The Danubian provinces represent one of the largest macro-units within the Roman Empire, with a large and rich heritage of Roman material evidence. Although the notion itself is a modern 18th-century creation, this region represents a unique area, where the dominant, pre-Roman cultures (Celtic, Illyrian, Hellenistic, Thracian) are interconnected within the new administrative, economic and cultural units of Roman cities, provinces and extra-provincial networks. This book presents the material evidence of Roman religion in the Danubian provinces through a new, paradigmatic methodology, focusing not only on the traditional urban and provincial units of the Roman Empire, but on a new space taxonomy. Roman religion and its sacralised places are presented in macro-, meso- and micro-spaces of a dynamic empire, which shaped Roman religion in the 1st-3rd centuries AD and created a large number of religious glocalizations and appropriations in Raetia, Noricum, Pannonia Superior, Pannonia Inferior, Moesia Superior, Moesia Inferior and Dacia. Combining the methodological approaches of Roman provincial archaeology and religious studies, this work intends to provoke a dialogue between disciplines rarely used together in central-east Europe and beyond. The material evidence of Roman religion is interpreted here as a dynamic agent in religious communication, shaped by macro-spaces, extra-provincial routes, commercial networks, but also by the formation and constant dynamics of small group religions interconnected within this region through human and material mobilities. The book also presents for the first time a comprehensive list of sacralised spaces and divinities in the Danubian provinces.

Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), also termed poly (ADP-ribose) synthetase (PARS) is a nuclear enzyme with a wide range of functions, including regulation of DNA repair, cell differentiation, and gene expression. More than a decade after the identification of PARP-like enzymatic activities in mammalian cells, a novel role was proposed for this enzyme, mediating a suicidal mechanism triggered by DNA strand breakage. This hypothesis has since become a controversial centerpiece of the PARP field, with many experimental systems both confirming and extending the PARP suicide theory. Theoretical and practical implications of the PARP suicide pathway were not extensively exploited until the 1990s. Researchers, for example, discovered a variety of findings; among them, that nitric oxide can activate a pathway leading to cell death (Neuronal cell death and pancreatic cell death), and that peroxynitrite, a reactive oxidant species produced from the reaction of nitric oxide and superoxide free radicals, is an endogenously produced trigger of DNA single strand breakage and PARP activation. Featuring contributions from researchers in the diverse fields of neuroinjury, myocardial injury, diabetes, shock, and inflammation, this text examines the current status of the field of PARP and cell death. Cell Death: The Role of PARP also explores PARP and apoptosis, PARP and DNA repair, as well as PARP and regulation of gene expression. Separate chapters focus on developments in the areas of pharmacological inhibition of PARP and on novel ways of measuring PARP activation. Furthermore, the emerging field of PARP isoforms is addressed. While tremendous progress has been made in the area of PARP and celldeath, many controversies need to be clarified, and recent discoveries and observations require further development. Cell Death: The Role of PARP not only presents a state-of-the-art overview of the field, but serves as a catalyst for further research in this area.

After a century of research, several lines of evidence now indicate that the ability of adenosine to directly control inflammatory cells has a major impact on the functions of the inflammatory and immune systems. Consequently, many promising therapeutic approaches are beginning to emerge that focus on the modulation of adenosine, including the development of compounds that interfere with the breakdown of adenosine, as well as specific agonists and antagonists of various adenosine subtypes. Some of these compounds have already entered clinical trials. While information on the role of adenosine is growing rapidly, until now it has remained scattered in the literature. Edited by three pioneering researchers in the field, Adenosine Receptors: Therapeutic Aspects for Inflammatory and Immune Diseases presents the first single volume compilation of reviews on how adenosine, acting on its cellular receptors, regulates immune responses. The book is organized to provide the reader with a general overview of adenosine receptors, delving into molecular biology, cell biology, and pharmacology. Separate chapters focus on the role of adenosine receptors in regulating the function of the various cell types that are involved in immune responses. Further chapters delineate the role of purinergic signaling in the pathophysiology of a variety of disease states associated with an overzealous or insufficient immune response. These include autoimmune diseases, asthma, atherosclerosis, ischemia-reperfusion injury, and cancer. Much of the methodology and findings documented in this text may well lead to new therapeutic modalities for pathologies such as ischemia and reperfusion, heart disease, wound healing, tumors, pain, and a variety of central nervous system diseases including Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and epilepsy, as well as mood and sleep disorders. This resource provides background and direction for those researchers entering the field of adenosine and inflammatory disease, and provides a comprehensive reference for experienced investigators.