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Thirty years after the discovery of an Early Neolithic timber hall at Balbridie in Scotland was reported in Antiquity, new analysis of the site's archaeobotanical assemblage, featuring 20 000 cereal grains preserved when the building burnt down in the early fourth millennium BC, provides new insights into early farming practices. The results of stable isotope analyses of cereals from Balbridie, alongside archaeobotanical and stable isotope results from three other sites, indicate that while cereals were successfully cultivated in well-established plots without manuring at Balbridie, a variety of manuring strategies was implemented at the other sites. These differences reinforce the picture of variability in cultivation practices across Neolithic North-west Europe. Keywords: Scotland, Neolithic, stable isotopes, cereal cultivation, archaeobotany, agriculture, Introduction Excavation between 1977 and 1981 of a cropmark at Balbridie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland (Figure 1), revealed a substantial timber hall of a form previously only associated in Scotland with buildings [...]

The World Health Organization (WHO) acknowledges that the absence of a common definition of the private health sector may hinder a comprehensive understanding of its ubiquity. (1) Physicians, nurses, pharmacists, [...]

Flying insects capable of navigating in highly cluttered natural environments can withstand in-flight collisions because of the combination of their low inertia.sup.1 and the resilience of their wings.sup.2, exoskeletons.sup.1 and muscles. Current insect-scale (less than ten centimetres long and weighing less than five grams) aerial robots.sup.3-6 use rigid microscale actuators, which are typically fragile under external impact. Biomimetic artificial muscles.sup.7-10 that are capable of large deformation offer a promising alternative for actuation because they can endure the stresses caused by such impacts. However, existing soft actuators.sup.11-13 have not yet demonstrated sufficient power density to achieve lift-off, and their actuation nonlinearity and limited bandwidth create further challenges for achieving closed-loop (driven by an input control signal that is adjusted based on sensory feedback) flight control. Here we develop heavier-than-air aerial robots powered by soft artificial muscles that demonstrate open-loop (driven by a predetermined signal without feedback), passively stable (upright during flight) ascending flight as well as closed-loop, hovering flight. The robots are driven by multi-layered dielectric elastomer actuators that weigh 100 milligrams each and have a resonance frequency of 500 hertz and power density of 600 watts per kilogram. To increase the mechanical power output of the actuator and to demonstrate flight control, we present ways to overcome challenges unique to soft actuators, such as nonlinear transduction and dynamic buckling. These robots can sense and withstand collisions with surrounding obstacles and can recover from in-flight collisions by exploiting material robustness and vehicle passive stability. We also fly two micro-aerial vehicles simultaneously in a cluttered environment. They collide with the wall and each other without suffering damage. These robots rely on offboard amplifiers and an external motion-capture system to provide power to the dielectric elastomer actuators and to control their flight. Our work demonstrates how soft actuators can achieve sufficient power density and bandwidth to enable controlled flight, illustrating the potential of developing next-generation agile soft robots. Heavier-than-air insect-scale aerial robots powered by soft artificial muscles can hover and also recover from in-flight collisions, illustrating the potential for developing next-generation agile soft robots., Author(s): Yufeng Chen [sup.1] [sup.2] [sup.3] , Huichan Zhao [sup.4] , Jie Mao [sup.1] [sup.5] , Pakpong Chirarattananon [sup.6] , E. Farrell Helbling [sup.1] [sup.2] , Nak-seung Patrick Hyun [sup.1] [...]

Focusing on the case of the Leistikowstra[beta]e Memorial Museum in Potsdam, which commemorates victims of Soviet occupation after 1945, this article seeks to understand how conflicts can arise over such [...]

Medically unexplained symptoms and chronic functional syndromes are common but few health care professionals have had formal training about their connection to psychosocial issues. A systematic approach to diagnosis and [...]

Antimalarial drugs have thus far been chiefly derived from two sourcesnatural products and synthetic drug-like compounds. Here we investigate whether antimalarial agents with novel mechanisms of action could be discovered using a diverse collection of synthetic compounds that have three-dimensional features reminiscent of natural products and are underrepresented in typical screening collections. We report the identification of such compounds with both previously reported and undescribed mechanisms of action, including a series of bicyclic azetidines that inhibit a new antimalarial target, phenylalanyl-tRNA synthetase. These molecules are curative in mice at a single, low dose and show activity against all parasite life stages in multiple in vivo efficacy models. Our findings identify bicyclic azetidines with the potential to both cure and prevent transmission of the disease as well as protect at-risk populations with a single oral dose, highlighting the strength of diversity-oriented synthesis in revealing promising therapeutic targets., Author(s): Nobutaka Kato [1]; Eamon Comer [1]; Tomoyo Sakata-Kato [2]; Arvind Sharma [3]; Manmohan Sharma [3]; Micah Maetani [1, 4]; Jessica Bastien [1]; Nicolas M. Brancucci [2]; Joshua A. Bittker [...]

Author(s): Chad E. Mire [1, 2]; Demetrius Matassov [3]; Joan B. Geisbert [1, 2]; Theresa E. Latham [3]; Krystle N. Agans [1, 2]; Rong Xu [4]; Ayuko Ota-Setlik [4]; Michael [...]

Chinese students constitute the most rapidly growing international cohort of students enrolled in many Western tertiary settings, and it is important to understand more about their preparation for engaging with commonly used teaching approaches such as groupwork. This study investigated their attitudes and experience of groupwork while enrolled at a large Chinese university. Semi-structured and video-stimulated recall interview data were collected from 16 third-year Finance students over a 5-week field study. Results showed that this group of Chinese students experienced more out-of-class than in-class groupwork activities. These out-of-class groupwork sessions fell into three categories: (1) student initiated, (2) student league initiated and (3) teacher initiated. Students identified both individual and collective benefits from groupwork, highlighting that Chinese students value groupwork and actively seek to engage with it in the Chinese tertiary context. This study contributes to the understanding of Chinese students' group practices in Chinese tertiary settings. Keywords Chinese students * Groupwork * Higher education Introduction, Within the last decade, groupwork has been introduced and increasingly employed as a teaching strategy in tertiary education in Mainland China. Two influential factors have promoted this trend: the change [...]

Abstract Under the auspices of its 'Education Revolution', the Federal Labor Government is currently implementing a national curriculum for schools. Representing an important intervention into educational practice and governance, the [...]

Limited neural input results in muscle weakness in neuromuscular disease because of a reduction in the density of muscle innervation, the rate of neuromuscular junction activation or the efficiency of synaptic transmission(1). We developed a small-molecule fast-skeletal-troponin activator, CK-2017357, as a means to increase muscle strength by amplifying the response of muscle when neural input is otherwise diminished secondary to neuromuscular disease. Binding selectively to the fast-skeletal-troponin complex, CK-2017357 slows the rate of calcium release from troponin C and sensitizes muscle to calcium. As a consequence, the force-calcium relationship of muscle fibers shifts leftwards, as does the force-frequency relationship of a nerve-muscle pair, so that CK-2017357 increases the production of muscle force in situ at sub-maximal nerve stimulation rates. Notably, we show that sensitization of the fast-skeletal-troponin complex to calcium improves muscle force and grip strength immediately after administration of single doses of CK-2017357 in a model of the neuromuscular disease myasthenia gravis. Troponin activation may provide a new therapeutic approach to improve physical activity in diseases where neuromuscular function is compromised., Skeletal muscle contraction occurs after motor neuron firing and the transmission of this impulse across the neuromuscular junction. The ensuing muscle action potential triggers the release of calcium from the [...]

The sustainable development goals (SDGs) of Transforming our world, the 2030 agenda for sustainable development, (1) and specifically SDG 17, call for cooperation, collaboration and partnership between government, civil society [...]

We have developed an automated quench-flow microreactor which interfaces directly to an electrospray ionization (ES1) mass spectrometer. We have used this device in conjunction with ESI Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICR MS) to demonstrate the potential of this approach for studying the mechanistic details of enzyme reactions. For the model system chosen to test this device, namely, the pre-steady-state hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl acetate by the enzyme chymotrypsin, the kinetic parameters obtained are in good agreement with those in the literature. To our knowledge, this is the first reported use of online quench-flow coupled with FrICR MS. Furthermore, we have exploited the power of FTICR MS to interrogate the quenched covalently bound enzyme intermediate using top-down fagmentafion. The accurate mass capabilities of FTICR MS permitted the nature of the intermediate to be assigned with high confidence. Electron capture dissociation (ECD) fragmentation allowed us to locate the intermediate to a five amino acid section of the protein-which includes the known catalytic residue, [Ser.sub.195]. This experimental approach, which uniquely can provide both kinetic and chemical details of enzyme mechanisms, is a potentially powerful tool for studies of enzyme catalysis. 10.1021/ac9026302

The Rcs phosphorelay is composed of RcsC, RcsD and the response regulator RcsB, and this signalling pathway has been implicated in virulence and biofilm formation in many enteric bacteria. It was previously shown that a mutation in rcsC resulted in defective biofilm formation in Escherichia coli [Ferrieres, L. & Clarke, D. J. (2003) Mol Microbiol 50, 1665-1682]. To identify the molecular mechanisms underlying the observed biofilm defect we carried out a screen looking for suppressor mutants that restored biofilm formation in the rcsC mutant background. One of the mutants was identified to be in rprA, a gene encoding a small RNA molecule that is involved in the post-transcriptional control of the alternative sigma factor, [[sigma].sup.s]. The expression of rprA is regulated by the Rcs phosphorelay, and there are elevated as levels present in the rcsC mutant due to the overexpression of rprA in this background. Using different approaches, we have established that the increase in as levels is responsible for the biofilm defect. Therefore, the Rcs phosphorelay is involved in maintaining appropriate levels of as during biofilm formation in E. coli. DOI 10.1099/mic.0.032722-0

The dominant literature on research synthesis methods has positivist and neo-positivist origins. In recent years, the landscape of research synthesis methods has changed rapidly to become inclusive. This article highlights methodologically inclusive advancements in research synthesis methods. Attention is drawn to insights from interpretive, critical, and participatory traditions for enhancing trustworthiness, utility, and/or emancipatory potential for research syntheses. Also noted is a paucity of the literature that builds connections between methodologically diverse segments of the literature on research synthesis methods. Salient features of a methodologically inclusive research synthesis (MIRS) framework are described. The MIRS framework has been conceptualized by distilling and synthesizing ideas, theories, and strategies from the extensive literatures on research synthesis methods and primary research methods. Rather than prescribe how a research synthesis should be conducted or evaluated, this article attempts to open spaces, raise questions, explore possibilities, and contest taken-for-granted practices. KEYWORDS: qualitative research, research methodology, research utilization, research synthesis.

Background: The purpose of this paper is to review the population-based epidemiology of surgically treated post-traumatic epidural hematomas (EDHs) and/or subdural hematomas (SDHs) among patients who presented to the single [...]

The species that presently constitute the Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc) have multiple roles; they include soil and water saprophytes, bioremediators, and plant, animal and human pathogens. Since the first description of pathogenicity in the Bcc was based on sour skin rot of onion bulbs, this study returned to this plant host to investigate the onion-associated phenotype of the Bcc. Many Bcc isolates, which were previously considered to be non-mucoid, produced copious amounts of exopolysaccharide (EPS) when onion tissue was provided as the sole nutrient. EPS production was not species-specific, was observed in isolates from both clinical and environmental sources, and did not correlate with the ability to cause maceration of onion tissue. Chemical analysis suggested that the onion components responsible for EPS induction were primarily the carbohydrates sucrose, fructose and fructans. Additional sugars were investigated, and all alcohol sugars tested were able to induce EPS production, in particular mannitol and glucitol. To investigate the molecular basis for EPS biosynthesis, we focused on the highly conserved bce gene cluster thought to be involved in cepacian biosynthesis. We demonstrated induction of the bce gene cluster by mannitol, and found a clear correlation between the inability of representatives of the Burkholderia cenocepacia ET1 2 lineage to produce EPS and the presence of an 11 bp deletion within the bceB gene, which encodes a glycosyltransferase. Insertional inactivation of bceB in Burkholderia ambifaria AMMD results in loss of EPS production on sugar alcohol media. These novel and surprising insights into EPS biosynthesis highlight the metabolic potential of the Bcc and show that a potential virulence factor may not be detected by routine laboratory culture. Our results also highlight a potential hazard in the use of inhaled mannitol as an osmolyte to improve mucociliary clearance in individuals with cystic fibrosis.

The human-pathogenic yersiniae represent an ideal species group to study the evolution of highly virulent bacteria, with Yersinia pestis having emerged from the enteropathogen Y. pseudotuberculosis an estimated 20 000 years ago. Sequence data reveal that the Y. pestis genome is in the early stages of decay and contains hundreds of non-functioning pseudogenes, some of which may be important in the enteric lifestyle of Y. pseudotuberculosis. Bioinformatic analysis of pseudogenes from seven Y. pestis genome sequences identified rcsD as a gene disrupted early in the evolution of this organism. This phosphotransfer protein is part the of the Rcs phosphorelay, a two-component system present in the Enterobacteriaceae which has been shown to regulate the expression of capsular polysaccharide and other virulence determinants in several species including Escherichia coil and Salmonella. Using microarray analysis, we determined that the Y. pseudotuberculosis Rcs phosphorelay regulates the expression of 136 coding sequences, of which 60 o/0 are predicted to affect the cell envelope. Several putative virulence determinants were identified as being regulated by this phosphorelay, along with proteins involved in biofilm formation, motility, mammalian cell adhesion and stress survival. Phenotypic assays on defined mutants confirmed a role for the phosphorelay in these processes in both Y. pseudotuberculosis and Y. enterocolitica.

A common issue for archaeologists who study intermediate-scale societies is defining scale and complexity of occupations across entire villages or towns. This can be a major problem since an understanding of site-wide inter-household occupation patterns can be crucial for accurate reconstruction of village demographics and socio-economic organization. In this paper we present new research at the Bridge River site, a large complex hunter-gatherer village in British Columbia, designed to develop a site-wide history of household occupation patterns. We accomplish this through broad-scale geophysical investigations, test excavations and an extensive program of radiocarbon dating. Results of the study suggest that the village grew rapidly between ca. 1800 and 1250 cal. B.P. expanding from 7 to at least 29 simultaneously occupied houses. Variability in household spacing and size indicate that social organization may have grown increasingly complex parallel with rising numbers of households. Una cuestion comun para los arqueologos que estudian las sociedades de escala intermedia es definir la escala y complejidad de las ocupaciones a traves de pueblos y aldeas enteros. Esto puede ser un gran problema porque la comprension de modelos de ocupacion entre las casas y a traves de todo el sitio puede ser esencial para una reconstruccion precisa de la demografia y la organizacion socioeconomica del pueblo. En este articulo presentamos investigaciones nuevas sobre el sitio Bridge River, una aldea grande de cazadores y recolectores en Columbia Britanica. Es el proposito de este articulo proponer una historia de los modelos de ocupacion de las casas en el sitio. Realizamos la produccion de esta historia con varios medios incluyendo investigaciones geofisicas, excavaciones de prueba, y un programa extensivo de fechamiento por radiocarbon. Los resultados de las investigaciones sugieren que el pueblo crecio rapidamente entre aproximadamente 1800 y 1250 anos antes de presente y ademas que el numero de casas ocupadas simultaneamente aumento desde 7 hasta por lo menos 29 casas en aquel tiempo. La variabilidad en el espacio entre las casas y el tamano de las casas puede indicar que la organizacion social se volvid rods compleja al mismo tiempo que el numero de casas aumento., The study of complex hunter-gatherers and other intermediate-scale societies has become a central topic to archaeologists interested in the evolution of socioeconomic complexity (Arnold 1996, 2001a; Fitzhugh 2003; Habu 2004; [...]

Background: Regionalized approaches to trauma care improve patient outcomes. We developed and distributed a clinical reference poster to standardize the emergency department evaluation and management of patients with traumatic head [...]

The RcsCDB phosphorelay was originally identified as the main regulator of colanic acid biosynthesis in Escherichia coli K-12. However, recent transcriptomic analyses have identified more than 150 genes belonging to the Rcs regulon, including yjbE, yjbF, yjbG and yjbH. These genes are clustered on the genome and oriented in the same direction but their function remains unknown. In this work it is shown that yjbE, yjbF, yjbG and yjbH are transcribed as a single operon and it is confirmed that the expression of this operon is controlled by the Rcs phosphorelay, in a manner that is dependent on the auxiliary regulatory protein RcsA. Interestingly, Northern blot analysis revealed that the amount of yjbE transcripts in the cell is higher than the amount of yjbEFGH transcripts and it is proposed that this differential expression is mediated by the presence of a strong stem-loop structure in theyjbE-yjbF intergenic region. Finally, evidence is provided that the overexpression of yjbEFGH affects colony morphology and leads to the production of an extracellular polysaccharide that binds Congo red and toluidine blue-O.

The Raman spectrum of yttria stabilized tetragonal zirconia form 25 to 1250 degree Celsius is described. It is seen that all six Raman brand broaden and shift toward lower energy with increasing temperature and the shift associated with thermally induced volume changes mainly contributes for all bands.

Photorhabdus is a virulent pathogen that kills its insect host by overcoming immune responses. The bacterium also secretes a range of antibiotics to suppress the growth of other invading microorganisms. Here we show that Photorhabdus produces a small-molecule antibiotic (E)-1,3-dihydroxy-2-(isopropyl)-5(2-phenylethenyl)benzene (ST) that also acts as an inhibitor of phenoloxidase (PO) in the insect host Manduca sexta. The Photorhabdus gene stlA encodes an enzyme that produces cinnamic acid, a key precursor for production of ST, and a mutation in stlA results in loss of ST production and PO inhibitory activity, which are both restored by genetic complementation of the mutant and also by supplying cinnamic acid. ST is produced both in vitro and in vivo in sufficient quantities to account for PO inhibition and is the only detectable solvent-extractable inhibitor. A Photorhabdus [stlA.sup.-] mutant is significantly less virulent, proliferates slower within the host, and provokes the formation of significantly more melanotic nodules than wild-type bacteria. Virulence of the [stlA.sup.-] mutant is also rescued by supplying cinnamic acid. The proximate cause of the virulence effect, however, is the inhibition of PO, because the effect of the [stlA.sup.-] mutation on virulence is abolished in insects in which PO has been knocked down by RNA interference (RNAi). Thus, ST has a dual function both as a PO inhibitor to counter host immune reactions and also as an antibiotic to exclude microbial competitors from the insect cadaver. Photorhabdus luminescens | RNA interference | stilbene | virulence

A novel beam-supported AIN resonator device was fabricated from thin film AIN directly supported on a (100) silicon wafer with no intervening metal electrode so as to maximize the crystalline quality of the AIN material. The suspended membrane design uses thin beams to support, as well as electricity connect, the resonator and has been fabricated using both thin film processing and bulk silicon micromachining.

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2005.12.009 Byline: Stephen H. Jones (a), David B. Clarke (b) Abstract: Against the background of the broad intellectual response to the events of 9/11, the paper examines the complicity of the media in the West's so-called War on Terror. Rejecting erroneous conceptions of a conspiratorial state control of the media (and consequent distortion of the picture of a given reality), the paper focuses primarily on the form of the media: its role in distorting the nature of reality itself. By elucidating problems with the kind of media analysis that portrays the media as a propaganda machine, the significance of the mediasphere itself is highlighted. The paper considers the media's role in promulgating the myth of antagonistic collective identities ('Us'vs. 'Them'); in promoting a desire that subjugates the individual to the social formations that feed off it; in sustaining a range of fundamentalisms; and in characterizing terrorism as Evil incarnate. The paper thus offers a sympathetic reassessment of Baudrillard's consistent attempt to engage with the geopolitics of the real, measured against a contrasting range of responses from Badiou, Latour, A1/2iA3/4ek, and others. Author Affiliation: (a) Sociology Department, Goldsmiths College, University of London, New Cross, London SE14 6NW, UK (b) Department of Geography, University of Wales Swansea, Singleton Park, Swansea SA2 8PP, UK

This article examines the sequential, temporal, and interactional aspects of sexual assaults using sequential analysis. Fourteen statements taken from victims of bedroom-based assaults were analyzed to provide a comprehensive account of the behavioral patterns of individuals in sexually charged conflict situations. The cases were found to vary in the sexual severity of assault, distinguishing a variety of motivations and behavioral repertoires of offender and victim. Two quite distinct styles of offense were identified: multiple and single, which may have very different implications for research into rapist taxonomies and rape prevention strategies. Keywords: rape; sexual assault; sequence analysis

BROKEN PROMISES to a group foster negative affect (Cohen, 1985) and demotivate performance (Baldwin, Magjuka, & Loher, 1991). In the present study, we explored that possibility through a lens of [...]

Photorhabdus is a genus of Gram-negative bacteria from the family Enterobacteriaceae. Members of Photorhabdus have a complex life cycle during which the bacterium has a pathogenic interaction with insect larvae whilst also maintaining a mutualistic relationship with nematodes from the family Heterorhabditidae. During growth in the insect, Photorhabdus bacteria produce a broad-spectrum antibiotic identified as 3,5-dihydroxy-4-isopropylstilbene (ST). The biochemical pathway responsible for the production of this antibiotic has not been characterized. In this report, a mutant strain of Photorhabdus luminescens subsp, laumondii TT01, BMM901, has been isolated, by transposon mutagenesis, that is unable to produce the ST antibiotic. Using in silico studies, feeding experiments and biochemical analyses, it is shown that the gene mutated in this strain, stlA, encodes phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL). PAL catalyses the non-oxidative deamination of L-phenylalanine to trans-cinnamic acid and the enzyme is ubiquitous in plants, where it is involved in the production of phenylpropanoids such as lignin and phytoalexins. However, this is the first report of PAL activity in a member of the Proteobacteria.

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhg.2003.08.022 Byline: David B. Clarke (a), Marcus A. Doel (b) Abstract: The paper investigates the 'motionless trips' enabled by 19th-century visual technologies such as the magic lantern, phantasmagoria, panorama, and diorama. Although these technologies are often held to have culminated with the appearance of animated photography (film) in the 1890s, we argue that they possessed their own autotelic significance. Paralleling the transformations wrought upon reality by cultures of transport such as the railway, the visual attractions referred to here also reconfigured reality. For whilst they were frequently employed to simulate the transportation of the spectator not only to distant locations but also through time, the most profound journey these developments accomplished was a voyage into the abstract fabric of space and time itself. The abstraction of space and time as a material independent of actuality, and its re-engineering into new configurations, was eventually perfected in the cinema: a space-and-time machine that spliced together the 'mobility' of the magic lantern, Phenakistiscope, and Praxinoscope; the 'space-lapse' of the panorama; the 'time-lapse' of the diorama and chrono-photography; the realism of photography; and the haptical obscenity of the stereoscope. Author Affiliation: (a) School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK (b) Department of Geography, University of Wales Swansea, Singleton Park, Swansea, Wales SA2 8PP, UK

The 'motionless trips' enabled by 19th-century visual technologies such as the magic lantern, phantasmagoria, panorama, diorama is investigated. However, these technologies are often held to have culminated with the appearance of animated photography (film) in the 1890s.

Determination of whether the cysteines within the drug-binding pocket of P-gp were accessible to the aqueous medium by testing whether they could be labeled with charged thiol-reactive compounds is described. The results of this study indicate that regions of the drug-binding pocket are accessible to the aqueous medium.