Restructuring of Femoral Cortical Bone During Growth and Locomotor Development of Wild Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus).

Objective: Chimpanzees are altricial in terms of their locomotor development and transition from being carried to engaging in suspensory and arboreal locomotor behaviors to eventually relying on terrestrial quadrupedalism as their main form of locomotion. Here, we consider the mechanical implications of femoral cortical bone restructuring during growth and locomotor development in wild chimpanzees.

Materials And Methods: Cortical bone structure was examined in an ontogenetic sample of wild chimpanzees from a single subspecies (P.

Late pleistocene exploitation of Ephedra in a funerary context in Morocco.

The active compounds found in many plants have been widely used in traditional medicine and ritual activities. However, archaeological evidence for the use of such plants, especially in the Palaeolithic period, is limited due to the poor preservation and fragility of seed, fruit, and other botanical macro-remains. In this study, we investigate the presence and possible uses of Ephedra during the Late Pleistocene based on the analysis of exceptionally preserved plant macrofossils recovered from c.

Investigating the "scapula sign" as an indicator of rickets.

Objective: In 1971, Weiss identified a "scapula sign" comprising a defect at the inferior angle of the scapula in juveniles with vitamin D deficiency rickets, but this has been little studied since. This study aimed to explore pathological variation of this defect in juveniles with other skeletal manifestations of vitamin D deficiency rickets.

Materials And Methods: 527 juveniles, aged from birth to 12 years, from two post-medieval British assemblages were macroscopically evaluated to document the range of pathological changes at the inferior angle.

Age estimation of immature human skeletal remains from mandibular and cranial bone dimensions in the postnatal period.

Age estimation is one of the crucial first steps in the identification of human skeletal remains in both forensic and archeological contexts. In the postnatal period, age is traditionally estimated from dental development or skeletal growth, typically long bone diaphyseal length. However, in many occasions other methods are required.

The morphology of the Late Pleistocene hominin remains from the site of La Cotte de St Brelade, Jersey (Channel Islands).

Thirteen permanent fully erupted teeth were excavated at the Paleolithic site of La Cotte de St Brelade in Jersey in 1910 and 1911. These were all found in the same location, on a ledge behind a hearth in a Mousterian occupation level. They were originally identified as being Neanderthal.

Real-world experience with caplacizumab in the management of acute TTP.

The cornerstone of life-saving therapy in immune-mediated thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (iTTP) has been plasma exchange (PEX) combined with immunomodulatory strategies. Caplacizumab, a novel anti-von Willebrand factor nanobody trialed in 2 multicenter randomized controlled trials (RCTs) leading to European Union and US Food and Drug Administration approval, has been available in the United Kingdom (UK) through a patient access scheme. Data were collected retrospectively from 2018 to 2020 for 85 patients (4 children) receiving caplacizumab from 22 UK hospitals.

Ontogenetic changes in femoral cross-sectional geometry during childhood locomotor development.

Objectives: The femur is a major weight-bearing bone that is variably loaded throughout growth as children transition through locomotory states prior to the attainment of a mature bipedal gait. Here, we document ontogenetic trends in femoral cross-sectional geometry (CSG) and explore how changes in loading regime may impact the structural arrangement of cortical bone along the length of the developing diaphysis.

Materials And Methods: Micro-CT scans of 110 immature femora were generated from a documented archaeological sample ranging in age from birth to 8.

Variation in the timing of enamel formation in modern human deciduous canines.

Objectives: Deciduous canines are now used increasingly in archaeological and forensic studies to establish the time of birth and as a retrospective source of trace elements incorporated into enamel before and after birth. However, data on the variability of deciduous enamel formation times are scarce. Our objectives were to use daily incremental markings to estimate daily secretion rates, the timing of prenatal, postnatal and total enamel formation and any changes in enamel coverage or prism and stria orientation that occur during enamel formation.

Effects of maternal, gestational, and perinatal variables on neonatal line width observed in a modern UK birth cohort.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to explore potential relationships between neonatal line (NNL) width and early life history variables such as maternal health, gestation, the birth process, and perinatal health.

Materials And Methods: Histological thin sections of deciduous canines were studied from 71 children from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). The width of the NNL was measured in three locations on the tooth crown using spatial mapping techniques (ArcGIS) from digital images from an Olympus VS-120 microscope.

Sex differences in the patterning of age-related bone loss in the human hallucal metatarsal in rural and urban populations.

Objectives: Age-degenerative features of the metatarsals are poorly known despite the importance of metatarsal bone properties for investigating mobility patterns. We assessed the role of habitual activity in shaping the patterning and magnitude of sexual dimorphism in age-related bone loss in the hallucal metatarsal.

Materials And Methods: Cross-sections were extracted at midshaft from micro-computed tomography scan models of individuals from medieval rural (Abingdon Vineyard) and early industrial urban (Spitalfields) settings (n = 71).

Infant funerary behavior and kinship in Pleistocene hunter-gatherers from Morocco.

Infant remains are relatively uncommon in the late Pleistocene (Upper Palaeolithic) archaeological record. Funerary treatment is considered indicative of social status and mirrors cultural attitudes toward the deceased or the group they represent. Here we report on the burials of six infants, including three who died at birth or shortly thereafter, from Later Stone Age (Iberomaurusian) levels at Grotte des Pigeons, Taforalt, in Morocco dating to ∼14,500 cal BP.

90,000 year-old specialised bone technology in the Aterian Middle Stone Age of North Africa.

The question of cognitive complexity in early Homo sapiens in North Africa is intimately tied to the emergence of the Aterian culture (~145 ka). One of the diagnostic indicators of cognitive complexity is the presence of specialised bone tools, however significant uncertainty remains over the manufacture and use of these artefacts within the Aterian techno-complex. In this paper we report on a bone artefact from Aterian Middle Stone Age (MSA) deposits in Dar es-Soltan 1 cave on the Atlantic coast of Morocco.

Endochondral growth disruption during vitamin D deficiency rickets in a mid-19th century series from Bethnal Green, London, UK.

Objectives: Vitamin D affects many aspects of cartilage and skeletal development. Inconsistent findings currently exist regarding the impact of vitamin D deficiency on childhood growth. This study aims to evaluate the impact of vitamin D deficiency on childhood skeletal development by exploring long bone growth in children with healed and active rickets.

Age estimation of immature human skeletal remains from the dimensions of the girdle bones in the postnatal period.

Objectives: This study provides classical calibration regression formulae for age estimation from the dimensions of unfused shoulder and pelvic girdle bones.

Materials And Methods: Age estimation models were derived from a sample of 160 known age and sex individuals (63 females and 97 males) aged birth to 12 years, selected from Portuguese and English skeletal collections. The sample was divided into two age groups at the age of 2 years, and formulae were obtained for the sexes separately and combined.

Patterns of long bone growth in a mid-19th century documented sample of the urban poor from Bethnal Green, London, UK.

Objectives: Studies of male and female long bone growth in past populations are limited and usually constrained by the lack of personal identification. This article aimed to evaluate long bone growth in a series of mid-19 century documented burials associated with the urban poor from Bethnal Green, London, UK.

Materials And Methods: Maximum diaphyseal lengths from 74 males and 70 females (2 months to 12 years) were compared to modern reference data from North America.

A comparison of three methods to generate a conceptual understanding of a disease based on the patients' perspective.

Background: The Food and Drug Administration patient-reported outcome (PRO) guidance provides standards for PRO development, but these standards bring scientific and logistical challenges which can result in a lengthy and expensive instrument development process. Thus, more pragmatic methods are needed alongside traditional approaches.

Methods: Partnering with the National Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) Society, we compared three methods for eliciting patient experiences: 1) concept elicitation (CE) interviews with 12 individuals with AS, 2) "group concept mapping" (GCM) with 16 individuals with AS, 3) a social media review (SMR) of AS online chatrooms.

Quantification of 3D curvature in the iliac crest: Ontogeny and implications for sex determination in juveniles.

Objectives: Sex-specific differences in the shape of the iliac crest have been reported based on quantification of simplified curvature using two-dimensional variables or qualitative identification of faint/marked S-shaped curvature. An objective and quantitative approach for the evaluation of iliac crest curvature in juveniles was developed. Using three-dimensional data, ontogenetic variation in iliac curvature was investigated in relation to size and chronological age and its accuracy for sex estimation among juveniles was evaluated.

Validation of a treatment satisfaction questionnaire in non-Hodgkin lymphoma: assessing the change from intravenous to subcutaneous administration of rituximab.

Background: A subcutaneous (SC) formulation of rituximab (MabThera/Rituxan) has been developed that could reduce administration time and improve patient satisfaction with treatment. The Rituximab Administration Satisfaction Questionnaire (RASQ) was created to assess patients' perceptions and satisfaction with rituximab SC (RASQ-SC) or rituximab intravenous (RASQ-IV). We assessed the content validity and psychometric properties of RASQ in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Age estimation of immature human skeletal remains from the metaphyseal and epiphyseal widths of the long bones in the post-natal period.

Objectives: This study provides regression and classical calibration models for the estimation of age from the dimensions of the metaphyses and epiphyses of the six long bones.

Methods: A sample of 148 known sex and age individuals (56 females and 92 males), aged between birth and 12 years of age, selected from Portuguese and English skeletal collections. Age estimation models were obtained separately for each sex and for the sexes combined, for the entire sample and for the sample divided into two subsamples at the age of 2 years.

A virtual geometric morphometric approach to the quantification of long bone bilateral asymmetry and cross-sectional shape.

Objective: The widespread use of three-dimensional digitization means that models of whole bone geometry are routinely captured for many applications in virtual anthropology. In this article, we test whether a geometric morphometric (GMM) approach can be used to accurately quantify directional bilateral asymmetry in cross-sectional shape using virtual bone models.

Methods: We introduce a method to (1) orient virtual long bone models and extract cross sections and (2) collect GMM landmarks to analyze cross-sectional shape.