It has been difficult to access projections of global-scale climate change with high temporal resolution spaning the late Pleistocene and Holocene. This has limited our ability to discern how climate fluctuations have affected species' range dynamics and extinction processes, turn-over in ecological communities and changes in genetic diversity. PaleoView is a new freeware tool, which provides a comprehensive but easy-to-use way to generate and view paleoclimate data at temporal and spatial resolutions suitable for detecting biotic responses to major climate shifts since the last glacial maximum. Regional to global scale simulations of temperature, precipitation, humidity and mean sea level pressure can be generated from PaleoView as gridded or time series data at time intervals as short as a decade for any period during the last 21 000 yr. They can be viewed using a built-in geographical user interface or saved as data files. Modelled climate reconstructions are based on daily simulation output from the Community Climate System Model ver. 3 (CCSM3). This global coupled atmosphere-ocean-sea ice-land general circulation model accurately reproduces major climatic features associated with the most recent deglaciation event, and predicts present-day patterns of climate conditions with verified hindcast skill. By providing a portal for readily accessing climate reconstructions at high temporal resolutions, PaleoView can help to better establish the consequences of past climate fluctuations on macro-ecological patterns of biological and genetic diversity.

Background: Elevated saturated fats during obesity activate proinflammatory pathways in macrophages, contributing to insulin resistance. Results: The monounsaturated fatty acid cis-palmitoleate antagonizes saturated fat-induced proinflammatory macrophage polarization through an AMPK-dependent mechanism. Conclusion: Palmitoleate is a lipid mediator that confers an anti-inflammatory macrophage phenotype. Significance: Understanding lipid-mediated macrophage polarization is critical to develop nutritional or cell-based strategies to combat insulin resistance.

Metabolic syndrome and major depression are two of the most common and debilitating disorders worldwide, occurring with significant rates of comorbidity. Recent studies have uncovered that each of these conditions is associated with chronic, low-grade inflammation. This is characterized by increased circulating pro-inflammatory cytokines, altered leukocyte population frequencies in blood, accumulation of immune cells in tissues including the brain, and activation of these immune cells. Cytokines that become elevated during obesity can contribute to the progression of metabolic syndrome by directly causing insulin resistance. During chronic stress, there is evidence that these cytokines promote depression-like behavior by disrupting neurotransmitter synthesis and signal transduction. Animal models of obesity and depression have revealed a bi-directional relationship whereby high-fat feeding and chronic stress synergize and exacerbate metabolic dysregulation and behavioral abnormalities. Although far from conclusive, emerging evidence suggests that inflammation in the central and peripheral immune system may link metabolic syndrome to major depressive disorder. In this review, we will synthesize available data supporting this view and identify critical areas for future investigation.