Search

Planktonic foraminifera were studied at Lydden Spout, near Folkestone (southeast England, UK), the reference section of the middle Cenomanian Event 1 (MCE 1) characterized by a prominent double-peak δ13C excursion of 1 ‰ identified in different ocean basins and considered a global event. Biostratigraphic and quantitative analysis of planktonic foraminifera are correlated to the δ13C perturbation, to the positive δ18O shifts identified within MCE 1 and to the occurrence of Boreal macrofossils (the bivalves Chlamys arlesiensis and Oxytoma seminudum, and the belemnite Praectinocamax primus). Variations in abundance and species richness of planktonic foraminifera and the inferred palaeoecological preferences of taxa permit the identification of distinct palaeoenvironmental settings across MCE 1. The stratigraphic interval corresponding to MCE 1 is characterized by the absence of oligotrophic rotaliporids, and by the evolutionary appearance of meso-eutrophic dicarinellids and of Muricohedbergella portsdownensis, a cold-water species that occurs at the same level as the Boreal macrofossils. These observations indicate a palaeoceanographic scenario characterized by reduced stratification of surface waters and absence/disruption of the thermocline in a dominantly eutrophic regime during MCE 1. Evidence provided by planktonic foraminifera, Boreal macrofossils and δ18O records documented for the late Cenomanian Plenus Cold Event (PCE) at Eastbourne (UK) reveal similarities that confirm the periodic inflow of cold Boreal seawater originating in the Norwegian Sea as previously postulated to explain the occurrence of Boreal fauna in the Anglo-Paris Basin. The southerly extension of this water mass may be related to the reorganization of circulation driven by the long eccentricity cycle.

Spaceflight entails a variety of environmental and psychological stressors that may have long-term physiological and genomic consequences. Metabolomics, an approach that investigates the terminal metabolites of complex physiological alterations, takes into account the dynamic state of the human body and allows the identification and quantification of down-stream metabolic outputs linked to up-stream physiological and genomic regulation by stress. Employing a metabolomics-based approach, this study investigated the longitudinal metabolic perturbations of male (n=40) and female (n=11) astronauts on 4-6-month missions to the International Space Station. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) spectroscopy followed by univariate, multivariate and machine learning analyses were used on blood serum to examine sex-specific metabolic changes at various time points throughout the astronauts’ missions, and the metabolic effects of long-duration space travel. Space travel generated sex-specific changes in energy metabolism, bone mineral and muscle regulation, immunity, and macromolecule maintenance and synthesis. Additionally, metabolic signatures suggest differential metabolic responses especially during the recovery period, with females requiring more time to adjust to return to Earth. These findings provide insight into the perturbations in glucose and amino acid metabolism and macromolecule biosynthesis that result from the stressors of long-duration spaceflight. Metabolomic biomarkers may provide a viable approach to predicting and diagnosing health risks associated with prolonged space travel and other physiological challenges on Earth.

Problem-solving is an essential human endeavor. It involves problem definition, followed by solution design, solution implementation, and, finally, review. Healthcare is a prime and often successful example of problem-solving. In medical terminology, the problem definition is termed the diagnosis, the solution design is called the treatment plan, and the solution itself is the provision of treatment. The case review is used to assess the efficacy of the solution. This process is sequential and consequential. Obviously, if a problem's definition is absent or incorrect, then an appropriate solution cannot be designed or implemented. Unfortunately, missed or incorrect diagnoses are not uncommon in healthcare and can cause considerable harm and economic cost. Minimizing these diagnostic errors would confer great benefits to patients, clinicians, and healthcare organizations. Understanding the nature of diagnosis and why it can be so difficult are some of the first steps in reducing these diagnostic errors. One issue is that diagnosis may seem to be more of an art than a science when the exact mechanisms of diagnosis are often not clearly described. Clinicians typically learn their diagnostic craft by mimicry of their mentors over years of hard experience. This absence of a clear method not only makes diagnosis difficult to do well it also makes diagnosis difficult to teach well. The purpose of this paper is to try to better articulate the fundamental principles and methods of diagnosis and to make diagnosis more intellectually understandable, and so more teachable, and more achievable by clinicians.

Fossils assigned to the predominantly deep-sea asteroid family Benthopectinidae Verrill, 1894 are described and their affinities reappraised. Detailed comparative morphology of ambulacrals, adambulacrals and marginal ossicles has revealed that only some extinct taxa fall within the morphological range of the modern representatives of the family. These include Jurapecten hessi Gale, 2011, J. infrajurensis sp. nov. (both Jurassic), J. dhondtae sp. nov. (Upper Cretaceous) and Nearchaster spinosus (Blake, 1973) comb. nov. (Lower Oligocene). A new Late Cretaceous genus, Punkaster gen. nov. (P. spinifera gen. et sp. nov. and P. ruegenensis gen. et sp. nov.), appears to be a highly derived benthopectinid. A possible benthopectinid is described from the Upper Triassic (Carnian) of China. Other described records are distantly related to, but convergent in gross morphology with, benthopectinids. Thus, Plesiastropecten hallovensis Peyer, 1944 is here referred to the Jurassic spinulosidan family Plumasteridae Gale, 2011 and Xandarosaster hessi Blake, 1984 is interpreted as Spinulosida Perrier, 1884 incertae sedis. The mid-Cretaceous Alkaidia sumralli Blake & Reid, 1998 is reassigned to the Forcipulatida (Zorocallina). The “fossil benthopectinid” of Spencer & Wright in Moore (1966) is shown to belong to the goniopectinid genus Chrispaulia Gale, 2005, of which two new Cretaceous species are described, C. wrightorum sp. nov. and C. spinosa sp. nov. Finally, we consider Henricia? venturana Durham & Roberts, 1948 to be an indeterminate asteroid.

New material of the cirripede genus Concinnalepas is described from the Kimmeridge Clay (Tithonian) of Dorset (UK) and the Marnes de Port (Bathonian) of Port-en-Bessin in Normandy (France). Articulated specimens of C. costata (Withers, 1928), attached to driftwood from Kimmeridge, provide hitherto unknown details of tiered lateral plate formation in the species, and Concinnalepas bessinensis sp. nov. and C. rugosa sp. nov. are described from Normandy and Dorset, respectively. Concinnalepas bessinensis sp. nov. is the oldest calcite-shelled cirripede known to date. A review of the distribution of Jurassic calcareous cirripedes demonstrates that pre-Kimmeridgian records are very sparse and scattered and the early evolutionary history of the group is poorly known. The late Kimmeridgian and Tithonian saw a radiation of the Family Zeugmatolepadidae and a great increase in abundance of cirripedes that mostly lived as epiplankton, attached to driftwood and ammonite shells.

The phylogenetic relationships of spherical and sub-spherical asteroids, belonging to the valvatidan family Sphaerasteridae (Early Jurassic–Recent), are revised in the light of abundant new fossil ...

We test here an earlier hypothesis of ours that the Massif Central hotspot, combined with the Iceland mantle plume, exercised first-order control of the Paleogene sedimentary record in the Anglo-Paris Basin. The Anglo-Paris Basin formed a southwestern arm of the Paleogene North Sea. Correlation of Paleogene depositional sequences across the North Sea Basin suggests that control of the sedimentary record in the Anglo-Paris Basin was exercised by both hotspots. The Cretaceous chalk in the basin was uplifted in two main episodes during the early and middle Paleocene. Also during the Paleocene, there was broadly synchronous vertical uplift of the unconformably underlying Mesozoic rocks on both the northwest and southeast flanks of the Anglo-Paris Basin. The resulting opposed regional dips are still obvious at the present day. This regional tilting of the Mesozoic into the Paleogene basin was caused by uplift by the early Iceland plume to the northwest, and by uplift associated with the inception of the early Massif Central hotspot to the southeast. Crustal shortening played a minor role in these hotspot-created vertical movements. In the Paleocene-early Eocene, high-frequency changes in relative regional sea-level in the Anglo-Paris Basin were controlled by apparently synchronous time-dependent behaviour of the Iceland and Massif Central hotspots. In contrast, from the early Eocene onwards, control of sea-level appears to have been exercised separately, with the two hotspots pulsing at different times.

Richard Bromley was an exceptional geologist, naturalist and trace fossil expert who revolutionised our understanding of the interactions of animals and sediments, and described and illustrated in exquisite detail the fabrics formed in the process. He also made major contributions to the study of chalk, particularly the formation and modification of hardgrounds and the fabrics produced by burrowing and boring organisms in the sediment; the review presented here focuses on this part of his contribution.

The first cirripedes from the Portland and Purbeck groups of southern England are described, and referred to two new species, Loriolepas whytei sp. nov and Etcheslepas portlandensis sp. nov. They constitute the first records of cirripedes from the upper Tithonian (uppermost Jurassic) and Berriasian (lowermost Cretaceous) of western Europe. A new family, the Archaeolepadidae, is introduced for the extinct genera Archaeolepas and Loriolepas.

Asteroids from the lower Aptian Lower Greensand of the Isle of Wight are described. Two articulated specimens are referred to the extant paxillosid family Pseudarchasteridae and transferred to a living genus, i.e., Paragonaster, P. wightensis (Breton, 1992). Isolated marginal plates are assigned to the widespread Cretaceous astropectinid genus Coulonia, and described as C. caseyi sp. nov. The Cretaceous genus Comptonia Gray, 1840 is referred to the Pseudarchasteridae and revised taxonomically, with the recognition of two species; C. elegans Gray, 1840 and C. bretoni sp. nov., Paragonaster wightensis is the oldest known member of the Pseudarchasteridae.

Forcipulatacea is one of the three major groups of extant sea stars (Asteroidea: Echinodermata), composed of 400 extant species, but only known from fewer than 25 fossil species. Despite unequivocal members being recognized in the early Jurassic, the evolutionary history of this group is still the subject of debate. Thus, the identification of any new fossil representatives is significant. We here reappraise Ophidiaster davidsoni de Loriol and Pellat 1874 from the Tithonian of Boulogne, France, which was assigned to another major extant group, the Valvatacea, and reassign it within a new forcipulatacean genus, Psammaster gen. nov. Psammaster davidsoni gen. nov. possess key Forcipulatacea synapomorphies including compressed ambulacrals and adambulacrals and typical organization of the body wall and arm ossicles. A phylogenetic analysis including Psammaster davidsoni gen. nov. does not place it within any existing forcipulatacean family. Instead, Psammaster davidsoni gen. nov. exhibits a mix of plesiomorphic and derived characters and is resolved as a sister clade to a large group including the Asteriidae, Stichasteridae, and Heliasteridae. Removal of this species from the Ophidiasteridae means their oldest fossil representative now dates from the Santonian, Upper Cretaceous.

Forcipulatacea is one of the three major groups of extant sea stars (Asteroidea: Echinodermata), composed of 400 extant species, but only known from fewer than 25 fossil species. Despite unequivocal members being recognized in the early Jurassic, the evolutionary history of this group is still the subject of debate. Thus, the identification of any new fossil representatives is significant. We here reappraise Ophidiaster davidsoni de Loriol and Pellat 1874 from the Tithonian of Boulogne, France, which was assigned to another major extant group, the Valvatacea, and reassign it within a new forcipulatacean genus, Psammaster gen. nov. Psammaster davidsoni gen. nov. possess key Forcipulatacea synapomorphies including compressed ambulacrals and adambulacrals and typical organization of the body wall and arm ossicles. A phylogenetic analysis including Psammaster davidsoni gen. nov. does not place it within any existing forcipulatacean family. Instead, Psammaster davidsoni gen. nov. exhibits a mix of plesiomorphic and derived characters and is resolved as a sister clade to a large group including the Asteriidae, Stichasteridae, and Heliasteridae. Removal of this species from the Ophidiasteridae means their oldest fossil representative now dates from the Santonian, Upper Cretaceous.

Abundant new material of articulated asteroids from the Taba Starfish Bed (Lower Cretaceous, Barremian) of the Agadir Basin, western Morocco, allows reappraisal of this important fauna, and the recognition, to date, of five taxa belonging to the Astropectinidae, Odontasteridae, Goniasterididae, Terminasteridae, and Asteriidae.Betelgeusia orientalisBlake and Reboul, 2011 is shown to be a junior synonym ofCoulonia platyspinaHess and Blake, 1995, andDipsacaster africanusBlake and Reboul, 2011 comprises material ofC.platyspinaand a new odontasterid, here described asOdontaster tabaensisn. sp.Alkaidia megaungulan. sp. is described and its ontogeny and affinities discussed. From this, it is concluded that the Terminasteridae, revised to include the generaTerminasterandAlkaidia, is sister taxon to the extant family Zoroasteridae, and both are placed in the suborder Zorocallina of the Forcipulatida. The Taba fauna is a representative of a distinctive Lower Cretaceous asteroid assemblage that existed in northern Tethys from the Barremian to the Cenomanian and is also well known from the Albian and lower Cenomanian of Texas.UUID:http://zoobank.org/b2ecdd06-685d-4242-9e49-985f9d7a3cc1

Valves of a thoracican cirripede belonging to a new species of the Neolepadidae, Ashinkailepas indica Gale sp. nov. are described from a Late Pleistocene cold seep (52.6 ka), cored in the Krishna-Godavari Basin, offshore from the eastern coast of India. This constitutes the first fossil record of the genus, and its first occurrence in the Indian Ocean. Other fossil records of the Neolepadidae (here elevated to full family status) are discussed, and it is concluded that only Stipilepas molerensis from the Eocene of Denmark, is correctly referred to the family. Cladistic analysis of the Neolepadidae supports a basal position for Ashinkailepas, as deduced independently from molecular studies, and the Lower Cretaceous brachylepadid genus Pedupycnolepas is identified as sister taxon to Neolepadidae. Neolepadids are not Mesozoic relics as claimed, preserved in association with the highly specialised environments of cold seeps and hydrothermal vents, but are rather an early Cenozoic offshoot from the clade which also gave rise to the sessile cirripedes.

Background Factors associated with reduced daily physical activity (DPA) in patients with COPD are still controversial. Physical inactivity in COPD increases risk of cardiovascular disease, frequent exacerbations, reduced health status, and increased symptoms. We hypothesised that reduced DPA in patients with COPD is independent of traditional risk factors including age and spirometry. Methods In this cross-sectional study, DPA (over 7 days) was assessed on 88 community stable patients with COPD and 40 controls free from cardiorespiratory disease. Spirometry, body composition, number of exacerbations, handgrip strength (HGS), modified Medical Research Council (mMRC), arterial stiffness, 6-min walking distance (6MWD) and BODE index were also determined. Frequent exacerbation was defined as ≥2 and non-frequent exacerbation Results Patients with COPD had reduced DPA and exercise capacity compared with controls similar in age, BMI and gender, p p > 0.05. The level of breathlessness was superior to lung function in predicting the level of DPA. Conclusion The level of DPA in COPD was independent of traditional risk factors. Breathlessness score is a better predictor of the DPA than lung function and handgrip strength.

Diverse thoracican cirripedes from the Hauterivian of the Hannover district of northern Germany are described, including seven species, belonging to five genera. Of these, a new genus belonging to the Scalpellidae, Jaegerscalpellum, includes one Hauterivian species, J. elegans sp. nov., an Aptian species, J. comptum (Withers, 1910) and an Albian species, J. politum (Darwin, 1851) are also referred to it. A new Cretiscalpellum, C. mutterlosei sp. nov. is described from the Hauterivian, and C. matrioni sp. nov. is described from the Middle Albian of France. The oldest record of the Unilatera Gale, 2018, Pedupycnolepas pulcher sp. nov. is described from the Hauterivian; this displays typical shell structure of the group, retained by living Verrucidae. Finally, four species of Zeugmatolepadidae, subfamily Martillepadinae, are recorded from the Hauterivian, including Martillepas hausmanni (Koch and Dunker, 1836), M. decoratus sp. nov., M. auriculum sp. nov. and Etcheslaepas borealis (Collins, 1990). The Hauterivian fauna from Hannover shows affinities both with Late Jurassic and later Cretaceous (Aptian-Cenomanian) forms, and includes the earliest scalpellids, unilateran (Pedupycnolepas) and Cretiscalpellum species known. It constrains the age of the Cretaceous cirripede evolutionary radiation to the earliest Cretaceous.

16 pages; International audience; Microcrinoids of the family Roveacrinidae Peck, 1943 are described from lower and middle Albian clays of the Anglo-Paris Basin (Seine Maritime, Pas de Calais and Aube, France; Kent and Bedfordshire, UK). They are referred to two subfamilies - the Orthogonocrininae Gale, 2019 and the Plotocrininae Gale, 2020. Orthogonocrinines include the long-ranging (middle Albian-lower Cenomanian) species Orthogonocrinus apertus Peck, 1943, and Styracocrinus peracutus (Peck, 1955), known from Texas, USA, Morocco, the UK and France, and two stratigraphically successive species of the genus Hyalocrinus, H. magniezii Destombes, 1984 and H. bulliensis Destombes, 1984, known only from the lower and middle Albian of the UK and France. Plotocrinines include two middle Albian species, Plotocrinus distinctus Peck, 1943 and P. rashallae Gale, 2020, known from France and Texas, and the new Calvaticrinus gen. nov., type species Plotocrinus monocarinatus Destombes, 1984. Calvaticrinus gen. nov., known only from the Anglo-Paris Basin, forms an evolutionary lineage of, successively, C. integer (Hess, 2010) – C. monocarinatus- C. subplanatus (Destombes, 1984) through the lower and middle Albian. The Plotocrinus species allow correlation of the Anahoplites intermedius Zone of northwest Europe to the lower Manuaniceras carbonarium Zone of Texas. The new material represents the oldest roveacrinids known from three-dimentsional material and forms the basis of a phylogenetic analysis of the Roveacrinidae.

The widely deployed, oat stem rust resistance gene Pg13 was mapped by linkage analysis and association mapping, and KASP markers were developed for marker-assisted selection in breeding programs. Pg13 is one of the most extensively deployed stem rust resistance genes in North American oat cultivars. Identification of markers tightly linked to this gene will be useful for routine marker-assisted selection, identification of gene pyramids, and retention of the gene in backcrosses and three-way crosses. To this end, high-density linkage maps were constructed in four bi-parental mapping populations using SNP markers identified from 6K oat Infinium iSelect and genotyping-by-sequencing platforms. Additionally, genome-wide associations were identified using two sets of association panels consisting of diverse elite oat lines in one set and landrace accessions in the other. The results showed that Pg13 was located at approximately 67.7 cM on linkage group Mrg18 of the consensus genetic map. The gene co-segregated with the 7C-17A translocation breakpoint and with crown rust resistance gene Pc91. Co-segregating markers with the best prediction accuracy were identified at 67.7–68.5 cM on Mrg18. KASP assays were developed for linked SNP loci for use in oat breeding.

In Ethiopia, breeding rust resistant wheat cultivars is a priority for wheat production. A stem rust epidemic during 2013 to 2014 on previously resistant cultivar Digalu highlighted the need to determine the effectiveness of wheat lines to multiple races of Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici in Ethiopia. During 2014 and 2015, we evaluated a total of 97 bread wheat and 14 durum wheat genotypes against four P. graminis f. sp. tritici races at the seedling stage and in single-race field nurseries. Resistance genes were postulated using molecular marker assays. Bread wheat lines were resistant to race JRCQC, the race most virulent to durum wheat. Lines with stem rust resistance gene Sr24 possessed the most effective resistance to the four races. Only three lines with adult plant resistance possessed resistance effective to the four races comparable with cultivars with Sr24. Although responses of the wheat lines across races were positively correlated, wheat lines were identified that possessed adult plant resistance to race TTKSK but were relatively susceptible to race TKTTF. This study demonstrated the importance of testing wheat lines for response to multiple races of the stem rust pathogen to determine if lines possessed non-race-specific resistance. [Formula: see text] Copyright © 2019 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY 4.0 International license .

The utility of prognostic and predictive immunohistochemistry biomarkers in the context of cancer is plagued by inconsistent interpretation of results which can lead to poor rates of adoption or inappropriate use of novel therapeutic strategies. To monitor immunohistochemistry assay performance, a new on-slide control motif, Immunohistochemistry Critical Assay Performance Controls (ICAPC) was developed. We hypothesized that the use of these controls by the diagnosing pathologist to interpret BRAFV600E would result in reduced interobserver and intraobserver interpretation errors. A cross-sectional, sequentially obtained sample of surgical pathology cases stained for BRAFV600E was assembled from a single hospital in Vancouver, British Columbia. Half of the cases had normal on-slide controls and the remainder with ICAPC. Results from 6 independent and blinded readers were compared with each other and to the gold-standard pathologic diagnosis with the goal of demonstrating superior interrater agreement with ICAPC relative to standard on-slide controls. Cohen's κ was used to compute pair-wise reader agreements, whereas Fleiss' κ was used to compare to the gold standard. The implementation of ICAPC resulted in statistically significant improvements in the interobserver agreement of BRAF mutation status ascertained by BRAFV600E immunohistochemistry. Half of the readers demonstrated significant improvements in agreement with the gold-standard diagnosis with the addition of ICAPC. Across all readers, the mean increase in κ was 0.14 with a 95% confidence interval of 0.01-0.28 (P=0.04). This study demonstrates that the addition of ICAPC serves to significantly reduce interobserver variability in the assessment of BRAFV600E immunohistochemistry. As such, we recommend that this approach should be used as part of a comprehensive quality management strategy in the setting of histopathology.

The Vectis Formation was deposited in a restricted lagoonal environment that periodically dried up, as indicated by the presence of desiccation surfaces. The fauna indicates that salinities fluctuated significantly during deposition, from fresh to brackish-marine. Pre-burial berthierine-rich clay replaced faecal pellets in the sediment, infilling desiccation cracks, during re-flooding of the lagoon. Concretions formed by early pyrite and apatite cementation during initial burial in lake sediment, with organic debris of fish and wood, acting as nuclei and a trigger for cementation. With subsequent partial or complete exhumation oxidation of the pyrite occurred, prior to cementation by Mn siderite. All further concretion cementation occurred within the oxic to sub-oxic diagenetic zones. Textural relationships indicate that commonly occurring baryte formedafter pyrite oxidation and represents the last diagenetic mineral phase.