Optical dating and sedimentary record from the terrace depositional profile of the Warta River (Central Poland)

Results of OSL dating and sedimentary studies from the profile of the low alluvial terrace of the middle Warta River are presented. The samples were dated using the single-aliquot regenera-tive method. Dating was used to establish a timing of the Weichselian Late Glacial events in the river valley environment. Stable conditions on the floodplain are expressed by the deposition of organic-rich series radiocarbon dated at 12 900–12 600 cal BP and 11 600–10 770 cal BP. Samples for OSL dating were collected from the mineral material deposited during the intensification of flood events during the Weichselian decline. The results obtained for the alluvia range from 12.78 ± 0.62 ka b2k to 14.33 ± 0.74 ka b2k. Sedimentological criteria allowed to distinguish between particular flood events. Overestimation of OSL ages is probably a result of rapidity of environmental changes in that time.Grant from the National Science Centre, No N N306 788240 “Pal-aeogeographical conditions of existence and destruction of the Late Weichselian forest in the Warta River Valley (the Koło Basin)”

Łódź region and its northern vicinity under Vistulian Glaciation conditions

An overview of palaeogeographical findings of the last glacial period (MIS 5d–MIS 2) has been given for the Łódź region. Processes which influenced the area outside of ice-sheet margin are presented with respect to space and time, as predominantly driven by different types of periglacial environment. Attention was paid to leading accumulative and erosional processes and resulting landforms, still well-pronounced in the landscape. Recently, the picture of the area discussed, during the Vistulian was completed and identified was the mechanism of the LGM ice-sheet advance onto the Płock lobe. Borderline location of the Łódź region offers comprehensive research on the time and processes and determines its significance on the geomorphological map of Poland

Glacial-Interglacial Cycles In Central Poland As Reflected In The Łódź University Geomorphological Scientific Achievements

Published in: Origin of Relief of Central Poland and Its Anthropogenic Transformation in Łódź University Geographical Research, edited by. E.Kobojek, T.MarszałResults of a few decades of investigations on relief evolution of Central Poland in successive morphogenetic cycles were summed up in the monograph by K. Turkowska (2006) and visualised in the Geomorphological map of the Łódź region at a scale of 1:226 000 published in 2012. Recently, the aforementioned problems were widely discussed during the conference “Czynniki różnicowania rzeźby Niżu Polskiego” (Differentiation factors of the Polish Lowland relief) held in Uniejów in June 2012. Some current studies were presented in the anniversary issue of Acta Geographica Lodziensia (no. 100), which is a platform for the exchange of scientific ideas and opinions for 60 years

Documentary photography in Earth sciences

From the moment of invention to the present, photography is used in science, not only for documentary purposes, but also as an integral part of research methods. Photography has found its place in art, and the distinction between scientific and fine-art photography often remains a matter of agreement, resulting from the context in which it is presented. The purpose of the work is to show the specifity of scientific photography used in Earth sciences and to point out the rules which govern that kind of photography, as well as to emphasize that established principles of image composition are important in scientific photography. Technical aspects important in geological and geographical photography are presented, such as: selection of photographic equipment, exposure modes, recording of photos and camera modes. The use of different types of composition in photographic documentation in the above-mentioned scientific sub-disciplines are analysed. The choice of composition rules is subordinated to the nature of the documented objects, phenomena or processes. Scientific photography is governed by different rules when documenting geomorphological forms or atmospheric phenomena, processes occurring on the Earth’s surface, rock outcrops or small objects; other rules are useful in making photography for archiving, location, reportage, re-photography and landscape. A separate issue is the preparation of photos for publication, where they function as carriers of relevant information, supplementing the contents of a scientific text or scientific presentation. In the era of widespread photography many random images are created. It is particularly important to maintain discipline so that information noise resulting from an excessive number of shots does not get into scientific photography. It is important to use the advantages of digital photography in a reasonable way, subordinating scientific photography to its primary goal – complete and clear information about phenomena and processes occurring in the lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere.Od momentu wynalezienia do chwili obecnej fotografia służy nauce, nie tylko do celów dokumentacyjnych, ale stanowi także element wielu metod badawczych. Fotografia znalazła swoje miejsce w sztuce, a rozróżnienie fotografii naukowej od artystycznej pozostaje niejednokrotnie kwestią umowną, wynikającą z kontekstu, w jakim jest prezentowana. Celem pracy jest wykazanie specyfiki fotografii naukowej wykorzystywanej w naukach o Ziemi, wskazanie zasad, jakim podlega oraz wykazanie, że również w tego typu fotografii istotne jest uwzględnianie ugruntowanych od dawna zasad kompozycji obrazu. Przedstawiono istotne w fotografii geologicznej i geograficznej aspekty techniczne, takie jak: dobór sprzętu fotograficznego, tryby naświetlania, zapis zdjęć i tryby pracy aparatu. Przeanalizowano zastosowanie kompozycji właściwej i formalnej w dokumentacji fotograficznej we wspomnianych subdyscyplinach naukowych. Wybór reguł kompozycji jest podporządkowany charakterowi dokumentowanych obiektów, zjawisk czy procesów. Specyficznymi zasadami rządzi się fotografia naukowa w przypadku dokumentowania form geomorfologicznych czy zjawisk atmosferycznych, procesów zachodzących na powierzchni Ziemi, fotografowania odsłonięć, małych obiektów; innymi fotografowanie do celów archiwizacyjnych, lokalizacyjnych, reportażowych, refotograficznych, a także krajobrazowych. Odrębnym zagadnieniem jest przygotowanie zdjęć do publikacji, gdzie stanowią one nośniki istotnych informacji, uzupełniających merytorycznie treść tekstu naukowego lub prezentacji naukowej. W dobie powszechności fotografii, kiedy powstaje wiele przypadkowych obrazów, szczególnie istotne jest zachowanie dyscypliny, tak aby w fotografię naukową nie przedostawał się szum informacyjny, wynikający z przesadnej mnogości ujęć, aby korzystać z walorów fotografii cyfrowej w sposób racjonalny, podporządkowując fotografię naukową nadrzędnemu celowi – pełnej i klarownej informacji o zjawiskach i procesach zachodzących w litosferze, hydrosferze i atmosferze

Intranasal multivalent adenoviral-vectored vaccine protects against replicating and dormant M.tb in conventional and humanized mice

Viral-vectored vaccines are highly amenable for respiratory mucosal delivery as a means of inducing much-needed mucosal immunity at the point of pathogen entry. Unfortunately, current monovalent viral-vectored tuberculosis (TB) vaccine candidates have failed to demonstrate satisfactory clinical protective efficacy. As such, there is a need to develop next-generation viral-vectored TB vaccine strategies which incorporate both vaccine antigen design and delivery route. In this study, we have developed a trivalent chimpanzee adenoviral-vectored vaccine to provide protective immunity against pulmonary TB through targeting antigens linked to the three different growth phases (acute/chronic/dormancy) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) by expressing an acute replication-associated antigen, Ag85A, a chronically expressed virulence-associated antigen, TB10.4, and a dormancy/resuscitation-associated antigen, RpfB. Single-dose respiratory mucosal immunization with our trivalent vaccine induced robust, sustained tissue-resident multifunctional CD4(+) and CD8(+) T-cell responses within the lung tissues and airways, which were further quantitatively and qualitatively improved following boosting of subcutaneously BCG-primed hosts. Prophylactic and therapeutic immunization with this multivalent trivalent vaccine in conventional BALB/c mice provided significant protection against not only actively replicating M.tb bacilli but also dormant, non-replicating persisters. Importantly, when used as a booster, it also provided marked protection in the highly susceptible C3HeB/FeJ mice, and a single respiratory mucosal inoculation was capable of significant protection in a humanized mouse model. Our findings indicate the great potential of this next-generation TB vaccine strategy and support its further clinical development for both prophylactic and therapeutic applications.Immunogenetics and cellular immunology of bacterial infectious disease

Membrane TNF confers protection to acute mycobacterial infection

BACKGROUND: Tumour necrosis factor (TNF) is crucial for the control of mycobacterial infection as TNF deficient (KO) die rapidly of uncontrolled infection with necrotic pneumonia. Here we investigated the role of membrane TNF for host resistance in knock-in mice with a non-cleavable and regulated allele (mem-TNF). METHODS: C57BL/6, TNF KO and mem-TNF mice were infected with M. tuberculosis H37Rv (Mtb at 100 CFU by intranasal administration) and the survival, bacterial load, lung pathology and immunological parameters were investigated. Bone marrow and lymphocytes transfers were used to test the role of membrane TNF to confer resistance to TNF KO mice. RESULTS: While TNF-KO mice succumbed to infection within 4–5 weeks, mem-TNF mice recruited normally T cells and macrophages, developed mature granuloma in the lung and controlled acute Mtb infection. However, during the chronic phase of infection mem-TNF mice succumbed to disseminated infection with necrotic pneumonia at about 150 days. Reconstitution of irradiated TNF-KO mice with mem-TNF derived bone marrow cells, but not with lymphocytes, conferred host resistance to Mtb infection in TNF-KO mice. CONCLUSION: Membrane expressed TNF is sufficient to allow cell-cell signalling and control of acute Mtb infection. Bone marrow cells, but not lymphocytes from mem-TNF mice confer resistance to infection in TNF-KO mice. Long-term infection control with chronic inflammation likely disrupting TNF mediated cell-cell signalling, additionally requires soluble TNF

Latency Antigen α-Crystallin Based Vaccination Imparts a Robust Protection against TB by Modulating the Dynamics of Pulmonary Cytokines

BACKGROUND: Efficient control of tuberculosis (TB) requires development of strategies that can enhance efficacy of the existing vaccine Mycobacterium bovis Bacille Calmette Guerin (BCG). To date only a few studies have explored the potential of latency-associated antigens to augment the immunogenicity of BCG. METHODS/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We evaluated the protective efficacy of a heterologous prime boost approach based on recombinant BCG and DNA vaccines targeting α-crystallin, a prominent latency antigen. We show that "rBCG prime-DNA boost" strategy (R/D) confers a markedly superior protection along with reduced pathology in comparison to BCG vaccination in guinea pigs (565 fold and 45 fold reduced CFU in lungs and spleen, respectively, in comparison to BCG vaccination). In addition, R/D regimen also confers enhanced protection in mice. Our results in guinea pig model show a distinct association of enhanced protection with an increased level of interleukin (IL)12 and a simultaneous increase in immuno-regulatory cytokines such as transforming growth factor (TGF)β and IL10 in lungs. The T cell effector functions, which could not be measured in guinea pigs due to technical limitations, were characterized in mice by multi-parameter flow cytometry. We show that R/D regimen elicits a heightened multi-functional CD4 Th1 cell response leading to enhanced protection. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These results clearly indicate the superiority of α-crystallin based R/D regimen over BCG. Our observations from guinea pig studies indicate a crucial role of IL12, IL10 and TGFβ in vaccine-induced protection. Further, characterization of T cell responses in mice demonstrates that protection against TB is predictable by the frequency of CD4 T cells simultaneously producing interferon (IFN)γ, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)α and IL2. We anticipate that this study will not only contribute toward the development of a superior alternative to BCG, but will also stimulate designing of TB vaccines based on latency antigens

Membrane-Bound TNF Induces Protective Immune Responses to M. bovis BCG Infection: Regulation of memTNF and TNF Receptors Comparing Two memTNF Molecules

Several activities of the transmembrane form of TNF (memTNF) in immune responses to intracellular bacterial infection have been shown to be different from those exerted by soluble TNF. Evidence is based largely on studies in transgenic mice expressing memTNF, but precise cellular mechanisms are not well defined and the importance of TNF receptor regulation is unknown. In addition, memTNF activities are defined for a particular modification of the extracellular domain of TNF but a direct comparison of different mutant memTNF molecules has not been done in vivo

Bayesian Approach to Model CD137 Signaling in Human M.tuberculosis in vitro Responses

Abstract Immune responses are qualitatively and quantitatively influenced by a complex network of receptor-ligand interactions. Among them, the CD137:CD137L pathway is known to modulate innate and adaptive human responses against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. However, the underlying mechanisms of this regulation remain unclear. In this work, we developed a Bayesian Computational Model (BCM) of in vitro CD137 signaling, devised to fit previously gathered experimental data. The BCM is fed with the data and the prior distribution of the model parameters and it returns theirposterior distribution and the model evidence, which allows comparing alternative signaling mechanisms. The BCM uses a coupled system of non-linear differential equations to describe the dynamics of Antigen Presenting Cells, Natural Killer and T Cells together with the interpheron (IFN)-c and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-a levels in the media culture. Fast and complete mixing of the media is assumed. The prior distribution of the parameters that describe the dynamics of the immunological response was obtained from the literature and theoretical considerations Our BCM applies successively the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm to find the maximum a posteriori likelihood (MAP); the Metropolis Markov Chain Monte Carlo method to approximate the posterior distribution of the parameters and Thermodynamic Integration to calculate the evidence of alternative hypothesis. Bayes factors provided decisive evidence favoring direct CD137 signaling on T cells. Moreover, the posterior distribution of the parameters that describe the CD137 signaling showed that the regulation of IFNc levels is based more on T cells survival than on direct induction. Furthermore, the mechanisms that account for the effect of CD137 signaling on TNF-a production were based on a decrease of TNF-a production by APC and, perhaps, on the increase in APC apoptosis. BCM proved to be a useful tool to gain insight on the mechanisms of CD137 signaling during human response against Mycobacterium tuberculosis.Fil: Darío A Fernández Do Porto. UNIV.DE BUENOS AIRES. FAC.DE CS.EXACTAS Y NATURALES. UNIV.DE BUENOS AIRES. FAC.DE CS.EXACTAS Y NATURALES. INST QUIM FISICA D/L/MATERIALES MED AMB Y ENERG.Fil: Jerónimo Auzmendi. UNIV.DE BUENOS AIRES. FAC.DE CS.EXACTAS Y NATURALES. INST QUIM FISICA D/L/MATERIALES MED AMB Y ENERG.Fil: Delfina Peña. UNIV.DE BUENOS AIRES. FAC.DE CS.EXACTAS Y NATURALES. CONSEJO NAC.DE INVEST.CIENTIF.Y TECNICAS. OFICINA DE COORDINACION ADMINISTRATIVA CIUDAD UNIVERSITARIA. INSTITUTO DE QUIMICA BIOLOGICA DE LA FACULTAD DE CS. EXACTAS Y NATURALES. UNIV.DE BUENOS AIRES. FAC.DE CS.EXACTAS Y NATURALES. DTO.DE QUIMICA BIOLOGICA.Fil: Veronica E Garcia. CONSEJO NAC.DE INVEST.CIENTIF.Y TECNICAS. OFICINA DE COORDINACION ADMINISTRATIVA CIUDAD UNIVERSITARIA. INSTITUTO DE QUIMICA BIOLOGICA DE LA FACULTAD DE CS. EXACTAS Y NATURALES.Fil: Luciano Moffatt. UNIV.DE BUENOS AIRES. FAC.DE CS.EXACTAS Y NATURALES. INST QUIM FISICA D/L/MATERIALES MED AMB Y ENERG

TNF-dependent regulation and activation of innate immune cells are essential for host protection against cerebral tuberculosis

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) affects one third of the global population, and TB of the central nervous system (CNS-TB) is the most severe form of tuberculosis which often associates with high mortality. The pro-inflammatory cytokine tumour necrosis factor (TNF) plays a critical role in the initial and long-term host immune protection against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) which involves the activation of innate immune cells and structure maintenance of granulomas. However, the contribution of TNF, in particular neuron-derived TNF, in the control of cerebral M. tuberculosis infection and its protective immune responses in the CNS were not clear. METHODS: We generated neuron-specific TNF-deficient (NsTNF / ) mice and compared outcomes of disease against TNF f/f control and global TNF / mice. Mycobacterial burden in brains, lungs and spleens were compared, and cerebral pathology and cellular contributions analysed by microscopy and flow cytometry after M. tuberculosis infection. Activation of innate immune cells was measured by flow cytometry and cell function assessed by cytokine and chemokine quantification using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). RESULTS: Intracerebral M. tuberculosis infection of TNF / mice rendered animals highly susceptible, accompanied by uncontrolled bacilli replication and eventual mortality. In contrast, NsTNF / mice were resistant to infection and presented with a phenotype similar to that in TNF f/f control mice. Impaired immunity in TNF / mice was associated with altered cytokine and chemokine synthesis in the brain and characterised by a reduced number of activated innate immune cells. Brain pathology reflected enhanced inflammation dominated by neutrophil influx. CONCLUSION: Our data show that neuron-derived TNF has a limited role in immune responses, but overall TNF production is necessary for protective immunity against CNS-TB