A METHOD OF MEASURING THE DEGREE OF ORGANIC MATTER DEGRADABILITY

A method has been proposed to determine the degree of degradability of any organic material based on the kinetics of its hydrolysis in H2SO4 of the concentration 11.5 mol.l-1 at a temperature of 108 °C. The result and the measure of degradability degree are the rate constant of hydrolytic reaction and the carbon percentage of unhydrolyzable residue in total carbon of the sample

Prolongation of Vector Fields to Jet Bundles

This paper is in final form and no version of it will be submitted for publication elsewhere. 2 (G 1 ; G 2 ) with domain D if for every f 2 FM m;n (Y;

The effects of natural ligands of hormone receptors and their antagonists on telomerase activity in the androgen sensitive prostatic cancer cell line LNCaP

The effects of the 17beta-estradiol, dihydrotestosterone and hormone antagonists tamoxifen and bicalutamide on telomerase activity and expression of cell cycle related proteins in the androgen-sensitive prostatic cancer cell line LNCaP were studied. The cell line was grown in RPMI supplemented with 2.5% charcoal-stripped FBS for 72 hr. The IC(50) of tamoxifen and bicalutamide and the optimal stimulatory concentrations of 17beta-estradiol and dihydrotestosterone were determined by means of the cell-viability assay, the activity of telomerase was measured by the telomere repeat amplification protocol (TRAP) and the expression of proteins was analysed by the Western blot technique. 17beta-estradiol stimulated cell growth more effectively than dihydrotestosterone whereas hormone antagonists tamoxifen and bicalutamide caused a significant decrease in cell viability. The treatment of cells by a combination of low doses of 17 beta-estradiol and dihydrotestosterone stimulated cells stronger than treatment by a single hormone. Only 17beta-estradiol, in concentration of 10nM, increased strongly the expression of p21(Waf1/Cip1) and increased slightly telomerase activity in the LNCaP cells. 50 microM of bicalutamide down-regulated the levels of the androgen receptor, the proliferating cell nuclear antigen and telomerase activity, and up-regulated the expression of p27(Kip1). We hereby describe the first observation of the influence of bicalutamide on telomerase activity and a positive correlation between the effect of 17beta-estradiol and the induction of both the endogenous cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, p21(Waf1/Cip1), and telomerase activity in a prostatic cancer cell line LNCaP. These findings can shed a new light on the steroid-signaling pathway in prostate cancer cells

Mapping past human land use using archaeological data: A new classification for global land use synthesis and data harmonization

In the 12,000 years preceding the Industrial Revolution, human activities led to significant changes in land cover, plant and animal distributions, surface hydrology, and biochemical cycles. Earth system models suggest that this anthropogenic land cover change influenced regional and global climate. However, the representation of past land use in earth system models is currently oversimplified. As a result, there are large uncertainties in the current understanding of the past and current state of the earth system. In order to improve representation of the variety and scale of impacts that past land use had on the earth system, a global effort is underway to aggregate and synthesize archaeological and historical evidence of land use systems. Here we present a simple, hierarchical classification of land use systems designed to be used with archaeological and historical data at a global scale and a schema of codes that identify land use practices common to a range of systems, both implemented in a geospatial database. The classification scheme and database resulted from an extensive process of consultation with researchers worldwide. Our scheme is designed to deliver consistent, empirically robust data for the improvement of land use models, while simultaneously allowing for a comparative, detailed mapping of land use relevant to the needs of historical scholars. To illustrate the benefits of the classification scheme and methods for mapping historical land use, we apply it to Mesopotamia and Arabia at 6 kya (c. 4000 BCE). The scheme will be used to describe land use by the Past Global Changes (PAGES) LandCover6k working group, an international project comprised of archaeologists, historians, geographers, paleoecologists, and modelers. Beyond this, the scheme has a wide utility for creating a common language between research and policy communities, linking archaeologists with climate modelers, biodiversity conservation workers and initiatives