The European Modern Pollen Database (EMPD) project

Modern pollen samples provide an invaluable research tool for helping to interpret the quaternary fossil pollen record, allowing investigation of the relationship between pollen as the proxy and the environmental parameters such as vegetation, land-use, and climate that the pollen proxy represents. The European Modern Pollen Database (EMPD) is a new initiative within the European Pollen Database (EPD) to establish a publicly accessible repository of modern (surface sample) pollen data. This new database will complement the EPD, which at present holds only fossil sedimentary pollen data. The EMPD is freely available online to the scientific community and currently has information on almost 5,000 pollen samples from throughout the Euro-Siberian and Mediterranean regions, contributed by over 40 individuals and research groups. Here we describe how the EMPD was constructed, the various tables and their fields, problems and errors, quality controls, and continuing efforts to improve the available data.

Erratum to: The European Modern Pollen Database (EMPD) project

Unfortunately, the list of authors contains a number of duplications, omissions and other errors in the original publication of the article. The correct list appears in this erratum.

Die gestempelten Bronze-Gewichte aus Himera

Bei Ausgrabungen in der antiken griechischen Stadt Himera an der Nordküste Siziliens wurden zwei Bronzegewichte gefunden. Beide zeigen eine Beprägung , die dasselbe Prägebild wie die Rückseite zeitgleicher Litraprägungen aus Himera wiedergeben. Im Jahr 2010 erschien im Münzhandel zudem ein zuvor unveröffentlichtes Bronzegewicht, beprägt mit einem Hemilitron-Rückseitenstempel aus Himera. Anhand dieser gestempelten Bronzegewichte können – unter Einbezug weiterer Quellen – die im letzten Viertel des 5. Jhs. v. Chr. in Himera üblichen Gewichtssysteme für Bronze nachgezeichnet werden: Neben einer überregionalen, kanonischen Bronze-Litra, die bereits früher im 5. Jh. v. Chr. von ca. 108 g auf ca. 216 g im Gewicht verdoppelt worden war, scheint ein regionaler Litrafuß zu ca. 50 g etabliert gewesen zu sein. Dieser den frühesten Bronzemünzen von Himera, Selinunt und Akragas zugrundeliegende Litrafuß existierte auch dann noch, als die Münzen bereits in stark reduziertem Gewicht geprägt wurden.

Sex differences in the prevalence and clinical outcomes of subclinical peripheral artery disease in the Health, Aging, and Body Composition (Health ABC) study

The objective of the study was to determine if there are sex-based differences in the prevalence and clinical outcomes of subclinical peripheral artery disease (PAD). We evaluated the sex-specific associations of ankle-brachial index (ABI) with clinical cardiovascular disease outcomes in 2797 participants without prevalent clinical PAD and with a baseline ABI measurement in the Health, Aging, and Body Composition study. The mean age was 74 years, 40% were black, and 52% were women. Median follow-up was 9.37 years. Women had a similar prevalence of ABI < 0.9 (12% women versus 11% men; P = 0.44), but a higher prevalence of ABI 0.9-1.0 (15% versus 10%, respectively; P < 0.001). In a fully adjusted model, ABI < 0.9 was significantly associated with higher coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality, incident clinical PAD and incident myocardial infarction in both women and men. ABI < 0.9 was significantly associated with incident stroke only in women. ABI 0.9-1.0 was significantly associated with CHD death in both women (hazard ratio 4.84, 1.53-15.31) and men (3.49, 1.39-8.72). However, ABI 0.9-1.0 was significantly associated with incident clinical PAD (3.33, 1.44-7.70) and incident stroke (2.45, 1.38-4.35) only in women. Subclinical PAD was strongly associated with adverse CV events in both women and men, but women had a higher prevalence of subclinical PAD.

Does normalized signal intensity of cervical discs on T2 weighted MRI images change in whiplash patients?

PURPOSE We tested the hypothesis that whiplash trauma leads to changes of the signal intensity of cervical discs in T2-weighted images. METHODS AND MATERIALS 50 whiplash patients (18-65 years) were examined within 48h after motor vehicle accident, and again after 3 and 6 months and compared to 50 age- and sex-matched controls. Signal intensity in ROI's of the discs at the levels C2/3 to C7/T1 and the adjacent vertebral bodies were measured on sagittal T2 weighted MR images and normalized using the average of ROI's in fat tissue. The contrast between discs and both adjacent vertebrae was calculated and disc degeneration was graded by the Pfirrmann-grading system. RESULTS Whiplash trauma did not have a significant effect on the normalized signals from discs and vertebrae, on the contrast between discs and adjacent vertebrae, or on the Pfirrmann grading. However, the contrast between discs and adjacent vertebrae and the Pfirrmann grading showed a strong correlation. In healthy volunteers, the contrast between discs and adjacent vertebrae and Pfirrmann grading increased with age and was dependent on the disc level. CONCLUSION We could not find any trauma related changes of cervical disc signal intensities. Normalized signals of discs and Pfirrmann grading changed with age and varied between disc levels with the used MR sequence.

Normative MR Cervical Spinal Canal Dimensions

Purpose To provide normal values of the cervical spinal canal and spinal cord dimensions in several planes with respect to spinal level, age, sex, and body height. Materials and Methods This study was approved by the institutional review board; all individuals provided signed informed consent. In a prospective multicenter study, two blinded raters independently examined cervical spine magnetic resonance (MR) images of 140 healthy volunteers who were white. The midsagittal diameters and areas of spinal canal and spinal cord, respectively, were measured at the midvertebral levels of C1, C3, and C6. A multivariate general linear model described the influence of sex, body height, age, and spinal level on the measured values. Results There were differences for sex, spinal level, interaction between sex and level, and body height, while age had significant yet limited influence. Normative ranges for the sagittal diameters and areas of spinal canal and spinal cord were defined at C1, C3, and C6 levels for men and women. In addition to a calculation of normative ranges for a specific sex, spinal level, age, and body height data, data for three different height subgroups at 45 years of age were extracted. These results show a range of the spinal canal dimensions at C1 (from 10.7 to 19.7 mm), C3 (from 9.4 to 17.2 mm), and C6 (from 9.2 to 16.8 mm) levels. Conclusion : The dimensions of the cervical spinal canal and cord in healthy individuals are associated with spinal level, sex, age, and height. © RSNA, 2013 Online supplemental material is available for this article.

Delay discounting task in pigs reveals response strategies related to dopamine metabolite.

We developed a novel delay discounting task to investigate outcome impulsivity in pigs. As impulsivity can affect aggression, and might also relate to proactive and reactive coping styles, eight proactive (HR) and eight reactive (LR) pigs identified in a manual restraint test ("Backtest", after Bolhuis et al., 2003) were weaned and mixed in four pens of four unfamiliar pigs, so that each pen had two HR and two LR pigs, and aggression was scored in the 9h after mixing. In the delay discounting task, each pig chose between two levers, one always delivering a small immediate reward, the other a large delayed reward with daily increasing delays, impulsive individuals being the ones discounting the value of the large reward quicker. Two novel strategies emerged: some pigs gradually switched their preference towards the small reward ('Switchers') as predicted, but others persistently preferred the large reward until they stopped making choices ('Omitters'). Outcome impulsivity itself was unrelated to these strategies, to urinary serotonin metabolite (5-HIAA) or dopamine metabolite (HVA) levels, aggression at weaning, or coping style. However, HVA was relatively higher in Omitters than Switchers, and positively correlated with behavioural measures of indecisiveness and frustration during choosing. The delay discounting task thus revealed two response strategies that seemed to be related to the activity of the dopamine system and might indicate a difference in execution, rather than outcome, impulsivity.

MODELING SPORADIC TUMOR FORMATION DRIVEN BY TELOMERE DYSFUNCTION IN THE GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT

Colorectal cancer is a complex disease that is thought to arise when cells accumulate mutations that allow for uncontrolled growth. There are several recognized mechanisms for generating such mutations in sporadic colon cancer; one of which is chromosomal instability (CIN). One hypothesized driver of CIN in cancer is the improper repair of dysfunctional telomeres. Telomeres comprise the linear ends of chromosomes and play a dual role in cancer. Its length is maintained by the ribonucleoprotein, telomerase, which is not a normally expressed in somatic cells and as cells divide, telomeres continuously shorten. Critically shortened telomeres are considered dysfunctional as they are recognized as sites of DNA damage and cells respond by entering into replicative senescence or apoptosis, a process that is p53-dependent and the mechanism for telomere-induced tumor suppression. Loss of this checkpoint and improper repair of dysfunctional telomeres can initiate a cycle of fusion, bridge and breakage that can lead to chromosomal changes and genomic instability, a process that can lead to transformation of normal cells to cancer cells. Mouse models of telomere dysfunction are currently based on knocking out the telomerase protein or RNA component; however, the naturally long telomeres of mice require multiple generational crosses of telomerase null mice to achieve critically short telomeres. Shelterin is a complex of six core proteins that bind to telomeres specifically. Pot1a is a highly conserved member of this complex that specifically binds to the telomeric single-stranded 3’ G-rich overhang. Previous work in our lab has shown that Pot1a is essential for chromosomal end protection as deletion of Pot1a in murine embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) leads to open telomere ends that initiate a DNA damage response mediated by ATR, resulting in p53-dependent cellular senescence. Loss of Pot1a in the background of p53 deficiency results in increased aberrant homologous recombination at telomeres and elevated genomic instability, which allows Pot1a-/-, p53-/- MEFs to form tumors when injected into SCID mice. These phenotypes are similar to those seen in cells with critically shortened telomeres. In this work, we created a mouse model of telomere ysfunction in the gastrointestinal tract through the conditional deletion of Pot1a that recapitulates the microscopic features seen in severe telomere attrition. Combined intestinal loss of Pot1a and p53 lead to formation of invasive adenocarcinomas in the small and large intestines. The tumors formed with long latency, low multiplicity and had complex genomes due to chromosomal instability, features similar to those seen in sporadic human colorectal cancers. Taken together, we have developed a novel mouse model of intestinal tumorigenesis based on genomic instability driven by telomere dysfunction.

Sticking to Syntax: The Reflection of Story Grammar in Children's and Adult's Recall of Radio and Television Shows

Two studies were conducted to determine how well story grammar predicted recall of televised stories. In Experiment 1, preschoolers viewed a non-narrated televised story from "Sesame Street." In Experiment 2, preschoolers and adults were administered a narrative via television or radio. In both studies, subjects' retention reflected recall of nodal information, regardless of medium of input.