Evolution, Ecology, and Disparities: Constructing Stature, Immune Functioning, and Reproduction in Brazilian Quilombo, and United States, Women Anna C
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University of South Florida Scholar Commons Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 4-14-2017 Evolution, Ecology, and Disparities: Constructing Stature, Immune Functioning, and Reproduction in Brazilian Quilombo, and United States, Women Anna C. Rivara University of South Florida, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd Part of the Biological and Chemical Physics Commons Scholar Commons Citation Rivara, Anna C., "Evolution, Ecology, and Disparities: Constructing Stature, Immune Functioning, and Reproduction in Brazilian Quilombo, and United States, Women" (2017). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/6752 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Evolution, Ecology, and Disparities: Constructing Stature, Immune Functioning, and Reproduction in Brazilian Quilombo, and United States, Women by Anna Christine Rivara A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Anthropology College of Arts and Sciences University of South Florida Major Professor: Lorena Madrigal, Ph.D. David A Himmelgreen, Ph.D. Daniel H. Lende, Ph.D. Lynn B. Martin, Ph. D Elizabeth M. Miller, Ph.D. Silviene Fabiana de Oliveira, Ph.D. Date of Approval: April 4, 2017 Keywords: Kalunga, Life History Theory, Health, Syndemics, NHANES Copyright © 2017, Anna Christine Rivara Acknowledgments Many thanks to all the people who have supported me throughout my time in graduate school. To my adviser Lorena Madrigal, thank you for always advocating for me and supporting me through the difficult times. To Elizabeth Miller, thank you for always challenging me to think more critically, and all your advice over the years. To my doctoral committee, thank you for the suggestions, comments, and critiques, that helped me develop, conduct, and produce, a sound study. To Silviene, Sabrina, Carol, Rafaela, Ana Carolina, and the other members of my field team, and UnB scholars. Thank you so much for being some of the nicest, most helpful, people I have ever known. This study would not have been possible without your help. Thank you for inviting me to your beautiful country, and I hope to return soon and see you all. Obrigada! To my friends and family, I am so appreciative of the time, help, and support that you all have offered me over the years. Completing this degree was only possible because of all of you. To my parents, thank you for the love and support. My sisters, Sara, Buddy, and Katy; thank you for being the strongest, smartest people I’ve ever known. Sarah, and your entire family, thank you for the lifelong support and believing in me much more than I have ever believed in myself. To Melissa, Keara, Liotta (and the entire Dowdy family), I am so lucky to have such amazing friends. Twiga! To the mentors that have inspired me throughout my life: John Motzko, for introducing me to the world of evolution; Dan Brame, for inspiring me to balance myself with music; Stephen Wooten, for inspiring me to study anthropology; the entire department of African Studies at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, for inspiring and challenging me to be a better scholar. A special shout-out to the LMM, JT, and AM. Without your beautiful words and music, I’d long have given up and gone mad. To those that make me laugh, thank for you for those majestical moments. Finally, to the Kalunga people. Thank you for welcoming me into your community, and sharing your experiences. Table of contents List of tables ............................................................................................................................... vii List of figures ..................................................................................................................................x Abstract ............................................................................................................................... xii Chapter one: introduction ................................................................................................................1 Research design ...................................................................................................................4 Research objectives ..............................................................................................................5 Research questions ...............................................................................................................5 Organization of the dissertation ...........................................................................................8 Chapter two: literature review .......................................................................................................10 Section one: Life History Theory ......................................................................................10 Predicting life history strategies.............................................................................11 Issues in predicting reaction norms and life history strategies ..............................12 The evolution of LHT scholarship .........................................................................14 Early scholarship: age schedules and reproductive fitness ....................................15 Reproductive effort ................................................................................................15 Environmental pressures and life history trade-offs ..............................................17 Life history trade-offs: immune functioning, reproduction, and growth ...............18 Nutritional and physiological costs of immune response ......................................19 Immune functioning and reproduction...................................................................21 The costs of producing reproductive hormones .....................................................22 Reproductive age-schedules...................................................................................23 Infection and fertility .............................................................................................24 Life history trade-offs: growth and immune functioning ......................................25 Growth and reproduction .......................................................................................26 The absence of life history trade-offs ....................................................................28 Section two: the human immune system ...........................................................................29 The immune system in brief ..................................................................................29 Adaptive responses ................................................................................................30 T cells .....................................................................................................................30 Cell-mediated (Th1) responses ..............................................................................30 The role of the cytokines in directing immune responses......................................31 i Th2 responses.........................................................................................................31 Humoral responses: Immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies .....................................33 Parasitism and humans ...........................................................................................35 IgE and parasitism..................................................................................................36 IgE and hypersensitivity ........................................................................................37 IgE and human reproduction ..................................................................................38 Epidemiology of IgE ..............................................................................................39 Eosinophils .............................................................................................................41 C-reactive protein...................................................................................................42 Section three: Hygiene and the Old Friends hypotheses ...................................................42 Evolutionary mismatch ..........................................................................................42 Evidence in support of the Hygiene and Old Friends hypotheses .........................45 Section four: Syndemics Theory ........................................................................................48 Syndemic infections of poverty .............................................................................49 Malaria ...................................................................................................................50 A syndemic view of macro-parasitism and reproduction ......................................51 Syndemic transmission risks ..................................................................................52 Syndemics of infectious diseases and the political economy ................................53 Syndemic interactions and social vulnerabilities in transitioning populations ......54 Syndemic interactions with growth .......................................................................55