A Last Glacial Maximum Pollen Record from Bodmin Moor Showing a Possible Cryptic Northern Refugium in Southwest England

Reproduced with permission of the publisher. The definitive version is available at www3.interscience.wiley.com. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, LtdA late Devensian palynological record is presented from Dozmary Pool (Bodmin Moor, southwest England), beyond the southern limit of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) British Ice Sheet. The pollen assemblages indicate predominantly herbaceous tundra steppe communities but also include elevated levels (typically 10-20%) of conifer tree pollen (Picea, Pinus, Abies) and lower but persistent percentages of broadleaf tree pollen during the LGM. This record is seemingly at odds with the orthodox view of an entirely treeless tundra steppe environment for this region and elimination of tree species from the British Isles during glacial maxima. Long-distance pollen transport seems an unlikely explanation for the tree pollen considering distance to the nearest known refugia, except possibly for Pinus. Reworking of the tree pollen, often invoked in these circumstances, remains a possible alternative, especially given the abundance of these trees in the region during early Devensian interstadials. However, this explanation has been challenged by studies reporting plant macrofossil and faunal evidence for survival of temperate biota during glacial maxima and from climate modelling work that suggests some trees could have survived the glacial extremes in areas well beyond the recorded glacial refugia. Assuming reworking was not a major factor, the Dozmary Pool pollen record is consistent with the "apos;cryptic northern refugia hypothesis"apos; that invokes survival of trees in small, scattered populations under locally favourable conditions during glacial maxima

The WTO Appellate Body Gambles on the Future of the GATS: Analyzing the Internet Gambling Dispute between Antigua and the United States before the World Trade Organization

The World Trade Organization’s recent Appellate Body decision in the Antigua – United States dispute found that U.S. restrictions on Internet gambling qualified for an exception under Article XIV of the GATS. This paper criticizes the Appellate Body’s decision to overturn the WTO Panel on two grounds. First, it argues that the Appellate Body erred when it concluded that U.S. gambling restrictions are necessary to protect public morals or maintain public order. Second, it argues that the Appellate Body failed to adhere to previous WTO measures dealing with similar jurisprudence and both panels did not adequately explain the significance of footnote 5 in GATS Article XIV

Barriers to Physical Activity and Healthy Eating in Children as Perceived by Low-Income Parents: A Case Study

During the past three decades the prevalence of childhood obesity has steadily increased in the United States. Causes of childhood obesity are complex and include numerous individual and environmental factors. The purpose of this study was to determine parent perceptions on the social-ecological barriers (community, school, and family) to physical activity and healthy eating, perceived specific to their children. Self-reported data gathered from a 50-item questionnaire and six focus groups were conducted with parents (n=43) enrolled in the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Program. Participants (16 to 67 years old) were predominately female (88.4%), Hispanic (67%), low income, and living in or near Lompoc in Santa Barbara County, CA. The social-ecological model (family, school, and community) was utilized to create focus group questions and provide recommendations as part of the Lompoc Community Health Improvement Project (2006-to-the-present). Popular community barriers for physical activity were: disconnected sidewalks, lack of safe bike routes to school, lack of recreational programming at an affordable cost, and language barriers (lack of marketing physical activity programs in Spanish). Two safety barriers involved parks; fear of injury (dilapidated equipment) and fear of gangs (violence). Common school barriers were: teachers do not lead-by-example, lack of healthy food in school cafeteria, and insufficient time for children to purchase food and eat. Family barriers included: grandparents sabotaging healthy eating environments (e.g., spoilingchildren), insufficient nutrition knowledge (both children and parents), and economics (not being able to afford healthy food and a recreation/gym membership)

The brain, self and society: a social-neuroscience model of predictive processing.

This paper presents a hypothesis about how social interactions shape and influence predictive processing in the brain. The paper integrates concepts from neuroscience and sociology where a gulf presently exists between the ways that each describe the same phenomenon - how the social world is engaged with by thinking humans. We combine the concepts of predictive processing models (also called predictive coding models in the neuroscience literature) with ideal types, typifications and social practice - concepts from the sociological literature. This generates a unified hypothetical framework integrating the social world and hypothesised brain processes. The hypothesis combines aspects of neuroscience and psychology with social theory to show how social behaviors may be "mapped" onto brain processes. It outlines a conceptual framework that connects the two disciplines and that may enable creative dialogue and potential future research.St John's College Cambridge Annual Fun

Physical activity counseling in overweight and obese primary care patients: Outcomes of the VA-STRIDE randomized controlled trial.

The purpose of this 2-arm randomized clinical trial was to evaluate the effectiveness of a 12-month, expert system-based, print-delivered physical activity intervention in a primary care Veteran population in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Participants were not excluded for many health conditions that typically are exclusionary criteria in physical activity trials. The primary outcome measures were physical activity reported using the Community Healthy Activities Model Program for Seniors (CHAMPS) questionnaire and an accelerometer-based activity assessment at baseline, 6, and 12 months. Of the 232 Veterans enrolled in the study, 208 (89.7%) were retained at the 6-month follow-up and 203 (87.5%) were retained at 12 months. Compared to the attention control, intervention participants had significantly increased odds of meeting the U.S. recommended guideline of ≥ 150 min/week of at least moderate-intensity physical activity at 12 months for the modified CHAMPS (odds ratio [OR] = 2.86; 95% CI: 1.03-7.96; p = 0.04) but not at 6 months (OR = 1.54; 95% CI: 0.56-4.23; p = 0.40). Based on accelerometer data, intervention participants had significantly increased odds of meeting ≥ 150 min/week of moderate-equivalent physical activity at 6 months (OR = 6.26; 95% CI: 1.26-31.22; p = 0.03) and borderline significantly increased odds at 12 months (OR = 4.73; 95% CI: 0.98-22.76; p = 0.053). An expert system physical activity counseling intervention can increase or sustain the proportion of Veterans in primary care meeting current recommendations for moderate-intensity physical activity. Trial Registration Clinical trials.gov identifier: NCT00731094 URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00731094

A sugar phosphatase regulates the methylerythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway in malaria parasites

Isoprenoid biosynthesis through the methylerythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway generates commercially important products and is a target for antimicrobial drug development. MEP pathway regulation is poorly understood in microorganisms. We employ a forward genetics approach to understand MEP pathway regulation in the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. The antimalarial fosmidomycin inhibits the MEP pathway enzyme deoxyxylulose 5-phosphate reductoisomerase (DXR). Fosmidomycin-resistant P. falciparum are enriched for changes in the PF3D7_1033400 locus (hereafter referred to as PfHAD1), encoding a homologue of haloacid dehalogenase (HAD)-like sugar phosphatases. We describe the structural basis for loss-of-function PfHAD1 alleles and find that PfHAD1 dephosphorylates a variety of sugar phosphates, including glycolytic intermediates. Loss of PfHAD1 is required for fosmidomycin resistance. Parasites lacking PfHAD1 have increased MEP pathway metabolites, particularly the DXR substrate, deoxyxylulose 5-phosphate. PfHAD1 therefore controls substrate availability to the MEP pathway. Because PfHAD1 has homologs in plants and bacteria, other HAD proteins may be MEP pathway regulators