Effect of sirolimus on muscle in inclusion body myositis observed with magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy.

Background: Finding sensitive clinical outcome measures has become crucial in natural history studies and therapeutic trials of neuromuscular disorders. Here, we focus on 1-year longitudinal data from quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy (P MRS) in a placebo-controlled study of sirolimus for inclusion body myositis (IBM), also examining their links to functional, strength, and clinical parameters in lower limb muscles.

Methods: Quantitative MRI and P MRS data were collected at 3 T from a single site, involving 44 patients (22 on placebo, 22 on sirolimus) at baseline and year-1, and 21 healthy controls.

Increase on environmental seasonality through the European Early Pleistocene inferred from dental enamel hypoplasia.

An in-depth study of the Early Pleistocene European remains of Hippopotamus has allowed the first detailed description of the incidence and types of dental alterations related to palaeopathologies and potentially linked to climatic and environmental factors. The results of a long-term qualitative and quantitative assessment highlight the importance of nutrient deficiencies on the development of dental enamel hypoplasia in Hippopotamus. Glacial cyclicity and the resulting changes in humidity and plant community structure conditioned the local environments critical for the survival of this taxon.

Long-term behavioral adaptation of Oldowan toolmakers to resource-constrained environments at 2.3 Ma in the Lower Omo Valley (Ethiopia).

The long stratigraphic sequence of the Shungura Formation in the Lower Omo Valley documents 3 million years (Ma) of hominin evolution, which, when combined with detailed paleo-depositional environmental data, opens new perspectives for understanding the complex interactions between hominin landscape use and the development of stone tool-mediated activities. Stone tool assemblages produced by Paranthropus aethiopicus and/or a species of early Homo from ~ 2.3 Ma, reflect their ability to deal with the raw material scarce environment of the Lower Omo Valley.

The anatomy of the hindlimb of Theropithecus brumpti (Cercopithecidae, Papionini): Morphofunctional implications.

Theropithecus brumpti is a primate known from numerous craniodental specimens in the Plio-Pleistocene Shungura Formation (Lower Omo Valley, Ethiopia), but the anatomy of its hindlimb is documented only by a few associated and mostly incomplete postcranial specimens. The adaptations of T. brumpti are still debated, with its substrate preferences and its use of squatting postures recently discussed based on anatomical differences when compared with its extant representative, Theropithecus gelada.

The utility of body size as a functional trait to link the past and present in a diverse reptile clade.

Understanding the relationships between functional traits and environment is increasingly important for assessing ecosystem health and forecasting biotic responses to future environmental change. Taxon-free analyses of functional traits (ecometrics) allow for testing the performance of such traits through time, utilizing both the fossil record and paleoenvironmental proxies. Here, we test the role of body size as a functional trait with respect to climate, using turtles as a model system.