Eight glacial cycles from an Antarctic ice core

The Antarctic Vostok ice core provided compelling evidence of the nature of climate, and of climate feedbacks, over the past 420,000 years. Marine records suggest that the amplitude of climate variability was smaller before that time, but such records are often poorly resolved. Moreover, it is not possible to infer the abundance of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere from marine records. Here we report the recovery of a deep ice core from Dome C, Antarctica, that provides a climate record for the past 740,000 years. For the four most recent glacial cycles, the data agree well with the record from Vostok. The earlier period, between 740,000 and 430,000 years ago, was characterized by less pronounced warmth in interglacial periods in Antarctica, but a higher proportion of each cycle was spent in the warm mode. The transition from glacial to interglacial conditions about 430,000 years ago (Termination V) resembles the transition into the present interglacial period in terms of the magnitude of change in temperatures and greenhouse gases, but there are significant differences in the patterns of change. The interglacial stage following Termination V was exceptionally long--28,000 years compared to, for example, the 12,000 years recorded so far in the present interglacial period. Given the similarities between this earlier warm period and today, our results may imply that without human intervention, a climate similar to the present one would extend well into the future.     

Composition and functional role of the mucus layers in the intestine

In discussions on intestinal protection, the protective capacity of mucus has not been very much considered. The progress in the last years in understanding the molecular nature of mucins, the main building blocks of mucus, has, however, changed this. The intestinal enterocytes have their apical surfaces covered by transmembrane mucins and the whole intestinal surface is further covered by mucus, built around the gel-forming mucin MUC2. The mucus of the small intestine has only one layer, whereas the large intestine has a two-layered mucus where the inner, attached layer has a protective function for the intestine, as it is impermeable to the luminal bacteria.     

Common sequence variants on 20q11.22 confer melanoma susceptibility

We conducted a genome-wide association pooling study for cutaneous melanoma and performed validation in samples totaling 2,019 cases and 2,105 controls. Using pooling, we identified a new melanoma risk locus on chromosome 20 (rs910873 and rs1885120), with replication in two further samples (combined P < 1 x 10(-15)). The per allele odds ratio was 1.75 (1.53, 2.01), with evidence for stronger association in early-onset cases.     

Behavioural and electrophysiological evaluation of oviposition attractants forCulex quinquefasciatus say (Diptera: Culicidae)

The attraction of gravidCulex quinquefasciatus by the oviposition pheromone,erythro-6-acetoxy-5-hexadecanolide, and by polluted water is described. Both materials increase oviposition and when combined the effect is additive. The oviposition behaviour is reflected by the antennal sensitivity to these compounds.     

Falsificationism Falsified

A conceptual analysis of falsificationism is performed, in which the central falsificationist thesis is divided into several components. Furthermore, an empirical study of falsification in science is reported, based on the 70 scientific contributions that were published as articles in Nature in 2000. Only one of these articles conformed to the falsificationist recipe for successful science, namely the falsification of a hypothesis that is more accessible to falsification than to verification. It is argued that falsificationism relies on an incorrect view of the nature of scientific inquiry and that it is, therefore, not a tenable research methodology.     

Uptake of C14-ethionine by mouse foetuses

Zusammenfassung Trächtige Mäuse wurden zwei Tage vor dem erwarteten Werfen mit dem Antimetabolit des Methionins¹⁴C-DL-Aethionin intravenös behandelt. Aufnahme und Einbau des Antimetabolits wurden gleichzeitig autoradiographisch und chemisch untersucht. Die Plazentaschranke ist für Aethionin durchlässig; die Radioaktivität fand sich in den Foeten angehäuft, dabei war aber nur ein ganz geringer Teil des Aethionins in den Eiweisskörper derselben eingebaut. Der Einbau des Aethionins in den Organen (Leber und Pankreas) der Mutter war ebenfalls äusserst gering.Aus den Ergebnissen wird der Mechanismus der toxischen Wirkung des Aethionins erklärt.

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This work was supported by grants from the Swedish Medical Research Council.     

Sound-stimulated14C-glutamate release from the nucleus cochlearis

Summary The exogenous release of glutamate has been successfully studied in the cochlear nucleus of guinea-pigs after physiological sound stimulation of the ear (frequency 2000–20,000 Hz at 100 dBA).Acknowledgments. This study was supported by grants from the Swedish Medical Research Council (B80-12X-05666-01) and Torsten Söderbergs och Ragnar Söderbergs stiftelser.