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American Journal of Biological... Jul 2024This synthesis explores specific ethical questions that commonly arise in isotopic analysis. For more than four decades, isotope analysis has been employed in... (Review)
Review
This synthesis explores specific ethical questions that commonly arise in isotopic analysis. For more than four decades, isotope analysis has been employed in archeological studies to explore past human and animal dietary habits, mobility patterns, and the environment in which a human or animal inhabited during life. These analyses require consideration of ethical issues. While theoretical concepts are discussed, we focus on practical aspects: working with descendant communities and other rights holders, choosing methods, creating and sharing data, and working mindfully within academia. These layers of respect and care should surround our science. This paper is relevant for specialists in isotope analysis as well as those incorporating these methods into larger projects. By covering the whole of the research process, from design to output management, we appeal broadly to archaeology and provide actionable solutions that build on the discussions in the general field.
PubMed: 38949078
DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24992 -
PeerJ 2024Burmese amber preserves a diverse assemblage of Cretaceous arachnids, and among pseudoscorpions (Arachnida: Pseudoscorpiones), ten species in five families have already...
Burmese amber preserves a diverse assemblage of Cretaceous arachnids, and among pseudoscorpions (Arachnida: Pseudoscorpiones), ten species in five families have already been named. Here, we describe a new fossil species from Burmese amber in the pseudoscorpion family Hyidae, providing detailed measurements, photographs and 3D-models from synchrotron scanning. Based on morphology, the new fossil, sp. nov. is placed in the genus , and is nearly identical to extant species in the genus, except for the position of trichobothrium on the pedipalpal chela, thereby indicating extreme morphological stasis in this invertebrate lineage over the last 99 million years. represents the first described fossil species in Hyidae, and the third described Burmese fossil in the superfamily Neobisioidea. It also joins the garypinid, , in representing the oldest fossil records for extant pseudoscorpion genera. Considering proposed divergence dates, the newly described fossil species bolsters a Gondwanan origin for Hyidae, and provides evidence for the "" hypothesis for the Burma Terrane, in which this landmass rifted from Gondwana in the Late Jurassic and collided with Eurasia by the Cretaceous/Eocene. Like species today, likely inhabited humicolous microhabitats in tropical forests on the Burma Terrane, supporting ecological niche stasis for this family since the Mesozoic.
Topics: Animals; Fossils; Arachnida; Amber; Biological Evolution; Myanmar; Phylogeny
PubMed: 38948233
DOI: 10.7717/peerj.17515 -
PeerJ 2024Eight fossil tetrapod footprints from lake-shore deposits in the Lower Jurassic Moenave Formation at the St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site (SGDS) in southwestern Utah...
Eight fossil tetrapod footprints from lake-shore deposits in the Lower Jurassic Moenave Formation at the St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site (SGDS) in southwestern Utah cannot be assigned to the prevalent dinosaurian (, , , , ) or crocodyliform () ichnotaxa at the site. The tridactyl and tetradactyl footprints are incomplete, consisting of digit- and digit-tip-only imprints. Seven of the eight are likely pes prints; the remaining specimen is a possible manus print. The pes prints have digit imprint morphologies and similar anterior projections and divarication angles to those of , an ichnotaxon found primarily in eolian paleoenvironments attributed to eucynodont synapsids. Although their incompleteness prevents clear referral to , the SGDS tracks nevertheless suggest a eucynodont track maker and thus represent a rare, Early Mesozoic occurrence of such tracks outside of an eolian paleoenvironment.
Topics: Fossils; Utah; Animals; Dinosaurs; Paleontology
PubMed: 38948213
DOI: 10.7717/peerj.17591 -
Archaeological and Anthropological... 2024Sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) has become one of the standard applications in the field of paleogenomics in recent years. It has been used for paleoenvironmental...
Sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) has become one of the standard applications in the field of paleogenomics in recent years. It has been used for paleoenvironmental reconstructions, detecting the presence of prehistoric species in the absence of macro remains and even investigating the evolutionary history of a few species. However, its application in archaeology has been limited and primarily focused on humans. This article argues that sedaDNA holds significant potential in addressing key archaeological questions concerning the origins, lifestyles, and environments of past human populations. Our aim is to facilitate the integration of sedaDNA into the standard workflows in archaeology as a transformative tool, thereby unleashing its full potential for studying the human past. Ultimately, we not only underscore the challenges inherent in the sedaDNA field but also provide a research agenda for essential enhancements needed for implementing sedaDNA into the archaeological workflow.
PubMed: 38948161
DOI: 10.1007/s12520-024-01999-2 -
IScience Jun 2024Comparisons of molecular phenotypes across primates provide unique information to understand human biology and evolution, and single-cell RNA-seq CRISPR interference...
Comparisons of molecular phenotypes across primates provide unique information to understand human biology and evolution, and single-cell RNA-seq CRISPR interference (CRISPRi) screens are a powerful approach to analyze them. Here, we generate and validate three human, three gorilla, and two cynomolgus iPS cell lines that carry a dox-inducible KRAB-dCas9 construct at the AAVS1 locus. We show that despite variable expression levels of KRAB-dCas9 among lines, comparable downregulation of target genes and comparable phenotypic effects are observed in a single-cell RNA-seq CRISPRi screen. Hence, we provide valuable resources for performing and further extending CRISPRi in human and non-human primates.
PubMed: 38947524
DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.110090 -
IScience Jun 2024The constrained energy model posits that the increased total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) in response to exercise is often less than the energy cost of the exercise...
The constrained energy model posits that the increased total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) in response to exercise is often less than the energy cost of the exercise prescribed. The mechanisms behind this phenomenon, coined "exercise-related energy compensation" (ExEC), are poorly understood, and it is unknown if ExEC is coupled with metabolic adaptation. Using a randomized controlled 24-week exercise intervention, individuals who demonstrated ExEC were identified. Changes to all components of TDEE and metabolic adaptation were assessed using doubly labeled water over 14 days and room calorimetry over 24-h 48% of individuals exhibited ExEC (-308 ± 158 kcals/day). There were no statistically significant differences in sex, age, or BMI between ExEC and non-ExEC. ExEC was associated with baseline TDEE (r = -0.50, = 0.006). There were no statistically significant differences in metabolic adaptations for 24 h, sleep, or resting expenditures. These findings reveal that ExEC occurs independent of metabolic adaptation in sedentary components of EE.
PubMed: 38947494
DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.109842 -
Social History of Medicine : the... Feb 2024Medical schools rely on a wide range of tools, technologies and materials for their teaching, on books, and bodies, and on the buildings which house them. This article...
Medical schools rely on a wide range of tools, technologies and materials for their teaching, on books, and bodies, and on the buildings which house them. This article considers the histories of this material culture in the three oldest medical schools operating in Ghana today. Borrowing theoretical concepts from Science and Technology Studies, medical anthropology and postcolonial political economy, this article takes that the material culture of modern medical education often binds contemporary pedagogy to outdated ideas and faraway places. The agential, proselytising nature of these historied materials agitates against the localisation of biomedicine and contributes to a distracting scientific imaginary which remains centred around historical, often imperial centres of knowledge production in Europe and North America.
PubMed: 38947279
DOI: 10.1093/shm/hkad039 -
Progress in Community Health... 2024Drawing from collective experiences in our capacity building project: Health Equity Activation Research Team for Inclusion Health, we argue that while community-engaged...
Drawing from collective experiences in our capacity building project: Health Equity Activation Research Team for Inclusion Health, we argue that while community-engaged partnerships tend to focus on understanding health inequities and developing solutions, they can be healing spaces for health professionals and researchers. Data were obtained from a 15-month participatory ethnography, including focus groups and interviews. Ethnographic notes and transcripts were coded and analyzed using both deductive and inductive coding. Practices of radical welcome, vulnerability, valuing the whole person, acknowledging how partnerships can cause harm, and centering lived experience expertise in knowledge creation processes were identified as key characteristics of healing spaces. Ultimately, health professionals and researchers work within the same social, political and economic contexts of populations with the worst health outcomes. Their own healing is critical for tackling larger systemic changes aimed at improving the well-being of communities harmed by legacies of exclusion.
Topics: Humans; Community-Based Participatory Research; Research Personnel; Focus Groups; Health Personnel; Anthropology, Cultural; Capacity Building; Health Equity
PubMed: 38946573
DOI: No ID Found -
Molecular Ecology Jul 2024We present palaeogenomes of three morphologically unidentified Anatolian equids dating to the first millennium BCE, sequenced to a coverage of 0.6-6.4×. Mitochondrial...
We present palaeogenomes of three morphologically unidentified Anatolian equids dating to the first millennium BCE, sequenced to a coverage of 0.6-6.4×. Mitochondrial DNA haplotypes of the Anatolian individuals clustered with those of Equus hydruntinus (or Equus hemionus hydruntinus), the extinct European wild ass, secular name 'hydruntine'. Further, the Anatolian wild ass whole genome profiles fell outside the genomic diversity of other extant and past Asiatic wild ass (E. hemionus) lineages. These observations suggest that the three Anatolian wild asses represent hydruntines, making them the latest recorded survivors of this lineage, about a millennium later than the latest observations in the zooarchaeological record. Our mitogenomic and genomic analyses indicate that E. h. hydruntinus was a clade belonging to ancient and present-day E. hemionus lineages that radiated possibly between 0.6 and 0.8 Mya. We also find evidence consistent with recent gene flow between hydruntines and Middle Eastern wild asses. Analyses of genome-wide heterozygosity and runs of homozygosity suggest that the Anatolian wild ass population may have lost genetic diversity by the mid-first millennium BCE, a possible sign of its eventual demise.
PubMed: 38946459
DOI: 10.1111/mec.17440 -
Pharmaceutical Biology Dec 2024Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) results in an enormous burden and reduces the quality of life for patients. Considering there is no specific drug for the management... (Review)
Review
CONTEXT
Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) results in an enormous burden and reduces the quality of life for patients. Considering there is no specific drug for the management of DPN, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has increasingly drawn attention of clinicians and researchers around the world due to its characteristics of multiple targets, active components, and exemplary safety.
OBJECTIVE
To summarize the current status of TCM in the treatment of DPN and provide directions for novel drug development, the clinical effects and potential mechanisms of TCM used in treating DPN were comprehensively reviewed.
METHODS
Existing evidence on TCM interventions for DPN was screened from databases such as PubMed, the Cochrane Neuromuscular Disease Group Specialized Register (CENTRAL), and the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure Database (CNKI). The focus was on summarizing and analyzing representative preclinical and clinical TCM studies published before 2023.
RESULTS
This review identified the ameliorative effects of about 22 single herbal extracts, more than 30 herbal compound prescriptions, and four Chinese patent medicines on DPN in preclinical and clinical research. The latest advances in the mechanism highlight that TCM exerts its beneficial effects on DPN by inhibiting inflammation, oxidative stress and apoptosis, endoplasmic reticulum stress and improving mitochondrial function.
CONCLUSIONS
TCM has shown the power latent capacity in treating DPN. It is proposed that more large-scale and multi-center randomized controlled clinical trials and fundamental experiments should be conducted to further verify these findings.
Topics: Humans; Diabetic Neuropathies; Medicine, Chinese Traditional; Drugs, Chinese Herbal; Animals; Quality of Life; Oxidative Stress; Drug Evaluation, Preclinical
PubMed: 38946248
DOI: 10.1080/13880209.2024.2369301