Brittle stars from the upper Cenomanian of the Preafrican platform: First ophiuroid remains for the Cretaceous of Algeria

While Late Cretaceous ophiuroids are relatively well known in Europe, these faunas have been much less studied in North Africa. With the exception of some Tunisian assemblages preliminary described at the turn of the 21st century, nothing is known about the Cretaceous brittle stars of the southwestern Tethyan margin. The present paper seeks to bring the first data about hitherto unknown ophiuroids recently found in the early upper Cenomanian succession of the eastern side of the Preafrican trough (Menaguir section, Algeria). This “community” of brittle stars comprises at least eight species. Most of them are probably new, but have not been formally named here. These are representatives of the families Hemieuryalidae, Amphiuridae, Ophiodermatidae, Ophiacanthidae, Ophiopezidae and probably also Ophiomyxidae and Ophiobyrsidae. Almost all vertebrae are zygospondylous; no streptospondylous vertebrae indicate the absence of the order Euryalida here. Most of the ophiuroids belong to the orders Amphilepidida and Ophiacanthida. Ophiotitanos serrata, Ophiomyxa? aff. jekerica, Ophiojagtus? sp. and some other taxa resembling ophiuroid assemblages from the Late Cretaceous of central, western and northern Europe. With respect to the late Cenomanian age, the depth of the sea and the taxonomic composition, there are some similarities with ophiuroids of the Bohemian Cretaceous Basin. The mid-ramp subtidal facies suggests that brittle stars lived here in a warm, euphotic and probably shallow sea.     

Hommes et climats au Paléolithique supérieur dans le bassin de la Somme (France)

Nearly 40 years of intensive research conducted in the Somme basin has demonstrated the discontinuity in the human occupation of the area during the Upper Palaeolithic. The northern position of the Somme basin within the loessic region appears to be an explanatory factor in this discontinuity, the nature of which increasingly appears related to climate and environmental factors. Archaeological occupations have been systematically attributed to phases of warming or climate improvement. On the other hand, an absence of human occupation has been consistently observed during the coldest periods. The extreme poverty of the biomass contemporary to the loessic deposits of the Upper Pleniglacial could partly explain this discontinuity specific to the far northwest of Europe (southern England, northern Belgium, Netherlands, and northern Germany). Although only 150 or 200 km away, the southern Paris Basin, which is located on the fringes of the loessic region of northern France and Normandy, presents a more continuous human occupation, which appears to have benefitted from more favourable conditions.     

Le Paléolithique supérieur du plateau de Musashino et les hauteurs de Tama aux alentours de Tokyo

The Upper Paleolithic at the region of Tokyo that itself called also the Japanese Preceramic age that possesses a large number of excavations and those studies during the dawn of Paleolithic study in this country. The Preceramic age or the Upper Paleolithic has been raised the curtain by the discovery of a piece in obsidian, in 1949, in the loam of Kantô, at Iwajyuku site. We explain above, on the stratigraphy, the chronology and the situation and the evolution of site around Tokyo. It is a region to the highest density of the Upper Paleolithic sites in the archipelago of Japan and the systematic excavation according to the stratigraphy of loam formation has been done for the first time in the country. The authentic chronology has been proposed to the years 60s that based on the discovered lithic industries on the plateau of Sagamino and Musashino. This chronology was used for a long time that it made a role like a norm for the whole country. Not only, after again an accumulation of the research until the present, we understand the different periodic activities between the Tama hills, the plateau of Musashino, the plateau of Sagamino, the North of Kantô district and the plateau of Simôssa. Of course, there is a complex circumstance that the apparition and the disappearance of various types of lithic instruments are different, and every type tools are not universal around Tokyo area, in the district of Kantô. The final of Upper Paleolithic on the archipelago of Japan divides extensively in two parts East-west that the East of Japan is characterized by the well-organized aspect microlithic tendency and the west is characterized by the trend of microlite, trapeze and tool on transverse blade. In such general tendency, the region of Kantô is located therefore in the center on the archipelago of Japan that it showed sets of every different time.     

Sur l’existence de deux espèces d’Eremotherium E. rusconii (Schaub, 1935) et E. laurillardi (Lund, 1842) dans le Pléistocène supérieur du Brésil intertropical

Two recent discoveries in two “lagoas” of southeastern Piauí (North East of Brazil) allow us to describe and compare two very small-sized hemimandibles of two Megatheriidae. We attribute the first one, from the Lagoa dos Porcos, to a very young specimen of Eremotherium rusconii (Schaub, 1935), the gigantic Eremotherium well known in South America. We determine the other one, from the Lagoa do Quari, as an adult specimen of the small Eremotherium laurillardi (Lund, 1842). We confirm hereby our idea, written in 2000, of the reality of the latter species, which was not defined, like many authors think, on a juvenile tooth of the large species. The mandible of E. laurillardi is described for the first time. The mandible of the very young specimen of E. rusconii is also a rare piece.     

Establishment of a recording method for surface electromyography in the iliopsoas muscle

We examined the availability and reliability of surface electromyography (EMG) signals from the iliopsoas muscle (IL). Using serial magnetic resonance images from fifty healthy young males, we evaluated whether the superficial region of IL was adequate for attaching surface EMG electrodes. Subsequently, we assessed EMG cross-talk from the sartorius muscle (SA)—the nearest to IL—using a selective cooling method in fourteen subjects. The skin above SA was cooled, and the median frequencies of EMG signals from IL and SA were determined. The maximum voluntary contraction during isometric hip flexion was measured before and after selective cooling, and surface EMG signals from SA and IL were measured. The superficial area of IL was adequately large (13.2 ± 2.7 cm²) for recording surface EMG in all fifty subjects. The maximum perimeter for the medial–lateral skin facing IL was noted at a level 3–5 cm distal to the anterior superior iliac spine. Following cooling, the median frequency for SA decreased significantly (from 70.1 to 51.9 Hz, p < 0.001); however, that for IL did not alter significantly. These results demonstrated that EMG cross-talk from SA was negligible for surface EMG signals from IL during hip flexion.     

单体位左胸左颈两切口管型吻合器治疗食管上段癌的疗效

目的:探讨单体位左胸左颈两切口的手术方式在外科治疗食管上段癌中的应用效果。方法:选择2008年1月至2012年4月间我院收治的食管上段癌患者49例,根据手术方法分为研究组(n=19)和对照组(n=30),研究组行单体位左胸左颈两切口管型吻合器治疗,对照组行传统颈、胸、腹三切口方法治疗。观察两组手术时间、术中出血量、清扫淋巴结数、术后引流量和术后并发症等。结果:研究组手术时间显著短于对照组,术中出血量和术后引流量显著低于对照组(P0.05)。两组清扫淋巴结数比较无统计学差异(P0.05)。两组患者均全部治愈出院,研究组肺不张、反流性食管炎、吻合口瘘、吻合口狭窄等发生率显著低于对照组(P0.05)。结论:单体位左胸左颈两切口管型吻合器治疗食管上段癌安全,可靠,省时易行,是一种较好的手术方式,值得推广。     

埋伏倒置阻生上颌中切牙不同正畸牵引方式的比较

目的:比较前方牵引器及下颌支抗颌间牵引两种正畸牵引方式矫治上中切牙埋伏倒置阻生的疗效。方法:选择10例患者10颗埋伏倒置阻生上颌中切牙,在三维CT片上的位置、三维方向和埋伏阻生的程度均相似,随机分为两组,分别行前方牵引器牵引和颌间牵引,对两组的牵引时间和成功率进行比较,分别采用t检验和x2检验进行统计学处理。结果:前方牵引组牵引时间长于颌间牵引组,有显著差异(P0.05),前方牵引组成功率为100%,颌间牵引组为60%,差异有显著性(P0.01)。结论:埋伏倒置阻生的上中切牙外科开窗术后,通过前方牵引器牵引的时间显著长于下颌支抗颌间牵引,但成功率显著高于颌间牵引。     

彩色多普勒超声定位锁骨上臂丛神经阻滞在上肢骨科手术的应用

目的:探讨彩色多普勒超声定位锁骨上臂丛神经阻滞在上肢骨科手术的应用价值。方法:选择2012年5月-2013年12月行锁骨上臂丛神经阻滞麻醉的上肢骨科手术患者120例,根据锁骨上臂丛定位方法的不同分为对照组和观察组,每组60例,观察组选择彩色多普勒超声定位锁骨上臂丛神经,对照组选择和传统手法解剖学定位,比较两组患者麻醉操作时间、麻醉显效时间、持续时间,麻醉优良率及并发症情况。结果:1观察组操作时间、麻醉显效时间分别为(192.5±23.86)s,(10.45±2.39)min,较对照组的(227.75±26.18)s,(15.36±4.85)min短,两组比较差异有统计学意义(t1=48.34,P1=0.015;t2=6.28,P2=0.022);2观察组麻醉优良率为100%,明显高于对照组的86.67%,两组比较差异有统计学意义(x2=9.12,P=0.041);3观察组患者无并发症发生,对照组2例并发皮下血肿,1例药物毒性反应,1例交感神经阻滞,并发症发生率为8.33%,两组比较并发症发生率差异有统计学意义(x2=8.34,P=0.049)。结论:彩色多普勒超声定位锁骨上臂丛神经阻滞操作时间短、显效快、持续时间长,麻醉优良率高,安全性高,值得临床推广应用。     

New Ephialtitidae (Insecta: Hymenoptera) from the Jurassic Daohugou Beds of Inner Mongolia,China

Five new species are described from the Middle–Upper Jurassic Daohugou Beds of Inner Mongolia, China, and assigned to the genus Karataus Rasnitsyn, 1977 in the subfamily Symphytopterinae of Ephialtitidae. They are illustrated as Karataus daohugouensis n. sp., K. strenuus n. sp., K. vigoratus n. sp., K. exilis n. sp., and K. orientalis n. sp., and a key to species of Karataus is presented.