Proposal of a Data Collection Form to Record Dento-Alveolar Features –Application to Two Roman Skeletal Samples from Italy

Bones and teeth are an important source of information about the lifestyle, health status and dietary habits of past populations. Modifications and lesions of the periodontal tissues also provide information about the health status and behavior of an individual or of an ancient population. In this paper a method to record some dento-alveolar features of both deciduous and permanent teeth is described. The forms that we propose make it easy to record the data in a Microsoft® Excel sheet. The form for adults has been applied to two Roman Imperial age skeletal samples from northern Italy – Casalecchio di Reno (II–V c. AD, Bologna) and Emilia Romagna, and central Italy – Quadrella (I–IV c. AD, Isernia, Molise)

Musculoskeletal Stress and Adult Age Markers in the Krapina Hominid Collection: the Study of Femora 213 Fe.1 and 214 Fe.2.

The purpose of this study was to examine morphological markers of activity and age on femora 213 Fe.1 and 214 Fe.2 of the Krapina hominid collection. This study is part of a large research on the Krapina collection aimed at studying morphological markers of activity (entheses, enthesopathies, articular modifications) and age, as well as dento-alveolar alterations and pathologies. For this purpose, we apply scoring methods that we have devised and standardized on modern Italian skeletal collections with known age, sex, activity during life, cause of death, etc.. This approach has been used to study other human skeletal series and it allows us to obtain homogeneous data that can be more easily compared and interpreted. On the basis of our recent investigations of Upper Palaeolithic skeletal remains of Taforalt (Morocco, 12000–11000), we also intend to re-examine the cutmarks on bones of the Krapina hominid collection to provide further knowledge about possible funerary practices of these Neandertalians. The study of markers of activity and age on femora 213 Fe.1 and 214 Fe.2 revealed strong robusticity and a postero-lateral position of the m. gluteus maximus enthesis, indicating morphological and size differences with respect to modern humans. The strong mechanical stress on the lateral parts of the proximal end of the femur seems to be confirmed by the partial dislocation of the hip joint suggested by the articular features observed on two coxal bones. Finally, we used our results to re-assess the attribution of age to the individuals represented by these two specimens

CSF levels of Chitinase3like1 correlate with early response to cladribine in multiple sclerosis

Background: Cladribine has been introduced as a high-efficacy drug for treating relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). Initial cohort studies showed early disease activity in the first year after drug initiation. Biomarkers that can predict early disease activity are needed. Aim: To estimate cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) markers of clinical and radiological responses after initiation of cladribine. Methods: Forty-two RRMS patients (30F/12M) treated with cladribine were included in a longitudinal prospective study. All patients underwent a CSF examination at treatment initiation, clinical follow-up including Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) assessment, and a 3T MRI scan after 6,12 and 24 months, including the evaluation of white matter (WM) and cortical lesions (CLs). CSF levels of 67 inflammatory markers were assessed with immune-assay multiplex techniques. The 'no evidence of disease activity' (NEDA-3) status was assessed after two years and defined by no relapses, no disability worsening measured by EDSS and no MRI activity, including CLs. Results: Three patients were lost at follow-up. At the end of follow-up, 19 (48%) patients remained free from disease activity. IFNgamma, Chitinase3like1, IL32, Osteopontin, IL12(p40), IL34, IL28A, sTNFR2, IL20 and CCL2 showed the best association with disease activity. When added in a multivariate regression model including age, sex, and baseline EDSS, Chitinase 3 like1 (p = 0.049) significantly increased in those patients with disease activity. Finally, ROC analysis with Chitinase3like1 added to a model with EDSS, sex, age previous relapses, WM lesion number, CLs, number of Gad enhancing lesions and spinal cord lesions provided an AUC of 0.76 (95%CI 0.60-0.91). Conclusions: CSF Chitinase 3 like1 might provide prognostic information for predicting disease activity in the first years after initiation of cladribine. The drug's effect on chronic macrophage and microglia activation deserves further evaluation

Use of Measurable Residual Disease to Evolve Transplant Policy in Acute Myeloid Leukemia: A 20-Year Monocentric Observation

Measurable residual disease (MRD) is increasingly employed as a biomarker of quality of complete remission (CR) in intensively treated acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients. We evaluated if a MRD-driven transplant policy improved outcome as compared to a policy solely relying on a familiar donor availability. High-risk patients (adverse karyotype, FLT3-ITD) received allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (alloHCT) whereas for intermediate and low risk ones (CBF-AML and NPM1-mutated), alloHCT or autologous SCT was delivered depending on the post-consolidation measurable residual disease (MRD) status, as assessed by flow cytometry. For comparison, we analyzed a matched historical cohort of patients in whom alloHCT was delivered based on the sole availability of a matched sibling donor. Ten-years overall and disease-free survival were longer in the MRD-driven cohort as compared to the historical cohort (47.7% vs. 28.7%, p = 0.012 and 42.0% vs. 19.5%, p = 0.0003). The favorable impact of this MRD-driven strategy was evident for the intermediate-risk category, particularly for MRD positive patients. In the low-risk category, the significantly lower CIR of the MRD-driven cohort did not translate into a survival advantage. In conclusion, a MRD-driven transplant allocation may play a better role than the one based on the simple donor availability. This approach determines a superior outcome of intermediate-risk patients whereat in low-risk ones a careful evaluation is needed for transplant allocation

Discutindo a educação ambiental no cotidiano escolar: desenvolvimento de projetos na escola formação inicial e continuada de professores

A presente pesquisa buscou discutir como a Educação Ambiental (EA) vem sendo trabalhada, no Ensino Fundamental e como os docentes desta escola compreendem e vem inserindo a EA no cotidiano escolar., em uma escola estadual do município de Tangará da Serra/MT, Brasil. Para tanto, realizou-se entrevistas com os professores que fazem parte de um projeto interdisciplinar de EA na escola pesquisada. Verificou-se que o projeto da escola não vem conseguindo alcançar os objetivos propostos por: desconhecimento do mesmo, pelos professores; formação deficiente dos professores, não entendimento da EA como processo de ensino-aprendizagem, falta de recursos didáticos, planejamento inadequado das atividades. A partir dessa constatação, procurou-se debater a impossibilidade de tratar do tema fora do trabalho interdisciplinar, bem como, e principalmente, a importância de um estudo mais aprofundado de EA, vinculando teoria e prática, tanto na formação docente, como em projetos escolares, a fim de fugir do tradicional vínculo “EA e ecologia, lixo e horta”.Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educació

Phosphoproteomics of early oligogalacturonides signaling in Arabidopsis

During the infection of a plant tissue by phytopathogenic fungi, homogalacturonan, the main component of pectin, is broken down into fragments called oligogalacturonides (OGs) by the action of fungal polygalacturonases. The interaction between polygalacturonases and their inhibitors (polygalacturonase-inhibiting proteins: PGIPs) in the plant cell wall favours the formation of OGs with degree of polymerization from 10 to 15 that function as signals for the activation of the plant innate immune response. Although the effects of OGs in plant defence are well recognised, the perception/transduction mechanisms of these elicitors are still not completely described. By a 2D-DIGE approach coupled with the quantitative phospho-specific stain ProQ Diamond we studied the early events of phosphorylation in Arabidopsis thaliana in response to OGs. Soluble proteins and prefractionated total membranes were analyzed and the differential phosphorylated proteins were identified by MALDI-ToF mass spectrometry. Phosphorylation changes were detected in several oxidative stress-related proteins that included heat shock proteins, jasmonate-inducible jacalin proteins and H+-ATPases, among which the vacuolar-H+ATPase encoded by DET3 gene. Phosphorilation changes were also detected in plasma membrane proteins like AtPcaP1, a plasma membrane-bounded protein involved in the cross-talk between Ca+2 signaling and PtdInsPs in the intracellular signaling pathway

Tooth fractures in the Krapina Neandertals

Dental fractures can be produced during life or post-mortem. Ante-mortem chipping may be indicative of different uses of the dentition in masticatory and non-masticatory activities related to variable diets and behaviors. The Krapina collection (Croatia, 130,000 years BP), thanks to the large number of teeth (293 teeth and tooth fragments) within it, offers an excellent sample to investigate dental fractures systematically. Recorded were the distribution, position and severity of the ante-mortem fractures according to standardized methods. High frequencies of teeth with chipping in both Krapina adults and subadults suggest that the permanent and deciduous dentition were heavily subjected to mechanical stress. This is particularly evident when the frequencies of chipping are compared with those in modern humans (Upper Paleolithic and historic samples) that we analysed using the same methods. The distribution of chipping in the Krapina sample (anterior teeth are more affected) and its position (labial) suggest a systematic use of the anterior teeth for non-masticatory tasks