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Selected AbstractsA Recent Perspective on Alcohol, Immunity, and Host DefenseALCOHOLISM, Issue 2 2009Gyongyi Szabo Background:, Multiple line of clinical and experimental evidence demonstrates that both acute, moderate, and chronic, excessive alcohol use result in various abnormalities in the functions of the immune system. Methods:, Medline and Pubmed databases were used to identify published reports with particular interest in the period of 2000,2008 in the subject of alcohol use, infection, inflammation, innate, and adaptive immunity. Results:, This review article summarizes recent findings relevant to acute or chronic alcohol use-induced immunomodulation and its consequences on host defense against microbial pathogens and tissue injury. Studies with in vivo and in vitro alcohol administration are both discussed. The effects of alcohol on lung infections, trauma and burn injury, liver, pancreas, and cardiovascular diseases are evaluated with respect to the role of immune cells. Specific changes in innate immune response and abnormalities in adaptive immunity caused by alcohol intake are detailed. Conclusion:, Altered inflammatory cell and adaptive immune responses after alcohol consumption result in increased incidence and poor outcome of infections and other organ-specific immune-mediated effects. [source] Genetic Approaches to the Study of AgingJOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 9s 2005Richard A. Miller MD Can mouse genetics teach us enough about the biology of aging to guide the search for anti-aging medicines that can delay late-life illness? Recent progress gives reason for optimism, with new data showing that changes in single genes can extend average and maximal life span by 40%. Mice with these genetic variants remain healthy, active, and cognitively intact at average ages that correspond to 110,120 years of human life span. Multiple lines of evidence now point to a hormone, IGF-I, as a key influence on life span, with low IGF-I levels associated with extended longevity in multiple model systems. The goal of this research is not gene therapy,we have no idea of what genes to change, how to change them, or what harm such changes might do,but instead to use insights from the cell biology and endocrinology of genetically long-lived mice and other species to help develop drugs that manipulate aging and thus postpone the many diseases and disabilities that are typically troublesome in old age. The complete conquest of cancer or heart disease would each lead to an increase of a mere,3% in mean life span in humans, i.e. about a tenth of what can be accomplished, today, in laboratory animals of delayed aging. In this context the paltry commitment to research in biological gerontology (six cents per $100 of NIH funding, for example) seems worth reconsideration. [source] The neuropathogenic contributions of lysosomal dysfunctionJOURNAL OF NEUROCHEMISTRY, Issue 3 2002Ben A. Bahr Abstract Multiple lines of evidence implicate lysosomes in a variety of pathogenic events that produce neurodegeneration. Genetic mutations that cause specific enzyme deficiencies account for more than 40 lysosomal storage disorders. These mostly pre-adult diseases are associated with abnormal brain development and mental retardation. Such disorders are characterized by intracellular deposition and protein aggregation, events also found in age-related neurodegenerative diseases including (i) Alzheimer's disease and related tauopathies (ii) Lewy body disorders and synucleinopathies such as Parkinson's disease, and (iii) Huntington's disease and other polyglutamine expansion disorders. Of particular interest for this review is evidence that alterations to the lysosomal system contribute to protein deposits associated with different types of age-related neurodegeneration. Lysosomes are in fact highly susceptible to free radical oxidative stress in the aging brain, leading to the gradual loss of their processing capacity over the lifespan of an individual. Several studies point to this lysosomal disturbance as being involved in amyloidogenic processing, formation of paired helical filaments, and the aggregation of ,-synuclein and mutant huntingtin proteins. Most notably, experimentally induced lysosomal dysfunction, both in vitro and in vivo, recapitulates important pathological features of age-related diseases including the link between protein deposition and synaptic loss. [source] A double-blind, placebo-controlled study to assess the mitochondria-targeted antioxidant MitoQ as a disease-modifying therapy in Parkinson's diseaseMOVEMENT DISORDERS, Issue 11 2010Barry J. Snow MD Abstract Multiple lines of evidence point to mitochondrial oxidative stress as a potential pathogenic cause for Parkinson's disease (PD). MitoQ is a powerful mitochondrial antioxidant. It is absorbed orally and concentrates within mitochondria where it has been shown to protect against oxidative damage. We enrolled 128 newly diagnosed untreated patients with PD in a double-blind study of two doses of MitoQ compared with placebo to explore the hypothesis that, over 12 months, MitoQ would slow the progression of PD as measured by clinical scores, particularly the Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale. We showed no difference between MitoQ and placebo on any measure of PD progression. MitoQ does not slow the progression of PD, and this finding should be taken into account when considering the oxidative stress hypothesis for the pathogenesis of PD. © 2010 Movement Disorder Society [source] The Role of Cytokines in Regulating Protein Metabolism and Muscle FunctionNUTRITION REVIEWS, Issue 2 2002Elena Zoico M.D. Multiple lines of evidence suggest that cytokines influence different physiologic functions of skeletal muscle cells, including anabolic and catabolic processes and programmed cell death. Cytokines play an important role not only in muscle homeostasis, therefore, but also in the pathogenesis of different relevant clinical conditions characterized by alterations in protein metabolism. Recently discovered cytokines, such as ciliary neurotrophic factor and growth/differentiation factor-8, as well as the more studied tumor necrosis factor-,, interleukin-1, interleukin-6, and the interferons, have been implicated in the regulation of muscle protein turnover. Their postreceptor signaling pathways, proteolytic systems, and the mechanisms of protein synthesis inhibition involved in different catabolic conditions have been partially clarified. Moreover, recent studies have shown that cytokines can directly influence skeletal muscle contractility independent of changes in muscle protein content. Even though several gaps remain in our understanding, these observations may be useful in the development of strategies to control protein metabolism and muscle function in different clinical conditions. [source] Telomerase enzyme inhibition (TEI) and cytolytic therapy in the management of androgen independent osseous metastatic prostate cancerTHE PROSTATE, Issue 6 2010Yingming Li Abstract BACKGROUND Recurrent prostate cancer can be osseous, androgen independent and lethal. The purpose is to discern the efficacy of synthetic small molecule telomerase enzyme inhibitors (TEI) alone or in combination with other cytotoxic therapies in controlling metastatic osseous prostate cancer. METHODS C4-2B was pre-treated with a match or mismatch TEI for 6 weeks and then inoculated into nude mice subcutaneously or intraosseously. In a separate experiment, untreated C4-2B was injected into femur of nude mice. The mice were divided into seven systemic "combination" treatment groups of control, Ad-BSP-E1a virus, docetaxel, mismatch and match TEI. Serum PSA was followed longitudinally. Histology analyses and histomorphometry were performed. Repeated measure analysis was applied for statistical analysis and Bonferroni method was used in multiple comparisons. RESULTS In the pre-treated study, the PSA of match treated cells in subcutaneous or intraosseous model was significantly lower than mismatch TEI or PBS treated group (P,<,0.05). Histology revealed increased fibrosis, apoptosis and decreased PSA staining in the match TEI treated subcutaneous xenografts. In the combination treatment study, the PSA was significantly lower in single/double treatment and triple treatment than control (P,<,0.05). Histology revealed that triple therapy mice had normal femur architecture. Histomorphometrics revealed that the area of femur tumor and woven bone was significantly positively correlated (P,=,0.007). CONCLUSIONS Multiple lines of data point toward the efficacy of systemically administered telomerase inhibitors. Combining cytotoxic regimens with telomerase inhibitors could be beneficial in controlling prostate cancer. Clinical trials are warranted to explore the efficacy of TEI in prostate cancer. Prostate 70: 616,629, 2010. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] A fine map for maternal lineage analysis by mitochondrial hypervariable region in 12 Chinese goat breedsANIMAL SCIENCE JOURNAL, Issue 4 2009Yan-Ping WU ABSTRACT As the fast pace of genomic research continues to identify mitochondrial lineages in animals, it has become apparent that many independent studies are needed to support a robust phylogenetic inference. The aim of this study was thus to further characterize the maternal lineage, proposed to originate in southwestern region of China, using a wider survey of diverse goat breeds in China. To this end, we sequenced the mitochondrial hypervariable region 1 (HVR1) of the mtDNA control region in 145 goats of 12 Chinese breeds. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that Chinese goats were classified into four distinct lineages (A, B, C and D) as previously reported. A Mantel test and the analysis of Analysis of Molecular Variance (ANOVA) indicated that there was not an obvious geographic structure among Chinese goat breeds. Population expansion analysis based on mismatch distribution and Fu's Fs statistic indicate that two expansion events in Chinese goats occurred respectively at about 11 and 29 mutational time units ago, revealing two star-like subclades in lineage B corresponding to two population expansion events. Moreover, lineage B sequences were presented only in the breeds of southwestern or surrounding regions of China. Multiple lines of evidence from this study and previous studies indicate that for Chinese goats mtDNA lineage B originated from the southwestern region of China. [source] The selective estrogen receptor , agonist Org 37663 induces estrogenic effects but lacks antirheumatic activity: A phase IIa trial investigating efficacy and safety of Org 37663 in postmenopausal female rheumatoid arthritis patients receiving stable background methotrexate or sulfasalazineARTHRITIS & RHEUMATISM, Issue 2 2010Ronald F. van Vollenhoven Objective Multiple lines of evidence suggest that sex hormones may play a role in the pathogenesis or clinical expression of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Studies on the effects of exogenous estrogens in RA patients have yielded contradictory results. We undertook this study to determine the effects of the selective estrogen receptor , (ER,) agonist Org 37663 in patients with RA, in terms of both its estrogenic effects and its ability to ameliorate disease activity. Methods A 10-week, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel group, dose-finding, proof-of-concept trial was initiated to obtain data on the efficacy and safety of Org 37663 in postmenopausal female patients with RA who were receiving background treatment with either methotrexate or sulfasalazine. Patients were randomized to receive placebo or Org 37663 at doses of 4 mg/day, 15 mg/day, or 50 mg/week. The primary efficacy variable was the Disease Activity Score in 28 joints (DAS28). Results Org 37663 induced a clear biologic, estrogenic response in several organ systems, including a dose-related increase in levels of sex hormone binding globulin. However, the DAS28 decreased similarly for all treatment groups including placebo, indicating lack of clinical efficacy of Org 37663 in this trial. Conclusion The observed lack of clinical benefit in RA patients treated with an ER, agonist, in association with a clear biologic response to the study drug, provides evidence that a biologically relevant ER,-mediated estrogenic effect is not associated with a clinically relevant effect on RA symptoms and signs. [source] Decreased GABAA receptors and benzodiazepine binding sites in the anterior cingulate cortex in autismAUTISM RESEARCH, Issue 4 2009A. Oblak Abstract The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC; BA 24) via its extensive limbic and high order association cortical connectivity to prefrontal cortex is a key part of an important circuitry participating in executive function, affect, and socio-emotional behavior. Multiple lines of evidence, including genetic and imaging studies, suggest that the ACC and gamma-amino-butyric acid (GABA) system may be affected in autism. The benzodiazepine binding site on the GABAA receptor complex is an important target for pharmacotherapy and has important clinical implications. The present multiple-concentration ligand-binding study utilized 3H-muscimol and 3H-flunitrazepam to determine the number (Bmax), binding affinity (Kd), and distribution of GABAA receptors and benzodiazepine binding sites, respectively, in the ACC in adult autistic and control cases. Compared to controls, the autistic group had significant decreases in the mean density of GABAA receptors in the supragranular (46.8%) and infragranular (20.2%) layers of the ACC and in the density of benzodiazepine binding sites in the supragranular (28.9%) and infragranular (16.4%) lamina. In addition, a trend for a decrease in for the density of benzodiazepine sites was found in the infragranular layers (17.1%) in the autism group. These findings suggest that in the autistic group this downregulation of both benzodiazepine sites and GABAA receptors in the ACC may be the result of increased GABA innervation and/or release disturbing the delicate excitation/inhibition balance of principal neurons as well as their output to key limbic cortical targets. Such disturbances likely underlie the core alterations in socio-emotional behaviors in autism. [source] A Simple Tool for Teaching Flap Design with Digital ImagesDERMATOLOGIC SURGERY, Issue 12 2001Daniel Berg MD Background. Defects created by excision or Mohs micrographic surgery must be analyzed and surgical options including flaps must be considered. Teaching flap design to dermatology trainees is often done at the bedside of the patient with the trainee describing or marking a proposed flap. Open discussion of the options in this way is sometimes unnerving for the patient. Blackboard discussions or drawings are limited in their realism. Objective. To describe a rapid, simple method using commonly available software to allow a trainee to draw and redraw a proposed flap on a digital image of the defect without the time and cost of printing. Methods. We describe a feature in the widely used presentation program Microsoft PowerPoint which can be used to draw on an imported digital image in various colors. Results. A digital photograph taken at the bedside can quickly be loaded into PowerPoint and viewed as a full-screen picture on a computer. Using an electronic pen, multiple lines can be drawn and erased on the picture, allowing surgical planning and teaching away from the bedside. Conclusion. Design and analysis of potential incision lines for a flap can be done quickly using a digital image and commonly available software, allowing a new option for teaching flap design. [source] Losses disguised as wins in modern multi-line video slot machinesADDICTION, Issue 10 2010Mike J. Dixon ABSTRACT Aims Players can wager on multiple lines of modern slot machines. When they spin and fail to gain any credits, the machine goes into a state of relative quiet. By contrast, when they spin and win, these spins are accompanied by reinforcing sights and sounds. Such reinforcement also occurs when the amount won is less than the spin wager. We sought to show that these ,losses disguised as wins', or LDWs, would be as arousing as wins, and more arousing than regular losses. Measurement and participants We measured skin conductance response (SCR) amplitudes and heart-rate changes following wins, LDWs and losses for 40 novices playing a multi-line slot machine. Findings SCR amplitudes were similar for wins and LDWs,both were significantly larger than for regular losses. Conclusions For novice players, the reinforcing sights and sounds of the slot machine triggered arousal on wins, where the number of credits gained was greater than the spin wager, but also on ,losses disguised as wins' where the amount ,won' was less than the spin wager. Despite the fact that players lost money on these spins, these outcomes were more arousing than regular losses where no credits were gained. Although these findings involve novice players, the heightened arousal associated with these losses may have implications for the development of problem gambling, as arousal has been viewed as a key reinforcer in gambling behaviour. [source] Reduced operant ethanol self-administration and in vivo mesolimbic dopamine responses to ethanol inPKC,-deficient miceEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 11 2000M. Foster Olive Abstract There is increasing evidence that individual protein kinase C (PKC) isozymes mediate specific effects of ethanol on the nervous system. In addition, multiple lines of evidence suggest that the mesoaccumbens dopamine reward system is critically involved in the rewarding and reinforcing effects of ethanol. Yet little is known about the role of individual PKC isozymes in ethanol reinforcement processes or in regulation of mesolimbic systems. In this study, we report that mice lacking the epsilon isoform of PKC (PKC,) show reduced operant ethanol self-administration and an absence of ethanol-induced increase in extracellular dopamine levels in the nucleus accumbens. PKC, null mice exhibited a 53% decrease in alcohol-reinforced operant responses under basal conditions, as well as following ethanol deprivation. Behavioural analysis revealed that while both genotypes had the same number of drinking bouts following deprivation, PKC, null mice demonstrated a 61% reduction in number of ethanol reinforcers per bout and a 57% reduction in ethanol-reinforced response rate. In vivo microdialysis experiments showed that, in contrast to wild-type mice, PKC, null mice exhibited no change in extracellular levels of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens following acute administration of ethanol (1 and 2 g/kg i.p.), while mesolimbic dopamine responses to cocaine (20 mg/kg i.p.) or high potassium (100 m m) in these mice were comparable with that of wild-types. These data provide further evidence that increases in extracellular mesolimbic dopamine levels contribute to the reinforcing effects of ethanol, and indicate that pharmacological agents inhibiting PKC, may be useful in the treatment of alcohol dependence. [source] In silico analysis of missense substitutions using sequence-alignment based methods,HUMAN MUTATION, Issue 11 2008Sean V. Tavtigian Abstract Genetic testing for mutations in high-risk cancer susceptibility genes often reveals missense substitutions that are not easily classified as pathogenic or neutral. Among the methods that can help in their classification are computational analyses. Predictions of pathogenic vs. neutral, or the probability that a variant is pathogenic, can be made based on: 1) inferences from evolutionary conservation using protein multiple sequence alignments (PMSAs) of the gene of interest for almost any missense sequence variant; and 2) for many variants, structural features of wild-type and variant proteins. These in silico methods have improved considerably in recent years. In this work, we review and/or make suggestions with respect to: 1) the rationale for using in silico methods to help predict the consequences of missense variants; 2) important aspects of creating PMSAs that are informative for classification; 3) specific features of algorithms that have been used for classification of clinically-observed variants; 4) validation studies demonstrating that computational analyses can have predictive values (PVs) of ,75 to 95%; 5) current limitations of data sets and algorithms that need to be addressed to improve the computational classifiers; and 6) how in silico algorithms can be a part of the "integrated analysis" of multiple lines of evidence to help classify variants. We conclude that carefully validated computational algorithms, in the context of other evidence, can be an important tool for classification of missense variants. Hum Mutat 29(11), 1327,1336, 2008. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Early 20th century Arctic warming in retrospectINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLIMATOLOGY, Issue 9 2010Kevin R. Wood Abstract The major early 20th century climatic fluctuation (,1920,1940) has been the subject of scientific enquiry from the time it was detected in the 1920s. The papers of scientists who studied the event first-hand have faded into obscurity but their insights are relevant today. We review this event through a rediscovery of early research and new assessments of the instrumental record. Much of the inter-annual to decadal scale variability in surface air temperature (SAT) anomaly patterns and related ecosystem effects in the Arctic and elsewhere can be attributed to the superposition of leading modes of variability in the atmospheric circulation. Meridional circulation patterns were an important factor in the high latitudes of the North Atlantic during the early climatic fluctuation. Sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies that appeared during this period were congruent with low-frequency variability in the climate system but were themselves most likely the result of anomalous forcing by the atmosphere. The high-resolution data necessary to verify this hypothesis are lacking, but the consistency of multiple lines of evidence provides strong support. Our findings indicate that early climatic fluctuation is best interpreted as a large but random climate excursion imposed on top of the steadily rising global mean temperature associated with anthropogenic forcing. Copyright © 2009 Royal Meteorological Society [source] Archaeozoological evidence for pastoral systems and herd mobility: the remains from Sos Höyük and Büyüktepe HöyükINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OSTEOARCHAEOLOGY, Issue 5 2001Sarah Howell-Meurs Abstract Characterization of pastoral economics in the archaeological record is recognized as being particularly difficult. While architectural evidence may provide ambiguous indicators of nomadism, animal remains afford greater clarity concerning assessment of herd and thus economic mobility. To highlight archaeozoological applications towards the analysis of herd movement as it may relate to the analysis and definition of economic systems, the mobility of the pastoral systems practised at Sos Höyük and Büyüktepe Höyük during the Early Bronze and Iron Age periods was investigated in terms of various facets of archaeozoological evidence. Sedentary occupation of these sites was suggested by the faunal remains on the basis of evidence, including use of seasonally available resources, relative abundance and representation of the main domesticates and dental data. These results suggest that analysis based upon multiple lines of archaeozoological evidence provides the most fruitful means of investigating pastoral mobility. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Risk modelling in blood safety , review of methods, strengths and limitationsISBT SCIENCE SERIES: THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INTRACELLULAR TRANSPORT, Issue n1 2010B. Custer Risk modelling studies in blood safety play an important but occasionally misunderstood role. These studies are intended to quantify and contrast risks and benefits. This information is critical for policy development and intervention decision-making. The limitations of risk modelling should be considered alongside the results obtained. The goal of this manuscript and presentation is to review current risk modelling techniques used in blood safety and to discuss the pros and cons of using this information in the decision-making process. The types of questions that can be answered include the extent of a risk or threat; implications of action or inaction; identification of effective strategies for risk management; or whether to adopt specific interventions. These analyses can be focused on a risk alone but are often combined with economic information to gain an understanding of feasible risk interventions given budgetary or other monetary considerations. Thus, analyses that include risk modelling provide insights along multiple lines. As important, the analyses also provide information on what is not known or uncertain about a potential hazard and how much that uncertainty may influence the decision-making process. Specific examples of the range of risk analyses in which the author has participated will be reviewed and will include ongoing process improvement in testing laboratories such as error identification/eradication, estimation of the risk of malaria exposure based on the specific locations of travel, evaluation of blood supply and demand during an influenza pandemic, cost-utility analyses of screening interventions for infectious diseases in countries with different human development indices, and insurance against emerging pathogen risk. Each of these analyses has a different purpose and seeks to answer different questions, but all rely on similar methods. The tool kit for risk analysis is broad and varied but does have limitations. The chief limitation of risk modelling is that risk analyses are not scientific experiments or otherwise controlled studies. Consequently, the analyses are more apt to be influenced by assumptions. These assumptions may be necessary to structure a problem in a way that will allow the question of interest to be answered or may result from incomplete or missing information. Another potential limitation is that commissioners of such studies, those who undertake them, and the intended audience, such as regulatory agencies, may have distinct and differing interpretations of the results. Risk modelling is a set of techniques that can be used to inform and support decision-making at all levels in transfusion medicine. Advances in risk modelling techniques allow for continued expansion in the scope of possible questions that can be analysed. Expanded use also improves the acceptance of the utility of these studies in blood safety and transfusion medicine. [source] Speciation in the Orchidaceae: confronting the challengesMOLECULAR ECOLOGY, Issue 14 2007ROD PEAKALL The Orchidaceae is renowned for its large number of species (19 500) and its many diverse, even bizarre, specialized pollination systems. One unusual feature of orchids is the high frequency of food deception whereby animal pollination is achieved without providing nectar, pollen or other food rewards. Food-deceptive pollination is estimated to occur in approximately one-third of all orchids. Equally intriguing is pollination by sexual deception whereby pollination is achieved by the sexual attraction of male insects to the orchid flower. Sexual deception is found in several hundred species representing multiple lineages. Given their rich species diversity and extraordinary plant,animal interactions, orchids clearly offer exciting research opportunities in pollination biology, reproductive isolation and speciation, yet surprisingly they remain under-represented in scientific investigations both in these fields and more generally. In this special issue of Molecular Ecology, Moccia et al. provide an exemplar study that combine multiple lines of evidence to illuminate the mechanism of reproductive isolation between two closely related food-deceptive orchids. Their study demonstrates that many of the challenges that confront orchid researchers and impede progress in our understanding of speciation in the Orchidaceae can be overcome by the creative application and integration of both old and new tools in ecology and genetics. [source] History in the interpretation of the pattern of p49a,f TaqI RFLP Y-chromosome variation in Egypt: A consideration of multiple lines of evidenceAMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN BIOLOGY, Issue 5 2005S.O.Y. Keita The possible factors involved in the generation of p49a,f TaqI Y-chromosome spatial diversity in Egypt were explored. The object was to consider explanations beyond those that emphasize gene flow mediated via military campaigns within the Nile corridor during the dynastic period. Current patterns of the most common variants (V, XI, and IV) have been suggested to be primarily related to Middle Kingdom and New Kingdom political actions in Nubia, including occasional settler colonization, and the conquest of Egypt by Kush (in upper Nubia, northern Sudan), thus initiating the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty. However, a synthesis of evidence from archaeology, historical linguistics, texts, distribution of haplotypes outside Egypt, and some demographic considerations lends greater support to the establishment, before the Middle Kingdom, of the observed distributions of the most prevalent haplotypes V, XI, and IV. It is suggested that the pattern of diversity for these variants in the Egyptian Nile Valley was largely the product of population events that occurred in the late Pleistocene to mid-Holocene through the First Dynasty, and was sustained by continuous smaller-scale bidirectional migrations/interactions. The higher frequency of V in Ethiopia than in Nubia or upper (southern) Egypt has to be taken into account in any discussion of variation in the Nile Valley. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 17: 559,567, 2005. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Investigating cultural heterogeneity in San Pedro de Atacama, northern Chile, through biogeochemistry and bioarchaeologyAMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 4 2009Kelly J. Knudson Abstract Individuals living in the San Pedro de Atacama oases and the neighboring upper Loa River Valley of northern Chile experienced the collapse of an influential foreign polity, environmental decline, and the appearance of a culturally distinct group during the Late Intermediate Period (ca. AD 1,100,1,400). We investigate cultural heterogeneity at the Loa site of Caspana through analyses of strontium and oxygen isotopes, cranial modification styles, and mortuary behavior, integrating biological aspects of identity, particularly geographic origins, with cultural aspects of identity manifested in body modification and mortuary behavior. We test the hypothesis that the Caspana population (n = 66) represents a migrant group, as supported by archeological and ethnographic evidence, rather than a culturally distinct local group. For Caspana archeological human tooth enamel, mean 87Sr/86Sr = 0.70771 ± 0.00038 (1,, n = 30) and mean ,18Oc(V-PDB) = ,3.9 ± 0.6, (1,, n = 16); these isotopic data suggest that only one individual lived outside the region. Material culture suggests that the individuals buried at Caspana shared some cultural affinity with the San Pedro oases while maintaining distinct cultural traditions. Finally, cranial modification data show high frequencies of head shaping [92.4% (n = 61/65)] and an overwhelming preference for annular modification [75.4% (n = 46/61)], contrasting sharply with practices in the San Pedro area. Based on multiple lines of evidence, we argue that, rather than representing a group of altiplano migrants, the Caspana population existed in the region for some time. However, cranial modification styles and mortuary behavior that are markedly distinct from patterns in surrounding areas raise the possibility of cultural heterogeneity and cultural fissioning. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2009. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] 2 Looking Beyond Gender Hierarchy: Rethinking Gender at Teotihuacan, MexicoARCHEOLOGICAL PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION, Issue 1 2008Kristin De Lucia ABSTRACT The absence of gender inequality in art and burials at Teotihuacan, Mexico, poses an interesting problem that has been largely ignored by archaeologists. Archaeologists' lack of attention to gender at Teotihuacan perhaps derives from expectations of gender hierarchies in state societies, resulting in misguided conclusions and unexplored alternative interpretations. In this chapter, I ask how eliminating assumptions about gender hierarchies might help us to gain a better understanding of social relations at Teotihuacan. By incorporating multiple lines of evidence including art, burials, and households, I argue that group identity superseded the importance of the individual, foregrounding "house" identity over gender. Social solidarity may have been particularly necessary at Teotihuacan since a large percentage of male and female residents were foreigners. While socially constructed genders may have been an important component of social identity, I suggest that it was largely an unimportant factor in determining social status. [source] Description, biology and conservation of a new species of Australian tree frog (Amphibia: Anura: Hylidae: Litoria) and an assessment of the remaining populations of Litoria genimaculata Horst, 1883: systematic and conservation implications of an unusual speciation eventBIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY, Issue 4 2007CONRAD J. HOSKIN The Australian populations of the green-eyed tree frog Litoria genimaculata consist of a northern and southern genetic lineage that meet in a mosaic contact zone comprising two independent areas of contact: one where the main ranges of the lineages overlap, and the second where a population of the southern lineage is isolated within the range of the northern lineage. A recent study failed to find significant reproductive isolation between the main ranges of the two lineages, despite deep genetic divergence, partial postzygotic isolation, and call differences. The study did, however, demonstrate rapid phenotypic divergence and speciation of the isolated population of the southern lineage from both the parapatric northern lineage and from the allopatric, but genetically similar, main range of the southern lineage. Herein, the isolated population of the southern lineage is described as a distinct species, Litoria myola sp. nov., whereas the remainder of the southern lineage and the northern lineage are retained as a single, paraphyletic species, Litoria genimaculata. Resolving this unusual systematic situation demonstrates the value of using multiple lines of evidence in delimiting species. Litoria myola sp. nov. has a very small distribution and population size and warrants a Critically Endangered listing (B1, 2) under IUCN criteria. Threats and management recommendations are outlined, and the conservation of hybrid zones as areas of evolutionary novelty is discussed. © 2007 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2007, 91, 549,563. [source] Role of chemotherapy for patients with recurrent platinum-resistant advanced epithelial ovarian cancer,CANCER, Issue 3 2006A cost-effectiveness analysis Abstract BACKGROUND. Current chemotherapy in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer patients has demonstrated minimal to no improvements in survival. Despite the lack of benefit, significant resources are utilized with such therapies. Therefore, the objective in the current study was to assess the cost-effectiveness of salvage chemotherapy for patients with platinum-resistant epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). METHODS. A decision analysis model evaluated a hypothetical cohort of 4000 platinum-resistant patients with recurrent EOC. Several chemotherapy strategies were analyzed: 1) best supportive care (BSC); 2) second-line chemotherapy-monotherapy; 3) second-line chemotherapy-combination therapy; 4) third-line chemotherapy after disease progression on second-line monotherapy; and 5) third-line chemotherapy after disease progression on second-line combination therapy. Sensitivity analyses were performed on all pertinent uncertainties. RESULTS. Using costs alone, BSC was the only definitive cost-effective treatment for platinum-resistant recurrent ovarian cancer patients, and second-line monotherapy was a reasonable cost-effective strategy with an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of $64,104. The cost-effectiveness ranged from $4,065 per month of overall survival (OS) for BSC to $12,927 for third-line previous combination therapy. Compared with BSC, second-line monotherapy gained an additional 3 months of OS, with a cost-effectiveness of $4,703 per month of OS. Second-line combination therapy and third-line therapies exhibited unfavorable ICER. CONCLUSIONS. The current decision analysis was intended to be thought-provoking and bring awareness to the high costs of subsequent chemotherapy with limited effectiveness in patients with recurrent platinum-resistant EOC. Although actual patients may receive multiple lines of chemotherapy, from the perspective of costs alone this model using a hypothetical cohort demonstrated that best supportive care was the only cost-effective strategy, with second-line monotherapy appearing to be a reasonable cost-effective strategy given current chemotherapeutic options. Cancer 2006. © 2006 American Cancer Society. [source] | ||||||||||||||||