One Generation (one + generation)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Forks in the Road: Choices in Procedures for Designing Wildland Linkages

CONSERVATION BIOLOGY, Issue 4 2008
PAUL BEIER
análisis de sensibilidad; conectividad; corredor de vida silvestre; enlace; diseño de reservas Abstract:,Models are commonly used to identify lands that will best maintain the ability of wildlife to move between wildland blocks through matrix lands after the remaining matrix has become incompatible with wildlife movement. We offer a roadmap of 16 choices and assumptions that arise in designing linkages to facilitate movement or gene flow of focal species between 2 or more predefined wildland blocks. We recommend designing linkages to serve multiple (rather than one) focal species likely to serve as a collective umbrella for all native species and ecological processes, explicitly acknowledging untested assumptions, and using uncertainty analysis to illustrate potential effects of model uncertainty. Such uncertainty is best displayed to stakeholders as maps of modeled linkages under different assumptions. We also recommend modeling corridor dwellers (species that require more than one generation to move their genes between wildland blocks) differently from passage species (for which an individual can move between wildland blocks within a few weeks). We identify a problem, which we call the subjective translation problem, that arises because the analyst must subjectively decide how to translate measurements of resource selection into resistance. This problem can be overcome by estimating resistance from observations of animal movement, genetic distances, or interpatch movements. There is room for substantial improvement in the procedures used to design linkages robust to climate change and in tools that allow stakeholders to compare an optimal linkage design to alternative designs that minimize costs or achieve other conservation goals. Resumen:,Los modelos son utilizados comúnmente para identificar tierras que mantengan la habilidad de la vida silvestre para moverse entre bloques de tierras silvestres a través de una matriz de tierras que habían sido incompatibles con el movimiento de vida silvestre. Ofrecemos 16 opciones y supuestos que se originan en el diseño de enlaces para facilitar el movimiento o el flujo de genes de especies focales entre 2 o más bloques de tierras silvestres predefinidos. Recomendamos el diseño de enlaces que sirvan a múltiples (y solo a una) especies focales que funjan como una sombrilla colectiva para todas las especies nativas y los procesos ecológicos, que explícitamente admitan supuestos no comprobados y que utilicen análisis de incertidumbre para ilustrar efectos potenciales de la incertidumbre del modelo. La mejor forma de mostrar tal incertidumbre a los interesados es mediante mapas de los enlaces modelados bajo diferentes suposiciones. También recomendamos modelar a habitantes de corredores (especies que requieren más de una generación para mover sus genes entre bloques de tierra silvestre) de manera diferente que las especies pasajeras (un individuo se puede mover entre bloques de tierras silvestres en unas cuantas semanas). Identificamos un problema, que denominamos el problema de traducción subjetiva, que surge porque un analista debe decidir subjetivamente cómo traducir medidas de selección de recursos a resistencia. Este problema puede ser sobrepuesto mediante la estimación de la resistencia a partir de observaciones de movimientos de animales, distancias genéticas o movimientos entre fragmentos. Hay espacio para la mejora sustancial de los procedimientos utilizados para diseñar enlaces robustos ante el cambio climático y en herramientas que permiten que los interesados comparen un diseño óptimo con diseños alternativos que minimicen costos o alcancen otras metas de conservación. [source]


"THEY COME IN PEASANTS AND LEAVE CITIZENS": Urban Villages and the Making of Shenzhen, China

CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 3 2010
JONATHAN BACH
ABSTRACT This essay examines the ongoing process of postsocialist transformation at the intersection of cultural and economic forces in an urban environment through the example of the so-called "urban villages"(chengzhongcun) in Shenzhen, China, a booming southern Chinese city and former Special Economic Zone next to Hong Kong. This essay ethnographically examines the role of former rural collectives encircled by a city that has exploded from farmland to an export-driven city of over 14 million people in little over one generation. These villages form an internal other that is both the antithesis and the condition of possibility for Shenzhen city. By co-opting the market economy in ways that weave them into the fabric of the contemporary global city, the villages become as much an experiment as the Special Economic Zone itself. This essay analyzes the urban,rural divide as complicit in each other's continued production and effacement and explores how village and city exploit the ambiguities of their juxtaposition in the making of Shenzhen. [source]


Xenopus, the next generation: X. Tropicalis genetics and genomics

DEVELOPMENTAL DYNAMICS, Issue 4 2002
Nicolas Hirsch
Abstract A small, fast-breeding, diploid relative of the frog Xenopus laevis, Xenopus tropicalis, has recently been adopted for research in developmental genetics and functional genomics. X. tropicalis shares advantages of X. laevis as a classic embryologic system, but its simpler genome and shorter generation time make it more convenient for multigenerational genetic, genomic, and transgenic approaches. Its embryos closely resemble those of X. laevis, except for their smaller size, and assays and molecular probes developed in X. laevis can be readily adapted for use in X. tropicalis. Genomic manipulation techniques such as gynogenesis facilitate genetic screens, because they permit the identification of recessive phenotypes after only one generation. Stable transgenic lines can be used both as in vivo reporters to streamline a variety of embryologic and molecular assays, or to experimentally manipulate gene expression through the use of binary constructs such as the GAL4/UAS system. Several mutations have been identified in wild-caught animals and during the course of generating inbred lines. A variety of strategies are discussed for conducting and managing genetic screens, obtaining mutations in specific sequences, achieving homologous recombination, and in developing and taking advantage of the genomic resources for Xenopus tropicalis. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Does aggregation benefit bark beetles by diluting predation?

ECOLOGICAL ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 2 2004
Links between a group-colonisation strategy, the absence of emergent multiple predator effects
Abstract., 1. Aggregation in bark beetles (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) aids in mate attraction and resource procurement when colonising well-defended plants; however, some species colonise primarily poorly defended plants, and intraspecific competition increases mortality. The hypothesis that decreased risk of predation was a potential benefit to aggregation in such circumstances was tested, using the pine engraver, Ips pini (Say) and its two major predators Thanasimus dubius (F.) (Coleoptera: Cleridae) and Platysoma cylindrica (Paykull) (Coleoptera: Histeridae). Both single- and multiple-predator effects, across a range of prey densities, were tested. 2. Both male and female colonisation events increased with herbivore density, in an asymptotic fashion. 3. Predators decreased the number of colonisers in a density-dependent manner, consistent with a type II functional response. 4. The proportional impact of predators decreased with increased herbivore colonisation densities. These findings indicate that predator dilution may be a viable benefit to aggregation. 5. Total emergence of the herbivore also increased with density, although the net replacement rate during one generation was independent of initial arrival density. This was likely due to larval predation, which negates potential relationships between per capita reproductive success and establishment density. 6. Each predator species decreased I. pini's net replacement rate by approximately 42%, and their combined effect was approximately 70%. 7. Overall, these predators modified their prey's establishment and adult mortality relationships in additive manners. This is somewhat surprising, given the potential for emergent effects due to interactions between multiple predators foraging within a common habitat. The persistence of additivity, rather than risk reduction or enhancement to the prey, may increase the predator-swamping benefit to aggregation for this herbivore. 8. The effects of these predators are substitutable, and likely exert equivalent selective pressures to mask signals at the whole-plant level. [source]


The Reform of Pension Systems: Winners and Losers Across Generations in the United Kingdom and Germany

ECONOMICA, Issue 266 2000
David Miles
In this paper we perform simulations with a stylized model of the United Kingdom and Germany to show which generations might be gainers, and which losers, from a transition from an unfunded to a funded state pension system. We show that it is likely that more than one generation will be direct losers as a result of a transition (especially in Germany). If more than one generation are direct losers, then, in order for those generations not to be net losers, the chain of bequests (in the initial equilibrium) needs to satisfy a simple condition, which we derive and analyse. [source]


Geographic and Temporal Variation of the Male Zebra Finch Distance Call

ETHOLOGY, Issue 4 2005
David Runciman
Temporal and geographic variation of acoustic signals can provide insights into dispersal patterns, population history and speciation. Vocalizations that are transmitted from one generation to the next are of particular value in this respect because they can reveal patterns of gene flow, effectively behaving as population markers. The male zebra finch Taeniopygia guttata distance call is one such vocalization; sons learn their father's distance call in the first 40 d of life and it is individually stereotyped thereafter. We investigated geographic variation in the zebra finch by comparing the structure of distance calls recorded from 61 males from six populations across the continent-wide range of the Australian subspecies T. g. castanotis. Intra-population variation was high, in many cases greater than the variation among all males recorded, possibly because of population interchange. However, three of six call variables measured, including the newly discovered modulated element, varied geographically although the pattern of distance call variation did not agree with that of geographic proximity of populations. The proportion of calls with a modulated element increased dramatically over 7 yr in central Australia but there was no change over a similar period of time in south-eastern Australia where no calls contained the element. The findings suggest that interchange among widely separated populations may be commonplace in Australian zebra finches, with the possible exception of those from south-eastern Australia. [source]


The importance of being persistent: heterogeneity of bacterial populations under antibiotic stress

FEMS MICROBIOLOGY REVIEWS, Issue 4 2009
Orit Gefen
Abstract While the DNA sequence is largely responsible for transmitting phenotypic traits over evolutionary time, organisms are also considerably affected by phenotypic variations that persist for more than one generation, with no direct change in the organisms' DNA sequence. In contrast to genetic variation, which is passed on over many generations, the phenotypic variation generated by nongenetic mechanisms is difficult to study due to the inherently limited life time of states that are not encoded in the DNA sequence, but makes it possible for the ,memory' of past environments to influence future organisms. One striking example of phenotypic variation is the phenomenon of bacterial persistence, whereby genetically identical bacterial populations respond heterogeneously to antibiotic treatment. Our aim is to review several experimental and theoretical approaches to the study of persistence. We define persistence as a characteristic of a heterogeneous bacterial population that is taken as a generic example through which we illustrate the approach and study the dynamics of population variability. The clinical and evolutionary implications of persistence are discussed in light of the mathematical description. This approach should be of relevance to the study of other phenomena in which nongenetic variability is involved, such as cellular differentiation or the response of cancer cells to treatment. [source]


The intergenerational effects of trauma from terror: A real possibility,

INFANT MENTAL HEALTH JOURNAL, Issue 2 2009
Marsha Kaitz
The goals of this article are to discuss the potential risk of children whose parents were traumatized by terror, to present literature on parenting in the context of terror, and to consider factors that may mediate the transmission of trauma-effects from parents to children. Mediators considered are parents' traumatic distress, disturbed parent,child interactions, trauma-related disturbances in parents' thinking, and effects of stress on children's neural functioning. Also discussed are genetic and environmental factors that may moderate the transmission of intergenerational effects and promote children's risk and resilience. Points raised during the discussion are illustrated with segments from interviews of women who were pregnant or gave birth some time after direct exposure to a terror attack. The authors conclude that empirical studies are needed to learn more about the intergenerational transmission of trauma-effects and processes that underlie it. The authors join others in the call to improve evaluation, treatment, and support of trauma victims and their children to stymie the transmission of problems from one generation to the next. [source]


Life-long protein malnutrition in the rat (Rattus norvegicus) results in altered patterns of craniofacial growth and smaller individuals

JOURNAL OF ANATOMY, Issue 6 2006
Shannon L. Lobe
Abstract Dietary protein is a limiting factor in mammalian growth, significantly affecting the non-linear trajectories of skeletal growth. Young females may be particularly vulnerable to protein malnutrition if the restriction is not lifted before they become reproductive. With such early malnutrition, limited amino acids would be partitioned between two physiological objectives, successful reproduction vs. continued growth. Thus, the consequences of protein malnutrition could affect more than one generation. However, few studies have quantified these cross-generational effects. Our objective was to test for differences in skeletal growth in a second generation of malnourished rats compared with rats malnourished only post-weaning, the first generation and with controls. In this longitudinal study we modelled the growth of 22 craniofacial measurements with the logistic Gompertz equation, and tested for differences in the equation's parameters among the diet groups. The female offspring of post-weaning malnourished dams did not catch up in size to the first generation or to controls, although certain aspects of their craniofacial skeleton were less affected than others. The second generation's growth trajectories resembled the longer and slower growth of the first malnourished generation. There was a complex interaction between developmental processes and early nutritional environment, which affected variation of adult size. [source]


Fertility life table of Trichogramma pretiosum (Hym., Trichogrammatidae) in eggs of Tuta absoluta and Phthorimaea operculella (Lep., Gelechiidae) at different temperatures

JOURNAL OF APPLIED ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 9-10 2000
D. Pratissoli
The development cycle and the parasitization capacity of this parasitoid was determined in order to calculate the net reproductive rate (Ro), the infinitesimal increase ratio (rm), the finite increase rate (,) and the mean duration of the generation (T). The mean duration of one generation of T. pretiosum kept on both eggs was observed to show an inverse relation with the increase of temperature. The net reproduction rate varied according to the temperature variation for both species. The maximum increase in capacity of T. pretiosum on the first host (T. absoluta) was reached at 22°C and on the second host (P. operculella) between 22 and 25°C. The infinitesimal increase rate and the finite increase rate for both moths had a relationship with the increase of temperature ranging from 18 to 30°C. The highest value of , for both moths occurred at 30 and 32°C according to the lesser duration of a generation. [source]


Inbreeding and inbreeding depression in a threatened endemic plant, the African violet (Saintpaulia ionantha ssp. grotei), of the East Usambara Mountains, Tanzania

AFRICAN JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY, Issue 3 2010
Johanna Kolehmainen
Abstract Mating among closely-related individuals in small and isolated plant populations may result in reduced vigour of the inbred offspring, i.e. inbreeding depression, especially in naturally outbreeding plants. Occurrence of inbreeding and inbreeding depression was studied in Saintpaulia ionantha ssp. grotei, a threatened endemic plant species with a narrow ecological amplitude from the East Usambara Mountains. The level of inbreeding (measured as the fixation index, F) was investigated in twelve populations by analyzing variation at one microsatellite marker locus. The effect of one generation of selfing and outcrossing on the progeny fitness was studied by controlled crosses in two small patches that differ in the level isolation. The fixation index (F) across the populations was on the average 0.21 and varied among the populations from substantial inbreeding (F = 0.58) to surplus heterozygosity (F = ,0.29). High inbreeding depression (,) was observed at early and late stages of the life-cycle. The isolated patch exhibited lower inbreeding depression than did the non-isolated patch. The results of this study suggest that inbreeding and subsequent inbreeding depression are potential threats to the survival of Saintpaulia populations. Résumé L'accouplement d'individus étroitement liés, dans des petites populations végétales isolées, peut aboutir à une vigueur moindre de la progéniture de même souche, c'est-à-dire une dépression due à l'endogamie, spécialement chez des plantes qui sont naturellement exogames. L'occurrence de l'endogamie et de la dépression qui y est liée a étéétudiée chez le Saintpaulia ionantha spp. grotei, une plante endémique menacée qui n'a qu'une faible amplitude écologique dans l'est des Usambara Mountains. On a recherché le taux d'endogamie (mesuré par l'indice de fixation F) dans 12 populations en analysant la variation d'un locus microsatellite marqueur. L'effet d'une génération d'auto- et d'allofécondation sur l'aptitude (fitness) de la progéniture a étéétudié par des croisements contrôlés dans deux petites parcelles dont le degré d'isolement différait. L'indice de fixation F dans les populations était en moyenne de 0,21 et il variait d'une autofécondation substantielle (F = 0,58) à une hétérozygosité en surplus (F = ,0,29). Une forte dépression due à l'endogamie (,) a été observée aux stades précoce et tardif du cycle vital. La parcelle isolée a présenté une dépression liée à l'endogamie moins forte que celle de la parcelle non isolée. Les résultats de cette étude suggèrent que l'auto-fécondation et la dépression qui en résulte sont des menaces potentielles pour la survie des populations de Saintpaulia. [source]


Telomerase reverse transcriptase haploinsufficiency and telomere length in individuals with 5p, syndrome

AGING CELL, Issue 5 2007
Hong-Yan Du
Summary Telomerase, which maintains the ends of chromosomes, consists of two core components, the telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) and the telomerase RNA (TERC). Haploinsufficiency for TERC or TERT leads to progressive telomere shortening and autosomal dominant dyskeratosis congenita (DC). The clinical manifestations of autosomal dominant DC are thought to occur when telomeres become critically short, but the rate of telomere shortening in this condition is unknown. Here, we investigated the consequences of de novo TERT gene deletions in a large cohort of individuals with 5p, syndrome. The study group included 41 individuals in which the chromosome deletion resulted in loss of one copy of the TERT gene at 5p15.33. Telomere length in peripheral blood cells from these individuals, although within the normal range, was on average shorter than in normal controls. The shortening was more significant in older individuals suggesting an accelerated age-dependent shortening. In contrast, individuals with autosomal dominant DC due to an inherited TERC gene deletion had very short telomeres, and the telomeres were equally short regardless of the age. Although some individuals with 5p, syndrome showed clinical features that were reminiscent of autosomal dominant DC, these features did not correlate with telomere length, suggesting that these were not caused by critically short telomeres. We conclude that a TERT gene deletion leads to slightly shorter telomeres within one generation. However, our results suggest that several generations of TERT haploinsufficiency are needed to produce the very short telomeres seen in patients with DC. [source]


What maintains noncytoplasmic incompatibility inducing Wolbachia in their hosts: a case study from a natural Drosophila yakuba population

JOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY, Issue 2 2004
S. Charlat
Abstract Cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) allows Wolbachia to invade hosts populations by specifically inducing sterility in crosses between infected males and uninfected females. In some species, non-CI inducing Wolbachia, that are thought to derive from CI-inducing ancestors, are common. In theory, the maintenance of such infections is not possible unless the bacterium is perfectly transmitted to offspring - and/or provides a fitness benefit to infected females. The present study aims to test this view by investigating a population of Drosophila yakuba from Gabon, West Africa. We did not find any evidence for CI using wild caught females. Infected females from the field transmitted the infection to 100% of their offspring. A positive effect on female fecundity was observed one generation after collecting, but this was not retrieved five generations later, using additional lines. Similarly, the presence of Wolbachia was found to affect mating behaviour, but the results of two experiments realized five generations apart were not consistent. Finally, Wolbachia was not found to affect sex ratio. Overall, our results would suggest that Wolbachia behaves like a neutral or nearly neutral trait in this species, and is maintained in the host by perfect maternal transmission. [source]


Longevity and resistance to cold stress in cold-stress selected lines and their controls in Drosophila melanogaster

JOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY, Issue 5 2002
F. M. Norry
Abstract Thermal environments can influence many fitness-related traits including life span. Here, we assess whether longevity in Drosophila melanogaster can experimentally evolve as a correlated response to cold-stress selection, and whether genotype-by-temperature and sex-by-temperature interactions are significant components of variation in life span. Three replicated S lines were cold-stress selected and compared with their respective unselected controls (Clines) in the 16th generation of thermal selection. Cold-stress resistance exhibited a substantial direct response to selection, and also showed a significant interaction between sex and type of line. Mean longevity exhibited a significant interaction between adult test temperature (14 and 25 °C) and line (with suggestive evidence for increased longevity of S lines when tested at 14 °C), but there was no evidence for increased longevity in S lines at normal temperatures (i.e. 25 °C). Another temperature-dependent effect was sex-specific, with males being the longer lived sex at 25 °C but the less long-lived sex at 14 °C. Additionally, we tested in an exploratory way the relationship between longevity and cold-stress resistance by also measuring resistance to a prefreezing temperature before and after one generation of longevity selection at 14 °C (selection intensity, i = 1.47 for S lines, and 1.42 for C lines). In this longevity selection, we found that cold-stress resistance increased by about 6% in S lines and 18% in C lines. However, taken together, the results indicate no simple relationship between longevity and cold-stress resistance, with genotype-by-sex interactions in both traits. Temperature dependent interaction in longevity is apparent between S and C lines, and sex-specific variation in mean longevity also depends on temperature. [source]


The inheritance of heteroplasmy in guppies

JOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY, Issue 5 2002
J. S. Taylor
Guppies Poecilia reticulata from the Rio Grande, Trinidad are heteroplasmic; individuals possess up to nine different-sized mtDNA haplotypes. A PCR survey of mtDNA length variation that included mothers and embryos suggests that a large number of mitochondrial genomes (possibly within a much smaller number of organelles) pass from one generation to the next. [source]


Tsr,GFP accumulates linearly with time at cell poles, and can be used to differentiate ,old' versus ,new' poles, in Escherichia coli

MOLECULAR MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 6 2008
Liyan Ping
Summary In Escherichia coli, the chemotaxis receptor protein Tsr localizes abundantly to cell poles. The current study, utilizing a Tsr,GFP fusion protein and time-lapse fluorescence microscopy of individual cell lineages, demonstrates that Tsr accumulates approximately linearly with time at the cell poles and that, in consequence, more Tsr is present at the old pole of each cell than at its newborn pole. The rate of pole-localized Tsr accumulation is large enough that old and new poles can always be reliably distinguished, even for cells whose old poles have had only one generation to accumulate signal. Correspondingly, Tsr,GFP can be reliably used to assign new and old poles to any cell without use of information regarding pole heritage, thus providing a useful tool to analyse cells whose prior history is not available. The absolute level of Tsr,GFP at the old pole of a cell also provides a rough estimate of pole (and thus cell) age. [source]


Phenotypic characterisation of autosomal recessive PARK6-linked parkinsonism in three unrelated Italian families,

MOVEMENT DISORDERS, Issue 6 2001
Anna R. Bentivoglio MD
Abstract The clinical features of nine patients (three women and six men) affected by PARK6-linked parkinsonism, belonging to three unrelated Italian families, are reported. The occurrence of affected men and women within one generation suggested an autosomal recessive mode of inheritance in all three families. Mean age at disease onset was 36 ± 4.6 years; all cases except one presented with asymmetrical signs, consisting of tremor and akinesia of one upper limb or unilateral short step gait. Affected individuals had a mean age of 57 ± 8.5 years, and average disease duration was 21 ± 7.8 years. Parkinsonian features included benign course, early onset of drug-induced dyskinesias, and a good and persistent response to levodopa. There were no other associated features (i.e., pyramidal or cerebellar signs, dysautonomia, or diurnal fluctuations unrelated to drug treatment). Cognition was unaffected. The clinical picture was remarkably similar in all patients; no relevant family-related differences were found. PARK6 disease is a new form of early-onset parkinsonism without other atypical clinical features. © 2001 Movement Disorder Society. [source]


A transgenerational interval timer inhibits unseasonal sexual morph production in damson-hop aphid, Phorodon humuli

PHYSIOLOGICAL ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 4 2006
COLIN A. M. CAMPBELL
Abstract The induction of sexual and parthenogenetic morphs of the damson-hop aphid, Phorodon humuli, on hops is controlled by daylength. The ability of P. humuli, to produce winged pre-sexual females (gynoparae) in the short-day conditions of spring is inhibited by an interval timer present in generations immediately after hatching of the overwintering egg. The inhibition expires after three generations when nymphs are born and reared in short days (LD 12 : 12 h), irrespective of whether their parents are reared in short or long days (LD 18 : 6 h). No gynoparae are produced by aphids maintained for 13 generations in long days. Two wingless aphids from 35 survive transfer from Prunus spinosa to hops. No winged females are produced during nine generations among their progeny maintained in long days on hops, but gynoparae, followed by males, are produced one generation after these aphids are transferred to short days. [source]


Consanguineous marriages in Jordan: why is the rate changing with time?

CLINICAL GENETICS, Issue 6 2005
H Hamamy
The objective of this study was to explore the secular trend in consanguinity in Jordan and the subtypes of consanguineous marriages that may be undergoing a change. A total of 1032 individuals attending a diabetic clinic in Amman were interviewed. The questionnaire provided information on consanguinity status and date of marriage among three generations: the persons interviewed, their parents, parents of their spouses and their offspring. Data on consanguinity status among 5401 marriages was obtained. Generations were named generation 1 for marriages contracted before 1950, generation 2 for marriages contracted between 1950 and 1979, and generation 3 for marriages contracted after 1980. For generations 1, 2, and 3, first-cousin marriages constituted 20.2, 28.5 and 19.5% of all marriages, respectively, while the subtype of paternal parallel first-cousin marriages constituted 75.6, 60.3 and 43.3% of all first-cousin marriages, respectively. The offspring of first-cousin parents were significantly more prone to marry their relatives than the offspring of non-consanguineous parents, with rates of first-cousin marriages among offspring of first-cousin parents and non-related parents constituting 25.3 and 17.1% of all marriages, respectively. For generations 1, 2 and 3, the average coefficient of inbreeding was 0.0135, 0.02 and 0.0142, respectively. In conclusion, first-cousin marriage rate among a representative population from Amman showed a significant decline among marriages contracted after 1980 compared to marriages contracted between 1950 and 1979, but not to marriages contracted before 1950. The proportion of paternal parallel first cousins among first-cousin marriages showed a steady decline from one generation to the next. [source]