Eph-B4 prevents venous adaptive remodeling in the adult arterial environment

Stimulation of Eph-B4 prevents adaptive remodeling and preserves venous identity when veins are surgically placed into an arterial environment

Climate Change, Human Health, and Resilience in the Holocene

Climate change is an indisputable threat to human health, especially for societies already confronted with rising social inequality, political and economic uncertainty, and a cascade of concurrent environmental challenges. Archaeological data about past climate and environment provide an important source of evidence about the potential challenges humans face and the long-term outcomes of alternative short-term adaptive strategies. Evidence from well-dated archaeological human skeletons and mummified remains speaks directly to patterns of human health over time through changing circumstances. Here, we describe variation in human epidemiological patterns in the context of past rapid climate change (RCC) events and other periods of past environmental change. Case studies confirm that human communities responded to environmental changes in diverse ways depending on historical, sociocultural, and biological contingencies. Certain factors, such as social inequality and disproportionate access to resources in large, complex societies may influence the probability of major sociopolitical disruptions and reorganizations—commonly known as “collapse.” This survey of Holocene human–environmental relations demonstrates how flexibility, variation, and maintenance of Indigenous knowledge can be mitigating factors in the face of environmental challenges. Although contemporary climate change is more rapid and of greater magnitude than the RCC events and other environmental changes we discuss here, these lessons from the past provide clarity about potential priorities for equitable, sustainable development and the constraints of modernity we must address

Climate change, human health, and resilience in the Holocene

Climate change is an indisputable threat to human health, especially for societies already confronted with rising social inequality, political and economic uncertainty, and a cascade of concurrent environmental challenges. Archaeological data about past climate and environment provide an important source of evidence about the potential challenges humans face and the long-term outcomes of alternative short-term adaptive strategies. Evidence from well-dated archaeological human skeletons and mummified remains speaks directly to patterns of human health over time through changing circumstances. Here, we describe variation in human epidemiological patterns in the context of past rapid climate change (RCC) events and other periods of past environmental change. Case studies confirm that human communities responded to environmental changes in diverse ways depending on historical, sociocultural, and biological contingencies. Certain factors, such as social inequality and disproportionate access to resources in large, complex societies may influence the probability of major sociopolitical disruptions and reorganizations—commonly known as “collapse.” This survey of Holocene human–environmental relations demonstrates how flexibility, variation, and maintenance of Indigenous knowledge can be mitigating factors in the face of environmental challenges. Although contemporary climate change is more rapid and of greater magnitude than the RCC events and other environmental changes we discuss here, these lessons from the past provide clarity about potential priorities for equitable, sustainable development and the constraints of modernity we must address

Connectivity and systemic resilience of the Great Barrier Reef

Australia’s iconic Great Barrier Reef (GBR) continues to suffer from repeated impacts of cyclones, coral bleaching, and outbreaks of the coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS), losing much of its coral cover in the process. This raises the question of the ecosystem’s systemic resilience and its ability to rebound after large-scale population loss. Here, we reveal that around 100 reefs of the GBR, or around 3%, have the ideal properties to facilitate recovery of disturbed areas, thereby imparting a level of systemic resilience and aiding its continued recovery. These reefs (1) are highly connected by ocean currents to the wider reef network, (2) have a relatively low risk of exposure to disturbances so that they are likely to provide replenishment when other reefs are depleted, and (3) have an ability to promote recovery of desirable species but are unlikely to either experience or spread COTS outbreaks. The great replenishment potential of these ‘robust source reefs’, which may supply 47% of the ecosystem in a single dispersal event, emerges from the interaction between oceanographic conditions and geographic location, a process that is likely to be repeated in other reef systems. Such natural resilience of reef systems will become increasingly important as the frequency of disturbances accelerates under climate change

“Place Of Strong Men”: Skeletal Trauma And The (Re)Construction Of Chachapoya Identity

An individual or group social identity is created through the complex interplay between internally derived and externally applied definitions (Jenkins 2003). The process of internal definition involves the self-ascription by the actors and can manifest individually or collectively. While this process may initially be internal, it is a process that can draw upon an external social framework and is contingent upon the existence of an audience. The process in which the other is created and contrasted with the us necessarily calls upon social interaction. This transaction may range from consensual, in which the internal and external definition are isomorphic (or nearly so), to confrontational, in which the external definition may have a significant effect on the social experience of the categorized (Jenkins 2003; Stein 2002). In this chapter we explore the reconstructed identity of the Chachapoya as fierce warriors, a name and characterization that have come to be applied to a group of people that inhabited a region in northern Peru between AD 1000 until the early Colonial period (after AD 1532). This identity has largely been based on textual sources and to some degree archaeological data, and is therefore predominantly a product of forces external to the region. The current research relies upon the analysis of skeletal trauma as the prevalence and distribution can serve as markers of shared collective experiences and therefore provides another perspective of the role of violence in this constructed identity

Bioarheološka analiza osteološkog materijala s nekropole u Nadinu

This contribution presents the results of the bioarchaeological analysis of human skeletal remains from excavations at the Nadin necropolis, focusing on the reconstruction of population demographics and pathological conditions. This site has represented a methodological challenge for traditional individual-level skeletal analyses because the primary architectural unit in the necropolis, parcela, contain commingled and fragmentary elements with evidence of repeated use, multiple inhumations, and cremations. Therefore, landmark-based methods for the determination of MNI have been applied in the analysis of skeletal remains from the 2013 and 2015 excavations. This allowed a more accurate construction of the demographic profile for the site in combination with estimates from previous reports. The minimum number of individuals for the Nadin necropolis, combined with the previously published MNI from within the space delineated as parcela (“cela”) 1 (n=45), is estimated to be 196. These data also show a higher count of subadult remains (51%, n=99), compared to reports for other Iron Age sites in the region. Based on paleodemographic evaluations of the connections among younger age cohorts in skeletal collections, fertility, and population size, high infant and child mortality suggest population growth.U prilogu se donose rezultati bioarheološke analize ljudskih osteoloških ostataka s iskopavanja nekropole u Nadinu, s naglaskom na rekonstrukciji demografskih karakteristika populacije i analizi patoloških promjena. Ovo je nalazište bilo poseban izazov u metodološkom smislu za tradicionalne analize kostiju po pojedinim slojevima jer je primarna arheološka jedinica na nekropoli, parcela, sadržavala izmiješane i fragmentarne elemente koji su upućivali na ponovnu upotrebu, višestruke inhumacije i paljevinske ukope. Stoga je primijenjena metoda temeljena na karakterističnim elementima da bi se odredio najmanji broj jedinki (MNI – Minimal Number of Individuals) u analizi kostiju otkrivenih u iskopavanjima od 2013. do 2015. što je omogućilo točniju rekonstrukciju demografskog profila nalazišta u kombinaciji s procjenama iz prethodnih izvješća. Najmanji broj jedinki s nadinske nekropole, zajedno s prethodno objavljenim najmanjim brojem jedinki za prostor koji je označen kao parcela („cela”) 1 (n = 45) procijenjen je na 196. Ovi podatci također upućuju na veći udio ostataka subadultne grupe (51 %, n = 99), u usporedbi s drugim željeznodobnim nalazištima iz ovog područja. Paleodemografska procjena veza između udjela mlađe populacije u bioarheološkom uzorku sa stopom rađanja i veličinom populacije, te visokom smrtnošću novorođenčadi i djece upućuje na rast populacije

Nevada Census Microdata, 1860-1920

The Nevada Census Microdata provides a complete-count transcription of the manuscript census pages from the state of Nevada, for the federal censuses of 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, and 1920. It includes nearly all of the information that was recorded on the census forms, though the questions asked by census-takers changed over time. This data can help researchers investigate historical questions related to immigration, migration, industrialization, work, and family. The multiple years covered by the data permit valuable longitudinal studies, at least within the state of Nevada. Future phases of the project will include more extensive documentation and refining field names and values to make this data as compatible as possible with other sources used in historical demography, such as those published by the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS)