PIKK-ing a New Partner: A New Role for PKB in the DNA Damage Response

The protein kinase PKB/Akt has long been associated with regulating signaling pathways that promote cell survival and cell growth, for example, in response to growth factors. In contrast, the DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) is required for the repair of DNA damage and for cell survival after exposure to DNA-damaging agents, such as ionizing radiation. In a recent paper published in Molecular Cell, Hemmings and colleagues provide evidence that DNA-PK is required for the activation of PKB in response to exposure to ionizing radiation, suggesting that these two protein kinases may act together to promote survival after DNA damage

On the estimation of temporal mileage rates

Peer reviewedPostprin

The hairy–downy game revisited: an empirical test of the interspecific social dominance mimicry hypothesis

© 2018 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Understanding the emergence and persistence of convergent phenotypes is the subject of considerable debate. Species may converge on nearly identical phenotypes for a variety of reasons, including occupying similar environments, exhibiting similar foraging ecologies, and for signalling reasons such as mimicry. Interspecific social dominance mimicry (ISDM) is a hypothesis that states that socially subordinate species evolve a phenotype mimicking a dominant species so as to accrue resources and avoid aggression. A recently proposed test case for this phenomenon asserts that downy woodpeckers, Picoides pubescens, evolved mimetic plumage to avoid attacks from hairy woodpeckers, Picoides villosus. We examined this claim with a large behavioural data set collected by citizen scientists. We employed phylogenetic methods and simulations to test whether downy woodpeckers avoid aggression, and whether downy woodpeckers are more dominant than expected based on body mass. Contrary to the expectations of ISDM, we found that downy woodpeckers were markedly more often the target of hairy woodpecker attacks than expected based on their relative abundances. Our empirical data thus offers no support for the strict ISDM hypothesis as an explanation for downy–hairy woodpecker plumage convergence. However, downy woodpeckers are slightly more dominant than expected based on their body mass, albeit not significantly so. Our data therefore lend weight to previous suggestions that the benefits of mimicry potentially accrue from third-party species mistaking the mimic for the model, rather than the model mistaking the mimic for another model

Proposed policy guidelines for managing heritage at risk based on public engagement and communicating climate change

The deterioration and loss of our historic environment due to natural erosive processes, exacerbated by climate change, already outpaces available resources for preservation and will accelerate over the coming century. While this process is divisive and destructive, it is also bringing together international collaborators who are developing more holistic approaches to addressing heritage at risk. In 2018, an intensive fieldtrip and series of workshops as part of the Learning from Loss project brought researchers and practitioners from both sides of the Atlantic together with community stakeholders. Over twelve days, the delegates considered alternative futures for heritage at risk, exploring diverse perspectives and observing action previously taken at threatened sites by both heritage professionals and local communities, often working in collaboration. Recognising that not everything can be saved, the structured discussions and site visits revealed a number of insights into ways that action could be planned in the future. The suggestions also highlighted differences in the way that heritage is managed in the UK and the US. This paper summarises the findings of the field trip and discusses how there may need to be a sea-change in thinking in the United Sates in order to prepare for the growing disaster facing an increasing number of archaeological monuments.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Coastal heritage, global climate change, public engagement, and citizen science

Climate change is threatening an uncalculated number of archaeological sites globally, totalling perhaps hundreds of thousands of culturally and paleoenvironmentally significant resources. As with all archaeological sites, they provide evidence of humanity’s past and help us understand our place in the present world. Coastal sites, clustered at the water’s edge, are already experiencing some of the most dramatic damage due to anthropogenic climate change; and the situation is predicted to worsen in the future. In the face of catastrophic loss, organizations around the world are developing new ways of working with this threatened coastal resource. This paper uses three examples, from Scotland, Florida and Maine, to highlight how new partnerships and citizen science approaches are building communities of practice to better manage threatened coastal heritage. It compares methods on either side of the Atlantic and highlights challenges and solutions. The approaches are applicable to the increasing number of heritage sites everywhere at risk from climate change; the study of coastal sites thus helps society prepare for climate change impacts to heritage worldwide.PostprintPeer reviewe