An Ethnographic Filmflam: Giving Gifts, Doing Research, and Videotaping the Native Subject/Object

Using the discussion of self-reflexivity as an organizing principle, this article examines how mobilizing digital video technology during fieldwork opens up empirical and theoretical space for reconceptualizing the relationship between anthropologists and informants. Placing the field of visual anthropology into critical conversation with long-standing theoretical arguments about the objectivist limitations of native anthropologists, I argue that the slipperiness of nativity as an anthropological designation helps to provide analytical tools for examining filmmaking as a kind of gift-giving process between native ethnographic filmmakers and the subjects of their films. This article highlights some of the ways in which my own filmic and videographic exploits in Harlem, New York, mark integral connections between seeing and being the proverbial other, probing social exchanges predicated on the usefulness of low-budget digital technology as a means of fostering politically and epistemologically valuable ethnographic collaborations.     

The Miocene palaeobathymetry and palaeoenvironments of Carriacou, the Grenadines, Lesser Antilles

Carriacou, a small island in the Grenadines, Lesser Antilles, has a Cenozoic rock record that has been important in interpreting the geologic history of the Southern Lesser Antilles Arc Platform. The Lower‐Middle Miocene sedimentary succession of the southeast and east coasts, consisting of the Belmont, Kendeace, Carriacou and Grand Bay formations, has been interpreted as a shallowing‐upward sequence from turbidite basin to nearshore?/beach? palaeoenvironments. An earlier interpretation of the Belmont Formation as having been deposited in shallow water is at variance with the turbiditic nature of the succession; the included fossils are considered allochthonous. However, an interpretation of the Grand Bay Formation as deep water is supported by multiple lines of evidence, including sedimentology (turbidites), ichnology (autochthonous association of burrows typical of deep‐water environments) and palaeontology (terrestrial, planktic, and shallow and deep water benthic species mixed together). The minimum depth of deposition of the Grand Bay Formation was 150–200 m. This suggests that the (unseen) contact between the Carriacou and Grand Bay formations is either an unconformity, formed following rapid deepening of the basin, or a fault, the Grand Bay Formation being deposited in a separate basin from the shallowing‐upwards Belmont‐Kendeace‐Carriacou formations, against which it is now juxtaposed     

The Effect of Hydrosatic Pressure Gradients on the Movement of Sodium and Calcium across the Root Cortex

The hydrostatic pressure gradient across the root cortex inducedby transpiration was simulated by raising the pressure on themedium surrounding the roots of detopped tomato (Lycopersicumesculentum) and castoroil plants (Ricinus communis).Applyinga pressure of 2 atm. resulted in a doubling of the sodium fluxfrom medium to xylern (table I). This flux depended on a maintainedsuply of Na in the medium (fig.1) indicating that there wasa small but readily available storage and exchange capacityfor Na in the root tissues. In the presence of metabolic inhaibitorsthe Na flux was considerablyu reduced and equalled the fluxof mannitol (talble II) believed to be a passive mass flow.The Na flux under a pressure gradient appeared therefore tobe metabollism-facilitated. Metabolic inhibition after the rootshad been allowed to take up Na led to a large flux of sodiuminto the xylem (Fig.2). This was considered to come from a largeunavailable store in the roots. Metabolism-facilitated processes also appeared to predominatein the flux of calcium to the xylem of Ricinus, buit not inthe flux through tomato roots. The location of the centripetal metabolism-facilitated transferand the available and unavailable stores is discussed in relationto the effects of pressure gradients.     

Light Effects on Apical Dominance

Reducing light intensity from 18·0 klx to 5·4klx promoted main-stem growth in Phaseolus vulgaris but leftlateral extension unaffected. Shading individual laterals orapices of main stems promoted elongation of the shaded portion.Increasing day length from 8 to 16 or 24 h did not greatly affectplant growth if full-intensity and full-spectrum light was used.If, however, the additional light was supplied by incandescenttubes containing a high proportion of infra-red light, growthof main stems but not laterals was induced in proportion tothe length of the additional light period. It is suggested thatthe increased growth of the main stem in response to infra-redlight prevented the equivalent response of the laterals becauseof the enhanced ability of the main stem to suppress lateralelongation.     

Strategies for farmers and policy makers to control nitro-gen losses whilst maintaining crop production

The nitrogen (N) cycle is essentially 'leaky'. The losses of small amounts of nitrate to waters and of ammonia and nitrous oxide to the atmosphere are a part of the global biogeo-chemical N cycle. However, intensive agricultural production, industry and vehicle use have more than doubled the amount of 'reactive' N in the environment, resulting in eutrophication, ecosystem change and health concerns. Research has identified agricultural practices that cause large losses of N and, in some cases, developed solutions. This paper discusses the problems of maintaining productivity while reducing N losses, compares conventional with low input (integrated) and organic farming systems, and discusses wider options. It also looks at the need to integrate studies on N with other environmental impacts, set in the context of the whole farm system, to provide truly sustainable agricultural systems.     

Functional Properties of Cloned Melanogenic Proteins

Several genes critical to the regulation of melanin production in mammals have recently been cloned and characterized. They map to the albino, brown, and slaty loci in mice, and encode proteins with similar structures and features, but with distinct catalytic capacities. The albino locus encodes tyrosinase, an enzyme with three distinct catalytic activities—tyrosine hydroxylase, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA) oxidase and DHI (5,6-dihydroxyindole) oxidase. The brown locus encodes TRP-l (tyrosinase-related protein-I), which has the same, but greatly reduced, catalytic potential. The slaty locus encodes TRP-2, another tyrosinase related-protein, which has DOPAchrome tautomerase activity. In this study we have examined the enzymatic interactions of these proteins, and their regulation by a novel melanogenic inhibitor. We observed that tyrosinase activity is more stable in the presence of TRP-l and/or TRP-2, but that the catalytic function of TRP-2 is not affected by the presence of TRP-1 or tyrosinase. Other factors also may influence melanogenesis and a unique melanogenic inhibitor suppresses tyrosinase and DOPAchrome tautomerase activities, but does not affect the spontaneous rate of DOPAchrome decarboxylation to DHI. The results demonstrate the catalytic functions of these proteins and how they stably interact within a melanogenic complex in the melanosome to regulate the quantity and quality of melanin synthesized by the melanocyte.