Early food production in Africa

The study of early food production in sub-Saharan Africa is at least as challenging as it is rewarding. Problems arise in large degree from the scarcity of relevant archeological material, particularly the remains of domesticated plants from prehistoric sites. This is attributable to several factors, including poor preservation, difficulties in recovering such material, and the limited amount of work so far invested in obtaining it. But, problems notwithstanding, fresh data and new methodological approaches have revealed aspects of early African food production that are interesting in themselves, as well as in global perspective. For example, contrary to what occurred in most other parts of the world, livestock herding in Africa often predated the earliest evidence of cultivation of domesticated plants. Moreover, the initial spread of food production throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa was accompanied by iron, rather than lithic, technology. This overview of current knowledge about early African food production is aimed at highlighting developmental patterns while also exposing limitations in our understanding of these patterns. Because of Africa's vast size, uniform coverage in reasonable depth of all parts of the continent is not possible. Thus, for example, I will not explicitly cover the complex neolithic record from Africa's Mediterranean region. Instead, I will generally concentrate on bodies of data and lines of investigation that characterize distinctive features of the African version of initial steps in raising crops and animals.     

Flavonoid systematics of ten sections of Ludwigia (Onagraceae)

Data for the flavonoids of 19 species in 10 sections of Ludwigia are presented. Eight flavonoids, comprising four glycoflavones, of which vitexin and isovitexin are reported for the first time in Ludwigia, and four flavonol glycosides, based on quercetin, are present in these species. Each section treated here has either glycoflavones or flavonols; presence of only onte class is considered to be advanced in the genus as a whole, compared with the presence of both glycoflavones and flavonols in the more generalized sects Myrtocarpus Cinerascentes, and Pterocaulon, which were examined earlier. Only glycoflavones are present in sects Macrocarpon (four species), Seminuda (five species), the ditypic African sect. Africana, the monotypic African sects Brenania, Cryptosperma, and Prieurea, the monotypic east Asian sect. Nipponia, and the monotypic pantropical section Fissendocarpa. Only flavonols are present in the monotypic Old Wodd section Caryophylloidea and sect. Oligospermum, which comprises nine species widespread in the OId and New Worlds.     

Angiotensin III and IV activation of the brain AT1 receptor subtype in cardiovascular function

The present investigation determined that native angiotensins II and III (ANG II and III) were equipotent as pressor agents when ICV infused in alert rats, whereas native angiotensin IV (ANG IV) was less potent. An analogue of each of these angiotensins was prepared with a hydroxyethylamine (HEA) amide bond replacement at the N-terminus, yielding additional resistance to degradation. These three angiotensin analogues, HEA-ANG II, HEA-ANG III, and HEA-ANG IV, were equivalent with respect to maximum elevation in pressor responses when ICV infused; and each evidenced significantly extended durations of effect compared with their respective native angiotensin. Comparing analogues, HEA-ANG II had a significantly longer effect compared with HEA-ANG III, and HEA-ANG IV, whereas the latter were equivalent. Pretreatment with the AT₁ receptor subtype antagonist, Losartan (DuP753), blocked subsequent pressor responses to each of these analogues, suggesting that these responses were mediated by the AT₁ receptor subtype. Pretreatment with the specific AT₄ receptor subtype antagonist, Divalinal (HED 1291), failed to influence pressor responses induced by the subsequent infusion of these analogues. These results suggest an important role for Ang III, and perhaps ANG IV, in brain angiotensin pressor responses mediated by the AT₁ receptor subtype.     

Ideologies of Language: Some Reflections on Language and U.S. Law

I present two U.S. court cases in which I participated as a linguistic anthropological "expert" to show how language ideologies of the law both influence legal outcomes and conflict with "scientific" ideas about language. One case was the murder trial of a young Mixtec-speaking Indian from Oaxaca; the other was a civil suit brought by four Hispanic women dismissed from an elder-care center for speaking Spanish on the job. I identify in the linguistic ideologies of both cases a principle of "referential transparency" that takes the essential business of words, regardless of the linguistic code, to be communicating propositional information. In the second case, 1 describe a further notion of "linguistic paranoia" in which speaking a language other than English is taken as inherently insulting or threatening. I relate these implicit ideological threads to the legal outcomes, to the restricted notions of potential "language rights" that might emerge from such ideologies, and to the clash between theoretical and judicial perspectives on language. [Keywords: U.S. law, language rights, linguistic ideology, expert witnesses, linguistic anthropology]     

Sample preparation and high-resolution separation of mycotoxins possessing carboxyl groups

The chromatographic analysis of carboxyl-containing mycotoxins, such as fumonisin B₁, ochratoxin A, and citrinin, presents a continual challenge. Toxins must first be extracted from foods or tissues and then cleaned up before chromatographic separation and detection. Liquid–liquid extraction efficiencies for some carboxylic mycotoxins are marginal for spiked samples and uncertain for incurred residues. Immunoaffinity columns may be useful for concentrating mycotoxins from samples before chromatography. In almost every case, more than one analytical method must be used to confirm the identification of the mycotoxin. The fumonisins are especially troublesome to analyze because they are relatively insoluble in organic solvents, they are not separated easily by gas chromatography, and they do not respond to the usual absorbance or fluorescence detectors used in liquid chromatography. Fluorescence derivatization and electrospray liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry have now made it possible to detect trace levels of mycotoxins. The purity of mycotoxin standards for toxicological studies can be determined by liquid chromatography with either an evaporative light scattering detector or electrospray mass spectrometer. New developments in capillary electrophoresis, nonporous microsphere liquid chromatography, and detection methods for low-volatility compounds show promise for improving the analysis of mycotoxins in the future.     

Some comparisons of cellulases from two different strains of aspergillus fumigatus

Michaelis-Menten kinetics for exoglucanase, endoglucanase and β-glucosidase activities from two different strains of Aspergillus fumigatus were compared in the absence and the presence of ammonium ions. Inhibitory effects, evident in only one strain, were quantified, suggesting non-competitive inhibition for endoglucanase and β-glucosidase, but competitive inhibition of exocellulase. Possible reasons are discussed.     

Comparing models and observations of shelf plankton

In a previous paper (Solow and Steele, J. Plankton Res., 17,1995), the differences between variability in zooplankton biomassand in copepod stage structure were demonstrated using datafrom the northern North Sea. Here, a model is used to describethe underlying demographic processes and the effects of interannualphysical variability. Comparison of output with observationscan test the theory and so help to reconcile the apparent contradictionbetween great variability and persistence in these populations.     

ECM Protein Nanofibers and Nanostructures Engineered Using Surface-initiated Assembly

The extracellular matrix (ECM) in tissues is synthesized and assembled by cells to form a 3D fibrillar, protein network with tightly regulated fiber diameter, composition and organization. In addition to providing structural support, the physical and chemical properties of the ECM play an important role in multiple cellular processes including adhesion, differentiation, and apoptosis. In vivo, the ECM is assembled by exposing cryptic self-assembly (fibrillogenesis) sites within proteins. This process varies for different proteins, but fibronectin (FN) fibrillogenesis is well-characterized and serves as a model system for cell-mediated ECM assembly. Specifically, cells use integrin receptors on the cell membrane to bind FN dimers and actomyosin-generated contractile forces to unfold and expose binding sites for assembly into insoluble fibers. This receptor-mediated process enables cells to assemble and organize the ECM from the cellular to tissue scales. Here, we present a method termed surface-initiated assembly (SIA), which recapitulates cell-mediated matrix assembly using protein-surface interactions to unfold ECM proteins and assemble them into insoluble fibers. First, ECM proteins are adsorbed onto a hydrophobic polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) surface where they partially denature (unfold) and expose cryptic binding domains. The unfolded proteins are then transferred in well-defined micro- and nanopatterns through microcontact printing onto a thermally responsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PIPAAm) surface. Thermally-triggered dissolution of the PIPAAm leads to final assembly and release of insoluble ECM protein nanofibers and nanostructures with well-defined geometries. Complex architectures are possible by engineering defined patterns on the PDMS stamps used for microcontact printing. In addition to FN, the SIA process can be used with laminin, fibrinogen and collagens type I and IV to create multi-component ECM nanostructures. Thus, SIA can be used to engineer ECM protein-based materials with precise control over the protein composition, fiber geometry and scaffold architecture in order to recapitulate the structure and composition of the ECM in vivo.