5 research outputs found
A NEW CRANIUM OF<em>CROCODYLUS ANTHROPOPHAGUS</em> FROM OLDUVAI GORGE, NORTHERN TANZANIA
Olduvai Gorge (northern Tanzania) is one of the best known and most iconic palaeontological and archaeological sites in the world. In more than a century of research it has yielded an impressive record of fossils and stone tools which stands as a compendium of human evolution in the context of environmental changes of East Africa in the last 2 Ma. Recent field work in the DK site at Olduvai lead to the retrieval of a partial crocodile cranium nicknamed Black Sun because it was discovered during an annular solar eclipse. The specimen is here described and compared with extinct and extant African crocodylids. The new cranium can be referred to Crocodylus anthropophagus, a Pleistocene species hitherto found only in Olduvai Gorge. Thanks to the good preservation of the skull table, its morphology is here characterised for the first time. Black Sun represents to date the earliest (ca. 1.9â1.85 Ma) and the most informative cranium of C. anthropophagus in the fossil record. Our phylogenetic analysis supports a strict relationship between C. anthropophagus and Crocodylus thorbjarnarsoni, a large species from the Plio-Pleistocene of the Turkana Basin (Kenya). These two sister taxa share a combination of characters which places them at the base of Crocodylus, providing an intriguing element to the debate on the African or extra-African origin of this genus
The Thorny Issue of African Porcupines: a New Mandible of Hystrix makapanensis from Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania) and Rediagnosis of the Species
Several porcupine taxa are reported from the middle Miocene to the early Holocene in the Old World. Among these, five
species of the subfamily Hystricinae occurred in Africa approximately in the last 6 Ma: the extinct Hystrix makapanensis,
Hystrix leakeyi, and Xenohystrix crassidens and the still living Hystrix africaeaustralis and Hystrix cristata. The large-sized
H. makapanensis is reported from numerous sites in East and South Africa between the early Pliocene and Early Pleistocene.
In this paper, we describe a new mandible of H. makapanensis from the world-renowned Tanzanian paleontological and
archeological site of Olduvai Gorge (HWK West; lowermost Bed II; ca. 1.8â1.7 Ma). The discovery of the new mandible
triggered a comprehensive review of the entire African record of H. makapanensis. In particular, we describe or re-analyze
the samples from South Africa (Makapansgat Limeworks, Gondolin, Kromdraai, Swartkrans, and Sterkfontein), Tanzania
(Olduvai and Laetoli), Ethiopia (Omo Shungura and Hadar), and Kenya (Chemeron), enriching the quantity of specimens
confidently referable to this species and above all improving the information on its craniodental anatomy. On this basis, we:
(1) propose an emended diagnosis of H. makapanensis; (2) point out the morphological and biometric differences between
H. makapanensis and other African Hystricinae (also in terms of body mass); and (3) broaden the knowledge on the geographical
and chronological distribution of this extinct species
Labour and landscapes: the political economy of landesque capital in nineteenth century tanganyika
Enhanced infection prophylaxis reduces mortality in severely immunosuppressed HIV-infected adults and older children initiating antiretroviral therapy in Kenya, Malawi, Uganda and Zimbabwe: the REALITY trial
Meeting abstract FRAB0101LB from 21st International AIDS Conference 18â22 July 2016, Durban, South Africa.
Introduction: Mortality from infections is high in the first 6 months of antiretroviral therapy (ART) among HIVâinfected adults and children with advanced disease in subâSaharan Africa. Whether an enhanced package of infection prophylaxis at ART initiation would reduce mortality is unknown.
Methods:
The REALITY 2Ă2Ă2 factorial openâlabel trial (ISRCTN43622374) randomized ARTânaĂŻve HIVâinfected adults and children >5 years with CD4 <100 cells/mm3. This randomization compared initiating ART with enhanced prophylaxis (continuous cotrimoxazole plus 12 weeks isoniazid/pyridoxine (antiâtuberculosis) and fluconazole (antiâcryptococcal/candida), 5 days azithromycin (antiâbacterial/protozoal) and singleâdose albendazole (antiâhelminth)), versus standardâofâcare cotrimoxazole. Isoniazid/pyridoxine/cotrimoxazole was formulated as a scored fixedâdose combination. Two other randomizations investigated 12âweek adjunctive raltegravir or supplementary food. The primary endpoint was 24âweek mortality.
Results:
1805 eligible adults (n = 1733; 96.0%) and children/adolescents (n = 72; 4.0%) (median 36 years; 53.2% male) were randomized to enhanced (n = 906) or standard prophylaxis (n = 899) and followed for 48 weeks (3.8% lossâtoâfollowâup). Median baseline CD4 was 36 cells/mm3 (IQR: 16â62) but 47.3% were WHO Stage 1/2. 80 (8.9%) enhanced versus 108(12.2%) standard prophylaxis died before 24 weeks (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) = 0.73 (95% CI: 0.54â0.97) p = 0.03; Figure 1) and 98(11.0%) versus 127(14.4%) respectively died before 48 weeks (aHR = 0.75 (0.58â0.98) p = 0.04), with no evidence of interaction with the two other randomizations (p > 0.8). Enhanced prophylaxis significantly reduced incidence of tuberculosis (p = 0.02), cryptococcal disease (p = 0.01), oral/oesophageal candidiasis (p = 0.02), deaths of unknown cause (p = 0.02) and (marginally) hospitalisations (p = 0.06) but not presumed severe bacterial infections (p = 0.38). Serious and grade 4 adverse events were marginally less common with enhanced prophylaxis (p = 0.06). CD4 increases and VL suppression were similar between groups (p > 0.2).
Conclusions:
Enhanced infection prophylaxis at ART initiation reduces early mortality by 25% among HIVâinfected adults and children with advanced disease. The pill burden did not adversely affect VL suppression. Policy makers should consider adopting and implementing this lowâcost broad infection prevention package which could save 3.3 lives for every 100 individuals treated