Neolithic and Bronze Age archery equipment from alpine ice-patches: A review on components, construction techniques and functionality

The alpine ice-patch sites of Tisenjoch (I), Schnidejoch and Loetschenpass (CH) brought to light the most complete archery equipments known from the European Prehistory. Bows were simple self bows made from yew (Taxus baccata) or elm wood (Ulmus sp.) of different types, but always of man-tall size. The manufacturing process can be described from several finds of unfinished bow blanks, as in the case of the Tisenjoch. Neolithic arrows were made from shoots of hazel (Corylus avellana), guelder rose (Viburnum sp.) or other hardwoods. They were straightened by heat and generally longer and thicker as modern sporting arrows for increased weight and penetration power. Their fletching of three split feathers was practically the same as it is still used today. Bowstrings are extremely rare in European archaeological sites, only two assured samples are known to date, coming from the Tisenjoch and the Schnidejoch ice-patches. They were made from animal sinew fibres which will not be preserved in non-frozen sites. Although there almost certainly was a need for a protective cover of the bow against bad weather, there is only one example of a Neolithic bow case known to date. The cover, made from water resistant birch bark and a little longer as the bow which was carried inside, was found on Schnidejoch. It incorporates a carrying system of leather straps which enabled the user to wear it over the shoulder, keeping the hands free for other tasks. It is supposed that other bow cases which very probably existed in the neolithic, were made from animal hide or leather which would not survive in waterlogged sites. That there were protective carrying devices for archery gear is testified by the leather arrow quiver found on Tisenjoch and by numerous ethnographic and historic examples

The presence of infection-related antiphospholipid antibodies in infective endocarditis determines a major risk factor for embolic events

AbstractOBJECTIVESThe impact of infection-associated antiphospholipid antibodies (APA) on endothelial cell activation, blood coagulation and fibrinolysis was evaluated in patients with infective endocarditis with and without major embolic events.BACKGROUNDAn embolic event is a common and severe complication of infective endocarditis. Despite the fact that APAs are known to be associated with infectious diseases, their pathogenic role in infective endocarditis has not been clearly defined.METHODSThe relationship among the occurrence of major embolic events, echocardiographic vegetation size, endothelial cell activation, thrombin generation, fibrinolysis and APA was examined in 91 patients with definite infective endocarditis, including 26 patients with embolic events and 65 control subjects without embolic events.RESULTSOverall, 14.3% of patients exhibited elevated APA levels. Embolic events occurred more frequently in patients with elevated levels of APA than in patients without (61.5% vs. 23.1%; p = 0.008). Patients with elevated levels of APA showed higher levels of prothrombin-fragment F1+2 (p = 0.005), plasminogen-activator inhibitor 1 (p = 0.0002), von Willebrand factor (p = 0.002) and lower levels of activated protein C (p = 0.001) than patients with normal levels of APA. Thrombin generation and endothelial cell activation were both positively correlated with levels of APA. The occurrence of elevated APA levels was frequently associated with structural valve abnormalities (p = 0.01) and vegetations >1.3 cm (p = 0.002).CONCLUSIONSInfection-associated elevated APA levels in patients with infective endocarditis are related to endothelial cell activation, thrombin generation and impairment of fibrinolysis. This may contribute to the increased risk for major embolic events in these patients

CO adsorption on Cu(111) and Cu(001) surfaces: improving site preference in DFT calculations

CO adsorption on Cu(111) and Cu(001) surfaces has been studied within ab-initio density functional theory (DFT). The structural, vibrational and thermodynamic properties of the adsorbate-substrate complex have been calculated. Calculations within the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) predict adsorption in the threefold hollow on Cu(111) and in the bridge-site on Cu(001), instead of on-top as found experimentally. It is demonstrated that the correct site preference is achieved if the underestimation of the HOMO-LUMO gap of CO characteristic for DFT is correct by applying a molecular DFT+U approach. The DFT+U approach also produces good agreement with the experimentally measured adsorption energies, while introducing only small changes in the calculated geometrical and vibrational properties further improving agreement with experiment which is fair already at the GGA level.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Surf. Sci., WWW: http://cms.mpi.univie.ac.at/mgajdos

Synthesis and Properties of Vinylogous 6-(Cyclopentadienyl)pentafulvenes

The application of the principle of kinetic stabilization on vinylogous 6-(cyclopentadienyl)pentafulvenes 1 led to the synthesis of the di- and tetra-tert-butyl derivatives 7a – e and 8a - c. Their reactions with bases and acids form charged, heteroatom-free cyanine-type carbanionic 9a - e, 10a – e and carbocationic 11a – e, 12a – c species which were characterized with NMR and UV/Vis spectroscopy. Conclusions on the ion pair structures of the alkali metal salts 9a - e and 10a – c are drawn from the spectroscopic data. Additionally, in one case the behavior of the alkali metal salt 10b towards oxidants was studied by cyclic voltammetry and the structure of the corresponding hydrocarbon 8b was proved by X-ray structural analysis

Ancient genomes reveal social and genetic structure of Late Neolithic Switzerland

Genetic studies of Neolithic and Bronze Age skeletons from Europe have provided evidence for strong population genetic changes at the beginning and the end of the Neolithic period. To further understand the implications of these in Southern Central Europe, we analyze 96 ancient genomes from Switzerland, Southern Germany, and the Alsace region in France, covering the Middle/Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age. Similar to previously described genetic changes in other parts of Europe from the early 3rd millennium BCE, we detect an arrival of ancestry related to Late Neolithic pastoralists from the Pontic-Caspian steppe in Switzerland as early as 2860-2460 calBCE. Our analyses suggest that this genetic turnover was a complex process lasting almost 1000 years and involved highly genetically structured populations in this region

Systematic RNA-interference in primary human monocyte-derived macrophages: A high-throughput platform to study foam cell formation

Macrophage-derived foam cells are key regulators of atherogenesis. They accumulate in atherosclerotic plaques and support inflammatory processes by producing cytokines and chemokines. Identifying factors that regulate macrophage lipid uptake may reveal therapeutic targets for coronary artery disease (CAD). Here, we establish a high-throughput screening workflow to systematically identify genes that impact the uptake of DiI-labeled low-density lipoprotein (LDL) into monocyte-derived primary human macrophages. For this, monocytes isolated from peripheral blood were seeded onto 384-well plates, solid-phase transfected with siRNAs, differentiated in vitro into macrophages, and LDL-uptake per cell was measured by automated microscopy and quantitative image analysis. We applied this workflow to study how silencing of 89 genes impacts LDL-uptake into cells from 16 patients with CAD and 16 age-matched controls. Silencing of four novel genes (APOC1, CMTM6, FABP4, WBP5) reduced macrophage LDL-uptake. Additionally, knockdown of the chemokine receptor CXCR4 reduced LDL-uptake, most likely through a G-protein coupled mechanism that involves the CXCR4 ligand macrophage-induced factor (MIF), but is independent of CXCL12. We introduce a high-throughput strategy to systematically study gene function directly in primary CAD-patient cells. Our results propose a function for the MIF/CXCR4 signaling pathway, as well as several novel candidate genes impacting lipid uptake into human macrophages

A multifunctional bioconjugate module for versatile photoaffinity labeling and click chemistry of RNA

A multifunctional reagent based on a coumarin scaffold was developed for derivatization of naive RNA. The alkylating agent N3BC [7-azido-4-(bromomethyl)coumarin], obtained by Pechmann condensation, is selective for uridine. N3BC and its RNA conjugates are pre-fluorophores which permits controlled modular and stepwise RNA derivatization. The success of RNA alkylation by N3BC can be monitored by photolysis of the azido moiety, which generates a coumarin fluorophore that can be excited with UV light of 320 nm. The azidocoumarin-modified RNA can be flexibly employed in structure-function studies. Versatile applications include direct use in photo-crosslinking studies to cognate proteins, as demonstrated with tRNA and RNA fragments from the MS2 phage and the HIV genome. Alternatively, the azide function can be used for further derivatization by click-chemistry. This allows e.g. the introduction of an additional fluorophore for excitation with visible light