Traditional Traits Research Articles

Genetic dissection of testis weight in mice: quantitative trait locus analysis using F2 intercrosses between strains with extreme testis weight, and association study using Y-consomic strains

In the present study, dissection of genetic bases of testis weight in mice was performed. Autosomes and the X chromosome were searched using traditional quantitative trait locus (QTL) scans, and the Y chromosome was searched by association studies of Y-consomic strains. QTL analysis was performed in ♀DDD×♂CBA F(2) mice; the inbred mouse DDD has the heaviest testes, whereas the inbred mouse CBA has the lightest testes. Two significant testis weight QTLs were identified on chromosomes 1 and X. A DDD allele was associated with increased and decreased testis weight at the locus on chromosomes 1 and X, respectively. In the reciprocal cross ♀CBA×♂DDD F(2) mice, QTL on chromosome 1, and not on chromosome X, had a significant effect on testis weight. The DDD allele at the X-linked locus could not sustain testis weight in combination with the Y chromosome of the CBA strain. The Y chromosome per se had a significant effect on testis weight, i.e., DH-Chr Y(DDD) had significantly heavier testes than DH-Chr Y(CBA). On the basis of the results of Y-chromosome-wide association studies using 17 Y-consomic strains, variations in Uty, Usp9y, and Sry were significantly associated with testis weight. Thus, testis weight is a complex quantitative phenotype controlled by multiple genes on autosomes and sex chromosomes and their interactions.

Mexican Queso Chihuahua: Functional properties of aging cheese

Queso Chihuahua, a semi-hard cheese manufactured from raw milk (RM) in northern Mexico, is being replaced by pasteurized milk (PM) versions because of food safety concerns and the desire for longer shelf life. In this study, the functional traits of authentic Mexican Queso Chihuahua made from RM or PM were characterized to identify sources of variation and to determine if pasteurization of the cheese milk resulted in changes to the functional properties. Two brands of RM cheese and 2 brands of PM cheese obtained in 3 seasons of the year from 4 manufacturers in Chihuahua, Mexico, were analyzed after 0, 4, 8, 12, and 16 wk of storage at 4°C. A color measurement spectrophotometer was used to collect color data before and after heating at 232°C for 5min or 130°C for 75min. Meltability was measured using the Schreiber Melt Test on samples heated to 232°C for 5min. Sliceability (the force required to cut through a sample) was measured using a texture analyzer fitted with a wire cutter attachment. Proteolysis was tracked using sodium dodecyl sulfate-PAGE. Compared with PM cheeses, RM cheeses showed less browning upon heating, melted more at 232°C, and initially required a greater cutting force. With aging, cheeses increased in meltability, decreased in whiteness when measured before heating, and required less cutting force to slice. Seasonal variations in the cheesemilk had minimal or no effect on the functional properties. The differences in the functional properties can be attributed, in part, to the mixed microflora present in the RM cheeses compared with the more homogeneous microflora added during the manufacture of PM cheeses. The degree of proteolysis and subsequent integrity of the cheese matrix contribute to melt, slice, and color properties of the RM and PM cheeses. Understanding the functional properties of the authentic RM cheeses will help researchers and cheesemakers develop pasteurized versions that maintain the traditional traits desired in the cheeses.

Male Reproductive Traits and Their Relationship to Reproductive Traits in Their Female Progeny: A Systematic Review

The overall objective of one of the major research programs in the Co-operative Research Centre (CRC) for Beef Genetic Technologies is to 'Improve female reproductive performance' in tropical, northern Australian beef cattle herds. To address this overall objective, a quantitative genetics project focused on investigation of male reproductive traits was designed and linked to three female reproduction-focussed projects, (i) discovery of genes associated with post-partum re-conception and age at puberty; (ii) expression of genes associated with post-partum re-conception; and (iii) early predictors of lifetime female reproductive performance. During the initial planning of this male reproductive traits project, the CRC Scientific Review Committee recommended that the research team investigate and evaluate potentially new, early-life (i.e able to be measured before 2 years of age) predictors of both male and female reproductive performance. To address this recommendation, the following was carried out: (i) criteria for selection of traditional and candidate traits were established; (ii) methodology for tabulation of potential traits/phenotypes that define male and female reproductive function was developed; and (iii) a systematic scientific review of early-life predictors of male and female fertility was prepared. This review concluded that although factors that might be useful in predicting male reproductive performance have been studied for many years, there was relatively little useful information available to meet the objectives of this review. It was also concluded that the direction of future research should be guided not only by previous research which was scarce, but also by speculative hypotheses arising from an understanding of the physiological, endocrinological and genetic processes active in reproduction. A small number of new traits were recommended in addition to traditional sperm morphology, sexual behaviour, anatomical structure and growth traits. Potential additional traits include measurement of gonadotrophin-releasing hormone-stimulated luteinizing hormone (GnRH-stimulated LH); inhibin; several seminal plasma proteins (osteopontin, spermadhesin and seminal plasma proteins BSP30 and phospholipase A(2) could be used in an index); 11β-hydroxysteriod dehydrogenase; and leptin. In addition, the potential also exists to screen animals for a number of genetic markers associated with age of puberty, follicular recruitment and ovulation rate and genes associated with bovine seminal plasma protein and testosterone production. Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) measurements are included because of their association with growth parameters, and an additional analysis demonstrated associations with male and female reproductive traits. Some of these factors have been previously evaluated in small numbers of animals of various species under intensive management conditions. Therefore, there is a need to evaluate these factors in much larger numbers of beef cattle grazing semi-extensive tropical production systems in northern Australia to determine their value in improving beef cattle enterprise profitability through improved herd fertility.

Population Statistics and Biological Traits of Endangered Kiso Horse

The objective of this study was to clarify the current status of endangered Kiso horse, population statistics and biological traits, in order to take a step for the conservation by scientific approach. We surveyed 125 Kiso horses (86.2% of the whole breed), analyzed the construction of the population, and calculated the coefficient of inbreeding and effective population size. Moreover, we confirmed coat color variations and the traditional traits of the Kiso horse, and measured their height at the withers and chest circumference to clarify their physical characteristics. The population pyramid of the horses was stationary or contractive, suggesting a reduction of the population in the near future. The effective population size of the horse (47.9) suggested that the diversity was much less than their census size, and the high coefficient of inbreeding, 0.11 ± 0.07 on average, suggested that the horses were surely inbred. The horses had only 4 coat colors; bay, dark bay, buckskin dun, and chestnut, and 116 horses (92.8%) were bayish color, suggesting the fixation in their coat color. Moreover, the majority of them had dorsal stripe (83 horses; 66.4%), and the average heights at withers(131.9 ± 4.4 cm) and chest circumference (167.1 ± 10.1 cm) were not significantly different between males and females.

Gender and Candidate Communication: Effects of Stereotypes in the 2008 Election

The purpose of this study was to revisit the trait and belief approaches tested by Huddy and Terkildsen (1993a, 1993b) to determine to what extent these are still used by voters in evaluating female and male candidates, particularly after exposure to campaign communication run on behalf of the candidates. Through an experimental design, participants were exposed to candidate’s advertising in two mixed-gender congressional races from the 2008 election cycle. The results indicate that traditional trait stereotypes continue to be generated in the evaluation of female candidates, although the generation of belief (policy) stereotypes are more complicated. Whereas party affiliation influences perceptions of issue competency, vote choice also produces effects on both trait evaluations and perceptions of issue competency. These results ultimately suggest that voters’ application of belief and trait stereotypes encourages still further study by scholars and consideration by female candidates running for office.

Genetic relationships among time of egg formation, clutch traits and traditional selection traits in laying hens

In a population of Rhode Island White hens heritability of egg formation, clutch characters and traditional selection traits as well as the genetic and phenotypic correlations between them were estimated via multitrait animal model. Over 1300 birds and about 4000 birds were recorded in two consecutive generations for oviposition time and traditional traits, respectively. The heritability estimates obtained for age at first egg (h 2 =0.42), egg weight (h 2 =0.50) and body weight (h 2 =0.42) were considerably higher than those for initial egg production (h 2 =0.22), clutch traits (h 2 between 0.1 1 and 0.23) and oviposition time (h 2 between 0.13 and 0.19). Both genetic and phenotypic correlations between clutch traits and traditional selection traits were low, except for initial egg production and maximal clutch length (r g =0.40 and r p =0.38). As expected, negative correlations were registered for number of clutches and average clutch length. It indicates an opportunity of selection aimed at improvement of egg production persistence by an increase in the average clutch size. Oviposition time was favourably correlated with traditional selection criteria.

The Disgust Propensity and Sensitivity Scale – Revised: Its predictive value for avoidance behavior

Disgust propensity appears involved in psychopathology. However, current disgust propensity indices display inflated correlations with psychopathology indices due to conceptual overlap. The recently developed Disgust Propensity and Sensitivity Scale – Revised (DPSS-R) is unique in that it measures disgust propensity irrespective of specific elicitors. Although psychometric research confirmed its factor-structure, its predictive validity remains to be established. Therefore, the goal of this study is to test its predictive validity for avoidance behavior in a series of disgusting tasks. Preselected participants ( N = 60) with varying levels of disgust propensity engaged in seventeen behavioral tasks. Supporting its predictive validity, higher DPSS-R scores were associated with completing fewer behavioral actions. Additionally, the DPSS-R had added predictive value over and above traditional trait disgust indices.

Symbolic Constitutionalism: On Sacred Cows and Abominable Pigs

The article discusses the significance of symbols within constitutional law by analyzing the role of laws introducing traditional national symbols into two legal systems characterized by a mixture of secular and traditional traits—India and Israel. Specifically, it focuses on the legal prohibitions on cattle slaughter in India and on pig growing and pork trading in Israel, animals considered “key symbols” in their respective cultures. Changes in the social and political context emerged as crucial for the legal regulation of these symbols as well as for its durability. Despite the similarities in their starting points, the Indian and the Israeli systems have ultimately taken divergent courses, reflecting differences in their respective contexts and underlying tensions. Whereas Indian cattle slaughter prohibitions are expanding with the constitutional backing of the Indian Supreme Court, pig-related prohibitions in Israel are declining, again with the constitutional backing of the Israeli Supreme Court. The article explains this difference by placing these symbols in a wider social context. Cattle slaughter in India has long been a consistent source of tension with the Muslim community. The basic strain that led to the original legislation, then, remains just as powerful, encouraging the preservation and expansion of laws forbidding cattle slaughter. By contrast, pig prohibitions in Jewish culture developed in the context of persecutions by Greco-Roman rulers and later on in Christian Europe. The “other” against whom this prohibition developed, however, is no longer part of public life in Israel. In addition, the Muslim community in Israel is equally averse to pigs. As time passed, then, the importance of pig prohibitions for Israeli secular Jews within the context of their national identity has declined, and they are currently perceived as a source of tension between secular and religious Jews. Many secular Israelis indeed view the pressure for pig-related legal prohibitions more as a symbol of religious coercion than as a national symbol of identification.

Primjeri pečatnog prstenja iz Vodočke nekropole kod Strumice

Na nekropoli u Vodoči kod Strumnice (oko 170 km jugoistočno od Skoplja) otkriveno je preko tisuću grobova. Na ovoj lokaciji je bila sahranjivana populacija jedne naseobine (Vodica – Vodoča) u dugom vremenskom rasponu od XIII/XIV. stoljeća u kontinuitetu do XX. stoljeća. Na Vodočkoj nekropoli, kao i na ostalim kršćanskim grobljima toga vremena u široj regiji, dominantan arheološki materijal je nakit. Nekoliko zanimljivih primjera prstenja sa sfragističkom namjenom, koji su tema ovoga rada, potiču iz perioda od druge polovice XIV. do XVII. stoljeća. Pored čitavih ili reduciranih, heraldičkih i amblematskih oznaka, tokom vremena se zapaža i rustifikacija kvalitete te siromaštvo izrade i materijala. Očito je nastojanje očuvanja tradicionalnih obilježja s jedne i prodor orijentalne sfragistike s druge strane. Nositelji ovog pečatnog prstenja su, prije svih, "baštinari" spominjani u turskim popisnim knjigama. Oni su ostatci srednjovjekovnog sitnijeg plemstva – "pronijara" i njihovih potomaka koji "baštine" imovinu i naslijeđeno zemljište. Ovakvim prstenjem se, uz to, dokazuje i pripadnost određenom staležu i zanimanju, kao i investiture.

Isabel la Católica en la producción teatral española del siglo XVII (review)

Reviewed by: Isabel la Católica en la producción teatral española del siglo XVII Susan M. Smith Caba, María Y. Isabel la Católica en la producción teatral española del siglo XVII. London: Tamesis, 2008. 199 pp. Isabel I of Castile has been a fascinating figure through five centuries of Spanish history and still captivates the imagination of Spain and the world. Thousands of books and articles have studied her impact on political and religious history, and a number of scholars has analyzed her portrayal in literary works. In Isabel la Católica en la producción teatral española del siglo XVII, María Y. Caba offers a welcome new study of Isabel as literary figure in eight plays selected from works by Lope de Vega, Tirso de Molina, and Luis Vélez de Guevara. These three dramatists paint varied images of Queen Isabel, which reflect their own time and circumstances. In the introduction to this monograph, Caba outlines the underpinnings of her analysis of Isabel's characterization by drawing on political, historical, cultural, and religious sources. The Catholic Queen was a complex and contradictory figure—a female exercising powers of the male domain and builder of an empire while oppressing and finally expelling some of its citizens. Caba also notes that the early image of Isabel is shaped by male authors, both in historical chronicles and in fiction. The difference in sexual gender between created subject and the creators of her image is a fact that must be considered in any analysis. The first chapter is devoted to Lope de Vega and two of his plays, El mejor mozo de España and El niño inocente de la guardia, plays in which Isabel has a major role. Lope's depiction of the Queen is ambivalent, although heavily weighted toward the image of feminine and religious virtue and Isabel as a model of domesticity. Although she is also a strong defender of the Church, she is less powerful than normally depicted in historical records and other works of fiction. The traditional traits aligned with sexual gender are underscored by Lope as the prominent characteristics guiding Isabel's actions—modesty, religious devotion, and submissiveness to her husband. The rough edges of her role in the Inquisition and in the expulsion of the Jews are softened and justified. In chapter 2, Caba studies three plays by Tirso de Molina: Antona García, El amor médico, and Doña Beatriz de Silva. Unlike Lope, the Mercedarian monk focuses on Isabel's strength, leadership, and political acumen. She restores the [End Page 141] authority of the monarchy while she and the other female characters rule the action of the plot. At the same time the male characters are depicted as weak or absent. This world-upside-down approach reveals Tirso's intent to expose the problems of the court of Felipe IV and his own displeasure with the heirs of Queen Isabel. Chapter 3 focuses on Luis Vélez de Guevara and three plays in which Isabel has a prominent role: La luna de la sierra, La serrana de la Vera, and La corte del demonio. These plays create distinct images of Isabel over the lifetime of the playwright. Caba astutely observes that Vélez de Guevara occupied a space in the court but in the end realized that as a converso he was always of second rank. The image of Isabel is more openly negative as Vélez de Guevara ages. The first of the plays begins with the portrayal of Isabel as an exemplary monarch, but ends with her inability to control her son and other men of the court due to the "natural" limitations of a woman. The second depicts Isabel as a feminine paradigm to emulate as she and Fernando, ironically, end the play by punishing the women who have dared to act independently and in a manly way. The third play is the most openly political, harshly criticizing the decadence and injustice of the Hapsburg court, especially as concerns the unfair treatment of the Jews. La corte del demonio clearly is intended to reflect the negative legacy of Isabel's intolerant...

배우의 미학적 발성을 위한 판소리의 활용방안

The purpose of this research is to investigate appropriate usage of pansori`s method of breathing, sound making, and resonance in order to develop actor`s aesthetic voice. Today`s theatre no longer see inter-cultural approach as new or experimental, but see it as a part of global current. Actors are required to integrate some global-ness into their acting. It`s not enough, however, for actors to equip some cosmopolitan sensibility. More important thing is that they should be able to integrate one`s own culture and aesthetic into their performance. Only after acquiring one`s own cultural identity, it is possible to step into inter-cultural work. It is fundamental, therefore, for actors to assimilate traditional movement and aesthetic voice. It`s been known that traditional Korean voice traits are well preserved in Pansori. In this paper, based upon well-known theories and practices of western voice training, pansori`s principles and practices are utilized to bring a new aesthetic voice.

Comparative Effectiveness of CAPA and FOCUS Online

The present study compared the effectiveness of two online career exploration systems in increasing the career decision self-efficacy and decidedness of 960 students enrolled in a program for undecided freshmen students at a large public university. Results indicated that both systems led to significant increases in career decision self-efficacy and college major decidedness in these students. The CAPA system, based on an integration of Bandura’s self-efficacy theory and traditional trait factor theory, led to proportionately greater increases in Career Decision Self-Efficacy Scale scores in comparison to FOCUS for the total group and for women. The systems were comparably effective with African American, Asian American, and White students.

Family-based mapping of quantitative trait loci in plant breeding populations with resistance to Fusarium head blight in wheat as an illustration

Traditional quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping approaches are typically based on early or advanced generation analysis of bi-parental populations. A limitation associated with this methodology is the fact that mapping populations rarely give rise to new cultivars. Additionally, markers linked to the QTL of interest are often not immediately available for use in breeding and they may not be useful within diverse genetic backgrounds. Use of breeding populations for simultaneous QTL mapping, marker validation, marker assisted selection (MAS), and cultivar release has recently caught the attention of plant breeders to circumvent the weaknesses of conventional QTL mapping. The first objective of this study was to test the feasibility of using family-pedigree based QTL mapping techniques generally used with humans and animals within plant breeding populations (PBPs). The second objective was to evaluate two methods (linkage and association) to detect marker-QTL associations. The techniques described in this study were applied to map the well characterized QTL, Fhb1 for Fusarium head blight resistance in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). The experimental populations consisted of 82 families and 793 individuals. The QTL was mapped using both linkage (variance component and pedigree-wide regression) and association (using quantitative transmission disequilibrium test, QTDT) approaches developed for extended family-pedigrees. Each approach successfully identified the known QTL location with a high probability value. Markers linked to the QTL explained 40-50% of the phenotypic variation. These results show the usefulness of a human genetics approach to detect QTL in PBPs and subsequent use in MAS.

Applying lessons from the person–situation debate to attachment theory and research

2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. The person–situation debate was fundamentally concerned with the issue of consistency (Fleeson & Noftle, 2008). According to the traditional trait perspective, people are consistent across time, situations, and behavioral content. Conversely, the social cognitive perspective argues for inconsistency, proposing that one’s momentary thoughts, feelings, and interpretations of events have a fundamental influence on behavior. In general, attachment theory has a strong bias toward consistency, viewing people as having stable attachment styles. At the same time, from its very beginning, it was clear that attachment also has a dynamic, situationally-responsive quality. The first method developed to assess attachment style, Ainsworth’s strange situation procedure, used reactions to a set of situations, to classify infants into categories, launching a tradition of attachment-related typology. Hazan and Shaver (1987), who extended Bowlby’s theory, transferred this typology to adult relationships. Following traditional trait approaches, attachment researchers have studied coherence in attachment from infancy to adulthood, stability across adulthood, and prediction of various outcomes from attachment styles. After years of research into the correlates of attachment types or styles, however, recently more attention has been given to state-based attachment processes, generating a parallel line of research. In this line, social cognitive approaches have guided researchers to study the accessibility of association networks and attachment schemas, relationship-specific attachments, and the effects of life events on attachment. Despite the theoretical commonll rights reserved. alities of these literatures, the two lines have yet to be systematically integrated, and this is where lessons from the person–situation debate are useful. Personality trait research has begun to connect the trait level of analysis to the state level, by aggregating personality-relevant behavior across states within daily life, revealing simultaneously high stability and high variability (Fleeson, 2007). Attachment research is beginning to empirically address similar questions of consistency, taking into account situational influences and relationship contexts (Gillath & Shaver, 2007; Fraley, 2007; La Guardia, Ryan, Couchman, & Deci, 2000); however, still little is known about attachment fluctuation and functioning in the moment, and their links to attachment style. These gaps in the literature partly stem from the lack of a state attachment measure. To deal with this issue, we (Gillath, Hart, Noftle, & Stockdale, 2009) have developed and validated a new state measure that will be useful for connecting the trait and state levels of analysis in attachment research. Answering how much fluctuation exists in attachment-related beliefs, feelings, and attitudes will reveal the relative consistency of attachment styles. Such findings will also contribute to a broader grasp of consistency, contrasting the narrower, theoretically-derived attachment constructs with the broader, empirically-derived Big Five. It is already clear that attachment styles, much like personality traits, are consistent in some respects and inconsistent in others. Looking to the future, attachment research will benefit by applying the lessons of the person–situation debate to answer how and why attachment fluctuates in everyday life. Shoda, Mischel, and Wright (1994) conceptualized the situation–behavior profile to demonstrate and explain behavior variability in E.E. Noftle, O. Gillath / Journal of Research in Personality 43 (2009) 260–261 261 personality. This concept, and others like it (see Fleeson, 2007), could be profitably introduced in to attachment research to investigate both nomothetic and idiographic situational contingencies of attachment behaviors.

Genetic parameters for bodyweight, wool, and disease resistance and reproduction traits in Merino sheep. 1. Description of traits, model comparison, variance components and their ratios

Both wool and sheep meat industries are interested in sheep that have a high reproduction performance and are resistant to internal parasites, in addition to the traditional traits. There is considerable interest in breeding sheep for wool, carcass, reproductive and internal parasite resistance traits simultaneously. The objective of this study was to estimate single trait genetic parameters for 40 traits recorded in Merino sheep, covering bodyweight, carcass, wool, reproduction and internal parasite resistance traits. This also involved determining the appropriate models. The results from this study will be used to review the genetic parameters used in the routine genetic evaluations conducted by Sheep Genetics. The most appropriate models included a maternal genetic effect and covariance between direct and maternal genetic effects for most of the bodyweight traits, greasy and clean fleece weight, fibre diameter and coefficient of variation of fibre diameter. The permanent environment due to the dam was not included for any trait. There was considerable genetic variation in most traits analysed; lowest heritabilities (0.09–0.10) were found for number of lambs born and weaned per lambing opportunity, and highest heritabilities (0.62–0.77) for fibre diameter. The estimated heritabilities and genetic variances, in combination with the estimated correlations, indicate that there is potential to make genetic improvement in most traits currently recorded in Australian Merino sheep.

Genetic‐based plant resistance and susceptibility traits to herbivory influence needle and root litter nutrient dynamics

Summary 1. It is generally assumed that the same factors drive the decomposition of both litter and roots and that nutrient release from litter and roots is synchronized. However, few studies have explicitly tested these assumptions, and no studies have examined whether plant genetics (i.e. plant susceptibility to herbivory) could affect these relationships. 2. Here we examine the effects of herbivore susceptibility and resistance on needle and fine root litter decomposition of pinon pine, Pinus edulis . The study population consists of individual trees that are either susceptible or resistant to herbivory by the pinon needle scale, Matsucoccus acalyptus , or the stem-boring moth, Dioryctria albovittella . Genetic analyses and long-term experimental removals and additions of these insects to individual trees have identified trees that are naturally resistant or susceptible to M. acalyptus and D. albovittella . In addition, these herbivores increase litter chemical quality and alter soil microclimate, both of which mediate decomposition in ecosystems. 3. The effects of herbivore susceptibility and resistance on needle litter mass and phosphorus (P) loss, when significant, are largely mediated by herbivore-induced changes to microclimate. But the effects of herbivore susceptibility and resistance on root litter nitrogen (N) and P retention, and needle litter N retention, are largely governed by herbivore-induced changes to litter chemical quality. Whether a particular tree was resistant or susceptible to herbivores exerted a large influence on net nutrient release, but the direction of herbivore influence varied temporally. 4. The controls on decomposition vary between herbivore-susceptible and herbivoreresistant phenotypes. This suggests that understanding decomposition and nutrient retention in some ecosystems may require considering the effects of herbivores on aboveand below-ground processes and how these effects may be governed by plant genetics. 5. Synthesis . Because so few studies have attempted to quantify genetic components of ecosystem processes, the integration of ecosystem ecology with population genetics has the potential to place ecosystem science within a genetic and evolutionary framework. Using field trials of known genetic composition, ecosystem scientists may use quantitative genetics techniques to explore ecosystem traits just as population geneticists have used these techniques to explore traditional traits such as resistance to insects.

Defining African traditional musical traits: Resource material for African art music composition

A unique peculiarity of African art music is the employment of traditional musical elements as resource materials. This paper aimed at presenting the bedrock of an analytical framework for the determination of a genuine African traditional content in the literary compositions of African art music composers, attempted to highlight, define and describe some of the traditional musical elements. The discussion included melody, vocal/instrumental polyphony, descending melodic line, the pentatonic and non-pentatonic scales, speech inflected melody, melisma and embellishment, preference for thirds, form, lack of modulations and texture. It could be concluded that indigenous African music has a potential for development from a utilitarian (functional) to an abstract (art for art's sake) art form if those elements are properly used and in their originally conceived forms. Nigerian Music Review Vol. 6 2005: pp. 61-74

Buddhist Life Stories

This article argues that contemporary Buddhist memoirs are an important source to investigate and understand the phenomenon of modern Buddhism. Modern Buddhism is a current development in which Buddhists consider their tradition in new ways. The connections between life stories and modern Buddhist traits are striking. No document can get closer to the source of this movement than a life story. In this article I consider this in terms of the memoirs of the German Buddhist nun Ayya Khema and the Sinhalese monk Bhante Gunaratana. Although the figures may not represent all of the categories of modern Buddhism, the reader understands their choices in terms of their entire lives. The reader is constantly faced with the interplay between modern and traditional traits that make up their life stories.

Ethnic Business Entrepreneurship among Urbanising Bedouin in the Negev, Israel

Abstract The Bedouin of the Negev in Israel have been forced by the State to give up their agro-pastoral mode of subsistence, but were not offered any meaningful economic alternatives. Business has become one significant option. It is regarded here as 'ethnic entrepreneurship', as many traditional cultural and social traits are employed by them to survive within an entrepreneurial business environment that is highly constrained both externally and internally. This paper discusses the nature of these enterprises and entrepreneurs. A spatial and sociotribal analysis reveals no differences in these entities between the planned towns and the unrecognised informal settlements outside towns, but considerable differences were found between the fellahin Bedouin and the 'true' Bedouin which compete latently for sociopolitical and economic hegemony. The process of ethnic entrepreneurship bears implications for sub-ethnic internal relationships, for the Bedouin struggle to protect land to which they claim ownership from the State, and for the broader issue of ethnicity and business within the Bedouin community. Keywords: Market economy, traditional practices, fellahin Bedouin, 'true' Bedouin, business environment, land, ethnicity Introduction The Negev Bedouins' disengagement from traditional semi-pastoral economic and social modes of existence has been taking place intensively ever since the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. And yet, five decades later, their integration into the regional modern urban economy has by no means been complete, nor has it been beneficial to them. Consequently the Bedouin are the most underdeveloped and socio-economically deprived and underprivileged population in Israel. This is due primarily to a consistent 'non-development' governmental attitude toward the community. This attitude of benign neglect has left them to pursue their own means of subsistence with virtually no public or institutional support. Situated within this economic situation, they are left with only the following options: highly constrained semi-urban pastoral and farming opportunities; a very limited and mostly Bedouin-exclusive public and private labour market; the informal economy; and formal business entrepreneurship. The first option has been studied extensively elsewhere (e.g., Ben-David 1988; Abu-Rabia 1994). The second is a widely publicised problem but has not been studied to any great degree. The third economic option, the pursuit of activity within the informal economy, is prosperous for some Bedouin community members, but due to its unique nature, does not easily lend itself to informed academic research and as a result is substantiated primarily through anecdotal evidence. In this paper we explore the fourth option, that of formal business entrepreneurship. In particular, we seek to discuss and analyse the nature of Bedouin business entrepreneurship and the ethnic components within this practice, and to discuss some of the implications of this process. Although the Bedouin economy exists within the regional economy of the northern Negev, the Bedouin are barred from the opportunities of being fully integrated into this economy; nor are they free to maintain their traditional economy of pastoralism to any sustainable degree. Our underlying assumption is that business entrepreneurship, along with its unique ethnic components, is a necessary adaptive measure taken by the Bedouin as they strive to enter into the modern regional economy. Why Business Entrepreneurship? A question must first be posed as to why we adopt the term 'business entrepreneurship' rather then simply 'business'. Indeed, from an objective capitalist economic perspective this process could be viewed as merely taking place in a group living within a totally market economy. The process would then be regarded as nothing more than a few individuals deciding to discontinue their previous economic practice in order to pursue a new business venture. …

Selective transcriptional profiling for trait‐based eQTL mapping

There is currently great interest in identifying genetic loci associated with the expression of one or more genes by combining methods for the mapping of quantitative trait loci (QTL) with microarray technology. Because of the high cost of microarrays, it is useful to develop strategies for selecting a subset of individuals for expression profiling. We describe a method of selective transcriptional profiling that uses available information on individual quantitative traits and marker data to choose an optimal set of individuals for measurement with microarrays. We show how to analyse the resulting data to identify genes whose expression is associated with a QTL for a traditional trait or any other locus. Examples are used to illustrate the method and highlight some challenges associated with the analysis of selected data.