3D survey of the Early-Middle Bronze Age Workshop Complex and cemetery area at Erimi-Laonin tou Porakou (Cyprus)

Kouris Valley Project is an archaeological research project held from 2007 by University of Florence and directed by Prof. A. M. Jasink, under the field direction of Dr. L. Bombardieri in the Kourion area (Limassol, Cyprus). During the 2010 field season the collaboration of GeCo (Geomatics and Communication for Cultural Heritage Laboratory, University of Florence) was requested with the aim at the laser scanner survey of Erimi-Laonin tou Porakou site area. The survey involved two areas, a workshop and a cemetery, as well as some small ceramic finds. Range maps was used for different aims: to make a full-scale replica of a tomb to exhibit at Limassol museum and for the documentation of the excavation of the workshop. This one is a rather extreme case study: most significant artifacts are shallow carvings into bedrock and could be confused with natural elements. In this case the aim was to get automatic and accurate drawings comparable with traditional ones. The paper reviews the expressive potential of drawings done using different techniques and softwares, each one with its assets and restrictions

An Improved Model for Relativistic Solar Proton Acceleration applied to the 2005 January 20 and Earlier Events

This paper presents results on modelling the ground level response of the higher energy protons for the 2005 January 20 ground level enhancement (GLE). This event, known as GLE 69, produced the highest intensity of relativistic solar particles since the famous event on 1956 February 23. The location of recent X-ray and gamma-ray emission (N14 W61) was near to Sun-Earth connecting magnetic field lines, thus providing the opportunity to directly observe the acceleration source from Earth. We restrict our analysis to protons of energy greater than 450 MeV to avoid complications arising from transport processes that can affect the propagation of low energy protons. In light of this revised approach we have reinvestigated two previous GLEs: those of 2000 July 14 (GLE 59) and 2001 April 15 (GLE 60). Within the limitations of the spectral forms employed, we find that from the peak (06:55 UT) to the decline (07:30 UT) phases of GLE 69, neutron monitor observations from 450 MeV to 10 GeV are best fitted by the Gallegos-Cruz & Perez-Peraza stochastic acceleration model. In contrast, the Ellison & Ramaty spectra did not fit the neutron monitor observations as well. This result suggests that for GLE 69, a stochastic process cannot be discounted as a mechanism for relativistic particle acceleration, particularly during the initial stages of this solar event. For GLE 59 we find evidence that more than one acceleration mechanism was present, consistent with both shock and stochastic acceleration processes dominating at different times of the event. For GLE 60 we find that Ellison & Ramaty spectra better represent the neutron monitor observations compared to stochastic acceleration spectra. The results for GLEs 59 and 60 are in agreement with our previous work.Comment: 42 pages, 10 figures, 10 tables, published in ApJ, August 200

Historical micronutrient psychiatry: descriptive analysis of patients with pellagra admitted to the “San Lazzaro” asylum in Reggio Emilia (Italy) in the decade 1901-1910

This study aims at describing the socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients affected by pellagra and admitted to the “San Lazzaro” psychiatric asylum (Reggio Emilia, Italy) from 1901 to 1910 besides exploring possible gender differences for the collected information. Data were collected from the admission register and clinical records of those patients who were admitted to the San Lazzaro Psychiatric Hospital receiving a diagnosis of pellagra at their first admission. The pellagrous patient population was characterised by a higher rate of hospitalisation for women (64.3%) and the number of hospitalised patients suffering from pellagra gradually decreased from 1901 (78; 8.3%) to 1910 (8;0.7%). The most common profession for men admitted with pellagra was farmer/agricultural labourer, while most of the women were housewives. A characteristic shared by both the male and female population of inpatients was very high rate of illiteracy: only one patient was recorded as being able to read and write. The generic diagnosis of “mental illness from pellagra” was predominant (70%), while “dementia from pellagra” accounts for 17.85% of the admission diagnoses: no statistically significant differences between men and women were found in the frequency of diagnosis. Half of the patients, both men and women, died while being inpatients. This study confirms previous findings about the case mix of pellagra patients admitted to psychiatric hospital at the beginning of the last century in northern Italy and highlights the significance of the relationship of psychiatry with other medical disciplines and the sociocultural milieu

Accumulation of Self-Reactive Naive and Memory B Cell Reveals Sequential Defects in B Cell Tolerance Checkpoints in Sjogren's Syndrome

This work was funded by grants number 18237 and 20089 from Arthritis Research UK (http://www.arthritisresearchuk.org) to MB and the William Harvey Research Foundation. EC was recipient of short-term travel fellowships from EMBO (ASTF 318-2010) and EFIS-IL

Soluble P-selectin levels in synovial fluid and serum from patients with psoriatic arthritis

Objective: P-selectin is an adhesion molecule expressed by activated endothelial cells and platelets favouring the leukocyte adherence to microvascular endothelium. A soluble form of this molecule has been described, whose serum levels were found to be elevated and correlate with disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. Aim of this study was to determine soluble P-selectin levels in synovial fluid (SF) and serum from patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA), where it has never been investigated, to define its involvement in PsA synovial damage. Methods: we analysed, by ELISA, soluble P-selectin serum and SF levels in 100 patients presenting a knee joint effusion: 38 of them presented PsA, 40 RA and 22 osteoarthritis (OA). We examined the main clinical and laboratory parameters of these patients. Soluble P-selectin serum levels were also detected in 15 healthy subjects. Results: soluble P-selectin SF levels were significantly higher in PsA and RA patients respect to OA subjects. Soluble P-selectin SF levels were lower than those found in serum and the SF/serum ratio was higher in PsA and RA patients respect to OA. Soluble P-selectin serum levels were not significantly different among patients and controls. No correlation was found between SF and serum levels of soluble P-selectin and the main clinical parameters. Conclusions: our study of soluble P-selectin in PsA reveals a prominent local role of this molecule, with no differences respect to RA. Histological findings may be of help in understanding the role of this adhesion molecule in PsA