash contents. Carcass yield, thus, appears to have only low genetic association with carcass composition traits. The genetic correlations observed between traits, measured on a dry matter basis, indicated that selection for carcass protein content may favor higher ash content and a lower percentage of carcass fat.     

有害疣孢霉Hypomyces perniciosus遗传转化体系的建立及其突变体库的构建

有害疣孢霉Hypomyces perniciosus是引起双孢蘑菇Agaricus bisporus湿泡病的病原真菌,目前其致病分子机理尚不清楚,而高效稳定的遗传转化体系和突变体库构建是挖掘和研究病原菌致病基因的基础和有效手段。因此,本实验以高致病力的有害疣孢霉菌株WH001为研究对象,采用冻融法将双元载体pBHt1转入农杆菌AGL-1中,建立并优化根癌农杆菌介导的遗传转化体系,并利用其构建T-DNA插入突变体库。结果表明有害疣孢霉菌株WH001的潮霉素（Hygromycin,Hyg）耐受浓度为250ng/L,当农杆菌侵染液浓度OD₆₀₀=1,侵染时间为30min,乙酰丁香酮（Acetosyringone,AS）浓度为1.5mg/mL,共培养时间为3d时,转化体系效率最高。然后利用该优化体系构建有害疣孢霉的突变体库,通过PCR检测和形态学鉴定获得若干表型发生改变、稳定遗传的T-DNA插入突变体,与原菌种WH001相比,突变体在菌丝形态、生长速率、色素分泌和致病力等方面发生改变。本研究为进一步挖掘有害疣孢霉未知基因功能、解析生物学性状、探讨致病分子机制奠定基础。     

Nitrogen deprivation in Fusarium oxysporum promotes mycotoxin production via intermediates in the Krebs cycle and unreported methylmalonyl-CoA mutase activity

Metabolomics - The identification of metabolomic dysregulation appears promising for the prediction of type 1 diabetes and may also reveal metabolic pathways leading to beta-cell destruction....     

Trends in single trait dispersion between early-mid successional stages: the importance of species pool extension and habitat scale

Aims Are there trends of increasing/decreasing dispersion of single, categorical traits related to early/late-successional species between stages of community development? If yes, are these trends dependent on species pool extension and habitat scale? Is there a consistent reduction in single trait convergence or divergence in any seral stage when scaling down from ecological to local species pool?Methods Presence of all vascular species rooted within plots of 5 × 5 m was recorded in assemblages of exposed mining spoils (EMS) and heathlands (HTL), which form a chronosequence on two abandoned ore tailing heaps located close to each other in the south-eastern Carpathians (Romania). Fifteen nominal, trait attributes of plant species co-occurring in the two seral assemblages were collected from available databases and subsequently classified as either successionally 'pioneer' or 'mature'. The strength of single trait convergence or divergence was estimated by comparison with null plant assemblages at patch type (meta-community) level by reference to the ecological or local species pool, and at community level.Important findings At patch type level, all pioneer and mature trait attributes (apart from short life span), with significant variation between the two seral stages, increased and, respectively, decreased in dispersion irrespective of species pool extension. However, these trends were more conspicuous when using the ecological species pool, very likely due to relaxation in abiotic filtering and dispersal limitation. At community level, no consistent trends were observed between EMS and HTL assemblages, probably because most trait attributes were sorted by microenvironmental filters displaying high variation, like topography or habitat patch geometry. In both seral stages, there was a general weakening of trait convergence or divergence at patch type level when scaling down from the ecological to the local species pool, which was due to niche space contraction. At community level, there was a trend of rise in dispersion of pioneer attributes along the observed chronosequence, presumably imputable to increasing competition for light and underground water, but an opposite trend of dispersion drop in mature attributes was not so evident. Based on these findings, we proposed two rules of thumb concerning the expected changes in dispersion of trait attributes at patch level along successions and between levels of species pool extension. In conclusion, trends in the successional dynamics of pioneer and mature trait dispersion are clearly detectable at meta-community level, especially by reference to the ecological species pool. Habitat scale and species pool extension are key factors to consider and report when estimating the magnitude of single trait dispersion.     

Increased gene expression of plasminogen activators and inhibitors in left ventricular hypertrophy

In the early stages of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) acute adaptive changes occur in the coronary vasculature as it remodels. Plasminogen activators (PAs) and inhibitors (PAIs) have the potential effects of proteolytic degradation that is relevant to tissue remodeling and angiogenesis. Our study focused on the possible roles of PAI-1, PAI-2, uPA and tPA in myocyte hypertrophy and angiogenesis in the early and late stages of pressure overload induced left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). We divided seventeen adult swine, weighing 24.2 ± 6.5 kg, into four groups: control, sham-operated, early LVH and late heart failure LVH group. At surgery we placed a fixed constrictor on the ascending aorta immediately above the aortic valve. This increased LV systolic pressure from 133 ± 15 to 193 ± 24 mm Hg after the surgery. We subdivided the early group into groups of 3 animals each that we euthanized at 8, 24 and 72 h after operation and obtained heart samples for analysis. In the late heart failure group individual animals were euthanized at 55, 59, 62 and 72 days after the detection of congestive heart failure. We also obtained tissue samples from the control and sham-operated swine. Sections for histologic analysis were fixed in 10% buffered formalin. We isolated RNA, size fractionated it using 1% formaldehyde-agarose gel electrophoresis and then did Northern blots. The mRNAs from both PAI-1 and PAI-2 showed a remarkable increase at 8 and 24 h after acute aortic constriction and returned to control by 72 h. Regional differences showed that most of the increases were in the endocardium. Three animals in the late heart failure LVH group were determined to be in congestive heart failure at about 2 months after the onset of aortic constriction. In these animals PAI-1 and PAI-2 were increased in both the left and right ventricles but remained low in an animal of the same elevation in aortic pressure seen by the LV who did not have congestive failure. These data suggest that PA and PAI gene expressions change before morphologic changes occur in the early stages of developing LVH. Also at the time of onset of congestive heart failure this increased expression reappears. PAs and PA inhibitors mRNA levels vary in the different regions of the heart reflecting changing wall stresses. Thus, the PAs and PA inhibitors may play an important role in angiogenesis that occurs during the early stages of LVH. The increased expression in the late stage of LVH may reflect further changes in wall stresses since these animals also showed overt clinical signs of heart failure.     

东北水生植物区系与周缘地区水生植物区系关系的分析

本文在野外采集、查阅标本和文献考证的基础上,对东北地区水生植物区系与周缘地区水生植物区系的关系进行了初步分析。由于日本在地史起源上曾与大陆相连,且现代气候环境与东北地区的相似,故两者间水生植物的相似性系数最高O在更新世前古嫩辽河与结雅河相连通,使东北与远东地区间的水生植物得以相互交流,同时两区还保存有一些第三纪植物于遗种类,但因远东地区缺少东北暖温带气候,故一些东北产的暖温带种类未能分布该区,使其与东北水生植物种类相似性系数位于第二位。印度次大陆、澳大利亚、东南亚和非洲因与东北地区位于不同的气候带中,故水生植物种类相似性系数较低。在国内各地区中,以华北地区与东北地区水生植物的相似性系数最高,因两者过去同属古黄河水系,近代又接壤;相反,以与华南、台湾和海南岛的水生植物种类相似性系数最低。因相互间即存地理隔离,又无水系相通。     

Histochemical procedures for the simultaneous visualization of sialic acid,its side chainO-acyl variants andO-sulphate ester

Journal of Molecular Histology -     

Effect of norgestomet on peripheral levels of progesterone and estradiol-17beta in beef cows

Peripheral levels of progesterone and estradiol 17beta were quantified in 27 cycling cows following administration of a single Hydron ear implant (G. D. Searle and Co.) containing 2, 4 or 6 mg norgestomet or controls which received no implant. Implants were inserted subcutaneously in the ear on day 15 of the estrous cycle (day of estrus = day 0) and removed 9 days later. The 4 mg (seven of seven cows) and 6 mg (six of six cows) implants suppressed estrus; however, three of eight cows in the 2 mg group exhibited estrus prior to implant removal. The 6 mg implant group had a significantly longer interval from implant removal to estrus than either the 2 or 4 mg group. Failure to detect differences in the rate at which progesterone declined indicated norgestomet treatment did not affect normal corpus luteum regression. Estradiol levels rose at a similar rate approaching estrus in all treatments. There was no indication of increased endogenous estradiol levels due to norgestomet treatment.