Environmental impact of dusting from the Koper port bulk cargo terminal on the agricultural soils

Areas around seaports are prone to environmental damage. In the port of Koper, Slovenia hematite was transhipped during a strong wind. The broader area was accidentally covered with hematite dust. Since the soils had already been geochemically mapped, we repeated the sampling to compare the geochemical composition of the topsoil. No soil contamination was established. The enrichment factors show depletion of majority of elements. According to the distances from the dust source, SiO2, Na2O and Cr have decreasing, and Fe2O3 increasing trends. The SiO2 and Cr content correspond to the concentration of quartz rich sand, and the dissolution of carbonate closer to the sea. Co and Ni are probably bound to the clay minerals. Cu, Pb, and Zn could have some anthropogenic contribution

Provenance of the Early Bronze Age Greenstone Axes from Monkodonja

U članku su prikazana tri ulomka kamenih sjekira s gradine Monkodonja, za koje je obavljena petrografska analiza. Prikazani su načini analize i dobiveni rezultati o vrsti i porijeklu kamena. Sirovine za njihovu izradu - žad, serpentinit i metadijabaz - potječu iz različitih izvora. Ti su materijali najčešće u uporabi kroz mlađi neolitik i eneolitik, a na Monkodonji je njihovo korištenje datirano još barem kroz prvu polovicu 2. tisućljeća pr. n. e.This article covers three fragments of stone axes from the hillfort of Monkodonja, for which a petrographical analysis was performed. Shown here are the methods employed for this analysis and the obtained results regarding the types and origins of stone. The raw materials used for their manufacture, jade, serpentinite and meta-diabase, stem from different sources. Most often these materials were in use throughout the Late Neolithic and Eneolithic, and in the case of Monkodonja, their use was also dated at least through the first half of the 2nd millennium BC

Minerals of Pohorje marbles

In the Pohorje Mts, mostly outcrops of calcite marble can be found, which in places turn into dolomite marbles.The protolith carbonate rocks contained also detritical minerals, which remained unchanged or formed new mineralsduring metamorphosis. Minerals in the Pohorje marbles that can be seen as crystals with the naked eye or 10x magnifyingloupe and with binocular microscope were investigated. With the aid of Raman microspectroscopy, SEM-EDSanalysis and on the basis of morphological characteristics, the presence of 17 different minerals or group of mineralswas confirmed. The most numerous and also the most significant were, apart from calcite, tremolite, diopside, grossularand epidote. For the first time, vesuvianite and scapolite were described in the Pohorje Mts. Particularly rich, as faras crystal faces are concerned, were the crystals of quartz that contained needle-like amphiboles. Other minerals thatwell supplemented the mineral paragenesis were different minerals of mica and chlorite group, feldspars, magnetite,titanite, pyrite and graphite. The determined mineral association revealed the mineral diversity of Pohorje marbles,offering us a new challenge for the investigation of the characteristics and conditions during the origin of this noblerock, which was highly esteemed already by the Romans, while today it is regaining its value and recognisability

Notch alters VEGF responsiveness in human and murine endothelial cells by direct regulation of VEGFR-3 expression

The Notch family of cell surface receptors and its ligands are highly conserved proteins that regulate cell fate determination, including those involved in mammalian vascular development. We report that Notch induces VEGFR-3 expression in vitro in human endothelial cells and in vivo in mice. In vitro, Notch in complex with the DNA-binding protein CBF-1/suppressor of hairless/Lag1 (CSL) bound the VEGFR-3 promoter and transactivated VEGFR-3 specifically in endothelial cells. Through induction of VEGFR-3, Notch increased endothelial cell responsiveness to VEGF-C, promoting endothelial cell survival and morphological changes. In vivo, VEGFR-3 was upregulated in endothelial cells with active Notch signaling. Mice heterozygous for null alleles of both Notch1 and VEGFR-3 had significantly reduced viability and displayed midgestational vascular patterning defects analogous to Notch1 nullizygous embryos. We found that Notch1 and Notch4 were expressed in normal and tumor lymphatic endothelial cells and that Notch1 was activated in lymphatic endothelium of invasive mammary micropapillary carcinomas. These results demonstrate that Notch1 and VEGFR-3 interact genetically, that Notch directly induces VEGFR-3 in blood endothelial cells to regulate vascular development, and that Notch may function in tumor lymphangiogenesis