'Asexual isn't who I am': the politics of asexuality

Some literature on asexuality has claimed that it is inherently radical and contains the potential for resistance. Unfortunately, this literature has tended to be unempirical, has imagined asexuality as a disembodied entity, and has marginalised the multiple identities held by asexual people. This article, inspired by Plummer’s critical humanist approach, seeks to explore how individuals understand their asexuality to encourage forms of political action in the areas of identity, activism, online spaces, and LGBT politics. What we found was a plurality of experiences and attitudes with most adopting a pragmatic position in response to their social situation which saw large-scale political action as irrelevant. We conclude by reflecting on what these results mean for those who see asexuality as potentially radical

Early spears as thrusting weapons: Isolating force and impact velocities in human performance trials

Human hunting has been a cornerstone of research in human evolutionary studies, and decades worth of research programmes into early weapon systems have improved our understanding of the subsistence behaviours of our genus. Thrusting spears are potentially one of the earliest hunting weapons to be manufactured and used by humans. However, a dearth of data on the mechanics of thrusting spear use has hampered experimental research. This paper presents a human performance trial using military personnel trained in bayonet use. Participants thrusted replicas of Middle Pleistocene wooden spears into PermaGel™. For each spear thrust, impact velocity was recorded with high-speed video equipment, and force profiles were recorded using a force transducer. The results demonstrate that training improves performance when compared with previous experimental results using untrained participants, and that the mechanics and biomechanics of spear thrusting are complex. The trial confirms that previous spear thrusting experiments firing spears as projectiles are failing to replicate the entire spear thrusting event, and that crossbows are too powerful to replicate the low velocities involved in spear thrusting. In order to better understand evidence of spear thrusting in the archaeological record, experimental protocols accurately replicating and recording the mechanics of spear thrusting in the past are proposed

Bayaka adolescent boys nominate accessible adult men as preferred spear hunting = models les adolescents bayaka nomment les hommes adultes qui leurs sont accessibles comme modèles préférés pour l’apprentissage de la chasse à la lance

Data availability: data are available on request. The code used in the analysis can be found online at https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/suppl/10.1086/716853/suppl_file/303893code.zip .Online enhancements: appendix, R code.Humans are selective social learners. In a cultural landscape with many potential models, learners must balance the cost associated with learning from successful models with learning from accessible ones. Using structured interviews, we investigate the model selection biases of Congolese BaYaka adolescent boys learning to hunt with spears (n = 24; mean age [mage] = 15.79 years; range, 12–20 years). Results from social relations models suggest that adolescents nominated accessible adult men (closely related kin and neighbors) as preferred spear hunting models. Direct cues for success were not strong predictors for adolescent nomination in the statistical models, despite learners justifying model selection according to teaching and spear hunting skill. Indirect cues including body mass index, age, and cross-domain prestige were weak predictors for adolescent nomination. We interpret these findings as suggesting that BaYaka spear hunting knowledge is widely shared in the community, with all adult men participating in spear hunting and therefore having the requisite experience to transmit this skill. This supports previous findings that in egalitarian societies with low rates of role specialization, prestige has limited importance for cross-domain learning. Les êtres humains sont des apprenants sociaux sélectifs. Dans un paysage culturel comportant de nombreux modèles potentiels, les apprenants doivent trouver un équilibre entre le coût associé à l’apprentissage à partir de modèles qui ont fait leurs preuves et celui à partir de modèles accessibles. À l’aide d’entretiens structurés, nous étudions les biais de sélection de modèles des adolescents congolais BaYaka qui apprennent à chasser à la lance (n = 24, âge moyen = 15,79 ans, intervalle: 12–20 ans). Les résultats des modèles de relations sociales suggèrent que les adolescents désignent des hommes adultes accessibles (parents proches et voisins) comme modèles préférés de chasse à la lance. Les indices directs de réussite ne constituaient pas des prédicteurs forts de nomination par des adolescents dans les modèles statistiques, bien que les apprenants justifiaient la sélection du modèle en fonction des habiletés d’enseignement et de la chasse à la lance. Les indices indirects, dont l’indice de masse corporelle, l’âge et le prestige inter-domaines, constituaient de faibles prédicteurs de la nomination par les adolescents. Ces résultats suggèrent que la connaissance de la chasse à la lance des BaYaka est largement partagée dans la communauté, puisque tous les hommes adultes participent à la chasse à la lance et ont donc l’expérience requise pour transmettre cette compétence. Ceci confirme les résultats de recherches antérieures selon lesquels dans les sociétés égalitaires, qui ont de faibles niveaux de spécialisation des rôles, le prestige a une importance limitée dans l’apprentissage inter-domaines.Funding for this research was provided by awards from the Wenner-Gren Foundation (no. 9789) and the Leakey Foundation to S. Lew-Levy and A. Milks. Research was also supported by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Postdoctoral Fellowship (no. 756-2019-0102) to S. Lew-Levy

Quantitative Microscopy Reveals Centromeric Chromatin Stability, Size, and Cell Cycle Mechanisms to Maintain Centromere Homeostasis

The deposited item is a book chapter and is part of the series "Centromeres and Kinetochores" published by the publisher Springer Verlag. The deposited book chapter is a post-print version and has been submitted to peer reviewing. There is no public supplementary material available for this publication. This publication hasn't any creative commons license associated.Centromeres are chromatin domains specified by nucleosomes containing the histone H3 variant, CENP-A. This unique centromeric structure is at the heart of a strong self-templating epigenetic mechanism that renders centromeres heritable. We review how specific quantitative microscopy approaches have contributed to the determination of the copy number, architecture, size, and dynamics of centromeric chromatin and its associated centromere complex and kinetochore. These efforts revealed that the key to long-term centromere maintenance is the slow turnover of CENP-A nucleosomes, a critical size of the chromatin domain and its cell cycle-coupled replication. These features come together to maintain homeostasis of a chromatin locus that directs its own epigenetic inheritance and facilitates the assembly of the mitotic kinetochore.There are no funders and sponsors indicated explicitly in the document.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

External ballistics of Pleistocene hand-thrown spears: experimental performance data and implications for human evolution

The appearance of weaponry - technology designed to kill - is a critical but poorly established threshold in human evolution. It is an important behavioural marker representing evolutionary changes in ecology, cognition, language and social behaviours. While the earliest weapons are often considered to be hand-held and consequently short-ranged, the subsequent appearance of distance weapons is a crucial development. Projectiles are seen as an improvement over contact weapons, and are considered by some to have originated only with our own species in the Middle Stone Age and Upper Palaeolithic. Despite the importance of distance weapons in the emergence of full behavioral modernity, systematic experimentation using trained throwers to evaluate the ballistics of thrown spears during fight and at impact is lacking. This paper addresses this by presenting results from a trial of trained javelin athletes, providing new estimates for key performance parameters. Overlaps in distances and impact energies between hand-thrown spears and spearthrowers are evidenced, and skill emerges as a signifcant factor in successful use. The results show that distance hunting was likely within the repertoire of hunting strategies of Neanderthals, and the resulting behavioural flexibility closely mirrors that of our own specie

Differential diagnosis of perinatal hypophosphatasia: radiologic perspectives

Perinatal hypophosphatasia (HPP) is a rare, potentially life-threatening, inherited, systemic metabolic bone disease that can be difficult to recognize in utero and postnatally. Diagnosis is challenging because of the large number of skeletal dysplasias with overlapping clinical features. This review focuses on the role of fetal and neonatal imaging modalities in the differential diagnosis of perinatal HPP from other skeletal dysplasias (e.g., osteogenesis imperfecta, campomelic dysplasia, achondrogenesis subtypes, hypochondrogenesis, cleidocranial dysplasia). Perinatal HPP is associated with a broad spectrum of imaging findings that are characteristic of but do not occur in all cases of HPP and are not unique to HPP, such as shortening, bowing and angulation of the long bones, and slender, poorly ossified ribs and metaphyseal lucencies. Conversely, absent ossification of whole bones is characteristic of severe lethal HPP and is associated with very few other conditions. Certain features may help distinguish HPP from other skeletal dysplasias, such as sites of angulation of long bones, patterns of hypomineralization, and metaphyseal characteristics. In utero recognition of HPP allows for the assembly and preparation of a multidisciplinary care team before delivery and provides additional time to devise treatment strategies

Effects of Anacetrapib in Patients with Atherosclerotic Vascular Disease

BACKGROUND: Patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease remain at high risk for cardiovascular events despite effective statin-based treatment of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels. The inhibition of cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) by anacetrapib reduces LDL cholesterol levels and increases high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels. However, trials of other CETP inhibitors have shown neutral or adverse effects on cardiovascular outcomes. METHODS: We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving 30,449 adults with atherosclerotic vascular disease who were receiving intensive atorvastatin therapy and who had a mean LDL cholesterol level of 61 mg per deciliter (1.58 mmol per liter), a mean non-HDL cholesterol level of 92 mg per deciliter (2.38 mmol per liter), and a mean HDL cholesterol level of 40 mg per deciliter (1.03 mmol per liter). The patients were assigned to receive either 100 mg of anacetrapib once daily (15,225 patients) or matching placebo (15,224 patients). The primary outcome was the first major coronary event, a composite of coronary death, myocardial infarction, or coronary revascularization. RESULTS: During the median follow-up period of 4.1 years, the primary outcome occurred in significantly fewer patients in the anacetrapib group than in the placebo group (1640 of 15,225 patients [10.8%] vs. 1803 of 15,224 patients [11.8%]; rate ratio, 0.91; 95% confidence interval, 0.85 to 0.97; P=0.004). The relative difference in risk was similar across multiple prespecified subgroups. At the trial midpoint, the mean level of HDL cholesterol was higher by 43 mg per deciliter (1.12 mmol per liter) in the anacetrapib group than in the placebo group (a relative difference of 104%), and the mean level of non-HDL cholesterol was lower by 17 mg per deciliter (0.44 mmol per liter), a relative difference of -18%. There were no significant between-group differences in the risk of death, cancer, or other serious adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease who were receiving intensive statin therapy, the use of anacetrapib resulted in a lower incidence of major coronary events than the use of placebo. (Funded by Merck and others; Current Controlled Trials number, ISRCTN48678192 ; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01252953 ; and EudraCT number, 2010-023467-18 .)