Bridging Gaps through Light: An Archaeological Exploration of Light and Dark in the Atlantic Scottish Iron Age

Representing a broad attempt to open up debate on an issue that has been largely overlooked, this thesis aims to explore the relationship between Atlantic Scotland’s Iron Age communities (and in particular, the broch cultures of Northern Scotland) and light – a complex, multifaceted, and universally significant facet of human existence. Thus far, the role of light has received little interest in prehistoric studies, and when such an interest does occur, it has often been restricted to entrance orientation research. Indeed, little attempt has actually been made to understand how light was orchestrated to shape social experience in the past, or how differing dimensions of light work to reveal or conceal aspects of social life; how was light experienced? What did light mean? Proposing an alternative approach to the study of light, these are questions which this thesis aims to explore; seeking to understand how Scottish Iron Age society orchestrated and manipulated light to create social experience. Due to light’s complexity, the thesis sections its study into a number of separate themes: structural orientation, the cosmological model and space, light and functionality, the psychological impact of light and dark, and light in the landscape and the influence of the weather and the environment. To explore each of these, the thesis pursues a plural methodology, combining typical data-based approaches (map-based studies, broad ranging landscape and GIS research; architectural-typological studies) with more qualitative analysis (e.g. phenomenology, ethnographic analogy, folklore analysis), attempting to explore both the physical and cognitive effects of light and darkness in the past

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy

Mycorrhizal feedbacks influence global forest structure and diversity

One mechanism proposed to explain high species diversity in tropical systems is strong negative conspecific density dependence (CDD), which reduces recruitment of juveniles in proximity to conspecific adult plants. Although evidence shows that plant-specific soil pathogens can drive negative CDD, trees also form key mutualisms with mycorrhizal fungi, which may counteract these effects. Across 43 large-scale forest plots worldwide, we tested whether ectomycorrhizal tree species exhibit weaker negative CDD than arbuscular mycorrhizal tree species. We further tested for conmycorrhizal density dependence (CMDD) to test for benefit from shared mutualists. We found that the strength of CDD varies systematically with mycorrhizal type, with ectomycorrhizal tree species exhibiting higher sapling densities with increasing adult densities than arbuscular mycorrhizal tree species. Moreover, we found evidence of positive CMDD for tree species of both mycorrhizal types. Collectively, these findings indicate that mycorrhizal interactions likely play a foundational role in global forest diversity patterns and structure

A Genome-Wide Association Study of Diabetic Kidney Disease in Subjects With Type 2 Diabetes

dentification of sequence variants robustly associated with predisposition to diabetic kidney disease (DKD) has the potential to provide insights into the pathophysiological mechanisms responsible. We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of DKD in type 2 diabetes (T2D) using eight complementary dichotomous and quantitative DKD phenotypes: the principal dichotomous analysis involved 5,717 T2D subjects, 3,345 with DKD. Promising association signals were evaluated in up to 26,827 subjects with T2D (12,710 with DKD). A combined T1D+T2D GWAS was performed using complementary data available for subjects with T1D, which, with replication samples, involved up to 40,340 subjects with diabetes (18,582 with DKD). Analysis of specific DKD phenotypes identified a novel signal near GABRR1 (rs9942471, P = 4.5 x 10(-8)) associated with microalbuminuria in European T2D case subjects. However, no replication of this signal was observed in Asian subjects with T2D or in the equivalent T1D analysis. There was only limited support, in this substantially enlarged analysis, for association at previously reported DKD signals, except for those at UMOD and PRKAG2, both associated with estimated glomerular filtration rate. We conclude that, despite challenges in addressing phenotypic heterogeneity, access to increased sample sizes will continue to provide more robust inference regarding risk variant discovery for DKD.Peer reviewe

Impact of clinical phenotypes on management and outcomes in European atrial fibrillation patients: a report from the ESC-EHRA EURObservational Research Programme in AF (EORP-AF) General Long-Term Registry

Background: Epidemiological studies in atrial fibrillation (AF) illustrate that clinical complexity increase the risk of major adverse outcomes. We aimed to describe European AF patients\u2019 clinical phenotypes and analyse the differential clinical course. Methods: We performed a hierarchical cluster analysis based on Ward\u2019s Method and Squared Euclidean Distance using 22 clinical binary variables, identifying the optimal number of clusters. We investigated differences in clinical management, use of healthcare resources and outcomes in a cohort of European AF patients from a Europe-wide observational registry. Results: A total of 9363 were available for this analysis. We identified three clusters: Cluster 1 (n = 3634; 38.8%) characterized by older patients and prevalent non-cardiac comorbidities; Cluster 2 (n = 2774; 29.6%) characterized by younger patients with low prevalence of comorbidities; Cluster 3 (n = 2955;31.6%) characterized by patients\u2019 prevalent cardiovascular risk factors/comorbidities. Over a mean follow-up of 22.5 months, Cluster 3 had the highest rate of cardiovascular events, all-cause death, and the composite outcome (combining the previous two) compared to Cluster 1 and Cluster 2 (all P <.001). An adjusted Cox regression showed that compared to Cluster 2, Cluster 3 (hazard ratio (HR) 2.87, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.27\u20133.62; HR 3.42, 95%CI 2.72\u20134.31; HR 2.79, 95%CI 2.32\u20133.35), and Cluster 1 (HR 1.88, 95%CI 1.48\u20132.38; HR 2.50, 95%CI 1.98\u20133.15; HR 2.09, 95%CI 1.74\u20132.51) reported a higher risk for the three outcomes respectively. Conclusions: In European AF patients, three main clusters were identified, differentiated by differential presence of comorbidities. Both non-cardiac and cardiac comorbidities clusters were found to be associated with an increased risk of major adverse outcomes

Regionalism in Hellenistic and Roman Asia Minor

La notion de région a depuis fort longtemps été un concept de base de l'analyse historique du monde grec. Cependant, ce concept n'a pas toujours été clairement défini. Les contributions de ce volume n'esquivent pas la question et s'efforcent de mettre en évidence les implications de la notion selon différentes perspectives d'analyse, en prenant pour cadre de référence l'Asie Mineure hellénistique et romaine. Qu'elles examinent la culture, le monnayage ou les institutions politiques, les contributions de ce volume s'attachent à explorer les différentes facettes des identités régionales. De même, elles prennent en considération les moyens par lesquels ces identités pouvaient rester tendanciellement stables ou au contraire évoluer au fil du temps, et définissent leur type d'interaction avec les puissances hégémoniques. Parfois aussi, elles n'hésitent pas à mettre en cause l'utilité de l'approche régionale. Enfin, la question de l'"ethnicité" n'est pas négligée. Ce volume intéressera les spécialistes de l'Asie Mineure, aussi bien que tous ceux qui s'intéressent à la conceptualisation de la notion de région dans le monde méditerranéen.Regions and regionalism have been staples of historical analysis for the Greek world for a very long time. What is meant by a region, however, is not always obvious. The contributions in this volume seek to address the question of defining regions and working out the implications of regionalism along different dimensions of analysis for Asia Minor in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Looking at culture, coinage, political institutions, the papers explore different markers of regional identity, consider ways in which these identities may remain stable or change over time, review the character of the interaction between regional entities and hegemonic powers, and challenge the usefulness in some cases of regional analysis. Questions of ethnicity are also addressed. This volume will be of interest to historians working in Asia Minor and also to anyone concerned with the conceptual questions around regions and regionalism in the Mediterranean world

Data from: A test of the hierarchical model of litter decomposition

Our basic understanding of plant litter decomposition informs the assumptions underlying widely applied soil biogeochemical models, including those embedded in Earth system models. Confidence in projected carbon cycle-climate feedbacks therefore depends on accurate knowledge about the controls regulating the rate at which plant biomass is decomposed into products such as CO2. Here, we test underlying assumptions of the dominant conceptual model of litter decomposition. The model posits that a primary control on the rate of decomposition at regional to global scales is climate (temperature and moisture), with the controlling effects of decomposers negligible at such broad spatial scales. Using a regional-scale litter decomposition experiment at six sites spanning from northern Sweden to southern France – and capturing both within and among site variation in putative controls – we find that contrary to predictions from the hierarchical model, decomposer (microbial) biomass strongly regulates decomposition at regional scales. Further, the size of the microbial biomass dictates the absolute change in decomposition rates with changing climate variables. Our findings suggest the need for revision of the hierarchical model, with decomposers acting as both local- and broad-scale controls on litter decomposition rates, necessitating their explicit consideration in global biogeochemical models

Statistical code used to analyze the data from: Testing the hierarchical model of litter decomposition

All R code used to analyze the data presented in the Bradford, Veen et al. manuscript titled, "Testing the hierarchical model of litter decomposition". Please also see the ReadMe file associated with the data for descriptions of the full data and code package

Data from: Testing the hierarchical model of litter decomposition

All litter decomposition data, data on measured controlling variables, and treatment identifiers. The ReadMe text file describes the variables for all 52 columns of data