Increase on environmental seasonality through the European Early Pleistocene inferred from dental enamel hypoplasia

An in-depth study of the Early Pleistocene European remains of Hippopotamus has allowed the first detailed description of the incidence and types of dental alterations related to palaeopathologies and potentially linked to climatic and environmental factors. The results of a long-term qualitative and quantitative assessment highlight the importance of nutrient deficiencies on the development of dental enamel hypoplasia in Hippopotamus. Glacial cyclicity and the resulting changes in humidity and plant community structure conditioned the local environments critical for the survival of this taxon. Two main intervals of putative constrained nutritionally restrictions were detected at ca. 1.8 Ma and ca. 0.86 Ma (i.e., MIS63 and MIS21, respectively). Statistical comparisons show an increase in the frequency of dental hypoplasia between these two chronological periods, thus reinforcing the idea of increased seasonality in the circum-Mediterranean environments during the Early Pleistocene

First small-sized Dinofelis: Evidence from the Plio-Pleistocene of North Africa

We describe small-sized specimens of the metailurine felid Dinofelis from a new Plio-Pleistocene site in North Africa. Dinofelis is a genus of saber-toothed cats mainly recorded from East and South Africa with numerous leopard to jaguar-sized species. The described specimens, clearly smaller than all the other African Dinofelis, resemble isolated remains from the Late Pliocene of France and the Early Pleistocene of Africa. Present evidence suggests that our form represents a new species and/or new lineage of Dinofelis, smaller and probably occupying a different ecological niche compared to the previously known members of the genus, and thus it adds complexity to the high intraspecific competition among large carnivorans in the Plio-Pleistocene of Africa.This work has been funded by Palarq Foundation, Spanish Ministry of Culture and Sport (Ref: 42-T002018N0000042853 and 170- T002019N0000038589), Direction of Cultural Heritage (Ministry of Culture and Communication, Morocco), Faculty of Sciences (Mohamed 1r University of Oujda,Morocco), INSAP (Institut National des Sciences de l'Archeologie et du Patrimoine), Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (Ref: CGL2016-80975-P, CGL2016-80000-P, PGC2018-095489-B-I00 and PGC2018-093925-B-C31), Agencia Estatal de Investigacion e European Regional Development Fund of the European Union (CGL2017-82654-P, AEI/FEDER-UE), the Generalitat de Catalunya (CERCA Program) which is financed by European Community Research Infrastructure Action under the FP7 “Capacities” Program and Research Groups Support (2017 SGR 836 and 2017SGR 859). R.S-R, M.G.CH., and P.S. research is funded by CERCA Programme/Generalitat de Catalunya. J.M.-M. is member of consolidated research group 2017 SGR 116 (AGAUR, Generalitat de Catalunya). A.R.-H. is the beneficiary of a postdoctoral scholar ship from the MICINN, Subprograma Juan de la Cierva (IJC-037447-I) and member of the Consolidated Research Group 2017 SGR 1040 of the Generalitat de Catalunya. A.M.A and M.F. are beneficiaries of a fellowship from the Erasmus Mundus Program to do the Master in Quaternary and Prehistory at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (Tarragona, Spain). The Institut Catala de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolucio Social (IPHES-CERCA) has received financial support fromthe Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the ‘María de Maeztu’ program for Units of Excellence (CEX2019-000945-M).With funding from the Spanish government through the "Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence" accreditation (CEX2019-000945-M).Peer reviewe

Results of the Italian Pediatric Orthopedics Society juvenile flexible flatfoot survey: diagnosis and treatment options

To collect and analyze current diagnosis and treatment options of symptomatic flexible flatfoot (FFF), as well as to identify treatment expectations, among the members of the Italian Pediatric Orthopedics Society (SITOP)

Results of the Italian Pediatric Orthopedics Society juvenile flexible flatfoot survey

To collect and analyze current diagnosis and treatment options of symptomatic flexible flatfoot (FFF), as well as to identify treatment expectations, among the members of the Italian Pediatric Orthopedics Society (SITOP)

The Impact of NUTRItional Status at First Medical Oncology Visit on Clinical Outcomes: The NUTRIONCO Study

Malnutrition affects up to 75% of cancer patients and results from a combination of anorexia and metabolic dysregulation. Metabolic and nutritional abnormalities in cancer patients can lead to cachexia, a multifactorial syndrome characterized by involuntary loss of skeletal muscle mass, systemic inflammation and increased protein catabolism. Cancer cachexia negatively affects patients’ outcomes, response to anticancer treatments, quality of life, and survival. However, risk of malnutrition, and cachexia are still under-recognized in cancer patients. The Prevalence of Malnutrition in Oncology (PreMiO) study revealed that 51% of patients already had nutritional deficiencies at their first medical oncology visit. Here, we report the results of the subsequent retrospective, observational NUTRItional status at first medical oncology visit ON Clinical Outcomes (NUTRIONCO) study, aimed at assessing the impact of baseline nutritional and non-nutritional variables collected in the PreMiO study on the clinical outcomes of the same patients followed up from August 2019 to October 2021. We have highlighted a statistically significant association between baseline variables and patient death, rehospitalization, treatment toxicity, and disease progression at follow-up. We found a higher overall survival probability in the well-nourished general study population vs. malnourished patients (p p p = 0.004) and VAS score for appetite loss (p = 0.0104), in addition to albumin p 3 (p = 0.0007), were independently associated with the death of non-metastatic patients at follow-up. These findings highlight the importance of proactive, early management of malnutrition and cachexia in cancer patients, and in particular, in non-metastatic patients, from the perspective of a substantial improvement of their clinical outcomes

First small-sized Dinofelis : evidence from the Plio-Pleistocene of North Africa

We describe small-sized specimens of the metailurine felid Dinofelis from a new Plio-Pleistocene site in North Africa. Dinofelis is a genus of saber-toothed cats mainly recorded from East and South Africa with numerous leopard to jaguar-sized species. The described specimens, clearly smaller than all the other African Dinofelis, resemble isolated remains from the Late Pliocene of France and the Early Pleistocene of Africa. Present evidence suggests that our form represents a new species and/or new lineage of Dinofelis, smaller and probably occupying a different ecological niche compared to the previously known members of the genus, and thus it adds complexity to the high intraspecific competition among large carnivorans in the Plio-Pleistocene of Africa