Isolation and identification of zinc ions and heparin binding proteins in yellow fraction of the red deer Cervus Elaphus L. semen.

During the rutting season, stag semen is accompanied by a sticky, dense secretion called yellow fraction (YF). There is little information about the role, biology, physiology, and most importantly, the composition of this fluid. The aim of this study was to isolate and identify zinc ions (ZnBPs) and heparin binding proteins (HBPs) from YF of the red deer (Cervus elaphus L.). Using liquid chromatography, the presence of 6 fractions of ZnBPs (71, 65, 55, 16, 14 and 12 kDa) and 22 fractions of HBPs (163, 140, 96, 78, 71, 65, 55, 49, 33, 31, 26, 25, 24, 22, 18, 16, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9 and 8 kDa) in YF proteome was demonstrated. By means of two-dimensional electrophoreses and MALDI-TOF/TOF mass spectrometry some of them were then identified. Amongst ZnBPs the following were identified: glutaminyl-peptide cyclotransferase, inhibitor of carbonic anhydrase-like, potassium voltage-gated channel subfamily E member 2, WD repeat-containing protein 38 isoform X4. Amongst the HBPs metalloproteinase inhibitor 2 (TIMP2), seminal plasma glycoprotein PSP-I and adseverin (scinderin) were identified. Identifying all ZnBPs and HBPs present in YF may broaden up-to-date knowledge concerning the biology, physiology and preservation of red deer semen.

Archaeological Narratives and Other Ways of Telling.

With a few exceptions, archaeologists have been far less concerned with the form of their texts or problems of authorship than have ethnographers. Typically, archaeologies are presented in the form of narratives understood as sequential stories. Approaches to narrative analysis drawn from literary theory, philosophy, and sociology and definitions of characters, events, and plots are examined, together with particular problems these may pose for the discipline of archaeology. It is suggested that neither literary analysis nor the tendency to write and evaluate archaeological and historical narratives in terms of explanatory value takes sufficient account of the often hybrid nature and aims of these texts and the contexts in which they were produced. This argument is illustrated with particular reference to stories of the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in Europe. It is argued that reconsidering archaeology's positioning across the 19th-century science-humanities divide suggests a broader approach to the idea of what constitutes a narrative which can offer fresh opportunities for useful reflexivity and experimentation in presentation. Further roles and possibilities of narrative and non-narrative ways of writing archaeologies are also considered.