Anthropology posts
- March 8, 2016
- 09:22 PM
- 408 views
Temples helping heritage language maintenance in Australia
by Niru Perera in Language on the Move
Do you know which non-Christian religion has grown the fastest in Australia since the new millennium? You might be surprised...... Read more »
Perera, N. (2016) Tamil in the temples – Language and religious maintenance beyond the first generation. Multilingua. info:/10.1515/multi-2015-0059
- March 7, 2016
- 04:15 PM
- 343 views
Preemies’ gut bacteria reveal vast scope of antibiotic resistance
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Yesterday we blogged about the emergent and increasing antibiotic resistance problem, which was good -- or bad timing -- depending on how you look at it. A new study of gut bacteria in premature infants reveals the vast scope of the problem of antibiotic resistance and gives new insight into the extreme vulnerability of these young patients, according to researchers.
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Gibson, M., Wang, B., Ahmadi, S., Burnham, C., Tarr, P., Warner, B., & Dantas, G. (2016) Developmental dynamics of the preterm infant gut microbiota and antibiotic resistome. Nature Microbiology, 16024. DOI: 10.1038/nmicrobiol.2016.24
- March 6, 2016
- 06:10 PM
- 419 views
Antibiotic resistance, evolution, and our future
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Without the discovery of antibiotics we could not — and most certainly would not — be living in the world we do today. It was a discovery that would save countless lives, while simultaneously compromising our future. From the use (and unfortunate misuse) of antibiotics, we gave rise to more virulent bacteria that have become resistant to more and more types of antibiotics.
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Inglis, R., Scanlan, P., & Buckling, A. (2016) Iron availability shapes the evolution of bacteriocin resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The ISME Journal. DOI: 10.1038/ismej.2016.15
- March 6, 2016
- 05:54 PM
- 384 views
Testing the evolution of resistance by experiment
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
When the first antibiotics became available 70 years ago, they were often described as miracles of human ingenuity, rather like plastics or bright permanent dyes, which were discovered at roughly the same time. Packaged in vials or pills, they seemed like our inventions rather a chance gift of evolution and one that evolution might also rescind.
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Inglis, R., Scanlan, P., & Buckling, A. (2016) Iron availability shapes the evolution of bacteriocin resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The ISME Journal. DOI: 10.1038/ismej.2016.15
- March 4, 2016
- 03:00 PM
- 585 views
Zika virus infects human neural stem cells, but…
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
The Zika virus infects a type of neural stem cell that gives rise to the brain’s cerebral cortex, Johns Hopkins and Florida State researchers have found. On laboratory dishes, these stem cells were found to be havens for viral reproduction, resulting in cell death and/or disruption of cell growth. While this study does not prove the direct link between Zika and microcephaly, it does pinpoint where the virus may be doing the most damage.
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Tang, Hammack, Ogden, Wen, and Qian et al. (2016) Zika Virus Infects Human Cortical Neural Precursors and Attenuates Their Growth". Cell Stem Cell. info:/dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.stem.2016.02.016
- March 4, 2016
- 09:30 AM
- 305 views
Refugees in Europe: A Crisis?
by Eva Alisic in Trauma Recovery
Over 1 million people arrived in Europe by sea in 2015. And since the conflict in Syria continues, this influx will not halt.
It is the biggest refugee crisis since World War II according to the UNHCR. The journey by sea is dangerous, the circumstances in refugee camps and asylum seeker centers are far from ideal – to say the least – and tensions between host countries make it difficult to find constructive solutions.
... Read more »
Turner, S. (2015) Refugee blues: a UK and European perspective. European Journal of Psychotraumatology. DOI: 10.3402/ejpt.v6.29328
- March 3, 2016
- 09:01 PM
- 530 views
Herder: an explainer for linguists
by Ingrid Piller in Language on the Move
Some contemporary sociolinguists love to hate an 18th century educator, philosopher, theologian, translator and general polymath by the name of...... Read more »
Piller, I. (2015) Monolingual ways of seeing multilingualism. Journal of Multicultural Discourses, 1-9. DOI: 10.1080/17447143.2015.1102921
- March 1, 2016
- 04:14 PM
- 356 views
Using Teeth to Interpret Social Status and Childhood Health in Historic Japan
by Katy Meyers Emery in Bones Don't Lie
Our bones are pretty amazing- they keep a record of what has happened to us throughout our lifetime. Bones show the trauma and disease we faced, how well we healed […]... Read more »
Nakayama, N. (2015) The Relationship Between Linear Enamel Hypoplasia and Social Status in 18th to 19th Century Edo, Japan. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology. DOI: 10.1002/oa.2515
- March 1, 2016
- 11:10 AM
- 605 views
Shame on You, Shame on Me: Shame as an Evolutionary Adaptation
by Jalees Rehman in The Next Regeneration
Can shame be good for you? We often think of shame as a shackling emotion which thwarts our individuality and creativity. A sense of shame could prevent us from choosing a partner we truly love, speaking out against societal traditions which propagate injustice or pursuing a profession that is deemed unworthy by our peers. But if shame is so detrimental, why did we evolve with this emotion? A team of researchers led by Daniel Sznycer from the Center for Evolutionary Psychology at the University ........ Read more »
Sznycer D, Tooby J, Cosmides L, Porat R, Shalvi S, & Halperin E. (2016) Shame closely tracks the threat of devaluation by others, even across cultures. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. PMID: 26903649
- February 26, 2016
- 02:11 PM
- 383 views
Why people oppose same-sex marriage
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Marriage is legal (here in the US anyway), now I’m not gay, but that is exciting to me. So the question remains, has society fallen apart? Are cats hanging out with dogs and toast falling butter side up? Of course not, so then why do opponents of same-sex marriage really oppose it? A UCLA psychology study concludes that many people believe gay men and women are more sexually promiscuous than heterosexuals, which they may fear could threaten their own marriages and their way of life.
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Pinsof, D., & Haselton, M.G. (2016) The moral divide over same-sex marriage: reproductive strategies in conflict?. Psychological Science. info:/
- February 23, 2016
- 03:37 PM
- 313 views
Does your immune system play a larger role in Alzheimer’s disease than thought?
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Immune cells that normally help us fight off bacterial and viral infections may play a far greater role in Alzheimer’s disease than originally thought, according to University of California, Irvine neurobiologists with the Sue & Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center and the Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders.
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Marsh, S., Abud, E., Lakatos, A., Karimzadeh, A., Yeung, S., Davtyan, H., Fote, G., Lau, L., Weinger, J., Lane, T.... (2016) The adaptive immune system restrains Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis by modulating microglial function. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 201525466. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1525466113
- February 22, 2016
- 04:14 PM
- 371 views
Scientists discover the way to a new generation of antibiotics
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Antibiotic resistance is becoming a common occurrence. Once isolated, more and more we are turning away from the traditional antibiotics to our so called "last line of defense" antibiotics to fight infections. Sadly in a growing number of cases these antibiotics are having less of an effect. However, new research reveals the mechanism by which drug-resistant bacterial cells maintain a defensive barrier.
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Gu, Y., Li, H., Dong, H., Zeng, Y., Zhang, Z., Paterson, N., Stansfeld, P., Wang, Z., Zhang, Y., Wang, W.... (2016) Structural basis of outer membrane protein insertion by the BAM complex. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/nature17199
- February 22, 2016
- 11:21 AM
- 505 views
The Bison in the Room
by Andrew White in AndyWhiteAnthropology
What if the Clovis adaptation in the Eastern Woodlands had nothing substantive whatsoever to do with mammoths and mastodons? What if all of those dioramas and illustrations of Paleoindian peoples swarming a mastodon mired in the muck are complete baloney?What if one of our most popular baseline notions about Clovis in the east is totally wrong?The thought isn't an original one, of course, but one that I've been thinking about since listening to a presentation by Christopher Moore (SCIAA col........ Read more »
Moore, C., Brooks, M., Kimball, L., Newman, M., & Kooyman, B. (2016) Early Hunter-Gatherer Tool Use and Animal Exploitation: Protein and Microwear Evidence from the Central Savannah River Valley. American Antiquity, 81(1), 132-147. DOI: 10.7183/0002-7316.81.1.132
- February 21, 2016
- 04:25 PM
- 404 views
Mutual mistrust may have added a few X-files to the UFO era
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Mulder and Scully may have accomplished something that hasn't happened for society -- trust between two opposing viewpoints. According to a new study, uncloaking the flying saucer movement in the United States could offer historians a snapshot of Cold War attitudes at work in society, as well as insights into how science communication may be tied to current denialism and conspiracy theory movements.... Read more »
Eghigian, G. (2015) Making UFOs make sense: Ufology, science, and the history of their mutual mistrust. Public Understanding of Science. DOI: 10.1177/0963662515617706
- February 20, 2016
- 03:34 PM
- 379 views
Some aging treatments shown to have opposite effects on males and females
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
What helps her live longer might be harmful to him, according to a new study that may shed light on how and why organisms age. Analyzing years of previous research on dietary and pharmaceutical tests on flies and mice, researchers showed that aging interventions can have opposite effects on mortality rates in males versus females.
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Shen J, Landis GN, & Tower J. (2016) Multiple Metazoan Life-span Interventions Exhibit a Sex-specific Strehler-Mildvan Inverse Relationship Between Initial Mortality Rate and Age-dependent Mortality Rate Acceleration. The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences. PMID: 26893470
- February 19, 2016
- 04:07 PM
- 405 views
Does rape alter the female brain?
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Sexual assault, personally, I hate the phrase. It sounds much more tame than rape and I think we should call it like it is, rape. Sure that might make a person's skin crawl just slightly -- and that is frankly the point. Rape is ugly, it's evil, it leaves an indelible mark on a person and unfortunately a new study shows that it may be worse. Researchers have discovered that prepubescent female rodents paired with sexually experienced males had elevated levels of stress hormones, could not learn ........ Read more »
Shors, T., Tobόn, K., DiFeo, G., Durham, D., & Chang, H. (2016) Sexual Conspecific Aggressive Response (SCAR): A Model of Sexual Trauma that Disrupts Maternal Learning and Plasticity in the Female Brain. Scientific Reports, 18960. DOI: 10.1038/srep18960
- February 18, 2016
- 04:20 PM
- 351 views
A way to track and stop human and agricultural viruses
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Viruses are molecular thieves that take from their hosts under the cloak of darkness. But now a Virginia Tech scientist has found a way to not only track viral hijackers, but also potentially stop them from replicating. The discovery has broad ranging applications in stopping viral outbreaks such as Hepatitis C in humans and a number of viruses in plants and animals because it applies to many viruses in the largest category of viral classes -- positive-strand RNA viruses.
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Zhang, J., Zhang, Z., Chukkapalli, V., Nchoutmboube, J., Li, J., Randall, G., Belov, G., & Wang, X. (2016) Positive-strand RNA viruses stimulate host phosphatidylcholine synthesis at viral replication sites. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 201519730. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1519730113
- February 17, 2016
- 03:13 PM
- 455 views
Upright Burial: A Mesolithic and Modern Phenomenon?
by Katy Meyers Emery in Bones Don't Lie
Recently, the popular news has been fascinated with the discovery of an upright burial from a Mesolithic cemetery site in Germany. Rightly so! Upright burials are an extremely rare phenomenon, […]... Read more »
Thomas Terberger, Andreas Kotula, Sebastian Lorenz, Manuela Schult, Joachim Burger, & Bettina Jungklaus. (2015) Standing upright to all eternity- The Mesolithic burial site at Groß Fredenwalde, Brandenburg (NE Germany) . Quartär . info:/
- February 17, 2016
- 02:44 PM
- 461 views
The potential pathway between insomnia and depression
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Have you ever had to deal with bouts of insomnia make you feel depressed? Well the good news is you’re not alone, in fact the two may be linked. A new study of firefighters suggests that insomnia and nightmares may increase the risk of depression by impairing the ability to access and leverage emotion regulation strategies effectively.
... Read more »
Hom, M., Stanley, I., Rogers, M., Tzoneva, M., Bernert, R., & Joiner, T. (2016) The Association between Sleep Disturbances and Depression among Firefighters: Emotion Dysregulation as an Explanatory Factor. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 12(02), 235-245. DOI: 10.5664/jcsm.5492
- February 16, 2016
- 03:30 PM
- 382 views
Researchers highlight brain region as ‘ground zero’ of Alzheimer’s disease
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
A critical but vulnerable region in the brain appears to be the first place affected by late onset Alzheimer’s disease and may be more important for maintaining cognitive function in later life than previously appreciated, according to a new review of the scientific literature.
... Read more »
Mara Mather, & Carolyn W. Harley. (2016) The Locus Coeruleus: Essential for Maintaining Cognitive Function and the Aging Brain. Trends in Cognitive Sciences. DOI: http://dx.org/10.1016/j.tics.2016.01.001
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