Križna jama is a large river cave located between Loško and Cerkniško poljes under Križna gora Mount in southern Slovenia. It has been known since the mid-19thcentury due to numerous cave bear ...finds. The cave is filled by complicated sequences of cave fluvial and lacustrine sediments, whichare recently partly eroded. We studied two paleontological excavations and profiles in the Medvedji rov to contribute to the solution of dating of bone-bearing lithological horizons. The Križna jama I profile consists of alternation of speleothem layers (flowstone sheets withsmall stalagmites, sometimes within situ cemented Ursus gr. spelaeus bones) and fine-grained siliciclastics often withbones of cave bear. It can be correlated withthe upper part of the Križna jama II profile, but witha slightly less preserved stratigraphic record. Radiocarbon and U-series dates clearly indicate two different ages of cave bear thanatocenoses in the Križna jama I profile: those above flowstone crusts were dated to ca. 47–45 ka by radiocarbon dating; those included in speleothem layers and clay interbeds are older than 94 ka (U-series date). The details of internal lithology, low thicknesses of layers and the state of bone preservation exclude expected sandwiching of younger layers into eroded/washed spaces among flowstones. Numerical dating excludes re-deposition of bear bones from older assemblage to sediments above flowstones. According to the paleomagnetic parameters (prevailing normal polarization), the deposition took place within the Brunhes Chron (< 780 ka). There were discovered in total four short-lived reverse excursions of the magnetic field. According to U-series data, the upper one (profile I) might be correlated withthe Blake excursion. The lower ones are older than ca 190 ka and can be correlated withsome of the Jamaica-Pringle Falls, Namaku, Calabrian Ridge, Portuguese margin or Calabrian Ridge 1 excursions. Sediments in studied profiles were deposited during the Last Glacial (Weichselian), Eemian interglacial, Saalian glacial and Holsteinian interglacial.
Abstract Our knowledge on altered neurological control of walking due to weakness of various muscle groups of the lower extremities is limited. The aim of this study was to assess kinematic, kinetic ...and electromyographic (EMG) walking patterns in a functionally homogeneous group of seven subjects with spinal muscular atrophy, type III (SMA group) and compare them with normal data obtained from nine healthy subjects (CONTROL group) in order to identify characteristic compensatory changes. Muscle strength at the ankle and knee joints was assessed using isokinetic dynamometry to determine variability in muscle strength: this was found to be similar in the two groups. Kinematic, kinetic and EMG patterns were assessed during walking in the SMA and CONTROL groups. The results showed changes in the activity of ankle plantarflexors and associated control of the center of pressure during loading response and midstance, which facilitated minimization of the external flexion moment acting on the knee and hip in the SMA group. Additionally, we identified distinct and consistent changes in the control of hip rotators that act to rapidly extend the hip early in stance phase and in the control of contralateral hip abductors that act delay weight shift onto the leg entering the stance phase. From these results we can conclude that the most important muscle groups compensating for reduced strength in knee and hip muscles are the ankle plantarflexors, hip rotators and hip abductors. This finding would have direct application in rehabilitation treatment programs.
Clastic and chemogenic cave sediments were sampled and analyzed from Račiška pečina and Pečina v Borštu caves of southwestern Slovenia. Samples were subjected to both thermal and alternating field ...demagnetization; specimens belonging to the same sample of the same layer produce identical results. Unblocking temperatures of 540 to 560°C on average suggests magnetite as the principal carrier of magnetization. These directions also pass a reversals test indicating the demagnetization results are free of secondary overprints and have adequately averaged out paleosecular variation. Normally magnetized clays containing fauna belonging to the MN17 mammal biozone at a depth of ∼ 4 m in Račiška pecina cave indicate these clays were deposited at the beginning of the Olduvai subchron (1.95 Ma). Correlation with the Geomagnetic Polarity Time Scale (GPTS) indicates the base of the speleothems in Račiška pečina terminate in the upper part of subchron C2An.3n with numerous breaks in deposition, lasting up to 250 ka and more. Therefore rates of speleothem growth cannot be calculated. Fold tests on dome-like stalagmites of differing sizes and ages (Pleistocene, Pliocene) from the two caves indicate the domelike structures are primary.
The second book in the new collection Karstology in Development Challenges in the Karst brings together the findings obtained in planning and construction of motorways in the Karst. More than 350 new ...caves were opened up in the final wave of construction. This was followed by studies on arranging karstic features for tourism and their management. We also selected studies on karstic ecology, in which we made use of biological and microbiological research. At the end there is a summary of everything we need to take into account in planning different encroachments in karstic areas.
South China Karst 1 Chuxing, Huang; Gabrovšek, Franci; Zupan Hajna, Nadja ...
1998
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The book is a results of the scientific co-operation between the Karst Research Institute at ZRC SAZU, the Yunnan Institute of Geography and Institute of Geology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. ...The researches were carried out near Liupanshui, the western part of Guizhou, in karst between the mountains in Guizhou and Yunnan Plateau, in the area of Lunan stone forests and in cone-karst at Xichou, Yunnan. General characteristics of the areas, lithological and structural properties, geomorphological, speleological and hydrogeological characteristics are presented, as well as various types of land use and their environmental impacts.
Raloxifene is a selective estrogen receptor (ER) modulator (SERM) used for the treatment of osteoporosis. However, its efficacy and also its safety vary greatly among treated patients, and it might ...be influenced by the individuals' genetic background. As the receptor activator of the nuclear factor κB (RANK) ligand (RANKL)/RANK/osteoprotegerin (OPG) system is essential for osteoclastogensis and Wnt signaling pathway for osteoblastogenesis, we decided to evaluate the raloxifene treatment in regard to selected polymorphisms in key genes of these two main bone regulatory pathways.
Fifty-six osteoporotic postmenopausal women treated with raloxifene were genotyped for 11 polymorphisms located in six genes: -290C>T, -643C>T, and -693G>C in tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily member 11 (TNFSF11), +34694C>T, +34901G>A, and +35966insdelC in tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily member 11A (TNFRSF11A), K3N and 245T>G in tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily member 11B (TNFRSF11B), A1330V in LRP5, I1062V in LRP6, and -1397_-1396insGGA in SOST. For evaluation of treatment efficacy, bone mineral density (BMD) and biochemical markers of bone turnover were measured.
One-year change in total hip BMD was associated with +34901G>A in TNFRSF11A (p=0.040), whereas, for lumbar spine BMD, the association was shown for -1397_-1396insGGA in SOST (p=0.015). C-terminal crosslinking telopeptides of type I collagen (CTX) concentrations showed significant association with -643C>T single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in TNFSF11 (p=0.049) and +34694C>T in TNFRSF11A (p=0.022). No other association was found between 1-year change in BMDs or biochemical markers and the studied SNPs.
We have shown that, in postmenopausal osteoporotic women treated with raloxifene, the efficacy of raloxifene treatment might be influenced by +34901G>A in TNFRSF11A gene and -1397_-1396insGGA in the SOST gene as well as -643C>T in TNFSF11 gene and +34694C>T in TNFRSF11A gene. However, these findings need additional functional and clinical confirmation for potential pharmacogenetic use in the future.
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