bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Speciation
Authors: Holliday Trenton W.
Published: October 2018

Speciation is the evolutionary emergence of species, and all of the taxonomic diversity of life is ultimately the result of this process. Speciation can be either anagenetic (within a single lineage, although many do not accept this as true speciation) or cladogenetic (branching speciation, in which a parental species gives rise to two or more daughter species). Cladogenesis is subdivided based on the geographical relationships between the daughter species: (1) sympatric speciation, for which the daughter species inhabit the same area; (2) parapatric speciation, for which the daughter species inhabit contiguous areas; and (3) allopatric speciation, in which the daughter species inhabit different geographic areas. Sympatric speciation is more common in plants than in animals, and some plant species evolve via hybrid speciation in which the hybrid (and often polyploid) offspring of two hybridizing species become a new, third species. Most cladogenetic events are thought to be allopatric. As speciation is the production of species, a single methodology for defining species would be desirable, but remains elusive. As a result, there is much debate surrounding the identification of extant species taxa, and determining the bounds of fossil species is more difficult still.
Stable isotopes
Authors: Gregoricka Lesley A.
Published: October 2018

Stable isotopes incorporated into skeletal tissues offer an unparalleled glimpse into human behavior in the past, primarily by enabling a more direct assessment of diet and residential mobility among ancient human communities. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes from bone collagen, as well as radiogenic strontium and stable oxygen isotopes from bone and enamel apatite, are now routinely utilized by biological anthropologists to better evaluate adaptation and social organization among past peoples.
Straus,WilliamL.
Authors: Cartmill Matt
Published: October 2018

William L. Straus (1900–81) was an American anatomist and biological anthropologist who made important contributions to paleoanthropology and to the anatomy of primates and other mammals. Although his anatomical investigations ranged widely, they began with and centered on the comparative anatomy of the muscles of the hands and feet. His researches led him to conclude that humans had not evolved from long‐armed, ape‐like animals, but from more generalized Oligocene quadrupeds similar in many respects to Old World monkeys.
Stress
Authors: Ice Gillian H.
Published: October 2018

The stress response system evolved early in mammalian evolution as a response to acute stressors. Two physiological systems, the sympathetic adrenal medullary system and the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis, respond to stress; collectively these systems serve to increase mental alertness and provide energy to allow an organism to respond rapidly to an emergent situation. While the response is adaptive for short‐term and infrequent stressors, modern human life presents more persistent stressors which can have a negative impact on health. Psychosocial stress has a variety of emotional, behavioral, and physiological consequences. Biological anthropologists have demonstrated that environmental changes, cultural transitions, and every day stressors result in elevated stress markers and negative health consequences across the lifespan.
Synapomorphy
Authors: Cartmill Matt
Published: October 2018

In figuring out the family tree of phylogenetic relationships within any group of organisms, features that are constant within that group or that are inherited from its last common ancestor are of no help. The only useful evidence comprises evolutionary novelties that have appeared within the group in some subgroups but not in all. In theory, shared novelties—nonprimitive or derived traits, called
synapomorphies
—are the only indicators that a subgroup has a unique common ancestry not shared by other group members. In practice, it is not always easy to distinguish synapomorphies from
convergent resemblances
(similarities evolved separately in different lineages), or from resemblances that are primitive features inherited from earlier ancestors (
symplesiomorphies
). For example, within mammals, having wings is a synapomorphy of bats; having hooves is a convergent resemblance between horses and cows (their last common ancestor had claws); and laying eggs is a symplesiomorphic resemblance between platypuses and echidnas—a reptilian inheritance, which by itself furnishes no grounds for grouping them together.
T
anner,
J. M.
Authors: Cameron Noël
Published: October 2018

James Mourilyan Tanner (1920–2010) was the foremost authority on human growth and development during the second half of the twentieth century. While his name is synonymous with the study of adolescent growth and puberty (for example, “Tanner staging”), his contributions covered all aspects of normal growth and its disorders. Between 1944 and 2001 he published over 300 scientific papers and monographs and 10 books, of which most went into second or third editions, and 19 foreign‐language editions of these books were published in German, Russian, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, and Swedish. Tanner's major books included
Growth at Adolescence
(1955) and
A History of the Study of Human Growth
(1981).
Taphonomy and fossilization
Authors: Grupe Gisela
Published: October 2018

In its original sense, taphonomy comprises all processes that lead to the transformation of dead tissue from the biosphere into the lithosphere. Quite recently, debates arose on a possibly broader redefinition of this term. In fact sciences other than paleontology have meanwhile adopted the term, in particular forensic scientists with a focus on the early stages of the disintegration of a corpse, and both physical anthropologists and archaeologists who are mainly concerned with the decomposition of skeletal finds from the Holocene. As a consequence, today the poorly defined term “decomposition” is frequently used more or less synonymously to “taphonomy.” By definition, the whole taphonomic process is subdivided into the four consecutive stages of necrology, biostratinomy, burial, and diagenesis. Fossilization is a rare event, because the normal fate of dead tissue in nature is complete disintegration and the recycling of matter. Very special burial conditions must prevail to turn a body or its parts into a “perfect fossil” where size and shape is preserved. This chapter presents an overview on the most important processes that are relevant for tissue preservation, decomposition, and fossilization.
T
eleki,
G
eza
P.
Authors: Cartmill Matt
Published: October 2018

Geza Teleki (1943–2014) was a primatologist, conservationist, and animal‐rights advocate, born in Hungary during World War II and raised and educated in the United States. His graduate studies with the pioneering field primatologist C. R. Carpenter led him to do fieldwork under the direction of Dr. Jane Goodall in Tanzania, where he studied and documented the predatory behavior of wild chimpanzees. Teleki devoted most of the last three decades of his life to promoting the conservation of chimpanzees and other primates in the wild and their welfare in captivity.
Territory
Authors: Bartlett Thad Q. , Light Lydia E. O.
Published: October 2018

A territory is a fixed portion of an individual's or group's overall home range—a portion that it actively defends against encroachment by other animals of the same species and that exhibits a high degree of spatial and temporal stability. By defending a fixed area, territorial animals maintain a portion of their range for their more or less exclusive use. Thus the concept entails elements of geography, exclusivity, and persistence and implies the presence of a recognizable territorial border. The key benefits of territoriality are thought to relate to guaranteed access to resources, including feeding sites, but territoriality also entails energetic expense and the potential for injury. Therefore animals will only defend an area if the benefits, such as resources access or mating exclusivity, outweigh the costs.
Thorne,AlanG.
Authors: Oxnard Charles
Published: October 2018

Alan Thorne (1939–2012) was an Australian biologist and anatomist who studied Aboriginal Australian origins and the human genome. He is best known for his discoveries of early modern humans at the Kow Swamp and Lake Mungo sites in Australia, and for elaborating and defending a model of modern human origins that involved interbreeding between early and later waves ofHomomigrating out of Africa.
Tool use in apes and monkeys
Authors: Ottoni Eduardo B.
Published: October 2018

Tool use involves the employment of environmental objects for the purpose of altering more efficiently the form, position, or condition of another object, another organism, or the user itself. It was once seen as an exclusively human trait, but is actually widespread throughout the animal kingdom. The use of tools can result from stereotyped, species‐specific behaviors or from individual innovation and diffusion through socially biased learning, as seems to be the case with the complex and variable toolkits of a few primate species in the wild or with the creative, tool‐aided problem‐solving strategies employed by captive apes and monkeys. Although many primate species may exhibit sophisticated object manipulation in captivity, the spontaneous and customary use of tools by wild populations is apparently restricted to chimpanzees (
Pan troglodytes
), tufted capuchin monkeys (
Sapajus
spp.), orangutans (
Pongo pygmaeus
), and long‐tailed macaques (
Macaca fascicularis
).
T
urkana
B
asin
Authors: Lewis Jason E.
Published: October 2018

The Turkana Basin in northern Kenya and southwestern Ethiopia is one of the world's largest and most significant fossil repositories, especially of the last 4.5 million years of human evolution. The past 50 years of research by many teams have produced nearly 600 individual hominin fossils and over 60,000 vertebrate fossils from the basin, a record of East Africa's changing climates, environments, and species. Key fossil discoveries such as
Australopithecus anamensis
,
Kenyanthropus platyops
,
Homo habilis
, and
Homo rudolfensis
, together with the nearly complete “Turkana Boy”
Homo erectus
skeleton, have played a critical role in developing our current understanding of hominin evolution. In addition to fossil finds, the Turkana Basin has produced important archaeological and trace discoveries that inform our understanding of hominin behavioral evolution.
Fecundity, variation in
Authors: Valeggia Claudia
Published: October 2018

Fecundity, the biological capacity to produce offspring, varies substantially within and between human populations. In both men and women, variation in fecundity has been associated with the functioning of the hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal axis and its associated hormonal levels. Female reproductive capacity is framed between menarche and menopause and variation in the ages at which these events are achieved is considerable. Genetic factors can explain some of this variation, but differences in energy availability in interaction with social and environmental variables also play an important role and highlight the plasticity of female reproductive physiology. There is mounting evidence showing that men's reproductive function, even if not to the same extent as women's, does respond to environmental demands. Energy deficiency has been associated with later ages at puberty in boys, and physical activity, acute immunological challenges, psychological stress, and social context have been shown to have an impact on adult testosterone levels. Biological anthropology conceptual frameworks for explaining variation in fecundity include those of human reproductive ecology and life‐history theory.
Life expectancy, longevity, and lifespan
Authors: Swedlund Alan C. , Meindl Richard S.
Published: October 2018

The expectation of life refers to the additional number of years that individuals of a certain age could expect to live beyond a given age. It is estimated mathematically and is a population statistic. If variation in life expectancy is directly associated with genotypic variation, then it can have significant implications for natural selection and human evolution, but a difference in life expectancy does not have to be genetically determined to have important adaptive effects. In this entry we discuss life expectancy, longevity, and lifespan in terms of how they compare among human and nonhuman primates, how variations in life expectancy have changed over the course of human evolution, and how longevity and lifespan are important dimensions of human adaptation and the human condition.
Vocal communication
Authors: Zuberbühler Klaus
Published: October 2018

Primates have evolved powerful communication systems that heavily rely on the vocal channel. Although primate vocal production is much less flexible than human speech, all primates share an anatomically similar, sound producing vocal tract, suggesting differences in motor control. Studies of primate vocal communication have been especially valuable in assessing the underlying cognition and psychology. There is good evidence that primates can vocalize in goal‐directed, sometimes strategic ways, and with awareness of the social consequences of calling. As receivers, they perceive vocalizations as representations of specific individuals responding to specific social interactions or distinct external events. Despite these similarities, humans appear to be the only species that consistently use vocal signals for social bonding and to actively provide information, a possible product of their highly cooperative nature.
Ward,RichardH. (Ryk)
Authors: Weiss Kenneth M.
Published: October 2018

Ryk Ward (1943–2003) was an influential anthropological geneticist of the late twentieth century. He contributed to human population genetics, and to questions about the susceptibility of indigenous populations to diseases of westernization.
W
ilson,
A
llan
Authors: Matisoo‐Smith Elizabeth , Wilson Gary
Published: October 2018

The late Allan Wilson was one of the greatest evolutionary biologists of the twentieth century, and one of the principal founders of the subdiscipline of molecular evolution. Wilson and his students revealed, among other things, that the human divergence from our common ancestor with chimpanzees was more recent than ever imagined and that all modern humans shared a common and recent African ancestry, known popularly as the Mitochondrial Eve or Out of Africa hypothesis. Wilson's research was characterized by cross‐disciplinary collaborations and the development and application of cutting‐edge techniques including the use of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), PCR, DNA sequencing, and ancient DNA. Allan Wilson died of leukemia in 1991, aged 56.
Wolff's law (bone functional adaptation)
Authors: Stock Jay T.
Published: October 2018

Wolff's law was proposed in 1892 by Julius Wolff, a German anatomist and surgeon, as a mathematical law that described the response of bone to mechanical loading. The mathematical aspects of his law do not fully describe the process of mechanically induced bone remodeling; however, the general process, often called bone functional adaptation, is well supported by experimental and comparative studies. Increases in the loading of living bone tissue are known to generate deposition of new bone, which increase mechanical rigidity. Similarly, decreases in mechanical loading, particularly associated with prolonged bed rest or weightlessness, lead to adaptive resorption of bone tissue and a decrease in mechanical rigidity. The basic principles of bone functional adaptation, which stem from Wolff's law, have led to research that demonstrates the existence of differences in the mechanical properties of bone, namely differences between species and associated with locomotion and posture; differences within species and associated with habitual activity and cultural change in the past; and differences among modern humans and associated with patterns of habitual activity during life.
W
right,
S
ewall
Authors: Raff Jennifer
Published: October 2018

Sewall Wright (1889–1988) was an American geneticist (BS, 1911; MS, 1912; Ph.D. 1915) who helped found the field of population genetics and made substantial contributions to the fields of evolutionary biology, biochemistry, statistics, and animal husbandry. He is known for developing the inbreeding coefficient, the statistical technique known as path analysis, and his insights into the role of genetic drift (also known as the “Sewall Wright effect”) in evolution and the concept of the adaptive landscape, both of which informed his influential “shifting balance” model of evolution.
Z
houkoudian
Authors: Boaz Noel T.
Published: October 2018

Zhoukoudian (previously written as Choukoutien) is a major fossil site of mid‐Pleistocene age that has yielded skeletal remains of 51 individuals of
Homo erectus
and their stone artifacts. The site is a large cave infilling, at which excavation started in 1921, ending in 1937, and restarting in 1949. Dating to 430,000–780,000 years
bp
, Zhoukoudian has been important in documenting the morphology of
H. erectus
, earliest use of fire, early hominin meat‐eating, including cannibalism, and the behavior of
H. erectus
. Most of the original fossil collections, including the hominin fossils, were destroyed or lost in 1941. In 1987, Zhoukoudian was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Human mother–infant dyad
Authors: McKenna James J.
Published: October 2018

Near the end of human pregnancies fetal energetic needs begin to exceed what mothers can provide, while architectural constrictions of the pelvic outlet due to bipedalism require a relatively early exit from the womb, both in order to maximize the chances of a safe passage and in order to continue adequate caloric support for a brain that is only 25 percent of its eventual volume at birth. Such an exceedingly slow‐developing and energetically expensive infant gave rise to cooperative breeding, which entails sharing food, sharing care for the young, and acquiring the cognitive skills and emotional proclivities needed to assess, and to care deeply about, what others are thinking—all within the context of unparalleled cooperation and collaboration. Thus it is that, long after birth, the fundamental physiology of the human infant continues to be regulated to a significant degree by its caregivers, and most especially by neurohormonal “signals” provided by its mother's tailor‐made breastmilk and by the sensory exchanges intrinsic to its delivery within the context of the mother–infant dyad.
Nutritional status
Authors: Himmelgreen David A. , M. Miller Elizabeth
Published: October 2018

Nutritional status refers to health and well‐being of individuals and populations as influenced by their intake and utilization of nutrients. This entry examines how nutritional status is assessed and used to define malnutrition (under‐, over‐, and dual burden nutrition) in research and for the development of policies and programs related to food and nutrition. Research examples are presented showing how biological anthropologists study nutritional status in order to examine human variation, adaptation, and adaptability, and the social determinants of health, past and present. Nutritional assessment using anthropometry, biochemical measures of nutrients, dietary intake, clinical measures, and measures of stress hormones, physical activity, and metabolism are reviewed briefly.
Upper Paleolithic populations
Authors: Holt Brigitte
Published: October 2018

The Upper Paleolithic represents the phase during which anatomically modern humans and modern patterns of behavior appear. Modern humans expanded rapidly from Africa and the Middle East into Eurasia. The diffusion of burial practices resulted in an unprecedented number of well‐preserved human remains that have produced a wealth of knowledge about the anatomy, skeletal robusticity, stature, body proportions, health status, diet, and physical activity of these Last Ice Age hunter‐gatherers. The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), a long phase of climatic deterioration culminating around 20,000 years ago, had a profound impact on the environment, lifestyle, and behavior of human groups. Groups living before and after the LGM, Early Upper Paleolithic (EUP), and Late Upper Paleolithic (LUP), respectively, differ significantly in craniofacial dimensions, stature, robusticity, and body proportions. The ubiquity of similar ornaments across a very broad territory in the EUP suggests widespread contacts among distant groups, a characteristic that changes after the LGM, as cultural heterogeneity increases. While Upper Paleolithic populations enjoyed good health overall, some stress indicators point to a slight decline in quality of life in LUP populations. The intriguing and unexpected incidence of individuals affected by congenital disorders may indicate selective burial practices for these abnormal individuals.
Multiregional evolution
Authors: Wolpoff Milford H.
Published: October 2018

Multiregional evolution is a hypothesis addressing the pattern of evolutionary change within the Pleistocene human lineage. It is based on a center and edge(s) species population structure, with central African populations and many peripheral ones, intermittently connected in a network created by multidirectional gene flow and population movements. Along with this pattern, different anatomical characteristics reflecting both evolutionary histories and local adaptations maintained by selection were found in many of the more peripheral regions. Thus, within the genetically interconnected populations, identifiable geographic differences evolved and were maintained, while adaptive genes under selection dispersed across populations and throughout the human species, accounting for the global, adaptive evolutionary changes that characterize human evolution. The process was Africa‐centered, in that for most of the Pleistocene, half or more of the human population lived in Africa, and half or more of the adaptive mutations occurred there, to ultimately disperse throughout the human range. Beginning 50,000 years ago, the acceleration of population size increases changed the human population of several millions to the population size of today. More populations came into contact, blurring geographic variation without decreasing the total magnitude of variation.
M
endel,
G
regor
J
ohann
Authors: O'Rourke Dennis H.
Published: October 2018

Gregor Mendel was a nineteenth‐century Augustinian monk who conducted breeding experiments with pea plants. Different varieties of peas possessed contrasting characters whose presence or absence in subsequent generations following hybridization with different parental strains could be tabulated. After thousands of such crosses, Mendel observed specific patterns of occurrence of these discrete traits in descendant generations. This led to the inference that some characters were recessive to other, more dominant, ones, and to what came to be known as the laws of segregation and independent assortment. Mendel's keen insights into the mechanisms of hybridity and heredity remained essentially unknown for over three decades, until they were independently rediscovered by three biologists. He is known today as the father of genetics.
Mass disasters
Authors: Mundorff Amy Z. , Vidoli Giovanna M.
Published: October 2018

Mass disasters are characterized by large‐scale injury and loss of life in diverse contexts. Humanitarian and forensic response to a mass disaster is inherently interdisciplinary and anthropologists can make significant contributions to the victim recovery and identification process. Anthropologists' involvement in mass disaster response and victim identification involves all anthropological subfields. Archaeologists contribute to mapping, recovery, and excavation of human remains at the disaster site. Biological anthropologists are an integral part of morgue operations, particularly when human remains are fragmentary or commingled. Sociocultural anthropologists operating at the Family Assistance Center work closely with disaster victim's family members to collect antemortem information and explain all aspects of the identification process.
S
imons,
E
lwyn
Authors: Seiffert Erik R.
Published: October 2018

Elwyn L. Simons (1930–2016) was a vertebrate paleontologist, primatologist, and conservationist who is considered to have “invented paleoprimatology as a discipline” (Fleagle and Kay 1994), and was best known for his important work on the Eocene and Oligocene fossil primates of the Fayum Depression in Egypt and the subfossil lemurs of Madagascar. The breadth of his research on primate evolution was unparalleled, covering many time periods and clades, from plesiadapiforms and the earliest true primates through to the origin of hominins.
Sensory ecology: olfaction
Authors: Christopher Kirk E.
Published: October 2018

Comparative anatomical and genomic data suggest that primates vary considerably in their olfactory abilities. Strepsirrhines have well‐developed main and accessory olfactory systems that differ little from the presumed ancestral condition for crown primates. By comparison, haplorhines have lost or reduced a number of key olfactory structures in the nasal cavity and also lack a rhinarium—a hairless collecting surface on the tip of the nose that is functionally linked to the vomeronasal organ. Catarrhines have further lost all functionality of the vomeronasal organ, although most species still express a small number of vomeronasal receptors in the olfactory epithelium of the nasal cavity. These observations reinforce the impression that olfaction plays an enhanced role in the behavioral ecology of lemurs and lories, and that the importance of olfaction in catarrhine behavioral ecology is greatly diminished.
W
hitten,
P
atricia
L.
Authors: Turner Trudy R.
Published: October 2018

Patricia Whitten (1951–2016), Professor of Anthropology at Emory University, was a primatologist who used hormonal analysis to supplement and understand behavior in an array of primate species. She established the Laboratory of Reproductive Ecology and Environmental Toxicology at Emory University and collaborated with numerous scholars working on vervet monkeys, sifakas, and other species. She was a leader in the use of noninvasive techniques to study endocrine mechanisms. She was a mentor and friend to many.
H
unt,
E. E.
Authors: James Gary D.
Published: October 2018

Edward Eyre Hunt, Jr., perhaps the last of the renaissance scholars in physical anthropology, was a leading figure in the mid‐twentieth century process that changed the field from a descriptive science to one with an evolutionary and problem‐solving emphasis. His primary research focused on evolutionary aspects of dental and skeletal morphogenesis, and human growth and development. The final Ph.D. student of E. A. Hooton, Hunt strongly influenced the work of several of his contemporaries including Carlton Coon, Stanley Garn, and Paul T. Baker and was renowned as an inspiring teacher.
Pollitzer,WilliamS.
Authors: Larsen Clark Spencer
Published: October 2018

William Sprott Pollitzer was a well‐known authority on biological variation of living people. Although he studied a wide variety of human populations, he is best known for his work on the history, society, and biology of African‐diaspora groups of coastal Georgia and South Carolina. Born in Charleston, South Carolina, and raised in Greenville, South Carolina, he had a love of the South and its people. Over the course of his 40‐year career, he provided the discipline with leadership in key positions of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, the leading international association for the study of human evolution and variation, and instructed generations of medical students at his home institution, the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Gradualism
Authors: Wolpoff Milford H.
Published: October 2018

Charles Darwin was the first to propose gradualistic biological evolution as a uniformitarian explanation of change and diversification of living things. Darwin's theory explained past changes as products of the same forces that cause small, adaptive, incremental changes in natural populations today, but extended over long periods of time. Since Darwin's time, many new ideas and discoveries have reshaped the concept of gradualism. The most important of these was the neo‐Darwinian evolutionary synthesis of the early twentieth century. The concept of gradualism was also affected by discussions of punctuated equilibrium, which was promoted as being an alternative to Darwinian or neo‐Darwinian gradualism. The current consensus, however, holds that gradualistic changes can be rapid as well as slow. Research in the twenty‐first century has already shown that cladogenesis can be quite slow, while gradual changes can be much more rapid. Evolutionary stasis is now recognized as a point at one extreme of a continuum of evolutionary rates.
S
chull,
J
ack
Authors: MacCluer Jean W.
Published: October 2018

Jack Schull was born in 1922. He earned his Bachelor's and Master's degrees at Marquette University and his Ph.D. at The Ohio State University. His undergraduate training was interrupted by his service in the army during World War II. After completing his Ph.D., he spent two years in Japan working with the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission. His work in Japan continued throughout his long career. In 1951, he moved to the University of Michigan, where he and James V. Neel founded the Department of Human Genetics. Jack left Ann Arbor for Houston in 1972, founding the Center for Demographic and Population Genetics. He held numerous executive positions in the United States and Japan and received many honors and awards. As his career advanced, he expanded his research interests, with a focus on chronic diseases in Texas and worldwide. Jack died in 2017, shortly after his 95th birthday.
Sex differences in adolescent physical aggression: Evidence from sixty‐three low‐and middle‐income countries
Authors: Nivette Amy , Sutherland Alex , Eisner Manuel , Murray Joseph
Published: October 2018

A great deal of research shows that adolescent and adult males are more likely to engage in physical aggression and violence than females are. However, few studies have examined cross‐cultural variation in sex differences, particularly among low‐ and middle‐income countries [LMICs]. Based on social role and sexual selection theories, we derived two hypotheses regarding possible variations in sex differences across societal contexts: 1) sex differences increase with societal gender polarization (social role theory) and 2) sex differences are exacerbated in societies where socio‐economic opportunities are scarce, unequal, or insecure (prediction derived from sexual selection theory). The current study examined the prevalence of and variation in sex differences in physical aggression, as measured by frequent fighting, among 247,909 adolescents in 63 low‐ and middle‐income countries. The results show that, overall, males were over twice as likely (OR = 2.68; 95% CI = 2.60–2.76) to report frequent fighting in the past 12 months than females. However, sex differences vary significantly across LMICs, wherein countries with higher female prevalence rates have smaller sex differences in frequent fighting. Contrary to expectations derived from social role theory, sex differences in physical aggression decrease as societal gender inequality increased. In regards to sexual selection theory, we find no evidence that sex differences in frequent fighting varies according to societal rule of law or income inequality.
Measuring working memory capacity with the letter–number sequencing task: Advantages of visual administration
Authors: Mielicki Marta K. , Koppel Rebecca H. , Valencia Gabriela , Wiley Jennifer
Published: October 2018

Working memory capacity plays a major role in many applied contexts, and it is important to be able to accurately measure this construct. The current studies tested whether the modality of administration of the letter–number sequencing task affects performance on the task. The letter–number sequencing task is a working memory capacity measure included as part of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale‐III and Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale‐IV test batteries. The task involves hearing a series of letters and digits, and then reporting back the stimuli with the letters in alphabetical order and digits in ascending numerical order. The task is traditionally administered orally, but recent studies have administered versions of the tasks visually by displaying stimuli on a computer screen. Results suggest that performance differences on the letter–number sequencing task may arise as a function of language background and task administration modality.
Supercritical Fluid‐Assisted Porous Microspheres for Efficient Delivery of Insulin and Inhalation Therapy of Diabetes
Authors: Lin Xiao‐Fen , Kankala Ranjith Kumar , Tang Na , Xu Pei‐Yao , Hao Liu‐Zhi , Yang Da‐Yun , Wang Shi‐Bin , Zhang Yu Shrike , Chen Ai‐Zheng
Published: October 2018

Pulmonary delivery of drugs has attracted increasing attention in healthcare, as the lungs are an easily accessible site for noninvasive systemic delivery of drugs. Although pulmonary inhalation of porous microparticles has been shown to sustain drug delivery, there are limited reports on efficient delivery of insulin and inhalation therapy of diabetes based on supercritical carbon dioxide (SC‐CO2) technology. Herein, this study reports the fabrication of insulin‐loaded poly‐l‐lactide porous microspheres (INS‐PLLA PMs) by using the SC‐CO2technology, and their use as an inhalation delivery system potentially for diabetes therapy. Biocompatibility and delivery efficiency of the PLLA PMs in the lungs are investigated. The PLLA PMs show negligible toxicity to lung‐derived cells, resulting in no significant reduction in cell viability, as well as levels of various inflammatory mediators such as interleukin (IL)‐6, IL‐8, and tumor necrosis factor‐α, compared with the negative control group. INS‐PLLA PMs are further efficiently deposited in the trachea and the bronchi of superior lobes of the lungs, which exhibit pronounced hypoglycemic activity in induced diabetic rats. Together, the results demonstrate that the INS‐PLLA PMs have a strong potential as an effective strategy for inhalation treatment of diabetes.
An Effective Dark–Vis–UV Ternary Biomimetic Switching Based on N3/Spiropyran‐Modified Nanochannels
Authors: Zhang Dan , Wang Qinqin , Fan Xia , Zhang Mingliang , Zhai Jin , Jiang Lei
Published: October 2018

Many natural photomodulated nanochannels are investigated and are crucial for biological activity. Biomimetic nanochannels with a bistable conductance state under light stimulus are demonstrated. In this system, two molecules, cis‐bis‐(4,4′‐dicarboxy‐2,2′‐bipyridine) dithiocyanato ruthenium(II) (N3) and spiropyran 1′‐(3‐carboxypropyl)‐3′,3′‐dimethyl‐6‐nitro‐spiro[2H‐1]benzopyran‐2,2′‐indoline (SP‐COOH), each with unique photoresponsive properties, are modified in alumina nanochannels. The two segments of the hourglass‐shaped alumina nanochannels are designated to graft a certain molecule. Under ultraviolet (UV) or visible light (vis) irradiation, electrons belonging to N3 are excited, resulting in negatively charged surfaces on the sides of nanochannels modified with N3 molecules. Only under UV stimulus, the conformation change of the SP‐COOH molecules leads to positively charged surfaces of nanochannels in the SP‐COOH occupied sides. Benefiting from the joint effect of N3 and SP‐COOH, low, medium, and high (i.e., “0,” “1,” and “2”) ternary levels of ion conductance are established under the dark–vis–UV alternate stimuli. The multistage current switching containing “0‐1‐2‐0” and “0‐1‐2‐1‐0” procedures is stable and robust. Additionally, the diode‐like ion transport behavior of the nanochannels could be exploited to support a multivalued logical gating with the management of light signals.
Nickel‐Catalyzed Denitrogenative ortho‐Arylation of Benzotriazinones with Organic Boronic Acids: an Efficient Route to Losartan and Irbesartan Drug Molecules
Authors: Thorat Vijaykumar H. , Upadhyay Nitinkumar Satyadev , Cheng Chien‐Hong
Published: October 2018

Denitrogenative ortho‐arylation, vinylation and methylation of 1,2,3‐benzotriazin‐4‐(3H)‐ones with organic boronic acids catalyzed by nickel complexes to give a wide range of o‐substituted benzamides were demonstrated. Further, the catalytic reaction is successfully applied to the synthesis of the popular hypertensive drugs losartan and irbesartan in high yields.

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Bilayer–Ternary Polymer Solar Cells Fabricated Using Spontaneous Spreading on Water
Authors: Colberts Fallon J. M. , Wienk Martijn M. , Heuvel Ruurd , Li Weiwei , Le Corre Vincent M. , Koster L. Jan Anton , Janssen René A. J.
Published: October 2018

A new method is presented to fabricate bilayer organic solar cells via sequential deposition of bulk‐heterojunction layers obtained using spontaneous spreading of polymer–fullerene blends on a water surface. Using two layers of a small bandgap diketopyrrolopyrrole polymer–fullerene blend, a small improvement in power conversion efficiency (PCE) from 4.9% to 5.1% is obtained compared to spin‐coated devices of similar thickness. Next, bilayer–ternary cells are fabricated by first spin coating a wide bandgap thiophene polymer–fullerene blend, followed by depositing a small bandgap diketopyrrolopyrrole polymer–fullerene layer by transfer from a water surface. These novel bilayer–ternary devices feature a PCE of 5.9%, higher than that of the individual layers. Remarkable, external quantum efficiencies (EQEs) over 100% are measured for the wide bandgap layer under near‐infrared bias light illumination. Drift‐diffusion calculations confirm that near‐infrared bias illumination can result in a significant increase in EQE as a result of a change in the internal electric field in the device, but cannot yet account for the magnitude of the effect. The experimental results indicate that the high EQEs over 100% under bias illumination are related to a barrier for electron transport over the interface between the two blends.
Tuning Structural and Compositional Effects in Pd–Au Nanowires for Highly Selective and Active CO2 Electrochemical Reduction Reaction
Authors: Zhu Shangqian , Wang Qi , Qin Xueping , Gu Meng , Tao Ran , Lee Brennan Peter , Zhang Lulu , Yao Yuze , Li Tiehuai , Shao Minhua
Published: October 2018

CO2 electrochemical reduction is a promising technology to control the concentration of atmospheric CO2 and store renewable energy. However, it is extremely challenging to selectively produce important chemicals such as CO with reasonable low overpotentials and high reaction rates. In this study, twisted Pd–Au nanowires with a unique core–shell and grain boundary‐rich structure are developed. Compared with Pd nanoparticles, the synthesized nanowires have a significantly improved CO selectivity. A maximum CO faradaic efficiency (FE) of 94.3% (at −0.6 V), and an extremely low overpotential of 90 mV for CO formation with an FE of 8.5% can be achieved on Pd0.8Au nanowires. The Pd0.8Au nanowires also show superior specific and mass activities especially at low overpotentials. The low overpotential and high selectivity for CO2‐to‐CO electrocatalytic conversion are achieved simultaneously for the first time on Pd‐based nanocatalysts. Combined in situ infrared spectroscopic studies with an attenuated total reflection configuration and density function theory calculations reveal that surface CO could be more facilely generated at much lower overpotentials on nanowires as compared with that on particles. Additionally, the Au atoms in Pd–Au nanowires promote the formation of linearly bonded CO, which is easier to desorb, resulting in a fast reaction rate.
Polycythemia vera and essential thrombocythemia: 2019 update on diagnosis, risk‐stratification and management
Authors: Tefferi Ayalew , Barbui Tiziano
Published: October 2018

Disease Overview: Polycythemia vera (PV) and essential thrombocythemia (ET) are myeloproliferative neoplasms respectively characterized by erythrocytosis and thrombocytosis; other disease features include leukocytosis, splenomegaly, thrombosis, bleeding, microcirculatory symptoms, pruritus, and risk of leukemic or fibrotic transformation.

Diagnosis: Bone marrow morphology remains the cornerstone of diagnosis. In addition, the presence of JAK2 mutation is expected in PV while approximately 90% of patients with ET express mutually exclusive JAK2, CALR, or myeloproliferative leukemia mutations. In ET, it is most important to exclude the possibility of prefibrotic myelofibrosis.

Survival: Median survivals are 14 years for PV and 20 years for ET; the corresponding values for younger patients are 24 and 33 years. Certain mutations (mostly spliceosome) and abnormal karyotype might compromise survival in PV and ET. Life‐expectancy in ET is inferior to the control population. Driver mutations have not been shown to affect survival in ET. Risk of thrombosis is higher in JAK2‐mutated ET. Leukemic transformation rates at 10 years are estimated at <1% for ET and 3% for PV.

Thrombosis Risk: In PV, 2 risk categories are considered: high (age > 60 years or thrombosis history present) and low (absence of both risk factors); in ET, 4 risk categories are considered: very low (age ≤ 60 years, no thrombosis history, JAK2 wild‐type), low (same as very low but JAK2 mutation present), intermediate (age > 60 years, no thrombosis history, JAK2 wild‐type) and high (thrombosis history present or age > 60 years with JAK2 mutation).

Risk‐Adapted Therapy: The main goal of therapy in both PV and ET is to prevent thrombohemorrhagic complications. All patients with PV require phlebotomy to keep hematocrit below 45% and once‐ or twice‐daily aspirin (81 mg), in the absence of contraindications. Very low‐risk ET might not require therapy while aspirin therapy is advised for low‐risk disease. Cytoreductive therapy is recommended for high‐risk ET and PV but it is not mandatory for intermediate‐risk ET. First‐line drug of choice for cytoreductive therapy, in both ET and PV, is hydroxyurea and second‐line drugs of choice are interferon‐α and busulfan. We do not recommend treatment with ruxolutinib in PV, unless in the presence of severe and protracted pruritus or marked splenomegaly that is not responding to the aforementioned drugs.
Effects of mometasone furoate–impregnated biodegradable nasal dressing on endoscopic appearance in healing process following endoscopic sinus surgery: a randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled study
Authors: Zhao Ke‐Qing , Yu Yi‐Qun , Yu Hong‐Meng
Published: October 2018

Background

Postoperative care is an important factor affecting the outcome of endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). The aim of this study was to test the effect of mometasone furoate (MF)‐soaked biodegradable nasal dressings (BNDs) on endoscopic appearance in CRS patients with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) after ESS.

Methods

This study was a prospective, randomized, double‐blinded, placebo‐controlled study. A total of 64 CRSwNP patients with bilateral ESS were enrolled and randomly given 4 mL or 8 mL of MF‐soaked BNDs (NasoPore) in 1 nasal cavity and the same amount of normal saline‐soaked BNDs in the contralateral side. The BNDs were removed on the 7th or 14th postoperative day. Perioperative sinus endoscopy (POSE) and Lund‐Kennedy scores were collected, on the 7th or 14th postoperative days and at 1, 2, and 3 postoperative months.

Results

The POSE and Lund‐Kennedy scores showed that in the 4‐mL, 1‐week group, no significant differences between the sides treated with MF‐soaked BNDs and the normal saline‐soaked control were observed at any postoperative visits. In the 4‐mL, 2‐week group, significant differences were found at the 2‐week and 1‐month postoperative visits but not at the 2‐month and 3‐month visits. In the 8‐mL, 1‐week group, significant differences were found at the 1‐week, 1‐month, and 2‐month postoperative visits but not at the 3‐month visit. In the 8‐mL, 2‐week group, significant differences were found at all postoperative visits.

Conclusion

This study reveals that MF‐impregnated BNDs improve the endoscopic appearance in the healing process of CRSwNP after ESS.
Biomimetic Syntheses of (±)‐Isopalhinine A, (±)‐Palhinine A, and (±)‐Palhinine D
Authors: Chen Chih‐Ming , Shiao Hui‐Yi , Uang Biing‐Jiun , Hsieh Hsing‐Pang
Published: October 2018

The first total synthesis of isopalhinine A, as well as unified syntheses of palhinine A and palhinine D, were successfully accomplished by means of a biomimetic strategy that proceeds through a bioinspired 5/6/6/9 tetracyclic intermediate, which mimics the amino ketone form of palhinine D. An early‐stage direct SN2 cyclization to construct the nine‐membered azonane ring minimized the transannular strain that would otherwise be increased by the twisted nature of the isotwistane skeleton. Then, a diastereoselective Diels–Alder reaction of a masked ortho‐benzoquinone using the nine‐membered ring as a steric shielding group furnished a functionalized 6/6/9 tricyclic skeleton and established the desired stereochemistry at the C3, C7, C12, and C15 positions in one step. A thiol‐mediated acyl radical cyclization gave the bioinspired intermediate bearing three differentiated oxygen‐containing functional groups, from which all three total syntheses could be completed in either two or three additional steps.
Synthesis, physicochemical characterization and structural studies of new Schiff base ligand and its metal (II) complexes: In silico molecular docking analysis, antimicrobial activity and cytotoxicity
Authors: Vidya Rani Chandrasekhar , Kesavan Mookkandi Palsamy , Vinoth Kumar Gujuluva Gangatharan , Jeyaraj Moses Joshua Daniel , Rajesh Jegathalaprathaban , Rajagopal Gurusamy
Published: October 2018

A new Schiff base ligand, namely 2‐((4‐(diethylamino)phenylimino)methyl)‐4,6‐di‐tert‐butylphenol (HL), and its derived metal (II) complexes [Cu (L)2] (1), [Co (L)2] (2) and [Zn (L)2] (3) have been synthesized and characterized using various physicochemical techniques. Single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction studies confirm the structure of newly synthesized HL and complex 2. Density functional theory analysis was used to investigate their electronic structures and properties. In silico docking analysis revealed that complex 1 has significant DNA binding ability (atomic contact energy of −1008.26 kcal mol−1) and complex 2 has a greater affinity with human serum albumin (binding energy of −901.61 kcal mol−1). Complex 2 reveals the highest antimicrobial activity against both fungi and bacteria, whereas complex 1 shows greater cytotoxicity (IC50 = 14.3 ±0.9 μg ml−1) to MCF‐7 cancer cells.
Synthesis and structure of arene ruthenium(II) complexes: One‐pot catalytic approach to synthesis of bioactive quinolines under mild conditions
Authors: Subramanian Muthumari , Sundar Saranya , Rengan Ramesh
Published: October 2018

Efficient catalytic one‐step synthesis of substituted quinoline derivatives using newly synthesized Ru(II) half‐sandwich complexes of the type [Ru(η6‐p‐cymene)Cl(L)] (L = pyrrole‐2‐aldehydehydrazones) under mild conditions is described. The synthesized complexes exhibit excellent catalytic activity towards the coupling of 2‐amino alcohol with functionalized ketones and secondary alcohols in the optimal conditions and afforded the corresponding quinoline derivatives. The synthetic pathway proceeds with high atom efficiency via a sequence of acceptorless dehydrogenation and condensation steps. The maximum isolated yield of the product obtained was up to 97% using 0.3 mol% of catalyst loading for 5 h. These findings significantly advance the scope of the synthesis of bioactive heterocyclic compounds from readily available starting materials.