Vegetation recolonisation of abandoned agricultural terraces on Antikythera, Greece

Antikythera is a small, relatively remote Mediterranean island, lying 35 km north-west of Crete, and its few contemporary inhabitants live mainly in the small village at the only port. However, an extensive network of terraces across the island bears witness to the past importance of farming on the island, although the intensity of use of these cultivated plots has changed according to fluctuating population levels. Most recently, the rural population and intensity of cultivation have dramatically declined. Our aim is to understand the recolonisation process of agricultural land by plants after terraces are no longer used for the cultivation of crops. The results demonstrate a relatively quick pace of vegetative recolonisation, with abandoned farm land covered by dense scrub within 20 to 60 years. The archaeological implications are that, following even relatively short periods of abandonment, the landscape would have required arduous reinvestment in the removal of scrub growth, as well as the repair and construction of stone terraces, to allow cultivation once again

Kiss1 mutant placentas show normal structure and function in the mouse.

INTRODUCTION: Kisspeptins, encoded by the Kiss1 gene, are a set of related neuropeptides that are required for activation of the mammalian reproductive axis at puberty and to maintain fertility. In addition, kisspeptin signaling via the G-protein coupled receptor GPR54 (KISS1R) has been suggested to regulate human placental formation and correlations have been found between altered kisspeptin levels in the maternal blood and the development of pre-eclampsia. METHODS: We have used Kiss1 and Gpr54 mutant mice to investigate the role of kisspeptin signaling in the structure and function of the mouse placenta. RESULTS: Expression of Kiss1 and Gpr54 was confirmed in the mouse placenta but no differences in birth weight were found in mice that had been supported by a mutant placenta during fetal development. Stereological measurements found no differences between Kiss1 mutant and wild-type placentas. Measurement of amino-acid and glucose transport across the Kiss1 mutant placentas at E15.5 days did not reveal any functional defects. DISCUSSION: These data indicate that mouse placentas can develop a normal structure and function without kisspeptin signaling and can support normal fetal development and growth.This work was supported by the BBSRC (Grant number BB/F01936X/1), Alice Herreboudt was supported by a BBSRC CASE studentship in collaboration with Takeda Cambridge.This is the final published version. It first appeared at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0143400414008285

Julian of Norwich and her children today: Editions, translations and versions of her revelations

The viability of such concepts as "authorial intention," "the original text," "critical edition" and, above all, "scholarly editorial objectivity" is not what it was, and a study of the textual progeny of the revelations of Julian of Norwich--editions, versions, translations and selections--does little to rehabilitate them. Rather it tends to support the view that a history of reading is indeed a history of misreading or, more positively, that texts can have an organic life of their own that allows them to reproduce and evolve quite independently of their author. Julian's texts have had a more robustly continuous life than those of any other Middle English mystic. Their history--in manuscript and print, in editions more or less approximating Middle English and in translations more or less approaching Modern English--is virtually unbroken since the fifteenth century. But on this perilous journey, many and strange are the clutches into which she and her textual progeny have fallen

Wild plant use in European Neolithic subsistence economies: a formal assessment of preservation bias in archaeobotanical assemblages and the implications for understanding changes in plant diet breadth

In this paper we estimate the degree to which the range and proportion of wild plant foods are under-represented in samples of charred botanical remains from archaeological sites. We systematically compare the differences between central European Neolithic archaeobotanical assemblages that have been preserved by charring compared to those preserved by waterlogging. Charred archaeobotanical assemblages possess on aggregate about 35% of the range of edible plants documented in waterlogged samples from wetland settlements. We control for the ecological availability of wetland versus terrestrial wild plant foods on assemblage composition and diversity, and demonstrate that the significantly broader range of wild plant food taxa represented is primarily a function of preservation rather than subsistence practices. We then consider whether observed fluctuations in the frequency of edible wild taxa over time can also be attributed to preservation, and demonstrate that it cannot; and thus conclude that there are significant changes in plant food diets during the Neolithic that reflect different strategies of land use and, over time, a decreasing reliance on foraging for wild plant foods. The wild species included in our analyses are not spatially restricted—they are common throughout central Europe. We maintain, therefore, that our results are relevant beyond our study area and more generally illustrate the challenges of attempting to reconstruct the relative importance of wild plant foods—and thus plant diet breadth—in Neolithic archaeobotanical assemblages from charred data alone

Domestication as innovation : the entanglement of techniques, technology and chance in the domestication of cereal crops

The origins of agriculture involved pathways of domestication in which human behaviours and plant genetic adaptations were entangled. These changes resulted in consequences that were unintended at the start of the process. This paper highlights some of the key innovations in human behaviours, such as soil preparation, harvesting and threshing, and how these were coupled with genetic ‘innovations’ within plant populations. We identify a number of ‘traps’ for early cultivators, including the needs for extra labour expenditure on crop-processing and soil fertility maintenance, but also linked gains in terms of potential crop yields. Compilations of quantitative data across a few different crops for the traits of nonshattering and seed size are discussed in terms of the apparently slow process of domestication, and parallels and differences between different regional pathways are identified. We highlight the need to bridge the gap between a Neolithic archaeobotanical focus on domestication and a focus of later periods on crop-processing activities and labour organization. In addition, archaeobotanical data provide a basis for rethinking previous assumptions about how plant genetic data should be related to the origins of agriculture and we contrast two alternative hypotheses: gradual evolution with low selection pressure versus metastable equilibrium that prolonged the persistence of ‘semi-domesticated’ populations. Our revised understanding of the innovations involved in plant domestication highlight the need for new approaches to collecting, modelling and integrating genetic data and archaeobotanical evidence

Can the quality of social research on ethnicity be improved through the introduction of guidance? Findings from a research commissioning pilot exercise

As the volume of UK social research addressing ethnicity grows, so too do concerns regarding the ethical and scientific rigour of this research domain and its potential to do more harm than good. The establishment of standards and principles and the introduction of guidance documents at critical points within the research cycle might be one way to enhance the quality of such research. This article reports the findings from the piloting of a guidance document within the research commissioning process of a major funder of UK social research. The guidance document was positively received by researchers, the majority of whom reported it to be comprehensible, relevant and potentially useful in improving the quality of research proposals. However, a review of the submitted proposals suggested the guidance had had little impact on practice. While guidance may have a role to play, it will need to be strongly promoted by commissioners and other gatekeepers. Findings also suggest the possibility that guidance may discourage some researchers from engaging with ethnicity if it raises problems without solutions; highlighting the need for complementary investments in research capacity development in this area

Metabolic View on Human Healthspan: A Lipidome-Wide Association Study.

As ageing is a major risk factor for the development of non-communicable diseases, extending healthspan has become a medical and societal necessity. Precise lipid phenotyping that captures metabolic individuality could support healthspan extension strategies. This study applied 'omic-scale lipid profiling to characterise sex-specific age-related differences in the serum lipidome composition of healthy humans. A subset of the COmPLETE-Health study, composed of 73 young (25.2 ± 2.6 years, 43% female) and 77 aged (73.5 ± 2.3 years, 48% female) clinically healthy individuals, was investigated, using an untargeted liquid chromatography high-resolution mass spectrometry approach. Compared to their younger counterparts, aged females and males exhibited significant higher levels in 138 and 107 lipid species representing 15 and 13 distinct subclasses, respectively. Percentage of difference ranged from 5.8% to 61.7% (females) and from 5.3% to 46.0% (males), with sphingolipid and glycerophophospholipid species displaying the greatest amplitudes. Remarkably, specific sphingolipid and glycerophospholipid species, previously described as cardiometabolically favourable, were found elevated in aged individuals. Furthermore, specific ether-glycerophospholipid and lyso-glycerophosphocholine species displayed higher levels in aged females only, revealing a more favourable lipidome evolution in females. Altogether, age determined the circulating lipidome composition, while lipid species analysis revealed additional findings that were not observed at the subclass level

Expression of soluble, active fragments of the morphogenetic protein SpoIIE from Bacillus subtilis using a library-based construct screen

SpoIIE is a dual function protein that plays important roles during sporulation in Bacillus subtilis. It binds to the tubulin-like protein FtsZ causing the cell division septum to relocate from mid-cell to the cell pole, and it dephosphorylates SpoIIAA phosphate leading to establishment of differential gene expression in the two compartments following the asymmetric septation. Its 872 residue polypeptide contains a multiple-membrane spanning sequence at the N-terminus and a PP2C phosphatase domain at the C-terminus. The central segment that binds to FtsZ is unlike domains of known structure or function, moreover the domain boundaries are poorly defined and this has hampered the expression of soluble fragments of SpoIIE at the levels required for structural studies. Here we have screened over 9000 genetic constructs of spoIIE using a random incremental truncation library approach, ESPRIT, to identify a number of soluble C-terminal fragments of SpoIIE that were aligned with the protein sequence to map putative domains and domain boundaries. The expression and purification of three fragments were optimised, yielding multimilligram quantities of the PP2C phosphatase domain, the putative FtsZ-binding domain and a larger fragment encompassing both these domains. All three fragments are monomeric and the PP2C domain-containing fragments have phosphatase activity

Effect of incarceration and opioid agonist treatment transitions on risk of hospitalisation with injection drug use-associated bacterial infections: A self-controlled case series in New South Wales, Australia

Background: Transitional times in opioid use, such as release from prison and discontinuation of opioid agonist treatment (OAT), are associated with health harms due to changing drug consumption practices and limited access to health and social supports. Using a self-controlled (within-person) study design, we aimed to understand if these transitions increase risks of injection drug use-associated bacterial infections. Methods: We performed a self-controlled case series among a cohort of people with opioid use disorder (who had all previously accessed OAT) in New South Wales, Australia, 2001-2018. The outcome was hospitalisation with injecting-related bacterial infections. We divided participants’ observed days into time windows related to incarceration and OAT receipt. We compared hospitalization rates during focal (exposure) windows and referent (control) windows (i.e., 5-52 weeks continuously not incarcerated or continuously receiving OAT). We estimated adjusted incidence rate ratios (aIRR) using conditional logistic regression, adjusted for time-varying confounders. Results: There were 7590 participants who experienced hospitalisation with injecting-related bacterial infections (35% female; median age 38 years; 78% hospitalised with skin and soft-tissue infections). Risk for injecting-related bacterial infections was elevated for two weeks following release from prison (aIRR 1.45; 95%CI 1.22–1.72). Risk was increased during two weeks before (aIRR 1.89; 95%CI 1.59–2.25) and after (aIRR 1.91; 95%CI 1.54–2.36) discontinuation of OAT, and during two weeks before (aIRR 3.63; 95%CI 3.13–4.22) and after (aIRR 2.52; 95%CI 2.09–3.04) OAT initiation. Conclusion: Risk of injecting-related bacterial infections varies greatly within-individuals over time. Risk is raised immediately after prison release, and around initiation and discontinuation of OAT. Social contextual factors likely contribute to excess risks at transitions in incarceration and OAT exposure