Paleodemography of the libben site, Ottawa county, ohio

The Libben site, a Late Woodland ossuary and occupation site from the Great Black Swamp of northern Ohio has yielded a well-preserved skeletal sample of 1327 articulated individuals. The outstanding preservation and completeness of the site and the utilization of an exhaustive aging methodology make this the largest and most comprehensively censused North American prehistoric cemetery. Survivorship data indicate a robust, successful population. Life expectancy at birth was 20 years. Among adults, male mortality was consistently higher than female, a condition possibly related to high interpersonal and intergroup aggression. Infant mortality was generally low, and a general hypothesis concerning the elevation of infant mortality and the simultaneous depression of adult mortality among aboriginal peoples after European contact is suggested.     

The wandering commons: A conservation conundrum in the Dominican Republic

In contrast to the jeopardy caused to commonproperty regimes by conditions of open access, factorssuch as boundary ambiguity, shifts, and maintenancefailures are the causes of a different set of problemsin the Los Haitises National Park, a controversialprotected area in the Dominican Republic. Survey data,historical sources, and digital mapping informationoverlaying past boundary changes show that this areahas undergone two decades of design modifications inits perimeters. Despite a long history of communalownership in that country, there appears to be littlelikelihood of transforming this tradition into amodern common property regime of use to community andenvironment in the park‘s buffer zone. This is due, atleast in part, to its highly porous, constantlychanging boundary, a source of on-going, open-accessproblems among local cultivators peripheral to thepark.     

Genomics and agriculture. Collaborations in rice

Advances in rice genomics will contribute to gene discovery and rice productivity, but many of the products with high potential for alleviating poverty and improving human nutrition may not be those that attract private investment. Although most genetic resources and biological expertise for functional genomics are in the public, many proprietary technologies are owned by the private sector. A public resource platform is needed for the application of genomic technology to accelerate gene discovery. We present a model and general principles in collaboration that can serve the poor and encourage innovation by both the public and private sectors.     

Determination of Rapid Visco Analyser Parameters in Rice by Near‐Infrared Spectroscopy

The objective of these studies was to find alternative Rapid Visco Analyser (RVA) viscoelastic parameters that are predictable by near‐infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Currently, RVA instruments are widely used in assessing cooking and processing characteristics in rice. The ability to predict RVA parameters by NIRS would be useful in rapidly determining rice pasting qualities, but NIRS does not correlate with the traditional parameters (peak viscosity, final viscosity, breakdown, consistency, and setback). Alternative RVA parameters were sought by collecting RVA and NIRS data for a total of 86 short, medium, and long grain rice cultivars. The amylose contents were 0.41–24.90% (w/w) and protein concentrations were 8.47–11.35% (w/w). Partial least squares (PLS) regression models generated for the entire NIR spectrum against the RVA curve showed viscosity at 212–228 sec (80°C ± 1) varied linearly with NIR spectra (1,100 to ‐2,500 nm). Regression coefficient values were R = 0.961 for 212 sec and R = 0.903 for 228 sec. The PLS correlation coefficient for the prediction of amylose at 212–228 sec decreases along with the NIRS correlation to the same time frame. An opposite trend was observed for the correlation with protein at 212–228 sec. This comparison suggests the importance of amylose and protein in water absorption during this time frame.