530 research outputs found
The first hominin of Europe
The earliest hominin occupation of Europe is one of the most debated topics in palaeoanthropology. However, the purportedly oldest of the Early Pleistocene sites in Eurasia lack precise age control and contain stone tools rather than human fossil remains(1-5). Here we report the discovery of a human mandible associated with an assemblage of Mode 1 lithic tools and faunal remains bearing traces of hominin processing, in stratigraphic level TE9 at the site of the Sima del Elefante, Atapuerca, Spain(6-8). Level TE9 has been dated to the Early Pleistocene ( approximately 1.2 - 1.1 Myr), based on a combination of palaeomagnetism, cosmogenic nuclides and biostratigraphy. The Sima del Elefante site thus emerges as the oldest, most accurately dated record of human occupation in Europe, to our knowledge. The study of the human mandible suggests that the first settlement of Western Europe could be related to an early demographic expansion out of Africa. The new evidence, with previous findings in other Atapuerca sites ( level TD6 from Gran Dolina(9-13)), also suggests that a speciation event occurred in this extreme area of the Eurasian continent during the Early Pleistocene, initiating the hominin lineage represented by the TE9 and TD6 hominins.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/62855/1/nature06815.pd
A completely phased diploid genome assembly for "Malbec" cultivar (Vitis vinifera L.)
Most grapevine cultivars originated from the outcrossing of two genetically diverse parents, and are clonally propagated to preserve phenotypes of productive interest. Hence, cultivars are first filial generations (F1) with highly heterozygous diploid genomes, that turn challenging to assemble. "Malbec" is the main cultivar for the Argentine wine industry and it originated in France, from the outcrossing of Magdeleine Noir des Charentes and Prunelard cultivars. Based on that mother-father-offspring relationship, here we followed the algorithm implemented in the software CanuTrio to produce a phased assembly of Malbec genome. For this aim, parental cultivars? Illumina short-reads were used to sort ?Malbec? PacBio long-reads into its haploid complements, to be assembled separately. Post- assembly, bioinformatic procedures were employed to reduce the number of duplicated regions and perform sequence error corrections (using Malbec Illumina short-reads). We obtained two highly complete and contiguous haploid assemblies for Malbec, Haplotype- Prunelard (482.4 Mb size; contig N50=7.7 Mb) and Haplotype-Magdeleine (479.4 Mb size; contig N50=6.6 Mb), with 96.1 and 95.8% of BUSCO genes, respectively. We tested for the composition of both haplophases with the tool Merqury, and observed 15% of both assemblies affected by structural variations, along with 3.2 million SNPs and 0.6 million InDels. Our results indicate that this is a valid approach to assemble highly heterozygous and complex diploid genomes in a completely-phased way.Fil: CalderĂłn, Pablo Luciano Sebastian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂfico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de BiologĂa AgrĂcola de Mendoza. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de BiologĂa AgrĂcola de Mendoza; ArgentinaFil: Carbonell Bejerano, P.. Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology; AlemaniaFil: Mauri, N. Instituto de Ciencias de la Vid y del Vino; EspañaFil: Muñoz, Claudio Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂfico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de BiologĂa AgrĂcola de Mendoza. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de BiologĂa AgrĂcola de Mendoza; ArgentinaFil: Bree, Laura. No especifĂca;Fil: Sola, C. No especifĂca;Fil: Bergamin, D. No especifĂca;Fil: GĂłmez Talquenca, SebastiĂĄn. Instituto Nacional de TecnologĂa Agropecuaria; ArgentinaFil: Ibañez, J. Instituto de Ciencias de la Vid y del Vino; EspañaFil: Martinez-Zapater, JM. Instituto de Ciencias de la Vid y del Vino; EspañaFil: Lijavetzky, Diego Claudio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂfico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de BiologĂa AgrĂcola de Mendoza. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de BiologĂa AgrĂcola de Mendoza; ArgentinaXVIII Congreso Latinoamericano de GenĂ©tica; LIV ReuniĂłn Anual de la Sociedad de GenĂ©tica de Chile; XLIX Congreso Argentino de GenĂ©tica; VIII Congreso de la Sociedad Uruguaya de GenĂ©tica; I Congreso Paraguayo de GenĂ©tica y V Congreso Latinoamericano de GenĂ©tica HumanaChileSociedad Argentina de GenĂ©tic
Can disordered mobile phone use be considered a behavioral addiction? An update on current evidence and a comprehensive model for future research
Despite the many positive outcomes, excessive mobile phone use is now often associated with potentially harmful and/or disturbing behaviors (e.g., symptoms of deregulated use, negative impact on various aspects of daily life such as relationship problems, and work intrusion). Problematic mobile phone use (PMPU) has generally been considered as a behavioral addiction that shares many features with more established drug addictions. In light of the most recent data, the current paper reviews the validity of the behavioral addiction model when applied to PMPU. On the whole, it is argued that the evidence supporting PMPU as an addictive behavior is scarce. In particular, it lacks studies that definitively show behavioral and neurobiological similarities between mobile phone addiction and other types of legitimate addictive behaviors. Given this context, an integrative pathway model is proposed that aims to provide a theoretical framework to guide future research in the field of PMPU. This model highlights that PMPU is a heterogeneous and multi-faceted condition
Response-adapted treatment with rituximab, bendamustine, mitoxantrone, and dexamethasone followed by rituximab maintenance in patients with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma after first-line immunochemotherapy: Results of the RBMDGELTAMO08 phase II trial
Background Consensus is lacking regarding the optimal salvage therapy for patients with follicular lymphoma who relapse after or are refractory to immunochemotherapy. Methods This phase II trial evaluated the efficacy and safety of response-adapted therapy with rituximab, bendamustine, mitoxantrone, and dexamethasone (RBMD) in follicular lymphoma patients who relapsed after or were refractory to first-line immunochemotherapy. Sixty patients received three treatment cycles, and depending on their response received an additional one (complete/unconfirmed complete response) or three (partial response) cycles. Patients who responded to induction received rituximab maintenance therapy for 2 years. Results Thirty-three (55%) and 42 (70%) patients achieved complete/unconfirmed complete response after three cycles and on completing induction therapy (4-6 cycles), respectively (final overall response rate, 88.3%). Median progression-free survival was 56.4 months (median follow-up, 28.3 months; 95% CI, 15.6-51.2). Overall survival was not reached. Progression-free survival did not differ between patients who received four vs six cycles (P = .6665), nor between patients who did/did not receive rituximab maintenance after first-line therapy (P = .5790). Median progression-free survival in the 10 refractory patients was 25.5 months (95% CI, 0.6-N/A) and was longer in patients who had shown progression of disease after 24 months of first-line therapy (median, 56.4 months; 95% CI, 19.8-56.4) than in those who showed early progression (median, 42.31 months; 95% CI, 24.41-NA) (P = .4258). Thirty-six (60%) patients had grade 3/4 neutropenia. Grade 3/4 febrile neutropenia and infection were recorded during induction (4/60 [6.7%] and 5/60 [8.3%] patients, respectively) and maintenance (2/43 [4.5%] and 4/43 [9.1%] patients, respectively). Conclusions This response-adapted treatment with RBMD followed by rituximab maintenance is an effective and well-tolerated salvage treatment for relapsed/refractory follicular lymphoma following first-line immunochemotherapy
Earliest evidence of pollution by heavy metals in archaeological sites
Homo species were exposed to a new biogeochemical environment when they began to occupy caves. Here we report the first evidence of palaeopollution through geochemical analyses of heavy metals in four renowned archaeological caves of the Iberian Peninsula spanning the last million years of human evolution. Heavy metal contents reached high values due to natural (guano deposition) and anthropogenic factors (e.g. combustion) in restricted cave environments. The earliest anthropogenic pollution evidence is related to Neanderthal hearths from Gorham's Cave (Gibraltar), being one of the first milestones in the so-called âAnthropoceneâ. According to its heavy metal concentration, these sediments meet the present-day standards of âcontaminated soilâ. Together with the former, the Gibraltar Vanguard Cave, shows Zn and Cu pollution ubiquitous across highly anthropic levels pointing to these elements as potential proxies for human activities. Pb concentrations in Magdalenian and Bronze age levels at El Pirulejo site can be similarly interpreted. Despite these high pollution levels, the contaminated soils might not have posed a major threat to Homo populations. Altogether, the data presented here indicate a long-term exposure of Homo to these elements, via fires, fumes and their ashes, which could have played certain role in environmental-pollution tolerance, a hitherto neglected influence.Francisco J. JimĂ©nez Palacios and to the Analytical Chemistry Department (Sevilla University) are
gratefully acknowledged for their help in the use of Carbolite electric oven. A.G.-A. was supported by a
Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship of the 7th Framework Programme for Research, Technological
Development and Demonstration (European Commission). R.B. is a Beatriu de PinĂłs-A post-doctoral
fellowship recipient (Generalitat de Catalunya and COFUND Marie Curie Actions, EU-FP7). This
work also was partially financed by projects 19434/PI/14 FundaciĂłn SĂ©neca, HARP2013-44269P,
CGL-BOS-2012-34717, CGL2012-38434-C03-03 and CGL2012-38358 Ministerio de EconomĂa y
Competitividad, 2014 SGR 900 and 2014/100573 Generalitat de Catalunya-AGAUR, RNM 432 Research
Group 179 (Junta de Andalucia) and MEXT-Japan
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