The Samburu, Maasai, and Their Neighbours: a synopsis of six related volumes by Paul Spencer

The volumes are: "The Samburu: a study of gerontocracy in a nomadic tribe" (1965); "Nomads in Alliance: symbiosis and growth among the Rendille and Samburu of Kenya" (1973); "The Maasai of Matapato: a study of rituals of rebellion" (1988); "Time, Space, and the Unknown: Maasai configurations of power and providence" (2003); "The Pastoral Continuum: the marginalization of tradition in East Africa" (1998); "Youth and Experiences of Ageing among Maa: models of society evoked by the Maasai, Samburu, and Chamus of Kenya" (2014). This synopsis has an index and a maximum of 300 words per chapter

Beyond antioxidants: the cellular and molecular interactions of flavonoids and how these underpin their actions on the brain

The consumption of flavonoid-rich foods and beverages has been suggested to limit the neurodegeneration associated with a variety of neurological disorders and to prevent or reverse normal or abnormal deteriorations in cognitive performance. Flavonoids mediate these effects via a number of routes, including a potential to protect neurons against injury induced by neurotoxins, an ability to suppress neuroinflammation and a potential to promote memory, learning and cognitive function. Originally, it was thought that such actions were mediated by the antioxidant capacity of flavonoids. However, their limited absorption and their low bioavailability in the brain suggest that this explanation is unlikely. Instead, this multiplicity of effects appears to be underpinned by three separate processes: first, through their interactions with important neuronal and glial signalling cascades in the brain, most notably the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt and mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways that regulate pro-survival transcription factors and gene expression; second, through an ability to improve peripheral and cerebral blood flow and to trigger angiogenesis and neurogenesis in the hippocampus; third, by their capacity to directly react with and scavenge neurotoxic species and pro-inflammatory agents produced in the brain as a result of both normal and abnormal brain ageing. The present review explores the potential inhibitory or stimulatory actions of flavonoids within these three systems and describes how such interactions are likely to underlie neurological effects

The Samburu Clan Census: genealogy and age among the Pardopa

This genealogy provides the original demographic data on which previously published tables for the Samburu are based. These applications extend beyond the Samburu to simulations of the age systems of other East African pastoralists where matters of generation as well as age are relevant

The Transfiguration of Samburu Religion

This article is a critique of Miracles and Extraordinary Experience in Northern Kenya (Straight 2007) and of gender bias on all sides. It compares this work with an earlier study on The Samburu (Spencer 1965), considering these under two headings: (I) Misfortune and the Curse, and (II) God and Afterlife

Achieving landscape-scale deer management for biodiversity conservation: The need to consider sources and sinks

Hyper-herbivory following predator removal is a global issue. Across North America and Europe, increasing deer numbers are affecting biodiversity and human epidemiology, but effectiveness of deer management in heterogeneous landscapes remains poorly understood. In forest habitats in Europe, deer numbers are rarely assessed and management is mainly based on impacts. Even where managed areas achieve stable or improving impact levels, the extent to which they act as sinks or persist as sources exporting deer to the wider landscape remains unknown. We present a framework to quantify effectiveness of deer management at the landscape scale. Applied across 234 km2 of Eastern England, we assessed management of invasive Reeve’s muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi) and native roe (Capreolus capreolus), measuring deer density (using thermal imaging distance transects 780 km/year), fertility, neonatal survival, and culling to quantify source-sink dynamics over 2008–2010. Despite management that removed 23–40% of the annual population, 1,287 (95% CI: 289–2,680) muntjac and 585 (454–1,533) roe deer dispersed annually into the wider landscape, consistent with their ongoing range expansion. For roe deer, culled individuals comprised fewer young deer than predicted by a Leslie matrix model assuming a closed population, consistent with agedependent emigration. In this landscape, for roe and muntjac, an annual cull of at least 60% and 53%, respectively, is required to offset annual production. Failure to quantify deer numbers and productivity has allowed high density populations to persist as regional sources contributing to range expansion, despite deliberative management programs, and without recognition by managers who considered numbers and impacts to be stable. Reversing an unfavorable condition of woodland biodiversity requires appropriate culls across large contiguous areas, supported by knowledge of deer numbers and fertility