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Ancient pigs reveal a near-complete genomic turnover following their introduction to Europe.
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Archaeological evidence indicates that pig domestication had begun by ∼10,500 y before the present (BP) in the Near East, and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) suggests that pigs arrived in Europe alongside farmers ∼8,500 y BP. A few thousand years after the introduction of Near Eastern pigs into Europe, however, their characteristic mtDNA signature disappeared and was replaced by haplotypes associated with European wild boars. This turnover could be accounted for by substantial gene flow from local European wild boars, although it is also possible that European wild boars were domesticated independently without any genetic contribution from the Near East. To test these hypotheses, we obtained mtDNA sequences from 2,099 modern and ancient pig samples and 63 nuclear ancient genomes from Near Eastern and European pigs. Our analyses revealed that European domestic pigs dating from 7,100 to 6,000 y BP possessed both Near Eastern and European nuclear ancestry, while later pigs possessed no more than 4\% Near Eastern ancestry, indicating that gene flow from European wild boars resulted in a near-complete disappearance of Near East ancestry. In addition, we demonstrate that a variant at a locus encoding black coat color likely originated in the Near East and persisted in European pigs. Altogether, our results indicate that while pigs were not independently domesticated in Europe, the vast majority of human-mediated selection over the past 5,000 y focused on the genomic fraction derived from the European wild boars, and not on the fraction that was selected by early Neolithic farmers over the first 2,500 y of the domestication process.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2019
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Optimal timing of multiple investment decisions in a wood value chain: A real options approach
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RBINS Staff Publications 2021
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Economic feasibility studies for Carbon Capture and Utilization technologies: a tutorial review
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Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU) involves the capture and use of CO2 as a resource to create valuable products. The competitiveness of various CCU technologies has been investigated frequently resulting in a variety of economic feasibility studies and economic indicators. This study performs a tutorial review, in which practical guidance is given on the implementation of Techno-Economic Assessments (TEAs) for chemical CCU technologies. The tutorial review maps the differences in the methods and assumptions of economic feasibility studies for CCU technologies and advises how these studies can be improved in the future. A TEA framework, drafted by the CCU research community, is used as a benchmark in this review, to allow for objective comparisons between various economic feasibility studies. The four phases of an exhaustive TEA are (I) goal and scope, (II) data inventory, (III) calculation of indicators and (IV) interpretation. The tutorial review reveals that economic feasibility studies for chemical CCU technologies can and should be improved in various manners. Phases I and II are often skipped or incomplete. In Phase III, a very diverse indicator set is observed, which hampers comparability across CCU technologies. Phase IV, the interpretation of results, is often missing in the literature set or lacks thorough uncertainty and sensitivity analyses. The comparison with the TEA framework revealed the diversity in assumptions and methodological choices in the literature set. These findings suggest that future economic feasibility studies should be made in a more standardized way to improve both the quality and comparability of economic feasibility studies. Four improvements to the TEA framework are suggested: (i) focussing more on the impact of technical parameters in sensitivity analyses, (ii) adapting the assessment to the TRL of the technology, (iii) implementing ROA in the TEA and (iv) integrating an environmental assessment or LCA with the TEA. Further research is needed to investigate how Real Options Theory can be integrated into conventional TEA frameworks to analyse the investment decision in CCU technologies in a dynamic setting.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2021 OA
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Explaining Uncertainty Avoidance in Meciaprojects: Resource Constraints, Strategic Behaviour, or Institutions?
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RBINS Staff Publications 2021
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Leasing out unused meeting room capacity to reduce future office space needs: A case study of The Hague, Netherlands
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RBINS Staff Publications 2021
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Investment Decisions with Two-Factor Uncertainty
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RBINS Staff Publications 2021
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New insights into Late Devonian vertebrates and associated fauna from the Cuche Formation (Floresta Massif, Colombia)
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RBINS Staff Publications 2019
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Scheenstia bernissartensis (Actinopterygii: Ginglymodi) from the Early Cretaceous of Bernissart, Belgium, with an appraisal of the ginglymodians evolutionary history
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RBINS Staff Publications 2019
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Dietary reconstruction of Spy I using dental microwear texture analysis
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Spy I from the Meuse River Basin of Belgium is among the most recent Neandertals. This adult lived at the terminus of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3 in cold steppe environments at the northern edge of the habitable zone for Neandertals where plants were relatively scarce. The dietary proclivities of Spy I are reconstructed using dental microwear texture analysis and compared to 33 Neandertals from western Eurasia, MIS 5 to MIS 3. Spy I has an elevated enamel surface complexity suggesting the consumption of course dietary items such as wild seeds, acorns, nuts, and underground storage organs laden with particles of grit. Unlike the young and old individuals from Hortus with low values for anisotropy, Spy I is closest to the adults from this site suggesting a common pattern of masticatory behavior typified this life cycle stage. Like many other Neandertals, Spy I probably consumed plant foods at appreciable levels, some of which were hard and brittle or poorly processed.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2019
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Hydro-meteorological influences and multimodal suspended particle size distributions in the Belgian nearshore area (southern North Sea)
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Suspended particulate matter (SPM) concentration and particle size distribution (PSD) were assessed in a coastal turbidity maximum area (southern North Sea) during a composite period of 37 days in January–April 2008. PSDs were measured with a LISST 100X and classified using entropy analysis in terms of subtidal alongshore flow. The PSDs during tide-dominated conditions showed distinct multimodal behaviour due to flocculation, revealing that the building blocks of flocs consist of primary particles (<3 μm) and flocculi (15 μm). Flocculi comprise clusters of clay minerals, whereas primary particles have various compositions (calcite, clays). The PSDs during storms with a NE-directed alongshore subtidal current (NE storms) are typically unimodal and characterised by mainly granular material (silt, sand) resuspended from the seabed. During storms with a SW-directed alongshore subtidal current (SW storms), by contrast, mainly flocculated material can be identified in the PSDs. The findings emphasise the importance of wind-induced advection, alongshore subtidal flow and highly concentrated mud suspensions (HCMSs) as regulating mechanisms of SPM concentration, as well as other SPM characteristics (cohesiveness or composition of mixed sediment particles) and size distribution in a high-turbidity area. The direction of subtidal alongshore flow during SW storm events results in an increase in cohesive SPM concentration, HCMS formation, and the armouring of sand; by contrast, there is a decrease in cohesive SPM concentration, no HCMS formation, and an increase in sand and silt in suspension during NE storms.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2017
