15 research outputs found
Digital reconstruction of the Ceprano calvarium (Italy), and implications for its interpretation
The Ceprano calvarium was discovered in fragments on March 1994 near the town of Ceprano in southern Latium (Italy), embedded in Middle Pleistocene layers. After reconstruction, its morphological
features suggests that the specimen belongs to an archaic variant of H. heidelbergensis, representing a proxy for the last common ancestor of the diverging clades that respectively led to H. neanderthalensis and H. sapiens. Unfortunately, the calvarium was taphonomically damaged. The postero-lateral vault, in particular, appears deformed and this postmortem damage may have infuenced previous interpretations. Specifcally, there is a depression on the fragmented left parietal, while the right cranial wall is warped and angulated. This deformation afected the shape of the occipital squama, producing an inclination of the transverse occipital torus. In this paper, after X-ray microtomography (μCT) of both the calvarium and several additional fragments, we analyze consistency and pattern of the taphonomic deformation that afected the specimen, before the computer-assisted retrodeformation has been performed; this has also provided the opportunity to reappraise early attempts at restoration. As a result, we ofer a revised interpretation for the Ceprano calvarium’s original shape, now free from the previous uncertainties, along with insight for its complex depositional and taphonomic history
Insect-corn kernel interaction: Chemical signaling of the grain and host recognition by Sitophilus zeamais (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)
In living organisms, the cuticle has structural functions and is involved through chemical signaling in biological interactions such as plant-insect and provides protection against biotic and abiotic factors, thereby avoiding desiccation or predators'attack. The objective of this study was to investigate the participation of the epicuticle in the interaction of the maize kernel and the maize weevil Sitophilus zeamais. For this study the extraction ofepicuticle was carried on and the extract was analyzed by GC-MS. Digital photographs ofcross sections of grains with and without epicuticle were taken, and behavior bioassayswere carried out with both grains with and without epicuticle and epicuticle extracts. TheGC-MS analysis of the epicuticle extract demonstrated the presence of aliphatichydrocarbons, alcohols, ethers, fatty acids, sterols and their derivatives. The results ofpreference bioassays showed that the epicuticle of maize has a primordial role in itsinteraction with S. zeamais participating in the recognition and attraction to the foodsource. According to these results, in the assay of kernels' susceptibility to insect attack,kernels without epicuticle were significatively less damage than kernels with epicuticle. In progeny assays, the exposition of S. zeamais adults to kernels without epicuticle caused a reduction in progeny, indicating that it could regulate the reproduction of S. zeamais. In addition, the compounds present in the epicuticle extract may act assignalling molecules and developmental regulators. This study reveals the effect of the maize kernel epicuticle on Sitophilus behavior and contributes to the understanding of their interaction.Fil: Usseglio, Virginia Lara. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Ciencias y Tecnología de los Alimentos; ArgentinaFil: Zaio, Yésica Paola. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Ciencias y Tecnología de los Alimentos; ArgentinaFil: Dambolena, José Sebastián. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Ciencias y Tecnología de los Alimentos; ArgentinaFil: Merlo, Carolina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Recursos Naturales. Cátedra de Microbiología Agrícola; ArgentinaFil: Peschiutta, María Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales; ArgentinaFil: Zunino, María Paula. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales; Argentina5th Congress of the Latin American Association of Chemical EcologyValparaisoChileAsociación Latino Americana de Ecología Químic
A migration-driven model for the historical spread of leprosy in medieval Eastern and Central Europe
The First Probable Case of Leprosy in Southeast Italy (13th-14th Centuries AD, Montecorvino, Puglia)
In 2008, during an archaeological excavation on the medieval site of Montecorvino (Foggia, Puglia, Italy), ten individuals were found buried near the principal church. The tombs were dated to the 13th-14th centuries AD, except for one attributable to the 11th century AD. The individual from tomb MCV2 shows some bone changes in the rhinomaxillary area. The most probable diagnosis is that she suffered from a type of near-multibacillary leprosy. Although leprosy has been documented in Italy from the first millennium BC and well described in the first millennium AD, its presence seems to be confined to Northern and Central Italy. This is the first case of leprosy in southeastern Italy and the second in Southern Italy overall. At the moment, the interesting datum is that leprosy seems to appear in Southern Italy only after the first millennium AD. All this could be because of the First Crusade with the opening of new trade and pilgrimage routes to the Near East or simply because other cases of leprosy have still not been found in osteoarchaeological context
Preliminary study on Sharpey's fibers in a dental hominin sample from the Middle Pleistocene
Digital reconstruction of the Ceprano calvarium (Italy), and implications for its interpretation
The Ceprano calvarium was discovered in fragments on March 1994 near the town of Ceprano in southern Latium (Italy), embedded in Middle Pleistocene layers. After reconstruction, its morphological features suggests that the specimen belongs to an archaic variant of H. heidelbergensis, representing a proxy for the last common ancestor of the diverging clades that respectively led to H. neanderthalensis and H. sapiens. Unfortunately, the calvarium was taphonomically damaged. The postero-lateral vault, in particular, appears deformed and this postmortem damage may have influenced previous interpretations. Specifically, there is a depression on the fragmented left parietal, while the right cranial wall is warped and angulated. This deformation affected the shape of the occipital squama, producing an inclination of the transverse occipital torus. In this paper, after X-ray microtomography (μCT) of both the calvarium and several additional fragments, we analyze consistency and pattern of the taphonomic deformation that affected the specimen, before the computer-assisted retrodeformation has been performed; this has also provided the opportunity to reappraise early attempts at restoration. As a result, we offer a revised interpretation for the Ceprano calvarium\u27s original shape, now free from the previous uncertainties, along with insight for its complex depositional and taphonomic history
Cinnamaldehyde and related phenylpropanoids, natural repellents, and insecticides against Sitophilus zeamais (Motsch.). A chemical structure-bioactivity relationship
Insecticidal activity and repellent effects on adults of Sitophiluszeamais of 12 cinnamaldehyde-related compounds was evaluated by contacttoxicity bioassays and a two-choice olfactometer, respectively. To determinenon-toxicity in mammals, additionally, body weight, serum biochemical profiles,liver weight, physiological parameters, sperm motility and histopathological data were obtained as complementary information in C57BL/6 mice, treated with the best natural compound. RESULTS: Based on 24h LC95 and LC50 values, alpha-methyl-cinnamaldehydeand cinnamaldehyde, respectively, exhibited better insecticidal activity than the other compounds. The best repellent effect was observed with alpha-bromocinnamaldehyde, which even repelled at the lowest concentration studied (0.28µM). The evaluation of a quantitative structure-activity relationship showed a linear relationship between the LC50 values for adult weevil toxicity and dipolo with Q (difference between orbital electronegativity carbon 1 and orbital electronegativity carbon 3 of the molecule) values in cinnamaldehyde-related compounds. In addition, the polar surface and Log P descriptors also revealed a linear relationship with the S. zeamais repellent effect for cinnamaldehyde analogues. Besides, cinnamaldehyde did not show toxicity in the parameters evaluated in mice.CONCLUSION: From the phenylpropanoid components studied, the naturalcompound which had the best insecticidal and repellent activity against S.zeamais was cinnamaldehyde and presented no mammalian toxicity.Fil: Zaio, Yésica Paola. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Ciencias y Tecnología de los Alimentos; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Gatti, Gerardo Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología; Argentina. Fundación Para Progreso Medicina-hospital Privado; ArgentinaFil: Ponce, Andrés Alberto. Fundación Para El Progreso de la Medicina; ArgentinaFil: Saavedra Larralde, Natalia. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Medicina. Departamento de Fisiología Humana y Física Biomedica; ArgentinaFil: Martinez, María J.. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Medicina; ArgentinaFil: Zunino, María Paula. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Zygadlo, Julio Alberto. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Ciencias y Tecnología de los Alimentos; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; Argentin
A genomic and historical synthesis of plague in 18th century Eurasia
Plague continued to afflict Europe for more than five centuries after the Black Death. Yet, by the 17th century, the dynamics of plague had changed, leading to its slow decline in Western Europe over the subsequent 200 y, a period for which only one genome was previously available. Using a multidisciplinary approach, combining genomic and historical data, we assembled Y. pestis genomes from nine individuals covering four Eurasian sites and placed them into an historical context within the established phylogeny. CHE1 (Chechnya, Russia, 18th century) is now the latest Second Plague Pandemic genome and the first non-European sample in the post-Black Death lineage. Its placement in the phylogeny and our synthesis point toward the existence of an extra-European reservoir feeding plague into Western Europe in multiple waves. By considering socioeconomic, ecological, and climatic factors we highlight the importance of a noneurocentric approach for the discussion on Second Plague Pandemic dynamics in Europe
Palaeodiet in Central and Southern Italy from Upper Paleolithic to Eneolithic
The paper presents preliminary datas from EPIC project which aims are claryfing the genetic modification, nutrition and mobility of Central and Southern Italy inhabitants from the Upper Paleolithic to Eneolithic. Analytic methodology and first data are presented