Catálogo comentado de los Póngidos fósiles de España

La presente nota es un comentario al hallazgo de Póngidos fósiles en España y un catálogo de las piezas descubiertas en nuestro país (sólo en Cataluña), después del Dryopithecus fontani de la Seo de Urgel en 1913. La mayoría de los materiales proceden de los yacimientos vallesienses de Can Llobateras y de San Ponsic, en el Vallés-Penedés y el conjunto de los mismos se eleva a cincuenta constituyéndose en el segundo conjunto eurasiático después del clásico de los Siwalik

Basel–Tuscany, a long-lasting link

A significant contribution of Burkart Engesser to fieldsurveys and palaeontological studies is undoubtedly on theLate Miocene faunas from Maremma in southern Tuscany,especially the celebrated Baccinello basin in the Grossetodistrict. This is not just a coincidence, but is the continu-ation of a long tradition.The interest of successive Palaeontologists of theNaturhistorisches Museum Basel (NMB) in Tuscan fossilsand fossiliferous localities has a long history that datesback to the second half of the nineteenth century. Thisstarted with Ludwig Ru¨timeyer (1825–1895) who was theprofessor of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy at theUniversity of Basel in 1855. Ru¨timeyer was mainly inter-ested in the natural history of Tertiary mammal species,and a number of specimens from Italy (as well as fromother countries in Europe, especially France) were acquiredby the NMB during his period of activity.The interest in the Tuscan mammal fossil record becameparticularly strong thanks to the activity of CharlesImmanuel Forsyth Major (1843–1923), a physician ofScottish origin who grew up in Switzerland. He graduatedin Medicine in Basel in 1868 and started his professionalpractice in Florence (Italy) where he stayed for about adecade. As many nineteenth century medical doctors,however, he was fascinated by natural history and devotedmuch of his spare time to the study of fossil mammals. Hisinterest in extinct vertebrates exceeded his dedication tomedicine, so that he finally decided to cease practising inthe mid 1880s. Forsyth Major was a correspondent ofCharles Darwin (Cioppi & Dominici, 2010), and his nameappears three times in the second edition of The Descent ofMan (a much improved edition, published in 1874) aboutsexual dimorphisms in fossil pigs tusks, about the occur-rence of fossil apes in Europe, and about a bovid skull''wholly without horns'' from Upper Valdarno, believed tobe that of a ''Bos etruscus'' female. The latter is an issuethat re-addresses us to the story of the Basel-Florenceexchanges. About this specimen (housed in the collectionof the Florence Museum), Forsyth Major (1874, 1890) wasin disagreement with ''the leading authority in the field ofTertiary Ruminants'', i.e. Ru¨timeyer. The eminent palae-ontologist from Basel (Ru¨timeyer, 1878) described thisspecimen as type of a new species (Leptobos strozzii), lateron formally synonymzed to L. etruscus by Forsyth Major(1890). Forsyth Major's main interests were especiallyPrimates and, more generally speaking, Plio-Pleistocenemammals (e.g. among others, Forsyth Major, 1872,1875–1877, 1890). His entire scientific production clearlyshows how deep his attention was for Tuscan vertebratefossils, and whilst he was active in Florence, he system-atically searched for new material, mainly in Tuscany butalso in other Italian regions (Sardinia, Calabria, Sicily),bringing hundreds of specimens to the Florence Museum.Forsyth Major had intensive relationships with colleaguesand institutions across Europe and in Basel too. Samplescollected during his Italian field surveys are now housed inseveral museums, amongst others in the Natural History,London, in the Colle`ge Gaillard in Lausanne (Switzerland),and in the Naturhistorisches Museum Basel.Other Tuscan material (namely from Upper Valdarno)kept in Basel from the Plio-Pleistocene of Italy was boughtby another eminent Basel palaeontologist, Hans GeorgStehlin (1870–1941). He was the president of the board ofthe Naturhistorisches Museum from 1920 to 1940 and astudent of Ludwig Ru¨timeyer at the University of Basel

Chemotherapy induced polyneuropathy - Purdue pegboard for diagnostics and control of functional deficits during oncological rehabilitation

Purpose: Polyneuropathy is a common side effect of neurotoxic chemotherapy in breast cancer patients. Aim of this study was the evaluation of the Purdue pegboard test in diagnostics of polyneuropathy induced functional deficits.Methods: The manual dexterity and bimanual coordination of 89 patients (mean age 66.4 y) suffering from chemotherapy induced polyneuropathy was examined using Purdue pegboard test at the beginning and at the end of a three-week inpatient rehabilitation.Results: Manual dexterity was highly significantly improved. Bimanual coordination was improved, too. However, the complex assembly test revealed no relevant changes.Conclusions: Purdue pegboard test is a useful diagnostic tool in evaluation and control of functional deficits due to polyneuropathy.Einleitung: 30-40% der Brustkrebspatientinnen leiden nach einer neurotoxischen Chemotherapie an Polyneuropathien (PNP). Im Rahmen der vorliegenden Studie wurde der Purdue Pegboard Test, ein neuropsychologisches Testverfahren für Händigkeit, Grob- und Feinmotorik der Finger/Hände zur Beurteilung von polyneuropathisch bedingten Funktionsstörungen, eingesetzt .Material und Methoden: Insgesamt wurden 89 Brustkrebspatientinnen (Ø 66,4 Jahre) mit PNP im Rahmen einer Anschlussrehabilitation untersucht und behandelt. Die Fingerfertigkeiten und Sensomotorik wurden mittels des Purdue Pegboards am Anfang und am Ende der Rehabilitation bewertet. Ergebnisse: Für die dominante und nicht dominante Seite konnte die Funktionalität während der Rehabilitation hoch signifikant (p<0.001) verbessert werden. Der beidhändige Test zeigt einen "noch" signifikanten Unterschied (p=0.05). Beim komplexen Assembly Test konnte jedoch kein signifikantes Niveau festgestellt werden (p=0.154).Schlussfolgerung: Die Studie konnte zeigen, dass der Purdue Pegboard Test zur Überprüfung der Feinkoordination und Sensomotorik der Finger bei Patienten mit Neuropathien und zur Therapieverlaufskontrolle eingesetzt werden kann