Search

This article offers a reconstruction of early language recording on Crete in the second millennium BCE, charting the development of the earliest attestations of script on the island and examining their relationship to elements of iconology, orderly codification, figurative representations and symbolic expression. From an interdisciplinary perspective, it is possible to reconstruct an autonomous path into script formation starting from an analysis of the designs on Prepalatial, but especially, Protopalatial Cretan seals (from the third millennium BCE to the beginning of the second). Cretan hieroglyphic is still an undeciphered script. Yet, despite this hurdle, it is possible to recognise the stage in which phonetic recording takes place, through an in-depth analysis of the archaeological record and the inscribed objects, and through an in-depth examination of the structural/semantic categories represented on the inscriptions. On this basis, it is possible to conclude that the earliest Cretan language, whatever it may be, harnesses existing iconography on seals to be part of the inventory of its signs.

Restituer les conditions d’émergence autonome d’un système de transcription du langage, en Crète, au tournant du troisième et du deuxième millénaire avant notre ère, tel est l’enjeu de cet article. L’auteure propose de mettre les plus anciennes traces écrites de l’île en perspective avec la transformation des règles de la figuration sur les sceaux gravés des époques pré- et proto-palatiale, dont les motifs évoluent vers des représentations iconiques, des codifications ordonnées et des expressions symboliques. Bien que l’écriture hiéroglyphique minoenne demeure indéchiffrable, l’analyse des inscriptions permet de distinguer quelques éléments de structure sémantique et d’identifier le moment où s’établit une forme de codage phonétique.

The small RNA ErsA of Pseudomonas aeruginosa was previously suggested to be involved in biofilm formation via negative post-transcriptional regulation of the algC gene that encodes the virulence-associated enzyme AlgC, which provides sugar precursors for the synthesis of several polysaccharides. In this study, we show that a knock-out ersA mutant strain forms a flat and uniform biofilm, not characterized by mushroom-multicellular structures typical of a mature biofilm. Conversely, the knock-out mutant strain showed enhanced swarming and twitching motilities. To assess the influence of ErsA on the P. aeruginosa transcriptome, we performed RNA-seq experiments comparing the knock-out mutant with the wild-type. More than 160 genes were found differentially expressed in the knock-out mutant. Parts of these genes, important for biofilm formation and motility regulation, are known to belong also to the AmrZ transcriptional regulator regulon. Here, we show that ErsA binds in vitro and positively regulates amrZ mRNA at post-transcriptional level in vivo suggesting an interesting contribution of the ErsA-amrZ mRNA interaction in biofilm development at several regulatory levels.

Polymicrogyria (PMG) is a condition characterized by abnormal prenatal brain development and excessive number of ectopic small gyri in the cerebral cortex. PMG patients present an excessive number of abnormally small gyri separated by shallow sulci, associated with fusion of the overlying molecular layer of the cerebral cortex. The topographic distribution of PMG may be focal, multifocal or diffuse; unilateral or bilateral; symmetric or asymmetric. Clinical manifestations have a large spectrum, ranging from isolated selective impairment of cognitive functions to severe encephalopathy and intractable epilepsy. The severity of neurological manifestations and the age at presentation are in part influenced by the extent and localization of the cortical malformations but may also depend on its specific aetiology. The pathogenesis is still poorly understood, several causative gene mutations have been recently found, but also other causes has been identified (prenatal infections, ipoxia). Experimentally, the mouse model of polymicrogyria (PMG) displays the formation of ectopic microgyri in the mouse cortex, enhanced excitatory and inhibitory synaptic transmission accompanied by increased connectivity in the paramicrogyral cortex and higher susceptibility to epilepsy in vitro. Besides the alteration in the cortical layering, the molecular, morphological and behavioural analysis of PMG mice reveal a significant astrogliosis and microglial activation, indicating the occurrence of an inflammatory process. In addition, a diffuse cortical hypomyelination is evident in brain slices stained for myelin basic protein (MBP). Furthermore, PMG mice displayed altered EEG profile and defective motor skills such as reduced brawn. All these features make PMG model suitable for the study of the pathology and to investigate possible therapeutic approaches. Here we found that transplantation of human neural stem cells (hNSCs), which has been demonstrated to exert positive effects on inherited or acquired myelination disorders and to dampen brain inflammation, plays a beneficial effect on the pathological condition of PMG ameliorating the myelination defect by promoting oligodendrocyte precursors proliferation and remodelling of myelin fibres. Our data also show that hNSC transplantation restores normal EEG brain activity and improves motor performances. Moreover, we tried a pharmacological blockade of IL-1R activation by the IL-1R antagonist: anakinra. We found that this treatment leads to a significant improvement of EEG and motor skills in adult PMG mice thus suggesting a possible role of inflammation at the root of the pathology and identifying a therapeutic time window for the treatment.

This annual publication contains summaries of the Mycenaean Seminar convened by the Institute of Classical Studies. The seminar series has been running since the 1950s, when it focused largely on the exciting new research enabled by the decipherment of Linear B. The series has now evolved to cover Aegean Prehistory in general, and is well known among subject specialists throughout the world. Taken together, the summaries provide a rich resource for Aegean Prehistory, and often provide the only citable instance of new research projects, until their fuller publication becomes possible.\ud \ud The summaries of the seminars have been published as part of BICS since 1963. Starting with the 2015–16 series, the Mycenaean summaries will be published separately online, retaining their original character and their close connection with BICS, and becoming far more widely available as Open Access publications via the Humanities Digital Library.

Two Cretan Hieroglyphic seals and three Hieroglyphic seal impressions have been found at the Minoan settlement of Myrtos-Pyrgos on the south coast of Crete west of Ierapetra. The excavation has also produced a vase inscription that is more likely to be Hieroglyphic than Linear A. The seals are four-sided prisms; the impressions, which include one from a four-sided prism, are on the handles of oval-mouthed amphorae. The vessel with the inscription may be classed simply as a jar. The seals are significant as inscribed objects owned, and potentially to be used, by the higher echelons of the administrative pyramid, especially because one was not only of highly refined manufacture, but was also inscribed with sequences that are often repeated in the Hieroglyphic corpus; while the inscription emphasises the close connection of Cretan Hieroglyphic to Linear A. The seals and impressions add to the considerable evidence for cultural, and probably political, links between Myrtos-Pyrgos and Malia in MM IIB at the end of the Protopalatial.

This paper considers the roles played by scribes on Cyprus towards the end of the Late Bronze Age and the organization of the scribal community and its activity, drawing a parallel with the class of scribes at Ugarit-Ras Shamra in Syria. A close analysis of the contexts of the undeciphered Cypro-Minoan inscriptions found at Ugarit, the Cypro-Minoan inscription from Cyprus, and the cuneiform Akkadian tablets from Alashiya found at Ugarit and at Tell el Amarna in Egypt guides the identification of the agents responsible for their creation and their mobility from site to site. It furthermore advances understanding of the relationship of mutual exchange of epigraphic services across cultures and languages, during centuries of lively interaction and multilingual communication at the crossroads of different societies.

This article examines the inception of writing on Crete in the second millennium bc from a fresh methodological perspective. It aims to develop a synoptic understanding of the origin, purpose, experience, and significance of the earliest attestations of writing on the island, to investigate the context of its creation, and to explore the cultural triggers that underlie the application of writing in the context of Middle Minoan Crete. Three key points are considered: the problematic definition of early writing on Crete, the possible identification of the subject matter of the Cretan hieroglyphic inscriptions on sealstones, and the script's level of indebtedness to pre-existing models. These paths of investigation are also crucial points of departure for understanding the phenomenon of early writing in more general terms, from a multidisciplinary perspective that seeks to advocate a synergic collaboration between anthropology, archaeology, epigraphy and sociolinguistics.

The Greek alphabet has had a fundamental and lasting influence on the history of writing in Europe (as well as other parts of the world), and the effects of such a tradition are still felt today in the way European (and non-European) lan- guages are written.