Hydrological controls of in situ preservation of waterlogged archaeological deposits

Environmental change caused by urban development, land drainage, agriculture or climate change may result in accelerated decay of in situ archaeological remains. This paper reviews research into impacts of environmental change on hydrological processes of relevance to preservation of archaeological remains in situ. It compares work at rural sites with more complex urban environments. The research demonstrates that both the quantity and quality of data on preservation status, and hydrological and chemical parameters collected during routine archaeological surveys need to be improved. The work also demonstrates the necessity for any archaeological site to be placed within its topographic and geological context. In order to understand preservation potential fully, it is necessary to move away from studying the archaeological site as an isolated unit, since factors some distance away from the site of interest can be important for determining preservation. The paper reviews what is known about the hydrological factors of importance to archaeological preservation and recommends research that needs to be conducted so that archaeological risk can be more adequately predicted and mitigated. Any activity that changes either source pathways or the dominant water input may have an impact not just because of changes to the water balance or the water table, but because of changes to water chemistry. Therefore, efforts to manage threatened waterlogged environments must consider the chemical nature of the water input into the system. Clearer methods of assessing the degree to which buried archaeological sites can withstand changing hydrological conditions are needed, in addition to research which helps us understand what triggers decay and what controls thresholds of response for different sediments and types of artefact

A Six-Planet System Around the Star HD 34445

We present a new precision radial velocity dataset that reveals a multi-planet system orbiting the G0V star HD 34445. Our 18-year span consists of 333 precision radial velocity observations, 56 of which were previously published, and 277 which are new data from Keck Observatory, Magellan at Las Campanas Observatory, and the Automated Planet Finder at Lick Observatory. These data indicate the presence of six planet candidates in Keplerian motion about the host star with periods of 1057, 215, 118, 49, 677, and 5700 days, and minimum masses of 0.63, 0.17, 0.1, 0.05, 0.12 and 0.38 Jupiter masses respectively. The HD 34445 planetary system, with its high degree of multiplicity, its long orbital periods, and its induced stellar radial velocity half-amplitudes in the range $2 \,{\rm m\, s^{-1}} \lesssim K \lesssim 5\,{\rm m\, s^{-1}}$ is fundamentally unlike either our own solar system (in which only Jupiter and Saturn induce significant reflex velocities for the Sun), or the Kepler multiple-transiting systems (which tend to have much more compact orbital configurations)Comment: 10 pages, 11 figure

Oxygen isotopic heterogeneity in the Temora-2 reference zircon

For the past decade and a half, Geoscience Australia has distributed zircon from a portion of the Middledale Gabbroic Diorite under the label “Temora-2”. This reference zircon was originally developed as a reference material for use in ion microprobe U-Th-Pb geochronological analyses. As ion probe capability has increased to allow the measurements of other isotopic systems at geologically useful precision and accuracy, the Temora-2 zircon has remained a convenient reference material to use for those systems. However, the suitability of this material for non-geochronological applications must be continuously reassessed. This study demonstrates that some (but not all) aliquots of the Temora-2 zircon, distributed by Geoscience Australia to analytical laboratories worldwide, have δ18O values up to 1‰ lower than the reference laser fluorination δ18O value quoted in Black et al. (2004). Although the long and complex collection history of this material makes it difficult to pinpoint the cause of this discrepancy, we suspect it relates to material from two or more boulders from the Temora-2 site, with different δ18O values, being sampled and mixed together in the field prior to storage at Geoscience Australia. Therefore, oxygen isotope measurements on SIMS mounts where Temora is the only reference zircon may be biased towards heavier values by up to 1‰, unless there are additional constrains on the actual δ18O value of the specific aliquot of Temora-2 zircons placed on that particular ion probe mount. We recommend that future oxygen isotope work should use a reference zircon other than Temora-2, until Geoscience Australia can replace the current stock of heterogeneous Temora-2 material with zircon which has a uniform δ18O value

Measuring the cultural value of the Royal Scottish Academy New Contemporaries Exhibition as a platform for emerging artists

In our analysis of the cultural value of the Royal Scottish Academy New Contemporaries Exhibition, we assessed the institution’s role in shaping emerging artists’ careers, as well as wider cultural value. Supported by our conceptual framework of value creation, issues assessed included the expected versus experienced value of the exhibition and the individual artworks, price setting, the market mechanism surrounding the exhibition, and its enhancement. The created cultural value is facilitated by high-visibility media exposure and through development of career-enhancing networks. We have generated new insight into cultural value more generally by moving beyond dominant instrumental valuation approaches. We have addressed many of the gaps in understanding the mechanisms behind engagement with contemporary art. We have progressed theory with the assistance of our conceptual framework and supporting qualitative data. Cultural value is expressed in contemporary art through artistic production systems and its cultural messages. Artists’ cultural value is often constructed via the intrinsic worth of their work, rather than from market influences. Cultural value is often personal to the viewer, shared with others and remembered over time. It is also co-created among the other stakeholders involved

Escherichia coli Common Pilus (ECP) Targets Arabinosyl Residues in Plant Cell Walls to Mediate Adhesion to Fresh Produce Plants

International audienceBackground: Bacterial fimbriae mediate binding to host tissue through specific interactions. Results: ECP interacts with arabinosyl residues in pectin and other plant cell wall components. Conclusion: ECP-arabinan interactions facilitate binding of E. coli to plant hosts. Significance: The prevalence of arabinan targets in produce plants together with ECP expression may explain the association of pathogenic bacteria in edible plants

Gene expression changes linked to antimicrobial resistance, oxidative stress, iron depletion and retained motility are observed when Burkholderia cenocepacia grows in cystic fibrosis sputum

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Bacteria from the <it>Burkholderia cepacia </it>complex (Bcc) are the only group of cystic fibrosis (CF) respiratory pathogens that may cause death by an invasive infection known as cepacia syndrome. Their large genome (> 7000 genes) and multiple pathways encoding the same putative functions make virulence factor identification difficult in these bacteria.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A novel microarray was designed to the genome of <it>Burkholderia cenocepacia </it>J2315 and transcriptomics used to identify genes that were differentially regulated when the pathogen was grown in a CF sputum-based infection model. Sputum samples from CF individuals infected with the same <it>B. cenocepacia </it>strain as genome isolate were used, hence, other than a dilution into a minimal growth medium (used as the control condition), no further treatment of the sputum was carried out.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 723 coding sequences were significantly altered, with 287 upregulated and 436 downregulated; the microarray-observed expression was validated by quantitative PCR on five selected genes. <it>B. cenocepacia </it>genes with putative functions in antimicrobial resistance, iron uptake, protection against reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, secretion and motility were among the most altered in sputum. Novel upregulated genes included: a transmembrane ferric reductase (BCAL0270) implicated in iron metabolism, a novel protease (BCAL0849) that may play a role in host tissue destruction, an organic hydroperoxide resistance gene (BCAM2753), an oxidoreductase (BCAL1107) and a nitrite/sulfite reductase (BCAM1676) that may play roles in resistance to the host defenses. The assumptions of growth under iron-depletion and oxidative stress formulated from the microarray data were tested and confirmed by independent growth of <it>B. cenocepacia </it>under each respective environmental condition.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Overall, our first full transcriptomic analysis of <it>B. cenocepacia </it>demonstrated the pathogen alters expression of over 10% of the 7176 genes within its genome when it grows in CF sputum. Novel genetic pathways involved in responses to antimicrobial resistance, oxidative stress, and iron metabolism were revealed by the microarray analysis. Virulence factors such as the cable pilus and Cenocepacia Pathogenicity Island were unaltered in expression. However, <it>B. cenocepacia </it>sustained or increased expression of motility-associated genes in sputum, maintaining a potentially invasive phenotype associated with cepacia syndrome.</p

Residential Care

Many of the young people will be displaying pain‐based behaviour (Anglin 2002) and plans made for them should minimise possible re‐traumatisation. The best attempt must be made to match the young person to the residential service that can best meet their needs. NRCCI noted that Residential Care can be a positive choice for the children and young people whose needs it serves Higher Aspirations, Brighter Futures. Residential staff build and maintain the relationships with young people and their families which can meet their needs for safety and security and contribute to achieving desired outcomes

Cryopreservation of a soil microbiome using a Stirling 1 cycle approach - a genomic assessment

Soil microbiomes are dynamic systems that respond to biotic and abiotic environmental factors such as those presented at seasonal scales or due to long-term anthropogenic regime shifts. These can affect the composition and function of microbiomes. Investigation of microbiomes can uncover hidden microbial roles in health and disease and discover microbiome-based interventions. Collections of soil samples are kept by various institutions in either a refrigerated or occasionally frozen state, but conditions are not optimised to ensure the integrity of soil microbiome. In this manuscript, we describe cryopreservation with a controlled rate cooler and estimate the genomic content of an exemplar soil sample before and after cryopreservation. The first hypothesis was to test the genomic integrity of the microbiome. We also enriched the soil sample with a liquid medium to estimate the growth of bacteria and compared their growth before and after cryopreservation. Sequence-based rRNA metabarcoding was used to demonstrate that the controlled rate cooler maintains intact the DNA content of the microbiome. Two methods of cryopreservation were applied and compared with control aliquots of soil. An optimised cryopreservation of soil samples is essential for the development of microbiome research in order to retain stable, functionally intact microbiomes. Our results showed that metabarcoding of 16S and ITS rRNA were useful methods to estimate successful cryopreservation. The soil microbiome after enrichment with liquid medium exhibited a similar response of cryopreserved soil and this was estimated with the comparison of the ten most abundant bacterial taxa. These findings support a successful process of cryopreservation and are promising for future use of this technology. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first report of cryopreservation of soil using a Stirling cycle cooling approach