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Neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) were authorized for the treatment of COVID-19 outpatients based on clinical trials completed early in the pandemic, which were underpowered for mortality and subgroup analyses. Real-world data studies are promising for further assessing rapidly deployed therapeutics.Did mAb treatment prevent progression to severe disease and death across pandemic phases and based on risk factors, including prior vaccination status?This observational cohort study included nonhospitalized adult patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection from November 2020 to October 2021 using electronic health records from a statewide health system plus state-level vaccine and mortality data. Using propensity matching, we selected approximately 2.5 patients not receiving mAbs for each patient who received mAb treatment under emergency use authorization. The primary outcome was 28-day hospitalization; secondary outcomes included mortality and hospitalization severity.Of 36,077 patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection, 2,675 receiving mAbs were matched to 6,677 patients not receiving mAbs. Compared with mAb-untreated patients, mAb-treated patients had lower all-cause hospitalization (4.0% vs 7.7%; adjusted OR, 0.48; 95% CI, 0.38-0.60) and all-cause mortality (0.1% vs 0.9%; adjusted OR, 0.11; 95% CI, 0.03-0.29) to day 28; differences persisted to day 90. Among hospitalized patients, mAb-treated patients had shorter hospital length of stay (5.8 vs 8.5 days) and lower risk of mechanical ventilation (4.6% vs 16.6%). Results were similar for preventing hospitalizations during the Delta variant phase (adjusted OR, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.25-0.50) and across subgroups. Number-needed-to-treat (NNT) to prevent hospitalization was lower for subgroups with higher baseline risk of hospitalization; for example, multiple comorbidities (NNT = 17) and not fully vaccinated (NNT = 24) vs no comorbidities (NNT = 88) and fully vaccinated (NNT = 81).Real-world data revealed a strong association between receipt of mAbs and reduced hospitalization and deaths among COVID-19 outpatients across pandemic phases. Real-world data studies should be used to guide practice and policy decisions, including allocation of scarce resources.

Living amphibians (Lissamphibia) include frogs and salamanders (Batrachia) and the limbless worm-like caecilians (Gymnophiona). The estimated Palaeozoic era gymnophionan–batrachian molecular divergence suggests a major gap in the record of crown lissamphibians prior to their earliest fossil occurrences in the Triassic period. Recent studies find a monophyletic Batrachia within dissorophoid temnospondyls, but the absence of pre-Jurassic period caecilian fossils has made their relationships to batrachians and affinities to Palaeozoic tetrapods controversial. Here we report the geologically oldest stem caecilian—a crown lissamphibian from the Late Triassic epoch of Arizona, USA—extending the caecilian record by around 35 million years. These fossils illuminate the tempo and mode of early caecilian morphological and functional evolution, demonstrating a delayed acquisition of musculoskeletal features associated with fossoriality in living caecilians, including the dual jaw closure mechanism, reduced orbits and the tentacular organ. The provenance of these fossils suggests a Pangaean equatorial origin for caecilians, implying that living caecilian biogeography reflects conserved aspects of caecilian function and physiology19, in combination with vicariance patterns driven by plate tectonics. These fossils reveal a combination of features that is unique to caecilians alongside features that are shared with batrachian and dissorophoid temnospondyls, providing new and compelling evidence supporting a single origin of living amphibians within dissorophoid temnospondyls. This study was supported by the David R. Wones Geological Scholarship (to B.T.K.), the USA National Park Service (PMIS 209814 to B.T.K., W.G.P. and A.D.M.), the Virginia Tech Department of Geosciences (to B.T.K., M.R.S. and S.J.N.), the National Science Foundation (DEB1655609 to M.R.S.; EAR480383 to S.J.N., M.R.S. and B.T.K.; and DPP1947094 to C. Sidor, supporting B.M.G.), the David B. Jones Foundation (to M.R.S. and S.J.N.) and the Petrified Forest Museum Association (to B.T.K.). Published version

This study investigates the level of digitalization as well as opportunities and challenges from the perspective of sawmill representatives. The level of digitalization of business processes was assessed by a survey on digitalization criteria regarding business processes. The questions dealt with the existence of basic data processing, digitally networked information and communication and digitally networked products and services. Over 700 small and medium sized sawmills were contacted by e-mail or mail using enterprise directories. The response of 87 completed questionnaires was analyzed by means of cluster analysis. The companies were divided into different groups based on their similarity regarding the digitalization criteria. The study identified three clusters: the first cluster (n1 = 35), the “manual small business”, did not reach the first stage of digitalization. The second cluster (n2 = 26), the “automated business”, has partially reached the first stage of digitalization. The third cluster (n3 = 26), the “solid developed” group, has reached the first stage of digitalization as the basic hardware and software is available. The increasing networking of the value chain, the workplace of the future and the increasing individualization of customer requirements are perceived as opportunities. The main barriers are data protection and data security whereas cloud solutions are considered as the biggest risk.

Non-archosaur archosauromorphs are a paraphyletic group of diapsid reptiles that were important members of global Middle and Late Triassic continental ecosystems. Included in this group are the azendohsaurids, a clade of allokotosaurians (kuehneosaurids and Azendohsauridae + Trilophosauridae) that retain the plesiomorphic archosauromorph postcranial body plan but evolved disparate cranial features that converge on later dinosaurian anatomy, including sauropodomorph-like marginal dentition and ceratopsian-like postorbital horns. Here we describe a new malerisaurine azendohsaurid from two monodominant bonebeds in the Blue Mesa Member, Chinle Formation (Late Triassic, ca. 218–220 Ma); the first occurs at Petrified Forest National Park and preserves a minimum of eight individuals of varying sizes, and the second occurs near St. Johns, Arizona. Puercosuchus traverorum n. gen. n. sp. is a carnivorous malerisaurine that is closely related to Malerisaurus robinsonae from the Maleri Formation of India and to Malerisaurus langstoni from the Dockum Group of western Texas. Dentigerous elements from Puercosuchus traverorum n. gen. n. sp. confirm that some Late Triassic tooth morphotypes thought to represent early dinosaurs cannot be differentiated from, and likely pertain to, Puercosuchus-like malerisaurine taxa. These bonebeds from northern Arizona support the hypothesis that non-archosauriform archosauromorphs were locally diverse near the middle Norian and experienced an extinction event prior to the end-Triassic mass extinction coincidental with the Adamanian-Revueltian boundary recognized at Petrified Forest National Park. The relatively late age of this early-diverging taxon (Norian) suggests that the diversity of azendohsaurids is underrepresented in Middle and Late Triassic fossil records around the world.UUID: http://zoobank.org/e6eeefd2-a0ae-47fc-8604-9f45af8c1147.

The Grave of the Griffin Warrior is the name that has been attached to the un-looted Mycenaean Warrior burial that was discovered by a team from the University of Cincinnati to the northeast of the Palace of Nestor at Ancient Pylos, Messenia, Greece. The grave contained the remains of a single male individual who was approximately 1.7 m (5′6″) tall and 30–35 years old when he died. The cause of death is unknown. The “Griffin Warrior” was buried with an incredible wealth of objects, including two gold cups, several silver cups, and multiple bronze vessels. The grave also contained items related to warfare, including a boar’s-tusk helmet, a bronze sword with a gold hilt, a bronze dagger with a gold hilt, and a bronze suit of armour. The name derives from the military kit and an ivory plaque with the image of a griffin.

Once known solely from dental material and thought to represent an early ornithischian dinosaur, the early-diverging pseudosuchian Revueltosaurus callenderi is described from a minimum of 12 skeletons from a monodominant bonebed in the upper part of the Chinle Formation of Arizona. This material includes nearly the entire skeleton and possesses a combination of plesiomorphic and derived character states that help clarify ingroup relationships within Pseudosuchia. A phylogenetic analysis recovers R. callenderi in a clade with Aetosauria and Acaenasuchus geoffreyi that is named Aetosauriformes. Key autapomorphies of R. callenderi include a skull that is longer than the femur, a complete carapace of dermal armor including paramedian and lateral rows, as well as ventral osteoderms, and a tail end sheathed in bone. Histology of the femur and associated osteoderms demonstrate that R. callenderi was slow growing and that the individuals from the bonebed were not young juveniles but had not ceased growing. A review of other material assigned to Revueltosaurus concludes that the genus cannot be adequately diagnosed based on the type materials of the three assigned species and that only R. callenderi can be confidently referred to Revueltosaurus. Published version

A snake-like body plan and burrowing lifestyle characterize numerous vertebrate groups as a result of convergent evolution. One such group is the amphisbaenians, a clade of limbless, fossorial lizards that exhibit head-first burrowing behavior. Correlated with this behavior, amphisbaenian skulls are more rigid and coossified than those of nonburrowing lizards. However, due to their lifestyle, there are many gaps in our understanding of amphisbaenian anatomy, including how their cranial osteology varies among individuals of the same species and what that reveals about constraints on the skull morphology of head-first burrowing taxa. We investigated intraspecific variation in the cranial osteology of amphisbaenians using seven individuals of the trogonophid Diplometopon zarudnyi. Variation in both skull and individual skull element morphology was examined qualitatively and quantitatively through three-dimensional (3D) models created from microcomputed tomography data. Qualitative examination revealed differences in the number and position of foramina, the interdigitation between the frontals and parietal, and the extent of coossification among the occipital complex, fused basioccipital and parabasisphenoid ("parabasisphenoid-basioccipital complex"), and elements X. We performed 3D landmark-based geometric morphometrics for the quantitative assessment, revealing shape differences in the skull, premaxilla, maxilla, frontal, and parietal. The observed intraspecific variation may be the result of different stages of ontogenetic development or biomechanical optimization for head-first burrowing. For example, variation in the coossification of the occipital region suggests a potential ontogenetic coossification sequence. Examination of these areas of variation across other head-first burrowing taxa will help determine if the variation is clade-specific or part of a broader macroevolutionary pattern of head-first burrowing.

The radiation of archosauromorph reptiles in the Triassic Period produced an unprecedented collection of diverse and disparate forms with a mix of varied ecologies and body sizes. Some of these forms were completely unique to the Triassic, whereas others were converged on by later members of Archosauromorpha. One of the most striking examples of this is with Triopticus primus, the early dome-headed form later mimicked by pachycephalosaurid dinosaurs. Here we fully describe the cranial anatomy of Triopticus primus, but also recognize a second dome-headed form from a Upper Triassic deposit in present-day India. The new taxon, Kranosaura kuttyi gen. et sp. nov., is likely the sister taxon of Triopticus primus based on the presence of a greatly expanded skull roof with a deep dorsal opening (possibly the pineal opening) through the dome, similar cranial sculpturing, and a skull table that is expanded more posterior than the posterior extent of the basioccipital. However, the dome of Kranosaura kuttyi gen. et sp. nov. extends anterodorsally, unlike that of any other archosauromorph. Histological sections and computed tomographic reconstructions through the skull of Kranosaura kuttyi gen. et sp. nov. further reveal the uniqueness of the dome of these early archosauromorphs. Moreover, our integrated analysis further demonstrates that there are many ways to create a dome in Amniota. The presence of 'dome-headed' archosauromorphs at two localities on the western and eastern portions of Pangea suggests that these archosauromorphs were widespread and are likely part of more assemblages than currently recognized.

In many low and middle-income countries, iodine-deficient hypothyroidism leads to complex public health consequences. However, increasing evidence from population-based studies has linked thyroid autoimmunity with excess iodine intake. The iodine supplementation program in Bangladesh was a success story. This cross-sectional study aims to assess the pattern and predictors of autoimmunity among Bangladeshi hypothyroid patients. In this study, 154 consecutive, newly detected, biochemically-confirmed patients with primary hypothyroidism were recruited from the Endocrinology outpatient department of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University and tested for anti-thyroid peroxidase and anti-thyroglobulin antibody levels from October 2015 and November 2016. Patterns of thyroid autoimmunity were assessed via descriptive statistics. Predictors of autoimmunity were assessed with multivariable mixed-effect logistic regression. The mean age of participants was 36.1±11.0 years, and 70.1% were female. The frequency of thyroid autoimmunity in the study subjects was very high, 89.0% were positive for either anti-TPO or anti-Tg antibodies and 48.7% were positive for both. More participants were positive for anti-TPO antibodies (82.5%) than anti-Tg antibodies (55.2%). The risk of autoimmunity was associated with the thyroid's structural abnormalities but not with functional status. Weight gain and hypertension were associated with autoimmunity, whereas diabetes was protective against autoimmunity.

Morphology forms the most fundamental level of data in vertebrate palaeontology because it is through interpretations of morphology that taxa are identified, creating the basis for broad evolutionary and palaeobiological hypotheses. Assessing maturity is one of the most basic aspects of morphological interpretation and provides the means to study the evolution of ontogenetic changes, population structure and palaeoecology, life-history strategies, and heterochrony along evolutionary lineages that would otherwise be lost to time. Saurian reptiles (the least-inclusive clade containing Lepidosauria and Archosauria) have remained an incredibly diverse, numerous, and disparate clade through their ~260-million-year history. Because of the great disparity in this group, assessing maturity of saurian reptiles is difficult, fraught with methodological and terminological ambiguity. We compiled a novel database of literature, assembling >900 individual instances of saurian maturity assessment, to examine critically how saurian maturity has been diagnosed. We review the often inexact and inconsistent terminology used in saurian maturity assessment (e.g. 'juvenile', 'mature') and provide routes for better clarity and cross-study coherence. We describe the various methods that have been used to assess maturity in every major saurian group, integrating data from both extant and extinct taxa to give a full account of the current state of the field and providing method-specific pitfalls, best practices, and fruitful directions for future research. We recommend that a new standard subsection, 'Ontogenetic Assessment', be added to the Systematic Palaeontology portions of descriptive studies to provide explicit ontogenetic diagnoses with clear criteria. Because the utility of different ontogenetic criteria is highly subclade dependent among saurians, even for widely used methods (e.g. neurocentral suture fusion), we recommend that phylogenetic context, preferably in the form of a phylogenetic bracket, be used to justify the use of a maturity assessment method. Different methods should be used in conjunction as independent lines of evidence when assessing maturity, instead of an ontogenetic diagnosis resting entirely on a single criterion, which is common in the literature. Critically, there is a need for data from extant taxa with well-represented growth series to be integrated with the fossil record to ground maturity assessments of extinct taxa in well-constrained, empirically tested methods.

BackgroundNeutralizing monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are authorized for early symptomatic COVID-19 patients. Whether mAbs are effective against the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant, among vaccinated patients, or for prevention of mortality remains unknown.ObjectiveTo evaluate the effectiveness of mAb treatment in preventing progression to severe disease during the Delta phase of the pandemic and based on key baseline risk factors.Design, Setting, and PatientsObservational cohort study of non-hospitalized adult patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection from November 2020-October 2021, using electronic health records from a statewide health system plus state-level vaccine and mortality data. Using propensity matching, we selected approximately 2.5 patients not receiving mAbs for each patient who received mAbs.ExposureNeutralizing mAb treatment under emergency use authorizationMain OutcomesThe primary outcome was 28-day hospitalization; secondary outcomes included mortality and severity of hospitalization.ResultsOf 36,077 patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection, 2,675 receiving mAbs were matched to 6,677 not receiving mAbs. Compared to mAb-untreated patients, mAb-treated patients had lower all-cause hospitalization (4.0% vs 7.7%; adjusted OR 0.48, 95%CI 0.38-0.60) and all-cause mortality (0.1% vs. 0.9%; adjusted OR 0.11, 95%CI 0.03-0.29) to day 28; differences persisted to day 90. Among hospitalized patients, mAb-treated patients had shorter hospital length of stay (5.8 vs. 8.5 days) and lower risk of mechanical ventilation (4.6% vs. 16.6%). Relative effectiveness was similar in preventing hospitalizations during the Delta variant phase (adjusted OR 0.35, 95%CI 0.25-0.50) and across subgroups. Lower number-needed-to-treat (NNT) to prevent hospitalization were observed for subgroups with higher baseline risk of hospitalization (e.g., multiple comorbidities (NNT=17) and not fully vaccinated (NNT=24) vs. no comorbidities (NNT=88) and fully vaccinated (NNT=81).ConclusionReal-world evidence demonstrated mAb effectiveness in reducing hospitalization among COVID-19 outpatients, including during the Delta variant phase, and conferred an overall 89% reduction in 28-day mortality. Early outpatient treatment with mAbs should be prioritized, especially for individuals with highest risk for hospitalization.

The Placerias/Downs' Quarry complex in eastern Arizona, USA, is the most diverse Upper Triassic vertebrate locality known. We report a new short-faced archosauriform, Syntomiprosopus sucherorum gen. et sp. nov., represented by four incomplete mandibles, that expands that diversity with a morphology unique among Late Triassic archosauriforms. The most distinctive feature of Syntomiprosopus gen. nov. is its anteroposteriorly short, robust mandible with 3-4 anterior, a larger caniniform, and 1-3 "postcanine" alveoli. The size and shape of the alveoli and the preserved tips of replacement teeth preclude assignment to any taxon known only from teeth. Additional autapomorphies of S. sucherorum gen. et sp. nov. include a large fossa associated with the mandibular fenestra, an interdigitating suture of the surangular with the dentary, fine texture ornamenting the medial surface of the splenial, and a surangular ridge that completes a 90 degrees arc. The external surfaces of the mandibles bear shallow, densely packed, irregular, fine pits and narrow, arcuate grooves. This combination of character states allows an archosauriform assignment; however, an associated and similarly sized braincase indicates that Syntomiprosopus n. gen. may represent previously unsampled disparity in early-diverging crocodylomorphs. The Placerias Quarry is Adamanian (Norian, maximum depositional age similar to 219 Ma), and this specimen appears to be an early example of shortening of the skull, which occurs later in diverse archosaur lineages, including the Late Cretaceous crocodyliform Simosuchus. This is another case where Triassic archosauriforms occupied morphospace converged upon by other archosaurs later in the Mesozoic and further demonstrates that even well-sampled localities can yield new taxa. Department of Geological Sciences at Appalachian State University; College of Arts and Sciences at Appalachian State University; Honors College at Appalachian State University Published version Funding to support open access publication of this contribution was provided by the Department of Geological Sciences, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Honors College at Appalachian State University.

Steyer, Jean-Sébastien, Peecook, Brandon R., Arbez, Thomas, Nesbitt, Sterling J., Tolan, Steve, Stocker, Michelle R., Smith, Roger M. H., Angielczyk, Kenneth D., Sidor, Christian A. (2021): New data on the Triassic temnospondyls from the Karoo rift basins of Tanzania and Zambia. Geodiversitas 43 (12): 365-376, DOI: http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4906293, {"references":["ATTRIDGE J., BALL H., CHARIG A. & COX C. B. 1964. - The BMNH/University of London joint palaeontological expedition to Northern Rhodesia and Tanganyika 1963. Nature 201: 445- 449. https://doi.org/10.1038/201445a0","BARBOLINI N., BAMFORD M. K. & TOLAN S. 2016. - Permo-Triassic palynology and palaeobotany of Zambia; a review.Palaeontologia Africana 50: 18-30.","BARRETT P. M., SCISCIO L., VIGLIETTI P. A., BRODERICK T. J., SUAREZ C. A., SHARMAN G. R., JONES A. S., MUNYIKWA D., EDWARDS S. F., CHAPELLE K. E. J., DOLLMAN K. N., ZONDO M. & CHOINIERE J. 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South African Journal of Geology 104: 137-150. https:// doi.org/10.2113/1040137","NESBITT S. J., SIDOR C. A., IRMIS R. B., ANGIELCZYK K. D., SMITH R. M. H. & TSUJI L. A. 2010. - Ecologically distinct dinosaurian sister group shows early diversification of Ornithodira. Nature 464: 95-98. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature08718","NESBITT S. J., BUTLER R. A., EZCURRA M. D., BARRETT P. M., STOCKER M. R., ANGIELCZYK K. D., SMITH R. M. H., SIDOR C. A., NIEDzWIEDZKI G., SENNIKOV A. G. & CHARIG A. J. 2017. - The earliest bird-line archosaurs and the assembly of the dinosaur body plan. Nature 544: 484-487. https://doi. org/10.1038/nature22037","NOWACK E. 1937. - Zur Kenntnis der Karruformation im Ruhuhu-Graben (D.O.A.). Neues Jahrbuch fur Mineralogie, Geologie, und Palaontologie Abteilung B 78: 380-412.","OCHEV V. G. 1966. - [Systematics and phylogeny of capitosauroid labyrinthodonts].Publication of the Saratov State University, 184 p. [in Russian].","OTTONE E. G., MONTI M., MARSICANO C. A., DE LA FUENTE M. S., M. NAIPAUER, R. ARMSTRONG & MANCUSO A. C.. 2014. - A new Late Triassic age for the Puesto Viejo Group (San Rafael depocenter, Argentina):SHRIMP U-Pb zircon dating and biostratigraphic correlations across southern Gondwana. Journal of South American Earth Sciences 56: 186-199. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. jsames.2014.08.008","OWEN R. 1884. - On a labyrinthodont amphibian (Rhytidosteus capensis) from the Trias of the Orange Free State, Cape of Good hope.Quaterly Journal of the Geological Society 40:333-338.https:// doi.org/10.1144/GSL.JGS.1884.40.01-04.30","PAWLEY K. 2006. - The postcranial skeleton in temnospondyls (Tetrapoda: Temnospondyli). Ph.D. dissertation, La Trobe University, Victoria, 442 p.","PEECOOK B. R., STEYER J. S., TABOR N. J. & SMITH R. M. H. 2018. - Updated geology and vertebrate paleontology of the Triassic Ntawere Formation of northeastern Zambia, with special emphasis on the archosauromorphs, in SIDOR C. A. & NESBITT S. J. (eds), Vertebrate and climatic evolution in the Triassic rift basins of Tanzania and Zambia. Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Memoir 17. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 37 (6): 8-38. https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2017.1410484","ROOPNARINE P. D., ANGIELCZYK K. D., OLROYD S. L., NESBITT S. J., BOTHA- BRINK J., PEECOOK B. R., DAY M. O. & SMITH R. M. H. 2018. - Comparative ecological dynamics of Permian-Triassic communities from the Karoo, Luangwa, and Ruhuhu Basins of southern Africa, in SIDOR C. A. & NESBITT S. J. (eds), Vertebrate and climatic evolution in the Triassic rift basins of Tanzania and Zambia. Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Memoir 17. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 37 (6): 254-272. https://doi.org/10.10 80/02724634.2018.1424714","RUBIDGE B. S., ERWIN D. H., RAMEZANI J., BOWRING S. A. & DE KLERK W. J. 2013. - High-precision temporal calibration of Late Permian vertebrate biostratigraphy: U-Pb zircon constraints from the Karoo Supergroup, South Africa. Geology 41: 363-366. https://doi.org/10.1130/G33622.1","SCHOCH R. R. 1999. - Comparative osteology of Mastodonsaurus giganteus (Jaeger, 1828) from the Middle Triassic (Lettenkeuper: Longobardian) of Germany (Baden- Wurttemberg, Bayern, Thuringen). Stuttgarter Beitrage zur Naturkunde Serie B 278: 1-175. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/30069417","SCHOCH R. R. 2008. - The Capitosauria (Amphibia): characters, phylogeny, and stratigraphy. Palaeobiodiversity 1: 189-226.","SCHOCH R. R. 2012. - How body size and development biased the direction of evolution in early amphibians.Historical Biology: An International Journal of Paleobiology, https://doi.org/10.108 0/08912963.2012.724796","SCHOCH R. R. & MILNER A. R. 2000. - Handbuch der Palaoherpetologie/Encyclopedia of Paleoherpetology. Teil/Part 3B.Stereospondyli . Friedrich Pfeil, Munchen, 219 p.","SIDOR C. A., STEYER J. S. & DAMIANI R. 2007. - Parotosuchus (Temnospondyli: Mastodonsauridae) from the Triassic of Antarctica. Journal ofVertebrate Paleontology 27: 232-235.https://doi.org/c63gqc","SIDOR C. A., DAMIANI R. & HAMMER W. R. 2008. - A new temnospondyl from Antarctica and a review of Fremouw Formation biostratigraphy. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 28: 656-663. https://doi.org/dcpcsn","SIDOR C. A., VILHENA D. A., ANGIELCZYK K. D., HUTTENLOCKER A. K., NESBITT S. J., PEECOOK B. R., STEYER J. S., SMITH R. M. H. & TSUJI L. A. 2013. - Provincialization of terrestrial faunas following the end-Permian mass extinction. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 110: 8129-8133. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1302323110","SIDOR C. A., STEYER J. S. & HAMMER W. R. 2014. - A new capitosauroid temnospondyl from the Middle Triassic upper Fremouw Formation of Antarctica. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 34: 539-548. https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2013.808205","SIDOR C. A. & NESBITT S. 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Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 130: 449-467. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.2000. tb01637.x","STEYER J.-S., ANGIELCZYK K. D., SIDOR C. A., NESBITT S. J., SMITH R. M. H., PEECOOK B. R., BEIGHTOL C. V., TABOR N. J., TSUJI L. A. & TOLAN S. 2015. - The amphibians awaken: New temnospondyls from Tanzania and Zambia illustrate changes in amphibian diversity before and after the mother of mass extinctions. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 2015A: 218.","TARAILO D. A. 2018. - Taxonomic and ecomorphological diversity of temnospondyl amphibians across the Permian-Triassic boundary in the Karoo Basin (South Africa). Journal of Morphology 2018: 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmor.20906","WARREN A. A. 1998. - Karoo tupilakosaurid: a relict from Gondwana. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Earth Sciences 89: 145-160. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0263593300007094","WARREN A. A. & SNELL N. 1991. - The postcranial skeleton of Mesozoic temnospondyl amphibians: a review. 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Introduction: Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell therapy (CAR-T) is a potentially life-saving treatment for refractory haematological malignancies. Many UK CAR-T services are in their infancy. Patient perspectives on service delivery, treatment toxicity and impact on health related quality of life (HRQoL) are lacking. This qualitative evaluation aimed to explore the patient and carer experience of CAR-T and identify areas for service improvement. Methods: Patients who received CAR-T between April 2019 and March 2021 at the Freeman Hospital, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, who attended primary or follow-up appointments between December 2020 and March 2021 were asked if they wanted to take part in the evaluation. 16 semi-structured qualitative interviews were carried out with 10 patients and 4 carers at specific time points in the patient journey: hospital admission prior to CAR T-cell infusion, day 28 postinfusion and routine follow-up appointments after treatment (8, 9, 12 and 18 months). Five patients completed 2 interviews (pre-infusion and day 28). Results: The mean age of the patients was 54 and 60% were female. Nine patients had diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and one had primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma. Inductive thematic analysis identified three main themes. The importance of the CAR-T nurse specialist as a point of contact was consistently identified by patients and carers as vital to navigating the treatment process. The continuity of care and approachability associated with this role were linked to patient satisfaction and perceived level of support received. Reported treatment toxicity centred on fatigue, poor appetite/weight loss and problems with memory and cognition. Patients and carers were well prepared for side effects in the acute treatment phase but some felt less prepared for prolonged impact on physical function and cognition after discharge. CAR-T therapy was viewed as a 'lifeline,' but the uncertainty of treatment outcome caused significant anxiety, disruption to employment and family life, and made it difficult to make future plans. Many responses were framed by the COVID-19 pandemic which increased feelings of isolation and vulnerability and had a significant, negative impact on HRQoL. Conclusions: To our knowledge this is the first qualitative work exploring the views of CAR-T patients and carers at multiple points in the patient journey, including perspectives on long-term treatment impact. Considerations for service creation and development nationally and internationally include: the importance of a dedicated nurse specialist, preparing patients for and supporting them with prolonged treatment side effects, and the psychological challenges associated with prognostic uncertainty. Expanding indications of CAR-T therapy mean there is an urgent need for multi-centre studies incorporating patient-reported outcome data to inform patient centred care and service delivery.

This article is a case study in doing new things with old data. In 1953 Lord William Taylour directed the excavation of a monumental vaulted tholos tomb known as 'Tholos IV' at the site of ancient Pylos, Messenia, Greece. The excavation was conducted over two months, during which detailed notes were recorded in three notebooks now kept in the Archives of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. The formal publication of Tholos IV, however, contains only a basic narrative of the excavation, offering neither precise detail on stratigraphy, object find spots, nor even a complete inventory of small finds. The present study goes back to the original notebooks kept by Taylour and combines the data contained in them with a new digital survey of Tholos IV to produce a comprehensive and accurate 3D GIS model for the excavation. Furthermore, the GIS has been produced in such a way that its dataset is compatible with new excavation data currently generated in the ongoing Palace of Nestor Excavations (PONEX) project, bringing together two excavation campaigns conducted under very different circumstances, methodologies, and recording protocols. Discussion follows on how the production of this GIS deepens our understanding not just of the legacy excavation, but also of the site and its wider landscape.

Synopsis Pygopodids are elongate, functionally limbless geckos found throughout Australia. The clade presents low taxonomic diversity (∼45 spp.), but a variety of cranial morphologies, habitat use, and locomotor abilities that vary between and within genera. In order to assess potential relationships between cranial morphology and ecology, computed tomography scans of 29 species were used for 3D geometric morphometric analysis. A combination of 24 static landmarks and 20 sliding semi-landmarks were subjected to Generalized Procrustes Alignment. Disparity in cranial shape was visualized through Principal Component Analysis, and a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to test for an association between shape, habitat, and diet. A subset of 27 species with well-resolved phylogenetic relationships was used to generate a phylomorphospace and conduct phylogeny-corrected MANOVA. Similar analyses were done solely on Aprasia taxa to explore species-level variation. Most of the variation across pygopodids was described by principal component (PC) 1(54%: cranial roof width, parabasisphenoid, and occipital length), PC2 (12%: snout elongation and braincase width), and PC3 (6%: elongation and shape of the palate and rostrum). Without phylogenetic correction, both habitat and diet were significant influencers of variation in cranial morphology. However, in the phylogeny-corrected MANOVA, habitat remained weakly significant, but not diet, which can be explained by generic-level differences in ecology rather than among species. Our results demonstrate that at higher levels, phylogeny has a strong effect on morphology, but that influence may be due to small sample size when comparing genera. However, because some closely related taxa occupy distant regions of morphospace, diverging diets, and use of fossorial habitats may contribute to variation seen in these geckos.

Synopsis Dietary requirements and acquisition strategies change throughout ontogeny across various clades of tetrapods, including birds. For example, birds hatch with combinations of various behavioral, physiological, and morphological factors that place them on an altricial–precocial spectrum. Passeriformes (=songbirds) in particular, a family constituting approximately more than half of known bird species, displays the most drastic difference between hatchling and adults in each of these aspects of their feeding biology. How the shift in dietary resource acquisition is managed during ontogeny alongside its relationship to the morphology of the feeding apparatus has been largely understudied within birds. Such efforts have been hampered partly due to the small size of many birds and the diminutive jaw musculature they employ. In this study, we used standard and diffusible iodine-based contrast-enhanced computed tomography in conjunction with digital dissection to quantify and describe the cranial musculature of the Black-throated Finch (Poephila cincta) at fledgling and adult stages. Our results reveal that in both the fledgling and the adult, cranial musculature shows clear and complex partitioning in the Musculus adductor mandibulae externus that is consistent with other families within Passeriformes. We quantified jaw-muscle sizes and found that the adult showed a decrease in muscle mass in comparison to the fledgling individual. We propose that this could be the result of low sample size or a physiological effect of parental care in Passeriformes. Our study shows that high-resolution visualization techniques are informative at revealing morphological discrepancies for studies that involve small specimens such as Passeriformes especially with careful specimen selection criteria., Nhiều nhánh động vật có tứ chi, bao gồm cả chim, có nhu cầu dinh dưỡng và chiến thuật kiếm ăn liên tục thay đổi xuyên suốt quá trình sinh trưởng của chúng. Ví dụ, chim non nở dưới sự tác động của các yếu tố hành vi, sinh lý, và hình thái để xác định thời điểm chúng có thể tự kiếm ăn. Bộ Sẻ Passeriformes, một bộ bao gồm hơn phân nửa số loài chim hiện nay, thể hiện sự chênh lệch lớn nhất về các yếu tố kể trên trong tập tính kiếm ăn của cá thể mới sinh và cá thể trưởng thành. Làm sao sự thay đổi trong cách kiếm ăn được kiểm soát trong quá trình sinh trưởng, cũng như quan hệ của nó với cấu tạo hàm, là những chủ đề còn ít được quan tâm ở chim. Các nỗ lực nghiên cứu trước đây thường bị giới hạn một phần bởi kích thước nhỏ của vô số loài chim, đi kèm với hệ cơ hàm còn nhỏ hơn của chúng. Trong nghiên cứu này, chúng tôi sử dụng phương pháp chụp cắt lớp vi tính tiêu chuẩn (CT) và với chụp cắt lớp tăng cường độ tương phản dựa trên i-ốt khuếch tán (diffusible iodine-based contrast-enhanced computed tomography, diceCT), bên cạnh với việc giải phẫu kỹ thuật số, để định lượng và mô tả hệ cơ đầu của loài Di cổ đen (Black-throated Finch, Poephila cincta) ở giai đoạn rời tổ và khi trưởng thành. Kết quả phân tích cho thấy, ở cả chim non mới rời tổ và chim trưởng thành, hệ cơ đầu có sự phân chia phức tạc và rõ rệt tại bó cơ cắn ngoài (Musculus adductor mandibulae externus), tương tự các họ chim khác trong bộ Sẻ. Khi định lượng kích thước của bó cơ này, chúng tôi phát hiện khối lượng cơ của cá thể trưởng thành thấp hơn của cá thể mới rời tổ. Đây có thể là hệ quả của cỡ mẫu nhỏ hoặc là một tác động sinh lý trong quá trình chăm con của thành viên bộ Sẻ. Nghiên cứu của chúng tôi cho thấy các kỹ thuật trực quan hóa với độ phân giải cao rất hữu dụng trong việc phân biệt hình thái ở những nghiên cứu dùng mẫu vật có kích thước nhỏ như chim thuộc bộ Sẻ, nhất là khi có phương pháp lựa chọn mẫu vật kĩ lưỡng.

Dramatic early Cenozoic climatic shifts resulted in faunal reorganization on a global scale. Among vertebrates, multiple groups of mammals (e.g., adapiform and omomyiform primates, mesonychids, taeniodonts, dichobunid artiodactyls) are well known from the Western Interior of North America in the warm, greenhouse conditions of the early Eocene, but a dramatic drop in the diversity of these groups, along with the introduction of more dry-tolerant taxa, occurred near the Eocene–Oligocene boundary. Crocodyliforms underwent a striking loss of diversity at this time as well. Pre-Uintan crocodyliform assemblages in the central Western Interior are characterized by multiple taxa, whereas Chadronian assemblages are depauperate with onlyAlligator prenasalispreviously known. Crocodyliform diversity through the intervening Uintan and Duchesnean is not well understood. The middle Eocene Devil’s Graveyard Formation (DGF) of southwest Texas provides new data from southern latitudes during that crucial period. A new specimen from the middle member of the DGF (late Uintan–Duchesnean) is the most complete cranial material of an alligatorid known from Paleogene deposits outside the Western Interior. We identify this specimen as a caimanine based on notched descending laminae of the pterygoids posterior to the choanae and long descending processes of the exoccipitals that are in contact with the basioccipital tubera. UnlikeEocaiman cavernensis, the anterior palatine process is rounded rather than quadrangular. The relationships and age of this new taxon support the hypothesis that the modern distribution of caimanines represents a contraction of a more expansive early Cenozoic distribution. We hypothesize that the range of caimanines tracked shifting warm, humid climatic conditions that contracted latitudinally toward the hothouse-icehouse transition later in the Eocene.

International audience; The Lamy Quarry (= the Gunter bonebed) is known for its extensive accumulation of temnospondyl skulls and skeletons from the Norian (Upper Triassic) Garita Creek Formation, south of Lamy, New Mexico. Although the quarry is monodominant for metoposaurids, reptile fossils are also present. The reptile material, briefly described and identified to least-inclusive taxonomic levels, consists of several diagnostic elements from azendohsaurid and tanystropheid archosauromorphs based on apomorphies observed in the fossils. The most remarkable materials are two anterior cervical vertebrae and the posterior portion of a hemimandible that are identified as belonging to a Malerisaurus-like taxon within the Azendohsauridae. The vertebrae are two times longer than the holotype material of Malerisaurus robinsonaeChatterjee, 1980 and Malerisaurus langstoniChatterjee, 1986, which suggests that azendohsaurids in the Late Triassic of North America reached much larger sizes than previously documented. The presence of a tanystropheid and azendohsaurid together supports the Adamanian age of the Garita Creek Formation and shows that azendohsaurids were present in what is now New Mexico.

Pterosaurs were the first vertebrates to evolve powered flight1 and comprised one of the main evolutionary radiations in terrestrial ecosystems of the Mesozoic era (approximately 252–66 million years ago), but their origin has remained an unresolved enigma in palaeontology since the nineteenth century2–4. These flying reptiles have been hypothesized to be the close relatives of a wide variety of reptilian clades, including dinosaur relatives2–8, and there is still a major morphological gap between those forms and the oldest, unambiguous pterosaurs from the Upper Triassic series. Here, using recent discoveries of well-preserved cranial remains, microcomputed tomography scans of fragile skull bones (jaws, skull roofs and braincases) and reliably associated postcrania, we demonstrate that lagerpetids—a group of cursorial, non-volant dinosaur precursors—are the sister group of pterosaurs, sharing numerous synapomorphies across the entire skeleton. This finding substantially shortens the temporal and morphological gap between the oldest pterosaurs and their closest relatives and simultaneously strengthens the evidence that pterosaurs belong to the avian line of archosaurs. Neuroanatomical features related to the enhanced sensory abilities of pterosaurs9 are already present in lagerpetids, which indicates that these features evolved before flight. Our evidence illuminates the first steps of the assembly of the pterosaur body plan, whose conquest of aerial space represents a remarkable morphofunctional innovation in vertebrate evolution. Lagerpetids, bipedal archosaurs that are thought to be related to dinosaurs, are instead a sister group to pterosaurs, and although they have no obvious flight adaptations they share numerous synapomorphies with pterosaurs across the entire skeleton.

This chapter presents the results of a recent reexamination of the Late Bronze Age tombs excavated in the area of the Palace of Nestor at Pylos by Carl W. Blegen: three tholoi, seven chamber tombs, and one cist grave. New light can now be shed on the chronology of the construction and use of each. The various tombs range in date from MH III/LH I to LH IIIC late, although it appears that the tholos tombs and chamber tombs were not used intensively at the same time. Grave goods point to more wealth being invested in burials during MH III/LH I to LH II, less in LH IIIA. Most nonceramic imports in the tombs date to LH I–II; there are few ceramic imports with burials of any period. The object of the study was to examine burial customs in the context of social and political developments at the Palace of Nestor itself. Innovations in burial ritual reflect changes that occurred in the course of the Late Helladic period in the way that power was defined and expressed in the community associated with these graves.

This analysis examines the influence of the United States government on the internal conflict within the Armenian Apostolic Church and the transnational Armenian community between 1956 and 1963. Du...