Early invaders - Farmers, the granary weevil and other uninvited guests in the Neolithic

The Neolithic and the spread of agriculture saw several introductions of insect species associated with the environments and activities of the first farmers. Fossil insect research from the Neolithic lake settlement of Dispilio in Macedonia, northern Greece, provides evidence for the early European introduction of a flightless weevil, the granary weevil, Sitophilus granarius, which has since become cosmopolitan and one of the most important pests of stored cereals. The records of the granary weevil from the Middle Neolithic in northern Greece illuminate the significance of surplus storage for the spread of agriculture. The granary weevil and the house fly, Musca domestica were also introduced in the Neolithic of central Europe, with the expansion of Linear Band Keramik (LBK) culture groups. This paper reviews Neolithic insect introductions in Europe, including storage pests, discusses their distribution during different periods and the reasons behind the trends observed. Storage farming may be differentiated from pastoral farming on the basis of insect introductions arriving with incoming agricultural groups

Marine resource abundance drove pre-agricultural population increase in Stone Age Scandinavia

How climate and ecology affect key cultural transformations remains debated in the context of long-term socio-cultural development because of spatially and temporally disjunct climate and archaeological records. The introduction of agriculture triggered a major population increase across Europe. However, in Southern Scandinavia it was preceded by ~500 years of sustained population growth. Here we show that this growth was driven by long-term enhanced marine production conditioned by the Holocene Thermal Maximum, a time of elevated temperature, sea level and salinity across coastal waters. We identify two periods of increased marine production across trophic levels (P1 7600–7100 and P2 6400–5900 cal. yr BP) that coincide with markedly increased mollusc collection and accumulation of shell middens, indicating greater marine resource availability. Between ~7600–5900 BP, intense exploitation of a warmer, more productive marine environment by Mesolithic hunter-gatherers drove cultural development, including maritime technological innovation, and from ca. 6400–5900 BP, underpinned a ~four-fold human population growth

Correlation of immunohistochemical staining p63 and TTF-1 with EGFR and K-ras mutational spectrum and diagnostic reproducibility in non small cell lung carcinoma

For treatment purposes, distinction between squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma is important. The aim of this study is to examine the diagnostic accuracy on lung cancer small biopsies for the distinction between adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma and relate these to immunohistochemical and KRAS and EGFR mutation analysis. An interobserver study was performed on 110 prospectively collected biopsies obtained by bronchoscopy or transthoracic needle biopsy of patients with non-small cell lung cancer. The diagnosis was correlated with immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis for markers of adeno- (TTF1 and/or mucin positivity) and squamous cell differentiation (P63 and CK5/6) as well as KRAS and EGFR mutation analysis. Eleven observers independently read H&E-stained slides of 110 cases, resulting in a kappa value of 0.55 ± 0.10. The diagnosis non-small cell lung cancer not otherwise specified was given on average on 29.5 % of the biopsies. A high concordance was observed between hematoxylin-eosin-based consensus diagnosis (≥8/11 readings concordant) and IHC markers. In all cases with EGFR (n = 1) and KRAS (n = 20) mutations, adenodifferentiation as determined by IHC was present and p63 staining was absent. In 2 of 25 cases with a consensus diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma, additional stainings favored adenodifferentation, and a KRAS mutation was present. P63 is most useful for distinction between EGFR/KRAS mutation positive and negative patients. In the diagnostic work-up of non-small cell lung carcinoma the limited reproducibility on small biopsies is optimized with immunohistochemical analysis, resulting in reliable delineation for predictive analysis