bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Prehistoric wooden trackways of the Somerset Levels: their construction, age and relation to climatic change
Authors: Godwin H. 
Published: February 2015

The Somerset Levels are a submerged landscape. The valleys between the Mendip and the Polden Hills extend to 90 feet (27 metres) below Ordnance Datum, and they are filled to approximately the height of present sea-level by a soft blue-grey clay deposited in brackish water. Radiocarbon dating of material from Burnham-on-Sea shows that the marine transgression had been almost completed by 4300 B.C. (Q 134), and a date from Tealham Moor places the final transition to fresh-water conditions about 3500 B.C. (Q 120) (Godwin and Willis, 1959). As fresh water accumulated upon the almost level surface of the recent clay, reed-swamp dominated by Phragmites communis and Cladium mariscus occupied the whole region, building up coarse, loose-textured peat to a thickness of 1 or 2 metres. In the normal course of hydrarch succession (possibly enhanced by a climatic turn towards dryness), the reed swamps were invaded by fen-woods of alder and birch. These were extremely widespread at a time given by the first tentative radiocarbon dates as within the third millennium B.C.About 2000 B.C. there now began to develop within these fen woodlands an entirely different vegetation type, primarily composed of Sphagnum moss, cottongrass (Eriophorum spp.), ling (Calluna vulgaris), associated ericoid plants, and deer-grass (Trichophorum caespitosum). These communities quickly built up a complex of large raised bogs such as are now familiar around the Solway and the Central Irish plain, and of which Flander's Moss is a good Scottish example. These are gently domed structures rising a few metres above the level of the immediately surrounding land and relying almost entirely upon precipitation for their water supply.
Azilian Harpoons
Authors: Thompson M. W. 
Published: February 2015

It is convenient to begin this study of Azilian harpoons by first considering the Magdalenian harpoons of northern Spain. The two Basque sites of Aitzbitarte, a few miles within the Spanish side of the frontier, and Isturitz, not many miles within the French side of the frontier, are useful in delimiting the Spanish area from the point of view of the fauna. At Aitzbitarte, Harlé (1908) found a great predominance of red deer with one or two odd fragments of reindeer antler, whereas the well-known excavations by St. Périer (1936) at Isturitz showed a great preponderance of reindeer in conformity with other sites in the Pyrenees. The other occurrences in the three east Spanish provinces agree with that at Aitzbitarte (for instance, at Valle, Lorenzo Sierra, 1908, gives the ratio of antler fragments as red deer to reindeer: 73–1). Judged by the fauna, therefore, the modern political frontier corresponds roughly to the limit of the effective penetration of the reindeer westward, and consequently to the line of demarcation between harpoon-heads made respectively from red deer and reindeer antler.The subdivision of the Magdalenian deposits in north Spain has never been satısfactorily resolved, and they have obstinately refused to conform to the French sequence. The main difficulty has been the lack of stratified sites; only Cueto de la Mina has yielded three layers; and two or three other caves have given two layers. Nevertheless two stages, an earlier one without and a later one with harpoons have been clearly distinguished (Breuil and Obermaier, 1936, 165–70, 192–4). Although no stratigraphical division of this later stage is possible, a number of interesting points arise from a typological study of the known harpoons.
Excavations at Little Woodbury
Authors: Brailsford John 
Published: February 2015

While examining the pottery from Little Woodbury in 1939–40, Professor Hawkes observed that the critical pottery from the lower filling of the Ditch ‘DA’ was so sparse as to be useless for comparative purposes. On his suggestion, the Council of the Prehistoric Society decided that a substantial section of the Ditch should be cleared for the purpose of obtaining additional material from the primary filling, and in the spring of 1947 it became possible to put this project into effect. The work was superintended by Mr J. W. Brailsford and Professor Stuart Piggott and Mrs C. M. Piggott, with the assistance of Mrs M. F. Brailsford and members of the Archaeological Society of Bishop Wordsworth's School, Salisbury. The Prehistoric Society is indebted to the landowner, Mr F. H. T. Jervoise, F.S.A., for permission to carry out the excavation, and to his tenant, Mr Tilley, for the interest and cooperation which he showed throughout.Two ten-foot lengths of the Ditch ‘DA’ were cleared, in the northern sector, Pl. XXIV lower (inset). Significant finds of pottery and other objects were recovered from all levels of the filling, though it was confirmed that layers ‘A’ to ‘C’ were very poor in archaeological material. The pottery is included with that from the pre-war excavation in the Pottery Report, and the small finds are described in the general report on small finds (Part V).Reports on the animal bones by Dr F. C. Fraser, of the Dept. of Zoology, British Museum (Natural History), and on the non-marine mollusca by Mr A. E. Ellis of Epsom College are appended to this note.
The Levalloisian Industries of Egypt
Authors: Caton-Thompson Gertrude 
Published: February 2015

Within the past few years the multiplication in the Egyptian Nile Valley and adjoining desert of stone industries with Levalloisian technical characters or affinities, has suggested to me that a review of the evidence about them—geological, chronological and typological—might be of some momentary value pending the resumption in a post-war world of field-work in palaeolithic studies.Even without the perhaps beneficial interruption to them of the past six years, it was already, I think, becoming apparent before the war that the periodic stock-taking of world prehistory of rather a drastic kind was again due. It may make a clearance of several current doctrines and give others a rest. Among the latter I should myself like to number the overworked conception of culture-contact to account for modifications and new introductions within a given stone industry. Culture-contact may, I concede, have occasionally occurred in rare geographical passage-areas—Palestine is perhaps one of them, the Iberian peninsula another. But I doubt in general if, on the simple level of the Old Stone Age, we are justified in readily assuming that the industrial culture of one group was perceptibly affected by another until late in palaeolithic prehistory.
The Bronze Age Round Barrows of Wessex
Authors: Grinsell L. V. 
Published: February 2015

The area covered by this survey, which epitomizes the writer's work on Wessex barrows since 1929, is limited on the west by a line drawn from Weston-super-Mare to Bridport, on the east by a line drawn from Dorking to Arundel, on the north roughly by the northern limit of the chalk downs south of the Thames, and on the south by the sea. It encloses the great majority of bell, disc, and saucer barrows, all of which appear to be expressions of Piggott's Wessex Bronze Age culture. It should be noted however that elements of this culture are found outside the area dealt with, notably at various places to the north-east. Nearly all of these are so close to the Icknield Way as to make it certain that this was the means of communication linking the one with the other. Another, though less important, extension of the Wessex Bronze Age culture is represented by a few sites, some of them doubtful, within a short distance of the course of the Upper Thames, and it is probable that the river was the means of communication used.Here it is well to point out the respects in which the boundaries of Bronze Age Wessex, as determined by my own distribution-maps of barrows, differ from those adopted in the O.S. Map of Neolithic Wessex, and by Mr Stuart Piggott in his recent paper, ‘The Early Bronze Age in Wessex.’
The Upper Palaeolithic in the Light of Recent Discovery
Authors: Garrod D. A. E. 
Published: February 2015

The last twelve years have seen a new impetus given to prehistoric studies by the multiplication of researches outside Europe. Excavations in Africa, the Near East, Asiatic Russia and China have opened up a new field for speculation, and at the same time have revealed the unsuspected complexity of many problems which to De Mortillet and other pioneers seemed relatively simple. Gone for ever is the straightforward succession of Palaeolithic cultures from Chellian to Magdalenian as laid down in the Musée Préhistorique. Even as early as 1912, when Breuil produced his classic paper on the subdivisions of the Upper Palaeolithic its foundations were sapped, and the discoveries of the last decade have merely completed its demolition as a system of world-wide application.I need not insist that De Mortillet's scheme, as corrected by Breuil, who first pointed out the true position of the Aurignacian in western Europe, was the best that could be devised given the very incomplete information, relating to a very limited area, possessed by workers at that date. The fault of De Mortillet's disciples lay in their canonisation of a system which could only be applied locally, and which in any case contained enormous gaps.
Resource Dependence and Human Capital Investment in China
Authors: Zhan Jing Vivian , Duan Haiyan , Zeng Ming 
Published: February 2015

AbstractCountries endowed with rich natural resources such as fuels and minerals often fall behind in human development. Does resource endowment hamper human capital development in China, a country that hosts rich resources in many of its regions? Through cross-regional and longitudinal statistical analysis and field research in selected mining areas, this study finds that resource dependence reduces government expenditure on human capital-enhancing public goods including education and health care. The local economic structure and reduced demand for labour, the shifting of government responsibilities onto mining enterprises, and the myopia of local residents and officials all discourage the local governments in resource-rich regions from investing in human capital.
Seed dormancy is a dynamic state: variable responses to pre- and post-shedding environmental signals in seeds of contrastingArabidopsisecotypes
Authors: Huang Ziyue , Ölçer-Footitt Hulya , Footitt Steven , Finch-Savage William E. 
Published: February 2015

AbstractSeeds have evolved to be highly efficient environmental sensors that respond not only to their prevailing environment, but also their environmental history, to regulate dormancy and the initiation of germination. In the present work we investigate the combined impact of a number of environmental signals (temperature, nitrate, light) during seed development on the mother plant, during post-shedding imbibition and during prolonged post-shedding exposure in both dry and imbibed states, simulating time in the soil seed bank. The differing response to these environments was observed in contrasting winter (Cvi, Ler) and summer (Bur) annualArabidopsisecotypes. Results presented show that environmental signals both pre- and post-shedding determine the depth of physiological dormancy and therefore the germination response to the ambient environment. The ecotype differences in seed response to ambient germination conditions are greatly enhanced by seed maturation in different environments. Further variation in response develops following shedding when seeds do not receive the full complement of environmental signals required for germination and enter the soil seed bank in either dry or imbibed states. Species seed dormancy characteristics cannot therefore be easily defined, as seed dormancy is a dynamic state subject to within-species adaptation to local environments.
Effects of Metabolic Syndrome on Language Functions in Aging
Authors: Cahana-Amitay Dalia , Spiro Avron , Cohen Jason A. , Oveis Abigail C. , Ojo Emmanuel A. , Sayers Jesse T. , Obler Loraine K. , Albert Martin L. 
Published: February 2015

AbstractThis study explored effects of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) on language in aging. MetS is a constellation of five vascular and metabolic risk factors associated with the development of chronic diseases and increased risk of mortality, as well as brain and cognitive impairments. We tested 281 English-speaking older adults aged 55–84, free of stroke and dementia. Presence of MetS was based on the harmonized criteria (Alberti et al., 2009). Language performance was assessed by measures of accuracy and reaction time on two tasks of lexical retrieval and two tasks of sentence processing. Regression analyses, adjusted for age, education, gender, diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease, demonstrated that participants with MetS had significantly lower accuracy on measures of lexical retrieval (action naming) and sentence processing (embedded sentences, both subject and object relative clauses). Reaction time was slightly faster on the test of embedded sentences among those with MetS. MetS adversely affects the language performance of older adults, impairing accuracy of both lexical retrieval and sentence processing. This finding reinforces and extends results of earlier research documenting the negative influence of potentially treatable medical conditions (diabetes, hypertension) on language performance in aging. The unanticipated finding that persons with MetS were faster in processing embedded sentences may represent an impairment of timing functions among older individuals with MetS. (JINS, 2015, 21, 116–125)
Legalizing physician-assisted suicide and/or euthanasia: Pragmatic implications
Authors: Hudson Peter , Hudson Rosalie , Philip Jennifer , Boughey Mark , Kelly Brian , Hertogh Cees 
Published: February 2015

AbstractObjective:Despite the availability of palliative care in many countries, legalization of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (EAS) continues to be debated—particularly around ethical and legal issues—and the surrounding controversy shows no signs of abating. Responding to EAS requests is considered one of the most difficult healthcare responsibilities. In the present paper, we highlight some of the less frequently discussed practical implications for palliative care provision if EAS were to be legalized. Our aim was not to take an explicit anti-EAS stance or expand on findings from systematic reviews or philosophical and ethico-legal treatises, but rather to offer clinical perspectives and the potential pragmatic implications of legalized EAS for palliative care provision, patients and families, healthcare professionals, and the broader community.Method:We provide insights from our multidisciplinary clinical experience, coupled with those from various jurisdictions where EAS is, or has been, legalized.Results:We believe that these issues, many of which are encountered at the bedside, must be considered in detail so that the pragmatic implications of EAS can be comprehensively considered.Significance of Results:Increased resources and effort must be directed toward training, research, community engagement, and ensuring adequate resourcing for palliative care before further consideration is given to allocating resources for legalizing euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide.
Photoactivation of lysosomally sequestered sunitinib after angiostatic treatment causes vascular occlusion and enhances tumor growth inhibition
Authors: Nowak-Sliwinska P , Weiss A , van Beijnum J R , Wong T J , Kilarski W W , Szewczyk G , Verheul H M W , Sarna T , van den Bergh H , Griffioen A W 
Published: February 2015

AbstractThe angiogenesis inhibitor sunitinib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor that acts mainly on the VEGF and PDGF pathways. We have previously shown that sunitinib is sequestered in the lysosomes of exposed tumor and endothelial cells. This phenomenon is part of the drug-induced resistance observed in the clinic. Here, we demonstrate that when exposed to light, sequestered sunitinib causes immediate destruction of the lysosomes, resulting in the release of sunitinib and cell death. We hypothesized that this photoactivation of sunitinib could be used as a vaso-occlusive vascular-targeting approach to treating cancer. Spectral properties of sunitinib and its lysosomal accumulation were measured in vitro. The human A2780 ovarian carcinoma transplanted onto the chicken chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) and the Colo-26 colorectal carcinoma model in Balb/c mice were used to test the effects of administrating sunitinib and subsequently exposing tumor tissue to light. Tumors were subsequently resected and subject to immunohistochemical analysis. In A2780 ovarian carcinoma tumors, treatment with sunitinib+light resulted in immediate specific angio-occlusion, leading to a necrotic tumor mass 24 h after treatment. Tumor growth was inhibited by 70% as compared with the control group (**P<0.0001). Similar observations were made in the Colo-26 colorectal carcinoma, where light exposure of the sunitinib-treated mice inhibited tumor growth by 50% as compared with the control and by 25% as compared with sunitinib-only-treated tumors (N≥4; P=0.0002). Histology revealed that photoactivation of sunitinib resulted in a change in tumor vessel architecture. The current results suggest that the spectral properties of sunitinib can be exploited for application against certain cancer indications.
Amyloid-β reduces the expression of neuronal FAIM-L, thereby shifting the inflammatory response mediated by TNFα from neuronal protection to death
Authors: Carriba P , Jimenez S , Navarro V , Moreno-Gonzalez I , Barneda-Zahonero B , Moubarak R S , Lopez-Soriano J , Gutierrez A , Vitorica J , Comella J X 
Published: February 2015

AbstractThe brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) present elevated levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα), a cytokine that has a dual function in neuronal cells. On one hand, TNFα can activate neuronal apoptosis, and on the other hand, it can protect these cells against amyloid-β (Aβ) toxicity. Given the dual behavior of this molecule, there is some controversy regarding its contribution to the pathogenesis of AD. Here we examined the relevance of the long form of Fas apoptotic inhibitory molecule (FAIM) protein, FAIM-L, in regulating the dual function of TNFα. We detected that FAIM-L was reduced in the hippocampi of patients with AD. We also observed that the entorhinal and hippocampal cortex of a mouse model of AD (PS1M146LxAPP751sl) showed a reduction in this protein before the onset of neurodegeneration. Notably, cultured neurons treated with the cortical soluble fractions of these animals showed a decrease in endogenous FAIM-L, an effect that is mimicked by the treatment with Aβ-derived diffusible ligands (ADDLs). The reduction in the expression of FAIM-L is associated with the progression of the neurodegeneration by changing the inflammatory response mediated by TNFα in neurons. In this sense, we also demonstrate that the protection afforded by TNFα against Aβ toxicity ceases when endogenous FAIM-L is reduced by short hairpin RNA (shRNA) or by treatment with ADDLs. All together, these results support the notion that levels of FAIM-L contribute to determine the protective or deleterious effect of TNFα in neuronal cells.
Exploiting light chains for the scalable generation and platform purification of native human bispecific IgG
Authors: Fischer Nicolas , Elson Greg , Magistrelli Giovanni , Dheilly Elie , Fouque Nicolas , Laurendon Amélie , Gueneau Franck , Ravn Ulla , Depoisier Jean-François , Moine Valery , Raimondi Sylvain , Malinge Pauline , Di Grazia Laura , Rousseau François , Poitevin Yves , Calloud Sébastien , Cayatte Pierre-Alexis , Alcoz Mathias , Pontini Guillemette , Fagète Séverine , Broyer Lucile , Corbier Marie , Schrag Delphine , Didelot Gérard , Bosson Nicolas , Costes Nessie , Cons Laura , Buatois Vanessa , Johnson Zoe , Ferlin Walter , Masternak Krzysztof , Kosco-Vilbois Marie 
Published: February 2015

AbstractBispecific antibodies enable unique therapeutic approaches but it remains a challenge to produce them at the industrial scale, and the modifications introduced to achieve bispecificity often have an impact on stability and risk of immunogenicity. Here we describe a fully human bispecific IgG devoid of any modification, which can be produced at the industrial scale, using a platform process. This format, referred to as a κλ-body, is assembled by co-expressing one heavy chain and two different light chains, one κ and one λ. Using ten different targets, we demonstrate that light chains can play a dominant role in mediating specificity and high affinity. The κλ-bodies support multiple modes of action, and their stability and pharmacokinetic properties are indistinguishable from therapeutic antibodies. Thus, the κλ-body represents a unique, fully human format that exploits light-chain variable domains for antigen binding and light-chain constant domains for robust downstream processing, to realize the potential of bispecific antibodies.
Interactome analysis identifies a new paralogue of XRCC4 in non-homologous end joining DNA repair pathway
Authors: Xing Mengtan , Yang Mingrui , Huo Wei , Feng Feng , Wei Leizhen , Jiang Wenxia , Ning Shaokai , Yan Zhenxin , Li Wen , Wang Qingsong , Hou Mei , Dong Chunxia , Guo Rong , Gao Ge , Ji Jianguo , Zha Shan , Lan Li , Liang Huanhuan , Xu Dongyi 
Published: February 2015

AbstractNon-homologous end joining (NHEJ) is a major pathway to repair DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), which can display different types of broken ends. However, it is unclear how NHEJ factors organize to repair diverse types of DNA breaks. Here, through systematic analysis of the human NHEJ factor interactome, we identify PAXX as a direct interactor of Ku. The crystal structure of PAXX is similar to those of XRCC4 and XLF. Importantly, PAXX-deficient cells are sensitive to DSB-causing agents. Moreover, epistasis analysis demonstrates that PAXX functions together with XLF in response to ionizing radiation-induced complex DSBs, whereas they function redundantly in response to Topo2 inhibitor-induced simple DSBs. Consistently, PAXX and XLF coordinately promote the ligation of complex but not simple DNA ends in vitro. Altogether, our data identify PAXX as a new NHEJ factor and provide insight regarding the organization of NHEJ factors responding to diverse types of DSB ends.
Crystal structure of VmoLac, a tentative quorum quenching lactonase from the extremophilic crenarchaeon Vulcanisaeta moutnovskia
Authors: Hiblot Julien , Bzdrenga Janek , Champion Charlotte , Chabriere Eric , Elias Mikael 
Published: February 2015

AbstractA new representative of the Phosphotriesterase-Like Lactonases (PLLs) family from the hyperthermophilic crenarchaeon Vulcanisaeta moutnovskia has been characterized and crystallized. VmoLac is a native, proficient lactonase with promiscuous, low phosphotriesterase activity. VmoLac therefore represents an interesting candidate for engineering studies, with the aim of developing an efficient bacterial quorum-quenching agent. Here, we provide an extensive biochemical and kinetic characterization of VmoLac and describe the X-ray structures of the enzyme bound to a fatty acid and to its cognate substrate 3-oxo-C10 AHL (Acyl-Homoserine Lactone). The structures highlight possible structural determinants that may be involved in its extreme thermal stability (Tm = 128°C). Moreover, the structure reveals that the substrate binding mode of VmoLac significantly differs from those of its close homologues, possibly explaining the substrate specificity of the enzyme. Finally, we describe the specific interactions between the enzyme and its substrate and discuss the possible lactone hydrolysis mechanism of VmoLac.