A marker of biological ageing predicts adult risk preference in European starlings, Sturnus vulgaris

Why are some individuals more prone to gamble than others? Animals often show preferences between 2 foraging options with the same mean reward but different degrees of variability in the reward, and such risk preferences vary between individuals. Previous attempts to explain variation in risk preference have focused on energy budgets, but with limited empirical support. Here, we consider whether biological ageing, which affects mortality and residual reproductive value, predicts risk preference. We studied a cohort of European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) in which we had previously measured developmental erythrocyte telomere attrition, an established integrative biomarker of biological ageing. We measured the adult birds’ preferences when choosing between a fixed amount of food and a variable amount with an equal mean. After controlling for change in body weight during the experiment (a proxy for energy budget), we found that birds that had undergone greater developmental telomere attrition were more risk averse as adults than were those whose telomeres had shortened less as nestlings. Developmental telomere attrition was a better predictor of adult risk preference than either juvenile telomere length or early-life food supply and begging effort. Our longitudinal study thus demonstrates that biological ageing, as measured via developmental telomere attrition, is an important source of lasting differences in adult risk preferences

English Speaking and Listening Assessment Project - Baseline. Bangladesh

This study seeks to understand the current practices of English Language Teaching (ELT) and assessment at the secondary school level in Bangladesh, with specific focus on speaking and listening skills. The study draws upon prior research on general ELT practices, English language proficiencies and exploration of assessment practices, in Bangladesh. The study aims to provide some baseline evidence about the way speaking and listening are taught currently, whether these skills are assessed informally, and if so, how this is done. The study addresses two research questions: 1. How ready are English Language Teachers in government-funded secondary schools in Bangladesh to implement continuous assessment of speaking and listening skills? 2. Are there identifiable contextual factors that promote or inhibit the development of effective assessment of listening and speaking in English? These were assessed with a mixed-methods design, drawing upon prior quantitative research and new qualitative fieldwork in 22 secondary schools across three divisions (Dhaka, Sylhet and Chittagong). At the suggestion of DESHE, the sample also included 2 of the ‘highest performing’ schools from Dhaka city. There are some signs of readiness for effective school-based assessment of speaking and listening skills: teachers, students and community members alike are enthusiastic for a greater emphasis on speaking and listening skills, which are highly valued. Teachers and students are now speaking mostly in English and most teachers also attempt to organise some student talk in pairs or groups, at least briefly. Yet several factors limit students’ opportunities to develop skills at the level of CEFR A1 or A2. Firstly, teachers generally do not yet have sufficient confidence, understanding or competence to introduce effective teaching or assessment practices at CEFR A1-A2. In English lessons, students generally make short, predictable utterances or recite texts. No lessons were observed in which students had an opportunity to develop or demonstrate language functions at CEFR A1-A2. Secondly, teachers acknowledge a washback effect from final examinations, agreeing that inclusion of marks for speaking and listening would ensure teachers and students took these skills more seriously during lesson time. Thirdly, almost two thirds of secondary students achieve no CEFR level, suggesting many enter and some leave secondary education with limited communicative English language skills. One possible contributor to this may be that almost half (43%) of the ELT population are only at the target level for students (CEFR A2) themselves, whilst approximately one in ten teachers (12%) do not achieve the student target (being at A1 or below). Fourthly, the Bangladesh curriculum student competency statements are generic and broad, providing little support to the development of teaching or assessment practices. The introduction and development of effective teaching and assessment strategies at CEFR A1-A2 requires a profound shift in teachers’ understanding and practice. We recommend that: 1. Future sector wide programmes provide sustained support to the develop teachers' competence in teaching and assessment of speaking and listening skills at CEFR A1-A2 2. Options are explored for introducing assessment of these skills in terminal examinations 3. Mechanisms are identified for improving teachers own speaking and listening skills 4. Student competency statements within the Bangladesh curriculum are revised to provide more guidance to teachers and students

Pattern recognition receptors (version 2019.4) in the IUPHAR/BPS Guide to Pharmacology Database

Pattern Recognition Receptors (PRRs, [89]) (nomenclature as agreed by NC-IUPHAR sub-committee on Pattern Recognition Receptors, [17]) participate in the innate immune response to microbial agents, the stimulation of which leads to activation of intracellular enzymes and regulation of gene transcription. PRRs express multiple leucine-rich regions to bind a range of microbially-derived ligands, termed PAMPs or pathogen-associated molecular patterns or endogenous ligands, termed DAMPS or damage-associated molecular patterns. These include peptides, carbohydrates, peptidoglycans, lipoproteins, lipopolysaccharides, and nucleic acids. PRRs include both cell-surface and intracellular proteins. PRRs may be divided into signalling-associated members, identified here, and endocytic members, the function of which appears to be to recognise particular microbial motifs for subsequent cell attachment, internalisation and destruction. Some are involved in inflammasome formation, and modulation of IL-1β cleavage and secretion, and others in the initiation of the type I interferon response. PRRs included in the Guide To PHARMACOLOGY are:Catalytic PRRs (see links below this overview)Toll-like receptors (TLRs)Nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain, leucine-rich repeat containing receptors (NLRs, also known as NOD (Nucleotide oligomerisation domain)-like receptors)RIG-I-like receptors (RLRs)Caspase 4 and caspase 5 Non-catalytic PRRsAbsent in melanoma (AIM)-like receptors (ALRs)C-type lectin-like receptors (CLRs)Other pattern recognition receptorsAdvanced glycosylation end-product specific receptor (RAGE

Pattern recognition receptors in GtoPdb v.2021.3

Pattern Recognition Receptors (PRRs, [104]) (nomenclature as agreed by NC-IUPHAR sub-committee on Pattern Recognition Receptors, [18]) participate in the innate immune response to microbial agents, the stimulation of which leads to activation of intracellular enzymes and regulation of gene transcription. PRRs express multiple leucine-rich regions to bind a range of microbially-derived ligands, termed PAMPs or pathogen-associated molecular patterns or endogenous ligands, termed DAMPS or damage-associated molecular patterns. These include peptides, carbohydrates, peptidoglycans, lipoproteins, lipopolysaccharides, and nucleic acids. PRRs include both cell-surface and intracellular proteins. PRRs may be divided into signalling-associated members, identified here, and endocytic members, the function of which appears to be to recognise particular microbial motifs for subsequent cell attachment, internalisation and destruction. Some are involved in inflammasome formation, and modulation of IL-1β cleavage and secretion, and others in the initiation of the type I interferon response. PRRs included in the Guide To PHARMACOLOGY are:Catalytic PRRs (see links below this overview)Toll-like receptors (TLRs)Nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain, leucine-rich repeat containing receptors (NLRs, also known as NOD (Nucleotide oligomerisation domain)-like receptors)RIG-I-like receptors (RLRs)Caspase 4 and caspase 5 Non-catalytic PRRsAbsent in melanoma (AIM)-like receptors (ALRs)C-type lectin-like receptors (CLRs)Other pattern recognition receptorsAdvanced glycosylation end-product specific receptor (RAGE

Pattern recognition receptors in GtoPdb v.2023.1

Pattern Recognition Receptors (PRRs, [110]) (nomenclature as agreed by NC-IUPHAR sub-committee on Pattern Recognition Receptors, [20]) participate in the innate immune response to microbial agents, the stimulation of which leads to activation of intracellular enzymes and regulation of gene transcription. PRRs express multiple leucine-rich regions to bind a range of microbially-derived ligands, termed PAMPs or pathogen-associated molecular patterns or endogenous ligands, termed DAMPS or damage-associated molecular patterns. These include peptides, carbohydrates, peptidoglycans, lipoproteins, lipopolysaccharides, and nucleic acids. PRRs include both cell-surface and intracellular proteins. PRRs may be divided into signalling-associated members, identified here, and endocytic members, the function of which appears to be to recognise particular microbial motifs for subsequent cell attachment, internalisation and destruction. Some are involved in inflammasome formation, and modulation of IL-1β cleavage and secretion, and others in the initiation of the type I interferon response. PRRs included in the Guide To PHARMACOLOGY are:Catalytic PRRs (see links below this overview)Toll-like receptors (TLRs)Nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain, leucine-rich repeat containing receptors (NLRs, also known as NOD (Nucleotide oligomerisation domain)-like receptors)RIG-I-like receptors (RLRs)Caspase 4 and caspase 5 Non-catalytic PRRsAbsent in melanoma (AIM)-like receptors (ALRs)C-type lectin-like receptors (CLRs)Other pattern recognition receptorsAdvanced glycosylation end-product specific receptor (RAGE

Caspase-8 functions as a key mediator of inflammation and pro-IL-1β processing via both canonical and non-canonical pathways.

Caspase-8 is an apical component of cell death pathways. Activated caspase-8 can drive classical caspase-dependent apoptosis and actively inhibits cell death mediated by RIPK3-driven necroptosis. Genetic deletion of Casp8 results in embryonic lethality as a result of uncontrolled necroptosis. This lethality can be rescued by simultaneous deletion of Ripk3. Recently, caspase-8 has been additionally connected to inflammatory pathways within the cell. In particular, caspase-8 has been shown to be crucially involved in the induction of pro-IL-1β synthesis and processing via both non-canonical and canonical pathways. In this review, we bring together current knowledge regarding the role of caspase-8 in cellular inflammation with a particular emphasis on the interplay between caspase-8 and the classical and non-canonical inflammasomes.The authors received financial support of the Wellcome Trust (TPM; WT085090MA) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (CEB; BB/K006436/1).This is the accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/imr.12284/abstract

Assessing the risk to inflation from inflation expectations

Inflation expectations play an important role in the transmission mechanism of monetary policy. There is a risk that the periods of above-target CPI inflation in the past three years might cause inflation expectations to drift upwards. That might make inflation itself more persistent, via changes in price and wage-setting behaviour. And so, other things being equal, returning inflation to target would require tighter monetary policy. This article provides a framework that can be used to monitor the risk to inflation from inflation expectations. While recent developments provide few signs that the risk is materialising, the imperfect nature of data mean that the risk can be assessed only imperfectly.

Effects of increasing cannabis potency on adolescent health

Cannabis is the most prevalent illicit drug used by adolescents worldwide. Over the past 40 years, changes in cannabis potency through rising concentrations of Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabiol (THC), decreases in cannabidiol, or both, have occurred. Epidemiological and experimental evidence demonstrates that cannabis with high THC concentrations and negligible cannabidiol concentrations is associated with an increased risk of psychotic outcomes, an effect on spatial working memory and prose recall, and increased reports of the severity of cannabis dependence. However, many studies have failed to address cannabis use in adolescence, the peak age at which individuals typically try cannabis and probably the most vulnerable age to experience its harmful effects. In this Review, we highlight the influence that changing cannabis products have on adolescent health and the implications they carry for policy and prevention measures as legal cannabis markets continue to emerge worldwide.</p

RAS specialist discussion meeting report

Report on ‘Planetary Ultra-Low Frequency Waves – Theory, Modelling and Observations’Publisher PDFNon peer reviewe

Time series analysis of rail freight services by the private sector in Europe

This paper explores rail freight services provided by the private sector in the context of a rail freight corridor through Europe with new EU policy directives in place and assesses the corridor using time series analysis. Comparisons between three different operational time periods are discussed; analysis suggests that these types of services operated on trans-European rail freight corridors appear to be a viable and reliable concept in the near future