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PubMed2004

Estimating the strength of sexual selection from Y-chromosome and mitochondrial DNA diversity.

We show that a sex difference in the opportunity for selection results in sex differences in the strength of random genetic drift and thus creates different patterns of genetic diversity for maternally and paternally inherited haploid genes. We derive the effective population size Ne for a male-limited or female-limited haploid gene in terms of I, the "opportunity for selection" or the variance in relative fitness. Because the variance in relative fitness of males can be an order of magnitude larger than that of females, the Ne is much smaller for males than it is for females. We derive both nonequilibrium and equilibrium expressions for F(ST) in terms of I and show how the portion of I owing to sexual selection, Imates, that is, the variation among males in mate numbers, is a simple function of the F's for cytoplasmic (female inherited) and Y-linked (male inherited) genes. Because multiple, transgenerational data are lacking to apply the nonequilibrium expression, we apply only the equilibrium model to published data on Y chromosome and mitochondrial sequence divergence in Homo sapiens to quantify the opportunity for sexual selection. The estimate suggests that sexual selection in humans represents a minimum of 54.8% of total selection, supporting Darwin's proposal that sexual selection has played a significant role in human evolution and the recent proposal regarding a shift from polygamy to monogamy in humans.

Chromosomes, Human, Y↗
PubMed2005

How do misassigned paternities affect the estimation of heritability in the wild?

Studies of birds have recently played an important role in the increasing success of quantitative genetics applied to natural populations. However, these studies mostly base their pedigree relationships on social information, despite the known widespread genetic polygamy in avian species. Here, we study the influence of misassigned paternities, combined with the effect of pedigree size and depth, on the estimation of heritability. First, we compute simulations of a polygenic trait for two levels of heritability (0.1 and 0.4), several extra-pair paternity rates (ranging from 5% to 40%), and varying sample sizes (20, 50 and 100 broods) or pedigree depth (2 or 4 generations). We compare heritability estimates from the social and the genetic pedigree, running a restricted maximum-likelihood 'animal model'. Social pedigree underestimates heritability by an average of 0-17% for 5-20% extra-pair paternities and by up to 18% for 40% extra-pair paternities and a heritability of 0.4. Second, we identifyied extra-pair offspring using microsatellite loci in two populations of blue tits (Parus caeruleus) showing high levels of extra-pair paternities (15% and 25% of extra-pair offspring). We compare heritabilities of tarsus length and body mass estimated with pedigrees of increasing accuracy. These analyses suggest that the bias induced by misassigned paternities on heritability estimation depends on the level of heritability and the rate of paternity error. Typical rates of extra-pair paternities in birds (around 20% of offspring) should result in an underestimation of heritability of less than 15% when estimated over a minimum of 100 broods.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Complex polymorphisms are revealed by Y chromosome probe 49a with BglII, HindIII, PstI and SstI.

Y chromosome probe 49a detects complex polymorphisms with BglII, HindII, PstI and SsTI, involving 19, 13, 18 and 11 variant bands respectively. The haplotype, a description of the arrangement of fragments in an individual, exhibits great variation. Most haplotypes are population-specific and occur infrequently. In a study of approximately 60 individuals of Caucasoid, Negroid and San origin, 21, 23, 28 and 24 haplotypes were revealed by BglII, HindIII, PstI and SstI respectively. Reduced genetic diversity in the Negroid population was ascribed to both the proposed recent common origin of the Bantu-speaking Negroid population from a proto-Bantu stock and the common practice of polygamy in African Negroids, as were specific correlations between the different polymorphisms within the Negroid population only. In general, no single haplotype for a given enzyme system strictly correlated with a haplotype from any of the other three systems, suggesting that each polymorphism results from a combination of restriction site mutations and rearrangement events. This tremendous variability has potential in paternity testing for male offspring.

Bacterial Proteins↗
PubMed1999

Attitudes toward and perceived psychosocial impact of female circumcision as practiced among the Bedouin-Arabs of the Negev.

The present pilot study examines attitudes toward and the perceived psychosocial impact of circumcision as practiced among the Bedouin-Arabs of the Negev, Israel. A convenience sample of 24 women participated in the study: 12 who had experienced the ritual, and 12 who had not, but who had witnessed or been told about the practice of the ritual on women in their extended families. Two research instruments were used: a structured questionnaire, and a semi-structured open-ended interview. Data showed differences in subject responses depending on the research tools. The structured questionnaire revealed that women who had experienced the circumcision gave legitimization and cognitive rationalization to it. In contrast, the semi-structured interview revealed that these same subjects reported insult: traumatization, direct negative influences, and narcissistic insult, and described emotional difficulties during the research interviews. The findings indicated that they had difficulties in mother-daughter relationships and trust. Implications of the ritual on the continuity of polygamy and marital/sexual problems are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Traditional Arabian marriages and mental health in a group of outpatient Saudis.

This is a prospective study of 150 consecutive outpatients who were either married or divorced. Marriage custom in Saudi Arabia is unique to the culture of that country and several different kinds of marriage are identified: arranged marriage of cousins; marriage of a couple who have not met before consummation; marriage of a couple who have met once before consummation; forced marriage; and, rarely, marriage preceded by a period of courtship. Marital discord defined by the patients as fully or partially responsible for their presenting symptoms, was correlated with the different kinds of marriage. Discord was found to be more likely when the couple had never met or when there had been a period of courtship; more likely associated with anxiety and dysthymic disorders; and to affect females more than males. Polygamy was a definite stress. The consanguinous marriage had a higher rate of marital discord than the non-consanguinous, but this was found to be not statistically significant. In 40% of discordant, consanguinous marriages the discord was directly related to the degree of consanguinity.

Anxiety Disorders↗
PubMed1989

Inpatient adolescent psychiatry in a teaching hospital in Nigeria.

The sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of 84 adolescents admitted to the psychiatric unit of a teaching hospital in Nigeria were studied. Their ages ranged from 12-20 years (mean 17). The pattern of psychiatric disorders in this population reflected the pattern in the adult population. Major psychoses comprising schizophrenia (44%), organic brain syndrome (23%), and affective disorders (16%) predominated. Infections and drug abuse are preventable causes of organic brain syndrome. Male adolescents were as likely to be hospitalized for a major psychiatric disorder as female adolescents. The peak period for psychopathology is late adolescence. The contributions of such factors as rural-urban migration, birth order, family size, polygamy and genetics to the etiology of major mental disorders in this population require further investigations. Understanding the prevalence and pattern of presentation of mental disorders in all age groups is essential for effective mental health planning.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Household organization, women's autonomy, and contraceptive behavior in southern Ethiopia.

The Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region of Ethiopia (SNNPR) is home to 11 million people constituting more than 45 language and ethnic groups, most of whom live in extremely poor rural communities. Data for currently married, fecund women aged 15-49 from demographic surveys conducted in the SNNPR in 1990 and 1997 are used to investigate contraceptive knowledge and communication, and the use and future need for family planning services in this population. This study focuses on how these processes are affected by household organization and women's status, and on their implications for population policies and programs. Considerations of the implications of these results for understanding the fertility transition of a highly diverse African population under severe stress are presented. Although household extension and polygamy characterize one-third of the women sampled, they do not affect the women's contraceptive behavior. Women's literacy and autonomy are, by far, the most significant forces in the movement toward lower fertility in the region.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Sexually transmitted diseases in northern Nigeria. Five years' experience in a university teaching hospital clinic.

Between 1977 and 1981, 3089 patients attended the sexually transmitted diseases (STD) clinic in Zaria, northern Nigeria. The male-to-female ratio of attenders was 6:1. Postpubertal gonorrhoea accounted for 28.1% of cases, non-specific genital infections for 22.4%, and syphilis for 1.2%. Illiteracy, polygamy, the purdah system, widespread prostitution, and inadequate facilities are factors aiding the spread of these diseases in northern Nigeria.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Mental health aspects of Turkish women from polygamous versus monogamous families.

BACKGROUND: Polygamy is illegal in Turkey, but is common among rural villagers in the southeastern region. Polygamous marriage may have a negative effect on the wives involved. AIM: The purpose of this study was to determine the extent of the relationship between psychiatric disorder and polygamous marriage. METHOD: The mental status of 42 senior and 46 junior wives from polygamous marriages and 50 wives from monogamous marriages was evaluated using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders (SCID-I) and Somatoform Dissociation Questionnaire (SDQ). RESULTS: There was a statistically significant difference among senior, junior and monogamous wives in terms of the prevalence of somatization disorder. The prevalence of somatization disorder was the highest in polygamous senior wives. The mean total SDQ scores differed significantly among the three groups. It was the highest in senior wives. CONCLUSIONS: It is clear that the participants from polygamous families, especially senior wives, reported more psychological distress. It is essential to increase awareness of the significance of polygamous family structures among psychiatrists and other therapists.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Psychogenic vocal cord dysfunction simulating bronchial asthma.

Upper airway obstruction can mimic bronchial asthma. A particular type results from psychogenic dysfunction of the vocal cord, and presents as bronchial asthma or organic upper airways obstruction. If not recognized, ineffective and potentially harmful therapy is given instead of focusing on the underlying psychopathology. We report three Saudi females with this condition, in whom polygamy and a large family system created associated social stress. Spirometry with a flow volume loop showed characteristic features, and in all three this test was the most important clinical tool that led to the correct diagnosis. Clinicians should perform spirometry and flow-volume loop tests routinely in patients presenting with asthmatic symptoms, and look for clues suggestive of this condition, including a psychosocial assessment.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Sexual selection on land snail shell ornamentation: a hypothesis that may explain shell diversity.

BACKGROUND: Many groups of land snails show great interspecific diversity in shell ornamentation, which may include spines on the shell and flanges on the aperture. Such structures have been explained as camouflage or defence, but the possibility that they might be under sexual selection has not previously been explored. PRESENTATION OF THE HYPOTHESIS: The hypothesis that is presented consists of two parts. First, that shell ornamentation is the result of sexual selection. Second, that such sexual selection has caused the divergence in shell shape in different species. TESTING THE HYPOTHESIS: The first part of the hypothesis may be tested by searching for sexual dimorphism in shell ornamentation in gonochoristic snails, by searching for increased variance in shell ornamentation relative to other shell traits, and by mate choice experiments using individuals with experimentally enhanced ornamentation. The second part of the hypothesis may be tested by comparing sister groups and correlating shell diversity with degree of polygamy. IMPLICATIONS OF THE HYPOTHESIS: If the hypothesis were true, it would provide an explanation for the many cases of allopatric evolutionary radiation in snails, where shell diversity cannot be related to any niche differentiation or environmental differences.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Evolution under relaxed sexual conflict in the bulb mite Rhizoglyphus robini.

The experimental evolution under different levels of sexual conflict have been used to demonstrate antagonistic coevolution in muscids, but among other taxa a similar approach has not been employed. Here, we describe the results of 37 generations of evolution under either experimentally enforced monogamy or polygamy in the bulb mite Rhizoglyphus robini. Three replicates were maintained for each treatment. Monogamy makes male and female interests congruent; thus selection is expected to decrease harmfulness of males to their partners. Our results were consistent with this prediction in that females from monogamous lines achieved lower fecundity when housed with males from polygamous lines. Fecundity of polygamous females was not affected by mating system under which their partners evolved, which suggests that they were more resistant to male-induced harm. As predicted by the antagonistic coevolution hypothesis, the decrease in harmfulness of monogamous males was accompanied by a decline in reproductive competitiveness. In contrast, female fecundity and embryonic viability, which were not expected to be correlated with male harmfulness, did not differ between monogamous and polygamous lines. None of the fitness components assayed differed between individuals obtained from crosses between parents from the same line and those obtained from crosses between parents from different lines within the same mating system. This indicates that inbreeding depression did not confound our results. However, interpretation of our results is complicated by the fact that both males and females from monogamous lines evolved smaller body size compared to individuals from polygamous lines. Although a decrease in reproductive performance of males from monogamous lines was still significant when body size was taken into account, we were not able to separate the effects of male body size and mating system in their influence on fecundity of their female partners.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

The benefit and the doubt: why monogamy?

Monogamy--a bond between two partners of opposite sex--is a relatively rare phenomenon in mammals (3-5%, from a total of 4000 mammalian species). The duration of the bond may vary from one breeding period to life-long. Monogamy does not exclude 'genetic promiscuity', i.e., extra-pair mating. In fact, this is rather common. Monogamy is an intrinsically unstable mating strategy. Benefits include the (relative) certainty of access to the partner's reproductive potential, but the chief disadvantage is that access to other potential partners is strongly diminished, particularly in those cases where males exhibit strong mate-guarding behavior. Mate-guarding, in particular the guarding by males of females with a good territory or of females that accept the territory of a male, has been shown to be the most important selective pressure leading to the evolution of monogamy. A monogamic bond strongly favors the evolution of male investment in the raising of offspring, as is the case in most birds (90% of bird species are monogamic and most exhibit biparental care of young). Mammals exhibit this type of behavior to a far lesser extent (female mammals monopolize the feeding of newly born young). Most male mammals do not look after their offspring; humans are an exception in this respect. Like most mammals, humans are not strictly monogamic. A tendency to social monogamy has evolved, however, and is subject to strong reinforcement by cultural factors, particularly religion. As a result, in a number of cultures monogamy is the predominant mating system; however, most cultures (about 85%) are polygamic. For humans, the optimal evolutionary strategy is monogamy when necessary, polygamy when possible.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

The historical and cultural spectra of homosexuality and their relationship to the fear of being a lesbian.

The cultural spectra of homosexuality are briefly traced in Western and Eastern cultures. Special emphasis is placed on homosexuality in the male, which was a capital offense in the British Navy from 1700 to the early part of the nineteenth century when psychological and medical factors came to be considered of importance. In the American colonies the attitude toward male homosexuality and lesbianism is stated in a clear record of the views of Thomas Jefferson, who proposed in 1779 that "whoever shall be guilty of rape, polygamy or sodomy shall be punished if a man by castration, if a women by cutting through the cartilage of her nose a hole one-half inch in diameter at the least." The growing importance of Freudian theory led to research into child development and the stresses of entering the Oedipal period. Thanks to the insight of female psychoanalysts, Freud's original views were modified to patterns of boys and girls, and the relationship of these differences to the complex systems which may have produced homosexuality in may instances in both sexes. A thesis by Diane M. Greene entitled "Women Loving Women" is reviewed with special reference to the way women adapt to being in the world as lesbians. Prompted by what Bieber and Bieber wrote concerning the use of homosexual themes in males in solving problems related to achievement, e.g., creative success, salary increases, parenting, and drawing on psychoanalytic data, it is considered likely that women exercise similar mechanisms in solving analogous problems. It follows then that a few days delivery, a women could begin to doubt that she could handle this success-the need to mother. This could lead her to doubt her femininity, utilizing the same (hidden) homosexual mechanisms of problem solving in the male. An awareness of this process may assist the physician in management and therapy. Woods' paradigm for the male: I am a failure leads to I am castrated leads to I am not a man leads to I am like a women leads to I am homosexual. For the female, Mayberger and Abramson propose: I am a mother leads to I am successful leads to I cannot handle success because I lack the need to mother my infant lead to I am not a real women, I am like a man leads to I am homosexual.

Anxiety↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Socio-demographic variables and family health: A prospective study of a Katcha in north-central Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Healthy families are vital prerequisites for a stable society and economic development of the community. The health status of families and communities is influenced by several socio-demographic variables such as educational status, marital pattern and gender relationships. The objective of this study is to examine the effect of certain socio-demographic variables on the health status of a rural community in Northern Nigeria. METHOD: A prospective survey over a six month period, which commenced in May 2005, was done in rural primary health care centre in Katcha local Government area of Niger state. All consecutive parents either male or female of children seeking care in the health center who gave consent to participate in the survey were recruited. A structured researcher administered questionnaire was used in sourcing data. Data was analyzed using Microsoft Excel version 2003. RESULTS: A total of 608 parents comprising 302 (49.67%) male and 306 (50.33%) females (M: F = 1:1.01) were surveyed. Of these 78.48% females were uneducated compared to only 41.83% males. While most males were gainfully employed, 20.86% of females were full time housewives. Polygamy was the predominant marital pattern. The findings indicate that women in the community were socially disadvantaged compared to males. CONCLUSION: There is a significant socio-economic gap which puts females at a disadvantage in the rural community surveyed. Bridging this Socio-economic gap between men and women in rural communities will help improve the health status in our rural communities.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

[Migration, marriage, and family in the valley of the Senegal River].

"In 1993, out migration from five villages in the upper valley of the Senegal river appears to be as intensive as it was ten years ago, but with the difference that new social groups are now concerned: children, women, and older men. Migration of family groups is essentially characteristic of international migrants, although all the members of the family do not always move to the same place. Besides pendular and incomplete migrations, settlement in Dakar can be observed, probably corresponding to a progressive [severance] from the village of origin. Exogamy and nonresidential polygamy also contribute to a multilocalization of the family and of the community of origin, thus strengthening the flows of migrants, especially to Dakar." (SUMMARY IN ENG AND SPA)

Africa↗
PubMed1992

Charles Darwin's anthropological observations on Ceylonese.

In his 1871 work, The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex. Darwin has made three anthropological observations pertaining to the nose, beard and polygamy in Ceylonese. He never visited Ceylon, and his observations were based on the works of Sir J. Emerson Tennent (1859) and Sir J. Lubbock (1865).

Anthropology↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A study of human bite injuries to the face.

OBJECTIVES: To analyse human bites injuries of the face as seen in Benin City, Nigeria and to compare the results with similar studies. DESIGN: Prospective cross sectional study. SETTING: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria. SUBJECTS: Twenty patients with human bites to the face. RESULTS: The patients had a mean age of 36.0 years (range: 26 to 48 years), with a female to male ratio of 4:1. Matrimonial conflict related to polygamy was the commonest reason for assault, with females predominating as assailants. The lower lip was the commonest site of injury with 15 cases (75%). Eighteen patients (90.0%) presented at the clinic within 48 hours of injury with only 14 (70.0%) undergoing surgical repair within two to four days. Financial constraints accounted for the time lapse. None of the bite injuries became infected. This was attributed to early local wound care and systemic antibacterial therapy. None of the victims planned to seek legal redress for the bite injuries. CONCLUSION: This study showed that assaults during matrimonial conflicts led to most human bites to the face. It also showed that the Nigerian female was most often the victim and the assailant in such cases. Financial constraints were identified as the major cause of delay in the treatment of these injuries. However, delay in repair did not adversely affect the outcome of these injuries.

Adult↗