The effects of dehydration and local soil on parasite recovery: A preliminary paleoparasitological evaluation on experimental coprolites

The Holocene ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 095968362110499
Author(s):  
Darío Alejandro Ramirez ◽  
Mariana Fabra ◽  
Samanta Xavier ◽  
Alena Mayo Iñiguez
Keyword(s):  
Equal Mass ◽  
Central Argentina ◽  
Soil Sediment ◽  
Local Soil ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Fresh Feces ◽  
Flotation Technique ◽  
First Time ◽  
Taphonomic Processes

Experimental paleoparasitological approaches have been used in order to optimize the methodology previously to the application in archeological samples. In this study we evaluated the action of dehydration and local soil (Central Argentina) on the loss of parasite eggs in experimental coprolites, using two parasitological techniques: spontaneous sedimentation and sucrose-flotation. Experimental coprolites comprised fresh human feces, positive for Hymenolepis nana, Ascaris sp., and Enterobius vermicularis, submitted to controlled artificial dehydration. Experimental coprolites with soil addition were prepared by mixing archeological sediment with equal mass of fresh feces. Helminth eggs were counted and eggs per gram were estimated in each subsample. Statistical analyses were applied to compare subsamples before and after desiccation and with and without addition of soil sediment. The performance of parasitological methods statistically differed, the sucrose flotation technique being the less effective when fresh feces and experimental coprolites were analyzed. Partial deformation of eggs was observed via both techniques only in subsamples containing H. nana eggs. However, this was not seen in Ascaris sp. subsamples, possibly due to eggshell composition. We found that sample desiccation significantly decreased the number of eggs in the experimental coprolites. Mixing archeological sediment with the fecal material also resulted in significantly fewer eggs surviving, independent of desiccation. This shows that climate and soil in which archeological fecal samples are found can strongly influence the survival of parasite eggs from past populations. The small amount of parasite evidence often found in paleoparasitological analyses, including Central Argentina, could be attributed to the action of taphonomic processes rather than to the real absence of infection in these ancient populations. Importantly, the study highlights the role of local soil, confirmed for the first time by empirical data. The research provides valuable insights into the understanding of the paleoparasitological results of the region and of general paleoparasitology.

scholarly journals Physical Activity Prevents Cartilage Degradation: A Metabolomics Study Pinpoints the Involvement of Vitamin B6

Cells ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. 1374 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deiana ◽  
Malerba ◽  
Dalle Carbonare ◽  
Cheri ◽  
Patuzzo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Vitamin B6 ◽  
Cartilage Degradation ◽  
Protective Role ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Metabolomics Study ◽  
Cartilage Cells ◽  
First Time ◽  
Chondrosarcoma Cell Line

Osteoarthritis (OA) is predominantly characterized by the progressive degradation of articular cartilage, the connective tissue produced by chondrocytes, due to an imbalance between anabolic and catabolic processes. In addition, physical activity (PA) is recognized as an important tool for counteracting OA. To evaluate PA effects on the chondrocyte lineage, we analyzed the expression of SOX9, COL2A1, and COMP in circulating progenitor cells following a half marathon (HM) performance. Therefore, we studied in-depth the involvement of metabolites affecting chondrocyte lineage, and we compared the metabolomic profile associated with PA by analyzing runners’ sera before and after HM performance. Interestingly, this study highlighted that metabolites involved in vitamin B6 salvage, such as pyridoxal 5’-phosphate and pyridoxamine 5’-phosphate, were highly modulated. To evaluate the effects of vitamin B6 in cartilage cells, we treated differentiated mesenchymal stem cells and the SW1353 chondrosarcoma cell line with vitamin B6 in the presence of IL1β, the inflammatory cytokine involved in OA. Our study describes, for the first time, the modulation of the vitamin B6 salvage pathway following PA and suggests a protective role of PA in OA through modulation of this pathway.

scholarly journals Component Permeabilities and Water Contents in periplaneta Integument: Role Of The Epidermis Re-Examined

1985 ◽  
Vol 117 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. MACHIN ◽  
G. J. LAMPERT ◽  
M. J. O'DONNELL
Keyword(s):  
In Vitro Techniques ◽  
Linear Relationships ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Pressure Lowering ◽  
First Time ◽  
Water Contents

Improved in vivo and in vitro techniques for measuring cuticular water permeability are described. Air flowing over a cuticle disc mounted in a holder, permitted elimination of unstirred layers, or corrections for them, for the first time. Conditions inside the holder were incompatible with the long-term health of the epidermal cells. Significantly, mean permeabilities of these discs did not differ from values obtained in vivo on the same cuticular plate. Overall cuticular permeability was apportioned between endocuticle and combined epicuticle and exocuticle on the basis of measurements made before and after solvent extraction of lipids. Under identical activity gradients, endocuticle permeability was 35 to 40 times greater than the value for the other layer. Permeability of both component layers showed strongly non-linear relationships with ambient activity, with empirical proportionality to the reciprocal of vapour pressure lowering. Cuticle water contents measured in activity gradient conditions showed significantly higher values in vivo than in vitro. The amount of water contained in the combined epicuticle and exocuticle was too small to measure. We conclude that neither permeability nor water content data support the existence of a significant water barrier in the region of the epidermis.

scholarly journals The role of the Counts of Cilli in the architectural development of the Jurklošter Carthusian monastery's great cloister and the question of the location of Veronika of Desnice's grave. The archaeological method as an aid to art-historical interpretation

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2020) (1) ◽  
pp. 67-117
Author(s):  
Mija Oter Gorenčič
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Historical Interpretation ◽  
New Information ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Archaeological Method ◽  
Architectural Development ◽  
First Time

The article presents the first attempt at a comprehensive interpretation of the architectural development of the Jurklošter Carthusian monastery's great cloister and its appearance before and after the reconstruction that was financially supported by the Counts of Cilli Frederick II and Ulrich II. The article also refers to several archival sources that have been overlooked to date. These reveal the previously unknown patrocinium of the cemetery chapel in the cloister's atrium as well as, quite reliably, the location of Veronika of Desnice's grave. They also bring new information about the granting of indulgences, permission to erect an altar in the cemetery chapel, and consecrations. Apart from discovering new archival sources and carrying out a comparative analysis with the relevant medieval Carthusian monasteries elsewhere in Europe, the article is methodologically based on the art-historical analysis of two archaeological georadar recordings, of which one has been published for the first time in this very contribution.

Psychological Resilience Provides No Independent Protection From Suicidal Risk

Crisis ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 130-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danica W. Y. Liu ◽  
A. Kate Fairweather-Schmidt ◽  
Richard Burns ◽  
Rachel M. Roberts ◽  
Kaarin J. Anstey
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Psychological Resilience ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Life Project ◽  
Resilience Factors ◽  
First Time

Abstract. Background: Little is known about the role of resilience in the likelihood of suicidal ideation (SI) over time. Aims: We examined the association between resilience and SI in a young-adult cohort over 4 years. Our objectives were to determine whether resilience was associated with SI at follow-up or, conversely, whether SI was associated with lowered resilience at follow-up. Method: Participants were selected from the Personality and Total Health (PATH) Through Life Project from Canberra and Queanbeyan, Australia, aged 28–32 years at the first time point and 32–36 at the second. Multinomial, linear, and binary regression analyses explored the association between resilience and SI over two time points. Models were adjusted for suicidality risk factors. Results: While unadjusted analyses identified associations between resilience and SI, these effects were fully explained by the inclusion of other suicidality risk factors. Conclusion: Despite strong cross-sectional associations, resilience and SI appear to be unrelated in a longitudinal context, once risk/resilience factors are controlled for. As independent indicators of psychological well-being, suicidality and resilience are essential if current status is to be captured. However, the addition of other factors (e.g., support, mastery) makes this association tenuous. Consequently, resilience per se may not be protective of SI.

Child and Adolescent Suicides in Bosnia and Herzegovina Before and After the War (1992–1995)

Crisis ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 160-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Almir Fajkic ◽  
Orhan Lepara ◽  
Martin Voracek ◽  
Nestor D. Kapusta ◽  
Thomas Niederkrotenthaler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bosnia And Herzegovina ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Suicide Risk ◽  
Child And Adolescent ◽  
Youth Suicide ◽  
Southeastern Europe ◽  
Suicide Rates ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Sex And Age Differences

Background: Evidence on youth suicides from Southeastern Europe is scarce. We are not aware of previous reports from Bosnia and Herzegovina, which experienced war from 1992 to 1995. Durkheim’s theory of suicide predicts decreased suicide rates in wartime and increased rates afterward. Aims: To compare child and adolescent suicides in Bosnia and Herzegovina before and after the war. Methods: Data on youth suicide for prewar (1986–90) and postwar (2002–06) periods were analyzed with respect to prevalence, sex and age differences, and suicide methods. Suicide data from 1991 through 2001 were not available. Results: Overall youth suicide rates were one-third lower in the postwar than in the prewar period. This effect was most pronounced for girls, whose postwar suicide rates almost halved, and for 15–19-year-old boys, whose rates decreased by about a one-fourth. Suicides increased among boys aged 14 or younger. Firearm suicides almost doubled proportionally and were the predominant postwar method, while the most common prewar method had been hanging. Conclusions: The findings from this study indicate the need for public education in Bosnia and Herzegovina on the role of firearm accessibility in youth suicide and for instructions on safe storage in households. Moreover, raising societal awareness about suicide risk factors and suicide prevention is needed.

Untersuchungen zur Quantifizierung der Änderung der Skelettmuskeldurchblutung nach Gefäßrevaskularisationen mit einem 99mTechnetiummarkierten Tracer

1990 ◽  
Vol 29 (05) ◽  
pp. 215-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Benning ◽  
K. Nagel ◽  
M. Jugenheimer ◽  
S. Fischer ◽  
S. Worthmann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Transluminal Angioplasty ◽  
Lower Limbs ◽  
Surgical Patients ◽  
Treadmill Test ◽  
Negative Results ◽  
Clinical Observations ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Comparative Results ◽  
First Time ◽  
Percutaneous Transluminal

A new 99mTc-labelled tracer (99mTc-Sestanriibi) was used for the first time to demonstrate the perfusion of the skeletal muscle. In 16 patients with obstructive atherosclerosis of the lower limbs the change of perfusion of thigh and lower leg was studied with SPECT before and after vascular surgery (n = 11) or percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (n = 5). Comparative results of scintigraphic measurements and clinical observations (ancle-arm pressure, treadmill test) in 10 surgical patients (14 operated legs) showed correct positive or negative results in 86% (12/14).

Strategic Role of Zakat in Multidimensional Quality of Life in Sijunjung, Indonesia

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-72
Author(s):  
Herlin Hamimi ◽  
Abdul Ghafar Ismail ◽  
Muhammad Hasbi Zaenal
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Wealth Distribution ◽  
Absolute Poverty ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Status ◽  
Being There ◽  
The Impact

Zakat is one of the five pillars of Islam which has a function of faith, social and economic functions. Muslims who can pay zakat are required to give at least 2.5 per cent of their wealth. The problem of poverty prevalent in disadvantaged regions because of the difficulty of access to information and communication led to a gap that is so high in wealth and resources. The instrument of zakat provides a paradigm in the achievement of equitable wealth distribution and healthy circulation. Zakat potentially offers a better life and improves the quality of human being. There is a human quality improvement not only in economic terms but also in spiritual terms such as improving religiousity. This study aims to examine the role of zakat to alleviate humanitarian issues in disadvantaged regions such as Sijunjung, one of zakat beneficiaries and impoverished areas in Indonesia. The researcher attempted a Cibest method to capture the impact of zakat beneficiaries before and after becoming a member of Zakat Community Development (ZCD) Program in material and spiritual value. The overall analysis shows that zakat has a positive impact on disadvantaged regions development and enhance the quality of life of the community. There is an improvement in the average of mustahik household incomes after becoming a member of ZCD Program. Cibest model demonstrates that material, spiritual, and absolute poverty index decreased by 10, 5, and 6 per cent. Meanwhile, the welfare index is increased by 21 per cent. These findings have significant implications for developing the quality of life in disadvantaged regions in Sijunjung. Therefore, zakat is one of the instruments to change the status of disadvantaged areas to be equivalent to other areas.

Synergetic Theory of Document in Evolution of Document Science

2018 ◽  
pp. 1060-1068
Author(s):  
Galina A. Dvoenosova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Role ◽  
Scientific Study ◽  
Self Organization ◽  
Universal Theory ◽  
Social Self ◽  
Social Goal ◽  
The Social ◽  
Synergetic Theory ◽  
First Time

The article assesses synergetic theory of document as a new development in document science. In information society the social role of document grows, as information involves all members of society in the process of documentation. The transformation of document under the influence of modern information technologies increases its interest to representatives of different sciences. Interdisciplinary nature of document as an object of research leads to an ambiguous interpretation of its nature and social role. The article expresses and contends the author's views on this issue. In her opinion, social role of document is incidental to its being a main social tool regulating the life of civilized society. Thus, the study aims to create a scientific theory of document, explaining its nature and social role as a tool of social (goal-oriented) action and social self-organization. Substantiation of this idea is based on application of synergetics (i.e., universal theory of self-organization) to scientific study of document. In the synergetic paradigm, social and historical development is seen as the change of phases of chaos and order, and document is considered a main tool that regulates social relations. Unlike other theories of document, synergetic theory studies document not as a carrier and means of information transfer, but as a unique social phenomenon and universal social tool. For the first time, the study of document steps out of traditional frameworks of office, archive, and library. The document is placed on the scales with society as a global social system with its functional subsystems of politics, economy, culture, and personality. For the first time, the methods of social sciences and modern sociological theories are applied to scientific study of document. This methodology provided a basis for theoretical vindication of nature and social role of document as a tool of social (goal-oriented) action and social self-organization. The study frames a synergetic theory of document with methodological foundations and basic concepts, synergetic model of document, laws of development and effectiveness of document in the social continuum. At the present stage of development of science, it can be considered the highest form of theoretical knowledge of document and its scientific explanatory theory.

Trombodynamics Method in the Assessment of Coagulation Parameters in Psychopharmacotherapy of Endogenous Mental Disorders

Psychiatry ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 16-25
Author(s):  
N. S. Karpova ◽  
O. S. Brusov ◽  
I. V. Oleichik ◽  
M. I. Faktor ◽  
N. S. Levchenko ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Response To Therapy ◽  
Procoagulant Activity ◽  
Coagulation Activity ◽  
Continuous Type ◽  
Chronic Neuroinflammation ◽  
Psychopharmacological Treatment ◽  
Before And After ◽  
First Time ◽  
Schizotypal Disorder

Background: currently, it has been proven that the pathogenesis of endogenous mental disorders is associated with the process of neuroinflammation in the brain of patients. It is also known that chronic neuroinflammation, accompanied by a violation the permeability of the blood-brain barrier. It is accompanied by the activation of platelets that generate procoagulant microparticles, which leads to a disturbance of the hemostasis system, causing an increase in blood clotting in patients. Objective: to investigate the dynamics of procoagulant activity of blood in patients with endogenous mental disorders before and after psychopharmacotherapy.Patients and methods: the study included 185 patients aged 16 to 64 years with the following mental disorders: schizophrenia with attack-like/attack-progressive/continuous type of course (F20.00–2), affective disease (F31.1–5; F32.0–3; F33.0–3), schizotypal disorder with affective fluctuations (F21.3–4). The thrombodynamic test (TD) was performed on T-2 Trombodynamis device according to the manufacturer’s instructions (Hemacore LLC, Moscow, Russia). All patients received standard pharmacotherapy according to their condition.Results: a significant decrease of procoagulant activity of spontaneous clots in the patients’ blood after psychopharmacological treatment is observed. Our data on the positive dynamics of changes in the values of TD test’s indicators in most of the examined patients suggest that a decrease in the coagulation activity of the patients’ blood as a result of treatment may be associated with the anti- inflammatory effect of antipsychotics and antidepressants.Conclusion: for the first time, it was shown that there is a positive dynamic in changing the values of the main parameters of the TD test in most patients with endogenous mental diseases. The results of TD tests can be the basis for monitoring the response to therapy.

Physical Warmth Attenuates Ethnocentric Bias under Mortality Salience: An Embodied Terror Management Perspective

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Armand Chatard ◽  
Margaux Renoux ◽  
Jean Monéger ◽  
Leila Selimbegovic
Keyword(s):  
Mortality Salience ◽  
Terror Management ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Defensive Reaction ◽  
Worldview Defense ◽  
Management Perspective ◽  
Physical Warmth ◽  
Alternative Means ◽  
First Time

Research indicates that individuals often deal with mortality salience by affirming beliefs in national or cultural superiority (worldview defense). Because worldview defense may be associated with negative consequences (discrimination), it is important to identify alternative means to deal with death-related thoughts. In line with an embodied terror management perspective, we evaluate for the first time the role of physical warmth in reducing defensive reaction to mortality salience. We predicted that, like social affiliation (social warmth), physical warmth could reduce worldview defense when mortality is salient. In this exploratory (preregistered) study, 202 French participants were primed with death-related thoughts, or an aversive control topic, in a heated room or a non-heated room. The main outcome was worldview defense (ethnocentric bias). We found no main effect of mortality salience on worldview defense. However, physical warmth reduced worldview defense when mortality was salient. Implications for an embodied terror management perspective are discussed.

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