Ducks and Deer, Profit and Pleasure: Hunters, Games and the Natural Landscapes of Medieval Italy

This dissertation is an ample and thorough assessment of hunting in late medieval and Renaissance northern and central Italy. Hunting took place in a variety of landscapes and invested animal species. Both of these had been influenced by human activities for centuries. Hunting had deep cultural significance for a range of social groups, each of which had different expectations and limitations on their use of their local game animal-habitat complexes. Hunting in medieval Italy was business, as well as recreation. The motivations and hunting dynamics (techniques) of different groups of hunters were closely interconnected. This mutuality is central to understanding hunting. It also deeply affected consumption, the ultimate reason behind hunting. In all cases, although hunting was a marginal activity, it did not stand in isolation from other activities of resource extraction. Actual practice at all levels was framed by socio-economic and legal frameworks. While some hunters were bound by these frameworks, others attempted to operate as if they did not matter. This resulted in the co-existence and sometimes competition between several different hunts and established different sets of knowledge and ways to think about game animals and the natural world. The present work traces game animals from their habitats to the dinner table through the material practices and cultural interpretation of a variety of social actors to offer an original and thorough survey of the topic

Novel regulators of stem cell fates identified by a multivariate phenotype screen of small compounds on human embryonic stem cell colonies

Understanding the complex mechanisms that govern the fate decisions of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) is fundamental to their use in cell replacement therapies. The progress of dissecting these mechanisms will be facilitated by the availability of robust high-throughput screening assays on hESCs. In this study, we report an image-based high-content assay for detecting compounds that affect hESC survival or pluripotency. Our assay was designed to detect changes in the phenotype of hESC colonies by quantifying multiple parameters, including the number of cells in a colony, colony area and shape, intensity of nuclear staining, and the percentage of cells in the colony that express a marker of pluripotency (TRA-1-60), as well as the number of colonies per well. We used this assay to screen 1040 compounds from two commercial compound libraries, and identified 17 that promoted differentiation, as well as 5 that promoted survival of hESCs. Among the novel small compounds we identified with activity on hESC are several steroids that promote hESC differentiation and the antihypertensive drug, pinacidil, which affects hESC survival. The analysis of overlapping targets of pinacidil and the other survival compounds revealed that activity of PRK2, ROCK, MNK1, RSK1, and MSK1 kinases may contribute to the survival of hESCs. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Anthracycline-based chemotherapy as primary treatment for intravascular lymphoma

Background: Optimal therapeutic management of intravascular lymphoma (IVL) lacks precise guidelines. Patients and methods: The clinico-pathological features of 38 HIV-negative patients with IVL were reviewed to define efficacy of chemotherapy in these malignancies. Clinical characteristics of 22 patients treated with chemotherapy and of 16 untreated patients were compared in order to understand better the impact and causes of potential patient selection. Results: Median age was 70 years (range 34-90), with a male/female ratio of 0.9; 23 (61%) patients had Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ECOG-PS) >1; 21 (55%) had systemic symptoms. Cutaneous lesions and anemia were significantly more common among patients treated with chemotherapy; central nervous system (CNS) and renal involvement were significantly more common among untreated patients. Chemotherapy was associated with a response rate of 59% and a 3-year overall survival of 33 \ub1 11%. Five of six patients with CNS involvement received chemotherapy: four of them died early; only one patient, treated with adriamycin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, methotrexate, bleomycin and prednisolone (MACOP-B) followed by high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT), was alive at 19 months. High-dose chemotherapy supported by ASCT was indicated at diagnosis in another patient (43 years of age, stage I), who was alive at 71 months, and at relapse after cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone (CHOP) in two patients who died early after transplantation. PS 641, disease limited to the skin, stage I, and use of chemotherapy were independently associated with better outcome. Conclusions: Anthracycline-based chemotherapy is the standard treatment for IVL. However, survival is disappointing, with a relevant impact of diagnostic delay and lethal complications. More intensive combinations, containing drugs with higher CNS bioavailability, are needed in cases with brain involvement, and the role of high-dose chemotherapy supported by ASCT should be further investigated in younger patients with unfavorable features

The Waters of Momo: An Avant-garde Village in the Development of the Northern Italian Hay Industry Seen through Five Thirteenth and Fourteenth Century Manuscripts

The thesis illustrates an important change in Northern Italian economic and . enviromental practices in the High Middle Ages centered around the small village of Momo located near the town of Novara. The motor behind these changes was the large demographic increase that involved all of Europe from the tenth through the thirteenth centuries. Manuscripts from the thirteenth century provide a valuable insight into a momentous shift from a self-sufficient economic mentality to that of an industrial one. They were used as the lens through which to view this change on the ground. The industry was that of hay, grown in increasing quantities due to the development of irrigation facilitated by the large amounts of water naturally available. The hay meant the development of large scale stockbreeding and its products. The thesis takes as it starting point the centuries preceeding this change. It maps out in general terms the ways in which land was used in the ninth, tenth and eleventh century. By so doing it provides the context to understand the scope and implications of the change. What crops were grown and how, the problems and advantages of this agriculture, the layout of land and dwellings, and the type of life that was made off this land are all topics covered. Central to the thesis is the section that outlines the history of Momo and the social forces, both internal and external, that marked its existence. Special care is given to outlining land and water use in the context of the town. The development of the hay and cattle industry based on irrigation was not peculiar to Momo and its surroundings, but represented a trend found all over northen Italy. The thesis looks at the forces that facilitated the transition to this new crop and its development in Momo. At this point the manuscripts are analyzed in detail for what they show about the shift in mentality and practices surrounding the transition from self-sufficiency to profit-maximization. The consequences of this emerging industry are mapped out in a larger north Italian landscape. The thesis discusses the example of a large, fourteenth century estate in which a full integration has been achieved between cattle breeding and agriculture, to the benefit of both. The consequences of what was outlined by the Momo manuscripts on their local surroundings are illustrated by a story of economic success experienced by the cobblers\u27 guilds of Novara, whose power was based on the development of irrigation, hay and cattle, as well as the development of local markets

Effects of acetyl-L-carnitine on the survival of adult rat sensory neurons in primary cultures

Acetyl-L-carnitine produces a significant increase in the survival time-course of adult rat sensory neurons maintained in primary cultures up to 40 days. The analysis of our data suggests that 200 microM acetyl-L-carnitine added to the medium, slows down neuronal decay especially in the first 10 days in vitro, sparing a fraction of cells which would otherwise be lost. Patch-clamp recordings from these neurons show that superfusion with acetyl-L-carnitine (100-1000 microM) does not induce any membrane current. In addition an agonist muscarinic effect particularly concerning high-voltage activated calcium channel modulation appears to be ruled out. In conclusion our data favour the role of acetyl-L-carnitine in the trophism of sensory neurons in adult rats. In agreement with other in vivo experiments our data reinforce the hypothesis that this substance might be involved in reducing neuronal loss observed in nervous system aging