New advances on the Aurignacian in the central Iberian Mediterranean basin

This study aims to obtain a chronological and cultural framework of the Evolved Aurignacian in the central Iberian Mediterranean basin and find agreement between this framework and other sequences of the Iberian southeast. Over the last few years, there has been remarkable progress in the research of the Evolved Aurignacian sites in the Valencian area, making a review of the main characteristics of the technocomplex on a regional scale necessary. The recent fieldwork carried out in Cova de les Malladetes (Valencia) and in Cova de les Cendres (Alicante) have been key to understanding the lithic, osseous and ornament assemblages ascribed to the Evolved Aurignacian. Several Bayesian modelled ages have been constructed from the large dataset of chronological dates obtained at Malladetes and Cendres, as well as in other sites. The Bayesian models have allowed us to chronologically place the characteristics of the analysed assemblages. The present research supports the importance of the Aurignacian as the first technocomplex of the Upper Palaeolithic in this area of the Iberian Peninsula.     

Neumark-Nord 2 – A multiphase Middle Palaeolithic open-air site in the Geisel Valley (Central Germany)

The lake basin Neumark-Nord 2 (NN 2) is located in the Geisel Valley in Saxony-Anhalt (Germany). It was scientifically investigated between 2003 and 2008. The sediment sequence, which is about 10 to 11 m thick, consists of limnic deposits, mostly silts mixed with clays and sands. Sedimentological as well as palynological, malacological and palaeomagnetic investigations, supported by absolute datings, date the entire sequence into the Eemian and Early Weichselian. Within the deposits several archaeological find horizons were discovered. Neumark-Nord 2/2 (NN 2/2) at the beginning of the Eemian and Neumark-Nord 2/0 (NN 2/0) with an early Weichselian were the most important archaeological horizons. Both find horizons represent former lake shore sites, where numerous crushed animal bones and other faunal debris were found, which can be regarded as remains of hunted game. With regard to the rich lithic material, both find horizons differ remarkably. In NN2/2, a simple artefact spectrum with a certain Levallois component and a dominance of denticulated, notched and laterally retouched specimens. In NN 2/0, on the other hand, bifacial tools such as backed knives and sometimes finely retouched scrapers are dominant, while the Levallois component fades completely into the background. Thus, NN 2 is one of the few open-air sites in archaeological landscape of Central German where several middle Palaeolithic find horizons occur in superposition.     

Endocytosis of the non-catalytic ADAM23: Recycling and long half-life properties

A Disintegrin And Metalloprotease 23 (ADAM23) is a member of the ADAMs family of transmembrane proteins, mostly expressed in nervous system, and involved in traffic and stabilization of Kv1-potassium channels, synaptic transmission, neurite outgrowth, neuronal morphology and cell adhesion. Also, ADAM23 has been linked to human pathological conditions, such as epilepsy, cancer metastasis and cardiomyopathy. ADAM23 functionality depends on the molecule presence at the cell surface and along the secretory pathway, as expected for a cell surface receptor. Because endocytosis is an important functional regulatory mechanism of plasma membrane receptors and no information is available about the traffic or turnover of non-catalytic ADAMs, we investigated ADAM23 internalization, recycling and half-life properties. Here, we show that ADAM23 undergoes constitutive internalization from the plasma membrane, a process that depends on lipid raft integrity, and is redistributed to intracellular vesicles, especially early and recycling endosomes. Furthermore, we observed that ADAM23 is recycled from intracellular compartments back to the plasma membrane and thus has longer half-life and higher cell surface stability compared with other ADAMs. Our findings suggest that regulation of ADAM23 endocytosis/stability could be exploited therapeutically in diseases in which ADAM23 is directly involved, such as epilepsy, cancer progression and cardiac hypertrophy.     

腔镜下腺体切除术对早期乳腺癌患者血清免疫球蛋白及TNF-α、IL-10水平变化的影响

摘要 目的：分析腔镜下腺体切除术对早期乳腺癌患者血清免疫球蛋白及TNF-α、IL-10水平的影响,从而对其优势评估。方法：选择2017年2月-2020年2月于本院实施乳腺癌手术患者100例,根据其选择手术方式的不同分为2组：A组（腔镜下腺体切除术,59例）和B组（开放乳房皮下腺体切除术,41例）,分别统计患者手术时间、术后拔管时间以及住院时间;术后1个月,取患者外周血,离心取血清,采用免疫比浊法检测患者血清免疫功能相关指标IgM和IgG含量、采用人酶联免疫吸附实验（ELISA）试剂盒检测患者血清中炎症反应指标TNF-α和IL-10含量、统计术后两组患者出现术野皮下出血、皮下积液、乳头乳晕坏死等并发症的例数;术后一年,统计两组患者出现复发和淋巴结转移等现象的例数。结果：A组患者手术时间显著长于B组,而其拔管时间和住院时间均显著短于B组（P＜0.05）。A组并发症发生率（5.00 %）显著高于B组（25.71%）（P<0.05）。术前1 d,两组患者血清免疫指标IgM和IgG水平和炎症反应指标TNF-α和IL-10水平相比差异无统计学意义（P＞0.05）,而术后3 d~术后1 m,A组患者血清免疫指标IgM和IgG水平以及抗炎因子IL-10水平均显著高于B组,促炎因子TNF-α水平显著低于B组（P＜0.05）。A组患者术后1年内乳腺癌复发率（3.3%）与B组（10.0%）相比差异不具有统计学意义（P＞0.05）。结论：腔镜下腺体切除术治疗早期乳腺癌具有拔管时间以及术后住院时间短、并发症发生率低等优势,其原因可能与该手术对患者血清免疫球蛋白IgM和IgG及炎症因子TNF-α、IL-10水平影响程度较小、术后恢复较快有关。     

Association of polymorphisms in genes involved in enamel formation,taste preference and immune response with early childhood caries in Saudi pre-school children

Dental caries is primarily elicited by modifiable factors such as inadequate oral hygiene, poor dietary practices and deficient fluoride exposure. However, there is a growing body of evidence suggesting the profound influence of genetic factors in dental caries susceptibility. The present study aimed to evaluate the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in ENAM (rs12640848), MMP20 (rs1784418), TAS2R38 (rs713598), and LTF (rs4547741) genes and early childhood caries (ECC) in Saudi preschool children. This case-control study enrolled 360 Saudi preschool children (262 with ECC and 98 caries-free). Data on environmental factors were collected through a questionnaire. However, caries experience and oral hygiene data were obtained during clinical examination. Buccal swab samples were collected for DNA extraction and SNPs were genotyped using PCR and DNA sequencing. Children with ECC were compared to caries free children (control), then they were categorized into two categories based on ECC severity as follows; non-severe ECC (NS-ECC), and severe-ECC (S-ECC). Association between the SNPs, ECC, NS-ECC, and S-ECC was reported as an odds ratio (OR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI). The majority of the children (72.8%) exhibited ECC (31.7% NS-ECC and 41.1% S-ECC) with mean dmft of 4.20 ± 4.05. Multivariate analyses of environmental factors showed that nocturnal feeding was a risk factor for ECC (P = 0.008). Poor oral hygiene was also a risk factor for both NS-ECC and S-ECC (ECC: P < 0.0001, NS-ECC: P = 0.032 and S-ECC: P < 0.0001). Univariate analysis showed that the AG genotype of rs1784418 of MMP20 gene was protective against ECC (OR = 0.532; 95% CI = 0.316–0.897, P = 0.018) and against NS-ECC (OR = 0.436; 95% CI = 0.238–0.798, P = 0.007). When environmental risk factors for ECC were included as covariates during multivariate analysis, AG variant in rs1784418 of MMP20 gene remained less frequent in NS-ECC cases compared to controls with borderline significance (OR = 0.542; 95% CI = 0.285–1.033, P = 0.063). Our findings concluded that MMP20 rs1784418 SNP might be associated with protection against ECC in Saudi preschool children.     

Sometimes They Come Back: Recovery and Reinterpretation of a Trackway Slab from the Permian Coconino Sandstone of the Southwestern United States

When a fossil vanishes to a private collection, it must be considered lost to science because, frequently, it is no longer available for study. Fortunately some fossils occasionally are regained. We had the opportunity to recoup an interesting footprint-bearing slab that was part of a private collection in Italy. The specimen, found in 1992 near Seligman, Arizona (USA) was described, before disappearing, as one of the best fossil examples of vertebrate (Chelichnus [Laoporus])-on-invertebrate (Octopodichnus) predation. After a careful re-examination of the slab, the primary conclusions of the former describers are demonstrably groundless. The reanalysis of the tracks, as well as peculiar sedimentary structures associated with the tracks, allowed obtaining new information about the depositional environment and the complex interactions between the type of substrate and trackmaker behavior. The re-examination of the specimen also revealed interesting aspects about trackmaker biomechanics.     

Next generation mothers: Maternal control of germline development in zebrafish

Abstract

In many animals, factors deposited by the mother into the egg control the earliest events in development of the zygote. These maternal RNAs and proteins play critical roles in oocyte development and the earliest steps of embryogenesis such as fertilization, cell division and embryonic patterning. Here, this article summarizes recent discoveries made on the maternal control of germline specification in zebrafish. Moreover, this review will discuss the major gaps remaining in our understanding of this process and highlight recent technical innovations in zebrafish, which allow tackling some of these questions in the near future.     

The Tetrapod Ichnogenus Protochirotherium Fichter and Kunz 2004, a Characteristic Early Triassic Morphotype of Central Pangea

Early Triassic chirotherian footprint assemblages from Poland, Germany, and Morocco are important for understanding archosaur evolution in the aftermath of the Permian-Triassic crisis. However, their ichnotaxonomy is confusing because various authors have interpreted their diversity differently. After an analysis and ichnotaxonomic re-assessment, the presence of the ichnogenera Brachychirotherium, Isochirotherium, and Chirotherium in these assemblages is not supported. Distant similarities with these ichnotaxa are functions of extra morphological variation and substrate-related factors. Instead, Early Triassic chirotherian footprints described under these names are assigned here to the ichnogenus Protochirotherium and to a more slender morphotype identified as Synaptichnium. In particular, Protochirotherium appears to be more widely distributed in central Pangea as a characteristic morphotype reflecting a distinct stage in archosaur evolution. Trackmakers were nonarchosaurian archosauriforms or, alternatively, stem-group crocodylians. Morphologically and temporally these footprints match the hypothetical ancestor of the Chirotherium barthii trackmaker. Chirotherium barthii appears by the beginning of the Middle Triassic. Because of its restricted stratigraphic range, and its wider distribution in central Pangea, Protochirotherium also has biostratigraphic significance for this region and can be considered as an indicator of Early Triassic-aged strata.     

A Supposed Eupelycosaur Body Impression from the Early Permian of the Intra-Sudetic Basin,Poland

We describe a new specimen of a supposed Paleozoic tetrapod body impression from the Lower Permian S?upiec Formation in the Intra-Sudetic Basin, Poland. The size, integument morphology of belly and part of tail imprints, and the morphology of a well-preserved pes track diagnose the specimen and readily distinguish it from other described specimens of body impressions of Paleozoic tetrapods. The eupelycosaur identity of this new specimen is based on the identification of the footprint Dimetropus leisnerianus (Geinitz, 1863 Geinitz, H. B. 1863. Beiträge zur Kenntnis der organischen Überreste in der Dyas (oder permischen Formation zum Theil) und über den Namen Dyas. Neues Jahrbuch für Mineralogie, Geologie und Paläontologie, : 385–398.  [Google Scholar]), which is connected with the inferred body imprint. The morphology of integument impressions indicates the presence of the various-sized square or rectangular-shaped scales on the bottom part of the belly and tail of this eupelycosaurid trackmaker.