Lithic technological responses to Late Pleistocene glacial cycling at Pinnacle Point Site 5-6, South Africa

There are multiple hypotheses for human responses to glacial cycling in the Late Pleistocene, including changes in population size, interconnectedness, and mobility. Lithic technological analysis informs us of human responses to environmental change because lithic assemblage characteristics are a reflection of raw material transport, reduction, and discard behaviors that depend on hunter-gatherer social and economic decisions. Pinnacle Point Site 5-6 (PP5-6), Western Cape, South Africa is an ideal locality for examining the influence of glacial cycling on early modern human behaviors because it preserves a long sequence spanning marine isotope stages (MIS) 5, 4, and 3 and is associated with robust records of paleoenvironmental change. The analysis presented here addresses the question, what, if any, lithic assemblage traits at PP5-6 represent changing behavioral responses to the MIS 5-4-3 interglacial-glacial cycle? It statistically evaluates changes in 93 traits with no a priori assumptions about which traits may significantly associate with MIS. In contrast to other studies that claim that there is little relationship between broad-scale patterns of climate change and lithic technology, we identified the following characteristics that are associated with MIS 4: increased use of quartz, increased evidence for outcrop sources of quartzite and silcrete, increased evidence for earlier stages of reduction in silcrete, evidence for increased flaking efficiency in all raw material types, and changes in tool types and function for silcrete. Based on these results, we suggest that foragers responded to MIS 4 glacial environmental conditions at PP5-6 with increased population or group sizes, 'place provisioning', longer and/or more intense site occupations, and decreased residential mobility. Several other traits, including silcrete frequency, do not exhibit an association with MIS. Backed pieces, once they appear in the PP5-6 record during MIS 4, persist through MIS 3. Changing paleoenvironments explain some, but not all temporal technological variability at PP5-6.Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada; NORAM; American-Scandinavian Foundation; Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia [SFRH/BPD/73598/2010]; IGERT [DGE 0801634]; Hyde Family Foundations; Institute of Human Origins; National Science Foundation [BCS-9912465, BCS-0130713, BCS-0524087, BCS-1138073]; John Templeton Foundation to the Institute of Human Origins at Arizona State Universit

A mulher e o acidente de trânsito: caracterização do evento em Maringá, Paraná Women and traffic accidents: characterization of occurrences in Maringá, Paraná

Os acidentes de trânsito são atualmente a primeira causa de mortalidade no conjunto de causas externas entre as mulheres. A mulher atual, pelas mudanças em seu papel na sociedade, vem se expondo a novos riscos. Este estudo teve como objetivo caracterizar a mulher envolvida em acidente de trânsito, assim como os eventos. Foi realizado um estudo transversal, com dados secundários obtidos nos Boletins de Ocorrência de Acidente de Trânsito - BOAT, do 4º Batalhão da Polícia Militar de Maringá, Setor de Trânsito. Os dados foram categorizados e analisados por meio de testes não-paramétricos, de correlações (Spearman) e teste de independência entre as variáveis (qui-quadrado). As mulheres envolvidas em acidente de trânsito eram em sua maioria solteiras (34,0%), com idade entre 21 e 30 anos (49,0%), nível de escolaridade acima do ensino médio (58,0%) e predominantemente condutoras (65,0%). Os eventos ocorreram principalmente em dias úteis e nos período da tarde e da noite. As lesões foram mais frequentes em mulheres até os 20 anos e acima dos 51. Maior envolvimento em colisões com automóveis (69,%), com grande proporção de atropelamentos (14,2%), envolveram mulheres acima dos 50 anos e com menor nível de escolaridade. Foram mais atentas ao uso de dispositivos de segurança quando casadas e com maior nível de escolaridade. Estes dados sugerem novo perfil da mulher no trânsito, devendo o acompanhamento destas características e das consequências destes acidentes serem mais constantes em pesquisas, direcionando medidas e campanhas preventivas.<br>Today traffic accidents are the first cause of morbidity in the group of external causes among women. Modern women have changed their role, exposing themselves to new risks. So, this study had as its purpose, characterize women involved in traffic accidents and to describe these accidents. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with information obtained from the Traffic Accident Report Bulletins-BOAT of the 4th Military Police Station in Maringá, Traffic Section. Data were classified and analyzed with Spearman's non-paramedic correlation tests and the chi-square variable independence test. Women involved in traffic accidents are, in their majority, single (34.0%), from 21 to 30 years old (49%), with a high school degree (36.0%), driving for eight years or less (38.8%), and predominantly the drivers (65.0%). Accidents occurred mainly on weekdays and in the afternoon and at night. Lesions affected most frequently women under 20 and over 51 years of age. There were more collision accidents with automobiles (69.0%), with a great run over ratio (14.2%), involving women above 50 years of age with less schooling. When married and well educated, women are more attentive to the use of safety devices. They were more involved in car accidents than in motorcycle accidents. And in these accidents, they were 31 years old or less and with complete high school and incomplete college education. These data suggest a new profile of women in traffic, and these features and their consequences should be more constantly followed up in research, guiding preventive measures and campaigns

Paracoccidioidomycosis case series with and without central nervous system involvement

INTRODUCTION: Paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) is the most important systemic mycosis in South America. Central nervous system involvement is potentially fatal and can occur in 12.5% of cases. This paper aims to contribute to the literature describing eight cases of neuroparacoccidioidomycosis (NPMC) and compare their characteristics with patients without neurological involvement, to identify unique characteristics of NPCM. METHODS: A cohort of 213 PCM cases was evaluated at the Infectious Diseases Clinic of the University Hospital, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil, from October 1976 to August 2008. Epidemiological, clinical, laboratory, therapeutic and follow-up data were registered. RESULTS: Eight patients presented NPCM. The observed NPCM prevalence was 3.8%. One patient presented the subacute form of PCM and the other seven presented the chronic form of the disease. The parenchymatous form of NPCM occurred in all patients. 60% of the patients who proceeded from the north/ northeast region of Minas Gerais State developed NPCM. The neurological involvement of a mother and her son was observed. NPCM patients exhibited demographical and clinical profiles similar to what is described in the literature. When NPCM cases were compared to PCM patients, there were differences in relation to origin and positive PCM family history. CONCLUSIONS: The results corroborate the clinical view that the neurological findings are extremely important in the evaluation of PCM patients. Despite the limitations of this study, the differences in relation to patient's origins and family history point to the need of further studies to determine the susceptibility factors involved in the neurological compromise