The Study of Entheses: Proposal of a Standardised Scoring Method for Twenty-Three Entheses of the Postcranial Skeleton

Entheses are always visible on the bone, although with variable forms and degrees of expression. The term »robusticity « indicates the »normal« osseous markings at entheses, while »enthesopathy«, indicates the presence of enthesophytes or osteolytic areas1–3. A scoring method for enthesopathy development has already been proposed3. In this paper, a standardised descriptive and photographic scoring method is proposed for the robusticity of 23 postcranial skeleton entheses. For each enthesis, 3 levels of development are described, corresponding, in general, to a weak-moderate expression (degree 1), strong development (degree 2) and very strong development (degree 3). The interobserver error of about 20% seems acceptable given the great morphological variability of these traits

Enthesopathies – Proposal of a Standardized Scoring Method and Applications

Enthesopathies are alterations that could be present at entheses. Two types of enthesopathies have been defined: osteophytic (OF) and osteolytic (OL). In the present paper, we propose a standardized method to score the degree of development of each form of enthesopathy. With this method, the intra- and interobserver errors are less than 5%. The standard was used to study a sample (113 individuals) deriving from osteological collections from the late XIX-early XX century. Information about the age, sex and occupation of the individuals is available. This study demonstrated an effect of age on the form and the degree of development of enthesopathies. The influence of factors related to sex and occupation cannot be excluded. Therefore, functional interpretations of data on enthesopathies in osteoarchaeological series must take account of the estimated age and sex of the specimens and the distribution of the lesions within a single skeleton

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)

Patterns of Irregular Burials in Western Europe (1st-5th Century AD)

International audienceBackground :Irregular burials (IB-burials showing features that contrast with the majority of others in their geographic and chronological context) have been the focus of archaeological study because of their relative rarity and enigmatic appearance. Interpretations of IB often refer to supposed fear of the dead or to social processes taking place in time-specific contexts. However, a comprehensive and quantitative analysis of IB for various geographical contexts is still lacking, a fact that hampers any discussion of these burials on a larger scale. Methods :Here, we collected a bibliographic dataset of 375 IB from both Britain and Continental Europe, altogether spanning a time period from the 1st to the 5th century AD. Each burial has been coded according to ten dichotomous variables, further analyzed by means of chi-squared tests on absolute frequencies, non-metric multidimensional scaling, and cluster analysis. Results :Even acknowledging the limits of this study, and in particular the bias represented by the available literature, our results point to interesting patterns. Geographically, IB show a contrast between Britain and Continental Europe, possibly related to historical processes specific to these regions. Different types of IB (especially prone depositions and depositions with the cephalic extremity displaced) present a series of characteristics and associations between features that permit a more detailed conceptualization of these occurrences from a socio-cultural perspective that aids to elucidate their funerary meaning. Conclusions and Significance :Altogether, the present work stresses the variability of IB, and the need to contextualize them in a proper archaeological and historical context. It contributes to the discussion of IB by providing a specific geographic and chronological frame of reference that supports a series of hypotheses about the cultural processes possibly underlying their occurrence

Scientific and Ethical Aspects of Identified Skeletal Series: The Case of the Documented Human Osteological Collections of the University of Bologna (Northern Italy)

Osteological collections are an essential source of information on human biological and cultural variability, providing insights about developmental, evolutionary, and biocultural processes. Among osteological series, documented human osteological collections (DHOC) are especially useful due to the opportunity to control biological parameters such as age-at-death and sex, which are typically unknown in archaeological or forensic cases. Raising ethical concerns about the collection, management, and study of human remains poses anthropologists with renewed responsibilities. These issues become especially pressing when dealing with DHOC. In this contribution, we discuss the scientific value and ethical issues characterizing DHOC using as case study the documented human osteological collections of the University of Bologna. This series includes more than 1000 individuals from Northern Italian and Sardinian cemeteries and is among the largest in Europe. It represents the basis for ongoing research on a large range of methodological studies, especially focused on the reconstruction of biological profile. After outlining the scientific studies performed on this DHOC, we discuss it in the context of the specific legislation featuring the Italian territory. Finally, we highlight some directions where work can be carried out to better balance scientific research, preservation needs, and ethical concerns, stressing the advantages of modern imaging techniques

ASCs-exosomes recover coupling efficiency and mitochondrial membrane potential in an in vitro model of ALS

The amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motoneurons death. Mutations in the superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) protein have been identified to be related to the disease. Beyond the different altered pathways, the mitochondrial dysfunction is one of the major features that leads to the selective death of motoneurons in ALS. The NSC-34 cell line, overexpressing human SOD1(G93A) mutant protein [NSC-34(G93A)], is considered an optimal in vitro model to study ALS. Here we investigated the energy metabolism in NSC-34(G93A) cells and in particular the effect of the mutated SOD1(G93A) protein on the mitochondrial respiratory capacity (complexes I-IV) by high resolution respirometry (HRR) and cytofluorimetry. We demonstrated that NSC-34(G93A) cells show a reduced mitochondrial oxidative capacity. In particular, we found significant impairment of the complex I-linked oxidative phosphorylation, reduced efficiency of the electron transfer system (ETS) associated with a higher rate of dissipative respiration, and a lower membrane potential. In order to rescue the effect of the mutated SOD1 gene on mitochondria impairment, we evaluated the efficacy of the exosomes, isolated from adipose-derived stem cells, administrated on the NSC-34(G93A) cells. These data show that ASCs-exosomes are able to restore complex I activity, coupling efficiency and mitochondrial membrane potential. Our results improve the knowledge about mitochondrial bioenergetic defects directly associated with the SOD1(G93A) mutation, and prove the efficacy of adipose-derived stem cells exosomes to rescue the function of mitochondria, indicating that these vesicles could represent a valuable approach to target mitochondrial dysfunction in ALS

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

Bioactive compound profiling of olive fruit: the contribution of genotype

The health, therapeutic, and organoleptic characteristics of olive oil depend on functional bioactive compounds, such as phenols, tocopherols, squalene, and sterols. Genotype plays a key role in the diversity and concentration of secondary compounds peculiar to olive. In this study, the most important bioactive compounds of olive fruit were studied in numerous international olive cultivars during two consecutive seasons. A large variability was measured for each studied metabolite in all 61 olive cultivars. Total phenol content varied on a scale of 1–10 (3831–39,252 mg kg1) in the studied cultivars. Squalene values fluctuated over an even wider range (1–15), with values of 274 to 4351 mg kg1. Total sterols ranged from 119 to 969 mg kg1, and total tocopherols varied from 135 to 579 mg kg1 in fruit pulp. In the present study, the linkage among the most important quality traits highlighted the scarcity of cultivars with high content of at least three traits together. This work provided sound information on the fruit metabolite profile of a wide range of cultivars, which will facilitate the studies on the genomic regulation of plant metabolites and development of new olive genotypes through genomics-assisted breeding.EEA San JuanFil: Mousavi, Soraya. National Research Council. Institute of Biosciences and Bioresources; ItaliaFil: Stanzione, Vitale. National Research Council. Institute for Agricultural and Forest Systems of the Mediterranean; ItaliaFil: Mariotti, Roberto. National Research Council. Institute of Biosciences and Bioresources; ItaliaFil: Mastio, Valerio.Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria San Juan; Argentina.Fil: Mastio, Valerio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Azariadis, Aristotelis. Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania. Department of Horticultural Genetics and Biotechnology; GreciaFil: Passeri, Valentina. National Research Council. Institute for Agricultural and Forest Systems of the Mediterranean; ItaliaFil: Valeri, Maria Cristina. National Research Council. Institute of Biosciences and Bioresources; ItaliaFil: Baldoni, Luciana. National Research Council. Institute of Biosciences and Bioresources; ItaliaFil: Bufacchi, Marina. National Research Council. Institute for Agricultural and Forest Systems of the Mediterranean; Itali

EEG Responses to TMS Are Sensitive to Changes in the Perturbation Parameters and Repeatable over Time

BACKGROUND: High-density electroencephalography (hd-EEG) combined with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) provides a direct and non-invasive measure of cortical excitability and connectivity in humans and may be employed to track over time pathological alterations, plastic changes and therapy-induced modifications in cortical circuits. However, the diagnostic/monitoring applications of this technique would be limited to the extent that TMS-evoked potentials are either stereotypical (non-sensitive) or random (non-repeatable) responses. Here, we used controlled changes in the stimulation parameters (site, intensity, and angle of stimulation) and repeated longitudinal measurements (same day and one week apart) to evaluate the sensitivity and repeatability of TMS/hd-EEG potentials. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In 10 volunteers, we performed 92 single-subject comparisons to evaluate the similarities/differences between pairs of TMS-evoked potentials recorded in the same/different stimulation conditions. For each pairwise comparison, we used non-parametric statistics to calculate a Divergence Index (DI), i.e., the percentage of samples that differed significantly, considering all scalp locations and the entire post-stimulus period. A receiver operating characteristic analysis showed that it was possible to find an optimal DI threshold of 1.67%, yielding 96.7% overall accuracy of TMS/hd-EEG in detecting whether a change in the perturbation parameters occurred or not. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These results demonstrate that the EEG responses to TMS essentially reflect deterministic properties of the stimulated neuronal circuits as opposed to stereotypical responses or uncontrolled variability. To the extent that TMS-evoked potentials are sensitive to changes and repeatable over time, they may be employed to detect longitudinal changes in the state of cortical circuits