Infection with Toxoplasma gondii during pregnancy: seroepidemiological studies in Austria.

Seropositivity among pregnant woman in Austria has decreased from 48% to 50% at the end of the 1970s to 35% in recent years. Despite this decrease, knowledge of possible sources and risk factors for Toxoplasma infection remains important. We reviewed seroepidemiological studies that were undertaken to assess the roles of undercooked meat and oocysts in cat faeces as potential sources of infection in pregnant women. Improved management and hygiene in pig herds raised in confinement have resulted in less contact of pigs with cats and a decrease of infected pigs within one decade from 14% in 1982 to 0.9% in 1992. In Austrian wild boar populations, however, seroprevalences remained essentially unchanged during the same decade (18% in 1983 and 19% in 1990-1993). Austrian sheep and goats are usually kept on small farms where cats abound and are predominantly seropositive (66% in sheep and 69% in goats). The seroprevalence in cats has decreased from approximately 81% in 1987 to 59% in 1996; presumably because of cats' increased consumption of processed food. Despite the decrease of infection in pregnant women via the cat-to-pig pathway, it may be offset by a recent concomitant increase in mutton consumption. Free-ranging chickens are a good indicator of the prevalence of T. gondii oocysts in the soil because chickens are ground feeders. Antibodies to T. gondii, as evaluated by the modified agglutination test, were found in 36% of chickens from 12 Austrian 'biofarms'. Because Austrians rarely consume raw pork, the fraction of human T. gondii infections associated with pig meat consumption is likely small. As meat consumption and lifestyle patterns change in Austria, the risk of human infection with T. gondii via different pathways needs re-evaluation and targeted educational efforts to control transmission.

Two Gravettian human deciduous teeth from Grub/Kranawetberg, lower Austria.

In this paper we present two heavily eroded tooth fragments found in Grub/Kranawetberg, a Gravettian excavation site near Stillfried, Lower Austria. Both fragments were found during wet screening of sediment taken from an area near a hearth. Overall, the cultural layer yielded a large number of stone tools and flakes as well as bony points and over sixty bone beads and bone bead fragments. They point to an absolute date of 24,400 to 25,400 BP. We present a description of the tooth fragments and identify them as remains of an early modern human. One of the fragments is a deciduous right first lower molar (84) and the other a deciduous left lateral upper incisor (62). Due to their characteristic shape and size, as well as the degree of attrition, both teeth could have belonged to one single individual--a possibility consistent with their position in the stratigraphic column. The incisor could be compared for its metrical dimensions to the few other contemporaneous Upper Palaeolithic findings showing an insignificantly smaller dimension in mesio-distal and bucco-lingual dimensions. Although the remains are limited they increase our very small sample of deciduous teeth for this time period, which is essential for a better understanding of possible evolutionary trends from the Upper Palaeolithic to the Mesolithic.

Virtual anthropology: the digital evolution in anthropological sciences.

The discovery and explanation of differences among organisms is a major concern for evolutionary and systematic biologists. In physical anthropology, the discrimination of taxa and the qualitative and quantitative description of ontogenetic or evolutionary change require, of course, the analysis of morphological features. Since the 1960s, a remarkable amount of fossil material was excavated, some of it still awaiting a detailed first analysis, some of it requiring re-examination by more developed methods. While the fossil record grew continuously, a revolution in anthropological research took place with advances in computer technology in the 1980s: a handful of innovative researchers working in specialized anthropology laboratories or medical departments developed the methodological inventory needed to extract critical information from subjects in vivo and from fossilized remains. A considerable part of this information is preserved in the physically heretofore inaccessible interior of anatomical structures. Virtual Anthropology (VA) is a means of making them visible and measurable. Thus, VA also allows access to 'hidden' landmarks; in addition, the large number of semilandmarks accessible on the form enhances the power of Geometric Morphometrics analysis. Furthermore, the density information in volume data allows manipulations such as segmentation, impossible with the real, physical object. Moreover, metric body measurements generally, and cranial measurements specifically, are also an important source of information for the analysis of the ontogenetic development of the skeletal system, and--last but not least--for clinical use (e.g., operation planning, operation simulation, prosthetics). Thus, there developed a fruitful interdisciplinary cooperation between statistics, medicine, and physical anthropology.

Hibernation effects on memory in European ground squirrels (Spermophilus citellus).

Effects of hibernation on memory were tested in European ground squirrels (Spermophilus citellus). The animals were trained in summer to successfully accomplish two tasks: a spatial memory task in a maze and an operant task on a feeding machine. One group hibernated normally, and the other was prevented from hibernation by maintaining ambient temperature at 22 degrees C. In spring, the same tasks were repeated for both groups and their individual performances compared to the initial training phase. The experimental groups differed significantly in both tasks. The nonhibernating animals had higher levels of retention and needed significantly fewer trials to relearn the tasks than the group that had hibernated. In addition to testing the retention of conditioned tasks, social memory was also studied. The ground squirrels were given a social recognition test in spring with one familiar and one unfamiliar conspecific. In contrast to the conditioned tasks, social memory did not seem to be affected by hibernation. The results indicate negative effects of hibernation on the retention of conditioned tasks, which could produce important constraints on animals. A potential explanation for this memory loss might be changes in neuronal activity, which occur during hibernation.

Sexually dimorphic ontogenetic trajectories of frontal sinus cross sections.

In this paper, we analyze a large published data set of cross sections of frontal sinuses of 3 to 11-year-olds (105 males and 87 females) from Central Europe to investigate several issues relating to frontal sinus ontogeny. Despite a large variation in every one year age cohort, we detect no asymmetry of the left average versus the right average frontal sinus lobe cross-sectional areas in the population, neither for males nor for females. The growth rate is shown to be nonuniform and differs between males and females. We demonstrate the use of a sigmoid function interpolation to characterize one aspect of ontogeny, namely, the functional relation between the cross-sectional area of the frontal sinus and the age of the individual. Ontogenetic trajectories of these cross-sectional areas are remarkably well modeled by a sigmoid function (logistic curve) with suitably estimated parameters for development up to an age of 11 years (females) and 9 years (males). However, these developmental curves also reliably predict the average adult cross-sectional area at age 19 (99% for females, 95% for males). Apart from possible inadequacies of the data set, we also discuss the possibility of heterochrony in the ontogenetic trajectory before versus after puberty.

Orofacial analysis on the Adriatic Islands: 1. The island of Hvar as a model for odontogenetic researches.

This paper presents a preliminary orofacial analysis of a subadult population of Hvar, a Croatian island in the Adriatic. Its population represents one of the last genetic isolates in Europe and has therefore been the object of intensive crossdisciplinary research over the last 30 years. We focussed on the coefficient of endogamy on the one hand and malocclusal-related caries on the other hand, and expected differences in the latter between subgroups of the population. We analyzed 224 dental casts from children all over the island and found multiple caries in approximal surfaces in 55 percent of the children, but no significant differences between the subpopulations. Instead, significantly more caries affection was found in the boys than in the girls. The percentage of general caries affection is fairly high, even when compared to other isolated populations; it may be due to environmental influence. This would be consistent with the other results, which have putatively been caused by complex environmental influences and not solely by genetic components.

Fecal glucocorticoids document stress in female Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus).

Patterns of received aggression and the endocrine response were related to an increase in fecal glucocorticoid metabolites in an intact semifree-ranging group of Barbary macaque females in order to quantify the social stress incurred over a 20-week observation period. The novel result showed that immunoreactive cortisol and 11-oxoetiocholanolone found in the feces can indeed determine the endocrine response of the adrenal gland after a social stressor. After HPLC separation of pooled fecal samples, EIA analyses using three different assays (corticosterone, cortisol, and 11-oxoetiocholanolone) to quantify immunoreactive steroids showed that the corticosterone EIA had no distinctive immunoreactive peaks. Cortisol and 11-oxoetiocholanolone immunoassays showed respectively four and two immunoreactive substances. Time series analyses revealed a behaviorally initiated increase in concentrations of cortisol and 11-oxoetiocholanolone equivalents. Furthermore, both hormone curves exhibit comparable time functions. Either antibody is very suitable for determining glucocorticoid secretion after periods of stress.

The iceman under pressure (Part I): A description of skull deformations due to 5100 years of glacial action.

Due to its long deposition in the glacier, the 'Iceman' (an ice-mummy from the Hauslabjoch) has been deformed, notably its skull. We introduce various comparative methods that describe these deformations, assuming they can be ascribed--to a large extent--to glacial action. While pressure is a scalar, the deformations must be described via a 2-tensor strain field (which can be represented by a matrix function value at every point throughout the skull). In this paper, we present the assumed deformations in numerous graphical forms and, furthermore, the limitations in interpretation--including an estimate of statistical variability--that can be revealed by this analysis. These methods, although describing the results of glacial action and implying a 2-tensor strain field (which will be presented in a subsequent paper), do not permit a straightforward reconstruction of the original, underformed skull. These methods have wider applications to the general problem of deformation.

Perineal swellings: a social and endocrine advantage for Barbary macaque females (Macaca sylvanus).

This study focuses the relationship between social rank, intersexual behavior, age, fecal cortisol equivalent excretion rates and perineal swelling size in contraceptive-treated Macaca sylvanus females. Behavioral data and fecal samples were collected during a twenty-week period from 24 females. Females were categorized with regard to perineal swelling (enlarged or reduced), and to their dominance rank (high or low); we found that swelling size was not associated with it. However, females with an enlarged perineum received more male grooming interactions, had closer spatial relations to males, and received significantly more interventions from males than did the others. Endocrinologically, females with enlarged swelling showed decreased fecal cortisol equivalent excretion rates. Multiple regression models showed a positive relationship between the extent of the swelling size and grooming, inspection and spatial relation. There was a negative relationship between the extent of swelling size and fecal cortisol equivalents. These results imply that enlarged perineal swellings among implanted Barbary macaque females have a greater impact on intersexual contact and adrenocortical activity than does social rank or age.

New methods and techniques in anthropology.

Since the discovery of the Tyrolean Iceman in 1991, advanced imaging and post-processing techniques have been successfully applied to anthropological research. Among the specific techniques are spiral computed tomography and 3-dimensional reconstructions, which include stereolithographic and fused deposition modeling of volume data sets. The Iceman's skull was the first to be produced using stereolithography; subsequently, it has been successfully applied in preoperative planning. With the advent of high-end performance graphics workstations and biomedical image processing software packages, 3-dimensional reconstructions have become established as routine tools for analyzing volume data sets. These techniques enabled dramatically new insights to be gained in the field of physical anthropology. Computed tomography became the ideal research tool to access the internal structures of various precious fossils without even touching--let alone damaging--them. Among the most precious are specimens from the genus Australopithecus (1.8 Myr-3.5 Myr), as well as representatives of Homo heidelbergensis (200 kyr-600 kyr) and Homo neanderthalensis (40 kyr-100 kyr); such fossils have been CT-scanned during the last five years. The fossils often are filled with a stone matrix or other encrustations. During the post-processing routines, highly advanced algorithms were used to remove these encrustations virtually (the concrete fossils remain untouched). Thus it has been possible to visualize the morphological structures that are hidden by the matrix layer. Some specimens have been partially destroyed, but it has been possible for the missing parts were reconstructed on the computer screen in order to get estimations of brain volume and endocranial morphology, both major fields of interest in physical anthropology. Moreover, the data in computerized form allows new descriptions of morphological structures using geometric morphometrics. Some of the results may change aspects and interpretations in human evolution and approaches to long-standing questions in this field. We subsume the introduction of these new imaging and post-processing techniques into a new field of research: Virtual Anthropology.

Comparing frontal cranial profiles in archaic and modern homo by morphometric analysis.

Archaic and modern human frontal bones are known to be quite distinct externally, by both conventional visual and metric evaluation. Internally this area of the skull has been considerably less well-studied. Here we present results from a comparison of interior, as well as exterior, frontal bone profiles from CT scans of five mid-Pleistocene and Neanderthal crania and 16 modern humans. Analysis was by a new morphometric method, Procrustes analysis of semi-landmarks, that permits the statistical comparison of curves between landmarks. As expected, we found substantial external differences between archaic and modern samples, differences that are mainly confined to the region around the brow ridge. However, in the inner median-sagittal profile, the shape remained remarkably stable over all 21 specimens. This implies that no significant alteration in this region has taken place over a period of a half-million years or more of evolution, even as considerable external change occurred within the hominid clade spanning several species. This confirms that the forms of the inner and outer aspects of the human frontal bone are determined by entirely independent factors, and further indicates unexpected stability in anterior brain morphology over the period during which modern human cognitive capacities emerged. Anat Rec (New Anat): 257:217-224, 1999.