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Twenty-four Recent species of the boreal-Arctic and Pacific cheilostome bryozoan genus Rhamphostomella are described. The species R. tatarica and R. pacifica are transferred to Rhamphostomella from Posterula and Porella, respectively. Eight species are new: R. aleutica n. sp., R. aspera n. sp., R. commandorica n. sp., R. echinata n. sp., R. microavicularia n. sp., R. morozovi n. sp., R. multirostrata n. sp. and R. obliqua n. sp. Neotypes are selected for six species, and lectotypes for eight species. Mixtoscutella n. gen. is established for several Rhamphostomella-like species, including M. androsovae [formerly Smittina androsovae Gontar], M. cancellata [formerly Escharella porifera forma cancellata Smitt], M. harmsworthi [formerly Schizoporella harmsworthi Waters], M. ovata [formerly Cellepora ovata (Smitt)], and M. ussowi [formerly Schizoporella ussowi (Kluge)]. In addition to taxonomic revision, the morphology (frontal shields, ovicells and multiporous septula), ecology and zoogeography of these cheilostomes are discussed, and identification keys are presented. Most species of Rhamphostomella have broad bathymetric distributions. Some have long protuberances on their basal walls that allow them to grow elevated above allelopathically active substrates such as sponges. The diversity of Rhamphostomella peaks in the northwestern Pacific.

Phylogenetic relationships and the timing of evolutionary events are essential for understanding evolution on longer time scales. Cheilostome bryozoans are a group of ubiquitous, species-rich, marine colonial organisms with an excellent fossil record but lack phylogenetic relationships inferred from molecular data. We present genome-skimmed data for 395 cheilostomes and combine these with 315 published sequences to infer relationships and the timing of key events among c. 500 cheilostome species. We find that named cheilostome genera and species are phylogenetically coherent, rendering fossil or contemporary specimens readily delimited using only skeletal morphology. Our phylogeny shows that parental care in the form of brooding evolved several times independently but was never lost in cheilostomes. Our fossil calibration, robust to varied assumptions, indicates that the cheilostome lineage and parental care therein could have Paleozoic origins, much older than the first known fossil record of cheilostomes in the Late Jurassic.

Sea stars (Echinodermata: Asteroidea) are a key component of Southern Ocean benthos, with 16% of the known sea star species living there. In temperate marine environments, sea stars commonly play an important role in food webs, acting as keystone species. However, trophic ecology and functional role of Southern Ocean sea stars are still poorly known, notably due to the scarcity of large-scale studies. Here, we report 24,332 trophic marker (stable isotopes and elemental contents of C, N, and S of tegument and/or tube feet) and biometric (arm length, disk radius, arm to disk ratio) measurements in 2,456 specimens of sea stars. Samples were collected between 12 January 1985 and 8 October 2017 in numerous locations along the Antarctic littoral and subantarctic islands. The spatial scope of the data set covers a significant portion of the Southern Ocean (47.717° S to 86.273° S; 127.767° W to 162.201° E; depth, 6-5,338 m). The data set contains 133 distinct taxa, including 72 currently accepted species spanning 51 genera, 20 families, and multiple feeding guilds/functional groups (suspension feeders, sediment feeders, omnivores, predators of mobile or sessile prey). For 505 specimens, mitochondrial CO1 genes were sequenced to confirm and/or refine taxonomic identifications, and those sequences are already publicly available through the Barcode of Life Data System. This number will grow in the future, as molecular analyses are still in progress. Overall, thanks to its large taxonomic, spatial, and temporal extent, as well as its integrative nature (combining genetic, morphological, and ecological data), this data set can be of wide interest to Southern Ocean ecologists, invertebrate zoologists, benthic ecologists, and environmental managers dealing with associated areas. Please cite this data paper in research products derived from the data set, which is freely available without copyright restrictions., (© 2021 The Ecological Society of America.)

Rhodolith beds and bioherms formed by ecosystem engineering crustose coralline algae support the northernmost centres of carbonate production, referred to as polar cold-water carbonate factories. Yet, little is known about biodiversity and recruitment of these hard-bottom communities or the bioeroders degrading them, and there is a demand for carbonate budgets to include respective rates of polar carbonate build-up and bioerosion. To address these issues, a 10-year settlement and bioerosion experiment was carried out at the Arctic Svalbard archipelago in and downslope of a rhodolith bed. The calcifiers recorded on experimental settlement tiles (56 taxa) were dominated by bryozoans, serpulids and foraminiferans. The majority of the bioerosion traces (30 ichnotaxa) were microborings, followed by attachment etchings and grazing traces. Biodiversity metrics show that calcifier diversity and bioerosion ichnodiversity are both elevated in the rhodolith bed, if compared to adjacent aphotic waters, but these differences are statistically insignificant. Accordingly, there were only low to moderate dissimilarities in the calcifier community structure and bioerosion trace assemblages between the two depth stations (46 and 127 m), substrate orientations (up- and down-facing) and substrate types (PVC and limestone), in that order of relevance. In contrast, surface coverage as well as the carbonate accretion and bioerosion rates were all significantly elevated in the rhodolith bed, reflecting higher abundance or size of calcifiers and bioerosion traces. All three measures were highest for up-facing substrates at 46 m, with a mean coverage of 78.2% (on PVC substrates), a mean accretion rate of 24.6 g m -2   year -1 (PVC), and a mean bioerosion rate of -35.1 g m -2  year -1 (limestone). Differences in these metrics depend on the same order of factors than the community structure. Considering all limestone substrates of the two platforms, carbonate accretion and bioerosion were nearly in balance at a net rate of -2.5 g m -2  year -1 . A latitudinal comparison with previous settlement studies in the North Atlantic suggests that despite the harsh polar environment there is neither a depletion in the diversity of hard-bottom calcifier communities nor in the ichnodiversity of grazing traces, attachment etchings and microborings formed by organotrophs. In contrast, microborings produced by phototrophs are strongly depleted because of limitations in the availability of light (condensed photic zonation, polar night, shading by sea ice). Also, macroborings were almost absent, surprisingly. With respect to carbonate production, the Svalbard carbonate factory marks the low end of a latitudinal gradient while bioerosion rates are similar or even higher than at comparable depth or photic regime at lower latitudes, although this might not apply to shallow euphotic waters (not covered in our experiment), given the observed depletion in bioeroding microphytes and macroborers. While echinoid grazing is particularly relevant for the bioerosion in the rhodolith bed, respective rates are far lower than those reported from tropical shallow-water coral reefs. The slow pace of carbonate production but relatively high rates of bioerosion (both promoted by low carbonate supersaturation states in Arctic waters), in concert with high retention of skeletal carbonates on the seafloor and no calcite cements forming in open pore space created by microborers, suggest a low fossilisation potential for polar carbonates, such as those formed in the Mosselbukta rhodolith beds., (© 2021 The Authors. Geobiology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

This study provides taxonomic and distributional data of bryozoan species from the Ross Sea area, mainly around Terra Nova Bay, based on specimens curated at the Italian National Antarctic Museum (MNA, Section of Genoa). Bryozoan specimens were collected at 75 different sampling stations in the Ross Sea and in the Magellan Strait, in a bathymetric range of 18-711 meters, during 13 expeditions of the Italian National Antarctic Research Program (PNRA) conducted between 1988 and 2014. A total of 282 MNA vouchers corresponding to 311 specimens and 127 morphospecies have been identified and included in the present dataset. 62% of the species were already reported for the Terra Nova Bay area, where most of the Italian samples come from, with a 35% of samples representing new records classified at the specific level, and 3% classified at the genus level. These new additions increase to 124 the total number of species known to occur in Terra Nova Bay. Four 3D-models of Antarctic bryozoans from the Ross Sea are also presented and will be released for research and educational purposes on the Museum website.

The Antarctic sublittoral is one of the most demanding habitat for polar bottom-dwelling organisms, as the disturbance of this zone is highly intense. Rapid changes in the marine environment, such as increases in atmosphere and surface water temperatures, can cause dramatic changes in biodiversity, especially in glacial fjords affected by heavy melt water inputs from the retreating glaciers. In such areas, rocks are often an important support for local diversity, providing habitats for a number of encrusting organisms. Thus, understanding the patterns of diversity of shallow rock encrusting fauna and factors controlling it are particularly important. The structure and diversity patterns of rock encrusting fauna were examined from four ecologically contrasting sites in the shallow sublittoral (6-20 m) of Admiralty Bay (King George Island). The results revealed a rich and abundant encrusting community with bryozoans and polychaetes outcompeting representatives of other fauna such as foraminifera and porifera. Spatial variability in species composition, as well as biological parameters, revealed the trend of encrusting assemblages declining towards the inner fjord areas - strongly affected by high sediment input (species richness: 13.3 ± 1.2, and abundance: 68,932.99 ± 11,915.98 individuals m -2  ± standard error). In contrast, at sites more open to the central basin, a peak of biological parameters was observed (24.8 ± 1.4 and 297,360.9 ± 30,314.72, respectively). We suggest that increased sedimentation was the major factor structuring the encrusting assemblages in Ezcurra Inlet, masking the influence of other parameters, such as food and light availability, which are important for the distribution of epifauna. Thus, if the increasing intensity of glacial processes will continue in the upcoming years, the diversity of the encrusting fauna in the shallow sublittoral could dramatically decrease., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Two new species of Cheilopora-C. peristomata and C. elfa-are described from the shallow water around Adak and Amchitka of the Andreanof and Rat island groups of the Aleutian Islands. Zooids of both new species have cormidial peristomes, composed by the distal (originating from neighbouring zooid) and proximal lappets. In contrast to previously described species, the strongly elevated peristomial lappets defining the secondary orifice confer the overall shape of an incomplete circle with deep U-shaped proximolateral pseudosinuses. Depending on angle of view, this gives a campanuliform or trifoliate outline to the secondary orifice, by which the new species differ from congeners. Together with previous discoveries from the Aleutians, these two new Cheilopora species are indicative of incomplete knowledge of the marine biodiversity of the region, including the distinctive character of the bryozoan fauna. There is a need for intensification of taxonomic effort along the island arc.

Fjords are semi-enclosed systems often with usually strong physical and chemical gradients. These gradients provide the opportunity to test the influence of various physical and chemical factors on biodiversity. However study area of this investigation, Trondheimsfjord, is a large water body where especially salinity gradient along the fjord is not well pronounced. The goal of this study was to establish within a temperate fjord a baseline identifying encrusting fauna on rocks and determine the factors driving changes along the length of the fjord and changing depths. There was no trend in species composition change and increase or decrease in number of species, diversity and number of individuals along the fjord. This was likely due to the relative homogeneity of both substrate (rocks) and environmental parameters. Nevertheless, the influence of fresh water inflow in the vicinity of the river mouth was apparent by the presence of characteristic brackish-water species at these locations. Multidimensional scaling analysis revealed three separate assemblages: intertidal, shallow and deep subtidal (below 50 m). Intertidal assemblages were species poor (one to 11 species) but relatively abundant (six to 2374 indiv./m(2) of rocks). Number of individuals and biomass was highest in the shallow subtidal (2059-13,587 indiv./m(2) of rocks). Overall the highest species number (45) was recorded at 50 m depth which is probably result of low competition pressure yet still relatively high nutrient concentration in comparison to shallower locations. Environmental parameters (i.e., tidal currents, wave action, salinity) change more drastically with depth than along the fjord and these changes are the major driving forces in shaping encrusting assemblages in Trondheimsfjord., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The intricate geological evolution of the Arctic Ocean is paralleled by complexities in the biogeographical and phylogenetical histories of the Arctic biota, including bryozoans. Here we present revised taxonomic descriptions for all known species of the bryozoan genus Pseudoflustra, and use the present-day distributions and phylogenetic relationships between these species to infer the historical biogeography of the genus. Nine species belonging to the genus Pseudoflustra are recognized in the Arctic and North Atlantic. One new species, previously identified as Ichthyaria aviculata, is described as Pseudoflustra radeki sp. nov. Another species, previously assigned to Smittoidea as S. perrieri, is transferred to Pseudoflustra. Biogeographical analysis of Pseudoflustra reveals that species distributions mostly match current patterns pertaining in the North Atlantic and Arctic Ocean. Distributions were probably shaped by recent geological history as present-day current directions in the Arctic Ocean are believed to have been similar for at least the last 120 000 years. Phylogenetic analysis of Pseudoflustra places the five Arctic-North Atlantic species in a clade crownward of a paraphyletic grouping of North Atlantic species. Given that the Arctic Ocean was fully glaciated until 18 000 years, the most likely explanation for this phylogeographical pattern is that species of Pseudoflustra colonized the Arctic relatively recently from North Atlantic sources. However, a fuller understanding of the origin of Pseudoflustra in the Arctic will require molecular and fossil data, neither of which are currently available.

In 1996 the new European Flight Crew Medical Requirements were finalized. The ophthalmological changes compared to the existing German standards range from the organization of evaluations to the necessary frequency of examinations. They also cover different examination techniques and different criteria for fitness. The changes in the requirements for ophthalmological fitness primarily affect ametropia, anisometropia, color vision and phoria. Knowledge of the European requirements is very important to advise pilots and any patient interested in becoming a pilot.

Ketotifen administered prior to aspirin offered protection against bronchoconstriction in 13 of 14 patients with aspirin-sensitive asthma. In four other subjects, suffering from urticaria/angioedema following ingestion of aspirin-like drugs, pretreatment with ketotifen resulted in total prevention of the adverse reactions. These results support the suggestion of a common pathogenetic mechanism operating in two distinct clinical patterns of idiosyncrasy to aspirin and other cyclo-oxygenase inhibitors. They also indicate that ketotifen might find application in treatment of adverse reactions to aspirin.

This paper reviews experimental results and pertinent data from the literature on circadian behavioural rhythms and their modifications through various factors. It relates them to the operation of aircrews "round the clock" and on transmeridian routes and discusses some possibilities of an appropriate scheduling.

While intensive physical exercise has been part of the conditioning of astronauts and consmonauts for spaceflights, its benefits have been questioned. After reviewing the pertinent literature, it is concluded that the morphological and functional changes obtained with athletic endurance training are rather specific and of no general advantage for the tolerance to space stresses. Particularly during gravitational loads, in the relaxed subject, these changes allow a more pronounced shift of fluid into the lower extremities, with the possible consequence of a reduced tolerance. This unfavourable response, obviously, is accentuated through immersion and weightlessness. The aerobic work capacity is also more impaired in athletes. Based on these conclusions, recommendations for crews and passengers of future Spacelab missions are given with respect to selection and pre-and in-flight physical exercise.