Plumerias the Color of Roseate Spoonbills' - Continuity and transition in the symbolism of Plumeria L. in Mesoamerica

This study explores the complex symbolism which the genus Plumeria L. engendered from around the beginning of the common era to the present time in Mesoamerica. In much of this cultural area an intense interest in sensory pleasures can be traced to great antiquity, and, consequently, flowers became a central metaphor in the Mesoamerican cosmological discourse. In the Maya pantheon, plumeria was associated with deities representing life force and fertility and therefore plumeria flowers became strongly connected with a wide range of expressions of female sexuality. Among Nahuatl speaking people of central Mexico, especially during the height of the Aztec empire, the most prominent association of plumeria was to signify élite status, with plumeria trees planted in the gardens of the nobility, the blooms exchanged at feasts, or the stylized image of plumeria flowers inscribed on ceramics and codices. This high appreciation for plumerias was also reflected in the number of different varieties that were distinguished by name. Ethnomedical applications, especially of the lactiferous sap of plumeria, show continuity from pre-conquest times to the present. In the context of the hybridized religious systems that developed in response to the introduction of Christianity across Mesoamerica, plumerias developed new meanings, e.g., as elaborate decorations for the worship of the Virgin Mary. When in the sixteenth century plumeria was dispersed beyond the Americas into Southeast Asia, likely through Spanish hands and by way of the Philippines, it gained a wide-spread association with grave yards as a plant promoting contact with the deceased

To Strengthen the Teeth and Harden the Gums - Teeth blackening as medical practice in Asia, Micronesia and Melanesia

researchTeeth blackening with agents of plant and mineral origin used to be the most wide-spread form of bodily inscription in parts of Asia, Micronesia and Melanesia, and I argue here that it can be productively studied as a medical practice. Ethnographic evidence supports that teeth blackeners became integrated into indigenous systems of medicine in which they fulfilled different purposes. They aided the recovery from the physically challenging teeth filing procedure, provided a primary form of preventive oral care and treated acute oral afflictions. Frequently used teeth blackening agents were derived from plants (e.g., Paederia foetida L. or Punica granatum L.) which were traditionally considered of high medical value and, from a biomedical perspective, had a high content of bioactive constituents. Biomedical data also validate the usefulness of many blackening plant extracts for improving oral health and suggest efficacy against other diseases prevalent in tropical climates, e.g., diarrheal or intestinal parasitic diseases. An assessment of the risk-benefit balance of teeth blackening suggests that, despite concomitant carcinogenic and other toxic risks, especially from chronic application, the practice could have made a positive contribution to health status in many societies before Western contact. The unique dynamic of medical utility embedded in diverse symbolic ascriptions might have provided the basis for its adoption in so many cultures of Asia, Micronesia and Melanesia

Canarium ovatum Engl. Burseraceae

Canarium melioides Elmer; Canarium pachyphyllum G.Perkins (POWO 2020

Genomic Analyses Show Extremely Perilous Conservation Status of African and Asiatic cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus).

We live in a world characterized by biodiversity loss and global environmental change. The extinction of large carnivores can have ramifying effects on ecosystems like an uncontrolled increase in wild herbivores, which in turn can have knock-on impacts on vegetation regeneration and communities. Cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) serve important ecosystem functions as apex predators; yet, they are quickly heading towards an uncertain future. Threatened by habitat loss, human-wildlife conflict and illegal trafficking, there are only approximately 7100 individuals remaining in nature. We present the most comprehensive genome-wide analysis of cheetah phylogeography and conservation genomics to date, assembling samples from nearly the entire current and past species' range. We show that their phylogeography is more complex than previously thought, and that East African cheetahs (A. j. raineyi) are genetically distinct from Southern African individuals (A. j. jubatus), warranting their recognition as a distinct subspecies. We found strong genetic differentiation between all classically recognized subspecies, thus refuting earlier findings that cheetahs show only little differentiation. The strongest differentiation was observed between the Asiatic and all the African subspecies. We detected high inbreeding in the Critically Endangered Iranian (A. j. venaticus) and North-western (A. j. hecki) subspecies, and show that overall cheetahs, along with snow leopards, have the lowest genome-wide heterozygosity of all the big cats. This further emphasizes the cheetah's perilous conservation status. Our results provide novel and important information on cheetah phylogeography that can support evidence-based conservation policy decisions to help protect this species. This is especially relevant in light of ongoing and proposed translocations across subspecies boundaries, and the increasing threats of illegal trafficking

Visual Pathways Serving Motion Detection in the Mammalian Brain

Motion perception is the process through which one gathers information on the dynamic visual world, in terms of the speed and movement direction of its elements. Motion sensation takes place from the retinal light sensitive elements, through the visual thalamus, the primary and higher visual cortices. In the present review we aim to focus on the extrageniculo-extrastriate cortical and subcortical visual structures of the feline and macaque brain and discuss their functional role in visual motion perception. Special attention is paid to the ascending tectofugal system that may serve for detection of the visual environment during self-motion

Piper betle L. Piperaceae

Artanthe hexagyna Miq.; Betela mastica Raf.; Chavica betle (L.) Miq.; Chavica blumei Miq.; Chavica chuvya Miq.; Chavica densa Miq.; Chavica siriboa (L.) Miq.; Cubeba melamiri Miq.; Cubeba seriboa Miq.; Macropiper potamogetonifolium (Opiz) Miq.; Piper anisodorum Blanco; Piper bathicarpum C.DC.; Piper bidentatum Stokes; Piper blancoi Merr.; Piper blumei (Miq.) Backer; Piper canaliculatum Opiz; Piper carnistilum C.DC.; Piper densum Blume; Piper fenixii C.DC.; Piper macgregorii C.DC.; Piper malamiri Blume; Piper malamiris L.; Piper malarayatense C.DC.; Piper marianum Opiz; Piper philippinense C.DC.; Piper pinguispicum C.DC. & Koord.; Piper potamogetonifolium Opiz; Piper puberulinodum C.DC.; Piper rubroglandulosum Chaveer. & Mokkamul; Piper saururus Burm.; Piper siriboa L.; Piperi betlum (L.) St.-Lag

Umfrage-Ergebnis zur Attraktivität des NHV : mit 9 Abbildungen

Thomas Zumbroich und Klaus Hermann