Dental health status of the medieval silver-mining community from Kutná Hora (Czech Republic, 13th-16th c.): Impact of socioeconomic changes and mortality crises.

Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate the pathological conditions in teeth from skeletal remains found in the medieval burial ground at Kutná Hora (13th-16th centuries, Czech Republic). We focused on the effect on dental health of socioeconomic changes associated with the boom in silver mining at the site.

Design: In this study, dental caries and antemortem tooth loss were recorded for 469 sexed adults (10,558 permanent teeth).

Protocol matters: A need for standardized procedure in cementochronology.

Cementochronology has long been associated in the literature with a high correlation between chronological and estimated age, and low differences between the two ages. The excessive accuracy was rather suspicious, and the method did not even appear in common forensic practice. An important step towards more widespread use of the method is the need to standardize work procedures, including indexes for recording the quality of cementum, preparation of thin sections and the age calculation.

Early medieval diet in childhood and adulthood and its reflection in the dental health of a Central European population (Mikulčice, 9-10 centuries, Czech Republic).

Objectives: The aim of this study is to provide a detailed view of dental health in relationship to the diet of the Great Moravian population, with emphasis on childhood diet.

Design: We studied skeletal samples of the early medieval population of the Mikulčice agglomeration (Czech Republic) originating from the cemetery of the church VI (91 adults). Stable isotope analysis of carbon and nitrogen (intra-individual sampling - tooth and bone) was performed on this material, and dental characteristics (carious lesions, intensity of caries (I-CE), dental wear, linear enamel hypoplasia) evaluated.

Reactions of green lizards (Lacerta viridis) to major repellent compounds secreted by Graphosoma lineatum (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae).

The chemical defence of Heteroptera is primarily based on repellent secretions which signal the potential toxicity of the bug to its predators. We tested the aversive reactions of green lizards (Lacerta viridis) towards the major compounds of the defensive secretion of Graphosoma lineatum, specifically: (i) a mixture of three aldehydes: (E)-hex-2-enal, (E)-oct-2-enal, (E)-dec-2-enal; (ii) a mixture of these three aldehydes and tridecane; (iii) oxoaldehyde: (E)-4-oxohex-2-enal; (iv) secretion extracted from metathoracic scent glands of G. lineatum adults and (v) hexane as a non-polar solvent.

Influence of Trichobilharzia regenti (Digenea: Schistosomatidae) on the defence activity of Radix lagotis (Lymnaeidae) Haemocytes.

Radix lagotis is an intermediate snail host of the nasal bird schistosome Trichobilharzia regenti. Changes in defence responses in infected snails that might be related to host-parasite compatibility are not known. This study therefore aimed to characterize R.

Urban-rural differences in stature in the population of medieval Bohemia.

This study explores differences in stature and their diachronic trends between the urban and rural medieval populations of Bohemia. We estimated stature from the lengths of the long bones of subjects living in Prague (urban) and rural areas of present Czech territory. Our results indicate the absence of significant urban/rural differences in stature in the population living between the 11th and 14th century.