Fecundity determines the magnitude and direction of evolutionary change. By analyzing traits correlating to human fecundity we may understand our own evolutionary roots, and the behaviour and choices that define modern reproduction. For this reason, studies that look at historical populations prior to the demographic inversion and the use of contraceptives have become popular. Very good genealogical records exist for the early Afrikaner population (1652-1820), but only a few studies have utilized this wealth of information, primarily because it is not available electronically. My aim was to determine which factors affected fecundity in this historical population. The Afrikaner population had a very high growth rate, presumably because of ameliorated environmental conditions. Under high growth rates we can expect that the determinants of fecundity may differ from those found to be important in European populations. I recorded fecundity and a number of predictor variables for 1138 first generation offspring (referred to here as B generation) of 517 founder individuals (A generation), as well as the B generation spouses. Data was compiled on nationality of origin; number of marriages (when sequential remarriage occurred); dates of birth and dates of various reproductive events (date of first and last child’s birth/christening, wedding dates). I analysed the data with a variety of approaches to estimate the effects of a number of predictor variables known to affect fecundity as well as a couple of new ones we propose. A few of the key findings are: a gender specific role for the effect of multiple marriages; a discrepancy in fecundity for the various nationality groups suggesting cultural inheritance of fecundity; a new fertility measure, the time lapse between marriage and the birth of first child, explained most of the variation in fecundity; and we found very limited evidence to support the idea that fecundity is heritable.

Dating the time of abandonment of geomorphic surfaces in the arid mid latitudes is necessary for studies ranging from tectonics, landscape evolution and paleoclimate. It has often been hampered by the limited material suitable for conventional isotopic methods and the uncertainties inherent in cosmogenic radionuclide methods. We propose luminescence dating as a suitable method for dating the time of abandonment of aggradational geomorphic surfaces in the hyperarid regions. We dated the top of such surfaces with different age ranges and geomorphic settings in a sequence of alluvial fans in Nahal Shehoret in the southern Negev and in a sequence of terraces in Nahal Ze'elim and in Nahal Zin, two adjacent drainage basins in the Judean Desert, Israel. Samples were collected from beneath the gypsic horizon at a depth of 0.3–0.7 m, below which sand grains do not penetrate. Depositional ages for the uppermost beds of the landforms, which are proxies for abandonment, range from 90 ka to 5 ka. In all three basins, the ages are in morphostratigraphic order and agree well with relative age estimates based on soil chronosequences and on Lake Lisan levels. Abandonment ages for an individual alluvial fan cluster within ±10–20%, therefore it is possible to distinguish between surfaces with ages differing by more than 20%. Thus, in hyperarid areas, the luminescence methods can be used for surface dating.

The initiation of kernels along the maize ear depends on the temporal dynamics of silk emergence and pollen shedding. We conducted a nondestructive examination of the dynamics of silk emergence of tropical sweet maize (Zea mays L.); flint-type grains were the visual markers. The silks were pollinated on consecutive days with pollen of sweet maize (recessive allele) on 6 d and with pollen of flint-type maize (dominant allele) on 1 d (one pollination treatment for each of the seven possible days). The resulting hard kernels could be distinguished from the shriveled sweet kernels. The time of pollination had a strong effect on kernel set. The highest percentage of daily kernel set was observed on the first day of silking (Day 1). It accounted for 31 (2007) and 42% (2008) of the total kernels per ear. The distribution of these kernels followed a bell-shaped curve with a peak at around the position of the tenth kernel from the bottom of the ear. On the following days, kernel set followed a double bell-shaped curve with the peak shifting to the tip of the ear followed by a steady decrease. The minor peak, at the bottom of the ears, almost disappeared by Day 4 of silking. More than 90% of the final number of kernels was set within five (2007) or three (2008) days. The visual marker system successfully traced the dynamics of silk emergence and its impact on kernel set as well as its dependence on environmental conditions during flowering.

In accordance with obesity is associated with insulin resistance and dyslipidemia and chitosan decrease weight and lipids, but its effect on insulin sensitivity is unknown. Our hypothesis for the research was that chitosan improves insulin sensitivity estimated with the euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp technique in obesity. We undertook this study with the objective to determine the effect of chitosan on insulin sensitivity using the euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp technique in obese patients during a 3-month period. A randomized, double-blind clinical trial was carried out in 12 obese adults without diabetes mellitus. During a 3-month period, 6 patients received chitosan (750 mg, 3 times per day) 30 minutes before meals, and the other 6 subjects received placebo. Serum glucose, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides (TG) were measured. Insulin sensitivity was estimated with the euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp technique before and after the intervention. Insulin sensitivity increased significantly with the administration of chitosan (2.4 ± 1.4 vs 3.6 ± 1.4 mg kg⁻¹ min⁻¹; P = .043). In addition, there was a decrease in weight (90.7 ± 14.2 vs 84.7 ± 13.7 kg; P = .027), body mass index (34.3 ± 2.7 vs 31.6 ± 2.2 kg/m²; P = .028), waist circumference (106 ± 12 vs 99 ± 9 cm; P = .028) and TG (2.4 ± 0.9 vs 1.6 ± 0.9 mmol/L; P = .028) in the chitosan group. In conclusion, 3-month administration of chitosan increased insulin sensitivity in obese patients and demonstrated a decrease in weight, body mass index, waist circumference, and TG.

Based on the observation of a grey phenotype in the F₁ generation from a cross between two white plumage duck varieties, the white Kaiya and the white Liancheng, we hypothesized a possible interaction between two autosomal loci that determine grey plumage. Using the parental and F₁ individuals, seven testing combinations including five different F₁ intercrosses (F₂) and two different backcrosses (BC₁ and BC₂) were designed to test our hypothesis. It was demonstrated by chi-squared analysis that six test matings produced offspring in the expected ratios between the grey and white, with P-values ranging from 0.50 to 0.99. Another mating, where all white offspring were expected, produced 33 white individuals. These results verified that the interaction between two loci produced the grey phenotype. The C locus, which carries the recessive allele (c), was previously thought to be the only gene responsible for white plumage in the duck. This is the first report that an allele (t), carried by the white Liancheng at a different autosomal locus, also determines white plumage in ducks. Furthermore, the dominant alleles at both loci can interact with each other to produce the grey phenotype, and a new dark phenotype, observed in some F₂ individuals, can be attributed to the dosage effect of the T allele.

Proteobacteria are widespread on earth. Recently, it has been discovered that a diverse repertoire of proteobacteria are also dominant in tap water. It is therefore important to use high-throughput monitoring tools for tap water. Here, the high-throughput assay ProteoQuant was developed to quantify the main proteobacterial phyla in tap water. The principle of ProteoQuant is proteobacterial-selective 23S rRNA gene PCR amplification, with multiple competitive TaqMan probes for quantifying the phyla Alpha-, Beta- and Gamma-proteobacteria. The ProteoQuant assay was evaluated, analysing both designed proteobacterial mixes and rRNA gene clone libraries from tap water. These evaluations showed a good coverage and accuracy of the ProteoQuant assay. Large-scale tap water screening using ProteoQuant revealed a dominance of Beta-proteobacteria and a potential interaction between Alpha- and Beta-proteobacteria. Gamma-proteobacteria, on the other hand, seemed independent of the two other phyla. The ProteoQuant assay will potentially be important for future understanding of the ecological forces shaping the tap water microbiota.

Mutation and selection are two major forces causing codon usage biases. How these two forces influence the codon usages in green plant mitochondrial genomes has not been well investigated. In the present study, we surveyed five bryophyte mitochondrial genomes to reveal their codon usage patterns as well as the determining forces. Three interesting findings were made. First, comparing to Chara vulgaris, an algal species sister to all extant land plants, bryophytes have more G, C‐ending codon usages in their mitochondrial genes. This is consistent with the generally higher genomic GC content in bryophyte mitochondria, suggesting an increased mutational pressure toward GC. Second, as indicated by Wright's Nc‐GC3s plot, mutation, not selection, is the major force affecting codon usages of bryophyte mitochondrial genes. However, the real mutational dynamics seem very complex. Context‐dependent analysis indicated that nucleotide at the 2nd codon position would slightly affect synonymous codon choices. Finally, in bryophyte mitochondria, tRNA genes would apply a weak selection force to fine‐tune the synonymous codon frequencies, as revealed by data of Ser4‐Pro‐Thr‐Val families. In summary, complex mutation and weak selection together determined the codon usages in bryophyte mitochondrial genomes.

I Encuentro de la Oceanografía Física Española (EOF), 13-15 de octubre 2010, Barcelona | The Canary Upwelling System (CUS) off northwest Africa forms one of the four major eastern boundary upwellings of the world ocean. The region is highly productive and supports an important fishing industry. At the surface, the upwelling is manifest as a narrow band of relatively cool water at the coast, whose offshore boundary frequently extends into the open ocean in the form of filaments and eddies. Whilst these observed features and their seasonality are well described in the literature, rather little is known about the source waters that feed into the upwelling at depth, and their fate once at the surface. Numerical float experiments are carried out utilising 3‐dimensional velocity fields from a high‐resolution numerical model simulation of the northeast Atlantic. Floats are released on the shelf region off northwest Africa. Both 'forwards' and 'backwards' runs are performed to determine the possible pathways of water parcels that traverse the CUS | Peer Reviewed

An easy-to-use and simplified liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI (+)-MS/MS) method was adopted to determine the amount of acrylamide in thirty-two samples of potato chips purchased on the South Italian market in 2009. Extract produced from matrices was directly analysed without derivatisation, the use of isotopically labelled acrylamide or the use of clean up cartridges. Quality analytical data were reported. The limit of detection and limit of quantification were 6 μg kg⁻¹ and 18 μg kg⁻¹, respectively and recovery values ranged from 90.7-96.3%. The relative standard deviation (RSD) ranged between 2.1% and 5.8%. The values ranged between 27 and 1400 μg kg⁻¹ and the arithmetic mean acrylamide content resulted 363 μg kg⁻¹. According to Foot et al. [Food Additives and Contaminants, 24 (2007)(S1), 37] and considering 500 μg kg⁻¹ as the minimum level possible with the actual available mitigation tools, the number of samples showing an acrylamide level higher than 500 μg kg⁻¹ resulted to be 22%. This paper gives a contribution to data collection in response to the monitoring activity of EFSA and following the Commission Recommendation 2007/331/EC: really, the number of Italian samples of potato chips and potato products for which acrylamide values was reported in the 'results on the monitoring of acrylamide' of EFSA ( http://www.efsa.europa.eu/cs/BlobServer/Report/datex_report_acrylamide_en,0.pdf?ssbinary=true, 2009) issued on 30 April 2009 is very limited.

The aim of the present study was to determine the efficacy of faecal hormonal measures for evaluating ovarian activity in a significant sized cohort of giant pandas during the perioestrual period. Faecal excretion of oestrogen and progestagen metabolites corresponded with urinary patterns and receptive behaviours. Longitudinal assessment of 10 females revealed that, on average, faecal oestrogen concentrations started to rise (P<0.05) above baseline (baseline mean±s.e.m.; 64.7±6.6ngg⁻¹) 5 days before the preovulatory oestrogen peak (484.6±126.8ngg⁻¹), which was followed by a gradual descent over 4 days to nadir. Mean faecal progestagen metabolite concentrations increased approximately twofold above baseline (from 186.2±37.7 to 347.2±75.7ngg⁻¹; P<0.05) during the 20-day interval after the preovulatory oestrogen surge. Variability within and among females precluded the use of a threshold of oestrogen or progestagen metabolites to predict reproductive status, yet faeces collected 2-3 days per week provided sufficient data to recognise that an individual was in the perioestrual period. Finally, in females that were examined for at least 3 consecutive years, there was an 18-53 day variation in the onset and an 8-13 day variation in the duration of perioestrual behaviour from year to year. In summary, these findings indicate that gonadal hormone profiles associated with the period immediately before, during and after oestrus are accurately revealed by analysis of the fibrous faeces of the giant panda. This approach has potential value for providing point-in-time information on the reproductive status of free-living individuals.