Taphonomy of decapod-bearing concretions and their associated trace fossils from the Agrio Formation (Lower Cretaceous, Neuquén Basin), with paleobiological implications for axiid shrimps

A total of 22 concretions containing 37 decapod crustacean specimens belonging to the family Axiidae, from the Hauterivian (Lower Cretaceous) of the Agrio Formation in the Neuquén Basin, were studied. The decapods were assigned to Protaxius sp., which likely had a fossorial life habit. In this work we attempt to determine, through taphonomic analysis, if the specimens fossilized within their burrows or outside them in order to interpret paleobiological aspects of the studied taxon. Several taphonomic criteria of the specimens and concretions, known from the literature, were applied and their utility discussed, including anatomical disposition, completeness of specimens, orientation and alignment, dispersion of exoskeletal elements in the concretion, preservation of both chelae, sedimentary fabric of the concretion, position within the concretion, and shape of the concretions. The relative importance of these criteria was discussed especially in those concretions with conflicting evidence pointing to either fossilization within or outside burrow systems. In the studied case, the specimens preserved in eight concretions were interpreted as fossilized within their burrows while two represent preservation outside burrow systems, on the sediment-water interface. The remaining concretions were difficult to interpret and tapho-nomic information was insufficient to conclude; however, the completeness and articulation of the specimens suggest preservation within burrow systems. The preservation of several specimens within the same burrow suggests a gregarious behavior, spending most of their lives in their galleries, and molting in special chambers without external disturbances.Tafonomía de concreciones portadoras de decápodos y sus trazas fósiles asociadas de la Formación Agrio (Cretácico Inferior, Cuenca Neuquina) con implicancias paleobiológicas para camarones de la Familia Axiidae. Se estudiaron 22 concreciones portadoras de 37 ejemplares de crustáceos decápodos de la Familia Axiidae procedentes del Hauteriviano (Cretácico Inferior) de la Formación Agrio, Cuenca Neuquina. Los decápodos fueron asignados a Protaxius sp., interpretados como de hábito de vida fosorial. Se buscó determinar si los camarones fosilizaron dentro de sus sistemas de galerías o fuera de ellas a fin de realizar inferencias paleobiológicas. Se aplicó una lista de criterios tafonómicos basada en la literatura consistente en la disposición anatómica, completitud, orientación, alineación, dispersión dentro de la concreción, preservación de ambas quelas, fábrica sedimentaria de la concreción, posición dentro de la concreción y forma de las concreciones. Se ponderó la importancia de estos criterios a fin de definir el sitio de formación de la concreción para aquellas concreciones con evidencias contradictorias. En el caso de estudio, los individuos preservados en ocho concreciones se determinaron como fosilizados dentro de las galerías, y dos lo hicieron por fuera, en la interfase agua-sedimento. Para las restantes concreciones, la información fue insuficiente para definir con certeza el sitio de fosilización aunque la completitud y articulación de los especímenes sugieren preservación confinada y protegida. La ocurrencia de varios individuos juntos dentro de las galerías indicaría un comportamiento gregario, pasando gran parte del tiempo dentro de las excavaciones y mudando en cámaras especiales, protegidos de disturbios externos.Fil: Andrada, Alejandra Mariel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Estudios Andinos "Don Pablo Groeber". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Estudios Andinos "Don Pablo Groeber"; ArgentinaFil: Bressan, Graciela Susana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Estudios Andinos "Don Pablo Groeber". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Estudios Andinos "Don Pablo Groeber"; ArgentinaFil: Lazo, Dario Gustavo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Estudios Andinos "Don Pablo Groeber". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Estudios Andinos "Don Pablo Groeber"; Argentin

Patient safety competencies in undergraduate nursing students: a rapid evidence assessment

Aims To identify patient safety competencies, and determine the clinical learning environments that facilitate the development of patient safety competencies in nursing students. Background Patient safety in nursing education is of key importance for health professional environments, settings, and care systems. To be effective, safe nursing practice requires a good integration between increasing knowledge and the different clinical practice settings. Nurse educators have the responsibility to develop effective learning processes and ensure patient safety. Design Rapid Evidence Assessment. Data Sources MEDLINE, CINAHL, SCOPUS, and ERIC were searched, yielding 500 citations published between 1 January 2004 - 30 September 2014. Review Methods Following the Rapid Evidence Assessment process, 17 studies were included in this review. Hawker's (2002) quality assessment tool was used to assess the quality of the selected studies. Results Undergraduate nursing students need to develop competencies to ensure patient safety. The quality of the pedagogical atmosphere in the clinical setting has an important impact on the students’ overall level of competence. Active student engagement in clinical processes stimulates their critical reasoning, improves interpersonal communication, and facilitates adequate supervision and feedback. Conclusion Few studies describe the nursing students’ patient safety competencies and exactly what they need to learn. In addition, studies describe only briefly which clinical learning environments facilitate the development of patient safety competencies in nursing students. Further research is needed to identify additional pedagogical strategies and the specific characteristics of the clinical learning environments that encourage the development of nursing students’ patient safety competencies

Targeting interleukin-1β protects from aortic aneurysms induced by disrupted transforming growth factor β signaling

Aortic aneurysms are life-threatening conditions with effective treatments mainly limited to emergency surgery or trans-arterial endovascular stent grafts, thus calling for the identification of specific molecular targets. Genetic studies have highlighted controversial roles of transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) signaling in aneurysm development. Here, we report on aneurysms developing in adult mice after smooth muscle cell (SMC)-specific inactivation of Smad4, an intracellular transducer of TGF-β. The results revealed that Smad4 inhibition activated interleukin-1β (IL-1β) in SMCs. This danger signal later recruited innate immunity in the adventitia through chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 2 (CCL2) and modified the mechanical properties of the aortic wall, thus favoring vessel dilation. SMC-specific Smad4 deletion in Il1r1- or Ccr2-null mice resulted in milder aortic pathology. A chronic treatment with anti-IL-1β antibody effectively hampered aneurysm development. These findings identify a mechanistic target for controlling the progression of aneurysms with compromised TGF-β signaling, such as those driven by SMAD4 mutations

Procesos de fosilización en crustáceos decápodos de la Formación Agrio, Cretácico Inferior de Cuenca Neuquina

Se analizaron 37 especímenes correspondientes a exuvias y carcasas de Protaxius sp.(Decapoda: Axiidea: Axiidae) contenidos en 22 concreciones (CPBA Nº 23640-23661) provenientes de dos niveles en la localidad de Agua de la Mula (Miembro Pilmatué, Formación Agrio, Cuenca Neuquina; Hauteriviano temprano). Se tuvo en cuenta su estado preservacional, para evaluar el potencial de preservación de diferentes elementos y establecer los procesos tafonómicos que condujeron a su fosilización. Se estudiaron los siguientes atributos: completitud, representatividad de elementos, desarticulación, fragmentación, alteración superficial y deformación. Se observaron todas las categorías relacionadas a la completitud: cuerpos completos (n= 10), unidades de disociación (n= 18) y elementos aislados (n= 9). Los elementos mayoritarios fueron los quelípedos, seguidos por los caparazones, pleon y pereiópodos. La desarticulación se observó a nivel de tagmas y pereiópodos separados del caparazón, pero lospleonitos se encontraron unidos, así como diferentes artejos pereiopodales, conservando una relación cercana a la posición anatómica original. Los especímenes mostraron bajos niveles de fragmentación y alteración superficial. La deformación se observó principalmente en los caparazones. Se concluyó que las piezas mejor preservadas (en mayor número, con menor alteración y deformación) fueron los quelípedos, mientras que las peor preservadas fueron loscaparazones, lo cual responde a la calcificación diferencial de la cutícula. Además, se interpretó que no hubo transporte, alteraciones físicas ni bioturbación significativas y que la fosilización ocurrió rápidamente luego de la muerte o muda del organismo. Los ejemplares sufrieron fosfatización parcial de la cutícula y luego del soterramiento quedaron protegidos por la formaciónde concreciones.Fil: Andrada, Alejandra Mariel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Estudios Andinos "Don Pablo Groeber". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Estudios Andinos "Don Pablo Groeber"; ArgentinaFil: Lazo, Dario Gustavo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Estudios Andinos "Don Pablo Groeber". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Estudios Andinos "Don Pablo Groeber"; ArgentinaFil: Bressan, Graciela Susana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Estudios Andinos "Don Pablo Groeber". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Estudios Andinos "Don Pablo Groeber"; ArgentinaReunión de Comunicaciones de la Asociación Paleontológica ArgentinaLa PlataArgentinaAsociación Paleontológica ArgentinaUniversidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Muse

Correction: Nanostructured Biomaterials for Tissue Engineered Bone Tissue Reconstruction. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2012, 13, 737–757

We would like to change the authors’ names and E-Mail addresses on Page 737 of Article [1] from: [...

Arginine methylation analysis of the splicing-associated SR protein SFRS9/SRP30C

The human SFRS9/SRp30c belongs to the SR family of splicing regulators. Despite evidence that members of this protein family may be targeted by arginine methylation, this has yet to be experimentally addressed. In this study, we found that SFRS9 is a target for PRMT1-mediated arginine methylation in vitro, and that it is immunoprecipitated from HEK-293 lysates by antibodies that recognize both mono- and dimethylated arginines. We further observed that upon treatment with the methylation inhibitor Adox, the fluorescent EGFP-SFRS9 re-localizes to dot-like structures in the cell nucleus. In subsequent confocal analyses, we found that EGFP-SFRS9 localizes to nucleoli in Adox-treated cells. Our findings indicate the importance of arginine methylation for the subnuclear localization of SFRS9144657669CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESPsem informaçã

INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE AND EXTRAINTESTINAL MANIFESTATIONS

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, are chronic and recurrent inflammatory diseases. Although the typical symptoms are localized in the gastrointestinal tract, there are also extraintestinal manifestations (EIMs) associated with IBD, probably caused by immune reactions secondary to the pathology of origin. Anybody can be affected by EIMs, which can be dermatological, pulmonary, ocular, musculoskeletal, hepatobiliary and neurological, et al. This represents a therapeutic challenge for clinicians, who must first establish a diagnostic and then a multidisciplinary therapeutic path, in order to guarantee an optimal quality of life for the patient

The contribution of nursing doctoral schools to the development of evidence 10 years after their establishment in Italy: An exploratory descriptive survey of former and current doctoral students’ publications

AimTo analyse through an exploratory descriptive survey how former and current doctoral students’ publications have contributed to the development of evidence between the establishment of the doctoral schools of nursing between 2006 - 2015.Design An exploratory descriptive survey.Methods We analysed the papers published in peer-reviewed journals by the four Italian PhD Schools of Nursing between 2006 - 2015. Additional missing information was retrieved from Web of Science.Results We identified 478 scientific papers. The papers increased from 12 in 2006 to 110 in 2015. Most are published in 29 journals, of which 15 have an impact factor ranging between 0.236-3.755. These results show the increasingly significant contribution of nursing doctoral programs to the production of evidence, which can be used to improve the quality of nursing and inform health policies. Nursing doctoral schools deserve a greater recognition, especially by Italian funding agencies and political institutions

Finding Quantum Critical Points with Neural-Network Quantum States

Finding the precise location of quantum critical points is of particular importance to characterise quantum many-body systems at zero temperature. However, quantum many-body systems are notoriously hard to study because the dimension of their Hilbert space increases exponentially with their size. Recently, machine learning tools known as neural-network quantum states have been shown to effectively and efficiently simulate quantum many-body systems. We present an approach to finding the quantum critical points of the quantum Ising model using neural-network quantum states, analytically constructed innate restricted Boltzmann machines, transfer learning and unsupervised learning. We validate the approach and evaluate its efficiency and effectiveness in comparison with other traditional approaches.Comment: 19 pages, 12 figures, extended version of an accepted paper at the 24th European Conference on Artificial Intelligence (ECAI 2020

Axon-Axon Interactions Regulate Topographic Optic Tract Sorting via CYFIP2-Dependent WAVE Complex Function

The axons of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) are topographically sorted before they arrive at the optic tectum. This pre-target sorting, typical of axon tracts throughout the brain, is poorly understood. Here, we show that Cytoplasmic FMR1-Interacting Proteins (CYFIPs) fulfil non-redundant functions in RGCs, with CYFIP1 mediating axon growth and CYFIP2 specifically involved in axon sorting. We find that CYFIP2 mediates homotypic and heterotypic contact-triggered fasciculation and repulsion responses between dorsal and ventral axons. CYFIP2 associates with transporting ribonucleoprotein particles in axons and regulates translation. Axon-axon contact stimulates CYFIP2 to move into growth cones where it joins the actin nucleating WAVE regulatory complex (WRC) in the periphery and regulates actin remodeling and filopodial dynamics. CYFIP2’s function in axon sorting is mediated by its binding to the WRC but not its translational regulation. Together, these findings uncover CYFIP2 as a key regulatory link between axon-axon interactions, filopodial dynamics and optic tract sorting.This work was supported by Wellcome Trust Programme Grants ( 085314 , C.E.H.), Wellcome Trust Investigator Award (SIA 100329/Z/12/Z , W.A.H.), European Research Council Advanced Grant ( 322817 , C.E.H.), EMBO Long Term Fellowship ( ALTF849-2013 , J.-M.C.), Cambridge Trust, Croucher Foundation, and Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fund (H.H.W.)