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Modern humans arrived in Europe ~45,000 years ago, but little is known about their genetic composition before the start of farming ~8,500 years ago. Here we analyse genome-wide data from 51 Eurasians from ~45,000–7,000 years ago. Over this time, the proportion of Neanderthal DNA decreased from 3–6% to around 2%, consistent with natural selection against Neanderthal variants in modern humans. Whereas there is no evidence of the earliest modern humans in Europe contributing to the genetic composition of present-day Europeans, all individuals between ~37,000 and ~14,000 years ago descended from a single founder population which forms part of the ancestry of present-day Europeans. An ~35,000-year-old individual from northwest Europe represents an early branch of this founder population which was then displaced across a broad region, before reappearing in southwest Europe at the height of the last Ice Age ~19,000 years ago. During the major warming period after ~14,000 years ago, a genetic component related to present-day Near Easterners became widespread in Europe. These results document how population turnover and migration have been recurring themes of European prehistory. Analysis of ancient genomic data of 51 humans from Eurasia dating from 45,000 to 7,000 years ago provides insight into the population history of pre-Neolithic Europe and support for recurring migration and population turnover in Europe during this period. Eurasian humans of the Upper Paleolithic David Reich, Svante Pääbo and colleagues analyse ancient genomic data from 51 Eurasian humans who lived between 45,000 and 7,000 years ago. The data provide the most comprehensive view to date of the population history of pre-Neolithic Europe, and provide support for recurring migration and population turnover in European populations during this period. Neanderthal ancestry has reduced during the past 45,000 years from 3–6% to the present day value of around 2%.

We present the results of six years of archaeological work carried out in Heping Dao, Keelung, northern Taiwan. The site has revealed a rich archaeological record spanning a sequence that comprehends most of the history of Taiwan, including the most salient historical landmarks in it. The study of this long-term sequence of habitation in Heping Dao throughout prehistory to current times, allows us to attempt a historical archaeology of the longue duree of the place that in turn enables the establishment of comparisons between periods and raising of specific questions, among them: the general understanding of cultural transformation along the Neolithic and the Iron Age, and in turn the transition Iron Age/Aboriginal historic times in Taiwan, which in our view has to be observed as a history of continuity rather than of interactions; the recognition of the Chinese presence in Taiwan in the pre-European period; the implantation of the European colony and its effects on the local populations; the differing material remains and impacts caused by the presence of preEuropean Chinese and the Qing occupation; and the potential for a comparison between the European and the Japanese colonial projects as seen in the material record.

Las excavaciones en la Quebrada de los Burros, en el litoral de Tacna (Perú), han descubierto un campamento de pescadores y recolectores de moluscos (QlB) ocupado entre 10.000 y 6.000 a.p., durante el Holoceno Temprano y Medio. seis niveles sucesivos de ocupación han sido excavados por decapado, cada uno contando con aterrazamientos del piso, fogones, áreas de actividad diversas y acumulaciones de desechos alimenticios marinos, mezclados con restos de fauna terrestre. El conjunto de estos desperdicios demuestra que, desde el inicio de la ocupación, los ocupantes dominaban perfectamente el medio marítimo pero explotaban también las lomas. los instrumentos de piedra y hueso atestiguan un ajuar muy sofisticado de pesca, recolección y caza. dos fases de ocupación fueron singularizadas, la primera durante el Holoceno Temprano (ca. 10.000 a 7.000 a.p.), la segunda durante el Holoceno Medio (ca. 7.000 a 6.000 a.p.). los análisis efectuados sugieren para la primera fase una sucesión de ocupaciones breves y posibles contactos con las tierras altas y, al contrario, una ocupación más intensa y casi permanente a lo largo del año para la segunda fase, durante la cual las materias primas líticas proceden todas de sectores cercanos. una estrecha relación con sitios chilenos Chinchorro está confirmada.

Las excavaciones en la Quebrada de los Burros, en el litoral de Tacna (Perú), han descubierto un campamento de pescadores y recolectores de moluscos (QLB) ocupado entre 10.000 y 6.000 a.p., durante el Holoceno Temprano y Medio. Seis niveles sucesivos de ocupación han sido excavados por decapado, cada uno contando con aterrazamientos del piso, fogones, áreas de actividad diversas y acumulaciones de desechos alimenticios marinos, mezclados con restos de fauna terrestre. El conjunto de estos desperdicios demuestra que, desde él inicio de la ocupación, los ocupantes dominaban perfectamente el medio marítimo pero explotaban también las lomas. Los instrumentos de piedra y hueso atestiguan un ajuar muy sofisticado de pesca, recolección y caza. Dos fases de ocupación fueron singularizadas, la primera durante el Holoceno Temprano (ca. 10.000 a 7.000 a.p.), la segunda durante el Holoceno Medio (ca. 7.000 a 6.000 a.p.). Los análisis efectuados sugieren para la primera fase una sucesión de ocupaciones breves y posibles contactos con las tierras altas y, al contrario, una ocupación más intensa y casi permanente a lo largo del año para la segunda fase, durante la cual las materias primas líticas proceden todas de sectores cercanos. Una estrecha relación con sitios chilenos Chinchorro está confirmada. Research works at Quebrada de los Burros evidenced an Archaic settlement on the littoral of Tacna (Peru). This campsite of fishermen and shell-gatherers (QLB) has been occupied during Early and Middle Holocene, between 10,000 and 6,000 BP. Broad horizontal excavations revealed six successive occupation levels, with living floor layouts, hearths, specialized activity areas and accumulations of food waste of marine origin mixed with bones of terrestrial fauna. As a whole, these remains indicate that, since the beginning, the inhabitants relied intensively on ocean resources but they also exploited the lomas. Lithic tools and bone instruments attest a sophisticated equipment for fishing, gathering and hunting. Two phases of occupation were characterized, the first during Early Holocene (ca. 10,000 to 7,000 BP), the second during Middle Holocene (ca. 7,000 to 6,000 BP). The analyses suggest, for the first phase, a succession of short occupations and possible contacts with high lands and, on the contrary, a more intensive occupation, nearly all the year round, for the second, during which raw lithic materials came from nearby areas. A close relation with Chilean sites Chinchorro is confirmed.

To explain how populations with distinct warning signals coexist in close parapatry, we experimentally assessed intrinsic mechanisms acting as reproductive barriers within three poison-frog species from the Peruvian Amazon belonging to a Müllerian mimetic ring ( Ranitomeya variabilis , Ranitomeya imitator and Ranitomeya fantastica ). We tested the role of prezygotic and postzygotic isolation barriers between phenotypically different ecotypes of each species, using no-choice mating experiments and offspring survival analysis. Our results show that prezygotic mating preference did not occur except for one specific ecotype of R. imitator , and that all three species were able to produce viable inter-population F1 hybrids. However, while R. variabilis and R. imitator hybrids were able to produce viable F2 generations, we found that for R. fantastica , every F1 hybrid males were sterile while females remained fertile. This unexpected result, echoing with Haldane’s rule of speciation, validated phylogenetic studies which tentatively diagnose these populations of R. fantastica as two different species. Our work suggests that postzygotic genetic barriers likely participate in the extraordinary phenotypic diversity observed within Müllerian mimetic Ranitomeya populations, by maintaining species boundaries.

Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) is a rare and undifferentiated form of thyroid cancer. Its prognosis is poor: the median overall survival (OS) of patients varies from 4 to 10 months after diagnosis. However, a doubling of the OS time may be possible owing to a more systematic use of molecular tests for targeted therapies and integration of fast-track dedicated care pathways for these patients in tertiary centers. The diagnostic confirmation, if needed, requires an urgent biopsy reread by an expert pathologist with additional immunohistochemical and molecular analyses. Therapeutic management, defined in multidisciplinary meetings, respecting the patient’s choice, must start within days following diagnosis. For localized disease diagnosed after primary surgical treatment, adjuvant chemo-radiotherapy is recommended. In the event of locally advanced or metastatic disease, the prognosis is very poor. Treatment should then involve chemotherapy or targeted therapy and decompressive cervical radiotherapy. Here we will review current knowledge on ATC and provide perspectives to improve the management of this deadly disease.

Protein misfolding is involved in a large number of diseases, among which cystic fibrosis. Complex intra- and inter-domain folding defects associated with mutations in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CFTR) gene, among which p.Phe508del (F508del), have recently become a therapeutical target. Clinically approved correctors such as VX-809, VX-661, and VX-445, rescue mutant protein. However, their binding sites and mechanisms of action are still incompletely understood. Blind docking onto the 3D structures of both the first membrane-spanning domain (MSD1) and the first nucleotide-binding domain (NBD1), followed by molecular dynamics simulations, revealed the presence of two potential VX-809 corrector binding sites which, when mutated, abrogated rescue. Network of amino acids in the lasso helix 2 and the intracellular loops ICL1 and ICL4 allosterically coupled MSD1 and NBD1. Corrector VX-445 also occupied two potential binding sites on MSD1 and NBD1, the latter being shared with VX-809. Binding of both correctors on MSD1 enhanced the allostery between MSD1 and NBD1, hence the increased efficacy of the corrector combination. These correctors improve both intra-domain folding by stabilizing fragile protein–lipid interfaces and inter-domain assembly via distant allosteric couplings. These results provide novel mechanistic insights into the rescue of misfolded proteins by small molecules.