Letter to Brother and Sisters from Isaac Butler and Sarah A. Butler

A letter from Isaac and Sarah A. Butler discussing farming, livestock and asking for clarification for money owed and requesting to sell land in Illinois to pay the estate

Letter to Brother and Sisters from Isaac Butler and Sarah A. Butler

Isaac and Sarah A. Butler write on family health, livestock and harvest prices, the growth of Monmouth, and a plan for a new school building

Letter to Brother and Sister from Isaac Butler and Sarah A. Butler

Isaac and Sarah Butler describe the disposition of land involved in their fathers estate and general news of their economic situation

Letter to John Butler and Eliza (Smith) Butler from Isaac Butler, Sarah A. Butler and Mary Butler

A letter from Isaac and Sarah A. Butler and their daughter Mary noting a payment received for the land sale in Illinois, a blight in fruit and oak trees, anxiety for statehood decisions, and state politics forming three parties including National Democrats and Black Republicans. They also relay family news, including word that Ira F.M. Butler is now a judge, Isaac Smith a County Representative, Tom Hutchinson Clerk of the Court, Isaac Butler the County Assessor and other news of the children

Letter to John Butler from Isaac Butler, Sarah A. Butler and Mary Butler

Isaac and Sarah A. Butler and their daughter Mary Butler describe the health of family, general livestock and harvest sales, and note that they are still waiting to be paid by Congress for war debt and give a description of war conditions

Letter to John Butler from Isaac Butler, Sara A. Butler and Mary Butler

Isaac and Sarah A. Butler discuss the welfare of family and friends, Issac serving as sheriff in Polk County, and news of two parties governing Oregon - the Union party and the Secession party

Assessing the vulnerability of the marine bird community in the western North Sea to climate change and other anthropogenic impacts

Ocean warming and anthropogenic activities such as fishing, shipping and marine renewable developments are affecting marine top predators. Research has focussed on the impacts of single stressors on single species, yet understanding cumulative effects of multiple stressors on communities is vital for effective conservation management. We studied a marine bird community (45 species; 11 families) that used the Forth and Tay region of the North Sea for breeding, overwintering or migration between 1980 and 2011. Local sea surface temperature (SST) increased significantly over this period, with concomitant changes in lower trophic levels. Simultaneously, the region has been subject to fishing pressure and shipping disturbance and is a priority area for renewable energy developments. We used colony-based and at-sea data to quantitatively assess relationships between SST and counts, productivity and survival of 25 species for which sufficient data were available for analysis. For the remaining species, we applied a qualitative approach using published population trends, published climate relationships and foraging sensitivity. In total, 53% of species showed negative relationships with SST. Trends in counts and demography were combined with climate vulnerability to give an index of population concern to future climate warming, and 44% of species were classified as high or very high concern, notably cormorants, grebes, skuas, shearwaters, terns and auks, as well as species breeding in the region. Qualitative assessments of vulnerability to fisheries, pollutants, disturbance (including introduced predators), marine renewables and climate found that 93% of species were vulnerable to ≥2 threats, and 58% to ≥4. Our results indicate that the majority of birds in this region of the North Sea face an uncertain future, potentially threatening the resilience of this important marine bird community

The Čḯxwicən Project of Northwest Washington State, U.S.A.: Opportunity Lost, Opportunity Found

Čḯxwicən (pronounced ch-WHEET-son) is a 2700 year-old ancestral village of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe (LEKT), located on the northwest coast of Washington State, U.S.A. The Čḯxwicən project has scientific values that broadly contribute to research in human ecodynamics and maritime foragers, given the scale of the project, excavation methods, and enormous quantities of faunal materials recovered. The village holds great significance to the LEKT as their traditional village, which includes a sacred burial ground. The project began under challenging circumstances, when the village was inadvertently encountered during a construction project, incurring huge political, social and financial costs. Commitment by the LEKT and Čḯxwicən scholars and other partners turned an “opportunity lost” into an “opportunity found.” This paper provides background to this remarkable site and project goals that guided the Čḯxwicən research project. The Special Issue papers showcase project results, including reflections by tribal members. Overall, the project shows the potential for archaeology and heritage to support reconciliation between tribes and archaeologists and broader society

Role of angiopoietin-like protein 3 in sugar-induced dyslipidemia in rhesus macaques: suppression by fish oil or RNAi.

Angiopoietin-like protein 3 (ANGPTL3) inhibits lipid clearance and is a promising target for managing cardiovascular disease. Here we investigated the effects of a high-sugar (high-fructose) diet on circulating ANGPTL3 concentrations in rhesus macaques. Plasma ANGPTL3 concentrations increased ∼30% to 40% after 1 and 3 months of a high-fructose diet (both P < 0.001 vs. baseline). During fructose-induced metabolic dysregulation, plasma ANGPTL3 concentrations were positively correlated with circulating indices of insulin resistance [assessed with fasting insulin and the homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR)], hypertriglyceridemia, adiposity (assessed as leptin), and systemic inflammation [C-reactive peptide (CRP)] and negatively correlated with plasma levels of the insulin-sensitizing hormone adropin. Multiple regression analyses identified a strong association between circulating APOC3 and ANGPTL3 concentrations. Higher baseline plasma levels of both ANGPTL3 and APOC3 were associated with an increased risk for fructose-induced insulin resistance. Fish oil previously shown to prevent insulin resistance and hypertriglyceridemia in this model prevented increases of ANGPTL3 without affecting systemic inflammation (increased plasma CRP and interleukin-6 concentrations). ANGPTL3 RNAi lowered plasma concentrations of ANGPTL3, triglycerides (TGs), VLDL-C, APOC3, and APOE. These decreases were consistent with a reduced risk of atherosclerosis. In summary, dietary sugar-induced increases of circulating ANGPTL3 concentrations after metabolic dysregulation correlated positively with leptin levels, HOMA-IR, and dyslipidemia. Targeting ANGPTL3 expression with RNAi inhibited dyslipidemia by lowering plasma TGs, VLDL-C, APOC3, and APOE levels in rhesus macaques

Exploring Ecodynamics of Coastal Foragers Using Integrated Faunal Records from Čḯxwicən Village (Strait of Juan de Fuca, Washington, U.S.A.)

Extensive 2004 excavation of Čḯxwicən (pronounced ch-WHEET-son), traditional home of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe in northwest Washington State, U.S.A., documented human occupation spanning the last 2700 years with fine geo-stratigraphic control and 102 radiocarbon samples. Remains of multiple plankhouses were documented. Occupation spans large-magnitude earthquakes, periods of climate change, and change in nearshore habitat. Our project began in 2012 as a case study to explore the value of human ecodynamics in explaining change and stability in human-animal relationships on the Northwest Coast through analysis of faunal and geo-archaeological records. Field sampling was explicitly designed to allow for integration of all faunal classes (birds, fish, mammals, and invertebrates), thus facilitating our ability to track how different taxa were affected by external factors and cultural processes. With over one million specimens, the faunal assemblage represents one of the largest on the North Pacific Coast. Invertebrate records reveal striking changes in intertidal habitat that are linked to the formation of the sheltered harbor and catastrophic events such as tsunamis. Analysis suggests a high level of consistency in the structure of resource use (evenness and richness) across 2150 years of occupation, despite increase in intensity of human use and a shift to plankhouse occupation. Trends in fish and invertebrate representation do not correspond to changing ocean conditions, while changes in abundance of herring, salmon, burrowing bivalves and urchins are consistent with impacts from tsunamis. Comparison of resource use between two well-sampled houses before and after one tsunami suggests that while both households were resilient, they negotiated the event in different ways