Fortified Settlements of the 9th and 10th Centuries ad in Central Europe: structure, function and symbolism

Open access article. © Society for Medieval Archaeology 2012.The structure, function(s)and symbolism of early medieval (9th-10th centuries ad) fortified settlements from central Europe, in particular today's Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia, are examined in this paper. It offers an overview of the current state of research together with new insights based on analysis of the site of Gars-Thunau in Lower Austria. Special emphasis is given to the position of the fortified sites in the landscape, to the elements of the built environment and their spatial organisation, as well as to graves within the fortified area. The region under study was situated on the SE border of the Carolingian (and later the Ottonian) Empire, with some of the discussed sites lying in the territory of the 'Great Moravian Empire' in the 9th and 10th centuries. These sites can therefore provide important comparative data for researchers working in other parts of the Carolingian Empire and neighbouring regions.Alexander von Humboldt FoundationAustrian Science Fun

Neural Synchrony during Response Production and Inhibition

Inhibition of irrelevant information (conflict monitoring) and/or of prepotent actions is an essential component of adaptive self-organized behavior. Neural dynamics underlying these functions has been studied in humans using event-related brain potentials (ERPs) elicited in Go/NoGo tasks that require a speeded motor response to the Go stimuli and withholding a prepotent response when a NoGo stimulus is presented. However, averaged ERP waveforms provide only limited information about the neuronal mechanisms underlying stimulus processing, motor preparation, and response production or inhibition. In this study, we examine the cortical representation of conflict monitoring and response inhibition using time-frequency analysis of electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings during continuous performance Go/NoGo task in 50 young adult females. We hypothesized that response inhibition would be associated with a transient boost in both temporal and spatial synchronization of prefrontal cortical activity, consistent with the role of the anterior cingulate and lateral prefrontal cortices in cognitive control. Overall, phase synchronization across trials measured by Phase Locking Index and phase synchronization between electrode sites measured by Phase Coherence were the highest in the Go and NoGo conditions, intermediate in the Warning condition, and the lowest under Neutral condition. The NoGo condition was characterized by significantly higher fronto-central synchronization in the 300–600 ms window, whereas in the Go condition, delta- and theta-band synchronization was higher in centro-parietal regions in the first 300 ms after the stimulus onset. The present findings suggest that response production and inhibition is supported by dynamic functional networks characterized by distinct patterns of temporal and spatial synchronization of brain oscillations

Response characteristics in the apex of the gerbil cochlea studied through auditory nerve recordings

In this study, we analyze the processing of low-frequency sounds in the cochlear apex through responses of auditory nerve fibers (ANFs) that innervate the apex. Single tones and irregularly spaced tone complexes were used to evoke ANF responses in Mongolian gerbil. The spike arrival times were analyzed in terms of phase locking, peripheral frequency selectivity, group delays, and the nonlinear effects of sound pressure level (SPL). Phase locking to single tones was similar to that in cat. Vector strength was maximal for stimulus frequencies around 500 Hz, decreased above 1 kHz, and became insignificant above 4 to 5 kHz. We used the responses to tone complexes to determine amplitude and phase curves of ANFs having a characteristic frequency (CF) below 5 kHz. With increasing CF, amplitude curves gradually changed from broadly tuned and asymmetric with a steep low-frequency flank to more sharply tuned and asymmetric with a steep high-frequency flank. Over the same CF range, phase curves gradually changed from a concave-upward shape to a concave-downward shape. Phase curves consisted of two or three approximately straight segments. Group delay was analyzed separately for these segments. Generally, the largest group delay was observed near CF. With increasing SPL, most amplitude curves broadened, sometimes accompanied by a downward shift of best frequency, and group delay changed along the entire range of stimulus frequencies. We observed considerable across-ANF variation in the effects of SPL on both amplitude and phase. Overall, our data suggest that mechanical responses in the apex of the cochlea are considerably nonlinear and that these nonlinearities are of a different character than those known from the base of the cochlea

Soil vs. glass: an integrated approach towards the characterization of soil as a burial environment for the glassware of Cucagna Castle (Friuli, Italy)

This research is performed on a selection of archaeological glass finds with corresponding soil samples, excavated on the site of the High Medieval castle Cucagna in Friuli/Northern Italy. In the frame of understanding medieval glass technology and the chemical-physical conditions that influenced the state of preservation of the glass finds, this study uses a multi-analytical line-up of methods to characterize the composition of the glass and basic parameters of the soil including texture, mineralogical composition, pH, redox potential (Eh) and electric conductivity (EC). The results show that glass corrosion in soil not only depends on acidity, alkalinity or glass composition but also on the texture of the soil, measurable as grain-size distribution, and the mineralogical composition. The compositional groups of the glassware from Cucagna indicate the use of various raw material sources, pointing to Northern and Central Italian glass workshops with primary or secondary glass production.[GRAPHICS].FdA – Publicaties zonder aanstelling Universiteit Leide

Age-Related Changes of Myelin Basic Protein in Mouse and Human Auditory Nerve

Age-related hearing loss (presbyacusis) is the most common type of hearing impairment. One of the most consistent pathological changes seen in presbyacusis is the loss of spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs). Defining the cellular and molecular basis of SGN degeneration in the human inner ear is critical to gaining a better understanding of the pathophysiology of presbyacusis. However, information on age-related cellular and molecular alterations in the human spiral ganglion remains scant, owing to the very limited availably of human specimens suitable for high resolution morphological and molecular analysis. This study aimed at defining age-related alterations in the auditory nerve in human temporal bones and determining if immunostaining for myelin basic protein (MBP) can be used as an alternative approach to electron microscopy for evaluating myelin degeneration. For comparative purposes, we evaluated ultrastructural alternations and changes in MBP immunostaining in aging CBA/CaJ mice. We then examined 13 temporal bones from 10 human donors, including 4 adults aged 38–46 years (middle-aged group) and 6 adults aged 63–91 years (older group). Similar to the mouse, intense immunostaining of MBP was present throughout the auditory nerve of the middle-aged human donors. Significant declines in MBP immunoreactivity and losses of MBP+ auditory nerve fibers were observed in the spiral ganglia of both the older human and aged mouse ears. This study demonstrates that immunostaining for MBP in combination with confocal microscopy provides a sensitive, reliable, and efficient method for assessing alterations of myelin sheaths in the auditory nerve. The results also suggest that myelin degeneration may play a critical role in the SGN loss and the subsequent decline of the auditory nerve function in presbyacusis