Reconstructing Prehistoric African Population Structure

We assembled genome-wide data from 16 prehistoric Africans. We show that the anciently divergent lineage that comprises the primary ancestry of the southern African San had a wider distribution in the past, contributing approximately two-thirds of the ancestry of Malawi hunter-gatherers ∼8,100–2,500 years ago and approximately one-third of the ancestry of Tanzanian hunter-gatherers ∼1,400 years ago. We document how the spread of farmers from western Africa involved complete replacement of local hunter-gatherers in some regions, and we track the spread of herders by showing that the population of a ∼3,100-year-old pastoralist from Tanzania contributed ancestry to people from northeastern to southern Africa, including a ∼1,200-year-old southern African pastoralist. The deepest diversifications of African lineages were complex, involving either repeated gene flow among geographically disparate groups or a lineage more deeply diverging than that of the San contributing more to some western African populations than to others. We finally leverage ancient genomes to document episodes of natural selection in southern African populations

QCD and strongly coupled gauge theories : challenges and perspectives

We highlight the progress, current status, and open challenges of QCD-driven physics, in theory and in experiment. We discuss how the strong interaction is intimately connected to a broad sweep of physical problems, in settings ranging from astrophysics and cosmology to strongly coupled, complex systems in particle and condensed-matter physics, as well as to searches for physics beyond the Standard Model. We also discuss how success in describing the strong interaction impacts other fields, and, in turn, how such subjects can impact studies of the strong interaction. In the course of the work we offer a perspective on the many research streams which flow into and out of QCD, as well as a vision for future developments.Peer reviewe

Surgical correction of spinal deformities after solid organ transplantation in childhood

A review of the current literature reveals no systematic analyses of the results of surgical correction of spinal deformity after pediatric organ transplantation. We therefore evaluated clinical and radiographic outcomes of spinal deformity correction after solid organ transplantation in childhood and adolescence. All 211 cases of heart, liver, and kidney transplantations performed in children in our country were reviewed. Six patients had undergone surgical correction of spinal deformity at a mean age 14.6 (range 12–17) years. Clinical data of the patients were evaluated. Radiographs of the whole spine were taken preoperatively, immediately after, at 2-year, and final follow-up visits. The Scoliosis Research Society (SRS) questionnaire was completed and a physical examination was performed at the final follow-up visit. The mean follow-up after spinal surgery was 4.9 years (range 2–7.6 years). Four patients developed scoliosis after organ transplantation without any evidence of scoliosis prior to organ transplantation. One patient with congenital scoliosis was operated on after kidney transplantation. One boy had osteoporosis and severe local kyphosis due to vertebral compression fractures. Four patients underwent anterior and posterior surgery, two posterior only. The mean preoperative Cobb angle of the thoracic curve was 54° (range 42–69°) in the patients with scoliosis. The postoperative values were 30° (26–38°) immediately after instrumentation and 39° (34–42°) at the final follow-up visit. The patient with vertebral compression fractures and progressive kyphosis had 70° curve before surgery, 23° immediately after the operation, and 60° at the final check up. The mean total score on the SRS questionnaire was 95.5 (range 90–101). There is a relatively high incidence (2.8%) of spinal deformities needing operative treatment after solid organ transplantation. Possible etiologies for spinal deformities are growth disturbance and muscle weakness due to the basic disease. The other important factors are related to immunosupressive medication, especially glucocorticoids needed after transplantation. Primary correction of these deformities was satisfactory, but during follow-up, a certain amount of recurrence of the curves was evident. Poor bone quality may explain some of the loss of correction

Minimum 10 years follow-up surgical results of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis patients treated with TSRH instrumentation

Last two decades witnessed great advances in the surgical treatment of idiopathic scoliosis. However, the number of studies evaluating the long-term results of these treatment methods is relatively low. During recent years, besides radiological and clinical studies, questionnaires like SRS-22 assessing subjective functional and mental status and life-quality of patients have gained importance for the evaluation of these results. In this study, surgical outcome and Turkish SRS-22 questionnaire results of 109 late-onset adolescent idiopathic scoliosis patients surgically treated with third-generation instrumentation [Texas Scottish Rite Hospital (TSRH) System] and followed for a minimum of 10 years were evaluated. The balance was analyzed clinically and radiologically by the measurement of the lateral trunk shift (LT), shift of head (SH), and shift of stable vertebra (SS). Mean age of the patients was 14.4±1.9 and mean follow-up period was 136.9±12.7 months. When all the patients were included, the preoperative mean Cobb angle of major curves in the frontal plane was 60.8°±17.5°. Major curves that were corrected by 38.7±22.1% in the bending radiograms, postoperatively achieved a correction of 64.0±15.8%. At the last follow-up visit, 10.3°±10.8° of correction loss was recorded in major curves in the frontal plane with 50.5±23.1% final correction rate. Also, the mean postoperative and final kyphosis angles and lumbar lordosis angles were 37.7°±7.4°, 37.0°±8.4°, 37.5°±8.7°, and 36.3°±8.5°, respectively. A statistically significant correction was obtained at the sagittal plane; mean postoperative changes compared to preoperative values were 7.9° and 12.9° for thoracic and lumbar regions, respectively. On the other hand, normal physiological thoracic and lumbar sagittal contours were achieved in 83.5% and 67.9% of the patients, respectively. Postoperatively, a statistically significant correction was obtained in LT, SH, and SS values (P<0.05). Although, none of the patients had completely balanced curves preoperatively, in 95.4% of the patients the curves were found to be completely balanced or clinically well balanced postoperatively. This rate was maintained at the last follow-up visit. Overall, four patients (3.7%) had implant failure. Early superficial infection was observed in three (2.8%) patients. Radiologically presence of significant consolidation, absence of implant failure, and correction loss, and clinical relief of pain were considered as the proof of a posterior solid fusion mass. About ten (9.2%) patients were considered to have pseudoarthrosis: four patients with implant failure and six patients with correction loss over 15° at the frontal plane. About four (3.7%) patients among the first 20 patients had neurological deficit only wake-up test was used for neurological monitoring of these patients. No neurological deficit was observed in the 89 patients for whom intraoperative neurological monitoring with SSEP and TkMMEP was performed. Overall, average scores of SRS-22 questionnaire for general self-image, function, mental status, pain, and satisfaction from treatment were 3.8±0.7, 3.6±0.7, 4.0±0.8, 3.6±0.8, and 4.6±0.3, respectively at the last follow-up visit. Results of about 10 years of follow-up these patients treated with TSRH instrumentation suggest that the method is efficient for the correction of frontal and sagittal plane deformities and trunk balance. In addition, it results in a better life-quality