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Several non-invasive methods are common practice in natural sciences today. Here we present how they can be applied and contribute to current topics in cephalopod (paleo-) biology. Different methods will be compared in terms of time necessary to acquire the data, amount of data, accuracy/resolution, minimum-maximum size of objects that can be studied, of the degree of post-processing needed and availability. Main application of the methods is seen in morphometry and volumetry of cephalopod shells in order to improve our understanding of diversity and disparity, functional morphology and biology of extinct and extant cephalopods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For more than a decade, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) has been routinely employed in clinical diagnostics because it allows to non-invasively study anatomical structures and physiological processes in vivo and to differentiate between healthy and pathological states, particularly in soft tissue. Here, we demonstrate that MRI can likewise be applied to fossilized biological samples and help in elucidating paleopathological and paleoecological questions: Five anomalous guards of Jurassic and Cretaceous belemnites are presented along with putative paleopathological scenarios directly derived from 3D Magnetic Resonance images with microscopic resolution. These syn vivo deformities of both the mineralized internal rostrum and the surrounding former soft tissue can be traced back in part to traumatic events of predator-prey-interactions, and partly to parasitism. Evidence is presented that the frequently observed anomalous apical collar might be indicative of an inflammatory disease. Finally, the potential of Magnetic Resonance techniques for further paleontological applications is being discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biomineralization in calcareous dinophytes (Thoracosphaeracaea, Peridiniales) takes place in coccoid cells and is presently poorly understood. Vacuolar crystal-like particles as well as collection sites within the prospective calcareous shell may play a crucial role during this process at the ultrastructural level. Using transmission electron microscopy, we investigated the ultrastructure of coccoid cells at an early developmental stage in fourteen calcareous dinophyte strains (corresponding to at least ten species of Calciodinellum, Calcigonellum, Leonella, Pernambugia, Scrippsiella, and Thoracosphaera). The shell of the coccoid cells consisted either of one (Leonella, Thoracosphaera) or two matrices (Scrippsiella and its relatives) of unknown element composition, whereas calcite is deposited in the only or the outer layer, respectively. We observed crystal-like particles in cytoplasmic vacuoles in cells of nine of the strains investigated and assume that they are widespread among calcareous dinophytes. However, similar structures are also found outside the Thoracosphaeraceae, and we postulate an evolutionarily old physiological pathway (possibly involved in detoxification) that later was specialized for calcification. We aim to contribute to a deeper knowledge of the biomineralization process in calcareous dinophytes.

The diversity of extant calcareous dinophytes (Thoracosphaeraceae, Dinophyceae) is currently not sufficiently recorded. The majority of their coccoid stages are cryptotabulate or entirely atabulate, whereas relatively few forms exhibit at least some degree of tabulation more than the archeopyle. A survey of coastal surface sediment samples from the Mediterranean Sea resulted in the isolation and cultivation of several strains of calcareous dinophytes showing a prominent tabulation. We investigated the morphologies of the thecate and the coccoid cells and conducted phylogenetic analyses using Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian approaches. The coccoid cells showed a distinct reflection of the cingulum (and were thus cingulotabulate), whereas thecal morphology corresponded to the widely distributed and species-rich Scrippsiella. As inferred from molecular sequence data (including 81 new GenBank entries), the strains belonged to the Scrippsiella sensu lato clade of the Thoracosphaeraceae and represented two distinct species. Morphological details likewise indicated two distinct species with previously unknown coccoid cells that we describe here as new, namely S. bicarinata spec. nov. and S. kirschiae spec. nov. Cingulotabulation results from the fusion of processes representing the pre- and postcingular plate series in S. bicarinata, whereas the ridges represent sutures between the cingulum and the pre- and postcingular series in S. kirschiae, respectively. Bicarinate cingulotabulation appears homoplasious among calcareous dinophytes, which is further supported by a comparison to similar, but only distantly related fossil forms., (© 2012 Phycological Society of America.)

Cambrian fossil Lagerstätten preserving soft-bodied organisms have contributed much towards our understanding of metazoan origins. Lobopodians are a particularly interesting group that diversified and flourished in the Cambrian seas. Resembling 'worms with legs', they have long attracted much attention in that they may have given rise to both Onychophora (velvet worms) and Tardigrada (water bears), as well as to arthropods in general. Here we describe Diania cactiformis gen. et sp. nov. as an 'armoured' lobopodian from the Chengjiang fossil Lagerstätte (Cambrian Stage 3), Yunnan, southwestern China. Although sharing features with other typical lobopodians, it is remarkable for possessing robust and probably sclerotized appendages, with what appear to be articulated elements. In terms of limb morphology it is therefore closer to the arthropod condition, to our knowledge, than any lobopodian recorded until now. Phylogenetic analysis recovers it in a derived position, close to Arthropoda; thus, it seems to belong to a grade of organization close to the point of becoming a true arthropod. Further, D. cactiformis could imply that arthropodization (sclerotization of the limbs) preceded arthrodization (sclerotization of the body). Comparing our fossils with other lobopodian appendage morphologies--see Kerygmachela, Jianshanopodia and Megadictyon--reinforces the hypothesis that the group as a whole is paraphyletic, with different taxa expressing different grades of arthropodization.

Based on morphological and molecular data, calcareous dinoflagellates (Thoracosphaeraceae, Peridiniales) are a monophyletic group comprising the three major clades Ensiculifera/Pentapharsodinium, Thoracosphaera/Pfiesteria, and Scrippsiella sensu lato. We used stratigraphically well-documented first occurrences of particular archeopyle types to constrain relaxed Bayesian molecular clocks applied to nuclear rRNA sequences of 18 representatives of the three main clades. By comparing divergence estimates obtained in differently calibrated clocks with first stratigraphic occurrences of taxa not themselves used as constraints, we identified plausible divergence times for several subclades of calcareous dinoflagellates. The initial diversification of extant calcareous dinoflagellates probably took place in the Late Jurassic, with the three main clades all established by the Cretaceous. The two mesoepicystal operculum types observed in calcareous dinoflagellates probably evolved independently from simple apical archeopyles. Based on our taxon sample, the K/T boundary had relatively little effect on the diversity of the group, with several lineages dating to before 65 mya (million years ago). The first stratigraphic occurrences of key taxa, such as Thoracosphaera and Calciodinellum (not themselves used as constraints), are in agreement with the molecular time estimates. Conflicts that involve "Calciodinellum"levantinum, Leonella, Pentapharsodinium, Pernambugia, and the Scrippsiella trochoidea species complex may be due to inaccurate assignment of fossils because of high morphological homoplasy and insufficient knowledge of the extant diversity of calcareous dinoflagellates., (© 2008 Phycological Society of America.)

The phylogenetic relationships of calcareous dinoflagellates (i.e., Calciodinellaceae and Thoracosphaera) are investigated. Molecular data from the ribosomal 5.8S rRNA and highly conserved motifs of the ITS1 show Calciodinellaceae s.l. to be monophyletic when few non-calcareous taxa are included. They segregate into three monophyletic assemblages in a molecular analysis that considers the 5.8S rRNA and both the Internal Transcribed Spacer regions ITS1 and ITS2: a clade comprising species of Ensiculifera and Pentapharsodinium (E/P-clade), Scrippsiella s.l. (including fossil-based taxa such as Calciodinellum and Calcigonellum), and a heterogeneous group (T/P-clade) of calcareous (e.g., Thoracosphaera) and non-calcareous taxa (e.g., the highly toxic Pfiesteria). The potential to produce calcareous structures is considered as apomorphic within alveolates, and non-calcareous taxa nesting with calcareous dinoflagellates may have reduced calcification secondarily. Molecular results do not contradict general evolutionary scenarios provided by previous morphological (mainly paleontological) investigations.

Lastingly effective projects for the prevention of violence and addiction must ask which resources adolescents require for coping with their lives. A central criteria for a successful life is the creation of coherence in one's inner life and thus the basis for becoming capable of functioning in society. In earlier social eras, the readiness to take on ready-made identity packages was the central criteria for coping with life. Today, this depends on individual adaptation and identity work, and thus the capability for self-organisation, for "intentionality" or "embedding". Children and young people need "free spaces" in their worlds, in order to be able to outline themselves and to act formatively upon their everyday environment. The future prospects of adolescents depend upon their options for learning the "craft of freedom". Sustainable key qualifications for coping with life in globalised, digital capitalism must grasp education as a hard-headed process in which the subject's capacity for self-organisation is to be given optimal encouragement, so that the patchwork of their own identity can succeed as a self-determined creative project.

As opposed to scientific psychiatry, social psychiatry draws its resources from sociological sources and must continuously adapt its self-image and concept of action to changes in society. Sociological analysis of the present describes dramatic changes in society, which also have consequences for the subject's mastering of everyday routines and formation of identity. As opposed to neo-liberal promises of sheer limitless new opportunities, respectable interpretations of current times describe an ambivalent process that by far does not positively effect all groups in society, and in fact increases the danger of social exclusion. Exclusionary processes particularly affect persons, who do not fulfill the new requirements of hyper flexibility, mobility and allround fitness. Justifiably the question arises whether these requirements themselves induce the destruction of personality. This brings up the question if there is an alternative to the neoliberal view of humankind. This paper picks up the idea of a civil society centered on an individual and recalcitrant subject.