Anterior interosseous nerve syndrome: retrospective analysis of 14 patients

Introduction: The anterior interosseous nerve (AIN) is a only motor nerve innervating the deep muscles of the forearm. Its compression is rare. We present a retrospective analysis of 14 patients with an AIN syndrome with a variety of clinical manifestations who underwent operative and conservative treatment. Patients and methods: Fourteen patients (six female, eight male, mean age 48 ± 9 years) were included. In six patients, the right limb was affected, and in eight patients the left limb. Conservative treatment was started for every patient. If no signs of recovery appeared within 3 months, operative exploration was performed. Final assessment was performed between 2 and 9 years after the onset of paralysis (mean duration of follow-up 46 ± 11 months). Patients were examined clinically for return of power, range of motion, pinch and grip strengths. Also the disability of the arm, shoulder, and hand (DASH) score was calculated. Results: Seven of our 14 patients had incomplete AIN palsy with isolated total loss of function of flexor pollicis longus (FPL), five of FPL and flexor digitorum profundus (FDP)1 simultaneously, and two of FDP1. Weakness of FDP2 could be seen in four patients. Pronator teres was paralysed in two patients. Pain in the forearm was present in nine patients. Four patients had predisposing factors. Eight patients treated conservatively exhibited spontaneous recovery from their paralysis during 3-12 months after the onset. In six patients, the AIN was explored 12 weeks after the initial symptoms and released from compressing structures. Thirteen patients showed good limb function. In one patient with poor result a tendon transfer was necessary. The DASH score of patients treated conservatively and operatively presented no significant difference. Conclusion: AIN syndrome can have different clinical manifestations. If no signs of spontaneous recovery appear within 12 weeks, operative treatment should be performed

The open-air site of Tolbor 16 (Northern Mongolia): Preliminary results and perspectives.

Numerous questions remain regarding the timing and the context of Upper Paleolithic emergence in Northeast Asia. Available data allow the recognition of a form of Initial Upper Paleolithic (IUP) documented in the Altai circa 45e40 ka 14C BP, and in the Cis- and Transbaikal around �37 ka 14C BP. In Northern Mongolia, a series of assemblages show intriguing similarities with IUP laminar assemblages from South Siberia and suggest long distance contact/movements of population during the first half of MIS3. These contacts are potentially enabled by the main river that drains into Lake Baikal, the Selenga. By cutting through the Sayan and the Yablonovy mountain ranges, the Selenga drainage system provides a potential corridor connecting South Siberia with the plains of Mongolia. The Tolbor 16 site (Ikh Tulberiin Gol, Northern Mongolia) is located circa 13 km from the confluence with the Selenga. The first results presented here suggest that the lithic assemblage and the ornaments discovered at Tolbor 16 document the early appearance of Upper Paleolithic in the region. This newly discovered site offers the possibility to generate high-resolution contextual data on the first appearance of the blade assemblages in Mongolia and to test the ‘Selenga corridor hypothesis’

Neandertal-Modern Human Contact in Western Eurasia: Issues of Dating, Taxonomy, and Cultural Associations

Supporting Assimilation views of Neandertal/modern human interaction, chronostratigraphic reasoning indicates that the “transitional” industries of Europe predate modern human immigration, in agreement with their association with Neandertals in the Châtelperronian at the Grotte du Renne and St.-Césaire. Supporting the Neandertals' species separateness and less developed cognition, those industries are alternatively claimed to relate to pioneer groups of modern humans; the latter would have been the true makers of the precocious instances of symbolic material culture that, under Assimilation, are assigned to the Neandertals. However, the taxonomy of the Kent's Cavern and Grotta del Cavallo dental remains is uncertain, and their poor stratigraphic context precludes dating by association. The opposite happens at the Grotte du Renne, whose stratigraphic integrity is corroborated by both taphonomy and dating. Not questioning that the Early Ahmarian is a cultural proxy for modern humans and a source for the Protoaurignacian of Europe, its claimed emergence ~46–49 ka ago at Kebara refl ects the dating of Middle Paleolithic charcoal—to be expected, because the Early Ahmarian units at the back of the cave are made up of reworked Middle Paleolithic sediments derived from the entrance. The dating of inherited material also explains the old results for the Aurignacian of Willendorf II and Geissenklösterle. At the latter, the dates on anthropically modified samples of the hunted taxa (reindeer and horse) place its Aurignacian occupations in the same time range as elsewhere in Europe, after ~40 ka ago. The hypothesis that Neandertal/modern human contact in Europe resulted in a process of assimilation in connection with the spread of the Protoaurignacian ~41.5 ka ago remains unfalsified.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A Spatial Distribution Study of Faunal Remains from Two Lower Magdalenian Occupation Levels in El Mirón Cave, Cantabria, Spain

Abstract: Human behaviour can be reconstructed by analysing specific activities and campsite organization using spatial analysis. The dense occupation layers of the Lower Cantabrian Magdalenian in the Northern Spain reveal varied aspects of Upper Palaeolithic lifeways, including evidence of specific localized activities. The outer vestibule of El Mirón cave has a particularly rich and intact Lower Magdalenian occupation horizon, Levels 15–17. The excavations in the outer vestibule “Cabin” area of the site revealed excellent bone preservation. Artefacts and faunal remains were individually recorded and sediments water-screened to yield a large sample of archaeological finds and spatial data. Zooarchaeological analysis provided the taxonomic, anatomic and taphonomic determination of the faunal individual finds. Smaller animal remains were categorized and counted; special attention was given to the identification of anthropogenic modifications such as burnt bones or bone flakes. These small refuse items are considered to be useful, in situ indicators of localized activities. The spatial distribution analysis of this dense and complex palimpsest of El Mirón Lower Cantabrian Magdalenian layers required GIS based methods including density analysis, heatmaps and cluster analysis. Based on the spatial distribution of Level 15 and 16 faunal remains, different activity areas were identified comprising hearth, working and dropping zones. These results imply the deliberately segregated use of space within the Lower Cantabrian Magdalenian site area, in which bone-processing activities played a central rol