No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Abstract This essay discusses different explanations and interpretations of what characterizes large areas containing clearance cairns (cairn fields). Results from the analyses show that there are different explanations about when and why cairn fields and clearance cairns occur. Explanations vary from introduction of the wooden ard in the early Bronze Age to the introduction of rational hay-making in the Roman Iron Age.  There is, anyway, relative agreement considering why and when cairn fields were abandoned. The reason suggested is an increasing pasturage with the consequence of reducing soil to poverty during the period of the Great Migration or in the Viking Age. The most likely cultivation system in cairn fields is a system consisting of both intensive and extensive characteristics. The latter coincides with the probable mobility of settlements. When it comes to cultivation a possible development is the use of hand-tools initially, followed by an increased use of wooden ards. Stones from clearance cairns have often been used when graves were built. Sometimes this is interpreted in ritualistic and symbolic terms, but a practical explanation seems most likely. Graves in areas of clearance cairns are usually located nearby the settlements. This is either indicating a more developed individualized ownership of land in the Iron Age or a stronger cult of ancestors in the period. When the element of ritual and symbolism in the agriculture practiced in areas of clearance cairns is discussed this is, almost without exception, a question for archaeologists, though many archaeologist, like culture geographers, emphasize practical explanations to different phenomena.   KEYWORDS: Areas of clearance cairns, clearance cairns, cultivation systems, settlements, ritual and symbolism.

No description available.

No description available.

Recent research suggests that amino acids can significantly increase skeletal muscle glucose uptake. However, the mechanism(s) have not been fully elucidated and it is also not clear if the beneficial impact amino acids have on healthy tissue translates to insulin resistant skeletal muscle. Therefore, in this series of studies, the effects of an amino acid mixture on glucose tolerance and insulin resistance were investigated. Study 1 Experiment-1 (Exp-1) demonstrated that an amino acid mixture significantly reduced the blood glucose response to an oral glucose challenge in Sprague Dawley rats. In Study 1 Exp-2, it was found that the improved glucose tolerance was due to an increase in skeletal muscle glucose uptake. The enhanced amino acid induced muscle glucose uptake was associated with improved cellular signaling. In Study 1 we could not determine the combined and/or individual effects of insulin and amino acids on glucose uptake, so in Study 2, the hindlimb of Sprague Dawley rats were perfused with glucose with or without amino acids in the presence and absence of insulin. Study 2, confirmed our previous findings that an amino acid mixture increased skeletal muscle glucose uptake compared to a carbohydrate supplement in the presence of insulin. The enhanced amino acid-stimulated glucose uptake was not due to increased phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase) activity, although it was related to an increase in Akt substrate of 160 kDa (AS160) phosphorylation and a greater number of glucose transporters at the plasma membrane. In the final experiment, Study 3 investigated whether amino acids could improve glucose tolerance in an insulin resistant model. Study 3 Exp-1, demonstrated that an amino acid mixture significantly lowered the blood glucose response to an oral glucose challenge in obese Zucker rats. Study 3 Exp-2 showed that the improved glucose tolerance was due to enhanced amino acid induced skeletal muscle glucose uptake. Taken together, the results of this research suggests that adding an amino acid mixture to a carbohydrate supplement improves the blood glucose response to an oral glucose challenge, acutely lowers insulin resistance and this appears due to increased skeletal muscle glucose clearance and enhanced cellular signaling. / text

Virtually all multicellular organisms rely on a highly conserved innate immune system for defense against foreign microorganisms. Innate immunity consists primarily of a humeral response that culminates in the expression of antimicrobial peptides. In contrast to adaptive immunity seen in high order organisms, the innate immune response is not specific to the invader. In aging organisms, some of the most dramatic transcriptional changes take place within the innate immune system. In aging mammals, innate immune reorganization coincides with declining immune function, which often manifests itself as chronic inflammation. Similar to this state of chronic inflammation in mammals, Drosophila exhibit a marked upregulation of many innate immunity related genes. However, it remains unclear if this upregulation results in a similar decrease in immune function to that seen in mammals. If Drosophila is to be considered as a model organism in which to study the relationship between immunity and aging, it must first be determined whether it too undergoes declining immune function with age. By examining the response to quantifiable injections of bacteria, we were able to deduce that adult Drosophila do indeed undergo immune senescence. Elderly wildtype flies infected with various doses of bacteria showed a decreased ability to survive infection. Moreover, because the ability to clear the infection remains intact despite decreased survival following infection, it is believed that a bacterially produced factor is responsible for immune senescence in adult Drosophila. / Thesis (Master, Biology) -- Queen's University, 2007-10-02 09:37:18.314

A Thesis submitted to The University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Medicine. / Pulmonary complications including acute chest syndrome are leading causes of sickle cell disease related morbidity and mortality. Studies have shown that pulmonary changes can be detected during childhood. Spirometry is the current standard for measuring lung function. Growing evidence suggests that lung clearance index (LCI) is as sensitive as spirometry in identifying pulmonary changes in pediatric patients. Our cross-sectional study compared the sensitivity of LCI to spirometry in the detection of early pulmonary changes in children with sickle cell disease. Our results show that LCI significantly correlates to FEV1% predicted (Spearman’s coefficient -0.44, p = 0.003), FVC % predicted (Spearman’s coefficient -0.44, p = 0.006) and FEF25-75 (Spearman’s coefficient -0.49, p <0.001). Using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, LCI was found to be more sensitive than spirometry, but less specific. The data support LCI’s use as a test to screen for pulmonary changes in children with sickle cell disease. Earlier monitoring of lung function will allow for preventative therapies and delayed progression of pulmonary dysfunction.