Early human occupation at Devil's Lair, Southwestern Australia 50,000 Years Ago

New dating confirms that people occupied the Australian continent before the earliest time inferred from conventional radiocarbon analysis. Many of the new ages were obtained by accelerator mass spectrometry14C dating after an acid-base-acid pretreatmen

Single Rapamycin Administration Induces Prolonged Downward Shift in Defended Body Weight in Rats

Manipulation of body weight set point may be an effective weight loss and maintenance strategy as the homeostatic mechanism governing energy balance remains intact even in obese conditions and counters the effort to lose weight. However, how the set point is determined is not well understood. We show that a single injection of rapamycin (RAP), an mTOR inhibitor, is sufficient to shift the set point in rats. Intraperitoneal RAP decreased food intake and daily weight gain for several days, but surprisingly, there was also a long-term reduction in body weight which lasted at least 10 weeks without additional RAP injection. These effects were not due to malaise or glucose intolerance. Two RAP administrations with a two week interval had additive effects on body weight without desensitization and significantly reduced the white adipose tissue weight. When challenged with food deprivation, vehicle and RAP-treated rats responded with rebound hyperphagia, suggesting that RAP was not inhibiting compensatory responses to weight loss. Instead, RAP animals defended a lower body weight achieved after RAP treatment. Decreased food intake and body weight were also seen with intracerebroventricular injection of RAP, indicating that the RAP effect is at least partially mediated by the brain. In summary, we found a novel effect of RAP that maintains lower body weight by shifting the set point long-term. Thus, RAP and related compounds may be unique tools to investigate the mechanisms by which the defended level of body weight is determined; such compounds may also be used to complement weight loss strategy

Affective Reactivity to Daily Stressors and Long-Term Risk of Reporting a Chronic Physical Health Condition

BACKGROUND: Daily stressors, such as an argument with a spouse or an impending deadline, are associated with short-term changes in physical health symptoms. Whether these minor hassles have long-term physical health ramifications, however, is largely unknown. PURPOSE: The current study examined whether exposure and reactivity to daily stressors is associated with long-term risk of reporting a chronic physical health condition. METHODS: Participants (N = 435) from the National Study of Daily Experiences completed a series of daily diary interviews between 1995 and 1996 and again 10 years later. RESULTS: Greater affective (i.e., emotional) reactivity to daily stressors at Time 1 was associated with an increased risk of reporting a chronic physical health condition at Time 2. CONCLUSION: Results indicate that how people respond to the daily stressors in their lives is predictive of future chronic health conditions