Genghis Khan's death (AD 1227): An unsolvable riddle or simply a pandemic disease?

Abstract The article examines Genghis Khan's death from the historico-medical perspective. Although several etiologies have been proposed over the years, most of these at a closer look appear to be later inventions by historians. A reassessment of the available evidence suggests instead bubonic plague as the most likely clinical scenario. Genghis Khan's death is also a reflection on the impact of pandemic diseases on leadership in ancient times as well as nowadays

Properties of a new quasi-axisymmetric configuration

A novel, compact, quasi-axisymmetric configuration is presented which exhibits low fast-particle losses and is stable to ideal MHD instabilities. The design has fast-particle loss rates below 8\% for flux surfaces within the half-radius, and is shown to have an MHD-stability limit of a normalised pressure of $\langle\beta\rangle=3\%$ where $\langle\beta\rangle$ is volume averaged. The flux surfaces at various plasma betas and currents as calculated using the SPEC equilibrium code are presented. Neoclassical transport coefficients are shown to be similar to an equivalent tokamak, with a distinct banana regime at half-radius. An initial coil design study is presented to assess the feasibility of this configuration as a fusion-relevant experiment

Relationships between the hard and soft dimensions of the nose in Pan troglodytes and Homo sapiens reveal the positions of the nasal tips of Plio-Pleistocene hominids

By identifying homogeneity in bone and soft tissue covariation patterns in living hominids, it is possible to produce facial approximation methods with interspecies compatibility. These methods may be useful for producing facial approximations of fossil hominids that are more realistic than currently possible. In this study, we conducted an interspecific comparison of the nasomaxillary region in chimpanzees and modern humans with the aim of producing a method for predicting the positions of the nasal tips of Plio-Pleistocene hominids. We addressed this aim by first collecting and performing regression analyses of linear and angular measurements of nasal cavity length and inclination in modern humans (Homo sapiens; n = 72) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes; n = 19), and then performing a set of out-of-group tests. The first test was performed on four subjects that belonged to the same genus as the training sample, i.e., Homo (n = 2) and Pan (n = 2), and the second test, which functioned as an interspecies compatibility test, was performed on Pan paniscus (n = 1), Gorilla gorilla (n = 3), Pongo pygmaeus (n = 1), Pongo abelli (n = 1), Symphalangus syndactylus (n = 3), and Papio hamadryas (n = 3). We identified statistically significant correlations in both humans and chimpanzees with slopes that displayed homogeneity of covariation. Prediction formulae combining these data were found to be compatible with humans and chimpanzees as well as all other African great apes, i.e., bonobos and gorillas. The main conclusion that can be drawn from this study is that our set of regression models for approximating the position of the nasal tip are homogenous among humans and African apes, and can thus be reasonably extended to ancestors leading to these clades

The temptations of evolutionary ethics

Published online: 08 September 2000 Please see page 430 in attached PDF for this review.Reviews the book: The Temptations of Evolutionary Ethics. By Paul Lawrence Farber. Pp. 210. (University of California Press, Berkeley, 1998.) £12.95 paperback, ISBN 0-520-21369-6.Maciej Henneber

Bioethics: The ethics of evolution and genetic interference.

Published online: 09 April 2001 Please see page 316 in attached PDF for this review.Reviews the book: Bioethics: The Ethics of Evolution and Genetic Interference. By Herbert Franz Mataré. Pp. 141. (Bergin and Garvey, Westport, Connecticut, 1999. £41.50, ISBN 0-89789-461-8, hardback.Maciej Henneber

Genghis Khan's death (AD 1227): An unsolvable riddle or simply a pandemic disease?

The article examines Genghis Khan's death from the historico-medical perspective. Although several etiologies have been proposed over the years, most of these at a closer look appear to be later inventions by historians. A reassessment of the available evidence suggests instead bubonic plague as the most likely clinical scenario. Genghis Khan's death is also a reflection on the impact of pandemic diseases on leadership in ancient times as well as nowadays

Great issues for medicine in the twenty-first century. Ethical and social issues arising out of advances in the biomedical sciences.

Please see page 319 in attached PDF for this review.Reviews the book: Great Issues for Medicine in the Twenty-First Century. Ethical and Social Issues Arising out of Advances in the Biomedical Sciences. Edited by D. C. Grossman & H. Valtin. Pp 277. (Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Vol. 882, 1999.) US$ 60.00, ISBN 1-57331-143-X.M. Henneber

Biologists and the promise of American life

Published online: 16 October 2003 Please see page 623 in attached PDF for this review.Reviews the book: Biologists and the Promise of American Life. By Philip J. Pauly. Pp. 312. (Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA, 2001.) £18.95, ISBN 0-691-04977-7, hardback.Maciej Henneber

Race differences in intelligence: An evolutionary analysis

Please see page 844 in attached PDF for this review.Reviews the book: Race Differences in Intelligence: An Evolutionary Analysis. By Richard Lynn. Pp 322+xiii. (Washington Summit Publishers, Augusta, GA, USA, 2006.) $17.95, ISBN 978-1-59368-020-6, hardback; ISBN 978-1-59368-021-3, paperback.Maciej Henneber

Greater family size is associated with less cancer risk: an ecological analysis of 178 countries

Background: Greater family size measured with total fertility rate (TFR) and with household size, may offer more life satisfaction to the family members. Positive psychological well-being has been postulated to decrease cancer initiation risk. This ecological study aims to examine the worldwide correlation between family size, used as the measure of positive psychological well-being, and total cancer incidence rates. Methods: Country specific estimates obtained from United Nations agencies on total cancer incidence rates (total, female and male rates in age range 0–49 years and all ages respectively), all ages site cancer incidence (bladder, breast, cervix uteri, colorectum, corpus uteri, lung, ovary and stomach), TFR, household size, life expectancy, urbanization, per capita GDP PPP and self-calculated Biological State Index (Ibs) were matched for data analysis. Pearson’s, non-parametric Spearman’s, partial correlations, independent T-test and multivariate regressions were conducted in SPSS. Results: Worldwide, TFR and household size were significantly and negatively correlated to all the cancer incidence variables. These correlations remained significant in partial correlation analysis when GDP, life expectancy, Ibs and urbanization were controlled for. TFR correlated to male cancer incidence rate (all ages) significantly stronger than it did to female cancer incidence rate (all ages) in both Pearson’s and partial correlations. Multivariate stepwise regression analysis indicated that TFR and household size were consistently significant predictors of all cancer incidence variables. Conclusions: Countries with greater family size have lower cancer risk in both females, and especially males. Our results seem to suggest that it may be worthwhile further examining correlations between family size and cancer risk in males and females through the cohort and case-control studies based on large samples.Wenpeng You, Frank J Rühli, Renata J Henneberg and Maciej Henneber