Anthropometric Linear Measurements of Female Athletes in the Italian National Athletic Teams

Anthropometry is essential to understand the predisposition of an athlete to practice a specific sporting activity, to assess their fitness, and in association with functional parameters, to identify any correlations between their anthropometric profile and their sport performance. Here, we present the anthropometric profiles of athletes of the Italian national teams, who represented Italy in the 2019-2020 competitive season in the following sports: artistic (n=4) and rhythmic (n=12) gymnastics; distance swimming (speciality: 100 m freestyle) (n=14); synchronized swimming (n=10); and basketball (n=6). We also consider a group of sedentary women (n=22) for comparisons. The following anthropometric measurements were taken for each woman: stature; anterior trunk height (i.e., suprasternal-symphysion distance); chest circumference passing through the mesosternal point; biacromial diameter (i.e., akromion-akromion distance); wrist circumference; abdominal circumference passing through the omphalion and the lumbale; hip circumference; height of lower limb (i.e., epitrochanter-planta distance). Height was a selective factor in both basketball, which requires tall athletes, and artistic gymnastics, where in contrast, well-muscled athletes of small stature are required. In aquatic sports, the constitutional habitus is characterized by good development of the upper body compared to the lower limbs. The selection of elite athletes takes place primarily through anthropometric analyses, although other functional and psychological factors also influence their sports performance

Histological and chemical diagnosis of a combat lesion in Triceratops

In the collective imagination derived from scientific and popular literature, Triceratops often faced each other in combat. Thus, from the second half of the twentieth century, these ceratopsids were described as pugnacious animals. This arises primarily from the interpretation of extracranial fenestrae in ceratopsids being the result of combat trauma. However, the diagnosis of the traumatic nature of these anatomical variants of their neck frill requires evidence of bone healing and remodelling by microscopy analysis. Here, we present the case of the Triceratops horridus known as Big John, which is one of the largest specimens discovered in the Hell Creek Formation (Upper Cretaceous; MT, USA). Its right squamosal bone shows an extrafenestra with irregular margins and signs of inflammation. Microscopy analysis revealed newly formed and healing bone, with histological signs typical of the bone remodelling phase. Chemical analysis revealed sulphur that was derived from glycosaminoglycan’s and sulphated glycoproteins of the preosseous osteoid substance present in the healing phases of a bone trauma. Histological and microanalytical analyses confirm that the squamosal fenestra of Big John is the result of a traumatic event, which might indeed have occurred during combat with another Triceratops

The paleopathological collection of the “G. D’Annunzio” University Museum (Chieti-Pescara, Italy)

Paleopathology is a multidisciplinary science which studies the origin and evolution of diseases. The main sources of information consist of biological remains (mainly bones and teeth), archaeological finds and historical documents. The study of diseases in prehistoric times is based solely on fossils showing pathological signs. The “G. d’Annunzio” University Museum of Chieti-Pescara (Italy) preserves a rich paleopathological collection consisting of 481 artifacts. The collection consists of plant, animal and human remains with pathological changes resulting from trauma, infectious diseases, joint diseases, tumors, metabolic diseases or nutritional deficiencies and congenital diseases. Each specimen has an inventory number and a technical data sheet, accompanied by photographic images from different viewpoints. The data sheet includes information regarding the taxonomic classification, the dating and origin of the specimen, the description of the lesion and offers a pathological diagnosis. It is a unique collection of its kind, which constitutes a precious source of information even on very ancient diseases, and an opportunity for researchers to study the interactions between ecosystems of the past and extinct animal and plant species through “paleopathological markers”

Preservation of single human hearts from archaeological and historical contexts

The work analyzes a series of cardiac remains from archaeological and historical con-texts, from different periods and from different parts of the world. They have undergone an often natural conservative process, facilitated by certain environmental conditions, sometimes artificial, with the precise desire to give individual importance to the heart. The analysis of these hearts is mainly aimed at the presence or absence of pathological aspects present in each of them and focuses attention on the scientific and medical importance that can also be found in organic remains from contexts of this typ