A natural history of conspecific aggregations in terrestrial arthropods, with emphasis on cycloalexy in leaf beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 289-355 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge A. Santiago-Blay ◽  
Pierre Jolivet ◽  
Krishna K. Verma
Keyword(s):  
Toxic Compounds ◽  
Leaf Beetles ◽  
Terrestrial Arthropods ◽  
Complex Interactions ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Biological World ◽  
Abiotic And Biotic Factors ◽  
Additional Labor ◽  
Rule Out

Aggregations of conspecifics are ubiquitous in the biological world. In arthropods, such aggregations are generated and regulated through complex interactions of chemical and mechanical as well as abiotic and biotic factors. Aggregations are often functionally associated with facilitation of defense, thermomodulation, feeding, and reproduction, amongst others. Although the iconic aggregations of locusts, fireflies, and monarch butterflies come to mind, many other groups of arthropods also aggregate. Cycloalexy is a form of circular or quasicircular aggregation found in many animals. In terrestrial arthropods, cycloalexy appears to be a form of defensive aggregation although we cannot rule out other functions, particularly thermomodulation. In insects, cycloalexic-associated behaviors may include coordinated movements, such as the adoption of seemingly threatening postures, regurgitation of presumably toxic compounds, as well as biting movements. These behaviors appear to be associated with attempts to repel objects perceived to be threatening, such as potential predators or parasitoids. Cycloalexy has been reported in some adult Hymenoptera as well as immature insects. Nymphs of the orders Hemiptera (including Homoptera) as well as larvae of the orders Neuroptera, Coleoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera, and, in a less circular fashion, the Lepidoptera, cycloalex. There are remarkable convergences in body form, life habit, and tendencies to defend themselves in the social larval Coleoptera, particularly chrysomelids, social larval Lepidoptera, and social larval Hymenoptera. In immature insects, the cycloalexing organisms can be arranged with either heads or abdominal apices juxtaposed peripherally and other conspecifics may fill in the center of the array. In the Chrysomelidae, the systematic focus of this review, species in the generaLema,Lilioceris(Criocerinae),Agrosteomela,Chrysophtharta,Eugonycha,Gonioctena,Labidomera,Paropsis,Paropsisterna,Phratora,Phyllocharis,Plagiodera,Platyphora,Proseicela,Pterodunga(Chrysomelinae),Coelomera(Galerucinae), andAcromis,Aspidomorpha,Chelymorpha,Conchyloctenia,Ogdoecosta,OmaspidesandStolas(Cassidinae) are reported to cycloalex although cycloalexy in other taxa remains to be discovered. Other types of aggregations in insects include stigmergy, or the induction of additional labor, and epialexy, or the positioning of conspecifics organisms over the midvein or an elongated aspect of a leaf.

scholarly journals ‘A Wicked Operation’? Tonsillectomy in Twentieth-Century Britain

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis Dwyer-Hemmings
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Social Role ◽  
Social Discourse ◽  
Professional Discourse ◽  
National Health Care ◽  
Complex Interactions ◽  
Medical Institutions ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of

Histories of twentieth-century surgery have focused on surgical ‘firsts’ – dramatic tales of revolutionary procedures. The history of tonsillectomy is less glamorous, but more widespread, representing the experience and understanding of medicine for hundreds of children, parents and surgeons daily. At the start of the twentieth century, tonsillectomy was routine – performed on at least 80 000 schoolchildren each year in Britain. However, by the 1980s, public and professional discourse condemned the operation as a ‘dangerous fad’. This profound shift in the medical, political and social position of tonsillectomy rested upon several factors: changes in the organisation of medical institutions and national health care; changes in medical technologies and the criteria by which they are judged; the political, cultural and economic context of Britain; and the social role of the patient. Tonsillectomy was not a mere passive subject of external influences, but became a potent concept in medical, political, and social discourse. Therefore, it reciprocally influenced these discourses and subsequently the development of twentieth-century British medicine. These complex interactions between ‘medical’ and ‘non-medical’ spheres question the possibility of demarcating what is internal from what is external to medicine.

The Social Origins and Provenance of the English Bishops during the Reign of Edward II

1959 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 51-79
Author(s):  
K. Edwards
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Social Background ◽  
Early Career ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Origins ◽  
Political Activities ◽  
Edward Ii ◽  
The Social ◽  
Complete Study ◽  
History Of

During the last twenty or twenty-five years medieval historians have been much interested in the composition of the English episcopate. A number of studies of it have been published on periods ranging from the eleventh to the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. A further paper might well seem superfluous. My reason for offering one is that most previous writers have concentrated on analysing the professional circles from which the bishops were drawn, and suggesting the influences which their early careers as royal clerks, university masters and students, secular or regular clergy, may have had on their later work as bishops. They have shown comparatively little interest in their social background and provenance, except for those bishops who belonged to magnate families. Some years ago, when working on the political activities of Edward II's bishops, it seemed to me that social origins, family connexions and provenance might in a number of cases have had at least as much influence on a bishop's attitude to politics as his early career. I there fore collected information about the origins and provenance of these bishops. I now think that a rather more careful and complete study of this subject might throw further light not only on the political history of the reign, but on other problems connected with the character and work of the English episcopate. There is a general impression that in England in the later middle ages the bishops' ties with their dioceses were becoming less close, and that they were normally spending less time in diocesan work than their predecessors in the thirteenth century.

Individual differences, social attention, and the history of the social motivation hypotheses of autism

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter C. Mundy
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Early Development ◽  
Emotional Development ◽  
Social Motivation ◽  
Social Attention ◽  
Social Emotional Development ◽  
Social Emotional ◽  
Precise Understanding ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of

Abstract The stereotype of people with autism as unresponsive or uninterested in other people was prominent in the 1980s. However, this view of autism has steadily given way to recognition of important individual differences in the social-emotional development of affected people and a more precise understanding of the possible role social motivation has in their early development.

Case Exercise: Toxic Exposure-Related Illness: Causation, Diagnosis, and Permanent Impairment

2007 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 4-8
Author(s):  
Frederick Fung
Keyword(s):  
Concentration Level ◽  
Treatment Plan ◽  
Toxic Exposure ◽  
Dose Response Relationship ◽  
Specialty Board ◽  
History Of ◽  
Subjective Complaints ◽  
Based Medicine ◽  
Illness Causation ◽  
Rule Out

Abstract A diagnosis of toxic-related injury/illness requires a consideration of the illness related to the toxic exposure, including diagnosis, causation, and permanent impairment; these are best performed by a physician who is certified by a specialty board certified by the American Board of Preventive Medicine. The patient must have a history of symptoms consistent with the exposure and disease at issue. In order to diagnose the presence of a specific disease, the examiner must find subjective complaints that are consistent with the objective findings, and both the subjective complaints and objective findings must be consistent with the disease that is postulated. Exposure to a specific potentially causative agent at a defined concentration level must be documented and must be sufficient to induce a particular pathology in order to establish a diagnosis. Differential diagnoses must be entertained in order to rule out other potential causes, including psychological etiology. Furthermore, the identified exposure at the defined concentration level must be capable of causing the diagnosis being postulated before the examiner can conclude that there has been a cause-and-effect relationship between the exposure and the disease (dose-response relationship). The evaluator's opinion should make biological and epidemiological sense. The treatment plan and prognosis should be consistent with evidence-based medicine, and the rating of impairment must be based on objective findings in involved systems.

The problem of periodization of the history of religion

1997 ◽  
pp. 3-8
Author(s):  
Borys Lobovyk
Keyword(s):  
Religious Studies ◽  
Human Being ◽  
Religious Development ◽  
History Of Religion ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Role Of Religion

An important problem of religious studies, the history of religion as a branch of knowledge is the periodization process of the development of religious phenomenon. It is precisely here, as in focus, that the question of the essence and meaning of the religious development of the human being of the world, the origin of beliefs and cult, the reasons for the changes in them, the place and role of religion in the social and spiritual process, etc., are converging.

Early Cinema in Scotland

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social History ◽  
Small Towns ◽  
Early Cinema ◽  
Popular Song ◽  
Feature Film ◽  
Local Newspapers ◽  
The Social ◽  
Production History ◽  
History Of ◽  
International Audience

This collection of essays, drawn from a three-year AHRC research project, provides a detailed context for the history of early cinema in Scotland from its inception in 1896 till the arrival of sound in the early 1930s. It details the movement from travelling fairground shows to the establishment of permanent cinemas, and from variety and live entertainment to the dominance of the feature film. It addresses the promotion of cinema as a socially ‘useful’ entertainment, and, distinctively, it considers the early development of cinema in small towns as well as in larger cities. Using local newspapers and other archive sources, it details the evolution and the diversity of the social experience of cinema, both for picture goers and for cinema staff. In production, it examines the early attempts to establish a feature film production sector, with a detailed production history of Rob Roy (United Films, 1911), and it records the importance, both for exhibition and for social history, of ‘local topicals’. It considers the popularity of Scotland as an imaginary location for European and American films, drawing their popularity from the international audience for writers such as Walter Scott and J.M. Barrie and the ubiquity of Scottish popular song. The book concludes with a consideration of the arrival of sound in Scittish cinemas. As an afterpiece, it offers an annotated filmography of Scottish-themed feature films from 1896 to 1927, drawing evidence from synopses and reviews in contemporary trade journals.

Introduction

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
James McElvenny
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
History Of Ideas ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of

This chapter sets the scene for the case studies that follow in the rest of the book by characterising the ‘age of modernism’ and identifying problems relating to language and meaning that arose in this context. Emphasis is laid on the social and political issues that dominated the era, in particular the rapid developments in technology, which inspired both hope and fear, and the international political tensions that led to the two World Wars. The chapter also sketches the approach to historiography taken in the book, interdisciplinary history of ideas.

Towards a GIS Analysis of Literary Cultures: The Making of the Slovenian Ethnoscape Through Literature

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 196-218
Author(s):  
Marko Juvan ◽  
Joh Dokler
Keyword(s):  
Literary Culture ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Spatial Turn ◽  
Territorial Expansion ◽  
Reciprocal Influence ◽  
Discourse Practices ◽  
The Social ◽  
Literary Cultures ◽  
History Of ◽  
National Ideology

This article presents methodological starting points, heuristics and the results of a GIS-based analysis of the history of Slovenian literary culture from the 1780s to 1941. The ethnically Slovenian territory was multilingual and multicultural; it belonged to different state entities with distant capitals, which was reflected in the spatial dynamic of literary culture. The research results have confirmed the hypotheses of the research project ‘The Space of Slovenian Literary Culture,’ which were based on postulates of the spatial turn: the socio-geographical space influenced the development of literature and its media, whereas literature itself, through its discourse, practices and institutions, had a reciprocal influence on the apprehension and structuring of that space, as well as on its connection with the broader region. Slovenian literary discourse was able to manifest itself in public predominantly through the history of spatial factors: (a) the formation, territorial expansion and concentration of the social network of literary actors and media; (b) the persistent references of literary texts to places that were recognized by addressees as Slovenian, thereby grounding a national ideology. Taking all of this into account, and based on meta-theoretical reflection, the project aims to contribute to the development of digital humanities and spatial literary studies.

George Hoggart Toulmin: politics and geology

1978 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 481-481
Author(s):  
ROY PORTER
Keyword(s):  
French Revolution ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Lower Class ◽  
Great Distance ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Christian View ◽  
The Social ◽  
French Enlightenment ◽  
Political Conservatism ◽  
History Of

The physician George Hoggart Toulmin (1754–1817) propounded his theory of the Earth in a number of works beginning with The antiquity and duration of the world (1780) and ending with his The eternity of the universe (1789). It bore many resemblances to James Hutton's "Theory of the Earth" (1788) in stressing the uniformity of Nature, the gradual destruction and recreation of the continents and the unfathomable age of the Earth. In Toulmin's view, the progress of the proper theory of the Earth and of political advancement were inseparable from each other. For he analysed the commonly accepted geological ideas of his day (which postulated that the Earth had been created at no great distance of time by God; that God had intervened in Earth history on occasions like the Deluge to punish man; and that all Nature had been fabricated by God to serve man) and argued they were symptomatic of a society trapped in ignorance and superstition, and held down by priestcraft and political tyranny. In this respect he shared the outlook of the more radical figures of the French Enlightenment such as Helvétius and the Baron d'Holbach. He believed that the advance of freedom and knowledge would bring about improved understanding of the history and nature of the Earth, as a consequence of which Man would better understand the terms of his own existence, and learn to live in peace, harmony and civilization. Yet Toulmin's hopes were tempered by his naturalistic view of the history of the Earth and of Man. For Time destroyed everything — continents and civilizations. The fundamental law of things was cyclicality not progress. This latent political conservatism and pessimism became explicit in Toulmin's volume of verse, Illustration of affection, published posthumously in 1819. In those poems he signalled his disapproval of the French Revolution and of Napoleonic imperialism. He now argued that all was for the best in the social order, and he abandoned his own earlier atheistic religious radicalism, now subscribing to a more Christian view of God. Toulmin's earlier geological views had run into considerable opposition from orthodox religious elements. They were largely ignored by the geological community in late eighteenth and early nineteenth century Britain, but were revived and reprinted by lower class radicals such as Richard Carlile. This paper is to be published in the American journal, The Journal for the History of Ideas in 1978 (in press).

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