Great Britain: the intertidal and underwater archaeology of Britain’s submerged landscapes

The submerged landscapes around Great Britain are extensive and would have offered productive territory for hunting, gathering, exploitation of aquatic and marine resources, and—in the final stages of postglacial sea-level rise—opportunities for agriculture. They would also have provided land connections to continental Europe and opportunities for communication by sea travel along now-submerged palaeocoastlines and river estuaries. Most of the archaeological material has been discovered in intertidal or shallow water conditions, but there are also discoveries in deeper water, with dates ranging from earliest human presence nearly one million years ago up to the establishment of modern sea level. Some later material is present where coastlines have continued to sink in more recent millennia. Intertidal sites are especially well represented because of relatively large tidal ranges and shallow offshore gradients on many coastlines. These are often associated with remains of submerged forests, which are periodically exposed at low tide and then covered up again by movements of sand. Some of the most distinctive intertidal finds are the human and animal footprints preserved in intertidal sediments in many locations, especially at Goldcliff East. The earliest, at Happisburgh, are dated between 0.78 and 1 Ma. Fully submerged sites include the Mesolithic site of Bouldnor Cliff with its worked timbers, and the Middle Stone Age artefacts from offshore aggregate Area 240 along with well-preserved ice age fauna and environmental indicators. Pioneering work using oil industry seismic records has produced detailed reconstructions of the submerged landscape, and this is being followed up by new work involving targeted acoustic survey and coring of sediments

Homeostatic regulation of the endoneurial microenvironment during development, aging and in response to trauma, disease and toxic insult

The endoneurial microenvironment, delimited by the endothelium of endoneurial vessels and a multi-layered ensheathing perineurium, is a specialized milieu intérieur within which axons, associated Schwann cells and other resident cells of peripheral nerves function. The endothelium and perineurium restricts as well as regulates exchange of material between the endoneurial microenvironment and the surrounding extracellular space and thus is more appropriately described as a blood–nerve interface (BNI) rather than a blood–nerve barrier (BNB). Input to and output from the endoneurial microenvironment occurs via blood–nerve exchange and convective endoneurial fluid flow driven by a proximo-distal hydrostatic pressure gradient. The independent regulation of the endothelial and perineurial components of the BNI during development, aging and in response to trauma is consistent with homeostatic regulation of the endoneurial microenvironment. Pathophysiological alterations of the endoneurium in experimental allergic neuritis (EAN), and diabetic and lead neuropathy are considered to be perturbations of endoneurial homeostasis. The interactions of Schwann cells, axons, macrophages, and mast cells via cell–cell and cell–matrix signaling regulate the permeability of this interface. A greater knowledge of the dynamic nature of tight junctions and the factors that induce and/or modulate these key elements of the BNI will increase our understanding of peripheral nerve disorders as well as stimulate the development of therapeutic strategies to treat these disorders

Henoch-Schonlein Purpura - a Surgical Review

A review of the complications associated with Henoch-Schonlein purpura is presented with particular reference to those requiring surgical management. Gastrointestinal involvement occurred in 105 patients and was complicated by intussuseption in three patients and by perforation in one. Laparotomy was undertaken in 10 patients. Involvement of the scrotum and testis occurred in 29 patients and suggested torsion of the testis on occasion. Renal involvement occurred in 45 patients and was associated with renal impairment in six. Recommendations for the management of surgical complications are discussed

The Making of “on-Chip PCR in Real-Time” for Food Quality Control

Economical, religious, and health reasons demand an accurate control of food in order to protect consumers from falsely labeled products. Meat in particular is easily susceptible to fraudulent labeling, mainly through contamination with species of lower value. New methods and protocols for rapid, sensitive and reliable identification of extraneous species in food are therefore required. The miniaturization and optimization of analytical methodologies are powerful tools in this direction, especially when connected to Lab-on-a-chip (LOC) microdevices. LOCs possess many advantages, such as the reduction of the analysis cost, the possibility to save time and labor, the easiness of use and not last, the possibility to bring a complex technique out of the laboratory. Here we present a new concept for the food quality control, i.e. the use of LOC for the detection of exogenous DNA in meat via on-chip PCR in real-time. LOC surfaces were treated with different coatings in order to optimize the DNA extraction directly from meat homogenates (bovine, pork, horse). On the same LOC used for DNA purification, we set up the on-chip PCR with real-time detection. Over 1,000 beef genomes, up to 0.01 horse or pork genomes were successfully detected in binary mixtures of pre-purified DNA and similarly, up to 0.01 % parts of exogenous meat were detected in binary mixtures of meat homogenates. The successful on-chip detection of exogenous DNA is a promising step toward the production of an effective microdevice for rapid, sensitive, and reliable identification of meat adulteration

Molecular and cellular analysis of basement membrane invasion by human breast cancer cells in Matrigel-based in vitro assays

In vitro analyses of basement membrane invasiveness employing Matrigel (a murine tumor extract rich in basement membrane components) have been performed on human breast cancer model systems. Constitutive invasiveness of different human breast cancer (HBC) cell lines has been examined as well as regulation by steroid hormones, growth factors, and oncogenes. Carcinoma cells exhibiting a mesenchymal-like phenotype (vimentin expression, lack of cell border associated uvomorulin) show dramatically increased motility, invasiveness, and metastatic potential in nude mice. These findings support the hypothesis that epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT)-like events may be instrumental in the metastatic progression of human breast cancer. The MCF-7 subline MCF-7ADR appears to have undergone such a transition. The importance of such a transition may be reflected in the emergence of vimentin expression as an indicator of poor prognosis in HBC. Matrix degradation and laminin recognition are highlighted as potential targets for antimetastatic therapy, and analyses of laminin attachment and the matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) family in HBC cell lines are summarized. Matrigel-based assays have proved useful in the study of the molecular mechanisms of basement membrane invasiveness, their regulation in HBC cells, and their potential as targets for antimetastatic therapy