Search

Position in a dominance hierarchy profoundly impacts group members' survival, health, and reproductive success. Thus, understanding the mechanisms that regulate or are associated with an individuals' social position is important. Across taxa, various endocrine and neuroendocrine signaling systems are implicated in the control of social rank. Cichlid fishes, with their often-limited resources of food, shelter, and mates that leads to competition, have provided important insights on the proximate and ultimate mechanisms related to establishment and maintenance of dominance hierarchies. Here we review the existing information on the relationships between endocrine (e.g., circulating hormones, gonadal and other tissue measures) and neuroendocrine (e.g., central neuropeptides, biogenic amines, steroids) systems and dominant and subordinate social rank in male cichlids. Much of the current literature is focused on only a few representative cichlids, particularly the African Astatotilapia burtoni, and several other African and Neotropical species. Many hormonal regulators show distinct differences at multiple biological levels between dominant and subordinate males, but generalizations are complicated by variations in experimental paradigms, methodological approaches, and in the reproductive and parental care strategies of the study species. Future studies that capitalize on the diversity of hierarchical structures among cichlids should provide insights towards better understanding the endocrine and neuroendocrine mechanisms contributing to social rank. Further, examination of this topic in cichlids will help reveal the selective pressures driving the evolution of endocrine-related phenotypic traits that may facilitate an individual's ability to acquire and maintain a specific social rank to improve survival and reproductive success.

Your Majesty's Obedient Servant is a Case Study of W.E.B. Du Bois's work within the Pan African context, with specific focus on Ethiopia. In closing his 1931 letter to Emperor Haile Selassie I, Du Bois used the valediction “I am your Majesty's Obedient Servant.” The use of such closings was normal in formal letters and correspondences sent to leaders, nobility and people of esteem throughout Europe and America, but this Case Study expands the use of the archaic etiquette beyond its generic use, and establishes validity to Du Bois's claim of obedience and service to the Ethiopian cause in general, and to specific issues within the Ethiopian empire in particular. Validity to Du Bois's claim was established through an examination of his writings, speeches and advocacy, and tasks he accomplished in the service of Ethiopia, its people and its Emperor. Using a unique brand of Pan Africanism, Du Bois placed Ethiopia, its history and its leadership at the center of African identity, African dignity, and African Culture. The research also revealed that Du Bois served the interest of Ethiopia and the African Diaspora, including African Americans, by creating the apparatus for networking through his Pan African Congresses and providing information sharing through his editorials in The Crisis and other media outlets. Ultimately, the findings reveal the extent of Du Bois's service to Ethiopia, debunk some old myths regarding Du Bois's Pan African agenda, and support his claim of obedient service to the people, empire, and Emperor of Ethiopia.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Ethiopian and American nations embarked upon a journey that assisted in setting the moral and legal framework for the conduct of the nations of the world. America articulated a vision of anti-colonialism, collective security and international free trade; and Ethiopia lived the reality of being victor and victim of colonialism, a symbol of collective security and a beneficiary of international trade. By 1954, both nations had an established friendship and a bonding that transcended diplomatic considerations. They were bonded by the experiences of two world wars, the global black rights struggles (including pan-Africanism and the American Civil Rights Movement), and, the Cold War. This research examines the 1954 USA visit by Haile Selassie, and provides a comprehensive picture of events that led to the visit including, the Cold War, the history of relations between America, and Ethiopia and Ethiopians and African Americans.