bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Quantitative variation
Authors: Konigsberg Lyle
Published: October 2018

Description and analysis of quantitative variation lies at the core of much biological anthropology. This entry first describes the various levels of measurement for variables within the traditional classification of nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio level. Attention is focused on variation for interval and ratio‐level variables, as these are undeniably quantitative variables. The entry considers summary statistics for univariate variables (the mean and variance), bivariate variables (with the addition of covariance to the univariate setting), and multivariate variables (with the addition of the full variance–covariance matrix). Examples are drawn from primate body mass data, the CDC's NHANES data, and chimpanzee craniometrics data.
Random mating and assortative mating
Authors: Bittles Alan H.
Published: October 2018

As a single species, all humans are genetically related to some degree. Differences in the levels of homozygosity in the progeny of random mating couples by comparison with those who practice assortative mating, endogamy, and consanguinity are therefore largely quantitative. In earlier generations, positive assortative mating, including marriage within traditional social and cultural groups, and intrafamilial unions, was strongly favored. Ongoing migration, urbanization, and improved male and female education and skill levels have contributed to the creation of wider and more genetically diverse marriage pools, with a resulting decline in the prevalence of recessive genetic disorders.
Regulatory elements/regulatory genes
Authors: Saldaña‐Martínez Angélica , Pérez‐Ramírez Gerardo , de Lourdes Muñoz María
Published: October 2018

Gene expression is regulated at several points along the pathway from DNA to protein. A crucial point of regulation is transcription, which is responsible for a large proportion of the variation in expression profiles. Changes in gene expression may be triggered by mutation in
cis
‐regulatory elements (CREs) and
trans
‐regulatory elements (TREs). It is induced by environmental stress, which plays a major role in the evolution of living organisms. These regulators control transcription of genes and are located in the same chromosome and/or in both homologous chromosomes, respectively. The transcription of genes may explain phenotypic differences in morphology, physiology, and behavior.
Reproductive seasonality
Authors: Thompson Melissa Emery
Published: October 2018

Reproductive seasonality refers to the temporal clustering of reproductive events in response to seasonal variation in resource availability or climate. Among primates, there are species with defined birth seasons, those with moderate seasonal peaks in births, and those with no significant seasonal pattern of reproduction. Species vary as to whether lactation or conception coincides with peak resource abundance, and the degree to which female reproductive physiology responds to exogenous or endogenous cues. Humans are not strictly seasonal breeders, but frequently exhibit seasonal fluctuations in births. As in other large primates, human female fecundity is sensitive to proximate variation in nutrition and energetic expenditure, though there is some suggestion that high temperatures may exert independent negative effects on reproductive physiology.
Sahelanthropus
Authors: Ahern James C. M.
Published: October 2018

Sahelanthropus tchadensisis a Late Miocene fossil species that is possibly the earliest known hominin. Fossils ofSahelanthropuswere collected in 2001 and 2002 by a team led by Michel Brunet at the site of Toros‐Menalla located in the Djurab Desert of northern Chad. Only cranial and dental fossils have been discovered so far. The best‐preserved specimen, the “Toumaï” cranium (TM 266‐01‐060‐01), exhibits some features that fall intermediate between extant African apes and australopithecines. It appears to lack an apelike canine cutting complex and some aspects of the cranial base might indicate bipedal locomotion in this species. Nevertheless, due to distortion of the Toumaï cranium, the lack of postcranial remains, and some anatomical similarities to nonhominin Miocene apes, the hominin status ofSahelanthropusremains contentious.
Sex estimation (skeleton)
Authors: Spradley M. Katherine , Stull Kyra E.
Published: October 2018

Sex estimation is possible in the human skeleton due to sexual dimorphism or the differences in overall size and shape. Early studies of sex estimation focused primarily on the skull and pelvis and lacked a quantitative framework. The pelvis has typically been reliable for sex estimation due to functional demands of childbirth, while the skull was always thought of as the second‐best estimator of sex. Recent studies have found that the postcranial bones outperform the skull. Many methods exist for sex estimation from the human skeleton; however, due to population variation and secular change, most methods are population specific and time‐period specific.
Reproductive maturation, human
Authors: Chester Emily M. , Vitzthum Virginia J.
Published: October 2018

Reproductive maturation is one of the processes contributing to puberty, the transition from childhood to adulthood. Reproductive maturation involves a series of hormonal changes starting with adrenarche (adrenal glands increase production of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS)) and gonadarche (activation of hypothalamic production of gonadotropin‐releasing hormone (GnRH), which triggers production of estrogens in ovaries and testosterone in testes). These hormones cause changes in the size and appearance of genitals in boys, and thelarche (beginning of breast development) and menarche (first menstruation) in girls. Menarche is followed by a lengthy period of adolescent subfecundity. Tanner Stages are a semiquantitative method for assessing the onset and progression of maturation, which is highly variable among individuals and populations as a result of several genetic and environmental factors (e.g., nutrition, psychosocial stressors). Life history theory provides evolutionary explanations for variation in the timing of reproductive maturation and for the links between maturation, fertility, and health.
Site frequency spectrum
Authors: Kitchen Andrew
Published: October 2018

The site frequency spectrum (SFS) is a summary statistic describing the frequency of derived or minor alleles at segregating sites from a sample of DNA sequences or genotypes. The SFS is often used to determine if patterns of diversity have been altered from neutral expectations by selection or demographic changes. Summary statistics that collapse the SFS are estimators of the population mutation parameter, θ, and may be used to determine the skew of observed SFS. The SFS may be used to jointly estimate many parameters of interest concerning the evolutionary history of populations. The SFS is a useful statistic for genome‐scale analysis of population history.
Skeletal age
Authors: Cameron Noël
Published: October 2018

Skeletal age is the product of the assessment of skeletal maturity. The maturation of the skeleton from birth to early adulthood is used to assign a developmental tempo to the growth of children. This tempo is fundamentally important; not only does it appraise the current growth status of a child but also it is a significant factor relating current growth status to future growth and final or adult stature. While early attempts at determining skeletal maturity used a variety of anatomical centers or indeed the complete skeleton, later methods concentrated on the left hand and wrist, knee, and foot and ankle, although the hand and wrist is generally accepted as the primary center for appraisal. Two approaches for the assessment of skeletal maturity are regularly used: (1) atlas techniques and (2) bone‐specific scoring techniques that determine how far the bones in an anatomical area have progressed towards adult maturity. Both techniques rely on the fact that the epiphyseal areas of long bones and ossification centers of round bones demonstrate a series of visible changes in shape and in the appearance of articular surfaces as they mature. These changes are not usually related to size but to shape, the appearance of articular surfaces, and their position relative to other neighboring bones as visualized in a radiograph.
Skeletal growth
Authors: Garofalo Evan M.
Published: October 2018

Skeletal growth is a biological process involving increasing size and maturation of bone morphology that is sensitive to both environment and genetics. Indicators of bone growth itself may be applied to infer or estimate chronological age at death. Human growth is often contextualized as a means to assess health and environmental change or stability in both past and living populations. However, research in growth has also focused on the nature of human morphological variation.
Stunting and wasting
Authors: Bekelman Traci A.
Published: October 2018

Stunting results from the cumulative effects of disease and undernutrition in early life and is defined as short height for age, while wasting results from disease and acute undernutrition and is defined as low weight for height. Whether a child is classified as stunted or wasted depends on his or her height and weight relative to other children of the same age and sex. Biological anthropologists have used a comparative perspective and a biocultural approach to answer questions about how and why stunting and wasting vary across individuals and populations.
T
anner,
N
ancy
Authors: Gifford‐Gonzalez Diane , Shaw Carolyn Martin
Published: October 2018

Nancy M. Tanner was an ethnographer who, with her colleague Adrienne Zihlman, argued in the 1970s and early 1980s for the centrality of females in shaping distinctive traits emergent in hominin evolution. Tanner and Zihlman proposed that greater parental investment by female early hominins under changing environmental conditions could have led to technological innovation, as well as to female sexual selection as a force shaping male hominin behavioral traits. They also proposed that long‐lived matrifocal groups among early hominins could have been the locus of kin selection for increased provisioning of young by mothers and older siblings. Given the era's male‐centered scenarios for the emergence of distinctively hominin behaviors, Tanner's work was among the first to argue for a view of selective pressures operating on both sexes. Tanner's work presaged a turn toward greater attention to female social behavior and life histories in biological anthropology and human evolutionary studies.
Taphonomy
Authors: Dirkmaat Dennis , Cabo Luis L.
Published: October 2018

Since its definition in 1940, taphonomy has revolutionized the study and interpretation of organic deposits in paleontology, archaeology, and forensics. Its initial goal was detection and quantification of biases derived from deposition and preservation processes in order to improve paleobiological reconstructions and estimates. It was later realized that taphonomic alteration did not just result in information losses; the taphonomic agent or process itself was relevant, and taphonomic alteration resulted in information gains regarding these processes. This becomes especially relevant when humans are one of the taphonomic agents involved. Taphonomy is a multidisciplinary discipline that draws information from fields as diverse as geomorphology, sedimentology, stratigraphy, geochemistry, biochemistry, microbiology, ecology, zoology, botany, and anthropology. Taphonomy also comprises several subfields. Necrology and biostratinomy focus on the origin of the deposit, including on mode and timing of deposition, while diagenesis studies postburial alteration. Quantitative taphonomy produces numerical estimates for community and population parameters. Taphonomy became an integral part of anthropology and archaeology as zooarchaeology, a discipline focused on subjects such as species utilization and intentional bone modification (treated as indicators of past human behavior). Forensic taphonomy is a recent application; it is used to explain human behavior at the crime scene, provide better postmortem interval (PMI) estimates, and embellish skeletal trauma analysis.
T
appen,
N
eil
C.
Authors: Cartmill Matt
Published: October 2018

Neil C. Tappen (1920–2013) was a US biological anthropologist who made significant contributions to osteology through his study of cranial split‐line patterns, and to primatology through his field and museum work on the distribution and ecology of African monkeys.
Tobias,PhillipVallentine
Authors: Thackeray Francis
Published: October 2018

Phillip Vallentine Tobias (1925–2012) was a South African paleoanthropologist who made major contributions to the study of human evolution through his work on hominids from both South Africa and East Africa. Tobias was invited by the Leakeys to work on fossils from Olduvai Gorge, including crania ofAustralopithecus boisei(“Zinjanthropus”) andHomo habilis. He directed excavations at Sterkfontein in South Africa. He also studied human biology, adding to our understanding of modern human variation in southern Africa, and was an outspoken advocate for human rights and activist against South African apartheid.
Dental development (human)
Authors: Holly Smith B.
Published: October 2018

Development of the human dentition plays a part across the life sciences. Teeth are hard tissue structures that develop in stages and in series across some 20 years of human life, from embryo to young adult. Unlike bone, they neither grow nor remodel after formation, thus preserving a chemical and microstructural record of juvenile life into adulthood and after death. Tooth formation is the best indicator of chronological age in children and key evidence in evolution of human growth and development. Broad knowledge of tooth emergence for world populations has accumulated over a long period, but nonclinical data on tooth formation/mineralization comes primarily from large‐scale radiographic growth studies of the mid‐twentieth century.
Transcriptome
Authors: O'Rourke Jamie A.
Published: October 2018

A transcriptome is the collection of all transcribed or expressed gene sequences. While the DNA sequence in all nucleated cells within an organism is identical, only a small fraction of the DNA sequence is transcriptionally active. Further, not all genes are transcribed in all cells. A transcriptome refers to transcribed sequences isolated from a sample. The sample may be specific tissues, cells, or developmental stages, or may refer to all potential transcribed sequences from the organism. In short, the sequences surveyed are dependent on the sample. The transcriptome is the bridge between genomic sequence and the proteins present in a sample. Transcriptomic studies provide an avenue to investigate gene function, specifically the role of specific genes or transcripts in cell types, diseases, and developmental processes.
Vallois,Henri‐Victor
Authors: Mann Alan
Published: October 2018

Henri‐Victor Vallois (1889–1981) was one of the most celebrated anthropologists of early twentieth‐century France. During his seven‐decade‐long career he held a number of prestigious positions in French museums and universities and was editor of prominent journals. One of his major research interests was human races; in this, he continued to support many of the theories developed by earlier French anthropologists, basing his understanding on the recognition of distinct racial groupings identified by physical attributes. In his studies of human evolution, he supported the now abandoned idea of the pre‐sapiens lineage, the idea that Neandertals and modern humans had coexisted over a long period in Europe, with the former becoming extinct and the latter leading to modern Europeans.
V
irchow,
R
udolf
Authors: Smith Fred H.
Published: October 2018

Rudolf Ludwig Carl Virchow (1821–1902) was one of the most outstanding biological and medical scientists of the last half of the nineteenth century. He is considered the founder of modern pathological studies, including the use of autopsies, and made fundamental contributions in cell biology. Virchow also was fascinated by prehistory and human variation, but he remained an anti‐evolutionist throughout his career, as illustrated by his denial of the existence of fossil humans. He also applied medical and public health principles in an attempt to alleviate the effects of poverty and poor living conditions among the German populace, and took an active role in German politics.
Wallace,AlfredRussel
Authors: Smith E. O.
Published: October 2018

Alfred Russel Wallace (1823–1913) was a British naturalist of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. His expeditions to the Amazon and to the Malay Archipelago provided not only a wealth of information on the natural history of the areas, but also considerable material for exhibition and study in museums. Wallace's joint 1858 publication with Charles Darwin, “On the Tendency of Species to Form Varieties; and on the Perpetuation of Varieties and Species by Natural Means of Selection,” signaled a revolutionary new way of thinking about species change, natural selection, and evolution.
Weinert,Hans
Authors: Smith Fred H.
Published: October 2018

Hans Weinert (1887–1957) was a leading figure in German biological anthropology from the late period between the world wars through the 1950s. He researched a variety of topics, from blood groups to skeletal biology, but his major contributions were in paleoanthropology. He was a staunch defender of a unilineal interpretation of human evolution in which all recent human races, as an interconnected web of regional lineages, passed through the same evolutionary stages, with the last pre‐modern stage being a “Neandertaloid” one. Weinert also provided excellent descriptions of several key fossils and served as editor of theZeitschrift für Morphologie und Anthropologie.
J
ones,
F
rederic
W
ood
Authors: Cartmill Matt
Published: October 2018

Frederic Wood Jones (1879–1954) was an English anatomist who made important contributions to the comparative anatomy of primates and marsupials and helped shape the arboreal theory of primate origins. He was best known as a proponent of an early‐divergence theory of human origins, according to which the human lineage had descended from a tarsier‐like early Paleogene primate, without ever passing through monkey‐like or ape‐like stages.
Human Biology Association
Authors: Little Michael A. , James Gary D.
Published: October 2018

Established in 1974, the Human Biology Association and its official organ, the
American Journal of Human Biology
, represent and disseminate the science of human population biology. This includes studies of comparative and worldwide human variation, in evolutionary, social, developmental, genetic, and environmental contexts. Annual meetings are held in conjunction with the American Association of Physical Anthropologists.
Neandertal, type locality and specimen
Authors: Smith Fred H.
Published: October 2018

The type specimen for Neandertals comprises a calotte (top of the skull) and 15 postcranial bones recovered from the Neander Valley (Neanderthal, now Neandertal), Germany in 1856. The specimen is often referred to as Neandertal 1. The actual site was destroyed soon after the specimen's recovery, but some deposits thrown from the cave were located and excavated in 1997 and 2000. These new excavations yielded Pleistocene fauna, Paleolithic artifacts, and 73 Neandertal skeletal fragments. Three fragments were direct‐dated by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C to ca. 40 kya, establishing conclusively the antiquity of the first Neandertal to be recognized.
Pearl,Raymond
Authors: Crawford Michael H.
Published: October 2018

Raymond Pearl (1879–1940) during most of his career was a human biologist at Johns Hopkins University embedded in the School of Hygiene and Public Health. His contributions to the field of human biology included the application of quantitative methodologies to experimental and demographic data, the use of animal models for the understanding of biological processes, the examination of the relationship between basal metabolic rates and longevity, and his challenge to the underlying tenets of eugenics. He was a prolific writer, editor, and popularizer of science with the publication of over 700 articles and books. He founded two major journals in the field of human biology:Quarterly Review of Biologyin 1926, andHuman Biologyin 1929. Both of these journals have been continuously published since their founding to the present day.
Blood pressure
Authors: Gerber Linda M.
Published: October 2018

Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing through the arteries as the heart pumps blood throughout the body. Blood pressure is variable within an individual depending on many factors. It also varies across the lifespan of an individual. Although environmental factors have a major influence on blood pressure level, there are significant genetic and heritable components. A number of theories exist as to why humans are vulnerable to elevated blood pressure. Biological anthropologists often use the life‐course perspective, or life‐history approach, as well as “natural experiments” to explore relationships between biocultural influences and blood pressure. A biocultural approach recognizes both human biological variation and the role of social and cultural forces.
Hair Color
Authors: Jablonski Nina G.
Published: October 2018

The color of scalp hair is determined by the amount of melanin and by the ratio of eumelanin to pheomelanin in the hair shaft. The melanocortin‐1 receptor (MC1R) protein on the surface of human melanocytes determines the ratio of eumelanin to pheomelanin produced, and its structure and function are determined by the
MC1R
gene. Most people have very dark brown hair, with a high ratio of eumelanin to pheomelanin. Red heads have a higher ratio of pheomelanin, while blonds have less of both types of melanin.
Schaaffhausen,Hermann
Authors: Smith Fred H.
Published: October 2018

Hermann Schaaffhausen (1816–93) was a leader in the early development of physical anthropology in Germany. Best known for his studies on the original Neandertal skeleton, Schaaffhausen published widely on a number of anthropological and biological topics. His support for the primitive nature of Neandertals and for Darwinian evolutionary theory was not popular with most of his contemporaries and probably negatively affected his career. He nevertheless received several awards for his work and enjoyed a long professional career at the University of Bonn.
Levantine fossil record
Authors: Hershkovitz Israel , Slon Viviane
Published: October 2018

Throughout human evolution, the Levant has served as the major land corridor for hominins migrating from Africa. Although human fossils have been discovered in many parts of the Old World, few geographical areas are as important to advancing our understanding of human evolution as the Levant. The current chapter describes the major fossils that have been discovered in the Levant from the Lower Pleistocene to the beginning of the Holocene; and it presents some of the major questions associated with them.
D
ahlberg,
A
lbert
A.
Authors: Smith Patricia
Published: October 2018

Albert A. Dahlberg (1908–93) was instrumental in developing the field of dental anthropology through his multidisciplinary research on dental variation and patterns of inheritance of tooth size and morphology. He carried out numerous field studies on the teeth and jaws of living populations, as well as examining fossil dentitions. Dahlberg was one of the founders of the tri‐annual International Symposia of Dental Morphology and of the Dental Anthropology Association and its newsletter. Dahlberg received numerous awards and prizes for his contribution to dental anthropology during his lifetime. An inspiring teacher, he deeply influenced many students and colleagues, who established a number of awards for dental students and researchers in his memory.
Eugenics
Authors: Marks Jonathan
Published: October 2018

Eugenics was a popular scientific movement in the early twentieth century, which attempted to explain and solve human social problems by recourse to biological factors and remedies. The term was coined by Francis Galton in 1883 to refer to the genetic improvement of the human species. It became an international scientific and political crusade, as a scientific attempt to improve society, and took different forms in different countries. Although we have come to associate it with Nazi Germany, eugenics emerged first in England and America, and enjoyed popularity as a scientifically formulated social policy in various ways in France, Latin America, and Scandinavia.
S
windler,
D
aris
Authors: Holly Smith B.
Published: October 2018

Daris Ray Swindler (1925–2007) was an American biological anthropologist, anatomist, and educator who became a key figure in comparative studies of anatomy, development and growth, dental metrics, and dental morphology in anthropoid primates. Throughout his career, he contributed to the dental anthropology of the Pacific and consulted in forensic cases. He left an academic legacy of important publications, research collections, and students.
G
avan,
J
ames
Authors: Schoeninger Margaret , Gelvin Bruce
Published: October 2018

James Anderson Gavan was an international authority on growth and development in nonhuman primates. His Ph.D. work on chimpanzee growth led to a long‐term longitudinal pre‐ and postnatal growth study of macaque monkeys. He chaired a committee of the American Association of Physical Anthropology devoted to protecting science teaching in public schools. His broad interests included anthropology in general, biological anthropology, human paleontology, anatomy, archaeology, and technique development.
S
arich,
V
incent
Authors: Schoenemann P. Thomas
Published: October 2018

Vincent Matthew Sarich (1934–2012; BS Illinois Institute of Technology 1955; Ph.D. University of California Berkeley 1967) was a pioneer of the study of molecular evolution. With Allan Wilson, he showed that differences among primates in albumin and transferrin molecules accumulated at a constant rate over time (i.e., they were “molecular clocks”), which allowed for the reconstruction of a relative phylogenetic tree. Calibrating the rate of molecular change with the least controversial fossil branch points in primate evolution, they concluded that the human lineage had diverged from the African ape lineages as recently as 4–6 million years ago. Although controversial at the time, their phylogeny has been supported by subsequent molecular work. Sarich applied similar methods to many other mammal species (e.g., assessing the phylogenetic status of the giant panda). He also contributed to research and theory on the evolution of human behavior, in particular focusing on schizophrenia and the evolution of brain size.
Cobb,WilliamMontague
Authors: Jackson Fatimah L. C.
Published: October 2018

Dr. William Montague Cobb was an outstanding clinical physician, scholar of anatomy and community health, human rights and anti‐racist activist, innovator, mentor and the first African American to earn a doctorate in physical anthropology. The Cobb tradition is characterized by an emphasis on African Americans and their biological diversity, a recognition of the role of social and historical factors as major forces affecting human biology, impartiality in research, and innovation and creativity in teaching. Dr. Cobb established the Cobb Research Laboratory in 1932, producing the largest collection of African American skeletal and dental materials for interdisciplinary research into human equality.
Polygenism
Authors: Caspari Rachel
Published: October 2018

Polygenism (multiple origins) is a theory of separate origins of human races that reached the height of its popularity in the mid‐nineteenth century. It was particularly influential in France and the United States and was the central tenet of the so‐called American School of anthropology. Originally, polygenists held that races were products of separate divine creation, but after the acceptance of Darwinian evolution, evolutionary polygenists considered races to have long and separate evolutionary histories. Polygenism was expressed in the seventeenth century in the work of Isaac De Peyrère (1596–1676) and by some philosophers and writers of the eighteenth‐century Enlightenment. Monogenists of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, such as Buffon and Blumenbach, countered, arguing for the unity of the human species. In the early nineteenth century, scientific polygenists used (usually cranial) measurements to demonstrate supposed racial inequality, a tradition that continued among evolutionary polygenists. Polygenism was a part of public discourse to promote racial inequality, employed to argue against abolition in the nineteenth century and against school desegregation in the American South in the mid‐twentieth century. Although discredited among anthropologists today, polygenism continues to be foundational to scientific racism.
Pretreated Macrophage‐Membrane‐Coated Gold Nanocages for Precise Drug Delivery for Treatment of Bacterial Infections
Authors: Wang Can , Wang Yulan , Zhang Lingling , Miron Richard J. , Liang Jianfei , Shi Miusi , Mo Wenting , Zheng Shihang , Zhao Yanbing , Zhang Yufeng
Published: October 2018

Pathogenic bacterial infections and drug resistance make it urgent to develop new antibacterial agents with targeted delivery. Here, a new targeting delivery nanosystem is designed based on the potential interaction between bacterial recognizing receptors on macrophage membranes and distinct pathogen‐associated molecular patterns in bacteria. Interestingly, the expression of recognizing receptors on macrophage membranes increases significantly when cultured with specific bacteria. Therefore, by coating pretreated macrophage membrane onto the surface of a gold–silver nanocage (GSNC), the nanosystem targets bacteria more efficiently. Previously, it has been shown that GSNC alone can serve as an effective antibacterial agent owing to its photothermal effect under near‐infrared (NIR) laser irradiation. Furthermore, the nanocage can be utilized as a delivery vehicle for antibacterial drugs since the gold–silver nanocage presents a hollow interior and porous wall structure. With significantly improved bacterial adherence, the Sa‐M‐GSNC nanosystem, developed within this study, is effectively delivered and retained at the infection site both via local or systemic injections; the system also shows greatly prolonged blood circulation time and excellent biocompatibility. The present work described here is the first to utilize bacterial pretreated macrophage membrane receptors in a nanosystem to achieve specific bacterial‐targeted delivery, and provides inspiration for future therapy based on this concept.
Achieving Thermo‐Mechano‐Opto‐Responsive Bitemporal Colorful Luminescence via Multiplexing of Dual Lanthanides in Piezoelectric Particles and its Multidimensional Anticounterfeiting
Authors: Zhang Jun‐Cheng , Pan Cong , Zhu Yi‐Fei , Zhao Li‐Zhen , He Hong‐Wei , Liu Xiaofeng , Qiu Jianrong
Published: October 2018

Optical characteristics of luminescent materials, including emission color (wavelength), lifetime, and excitation mode, play crucial roles in data communication and information security. Conventional luminescent materials generally display unicolor, unitemporal, and unimodal (occasionally bimodal) emission, resulting in low‐level readout and decoding. The development of multicolor, multitemporal, and multimodal luminescence in a single material has long been considered to be a significant challenge. In this study, for the first time, the superior integration of colorful (red–orange–yellow–green), bitemporal (fluorescent and delayed), and four‐modal (thermo‐/mechano‐motivated and upconverted/downshifted) emissions in a particular piezoelectric particle via optical multiplexing of dual‐lanthanide dopants is demonstrated. The as‐prepared versatile NaNbO3:Pr3+,Er3+ luminescent microparticles shown are particularly suitable for embedding into polymer films to achieve waterproof, flexible/wearable and highly stretchable features, and synchronously to provide multidimensional codes that can be visually read‐out using simple and commonly available tools (including the LED of a smartphone, pen writing, cooling–heating stimuli, and ultraviolet/near‐infrared lamps). These findings offer unique insight for designing highly integrated stimuli‐responsive luminophors and smart devices toward a wide variety of applications, particularly advanced anticounterfeiting technology.
Copper and Copper‐Based Bimetallic Catalysts for Carbon Dioxide Electroreduction
Authors: Birhanu Mulatu Kassie , Tsai Meng‐Che , Kahsay Amaha Woldu , Chen Chun‐Tse , Zeleke Tamene Simachew , Ibrahim Kassa Belay , Huang Chen‐Jui , Su Wei‐Nien , Hwang Bing‐Joe
Published: October 2018

Among many alternatives, CO2 electroreduction (CO2ER) is an emerging technology to alleviate its level in the atmosphere and simultaneously to produce essential products containing high energy density using various electrocatalysts. Cu‐based mono‐ and bimetallics are electrocatalysts of concerns in this work due to the material's abundance and versatility. Intrinsic factors affecting the CO2ER are first analyzed, whereby understanding and characterizing the surface features of electrocatalysts are addressed. An X‐ray absorption spectroscopy‐based methodology is discussed to determine electronic and structural properties of electrocatalyst surface which allows the prediction of reaction mechanism and establishing the correlation with reduction products. The selectivity and faradaic efficiency of products highly depend on the quality of surface modification. Preparation and modification of electrocatalyst surfaces through various techniques are critical to increase the number of activity sites and the corresponding site activity. Mechanisms of CO2ER are complicate and thus are discussed in accordance with main products of interests. The authors try to concisely compile the most interesting, recent, and reasonable ideas that are agreeable to experimental results. Finally, this review provides an outlook for designing better Cu and Cu‐based bimetallic catalysts to obtain selective products through CO2ER.
Nanodiamond‐Based Platform for Intracellular‐Specific Delivery of Therapeutic Peptides against Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Authors: Gu Mengjie , Wang Xin , Toh Tan Boon , Hooi Lissa , Tenen Daniel G. , Chow Edward Kai‐Hua
Published: October 2018

Therapeutic peptides are attractive as a treatment modality due to their high selectivity and relative safety and tolerability. Delivery of therapeutic peptides to target cells continues to pose a challenge, particularly when these peptides target intracellular proteins. In this study, the use of nanodiamonds (NDs) as a platform for enhanced intracellular delivery of therapeutic peptides is investigated. SALL4 is found to contribute to tumor progression in many types of cancers, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Therapeutic peptides specifically targeting SALL4 demonstrate an effective, but limited, inhibitory effect on SALL4‐driven HCC tumor cell growth. Nanodiamond‐based delivery of SALL4‐inhibitory peptides is found to improve peptide stability and cellular peptide retention. Stimuli‐responsive release of SALL4‐inhibitory peptide from nanodiamonds ensures intracellular‐specific delivery of functional SALL4‐inhibitory peptides. The observed enhanced peptide stability and intracellular‐specific delivery of SALL4‐inhibitory peptides by nanodiamonds result in improved therapeutic efficacy by ND‐peptide complexes against SALL4‐driven HCC. As such, nanodiamonds serve as a promising platform for stimuli‐responsive intracellular‐specific delivery of therapeutic peptides.
High‐Performance All‐Small‐Molecule Solar Cells Based on a New Type of Small Molecule Acceptors with Chlorinated End Groups
Authors: Wang Yunchuang , Wang Yanbo , Kan Bin , Ke Xin , Wan Xiangjian , Li Chenxi , Chen Yongsheng
Published: October 2018

While a wide variety of nonfullerene acceptors are developed and perform well in combination with polymer donors, only a few nonfullerene acceptors can work well with small molecule donors. Here, all‐small‐molecule solar cells with high performance enabled by a new type of small molecule acceptors (F‐0Cl, F‐1Cl, and F‐2Cl), which contain linear alkyl side chains and end groups substituted with various number of chlorine atoms, are reported. End group chlorination leads to redshifted absorption, enhanced crystallinity, and high electron mobility. These properties make them competitive as electron acceptors for all‐small‐molecule solar devices. When combined with two popular small molecule donors DRTB‐T and DRCN5T, these nonfullerene acceptors offer power conversion efficiencies up to 10.76 and 9.89%, which are among the top efficiencies reported in all‐small‐molecule solar cells and indicate the great potential of all‐small‐molecule solar devices.
Scars on plants sourced for termite fishing tools by chimpanzees: Towards an archaeology of the perishable
Authors: Pascual‐Garrido Alejandra
Published: October 2018

Chimpanzees are well‐studied, but raw material acquisition for tool use is still poorly understood as sources are difficult to trace. This study pioneers the use of information that can be gleaned from plant scars made by chimpanzees while they source vegetation parts to manufacture termite fishing tools. Source plant species, raw material types and locations relative to targeted termite mounds were recorded for populations at Gombe, Issa, and Mahale in western Tanzania. Recovered bark, twig, and vine tools were traced to 29 plant species, while grass sources were indeterminable. Bark extraction scars remained detectable for months, and thus possibly for as long as the plant is alive, while twig and vine scars preserved for a few weeks only. Scars preserve better than tools, given that twice as many plant species could be linked to the former than to the latter. Some source species were exploited across all sites for the same type of tool material, while two species were sourced for different types. Compared to apes at Gombe and Mahale, Issa chimpanzees carried material from twice as far away, perhaps because the Issa habitat is more open and dry, which entails greater distances between suitable raw material sources and targeted mounds. Site‐specific tools were based on different raw materials, in two cases sourced from the same species, which could suggest learned preferences for particular tool material. “Archaeology of the perishable” as pioneered in this study broadens the methodological approach of the wider field of primate archaeology to include reconstructions of past animal behavior associated with the production of plant based tools.
Standard growth and diarrhea‐associated growth faltering in captive infant rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta)
Authors: Haertel Andrew J. , Prongay Kamm , Gao Lina , Gottlieb Daniel H. , Park Byung
Published: October 2018

Reference growth studies of captive rhesus macaque infants have not accounted for diarrhea and the potential for growth stunting or growth faltering. Healthy infants without diarrhea could be used to build a standard growth chart and a tool used to detect growth faltering associated with diarrhea. We hypothesized infants who develop diarrhea during the first year of life would experience decreased linear weight gain compared to healthy infants, and we used healthy infants to establish standard growth of male and female infants. We hypothesized the lower 3rd percentile of standard growth would be cut‐off criteria used in screening for diarrhea‐associated growth faltering. Using a retrospective cohort of 6,510 infant weight records in a multiple linear regression, daily weight gain through the first year of life was determined by sex, housing type, and health status. Male standard growth was 4.1 g/day (95%CI: 4.0–4.2 g/day) in corrals and 4.7 g/day (95%CI: 4.5–4.8 g/day) in shelter housing. Female standard growth was 4.0 g/day (95%CI: 3.8–4.2 g/day) in corrals and 4.4 g/day (95%CI: 4.0–4.7 g/day) in shelter housing. Diarrhea was significantly associated with decreased linear weight gain by up to 34% during the first year of life. Odds of growth faltering of infants, defined as those falling below the 3rd percentile of standard growth, were at least 8.9 higher given a history of diarrhea compared to healthy. The growth faltering cut‐off criteria had a sensitivity of at least 53% for males and females to screen for diarrhea in infants between 6 and 12 months in shelters housing. Interinstitutional collaborations of infant rhesus macaque weight records would refine the standard growth charts and cut‐off criteria, and additional morphometric data would provide a more nuanced picture of growth stunting
One‐year change in cognitive flexibility and fine motor function in middle‐aged male and female marmosets (Callithrix jacchus)
Authors: Workman Kathryn P. , Healey Brianna , Carlotto Alyssa , Lacreuse Agnès
Published: October 2018

The common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) is uniquely suited for longitudinal studies of cognitive aging, due to a relatively short lifespan, sophisticated cognitive abilities, and patterns of brain aging that resemble those of humans. We examined cognitive function and fine motor skills in male and female marmosets (mean age ∼5 at study entry) followed longitudinally for 2 years. Each year, monkeys were tested on a reversal learning task with three pairs of stimuli (n = 18, 9 females) and a fine motor task requiring them to grasp small rewards from two staircases (Hill and Valley test, n = 12, 6 females). There was little evidence for a decline in cognitive flexibility between the two time points, in part because of practice effects. However, independent of year of testing, females took longer than males to reach criterion in the reversals, indicating impaired cognitive flexibility. Motivation was unlikely to contribute to this effect, as males refused a greater percentage of trials than females in the reversals. With regards to motor function, females were significantly faster than males in the Hill and Valley task. From Year 1 to Year 2, a slight slowing of motor function was observed in both sexes, but accuracy decreased significantly in males only. This study (1) demonstrates that marmosets exhibit sex differences in cognitive flexibility and fine motor function that resemble those described in humans; (2) that changes in fine motor function can already be detected at middle‐age; and (3) that males may experience greater age‐related changes in fine motor skills than females. Additional data points will determine whether these sex and age differences persist over time.
Permanent tooth emergence: Timing and sequence in a sample of Black Southern African children
Authors: Esan Temitope A. , Mothupi Kelebogile A. , Schepartz Lynne A.
Published: October 2018

Objectives

This study investigates mean age, sequence, and temporal trends of permanent tooth emergence in Black Southern African children and compares the findings with other population samples.

Materials and methods

This community‐based cross‐sectional study involved 639 Black Southern African children between 5 and 20 years of age. Probit analysis was used to derive the mean age at emergence of the permanent teeth. Sex and cross‐population comparisons were undertaken to determine similarities and differences in emergence timing and sequence.

Results

Females emerged all teeth earlier except for M3s (p < .05). Black Southern Africans have earlier mean ages of emergence compared to population samples from the USA, Europe, Australia, and Asia. Sexual dimorphism was detected in the mandibular I1/M1 emergence sequence (females, M1I1; males, I1M1). The sequence in males is similar in both jaws to males from other sub‐Saharan African, USA, and European samples. Females show a similar sequence pattern in the maxilla with other sub‐Saharan African, and also Australian and US females of European ancestry. There is a high frequency of polymorphism in the P1P2C1 emergence sequence, with significantly more P2P1C1 maxillary sequences seen among males. Polymorphic variation was common for the I1M1 sequence in both males and females.

Discussion

Mean age of tooth emergence among Black Southern African children is similar to children from most other sub‐Saharan African populations. No temporal change was seen in the mean age of emergence. Earlier permanent tooth emergence in Black Southern Africans is part of a general sub‐Saharan pattern that is distinct from European and Asian populations.
Dental markers of poverty: Biocultural deliberations on oral health of the poor in mid‐nineteenth‐century Ireland
Authors: Geber Jonny , Murphy Eileen
Published: October 2018

Objectives

Despite subsisting on a low‐cariogenic diet comprising virtually nothing more than potatoes and dairy products, poor oral health affected the quality of life for the poor of nineteenth‐century Ireland. This study investigates potential biocultural reasons that may explain why this was the case.

Material and Methods

A total of 6,860 teeth and 9,889 alveoli from 363 permanent dentitions from the skeletal remains of impoverished adult Irish males and females who died between 1847 and 1851 in the Kilkenny Union Workhouse were examined for evidence of dental caries, periodontal disease and ante‐mortem tooth loss. Caries rates were quantified and assessed by crude prevalence, frequencies, corrected caries rates and a t‐health index, and evaluated by sex and age groups.

Results

A higher rate of caries was present among 18–25‐year‐old males than females, while the opposite relationship was evident for older age groups. The prevalence rates of periodontal disease and ante‐mortem tooth loss increased with age. When assessed by corrected caries rates, tooth decay is observed at a lower rate compared to contemporaneous lower to upper‐class population samples from London.

Discussion

Despite being low cariogenic foods, the potato starch and milk lactose of a nineteenth‐century Irish laborer's diet would have lowered oral pH‐values thereby increasing the risk of bacterial fermentation in dental plaque resulting in caries. Nutritional features alone cannot explain the high rates of dental caries observed in the Kilkenny workhouse population sample, however, and lifestyle factors, particularly habitual clay‐pipe smoking, is considered a significant cause of poor oral health.