Plant connectivity underlies plant-pollinator-exploiter distributions in Ficus petiolaris and associated pollinating and non-pollinating fig wasps

Peer reviewedPostprin

When does female multiple mating evolve to adjust inbreeding? : Effects of inbreeding depression, direct costs, mating constraints, and polyandry as a threshold trait

Ackowledgements: This work was funded by a European Research Council Starting Grant to JMR. All simulations were performed using the Maxwell computing cluster at the University of AberdeenPeer reviewedPublisher PD

Evolution of precopulatory and post-copulatory strategies of inbreeding avoidance and associated polyandry

Acknowledgments This work was funded by a European Research Council Starting Grant to JMR. Computer simulations were performed using the Maxwell Computing Cluster at the University of Aberdeen. We thank Matthew E. Wolak and two anonymous reviewers for very helpful comments.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Changes in vitamin biomarkers during a 2-year intervention trial involving increased fruit and vegetable consumption by free-living volunteers

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

A spherical lamellar grating interferometer for airborne astronomical observations of far infrared objects

A lamellar grating has been developed to be used for very far infrared observations on the airborne observatory. The design characteristics and performance during laboratory testing and initial observations of Jupiter at wavelengths between 50 and 500 microns are presented

Effects of wheat and oat-based whole grain foods on serum lipoprotein size and distribution in overweight middle aged people : a randomised controlled trial

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Assessing creativity in TV studio production

This paper will seek to gauge how media production can be taught within Higher Educational Institutions to inspire the next generation of programme makers to create original student led productions, rather than replicating content. Brown and Duthie ask how media educators and teachers of film and television production courses assess creativity and discuss innovative approaches to learning, teaching and assessment in the academy and ask how we can encourage risk taking in a risk averse environment. This paper considers whether contemporary global TV formats can be the catalyst for new ideas and content and how to encourage students to be film and TV making pioneers

The British Museum: An Imperial Museum in a Post-Imperial World

This article examines the British Museum’s imperialist attitudes towards classical heritage. Despite considerable pressure from foreign governments, the museum has consistently refused to return art and antiquities that it acquired under the aegis of empire. It is the contention of this article that the British Museum remains an imperialist institution. The current debates over the British Museum’s collections raise profound questions about the relationship between museums and modern nation states and their nationalist claims to ancient heritage. The museum’s inflexible response to repatriation claims also encapsulates the challenges inherent in presenting empire and its legacy to contemporary, post-imperial audiences

The Ly49E receptor inhibits the immune control of acute Trypanosoma cruzi infection

The protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi circulates in the blood upon infection and invades various cells. Parasites intensively multiply during the acute phase of infection and persist lifelong at low levels in tissues and blood during the chronic phase. Natural killer (NK) and NKT cells play an important role in the immune control of T. cruzi infection, mainly by releasing the cytokine IFN-gamma that activates the microbicidal action of macrophages and other cells and shapes a protective type 1 immune response. The mechanisms by which immune cells are regulated to produce IFN-gamma during T. cruzi infection are still incompletely understood. Here, we show that urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) is induced early upon T. cruzi infection and remains elevated until day 20 post-infection. We previously demonstrated that the inhibitory receptor Ly49E, which is expressed, among others, on NK and NKT cells, is triggered by uPA. Therefore, we compared wild type (WT) to Ly49E knockout (KO) mice for their control of experimental T. cruzi infection. Our results show that young, i.e., 4- and 6-week-old, Ly49E KO mice control the infection better than WT mice, indicated by a lower parasite load and less cachexia. The beneficial effect of Ly49E depletion is more obvious in 4- week-old male than in female mice and weakens in 8-week-old mice. In young mice, the lower T. cruzi parasitemia in Ly49E KO mice is paralleled by higher IFN-gamma production compared to their WT controls. Our data indicate that Ly49E receptor expression inhibits the immune control of T. cruzi infection. This is the first demonstration that the inhibitory Ly49E receptor can interfere with the immune response to a pathogen in vivo