Adaptation to altered balance conditions in unilateral amputees due to atherosclerosis: a randomized controlled study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Amputation impairs the ability to balance. We examined adaptation strategies in balance following dysvascularity-induced unilateral tibial amputation in skilled prosthetic users (SPU) and first fitted amputees (FFA) (N = 28).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Excursions of center of pressure (COP) were determined during 20 s quiet standing using a stabilometry system with eyes-open on both legs or on the non-affected leg(s). Main measures: COP trajectories and time functions; distribution of reaction forces between the two legs; inclination angles obtained through second order regression analysis using stabilogram data.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>FFA vs SPU demonstrated 27.8% greater postural sway in bilateral stance (p = 0.0004). Postural sway area was smaller in FFA standing on the non-affected leg compared with SPU (p = 0.028). The slope of the regression line indicating postural stability was nearly identical in FFA and SPU and the direction of regression line was opposite for the left and right leg amputees.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Of the two adaptation strategies in balance, the first appears before amputation due to pain and fatigue in the affected leg. This strategy appears in the form of reduced postural sway while standing on the non-affected leg. The second adaptation occurs during rehabilitation and regular use of the prosthesis resulting in normal weightbearing associated with reduced postural sway on two legs and return to the normal postural stability on one leg.</p

The compensatory potential of increased immigration following intensive American mink population control is diluted by male-biased dispersal

Attempts to mitigate the impact of invasive species on native ecosystems increasingly target large land masses where control, rather than eradication, is the management objective. Depressing numbers of invasive species to a level where their impact on native biodiversity is tolerable requires overcoming the impact of compensatory immigration from non-controlled portions of the landscape. Because of the expected scale-dependency of dispersal, the overall size of invasive species management areas relative to the dispersal ability of the controlled species will determine the size of any effectively conserved core area unaffected by immigration from surrounding areas. However, when dispersal is male-biased, as in many mammalian invasive carnivores, males may be overrepresented amongst immigrants, reducing the potential growth rate of invasive species populations in re-invaded areas. Using data collected from a project that gradually imposed spatially comprehensive control on invasive American mink (Neovison vison) over a 10,000 km2 area of NE Scotland, we show that mink captures were reduced to almost zero in 3 years, whilst there was a threefold increase in the proportion of male immigrants. Dispersal was often long distance and linking adjacent river catchments, asymptoting at 38 and 31 km for males and females respectively. Breeding and dispersal were spatially heterogeneous, with 40 % of river sections accounting for most captures of juvenile (85 %), adult female (65 %) and immigrant (57 %) mink. Concentrating control effort on such areas, so as to turn them into “attractive dispersal sinks” could make a disproportionate contribution to the management of recurrent re-invasion of mainland invasive species management areas

The Oldest Case of Decapitation in the New World (Lapa do Santo, East-Central Brazil)

We present here evidence for an early Holocene case of decapitation in the New World (Burial 26), found in the rock shelter of Lapa do Santo in 2007. Lapa do Santo is an archaeological site located in the Lagoa Santa karst in east-central Brazil with evidence of human occupation dating as far back as 11.7-12.7 cal kyBP (95.4% interval). An ultra-filtered AMS age determination on a fragment of the sphenoid provided an age range of 9.1-9.4 cal kyBP (95.4% interval) for Burial 26. The interment was composed of an articulated cranium, mandible and first six cervical vertebrae. Cut marks with a v-shaped profile were observed in the mandible and sixth cervical vertebra. The right hand was amputated and laid over the left side of the face with distal phalanges pointing to the chin and the left hand was amputated and laid over the right side of the face with distal phalanges pointing to the forehead. Strontium analysis comparing Burial 26's isotopic signature to other specimens from Lapa do Santo suggests this was a local member of the group. Therefore, we suggest a ritualized decapitation instead of trophy-taking, testifying for the sophistication of mortuary rituals among hunter-gatherers in the Americas during the early Archaic period. In the apparent absence of wealth goods or elaborated architecture, Lapa do Santo's inhabitants seemed to use the human body to express their cosmological principles regarding death

La sequenza stratigrafica, Catalogo (con A. Ruta Serafini), Note conclusive (con A. Ruta Serafini)

Vengono presentati i risultati di un intervento di archeologia di emergenza effettuato nella necropoli orientale di Padova, che ha portato al recupero di 26 sepolture di VI sec. a. C

Sociobiologia possibile. Neodarwinismo e scienze dell'uomo: la ricerca di un'alternativa al determinismo biologico

Un confronto interdisciplinare sulla sociobiologia che cerca di individuare una strada per un confronto costruttivo fra evoluzionismo e scienze sociali oltre il determinismo di molte formulazioni