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1. Calculus and survivorship in medieval London: The association between dental disease and a demographic measure of general health

   https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.23772  

   Yaussy, Samantha L. ; DeWitte, Sharon N. ( January 2019 , American Journal of Physical Anthropology)

   Dental plaque is associated with a variety of systemic diseases and mortality risks in living populations. However, bioarchaeologists have not fully investigated the mortality risks associated with plaque (or its mineralized form, calculus) in the past. This study examines the relationship between survivorship and calculus in a medieval skeletal sample.

   Our sample (n = 1,098) from four medieval London cemeteries,c. 1000–1540 CE, includes people who died under attritional (normal) and catastrophic (famine and plague) conditions. The associations between age and the presence of dental calculus on the permanent left first mandibular molar are assessed using binary logistic regression and Kaplan–Meier survival analysis.

   The regression results indicate a significant negative relationship between age and calculus presence for individuals of all ages who died under normal mortality conditions and for adults who died under both normal and catastrophic conditions. Survival analysis reveals decreased survivorship for people of all ages with calculus under normal mortality conditions. Similarly, during conditions of catastrophic mortality, adult males with calculus suffered reduced survivorship compared to males without it, though there was no difference in survivorship between adult females with and without calculus.

   These results suggest that, as in modern populations, calculus accumulation in the inhabitants of medieval London reflects a greater risk of premature death. The evaluation of calculus, a potential measure of underlying frailty, in the context of a demographic measure of general health suggests that it might provide insights into health in past populations.

    

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2. The intersections of industrialization: Variation in skeletal indicators of frailty by age, sex, and socioeconomic status in 18th‐ and 19th‐century England

   https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.23881  

   Yaussy, Samantha L. ( June 2019 , American Journal of Physical Anthropology)

   Intersectionality theory argues that various categories of identity and forms of systemic oppression interact and produce inequalities in resource access, economic opportunities, and health outcomes. However, there has been little explicit engagement with this theory by bioarchaeologists examining disparate health outcomes in the past. This study examines the associations among frailty, age at death, sex, and socioeconomic status (SES) in 18th‐ and 19th‐century England.

   The sample for this study comes from four industrial‐era cemeteries from England, ca. 1711–1857. The associations among adult age (18+ years), SES, sex, and three skeletal indicators of stress (dental enamel hypoplasia [DEH,n= 293], cribra orbitalia [CO,n= 457], periosteal lesions [PNB,n= 436]) are examined using hierarchical log‐linear analysis.

   Significant interactions existed among the variables examined for two skeletal indicators: high SES females had lower frequencies of CO relative to other groups and males between ages 30–45 years exhibited higher frequencies of PNB compared to females or males of older or younger ages, regardless of SES. Additionally, sex and SES were consistently associated with age at death.

   These results suggest that patterns of stress indicators cannot be examined solely across unilateral axes of age, SES, or sex. Intersecting axes of privilege, marginalization, and structural oppression may have buffered high SES females from some negative health outcomes (CO) while predisposing them to others (risk of maternal mortality). Likewise, the hazardous working conditions relegated to adult males may have heightened the risk of injury, infection, and death for middle‐aged men in industrial‐era England.

    

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3. Female swamp sparrows do not show evidence of discriminating between the songs of peak‐aged and senescent males

   https://doi.org/10.1111/eth.13102  

   Zipple, Matthew N. ; Peters, Susan ; Searcy, William A. ; Nowicki, Stephen ( October 2020 , Ethology)

   Sexual selection theory predicts that females face contrasting selection pressures when choosing the age of their mate. On the one hand, older males have demonstrated their ability to survive and they may be more experienced than younger males. At the same time, however, younger males are expected to have accumulated fewer deleterious mutations in their germline as compared to older males. These contrasting pressures on female preference may result in a preference for intermediate‐aged males. A preference for males of a particular age can only be expressed, however, if females are able to identify males of different ages. We have previously shown that male swamp sparrows display age‐related changes in vocal quality, such that males display sharp increases in vocal quality in early adulthood, followed by gradual senescent declines thereafter. We have also shown that territorial males discriminate these within‐individual differences, giving stronger aggressive responses to songs of peak‐aged males than to those of senescent males. Here, we use a copulation solicitation assay to test whether females also discriminate these within‐signaler markers of senescence in song. Contrary to our prediction, females did not show any evidence of discriminating between songs recorded from peak‐aged males as compared to songs from the same males following song senescence. We suggest that this difference in demonstrated discrimination between males and females may be the result of the two sexes attending to different song characteristics.

    

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4. Three daily intraperitoneal injections of sub‐anesthetic ketamine ameliorate activity‐based anorexia vulnerability of adult female mice

   https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.24036  

   Goodwin‐Groen, Sebastian ; Dong, Yiru ; Aoki, Chiye ( August 2023 , International Journal of Eating Disorders)

   To identify ketamine's dosing schedule that ameliorates voluntary food restriction, hyperactivity and body weight loss of adult mice undergoing activity‐based anorexia (ABA), an animal model of anorexia nervosa.

   Female and male C57BL6 mice underwent three cycles of ABA, starting from mid‐adolescence. ABA vulnerability was compared within and across two groups of animals: those injected intraperitoneally with 30 mg/kg ketamine for three consecutive days (30mgKetx3) during the second ABA in late adolescence (ABA2) or with vehicle only (Vx3).

   Vx3 females and males exhibited individual differences in wheel running and weight retention during first ABA in mid‐adolescence (ABA1), ABA2, and third ABA in adulthood (ABA3). Their wheel running correlated with anxiety‐like behavior. During ABA1 and ABA3, weight gain of Vx3 females (but not males) after food consumption correlated negatively with food‐anticipatory activity (FAA) preceding the feeding hours, indicating that females with higher levels of running restrict feeding more and persistently. This paradoxical relationship confirms earlier findings of ABA females without ketamine treatment, capturing the maladaptive behaviors exhibited by individuals diagnosed with anorexia nervosa. By contrast, 30mgKetx3 had an effect on both sexes of reducing hyperactivity during the feeding hours acutely and reducing anxiety‐like behavior's contribution to running. For females, only, 30mgKetx3 acutely improved the extent of compensatory food consumption relative to FAA and improved weight retention during ABA3, 12 days post ketamine in adulthood.

   Sub‐anesthetic ketamine evokes behavior‐specific ameliorative effects for adult mice re‐experiencing ABA, supporting the notion that multiple doses of ketamine may be helpful in reducing relapse among adults with anorexia nervosa.

   This study examined whether ketamine reduces anorexia‐like behaviors in adult mice. Three daily sub‐anesthetic ketamine injections suppress wheel running during and leading up to the hours of food availability and enable animals to compensate better for weight loss associated with excessive exercise by eating more. These findings suggest that ketamine may help adult females diagnosed with anorexia nervosa but also point to sex‐ and age‐related differences in the action of ketamine.

    

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5. Three‐dimensional anatomy of the anthropoid bony pelvis

   https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.23425  

   Ward, Carol V. ; Maddux, Scott D. ; Middleton, Emily R. ( February 2018 , American Journal of Physical Anthropology)

   Pelvic form is hypothesized to reflect locomotor adaptation in anthropoids. Most observed variation is found in the ilium, which traditionally is thought to reflect thoracic and shoulder morphology. This article examines the articulated bony pelvis of anthropoids in three dimensions (3D) to test hypothesized variation in pelvic anatomy related to overall torso form.

   Sixty landmarks were collected on articulated pelves from 240 anthropoid individuals. Landmark data were subjected to a Generalized Procrustes Analysis. Principal Components Analysis was used to identify trends among taxa. Linear metrics were extracted, and bivariate allometric analysis was used to compare intergroup differences and scaling trends of specific dimensions.

   The combination of 3D and bivariate allometric analysis demonstrates a complex pattern of locomotor/phylogenetic and allometric influences on pelvic morphology. Apes have relatively narrower dorsal interiliac spacing than do most monkeys, with relatively smaller spinal muscle attachment areas but only minimally wider ventral bi‐iliac breadths. Hylobatids and atelids have a relatively more cranial position of their sacra than do other taxa, and hylobatids and cercopithecids relatively more retroflexed ischia. Within groups, the three pelvic joints (lumbosacral, sacroiliac, and hip) become relatively closer together with increasing body size.

   A three‐dimensional consideration of the articulated pelvis in anthropoids reveals determinants of pelvic variation not previously appreciated by studies of isolated hipbones. This study provides no support for the hypothesis that the ape pelvis is mediolaterally broader than that of monkeys in relative terms, as would be expected if iliac shape is related to hypothesized differences in thoracic breadth and shoulder orientation. Instead, apes, especially great apes, have relatively narrow sacra and longer lower pelves, related to their shorter, stiffer lumbar spines and torsos. This difference, coupled with strong positive allometry of iliac breadth and negative allometry of key pelvic lengths, along with some variation in ischial morphology in certain taxa, explains much of the variation in pelvic form among anthropoid primates.

    

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