Porotic hyperostosis and cribra orbitalia in samples from the Late Hillfort Period sites at Detkovice - Za zahradama (district Prostejov) and Vídenská street (district Brno), Czech Republic.

Porotic hyperostosis and cribra orbitalia are pathological changes occurring on the human skull. These changes were observed and evaluated on skeletal remains from Detkovice - Za zahradama and Vídenská Street in Brno; both sites are dated back to the 10th to 12th centuries AD. A total of 605 subjects were assessed for age, sex, and the above-stated pathologies using standard methods. The influence of age and sex on the occurrence of these pathologies was examined statistically. Results indicated that at the site of Detkovice - Za zahradama, porotic hyperostosis, and cribra orbitalia do not depend on sex or age. However, at Vídenská Street in Brno, these pathologies do not depend on sex, but they depend on age so a higher incidence of pathologies in juveniles is observed. Differences between both sites could be caused by different numbers of evaluated individuals or different state of preservation of skeletal remains. The aetiology of the origin of these pathologies could not be determined by the methodology used here, but with the prevailing lower age of pathological subjects, a lack of nutrition with consequent absence of iron and developing anaemia might be the cause. Based on our statistical data, we can observe that the pathologies we studied occur more frequently in children older than newborns and younger infants. This may indicate that these studied pathologies arise only during the lifetime of the individual and do not have a prenatal occurrence.

Secret Recipe Revealed: Chemical Evaluation of Raw Colouring Mixtures from Early 19th Century Moravia.

An archaeological excavation in Prostejov (Czech Republic) revealed a workshop of a local potter with colourless, pink, and blue powders presumably used to produce faience/surface decoration. A comprehensive analytical study, which combined elemental and molecular analysis techniques, was performed to shed light on the chemical composition of these unique findings. Scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM EDX), inductively coupled-plasma mass spectrometry (ICP MS), flow injection analysis (FIA) with electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry (ESI MS), laser desorption ionisation mass spectrometry (LDI MS), and Raman spectroscopy were applied to reveal the elemental composition of the powders and identify the colouring agents in the pink and blue powders. The colouring agents in the pink powder were probably iron and the agent in the blue powder is Prussian blue. On top of that, it was also possible to determine the organic additives in these powders through pyrolysis gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection (Py GC/MS), atmospheric solids analysis probe ion mobility mass spectrometry (ASAP IM MS), and LDI MS. The organic constituents were identified as plant resin, beeswax, and fats. These results point to the preparation of faience/pigment mixtures as oil paint.

YAP:CE SCINTILLATOR APPLICATION FOR 241AM COUNTING IN WOUND INJURY.

YAP:Ce scintillation probe was tested for use in a spectrometric measurement that is necessary to assess the internal dose in case of wound injuries involving radionuclide contaminant. A technique with metal filters published in the past for the determination of a depth of plutonium-contaminated wound was tested to verify the capability of the scintillator to be used for gamma-ray spectrometry counting of 241Am in a wound injury. Scintillation probe equipped with YAP:Ce scintillator showed properties sufficient for the wound counting technique tested.

APPARATUS FOR LOCALIZATION AND DOSIMETRY OF WOUNDS WITH RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINATION.

Disasters involving radioactive materials are one of the most dangerous accidents a living organism can be exposed to. Individuals and first responders are in risk during accidents or interventions, due to radioactive debris impact, due to the use of depleted uranium ammunition or a malevolent act against individuals. Moreover, radioactive contamination of wounds causes internal exposure in the body and standard decontamination procedures cannot be applied. In order to deal with such situations, we are developing a measurement system consisting of a robotic arm, an array of various detectors and a corresponding methodology, which allows quantifying timely the spatial distribution of contamination and the radiation dose for the adequate medical response. The aim of this publication is to the present current status of the development of the described apparatus.

First Evidence of "Earth Wax" Inside the Casting Molds from the Roman Era.

This research was focused on the analysis of material composition and organic residues present in three molds found in the Moravian region (Czech Republic) belonging to the Roman era. X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy pointed out the possible remelting of Roman objects in Barbarian territory. The analysis of organic residues retrieved from the internal part of mold #2 by pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry proved the presence of ozokerite wax ("earth wax"). Consequent analysis of this organic residue by Atmospheric Solids Analysis Probe-ion mobility spectrometry-high-resolution mass spectrometry (ASAP-IMS-HRMS) confirmed the presence of ceresin, the main component of ozokerite. Ceresin was also detected in a sample of the organic residue from mold #1. Note that this is the first application of ASAP-IMS-HRMS in archaeological research. The remains of earth wax in molds suggest the production of wax models as an intermediate stage for the production of lost-wax ceramic casting molds.

Low Radon Cleanroom for Underground Laboratories.

Aim of a low radon cleanroom technology is to minimize at the same time radon, radon decay products concentration and aerosol concentration and to minimize deposition of radon decay products on the surfaces. The technology placed in a deep underground laboratory such as LSM Modane with suppressed muon flux and shielded against external gamma radiation and neutrons provides "Zero dose" space for basic research in radiobiology (validity of the LNT hypothesis for very low doses) and for the fabrication of nanoelectronic circuits to avoid undesirable "single event effects." Two prototypes of a low radon cleanroom were built with the aim to achieve radon concentration lower than 100 mBq·m3 in an interior space where only radon-free air is delivered into the cleanroom technology from a radon trapping facility. The first prototype, built in the laboratory of SÚRO Prague, is equipped with a standard filter-ventilation system on the top of the cleanroom with improved leakproofness. In an experiment, radon concentration of some 50 mBq·m-3 was achieved with the filter-ventilation system switched out. However, it was not possible to seal the system of pipes and fans against negative-pressure air leakage into the cleanroom during a high volume ventilation with the rate of 3,500 m3·h-1. From that reason more sophisticated second prototype of the cleanroom designed in the LSM Modane uses the filter-ventilation system which is completely covered in a further improved leakproof sealed metal box placed on the top of the cleanroom. Preliminary experiments carried out in the SÚRO cleanroom with a high radon activity injection and intensive filter-ventilation (corresponding to room filtration rate every 13 s) showed extremely low radon decay products equilibrium factor of 0.002, the majority of activity being in the form of an "unattached fraction" (nanoparticles) of 218Po and a surface deposition rate of some 0.05 mBq·m-2·s-1 per Bq·m-3. Radon exhalation from persons may affect the radon concentration in a low radon interior space. Balance and time course of the radon exhalation from the human body is therefore discussed for persons that are about to enter the cleanroom.

ACTIVITY OF 137CS IN HUMAN BODY OF INHABITANTS OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC.

The time course of 137Cs activity in general population of the Czech Republic has been systematically followed since the Chernobyl accident in 1986. Either whole body counting or the determination of 137Cs content in 24-hour urine samples were used as a method of determination of body activity. Environmental and effective half-lives were calculated from the data. In the time period from 1986 to 1990 the effective half-life was 1.3 years; since 1990 up to present the half-life is 15 years. The older data on whole body activity of 137Cs from 1965 to 1985 were compiled and are presented as well. Apart from the general population, a group of people who have special dietary habits in terms of increased game meat consumption, namely wild boar meat, has been monitored since 2000. In this group, the body content of 137Cs is about two orders of magnitude higher than in the general population.

Determination of Milk Products in Ceramic Vessels of Corded Ware Culture from a Late Eneolithic Burial.

In this study, a soil from two ceramic vessels belonging to Corded Ware culture, 2707⁻2571 B.C., found in a cremation grave discovered in Central Moravia, Czech Republic, was analyzed using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization⁻mass spectrometry (MALDI⁻MS) combined with advanced statistical treatment (principal component analysis, PCA, and orthogonal projection to latent structures discriminant analysis, OPLS-DA) and by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). MALDI⁻MS revealed the presence of triacylglycerols in both vessels. This analytical technique was used for the analysis of the soil content from archaeological ceramic vessels for the first time. Targeted ELISA experiments consequently proved the presence of milk proteins in both ceramic vessels. These results represent the first direct evidence of the use of milk or dairy products in the Eneolithic period in Moravian Corded Ware Culture and help to better understand the diet habits and living conditions of Eneolithic populations in Central Europe.

Mitochondrial genomes reveal an east to west cline of steppe ancestry in Corded Ware populations.

From around 4,000 to 2,000 BC the forest-steppe north-western Pontic region was occupied by people who shared a nomadic lifestyle, pastoral economy and barrow burial rituals. It has been shown that these groups, especially those associated with the Yamnaya culture, played an important role in shaping the gene pool of Bronze Age Europeans, which extends into present-day patterns of genetic variation in Europe. Although the genetic impact of these migrations from the forest-steppe Pontic region into central Europe have previously been addressed in several studies, the contribution of mitochondrial lineages to the people associated with the Corded Ware culture in the eastern part of the North European Plain remains contentious. In this study, we present mitochondrial genomes from 23 Late Eneolithic and Bronze Age individuals, including representatives of the north-western Pontic region and the Corded Ware culture from the eastern part of the North European Plain. We identified, for the first time in ancient populations, the rare mitochondrial haplogroup X4 in two Bronze Age Catacomb culture-associated individuals. Genetic similarity analyses show close maternal genetic affinities between populations associated with both eastern and Baltic Corded Ware culture, and the Yamnaya horizon, in contrast to larger genetic differentiation between populations associated with western Corded Ware culture and the Yamnaya horizon. This indicates that females with steppe ancestry contributed to the formation of populations associated with the eastern Corded Ware culture while more local people, likely of Neolithic farmer ancestry, contributed to the formation of populations associated with western Corded Ware culture.

Ingestion intakes of 137Cs by the Czech population: Comparison of different approaches.

Ingestion intakes of 137Cs of the Czech population were calculated in two different ways - either from the measured activity of 137Cs in components of food in combination with statistical data about consumption rates or from retention of 137Cs in the human body obtained by whole body counting or calculated from daily urinary excretion of 137Cs. Data from the time period since 1986 to 2015 are used. The daily ingestion intake was about 25 Bq d-1 in 1986 and is around 0.1 Bq d-1 at present. Both approaches of ingestion intake calculation have their advantages and disadvantages. Ingestion intake calculated from 137Cs body content was assumed to be the most accurate as it requires fewer assumptions than the calculation from food consumption. However, calculation of 137Cs intake from food consumption is an important tool for prediction doses after the release of radionuclides into environment. The best agreement exceeding the intakes from urine measurement 5 times at maximum was achieved when intakes calculated from food also included products from the natural environment. Without this, the ingestion intake could be under-predicted seriously up to 6 times, especially in the longer time after the release of 137Cs into environment. Ingestion intakes up to 11 Bq d-1 in a group of people with significant consumption of game meat containing elevated activity of 137Cs activity were included as a special case. Various groups of foodstuffs had varying effects on the total committed effective dose from 137Cs. Dose estimates for the Czech population from 137Cs ingestion intake achieved 80 µSv in 1986 and not more than 2 µSv currently and were similar to those incurred by the population of neighbouring countries.

MONTE CARLO CALIBRATION OF THE WHOLE-BODY COUNTING DETECTION SYSTEM FOR IN VIVO MEASUREMENT OF PEOPLE INTERNALLY CONTAMINATED WITH 90SR.

This work is focused on numerical calibrations of the body counter for in vivo measurement of pure beta emitters through the produced bremsstrahlung radiation. Calibrations were performed using the UPh-02T block whole-body phantom and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) realistic torso phantom. Neither of these physical phantoms is appropriate for such calibrations; therefore, specific 90Sr sources have been manufactured to be used with the UPh-02T phantom for experimental measurement followed with Monte Carlo (MC) simulations. Calibrations with the LLNL torso phantom were carried out solely using MC technique. Different scenarios of the 90Sr distribution in the human tissues were considered for the spectrometer calibrations. MC simulations with the LLNL confirmed the applicability of the UPh-02T with specific 90Sr/90Y sources for experimental calibrations of the body counters for measurement of pure beta emitters. Differences in count rates in 50-200 keV for UPh-02T and LLNL were not >25% for all considered scenarios.