Pre-Columbian alloys from the royal tombs of Sipán; energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence analysis with a portable equipment.

On the north coast of present-day Peru flourished approximately between 50 and 700 AD, the Moche civilization. It was an advanced culture and the Moche were sophisticated metalsmiths, so that they are considered as the finest producers of jewels and artefacts of the region. The Moche metalworking ability was impressively demonstrated by the objects discovered by Walter Alva and coworkers in 1987, in the excavations of the "Tumbas Reales de Sipán". About 50 metal objects from these excavations, now at the namesake Museum, in Lambayeque, north of Peru, were analyzed with a portable equipment using energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence. This portable equipment is mainly composed of a small size X-ray tube and a thermoelectrically cooled X-ray detector. Standard samples of gold and silver alloys were employed for quantitative analysis. It was determined that the analyzed artefacts from the "Tumbas Reales de Sipán" are mainly composed of gold, silver and copper alloys, of gilded copper and of tumbaga, the last being a poor gold alloy enriched at the surface by depletion gilding, i.e. removing copper from the surface.

Gonadal hormones differentially modulate cocaine-induced conditioned place preference in male and female rats.

There is accumulating evidence that suggests there are sex differences in behavioral and subjective responses to cocaine. However, it is not known whether differences in cocaine reward contribute to sex differences in these responses or whether gonadal hormones affect the rewarding properties of cocaine. In the present study, conditioned place preference (CPP), a measure of non-contingent reward, was used to determine the effects of endogenous gonadal hormones and of estrogen and progesterone replacement on cocaine reward. Neurochemical measurements were also taken to identify monoaminergic substrates which underlie the behavioral phenotype. Although both intact and gonadectomized male and female rats showed a significant CPP for cocaine, ovariectomy attenuated the magnitude of CPP. These alterations coincided with a decrease in serum levels of corticosterone. In ovariectomized rats, pretreatment with progesterone inhibited cocaine CPP while estrogen plus progesterone potentiated the magnitude of CPP. Additionally, gonadectomy and ovarian hormone replacement in female rats affected serotonin/dopamine levels and turnover ratios in the ventral tegmental area and nucleus accumbens shell. While no effects of castration were observed, ovariectomy decreased levels of dopamine and serotonin in the ventral tegmental area. In females, progesterone replacement increased levels of serotonin and dopamine in the ventral tegmental area, while estrogen plus progesterone replacement increased dopamine levels in the nucleus accumbens. Collectively, these results indicate that ovarian hormones may influence cocaine reward by altering monoaminergic systems, which, in turn, may contribute to the current sex disparities in overall cocaine use.

Endocrinological basis of sex differences in cocaine-induced behavioral responses.

Currently, 1.8 million Americans use cocaine, 30% of whom are females. Sex differences in the pattern of cocaine abuse may reside in neuroendocrinological modulations that affect the use of and/or dependence on cocaine. This review discusses sex differences in cocaine-induced behavioral and molecular alterations in the central nervous system, with emphasis on the role of endocrine responses in the neuronal modulations of this drug. Mechanisms and data supporting the role of the hypothalamic-gonadal axis in the modulation of cocaine-induced behavioral and molecular alterations are also provided.

Alternative to polyacrylamide gels improves the electrophoretic mobility shift assay.

In this paper we outline a simplified protocol for the electrophoretic mobility shift assay utilizing TreviGel 500, a nontoxic alternative to polyacrylamide. The TreviGel 500 matrix combines the strength and resolution of polyacrylamide with the simplicity and flexibility of agarose in the casting of gels. Therefore, this method provides a simple, rapid and nontoxic alternative to current protocols for the investigation of protein: DNA interactions.