Analysis of prehistoric brown earth paleosols under the podzol soils of Exmoor, UK

The deforestation of the upland landscapes in southwest Britain during prehistory is an established archaeological narrative, documenting human impacts on the environment and questioning the relationship of prehistoric societies to the upland landscapes they inhabited. Allied to the paleoenvironmental analyses of pollen sequences, which have provided the evidence of this change, there has been some investigation of prehistoric paleosols fossilized under principally Bronze Age archaeological monuments. These analyses identified brown earth soils that were originally associated with temperate deciduous woodland, on occasion showing evidence of human impacts such as tilling. However, the number of analyses of these paleosols has been limited. This study presents the first analysis of a series of pre‐podzol brown earth paleosols on Exmoor, UK, two of which are associated with colluvial soil erosion sediments before the formation of peat. This study indicates these paleosols are spatially extensive and have considerable potential to inform a more nuanced understanding of prehistoric human impacts on the upland environments of the early‐mid Holocene and assess human agency in driving ecosystem change

The Roles and Expression of Cationic Host Defence Peptides in Normal and Compromised Pregnancies

Cationic Host Defense Peptides (CHDP), also known as antimicrobial peptides, are key components of the host innate immune response that have a wide range of direct microbicidal activities against a range of bacterial and viral pathogens, as well as a variety of immunomodulatory effects. CHDP are primarily expressed in tissues exposed to the external environment, and by cells of the innate immune system such as epithelial cells, macrophages, neutrophils and monocytes. During pregnancy it is critical that the steroid milieu and the sterility of the reproductive tract are maintained for a successful pregnancy. In this study a mixture of ovine in vivo and in vitro steroid manipulations studies and an in vitro model of ovine placental infection are used. Using a fetal ovine animal model of dexamethasone and testosterone excess as models of compromised steroid milieu, we assessed the mRNA expression of the sheep cathelicidin SMAP-29 (Sheep Myeloid Antimicrobial Peptide-29) and sheep ?-defensin 1 & 2 (sBD-1 and sBD-2) in the placenta, fetal thymus and fetal lung. These in vivo observations were followed up by in vitro steroid manipulation studies using the ovine trophoblast cell line AH-1 and the human lung epithelial cell line A549. Chlamydia abortus and Waddlia chondrophilia are both pathogens known to cause abortion in both livestock and humans. These pathogens were incubated with CHDP to determine their efficacy against such pathogens using an in vitro model of placental infection. In vivo steroid manipulations resulted in significantly increased SMAP-29 levels in the fetal thymus of female sheep that were administered testosterone in utero. In vitro experiments found that the levels of SMAP-29, sBD1 and sBD2 were significantly altered by dexamethasone and only SMAP-29 was significantly altered by testosterone in the trophoblast cell line, AH-1.The pre-incubation of C.abortus and W.chondrophilia with CHDP appears to aid organism growth, which is a novel observation for CHDP contributing to a potential role in pathogenicity. The proinflammatory profile of W.chondrophilia infection in the AH-1 cell line shows that the organism initiates an aggressive inflammatory response indicated by IL-8, IL-1? and TNF? expression. Waddlia infection also stimulates expression of sBD1 and sBD2 in the AH-1 cell line but, interestingly, not SMAP-29.These data show how the steroid milieu and sterility, in the context of infection, of the reproductive tract can regulate the expression of CHDP, which could ultimately have an impact on the success of a pregnancy

The Roles and Expression of Cationic Host Defence Peptides in Normal and Compromised Pregnancies

Cationic Host Defense Peptides (CHDP), also known as antimicrobial peptides, are key components of the host innate immune response that have a wide range of direct microbicidal activities against a range of bacterial and viral pathogens, as well as a variety of immunomodulatory effects. CHDP are primarily expressed in tissues exposed to the external environment, and by cells of the innate immune system such as epithelial cells, macrophages, neutrophils and monocytes. During pregnancy it is critical that the steroid milieu and the sterility of the reproductive tract are maintained for a successful pregnancy. In this study a mixture of ovine in vivo and in vitro steroid manipulations studies and an in vitro model of ovine placental infection are used. Using a fetal ovine animal model of dexamethasone and testosterone excess as models of compromised steroid milieu, we assessed the mRNA expression of the sheep cathelicidin SMAP-29 (Sheep Myeloid Antimicrobial Peptide-29) and sheep β-defensin 1 & 2 (sBD-1 and sBD-2) in the placenta, fetal thymus and fetal lung. These in vivo observations were followed up by in vitro steroid manipulation studies using the ovine trophoblast cell line AH-1 and the human lung epithelial cell line A549. Chlamydia abortus and Waddlia chondrophilia are both pathogens known to cause abortion in both livestock and humans. These pathogens were incubated with CHDP to determine their efficacy against such pathogens using an in vitro model of placental infection. In vivo steroid manipulations resulted in significantly increased SMAP-29 levels in the fetal thymus of female sheep that were administered testosterone in utero. In vitro experiments found that the levels of SMAP-29, sBD1 and sBD2 were significantly altered by dexamethasone and only SMAP-29 was significantly altered by testosterone in the trophoblast cell line, AH-1.The pre-incubation of C.abortus and W.chondrophilia with CHDP appears to aid organism growth, which is a novel observation for CHDP contributing to a potential role in pathogenicity. The proinflammatory profile of W.chondrophilia infection in the AH-1 cell line shows that the organism initiates an aggressive inflammatory response indicated by IL-8, IL-1β and TNFα expression. Waddlia infection also stimulates expression of sBD1 and sBD2 in the AH-1 cell line but, interestingly, not SMAP-29.These data show how the steroid milieu and sterility, in the context of infection, of the reproductive tract can regulate the expression of CHDP, which could ultimately have an impact on the success of a pregnancy

Understanding the evolution of the silicon electrode SEI through model lithium silicate thin film layers

Development of higher capacity anodes in lithium ion batteries for use in electric vehicles is necessary to further enhance their energy density. Silicon anodes are being considered for these lithium ion batteries due to their high specific capacity. One drawback to silicon anodes is the formation of an unstable solid electrolyte interface (SEI). A major cause of this instability is due to silicon anode volume expansion of up to 300% during cycling. To this end, there remains much to learn about the chemical reactions occurring at the silicon surface. Because of this expansion, composite Si-graphite electrodes exhibit poor cycling performance, as well as significant capacity loss even at open circuit, “shelf” conditions in the absence of electrochemical cycling. Implicated in these processes is the role of the solid/electrolyte interphase (SEI) region between the Si solid material and the electrolyte systems that forms upon initial exposure to the electrolyte, and evolves over time. Thermodynamic arguments suggest that the formation of lithium silicate (LiSixOy) phases from the decomposition of the electrolyte at the silicon electrochemical potential play a role in SEI formation and evolution. To better understand the evolution of the SEI layer and the nature of silicates formed prior to any cycling of the silicon anode and how it impacts the performance of the silicon anode, model SEI layers were deposited on silicon thin films using RF magnetron co-sputtering. Thin film chemistries from SiO2 to Li3SiOx were synthesized to model the proposed lithiation of the oxide layer during the first cycle. The composition and structure of these thin films prior to exposure to electrolyte were analyzed. In order to observe the chemical reactivity of these model silicate thin films, they were soaked in 1.2M LiPF6 in EC:EMC 3:7 wt% electrolyte for up to 3 days, removed, rinsed and studied using Attenuated Total Reflectance Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR IR), X-ray Photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Focused Ion Beam Cross-sections (FIB CS). Half cells with these same silicate model films were cycled to observe any differences in SEI formation or cell performance during electrochemical cycling. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Irrigation and Fertilization Effects on Nantucket Pine Tip Moth (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) Damage Levels and Pupal Weight in an Intensively-Managed Pine Plantation2

The widespread application of intensive forest management practices throughout the southeastern U.S. has increased loblolly pine, Pinus taeda L., yields and shortened conventional rotation lengths. Fluctuations in Nantucket pine tip moth, Rhyacionia frustrana (Comstock), population density and subsequent damage levels have been linked to variations in management intensity. We examined the effects of two practices, irrigation and fertilization, on R. frustrana damage levels and pupal weights in an intensively-managed P. taeda plantation in South Carolina. Trees received intensive weed control and one of the following treatments; irrigation only. fertilization only, irrigation + fertilization, or control. Mean whole-tree tip moth damage levels ranged from <1 to 48% during this study. Damage levels differed significantly among treatments in two tip moth generations in 2001, but not 2000. Pupal weight was significantly heavier in fertilization compared to the irrigation treatment in 2000, but no significant differences were observed in 2001. Tree diameter. height. and aboveground volume were significantly greater in the irrigation + fertilization than in the irrigation treatment after two growing seasons. Our data suggest that intensive management practices that include irrigation and fertilization do not consistently increase R. frustrana damage levels and pupal weights as is commonly believed. However, tip moth suppression efforts in areas adjacent to our study may have partially reduced the potential impacts of R. frustrana on this experiment

Share Trading Activity and the Rise of the Rentier in the UK before 1920

Using a hand-collected dataset, we examine share trading activity over the period 1882 to 1920 for the North British and Mercantile Insurance Company, one of the largest UK companies of the time. Our main finding is that the steady flow of rentiers into the shareholding constituency of this company stymied share trading activity. Another important finding is that share trading still occurred during the closure of the Stock Exchange in 1914, but on a much-reduced scale. We also find that there was a substantial boom in share trading and in insurance stock prices after World War I

The common genetic influence over processing speed and white matter microstructure: Evidence from the Old Order Amish and Human Connectome Projects

Speed with which brain performs information processing influences overall cognition and is dependent on the white matter fibers. To understand genetic influences on processing speed and white matter FA, we assessed processing speed and diffusion imaging fractional anisotropy (FA) in related individuals from two populations. Discovery analyses were performed in 146 individuals from large Old Order Amish (OOA) families and findings were replicated in 485 twins and siblings of the Human Connectome Project (HCP). The heritability of processing speed was h(2)=43% and 49% (both p\u3c0.005), while the heritability of whole brain FA was h(2)=87% and 88% (both p\u3c0.001), in the OOA and HCP, respectively. Whole brain FA was significantly correlated with processing speed in the two cohorts. Quantitative genetic analysis demonstrated a significant degree to which common genes influenced joint variation in FA and brain processing speed. These estimates suggested common sets of genes influencing variation in both phenotypes, consistent with the idea that common genetic variations contributing to white matter may also support their associated cognitive behavior