Interpreting the structure of Gailiūnai 2 and Varėnė 2: Two different cases of Late Mesolithic campsite organisation in southeast Lithuania

VIRVELINĖS KERAMIKOS KULTŪRA LIETUVOJE 2800–2400 cal BC

This article explores the Late Bronze Age agrarian intensification in the south-east Baltic. In recent years several studies have illustrated that to date there is no solid evidence on Neolithic farming and that the agricultural history of the region was probably distinctly different in comparison to other parts of northern Europe. The recently excavated Kukuliskiai settlement (887–406 cal bc) in coastal Lithuania provides new data, which contribute to the discussion on the development of early farming in the south-east Baltic. Archaeobotanical analysis revealed that local Late Bronze Age communities cultivated a wide range of cereals and pulses, with consumption of wild plants being of minor importance. We also report the earliest finds of Lens culinaris in the region and the earliest AMS 14C dates on grains of Vicia faba and Avena sp. The composition of botanical assemblages also has some indications of manuring and landscape maintenance, presenting a possibility of permanent fields. Finally, we suggest that adoption and intensification of farming alongside other social, economic and technological innovations could have reached the region from the Nordic and Lusatian cultures via the Baltic Sea communication network.

The Pech-de-l'Azé I Neandertal child: ESR, uranium-series, and AMS 14C dating of its MTA type B context

Background Invasive Lobular carcinomas (ILC) comprise a histologically and biologically diverse group of breast cancers. While classic invasive lobular carcinomas (ICLCs) are typically characterized by cohesive, infiltrative growth and immune-excluded microenvironments, pleomorphic invasive lobular carcinomas (IPLCs) display more aggressive behavior. Based on our previous findings of differential CAF cell densities in five phenotypes between CLCs and PLCs, we aimed to investigate the spatial relationships and distribution patterns within these phenotypes, as the spatial organization of fibroblasts and immune cells in these histologic subtypes remains underexplored. Methods We performed high-dimensional multiplex immunofluorescence (mIF) spatial analysis on 12 cases of ILC (IPLCs: cases 7–12; ICLCs: cases 13–18). A comprehensive fibroblast-focused panel (including FAP, S100A4, Thy1, A-SMA) and immune markers (CD45) were used to characterize tumor (CK+), fibroblast, and immune compartments. Spatial clustering and neighborhood analysis were conducted using the Spatial Image Analysis of Tissues (SPIAT) R package v 4.5.1, to define the microenvironmental architecture. Results IPLCs demonstrated marked spatial heterogeneity, with fragmented CK+ tumor regions interspersed among stromal and immune elements. Fibroblast landscapes in IPLCs were notably diverse, featuring abundant hybrid subtypes (e.g., S100+Thy1+, A-SMA+FAP+) and frequent tumor-stroma integration within shared neighborhoods. These dynamic fibroblast populations supported active extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling, potentially facilitating invasion and contributing to partial immune engagement. CD45+ immune cells were consistently more prominent in IPLCs, forming discrete immune-enriched clusters and mixed neighborhoods, suggesting an immune-intermediate or partially inflamed phenotype. In contrast, ICLCs displayed large, cohesive CK+ tumor regions with minimal fragmentation and low spatial heterogeneity. Fibroblast subtypes were simpler and predominantly peripherally distributed, and they rarely formed hybrid phenotypes. The stroma primarily acted as structural support, with limited ECM remodeling and minimal immune modulation. CD45+ cells were sparse and diffusely scattered, consistent with an immune-excluded (“cold”) microenvironment. Conclusions While descriptive, our data reveal profound differences in the spatial microenvironments of IPLC and ICLCs. IPLCs exhibit a dynamic, heterogeneous stroma characterized by integrated fibroblast-tumor interactions and increased immune infiltration, aligning with their aggressive clinical behavior. In contrast, ICLCs maintain a cohesive tumor architecture with simplified, peripheral stroma and sparse immune presence. These insights highlight the significance of spatial context as an innovative and informative strategy in comprehending ILC biology and suggest that stromal and immune features may inform therapeutic strategies, including potential vulnerability to stroma- or immune-targeted interventions in IPLCs Citation Format: E. N. Barrientos-Toro, R. Pandurengan, H. Batra, Q. Ding, A. Contreras, A. A. Sahin, C. Haymaker, M. G. Raso. A Novel Spatial Profiling Approach Reveals Distinct Fibroblast and Immune Architectures in Invasive Pleomorphic versus Classic Lobular Carcinomas [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium 2025; 2025 Dec 9-12; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2026;32(4 Suppl):Abstract nr PS3-12-21.

In 2010, a submerged Late Mesolithic settlement site was discovered near the hamlet of Falden during a week-long archaeological dive survey of Helnaes Bay, Denmark. The survey was carried out as part of a training exercise, funded by the SPLASHCOS network. The discovery was a rare occurrence in recent years because priority has been given to rescue investigation of sites affected by the threat of erosion or otherwise potentially destructive modern development. This was not the case at Falden. Two short field seasons subsequent to the site’s discovery (2011–2012) yielded a large inventory of worked flint, faunal remains and various other archaeological materials. The site is presented here within a larger discussion surrounding issues in training and capacity building, as well as management and research strategies concerned with prehistoric underwater cultural heritage. The fieldwork was based on methods used for many years by Langelands Museum as part of a combined survey and public outreach programme, with the additional integration of SPLASHCOS participants, mainly Early Stage Researchers. The lessons learned during this integrated dual-purpose capacity-building and archaeological research mission serve as a valuable experience for a proposed training centre with the aim of providing the opportunity for researchers and practitioners of underwater archaeology to gain the necessary experience to properly undertake research and advise (or themselves become) competent authorities working in underwater heritage management.

The article is dedicated to the application of AMS 14C dating method of cremated bones and samples of related charcoal, which is rather new for the East Baltic region. The data of 3 Western Balts cemeteries from Lithuania are analysed. Results of radiocarbon dating are compared to the estimated typological chronology of the artefacts. The OxCal simulation is applied in order to obtain the most probable dates. The study lays the foundation for further spatial and static analysis of selected data.

The sedimentary legacy of a palaeo-ice stream on the shelf of the southern Bellingshausen Sea: Clues to West Antarctic glacial history during the Late Quaternary

The Ninety-east Ridge (NER) is located in the southern Bay of Bengal in the northeast Indian Ocean and is composed of pelagic and hemipelagic sediments. In addition to contributions from marine biomass, the ridge also contains terrestrially sourced sedimentary material. However, considerable disagreement remains regarding the origin of these terrestrial materials and transport pathways. This paper discusses the collection of seafloor surface sediments and three sediment cores recovered from the northern region of the NER, as well as the analysis of clay minerals, Sr-Nd isotopes, and sediment grain size. The ages of the three core sediments are constrained by AMS 14C dating to better establish the source and transport pathways of the terrestrial materials within NER sediments over the past 35000 years. The research results show that the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is the predominate source of terrigenous sedimentary material in the NER. In the plateau, the crustal materials were weathered and stripped and then transported to the Andaman Sea via the Irrawaddy River. From there, the material was transported westward by monsoon-driven circulation to the northernmost part of the NER before being transported to the south for final deposition. This transport mode has changed little over the past 35000 years. However, during the rapidly changing climate of the Younger Dryas (12.9~11.5 ka BP), there were some variations in the input amount, grain size, and Sr-Nd isotope value of the source material. The above conclusions are significant for re-evaluating the source of terrigenous sediments, the temporal and spatial changes in transport modes, and the sensitivity of the NER to climatic shifts.

This study collected long-term airborne lead concentrations in the Korean peninsula and analyzed their temporal, spatial, and cancer risk characterization. Approximately, 12,000 airborne samples of total suspended particulate (TSP) were collected from 30 ambient air monitoring stations in inland (Daegu, Daejeon, Gwangju, and Seoul) cities and portal cities (Incheon, Busan, and Ulsan) over a period of 7 years (2004-2010). High volume air samplers were employed to collect daily TSP samples during the second week of the consecutive months throughout the entire study period. The concentrations of Pb extracted from the TSP samples were analyzed using either inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission or flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The long-term high mean Pb concentrations were observed in the port cities including Incheon (88 ± 18 ng/m(3)), Ulsan (61 ± 7 ng/m(3)), and Busan (58 ± 6 ng/m(3)). In the temporal analysis, seasonal mean Pb levels were relatively higher in winter and spring than those in summer and fall. In the spatial analysis, the mean Pb levels in spring, winter, and fall from Incheon, which showed the highest seasonal concentrations except summer, were 110 ± 19, 101 ± 18, and 76 ± 23 ng/m(3), respectively. In summer, the highest seasonal mean Pb level was observed in the largest industrial city and the second port city, Ulsan (78 ± 15 ng/m(3)), followed by Incheon (65 ± 13 ng/m(3)). The estimated excess cancer risk analysis showed that inhalation of Pb could result in cancer for one or two persons per million of population in the Korean peninsula.

When a beam emitted from an active monostatic sensor system sweeps across a volume, the echoes from scatterers present will fluctuate from ping to ping due to various interference phenomena and statistical processes. Observations of these fluctuations can be used, in combination with models, to infer properties of the scatterers such as numerical density. Modeling the fluctuations can also help predict system performance and associated uncertainties in expected echoes. This tutorial focuses on "physics-based statistics," which is a predictive form of modeling the fluctuations. The modeling is based principally on the physics of the scattering by individual scatterers, addition of echoes from randomized multiple scatterers, system effects involving the beampattern and signal type, and signal theory including matched filter processing. Some consideration is also given to environment-specific effects such as the presence of boundaries and heterogeneities in the medium. Although the modeling was inspired by applications of sonar in the field of underwater acoustics, the material is presented in a general form, and involving only scalar fields. Therefore, it is broadly applicable to other areas such as medical ultrasound, non-destructive acoustic testing, in-air acoustics, as well as radar and lasers.

We calculated the electronic structures of ferroelectric PbTiO3 using the discrete variational Xα cluster method. From our investigation of the π bond between the titanium ion and the oxygen ion, we found that the role of lead ions is to bring about a spatial change in the oxygen 2p orbital by covalent interaction between oxygen 2p and lead 6s orbitals. This change favours titanium ion displacement. Moreover, from the investigation of the σ bond, we found that the role of the Madelung potential is to cause the spatial changes in the titanium orbitals; the long-range Coulomb interaction causes a stronger σ bond. We conclude that the origins of ferroelectricity in PbTiO3 are (i) the spatial change in the oxygen 2p orbital due to covalent interaction between oxygen 2p and lead 6s orbitals and (ii) the spatial changes in the titanium orbitals due to the Madelung potential.

Amorphous solid dispersions (ASDs) are formulations with enhanced drug solubility and dissolution rate compared to their crystalline counterparts, however, they can be inherently thermodynamically unstable. This can lead to amorphous phase separation and drug re-crystallisation, phenomena that are typically faster and more dominant at the product’s surfaces. This study investigates the use of high-resolution time of flight-secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) imaging as a surface analysis technique combined with image-analysis for the early detection, monitoring and quantification of surface amorphous phase separation in ASDs. Its capabilities are demonstrated for two pharmaceutically relevant ASD systems with distinct re-crystallisation behaviours, prepared using hot melt extrusion (HME) followed by pelletisation or grinding: (1) paracetamol-hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (PCM-HPMC) pellets with drug loadings of 10%–50% w/w and (2) indomethacin-polyvinylpyrrolidone (IND-PVP) ground material with drug loadings of 20%–85% w/w. PCM-HPMC pellets showed intense phase separation, reaching 100% PCM surface coverage within 1–5 months. In direct comparison, IND-PVP HME ground material was more stable with only a moderate formation of isolated IND-rich clusters. Image analysis allowed the reliable detection and quantification of local drug-rich clusters. An Avrami model was applied to determine and compare phase separation kinetics. The combination of chemical sensitivity and high spatial resolution afforded by SIMS was crucial to enable the study of early phase separation and re-crystallisation at the surface. Compared with traditional methods used to detect crystalline material, such as XRPD, we show that ToF-SIMS enabled detection of surface physical instability already at early stages of drug cluster formation in the first days of storage.

Satellite-based persistent scatterer satellite radar interferometry facilitates the monitoring of deformations of the earth's surface and objects on it. A challenge in data acquisition is the handling of large numbers of coherent radar scatterers. The behavior of each scatterer is time dependent and is influenced by changes in deformation and other phenomena. Built environments are especially challenging since scatterers may have different signal qualities and deformations may vary significantly among objects. Thus, the estimation of the actual deformation requires a functional model and a stochastic model, both of which are typically unknown per scatterer and observation. Here, we present an approach that models the deformation behavior for each individual scatterer. Our technique is applied in a postprocessing phase following the state-of-the-art interferometric processing of persistent scatterers. This addition significantly improves the interpretation of large data sets by separating the relevant phenomena classes more efficiently. It leverages more information than other methods from individual scatterers, which enhances the quality of the estimation and reduces residuals. Our evaluation shows that this technique can discriminate objects in terms of similar deformation characteristics that are independent of the specific spatial position and temporal complexity. Future applications analyzing large data sets collected by satellite radars will, therefore, drastically benefit from this new capability of extracting categorized types of time series behavior. This contribution will augment traditional spatial and temporal analysis and improve the quality of time-dependent deformation assessments.

Following a series of published analyses ranging from architecture to prehistoric diet of the Iron Gates’ inhabitants, our research aims to present new results regarding use-wear analysis of knapped stone artefacts from Lepenski Vir and Padina with a particular focus on the transition from Mesolithic to Neolithic in this region. Use-wear and residue analysis are applied using the low and high-power approach by Optical Light Microscope (OLM) observations combined with FTIR analysis. Based on the results, some of the main activities that took place in Iron Gates are processing of hide, bone, antler, plants, and soft stone. It is very important to highlight the complexity of various processes, which make this already specific area more peculiar. A variety of both simple, but overall, more complex and composite activities are recorded with the elaborate preparation of the used materials, for example, hide. Particular processes, such as butchering, were noted both inside the houses, and also concentrated in precise, specific areas of the settlements, where only tools involved in the processing of hide and meat were found. The data obtained highlight the activities of these advanced hunter-gatherer-fishermen and first farmers communities. Together with spatial analysis, the dynamics and processes in the Late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic are revealed, but also many questions regarding the specialization of the prehistoric settlements on the Danube are posed.

Background:Multiplexed tissue imaging enables the simultaneous detection of dozens of proteins at single-cell resolution, providing unprecedented insights into tissue organization and disease microenvironments. However, the resulting high-dimensional, gigabyte-scale datasets pose significant computational and methodological challenges. Existing analytical workflows, often fragmented between bespoke scripts and static visualizations, lack the scalability and user-friendly interfaces required for efficient, reproducible analysis. To overcome these limitations, we developed SPAC (analysis of SPAtial single-Cell datasets), a scalable, web-based ecosystem that integrates modular pipelines, high-performance computing (HPC) connectivity, and interactive visualization to democratize end-to-end single-cell spatial analysis applied to cellular positional data and protein expression levels.Results:SPAC is built on a modular, layered architecture that leverages community-based and newly developed tools for single-cell and spatial proteomics analysis. A specialized Python package extends these functionalities with custom analysis routines and established software engineering practices. An Interactive Analysis Layer provides web-hosted pipelines for configuring and executing complex workflows, and scalability enhancements that support distributed or parallel execution on GPU-enabled clusters. A Real-Time Visualization Layer delivers dynamic dashboards for immediate data exploration and sharing. As a showcase of its capabilities, SPAC was applied to a 4T1 breast cancer model, analyzing a multiplex imaging dataset comprising 2.6 million cells. GPU acceleration reduced unsupervised clustering runtimes from several hours to under ten minutes, and real-time visualization enabled detailed spatial characterization of tumor subregions.Conclusions:SPAC effectively overcomes key challenges in spatial single-cell analysis by streamlining high-throughput data processing and spatial profiling within an accessible and scalable framework. Its robust architecture, interactive interface and ease of access have the potential to accelerate biomedical research and clinical applications by converting complex imaging data into actionable biological and clinical insights.