Clarifying prehistoric parasitism from a complementary morphological and molecular approach

This paper reports an approach to the identification of prehistoric parasitic infection, which integrates traditional morphological methods with molecular methods. The approach includes the strengths of each method while mitigating the limitations. Demonstrating the efficacy of this approach, we provide a case study from a 1400 year old desiccated fecal sample from La Cueva de los Muertos Chiquitos, archaeological site, near Rio Zape, Durango, Mexico. Traditionally prepared microscope slides were processed via microscopy and tentative ascarids were identified. Information regarding the parasites' developmental stage was recorded. DNA was then extracted directly from the slide material. From this DNA extract, a small segment of the 18S ribosomal RNA gene variant that is specific to Ascaris, and its phylogenetically close relatives, was targeted for PCR amplification and sequencing. Phylogenetic analysis of the DNA sequence best matched a member of physalopterids, rather than ascarids, with a single exception of a match to Contracaecum spiculigerum. Subsequent extractions, amplifications and sequencing of the original rehydrated coprolite material confirmed these results. The C. spiculigerum sequence represented a phylogenetic anomaly and subsequent analysis determined the sequence was an error in the BLAST database, likely attributable to misidentification of juvenile specimens prior to sequencing and submission. Physaloptera are a difficult genus to identify morphologically and can carry major health burdens. They may be underreported in humans, in part, because of morphological similarities to the more common human parasites belonging to ascarids. We conclude that integrating traditional morphological methods with molecular methods can help resolve this issue, in both contemporary and prehistoric populations.     

Empires of Sentiment; Intimacies from Death: David Livingstone and African Slavery ‘at the Heart of the Nation’

The article re-examines the death of David Livingstone. It highlights the importance of an outpouring of disinhibited emotion in 1874. Despite a shambolic funeral, a working-class underdog and an anti-slavery tradition were placed ‘at the heart of the nation’. Media coverage generated the experience of intimacy from sentimentalised versions of Livingstone's death and interactions with Africans, unleashing mass empathy, moral feeling and humanitarian impulse. It was crucial to the development of Britain's soft-power empire liberalism, inspiring a powerful network, aware of public opinion, to later intervene in eastern Africa. Thus the role of emotion and emotion capital should be factored more into the history of empire.     

CONSERVATION LAND AMENITIES AND REGIONAL ECONOMIES: A POSTMATCHING DIFFERENCE‐IN‐DIFFERENCES ANALYSIS OF THE NORTHWEST FOREST PLAN

The 1994 Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) resulted in the protection of over 11 million acres of public forestland in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. This paper quantifies the amenity effect arising from protected NWFP lands on long‐run community economic growth. Using community fixed effects and postmatching panel regression to control for many sources of bias, we find highly localized and positive amenity impacts on the growth in median income, population, and property values for small communities close to protected NWFP land, as compared to communities far from the NWFP. We find no effect on medium‐sized communities.     

Comparison of 3D Landmark and 3D Dense Cloud Approaches to Hominin Mandible Morphometrics Using Structure‐From‐Motion

The objective of this study is to compare landmark‐based assessment of hominin mandible morphological variation with that from a high‐density point cloud, using 3D models constructed from structure‐from‐motion (SfM) surface capture techniques. Surface models of nine hominin mandible casts were created using SfM photogrammetry. The morphology of these models was described using traditional geometric morphometrics based on identification of landmarks. This was compared to the morphological variation described by the differences between high‐density point clouds, which do not rely on anatomical landmarks, using an iterative closest point algorithm. The landmark‐based approach grouped the anatomically modern human and Neanderthal mandibles with reasonable success. The high‐density point cloud approach also grouped these successfully, but was able to incorporate information from a specimen that was insufficiently preserved to be included in the landmark data set. This improved the accuracy of the grouping. The use of high‐density point clouds from surface capture to analyse hominin mandible morphology allows for greater amounts of information to be included and offers a potential method to identify shape affinity that is as successful as landmark‐based geometric morphometrics.