Heresenes's Short Life under a "Starry Night"

Author(s):  
Carlos Prates ◽  
Sandra Sousa ◽  
Carlos Oliveira ◽  
Cynthia Sheikholeslami ◽  
Salima Ikram

Heresenes is a mummified 25th Dynasty (ca. 746–653 B.C.) Egyptian woman from Luxor, Egypt. Nondestructive evaluation through computerized tomography (CT) showed a failed attempt at excerebration, leaving Heresenes’s meninges and brain in situ. The brain structure shows numerous millimetric dense calcific nodules, a CT brain pattern dubbed “starry night,” which is consistent with a diagnosis of neurocysticercosis in a nodular calcified stage. A similar speckled pattern in the upper spinal cord and in the heart supports the identification of a disseminated stage of this parasitic disease. If this were the case, then this would be the oldest documented case of this disease known in ancient Egypt, and the first nondestructive radiological diagnosis of it in a completely wrapped Egyptian mummy.Heresenes est une femme Égyptienne momifiée de la 25e dynastie (c. 746 aC–653 aC). L'évaluation non destructive par tomodensitométrie (TDM) a montré l'échec de la tentative d'excérébration, laissant les méninges et le cerveau d'Heresenes in situ. La structure cérébrale présente de nombreux nodules calciques denses millimétriques, une apparence en TDM surnommé «nuit étoilée», ce qui est cohérent avec un diagnostic de neurocysticercose dans un stade nodulaire calcifié. Un motif similaire dans la moelle épinière supérieure et dans le coeur soutien l´identification dun processus disséminé de cette maladie parasitaire. Si tel était le cas, ce serait le plus ancien cas documenté de cette maladie connue dans l'Égypte ancienne, et le premier diagnostic radiologique non destructif dans une momie égyptienne complètement enveloppée. 

1992 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 194-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karel Šindelář ◽  
Vojtěch Kmoníček ◽  
Marta Hrubantová ◽  
Zdeněk Polívka

(Arylthio)benzoic acids IIa - IIe and VIb - VId were transformed via the acid chlorides to the N,N-dimethylamides which were reduced either with diborane "in situ" or with lithium aluminium hydride to N,N-dimethyl-(arylthio)benzylamines Ia - Ie and Vb - Vd. Leuckart reaction of the aldehydes IX and X with dimethylformamide and formic acid afforded directly the amines Va and Ve. Demethylation of the methoxy compounds Ia and Ve with hydrobromic acid resulted in the phenolic amines If and Vf. The most interesting N,N-dimethyl-4-(phenylthio)benzylamine (Va) hydrochloride showed affinity to cholinergic and 5-HT2 serotonin receptors in the rat brain and some properties considered indicative of antidepressant activity (inhibition of serotonin re-uptake in the brain and potentiation of yohimbine toxicity in mice).


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Thelen ◽  
Nicolas Bochud ◽  
Manuel Brinker ◽  
Claire Prada ◽  
Patrick Huber

AbstractNanoporosity in silicon leads to completely new functionalities of this mainstream semiconductor. A difficult to assess mechanics has however significantly limited its application in fields ranging from nanofluidics and biosensorics to drug delivery, energy storage and photonics. Here, we present a study on laser-excited elastic guided waves detected contactless and non-destructively in dry and liquid-infused single-crystalline porous silicon. These experiments reveal that the self-organised formation of 100 billions of parallel nanopores per square centimetre cross section results in a nearly isotropic elasticity perpendicular to the pore axes and an 80% effective stiffness reduction, altogether leading to significant deviations from the cubic anisotropy observed in bulk silicon. Our thorough assessment of the wafer-scale mechanics of nanoporous silicon provides the base for predictive applications in robust on-chip devices and evidences that recent breakthroughs in laser ultrasonics open up entirely new frontiers for in-situ, non-destructive mechanical characterisation of dry and liquid-functionalised porous materials.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 120-132
Author(s):  
Douglas J. Mills ◽  
Katarzyna Schaefer ◽  
Tomasz Wityk

Electrochemical Noise Measurement (ENM) and DC electrolytic resistance measurement (ERM) can be used to assess the level of protectiveness provided by an organic coating (paint or varnish) to the underlying metal. These techniques also have applicability to the thinner, transparent type of coatings used to protect archaeological artefacts. Two studies are presented here demonstrating how ERM and ENM techniques can be applied in artefact preservation. The similarity of the techniques, both of which are a measure of resistance, means results can be considered to be analogous. The first study investigated the use of ERM to determine the protection levels provided by typical coatings in order to develop a database of coating type and application for objects, for specific environments. The second study used ENM to evaluate coatings which had been applied to historic artefacts recovered from shipwrecks in the Baltic Sea and displayed inside the museum or kept in the museum store area. The studies showed the usefulness of both techniques for determining the level of protection of a coating and how a better performing coating can be specified if a pre-existing coating on an artefact has been found to be unsuitable.


2021 ◽  
Vol 111 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 863-868
Author(s):  
Thorsten Mattulat ◽  
Ronald Pordzik ◽  
Peer Woizeschke

Die optische Kohärenztomographie (OCT) erlaubt die zerstörungsfreie In-situ-Überwachung der Einschweißtiefe beim Laserstrahlschweißen. Für dieses Verfahren wird hier der Einfluss von verringerten Umgebungsdrücken auf die Messqualität untersucht. Es wird gezeigt, dass sich bei niedrigerem Umgebungsdruck deutlich größere Signalanteile aus dem Bereich des Bodens der Dampfkapillare zurückerhalten lassen. Auf diese Weise steigen die effektive Messfrequenz und die Erkennbarkeit von Änderungen der Einschweißtiefe.   Optical coherence tomography (OCT) enables non-destructive in-situ monitoring of the weld penetration depth during laser beam welding. For this technology, the influence of reduced ambient pressures on the measurement quality is investigated. It is shown that significantly larger signal components are obtained from the bottom of the vapor capillary at lower ambient pressure increasing the applicable measurement frequency and the detectability of changes in the weld penetration depth.


Development ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 119 (1) ◽  
pp. 247-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
B.A. Parr ◽  
M.J. Shea ◽  
G. Vassileva ◽  
A.P. McMahon

Mutation and expression studies have implicated the Wnt gene family in early developmental decision making in vertebrates and flies. In a detailed comparative analysis, we have used in situ hybridization of 8.0- to 9.5-day mouse embryos to characterize expression of all ten published Wnt genes in the central nervous system (CNS) and limb buds. Seven of the family members show restricted expression patterns in the brain. At least three genes (Wnt-3, Wnt-3a, and Wnt-7b) exhibit sharp boundaries of expression in the forebrain that may predict subdivisions of the region later in development. In the spinal cord, Wnt-1, Wnt-3, and Wnt-3a are expressed dorsally, Wnt-5a, Wnt-7a, and Wnt-7b more ventrally, and Wnt-4 both dorsally and in the floor plate. In the forelimb primordia, Wnt-3, Wnt-4, Wnt-6 and Wnt-7b are expressed fairly uniformly throughout the limb ectoderm. Wnt-5a RNA is distributed in a proximal to distal gradient through the limb mesenchyme and ectoderm. Along the limb's dorsal-ventral axis, Wnt-5a is expressed in the ventral ectoderm and Wnt-7a in the dorsal ectoderm. We discuss the significance of these patterns of restricted and partially overlapping domains of expression with respect to the putative function of Wnt signalling in early CNS and limb development.


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