This data article presents a comprehensive buccal dental microwear raw database, accompanied by all corresponding archaeological sample micrographs acquired through a ZEISS Axioscope A1 optical microscopy (OM). The dataset includes teeth specimens from 88 adult individuals, representing eight distinct groups spanning the Middle-Late Neolithic to the Middle Bronze Age from the northeastern Iberian Peninsula. These groups include Cova de l'Avi, Cova de Can Sadurní, Cova de la Guineu, Cova Foradada, Cova del Trader, Roc de les Orenetes, Cova del Gegant, and Cova dels Galls Carboners.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) is used for the diagnosis and monitoring of asthma, although its utility to guide treatment and its correlation with other tools is still under discussion. We study the possibility to withdraw inhaled corticosteroid treatment in atopic patients with mild asthma based on the FeNO level, as well as to study its correlation with other clinical control tools.
Methods: Prospective and randomized study including atopic patients aged 18 to 65 with mild asthma, stable, on low-dose inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) treatment, who had their treatment withdrawn based on a FeNO level of 40 ppb.
During the early development of archaeology in Spain, many of the materials obtained from excavations were later forgotten in museum deposits. However, re-investigation of these collections with contemporary methodologies can still contribute valuable knowledge. This study presents the case of El Bosquet Cave (Mont-ral, Tarragona, Spain), located in the Northeastern Iberian Peninsula.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntraoral scanners are widely used in a clinical setting for orthodontic treatments and tooth restorations, and are also useful for assessing dental wear and pathology progression. In this study, we assess the utility of using an intraoral scanner and associated software for quantifying dental tissue loss in non-human primates. An upper and lower second molar for 31 captive hamadryas baboons () were assessed for dental tissue loss progression, giving a total sample of 62 teeth.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: This study seeks to contribute to the current understanding of dietary variation in the late Prehistory of the northeastern Iberian Peninsula by examining buccal dental microwear patterns alongside archeological data from the same populations.
Materials And Methods: Teeth from 84 adult individuals from eight distinct samples spanning the Middle-Late Neolithic to the Middle Bronze Age (Cova de l'Avi, Cova de Can Sadurní, Cova de la Guineu, Cova Foradada, Cova del Trader, Roc de les Orenetes, Cova del Gegant, Cova dels Galls Carboners) were analyzed using optical microscopy to examine buccal dental microwear patterns.
Results: The analysis did not reveal clear chronological contrasts in the dietary habits of these samples.
Background: The analysis and diagnosis of ancient oral pathologies have been improved with the application of new techniques such as microscopy and scanning methods over the past few decades. However, the enhancement of the diagnosis implies a prior knowledge of the availability and suitability of such equipments.
Methods: In this work we examined 3D digital and scanning electron microscopy and two computed tomography systems (CBCT and microCT) in order to assess dental and oral disease of the individuals of a Chalcolithic collective burial from El Mirador cave (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain).
Dietary reconstruction is used to make inferences about the subsistence strategies of ancient human populations, but it may also serve as a proxy to characterise their diverse cultural and technological manifestations. Dental microwear and stable isotope analyses have been shown to be successful techniques for paleodietary reconstruction of ancient populations but, despite yielding complementary dietary information, these techniques have rarely been combined within the same study. Here we present for the first time a comprehensive approach to interpreting ancient lifeways through the results of buccal and occlusal microwear, and δC and δN isotope analyses applied to the same individuals of prehistoric populations of Hungary from the Middle Neolithic to the Late Bronze Age periods.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: The dentition of Olduvai Hominid 1 (OH1) exhibits an anomalous pattern of dental wear that was originally attributed to either intentional cultural modification (filing) or plant processing behaviors. A differential diagnosis of the wear and assessment of the biological affinity of OH1 is presented.
Materials And Methods: Macroscopic and microscopic observations of all labial and buccal tooth surfaces were undertaken to assess wear patterns.
Depression has been linked to Alzheimer's disease as either an increased risk factor for its development or as a prodromal symptom. The neurobiological basis for such an association, however, remains poorly understood. Numerous studies have examined whether changes in amyloid beta (Aβ) metabolism, which are implicated in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease, are also found in depression.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe distribution of firms' growth and firms' sizes is a topic under intense scrutiny. In this paper, we show that a thermodynamic model based on the maximum entropy principle, with dynamical prior information, can be constructed that adequately describes the dynamics and distribution of firms' growth. Our theoretical framework is tested against a comprehensive database of Spanish firms, which covers, to a very large extent, Spain's economic activity, with a total of 1,155,142 firms evolving along a full decade.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: No prospective study has assessed eradication treatment of early Pseudomonas aeruginosa colonisation in bronchiectasis not due to cystic fibrosis (CF).
Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy of 3 months of nebulised tobramycin after a short course of intravenous antibiotics in the eradication of P. aeruginosa and its clinical consequences in non- CF bronchiectasis following initial P.
A quantitative understanding of cities' demographic dynamics is becoming a potentially useful tool for planning sustainable growth. The concomitant theory should reveal details of the cities' past and also of its interaction with nearby urban conglomerates for providing a reasonably complete picture. Using the exhaustive database of the Census Bureau in a time window of 170 years, we exhibit here empirical evidence for time and space correlations in the demographic dynamics of US counties, with a characteristic memory time of 25 years and typical distances of interaction of 200 km.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Craniovertebr Junction Spine
January 2013
Background: Posterior ligamentous complex injuries of the thoracolumbar (TL) spine represent a major consideration during surgical decision-making. However, X-ray and computed tomography imaging often does not identify those injuries and sometimes magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is not available or is contraindicated.
Objective: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of the ultrasound for detecting posterior ligamentous complex injuries in the TL spine.
Understanding demographic and migrational patterns constitutes a great challenge. Millions of individual decisions, motivated by economic, political, demographic, rational and/or emotional reasons underlie the high complexity of demographic dynamics. Significant advances in quantitatively understanding such complexity have been registered in recent years, as those involving the growth of cities but many fundamental issues still defy comprehension.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ R Soc Interface
January 2013
We present an exhaustive study of the rank-distribution of city-population and population-dynamics of the 50 Spanish provinces (more than 8000 municipalities) in a time-window of 15 years (1996-2010). We exhibit compelling evidence regarding how well the MaxEnt principle describes the equilibrium distributions. We show that the microscopic dynamics that governs population growth is the deciding factor that originates the observed macroscopic distributions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBrain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has been implicated in the pathophysiology of depression as well as neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders. Recent studies show a role of BDNF in energy metabolism and body weight regulation. We examined BDNF levels in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from age matched elderly depressed and control subjects.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Major depressive disorder is common in the elderly, and symptoms are often not responsive to conventional antidepressant treatment, especially in the long term. Soluble oligomeric and aggregated forms of amyloid beta peptides, especially amyloid beta 42, impair neuronal and synaptic function. Amyloid beta 42 is the main component of plaques and is implicated in Alzheimer's disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Objectives: The natural history of life-threatening hemoptysis (LTH), a medical emergency, is ill defined. The objective of the study was to evaluate, in a university teaching hospital setting, the etiology, methods used, and evolution of LTH.
Patients And Methods: Prospective study in which we enrolled 154 patients admitted for LTH over 3 consecutive years.
Objective: The therapeutic benefit of inhaled corticoids in bronchiectasis not due to cystic fibrosis is still not well documented. The aim of the present study was to assess the efficacy and safety of inhaled corticoids in this disease.
Setting: This study was conducted at a tertiary university hospital in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, (Spain).
The ecological footprint (EF) is a widely used indicator to assess the sustainability of people, regions or business activities. Although this metric has grown in interest and popularity over the years, it has also been the subject of criticism and controversy. The advantages of an aggregated indicator are often overshadowed by the shortcomings of its corresponding methodology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this article we will review the role of long acting beta2-adrenoreceptor agonists and long-acting muscarinic agents in the management of airflow obstruction. We will then focus our attention on indacaterol, one of the new once daily inhaled beta2-adrenoreceptor agonists. Pharmacologically this drug is a nearly full beta2-agonist without loss of efficacy after prolonged administration.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: The objectives of this study were to examine the relationship between APOE epsilon4 and subjective effects of trihexyphenidyl on measures reflecting sedation and confusion and to investigate the relationship between trihexyphenidyl-induced subjective effects and objective memory performance.
Methods: This study comprised 24 cognitively intact, health elderly adults (12 APOE epsilon4 carriers) at an outpatient geriatric psychiatry research clinic. This was a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled, three-way, crossover experimental design.
Background: Since their introduction, selfextending metal stents (SEMS) have established themselves as an option in the treatment of obstructive colorectal cancer. Thanks to stenting, patients traditionally treated with emergency surgery can now be converted to scheduled surgery with mechanical preparation of the colon and primary anastomosis. Stenting represents a valid one-step surgical alternative for intestinal obstruction of the colon.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe glucocorticoid receptor (GR) antagonist mifepristone (RU-486) has been reported to increase early morning plasma ACTH/cortisol in diverse non-demented populations. This pilot study examined the cortisol response to RU 486 in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), a condition associated with abnormalities in various aspects of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Nine AD subjects were randomized in a placebo-controlled parallel study: 4 in the placebo group and 5 in the RU 486 group.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF