Archaeobotany and the archaeological park \u201cTerramara Montale\u201d (northern Italy): a winner joint-venture.

The Archaeological Park and Open-Air Museum Terramara Montale, opened in 2004 under the direction of the Civic Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology of Modena, was built in the homonymous archaeological area, in which several years of excavation have brought to light finds of the terramare civilizations settled in the Po plain during the Bronze Age (2nd millennium BC). Along with several archaeological remains, the large amount of archaeozoological and archaeobotanical finds allowed to obtain more detailed information about the everyday life of the inhabitants of the site, useful to reconstruct the environment and the history of the terramara.The archaeobotanical research (eg. Mercuri et al., 2006a, 2006b) has brought a great surplus value to the realization of the Park; the green area of the Open-Air Museum has been realized following the indications obtained from palynological, carpological and xylo-antracological analyses. Panels show the landscape cat the time of the village. Moreover, the study of archaeobotanical remains has been essential to understand the man-plants interactions (for fortifications, houses and furniture, crops and agricultural practices, plants food, weavings and textiles) during the life of the settlement. Thanks to the archaeobotanical analyses, the Park creates workshops, activities and demonstrations of experimental archaeology to involve the visitors of all ages in ethnobotanical aspects of the site: The environment at the time of terramare - Demonstration of the techniques employed to reconstruct past environments; Archaeobotany for kids - All at work sieving soils, collecting and identifying fruits and seeds of plants cultivated or collected in the Bronze Age; The woodworking - With the original essences, demonstration of manufacturing techniques employed to realize different tools; Building without bricks: the houses of the terramara - Demonstrations of experimental archaeology: how create weaves with reeds, branches and leaves, and daub surface of plaster on the walls of the houses; The bread cycle - From cutting the wheat, to beating, milling, cooking and tasting the final product; Archaeology of flavors - Exhibition on finds and panels about food, along with activities and tastings; Archaeology of wine - The use of fermented beverages through the archaeobotanical evidences; Weaves of plant fibers and marsh grasses - Demonstration of processing techniques of vegetal fibers to make baskets, ropes, nets and mats; A thread pull another thread - Observation of the functioning of the reconstructed looms and realization of colored linen bracelets using the Bronze Age techniques; The park in blue - The use of ford, madder and mignonette in dyeing techniques of flax

A case of disseminated Langerhans' cell histiocytosis treated with thalidomide.

Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) seems to play a key role in the pathogenesis of Langerhans' cell histiocytosis (LCH). Thalidomide is an immunomodulator agent of inflammatory cytokines including TNF-alpha. To our knowledge this is the first case of disseminated LCH successfully treated with thalidomide

Neoplastic circulating endothelial-like cells in patients with acute myeloid leukaemia.

Accumulating evidence suggests that angiogenesis may play a key role in the pathogenesis of leukaemic disorders. Several studies have shown that bone marrow-derived endothelial cells (EC) may contribute to tumour angiogenesis and that in the peripheral blood of cancer patients there is an increased amount of circulating ECs (CECs) that may participate to new vessel formation. In this report, we showed that, in seven acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) patients with known cytogenetic abnormalities, CEC levels were significantly increased in comparison with controls and that a significant proportion of these CECs carried the same chromosomal aberration as blast cells (20-78%, mean value 42.1% of CECs). Most of CECs (mean value 74.4%) displayed immunophenotypic features of endothelial progenitor cells as they expressed CD133, a marker gradually lost during EC differentiation and absent on mature EC. These findings suggest a possible direct contribution of AML-related CECs to tumour vasculogenesis and possibly to the spreading and progression of the disease

Mobilization of endothelial progenitor cells in patientes with haematological malignancies after treatment with filgrastim and chemotherapy for autologous transplantation

In recent years, endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), gave rise to increasing interest because of their possible use as a therapeutic tool in the treatment of vascular lesions in ischemic tissues or as a target for anti neoplastic therapy. It has been shown that several drugs can increase the number of EPCs into the peripheral blood (PB). However, there is insufficient data concerning the mobilization and collection of EPCs during CD34+ cell mobilization. In this study, we have evaluated EPC mobilization and collection in a series of 47 patients affected by lymphoid neoplasms [31 non Hodgkin lymphoma and 16 multiple myeloma] undergoing CD34+ cell mobilization with cyclophosphamide (4000 mg/m2) and Filgrastim (5 microg/kg). PB EPCs identified by flow cytometry as CD34+/VEGFR2+/CD133+ cells showed a peak on day +10. This peak paralleled that of PB CD34+/CD45+ cells. A direct correlation was observed between CD34+ and CD34+/VEGFR2+/CD133+ cells (r = 0.99 P < 0.0001). An average of 23.7 x 10e6 CD34+/VEGFR2+ CD133+ cells have been collected (range 12.1-41.76 x 10e6). These findings showed that in hematological diseases, cyclophosphamide in combination with filgrastim allows the mobilization and collection of large numbers of EPCs which may be used for reparative medicine studies in these patients

Archaeobotany and the Terramara Archaeological Park of Montale (Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy): Experiences of Public Education. IANSA, VIII (2), pp. 175-186.

The Terramara Archaeological Park of Montale is an open-air museum dedicated to the enhancement of the Bronze Age terramare culture of Northern Italy. Investigation of its rich archaeological record, particularly from the archaeobotanical point of view (seeds/fruits, pieces of wood and charcoal, pollen and charcoal particles), has made it possible to reconstruct the landscape’s evolution and human-plant- animal relationships. This paper aims to present a comprehensive and exhaustive overview of the relationship between archaeology and archaeobotany in order to improve the content and exposition of the Terramara Archaeological Park of Montale, thanks to the fruitful cooperation between the Laboratory of Palynology and Archaeobotany of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia and Civic Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology of Modena

Neoplastic circulating endothelial cells in multiple myeloma with 13q14 deletion.

In multiple myeloma (MM), circulating endothelial cells (CECs) represent a vascular marker of angiogenesis and may reflect tumor mass. In this report, we showed that, in 5 MM patients with 13q14 deletion, CECs carried the same chromosome aberration as the neoplastic plasma cells (11%-32% of CECs with 13q14 deletion). Most of the CECs displayed immunophenotypic features of endothelial progenitor cells as they expressed CD133, a marker gradually lost during endothelial differentiation and absent on mature endothelial cells. To the contrary, in 3 patients with monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance and 13q14 deletion, CECs were cytogenetically normal and had a mature immunophenotype. In MM CECs, immunoglobulin genes were clonally rearranged. These findings suggest a possible origin of CECs from a common hemangioblast precursor that can give rise to both plasma cells and endothelial cells and point to a direct contribution of MM-derived CECs to tumor vasculogenesis and possibly to the spreading and progression of the disease