Innovative method for provenance studies in cultural heritage: A new algorithm based on observables from high-resolution Raman spectra of red ochre.

Red ochre, typically derived from iron oxides and hematite, has been used since Pleistocene times for a range of different applications, practical as well as symbolic, including cave paintings and use in prehistoric burials. The importance to discover new methods for provenance determination, based on non-destructive portable techniques, represents a new challenge in the field of diagnostics of cultural heritage. This study presents the data obtained from the analysis of several non-flaked tools and ochre-stained bones, showing evidence of ochre processing at the Mesolithic site of S'omu e S'Orku in Sardinia (Italy).

Multiproxy quantitative paleoceanographic dataset from late Quaternary marine sediment archives in the western Ross Sea (Antarctica).

The past ice sheet dynamics and the timing of retreat events in the paleo-record in the Ross Sea is an issue still few understood. In order to contribute to this topic, we provide a multiproxy data from marine sediment archives (cores and box cores) collected in three sites in the Central Basin (Western Ross Sea, Antarctica). Each site recorded different environments, affected by different oceanographic conditions and sedimentary regime.

Feasibility of hand grip tests during and after hospitalization in geriatric patients: an observational study.

Background: Monitoring the recovery trajectory during and after hospitalization can be a valuable method to observe whether additional care is needed to optimize recovery. Hand grip strength tests are commonly used to measure an individual's physical condition. Eforto® is a system to monitor hand grip strength and grip work as measures of recovery.

No association between markers of systemic inflammation and endothelial dysfunction with Alzheimer's disease progression: a longitudinal study.

Introduction: Systemic inflammation and endothelial dysfunction are potentially modifiable factors implicated in Alzheimer's disease (AD), which offer potential therapeutic targets to slow disease progression.

Methods: We investigated the relationship between baseline circulating levels of inflammatory (TNF-α, IL-1ß) and endothelial cell markers (VCAM-1, ICAM-1, E-selectin) and 18-month cognitive decline (ADAS-cog12) in 266 mild-to-moderate AD patients from the NILVAD study. We employed individual growth models to examine associations, potential mediation, and interaction effects while adjusting for confounders.

Quantifying Physical Resilience after Knee or Hip Surgery in Older Australian Women Based on Long-Term Physical Functioning Trajectories.

Introduction: To improve outcomes after knee or hip surgery, better insight is needed in long-term recovery patterns in the context of ageing-related decline. We examined long-term trajectories of physical functioning (PF) in older women with and without hip and knee surgery and described profiles of cases with higher and lower resilience after surgery.

Methods: This observational study used data from 10,434 women (73-79 years) who completed survey 2 of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health.

Social health and subsequent cognitive functioning in people aged 50 years and older: examining the mediating roles of depressive symptoms and inflammatory biomarkers in two European longitudinal studies.

Background: Social health markers, including marital status, contact frequency, network size, and social support, have been shown to be associated with cognition. However, the mechanisms underlying these associations remain poorly understood. We investigated whether depressive symptoms and inflammation mediated associations between social health and subsequent cognition.

The association of physical activity and sedentary behaviour with low back pain disability trajectories: A prospective cohort study.

Background: Multiple factors influence the recovery process of low back pain (LBP). The identification and increased knowledge of risk factors might contribute to a better understanding of the course of LBP.

Objectives: To investigate the association of habitual physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour (SB), measured at baseline, with disability trajectories in adults with LBP.

The metabolic footprint of Vero E6 cells highlights the key metabolic routes associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection and response to drug combinations.

SARS-CoV-2 burdens healthcare systems worldwide, yet specific drug-based treatments are still unavailable. Understanding the effects of SARS-CoV-2 on host molecular pathways is critical for providing full descriptions and optimizing therapeutic targets. The present study used Nuclear Magnetic Resonance-based metabolic footprinting to characterize the secreted cellular metabolite levels (exometabolomes) of Vero E6 cells in response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and to two candidate drugs (Remdesivir, RDV, and Azithromycin, AZI), either alone or in combination.

The Pleistocene high-elevation environments between 2.02 and 0.6 Ma at Melka Kunture (Upper Awash Valley, Ethiopia) based upon stable isotope analysis.

Pleistocene environments are among the most studied issues in paleoecology and human evolution research in eastern Africa. Many data have been recorded from archaeological sites located at low and medium elevations (≤ 1500 m), whereas few contexts are known at 2000 m and above. Here, we present a substantial isotopic study from Melka Kunture, a complex of prehistoric sites located at 2000-2200 m above sea level in the central Ethiopian highlands.

The association of the STarT Back Screening Tool and type of leg pain with low back pain disability trajectories: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Multiple factors influence the recovery process of low back pain (LBP). The identification and increased knowledge of prognostic factors might contribute to a better understanding of the course of LBP. The purpose of this study is to investigate the association of the STarT Back Screening Tool (SBST) risk score and the type of leg pain (non-radiating LBP, referred non-radicular, and radicular radiating leg pain) with the disability trajectory (at baseline, the slope, and recovery at one year) in adults with low back pain.

External validation of six COVID-19 prognostic models for predicting mortality risk in older populations in a hospital, primary care, and nursing home setting.

Objectives: To systematically evaluate the performance of COVID-19 prognostic models and scores for mortality risk in older populations across three health-care settings: hospitals, primary care, and nursing homes.

Study Design And Setting: This retrospective external validation study included 14,092 older individuals of ≥70 years of age with a clinical or polymerase chain reaction-confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis from March 2020 to December 2020. The six validation cohorts include three hospital-based (CliniCo, COVID-OLD, COVID-PREDICT), two primary care-based (Julius General Practitioners Network/Academisch network huisartsgeneeskunde/Network of Academic general Practitioners, PHARMO), and one nursing home cohort (YSIS) in the Netherlands.

Assessing dynamical resilience indicators in older adults: a prospective feasibility cohort study.

Purpose: Measuring dynamical resilience indicators based on time series data may improve the prediction of health deterioration in older adults after hospital discharge. We examined the feasibility of an intensive prospective cohort study examining dynamical resilience indicators based on time series data of symptoms and physical activity in acutely ill older adults who visited the Emergency Department (ED).

Methods: This is a prospective cohort study with time series data from symptom questionnaires and activity trackers.

The need for systems thinking to advance Alzheimer's disease research.

Despite extensive research efforts to mechanistically understand late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD) and other complex mental health disorders, curative treatments remain elusive. We emphasize the multiscale multicausality inherent to LOAD, highlighting the interplay between interconnected pathophysiological processes and risk factors. Systems thinking methods, such as causal loop diagrams and systems dynamic models, offer powerful means to capture and study this complexity.

Availability of Cognitive Resources in Early Life Predicts Transitions Between Cognitive States in Middle and Older Adults From Europe.

Background And Objectives: The existing literature highlights the importance of reading books in middle-to-older adulthood for cognitive functioning; very few studies, however, have examined the importance of childhood cognitive resources for cognitive outcomes later in life.

Research Design And Methods: Using data from 11 countries included in the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) data set ( = 32,783), multistate survival models (MSMs) were fit to examine the importance of access to reading material in childhood on transitions through cognitive status categories (no cognitive impairment and impaired cognitive functioning) and death. Additionally, using the transition probabilities estimated by the MSMs, we estimated the remaining years of life without cognitive impairment and total longevity.

Early lived at high altitudes and produced both Oldowan and Acheulean tools.

In Africa, the scarcity of hominin remains found in direct association with stone tools has hindered attempts to link and with particular lithic industries. The infant mandible discovered in level E at Garba IV (Melka Kunture) on the highlands of Ethiopia is critical to this issue due to its direct association with an Oldowan lithic industry. Here, we use synchrotron imaging to examine the internal morphology of the unerupted permanent dentition and confirm its identification as .

Understanding multimorbidity requires sign-disease networks and higher-order interactions, a perspective.

Background: Count scores, disease clustering, and pairwise associations between diseases remain ubiquitous in multimorbidity research despite two major shortcomings: they yield no insight into plausible mechanisms underlying multimorbidity, and they ignore higher-order interactions such as effect modification.

Objectives: We argue that two components are currently missing but vital to develop novel multimorbidity metrics. Firstly, networks should be constructed which consists simultaneously of signs, symptoms, and diseases, since only then could they yield insight into plausible shared biological mechanisms underlying diseases.

I Like This New Me: Unravelling Population Structure of Mediterranean Electric Rays and Taxonomic Uncertainties within Torpediniformes.

The present study focused on the three species of electric rays known to occur in the Mediterranean Sea: , and . Correct identification of specimens is needed to properly assess the impact of fisheries on populations and species. Unfortunately, torpedoes share high morphological similarities, boosting episodes of field misidentification.

Association between Muscle Fatigability, Self-Perceived Fatigue and C-Reactive Protein at Admission in Hospitalized Geriatric Patients.

The capacity to perceived vitality (CPV) ratio is a novel measure for intrinsic capacity or resilience based on grip work and self-perceived fatigue. CPV has been associated with pre-frailty in older adults and post-surgery inflammation in adults. To better understand the utility of this measure in a frail population, we examined the association between CPV and inflammation in geriatric inpatients.

Exploring the potential impact of multi-factor precision interventions in Alzheimer's disease with system dynamics.

Numerous clinical trials based on a single-cause paradigm have not resulted in efficacious treatments for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Recently, prevention trials that simultaneously intervened on multiple risk factors have shown mixed results, suggesting that careful design is necessary. Moreover, intensive pilot precision medicine (PM) trial results have been promising but may not generalize to a broader population.

Multimorbidity patterns in older persons and their association with self-reported quality of life and limitations in activities of daily living.

Background: As populations age, multimorbidity (the presence of two or more chronic morbidities) is increasingly more common. These evolving demographics demand further research into the identification of morbidity patterns in different settings as well as the longitudinal effects of these patterns.

Methods: Prospectively collected data on 12,755 older persons aged 65+ years were derived from The Older Persons and Informal Caregivers Survey Minimum DataSet (TOPICS-MDS, www.

Trajectories of Physical Function and Behavioral, Psychological, and Social Well-Being in a Cohort of Swedish Older Adults.

Background And Objectives: Successful aging has been described as a multifactorial and dynamic process. The aims of the study were to detect aging trajectories of physical function and behavioral, psychological, and social well-being; and to explore the correlations between functional versus well-being trajectories by age group.

Research Design And Methods: Data were gathered from the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care in Kungsholmen ( = 1,375).