Palynological investigations at hallowell moss near witton gilbert, Durham a history of man's impact on vegetation

Hallowe11 Moss, near Durham, contains a continuous pollen record from about 3,700 B.C. until, probably, the present day. Having studied the history of the area, an attempt is made, with the assistance of radiocarbon dating, to correlate the vegetational phases recorded in the bog with the various archaeological and historical periods. The area remained densely forested until Bronze Age times, when there is evidence for slight grazing pressure within the forest and a small temporary clearance. In the Romano-British period, an extensive clearance making the landscape about as open as that of today may be correlated with similar clearances in Weardale. This phase comes to a rather abrupt end, probably with the advent of Anglo-Saxon rule and throughout the Saxon and Mediaeval periods the area remains as managed woodland with some grass and arable land. Extensive, “permanent" clearance does not occur until probably the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Evidence for later afforestation is presented, and an explanation for recent changes in land use

Role of protein in healthy ageing

Peer reviewedPostprin

The Ageing Gut-Brain Study : Exploring the role of the gut microbiota in dementia

Alex Johnstone, Alison Donaldson, Karen Scott and Phyo Myint all contributed equally to the writing and preparation of the manuscript. This study is funded by Tenovus Scotland Research Project No. G16‐08 (start 1 June 2017, end date 31 January 2019) and NHS‐Grampian Research and Development Endowment Research Grants Project No: 16/11/043 (start date 1 April 2017, end date 31 January, 2019) and the Scottish government as part of the Strategic Research Programme at the Rowett Institute (start date 1 April 2016–31 March 2021).Peer reviewedPostprin

Care Home Research : Future Challenges and Opportunities

Funding: This research was funded by Tennovus Scotland Research Project No. G16-08 and NHS-Grampian Research and Development Endowment Research Grants Project No: 16/11/043 and Scottish Government as part of the Strategic Research Programme at the Rowett Institute (award 1st April 2016–31st March 2021). Acknowledgments: Achieving the Age-GB study aims is a team effort and the authors gratefully acknowledge the efforts from Grant holders, colleagues & students: Phyo Myint, Karen Scott, Jenny Martin, Roy Soiza, Emma Law, Sandra Mann, Eunice Morgan, Claire Fyfe, Nicola Smith, Mitrysha Kishor.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Uptake of silicon in barley under contrasting drought regimes

Purpose: Silicon (Si) accumulation in plant tissues plays a vital role in alleviating biotic and abiotic stresses, including drought. Temperate regions are predicted to experience reductions in the quantity and frequency of rainfall events, potentially impacting plant Si uptake via the transpiration stream. Despite the importance for predicting plant responses to Si amendments, the effects of changes in rainfall patterns on Si uptake in cereals have not been characterised. Methods: Five watering regimes were applied based on predicted precipitation scenarios, varying the quantity of water delivered (ambient, 40% or 60% reduction) and watering frequency (40% reduction in quantity, applied 50% or 25% of ambient frequency), and the effects on growth and leaf Si concentrations of a barley landrace and cultivar were determined. Results: Reductions in the quantity of water reduced plant growth and yield, whereas reducing the watering frequency had little impact on growth, and in some cases partially ameliorated the negative effects of drought. Reductions in quantity of water lowered leaf Si concentrations in both the cultivar and landrace, although this effect was alleviated under the drought/deluge watering regime. The landrace had greater leaf Si concentration than the cultivar regardless of watering regime, and under ambient watering deposited Si in all cells between trichomes, whereas the cultivar exhibited gaps in Si deposition. Conclusion: The impact of future reductions in rainfall on barley productivity will depend upon how the water is delivered, with drought/deluge events likely to have smaller effects on yield and on Si uptake than continuous drought

Translocation of Inhaled Ultrafine Manganese Oxide Particles to the Central Nervous System

BACKGROUND: Studies in monkeys with intranasally instilled gold ultrafine particles (UFPs; < 100 nm) and in rats with inhaled carbon UFPs suggested that solid UFPs deposited in the nose travel along the olfactory nerve to the olfactory bulb. METHODS: To determine if olfactory translocation occurs for other solid metal UFPs and assess potential health effects, we exposed groups of rats to manganese (Mn) oxide UFPs (30 nm; ~ 500 μg/m(3)) with either both nostrils patent or the right nostril occluded. We analyzed Mn in lung, liver, olfactory bulb, and other brain regions, and we performed gene and protein analyses. RESULTS: After 12 days of exposure with both nostrils patent, Mn concentrations in the olfactory bulb increased 3.5-fold, whereas lung Mn concentrations doubled; there were also increases in striatum, frontal cortex, and cerebellum. Lung lavage analysis showed no indications of lung inflammation, whereas increases in olfactory bulb tumor necrosis factor-α mRNA (~ 8-fold) and protein (~ 30-fold) were found after 11 days of exposure and, to a lesser degree, in other brain regions with increased Mn levels. Macrophage inflammatory protein-2, glial fibrillary acidic protein, and neuronal cell adhesion molecule mRNA were also increased in olfactory bulb. With the right nostril occluded for a 2-day exposure, Mn accumulated only in the left olfactory bulb. Solubilization of the Mn oxide UFPs was < 1.5% per day. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that the olfactory neuronal pathway is efficient for translocating inhaled Mn oxide as solid UFPs to the central nervous system and that this can result in inflammatory changes. We suggest that despite differences between human and rodent olfactory systems, this pathway is relevant in humans

Randomised trial of glutamine and selenium supplemented parenteral nutrition for critically ill patients

Background: Mortality rates in the Intensive Care Unit and subsequent hospital mortality rates in the UK remain high. Infections in Intensive Care are associated with a 2–3 times increased risk of death. It is thought that under conditions of severe metabolic stress glutamine becomes "conditionally essential". Selenium is an essential trace element that has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Approximately 23% of patients in Intensive Care require parenteral nutrition and glutamine and selenium are either absent or present in low amounts. Both glutamine and selenium have the potential to influence the immune system through independent biochemical pathways. Systematic reviews suggest that supplementing parenteral nutrition in critical illness with glutamine or selenium may reduce infections and mortality. Pilot data has shown that more than 50% of participants developed infections, typically resistant organisms. We are powered to show definitively whether supplementation of PN with either glutamine or selenium is effective at reducing new infections in critically ill patients. Methods/design: 2 × 2 factorial, pragmatic, multicentre, double-blind, randomised controlled trial. The trial has an enrolment target of 500 patients. Inclusion criteria include: expected to be in critical care for at least 48 hours, aged 16 years or over, patients who require parenteral nutrition and are expected to have at least half their daily nutritional requirements given by that route. Allocation is to one of four iso-caloric, iso-nitrogenous groups: glutamine, selenium, both glutamine & selenium or no additional glutamine or selenium. Trial supplementation is given for up to seven days on the Intensive Care Unit and subsequent wards if practicable. The primary outcomes are episodes of infection in the 14 days after starting trial nutrition and mortality. Secondary outcomes include antibiotic usage, length of hospital stay, quality of life and cost-effectiveness. Discussion: To date more than 285 patients have been recruited to the trial from 10 sites in Scotland. Recruitment is due to finish in August 2008 with a further six months follow up. We expect to report the results of the trial in summer 2009. Trial registration: This trial is registered with the International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number system. ISRCTN87144826Not peer reviewedPublisher PD

ruvA Mutants that resolve Holliday junctions but do not reverse replication forks

RuvAB and RuvABC complexes catalyze branch migration and resolution of Holliday junctions (HJs) respectively. In addition to their action in the last steps of homologous recombination, they process HJs made by replication fork reversal, a reaction which occurs at inactivated replication forks by the annealing of blocked leading and lagging strand ends. RuvAB was recently proposed to bind replication forks and directly catalyze their conversion into HJs. We report here the isolation and characterization of two separation-of-function ruvA mutants that resolve HJs, based on their capacity to promote conjugational recombination and recombinational repair of UV and mitomycin C lesions, but have lost the capacity to reverse forks. In vivo and in vitro evidence indicate that the ruvA mutations affect DNA binding and the stimulation of RuvB helicase activity. This work shows that RuvA's actions at forks and at HJs can be genetically separated, and that RuvA mutants compromised for fork reversal remain fully capable of homologous recombination

Effect of non-meat, high protein supplementation on quality of life and clinical outcomes for older people living in care homes: systematic review and meta-analysis

CONTEXT: Care home residents are at risk of malnutrition through reduced overall food intake, ‘anabolic resistance’ in ageing muscle and high prevalence of medical morbidity and functional dependency. There has been limited consensus regarding effectiveness of a high protein diet on quality of life or clinical outcomes for care home residents. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of non-meat, high protein supplementation on Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) and relevant clinical and nutritional outcomes in older people in the care home setting. DATA SOURCES: We searched EMBASE, AMED, CINAHL, MEDLINE, and the Cochrane Registry of Clinical Trials, OpenGrey, clinicaltrials.gov, the WHO clinical trial registry and the ISRCTN and NIHR trial portfolio (to February 2018) for randomised controlled trials. DATA EXTRACTION: We extracted data from included trials if they assessed people aged 65 years and over living in care homes, who received a protein supplementation compared to not. DATA ANALYSIS: We assessed trial quality using Cochrane Risk of Bias tool and meta-analysis was undertaken when appropriate. RESULTS: 17 papers with 1,246 participants fulfilled the inclusion criteria. All studies were low or moderate quality. No evidence of improving HRQOL when the SF-36 was used (Standardised Mean Difference (SMD: -0.10; 95% CI: -0.51 to 0.31; p=0.62), although significant improvement was seen in the single trial using EQ-5D (SMD: 2.58; 95% CI: 2.05 to 3.10; p<0.00001). CONCLUSIONS: Non-meat, high-protein oral supplements can improve markers of nutritional status in care home residents. However, there is insufficient high-quality evidence to determine the effect of such interventions for older adults in care homes with regard to HRQOL

Identification of a Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factor for Arf3, the Yeast Orthologue of Mammalian Arf6

Small G proteins of the Arf and Rab families are fundamental to the organisation and activity of intracellular membranes. One of the most well characterised of these G proteins is mammalian Arf6, a protein that participates in many cellular processes including endocytosis, actin remodelling and cell adhesion. Exchange of GDP for GTP on Arf6 is performed by a variety of guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs), principally of the cytohesin (PSCD) and EFA6 (PSD) families. In this paper we describe the characterisation of a GEF for the yeast orthologue of Arf6, Arf3, which we have named Yel1 (yeast EFA6-like-1) using yeast genetics, fluorescence microscopy and in vitro nucleotide exchange assays. Yel1 appears structurally related to the EFA6 family of GEFs, having an N-terminal Sec7 domain and C-terminal PH and coiled-coil domains. We find that Yel1 is constitutively targeted to regions of polarised growth in yeast, where it co-localises with Arf3. Moreover the Sec7 domain of Yel1 is required for its membrane targeting and for that of Arf3. Finally we show that the isolated Yel1 Sec7 domain strongly stimulates nucleotide exchange activity specifically on Arf3 in vitro