To meat or not to meat? New perspectives on Neanderthal ecology.

Neanderthals have been commonly depicted as top predators who met their nutritional needs by focusing entirely on meat. This information mostly derives from faunal assemblage analyses and stable isotope studies: methods that tend to underestimate plant consumption and overestimate the intake of animal proteins. Several studies in fact demonstrate that there is a physiological limit to the amount of animal proteins that can be consumed: exceeding these values causes protein toxicity that can be particularly dangerous to pregnant women and newborns. Consequently, to avoid food poisoning from meat-based diets, Neanderthals must have incorporated alternative food sources in their daily diets, including plant materials as well

Human–environment interactions during the early mid-Holocene in coastal Ecuador as revealed by mangrove coring in Santa Elena Province

Coastal environments of the early mid-Holocene provided challenges and opportunities for agriculturalists living in the Santa Elena Peninsula, Ecuador (Santa Elena Province, formerly southwestern Guayas Province). Cores extracted from swamps in three river outflows, namely, the Río Verde/Río Zapotal drainage (Chanduy estuary), the Río Grande (Punta Carnero locality), and the Río Valdivia, provided pollen, phytolith, sedimentary, and elemental sequences relevant to documenting vegetation and agriculture. The Chanduy record documented maize and other cultigens from 3200 to 500 cal. BC, providing evidence for intensive cultivation of alluvial lands. The Punta Carnero core provided the first evidence for occupation of the peninsula during the ‘hiatus’ between the Vegas and Valdivia periods, as maize was present in a stratum dating to 4857 cal. BC. Records documented mid-Holocene sea-level stabilization, development of low-energy depositional environments, and variation in rainfall attributable to El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) by 5000 cal. BC. There was no evidence that the region was either markedly wetter or drier in the early mid-Holocene, suggesting that climate controls similar to those of today were in place

A method for preparing low-allergen natural rubber latex

The free radical polymerization of dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA) on the surface of particles in natural rubber latex (NRL) was carried out using an iron(ii)/tetraethylenepentamine (TEPA) redox couple initiation system, which results in significant grafting of poly(DMAEMA) to the surface of the particles. Because poly(DMAEMA) functions as an electrosteric stabilizer, this leads to increased colloidal stability, which suggests that the proteinaceous material which normally provides the colloidal stability in NRL can be displaced. This opens the way to preparing barrier products of low allergenicity, because the allergic response from NRL products arises from this proteinaceous material. Dipped and cast films were prepared from the modified NRL and were shown to be of low allergenicity using the IgE-ELISA inhibition assay. Vulcanized films prepared from the modified latex were also found to be of low allergenicity compared to a compounded film of unmodified NRL prepared under similar conditions. The barrier integrity, tensile strength, and elongation at break values of vulcanized films prepared from the modified latex were also equivalent to the unmodified film, and their water sensitivity and ageing characteristics were not significantly different. This suggests that this modified NRL can be used as an effective low-allergy latex for personal barrier products such as surgical gloves