Onset of main Phanerozoic marine radiation sparked by emerging Mid Ordovician icehouse

This is the final version. Available on open access from Springer Nature via the DOI in this recordThe Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event (GOBE) was the most rapid and sustained increase in marine Phanerozoic biodiversity. What generated this biotic response across Palaeozoic seascapes is a matter of debate; several intrinsic and extrinsic drivers have been suggested. One is Ordovician climate, which in recent years has undergone a paradigm shift from a text-book example of an extended greenhouse to an interval with transient cooling intervals - at least during the Late Ordovician. Here, we show the first unambiguous evidence for a sudden Mid Ordovician icehouse, comparable in magnitude to the Quaternary glaciations. We further demonstrate the initiation of this icehouse to coincide with the onset of the GOBE. This finding is based on both abiotic and biotic proxies obtained from the most comprehensive geochemical and palaeobiological dataset yet collected through this interval. We argue that the icehouse conditions increased latitudinal and bathymetrical temperature and oxygen gradients initiating an Early Palaeozoic Great Ocean Conveyor Belt. This fuelled the GOBE, as upwelling zones created new ecospace for the primary producers. A subsequent rise in δ(13)C ratios known as the Middle Darriwilian Isotopic Carbon Excursion (MDICE) may reflect a global response to increased bioproductivity encouraged by the onset of the GOBE.Our expeditions to Russia were mainly funded by the Carlsberg Foundation. C.M.Ø.R. and D.A.T.H. are particularly grateful to the Danish Council for Independent Research | Natural Sciences for their support of this specific project. C.M.Ø.R. further acknowledge support from the VILLUM Foundations Young Investigator Programme. A.L. was funded by the Royal Swedish Physiographic Society in Lund

Cytogenetic characterization of two species of Frieseomelitta Ihering, 1912 (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Meliponini)

The cytogenetic analysis of Frieseomelitta dispar and F. francoi revealed the chromosome numbers 2n = 30 and n = 15 and a karyotypic formula 2K = 4M+2Mt+4A+20AM. The number of chromosomes observed was consistent with those reported for other Frieseomelitta species. The occurrence of the Mt chromosome and other features of the karyotype formulae suggest a close relationship between F. dispar, F. francoi and F. varia. Nevertheless, it was possible to differentiate the karyotypes of the species by DAPI/CMA3 staining, which revealed GC-rich regions on two chromosome pairs of F. dispar: one acrocentric and one pseudoacrocentric. In F. francoi, the same kinds of regions were observed on a pair of metacentrics and on a pair of acrocentrics. Our analysis also confirmed the chromosome number conservation in Frieseomelitta and suggests that infrequent pericentric inversion could constitute a synapomorphy for the group including F. dispar, F. francoi, and F. varia

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) among longer-term prison inmates is a prevalent, persistent and disabling disorder

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>ADHD is a common and disabling disorder, with an increased risk for coexisting disorders, substance abuse and delinquency. In the present study, we aimed at exploring ADHD and criminality. We estimated the prevalence of ADHD among longer-term prison inmates, described symptoms and cognitive functioning, and compared findings with ADHD among psychiatric outpatients and healthy controls.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>At Norrtälje Prison, we approached 315 male inmates for screening of childhood ADHD by the Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS-25) and for present ADHD by the Adult ADHD Self-Report Screener (ASRS-Screener). The response rate was 62%. Further, we assessed 34 inmates for ADHD and coexisting disorders. Finally, we compared findings with 20 adult males with ADHD, assessed at a psychiatric outpatient clinic and 18 healthy controls.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The estimated prevalence of adult ADHD among longer-term inmates was 40%. Only 2 out of 30 prison inmates confirmed with ADHD had received a diagnosis of ADHD during childhood, despite most needed health services and educational support. All subjects reported lifetime substance use disorder (SUD) where amphetamine was the most common drug. Mood and anxiety disorders were present among half of subjects; autism spectrum disorder (ASD) among one fourth and psychopathy among one tenth. Personality disorders were common; almost all inmates presented conduct disorder (CD) before antisocial personality disorder (APD). Prison inmates reported more ADHD symptoms during both childhood and adulthood, compared with ADHD psychiatric outpatients. Further, analysis of executive functions after controlling for IQ showed both ADHD groups performed poorer than controls on working memory tests. Besides, on a continuous performance test, the ADHD prison group displayed poorer results compared with both other groups.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study suggested ADHD to be present among 40% of adult male longer-term prison inmates. Further, ADHD and coexisting disorders, such as SUD, ASD, personality disorders, mood- and anxiety disorders, severely affected prison inmates with ADHD. Besides, inmates showed poorer executive functions also when controlling for estimated IQ compared with ADHD among psychiatric outpatients and controls. Our findings imply the need for considering these severities when designing treatment programmes for prison inmates with ADHD.</p

A high-resolution map of human evolutionary constraint using 29 mammals.

The comparison of related genomes has emerged as a powerful lens for genome interpretation. Here we report the sequencing and comparative analysis of 29 eutherian genomes. We confirm that at least 5.5% of the human genome has undergone purifying selection, and locate constrained elements covering ∼4.2% of the genome. We use evolutionary signatures and comparisons with experimental data sets to suggest candidate functions for ∼60% of constrained bases. These elements reveal a small number of new coding exons, candidate stop codon readthrough events and over 10,000 regions of overlapping synonymous constraint within protein-coding exons. We find 220 candidate RNA structural families, and nearly a million elements overlapping potential promoter, enhancer and insulator regions. We report specific amino acid residues that have undergone positive selection, 280,000 non-coding elements exapted from mobile elements and more than 1,000 primate- and human-accelerated elements. Overlap with disease-associated variants indicates that our findings will be relevant for studies of human biology, health and disease

A Sensitive Tg Assay or rhTSH Stimulated Tg: What's the Best in the Long-Term Follow-Up of Patients with Differentiated Thyroid Carcinoma?

Sensitivity of thyroglobulin (Tg) measurement in the follow-up of differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) can be optimized by using a sensitive Tg assay and rhTSH stimulation. We evaluated the diagnostic yield of a sensitive Tg assay and rhTSH stimulated Tg in the detection of recurrences in the follow-up of DTC. Additionally the value of imaging techniques for the localization of recurrences was evaluated. We included 121 disease free patients in long-term follow-up for DTC (median 10 years, range 1–34). Tg during thyroid hormone suppression therapy (Tg-on) and rhTSH stimulated Tg were measured with a sensitive Tg assay. Patients with rhTSH stimulated Tg ≥1.0 ng/ml underwent imaging with neck ultrasound, FDG-PET and post therapy 131I WBS. Sensitive Tg measurement resulted in 3 patients with Tg-on ≥1.0 ng/ml, recurrence could be localized in 2 of them. RhTSH stimulation resulted in Tg ≥1.0 ng/ml in another 17 of 118 patients. Recurrence could be localized in only 1 additional patient (1 out of 118 patients). Recurrence was localized by neck ultrasound in 1 of 3, by FDG-PET in 2 of 3 and by post therapy 131I WBS in 2 of 3 patients. In the detection of recurrences in DTC, rhTSH stimulation had very limited additional value in comparison to Tg-on measurement with a sensitive Tg assay. We consider this too low to justify rhTSH stimulation in all patients during long-term follow up. Neck ultrasound, FDG-PET and post therapy 131I WBS showed complementary value in localization of disease, but were only positive in a small fracture of all procedures

Armed conflict and population displacement as drivers of the evolution and dispersal of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

The “Beijing” Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) lineage 2 (L2) is spreading globally and has been associated with accelerated disease progression and increased antibiotic resistance. Here we performed a phylodynamic reconstruction of one of the L2 sublineages, the central Asian clade (CAC), which has recently spread to western Europe. We find that recent historical events have contributed to the evolution and dispersal of the CAC. Our timing estimates indicate that the clade was likely introduced to Afghanistan during the 1979–1989 Soviet–Afghan war and spread further after population displacement in the wake of the American invasion in 2001. We also find that drug resistance mutations accumulated on a massive scale in Mtb isolates from former Soviet republics after the fall of the Soviet Union, a pattern that was not observed in CAC isolates from Afghanistan. Our results underscore the detrimental effects of political instability and population displacement on tuberculosis control and demonstrate the power of phylodynamic methods in exploring bacterial evolution in space and time

Gender differences in sex life issues – A population-based study of migraine sufferers

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Migraine is considered to have a negative influence on sex life. The present study was to analyse the perceptions of importance of and satisfaction with sex life as well as the expression of interest in sex among people having migraines in a prospective follow-up mail survey in 1998 and 2003.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The random sample was stratified according to gender and age in four age groups (20–24, 30–34, 40–44, and 50–54 years). Altogether 25 898 individuals responded to the baseline and 19 626 to the follow-up questionnaire (75.8% response rate). We examined as to how the perceptions of sex life of those suffering from migraine changed during a 5-year follow-up. Conditional logistic regression was used to analyse the data of the responses on self-reported migraine in the baseline and follow-up surveys (N = 2 977, 79.2% women). Each person with migraine was assigned a gender- and age-matched control in the analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>All three outcome variables tended to decrease in value. Importance of sex life was higher among men with migraine than among their controls. Among women migraine lessened interest in sex life.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our findings suggested that migraine has a different impact on sex life among women from that among men.</p