A compilation of Western European terrestrial records 60–8 ka BP: towards an understanding of latitudinal climatic gradients

Terrestrial records of past climatic conditions, such as lake sediments and speleothems, provide data of great importance for understanding environmental changes. However, unlike marine and ice core records, terrestrial palaeodata are often not available in databases or in a format that is easily accessible to the non-specialist. As a consequence, many excellent terrestrial records are unknown to the broader palaeoclimate community and are not included in compilations, comparisons, or modelling exercises. Here we present a compilation of Western European terrestrial palaeo-records covering, entirely or partially, the 60–8-ka INTIMATE time period. The compilation contains 56 natural archives, including lake records, speleothems, ice cores, and terrestrial proxies in marine records. The compilation is limited to include records of high temporal resolution and/or records that provide climate proxies or quantitative reconstructions of environmental parameters, such as temperature or precipitation, and that are of relevance and interest to a broader community. We briefly review the different types of terrestrial archives, their respective proxies, their interpretation and their application for palaeoclimatic reconstructions. We also discuss the importance of independent chronologies and the issue of record synchronization. The aim of this exercise is to provide the wider palaeo-community with a consistent compilation of high-quality terrestrial records, to facilitate model-data comparisons, and to identify key areas of interest for future investigations. We use the compilation to investigate Western European latitudinal climate gradients during the deglacial period and, despite of poorly constrained chronologies for the older records, we summarize the main results obtained from NW and SW European terrestrial records before the LGM.

Can stable isotope analysis and tooth histology assist in detecting stillbirth? An approach using neonatal remains from the Roman settlement Studen Petinesca

Infant burials in Roman settlements are a common observation. Even though ancient authors provide information many questions remain uncertain. For instance, the burial ritual for stillbirth and infanticide neonates is not specifically mentioned. This study therefore aimed to investigate the application of stable nitrogen (δ15N) and carbon (δ13C) isotopes from neonatal bone collagen in differentiating between a breastfeeding signal and stillbirth or a short survival of less than ten days. For this purpose collagen of 11 human and 14 non-human bones from the Roman settlement Petinesca (1st - 3rd century AD, Switzerland) was extracted and analysed for δ15N and δ13C. Tooth histology was performed for the central incisor and canine of the right mandible in order to investigate the presence of a neonatal line. According to the length of the long bones the age varied between 8.5 lunar months to 2 months ex utero. The stable isotope results provided a breastfeeding signal for all except one individual where the breastfeeding signal was absent. The tooth histological analysis of this individual exhibited no neonatal line. It is concluded that stable isotope analysis could indicate stillbirth or a short survival after birth. The tooth histology confirmed the stable isotope results. Furthermore, this might indicate that the burial ritual did not differentiate between stillbirth and neonates, who died within the time span stated by ancient authors of up to 40 days of age or the appearance of teeth. However, for further justifications additional research is going to be conducted.

Multiple regulatory variants located in cell type-specific enhancers within the PKP2 locus form major risk and protective haplotypes for canine atopic dermatitis in German shepherd dogs.

BACKGROUND Canine atopic dermatitis (CAD) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease triggered by allergic reactions involving IgE antibodies directed towards environmental allergens. We previously identified a ~1.5 Mb locus on canine chromosome 27 associated with CAD in German shepherd dogs (GSDs). Fine-mapping indicated association closest to the PKP2 gene encoding plakophilin 2. RESULTS Additional genotyping and association analyses in GSDs combined with control dogs from five breeds with low-risk for CAD revealed the top SNP 27:19,086,778 (p = 1.4 × 10(-7)) and a rare ~48 kb risk haplotype overlapping the PKP2 gene and shared only with other high-risk CAD breeds. We selected altogether nine SNPs (four top-associated in GSDs and five within the ~48 kb risk haplotype) that spanned ~280 kb forming one risk haplotype carried by 35 % of the GSD cases and 10 % of the GSD controls (OR = 5.1, p = 5.9 × 10(-5)), and another haplotype present in 85 % of the GSD cases and 98 % of the GSD controls and conferring a protective effect against CAD in GSDs (OR = 0.14, p = 0.0032). Eight of these SNPs were analyzed for transcriptional regulation using reporter assays where all tested regions exerted regulatory effects on transcription in epithelial and/or immune cell lines, and seven SNPs showed allelic differences. The DNA fragment with the top-associated SNP 27:19,086,778 displayed the highest activity in keratinocytes with 11-fold induction of transcription by the risk allele versus 8-fold by the control allele (pdifference = 0.003), and also mapped close (~3 kb) to an ENCODE skin-specific enhancer region. CONCLUSIONS Our experiments indicate that multiple CAD-associated genetic variants located in cell type-specific enhancers are involved in gene regulation in different cells and tissues. No single causative variant alone, but rather multiple variants combined in a risk haplotype likely contribute to an altered expression of the PKP2 gene, and possibly nearby genes, in immune and epithelial cells, and predispose GSDs to CAD.