A model of long-term population growth with an application to Central West Argentina.

We propose an Ideal Specialization Model to help explain the diversity of population growth trajectories exhibited across archaeological regions over thousands of years. The model provides a general set of expectations useful for guiding empirical research, and we provide a concrete example by conducting a preliminary evaluation of three expectations in Central West Argentina. We use kernel density estimates of archaeological radiocarbon, estimates of paleoclimate, and human bone stable isotopes from archaeological remains to evaluate three expectations drawn from the model's dynamics.

The long-term expansion and recession of human populations.

Over the last 12,000 y, human populations have expanded and transformed critical earth systems. Yet, a key unresolved question in the environmental and social sciences remains: Why did human populations grow and, sometimes, decline in the first place? Our research builds on 20 y of archaeological research studying the deep time dynamics of human populations to propose an explanation for the long-term growth and stability of human populations. Innovations in the productive capacity of populations fuels exponential-like growth over thousands of years; however, innovations saturate over time and, often, may leave populations vulnerable to large recessions in their well-being and population density.

Positive feedbacks in deep-time transitions of human populations.

Abrupt and rapid changes in human societies are among the most exciting population phenomena. Human populations tend to show rapid expansions from low to high population density along with increased social complexity in just a few generations. Such demographic transitions appear as a remarkable feature of population dynamics, most likely fuelled by the ability to accumulate cultural/technological innovations that actively modify their environment.

Harnessing the benefits of diversity to address socio-environmental governance challenges.

Solving complex problems, from biodiversity conservation to reducing inequality, requires large scale collective action among diverse stakeholders to achieve a common goal. Research relevant to meeting this challenge must model the interaction of stakeholders with diverse cognitive capabilities and the complexity of the problem faced by stakeholders to predict the success of collective action in various contexts. Here, we build a model from first principles of cognitive abilities, diversity, and socio-environmental complexity to identify the sets of conditions under which groups most effectively engage in collective action to solve governance problems.

p3k14c, a synthetic global database of archaeological radiocarbon dates.

Archaeologists increasingly use large radiocarbon databases to model prehistoric human demography (also termed paleo-demography). Numerous independent projects, funded over the past decade, have assembled such databases from multiple regions of the world. These data provide unprecedented potential for comparative research on human population ecology and the evolution of social-ecological systems across the Earth.

Circumferential sulcus-guided resection technique for improved outcomes of low-grade gliomas.

Objective: Many neurosurgeons resect nonenhancing low-grade gliomas (LGGs) by using an inside-out piecemeal resection (PMR) technique. At the authors' institution they have increasingly used a circumferential, perilesional, sulcus-guided resection (SGR) technique. This technique has not been well described and there are limited data on its effectiveness.

Viral inhibitors derived from macroalgae, microalgae, and cyanobacteria: A review of antiviral potential throughout pathogenesis.

Viruses are abiotic obligate parasites utilizing complex mechanisms to hijack cellular machinery and reproduce, causing multiple harmful effects in the process. Viruses represent a growing global health concern; at the time of writing, COVID-19 has killed at least two million people around the world and devastated global economies. Lingering concern regarding the virus' prevalence yet hampers return to normalcy.

Dendrochronological dates confirm a Late Prehistoric population decline in the American Southwest derived from radiocarbon dates.

The northern American Southwest provides one of the most well-documented cases of human population growth and decline in the world. The geographic extent of this decline in North America is unknown owing to the lack of high-resolution palaeodemographic data from regions across and beyond the greater Southwest, where archaeological radiocarbon data are often the only available proxy for investigating these palaeodemographic processes. Radiocarbon time series across and beyond the greater Southwest suggest widespread population collapses from AD 1300 to 1600.

The two types of society: Computationally revealing recurrent social formations and their evolutionary trajectories.

Comparative social science has a long history of attempts to classify societies and cultures in terms of shared characteristics. However, only recently has it become feasible to conduct quantitative analysis of large historical datasets to mathematically approach the study of social complexity and classify shared societal characteristics. Such methods have the potential to identify recurrent social formations in human societies and contribute to social evolutionary theory.

Social and general intelligence improves collective action in a common pool resource system.

On a planet experiencing global environmental change, the governance of natural resources depends on sustained collective action by diverse populations. Engaging in such collective action can only build upon the foundation of human cognition in social-ecological settings. To help understand this foundation, we assess the effect of cognitive abilities on the management of a common pool resource.

Frailty as a Predictor of Neurosurgical Outcomes in Brain Tumor Patients.

Background: Preoperative risk assessment is important, but inexact because physiologic reserves are difficult to measure. When assessing quality of life for patients with brain tumors, having a better predictor of postsurgical outcome would be beneficial in counseling these patients. Frailty is thought to estimate physiologic reserves, and it has been found to predict postoperative complications, length of stay, and discharge to a skilled nursing facility or assisted living facility in patients undergoing various types of surgery.

Should I stay or should I go? The emergence of partitioned land use among human foragers.

Taking inspiration from the archaeology of the Texas Coastal Plain (TCP), we develop an ecological theory of population distribution among mobile hunter-gatherers. This theory proposes that, due to the heterogeneity of resources in space and time, foragers create networks of habitats that they access through residential cycling and shared knowledge. The degree of cycling that individuals exhibit in creating networks of habitats, encoded through social relationships, depends on the relative scarcity of resources and fluctuations in those resources.

Perilesional Resection of Glioblastoma Is Independently Associated With Improved Outcomes.

Background: Resection is a critical component in the initial treatment of glioblastoma (GBM). Often GBMs are resected using an intralesional method. Circumferential perilesional resection of GBMs has been described, but with limited data.

The importance of cognitive diversity for sustaining the commons.

Cognitive abilities underpin the capacity of individuals to build models of their environment and make decisions about how to govern resources. Here, we test the functional intelligences proposition that functionally diverse cognitive abilities within a group are critical to govern common pool resources. We assess the effect of two cognitive abilities, social and general intelligence, on group performance on a resource harvesting and management game involving either a negative or a positive disturbance to the resource base.

Synchronization of energy consumption by human societies throughout the Holocene.

We conduct a global comparison of the consumption of energy by human populations throughout the Holocene and statistically quantify coincident changes in the consumption of energy over space and time-an ecological phenomenon known as synchrony. When populations synchronize, adverse changes in ecosystems and social systems may cascade from society to society. Thus, to develop policies that favor the sustained use of resources, we must understand the processes that cause the synchrony of human populations.

Evidence-Based Optimization of Post-Treatment Surveillance for Skull Base Chordomas Based on Local and Distant Disease Progression.

Background: There are no guidelines regarding post-treatment surveillance specific to skull base chordomas.

Objective: To determine an optimal imaging surveillance schedule to detect both local and distant metastatic skull base chordoma recurrences.

Methods: A retrospective review of 91 patients who underwent treatment for skull base chordoma between 1993 and 2017 was conducted.

Multiplatform profiling of meningioma provides molecular insight and prioritization of drug targets for rational clinical trial design.

Introduction: Surgery and radiation therapy are the standard treatment options for meningiomas, but these treatments are not always feasible. Expression profiling was performed to determine the presence of therapeutic actionable biomarkers for prioritization and selection of agents.

Methods: Meningiomas (n = 115) were profiled using a variety of strategies including next-generation sequencing (592-gene panel: n = 14; 47-gene panel: n = 94), immunohistochemistry (n = 8-110), and fluorescent and chromogenic in situ hybridization (n = 5-70) to determine mutational and expression status.

Impact of early access to multidisciplinary care on treatment outcomes in patients with skull base chordoma.

Objective: To determine if early access to multidisciplinary surgical care affects outcomes in patients with skull base chordoma.

Method: A retrospective chart review of prospectively collected data was performed on 51 patients treated from 1993 to 2014. The cohort was divided into those presenting (1) for initial management (ID, n = 21) or (2) with persistent/progressive disease after prior biopsy/surgery (PD, n = 30) outside of a multidisciplinary setting.

Progesterone-only contraception is associated with a shorter progression-free survival in premenopausal women with WHO Grade I meningioma.

The hormonally active nature of intracranial meningioma has prompted research examining the risk of tumorigenesis in patients using hormonal contraception. Studies exploring estrogen-only and estrogen/progesterone combination contraceptives have failed to demonstrate a consistent increased risk of meningioma. By contrast, the few trials examining progesterone-only contraceptives have shown higher odds ratios for risk of meningioma.

Multimodality Management of Recurrent Skull Base Chordomas: Factors Impacting Tumor Control and Disease-Specific Survival.

Background: Limited data exist to guide the management of recurrent chordomas arising in the skull base.

Objective: To determine factors affecting tumor control rates and disease-specific survival (DSS) in recurrent disease.

Methods: A retrospective review was performed of 29 patients with 55 recurrences treated at our institution.

Expanding the endoscopic transpterygoid corridor to the petroclival region: anatomical study and volumetric comparative analysis.

OBJECTIVE The endoscopic endonasal transmaxillary transpterygoid (TMTP) approach has been the gateway for lateral skull base exposure. Removal of the cartilaginous eustachian tube (ET) and lateral mobilization of the internal carotid artery (ICA) are technically demanding adjunctive steps that are used to access the petroclival region. The gained expansion of the deep working corridor provided by these maneuvers has yet to be quantified.

Moyamoya in a Patient with Smith-Magenis Syndrome.

Occurrence of moyamoya syndrome in a patient with Smith-Magenis syndrome (SMS) has previously been reported once in a 10-year-old Asian female. We report a second case of moyamoya in a patient with SMS, in a now 25-year-old Asian female diagnosed with both conditions as a child. In addition to describing her medical and surgical history, we provide a detailed report of her omental transposition, in which the omental circulation was anastomosed to the superior thyroid artery and external jugular vein.

Spheno-Orbital Meningiomas: A 16-Year Surgical Experience.

Objective: To examine the efficacy of spheno-orbital meningioma (SOM) resection aimed at symptomatic improvement, rather than gross total resection, followed by radiation therapy for recurrence.

Methods: A retrospective review of all patients having undergone resection between 2000 and 2016 was performed. Demographics, operative details, postoperative outcomes, recurrence rates, and radiation treatment plans were analyzed.

Unilateral endonasal transcribriform approach with septal transposition for olfactory groove meningioma: can olfaction be preserved?

Background: Loss of olfaction has been considered inevitable in endoscopic endonasal resection of olfactory groove meningiomas. Olfaction preservation may be feasible through an endonasal unilateral transcribriform approach, with the option for expansion using septal transposition and contralateral preservation of the olfactory apparatus.

Methods: An expanded unilateral endonasal transcribriform approach with septal transposition was performed in five cadaver heads.

The Socioecology of Territory Size and a "Work-Around" Hypothesis for the Adoption of Farming.

This paper combines theory from ecology and anthropology to investigate variation in the territory sizes of subsistence oriented agricultural societies. The results indicate that population and the dependence of individuals within a society on "wild" foods partly determine the territory sizes of agricultural societies. In contrast, the productivity of an agroecosystem is not an important determinant of territory size.