196,049 research outputs found
Are endocranial granular impressions pathognomonic of tuberculous meningitis or a marker of tuberculous infection? An investigation on a medieval osteoarcheological assemblage from Italy
No full textObjectives: In recent paleopathological literature, granular impressions on the endocranial surface are considered pathognomonic of tuberculous meningitis. This study aims to verify the presence of granular impressions and assess their relationship with tuberculosis in an archeological human skeletal assemblage. Materials: The study analyzed the endocranial surfaces of 212 skulls (38 non-adults and 174 adults) from the medieval site of Pieve di Pava, Italy. Methods: Macroscopic and stereomicroscopic examination of the endocranial surface was conducted to evaluate the presence, location, and manifestation of granular impressions. Results: Granular impressions affected more than half of the individuals, with no statistical difference between males and females. Conclusions: The high frequency of granular impressions challenges their interpretation as pathognomonic of tuberculous meningitis, a rare complication of tuberculosis affecting the central nervous system. Instead, these lesions should be considered indicative of bacteremia, when bacilli reach the central nervous system and form tubercles on the meninges. It cannot be established whether these tubercles were quiescent or had ruptured, leading to tuberculous meningitis. Significance: Based on the pathogenic life cycle of M. tuberculosis, as defined in clinical settings, it seems prudent to consider granular impressions as a marker of tuberculosis infection, rather than of active tuberculosis disease or tuberculous meningitis in paleopathology. Limitations: Research limitations include the smaller number of non-adults compared to adults. Suggestions for further research: Screening of granular impressions in other large osteoarcheological assemblages could provide new and more reliable data on the spread of tuberculosis infection across different social contexts, geographical settings, and historical periods
SKELETAL TRAUMA OR POST-MORTEM DAMAGE? EXPLORING THE ROLE OF TAPHONOMY IN A PREHISTORIC SKULL FROM ERIMI LAONIN TOU PORAKOU (CYPRUS)
No full textGhost Particle Velocimetry as an alternative to ΜPIV for micro/milli-fluidic devices
No full textGhost Particle Velocimetry (GPV) has only been recently introduced and has already been proven useful in small scale phenomena investigations, such as the study of the flow field during single droplets generation in microfluidic devices. In this work, GPV was used to experimentally investigate fluid flow close to a T-shaped branched junction in a millimetre sized device. The experimental setup allowed for the first time, the study of complex fluid dynamic structures such as vortices and recirculation zones. Several experiments were performed to exploit the capability of GPV in carrying out flow field measurements, at different Reynolds numbers within the laminar flow regime and for two channel sizes. The results were validated by verifying the steady state and stability conditions and by comparing them with results obtained using the well-established micron-scale Particle Image Velocimetry (μPIV). Differences between these two velocimetry techniques were analysed in terms of qualitative and quantitative parameters, to attain a performance comparison and understand the strengths and weaknesses of each respective method
Cranial porosity: distribution and relationship between cribra cranii and cribra orbitalia across time in Italy
No full textThe interpretation of porosity on the ectocranial surface (cribra cranii) and on the orbital roofs (cribra orbitalia) is a debated topic, as regard to the etiological factors implied in their onset and to the relationship among them. In this research, cribra cranii (CC) and cribra orbitalia (CO) were investigated in various samples from the Italian peninsula across time, from the Roman age to the post-medieval period (1st- 17th century CE) with the aim at comparing their distribution and prevalence in different socioeconomic contexts and among groups (by sex and age) diachronically. The relationship between the two alterations was evaluated. The sample under study (N= 353) was recovered in five Italian sites as follows: two Roman Imperial age urban (n=105) and suburban (n=60) necropolises from Rome, a late antique suburban necropolis from Pisa (n=66), a medieval rural cemetery from Siena (n=85), and a modern period urban cemetery from Lucca (n=37); the last three sites are located in Tuscany. The porosities were macroscopically evaluated in terms of severity and by reparative stage.
Data analysis by sex and age indicated no significant difference between males and females in the prevalence of both CC (M=67.4%, F=60.0%) and CO (M=58.9%, F=53.3%), while significant differences were evidenced between adults and non-adults in some necropolis and in the total sample. CC were more frequent in adults (63.4%) than in non-adults (50.0%); CO showed an opposite trend (adults=55.7%; non-adults=73.7%). Among the affected individuals, the 36.5% of adults showed both CC and CO , while this association in non-adults was higher (60.5%). These results seem to confirm the absence of a direct relationship between CC and CO in the adult subsample. The diachronic comparison showed slight differences limited to a few historical periods
Palaeoproteomic characterization of archaeological dental calculus reveals precarious periodontal health in pre-Roman Italy (7th–4th century BCE)
No full text: Periodontitis, a chronic inflammatory disease affecting the tooth-supporting structures, is a key indicator of oral health in palaeopathology. While poor oral hygiene, systemic diseases, and genetics are well-established contributors, the dietary impact has often been underestimated. Clinical studies, however, link diets high in fermentable carbohydrates and meat to inflammation. We investigated periodontal disease by analyzing interdental septa in 63 individuals from elite and non-elite groups in pre-Roman Italy (7th-4th centuries BCE), a period of social stratification, intensified agriculture, and increased cereal consumption. Macroscopic analysis was combined with proteomics of dental calculus from 33 individuals. Of the 1890 septa considered, 23 % displayed signs of periodontitis, with significantly higher rates in males. Prevalence increased with age in both sexes. Proteomic findings identified Porphyromonas gingivalis, a key periodontal pathogen, in 10 of 19 well-preserved dental calculus samples. While plaque accumulation is the main trigger for periodontitis, our findings highlight the dietary role in disease susceptibility. Carbohydrate-rich foods adhere to teeth and nourish bacteria, worsening periodontal conditions. At the same time, greater access to animal protein, particularly among emerging elites, may have contributed to inflammation. We propose that a proinflammatory diet may have been a major contributor to the proliferation of pathogenic oral microbiota
Dentoalveolar diseases and dietary habits in the social upper classes of the Italian Renaissance: the Guinigi family from Lucca
No full textTeeth and their pathologies are very important when studying the life-style, social behaviour, health condition and diet of ancient populations. Many articles in paleoanthropological literature describe dentoalveolar diseases in the Antiquity, mainly in the low-class societies, and only a few reports regard the oral conditions of the social upper classes. The purpose of this research is to examine the dental condition in an upper-class family of the Italian Renaissance, in terms of dietary habits and food resources. The research was carried out on the skeletal remains of the Guinigi family from Lucca (Tuscany), dated back between the end of the 14th and first half of the 17th century. The study of dentoalveolar diseases was performed on 45 individuals and 325 teeth, equally distributed between males and females, and isotopic analysis of 13C and 15N was performed on 13 samples. The frequency of dentoalveolar diseases was very high in the upper class samples, and varied from 27% to 60% of the teeth/ alveoli affected, while the frequencies were lower (16-20%) in the rural samples. Caries was extraordinary frequent in the Guinigi family with a prevalence of 70.8% in females and 43.5% in males, while ante-mortem tooth loss and abscesses were more frequent in males, whose life span was higher. Different factors may promote tooth decay, but dietary habits, as well as physiological or behavioural factors, certainly play an important role in caries development, and may explain the differences observed between sexes. The results of isotopic analysis indicated a diet based on higher protein intake with respect to the lower social classes, with a good presence of vegetables, but gave no indication about cariogenic foods. A large consumption of not complex sugars may be responsible, at least in part, for the high frequency of caries among the wealthy classes and in particular in the Guinigi family. It is well known that expensive and elaborate foods, including sweets, sugar cane and honey, adorned the banquet tables of Renaissance Princes. Moreover, some members of the Guinigi family, in the middle of the 16th century, founded a company for sugar cane refining and trade, probably due to the consumption of very large quantities of this elitarian food.
References Fornaciari G. Food and disease at the Renaissance courts of Naples and Florence: A paleonutritional study. Appetite 2008;51:10-4. Fornaciari G. “Tu sei quello che mangi”: le economie alimentari nelle analisi isotopiche di campioni medievali e post-medievali della Toscana. Centro Italiano di Studi sull’Alto Medioevo, LXIII Settimana di Studio (Spoleto, 9-14 aprile 2015). In press. Grieco AJ. Alimentazione e classi sociali nel tardo Medioevo e nel Rinascimento in Italia. In: Flandrin JL, Montanari M, Storia dell’alimentazione. Bari 2003, pp. 371-380
Dr. Duane M. Jackson, Morehouse College, July 2011
No full textThis video is a conversation with Dr. Duane M. Jackson. Dr. Jackson talks about his paper, "Recall and the Serial Position Effect: The Role of Primacy and Recency on Accounting Students' Performance." Jackie Daniel, AUC Woodruff Library, is the interviewer
Asymmetry in context: Examining heterogeneity in femoral cross-sectional geometry at Medieval Pieve di Pava (Tuscany, Italy).
No full textCross-sectional geometry (CSG) studies yield important insights into past people’s behavior, labor practices, limb use, and mobility. Here we aimed to identify the relationship between biocultural factors, such as sex-gender and age, with cross-sectional geometry in the femur and historical evidence about labor and activity at the rural Medieval site of Pieve di Pava in Tuscany, Italy.
CSG from 110 individuals’ femurs was used to examine trends in bone quantity, shape, and bending strength and rigidity between and among age and sex groups, as well as in emergent clusters identified through Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA). We found that population-level analyses of cross-sectional geometry data obscured within-group differences and variation, especially for bilateral asymmetry.
Overall, our study sample showed remarkable heterogeneity, especially amongst males and our HCA revealed that males can be more precisely described in terms of three distinctive groups, possibly indicating that males had more specialized behavior or differential participation in physical activities. Females had less heterogeneity and were more similar to each other, suggesting females were “generalists” in their physical activities.
Our results suggest that males had more varied experiences of labor and work during their lives and emphasize the importance of carefully considering asymmetry in Medieval populations. Gender roles and norms for men in Medieval Europe, particularly Medieval Italy, were more heterogeneous and these differences likely influence the divergent trends we see in their cross-sectional geometry
Modulation of phenotype and function of human CD4+CD25+ T regulatory lymphocytes mediated by cAMP-elevating agents
No full textWe have shown that cholera toxin (CT) and other cyclic AMP (cAMP)-elevating agents induce upregulation of the inhibitory molecule CTLA-4 in human resting CD4+ T lymphocytes, which following the treatment acquired suppressive functions. In this study, we evaluated the effect of cAMP-elevating agents on human CD4+CD25+ T cells, which include the T regulatory cells (Tregs) that play a pivotal role in the maintenance of immunological tolerance. We found that cAMP-elevating agents induce upregulation of CTLA-4 in CD4+CD25- and further enhance its expression in CD4+CD25+ T cells. We observed an increase of two isoforms of mRNA coding for the membrane and the soluble CTLA-4 molecules, suggesting that the regulation of CTLA-4 expression by cAMP is at the transcriptional level. In addition, we found that the increase of cAMP in CD4+CD25+ T cells converts the CD4+CD25+Foxp3- T cells in CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ T cells, whereas the increase of cAMP in CD4+CD25- T cells did not upregulate Foxp3 in the absence of activation stimuli. To investigate the function of these cells, we performed an in vitro suppression assay by culturing CD4+CD25+ T cells untreated or pre-treated with CT with anti-CD3 mAbs-stimulated autologous peripheral blood mononuclear cell. We found that CT enhances the inhibitory function of CD4+CD25+ T cells, CD4+, and CD8+ T cell proliferation and IFNγ production are strongly inhibited by CD4+CD25+ T cells pre-treated with cAMP-elevating agents. Furthermore, we found that CD4+CD25+ T lymphocytes pre-treated with cAMP-elevating agents induce the upregulation of CD80 and CD86 co-stimulatory molecules on immature dendritic cells (DCs) in the absence of antigenic stimulation, however without leading to full DC maturation. These data show that the increase of intracellular cAMP modulates the phenotype and function of human CD4+CD25+ T cells
Inhibition of T cell proliferation by cholera toxin involves the modulation of costimulatory molecules CTLA-4 and CD28
No full textCholera toxin (CT) is known to inhibit the proliferation of murine and human T lymphocytes. In this study we have analysed the mechanisms underlying the inhibitory effect of CT on subpopulations of human CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. We show that CT dramatically prevents the activation of resting T lymphocytes, whereas it has a minor effect on cells that have been previously activated. Analysis of DNA content of the CT-treated T cells showed an arrest in the G0/G1 phase and this correlated with high expression of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p27kip. Moreover, we show that CT up-regulates the expression of the inhibitory molecule CTLA-4 in naïve, effector and memory resting CD4+ T cells and in resting CD8+ T lymphocytes. The regulation of CTLA-4 expression by CT is at the transcriptional level. Indeed, in cells treated with CT we observed an increase of two mRNA variants coding for the membrane and the soluble CTLA-4 molecules. In parallel with the up-regulation of the inhibitory CTLA-4, CT down-modulates the costimulatory molecule CD28 on CD4+ and CD8+ resting T cells. The increased expression of CTLA-4 played a role in controlling T cell activation and function as blocking anti-CTLA-4 F(ab′)2 mAbs partially inhibited anti-CD3 mAbs induced proliferation. These findings show that the inhibition of T cell proliferation by CT affects early stages of the T cell activation and involves the modulation of costimulatory molecules CTLA-4 and CD28 on resting T cells. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
- …
