Starch grains from dental calculus reveal ancient plant foodstuffs at Chenqimogou site, Gansu Province

National Natural Science Foundation of China [40771205]; National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars [40625002]; Chinese Academy of Sciences [KZCX2-YW-315]

An ancient C-type lectin in Chlamys farreri (CfLec-2) that mediate pathogen recognition and cellular adhesion

C-type lectins are a superfamily of Ca2+ dependent carbohydrate-recognition proteins which play significant diverse roles in nonself-recognition and clearance of invaders. In the present study, a C-type lectin (CfLec-2) from Zhikong scallop Chlamys farreri was selected to investigate its functions in innate immunity. The mRNA expression of CfLec-2 in hemocytes was significantly up-regulated (P < 0.01) after scallops were stimulated by LPS. PGN or beta-glucan, and reached the highest expression level at 12h post-stimulation, which was 72.5-, 23.6- or 43.8-fold compared with blank group, respectively. The recombinant Cflec-2 (designated as rCfLec-2) could bind LPS, PGN, mannan and zymosan in vitro, but it could not bind beta-glucan. Immunofluorescence assay with polyclonal antibody specific for Cflec-2 revealed that CfLec-2 was mainly located in the mantle, kidney and gonad. Furthermore, rCfLec-2 could bind to the surface of scallop hemocytes, and then initiated cellular adhesion and recruited hemocytes to enhance their encapsulation in vitro, and this process could be specifically blocked by anti-rCfLec-2 serum. These results collectively suggested that CfLec-2 from the primitive deuterostome C. farreri could perform two distinct immune functions, pathogen recognition and cellular adhesion synchronously, while these functions were performed by collectins and selectins in vertebrates, respectively. The synchronous functions of pathogen recognition and cellular adhesion performed by CfLec-2 tempted us to suspect that CfLec-2 was an ancient form of C-type lectin, and apparently the differentiation of these two functions mediated by C-type lectins occurred after mollusk in phylogeny. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Analyses of patterns of copper and lead mineralisation in human skeletons excavated from an ancient mining and smelting centre in the Jordanian desert

Grattan, J.P., Al-Saad, Z., Gilbertson, D.D., Karaki, L.O., Pyatt, F.B 2005 Analyses of patterns of copper and lead mineralisation in human skeletons excavated from an ancient mining and smelting centre in the Jordanian desert Mineralogical Magazine. 69(5) 653-666.

The heavy metal content of skeletons from an ancient metalliferous polluted area in southern Jordan with particular reerence to bioaccumulation and human health

Pyatt, F.B., Pyatt, A.J., Walker, C., Sheen, T., Grattan, J.P, The heavy metal content of skeletons from an ancient metalliferous polluted area in southern Jordan with particular reerence to bioaccumulation and human health, Ecotoxicology & Environmental Safety 60, 13th August 2003, 295-300

Invertebrates of ancient heavy metal spoil and smelting tip sites in southern Jordan: Thier distribution and use as bioindicators of metalliferous pollution derived from ancient sources

Pyatt, B. Amos, D. Grattan, J. Pyatt, A. Terrell-Nield, C. Invertebrates of ancient heavy metal spoil and smelting tip sites in southern Jordan: Thier distribution and use as bioindicators of metalliferous pollution derived from ancient sources. Journal of Arid Environments. 2002. 52 pp 53-62

An Imperial Legacy? An Exploration of the environmental impact of ancient metal mining and smelting in southern Jordan

Pyatt, B. Gilmore, G. Grattan, J. Hunt, C. McLaren, S. An imperial legacy? An exploration of the environmental impact of ancient metal mining and smelting in southern Jordan. Journal of Archaeological Science. 2000. 27 pp 771-778

'Death...more desirable than life'? The human skeletal record and toxicological implications of ancient copper mining and smelting in Wadi Faynan, southwestern Jordan

Grattan, J., Huxley, S., Karaki, L. A., Toland, H., Gilbertson, D., Pyatt, B., Saad, Z. A. (2002). 'Death . . . more desirable than life'? The human skeletal record and toxicological implications of ancient copper mining and smelting in Wadi Faynan, southwestern Jordan. Toxicology and Industrial Health, 18 (6), 297-307.

Using hybrid knowledge engineering and image processing in color virtual restoration of ancient murals

IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering, vol. 15, no. 5, pp. 1338-1343, 2003.

Ancient Celtic Place-Names in Europe and Asia Minor: Publications of the Philological Society, 39

Sims-Williams, P. (2006). Ancient Celtic Place-Names in Europe and Asia Minor: Publications of the Philological Society, 39. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. RAE2008

The Where, Who, When and Why of Medieval Welsh Prose Texts: Some Methodological Considerations

Rodway, S. (2007). The Where, Who, When and Why of Medieval Welsh Prose Texts: Some Methodological Considerations. Studia Celtica. 41, pp.47-89. RAE2008

Rainfall infiltration and soil hydrological characteristics below ancient forest, planted forest, and grassland in a temperate northern climate

How rainfall infiltration rate and soil hydrological characteristics develop over time under forests of different ages in temperate regions is poorly understood. In this study, infiltration rate and soil hydrological characteristics were investigated under forests of different ages and under grassland. Soil hydraulic characteristics were measured at different scales under a 250 year old grazed grassland (GL), a six (6 yr) and 48 (48 yr) year old Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) plantation, remnant 300 year old individual Scots pines (OT) and a 4000 year old Caledonian Forest (AF). In-situ field saturated hydraulic conductivity (Kfs) was measured and visible root:soil area was estimated from soil pits. Macroporosity, pore structure, and macropore connectivity were estimated from X-ray tomography of soil cores, and from water-release characteristics. At all scales the median values for Kfs, root fraction, macro-porosity and connectivity values tended to AF > OT > 48 yr > GL > 6 yr, indicating that infiltration rates and water storage increased with forest age. The remnant Caledonian Forest had a huge range of Kfs (12 to > 4922 mm h-1), with maximum Kfs values 7 to 15 times larger than 48-year-old Scots pine plantation, suggesting that undisturbed old forests, with high rainfall and minimal evapotranspiration in winter, may act as important areas for water storage and sinks for storm rainfall to infiltrate and transport to deeper soil layers via preferential flow. The importance of the development of soil hydrological characteristics under different aged forests is discussed.

(O)znaki śmierci w polskiej poezji po roku 1956

Wydział Filologii Polskiej i Klasycznej: Instytut Filologii Polskiej

Antyk w prozie J. R. R. Tolkiena

Tolkien’s oeuvre and its problematic relationships with classical tradition serve in my paper as an illustration of the diverse approaches, methods, and styles of lecture concerning the nature of literary allusivity. As a point of departure in the paper has been taken the reflection on the common phrase about “antiquity in something” deployed broadly in the reception studies. T he questions raised here are as follows: what does precisely “in” mean in that metaphor? O r, to put it in more general terms, when an allusion to another text can be treated as an inherent part of interpretation? Answer to these questions was possible due to U mberto E co’s statements in the well-known dispute relating to the interpretation and overinterpretation; in conclusion I was trying to show that his criterion of textual economy in interpretation justifies somehow (as I believe) the new look on the essential T olkien’s symbol, i.e. the ring of power, as a symbol of the R oman imperial rule. This means (in the context of the translatio imperii and cultural change from pagan to Christian empire) that The Lord of the Rings can be seen in a way as a novelistic version of Augustine’s The City of God.