BITACORA: An isotopic database of modern human tissues (keratin, teeth) for Argentina.

As a consequence of the recent history of Argentina related to crimes against humanity, the country has positioned itself as a leader on Forensic Anthropology in human rights contexts. To some extent it can even be argued that Forensic Genetics for human identification had its origins in human rights work in the early 1980s in Argentina. However, there are still hundreds of unidentified human remains recovered from the dictatorial regimes' crimes.

Breath Stable Isotope Analysis Serves as a Non-invasive Analytical Tool to Demonstrate Dietary Changes in Adolescent Students Over Time.

Concern about adolescent diets, obesity, and the associated health risks have been growing in the United States. This inspired former First Lady Michelle Obama to spearhead the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA), which made changes to the national school lunch program by increasing servings of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. Our study examined the variability of student carbohydrate sources throughout the day and before and after the implementation of HHFKA using a stable isotope dietary biomarker.

Variations in human body water isotope composition across the United States.

Accurate human provenancing using stable isotopes depends directly on solid understandings of the geographic and individual factors affecting isotope variability and incorporation into human tissues. Transfer of isotopic, and therefore spatial, information between environmental water and biological tissues is mediated by the isotopic composition of body water. Thus, there is a need to study body water isotope ratios at a population level and over a large isotopic and geographic range.

Decadal shift in foraging strategy of a migratory southern ocean predator.

Rapid anthropogenic environmental change is expected to impact a host of ecological parameters in Southern Ocean ecosystems. Of critical concern are the consequences of these changes on the range of species that show fidelity to migratory destinations, as philopatry is hypothesized to help or hinder adaptation to climate change depending on the circumstances. Many baleen whales show philopatry to feeding grounds and are also capital breeders that meet migratory and reproductive costs through seasonal energy intake.

Stable isotopes in hair reveal dietary protein sources with links to socioeconomic status and health.

Carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios in hair sampled from 65 communities across the central and intermountain regions of the United States and more intensively throughout 29 ZIP codes in the Salt Lake Valley, Utah, revealed a dietary divergence related to socioeconomic status as measured by cost of living, household income, and adjusted gross income. Corn-fed, animal-derived proteins were more common in the diets of lower socioeconomic status populations than were plant-derived proteins, with individual estimates of animal-derived protein diets as high as 75%; United States towns and cities averaged 57%. Similar patterns were seen across the socioeconomic status spectrum in the Salt Lake Valley.

Genetic Diversity and Connectivity of Southern Right Whales (Eubalaena australis) Found in the Brazil and Chile-Peru Wintering Grounds and the South Georgia (Islas Georgias del Sur) Feeding Ground.

As species recover from exploitation, continued assessments of connectivity and population structure are warranted to provide information for conservation and management. This is particularly true in species with high dispersal capacity, such as migratory whales, where patterns of connectivity could change rapidly. Here we build on a previous long-term, large-scale collaboration on southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) to combine new (nnew) and published (npub) mitochondrial (mtDNA) and microsatellite genetic data from all major wintering grounds and, uniquely, the South Georgia (Islas Georgias del Sur: SG) feeding grounds.

Strontium isotope ratios of human hair from the United States: Patterns and aberrations.

Rationale: Strontium isotope ratios ( Sr/ Sr) of hair may be a valuable tool to estimate human provenance. However, the systematics and mechanisms controlling spatial variation in Sr/ Sr of modern human hair remain unclear. Here, we measure Sr/ Sr of hair specimens from across the USA to assess the presence of geospatial relationships.

Applying the principles of isotope analysis in plant and animal ecology to forensic science in the Americas.

The heart of forensic science is application of the scientific method and analytical approaches to answer questions central to solving a crime: Who, What, When, Where, and How. Forensic practitioners use fundamentals of chemistry and physics to examine evidence and infer its origin. In this regard, ecological researchers have had a significant impact on forensic science through the development and application of a specialized measurement technique-isotope analysis-for examining evidence.

Strontium isotope ratios of human hair record intra-city variations in tap water source.

The oxygen (O/O) isotope analysis of hair is commonly applied to reconstruct an individual's residence history. However, region-of-origin as determined from oxygen isotope values (δO) alone is often spatially indistinct. Adding additional geochemical recorders can refine region-of-origin estimates.

Evaluation of childhood nutrition by dietary survey and stable isotope analyses of hair and breath.

Objectives: The natural abundances of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur stable isotopes in hair, and of carbon isotopes in breath serve as quantitative biomarkers of protein and carbohydrate sources, but applicability of isotopes for evaluating children's diet has not been demonstrated. In this study, we sought to describe the stable isotope patterns observed in the hair and breath of children and to assess dietary variations in relation to age and ethnicity, hypothesizing that these would reflect dietary differences across age and ethnic groups and would correlate with intake variables derived from a Food Frequency Questionnaire.

Methods: Data were obtained from a cross-sectional study of non-Hispanic white (N = 115) and Hispanic (N = 97) children, aged 9-16 years, in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Cellular and ultrastructural characterization of the grey-morph phenotype in southern right whales (Eubalaena australis).

Southern right whales (SRWs, Eubalena australis) are polymorphic for an X-linked pigmentation pattern known as grey morphism. Most SRWs have completely black skin with white patches on their bellies and occasionally on their backs; these patches remain white as the whale ages. Grey morphs (previously referred to as partial albinos) appear mostly white at birth, with a splattering of rounded black marks; but as the whales age, the white skin gradually changes to a brownish grey color.

Stable isotopes (carbon, nitrogen, sulfur), diet, and anthropometry in urban Colombian women: investigating socioeconomic differences.

Objectives: We conducted stable isotope and dietary analyses of women from higher and lower socioeconomic status (SES) groups in Cali, Colombia. The objectives were to test between-group differences in stable isotope, dietary, and anthropometric characteristics, and to evaluate relationships between diet and stable isotope values.

Methods: Hair samples from 38 women (mean age 33.

Deconvolution of isotope signals from bundles of multiple hairs.

Segmental analysis of hair has been used in diverse fields ranging from forensics to ecology to measure the concentration of substances such as drugs and isotopes. Multiple hairs are typically combined into a bundle for segmental analysis to obtain a high-resolution series of measurements. Individual hair strands cycle through multiple phases of growth and grow at different rates when in the growth phase.

"Alas poor Yorick": What retrospective analysis of canine skulls can tell us about the impact of environmental factors on health.

Necropsies and extensive histological evaluation for clinical and sub-clinical disease of approximately three hundred Portuguese Water dogs are available as part of an ongoing study to assess their state of health at end of life. Throughout life these dogs enjoyed a variety of lifestyles and environments. Here we carry out retrospective quantitative assessments of life-time dietary input and physical activity for each dog.

Hydrogen and oxygen isotope ratios in body water and hair: modeling isotope dynamics in nonhuman primates.

The stable isotopic composition of drinking water, diet, and atmospheric oxygen influence the isotopic composition of body water ((2)H/(1)H, (18)O/(16)O expressed as δ(2) H and δ(18)O). In turn, body water influences the isotopic composition of organic matter in tissues, such as hair and teeth, which are often used to reconstruct historical dietary and movement patterns of animals and humans. Here, we used a nonhuman primate system (Macaca fascicularis) to test the robustness of two different mechanistic stable isotope models: a model to predict the δ(2)H and δ(18)O values of body water and a second model to predict the δ(2)H and δ(18)O values of hair.

Dietary heterogeneity among Western industrialized countries reflected in the stable isotope ratios of human hair.

Although the globalization of food production is often assumed to result in a homogenization of consumption patterns with a convergence towards a Western style diet, the resources used to make global food products may still be locally produced (glocalization). Stable isotope ratios of human hair can quantify the extent to which residents of industrialized nations have converged on a standardized diet or whether there is persistent heterogeneity and glocalization among countries as a result of different dietary patterns and the use of local food products. Here we report isotopic differences among carbon, nitrogen and sulfur isotope ratios of human hair collected in thirteen Western European countries and in the USA.

Consistent predictable patterns in the hydrogen and oxygen stable isotope ratios of animal proteins consumed by modern humans in the USA.

Published datasets of proteinaceous animal tissues suggest that co-variation between amino acid hydrogen (δ²H) and oxygen (δ¹⁸O) isotope ratios is a common feature in systems where isotopic variation is driven by geographic or temporal variation in the δ²H and δ¹⁸O values of environmental water. This has led to the development of models relating tissue δ²H and δ¹⁸O values to those of water, with potential application in a number of fields. However, the strength and ubiquity of the influence of environmental water on protein isotope ratios across taxonomic groups, and thus the relevance of predictive models, is an open question.

Spatial distributions of carbon, nitrogen and sulfur isotope ratios in human hair across the central United States.

We present data on the carbon (δ(13)C), nitrogen (δ(15)N) and sulfur (δ(34)S) isotope ratios of human hair collected in the central portions of the USA. These elements are incorporated into hair from the diet and thus provide a record of dietary inputs that may also document geospatial patterns. We detected regional differences in hair δ(34)S values across the USA, with the lowest values in the northern Great Plains and increasing values towards the east, west and south.

Pacific Ocean-wide profile of CYP1A1 expression, stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios, and organic contaminant burden in sperm whale skin biopsies.

Background: Ocean pollution affects marine organisms and ecosystems as well as humans. The International Oceanographic Commission recommends ocean health monitoring programs to investigate the presence of marine contaminants and the health of threatened species and the use of multiple and early-warning biomarker approaches.

Objective: We explored the hypothesis that biomarker and contaminant analyses in skin biopsies of the threatened sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) could reveal geographical trends in exposure on an oceanwide scale.

Aberrant water homeostasis detected by stable isotope analysis.

While isotopes are frequently used as tracers in investigations of disease physiology (i.e., 14C labeled glucose), few studies have examined the impact that disease, and disease-related alterations in metabolism, may have on stable isotope ratios at natural abundance levels.

Links between purchase location and stable isotope ratios of bottled water, soda, and beer in the United States.

This study investigated the impact of purchase location on the stable isotope ratios of beverages by measuring the delta(2)H and delta(18)O values of bottled water, soda, beer, and tap water collected across the contiguous United States. Measured beverage delta(2)H and delta(18)O values generally fit the Global Meteoric Water Line (GMWL), suggesting region-of-origin information is recorded in beverage water. Tap water delta(2)H and delta(18)O values were strongly correlated with the stable isotope ratios of bottled water and soda purchased in the same location.

Hydrogen and oxygen stable isotope ratios of milk in the United States.

Models of hydrogen and oxygen incorporation in human tissues recognize the impact of geographic location on the isotopic composition of fluid intake, but inputs can include nonlocal beverages, such as milk. Milk and cow drinking water were collected from dairies, and commercially available milk was purchased from supermarkets and fast food restaurants. It was hypothesized that milk water delta(2)H and delta(18)O values record geographic location information.

Isotopic and genetic evidence for culturally inherited site fidelity to feeding grounds in southern right whales (Eubalaena australis).

Ocean warming will undoubtedly affect the migratory patterns of many marine species, but specific changes can be predicted only where behavioural mechanisms guiding migration are understood. Southern right whales show maternally inherited site fidelity to near-shore winter nursery grounds, but exactly where they feed in summer (collectively and individually) remains mysterious. They consume huge quantities of copepods and krill, and their reproductive rates respond to fluctuations in krill abundance linked to El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO).