Pursuit of proteomic excellence and the excitement in Košice,Slovakia, at the 11th Central and Eastern European Proteomic Conference (CEEPC)

The Central and Eastern European Proteomic Conference (CEEPC) successfully launched its second decade of proteomics in Ko?ice, Slovakia with a program of systems biology, cellular, clinical, veterinary and sports proteomics. Whilst many conferences are struggling to attract participants, CEEPC with its outstanding track record and unique ‘family – feel’ packaged with excellent ambiance is thriving and bringing together proteomics experts from academia, industry, scientific specialties, clinics and precision medicine communities interested in resolving mysteries about protein functionalities in health and disease. CEEPC is also renowned for addressing humanitarian global healthcare issues, may it be ageing, chronic diseases or global epidemics. This year CEEPC intertwined with Ko?ice Peace Marathon’s pursuit of excellence in sports and initiatives including sports medicine and global peace.     

Combined dendrochronological and radiocarbon dating of three Russian icons from the 15th–17th century

Dendrochronology is usually the only method of precise dating of unsigned art objects made on or of wood. It has a long history of application in Europe, however in Russia such an approach is still at an infant stage, despite its cultural importance. Here we present the results of dendrochronological and radiocarbon accelerated mass spectrometry (AMS) dating of three medieval icons from the 15th–17th century that originate from the North of European Russia and are painted on wooden panels made from Scots pines. For each icon the wooden panels were dendrochronologically studied and five to six AMS dates were made. Two icons were successfully dendro-dated whereas one failed to be reliably cross-dated with the existing master tree-ring chronologies, but was dated by radiocarbon wiggle-matching. Wiggle-matching of radiocarbon dates is the most promising method for dating Russian icons in the absence of a dense dendrochronological network. However, for this case uncertainties connected with the radiocarbon method have to be taken into account and further studies of these uncertainties must be undertaken by comparing dendro-dated and radiocarbon-dated wooden works of art. Our results, moreover, showed that in two cases art-historical dates were by five to ten decades older than the earliest possible time of the creation of the icons, based on dendrochronology.     

International Congress of the German Mycological Society,University Hamburg,Sept. 16th–23th 2010

Announcement

International Congress of the German Mycological Society, University Hamburg, Sept. 16th–23th 2010     

Report From the 39th Annual Meeting of the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation, London, 7–10 April 2013

Antifungal prophylaxis reduces the risks of invasive fungal infection (IFI), all-cause mortality and fungal-related mortality in highly immunosuppressed haemato-oncology patients, but questions remain about the role of therapeutic drug monitoring in this patient population. There is also continuing debate concerning the benefits and risks of empirical versus pre-emptive antifungal therapy when breakthrough IFI occurs during prophylaxis. These topics were discussed during the 39th Annual Meeting of the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation, held in London in April 2013.     

Wood use in a medieval village: the contribution of wood charcoal analysis to the history of land use during the 13th and 14th centuries a.d. at Pobla d’Ifach, Calp, Alicante, Spain

Excavations on the Rock of Ifach, Alicante, Spain have revealed the remains of a medieval settlement that flourished between a.d. 1297 and 1359. Wood charcoal analysis combined with archaeological evidence and historical records allow an assessment of the local vegetation of the area during the medieval period, the obtaining and use of firewood and the commercial routes for supplying timber. Pinus halepensis and to a lesser degree various matorral taxa were used for fuel during the main occupation phases at the settlement. The resource exploitation network of the settlement expanded over the adjacent coastal area, with firewood obtained from pine woodlands there. The timbers used in the construction of the settlement were mainly from pines that originated nearby (P. halepensis) or which were transported by river from woodland areas to the north which were controlled by the Crown of Aragon (P. nigra/sylvestris, P. pinaster). The partial destruction of the village in a.d. 1359 and its gradual abandonment are reflected in changes observed in fuel supplying practices that then concentrated on the local matorral vegetation of the rock itself.     

Herbalism, home gardens, and hybridization: Wõthïhã medicine and cultural change

Using the example of the W?th?h? of the Manapiare River Valley, Amazonas State, Venezuela, I challenge the image of the indigenous Amazonian as an expert in herbalism. I argue that the observed absence of medicinal plant use in early W?th?h? ethnography, rather than reflecting researcher oversight, reflects the centrality of shamanism. According to W?th?h? shamanic cosmology, herbal medicines, while useful to relieve symptoms and treat minor injuries, fail to address the underlying cause of illness. Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, I find that as the role and influence of shamanism have dramatically decreased, the W?th?h? have turned elsewhere for medical treatment. Biomedical remedies have shown to be effective, thereby encouraging an acceptance of symptom-specific treatments. Biomedicine's patchy availability, however, has encouraged the W?th?h? to look beyond biomedicine. Several folk healing traditions are being incorporated by the W?th?h?, each with its own herbal tradition.     

Phytochemicals: the good, the bad and the ugly?

Phytochemicals are constitutive metabolites that enable plants to overcome temporary or continuous threats integral to their environment, while also controlling essential functions of growth and reproduction. All of these roles are generally advantageous to the producing organisms but the inherent biological activity of such constituents often causes dramatic adverse consequences in other organisms that may be exposed to them. Nevertheless, such effects may be the essential indicator of desirable properties, such as therapeutic potential, especially when the mechanism of bioactivity can be delineated. Careful observation of cause and effect, followed by a coordinated approach to identify the responsible entities, has proved extremely fruitful in discovering roles for phytochemical constituents. The process is illustrated by selected examples of plants poisonous to animals and include the steroidal alkaloid toxin of Veratrum californicum (Western false hellebore), piperidine alkaloids of Lupinus species (lupines), and polyhydroxy indolizidine, pyrrolizidine and nortropane alkaloids of Astragalus and Oxytropis species (locoweeds), Castanospermum australe (Moreton Bay chestnut) and Ipomoea species (morning glories).     

High consanguinity promotes intergenerational wealth concentration in socioeconomically privileged Krummhörn families of the 18th and 19th centuries

Previous research has demonstrated that consanguineous marriage is a vector for socioeconomic inheritance and for the maintenance of family structure and property. On the basis of reconstituted families from the Krummhörn, Ostfriesland in the 18th and 19th centuries, we examine statistical correlations between ascertained inbreeding coefficients (F) based on family trees and socioeconomic status as well as the intergenerational transmission of landholdings. Semiparametric copula/bivariate regression models with non-random sample selection were applied to estimate F and the proportion of medium (0.0625?>?F?≥?0.0156) or high consanguineous unions (F?≥?0.0625), respectively. Our estimates for F as well as for the proportion of medium (0.0625?>?F?≥?0.0156) or high consanguineous unions (F?≥?0.0625) are significantly higher among socioeconomically privileged large farmer families than among the landless portion of the population. At the same time, our analyses show that a high level of consanguinity is associated with an increased intergenerational transmission of landholdings through the patriline (but not the matriline). We discuss the reproductive consequences of consanguinity among large farmers in connection with local resource competition, intensive kinship, and potential in-law conflicts.