Revealing invisible brews: a new approach to the chemical identification of ancient beer

While ancient Near Eastern cuneiform texts and iconography unambiguously demonstrate the social, economic, and ritual significance of beer, direct archaeological evidence for beer production or consumption remains surprisingly rare. This scarcity of material evidence renders it difficult to extrapolate information about the ingredients and production processes of beer, on the one hand, and the paraphernalia and social contexts of its consumption, on the other. In recent decades, organic residue analysis has become an essential tool in the identification of ancient alcoholic beverages, but research on Near Eastern beer has focused largely on production and storage vessels, whose form, archaeological context, and associated macroscopic residues already indicated their use in beer production. In this paper, we present a novel field sampling protocol that prevents contamination along with a refined organic residue analysis methodology that relies on a series of co-occurring compounds to identify confidently beer in ceramic vessels. The same compounds were identified in several modern beer samples and, thus, support our identification of a similar fermented barley-based beverage in archaeological samples from the late second millennium BCE site of Khani Masi in northeastern Iraq. The results presented in this paper allow us, for the first time, to unambiguously link a diverse range of vessel types to the consumption and production of beer, identify a fundamental change in Mesopotamian consumption practices, and shed light on the cultural dimensions of Babylonia's encounter with the Zagros-Mesopotamian borderlands

Bi2Te1.6S1.4 - a Topological Insulator in the Tetradymite Family

We describe the crystal growth, crystal structure, and basic electrical properties of Bi2Te1.6S1.4, which incorporates both S and Te in its Tetradymite quintuple layers in the motif -[Te0.8S0.2]-Bi-S-Bi-[Te0.8S0.2]-. This material differs from other Tetradymites studied as topological insulators due to the increased ionic character that arises from its significant S content. Bi2Te1.6S1.4 forms high quality crystals from the melt and is the S-rich limit of the ternary Bi-Te-S {\gamma}-Tetradymite phase at the melting point. The native material is n-type with a low resistivity; Sb substitution, with adjustment of the Te to S ratio, results in a crossover to p-type and resistive behavior at low temperatures. Angle resolved photoemission study shows that topological surface states are present, with the Dirac point more exposed than it is in Bi2Te3 and similar to that seen in Bi2Te2Se. Single crystal structure determination indicates that the S in the outer chalcogen layers is closer to the Bi than the Te, and therefore that the layers supporting the surface states are corrugated on the atomic scale.Comment: To be published in Physical Review B Rapid Communications 16 douuble spaced pages. 4 figures 1 tabl

Electrochemical deposition of bismuth telluride thick layers onto nickel

Bismuth telluride (Bi2Te3) is the currently best performing thermoelectric (TE) material in commercial TE devices for refrigeration and waste heat recovery up to 200 °C. Up to 800 μm thick, compact, uniform and stoichiometric Bi2Te3 films were synthesized by pulsed electrodeposition from 2 M nitric acid baths containing bismuth and tellurium dioxide on 1 cm2 nickel (Ni) substrates at average film growth rates of ~ 50 μm/h. Pre-treatment of the Ni substrate was found to significantly enhance the adhesion of Bi2Te3 material onto Ni while pulsed electrodeposition was used to increase the compactness of the material. To maintain a homogeneous composition across the thickness of the films, a sacrificial Bi2Te3 anode was employed. All deposits produced were n-type with a Seebeck coefficient of up to − 80 μV/K and an electrical conductivity of ~ 330 S/cm at room temperature

Exercise-induced modulation of cardiac lipid content in healthy lean young men

Cardiac lipid accumulation is associated with decreased cardiac function and energy status (PCr/ATP). It has been suggested that elevated plasma fatty acid (FA) concentrations are responsible for the cardiac lipid accumulation. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate if elevating plasma FA concentrations by exercise results in an increased cardiac lipid content, and if this influences cardiac function and energy status. Eleven male subjects (age 25.4 ± 1.1 years, BMI 23.6 ± 0.8 kg/m2) performed a 2-h cycling protocol, once while staying fasted and once while ingesting glucose, to create a state of high versus low plasma FA concentrations, respectively. Cardiac lipid content was measured by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) at baseline, directly after exercise and again 4 h post-exercise, together with systolic function (by multi-slice cine-MRI) and cardiac energy status (by 31P-MRS). Plasma FA concentrations were increased threefold during exercise and ninefold during recovery in the fasted state compared with the glucose-fed state (p < 0.01). Cardiac lipid content was elevated at the end of the fasted test day (from 0.26 ± 0.04 to 0.44 ± 0.04%, p = 0.003), while it did not change with glucose supplementation (from 0.32 ± 0.03 to 0.26 ± 0.05%, p = 0.272). Furthermore, PCr/ATP was decreased by 32% in the high plasma FA state compared with the low FA state (n = 6, p = 0.014). However, in the high FA state, the ejection fraction 4 h post-exercise was higher compared with the low FA state (63 ± 2 vs. 59 ± 2%, p = 0.018). Elevated plasma FA concentrations, induced by exercise in the fasted state, lead to increased cardiac lipid content, but do not acutely hamper systolic function. Although the lower cardiac energy status is in line with a lipotoxic action of cardiac lipid content, a causal relationship cannot be proven

Diagnostic value of a heart-type fatty acid-binding protein (H-FABP) bedside test in suspected acute coronary syndrome in primary care

AbstractBackgroundTo determine the diagnostic accuracy of a rapid heart-type fatty acid-binding protein (H-FABP) test in patients suspected of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in primary care.MethodsGeneral practitioners included 298 patients suspected of ACS. In all patients, whether referred to hospital or not, ECG and cardiac biomarker testing was performed. ACS was determined in accordance with international guidelines. Multivariate analysis was used to determine the value of H-FABP in addition to clinical findings.ResultsMean patient age was 66years (SD 14), 52% was female and 66 patients (22%) were diagnosed with ACS. The H-FABP bedside test was performed within 24h (median 3.1, IQR 1.5 to 7.1) after symptom onset. The positive predictive value (PPV) of H-FABP was 65% (95% confidence interval (CI) 50–78). The negative predictive value (NPV) was 85% (95% CI 80–88). Sensitivity was 39% (29–51%) and specificity 94% (90–96%). Within 6h after symptom onset, the PPV was 72% (55–84) and the NPV was 83% (77–88), sensitivity 43% (31–57%) and specificity 94% (89–97%). Adding the H-FABP test to a diagnostic model for ACS led to an increase in the area under the receiver operating curve from 0.66 (95% CI 0.58–0.73) to 0.75 (95% CI 0.68–0.82).ConclusionThe H-FABP rapid test provides modest additional diagnostic certainty in primary care. It cannot be used to safely exclude rule out ACS. The test can only be used safely in patients otherwise NOT referred to hospital by the GP, as an extra precaution not to miss ACS (‘rule in’)

Stage of perinatal development regulates skeletal muscle mitochondrial biogenesis and myogenic regulatory factor genes with little impact of growth restriction or cross-fostering

Foetal growth restriction impairs skeletal muscle development and adult muscle mitochondrial biogenesis. We hypothesized that key genes involved in muscle development and mitochondrial biogenesis would be altered following uteroplacental insufficiency in rat pups, and improving postnatal nutrition by cross-fostering would ameliorate these deficits. Bilateral uterine vessel ligation (Restricted) or sham (Control) surgery was performed on day 18 of gestation. Males and females were investigated at day 20 of gestation (E20), 1 (PN1), 7 (PN7) and 35 (PN35) days postnatally. A separate cohort of Control and Restricted pups were cross-fostered onto a different Control or Restricted mother and examined at PN7. In both sexes, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-&gamma; coactivator-1&alpha; (PGC-1&alpha;), cytochrome c oxidase subunits 3 and 4 (COX III and IV) and myogenic regulatory factor 4 expression increased from late gestation to postnatal life, whereas mitochondrial transcription factor A, myogenic differentiation 1 (MyoD), myogenin and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) decreased. Foetal growth restriction increased MyoD mRNA in females at PN7, whereas in males IGF-I mRNA was higher at E20 and PN1. Cross-fostering Restricted pups onto a Control mother significantly increased COX III mRNA in males and COX IV mRNA in both sexes above controls with little effect on other genes. Developmental age appears to be a major factor regulating skeletal muscle mitochondrial and developmental genes, with growth restriction and cross-fostering having only subtle effects. It therefore appears that reductions in adult mitochondrial biogenesis markers likely develop after weaning.<br /

Immunoblot analysis of the seroreactivity to recombinant Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato antigens, including VlsE, in the long-term course of treated patients with Erythema migrans

Objective: We evaluated whether immunoblotting is capable of substantiating the posttreatment clinical assessment of patients with erythema migrans ( EM), the hallmark of early Lyme borreliosis. Methods: In 50 patients, seroreactivity to different antigens of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato was analyzed by a recombinant immunoblot test (IB) in consecutive serum samples from a minimum follow-up period of 1 year. Antigens in the IgG test were decorin- binding protein A, internal fragment of p41 (p41i), outer surface protein C (OspC), p39, variable major protein-like sequence expressed (VlsE), p58 and p100; those in the IgM test were p41i, OspC and p39. Immune responses were correlated with clinical and treatment-related parameters. Results: Positive IB results were found in 50% before, in 57% directly after therapy and in 44% by the end of the follow-up for the IgG class, and in 36, 43 and 12% for the IgM class. In acute and convalescence phase sera, VlsE was most immunogenic on IgG testing 60 and 70%), and p41i (46 and 57%) and OspC (40 and 57%) for the IgM class. By the end of the follow-up, only the anti-p41i lgM response was significantly decreased to 24%. Conclusions: No correlation was found between IB results and treatment-related parameters. Thus, immunoblotting does not add to the clinical assessment of EM patients after treatment. Copyright (c) 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel