scholarly journals The evolution of lactase persistence

2012 ◽  
pp. 121-137
Author(s):  
Jorge Rocha
Keyword(s):  
Cultural History ◽  
Adult Life ◽  
Lactase Persistence ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Population Movements ◽  
Dietary Adaptation ◽  
Human Genes ◽  
History Of ◽  
Nutritional Benefits ◽  
Recent Demonstration

Lactase persistence has long been recognized as a striking example of human dietary adaptation to changes in food production habits. The observation that the prevalence of lactase persistence is positively correlated with the cultural history of dairying in human populations has led to the formulation of an evolutionary interpretation that became known as the culture-historical hypothesis. This hypothesis emphasizes the influence that culturally derived selection can have on human genes by assuming that the nutritional benefits of milk drinking during adult life are selectively advantageous in groups that rely on dairying to subsist. The recent demonstration of the molecular basis of lactase persistence provided a unique opportunity to test the basic predictions of the culture-historical hypothesis and to evaluate its merit relative to alternative explanations. Here, I present an overview of the evolutionary history of lactase persistence by focusing on the predictions of the culture-historical hypothesis, including the correlation between lactase persistence and pastoralism, the age of lactase persistence mutations and molecular evidences for natural selection. The places of origin and geographic diffusion of lactase persistence mutations are also discussed in the context of the population movements associated with the spread of pastoralism.

scholarly journals Endocrinological aspects of dietary habits

2011 ◽  
Vol 22 (No. 1) ◽  
pp. 29-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Lapčík
Keyword(s):  
Cultural History ◽  
Iodine Deficiency ◽  
Metabolic Pathways ◽  
Dietary Habits ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Iodine Supplementation ◽  
History Of ◽  
Phenolic Substances ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Individual Human

Dietary habits reflect both the recent economic possibilities and the cultural history of individual human populations. They may influence endocrine systems and thus affect the health of the respective populations in several manners: (1) People consuming exclusively local products may lack certain micronutrients. This is important especially in areas with low levels of iodine and/or selenium in the environment. Thyroid gland insufficiency resulting from the iodine deficiency was widespread in many areas of Central Europe until the introduction of iodine supplementation in the second half of 20&lt;sup&gt;<sup>th</sup> &lt;/sup&gt;century. Iodine deficiency is still a serious problem in many areas of Africa and Asia. (2) Numerous cultural plants contain compounds able to influence important metabolic pathways. Iodine deficiency is usually worsened by thyroidal peroxidase inhibitors, so-called goitrogens. Phenolic and terpenoid compounds may interfere in the metabolism of steroid hormones. Glycyrrhetinic acid from licorice is a potent inhibitor of 11-beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase. Isoflavonoids from legumes (e.g. genistein and daidzein) and their metabolites (e.g. equol) were found to inhibit the following enzymes: aromatase, 5alfa-reductase, 7alfa-hydroxylase, 3beta-hydroxysteroid and 17beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases, etc. Isoflavonoid sulphates influence local availability of steroids by inhibiting sterol sulphatases. (3) Plant-derived compounds are able to interact with nuclear receptors and act either as hormone agonists or as antagonists. Recently, the attention has been paid namely to the phenolic substances interacting with oestrogen receptors so-called phyto-oestrogens. &nbsp;

scholarly journals Independent Introduction of Two Lactase-Persistence Alleles into Human Populations Reflects Different History of Adaptation to Milk Culture

2008 ◽  
Vol 82 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nabil Sabri Enattah ◽  
Tine G.K. Jensen ◽  
Mette Nielsen ◽  
Rikke Lewinski ◽  
Mikko Kuokkanen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lactase Persistence ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
History Of

A Biography of a Person and a Book

2015 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Shulamit S. Magnus
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Cultural History ◽  
Adult Life ◽  
Religious Practices ◽  
Her Family ◽  
Jewish Society ◽  
Jewish Experience ◽  
History Of ◽  
Cultural Power

This introductory chapter provides an overview of Pauline Wengeroff and her Memoirs of a Grandmother: Scenes from the Cultural History of the Jews of Russia in the Nineteenth Century. Wengeroff's two volumes are extraordinary on many grounds. As their full title proclaims, she writes the history of an era in Jewish experience, coupling her story and that of her family with that of Russian Jewry in the time of its transition from tradition to modernity. In Memoirs, Wengeroff gives a rich depiction of traditional Jewish society in Russia with a particular focus on the religious practices and piety of women. She tells a dramatic tale of the dissolution of traditionalism in this society from the perspective of women, marriage, and families. Indeed, she argues for the cultural power of women, though not as a feminist. Focusing on Wengeroff's adolescent and adult life, this book traces how Memoirs of a Grandmother came to be in the form in which it is found.

The Religion of William Stukeley

2005 ◽  
Vol 85 ◽  
pp. 381-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald Hutton
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Cultural History ◽  
Adult Life ◽  
Significant Alteration ◽  
Religious Attitudes ◽  
History Of

During recent years a new consensus of opinion seems to have grown up concerning the career of the eighteenth-century antiquary William Stukeley: that his ideas underwent no significant alteration in the course of his adult life, and that Stuart Piggott's famous characterization of Stukeley — that he changed from an objective field archaeologist into a religious crank — was completely wrong. While there is much to commend this revisionist approach, it also presents certain difficulties. It fails to account for the apparent speed and drama of Stukeley's decision to seek ordination as an Anglican minister, or for pronounced differences in emphasis and tone between his earlier and later writings, and it fails to address some important textual difficulties in the dating and interpretation of his manuscript works. This paper is intended to address those problems. It examines the changes in his religious attitudes, and their implications for his scholarship, over the six decades in which he carried out antiquarian researches. In the process, it is intended to make a contribution to the cultural history of the eighteenth century, and also to the early story of the discipline of archaeology.

scholarly journals Genetics and Southern African History

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Montinaro ◽  
Cristian Capelli
Keyword(s):  
Demographic History ◽  
Complete Characterization ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Cultural Groups ◽  
Population Movements ◽  
Common View ◽  
Genomic Variability ◽  
European Colonization ◽  
History Of ◽  
High Degree

Southern Africa’s past is constellated by a series of demographic events tracing back to the dawn of our species, approximately 300,000 years ago. The intricate pattern of population movements over the millennia contributed to creating an exceptional level of diversity, which is reflected by the high degree of genomic variability of southern African groups. Although a complete characterization of the demographic history of the subcontinent is still lacking, several decades of extensive research have contributed to shed light on the main events. Genetic and archaeological researches suggest that modern humans may have emerged as the result of admixture between different African groups, possibly including other Homo populations, challenging the common view of a unique origin of our species. Although details are still unknown, surveys suggest that long term resident populations (related to Khoe-San speakers) of the subcontinent may have emerged hundreds of thousand years ago, and have inhabited the area for at least five millennia. Population movements, and the introduction of new cultural features, characterize the history of southern Africa over the last five millennia and have had a dramatic impact on subcontinental genetic variability. Traces of these migrations can be identified using different genetic systems, revealing a complex history of adaptation to new selective pressures and sex-biased admixture. The historical events of the European colonization and the slave trade of the last millennium, and the emergence of new cultural groups, further increased the genomic variability of human populations in this region, one of the most genetically diverse in the world.

Review of The Curse: A Cultural History of Menstruation.

1989 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 413-413
Author(s):  
No authorship indicated
Keyword(s):  
Cultural History ◽  
History Of
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