Palaeoenvironment of a mesolithic peat bed from Austin Friars, Leicester

A mesolithic peat bed, dated to 9920±100 bp (HAR-4260) (bp = radiocarbon years before the present calculated from A.D. 19S0 within + or - of 100 years in this case. Ed.) was recovered from Austin Friars, Leicester. Analysis of preserved fauna and flora, especially insects and seeds, indicated that the peat had formed in a shallow pond or lake, with vegetated, marshy edges subject to periodic flooding. The pond was set in open countryside characterised by a lack of trees and preponderance of light-demanding species, living in a cold, damp tundra climate at the very end of Late Glacial Zone III (9000-8300 RC.) extending into the Post Glacial (8300-4000 RC.)

The Impact of Biochar Application on Soil Properties and Plant Growth of Pot Grown Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) and Cabbage (Brassica chinensis)

The effect of rice-husk char (potentially biochar) application on the growth of transplanted lettuce (Lactuca sativa) and Chinese cabbage (Brassica chinensis) was assessed in a pot experiment over a three crop (lettuce-cabbage-lettuce) cycle in Cambodia. The biochar was the by-product of a rice-husk gasification unit and consisted of 28.7% carbon (C) by mass. Biochar application rates to potting medium of 25, 50 and 150 g kg−1 were used with and without locally available fertilizers (a mixture of compost, liquid compost and lake sediment). The rice-husk biochar used was slightly alkaline (pH 7.79), increased the pH of the soil, and contained elevated levels of some trace metals and exchangeable cations (K, Ca and Mg) in comparison to the soil. The biochar treatments were found to increase the final biomass, root biomass, plant height and number of leaves in all the cropping cycles in comparison to no biochar treatments. The greatest biomass increase due to biochar additions (903%) was found in the soils without fertilization, rather than fertilized soils (483% with the same biochar application as in the “without fertilization” case). Over the cropping cycles the impact was reduced; a 363% increase in biomass was observed in the third lettuce cycle

Elemental, isotopic, and geochronological variability in Mogollon-Datil volcanic province archaeological obsidian, southwestern USA: Solving issues of intersource discrimination

Solving issues of intersource discrimination in archaeological obsidian is a recurring problem in geoarchaeological investigation, particularly since the number of known sources of archaeological obsidian worldwide has grown nearly exponentially in the last few decades, and the complexity of archaeological questions asked has grown equally so. These two parallel aspects of archaeological investigation have required more exacting understanding of the geological relationship between sources and the more accurate analysis of these sources of archaeological obsidian. This is particularly the case in the North American Southwest where the frequency of archaeological investigation is some of the highest in the world, and the theory and method used to interpret that record has become increasingly nuanced. Here, we attempt to unravel the elemental similarity of archaeological obsidian in the Mogollon-Datil volcanic province of southwestern New Mexico where some of the most important and extensively distributed sources are located and the elemental similarity between the sources is great even though the distance between the sources is large. Uniting elemental, isotopic, and geochronological analyses as an intensive pilot study, we unpack this complexity to provide greater understanding of these important sources of archaeological obsidian

Getting the best out of our wheats.

Getting the best out of our wheats, 89KA9, 89LG3, 89N4, 89LG4, 89N5, 89KA10, Time of sowing experiments. Factorial experiments

2020 Western Australian Crop Sowing Guide

This edition of the 2020 Crop Sowing Guide includes the major crops grown in WA - wheat, barley, canola, oat and now a new section on lupin and pulses. The publication aims to provide information to support growers with decisions on the best choice of variety for each of the major crops for the upcoming season. The lupin and pulse sections also include an agronomy guide summary to support management decisions required for these high-valued crops.https://researchlibrary.agric.wa.gov.au/bulletins/1265/thumbnail.jp

Eliciting Preferences for Resource Allocation in Health Care

Willingness-to-pay (WTP) studies are increasingly being used in the evaluation of health care programmes and, although less frequently, for priority setting in health care. The usefulness of willingness-to-pay as a discriminatory tool for priority setting is considered in this paper for three different health care programmes in Ireland: cancer, cardiovascular and community care. While the resulting estimates are consistent with respondents’ rankings of the programmes, there is no statistical difference among the three programmes in terms of WTP. In considering marginal changes to existing health care programmes people consider their rankings of the programmes and the existing capacity of each programme. People are also more concerned with the gains to themselves of expanding various health care programmes than with wider issues of access or fairness.

Venetian Song

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-ps/3110/thumbnail.jp

Understanding the mechanisms of G protein-coupled receptor mediated nutrient sensing in enteroendocrine cells

Nutrient sensing is the process by which cells detect and respond to dynamic metabolite fluctuations. In gastrointestinal enteroendocrine cells (EECs), this process facilitates the post-prandial secretion of anorectic gut hormones. As these elicit diverse impacts on physiology, appetite and metabolism, they present potential targets for anti-obesity therapeutics. Short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are produced as by-products of the fermentation of non-digestible carbohydrates by the gut microbiota, predominantly in the colon. SCFAs induce EECs to release anorectic hormones GLP-1 and PYY by acting as ligands at G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) FFAR2 and FFAR3. Thus far, it has been confirmed that FFAR2 and FFAR3 couple to Gαi/o but FFAR2 alone activates Gαq/11 calcium mobilisation. However, FFAR2 is seemingly only able to induce calcium signals in EECs when activated by synthetic FFAR2 ligands, not SCFAs. It is plausible that crosstalk between FFAR2 and FFAR3 could be preventing FFAR2 coupling to Gαq in response to SCFAs. This has been assessed by combining genome editing and functional signalling assays. Conversely, the results demonstrate that co-expression of FFAR2 and FFAR3 in heterologous systems enhances propionate-mediated calcium mobilisation. Futhermore, functional knockout of FFAR3 has no impact on propionate signalling in EECs. Interestingly, crosstalk with FFAR4 may represent a mechanism for the lack of SCFA-induced Gαq signalling in EECs. The impact of SCFAs on the expression of other GPCR signalling machinery remains poorly characterised. This project has, to date, demonstrated propionate and butyrate robustly upregulate transcripts encoding the umami taste receptor, via a Gαi/o independent mechanism. We show that overnight exposure of EECs to butyrate enhances the calcium mobilisation in response to L-Alanine when IMP is present. Therefore, I propose an alternative, indirect mechanism by which SCFAs enhance gut hormone release; namely, by inducing a hypersensitivity of EECs to L-amino acids by promoting expression of taste signalling components.Open Acces

Twilight Song : Reverie

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-ps/1931/thumbnail.jp