Non-occlusal dental microwear variability in a sample of Middle and Late Pleistocene human populations from Europe and the Near East

Non-occlusal, buccal tooth microwear variability has been studied in 68 fossil humans from Europe and the Near East. The microwear patterns observed suggest that a major shift in human dietary habits and food processing techniques might have taken place in the transition from the Middle to the Late Pleistocene populations. Differences in microwear density, average length, and orientation of striations indicate that Middle Pleistocene humans had more abrasive dietary habits than Late Pleistocene populations. Both dietary and cultural factors might be responsible for the differences observed. In addition, the Middle Paleolithic Neanderthal specimens studied show a highly heterogeneous pattern of microwear when compared to the other samples considered, which is inconsistent with a hypothesis of all Neanderthals having a strictly carnivorous diet. The high density of striations observed in the buccal surfaces of several Neanderthal teeth might be indicative of the inclusion of plant foods in their diet. The buccal microwear variability observed in the Neanderthals is compatible with an overall exploitation of both plant and meat foods on the basis of food availability. A preliminary analysis of the relationship between buccal microwear density and climatic conditions prevailing in Europe during the Late Pleistocene has been attempted. Cold climatic conditions, as indicated by oxygen isotope stage data, seem to be responsible for higher densities of microwear features, whereas warmer periods could correspond to a reduced pattern of scratch density. Such a relationship would be indicative of less abrasive dietary habits, perhaps more meat dependent, during warmer periods.     

经尿道2微米激光切除术与电切术治疗浅表性膀胱癌的疗效观察

目的:比较经尿道2微米激光切除术与电切术治疗浅表性膀胱癌的临床疗效。方法:按照随机数字表法将2014年1月-2015年1月我院收治的浅表性膀胱癌患者分为两组,观察组(61例)行经尿道2微米激光切除手术,对照组(46例)行电切术,比较两组的手术效果、治疗前后的炎症因子水平及并发症。结果:观察组手术时间、导尿管留置时间、住院时间及术中出血量少于对照组,差异有统计学意义(P0.05)。治疗后两组患者IL-6、IL-10以及TNF-α水平均较治疗前升高,但是观察组治疗后的IL-6及TNF-α水平低于对照组,IL-10水平高于对照组,差异有统计学意义(P0.05)。两组患者术后均发生不同程度的并发症,其中观察组膀胱穿孔、闭孔神经反射的发生率为3.28%、1.64%,分别低于对照组的17.39%、13.04%,差异有统计学意义(P0.05)。结论:浅表性膀胱癌采用经尿道2微米激光切除术治疗具有明显的临床手术效果,减少术后并发症,同时对患者炎症因子的影响较小,临床有重要的参考价值。     

柱状经腹会阴直肠癌切除术后并发症分析及对策

目的:探讨分析柱状经腹会阴直肠癌切除术术后并发症发生的可能原因,并提出解决对策。方法:回顾分析我院自2010年1月至2014年5月采用柱状经腹会阴直肠癌切除术的68例直肠癌患者的临床资料。记录并分析患者发生术后并发症的情况,探讨发生的可能原因及可行对策。结果:68例患者术后出现并发症共9例,占13.2%。切口并发症4例,术后排尿困难2例,术后骶尾部疼痛3例。结论:柱状经腹会阴直肠癌切除术因为手术切除范围大,术后并发症亦随之凸显。但通过精细的术中解剖、重叠缝合腹膜关闭盆底、骶前通畅引流、合理掌握尿管拔管时机等手段,可有效降低术后并发症的发生。     

New Neandertal remains from Cova Negra (Valencia, Spain)

New Neandertal fossils from the Mousterian site of Cova Negra in the Valencia region of Spain are described, and a comprehensive study of the entire human fossil sample is provided. The new specimens significantly augment the sample of human remains from this site and make Cova Negra one of the richest human paleontological sites on the Iberian Peninsula. The new specimens include cranial and postcranial elements from immature individuals and provide an opportunity to study the ontogenetic appearance of adult Neandertal characteristics in this Pleistocene population. Children younger than 10 years of age constitute four of the seven minimum number of individuals in the sample, and this relative abundance of children at Cova Negra is similar that in to other Neandertal sites in Europe and southwest Asia. The recognition of diagnostic Neandertal features in several of the specimens, as well as their western European context and late Pleistocene age, suggests that all the human remains from Cova Negra represent Neandertals. The archaeological evidence from Cova Negra indicates sporadic, short-term occupations of the site, suggesting a high degree of mobility among Neandertals.     

Escape of Sgs1 from Rad9 inhibition reduces the requirement for Sae2 and functional MRX in DNA end resection

Homologous recombination requires nucleolytic degradation (resection) of DNA double‐strand break (DSB) ends. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the MRX complex and Sae2 are involved in the onset of DSB resection, whereas extensive resection requires Exo1 and the concerted action of Dna2 and Sgs1. Here, we show that the checkpoint protein Rad9 limits the action of Sgs1/Dna2 in DSB resection by inhibiting Sgs1 binding/persistence at the DSB ends. When inhibition by Rad9 is abolished by the Sgs1‐ss mutant variant or by deletion of RAD9, the requirement for Sae2 and functional MRX in DSB resection is reduced. These results provide new insights into how early and long‐range resection is coordinated.     

Fossil human remains from Bolomor Cave (Valencia, Spain)

Systematic excavations carried out since 1989 at Bolomor Cave have led to the recovery of four Pleistocene human fossil remains, consisting of a fibular fragment, two isolated teeth, and a nearly complete adult parietal bone. All of these specimens date to the late Middle and early Late Pleistocene (MIS 7-5e). The fibular fragment shows thick cortical bone, an archaic feature found in non-modern (i.e. non-Homo sapiens) members of the genus Homo. Among the dental remains, the lack of a midtrigonid crest in the M₁ represents a departure from the morphology reported for the majority of Neandertal specimens, while the large dimensions and pronounced shoveling of the marginal ridges in the C¹ are similar to other European Middle and late Pleistocene fossils. The parietal bone is very thick, with dimensions that generally fall above Neandertal fossils and resemble more closely the Middle Pleistocene Atapuerca (SH) adult specimens. Based on the presence of archaic features, all the fossils from Bolomor are attributed to the Neandertal evolutionary lineage.     

Common and distinct patterns of terminal modifications to mirtrons and canonical microRNAs

Nucleotide modifications to microRNAs or their precursors can influence their processing and/or activity. A challenge to their analysis is the lack of independent references for the termini generated by primary processing; typically, these are empirically assigned as the most abundant mapped reads. Mirtrons offer such an independent measure since these microRNA hairpins are defined by splicing. Consequently, mirtron-derived reads that deviate from splice sites reflect modification following primary processing. Analysis in Drosophila revealed multiple modification patterns, including select alterations of 5' termini, many 3' resection events, and unexpectedly abundant 3' untemplated monouridylation. Resections occur on mature AGO1-loaded species, whereas uridylation occurs on pre-miRNAs but is compatible with dicing and AGO1 loading. Strikingly, we found many mirtrons whose modified reads are more abundant than those produced by primary processing. In some cases, these abundant modified reads matched the genome owing to fortuitous uridines in downstream flanking exons, thus highlighting the value of an independent reference for the primary-processed sequence. We could further extend the principle of abundant and preferred uridylation of mirtrons, relative to canonical pre-miRNAs, to Caenorhabditis elegans, mouse, and human. Finally, we found that 3' resection occurs broadly across AGO1-loaded canonical miRNA and star species. Altogether, these findings substantially broaden the complexity of terminal modification pathways acting upon small regulatory RNAs.