Osteoarthritis in past human populations from Radom (14th-17th and 18th-19th century).

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a widespread skeletal condition in the historical population, but it still raises many methodological and interpretative problems. The present study aimed to examine the osteoarthritic changes (osteophytes, porosity, eburnation) in the skeletal material from Radom (14th-19th century) (Poland), enriching knowledge about osteoarthritis and its prevalence in the past. Additionally, a comparison of OA changes prevalence in two chronological periods (the population from Radom during the 14th-17th century versus the 18th-19th century) was done. In the Late Medieval (14th-17th century) population from Radom, osteoarthritic changes were observed in 22% of individuals (males, 18%; females, 29%) and in the Modern Period Radom (18th-19th century) in 25% individuals (males, 25.7%; females, 26.5%). In both skeletal samples, the greatest number of OA changes was recorded in the hip and elbow. Knee and ankle were the least affected joints. Osteophytes were the most frequently observed type of lesions, while eburnation was the least frequent. Although the higher prevalence of osteoarthritis in the Modern Period in Radom is noted, the differences are not statistically significant. Taking the multifactorial etiology of osteoarthritic changes, and the fact that osteoarthritis, as a single indicator of health, could not tell much about the overall lifestyle of past human populations, one must be caution when drawing unambiguous conclusions according to the simple, linear effect of environmental changes on osteoarthritic changes formation.

The effect of initial dose on the recovery and final yields of Heterorhabditis megidis (Rhabditida: Heterorhabditidae) in larvae of the great wax moth, Galleria mellonella.

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of different initial doses of the infective juveniles (IJs) (50 IJs, 200 IJs, 1000 IJs) of Heterorhabditis megidis Poinar (Rhabditida: Heterorhabditidae) strain IsM15/09 on recovery, final yields and percent final yields in larvae Galleria mellonella ( L.). Percent recovery was not directly related to initial dose. Final yields also did not change with the initial dose. However, percent yields was highly negatively correlated with initial dose of nematodes and was the highest with the 50 IJs dose. Additional point of the study was to investigate whether the nematodes are able to produce progeny from one hermaphroditic individual. The results showed that the invasive larvae resumed growth and transformed into hermaphroditic individuals that reproduced without cross-fertilisation.