Pedigree-based Bayesian modelling of radiocarbon dates

Within the last decade, archaeogenetic analysis has revolutionized archaeological research and enabled novel insights into mobility, relatedness and health of past societies. Now, it is possible to develop these results further and integrate archaeogenetic insights into biological relatedness with radiocarbon dates as means of chronologically sequenced information. In our article, we demonstrate the potential of combining relative chronological information with absolute radiocarbon dates by Bayesian interpretation in order to improve age determinations. Using artificial pedigrees with four sets of simulated radiocarbon dates we show that the combination of relationship information with radiocarbon dates improves the age determination in many cases at least between 20 to 50%. Calibrated age ranges are more constrained than simply calibrating radiocarbon ages independently from each other. Thereby, the precision of modelled ages depends on the precision of the single radiocarbon dates, the number of modelled generations, the shape of the calibration curve and the availability of samples that can be precisely fixed in time due to specific patterns in the calibration curve (“anchor points”). Ambiguous calibrated radiocarbon dates, which are caused by inversions of the calibration curve, can be partly or almost entirely resolved through Bayesian modelling based upon information from pedigrees. Finally, we discuss selected case studies of biological pedigrees achieved for Early Bronze Age Southern Germany by recent archaeogenetic analysis, whereby the sites and pedigrees differ with regard to the quality of information, which can be used for a Bayesian model of the radiocarbon dates. In accordance with the abstract models, radiocarbon dates can again be better constrained and are therefore more applicable for archaeological interpretation and chronological placement of the dated individuals

Neoliberal growth models, monetary union and the Euro Crisis : a post-Keynesian perspective

The paper offers an account of the Euro crisis based on post-Keynesian monetary theory and its typology of demand regimes. Neoliberalism has transformed social and financial relations in Europe but it has not given rise to a sustained profit-led growth process. Instead, growth has relied either on financial bubbles and rising household debt (‘debt-driven growth’) or on net exports (‘export-driven growth’). In Europe the financial crisis has been amplified by an economic policy architecture (the Stability and Growth Pact) that aimed at restricting the role of fiscal policy and monetary policy. This neoliberal economic policy regime in conjunction with the separation of monetary and fiscal spheres has turned the financial crisis of 2007 into a sovereign debt crisis in southern Europe

Ancient DNA sheds light on the genetic origins of early Iron Age Philistines

The ancient Mediterranean port city of Ashkelon, identified as “}Philistine{”} during the Iron Age, underwent a marked cultural change between the Late Bronze and the early Iron Age. It has been long debated whether this change was driven by a substantial movement of people, possibly linked to a larger migration of the so-called {“}Sea Peoples.{” Here, we report genome-wide data of 10 Bronze and Iron Age individuals from Ashkelon. We find that the early Iron Age population was genetically distinct due to a European-related admixture. This genetic signal is no longer detectible in the later Iron Age population. Our results support that a migration event occurred during the Bronze to Iron Age transition in Ashkelon but did not leave a long-lasting genetic signature

The effects of financialisation and financial development on investment: Evidence from firm-level data in Europe

In this paper we estimate the effects of financialization on physical investment in selected western European countries using panel data based on the balance-sheets of publicly listed non-financial companies (NFCs) supplied by Worldscope for the period 1995-2015. We find robust evidence of an adverse effect of both financial payments (interests and dividends) and financial incomes on investment in fixed assets by the NFCs. This finding is robust for both the pool of all Western European firms and single country estimations. The negative impacts of financial incomes are non-linear with respect to the companies’ size: financial incomes crowd-out investment in large companies, and have a positive effect on the investment of only small, relatively more credit-constrained companies. Moreover, we find that a higher degree of financial development is associated with a stronger negative effect of financial incomes on companies’ investment. This finding challenges the common wisdom on ‘finance-growth nexus’. Our findings support the ‘financialization thesis’ that the increasing orientation of the non-financial sector towards financial activities is ultimately leading to lower physical investment, hence to stagnant or fragile growth, as well as long term stagnation in productivity

Transcriptome profiling and functional analyses of the zebrafish embryonic innate immune response to Salmonella infection

Animal science

Ancient Yersinia pestis and Salmonella enterica genomes from Bronze Age Crete

During the late 3rd millennium BCE, the Eastern Mediterranean and Near East witnessed societal changes in many regions, which are usually explained with a combination of social and climatic factors.1, 2, 3, 4 However, recent archaeogenetic research forces us to rethink models regarding the role of infectious diseases in past societal trajectories.5 The plague bacterium Yersinia pestis, which was involved in some of the most destructive historical pandemics,5, 6, 7, 8 circulated across Eurasia at least from the onset of the 3rd millennium BCE,9, 10, 11, 12, 13 but the challenging preservation of ancient DNA in warmer climates has restricted the identification of Y. pestis from this period to temperate climatic regions. As such, evidence from culturally prominent regions such as the Eastern Mediterranean is currently lacking. Here, we present genetic evidence for the presence of Y. pestis and Salmonella enterica, the causative agent of typhoid/enteric fever, from this period of transformation in Crete, detected at the cave site Hagios Charalambos. We reconstructed one Y. pestis genome that forms part of a now-extinct lineage of Y. pestis strains from the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age that were likely not yet adapted for transmission via fleas. Furthermore, we reconstructed two ancient S. enterica genomes from the Para C lineage, which cluster with contemporary strains that were likely not yet fully host adapted to humans. The occurrence of these two virulent pathogens at the end of the Early Minoan period in Crete emphasizes the necessity to re-introduce infectious diseases as an additional factor possibly contributing to the transformation of early complex societies in the Aegean and beyond.Results and discussion STAR★Method

Shareholder protection, income inequality and social health:a proposed research agenda

This paper develops a proposed research agenda in order to highlight how corporate governance, accounting and company law are relevant to the consideration of income inequality and wider social health. To illustrate this proposed research agenda, this paper draws on corporate governance research in the law and finance tradition, as well as macro-level studies in accounting concerned with the wider corporate governance context, in order to consider the association between shareholder protection, income inequality and child mortality. Under 5 child mortality is an objective indication of a country’s ability to nurture its children. In an influential body of work, La Porta et al. (1997a, 1997b, 1998, 2008) concluded that a common law legal system which protected the interests of shareholders gave rise to better economic and social outcomes. However, drawing on corporate governance and accounting literature we contend that such a conclusion is flawed. The findings of this paper suggest that common law countries (i.e. those with the greater legal protection for investors) have worse social outcomes in terms of under-5 child mortality.PostprintPeer reviewe

Exotic foods reveal contact between South Asia and the Near East during the second millennium BCE

Aunque el papel clave del comercio a larga distancia en la transformación de las cocinas en todo el mundo está bien documentado desde al menos la época romana, la prehistoria del comercio de alimentos euroasiático es menos visible. Con el fin de arrojar luz sobre la transformación de las cocinas del Mediterráneo oriental durante la Edad del Bronce y la Edad del Hierro Temprana, analizamos los microrestos y las proteínas conservadas en el cálculo dental de individuos que vivieron durante el segundo milenio a. Nuestros resultados proporcionan evidencia clara del consumo de alimentos básicos esperados, como cereales (Triticeae), sésamo ( Sesamum ) y dátiles ( Phoenix ). Además, informamos evidencia del consumo de soja ( glicina ), probable banano ( Musa ) y cúrcuma (Curcuma ), que hace retroceder la evidencia más antigua de estos alimentos en el Mediterráneo por siglos (cúrcuma) o incluso milenios (soja). Descubrimos que, desde principios del segundo milenio en adelante, al menos algunas personas en el Mediterráneo oriental tuvieron acceso a alimentos de lugares distantes, incluido el sur de Asia, y esos productos probablemente se consumieron en forma de aceites, frutos secos y especias. Estos conocimientos nos obligan a repensar la complejidad y la intensidad del comercio indo-mediterráneo durante la Edad del Bronce, así como el grado de globalización en la cocina del Mediterráneo oriental temprano. Although the key role of long-distance trade in the transformation of cuisines worldwide has been well-documented since at least the Roman era, the prehistory of the Eurasian food trade is less visible. In order to shed light on the transformation of Eastern Mediterranean cuisines during the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age, we analyzed microremains and proteins preserved in the dental calculus of individuals who lived during the second millennium BCE in the Southern Levant. Our results provide clear evidence for the consumption of expected staple foods, such as cereals (Triticeae), sesame (Sesamum), and dates (Phoenix). We additionally report evidence for the consumption of soybean (Glycine), probable banana (Musa), and turmeric (Curcuma), which pushes back the earliest evidence of these foods in the Mediterranean by centuries (turmeric) or even millennia (soybean). We find that, from the early second millennium onwards, at least some people in the Eastern Mediterranean had access to food from distant locations, including South Asia, and such goods were likely consumed as oils, dried fruits, and spices. These insights force us to rethink the complexity and intensity of Indo-Mediterranean trade during the Bronze Age as well as the degree of globalization in early Eastern Mediterranean cuisine

Unveiling the impact of a CF2 motif in the isothiourea catalyst skeleton : evaluating C(3)-F2-HBTM and its catalytic activity

The St Andrews Team (A. D. S., K. K., M. T. W.) thanks the EaSI-CAT centre for Doctoral Training (MTW) and the EPSRC (EP/T023643/1; KK). The Linz team (L. S., A. E., M. W.) gratefully acknowledges generous financial support by the Austrian Science Funds (FWF) through project No. P31784, the Erasmus+ program and the JKU Linz/Upper Austria scheme. The Madrid team (J. A. F.-S., J. A., R. d. R-R.) gratefully acknowledges the Spanish Government (RTI2018-095038-B-100), “Communidad de Madrid” for European Structural Funds (S2018/NMT-4367) and proyectos sinergicos I + D (Y2020/NMT-6469) for funding. J. A. F.-S. thanks the Spanish government for a Ramón y Cajal contract.The incorporation of the CF2 motif within organic structures is known to affect the susceptibility of functional groups to oxidation, as well as altering conformation and reactivity. In this manuscript, the incorporation of the CF2 functional group within an isothiourea catalyst skeleton to give C(3)-F2-HBTM is reported. Effective gram-scale routes to both racemic and enantiopure heterocyclic Lewis bases are developed, with preliminary catalytic and kinetic activity evaluated.Peer reviewe

Targeted therapy for high-grade glioma with the TGF-β2 inhibitor trabedersen: results of a randomized and controlled phase IIb study

This randomized, open-label, active-controlled, dose-finding phase IIb study evaluated the efficacy and safety of trabedersen (AP 12009) administered intratumorally by convection-enhanced delivery compared with standard chemotherapy in patients with recurrent/refractory high-grade glioma. One hundred and forty-five patients with central reference histopathology of recurrent/refractory glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) or anaplastic astrocytoma (AA) were randomly assigned to receive trabedersen at doses of 10 or 80 µM or standard chemotherapy (temozolomide or procarbazine/lomustine/vincristine). Primary endpoint was 6-month tumor control rate, and secondary endpoints included response at further timepoints, survival, and safety. Six-month tumor control rates were not significantly different in the entire study population (AA and GBM). Prespecified AA subgroup analysis showed a significant benefit regarding the 14-month tumor control rate for 10 µM trabedersen vs chemotherapy (p= .0032). The 2-year survival rate had a trend for superiority for 10 µM trabedersen vs chemotherapy (p = .10). Median survival for 10 µM trabedersen was 39.1 months compared with 35.2 months for 80 µM trabedersen and 21.7 months for chemotherapy (not significant). In GBM patients, response and survival results were comparable among the 3 arms. Exploratory analysis on GBM patients aged ≤55 years with Karnofsky performance status >80% at baseline indicated a 3-fold survival at 2 and 3 years for 10 µM trabedersen vs chemotherapy. The frequency of patients with related or possibly drug-related adverse events was higher with standard chemotherapy (64%) than with 80 µM trabedersen (43%) and 10 µM trabedersen (27%). Superior efficacy and safety for 10 µM trabedersen over 80 µM trabedersen and chemotherapy and positive risk–benefit assessment suggest it as the optimal dose for further clinical development in high-grade glioma