Colorado police solve four decades-old homicide cold cases with DNA from exhumed killer

 https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/28/us/colorado-dna-cold-case-killer-id/index.html

Paperback format of THE DENAMING OF GOANS, Case Studies of Conversions in Medieval Goa

I am happy to announce to readers in India that paperback copies of The Denaming of Goans, Case Studies of Conversions in Medieval Goa will be available from the Book Depository bookstore in about six weeks from today and can be ordered online:

https://www.bookdepository.com/

Book Depository distributes books worldwide including to India and delivery is free.

Paperbacks of my title THE LAST PRABHU, A Hunt for Roots: DNA, Ancient Documents and Migration in Goa can be ordered by readers in India as of now from Book Depository also with free delivery.

Both the books are available on amazon.com in paperback and Kindle eBook formats but please keep in mind that Amazon does not supply paperbacks to India, only Kindle eBooks. 

THE LAST PRABHU in paperback format can also be ordered by readers in India from pothi.com

Prof. Dr. Sandra Fonseca on The Denaming of Goans, Case Studies of Conversions in Medieval Goa

Bernardo Elvino de Sousa’s book, “The denaming of Goans: Case studies of conversions in medieval Goa” is a fascinating, masterful, factual rendering of historical events that unfolded as a result of the Portuguese colonization, conversion and conquest of the island of Goa. Using case studies of key individuals and tipping points, de Sousa provides a window into the lives and identities of the people of Goa, which were significantly disrupted and altered forever. Faced with conversions, the book presents the complexity and paradox of resistance and relenting, loss and gain, and the gut-wrenching choices that people made to protect lives and livelihoods. It is an in-depth analysis that lays out differing perceptions and bare facts that makes the reader think. An eye-opening account that is a must read for anyone interested in history, sociology, religious and political studies.

The Denaming of Goans. Case Studies of Conversions in Medieval Goa.

It gives me great pleasure to inform you that my book The Denaming of Goans, Case Studies of Conversions in Medieval Goa has now been published and can be ordered in both Kindle eBook as well as paperback formats from the Amazon.com store (ISBN: 9798783449109). Only the Kindle eBook is available in India. I am working on a solution to also make the paperback format available in India.

The Denaming of Goans, Case Studies of Conversions in Medieval Goa discusses how and why Hindus of Medieval Goa converted to Christianity and lost their Hindu names in the process. You will learn if it was bribery, threats, torture, the Inquisition or other forms of duress that led to their conversion. Or if there were situations where the converted stood to benefit as much as the converters.

The role of the co-founder of the Jesuits and Patron saint of Goa, Francis Xavier, as well as the incorruptibility of his body and the autopsy report are analysed.

Using case studies, the book presents the varied approaches, strategies and stratagems adopted by the Ecclesiastical fraternity, the Jesuits foremost among them, to further their proselytising mission. The case studies describe how individual villages, royalty, heads of guilds (muqqadams), orphans and slaves as well as people in general were converted. And how once converted, the new Christians were discouraged and prevented from reverting to the Hindu religion.

The reader will also discover how Goans betrayed fellow Goans thereby aiding the Christian Ecclesiastics in their conversion drive.

The reader will learn about the role that the Konkani language played in the conversion of Hindus of medieval Goa.

Questions or comments may be addressed to me on this blog: thelastprabhu.blogspot.com

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09PJLHG4Q

DARWIN REVISITED: Rain forest birds are undergoing evolutionary morphological changes in order to adapt to climate change

Vitek Jirinec et al in Science Advances: 

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abk1743

LSU Media Center: 

AMAZON RAINFOREST BIRDS’ BODIES TRANSFORM DUE TO CLIMATE CHANGE

https://www.lsu.edu/mediacenter/news/2021/11/12rnr_jirinec_stouffer_scienceadvances.php

Amazonia is the world’s largest tropical forest located in Brazil and Ecuador. The avifauna consists almost exclusively of residents that spend their whole life in this region without needing to migrate or be subjected to stress from the ingression of migratory birds from other regions or to any other disturbance. 

Over four decades, the temperature has become gradually warmer in Amazonia. From June to November, the dry season, the climate has become increasingly hotter and drier. The birds have therefore been experiencing gradually warmer temperatures throughout their annual cycle and this is the sole and only change to their habitat.

“Even in the middle of this pristine Amazon rainforest, we are seeing the global effects of climate change caused by people, including us,” said Vitek Jirinec, lead author of the scientific publication.

The authors found that the birds had undergone a change in body weight: they have become smaller and lost weight. At the same time, their wing size has increased.

The LSU Media Center explains:

“The scientists investigated 77 species of rainforest birds that live from the cool, dark forest floor to the warmer, sunlit midstory. They discovered that the birds that reside in the highest section of the midstory and are the most exposed to heat and drier conditions, had the most dramatic change in body weight and wing size. These birds also tend to fly more than the birds that live on the forest floor. The idea is that these birds have adapted to a hotter, drier climate by reducing their wing loading therefore becoming more energy efficient in flight. Think of a fighter jet with a heavy body and short wings that requires a lot of energy to fly fast compared to a glider plane with a slim body and long wings that can soar with less energy. If a bird has a higher wing loading, it needs to flap its wings faster to stay aloft, which requires more energy and produces more metabolic heat. Reducing body weight and increasing wing length leads to more efficient resource use while also keeping cooler in a warming climate”.

As Charles Darwin stated nearly two centuries ago:

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change”.

And that is what the Amazonia birds are doing in order to survive.

EPIGENETICS

 In an earlier post “From DNA to chromosomes: connecting the dots”, I explained the terminology used in genetics including gene expression and DNA mutations. I stated that genetic mutations are irreversible which is why they are transmitted from the parents to the offspring from one generation to the next.

Genes play a very important role in our health. Genetic mutations that we have inherited from our parents can predispose humans to certain conditions such as heart disease, diabetes or breast cancer.

It is not only the genetic mutations that we have inherited that play a role in our health. Our behaviours and environment, what we eat and how active we are can also influence our health by affecting our genes. EPIGENETICS is the study of how our behaviours and environment affect the way our genes work. The prefix epi- in epigenetics comes from the Greek language and implies features that are "on top of" or "in addition to changes in genetic sequence.”

Unlike genetic mutations that are irreversible, epigenetic alterations are reversible, the DNA sequence does not change. Genetic mutations change gene expression i.e. instructions on which protein is to be produced and when whereas epigenetic changes act as a switch to turn genes “on” or “off”. 

Even though epigenetics is reversible, it can be inherited. An example of epigenetic inheritance, discovered about 10 years ago in mammals, is parental imprinting. In parental imprinting, certain autosomal genes have seemingly unusual inheritance patterns. For example, the mouse Igf2 gene is expressed in a mouse only if it was inherited from the mouse's father (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK21276/). It has been suggested that certain foods can turn a gene “on” or “off” implying that they van greatly influence our health and well-being.

Examples of epigenetics are:

• DNA methylation. A methyl (-CH3) group adds itself to a DNA like a cap and prevents gene expression. In other words, the gene is switched off and cannot produce the protein it is programmed to do. If demethylation occurs, i.e. removal of the methyl group, the gene will be turned on again.
• Another example is histone modification. Histones are important because very long DNA molecules wrap around histone proteins and give chromosomes a compact structure so that they can fit in the cell’s nucleus; they also regulate gene expression. In this case of epigenetics, DNA wraps around histones in such a way that they cannot be accessed by proteins that read and copy them. They are effectively turned off. Chemical groups can be added or removed from histones and turn them on again..
• Non-coding RNA: We have seen in my earlier post that DNA produces coding RNA that then leaves the nucleus and is used to make proteins. DNA also produces non-coding RNA that attaches itself to coding RNA along with certain proteins and helps to control gene expression. It can, however, also break down the coding RNA and prevent it from making proteins. It can also instruct proteins to modify histones to switch genes “on” or “off”.

According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information NCBI, lifestyle factors such as diet, obesity, physical activity, tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption, environmental pollutants, psychological stress and working on night shifts have been found to modify epigenetic patterns.  Other scientic articles link epigenetic mechanisms to various diseases including cancers of almost all types, cognitive dysfunction, and respiratory, cardiovascular, reproductive, autoimmune, and neurobehavioral illnesses. Known or suspected drivers behind epigenetic processes include many agents, including heavy metals, pesticides, diesel exhaust, tobacco smoke, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, hormones, radioactivity, viruses, bacteria, and basic nutrients. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1392256/)

Studies of identical twins who have been reared apart show the effects that epigenetics can have on the siblings (https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/05/twin-epigenetics/560189/).

Even though genetics has been the major focus of scientists upto now, epigenetics will increasingly dominate scientific interest in the future.

Pre-conversion Hindu names of Aldona's gaunkars

Any interested reader can find the pre-conversion Hindu names of Aldona's gaunkars in ANNEX VIII: Gaunkar name-changes of my book The Last Prabhu, second revised edition, that can be ordered from amazon.com in paperback and eBook (Kindle) formats. The paperback is also available from Book Depository. Readers in India can order the paperback version from Book Depository as well as pothi.com