Genocide and the Indians of California, 1769-1873

This study is an effort to determine whether the phenomenon of genocide, as defined in the UN Convention on Genocide of 1948, played a distinguishable role in the sharp decline of the California Indian population during the period 1769 to 1873. Through examination of such resources as memoirs, newspaper accounts of the time, anthropological and demographic studies, government documents, and works on genocide theory, it considers key issues of intent and action on the part of the Spanish, Mexicans, and Americans who arrived in California during the period. The evidence indicates that genocide of indigenous peoples occurred in California in the later years of the period under examination, and that its perpetrators were primarily miners and settlers who had recently arrived from the East. Although genocide was not a primary cause of the indigenous population collapse in California, it had a decisive impact on the survival of some of the state\u27s Indian groups. Numerous contemporary accounts provide details of indiscriminate killing of Indians by American settlers. The Indians of California experienced massive depopulation when California was under Spanish and Mexican authority as well, but the decline cannot be attributed to genocide because of a lack of intent and an absence of widespread, sustained, one-sided attacks on the part of the Spanish and Mexicans

Kumeyaay oral tradition, cultural identity, and language revitalization

Forms of oral tradition such as narrative and song often serve as important cultural resources that retain and reinforce cultural values and group identity (Bauman 1992; Bright 1993; Jahner 1999; Sekaquaptewa and Washburn 2004). This is particularly true of American Indian "trickster tales" which, like European Aesop's fables, contain moral content and are typically aimed at child audiences.1 This essay discusses an example of this genre with specific reference to the Kumeyaay community of Baja California Norte, Mexico. It also discusses how such stories are an important form of cultural property that doubly indexes group identity--once through the code that is used, and then again through the content of the narrative itself. Oral traditions such as trickster tales form an important body of knowledge that not only preserves cultural values and philosophical orientations, but also continues to imbue its listeners with these values. American Indian communities typically view their oral traditions as communal intellectual property (Hill 2002), and for this reason it is incumbent upon researchers who work with traditional texts in these oral communities to collaborate with them to ensure that collected texts are treated in a manner that is appropriate in the view of the communities from which they originate (Rice 2006; Field 2012b).Not

Cell polarization during monopolar cytokinesis

During cytokinesis, a specialized set of proteins is recruited to the equatorial region between spindle poles by microtubules and actin filaments, enabling furrow assembly and ingression before cell division. We investigate the mechanisms underlying regional specialization of the cytoskeleton in HeLa cells undergoing drug-synchronized monopolar cytokinesis. After forced mitotic exit, the cytoskeleton of monopolar mitotic cells is initially radially symmetric but undergoes a symmetry-breaking reaction that simultaneously polarizes microtubules and the cell cortex, with a concentration of cortical furrow markers into a cap at one side of the cell. Polarization requires microtubules, F-actin, RhoA, Myosin II activity, and Aurora B kinase activity. Aurora B localizes to actin cables in a gap between the monopolar midzone and the furrow-like cortex, suggesting a communication between them. We propose that feedback loops between cortical furrow components and microtubules promote symmetry breaking during monopolar cytokinesis and regional specialization of the cytoskeleton during normal bipolar cytokinesis

Genetic and ecological consequences of recent habitat fragmentation in a narrow endemic plant species within an urban context

Understanding the timescales that shape spatial genetic structure is pivotal to ascertain the impact of habitat fragmentation on the genetic diversity and reproductive viability of long-lived plant populations. Combining genetic and ecological information with current and past fragmentation conditions allows the identification of the main drivers important in shaping population structure and declines in reproduction, which is crucial for informing conservation strategies. Using historic aerial photographs, we defined the past fragmentation conditions for the shrub Conospermum undulatum, a species now completely embedded in an urban area. We explored the impact of current and past conditions on its genetic layout and assessed the effects of genetic and environmental factors on its reproduction. The historically high structural connectivity was evident in the genetics of the species. Despite the current intense fragmentation, we found similar levels of genetic diversity across populations and a weak spatial genetic structure. Historical connectivity was negatively associated with genetic differentiation among populations and positively related to within-population genetic diversity. Variation partitioning of reproductive performance explained ~ 66% of the variance, showing significant influences for genetic (9%), environmental (15%), and combined (42%) fractions. Our study highlights the importance of considering the historical habitat dynamics when investigating fragmentation consequences in long-lived plants. A detailed characterization of fragmentation from 1953 has shown how low levels of genetic fixation are due to extensive gene flow through the non-fragmented landscape. Moreover, knowledge of the relationships between genetic and environmental variation and reproduction can help to implement effective conservation strategies, particularly in highly dynamic landscapes

NMFS / Interagency Working Group Evaluation of CITES Criteria and Guidelines.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: At present, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) criteria used to assess whether a population qualifies for inclusion in the CITES Appendices relate to (A) size of the population, (B) area of distribution of the population, and (C) declines in the size of the population. Numeric guidelines are provided as indicators of a small population (less than 5,000 individuals), a small subpopulation (less than 500 individuals), a restricted area of distribution for a population (less than 10,000 km2), a restricted area of distribution for a subpopula-tion (less than 500 km2), a high rate of decline (a decrease of 50% or more in total within 5 years or two generations whichever is longer or, for a small wild population, a decline of 20% or more in total within ten years or three generations whichever is longer), large fluctuations (population size or area of distribution varies widely, rapidly and frequently, with a variation greater than one order of magnitude), and a short-term fluctuation (one of two years or less). The Working Group discussed several broad issues of relevance to the CITES criteria and guidelines. These included the importance of the historical extent of decline versus the recent rate of decline; the utility and validity of incorporating relative population productivity into decline criteria; the utility of absolute numbers for defining small populations or small areas; the appropriateness of generation times as time frames for examining declines; the importance of the magnitude and frequency of fluctuations as factors affecting risk of extinction; and the overall utility of numeric thresh-olds or guidelines

Causes of Multiple Sclerosis: a functional genomics approach

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is the most common disabling neurological disease affecting young adults in Western Society. To date, 55 strongly associated single nucleotide polymorphisms have been discovered. We now need to identify causal genes. While T-cells as targets for therapeutic intervention have rarely proven useful, there is strong clinical and in-vitro data identifying NK cell deficiencies in patients, and key roles for monocytes in myelin and axon destruction and autoantigen presentation. RNA extracted from magnetic bead sorted monocytes and NK cells, of healthy controls (HC) and untreated patients with relapsing remitting MS (RRMS), was labelled and hybridised to Affymetrix Human Gene 1.0 ST arrays. Expression values were standardized across chips using RMA and quantile normalization as implemented in GenePattern. Genes were ranked by expression difference significance by Mann Whitney U test and ANOVA. To date, we have analysed monocytes of 30 patients and 39 HC, and NK cells from 25 patients and 32 HC. Expression differences of those genes adjacent to MS associated risk SNPs lying between 110kb upstream and 40kb downstream of a candidate gene were considered. We have identified three genes worthy of further analysis on this basis: RGS1, HHEX and THEMIS. To test the relevance of these candidates to central nervous system (CNS) autoimmunity, we aim to mimic phenotypes associated with these expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) in in-vitro cultures of purified NK cells and monocytes, and in-vivo in a mouse model of MS - experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE)

The Iowa Homemaker vol.10, no.4

Help Fight Goiter With Seaweed by Sarah Field, page 1 Let’s Talk Collegiate Styles by Jerry Martin, page 2 The Friendly House with White Pillars by Ila Woodburn, page 2 “Chicago – Hog Butcher” by Mary Morrison Beyer, page 3 Is Your Room an Adventure? by Margaret McDonough, page 3 Manicure That Precious Antique by Nora Workman, page 4 “Prep Dorm” Has Vivid History by Madge McGlade, page 4 4-H Club by Helen Melton, page 6 I Want to Be Beautiful! by A. Co-ed, page 6 State Association by Marcia E. Turner, page 8 Why Buy Baker’s Cakes? by Nellie Goethe, page 9 Editorial, page 11 Alumnae News by Dorothy B. Anderson, page 12 Who Wants a Hole-in-the-Wall? By Edith Graham et al, page 1