Smelling over time. The lexicon of olfaction from Latin to Italian

Sensory anthropologists have described societies that, compared to Western ones, attribute to the sense of smell a more prominent cultural role, and linguists are bringing evidence that a higher sociocultural status of smell tends to be reflected in language by a richer and more elaborated olfactory lexicon. Given that the relative prominence of one sense within the sensorium has been shown to vary not only across societies, but also over time, such variation may be expected to have linguistic reflections. This study explores whether and how the olfactory lexicon has changed from Latin to Italian. Is the alleged increased \u201cdeodorization\u201d of contemporary Western societies associated with changes in the lexicon? The data show that, contrary to expectations, the overall size of the olfactory lexicon did not undergo appreciable changes. However, it progressively became more oriented toward the negative pole of evaluation (i.e., the expression of unpleasant smells). Implications and possible explanations are discussed in the light of the linguistic and sensory-historical literature

The effects of old and recent migration waves in the distribution of HBB*S globin gene haplotypes

Abstract Sickle cell hemoglobin is the result of a mutation at the sixth amino acid position of the beta (β) globin chain. The HBB*S gene is in linkage disequilibrium with five main haplotypes in the β-globin-like gene cluster named according to their ethnic and geographic origins: Bantu (CAR), Benin (BEN), Senegal (SEN), Cameroon (CAM) and Arabian-Indian (ARAB). These haplotypes demonstrated that the sickle cell mutation arose independently at least five times in human history. The distribution of βS haplotypes among Brazilian populations showed a predominance of the CAR haplotype. American populations were clustered in two groups defined by CAR or BEN haplotype frequencies. This scenario is compatible with historical records about the slave trade in the Americas. When all world populations where the sickle cell gene occurs were analyzed, three clusters were disclosed based on CAR, BEN or ARAB haplotype predominance. These patterns may change in the next decades due to recent migrations waves. Since these haplotypes show different clinical characteristics, these recent migrations events raise the necessity to develop optimized public health programs for sickle cell disease screening and management