The genomic origins of the world’s first farmers

The precise genetic origins of the first Neolithic farming populations in Europe and Southwest Asia, as well as the processes and the timing of their differentiation, remain largely unknown. Demogenomic modeling of high-quality ancient genomes reveals that the early farmers of Anatolia and Europe emerged from a multiphase mixing of a Southwest Asian population with a strongly bottlenecked western hunter-gatherer population after the last glacial maximum. Moreover, the ancestors of the first farmers of Europe and Anatolia went through a period of extreme genetic drift during their westward range expansion, contributing highly to their genetic distinctiveness. This modeling elucidates the demographic processes at the root of the Neolithic transition and leads to a spatial interpretation of the population history of Southwest Asia and Europe during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene.Open access articleThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Widespread exploitation of the honeybee by early Neolithic farmers.

This is the author's version of an article subsequently published in Nature. The definitive version is available from the publisher via: doi: 10.1038/nature15757.Copyright © 2015, Rights Managed by Nature Publishing GroupThe pressures on honeybee (Apis mellifera) populations, resulting from threats by modern pesticides, parasites, predators and diseases, have raised awareness of the economic importance and critical role this insect plays in agricultural societies across the globe. However, the association of humans with A. mellifera predates post-industrial-revolution agriculture, as evidenced by the widespread presence of ancient Egyptian bee iconography dating to the Old Kingdom (approximately 2400 BC). There are also indications of Stone Age people harvesting bee products; for example, honey hunting is interpreted from rock art in a prehistoric Holocene context and a beeswax find in a pre-agriculturalist site. However, when and where the regular association of A. mellifera with agriculturalists emerged is unknown. One of the major products of A. mellifera is beeswax, which is composed of a complex suite of lipids including n-alkanes, n-alkanoic acids and fatty acyl wax esters. The composition is highly constant as it is determined genetically through the insect's biochemistry. Thus, the chemical 'fingerprint' of beeswax provides a reliable basis for detecting this commodity in organic residues preserved at archaeological sites, which we now use to trace the exploitation by humans of A. mellifera temporally and spatially. Here we present secure identifications of beeswax in lipid residues preserved in pottery vessels of Neolithic Old World farmers. The geographical range of bee product exploitation is traced in Neolithic Europe, the Near East and North Africa, providing the palaeoecological range of honeybees during prehistory. Temporally, we demonstrate that bee products were exploited continuously, and probably extensively in some regions, at least from the seventh millennium cal BC, likely fulfilling a variety of technological and cultural functions. The close association of A. mellifera with Neolithic farming communities dates to the early onset of agriculture and may provide evidence for the beginnings of a domestication process.Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)English HeritageEuropean Research Council (ERC)Leverhulme TrustMinistère de la Culture et de la CommunicationMinistère de l’Enseignement Supérieur et de la RechercheRoyal SocietyWellcome Trus

Data sharing reveals complexity in the westward spread of domestic animals across Neolithic Turkey

This study presents the results of a major data integration project bringing together primary archaeozoological data for over 200,000 faunal specimens excavated from seventeen sites in Turkey spanning the Epipaleolithic through Chalcolithic periods, c. 18,000-4,000 cal BC, in order to document the initial westward spread of domestic livestock across Neolithic central and western Turkey. From these shared datasets we demonstrate that the westward expansion of Neolithic subsistence technologies combined multiple routes and pulses but did not involve a set 'package' comprising all four livestock species including sheep, goat, cattle and pig. Instead, Neolithic animal economies in the study regions are shown to be more diverse than deduced previously using quantitatively more limited datasets. Moreover, during the transition to agro-pastoral economies interactions between domestic stock and local wild fauna continued. Through publication of datasets with Open Context (opencontext.org), this project emphasizes the benefits of data sharing and web-based dissemination of large primary data sets for exploring major questions in archaeology (Alternative Language Abstract S1)

Case studies on the use of neural networks in eutrophication modeling

Artificial neural networks are becoming more and more common to be used in development of prediction models for complex systems as the theory behind them develops and the processing power of computers increase. A three layer Levenberg-Marquardt feedforward learning algorithm was used to model the eutrophication process in three water bodies of Turkey (Keban Dam Reservoir, Mogan and Eymir Lakes). Despite the very complex and peculiar nature of Keban Dam, a relatively good correlation (correlation coefficient between 0.60 and 0.75) was observed between the measured and calculated values. For Mogan and Eymir, which are much smaller and more homogenous lakes compared to Keban Dam Reservoir, correlation values as high as 0.95 were achieved between the measured and calculated values. Neural network models were able to model non-linear behavior in eutrophication process reasonably well and could successfully estimate some extreme values from validation and test data sets which were not used in training the neural network

Protective Effects of Silymarin against Doxorubicin-induced Toxicity

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of silymarin on doxorubicin-induced toxicity to the rat kidney, heart, and liver. Materials and methods: A single dose of 10 mg/kg doxorubicin was injected intraperitoneally (ip) in the doxorubicin group. The silymarin group received silymarin (100 mg/kg) every other day. In the doxorubicin + silymarin group, silymarin was injected ip at 100 mg/kg dose for 5 days before doxorubicin administration (10 mg/kg, single ip injection) and then continued daily thereafter until euthanization. On the seventh day after doxorubicin injection, eight animals from each group were decapitated and liver and heart samples were obtained. The remaining eight animals of each group continued to receive silymarin every other day, till euthanized on the twenty first day. Serum was separated for determination of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSHPx), catalase (CAT), malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO), creatinine, urea, AST, ALT, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and creatinine phosphokinase (CPK) activities. Histopathological and electron microscopic examinations of heart, kidney and liver sections were also performed. Results: Doxorubicin caused a significant increase in serum NO levels compared to controls. Silymarin pretreatment group lowered these. Histopathological and electron microscopic examinations of kidney, heart, and liver sections showed doxorubicin to cause myocardial and renal injury which was levv evident in silymarin treated rats. Conclusion(s): Results of the present study indicate that silymarin significantly protected doxorubicin-induced toxicities to the rat kidney, heart, and liver, thus suggesting its administration as a supportive care agent during anti-cancer treatment featuring doxorubicin

The Efficacy of Tramadol Combined with A Donor of NO, Glyceryl Trinitrate (GTN) Mixture on Cytokines, NF-KB Expression and Oxidative Stress Marker in the Rat Model of Formalin Induced Inflammation

In addition to well-known analgesic action of tramadol, its potential antinflammatory effects have not been thoroughly evaluated. On the other hand, effectiveness of antioxidants is also reported against inflammation. It is known that glyceryl trinitrate, as a nitric oxide donor, enhance the antioxidative and anti-inflammatory effects. In the present study, the efficacy of the tramadol mixtue with glyceryl trinitrate on cytokines, NF-kappa B expression and oxidative stress marker was examined on the formalin-induced inflammation in rats (Tramadol 5, 10 and 30 mg/kg + nitroglycerine 1 mg/kg). Cytokines (TNF-, IL-6 and IL-10) and oxidative/anti-oxidative stress markers (MDA, GSH) were measured in blood samples. NF-kappa B expression was assessed immunohistochemically in spleen and thymus. The results show that tramadol 30 mg/kg has both anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative effects. Additionally, it was evidenced that glyceryl trinitrate improves the antiinflammatory and anti-oxidative effects of Tramadol (30 mg/kg) on the formalin-induced inflammation in rats. In this framework, the present study provides a unique approach for the analysis of the efficacy of tramadol and additive effects of glyceryl trinitrate on the acute inflammations in rats