Abstract Hepatitis E, caused by hepatitis E virus (HEV), is a major global health concern with an estimated 20 million infections and 3.3 million symptomatic cases annually, resulting in approximately 44,000 deaths. It is endemic in developing countries and is emerging in developed countries. Four HEV genotypes (HEV 1 to 4) are associated with disease in humans. HEV 1 and 2 are primarily transmitted through contaminated water, whereas HEV 3 and 4 are zoonotic and transmitted predominantly through the consumption of contaminated food. The epidemiology and genotypic distribution of hepatitis E in China have changed significantly, with approximately 28,000 cases reported annually. HEV 4, instead of HEV 1 and 2, has become the most prevalent genotype. The prevalence of HEV 4 in some pig herds, as measured by the presence of HEV RNA in feces, was up to 90%. Moreover, 6% of pig liver and 11% of pig intestine intended for human consumption were positive for HEV. HEV 4 is also found in sheep, cattle, horses, rabbits, and camels. HEV-contaminated food, particularly pork products, may therefore play a major role in the transmission of HEV from animals to humans. Improving HEV surveillance at national, provincial, and local levels is crucial for reducing the infection and incidence of hepatitis E in China. Here, we reviewed the epidemiological characteristics of HEV 3 and 4, the food categories with high-risk of HEV contamination, and the impact of consuming HEV-contaminated food on human health in China.
Physical anthropology. Somatology, Veterinary medicine
Козлов А.И. , Вершубская Г.Г. , Горбунова В.В.
et al.
Введение. Накопление данных о региональной выраженности секулярных трендов способствует лучшему пониманию этого явления. В фокусе исследования сведения о длине тела населения Перми – крупного промышленного, административного, культурного центра Приуралья. Цель работы: систематизация данных об изменении ДТ и процессов роста детей и молодых взрослых Перми с 1878 по 2024 год.
Материалы и методы. В анализ включены данные о длине тела детей школьного возраста, собранные разными авторами в ходе 8 кросс-секционных обследований, разнесенных по времени в период с 1884 по 2024. Данные за 2018 и 2024 гг собраны авторами. Использованы сведения о росте молодых (20-25 лет) взрослых, полученные с 1878 по 2003 г. Рассмотрены различия в длине тела детей-сверстников по годам обследований и прослежены проявления ростового спурта в разных наборах данных. Годовой прирост вычислялся по разнице длины тела в последовательных возрастных группах внутри наборов данных и между ними.
Результаты и обсуждение. Между 1963 и 1981 годами у детей 8, 11, 14, 16 лет зафиксирована самая высокая среднегодовая скорость увеличения длины тела. В 1993 и 2018 годах проявилась тенденция к её уменьшению. Деселерационные изменения подтверждаются снижением длины тела женщин 1984–1986 годов рождения по сравнению с родившимися ранее.
Препубертатный ростовой спурт заметен только у мальчиков 10–11 и девочек 10 лет в наборе данных 1878 года. Вероятно, в XIX веке биологический возраст «первого детства» завершался позже, чем в наши дни. Пубертатный пик нарастания длины тела в 1963–2018 годах варьировал у мальчиков в 13–14, у девочек в 11–13 лет, но в 1878 году у девочек проявлялся позже, в 14 лет.
Заключение. Анализ изменений скорости роста на разных этапах онтогенеза в детских и взрослых выборках показал, что наибольшими темпами увеличения длины тела отличались когорты родившихся с середины 1960-х до середины 1980-х годов. Позже у населения Перми стала проявляться деселерация физического развития.
Ethnology. Social and cultural anthropology, Physical anthropology. Somatology
Prof. Qiu Zhanxiang’s academic life presents a cross regional scientific research landscape: born in Qingdao City on the coast of the Yellow Sea, he devoted his life to exploring the mysteries of terrestrial mammalian evolution. In his early years, he received systematic training at the Geological Department of Moscow University and graduated in 1960, which laid a solid disciplinary foundation for him. After returning to China, he took root in the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, starting a scientific research journey that lasted for more than half a century. As a paleontologist, his career has distinct international characteristics: from 1982 to 1984, he was awarded the Humboldt Scholarship from the Federal Republic of Germany and completed his doctoral thesis at the Gutenberg University of Mainz, and from 1982 to 1999, he conducted a series of international cooperation projects. His academic leadership was particularly prominent in his career, as he led multiple strategic scientific research projects during his tenure at the institute from 1991 to 1995. His scientific research footprint spans from the Nei Mongol Gobi to the Tibetan Plateau, and from the Yushe Basin in Shanxi Province to the Linxia Basin in Gansu Province. The National Climbing Plan of “Research on the origin of early human beings and environmental background” presided over by him has created a new paradigm of interdisciplinary research. In terms of disciplinary achievements, Prof. Qiu has achieved three landmark accomplishments: deciphering the evolutionary code of the Paleocene red bed mammalian fauna of South China, clarifying the lineage of giant rhino fossils, and establishing a biochronological scale for the Neogene terrestrial strata in China and conducting in-depth research on the carnivore and perissodactyl fossils contained therein. These achievements have provided a key evidence chain for analyzing the evolutionary mechanism of mammals’ adaptation to environmental changes over 66 million years, which not only won him the title of CAS Academician in 2005, but also left China’s mark in the field of international Cenozoic paleontology and stratigraphy.
Climate change is most clearly reflected in vegetation, as it forms an integral and fundamental component of ecosystems that is sensitive to and governed by climatic changes [...]
Olga Druzhinina, Ivan Skhodnov, Kasper van den Berghe
et al.
This paper is a contribution to the ongoing debate on the nature and drivers of the abrupt environmental shift at the onset of the Younger Dryas. The goal of this study is to identify key parameters that characterize the Allerød–Younger Dryas boundary, 12.9–12.8 ka in sedimentary sections, and are representative of broader paleobasin dynamics in the eastern Baltic region. Two new Late Glacial sediment archives, the Kulikovo and Sambian, provide data on this time interval. Geochronological and lithological (grain size and loss on ignition) analyses of the sequences indicate a change in sedimentation during 12.9–12.8 ka, which is manifested by a peak of terrigenous, coarser-grained material and an accompanying peak of organic matter in sediments. A review of the published data shows that this lithological situation is also characteristic of other paleobasins in the eastern Baltic region and beyond for layers dated to the onset of the Younger Dryas. This probably indicates an environmental event that caused a short-term increased input and deposition of organic matter, accompanied by a surge in erosional processes. The environmental shift triggered by the event is also recorded in a remarkable drop in pollen concentration and species diversity in the overlying layer. The sediment horizon in Late Glacial (Allerød–Younger Dryas) sequences corresponding to these parameters can be considered an important and reliable geochronological marker of the 12.9–12.8 ka interval. The organic-rich layer in the Kulikovo section, as well as other similar layers in the Baltic, can be considered a “black mat” phenomenon related to the onset of the Younger Dryas.
Введение. В работе впервые публикуются остеометрические данные взрослых индивидов антропологической серии из могильника золотоордынского времени Натухаевское 5. На основе полученных линейных размеров представлена характеристика скелетной конституции погребённых. В рамках этого исследования проверялась гипотеза о разнице морфологического облика двух выборок, объединенных по типу погребального обряда – каменные ящики и грунтовые ямы.
Материал и методы. Антропологическая коллекция насчитывает 124 взрослых индивида, среди которых 67 мужчин и 57 женщин. Измерения посткраниального скелета проводились по программе Р. Мартина в редакции В.П. Алексеева по 55 признакам. Степень однородности мужской и женской выборки определялась с помощью внутригруппового анализа методом главных компонент по 10 признакам. Для оценки статистической значимости различий использовался критерий Манна-Уитни.
Результаты. Мужское население было достаточно высокорослым с укороченным мощным плечом и удлиненным предплечьем, нижние конечности длинные и массивные. Среди женского населения также наблюдается тенденция удлинения нижних конечностей, относительно верхних, преимущественно за счет голени. Проведенный внутригрупповой анализ не выявил статистически значимых различий между двумя группами, объединенными по типу погребального обряда ни среди мужской выборки, ни среди женской. Однако, был обнаружен большой размах вариаций линейных размеров у мужчин, погребенных в каменных ящиках. По сравнению с ними, выборка из грунтовых ям является более гомогенной. Иная картина наблюдается среди женщин. Так, морфологическое разнообразие прослежено среди погребенных в грунтовых ямах.
Ethnology. Social and cultural anthropology, Physical anthropology. Somatology
The article deals with the scientific and museological activities of Lviv archaeologists during World War I. The focus is on the fate of archaeologists who were forced to serve in the army (Y. Pasternak, V. Hrebeniak); the state of scientific institutions of Lviv, and the living and working conditions of professors and teaching staff of the University of Lviv, as well as museum workers of the city, were analyzed. In addition, it is about stocking and inventorying the museum collections with archaeological finds, and attempts to restore the activities of museum institutions regardless of conditions (National Museum of Jan III Sobieski, Dzieduszycki Museum). The issue of the loss of human lives is not the least. During these years, Lviv archaeology lost a Polish professor of archaeology Karol Hadaczek and his student, the talented Ukrainian archaeologist Volodymyr Hrebeniak. It was found that the War stopped the development of archaeological science in Lviv and pushed it back for some time. Only in the post-War years, was it possible to restore field research, and publishing activities, replenish museum collections, and educate new personnel.
The vast majority of cephalopods of the order Tarphyceratida are known from regions that were located at mid- or low palaeolatitudes during the Ordovician (mainly Baltica, Laurentia, and Chinese palaeoblocks). Only a handful of tarphyceratid specimens are known from high palaeolatitude regions of peri-Gondwana and Gondwana. Here, we describe the two best-preserved trocholitid cephalopods known to date from the Ordovician of the Prague Basin. The first is from the late Darriwilian/early Sandbian Dobrotivá Formation and is assigned to Trocholites fugax, a species previously recorded from roughly coeval strata of Iberia, France, and Bohemia. The specimen thus strengthens previous hypotheses regarding the interchange of non-benthic faunas between Baltica and different regions of peri-Gondwana during the Middle/ Late Ordovician boundary interval. The second specimen, assigned to a new species of Trocholites chaloupkai sp. nov., is from the late Sandbian–early Katian Zahořany Formation and thus represents one of the stratigraphically youngest Trocholites in the Ordovician of peri-Gondwana. Internal structures of the shell of the holotype of the new species were studied using micro-CT tomography. This revealed that T. chaloupkai sp. nov. closely resembles the stratigraphically older (Darriwilian) species Trocholites depressus from Estonia.
The aim of this work is to collect relevant research from Montenegro and the region, and their adequate analysis and making meaningful conclusions. The selection of works was made on the basis of issues related to the postural status of preschool and school children and youth. The shortlist included 30 works, which dealt with diagnosing postural status, determining the effects of targeted corrective programs, examining differences in posture in children from urban and rural areas (as well as gender) and discovering the interdependence of deformities with certain segments of anthropological status (usually morphological characteristics).The following conclusions were made: according to almost all the results obtained, the postural status is significantly disturbed and endangered in a large number of children; observed changes in the segments of the locomotor system are mostly of the initial stage, ie. functional type; positive changes in posture have been observed under the influence of applied preventive and corrective exercise programs; equal vulnerability of postural status was found among children from urban and rural areas; the greatest differences in posture between the sexes occur during puberty, and they are detected predominantly on the spinal column; changes in the locomotor system are mostly related to the parameters of the longitudinal dimensionality of the skeleton. The obtained results indicate the need for the implementation of studies that would include the diagnosis and application of experimental exercise programs, in order to gain new experiences and knowledge when applying corrective gymnastics exercises in regular physical education classes.
In anthropological analysis of burned bone, the presence of a white heat line (WHL) aids in determining a bone’s physical condition prior to burning, distinguishing between those burned fleshed or wet versus dry, making this thermal signature an important source of information regarding the relative timing of burning. While the relationship between WHLs and a bone’s physical condition has been studied, there is a lack of research concerning WHL chemical composition. The present study assessed the composition of WHLs that form on burned bone using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), including the effects of soft tissue and retention of bone’s organic material on a WHL’s development and appearance. Experimental remains consisted of isolated bones from pig (Sus scrofa), sheep (Ovis aries), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), and elk (Cervus elaphus) in five physical conditions: fleshed, defleshed/very wet, partially wet, dry, and dry/soaked. Chemical composition was analyzed using spectral peak heights of the carbonate (CO3) ν3 (1415 cm-1), phosphate (PO4) ν3 (1035 cm-1), and amide I (1660 cm-1) vibrational bands. WHLs formed on 8 of 16 bones burned fleshed (50%) compared to 8 of 27 defleshed/very wet (29.6%). The partially wet, dry, and dry/soaked sample groups did not develop a WHL. Results indicate WHLs that formed on fleshed bone contained an increased amount of CO3, PO4, and amide I versus unburned controls. In contrast, WHLs that formed on defleshed/very wet bone contained decreased amounts. Additional research is needed to explore the exact mechanisms causing the formation of WHLs and their physical appearance.
The 2010/11 sequence of devastating earthquakes completely transformed the physical appearance of central Christchurch, resulting in the demolition of ninety-five percent of the buildings within the four avenues (Meacham 2017). Yet, as an anthropology student who moved to the city in May 2018, I soon discovered that the natural disaster had caused far more damage than the easily quantifiable loss of bricks and mortar. More importantly, it had disrupted residents’ urban taskscapes and exposed the social fault lines of a city with a wellknown reputation for insularity. Taking inspiration from McKee (2016) and her examination of the Jewish/Bedouin divide in the Negev, this journal documents the subtle segregation of Christchurch through the eyes of a new arrival, identifying the opposing social separations of ‘local’ and ‘outsider’ through the ethnographic observation of Cathedral Square. Being the focal point for downtown Christchurch, Cathedral Square provides the perfect vantage point to observe the social relationships within the city. The diamondshaped Square extends roughly one hundred metres along each axis and is centred around the Christ Church Cathedral, the building that gave rise to the city’s Pākehā (European) name. Extensively damaged during the quakes, the church’s spire and rose window were completely destroyed, leaving the nave exposed to the elements through a large gaping hole above the main entrance. This damage, and the subsequent Cathedral restoration project, has resulted in a large portion of the Square being cordoned off by a high security fence, reducing the amount of available public space. Having visited the location dozens of times in the past two years, I have found it rare for more than half a dozen people to be gathered in Cathedral Square at any one time.
The physical movement of a human being from his or her place of birth to another locality, a process that occurs over time as well as space, is usually known as migration. Together with fertility and mortality, migration helps track population changes. Migration also helps capture the political mood of a country, as migrants are perceived as either as threats or welcome additions. Anthropologists tend to think about migration from the perspective of two paradigms: immigration and mobility. For the immigration paradigm, human movement is an exceptional occurrence; for the mobility paradigm, human movement is innate to the human condition and therefore constant. Neither paradigm considers the migration experience as an interactive process that engages movers and nonmovers alike, which is the focus of a proposed third paradigm. The domains of research, practice, and policy reflect these framing paradigms, alone or in combination. By working on the interstices between these domains, anthropology could contribute to a transdisciplinary field of migration studies.
Sora Shin, Yoshiki Yasukochi, Hitoshi Wakabayashi
et al.
Abstract Background The thermoregulatory responses during simultaneous exposure to hypoxia and cold are not well understood owing to the opposite reactions of vasomotor tone in these two environments. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the influences of hypobaric hypoxia on various thermoregulatory responses, including skin blood flow (SkBF) during cold exposure. Methods Ten subjects participated in two experimental conditions: normobaric normoxia with cold (NC, barometric pressure (PB) = 760 mmHg) and hypobaric hypoxia with cold (HC, PB = 493 mmHg). The air temperature was maintained at 28 °C for 65 min and gradually decreased to 19 °C for both conditions. The total duration of the experiment was 135 min. Results The saturation of percutaneous oxygen (SpO2) was maintained at 98–99% in NC condition, but decreased to around 84% in HC condition. The rectal and mean skin temperatures showed no significant differences between the conditions; however, the forehead temperature was higher in HC condition than in NC condition. The pulse rate increased in HC condition, and there was a strong negative relationship between SpO2 and pulse rate (r = − 0.860, p = 0.013). SkBF and blood pressure showed no significant differences between the two conditions. Conclusion These results suggest that hypobaric hypoxia during cold exposure did not alter the overall thermoregulatory responses. However, hypobaric hypoxia did affect pulse rate regardless of cold exposure.
Abstract Background High-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) is a life-threatening form of non-cardiogenic edema which occurs in unacclimatized individuals after rapid ascent to high altitude. NR3C1 gene encodes for glucocorticoid receptor (GR) which plays an important role in stress and inflammation. This study aimed to investigate the association of NR3C1 polymorphisms with the susceptibility to HAPE in Han Chinese. Methods The 30 SNPs in the NR3C1 gene were genotyped by the Sequenom MassARRAY SNP assay in 133 HAPE patients (HAPE-p) and 135 matched Han Chinese resistant to HAPE (HAPE-r). The genotypic and allele frequencies, odds ratios (ORs), and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were calculated, respectively. Results The 12 SNPs showed a significant difference between the HAPE-p and HAPE-r groups. In allelic model analysis, we found that the allele “A” of rs17287745, rs17209237, rs17209251, rs6877893, and rs1866388; the allele “C” of rs6191, rs6188, and rs2918417; the allele “T” of rs33388 and rs4634384; and the allele “G” of rs41423247 and rs10052957 were associated with increased the risk of HAPE. In the genetic model analysis, we found that rs17287745, rs6191, rs6188, rs33388, rs2918417, rs6877893, rs1866388, rs41423247, rs4634384, and rs10052957 were relevant to the increased HAPE risk under the dominant model. In addition, the haplotype AACACTCAAGTG of the 12 SNPs was detected to be significantly associated with HAPE risk (OR = 2.044, 95%CI = 1.339~3.120, P = 0.0008), while the haplotype GGAGCACGACCG was associated with the decreased risk of HAPE (OR = 0.573, 95% CI = 0.333~0.985, P = 0.0422). Conclusions Our findings provide new evidence for the association between SNPs in NR3C1 and an increased risk of HAPE in the Chinese population. NR3C1 polymorphisms are associated with the susceptibility to HAPE in Han Chinese.
In 1972, Sherwood Washburn, one of the forerunners of biological anthropology, gave an invited address during the 4th Congress of the International Primatological Society in Portland, Oregon, in which he expounded his vision for the field of primatology. His address was published the following year in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology and titled: "The promise of primatology." In this centennial commentary, we revisit Washburn's "promise", 45 years on. His address and article discuss the constraints acting on the field, including a positioning of the discipline across different kinds of university departments, and within the social sciences, which he viewed as a mixed blessing. Prescient aspects of Washburn's address include a focus on the need to study communication multimodally, and a hope that the study of mechanisms would become foundational within the field. We discuss new promising aspects of primatology, focusing on technological advances in a number of areas highlighted by Washburn that have ushered in new eras of research, and the increasingly large number of long-term field sites, which see the discipline well-set for new developmental and longitudinal studies. We find much to admire in Washburn's keen foresight, and natural intuition. Washburn hoped that primatology would repudiate the notion that "the social should be studied without reference to the biological." In this regard, we consider much of Washburn's promise fulfilled.