Approaching linear pottery economics – distribution and supply of amphibolite adzes

The distribution and consumption of adze-blades made of amphibolite that occurred in settlements and burial sites of the Linear Pottery Culture is the main focus of this article. With this purpose in mind, two aspects were considered: the percentage of adze-blades made of amphibolite in relation to the total number of adzes-blades as well as the number of adze-blades linked to the number of households or graves. Interpolation was applied to define and highlight different areas of consumption. Additionally, a new approach for measuring the connection between settlements and burial sites is proposed. Consequently a rank correlation between the amounts of amphibolite found in both types of sites was adapted to compare the data

Mittelneolithische Silexaustauschsysteme auf der Aldenhovener Platte und in ihrer Umgebung

In der Archäologie gibt die Untersuchung der räumlichen und zeitlichen Dimensionen von Tausch Hinweise auf die Reichweite und Entwicklung prähistorischer Wirtschaftssysteme und den damit verbundenen sozialen Kontakten. Bei der Erforschung neolithischer Gesellschaften wird Tausch – bedingt durch die archäologische Quellenlage – häufig anhand der Weitergabe lithischen Materials erforscht. In diesem Dissertationsprojekt wird die Weitergabe von Silex (Feuerstein) zwischen mittelneolithischen Siedlungen innerhalb der Kleinregion des heutigen Braunkohletagebaus zwischen Aachen und Köln untersucht. Silex diente als Rohmaterial zur Herstellung von Werkzeugen für die Jagd sowie für eine Vielzahl häuslicher, agrarischer und handwerklicher Tätigkeiten. Die untersuchten Siedlungslätze datieren in die mittelneolithischen Phasen Großgartach, Planig-Friedberg und Rössen (ca. 4900 bis 4550 v. Chr.). Ein zentraler Untersuchungsteil stellt der Vergleich zwischen den Fundplätzen im Hinblick auf die Produktion von Silexgrundformen und -werkzeugen dar. Dabei kommt unter anderem eine Faktorenanalyse zur Anwendung. Das Analyseresultat bildet die Grundlage zum Entwurf dreier Thesen, auf deren Überprüfung die darauffolgenden Untersuchungsschritte ausgelegt sind. Dabei werden die Analysen auf ein siedlungsinternes und ein überregionales Level ausgeweitet. Auf diese Weise konnten nicht nur quellenkritische Aspekte überprüft und Ergebnisse für das zentrale Untersuchungsgebiet verifiziert, sondern auch die weiträumigen Verteilungsmuster der Feuersteinweitergabe erfasst werden. In einer abschließenden interpretativen Betrachtung wurden die Tauschverhältnisse auf den verschiedenen Skalenniveaus anhand eines ethnographischen Modells nach M. Sahlins beschrieben

Establishment of a mass-spectrometry-based method for the identification of the in vivo whole blood and plasma ADP-Ribosylomes

Blood and plasma proteins are heavily investigated as biomarkers for different diseases. However, the post-translational modification states of these proteins are rarely analyzed since blood contains many enzymes that rapidly remove these modifications after sampling. In contrast to the well-described role of protein ADP-ribosylation in cells and organs, its role in blood remains mostly uncharacterized. Here, we discovered that plasma phosphodiesterases and/or ADP-ribosylhydrolases rapidly demodify in vitro ADP-ribosylated proteins. Thus, to identify the in vivo whole blood and plasma ADP-ribosylomes, we established a mass-spectrometry-based workflow that was applied to blood samples collected from LPS-treated pigs (Sus scrofa domesticus), which serves as a model for human systemic inflammatory response syndrome. These analyses identified 60 ADP-ribosylated proteins, 17 of which were ADP-ribosylated plasma proteins. This new protocol provides an important step forward for the rapidly developing field of ADP-ribosylation and defines the blood and plasma ADP-ribosylomes under both healthy and disease conditions

Comparative post-fire water relations of selected reseeding and resprouting fynbos plants in the Jonkershoek Valley, Cape Province, South Africa

Leaf area development has been proposed as a simple predictor of post-fire streamflow response in the mountain catchments of the south-western Cape, South Africa. Implicit in this proposal is the assumption that transpiration rates per unit leaf area of reseeders and resprouters are similar. This assumption was tested by studying the water relations of selected fynbos plants after a fire in a mountain catchment in the Jonkershoek Valley near Stellenbosch for nearly two years. Stomatal conductances and xylem pressure potentials were measured and transpiration rates were estimated for three reseeding species and four resprouting species. There was no clear difference between the daily transpiration rates of reseeding and resprouting plants. The shallow-rooted resprouters responded similarly to the reseeders; moderate water stress (−3 to −4MPa) and reduced transpiration (<1mmolm−2 s−1) were experienced during the first two summers after fire. The deep-rooted resprouters did not show water stress during summer, and transpiration rates were moderate throughout the year. Annual patterns of water use per unit leaf area were similar for reseeders and resprouters. Leaf area may therefore be used as a simple predictor of post-fire streamflow response

Highly diverse and antimicrobial susceptible Escherichia coli display a naïve bacterial population in fruit bats from the Republic of Congo

Bats are suspected to be a reservoir of several bacterial and viral pathogens relevant to animal and human health, but studies on Escherichia coli in these animals are sparse. We investigated the presence of E. coli in tissue samples (liver, lung and intestines) collected from 50 fruit bats of five different species (Eidolon helvum, Epomops franqueti, Hypsignathus monstrosus, Myonycteris torquata, Rousettus aegyptiacus) of two different areas in the Republic of Congo between 2009 and 2010. To assess E. coli pathotypes and phylogenetic relationships, we determined the presence of 59 virulence associated genes and multilocus sequence types (STs). Isolates were further tested for their susceptibility to several antimicrobial substances by agar disk diffusion test and for the presence of an Extended-Spectrum Beta- Lactamase phenotype. E. coli was detected in 60% of the bats analysed. The diversity of E. coli strains was very high, with 37 different STs within 40 isolates. Occasionally, we detected sequence types (e.g. ST69, ST127, and ST131) and pathotypes (e.g. ExPEC, EPEC and atypical EPEC), which are known pathogens in human and/or animal infections. Although the majority of strains were assigned to phylogenetic group B2 (46.2%), which is linked with the ExPEC pathovar, occurrence of virulence-associated genes in these strains were unexpectedly low. Due to this, and as only few of the E. coli isolates showed intermediate resistance to certain antimicrobial substances, we assume a rather naïve E. coli population, lacking contact to humans or domestic animals. Future studies featuring in depth comparative whole genome sequence analyses will provide insights into the microevolution of this interesting strain collection

A new approach for the detection of obesity-related airway obstruction in lung-healthy individuals

BACKGROUND Subjects with obesity show an increased prevalence of airway obstruction but it is not clear in each case whether this reflects genuine lung disease. Via intentional increase in end-expiratory lung volume we studied the detection of obesity-induced airway obstruction in lung-healthy obese subjects. METHODS The primary study population comprised 66 lung-healthy obese subjects and 23 normal weight subjects. Measurements were performed in a body plethysmograph allowing for recording and quantification of breathing loops in terms of specific airway resistance at both normal and intentionally elevated end-expiratory lung volume. The change in volume was documented by a shutter maneuver. RESULTS The voluntary increase of lung volume led to a significant reduction of expiratory airway resistance in 11 of the 66 obese subjects. This reduction could be quantified by a change of total expiratory resistance (sRtEX) of >1 kPa*s but was also clearly visible in the breathing loops. sRtEX showed the largest change among all resistance parameters. The loops of normal weight subjects remained virtually unaffected by the change in lung volume. Moreover, those of 5 obese patients with COPD who were measured for comparison partially showed a reduction of resistance but airway obstruction remained. CONCLUSION The proposed breathing maneuver was simple to perform and allowed for a quantitative and qualitative detection of obesity-induced airway obstruction. This might help in reducing the likelihood of misdiagnosis and overtreatment of obese patients

Evidence against Zika virus infection of pets and peri-domestic animals in Latin America and Africa

Decades after its discovery in East Africa, Zika virus (ZIKV) emerged in Brazil in 2013 and infected millions of people during intense urban transmission. Whether vertebrates other than humans are involved in ZIKV transmission cycles remained unclear. Here, we investigate the role of different animals as ZIKV reservoirs by testing 1723 sera of pets, peri-domestic animals and African non-human primates (NHP) sampled during 2013–2018 in Brazil and 2006–2016 in Côte d'Ivoire. Exhaustive neutralization testing substantiated co-circulation of multiple flaviviruses and failed to confirm ZIKV infection in pets or peri-domestic animals in Côte d'Ivoire (n=259) and Brazil (n=1416). In contrast, ZIKV seroprevalence was 22.2% (2/9, 95% CI, 2.8–60.1) in West African chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) and 11.1% (1/9, 95% CI, 0.3–48.3) in king colobus (Colobus polycomos). Our results indicate that while NHP may represent ZIKV reservoirs in Africa, pets or peri-domestic animals likely do not play a role in ZIKV transmission cycles.Peer Reviewe

Research Trends and Future Perspectives in Marine Biomimicking Robotics

Mechatronic and soft robotics are taking inspiration from the animal kingdom to create new high-performance robots. Here, we focused on marine biomimetic research and used innovative bibliographic statistics tools, to highlight established and emerging knowledge domains. A total of 6980 scientific publications retrieved from the Scopus database (1950–2020), evidencing a sharp research increase in 2003–2004. Clustering analysis of countries collaborations showed two major Asian-North America and European clusters. Three significant areas appeared: (i) energy provision, whose advancement mainly relies on microbial fuel cells, (ii) biomaterials for not yet fully operational soft-robotic solutions; and finally (iii), design and control, chiefly oriented to locomotor designs. In this scenario, marine biomimicking robotics still lacks solutions for the long-lasting energy provision, which presently hinders operation autonomy. In the research environment, identifying natural processes by which living organisms obtain energy is thus urgent to sustain energy-demanding tasks while, at the same time, the natural designs must increasingly inform to optimize energy consumption

Persistent anthrax as a major driver of wildlife mortality in a tropical rainforest

Anthrax is a globally important animal disease and zoonosis. Despite this, our current knowledge of anthrax ecology is largely limited to arid ecosystems, where outbreaks are most commonly reported. Here we show that the dynamics of an anthrax-causing agent, Bacillus cereus biovar anthracis, in a tropical rainforest have severe consequences for local wildlife communities. Using data and samples collected over three decades, we show that rainforest anthrax is a persistent and widespread cause of death for a broad range of mammalian hosts. We predict that this pathogen will accelerate the decline and possibly result in the extirpation of local chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) populations. We present the epidemiology of a cryptic pathogen and show that its presence has important implications for conservation