Histological analysis and etiology of a pathological iguanodontian femur from England

Derived ornithopods, such as hadrosaurids, show a high occurrence of fossilized lesions and diseases. However, paleopathologies in iguanodontians seem to be less common, considering the rich fossil record of these taxa in Europe, in particular in Belgium, Britain and Spain. Here, we describe an iguanodontian femur discovered in England that exhibits a large overgrowth of its lateral aspect, not previously recognized in any other similar remains. The specimen was scanned with micro-computed tomography (microCT) and later sectioned in three sites of the overgrowth for histological analysis. The femur belongs to an early adult Iguanodontia indet., based on the presence of a woven parallel fibered complex in the outer cortex and three to four lines of arrested growth. Internal analysis of the dome-like overgrowth suggests it can be diagnosed as a fracture callus. The injury might have negatively impacted upon the animal's locomotion as the trauma had occurred in the region above the knee, a crucial spot for hindlimb musculature. Finally, a cancellous medullary bone-like tissue was recognized in the medullary cavity next to the pathological overgrowth. An attempt was made to determine the precise nature of this tissue, as medullary bone is linked with the ovulation period in (avian) dinosaurs, whereas other types of endosteal, medullary bone-like tissue have previously been recognized in pathological bones

I Mediatori in Educazione Speciale: mezzi, strumenti e metodiche

Nella propria attivit\ue0 di insegnamento ogni docente utilizza tutta una serie di metodi e di strumenti per favorire l'apprendimento di contenuti, maturando specifiche abilit\ue0 capaci di renderli sicuri e operativi.I canali attraverso i quali avviene la comunicazione didattica, i mediatori, si dividono in quattro categorie: attivi, iconici, analogici e simbolici. Passando da una categoria all'altra aumenta il ruolo della simbolizzazione e ci si allontana dal contatto diretto con l'esperienza.Conoscere e saper utilizzare i vari mediatori significa adeguare consapevolmente la propria azione educativa (quella speciale soprattutto) in funzione delle potenzialit\ue0 insite nel soggetto in sviluppo.In questo volume vengono descritte alcune significative esperienze di laboratorio diversificate per categorie di mediatori - attivate per anni durante i corsi di specializzazione per gli insegnanti di sostegno presso la SSIS del Veneto.L'uso dei mediatori e soprattutto la loro sapiente composizione, studiata per far maturare precise abilit\ue0, si rivela la via maestra per aiutare i soggetti diversamente abili. Le maggiori difficolt\ue0 in educazione speciale si incontrano nell'attivare processi di simbolizzazione necessari all'inserimento nella cultura e nel contesto civile. Il passaggio continuo da mediatori pre-simbolici a quello simbolico attiva nei soggetti diversamente abili tutti quei pre-requisiti necessari all'integrazione scolastica e umana.Il volume \ue8 stato pensato per offrire a insegnanti di sostegno, agli specializzandi, ma pure a tutti gli insegnanti che si imbattono quotidianamente in soggetti con difficolt\ue0 di apprendimento, uno strumento agile e di facile lettura cui ispirarsi per impostare una didattica attiva rispondente ai bisogni culturali dei propri allievi. Alcune significative esperienze di laboratorio, attivate durante i corsi di specializzazione per gli insegnanti di sostegno presso la SSIS Veneto, che hanno messo in luce l\u2019importanza dei mediatori nel percorso educativo di soggetti diversamente abili. Un volume per insegnanti di sostegno, specializzandi e insegnanti che si imbattono quotidianamente in soggetti con difficolt\ue0 di apprendimento.Alcune significative esperienze di laboratorio, attivate durante i corsi di specializzazione per gli insegnanti di sostegno presso la SSIS Veneto, che hanno messo in luce l\u2019importanza dei mediatori nel percorso educativo di soggetti diversamente abili. Un volume per insegnanti di sostegno, specializzandi e insegnanti che si imbattono quotidianamente in soggetti con difficolt\ue0 di apprendimento

The susceptibility of LDL to in vitro oxidation is increased in hypercholesterolemic patients and its relation to preformed lipid hydroperoxides in native LDL

It has been suggested that the oxidative modification of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) plays a major role in atherogenesis. We evaluated the oxidative resistance to copper-induced oxidative changes of LDL derived from patients affected by type IIa hyperlipoproteinemia compared with healthy subjects and faced the question of the importance of the antioxidants and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) contained in LDL in determining its variability. LDL isolated from the plasmas of 25 subjects affected by familial hypercholesterolemia and 15 control subjects was oxidatively modified with Cu2+ in vitro, and the differences in LDL susceptibilities (lag and propagation phases) to lipid peroxidation were studied by measuring the changes in fluorescence intensity. LDL alpha-tocopherol and PUFAs were also measured. The lag phase was significantly lower and the propagation phase significantly higher in the type IIa patients than in control subjects (p < 0.01). The linoleic and arachidonic acids, expressed as percentage of total LDL fatty acids, were significantly higher in type IIa patients than in the control subjects (p < 0.01). There was a positive significant correlation between the LDL cholesterol and the linoleic and arachidonic acids as percentage of total LDL fatty acids (p < 0.01). Both linoleic and arachidonic acids turned out to be negatively correlated with the lag phase and positively with the propagation phase (p < 0.01). The concentration of LDL alpha-tocopherol was similar in the two groups. Therefore, type IIa patients have a greater susceptibility to LDL oxidation than control subjects. This may be due to a relative higher concentration of linoleic and arachidonic acids in LDL derived from patients with familial hypercholesterolemia

To treat or not to treat very elderly na\uefve patients with atrial fibrillation with vitamin K antagonists (VKA): results from the VENPAF cohort

Despite the recommendations in the guidelines, physicians still underuse warfarin in very elderly patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). The risks of stroke and major bleeding both increase with age, but it is still not clear whether the beneficial effects of vitamin K antagonists (VKA) in preventing stroke outweigh the related bleeding risks in fragile, very elderly patients. The bleeding rates reported in real-world observational studies differ considerably. The aim of this study was to retrospectively assess the incidence of major bleeding in VKA-na\uefve patients over 80 years old with NVAF at a large anticoagulation clinic. Significant predictors of major bleeding were also investigated. Sixty-five major bleeding events (3.4 per 100 patient-years) and 25 thromboembolic events (1.3 per 100 patient-years) were recorded in a sample of 798 patients with a median follow-up of 2.2 years. Patients over 85 years old had significantly more major bleeding events than the 80- to 84-year olds (4.7 vs. 2.6 per 100 patient-years, p 0.014). Spontaneous bleeding was also significantly more common (3.0 vs. 1.3 per 100 patient-years, p 0.008) in the very elderly group. Age and diabetes were the only independent risk factor for bleeding on multivariate Cox analysis (Age HR 1.80, 95 % CI 1.10\u20132.93; diabetes HR 1.76, 95 % CI 1.00\u20133.09). These data show a sharp increase in major bleeding episodes among the very elderly with atrial fibrillation. Further studies are warranted with a view to identifying patients at ris