Early Frasnian acanthodians from central Iran

Two vertebrate-bearing horizons in the basal Frasnian carbonate of the Chahriseh section, northeast of Esfahan, yielded microremains of thelodonts, placoderms, acanthodians, actinopterygians, chondrichthyans, and sarcopterygians, considerably expanding the vertebrate faunal list for the strata. Acanthodians comprise a diverse association of climatiids, diplacanthids, and ischnacanthiforms, including the previously recorded climatiid Nostolepis sp. cf. N. gaujensis, as well as one new climatiid genus and several taxa left in open nomenclature. Climatiid Iranolepis ginteri gen. et sp. nov. is diagnosed by having scales with a highly raised medial crown area separated by steep slopes from lateral crown areas; an odontocytic mesodentine of maximum extent in the crown, distinguished by extensive network of fine canaliculi with abundant tiny osteocytes; and a poorly developed stranggewebe system. Other scales with fan-like symmetrically grooved crowns conform to the Diplacanthus-type histologically, and have many characters in common with Milesacanthus antarctica from the Aztec Siltstone of Antarctica. Osseous gnathal elements include mesodentinous tooth whorls from an ischnacanthiform or climatiid, and ischnacanthiform jaw bones with large chambers for vascular canals, distinctly separated cylindrical tooth cusps along the lingual ridge, and wide-based, triangular, weakly striated cusps on the main lateral ridge. The acanthodian association, accompanied by the Frasnian conodonts of the middle Mesotaxis falsiovalis to Palmatolepis hassi zones and zonal thelodonts Turinia hutkensis and Australolepis seddoni, is proving useful for biostratigraphy, showing similarities with assemblages from both Gondwana and the Old Red Sandstone Continent

An optimized tuned mass damper/harvester device

Much work has been conducted on vibration absorbers, such as tuned mass dampers (TMD), where significant energy is extracted from a structure. Traditionally, this energy is dissipated through the devices as heat. In this paper, the concept of recovering some of this energy electrically and reuse it for structural control or health monitoring is investigated. The energy-dissipating damper of a TMD is replaced with an electromagnetic device in order to transform mechanical vibration into electrical energy. That gives the possibility of controlled damping force whilst generating useful electrical energy. Both analytical and experimental results from an adaptive and a semi-active tuned mass damper/harvester are presented. The obtained results suggest that sufficient energy might be harvested for the device to tune itself to optimise vibration suppression

Life story resources in dementia care: a review.

PURPOSE: Life story work has a relatively long tradition in the caring sciences and is recognised as an important component of dementia care and practice. However, to date, there has not been a review of accessible life story resources. The paper aims to discuss these issues. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: Following a systematic approach to identification and inclusion, 11 life story resources were reviewed to ascertain areas of commonality and divergence between the materials. FINDINGS: The authors were able to group the analysis under eight areas and at the end of this process, it was uncertain if life story work is a formal staff intervention or an informal activity that people with dementia and their families could engage in. Resources also varied in terms of whether the life story information was organised in a chronological way, or with topics of interest/discussion or with a combination of both. Life story evaluation and its impact on the life of the person with dementia is in need of development. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: Across the resources the authors identified four reasons to do life story work which the authors have named as: emotional connections; interactional connections; building new connections and practical care connections. SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS: There was limited guidance aimed at helping people with dementia to develop and compile their own life story. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: This paper provides new insights into the usefulness, future directions and content of life story resources in dementia care. It will be of interest to those in health and social care as well as people living with dementia

An experimental and theoretical study of transient negative ions in Mg, Zn, Cd and Hg

A range of experimental and theoretical techniques have been applied to the study of transient negative ions (resonances) formed in electron scattering from the Group II metals Mg, Zn, Cd, and Hg at incident electron energies below the first ionization potential. A wealth of resonance structures have been observed and from the experimental observations and theoretical information, classifications are proposed for some of these negative ion states

Racial Identity: Toward an Integrated Developmental Psychological Perspective

This article outlines current knowledge and lines of research regarding racial identity and, in particular, African American racial identity. A developmental psychological framework is proposed as a means of integrating and synthesizing 2 lines of racial identity research that have emerged within the existing literature: (a) the developmental line of research and (b) the adjustment outcome line of research. The proposed integration of the current racial identity research will emphasize the interdependency of developmental mechanisms, outcome processes, and identity trajectories among minority individuals, and highlight the significance of those identities for individuals across their life spans. Potential benefits of integrating these 2 lines of research within a developmental psychological framework are discussed regarding both scientific theory and practice-related applications

Using Proanthocyanidin as a Root Dentin Conditioner for GIC Restorations

Glass ionomer cements (GICs) are considered the material of choice for restoration of root carious lesions (RCLs). When bonding to demineralized dentin, the collapse of dentinal collagen during restorative treatment may pose challenges. Considering its acidic nature and collagen biomodification effects, proanthocyanidin (PAC) could be potentially used as a dentin conditioner to remove the smear layer while simultaneously acting to biomodify the dentinal collagen involved in the bonding interface. In this study, 6.5% w/v PAC was used as a conditioner for sound (SD) and laboratory demineralized (DD) root dentin before bonding to resin-modified GIC (FII), casein phosphopeptide-amorphous calcium phosphate (CPP-ACP)-modified GIC (FVII), or a high-viscosity GIC (FIX). Root dentin conditioned with deionized distilled water (DDW) or polyacrylic acid (PAA) served as controls. Results indicated FII showed higher shear bond strength (SBS) on SD than the other 2 GICs, especially in PAA-conditioned samples; FIX showed significantly higher SBS than FII and FVII on PAA- or PAC-conditioned DD. In each category of GIC, PAA and PAC did not have a significant influence on SBS in most cases compared to DDW except for a significant decrease in PAC-conditioned SD bonded to FII and a significant increase in PAA-conditioned DD bonded to FIX. The bonding interface between GIC and SD was generally more resistant to the acid-base challenge than DD. Although the alterations in failure modes indicated a compromised interfacial interaction between GICs and PAC-treated root dentin, biomodification effects of PAC on dentin were observed from Raman microspectroscopy analysis in terms of the changes in mineral-to-matrix ratio and hydroxyproline-to-proline ratio of dentin adjacent to the bonding interface, especially of DD. Results from this study also indicated the possibility of using in situ characterization such as Raman microspectroscopy as a complementary approach to SBS test to investigate the integrity of the bonding interface

Art Looking within MotherScholarhood: Art Elicitation for Self-Reflections and Sense Making

This study continues the ongoing collaborative autoethnographic, arts-based scholarship of three MotherScholars (Burrow et al.). This study presents both the critical self-reflections resulting from and advocacy for the process of art elicitation (Burrow and Burrow), which is a valid and effective methodology to allow MotherScholars a vital pause for valuable personal self-interrogation and renewed clarity within their scholarship. Like our previous research, this study reaffirms that MotherScholars need space and time to reflect on the fluidity and flexibility of their personal-professional identity as it is affected by natural life changes (e.g., children leaving home for college), unexpected transitions (e.g., divorce), and trauma (e.g., global pandemics). The necessity to find malleability in the MotherScholar identity can help women in academia name what they need and recognize what they are already uniquely suited to handle

The Skits, Sketches, and Stories of MotherScholars

“MotherScholars” are those who creatively weave their maternal identities into their scholarly spaces. With this article we invite readers along a collaborative friendship study of our own participatory arts-based journey to understand, reclaim, and identify personal and professional benefits only realized once we acknowledged and embraced the blended reality of Mother Scholarhood. Our work is presented as a curation of individual skits, sketches, and short stories that were created during a collective 8-week time span in a shared virtual space. We open our story to interpretation and interaction through the lenses of our readers

Culture-adapted Plasmodium falciparum isolates from UK travellers: in vitro drug sensitivity, clonality and drug resistance markers.

BACKGROUND: The screening of lead compounds against in vitro parasite cultures is an essential step in the development of novel anti-malarial drugs, but currently relies on laboratory parasite lines established in vitro during the last century. This study sought to establish in continuous culture a series of recent Plasmodium falciparum isolates to represent the current parasite populations in Africa, all of which are now exposed to artemisinin combination therapy. METHODS: Pre-treatment P. falciparum isolates were obtained in EDTA, and placed into continuous culture after sampling of DNA. One post-treatment blood sample was also collected for each donor to monitor parasite clonality during clearance in vivo. IC₅₀ estimates were obtained for 11 anti-malarial compounds for each established parasite line, clonal multiplicity measured in vivo and in vitro, and polymorphic sites implicated in parasite sensitivity to drugs were investigated at the pfmdr1, pfcrt, pfdhfr, pfdhps and pfap2mu loci before and after treatment, and in the cultured lines. RESULTS: Plasmodium falciparum isolates from seven malaria patients with recent travel to three West African and two East African countries were successfully established in long-term culture. One of these, HL1211, was from a patient with recrudescent parasitaemia 14 days after a full course of artemether-lumefantrine. All established culture lines were shown to be polyclonal, reflecting the in vivo isolates from which they were derived, and at least two lines reliably produce gametocytes in vitro. Two lines displayed high chloroquine IC₅₀ estimates, and carried the CVIET haplotype at codons 72-76, whereas the remaining five lines carried the CVMNK haplotype and were sensitive in vitro. All were sensitive to the endoperoxides dihydroartemisinin and OZ277, but IC₅₀ estimates for lumefantrine varied, with the least sensitive parasites carrying pfmdr1 alleles encoding Asn at codon 86. CONCLUSIONS: This study describes the establishment in continuous culture, in vitro drug sensitivity testing and molecular characterization of a series of multiclonal P. falciparum isolates taken directly from UK malaria patients following recent travel to various malaria-endemic countries in Africa. These "HL" isolates are available as an open resource for studies of drug response, antigenic diversity and other aspects of parasite biology