Book review: Raiko Krauß: Ovčarovo-Gorata. Eine frühneolitische Siedlung in Nordostbulgarien

In the first half of the 1980s, lithic materials from the prehistoric settlement of Ovčarovo-Gorata in northern Bulgaria were studied by Vietnamese archaeologist Nguyen Van Binh. At that time, he was a doctoral student in the Department of Prehistory of the National Archaeological Institute and Museum Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. In 1985, Nguyen Van Binh completed his doctoral thesis “Prehistoric flint artifact assemblages from the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene on the basis of materials from North East Bulgaria”, which presents the results of lithic assemblages processed from the site

Embolization of bronchial arteries in cases of life-threatening bleeding

Massive hemoptysis is a frightening and potentially life-threatening clinical event. Hemoptysis represents a sig­nificant clinical entity with high morbidity and potential mortality. Bronchial artery angiography with embolization has become a mainstay in the treatment of hemoptysis. Bronchial artery embolization offers a minimally invasive procedure for even the most compromised patient serving as first-line treatment for hemorrhage as well as providing a bridge to more definitive medical or surgical intervention focused upon the etiology of the hemorrhage

Un nouveau faciès lamellaire du début du Paléolithique supérieur dans les Balkans

Après Bacho Kiro et Temnata, la grotte de Kozarnika est la troisième grande séquence pléistocène récemment établie dans la région de l‘est des Balkans. La fouille, menée dans le cadre d’une coopération entre l’Académie bulgare des sciences – Institut d’Archéologie à Sofia et UMR 5199 du CNRS, PACEA - Université Bordeaux 1, a permis la découverte d’une séquence, datant du Paléolithique inférieur (non Acheuléen), Paléolithique moyen (Moustérien - Levallois) et du Paléolithique supérieur, daté entre 39 et 11 Ka BP (Guadelli et al. 2005). Le niveau VII, localisé à la base du Paléolithique supérieur, daté entre 39 et 36 Ka BP a livré une industrie lithique à débitage et outillage lamellaire, inédite à l’échelle régionale. Cet outillage est composé de pièces à dos et à retouche fine, abrupte, et semi-abrupte, parfois bilatérale directe appointant ou alterne. Dénommée “ Kozarnikien ” en attente d’études plus complètes, cette industrie présente des analogies dans la composante lamellaire tant avec l’Ahmarien ancien du Levant qu’avec certains ensembles de proto-Aurignacien au sud de l’Europe. En l’absence d’autres éléments caractéristiques de l’Aurignacien typique, cette industrie montre des tendances technologiques et typologiques dont on trouve la continuité dans les niveaux sus-jacents gravettiens de la séquence. Le Kozarnikien peut donc représenter une étape précoce de formation de technocomplexe lamellaire à pièces à dos. Le Kozarnikien suggère aussi qu’on ne peut plus soutenir le rôle exclusif de l’Aurignacien dans le passage du moustérien européen au Paléolithique supérieur. Il devient de plus en plus évident qu’au tout début de cette transformation, ont été engagées des traditions culturelles différentes et précédant l’Aurignacien.With Bacho Kiro and Temnata, Kozranika cave is the third major pleistocene sequence recently investigated in the Eastern Balkans. Excavations, conducted in collaboration of the Bulgarian Academy of sciences-National Institute of Archaeology at Sofia and the University of Bordeaux 1- Institute of Prehistory and Quaternary Geology –CNRS, PACEA, UMR 5199, revealed a sequence starting with non-Acheulean Lower Palaeolithic (LP), Levaloisian Moustérian Middle Palaeolithic (MP) and Upper Palaeolithic(UP) dated between 39 Ky BP and 11 Ky BP (Guadelli et al. 2005). Level VII, at the base of the UP (39-36 Ky BP) contains an assemblage locally unknown, characterized by a bladelet technology and tools made on bladelets: regular backed pieces and bladelets with thin, abrupt or semi-abrupt, often bilateral convergent or alternate retouch. Named temporarily “ Kozarnikian ” awaiting for further studies, this assemblage shows some analogies with the archaic Ahmarian from Levant and South-European Proto-Aurignacian as well. Given the lack of diagnostic artefacts of typical Aurignacian, this assemblage shows technological and typological tendencies observed in the overlaying Gravettian industries. The Kozarnikian might be considered as a possible precursor of technocomplexes with bladelet technology and backed pieces and thus,suggesting that the role of Aurignacian in transition between the European Mousterian and the UP is not unique nor exclusive. It becomes more and more obvious that, at the beginning of this transformation, preceding the Aurignacian, different cultural traditions where involved

Lesion detection in demoscopy images with novel density-based and active contour approaches

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Dermoscopy is one of the major imaging modalities used in the diagnosis of melanoma and other pigmented skin lesions. Automated assessment tools for dermoscopy images have become an important field of research mainly because of inter- and intra-observer variations in human interpretation. One of the most important steps in dermoscopy image analysis is the detection of lesion borders, since many other features, such as asymmetry, border irregularity, and abrupt border cutoff, rely on the boundary of the lesion. </p> <p>Results</p> <p>To automate the process of delineating the lesions, we employed Active Contour Model (ACM) and boundary-driven density-based clustering (BD-DBSCAN) algorithms on 50 dermoscopy images, which also have ground truths to be used for quantitative comparison. We have observed that ACM and BD-DBSCAN have the same border error of 6.6% on all images. To address noisy images, BD-DBSCAN can perform better delineation than ACM. However, when used with optimum parameters, ACM outperforms BD-DBSCAN, since ACM has a higher recall ratio.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We successfully proposed two new frameworks to delineate suspicious lesions with i) an ACM integrated approach with sharpening and ii) a fast boundary-driven density-based clustering technique. ACM shrinks a curve toward the boundary of the lesion. To guide the evolution, the model employs the exact solution <abbrgrp><abbr bid="B27">27</abbr></abbrgrp> of a specific form of the Geometric Heat Partial Differential Equation <abbrgrp><abbr bid="B28">28</abbr></abbrgrp>. To make ACM advance through noisy images, an improvement of the model’s boundary condition is under consideration. BD-DBSCAN improves regular density-based algorithm to select query points intelligently.</p

Radiofrequency ablation of unresectable primary and metastatic hepatic malignancies

Отворената хирургия е златен стандарт за лечение на хепатоцелуларен карцином (НСС) и чернодробни метастази от рак на дебелото черво. Днес чернодробната резекция е все още само лечебен вариант за пациенти с рак на черния дроб, с 5-годишната преживяемост между 25-60%, в сравнение с 0% 5-годишна преживяемост без никакви лечение. Само 5-15% от пациентите с НСС или с чернодробни метастази могат да бъдат подложени на чернодробна резекция поради различни противопоказания: голям брой тумори, тумори на труднодостъпни места, недостатъчен чернодробен обем за резекция.Open surgery is a gold standard for treating hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and hepatic metastases of colorectal cancer. Today, liver resection is still only a radically option for patients with liver cancer, with a 5-year survival rate of 25-60%, compared with 0% 5-year survival without any treatment. Only 5-15% of patients with HCC or liver metastases may undergo hepatic resection due to different contraindications: a large number of tumors, tumors in hard-to-reach places, insufficient hepatic volume for resection

Neurotoxicity of cancer agents

Невротоксичните ефекти на химиотерапията се появяват относително често и са причина за модификация на дозата на медикаментите - дозолимитираща токсичност. Рискът от развитие на невротоксичност се увеличава с повишаване на приложената доза и за разлика от миелотоксичността (основния ограничаващ фактор при повечето химиотерапевтични режими), която може да бъде преодоляна с растежни фактори или трансплантация на костен мозък, няма стандартно поведение, което да я ограничи.Противотуморните препарати водят до два типа токсичност - периферна невротоксичност, състояща се основно от периферна невропатия и централна невротоксичност, която включва от незначителни когнитивни увреждания и дефицити до енцефалопатия с деменция или дори кома.Не съществуват утвърдени алгоритми за поведения и профилактика на невротоксичността, причинена от противотуморните препарати. Поведението основно се свежда до редукция на дозата или отлагане във времето на приложението, особено при пациенти, които са с по-висок риск от развитие на невротоксични странични ефекти. На този етап не съществуват невропротективни агенти, които се препоръчват за стандартна употреба при развитие на невротоксичност.Neurotoxic side effects of chemotherapy occur frequently and are often a reason to limit the dose of chemotherapy. Chemotherapy dosing is often limited due to a frequently occurring side effect of the treatment - neurotoxic. The risk of neurotoxicity is increased by the possibility of higher dose usage, since bone marrow toxicity (the major limiting factor in most chemotherapeutic regimens) can be overcome with growth factors or bone marrow transplantation.Chemotherapy may cause both peripheral neurotoxicity, consisting mainly of a peripheral neuropathy, and central neurotoxicity, ranging from minor cognitive deficits to encephalopathy with dementia or even coma. Neurotoxicity caused by the chemotherapy can be of two types - peripheral, mainly consisting of peripheral neuropathy and central, from minor cognitive deficits through encephalopathy with dementia to even coma.Data management and neuroprotective agents are still in discussion and there are no current accepted guidelines yet. Management mainly consists of cumulative dose-reduction or lower dose-intensities, especially in patients who are at higher risk to develop neurotoxic side effects. None of the specific neuroprotective agents can be recommended in daily practice for standard use at the moment, and further studies are needed to confirm their beneficial effects

Minimally invasive ablative techniques of liver tumors

Само 5-15% от пациентите с НСС или с чернодробни метастази могат да бъдат подложени на чернодробна резекция, поради различни противопоказания: голям брой тумори, тумори на трудно достъпни места, недостатъчен чернодробен обем за резекция. Вариантите за перкутанно лечение могат да бъдат: Химичната аблация: инжектиране на етанол или оцетна киселина; Термалната аблация: (а) криохирургични аблация (CSA/КХА): използване на течен азот, аргон, или NO2; (б) коагулационната: използване на радиочестотен ток (RFA/РФА); Микровълнова аблация (MWA/МВ); лазерна интерстициална термотерапия (ЛИТТ) или високоинтензивен фокусиран ултразвук (HIFU/ ВФУ); Необратима електропорация (IRE).Only 5-15% of patients with HCC or liver metastases may undergo hepatic resection due to different contraindications: a large number of tumors, tumors in hard-to-reach places, insufficient hepatic volume for resection. The options for percutaneous treatment can be: Chemical Ablation: Injection of Ethanol or Acetic Acid; Thermal ablation: (a) cryosurgical ablation (CSA): use of liquid nitrogen, argon, or NO2; (b) Coagulation: Radio Frequency Ablation (RFA); Microwave ablation (MWA); Laser Interstitial Thermotherapy (LITT) or High Intensive Focused Ultrasound (HIFU); Irreversible electroporation (IRE)

Subarctic climate for the earliest Homo sapiens in Europe

Acknowledgments The re-excavation of Bacho Kiro Cave was jointly conducted by the National Institute of Archaeology with Museum, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia and the Department of Human Evolution at the MPI-EVA. We would like to thank the National Museum of Natural History (Sofia), the Archaeology Department at the New Bulgarian University (Sofia), the Regional Museum of History in Gabrovo, and the History Museum in Dryanovo for assistance on this project and the opportunity to study the Bacho Kiro Cave faunal material. We would like to thank M. Trost, S. Hesse, M. Kaniecki, and P. Dittmann (MPI-EVA) for technical assistance during stable isotope sample preparation. S. Steinbrenner is thanked for technical assistance with TC/EA-IRMS maintenance. Thanks are also due to H. Temming and U. Schwarz (MPI-EVA) for the production of microCT scans and replicas of the sample materials. We would also like to acknowledge the assistance of to D. Veres with taking OSL samples. Last but not least we would like to thank the handling editor, S. Ortman, as well as three anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful comments that greatly improved this manuscript. Funding: The field work was financed by the Max Planck Society. The stable isotope work was funded by the Max Planck Society as part of S.P.’s doctoral project. S.P. was supported by the Max Planck Society and the University of Aberdeen. K.B. was supported by a Philip Leverhulme Prize from The Leverhulme Trust (PLP-2019-284). N.B.’s work was supported as part of a grant by the German Research Foundation (“PALÄODIET” Project 378496604). V.A. was supported by a grant from the Foundation for Science and Technology, Portugal (IF/01157/2015/CP1308/CT0002). Author contributions: The study was devised by S.P., K.B., S.P.M., J.-J.H., and T.T. Archaeological excavation was undertaken by N.S. and T.T. in collaboration with Z.R. and S.P.M. who all contributed contextual information. V.A. collected sedimentological data at the site and untertook micromorphological investigations that provided information on site formation for this study. Zooarchaeological and paleontological analyses were performed by G.M.S. and R.S. OSL dating was carried out by T.L. Radiocarbon dating and recalibration of radiocarbon dates were conducted by H.F. MC-ICPMS analysis was conducted by N.B. and S.P. Sampling, sample processing for oxygen and strontium stable isotope analysis, and TC/EA-IRMS analysis were carried out by S.P. Code and data analyses were written and conducted by S.P. N.-H.T. consulted on statistical analysis and coding. S.P. wrote the paper with input from all authors. Competing interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Data and materials availability: All data needed to evaluate the conclusions in the paper are present in the paper and/or the Supplementary Materials.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Identifying the unidentified fauna enhances insights into hominin subsistence strategies during the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition

Understanding Palaeolithic hominin subsistence strategies requires the comprehensive taxonomic identification of faunal remains. The high fragmentation of Late Pleistocene faunal assemblages often prevents proper taxonomic identification based on bone morphology. It has been assumed that the morphologically unidentifiable component of the faunal assemblage would reflect the taxonomic abundances of the morphologically identified portion. In this study, we analyse three faunal datasets covering the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition (MUPT) at Bacho Kiro Cave (Bulgaria) and Les Cottés and La Ferrassie (France) with the application of collagen type I peptide mass fingerprinting (ZooMS). Our results emphasise that the fragmented component of Palaeolithic bone assemblages can differ significantly from the morphologically identifiable component. We obtain contrasting identification rates between taxa resulting in an overrepresentation of morphologically identified reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) and an underrepresentation of aurochs/bison (Bos/Bison) and horse/European ass (Equus) at Les Cottés and La Ferrassie. Together with an increase in the relative diversity of the faunal composition, these results have implications for the interpretation of subsistence strategies during a period of possible interaction between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens in Europe. Furthermore, shifts in faunal community composition and in carnivore activity suggest a change in the interaction between humans and carnivores across the MUPT and indicate a possible difference in site use between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens. The combined use of traditional and biomolecular methods allows (zoo)archaeologists to tackle some of the methodological limits commonly faced during the morphological assessment of Palaeolithic bone assemblages

Heat Equation to 3D Image Segmentation

This paper presents a new approach, capable of 3D image segmentation and objects' surface reconstruction. The main advantages of the method are: large capture range; quick segmentation of a 3D scene/image to regions; multiple 3D objects reconstruction. The method uses centripetal force and penalty function to segment the entire 3D scene/image to regions containing a single 3D object. Each region is inscribed in a convex, smooth closed surface, which defines a centripetal force. Then the surface is evolved by the geometric heat differential equation toward the force's direction. The penalty function is defined to stop evolvement of those surface patches, whose normal vectors encountered object's surface. On the base of the theoretical model Forward Difference Algorithm was developed and coded by Mathematica. Stability convergence condition, truncation error and calculation complexity of the algorithm are determined. The obtained results, advantages and disadvantages of the method are discussed at the end of this paper