Palaeontology and geological context of a Middle Pleistocene faunal assemblage from the Gladysvale Cave, South Africa

Palaeontological and geological research at the Gladysvale Cave during the last decade has concentrated on de-roofed deposits located outside the Main Chamber. This area has been termed the Gladysvale External Deposit (GVED) and consists of fossil-rich calcified and decalcified sediments. Here we report on the recent analysis of both the faunal material and the geological context of this deposit. The faunal assemblage, excavated from the decalcified sediments contains 29 mammal species including taxa rare or absent in the Witwatersrand Plio-Pleistocene fossil record (e.g. Pelorovis and Kobus leche). Carnivores and porcupines are identified as accumulating agents of the bones. No new hominin findings can be reported from this deposit, and no cultural remains have been recovered. Geologically the calcified and decalcified breccias represent part of a large talus cone that is relatively unexposed. Uniquely for a cave fill in the Witwatersrand hominin-bearing sites, the sediments are horizontally stratified and form a number of flowstone bound sequences. The dating of the in situ cemented sediments is based on electron spin resonance (ESR) and palaeomagnetism. Recent results indicate that the deposits are of Middle-Pleistocene age.Palaeo-Anthropology Scientific Trust; French Embassy in South Africa; Co-operation and Cultural Service; National Geographic Society; John Nash and family; DACEL; University of the Witwatersrand Research Office and School of Geosciences; World Heritage Site Committee; SAHRA; Swiss National Science Foundation; NSF Grants ILl 9151111 and SBR 989628

Fundamental, Quantitative Traits of the “Sociotype”

In whatever domain of life, from cells to organisms to societies, communicative exchanges underlie the formation and maintenance, and decay, of the emerging collective structures. It can be clearly seen in the human social world. The different classes of social bonds in a complex society revolve around, and are intimately related with, the communicative relationships that every individual entertains—essentially via face-to-face conversation. In the present work we have investigated the fundamental metrics of both social bonds and communicative exchanges along the development of the “sociotype” construct. It is a new approach developed by the authors within the genotype-phenotype-sociotype conceptual triad. The sociotype means the relative constancy, or better the similar fabric, of the social world in which each individual life is developed. In order to ascertain the metrics of the fundamental quantitative traits inherent in the sociotype, a fieldwork involving a total of 1475 individuals (68.59% female, and 49.79 mean age, SD = 21.47) was carried out. The four relational realms of family, friends, work/study, and acquaintances were investigated. The overall results about conversation time (an average of 220 min/day), and about the number of social bonds (an average of 98), differ from previous assumptions, such as Dunbar's number or Killworth's number. Other results about gender, age, and use of social media and Internet contribute to highlight significant differences among the different social segments, and particularly the diminished “sociotype” of the elderly. Finally, it is curious that a non-Gaussian distribution has been obtained for the specific population allotment of these metrics, and intriguingly the Planckian distribution equation (PDE) appears to be a most cogent fit

Response of vegetation to drought time-scales across global land biomes

We evaluated the response of the Earth land biomes to drought by correlating a drought indexwith three global indicators of vegetation activity and growth: vegetation indices from satellite imagery, tree-ring growth series, and Aboveground Net Primary Production (ANPP) records. Arid and humid biomes are both affected by drought, and we suggest that the persistence of thewater deficit (i.e., the drought time-scale) could be playing a key role in determining the sensitivity of land biomes to drought. We found that arid biomes respond to drought at short time-scales; that is, there is a rapid vegetation reaction as soon as water deficits below normal conditions occur. This may be due to the fact that plant species of arid regions havemechanisms allowing them to rapidly adapt to changing water availability. Humid biomes also respond to drought at short time-scales, but in this case the physiological mechanisms likely differ fromthose operating in arid biomes, as plants usually have a poor adaptability to water shortage. On the contrary, semiarid and subhumid biomes respond to drought at long time-scales, probably because plants are able to withstand water deficits, but they lack the rapid response of arid biomes to drought. These results are consistent among three vegetation parameters analyzed and across different land biomes, showing that the response of vegetation to drought depends on characteristic drought time-scales for each biome. Understanding the dominant time-scales at which drought most influences vegetation might help assessing the resistance and resilience of vegetation and improving our knowledge of vegetation vulnerability to climate change

Reliability and Validation of the Child Eating Behavior Questionnaire in 3- to 6-Year-Old Spanish Children

Introduction: Eating behavior is often established during the first years of life. Therefore, it is important to make a research on it to understand the relationships that children have with food and how this can contribute to prevent the development of childhood obesity. An appropriate assessment of eating behavior can be achieved using the “Child Eating Behavior Questionnaire” (CEBQ). This questionnaire has been validated in several populations and languages, but it has never been translated, adapted, and validated for Spanish children. Aim: To evaluate the reliability and internal consistency of the CEBQ questionnaire, culturally adapted and translated into Spanish (Spain), in Spanish families with children aged 3 to 6 years, as well as its association with children’s body mass index (BMI) to test its construct validity. Materials and Methods: Children between 3 and 6 years old were recruited from the ongoing MELI-POP randomized controlled clinical trial, as well as from public schools located in middle class neighborhoods of Zaragoza, Spain, to complete the sample. Sociodemographic characteristics and anthropometric measures were obtained according to standardized methods. The 35-item CEBQ questionnaire was completed twice with a time difference of 3 weeks between each response. Statistical analyses included the evaluation of internal consistency and reliability of the questionnaire, a confirmatory factor analysis, and the association between the different CEBQ scales and the children’s BMI. Results: A total of 197 children completed variables; 97 of them were boys (49.2%) and 100 girls (50.8%). Mean age of the total sample was 4.7 ± 0.9 years. There was a high test-re-test reliability of the questionnaire with values close to 1, with an average of 0.66 and a good internal consistency (Cronbach alpha with values above 0.7), so that a high reliability is established between the items in each scale. A gradual positive association was found between the score of different “pro-intake” scales of the CEBQ: “Food Responsiveness, ” “Emotional Overeating, ” and “Enjoyment of food” and the children’s BMI; at the opposite, negative associations were observed between BMI and the score of anti-intake scales “Satiety Responsiveness, ” “Slowness in Eating, ” and “Emotional Undereating.” Conclusion: The Spanish version of the CEBQ is a useful tool to assess the eating behavior of Spanish children because the high reliability and internal validity. There is a significant association between eating behavior and BMI in Spanish children. Copyright © 2022 Jimeno-Martínez, Maneschy, Moreno, Bueno-Lozano, De Miguel-Etayo, Flores-Rojas, Jurado-Castro, de Lamas, Vázquez-Cobela, Martinez-Lacruz, Portoles, Martínez, Navas-Carretero, Schröder, Fitó, Babio, Salas-Salvadó, Leis, Gil-Campos and Rupérez

Structural Analysis of a Repetitive Protein Sequence Motif in Strepsirrhine Primate Amelogenin

Strepsirrhines are members of a primate suborder that has a distinctive set of features associated with the development of the dentition. Amelogenin (AMEL), the better known of the enamel matrix proteins, forms 90% of the secreted organic matrix during amelogenesis. Although AMEL has been sequenced in numerous mammalian lineages, the only reported strepsirrhine AMEL sequences are those of the ring-tailed lemur and galago, which contain a set of additional proline-rich tandem repeats absent in all other primates species analyzed to date, but present in some non-primate mammals. Here, we first determined that these repeats are present in AMEL from three additional lemur species and thus are likely to be widespread throughout this group. To evaluate the functional relevance of these repeats in strepsirrhines, we engineered a mutated murine amelogenin sequence containing a similar proline-rich sequence to that of Lemur catta. In the monomeric form, the MQP insertions had no influence on the secondary structure or refolding properties, whereas in the assembled form, the insertions increased the hydrodynamic radii. We speculate that increased AMEL nanosphere size may influence enamel formation in strepsirrhine primates

Reduced Protein Expression of the Na+/Ca2++K+-Exchanger (SLC24A4) in Apical Plasma Membranes of Maturation Ameloblasts of Fluorotic Mice

Exposure of forming enamel to fluoride results into formation of hypomineralized enamel. We tested whether enamel hypomineralization was caused by lower expression of the NCKX4/SLC24A4 Ca2+-transporter by ameloblasts. Three commercial antibodies against NCKX4 were tested on enamel organs of wild-type and Nckx4-null mice, one of which (a mouse monoclonal) was specific. This antibody gave a prominent staining of the apical plasma membranes of maturation ameloblasts, starting at early maturation. The layer of immuno-positive ameloblasts contained narrow gaps without immunostaining or with reduced staining. In fluorotic mouse incisors, the quantity of NCKX4 protein in ameloblasts as assessed by western blotting was not different from that in non-fluorotic ameloblasts. However, immunostaining of the apical plasma membranes of fluorotic ameloblasts was strongly reduced or absent suggesting that trafficking of NCKX4 to the apical membrane was strongly reduced. Exposure to fluoride may reduce NCKX4-mediated transport of Ca2+ by maturation stage ameloblasts which delays ameloblast modulation and reduces enamel mineralization

Amelogenin Supramolecular Assembly in Nanospheres Defined by a Complex Helix-Coil-PPII Helix 3D-Structure

Tooth enamel, the hardest material in the human body, is formed within a self-assembled matrix consisting mostly of amelogenin proteins. Here we have determined the complete mouse amelogenin structure under physiological conditions and defined interactions between individual domains. NMR spectroscopy revealed four major amelogenin structural motifs, including an N-terminal assembly of four α-helical segments (S9-V19, T21-P33, Y39-W45, V53-Q56), an elongated random coil region interrupted by two 310 helices (∼P60-Q117), an extended proline-rich PPII-helical region (P118-L165), and a charged hydrophilic C-terminus (L165-D180). HSQC experiments demonstrated ipsilateral interactions between terminal domains of individual amelogenin molecules, i.e. N-terminal interactions with corresponding N-termini and C-terminal interactions with corresponding C-termini, while the central random coil domain did not engage in interactions. Our HSQC spectra of the full-length amelogenin central domain region completely overlapped with spectra of the monomeric Amel-M fragment, suggesting that the central amelogenin coil region did not involve in assembly, even in assembled nanospheres. This finding was confirmed by analytical ultracentrifugation experiments. We conclude that under conditions resembling those found in the developing enamel protein matrix, amelogenin molecules form complex 3D-structures with N-terminal α-helix-like segments and C-terminal PPII-helices, which self-assemble through ipsilateral interactions at the N-terminus of the molecule

Performance issues in optical burst/packet switching

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-01524-3_8This chapter summarises the activities on optical packet switching (OPS) and optical burst switching (OBS) carried out by the COST 291 partners in the last 4 years. It consists of an introduction, five sections with contributions on five different specific topics, and a final section dedicated to the conclusions. Each section contains an introductive state-of-the-art description of the specific topic and at least one contribution on that topic. The conclusions give some points on the current situation of the OPS/OBS paradigms

Costs and benefits of automation for astronomical facilities

The Observatorio Astrof\'isico de Javalambre (OAJ{\dag}1) in Spain is a young astronomical facility, conceived and developed from the beginning as a fully automated observatory with the main goal of optimizing the processes in the scientific and general operation of the Observatory. The OAJ has been particularly conceived for carrying out large sky surveys with two unprecedented telescopes of unusually large fields of view (FoV): the JST/T250, a 2.55m telescope of 3deg field of view, and the JAST/T80, an 83cm telescope of 2deg field of view. The most immediate objective of the two telescopes for the next years is carrying out two unique photometric surveys of several thousands square degrees, J-PAS{\dag}2 and J-PLUS{\dag}3, each of them with a wide range of scientific applications, like e.g. large structure cosmology and Dark Energy, galaxy evolution, supernovae, Milky Way structure, exoplanets, among many others. To do that, JST and JAST are equipped with panoramic cameras under development within the J-PAS collaboration, JPCam and T80Cam respectively, which make use of large format (~ 10k x 10k) CCDs covering the entire focal plane. This paper describes in detail, from operations point of view, a comparison between the detailed cost of the global automation of the Observatory and the standard automation cost for astronomical facilities, in reference to the total investment and highlighting all benefits obtained from this approach and difficulties encountered. The paper also describes the engineering development of the overall facilities and infrastructures for the fully automated observatory and a global overview of current status, pinpointing lessons learned in order to boost observatory operations performance, achieving scientific targets, maintaining quality requirements, but also minimizing operation cost and human resources.Comment: Global Observatory Control System GOC