Mid-Devensian climate and landscape in England: new data from Finningley, South Yorkshire.

While there is extensive evidence for the Late Devensian, less is known about Early and Middle Devensian (approx. 110-30 ka) climates and environments in the UK. The Greenland ice-core record suggests the UK should have endured multiple changes, but the terrestrial palaeo-record lacks sufficient detail for confirmation from sites in the British Isles.

Evidence of an early projectile point technology in North America at the Gault Site, Texas, USA.

American archeology has long been polarized over the issue of a human presence in the Western Hemisphere earlier than Clovis. As evidence of early sites across North and South America continues to emerge, stone tool assemblages appear more geographically and temporally diverse than traditionally assumed. Within this new framework, the prevailing models of Clovis origins and the peopling of the Americas are being reevaluated.

TGF-β Signaling Is Necessary and Sufficient for Pharyngeal Arch Artery Angioblast Formation.

The pharyngeal arch arteries (PAAs) are transient embryonic blood vessels that mature into critical segments of the aortic arch and its branches. Although defects in PAA development cause life-threating congenital cardiovascular defects, the molecular mechanisms that orchestrate PAA morphogenesis remain unclear. Through small-molecule screening in zebrafish, we identified TGF-β signaling as indispensable for PAA development.

Mechanosensitive ATP release maintains proper mucus hydration of airways.

The clearance of mucus from the airways protects the lungs from inhaled noxious and infectious materials. Proper hydration of the mucus layer enables efficient mucus clearance through beating of cilia on airway epithelial cells, and reduced clearance of excessively concentrated mucus occurs in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cystic fibrosis. Key steps in the mucus transport process are airway epithelia sensing and responding to changes in mucus hydration.