Rock of Ages : use of the South Molle Island Quarry, Whitsunday Islands, and the implications for Holocene technological change in Australia

There is evidence to suggest that the South Molle Island stone quarry, in the Whitsunday Islands, central Queensland coast, has been used by the indigenous inhabitants of the region from at least 9,000 BP to the present. Distribution of stone from the quarry extends for at least 170km along the coast, from Abbott Point in the north to the Repulse Islands in the south. A comprehensive technological characterisation of the quarry has demonstrated that a range of manufacturing behaviours was conducted on-site, including the initial extraction of the raw material, through to the final stages of artefact retouch. The systematic production of backed artefacts is included among this suite of technological practice. This research has demonstrated that the antiquity of backed artefacts and the timing of high production rates of backed artefact manufacture occurs earlier in the Whitsunday region than elsewhere in southern Australia. In the Whitsunday Islands backed artefact production has been shown to be present from the start of the Holocene and to have been a key technological element in the early Holocene. A new understanding of backing technologies in Australia can be developed in light of this recognition of regional variation. A risk-oriented model of Holocene technological change in the Whitsunday region is presented here, as well as a discussion of the implications for wider coastal and island technological systems throughout the Holocene

Kumukumu 1, a hilltop site in the Aird Hills: Implications for occupational trends and dynamics in the Kikori River delta, south coast of Papua New Guinea

We report on archaeological excavations undertaken at Kumukumu 1 atop the dense rainforest-clad Aird Hills of the Kikori river delta islands, south coast of Papua New Guinea. Results indicate exploitation of the nearby environment, including the gathering of some 200 million shellfish from riverine habitats at the base of the hill some 600 years ago, and deposition of shell remains onto hilltop middens. We ask what the implications of such a site in a defensive location on the upper, steep hillslope of Kumukumu hill are for regional occupation and dynamics. We conclude that the hinterland-marine fringe islands of the river deltas that include the site of Kumukumu 1 were especially sensitive to heightened cross-cultural influences and inter-group raids and competition, leading to accelerated processes of centralisation and aggrandisement among some groups, and the subjugation, fragmentation and dispersal of less powerful neighbouring groups

A Pleistocene charcoal drawing or painting from northern Australia

Although claims are often made that Australia has evidence of some of the oldest rock art in the world and features prominently in rock art studies globally, very little of it is securely dated. Recently the first Pleistocene date for pigment art (painting, drawing, stencil or print) in Arnhem Land was obtained, arguably representing one of the oldest securely dated fragments of buried rock art in Australia (see Aubert 2012 and David et al. 2013a for recent reviews on dating rock art in Australia)

Female weir fishers of the southern lowlands of Papua New Guinea: implications for an archaeology of gendered activities

In this paper we examine a set of ethnographic practices from the mid-reaches of the Kikori River, specifically pertaining to women’s crustacean fishing, and in doing so re-examine the archaeological record of nearby rock shelter Epe Amoho. These practices, we argue, are poorly represented in many archaeological sites across the landscape. Such patterned biases of the archaeological record (e.g. of some gendered activities) have major implications for how we understand individual sites and for the utility of ethnography in archaeological interpretation. We conclude that the archaeological record of Epe Amoho underrepresents some elements of women’s dry season activities

A Holocene sequence from Walufeni Cave, Southern Highlands Province, and its implications for the settlement of the Great Papuan Plateau, Papua New Guinea

This paper presents preliminary results from the 2019 excavations at Walufeni Cave, at the eastern end of the Great Papuan Plateau (GPP) in western Papua New Guinea. Preliminary dating and analysis of the unfinished excavations at Walufeni Cave span the Holocene and probably continue into the Late Pleistocene, confirming the presence of people on the Plateau from at least the Early Holocene and potentially much earlier. The data presented here offer a site-specific model of early intensive site use from at least 10,000 years ago, then ephemeral use, followed by a sustained Late Holocene occupation. Although there are significant changes in the quantity of material discard over time, there is little evidence for significant change in the subsistence base or technology, reflecting a degree of relative homogeneity until the Late Holocene, when we see the introduction of pig, a change of focus in the plant economy and the presence of marine shell from the southern coast

The nature of the high Galactic latitude O-star HD93521: new results from X-ray and optical spectroscopy

Owing to its unusual location and its isolation, the nature of the high Galactic latitude O9.5Vp object HD93521 is still uncertain. We have collected X-ray and optical observations to characterize the star and its surroundings. X-ray images and spectra are analyzed to search for traces of a recent star formation event around HD93521 and to search for the signature of a possible compact companion. Optical echelle spectra are analysed with plane-parallel model atmosphere codes, assuming either a spherical star or a gravity darkened rotationally flattened star, to infer the effective temperature and surface gravity, and to derive the He, C, N and O abundances of HD93521. The X-ray images reveal no traces of a population of young low-mass stars coeval with HD93521. The X-ray spectrum of HD93521 is consistent with a normal late O-type star although with subsolar metallicity. No trace of a compact companion is found in the X-ray data. In the optical spectrum, He and N are found to be overabundant, in line with the effect of rotational mixing in this very fast rotator, whilst C and O are subsolar. A critical comparison with the properties of subdwarf OB stars, indicates that, despite some apparent similarities, HD93521 does not belong to this category. Despite some ambiguities on the runaway status of the star, the most likely explanation is that HD93521 is a Population I massive O-type star that was ejected from the Galactic plane either through dynamical interactions or a result of a supernova event in a binary system.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

A novel systems biology approach to evaluate mouse models of late-onset Alzheimer\u27s disease.

BACKGROUND: Late-onset Alzheimer\u27s disease (LOAD) is the most common form of dementia worldwide. To date, animal models of Alzheimer\u27s have focused on rare familial mutations, due to a lack of frank neuropathology from models based on common disease genes. Recent multi-cohort studies of postmortem human brain transcriptomes have identified a set of 30 gene co-expression modules associated with LOAD, providing a molecular catalog of relevant endophenotypes. RESULTS: This resource enables precise gene-based alignment between new animal models and human molecular signatures of disease. Here, we describe a new resource to efficiently screen mouse models for LOAD relevance. A new NanoString nCounter® Mouse AD panel was designed to correlate key human disease processes and pathways with mRNA from mouse brains. Analysis of the 5xFAD mouse, a widely used amyloid pathology model, and three mouse models based on LOAD genetics carrying APOE4 and TREM2*R47H alleles demonstrated overlaps with distinct human AD modules that, in turn, were functionally enriched in key disease-associated pathways. Comprehensive comparison with full transcriptome data from same-sample RNA-Seq showed strong correlation between gene expression changes independent of experimental platform. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, we show that the nCounter Mouse AD panel offers a rapid, cost-effective and highly reproducible approach to assess disease relevance of potential LOAD mouse models

Comprehensive Evaluation of the 5XFAD Mouse Model for Preclinical Testing Applications: A MODEL-AD Study.

The ability to investigate therapeutic interventions in animal models of neurodegenerative diseases depends on extensive characterization of the model(s) being used. There are numerous models that have been generated to study Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD) and the underlying pathogenesis of the disease. While transgenic models have been instrumental in understanding AD mechanisms and risk factors, they are limited in the degree of characteristics displayed in comparison with AD in humans, and the full spectrum of AD effects has yet to be recapitulated in a single mouse model. The Model Organism Development and Evaluation for Late-Onset Alzheimer\u27s Disease (MODEL-AD) consortium was assembled by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) to develop more robust animal models of AD with increased relevance to human disease, standardize the characterization of AD mouse models, improve preclinical testing in animals, and establish clinically relevant AD biomarkers, among other aims toward enhancing the translational value of AD models in clinical drug design and treatment development. Here we have conducted a detailed characterization of the 5XFAD mouse, including transcriptomics, electroencephalogram

Uncovering Disease Mechanisms in a Novel Mouse Model Expressing Humanized APOEε4 and Trem2*R47H.

Late-onset Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD; LOAD) is the most common human neurodegenerative disease, however, the availability and efficacy of disease-modifying interventions is severely lacking. Despite exceptional efforts to understand disease progression via legacy amyloidogenic transgene mouse models, focus on disease translation with innovative mouse strains that better model the complexity of human AD is required to accelerate the development of future treatment modalities. LOAD within the human population is a polygenic and environmentally influenced disease with many risk factors acting in concert to produce disease processes parallel to those often muted by the early and aggressive aggregate formation in popular mouse strains. In addition to extracellular deposits of amyloid plaques and inclusions of the microtubule-associated protein tau, AD is also defined by synaptic/neuronal loss, vascular deficits, and neuroinflammation. These underlying processes need to be better defined, how the disease progresses with age, and compared to human-relevant outcomes. To create more translatable mouse models, MODEL-AD (Model Organism Development and Evaluation for Late-onset AD) groups are identifying and integrating disease-relevant, humanized gene sequences from public databases beginning with APOEε4 and Trem2*R47H, two of the most powerful risk factors present in human LOAD populations. Mice expressing endogenous, humanized APOEε4 and Trem2*R47H gene sequences were extensively aged and assayed using a multi-disciplined phenotyping approach associated with and relative to human AD pathology. Robust analytical pipelines measured behavioral, transcriptomic, metabolic, and neuropathological phenotypes in cross-sectional cohorts for progression of disease hallmarks at all life stages. In vivo PET/MRI neuroimaging revealed regional alterations in glycolytic metabolism and vascular perfusion. Transcriptional profiling by RNA-Seq of brain hemispheres identified sex and age as the main sources of variation between genotypes including age-specific enrichment of AD-related processes. Similarly, age was the strongest determinant of behavioral change. In the absence of mouse amyloid plaque formation, many of the hallmarks of AD were not observed in this strain. However, as a sensitized baseline model with many additional alleles and environmental modifications already appended, the dataset from this initial MODEL-AD strain serves an important role in establishing the individual effects and interaction between two strong genetic risk factors for LOAD in a mouse host