Interactions of decay-accelerating factor (DAF) with haemagglutinating human enteroviruses: utilizing variation in primate DAF to map virus binding sites

A cellular receptor for the haemagglutinating enteroviruses (HEV), and the protein that mediates haemagglutination, is the membrane complement regulatory protein decay accelerating factor (DAF; CD55). Although primate DAF is highly conserved, significant differences exist to enable cell lines derived from primates to be utilized for the characterization of the DAF binding phenotype of human enteroviruses. Thus, several distinct DAF-binding phenotypes of a selection of HEVs (viz. coxsackievirus A21 and echoviruses 6, 7, 11-13, 29) were identified from binding and infection assays using a panel of primate cells derived from human, orang-utan, African Green monkey and baboon tissues. These studies complement our recent determination of the crystal structure of SCR(34) of human DAF [Williams, P., Chaudhry, Y., Goodfellow, I. G., Billington, J., Powell, R., Spiller, O. B., Evans, D. J. & Lea, S. (2003). J Biol Chem 278, 10691-10696] and have enabled us to better map the regions of DAF with which enteroviruses interact and, in certain cases, predict specific virus-receptor contacts.

Another Proof of the Preceding Theory

Another Proof of the Preceding Theory was produced as part of a residency run by Artists in Archeology in conjunction with the Stonehenge Riverside project. The film explores the relationship between science, work and ritual, imagining archaeology as a future cult. As two robed disciples stray off from the dig, they are drawn to the drone of the stones and proceed to play the henge like a gigantic Theremin. Just as a Theremin is played with the hand interfering in an electric circuit and producing sound without contact, so the stones respond to the choreographed bodily proximity. Finally, one of the two continues alone to the avenue at Avebury, where the magnetic pull of the stones reaches its climax. Shot on VHS, the film features a score by Zuzushi Monkey, with percussion and theremin sounds mirroring the action. The performers are mostly artists and archeologists from the art and archaeology teams. The archeologists were encouraged to perform their normal work in the robes, in an attempt to explore the meeting points of science and ritual and interrogate our relationship to an ultimately unknowable prehistoric past where activities we do not understand are relegated to the realm of religion. Stonehenge has unique acoustic properties, it’s large sarsen stones are finely worked on the inside, left rough on the outside, intensifying sound waves within the inner horseshoe, but since their real use, having been built over centuries, remains ambiguous, the film proposes that our attempts to decode them may themselves become encoded in their cumulative meaning for future researchers.

Automatic imitation of intransitive actions

Previous research has indicated a potential discontinuity between monkey and human ventral premotor-parietal mirror systems, namely that monkey mirror systems process only transitive (object-directed) actions, whereas human mirror systems may also process intransitive (non-object-directed) actions. The present study investigated this discontinuity by seeking evidence of automatic imitation of intransitive actions—hand opening and closing—in humans using a simple reaction time (RT), stimulus–response compatibility paradigm. Left–right and up–down spatial compatibility were controlled by ensuring that stimuli were presented and responses executed in orthogonal planes, and automatic imitation was isolated from simple and complex orthogonal spatial compatibility by varying the anatomical identity of the stimulus hand and response hemispace, respectively. In all conditions, action compatible responding was faster than action incompatible responding, and no effects of spatial compatibility were observed. This experiment therefore provides evidence of automatic imitation of intransitive actions, and support for the hypothesis that human and monkey mirror systems differ with respect to the processing of intransitive actions.

Species-specific responses of Late Quaternary megafauna to climate and humans

Despite decades of research, the roles of climate and humans in driving the dramatic extinctions of large-bodied mammals during the Late Quaternary period remain contentious. Here we use ancient DNA, species distribution models and the human fossil record to elucidate how climate and humans shaped the demographic history of woolly rhinoceros, woolly mammoth, wild horse, reindeer, bison and musk ox. We show that climate has been a major driver of population change over the past 50,000 years. However, each species responds differently to the effects of climatic shifts, habitat redistribution and human encroachment. Although climate change alone can explain the extinction of some species, such as Eurasian musk ox and woolly rhinoceros, a combination of climatic and anthropogenic effects appears to be responsible for the extinction of others, including Eurasian steppe bison and wild horse. We find no genetic signature or any distinctive range dynamics distinguishing extinct from surviving species, emphasizing the challenges associated with predicting future responses of extant mammals to climate and human-mediated habitat change.

Effects of the 5-HT(1A) agonist (+/-)-8-hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino)tetralin (8-OH-DPAT) on cocaine choice in cynomolgus monkeys

Drugs that alter brain serotonin (5-HT) function can modulate the behavioral effects of cocaine, but the underlying receptor mechanisms are poorly understood. The present study examined the effects of the selective 5-HT1A receptor agonist (+/-)-8-hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino)tetralin (8-OH-DPAT, 0.01-0.1 mg/kg, i.v.) on cocaine self-administration in the context of a choice procedure. Five adult male cynomolgus monkeys self-administered cocaine (saline, 0.003-0.03 mg/kg per injection) under a concurrent fixed-ratio 50 schedule of food (1-g banana-flavored pellets) and cocaine presentation. Allocation of responses to the cocaine-associated lever (cocaine choice) increased in a dose-related manner from < or =20% of total responses when saline or 0.003 mg/kg per injection cocaine was the alternative to food to > or =75% when 0.03 mg/kg per injection cocaine was available. In four of five monkeys, when choice was between a low cocaine dose and food, 0.01 mg/kg 8-OH-DPAT increased injection-lever responding. At cocaine doses which occasioned > or =75% cocaine choice, 8-OH-DPAT did not alter response allocation. In the fifth monkey, 8-OH-DPAT only decreased injection-lever responding. When choice was between saline and food, 8-OH-DPAT did not reliably shift responding to the injection lever, except at doses that disrupted operant performance. These results suggest that a 5-HT1A receptor agonist can increase the reinforcing strength of a low cocaine dose relative to a concurrently available non-drug reinforcer.

Environmental justice and conceptions of the green economy

Green economy has become one of the most fashionable terms in global environmental public policy discussions and forums. Despite this popularity, and its being selected as one of the organizing themes of the United Nations Rio+20 Conference in Brazil, June 2012, its prospects as an effective mobilization tool for global environmental sustainability scholarship and practice remains unclear. A major reason for this is that much like its precursor concepts such as environmental sustainability and sustainable development, green economy is a woolly concept which lends itself to many interpretations. Hence, rather than resolve long-standing controversies, green economy merely reinvigorates existing debates over the visions, actors and policies best suited to secure a more sustainable future for all. In this review article, we aim to fill an important gap in scholarship by suggesting various ways in which green economy may be organized and synthesized as a concept, and especially in terms of its relationship with the idea of social and environmental justice. Accordingly, we offer a systemization of possible interpretations of green economy mapped onto a synthesis of existing typologies of environmental justice. This classification provides the context for future analysis of which, and how, various notions of green economy link with various conceptions of justice.