A multi-isotope investigation of diet and subsistence amongst island and mainland populations from early medieval western Britain

Objectives: This is the first investigation of dietary practices amongst multiple early medieval populations (AD 500–1000) from Wales and the Isle of Man using carbon, nitrogen, and sulphur isotope analysis. The analysis will illuminate similarities or differences between the diets and subsistence strategies of populations occupying different geographical regions, specifically those living in marginal coastal regions in comparison to inland populations well-connected to ecclesiastical centres and high-status settlements. Materials and Methods: One hundred and two human skeletons were sampled for carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis, and 69 human skeletons were sampled for sulphur isotope analysis from nine cemetery sites from western Britain (Isle of Man = 3, southwest Wales = 4, southeast Wales = 2). Thirteen faunal skeletons from St Patrick's Chapel (southwest Wales) were sampled for carbon, nitrogen, and sulphur isotope analysis. Results: Human δ13C values range from −19.4‰ to −21.2‰ (δ13C mean=−20.4 ±0.4‰, 1σ, n = 86), and δ15N values range from 9.1‰ to 13.8‰ (δ15N mean = 10.8 ± 0.9‰, 1σ, n = 86). δ34S values range from 1.2‰ to 18.4‰ (δ34S mean = 11.6 ± 4.5‰, 1σ, n = 66). Significant differences were noted between the mean δ13C, δ15N and δ34S values according to geographic region: Isle of Man (δ13C = −20.7 ± 0.4‰, δ15N = 11.4 ±0.6‰, n = 13/86; δ34S mean = 17.1 ±0.6, n = 4/66), southwest Wales (δ13C = −20.5 ± 0.4‰, δ15N = 11.0 ±1‰, n = 32/86; δ34S = 16.1 ± 2.1, n = 21/66), and southeast Wales (δ13C =−20.3 ±0.4‰, δ15N = 10.4 ±0.7‰, n = 41/86; δ34S= 8.8 ±3‰, n = 41/66). Faunal δ13C values range from −23.1‰ to −21.2‰ (δ13C mean= −22.1 ±0.5‰, 1σ, n = 13), and δ15N values range from 6.3‰ to 9.8‰ (δ15N mean = 7.3 ± 1.1‰, 1σ, n = 13). δ34S values range from 4.7‰ to 18.4‰ (δ34S mean= 16.3 ± 3.6‰, 1σ, n = 13). Conclusions: The data reveal a reliance on terrestrial protein, however differences are observed between the resource consumption of populations from southwest Wales and the Isle of Man in comparison to the populations from southeast Wales. Populations from the west coast have a marine sulphur signature that reflects their coastal proximity and may also include a reliance on seaweed as a fertiliser/food source. Populations in the southeast were connected to ecclesiastical centres and high-status settlements and had access to inland-grown produce. The data add support to the suggestion that δ34S can be used as a mobility indicator

Hamiltonian mappings and circle packing phase spaces

We introduce three area preserving maps with phase space structures which resemble circle packings. Each mapping is derived from a kicked Hamiltonian system with one of three different phase space geometries (planar, hyperbolic or spherical) and exhibits an infinite number of coexisting stable periodic orbits which appear to `pack' the phase space with circular resonances.Comment: 23 pages including 12 figures, REVTEX

Administration of human chorionic gonadotropin at embryo transfer induced ovulation of a first-wave dominant follicle and increased progesterone and transfer pregnancy rates

Beef Cattle Research, 2011 is known as Cattlemen’s Day, 2011Embryo transfer (ET) has become more widespread in recent years as a way to improve cattle genetics. According to the annual statistical survey of the American Embryo Transfer Association, more than 200,000 fresh and frozen bovine embryos were transferred in 2008. But despite advancements in reproductive technologies that have occurred since ET was commercialized in the 1970s, industrywide pregnancy rates are only 62.4 and 56.9% for fresh and frozen-thawed ET, respectively. Using ET helps avoid problems from failed fertilization; however, fertilization failure has been characterized as a relatively unimportant factor of pregnancy loss. Approximately 10% of pregnancy failures resulted from fertilization failure and another 10% from failed embryo development. Approximately 20 to 25% of the pregnancy loss in an ET program could be characterized as early embryonic loss

Epidermal Notch1 recruits RORγ+ group 3 innate lymphoid cells to orchestrate normal skin repair

Notch has a well-defined role in controlling cell fate decisions in the embryo and the adult epidermis and immune systems, yet emerging evidence suggests Notch also directs non-cell-autonomous signalling in adult tissues. Here, we show that Notch1 works as a damage response signal. Epidermal Notch induces recruitment of immune cell subsets including RORγ + ILC3s into wounded dermis; RORγ + ILC3s are potent sources of IL17F in wounds and control immunological and epidermal cell responses. Mice deficient for RORγ + ILC3s heal wounds poorly resulting from delayed epidermal proliferation and macrophage recruitment in a CCL3-dependent process. Notch1 upregulates TNFα and the ILC3 recruitment chemokines CCL20 and CXCL13. TNFα, as a Notch1 effector, directs ILC3 localization and rates of wound healing. Altogether these findings suggest that Notch is a key stress/injury signal in skin epithelium driving innate immune cell recruitment and normal skin tissue repair

New adjusted cutoffs for "Normal" endocardial voltages in patients with post-infarct LV remodeling

OBJECTIVES This study sought to determine new reference cutoffs for normal unipolar voltage (UV) and bipolar voltage (BV) that would be adjusted for the LV remodeling.BACKGROUND The definition of "normal" left ventricular (LV) endocardial voltage in patients with post-infarct scar is still lacking. The reference voltage of the noninfarcted myocardium (NIM) may differ between patients depending on LV structural remodeling and the ensuing interstitial fibrosis.METHODS Electroanatomic voltage mapping was integrated with isotropic late gadolinium-enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance in 15 patients with nonremodeted LV and 12 patients with remodeled LV (end-systolic volume index >50 ml/m(2) with ejection fraction = 3.0 and >= 6.7 mV for nonremodeled LV and >= 2.1 and >= 6.4 mV for remodeled LV. Endocardial low-voltage area (LVA) defined by the adjusted cutoffs corresponded better to late gadolinium enhancement-detected scar than did LVA defined by uniform cutoffs. In 15 patients who underwent successful ablation of ventricular tachycardia, the LVA contained >97% of targeted evoked delayed potentials. Insights from whole-heart T1 mapping revealed more fibrotic NIM in patients with remodeled LV compared with nonremodeled LV.CONCLUSIONS This study found substantial differences in endocardial voltage of NIM in post-infarct patients with remodeled versus nonremodeled LV. The new adjusted cutoffs for "normal" BV and UV enable a patient-tailored approach to etectroanatomic voltage mapping of LV. (C) 2019 by the American College of Cardiology Foundation

Forced oscillations in a hydrodynamical accretion disk and QPOs

This is the second of a series of papers aimed to look for an explanation on the generation of high frequency quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) in accretion disks around neutron star, black hole, and white dwarf binaries. The model is inspired by the general idea of a resonance mechanism in the accretion disk oscillations as was already pointed out by Abramowicz & Klu{\'z}niak (\cite{Abramowicz2001}). In a first paper (P\'etri \cite{Petri2005a}, paper I), we showed that a rotating misaligned magnetic field of a neutron star gives rise to some resonances close to the inner edge of the accretion disk. In this second paper, we suggest that this process does also exist for an asymmetry in the gravitational potential of the compact object. We prove that the same physics applies, at least in the linear stage of the response to the disturbance in the system. This kind of asymmetry is well suited for neutron stars or white dwarfs possessing an inhomogeneous interior allowing for a deviation from a perfectly spherically symmetric gravitational field. We show by a linear analysis that the disk initially in a cylindrically symmetric stationary state is subject to three kinds of resonances: a corotation resonance, a Lindblad resonance due to a driven force and a parametric sonance. The highest kHz QPOs are then interpreted as the orbital frequency of the disk at locations where the response to the resonances are maximal. It is also found that strong gravity is not required to excite the resonances.Comment: Accepte

Space discontinuous Galerkin method for shallow water flows - kinetic and HLLC flux, and potential vorticity generation

In this paper, a second order space discontinuous Galerkin (DG) method is presented for the numerical solution of inviscid shallow water flows over varying bottom topography. Novel in the implementation is the use of HLLC and kinetic numerical fluxes in combination with a dissipation operator, applied only locally around discontinuities to limit spurious numerical oscillations. Numerical solutions over (non-)uniform meshes are verified against exact solutions; the numerical error in the $L_2$-norm and the convergence of the solution are computed. Bore-vortex interactions are studied analytically and numerically to validate the model; these include bores as "breaking waves'' in a channel and a bore traveling over a conical and Gaussian hump. In these complex numerical test cases, we correctly predict the generation of potential vorticity by non-uniform bores. Finally, we successfully validate the numerical model against measurements of steady oblique hydraulic jumps in a channel with a contraction. In the latter case, the kinetic flux is shown to be more robust

Isospin Effects in Nuclear Multifragmentation

We develop an improved Statistical Multifragmentation Model that provides the capability to calculate calorimetric and isotopic observables with precision. With this new model we examine the influence of nuclear isospin on the fragment elemental and isotopic distributions. We show that the proposed improvements on the model are essential for studying isospin effects in nuclear multifragmentation. In particular, these calculations show that accurate comparisons to experimental data require that the nuclear masses, free energies and secondary decay must be handled with higher precision than many current models accord.Comment: 46 pages, 16 figure

Growth differentiation factor 15 is not modified after weight loss induced by liraglutide in South Asians and Europids with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Abstract: Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R) agonists induce weight loss in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), but the underlying mechanism is unclear. Recently, the mechanism by which metformin induces weight loss could be explained by an increase in growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15), which suppresses appetite. Therefore, we aimed to investigate whether the GLP-1R agonist liraglutide modifies plasma GDF15 levels in patients with T2DM. GDF15 levels were measured in plasma samples obtained from Dutch Europids and Dutch South Asians with T2DM before and after 26 weeks of treatment with daily liraglutide (n = 44) or placebo (n = 50) added to standard care. At baseline, circulating GDF15 levels did not differ between South Asians and Europids with T2DM. Treatment with liraglutide, compared to placebo, decreased body weight, but did not modify plasma GDF15 levels in all patients, or when data were split by ethnicity. Also, the change in plasma GDF15 levels after treatment with liraglutide did not correlate with changes in body weight or HbA1c levels. In addition, the dose of metformin used did not correlate with baseline plasma GDF15 levels. Compared to placebo, liraglutide treatment for 26 weeks does not modify plasma GDF15 levels in Dutch Europid or South Asian patients with T2DM. Thus, the weight loss induced by liraglutide is likely explained by other mechanisms beyond the GDF15 pathway. Highlights: What is the central question of this study? Growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) suppresses appetite and is increased by metformin: does the GLP-1R agonist liraglutide modify plasma GDF15 levels in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM)? What is the main finding and its importance? Plasma GDF15 levels did not differ between South Asians and Europids with T2DM and were not modified by 26 weeks of liraglutide in either ethnicity. Moreover, there was no correlation between the changes in plasma GDF15 levels and dosage of metformin administered, changes in body weight or HbA1c levels. The appetite-suppressing effect of liraglutide is likely exerted via pathways other than GDF15