A brachyopid temnospondyl from the lower Cynognathus Assemblage Zone In the northern Karoo Basin, South Africa

Main articleA new brachyopid temnospondyl is described from the Early to Middle Triassic Cynognathus Assemblage Zone of the upper Beaufort Group, Karoo Basin of South Africa. It is the fourth named brachyopid from the Karoo and the first from the northern part of the basin. Despite the incomplete nature of the holotype skull, the new brachyopid apparently shows closest affinities to Batrachosuchus watsoni. However, differences in the width of the sensory sulci, the absence of a transverse occipital sulcus, and the presence of a unique narial morphology, warrants separation at the species level. The holotype skull also provides insight into the morphology of the ventral surface of the skull roof and the configuration of the bones between the orbit and the nostril. A referred right mandibular ramus, the most complete yet recovered of a brachyopid, also shows several unique features. A reconsideration of the taxonomy of the brachyopid genus Batrachosuchus reveals that Batrachosuchus watsoni possesses several characters distinct from the type species, Batrachosuchus browni, and is thus transferred to a new genus. In addition, 'Batrachosuchus' henwoodi and Batrachosuchus concordi probably do not pertain to the genus Batrachosuchus. Brachyopid diversity in the Karoo is exceeded only by the Mastodonsauridae and Rhinesuchidae, and they may eventually prove to be important aids in the biostratigraphy of the Cynognathus Assemblage Zone.Palaeo-Anthropology Scientific Trust; French Embassy in South Africa; Co-operation and Cultural Service

Use of an Extracorporeal Femoral-carotid Shunt in the Management of Complex Supra-aortic Disease

AbstractManagement of symptomatic multifocal supra-aortic atherosclerotic disease presents a complex surgical challenge. We describe a novel approach where a temporary extra-corporeal femoro-carotid shunt was used to maintain cerebral perfusion during hybrid surgical and endovascular treatment for tandem supra-aortic lesions

Cultural Resource Survey of the U.S. Highway 67 Water Improvement Project, City of Presidio, Presidio County, Texas

The City of Presidio is proposing to upgrade their water distribution system, provide services to the Colonia of Las Pampas, north of Presidio, and improve the overall water system reliability to accommodate these additional demands. Following a review of the proposed undertaking, the Texas Historic Commission (THC) recommended that a cultural resource survey be performed (THC letter dated October 21, 2015). To meet its responsibilities under existing State and Federal statutes, the City contracted TRC Environmental Corporation (TRC) of Austin to conduct the necessary cultural resource survey. Subsequently, TRC archeologists submitted a Texas Antiquities Permit Application to the THC, and Antiquities Permit #7722 was issued to archeologist Benjamin G. Bury, who served as Principal Investigator. The Area of Potential Effect (APE) consists of approximately 8.18 acres and includes the existing Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) ROW along U.S. 67 and two 0.02 acre parcels adjacent to the ROW that are currently privately owned, but will be acquired by TxDOT as new ROW easements prior to construction. The project will be funded by the Border Environment Cooperation Commission (BECC). Given the involvement of the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) with the BECC, the USEPA is the lead federal agency for this effort. Fieldwork was conducted on July 26th and July 27th, 2016. The field effort consisted of a systematic pedestrian survey at 15 m (50 ft.) intervals across the APE. Cultural resources documented during the survey included one historic site (41PS1220) and three isolated core reduction flakes that were widely separated and not associated with any other cultural materials. Site 41PS1220 consists of mid-to late-20th century trash left from informal dumping along U.S. 67. The dumping ground has been graded smooth in the last 30 years. Consequently, site materials are in a secondary context. Given these disturbances, TRC recommends that site 41PS1220 is not eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) or qualified for nomination as a State Antiquities Landmark (SAL). Additionally, one previously recorded site (41PS346) recorded within the ROW in 1976 was not relocated during the investigation, and has likely been significantly redeposited during previous road maintenance activities. TRC recommends that the portion of site 41PS346 within the U.S. 67 ROW is not eligible for inclusion in the NRHP or qualified for nomination as a SAL. Therefore, TRC recommends the project proceed as planned

The role of hand size in body representation:a developmental investigation

Knowledge of one’s own body size is a crucial facet of body representation, both for acting on the environment and perhaps also for constraining body ownership. However, representations of body size may be somewhat plastic, particularly to allow for physical growth in childhood. Here we report a developmental investigation into the role of hand size in body representation (the sense of body ownership, perception of hand position, and perception of own-hand size). Using the rubber hand illusion paradigm, this study used different fake hand sizes (60%, 80%, 100%, 120% or 140% of typical size) in three age groups (6- to 7-year-olds, 12- to 13-year-olds, and adults; N = 229). We found no evidence that hand size constrains ownership or position: participants embodied hands which were both larger and smaller than their own, and indeed judged their own hands to have changed size following the illusion. Children and adolescents embodied the fake hands more than adults, with a greater tendency to feel their own hand had changed size. Adolescents were particularly sensitive to multisensory information. In sum, we found substantial plasticity in the representation of own-body size, with partial support for the hypothesis that children have looser representations than adults.</p

A field study of team working in a new human supervisory control system

This paper presents a case study of an investigation into team behaviour in an energy distribution company. The main aim was to investigate the impact of major changes in the company on system performance, comprising human and technical elements. A socio-technical systems approach was adopted. There were main differences between the teams investigated in the study: the time of year each control room was studied (i.e. summer or winter),the stage of development each team was in (i.e. 10 months), and the team structure (i.e. hierarchical or heterarchical). In all other respects the control rooms were the same: employing the same technology and within the same organization. The main findings were: the teams studied in the winter months were engaged in more `planning’ and `awareness’ type of activities than those studies in the summer months. Newer teams seem to be engaged in more sharing of information than older teams, which maybe indicative of the development process. One of the hierarchical teams was engaged in more `system-driven’ activities than the heterarchical team studied at the same time of year. Finally, in general, the heterarchical team perceived a greater degree of team working culture than its hierarchical counterparts. This applied research project confirms findings from laboratory research and emphasizes the importance of involving ergonomics in the design of team working in human supervisory control

Effect of s-triazine ring substitution on the synthesis of organic resorcinol-formaldehyde xerogels

Resorcinol (R) and formaldehyde (F) gel synthesis has been well-studied along with alternative reagents. We present the synthesis of formaldehyde-based xerogels using chemically similar s-triazine precursors, with comparison to traditional analogues. The substitution ranges from tri-hydroxyl to tri-amine, with an intermediate species, allowing changing chemistry to be investigated. Each molecule (X) offers different acid/base properties, known to influence gel formation, as well as differences in crosslinking potential. Varying X/F ratios were selected to recreate the stoichiometry used in RF systems, where one represented higher F to match the increased reaction sites of the additives. X/C ratios were selected to probe different catalyst (C) ratios, while working within the range likely to produce viable gels. Results obtained show little impact for ammeline as an additive due to its similarity to resorcinol (activation sites and pKa); while melamine and cyanuric acid show differing behavior depending on the level of addition. Low concentrations show melamine to have the most impact due to increased activation and competition for formaldehyde; while at high concentrations, cyanuric acid is shown to have the greatest impact as it creates a more acidic environment, which diminishes textural character, possibly attributable to larger clusters and/or weaker cross-linking of the system

Low-level lithium in drinking water and subsequent risk of dementia:Cohort study

Background: Lithium, a mood stabilizer, is known to exhibit neuroprotective effects in animal models and may have anti-dementia effects. Aims: We used data from Scottish Mental Survey 1932, a population-based cohort study, to investigate the association between lithium in drinking water and dementia rate in humans. Method: Lithium levels in drinking water from 285 sampling sites across Scotland dating from 2014 were obtained from the sole public water provider (Scottish Water). Dementia and non dementia cases were identified from cohort data by electronic health records until 2012, and linked to postcode. Results: The mean lithium level at all sampling sites was 1.45 μg /L (SD 1.83, range 0.5-18.2) and was 1.26 (SD 0.63, range 0.55-9.19) for sites matched to participant data. Of 37,597 study members, 3,605 developed dementia until June 2012. . Lithium levels were positively associated with the risk of dementia in women (highest in second quartile, HR 1.17, 95%CI 1.04-1.32), but there was no relationship in men (highest in second quartile, HR 0.95, 95% CI 0.81-1.12). The pattern of association was explored further by decile, and in females there was an association between lithium level and increased dementia risk compared to the lowest decile (0.55-0.68 μg/L) in all deciles except the highest, corresponding with lithium levels 0.68-2.1 μg/L. Conclusions: Lithium levels in drinking water are very low across Scotland which limited detection of potential effect. Our results do not support an association between extremely low levels of lithium and later dementia risk.. We found a trend to increased risk in females at lithium levels below but not above 2.1 μg/L