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Three new species of Thiratoscirtus are described from Salonga National Park, D.R. Congo: Thiratoscirtus iyomii (), T. kalisia () and T. khonvoum (). All species were caught on the forest floor during a rapid biodiversity inventory and represent the second report of spider collections from the largest protected tropical rainforest reserve in Africa.

Spiders collected as part of a rapid biodiversity survey in lowland forest in Democratic Republic Congo contained a new species of Cangoderces Harington, 1951 (Telemidae). The male of the new Cangoderces wewef sp. n. is characterized by the male palp with a deep triangular dorsal indentation of the bulbus and the apophyses at the base of the embolus. The female is recognized by the shape of the sclerotized spermatheca in the endogyne. The presence of the species in DR Congo fills the huge distribution gap between the species known from South Africa, Kenya and western Africa.

Prostate-related metastatic spinal cord compression (MSCC) accounts for 50% of all MSCC cases and constitute an oncological emergency. Metastatic spread has a detrimental impact on patient quality of life and the whole management strategy. We sought to identify the prognostic factors influencing the survival rate of patients operated for prostate-related MSCC. Sixty medical records of patients operated for prostate-related MSCC were selected from January 2002 to December 2014 in the Neurosurgery Department, Yopougon Teaching Hospital, Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Tokuhashi and Karnofsky scales were used to assess prognostic scores. Survival curves were generated using the Kaplan-Meier, and we used the log rank analysis for statistical comparison with a statistical significance threshold p  < 0.05. The mean age was 57.16 ± 9.3 years (41-80) with an average of 57 years. The mean survival of the population was 27 ± 5 months (1-55 months), and the overall survival curve showed that 50% survival rate was seen in 31 months. The following parameters were associated with a poor overall survival rate: Tokuhashi score between 0 and 8 and Karnofsky score ≤ 50%. Poor overall survival rate was also observed in patient over 60 years of age, WHO score > 3, Frankel scale A-B, presence of metastasis, Gleason score > 5, PSA levels > 100 ng/ml, LH-RH analogue (decapeptyl LP 11.25) and anterior corpectomy and fusion. All analysis failed to show any significant difference. The management of prostate-related MSCC requires a multidisciplinary approach. Surgery has an unequivocal impact on patient quality of life if their combined prognostic scores are satisfactory., Competing Interests: Conflict of InterestAll authors certify that they have no affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest (such as honoraria; educational grants; participation in speakers’ bureaus; membership, employment, consultancies, stock ownership, or other equity interest; and expert testimony or patent-licencing arrangements) or non-financial interest (such as personal or professional relationships, affiliations, knowledge or beliefs) in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript., (© Indian Association of Surgical Oncology 2020.)

Temperament and personality research in humans and nonhuman animals measures behavioral variation in individual, population, or species-specific traits with implications for survival and fitness, such as social status, foraging, and mating success [1-5]. Curiosity and risk-taking tendencies have been studied extensively across taxa by measuring boldness and exploration responses to experimental novelty exposure [3, 4, 6-15]. Here, we conduct a natural field experiment using wildlife monitoring technology to test variation in the reaction of wild great apes (43 groups of naive chimpanzees, bonobos, and western gorillas across 14 field sites in Africa) to a novel object, the camera trap. Bonobo and gorilla groups demonstrated a stronger looking impulse toward the camera trap device compared to chimpanzees, suggesting higher visual attention and curiosity. Bonobos were also more likely to show alarm and other fearful behaviors, although such neophobic (and conversely, neophilic) responses were generally rare. Among all three species, individuals looked at cameras longer when they were young, were associating with fewer individuals, and did not live near a long-term research site. Overall, these findings partially validate results from great ape novelty paradigms in captivity [7, 8]. We further suggest that species-typical leadership styles [16] and social and environmental effects, including familiarity with humans, best explain novelty responses of wild great apes. In sum, this study illustrates the feasibility of large-scale field experiments and the importance of both intrinsic and extrinsic factors in shaping animal curiosity. VIDEO ABSTRACT., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)