THE MIDDLE-DNIESTER CULTURAL CONTACT AREA OF EARLY METAL AGE SOCIETIES. THE FRONTIER OF PONTIC AND BALTIC DRAINAGE BASINS IN THE 4TH/3RD-2ND MILLENNIUM BC.

The paper discusses the taxonomy and autogenesis of the cycle of early ‘barrow cultures’ developed by the local communities of the middle Dniester Area or, in a broader comparative context, the north-western Black Sea Coast, in the 4th/3rd-2nd millennium BC . The purpose of the study is to conduct an analytical and conceptual entry point to the research questions of the dniester Contact area, specifically the contacts between autochthonous ‘late Eneolithic’ communities (Yamnaya, Catacomb and Babyno cultures) and incoming communities from the Baltic basin . The discussion of these cultures continues in other papers presented in this volume of Baltic-Pontic Studies.

Effects of a novel calcium aluminate cement on the early events of the progression of osteogenic cell cultures

The present study evaluated the progression of osteogenic cell cultures exposed to a novel calcium aluminate cement (CAC+) in comparison with the gold standard mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA). Cells were enzimatically isolated from newborn rat calvarial bone, plated on glass coverslips containing either CAC+ or a control MTA samples in the center, and grown under standard osteogenic conditions. Over the 10-day culture period, roundening of sample edges was clearly noticed only for MTA group. Although both cements supported osteogenic cell adhesion, spreading, and proliferation, CAC+-exposed cultures showed significantly higher values in terms of total cell number at days 3 and 7, and total protein content and alkaline phosphatase activity at day 10. The present in vitro results indicate that the exposure to CAC+ supports a higher differentiation of osteogenic cells compared with the ones exposed to MTA. Further experimental studies should consider CAC+ as a potential alternative to MTA when the repair of mineralized tissues is one of the desired outcomes in endodontic therapy.

Immediate and delayed effects of subchronic Paraquat exposure during an early differentiation stage in 3D-rat brain cell cultures.

Xenobiotic exposure is a risk factor in the etiology of neurodegenerative disease. It was recently hypothesized that restricted exposure during brain development could predispose for a neurodegenerative disease later in life. As neuroinflammation contributes to progressive neurodegeneration, it is suspected that neurodevelopmental xenobiotic exposure could elicit a neuroinflammatory process, which over time may assume a detrimental character. We investigated the neurotoxic effects of paraquat (PQ) in three-dimensional whole rat brain cell cultures, exposed during an early differentiation stage, comparing immediate effects-directly post exposure-with long-term effects, 20 days after interrupted PQ-administration. Adverse effects and neuroinflammatory responses were assessed by measuring changes in gene- and protein-expression as well as by determining cell morphology changes. Differentiating neural cultures were highly susceptible to PQ and showed neuronal damage and strong astrogliosis. After the 20-day washout period, neurons partially recovered, whereas astrogliosis persisted, and was accompanied by microglial activation of a neurodegenerative phenotype. Our data shows that immediate and long-term effects of subchronic PQ-exposure differ. Also, PQ-exposure during this window of extensive neuronal differentiation led to a delayed microglial activation, of a character that could promote further pro-inflammatory signals that enable prolonged inflammation, thereby fueling further neurodegeneration.

Courts and Courtly Cultures in Early Modern Italy and Europe: Models and Languages

This volume deals with the forms of propaganda and self-representation, through words and images, during the rise of the 'civiltà delle corti' and through processes typical of the time, such as confrontation, adaptation, competition and rivalry. This period, which marked the passage of Italian and European culture from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, is fundamental in the development of Modern Europe, and it lasted up to the XVIII century and beyond. At the heart of many matters debated here lies the relationship between culture and politics. The formation of a 'Lombard identity', central to the Sinergia project which was the frame of the whole research and its conferences, is closely linked to this broad general context. It places the so called 'questione milanese' - above the traditional hierarchies 'Toscana oriented' - at the centre of many questions regarding Northern Italy as a whole, starting from the dissolution of the Medieval communes, through to the rise of the signorie, from the end of the XIII century and the beginning of the XIV century up to the early XVI century.

Populationsgenetik kupfer- und bronzezeitlicher Bevölkerungen der osteuropäischen Steppe

Mit der vorliegenden Arbeit wurden erstmals prähistorische Bevölkerungsstrukturen in der osteuropäischen Steppe von der Oberthrakischen Tiefebene bis zur Wolga populationsgenetisch untersucht. Mit Multiplex-PCR und 454-Sequencing wurden von 65 kupfer- und bronzezeitlichen Individuen die Hypervariable Region I und 30 Abschnitte der coding region der mitochondrialen DNA analysiert. Außerdem wurden bis zu 20 putativ selektierte autosomale SNPs und ein geschlechtsspezifischer Locus genotypsiert. Zu Vergleichszwecken wurden veröffentlichte prähistorische DNA-Daten aus Westeurasien und moderne DNA-Sequenzen herangezogen. Die Ergebnisse stützen die Annahme, dass frühneolithische Bauern aus Südosteuropa durch demische Diffusion an der Etablierung der Viehwirtschaft in der Steppe beteiligt waren. Die durchweg niedrigen FST-Werte zwischen der frühbronzezeitlichen Jamnaja-Kultur in der Steppe und den aufeinanderfolgenden neolithischen Kulturen Mitteleuropas sprechen für regelmäßige Kontakte. Die der Jamnaja-Kultur nachfolgende Katakombengrabkultur ist von einem hohen Anteil der in nord- und osteuropäischen Jäger/Sammler-Populationen verbreiteten Haplogruppe U4 geprägt. Niedrige FST-Werte zwischen den prähistorischen Steppenpopulationen und der heutigen Bevölkerung Mittel- und Osteuropas weisen auf genetische Kontinuität hin. Die nukleären Genotypenfrequenzen bestätigt dies. Der moderne europäische Genpool lässt sich nach aktuellem Kenntnisstand auf drei Wurzeln zurückführen: indigene Mesolithiker, frühe Bauern aus dem Nahen Osten und eine nordeurasische Komponente jungpalaeolithischen Ursprungs. Letztere könnte vielleicht über die nordpontische Population in das Erbgut spätneolithischer Europäer gelangt sein.

Eliminating exposure to aqueous solvents is necessary for the early detection and ultrastructural elemental analysis of sites of calcium and phosphorus enrichment in mineralizing UMR106-01 osteoblastic cultures

The mechanism underlying the mineralization of bone is well studied and yet it remains controversial. Inherent difficulties of imaging mineralized tissues and the aqueous solubility of calcium and phosphate, the 2 ions which combine to form bone mineral crystals, limit current analyses of labile diffusible, amorphous, and crystalline intermediates by electron microscopy. To improve the retention of calcium and phosphorus, we developed a pseudo nonaqueous processing approach and used it to characterize biomineralization foci, extracellular sites of hydroxyapatite deposition in osteoblastic cell cultures. Since mineralization of UMR106-01 osteoblasts is temporally synchronized and begins 78 h after plating, we used these cultures to evaluate the effectiveness of our method when applied to cells just prior to the formation of the first mineral crystals. Our approach combines for the first time 3 well-established methods with a fourth one, i.e. dry ultrathin sectioning. Dry ultrathin sectioning with an oscillating diamond knife was used to produce electron spectroscopic images of mineralized biomineralization foci which were high-pressure frozen and freeze substituted. For comparison, cultures were also treated with conventional processing and wet sectioning. The results show that only the use of pseudo nonaqueous processing was able to detect extracellular sites of early calcium and phosphorus enrichment at 76 h, several hours prior to detection of mineral crystals within biomineralization foci.

Cultural Dynamics and Ceramic Resource Use at Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age Troy, Northwestern Turkey

Changes in resource use over time can provide insight into technological choice and the extent of long-term stability in cultural practices. In this paper we re-evaluate the evidence for a marked demographic shift at the inception of the Early Iron Age at Troy by applying a robust macroscale analysis of changing ceramic resource use over the Late Bronze and Iron Age. We use a combination of new and legacy analytical datasets (NAA and XRF), from excavated ceramics, to evaluate the potential compositional range of local resources (based on comparisons with sediments from within a 10 km site radius). Results show a clear distinction between sediment-defined local and non-local ceramic compositional groups. Two discrete local ceramic resources have been previously identified and we confirm a third local resource for a major class of EIA handmade wares and cooking pots. This third source appears to derive from a residual resource on the Troy peninsula (rather than adjacent alluvial valleys). The presence of a group of large and heavy pithoi among the non-local groups raises questions about their regional or maritime origin. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dietary glutamine supplementation affects macrophage function, hematopoiesis and nutritional status in early weaned mice

Background Et aims: To investigate the effect that early weaning associated with the ingestion of either a glutamine-free or supplemented diet has on the functioning of peritoneal. macrophages, hematopoiesis and nutritional status of mice. Methods: Swiss Webster mice were early weaned on their 14th day of life and distributed to two groups, being fed either a glutamine-free diet (-GLN) or a glutamine-supplemented diet (+GLN). Animals belonging to a control group (CON) were weaned on their 21st day of life. Results: The -GLN and +GLN groups had a lower lean body mass, carcass protein and ash content, plasma glutamine concentration and lymphocyte counts both in the peripheral blood and bone marrow when compared to the CON group (P < 0.05). Dietary supplementation with glutamine reversed both the lower concentrations of protein and DNA in the muscle and liver, as well. as the reduced capacity of spreading and synthesizing nitric oxide, hydrogen peroxide, TNF-alpha, IL-1 beta and IL-6 in cultures of peritoneal. macrophages obtained from the -GLN group (P < 0.05). Conclusion: These data indicate that the ingestion of glutamine modulates the function of peritoneal macrophages in early weaned mice. However, a glutamine-supplemented diet cannot substitute maternal milk in respect to immunological and metabolic parameters. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd and European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism. All rights reserved.

Altered adhesion, proliferation and death in neural cultures from adults with schizophrenia

The causes of schizophrenia are unknown, but there is evidence linking subtle deviations in neural development with schizophrenia. Embryonic brain development cannot be studied in an adult with schizophrenia, but neurogenesis and early events in neuronal differentiation can be investigated throughout adult life in the human olfactory epithelium. Our past research has demonstrated that neuronal cultures can be derived from biopsy of the human adult olfactory epithelium. In the present study, we examined mechanisms related to neurogenesis and neuronal differentiation in adults with schizophrenia versus well controls. Forty biopsies were collected under local anaesthesia from ten individuals with DSM III-R schizophrenia and ten age- and sex-matched well controls. All patients, except one, were receiving antipsychotic medication at the time of the biopsy, Immunostaining for neuronal markers indicated that neurogenesis occurred in the biopsies from both patients and controls since all contained cells expressing tubulin and/or olfactory marker protein. The major findings of this study are: 1. biopsies from patients with schizophrenia showed a significantly reduced ability to attach to the culture slide: 29.9% of patient biopsies attached compared to 73.5% of control biopsies; 2. biopsies from patients with schizophrenia had a significantly greater proportion of cells undergoing mitosis: 0.69% in the patients compared to 0.29% in the controls; and 3. dopamine (10 mu M) significantly increased the proportion of apoptotic cells in the control cultures but significantly decreased the proportion in patients' cultures. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.