Surgical Correction of Unicoronal Synostosis: Fronto-orbital Distraction versus Calvarial Switch.

Background: There is a need for a new, less invasive surgical option for unicoronal synostosis (UCS). The aim of this study was to compare the resulting morphology and symmetry in patients with UCS following fronto-orbital distraction (FOD) or calvarial switch (CS).

Methods: 79 patients with isolated UCS operated between 2005 and 2021 were analyzed.

A physico-mechanical model of postnatal craniofacial growth in human.

Our fundamental understanding of the physico-mechanical forces that drive the size and shape changes of the cranium during ontogeny are limited. Biomechanical models based on finite element method present a huge opportunity to address this critical gap in our knowledge. Here, we describe a validated computational framework to predict normal craniofacial growth.

RRmorph-a new R package to map phenotypic evolutionary rates and patterns on 3D meshes.

The study of evolutionary rates and patterns is the key to understand how natural selection shaped the current and past diversity of phenotypes. Phylogenetic comparative methods offer an array of solutions to undertake this challenging task, and help understanding phenotypic variation in full in most circumstances. However, complex, three-dimensional structures such as the skull and the brain serve disparate goals, and different portions of these phenotypes often fulfil different functions, making it hard to understand which parts truly were recruited by natural selection.

The Middle Pleistocene human metatarsal from Sedia del Diavolo (Rome, Italy).

The peopling of Europe during the Middle Pleistocene is a debated topic among paleoanthropologists. Some authors suggest the coexistence of multiple human lineages in this period, while others propose a single evolving lineage from Homo heidelbergensis to Homo neanderthalensis. The recent reassessment of the stratigraphy at the Sedia del Diavolo (SdD) site (Latium, Italy), now dated to the beginning of marine isotope stage (MIS) 8, calls for a revision of the human fossils from the site.

Mapping sexual dimorphism signal in the human cranium.

The study of sexual dimorphism in human crania has important applications in the fields of human evolution and human osteology. Current, the identification of sex from cranial morphology relies on manual visual inspection of identifiable anatomical features, which can lead to bias due to user's expertise. We developed a landmark-based approach to automatically map the sexual dimorphism signal on the human cranium.

Evaluation of age, sex, and ancestry-related variation in cortical bone and dentine volumes in modern humans, and a preliminary assessment of cortical bone-dentine covariation in later Homo.

Cortical bone and dentine share similarities in their embryological origin, development, and genetic background. Few analyses have combined the study of cortical bone and dentine to quantify their covariation relative to endogenous and exogenous factors. However, knowing how these tissues relate in individuals is of great importance to decipher the factors acting on their evolution, and ultimately to understand the mechanisms responsible for the different patterns of tissue proportions shown in hominins.

Geometric morphometric analysis of Pleuronectiformes vertebrae: A new tool to identify archaeological fish remains?

Flatfish (Pleuronectiformes) vertebrae are difficult to identify to species due to the lack of diagnostic features. This has resulted in a lack of understanding of the species abundances across archaeological sites, hindering interpretations of historical fisheries in the North Sea area. We use a new approach, utilising a combined 2D landmark-based geometric morphometric analysis as an objective and non-destructive method for species identification of flatfish vertebrae from the North Sea area.

Normal human craniofacial growth and development from 0 to 4 years.

Knowledge of human craniofacial growth (increase in size) and development (change in shape) is important in the clinical treatment of a range of conditions that affects it. This study uses an extensive collection of clinical CT scans to investigate craniofacial growth and development over the first 48 months of life, detail how the cranium changes in form (size and shape) in each sex and how these changes are associated with the growth and development of various soft tissues such as the brain, eyes and tongue and the expansion of the nasal cavity. This is achieved through multivariate analyses of cranial form based on 3D landmarks and semi-landmarks and by analyses of linear dimensions, and cranial volumes.

A Comparison of Semilandmarking Approaches in the Analysis of Size and Shape.

Often, few landmarks can be reliably identified in analyses of form variation and covariation. Thus, 'semilandmarking' algorithms have increasingly been applied to surfaces and curves. However, the locations of semilandmarks depend on the investigator's choice of algorithm and their density.

Virtual excavation and analysis of the early Neanderthal cranium from Altamura (Italy).

Complete Neanderthal skeletons are almost unique findings. A very well-preserved specimen of this kind was discovered in 1993 in the deepest recesses of a karstic system near the town of Altamura in Southern Italy. We present here a detailed description of the cranium, after we virtually extracted it from the surrounding stalagmites and stalactites.

Icex: Advances in the automatic extraction and volume calculation of cranial cavities.

The use of non-destructive approaches for digital acquisition (e.g. computerised tomography-CT) allows detailed qualitative and quantitative study of internal structures of skeletal material.

A Comparison of Semilandmarking Approaches in the Visualisation of Shape Differences.

In landmark-based analyses of size and shape variation and covariation among biological structures, regions lacking clearly identifiable homologous landmarks are commonly described by semilandmarks. Different algorithms may be used to apply semilandmarks, but little is known about the consequences of analytical results. Here, we assess how different approaches and semilandmarking densities affect the estimates and visualisations of mean and allometrically scaled surfaces.

Homo sapiens and Neanderthals share high cerebral cortex integration into adulthood.

There is controversy around the mechanisms that guided the change in brain shape during the evolution of modern humans. It has long been held that different cortical areas evolved independently from each other to develop their unique functional specializations. However, some recent studies suggest that high integration between different cortical areas could facilitate the emergence of equally extreme, highly specialized brain functions.

Multi-proxy analysis suggests Late Pleistocene affinities of human skeletal remains attributed to Balzi Rossi.

In two publications from 1967 and 1971, M. Masali described human skeletal remains presumed to have been found in the Balzi Rossi caves (Ventimiglia, Italy), based on a signed note dated to 1908. Since then, the remains - dubbed "Conio's Finds" and preserved at the University of Torino - had not been further studied.

Bone density and genomic analysis unfold cold adaptation mechanisms of ancient inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego.

The Fuegians, ancient inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego, are an exemplary case of a cold-adapted population, since they were capable of living in extreme climatic conditions without any adequate clothing. However, the mechanisms of their extraordinary resistance to cold remain enigmatic. Brown adipose tissue (BAT) plays a crucial role in this kind of adaptation, besides having a protective role on the detrimental effect of low temperatures on bone structure.

Digital restoration of the Wilson-Leonard 2 Paleoindian skull (~10,000 BP) from central Texas with comparison to other early American and modern crania.

Objectives: Craniofacial morphology (CFM) is often used to address questions about the biological affinities of the earliest Americans, or Paleoindians, but resolution is complicated in part by a lack of well-preserved crania. The Wilson-Leonard 2 (WL-2) Paleoindian skull from Texas has never been fully analyzed because it is crushed and cannot be physically reconstructed. This study employs a digital restoration for comprehensive assessment and analysis of WL-2.

Arothron: An R package for geometric morphometric methods and virtual anthropology applications.

Objectives: The statistical analysis of fossil remains is essential to understand the evolution of the genus Homo. Unfortunately, the human fossil record is straight away scarce and plagued with severe loss of information caused by taphonomic processes. The recently developed field of Virtual Anthropology helps to ameliorate this situation by using digital techniques to restore damaged and incomplete fossils.

Correction: A new, fast method to search for morphological convergence with shape data.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Growing old: Do women and men age differently?

Aging of the head and especially the face has been studied intensively, yet questions remain about the timing and rates of aging throughout adulthood and about the extent to which aging differs between men and women. Here we address these issues by developing statistical models of craniofacial aging to describe and compare aging through the life course in both sexes. We selected cranial surface meshes from 254 females and 252 males, aged from 20 to 90 years from the Headspace project, Liverpool, UK.

Frontal bone virtual reconstruction and geometric morphometric analysis of the mid-Pleistocene hominin KNM-OG 45500 (Olorgesailie, Kenya).

KNM-OG 45500 is a hominin fossil composed of parts of a frontal bone, left temporal bone, and cranial vault pieces. Since its discovery along the Olorgesailie Formation (Kenya) in 2003, it has been associated with the Homo erectus hypodigm. The specimen, derived from a geological context dated to ca.

3D Modeling of craniofacial ontogeny and sexual dimorphism in children.

Background: The range of normal variation of growth and development of the craniofacial region is of direct clinical interest but incompletely understood. Here we develop a statistical model of craniofacial growth and development to compare craniofacial ontogeny between age groups and sexes and pilot an approach to modeling that is relatively straightforward to apply in the context of clinical research and assessment.

Methods: The sample comprises head surface meshes captured using a 3dMD five-camera system from 65 males and 47 females (range 3-20 years) from the Headspace project, Liverpool, UK.

In situ observations on the dentition and oral cavity of the Neanderthal skeleton from Altamura (Italy).

The Neanderthal specimen from Lamalunga Cave, near Altamura (Apulia, Italy), was discovered during a speleological survey in 1993. The specimen is one of the most complete fossil hominins in Europe and its state of preservation is exceptional, although it is stuck in calcareous concretions and the bones are mostly covered by calcite depositions. Nevertheless, it is possible to carry out some observations on craniodental features that have not previously been described.

A Major Change in Rate of Climate Niche Envelope Evolution during Hominid History.

is the only species alive able to take advantage of its cognitive abilities to inhabit almost all environments on Earth. Humans are able to culturally construct, rather than biologically inherit, their occupied climatic niche to a degree unparalleled within the animal kingdom. Precisely, when hominins acquired such an ability remains unknown, and scholars disagree on the extent to which our ancestors shared this same ability.

Digital imaging techniques applied to a case of concha bullosa from an early medieval funerary area in central Italy.

Objective: Concha bullosa is a rather common condition of the nasal turbinates, rarely reported in archaeological skeletal collections. This paper examines a case of concha bullosa as seen in a female cranium from a burial in central Italy, dated to the Longobard domination in the Peninsula (mid-7th- early 8th century CE).

Materials: The individual under investigation (T86/17) comes from the funerary area of Selvicciola, located near the town of Viterbo in northern Latium, Italy.