The conviction that Nature was God's second revelation played a crucial role in early modern Dutch culture. This book offers a fascinating account on how Dutch intellectuals contemplated, ...investigated, represented and collected natural objects, and how the notion of the 'Book of Nature' was transformed.
Isolated metatarsals III and IV of a caenagnathid theropod likely referable to Anzu wyliei are described from a locality of the Hell Creek Formation in northwestern South Dakota, USA. These bones are ...missing from the holotype and only partial shafts have been described for a specimen referable to this species. Accordingly, the present description adds further anatomical information on this already well-known species of Caenagnathidae. The present finding also demonstrates the significance of isolated or fragmentary specimens found in multitaxic bone beds.
Two braincases of Daspletosaurus Carabajal, Ariana Paulina; Currie, Philip J; Dudgeon, Thomas W ...
Canadian journal of earth sciences,
09/2021, Letnik:
58, Številka:
9
Journal Article
Recenzirano
For sheer complexity, braincases are generally considered anatomically conservative. However, recent research on the braincases of tyrannosaurids have revealed extensive morphological variations. ...This line of inquiry has its root in Dale Russell's review of tyrannosaurids in which he established Daspletosaurus torosus--a large tyrannosaurine from the Campanian of southern Alberta. In the wake of systematic revisions to tyrannosaurines previously assigned to Daspletosaurus, one potentially distinct species remains undescribed. This paper describes and compares a braincase referable to this species with that of the holotype for Daspletosaurus torosus using computerized-tomography-based reconstructions. The two braincases have numerous differences externally and internally. The specimen of Daspletosaurus sp. has a bottlenecked olfactory tract, short and vertical lagena, and a developed ascending column of the anterior tympanic recess. The holotype of Daspletosaurus torosus has many unusual traits, including an anteriorly positioned trochlear root, elongate common carotid canal, distinct chamber of the basisphenoid recess, asymmetry in the internal basipterygoid aperture, and laterally reduced but medially expanded subcondylar recess. This comparison also identified characters that potentially unite the two species of Daspletosaurus, including deep midbrain flexures in the endocasts. However, many character variations in the braincases are known in other tyrannosaurids to correlate with body size and maturity, or represent individual variations. Therefore, taxonomic and phylogenetic signals can be isolated from background variations in a more comprehensive approach by using additional specimens. New information on the two braincases of Daspletosaurus is consistent with the emerging view of tyrannosaurid braincases as highly variable, ontogenetically dynamic character complexes.
The efficacy of phosphine has been established for numerous major stored product insects. However, data related to the evaluation of the effect of phosphine on Tenebrio molitor L and Alphitobius ...diaperinus Panzer are limited. The present study aims to evaluate the susceptibility of these species to phosphine by using the following evaluation protocols: (a) all life stages were exposed for 3 days to different concentrations of phosphine, (b) adults were exposed to 3000 ppm until all exposed individuals were immobilized, using the Phosphine Tolerance Test (PTT, Detia Degesch GmbH, Germany), and (c) adults were exposed to 3000 ppm of phosphine for 90 min by again using the PTT protocol. For all series of bioassays, delayed mortality was recorded 7 and 14 d post-exposure. According to our results, 100 ppm for three days was sufficient to kill all life stages, including the eggs, for both species. Alphitobius diaperinus adults were found to be more tolerant than those T. molitor, as noticeable survival was observed, even after 90 min of exposure to 3000 ppm. Our study provides some initial data for the efficacy of short and long exposures of A. diaperinus and T. molitor to phosphine.
The clinical significance of change in liver stiffness measurement (LSM) by vibration-controlled transient elastography (VCTE) in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is not ...well-understood. We prospectively defined rates of progression to and regression from LSM-defined compensated advanced chronic liver disease (cACLD) and their associations with liver-related events (LREs).
Participants in the NASH Clinical Research Network-led NAFLD Database 2 and 3 studies were included. Progression to cACLD was defined as reaching LSM ≥10 kPa in participants with LSM <10 kPa on initial VCTE; regression from cACLD was defined as reaching LSM <10 kPa in participants with baseline LSM ≥10 kPa. LREs were defined as liver-related death, liver transplant, hepatocellular carcinoma, MELD >15, development of varices, or hepatic decompensation. Univariate and multivariable interval-censored Cox regression analyses were used to compare the cumulative LRE probability by LSM progression and regression status.
In 1,403 participants, 89 LREs developed over a mean follow-up of 4.4 years, with an annual incidence rate for LREs of 1.5 (95% CI 1.2-1.8). In participants at risk, progression to LSM ≥10 or ≥15 kPa occurred in 29% and 17%, respectively, whereas regression to LSM <10 or <15 kPa occurred in 44% and 49%, respectively. Progressors to cACLD (≥10 kPa) experienced a higher cumulative LRE rate vs. non-progressors (16% vs. 4%, adjusted hazard ratio 4.0; 95% (1.8-8.9); p <0.01). Regressors from cACLD (to LSM <10 kPa) experienced a lower LRE rate than non-regressors (7% vs. 32%, adjusted hazard ratio 0.25; 95% CI 0.10-0.61; p <0.01).
Change in LSM over time is independently and bi-directionally associated with risk of LRE and is a non-invasive surrogate for clinical outcomes in patients with NAFLD.
The prognostic value of change in LSM in patients with NAFLD is not well understood. In this large prospective study of patients with NAFLD and serial vibration-controlled transient elastography exams, baseline and dynamic changes in LSM were associated with the risk of developing liver-related events. LSM is a useful non-invasive surrogate of clinical outcomes in patients with NAFLD.
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•The clinical significance of changes in LSM over time in NAFLD is not well-studied.•Of 1,403 prospectively followed patients with NAFLD, 89 developed liver-related events over 4.4 years.•Of those at risk, 29% progressed to LSM ≥10 kPa, and 44% regressed from LSM >10 kPa.•Progressors had a four-fold increase whereas regressors had a 75% decrease in risk of liver-related events.•Changes in LSM over time are a useful surrogate for clinical outcomes in NAFLD.
Thermospheric mass density values around the 400-km altitude in the cusp can be significantly enhanced as compared to regions around the cusp. To gain insights into the extent to which the magnitude ...of the cusp mass density enhancements can be explained by the static distributions of moderate electric field and electron precipitation typical for a period of large IMF B.sub.Y, we employed a high-resolution two-dimensional local model that can represent the plasma features that are characteristic of the cusp: azimuthal ion flow and low-energy electron precipitation. We also calculated the thermospheric dynamics with and without neutral-ion drag. We found that in the calculation with this drag the obtained mass density enhancement is 10% at most, indicating that the thermospheric dynamics imposing the moderate static electric field and electron precipitation can only explain about one-third of the typical magnitude of cusp thermospheric mass density, i.e., 33%. We also found that in the calculation without neutral-ion drag the magnitude of the mass density enhancement is slightly larger than the one with the neutral-ion drag. To explain the average magnitude of the cusp mass density enhancements completely, other energy inputs such as Alfvén waves, in addition to the static distributions of electric field and electron precipitation, are needed. Graphical
E. coli's hardiness, versatility, broad palate and ease of handling have made it the most intensively studied and best understood organism on the planet. However, research on E.coli has primarily ...examined it as a model organism, one that is abstracted from any natural history. But E. coli is far more than just a microbial lab rat. Rather, it is a highly diverse organism with a complex, multi-faceted niche in the wild. Recent studies of 'wild' E. coli have, for example, revealed a great deal about its presence in the environment, its diversity and genomic evolution, as well as its role in the human microbiome and disease. These findings have shed light on aspects of its biology and ecology that pose far-reaching questions and illustrate how an appreciation of E. coli's natural history can expand its value as a model organism.
Lower Cambrian Peel, John S; Skovsted, Christian B
Canadian journal of earth sciences,
06/2021, Letnik:
58, Številka:
6
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Three small assemblages of lower Cambrian (Cambrian Series 2, Stage 4) small shelly fossils are described from Laurentian strata astride Nares Strait. The fauna from the Humboldt Formation of ...Daugaard-Jensen Land, North Greenland, is derived from inner shelf sediments deposited on the stable craton of the Inglefield Land High. Fossils from Judge Daly Promontory, eastern Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, occur in strata of the Cambrian Ellesmere Group (Kane Basin Formation) that have been structurally juxtaposed against older strata; they were originally assigned to the Kennedy Channel Formation, which is now considered to be of Neoproterozoic age. A similar fauna from offshore environments of the Aftenstjerneso Formation in northern Nyeboe Land, North Greenland, reflects the regional structural and sedimentological continuity with the Canadian Cambrian succession. Pojetaia robsonae sp.nov.is described from Judge Daly Promontory.
Although multituberculates are among the best-represented mammals of the Late Cretaceous and early Paleogene in North America, their evolution during the first several tens to hundreds of thousands ...of years following the Cretaceous--Paleogene (K--Pg) impact event is largely obscure. A better understanding of the early Paleogene record of multituberculates is crucial, for their dominance in early Paleocene mammalian faunas is unquestionably a result of rapid evolution during the immediate post-impact interval, and they accordingly played an important role in the evolution of mammalian communities more generally. I report on a new multituberculate from the early Paleocene of southwestern Alberta, in rocks of the Willow Creek Formation, the first such occurrence in this otherwise poorly known unit. The new multituberculate, Aenigmamys aries gen. et sp. nov., most closely resembles the ptilodontid Kimbetohia campi in comparable parts of the dentition and sheds light on the early evolution of Ptilodontidae, one of the major cimolodontan families that diversified during the Paleocene. The presence of Aenigmamys in mammalian faunas that lived soon after the K--Pg boundary implies a still-deeper evolutionary history for Ptilodontidae that may have extended into the Late Cretaceous. Aenigmamys is part of a new mammalian fauna from southwestern Alberta, the taxonomic composition of which includes a diversity of multituberculates, cimolestans, primates, and condylarths. The fauna correlates with those of middle Puercan age from other parts of the Western Interior of North America, and its high taxonomic diversity further corroborates previous hypotheses that multituberculate recovery--and mammalian recovery more generally--occurred relatively quickly after the K--Pg extinction event.
Can reading, writing about, and teaching Shakespeare contribute to the health of the planet? To what degree are Shakespeare's plays anthropocentric or ecocentric? What is the connection between the ...literary and the real when it comes to ecological conduct? This collection, engages with these pressing questions surrounding ecocritical Shakespeare, in order to provide a better understanding of where and how ecocritical readings should be situated. The volume combines multiple critical perspectives, juxtaposing historicism and presentism, as well as considering ecofeminism and pedagogy; and addresses such topics as early modern flora and fauna, and the neglected areas of early modern marine ecology and oceanography. Concluding with an assessment of the challenges-and necessities-of teaching Shakespeare ecocritically, Ecocritical Shakespeare not only broadens the implications of ecocriticism in early modern studies, but represents an important contribution to this growing field.
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