Stature in Holocene foragers of North India.

The Ganga Plain of North India provides an archaeological and skeletal record of semi-nomadic Holocene foragers in association with an aceramic Mesolithic culture. Prior estimates of stature for Mesolithic Lake Cultures (MLC) used inappropriate equations from an American White reference group and need revision. Attention is given to intralimb body proportions and geo-climatic provenance of MLC series in considering the most suitable reference population. Regression equations from ancient Egyptians are used in reconstructing stature for MLC skeletal series from Damdama (DDM), Mahadaha (MDH), and Sarai Nahar Rai (SNR). Mean stature is estimated at between 174 (MDH) and 178 cm (DDM and SNR) for males, and between 163 cm (MDH) and 179 cm (SNR) for females. Stature estimates based on ancient Egyptian equations are significantly shorter (from 3.5 to 7.1 cm shorter in males; from 3.2 to 7.5 cm shorter in females) than estimates using the American White reference group. Revised stature estimates from tibia length and from femur + tibia more accurately estimate MLC stature for two reasons: a) these elements are highly correlated with stature and have lower standard estimates of error, and b) uncertainty regarding methods of measuring tibia length is avoided. When compared with Holocene samples of native Americans and Mesolithic Europeans, MLC series from North India are tall. This aspect of their biological variation confirms earlier assessments and results from the synergistic influence of balanced nutrition from broad-spectrum foraging, body-proportions adapted to a seasonally hot and arid climate, and the functional demands of a mobile, semi-nomadic life-style.

Dental morphology of early Holocene foragers of North India: non-metric trait frequencies and biological affinities.

The biological affinities of semi-nomadic, early to mid-Holocene foragers of the mid-Ganga Plain, North India are undetermined, yet understanding their place in the population history of South Asia is important. Non-metric tooth trait frequencies are reported for three broadly contemporary, bio-culturally similar, and geographically proximate samples, collectively known as Mesolithic Lake Culture (MLC). The Arizona State University - Dental Anthropology System was used to score 43 tooth-trait combinations (23 maxillary; 21 mandibular). Non-metric trait frequencies are used to determine biological affinities of MLC to a global sample of living populations and to prehistoric and living groups of South Asia. The MLC dental pattern includes lightly sculpted upper incisors in which labial curvature, lingual shoveling, and tuberculum dentale exhibit low grades of expression and low-moderate frequencies. First molars have full-sized hypocones with slight reduction in M2 and M3. Accessory cusps are infrequent and small. Mandibular teeth are morphologically simple and retain conservative attributes. Incisors and canines exhibit weak shoveling. Molar accessory cusps are infrequent, though C-6 attains moderate grades in M3. The molar series (M1:M2:M3) has an Y:X:X groove pattern and 5:4:4 cusp number. Upper M3 agenesis (5%) is less common than lower M3 agenesis (10.0%). Smith's Mean Measure of Divergence (MMD) and Ward's minimum variance cluster methods are used to assess inter-group bio-distance in global and regional South Asian settings. In the global comparison, multi-dimensionally scaled MMD values reveal three groups: African, Asian, and a third group composed of MLC, prehistoric South Asians, and European samples. Within South Asia, MMD and cluster analysis find MLC's closest affinities to the Chenchu, a living tribal group of Andhra Pradesh. This result contradicts earlier assertions based on osteological assessment that descendants of Mesolithic foragers of North India (MLC) cannot be identified in the Indian subcontinent. The next closest affinity is with Chalcolithic and Neolithic groups of Pakistan and with a late Chalcolithic group (INM) of west central India. As knowledge of the dental morphology of living and prehistoric South Asians increases, the population history of the subcontinent and its role in understanding world-wide patterns of migration will be clarified.

Generativity, hierarchical action and recursion in the technology of the Acheulean to Middle Palaeolithic transition: a perspective from Patpara, the Son Valley, India.

The Acheulean to Middle Palaeolithic transition is one of the most important technological changes that occurs over the course of human evolution. Here we examine stone artefact assemblages from Patpara and two other excavated sites in the Middle Son Valley, India, which show a mosaic of attributes associated with Acheulean and Middle Palaeolithic industries. The bifaces from these sites are very refined and generally small, but also highly variable in size. A strong relationship between flake scar density and biface size indicates extensive differential resharpening. There are relatively low proportions of bifaces at these sites, with more emphasis on small flake tools struck from recurrent Levallois cores. The eventual demise of large bifaces may be attributed to the curation of small prepared cores from which sharper, or more task-specific flakes were struck. Levallois technology appears to have arisen out of adapting aspects of handaxe knapping, including shaping of surfaces, the utilization of two inter-dependent surfaces, and the striking of invasive thinning flakes. The generativity, hierarchical organization of action, and recursion evident in recurrent Levallois technology may be attributed to improvements in working memory.

Isolation, purification and preliminary studies on fish eye lens glycoprotein.

Glycoprotein from the eye lens of fish, Mystus cavasius, was isolated by extraction with 1% Triton X-100 in saline. The crude extract which was found to be electrophoretically heterogeneous was fractionated on a DEAE-cellulose column. One of the fractions obtained in major amount was further resolved by column chromatography using Sephadex G-150 into two homogeneous fractions (GP-1 and GP-2]. GP-1 contained carbohydrates (11.2%) and protein (77.5%). The constituent sugars were D-glucose, D-mannose, D-galactosamine and N-acetyl neuraminic acid. The principal amino acids were aspartic acid, serine, glutamic acid, glycine and alanine. The proportions of these residues were determined.

Preliminary studies on excretory components of a virulent strain (F-2) of Pseudomonas solanacearum.

The excretory material (EM) was isolated from the culture medium of a virulent strain (F-2) of Pseudomonas solanacearum. Electrophoretic studies depicted the heterogeneous nature of EM and the presence of released lipopolysaccharide in it. Both the exopolysaccharide and the released LPS contained D-galactose as the major sugar constituent together with D-glucose, N-acetyl-D-galactosamine and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine. In addition, L-rhamnose was present as a constituent sugar of the released LPS.

Aging studies on fingerprint residues using thin-layer and high performance liquid chromatography.

The chemical substances of perspiration found in latent fingerprint residue may hold the key for dating latent fingerprints. To study the chemical transformations of these components as a function of time and environment, fingerprint residues from four males and four females were analysed by thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Three major and two or three minor components were detected by both methods and the variation in the quantity of the major components with time was observed.

Immunochemical studies on Shigella dysenteriae type 10 bacterial polysaccharide.

On graded hydrolysis and Smith degradation, the O-somatic polysaccharide isolated from Shigella dysenteriae type 10 bacteria yielded four oligosaccharides which were characterized by methylation studies. Immunochemical studies using constituent monosaccharides and the oligosaccharides indicated that the sugar grouping leads to 3)-ManNAc-(1 leads to 3)-Rha-(1 leads to 4)-GlcNAc-(1 leads to was the immunodominant part in the polysaccharide molecule, and that 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-D-mannose contributed maximally to the immunological specificity of the macromolecule.