Contemporary hominin locomotor diversity.

Footprints in Kenya show that hominin bipedalism had a complex evolutionary history.

Prevalence of drifting osteons distinguishes human bone.

The histological, or microscopic, appearance of bone tissue has long been studied to identify species-specific traits. There are several known histological characteristics to discriminate animal bone from human, but currently no histological characteristic that has been consistently identified in human bone exclusive to other mammals. The drifting osteon is a rare morphotype found in human long bones and observationally is typically absent from common mammalian domesticates.

Exercise preferences for young people at-risk for and living with HIV: a short report.

Exercise can improve physical and mental health for young people at risk for and with HIV, but prevalence rates remain low. This study explored exercise preferences and barriers among young people at risk for and with HIV, and potential gender differences. A total of 129 participants (66.

Using Economic Evaluation to Hasten Health Equity.

Achieving health equity has proven elusive for two reasons. First, most research has focused on changing the behavior of individuals; however, policies that address socioeconomic factors or change the context to facilitate healthy decisions tend to be more effective. Second, health disparity science and evidence are not consistently used to guide policy makers, even those seeking health equity.

Intersection of COVID-19, HIV and exercise: a commentary with home-based exercise recommendations for practice.

The worldwide spread of COVID-19 has led to closures or reduced capacity of non-essential businesses and recreational areas and stay-at-home orders to promote social distancing. Although effective to reduce transmission, these policies may negatively impact exercise behaviors. Exercise is effective at mitigating the risk of developing or exacerbating several of underlining risk factors for a more severe COVID-19 disease course and may be particularly important for people with HIV (PWH).

When Pandemic Hits: Exercise Frequency and Subjective Well-Being During COVID-19 Pandemic.

The governmental lockdowns related to the COVID-19 pandemic have forced people to change their behavior in many ways including changes in exercise. We used the brief window of global lockdown in the months of March/April/May 2020 as an opportunity to investigate the effects of externally imposed restrictions on exercise-related routines and related changes in subjective well-being. Statistical analyses are based on data from 13,696 respondents in 18 countries using a cross-sectional online survey.

Microdamage as a Bone Quality Component: Practical Guidelines for the Two-Dimensional Analysis of Linear Microcracks in Human Cortical Bone.

Microdamage is a component of bone quality believed to play an integral role in bone health. However, comparability between existing studies is fraught with issues due to highly variable methods of sample preparation and poorly defined quantification criteria. To address these issues, this article has two aims.

Obtaining Thickness-Limited Electrospray Deposition for 3D Coating.

Electrospray processing utilizes the balance of electrostatic forces and surface tension within a charged spray to produce charged microdroplets with a narrow dispersion in size. In electrospray deposition, each droplet carries a small quantity of suspended material to a target substrate. Past electrospray deposition results fall into two major categories: (1) continuous spray of films onto conducting substrates and (2) spray of isolated droplets onto insulating substrates.

Bullying and Identity Development: Insights from Autistic and Non-autistic College Students.

Reduced cognitive empathy may put autistic people at risk for bullying. We compared interpretations of bullying provided by 22 autistic and 15 non-autistic college students. Autistic (and non-autistic) students reported less severe bullying in college relative to earlier in development.

The Effect of Clear Speech on Temporal Metrics of Rhythm in Spanish-Accented Speakers of English.

This paper presents a comparative analysis of temporal rhythm in native American English talkers and Spanish-accented English talkers producing clear (hyperarticulated) speech and typical, conversational-style speech. Five acoustic measures of comparative vocalic and consonantal interval duration ("temporal metrics") were obtained from speech samples of 40 adult men and women (half native and half Spanish-accented talkers). In conversational-style speech, vocalic-based metrics differed significantly between native and Spanish-accented talkers, consistent with phonotactic differences between the two native languages.

Evaluating causes of error in landmark-based data collection using scanners.

In this study, we assess the precision, accuracy, and repeatability of craniodental landmarks (Types I, II, and III, plus curves of semilandmarks) on a single macaque cranium digitally reconstructed with three different surface scanners and a microCT scanner. Nine researchers with varying degrees of osteological and geometric morphometric knowledge landmarked ten iterations of each scan (40 total) to test the effects of scan quality, researcher experience, and landmark type on levels of intra- and interobserver error. Two researchers additionally landmarked ten specimens from seven different macaque species using the same landmark protocol to test the effects of the previously listed variables relative to species-level morphological differences (i.

Probing the Limits of Supramolecular G-Quadruplexes Using Atomistic Molecular Dynamics Simulations.

Guanosine and related derivatives self-assemble in the presence of cations like potassium into supramolecular G-quadruplexes (SGQs), where four guanine moieties form planar tetrads (T) that coaxially stack into columnar aggregates with broad size distributions. However, SGQs made from 8-aryl-2'-deoxyguanosine derivatives (8ArGs), form mostly octamers, or two-tetrad (T)-SGQs, while some form dodecamers (T-SGQs), or hexadecamers (T-SGQs), and none reported to date form higher assemblies. A theoretical model that addresses the configurational space available for the multiple pathways available for 8ArGs to self-assemble into SGQs is used to frame a series of molecular dynamics simulations (MDS) with selected SGQs.

The Effect of Loud Voice and Clear Speech on the Use of Vocal Fry in Women.

Objective: This study investigated the effects of clear speech and loud voice on the use of vocal fry in women.

Methods: Twenty healthy-voiced young women who used a moderate amount of vocal fry when reading aloud in conversational-style speech (defined as a minimum of three occurrences per sentence) also read the same stimuli in loud voice and clear speech. The occurrence of vocal fry was assessed in the three speaking styles.

Early hominin diversity and the emergence of the genus Homo.

Bipedalism is a defining trait of hominins, as all members of the clade are argued to possess at least some characters indicative of this unusual form of locomotion. Traditionally the evolution of bipedalism has been treated in a somewhat linear way. This has been challenged in the last decade or so, and in this paper I consider this view in light of the considerable new fossil hominin discoveries of the last few years.

The foot of Homo naledi.

Modern humans are characterized by a highly specialized foot that reflects our obligate bipedalism. Our understanding of hominin foot evolution is, although, hindered by a paucity of well-associated remains. Here we describe the foot of Homo naledi from Dinaledi Chamber, South Africa, using 107 pedal elements, including one nearly-complete adult foot.

Using a reduced dimensionality model to compute the thermodynamic properties of finite polypeptide aggregates.

By implementing a simple reduced dimensionality model to describe the interactions in finite systems composed of two seven-amino-acid peptides, the thermodynamic properties of ordered and disordered aggregates were computed. Within this model, the hydrophobicity of each amino acid was varied, and the stability of the systems computed. Accurate averages in the canonical ensemble were obtained using various replica exchange Monte Carlo algorithms.

Nitroalcohol Induced Hydrogel Formation in Amine-Functionalized Polymers.

Certain β-nitroalcohols degrade under basic conditions or upon heating to form formaldehyde. This reaction provides an elegant approach to generate formaldehyde within a system at a desired time using the stimulus of pH or temperature. Using β-nitroalcohols as a delivery agent for formaldehyde, polymer crosslinking can be induced via stimulus.

Interrogating the dynamics between power, knowledge and pregnant bodies in amniocentesis decision making.

A common assumption is that women who decline prenatal testing distrust biomedicine and trust embodied/experiential knowledge sources, while women who accept testing trust biomedicine and distrust embodied/experiential sources. Another major assumption about prenatal testing utilisation is that women who are open to abortion will undergo prenatal testing while those who are opposed to abortion will decline testing. Yet, previous research has produced inconsistent findings as to what, if anything, distinguishes women who accept or decline the offer of prenatal diagnosis.

Sexuality and school shootings: what role does teasing play in school massacres?

Conventional explanations - lax gun control laws, media violence, single and working parents - do not adequately explain the recent spate of school shootings, and neither does bullying by itself, an explanation recently gaining more traction. A certain type of bullying, however, is revealed as particularly culpable. Many of the recent shootings share a disturbing component: The perpetrators were repeatedly, even relentlessly, accused by "preps and jocks" of being gay.

The Sambungmacan 3 Homo erectus calvaria: a comparative morphometric and morphological analysis.

The Sambungmacan (Sm) 3 calvaria, discovered on Java in 1977, was illegally removed from Indonesia in 1998 and appeared in New York City in early 1999 at the Maxilla & Mandible, Ltd. natural history shop. Here we undertake an analysis of its phylogenetic and systematic position using geometric morphometrics and comparative morphology.

Death anxiety, coping resources, and comfort with dying patients among nurses in AIDS care facilities.

437 nursing staff members in seven AIDS residential health care facilities in New York City were asked to complete a questionnaire consisting of the Death Anxiety Scale, the Coping Resources Inventory, the Comfort with Dying Patients Scale, and a Demographic Section. 197 usable questionnaires were returned. There were statistically significant racial or ethnic differences in scores on physical coping resources, with African-Americans reporting the fewest resources.