An older origin for the Acheulean at Melka Kunture (Upper Awash,Ethiopia): Techno-economic behaviours at Garba IVD

In the 1970s and 1980s, the emergence of the Acheulean at Melka Kunture (Upper Awash, Ethiopia) was dated to 1 Ma (million years ago), based on the typo-metrical analysis of the lithic assemblage of Garba XIIJ. Older sites such as Gombore I, Karre I, and Garba IV (1.7–1.5 Ma) were classified as Oldowan/Developed Oldowan. Consequently, the Oldowan and the Acheulean at Melka Kunture were interpreted as two distinct technologies separated by a chronological gap of 0.5 Ma.     

Mapping human- and bear-centered perspectives on coexistence using a participatory Bayesian framework

Coexistence with wildlife is becoming a key challenge in Europe as populations of large carnivores recover in human-dominated landscapes. Modeling the spatial distribution of conditions for human-bear coexistence can help support conservation by identifying priority areas and measures to support coexistence, but existing models often only address risks either to humans or to large carnivores. In this study, we developed a participatory modeling process that incorporates both human-centered and large carnivore-centered perspectives on coexistence and applied it to a case study of coexistence between humans and the endangered Apennine brown bears (Ursus arctos marsicanus) in Italy. Local and expert knowledge, as well as available data on bear habitats and land use, were integrated into a spatially explicit Bayesian network. This model is used to predict and map the tolerance to bears from the human perspective and the risk of fitness loss from the bear perspective. We found that conditions for human-bear coexistence vary between human communities and are spatially heterogeneous at the local scale, depending on ecological factors, social factors influencing the level of tolerance in community, such as people’s emotions and knowledge, economic factors, such as livelihoods, and policies such as damage compensation. The participatory modeling approach allowed us to integrate perceptions of local people, expert assessments, and spatial data, and can help bridge the gap between science and conservation practice. The resulting coexistence maps can inform conservation decisions, and can be updated as new information becomes available. Our modeling approach could help to efficiently target measures for improving human-large carnivore coexistence in different settings in a site-specific manner.     

Energie-, Kohlenstoff-, Stickstoff- und Aminosäurenbilanzversuch mit wachsenden Cornish- Hähnen

The time course of AA digestion, AA balance (sV AS), and AA absorption (wV AS) was estimated on growing rats (Wistar rats, LW= 124 g) in different sections of the intestinal tract using the combination of ¹⁵N tracer and TiO₂ marker techniques. The animals received once a diet of ¹⁵N labelled wheat and yeast as protein sources supplemented by TiO₂ as a marker. Up to 6 h after feeding the amino acid composition the ¹⁵N excess and the TiO₂ content in the digesta of stomach, small and large intestine were determinated in the relation of amino acids resp. of ¹⁵N labelled amino acids to the marker. In addition the content of amino acids and the ¹⁵N excess of these amino acids were estimated in plasma. From these data the disappearance rates and the relation of exogenous to endogenous amino acids as well as the sV and the wV values of the different amino acids were calculated for the different gut sections.

The following results were obtained:

- The relative disappearance rate for N and TiO₂ marker out of the stomach went approximately parallel but with a delay for TiO₂ of about 30 minutes.

- The AA composition of the stomach content, the small and the large intestine content did not vary in dependence of the time.

- The AA composition of the stomach digesta was nearly identical to that of the diet, while that of the small intestine was between exogenous AA composition (feed) and endogenous AA composition (digesta on protein free feeding). AA composition of the large intestine digesta showed quite big differences (bacterial AA break down and AA synthesis).

- Considering a delay time (small intestine: 1 h, large intestine: 4 h) the exogenous portion of the different AA remained constant in both of these intestinal sections during the whole experimental time.

- The exogenous AA part varied for small intestine digesta between 31 and 69% (mean value: 41%), and for large intestine digesta between 13 and 39% (mean value: 22%).

- The sV AS values in the small intestine (AA balance resp. precaecal digestibility) differed from 61% (threonine) to 86% (proline) with an average of 73.4 ± 7.4%, those for wV AS (AA absorption) from 81% (lysine) to 94% (proline) with an average of 88.1±4.1%. There were significant differences between AA, but they are negligible for practical purposes.

- In the small intestine the estimated values for postprandial absorption of the exogenous AA accounted after 1 h, 2 h, 4 h and 6 h for 21%, 33.7%, 46.5%, and 70.7% of the AA intake respectively, mean absorption rate = 9.1 ± 0.5%/h.

- The AA balance in the whole tract (sV AS) was 75 to 94% (on average 82 ± 5.3%) and the wV AS (balance corrected by the ¹⁵N method) ranged from 92 to 99% (on average 96±1.8%). These values correspond to the faecal AA digestibility in conventional experiments.

- In the large intestine the postileal disappearance of the AA (sV) was on average 9.7% with a maximum value of 26% for glycine, and with a minimum for methionine of ‐2.1% caused by bacterial synthesis of methionine. Te postileal wV in the large intestine amounted to 7.5%.

- The time course of the disappearance rate of the ¹⁵N labelled AA in the small intestine and the appearance rate of these AA in the plasma showed an analogous behavior. Both of them characterize the postprandial absorption.

The following conclusion can be drawn:

The method used (combination of ¹⁵N tracer and TiO₂ marker techniques) enables determining the time course of transit and the variation of exogenous AA: endogenous AA proportion in the different intestinal sections and estimating the faecal and precaecal digestibility of the different AA.

The course of secretion and absorption of the different AA should be specified in further experiments using the more precise analysis of ¹⁵N by GC‐MS resp. GC‐C‐IRMS technique. An apply of this method to farm animals (pigs) seems to be possible.     

Improving data deficiencies in length-weight relationships for fish species around an artificial breakwater and adjacent soft-bottom at the central coast of Peru

Long-term environmental monitoring studies includes morphometric data (length and weight) of aggregating fish species around this artificial structure and adjacent soft-bottom habitats. We used these data, obtained biannually (summer and spring) between 2012 and 2018, to estimate population parameters such as length-weight relationships (LWRs) for 28 species. Gender and ontogeny-based differences in LWR were determined in four species, while novel LWR information was generated for all other species.     

大中微量元素组合对水稻产量和品质影响的灰色综合评判

本文运用灰色系统理论，探讨了大中微量元素组合对水稻产量和品质的影响，并对其进行了灰色关联评判，结果表明复4S1Fe1Cu1和复2S2Fe1Cu2两个组合，对水稻产量和品质影响最为明显，并与田间试验情况一致。     

Immunotherapy in the treatment of lymphoma

Relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, especially diffuse large B-cell lymphoma as well as relapsed or refractory Hodgkin lymphomas are hard-to-treat diseases. Patients who do not respond to initial therapy or experience relapse are treated with salvage regimens, and if eligible for aggressive therapy, treatment is continued with high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation. Current therapy options can cure substantial numbers of patients, however for some it is still an uncurable disease. Numerous new drugs and cell therapies are being investigated for the treatment of relapsed or refractory lymphomas. Different types of immunotherapy options have shown promising results, and some have already become the standard of care. Here, we review immunotherapy options for the treatment of lymphoma and discuss the results, positions, practical aspects, and future directions of different drugs and cellular therapies for the treatment of this disease.