Medieval women's early involvement in manuscript production suggested by lapis lazuli identification in dental calculus.

During the European Middle Ages, the opening of long-distance Asian trade routes introduced exotic goods, including ultramarine, a brilliant blue pigment produced from lapis lazuli stone mined only in Afghanistan. Rare and as expensive as gold, this pigment transformed the European color palette, but little is known about its early trade or use. Here, we report the discovery of lapis lazuli pigment preserved in the dental calculus of a religious woman in Germany radiocarbon-dated to the 11th or early 12th century. The early use of this pigment by a religious woman challenges widespread assumptions about its limited availability in medieval Europe and the gendered production of illuminated texts.

Mass spectrometric study of three-body ion-molecule clustering reactions of CpHq+ ions with N2 or CH4 in N2-CH4 mixtures.

Thermochemical data for several ion-molecule clustering of hydrocarbon ions with N2 or CH4 were obtained from clustering equilibria studies in gas mixtures irradiated by alpha-particles. High-pressure mass spectrometry was used to determine the enthalpy and entropy changes of clustering (delta H0 and delta S0, respectively) for the reactions X+(N2)n-1 + 2N2 <==> X(+)(N2)n + N2 with X = CH5, n = 1-2; X = C2H5, n = 1-4; and X = C3H7, n = 1. For X = CH5, the values (delta H0; delta S0) are found to be (-6.8 kcal mol-1; -19.7 cal mol-1 K-1) for n = 1, and (-5.3 kcal mol-1; -15.9 cal mol-1 K-1) for n = 2. For X = C2H5, (delta H0; delta S0) = (-6.9 kcal mol-1; -18.2 cal mol-1 K-1), for n = 1, and (-4.6 kcal mol-1; -20.8 cal mol-1 K-1) for n = 2. From the equilibrium measurements at 129 K, estimates of the thermochemical values could be obtained for n = 3-4. The results obtained for the free energy, delta G0, were -1.4 kcal mol-1 for n = 3, and -1.1 kcal mol-1 for n = 4. For X = C3H7 we found delta G0 = -0.7 kcal mol-1 at 213 K. The association reactions X+ + 2CH4 <==> X+(CH4) + CH4 with X = CH5, C2H5, C2H7, and C3H7 were also studied, resulting in free energy values at 206 K of -3.1, -1.9, -0.5 and -1.3 kcal mol-1, respectively. The results for CH5, C2H5 and C3H7 are compared with previously reported measurements.

Measurements in N2-CH4(C2H2) discharges of reaction rates and thermochemical constants for Titan atmosphere study.

The kinetic reactions in N2-xCH4(C2H2) gas discharges with x less than 1% have been studied by emission spectroscopy in the afterglow of D.C. discharges and by mass spectroscopy from radiolysis ionization using alpha particles. The pressure range is from several Torr to 100 Torr. At the end of N2 D.C. discharges at room temperature, for a residence time of about 10(-2) s, the dominant active species are the N atoms with density of 10(14)-10(15) cm-3 for N2 density of about 10(17) cm-3 (3 Torr), the N2(X,V) vibrational molecules with for example [N2(X,V = 10)] approximately 10(14) cm-3 and the electronic metastable molecules N2(A 3 sigma u +) with a density of 10(12) cm-3. In such conditions, the following kinetic reactions have been studied: N2(A) + N2(A) --> N2(C,B,V') + N2(X), N2(A) + N2(X,V>5) --> N2(X) + N2(B,V') in pure N2 post-discharges and N2(A) + CH4 --> products, C + N + M2 --> CN(B,V') + M2, N2(X,V>4) + CN --> N2(X) + CN(B,A,V'), in N2-1% CH4 post-discharges. The clustering reactions of N2-(1-5%)CH4(C2H2) gas mixtures after radiolysis ionization have been studied for the H2CN+ nN2 ions and the equilibrium constants have been determined in the temperature range T = 140-300 K.

Direct evidence of milk consumption from ancient human dental calculus.

Milk is a major food of global economic importance, and its consumption is regarded as a classic example of gene-culture evolution. Humans have exploited animal milk as a food resource for at least 8500 years, but the origins, spread, and scale of dairying remain poorly understood. Indirect lines of evidence, such as lipid isotopic ratios of pottery residues, faunal mortality profiles, and lactase persistence allele frequencies, provide a partial picture of this process; however, in order to understand how, where, and when humans consumed milk products, it is necessary to link evidence of consumption directly to individuals and their dairy livestock. Here we report the first direct evidence of milk consumption, the whey protein ß-lactoglobulin (BLG), preserved in human dental calculus from the Bronze Age (ca. 3000 BCE) to the present day. Using protein tandem mass spectrometry, we demonstrate that BLG is a species-specific biomarker of dairy consumption, and we identify individuals consuming cattle, sheep, and goat milk products in the archaeological record. We then apply this method to human dental calculus from Greenland's medieval Norse colonies, and report a decline of this biomarker leading up to the abandonment of the Norse Greenland colonies in the 15(th) century CE.

Fatal intestinal obstruction in the mentally handicapped.

In a retrospective study of hospital records over a 50-year period, data on 32 patients who died as a result of intestinal obstruction are presented and compared with comparison groups and national mortality statistics. There was a higher incidence and lower mean age at death of fatal intestinal obstruction compared with the total national population. The mean age at death significantly increased over the study period. Intestinal volvulus was a common cause of obstruction particularly in those with cerebral palsy. There was a high prevalence of chronic constipation and megacolon. Foreign-body obstruction was de facto related to pica, but overall, there was a low prevalence of pica. Overall, mean IQ was low, but only significantly so in the male subjects. The length of acute illness was short; in 22 patients it was less than 24 h. Vomiting and abdominal distension were often absent and abdominal signs were recorded only in five patients. Pain or distress was recorded in only nine patients. Only eight patients were correctly diagnosed before death and only two had surgery. The results suggest that fatal intestinal obstruction is more common in mentally handicapped people and chronic constipation and megacolon are risk factors. Intestinal obstruction in mentally handicapped people can present late and with deceptively minimal signs and symptoms.

Epidemiological investigation of patients with vulvovaginal candidosis. Application of a resistogram method for strain differentiation of Candida albicans.

The resistogram method was applied to 420 isolates of Candida albicans obtained from 30 selected patients undergoing treatment for vulvovaginitis. Of these, 16 patients each harboured a particular strain of C. albicans which persisted in the mouth or intestinal tract or both. In three of these patients, this strain persisted in the genital tract, and, in eight patients, it later recolonised the genital tract. Fourteen patients harboured more than one strain of C. albicans: one failed to respond to treatment and continued to harbour the same strain in the genital tract; in five the original strain later recolonised the genital tract and a second strain remained confined to the mouth or intestinal tract or both; and in three a second strain, present in the intestinal tract, later colonised the genital tract. Each of the male partners of seven patients harboured a strain of C. albicans that was identical to the strain, or to one of the strains, that had been isolated from his female partner.