Piotr Wojtal

Subnanoscale hydrophobic modulation of salt bridges in aqueous media

Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Date: 05-2015

DOI: 10.1126/SCIENCE.AAA7532

Abstract: The strength of interactions between ions depends on their solvation environment. Schellman postulated in the 1950s that when aqueous solvated ions approached a hydrophobic surface (such as a parts of a protein surface), interactions between ions would be enhanced. Chen et al. experimentally tested this theory by studying the dissociation of organic ions bonded by salt bridges after the addition of acid. The ion pairs were held by tethers at different distances from hydrophobic surfaces. The salt bridge was stronger when it was closer to the hydrophobic surface. Science , this issue p. 555

Tracing human mobility in central Europe during the Upper Paleolithic using sub-seasonally resolved Sr isotope records in ornaments

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Date: 25-06-2020

DOI: 10.1038/S41598-020-67017-2

Abstract: Mobility of people and goods during the Upper Paleolithic has proven difficult to reconstruct given the relative rareness of remains. Nevertheless, archaeological contexts like the Late Pleistocene horizon of Borsuka Cave (Southern Poland) represent a unique opportunity to explore patterns of objects’ transportation across Central Europe. We investigated the origin of four ornaments made of European elk ( Alces alces L.) incisors recovered at Borsuka Cave – the oldest known burial site in Poland, possibly a child grave. Laser-ablation plasma source mass spectrometric analyses of trace elements and Sr isotopic compositions revealed that one elk was roaming within a geologically uniform area while the others changed their pastures during their lifetimes. The non-local origin of the elk teeth is inferred from their exotic Sr isotopic compositions and the lack of evidence for the presence of elk in this territory during the Pleistocene. Instead, the elks’ Sr isotopic composition show good agreement with sites near the Austria-Slovakia border region and northern Hungary, ~250 km away from the study site. We argue that the artefacts were most likely brought to Borsuka Cave by humans or by a network of exchange, so far never reported in the time range 32.5–28.8 ka cal BP for Southern Poland.

Nonreceding hare lines: genetic continuity since the Late Pleistocene in European mountain hares (Lepus timidus)

Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)

Date: 03-01-2017

DOI: 10.1093/BIOLINNEAN/BLW009

University Of Tokyo

Location: Japan

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Institute Of Systematics And Evolution Of Animals

Location: Poland

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Universität Hohenheim Fakultät Agrarwissenschaften

Location: Germany

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Uniwersytet Jagiellonski W Krakowie Wydzial Biologii I Nauk O Ziemi

Location: Poland

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Institute Of Systematics And Evolution Of Animals, Polish Academy Of Sciences

Location: Poland

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