The traditional knowledge on stingless bees (Apidae: Meliponina) used by the Enawene-Nawe tribe in western Brazil

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>This paper presents the Enawene-Nawe Society's traditional knowledge about stingless bees. The Enawene-Nawe are an Aruak speaking people, indigenous to the Meridian Amazon. Specifically, they live in the Jurema River hydrological basin, located in the northwestern region of the Mato Grosso state.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The stingless bees were sampled from two ecologically similar regions in the interior of Enawene-Nawe Land. The first sampling took place around the village, i.e., adjacent to houses, by the edge of the Iquê River, next to food leftovers, around human excrement, and simply when the insects were found flying or reposing on a human body. The second round of sampling happened from 29/10 to 02/11/94, during an expedition for honey collection that took place throughout the ciliar bushes of the Papagaio River, an important tributary of Juruena River. We sampled bees adjacent to their nests following the beehive inspection or during the honey extraction.</p> <p>In this work, the main bee species of the sub tribe Meliponina, which were handled by the Enawene-Nawe, was identified, and a brief ethnographic description of the honey collection expeditions and its social-cosmologic meaning for the group was done.</p> <p>Results and Discussion</p> <p>Similar to other indigenous people in Brazil, the Enawene-Nawe recognized 48 stingless bee species. They identified each bee species by name and specified each one's ecological niche. A brief ethnographic description of the honey collection expeditions and bees' social-cosmologic meaning for the group is included.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We concluded that, as an example of other indigenous people, the Enawene-Nawe classify and identify the bees based not only on their structure and morphological aspects but also on the ecological, etiological, and social characteristics of the species.</p

Mate Value and Self-Esteem: Evidence from Eight Cultural Groups

This paper explores self-perceived mate value (SPMV), and its association with self-esteem, in eight cultures. 1066 participants, from 8 cultural groups in 7 countries, rated themselves on 24 SPMVs and completed a measure of self-esteem. Consistent with evolutionary theory, women were more likely to emphasise their caring and passionate romantic nature. In line with previous cross-cultural research, characteristics indicating passion and romance and social attractiveness were stressed more by respondents from individualistic cultures, and those higher on self-expression (rather than survival) values; characteristics indicative of maturity and confidence were more likely to be mentioned by those from Traditional, rather than Secular, cultures. Contrary to gender role theory, societal equality had only limited interactions with sex and SPMV, with honesty of greater significance for male self-esteem in societies with unequal gender roles. These results point to the importance of cultural and environmental factors in influencing self-perceived mate qualities, and are discussed in relation to broader debates about the impact of gender role equality on sex differences in personality and mating strategies

Heme-Oxygenases during Erythropoiesis in K562 and Human Bone Marrow Cells

In mammalian cells, heme can be degraded by heme-oxygenases (HO). Heme-oxygenase 1 (HO-1) is known to be the heme inducible isoform, whereas heme-oxygenase 2 (HO-2) is the constitutive enzyme. Here we investigated the presence of HO during erythroid differentiation in human bone marrow erythroid precursors and K562 cells. HO-1 mRNA and protein expression levels were below limits of detection in K562 cells. Moreover, heme was unable to induce HO-1, at the protein and mRNA profiles. Surprisingly, HO-2 expression was inhibited upon incubation with heme. To evaluate the physiological relevance of these findings, we analyzed HO expression during normal erythropoiesis in human bone marrow. Erythroid precursors were characterized by lack of significant expression of HO-1 and by progressive reduction of HO-2 during differentiation. FLVCR expression, a recently described heme exporter found in erythroid precursors, was also analyzed. Interestingly, the disruption in the HO detoxification system was accompanied by a transient induction of FLVCR. It will be interesting to verify if the inhibition of HO expression, that we found, is preventing a futile cycle of concomitant heme synthesis and catabolism. We believe that a significant feature of erythropoiesis could be the replacement of heme breakdown by heme exportation, as a mechanism to prevent heme toxicity