A randomized trial to assess the impact of opinion leader endorsed evidence summaries on the use of secondary prevention strategies in patients with coronary artery disease: the ESP-CAD trial protocol [NCT00175240]

BACKGROUND: Although numerous therapies have been shown to be beneficial in the prevention of myocardial infarction and/or death in patients with coronary disease, these therapies are under-used and this gap contributes to sub-optimal patient outcomes. To increase the uptake of proven efficacious therapies in patients with coronary disease, we designed a multifaceted quality improvement intervention employing patient-specific reminders delivered at the point-of-care, with one-page treatment guidelines endorsed by local opinion leaders ("Local Opinion Leader Statement"). This trial is designed to evaluate the impact of these Local Opinion Leader Statements on the practices of primary care physicians caring for patients with coronary disease. In order to isolate the effects of the messenger (the local opinion leader) from the message, we will also test an identical quality improvement intervention that is not signed by a local opinion leader ("Unsigned Evidence Statement") in this trial. METHODS: Randomized trial testing three different interventions in patients with coronary disease: (1) usual care versus (2) Local Opinion Leader Statement versus (3) Unsigned Evidence Statement. Patients diagnosed with coronary artery disease after cardiac catheterization (but without acute coronary syndromes) will be randomly allocated to one of the three interventions by cluster randomization (at the level of their primary care physician), if they are not on optimal statin therapy at baseline. The primary outcome is the proportion of patients demonstrating improvement in their statin management in the first six months post-catheterization. Secondary outcomes include examinations of the use of ACE inhibitors, anti-platelet agents, beta-blockers, non-statin lipid lowering drugs, and provision of smoking cessation advice in the first six months post-catheterization in the three treatment arms. Although randomization will be clustered at the level of the primary care physician, the design effect is anticipated to be negligible and the unit of analysis will be the patient. DISCUSSION: If either the Local Opinion Leader Statement or the Unsigned Evidence Statement improves secondary prevention in patients with coronary disease, they can be easily modified and applied in other communities and for other target conditions

PALB2, CHEK2 and ATM rare variants and cancer risk: data from COGS

Background: The rarity of mutations in PALB2, CHEK2 and ATM make it difficult to estimate precisely associated cancer risks. Population-based family studies have provided evidence that at least some of these mutations are associated with breast cancer risk as high as those associated with rare BRCA2 mutations. We aimed to estimate the relative risks associated with specific rare variants in PALB2, CHEK2 and ATM via a multicentre case-control study.Methods: We genotyped 10 rare mutations using the custom iCOGS array: PALB2 c.1592delT, c.2816T&gt;G and c.3113G&gt;A, CHEK2c.349A&gt;G, c.538C&gt;T, c.715G&gt;A, c.1036C&gt;T, c.1312G&gt;T, and c.1343T&gt;G and ATM c.7271T&gt;G. We assessed associations with breast cancer risk (42 671 cases and 42 164 controls), as well as prostate (22 301 cases and 22 320 controls) and ovarian (14 542 cases and 23 491 controls) cancer risk, for each variant.Results: For European women, strong evidence of association with breast cancer risk was observed for PALB2 c.1592delT OR 3.44 (95% CI 1.39 to 8.52, p=7.1×10−5), PALB2 c.3113G&gt;A OR 4.21 (95% CI 1.84 to 9.60, p=6.9×10−8) and ATM c.7271T&gt;G OR 11.0 (95% CI 1.42 to 85.7, p=0.0012). We also found evidence of association with breast cancer risk for three variants in CHEK2, c.349A&gt;G OR 2.26 (95% CI 1.29 to 3.95), c.1036C&gt;T OR 5.06 (95% CI 1.09 to 23.5) and c.538C&gt;T OR 1.33 (95% CI 1.05 to 1.67) (p≤0.017). Evidence for prostate cancer risk was observed for CHEK2 c.1343T&gt;G OR 3.03 (95% CI 1.53 to 6.03, p=0.0006) for African men and CHEK2 c.1312G&gt;T OR 2.21 (95% CI 1.06 to 4.63, p=0.030) for European men. No evidence of association with ovarian cancer was found for any of these variants.Conclusions: This report adds to accumulating evidence that at least some variants in these genes are associated with an increased risk of breast cancer that is clinically important.</p

Multiple novel prostate cancer susceptibility signals identified by fine-mapping of known risk loci among Europeans

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified numerous common prostate cancer (PrCa) susceptibility loci. We have fine-mapped 64 GWAS regions known at the conclusion of the iCOGS study using large-scale genotyping and imputation in 25 723 PrCa cases and 26 274 controls of European ancestry. We detected evidence for multiple independent signals at 16 regions, 12 of which contained additional newly identified significant associations. A single signal comprising a spectrum of correlated variation was observed at 39 regions; 35 of which are now described by a novel more significantly associated lead SNP, while the originally reported variant remained as the lead SNP only in 4 regions. We also confirmed two association signals in Europeans that had been previously reported only in East-Asian GWAS. Based on statistical evidence and linkage disequilibrium (LD) structure, we have curated and narrowed down the list of the most likely candidate causal variants for each region. Functional annotation using data from ENCODE filtered for PrCa cell lines and eQTL analysis demonstrated significant enrichment for overlap with bio-features within this set. By incorporating the novel risk variants identified here alongside the refined data for existing association signals, we estimate that these loci now explain ∼38.9% of the familial relative risk of PrCa, an 8.9% improvement over the previously reported GWAS tag SNPs. This suggests that a significant fraction of the heritability of PrCa may have been hidden during the discovery phase of GWAS, in particular due to the presence of multiple independent signals within the same regio

Shared heritability and functional enrichment across six solid cancers

Correction: Nature Communications 10 (2019): art. 4386 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-12095-8Quantifying the genetic correlation between cancers can provide important insights into the mechanisms driving cancer etiology. Using genome-wide association study summary statistics across six cancer types based on a total of 296,215 cases and 301,319 controls of European ancestry, here we estimate the pair-wise genetic correlations between breast, colorectal, head/neck, lung, ovary and prostate cancer, and between cancers and 38 other diseases. We observed statistically significant genetic correlations between lung and head/neck cancer (r(g) = 0.57, p = 4.6 x 10(-8)), breast and ovarian cancer (r(g) = 0.24, p = 7 x 10(-5)), breast and lung cancer (r(g) = 0.18, p = 1.5 x 10(-6)) and breast and colorectal cancer (r(g) = 0.15, p = 1.1 x 10(-4)). We also found that multiple cancers are genetically correlated with non-cancer traits including smoking, psychiatric diseases and metabolic characteristics. Functional enrichment analysis revealed a significant excess contribution of conserved and regulatory regions to cancer heritability. Our comprehensive analysis of cross-cancer heritability suggests that solid tumors arising across tissues share in part a common germline genetic basis.Peer reviewe

Wellbeing and resilience:Mechanisms of transmission of health and risk in parents with complex mental health problems and their offspring—The WARM Study

The WARM study is a longitudinal cohort study following infants of mothers with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression and control from pregnancy to infant 1 year of age. Background: Children of parents diagnosed with complex mental health problems including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression, are at increased risk of developing mental health problems compared to the general population. Little is known regarding the early developmental trajectories of infants who are at ultra-high risk and in particular the balance of risk and protective factors expressed in the quality of early caregiver-interaction. Methods/Design: We are establishing a cohort of pregnant women with a lifetime diagnosis of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder and a non-psychiatric control group. Factors in the parents, the infant and the social environment will be evaluated at 1, 4, 16 and 52 weeks in terms of evolution of very early indicators of developmental risk and resilience focusing on three possible environmental transmission mechanisms: stress, maternal caregiver representation, and caregiver-infant interaction. Discussion: The study will provide data on very early risk developmental status and associated psychosocial risk factors, which will be important for developing targeted preventive interventions for infants of parents with severe mental disorder

Shared heritability and functional enrichment across six solid cancers

Quantifying the genetic correlation between cancers can provide important insights into the mechanisms driving cancer etiology. Using genome-wide association study summary statistics across six cancer types based on a total of 296,215 cases and 301,319 controls of European ancestry, here we estimate the pair-wise genetic correlations between breast, colorectal, head/neck, lung, ovary and prostate cancer, and between cancers and 38 other diseases. We observed statistically significant genetic correlations between lung and head/neck cancer (r(g) = 0.57, p = 4.6 x 10(-8)), breast and ovarian cancer (r(g) = 0.24, p = 7 x 10(-5)), breast and lung cancer (r(g) = 0.18, p = 1.5 x 10(-6)) and breast and colorectal cancer (r(g) = 0.15, p = 1.1 x 10(-4)). We also found that multiple cancers are genetically correlated with non-cancer traits including smoking, psychiatric diseases and metabolic characteristics. Functional enrichment analysis revealed a significant excess contribution of conserved and regulatory regions to cancer heritability. Our comprehensive analysis of cross-cancer heritability suggests that solid tumors arising across tissues share in part a common germline genetic basis

Austrodalyellia ariena

&lt;i&gt;Austrodalyellia ariena.&lt;/i&gt; sp. nov. (Figs. 1&shy;6) &lt;p&gt; &lt;i&gt;Material Examined.&lt;/i&gt; Approximately twenty&shy;one specimens studied alive, four made into wholemounts, and eight sectioned.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;i&gt;Description.&lt;/i&gt; Animals are up to 1.6 mm long and 700 &micro;m wide with a rounded head, wide body and rounded to pointed caudal region (Fig. 1). Small tail sometimes present. Body often transparent except for glandular intestine and numerous red to brown pigment spots covering body. The epidermis is a ciliated epithelium, with cuboidal cells to 8 um high in section over most of the animal and containing 3&shy;5 basophilic rhabdites per cell. Longitudinal, circular and possible diagonal muscle fibres present below epidermis. Anteriorly, paired kidney&shy;shaped eyes (19 &micro;m long) of numerous black pigment spots cover a bilobed brain (Fig. 2). Posterior to the eyes is a large, muscular doliiform pharynx, usually to one&shy;fourth body length, leading posteriorly into a short eosophagus and finally into a saccate intestine. Gut often contains algal cells and annelid setae. Branching protonephridia are lateral to the pharynx and intestine, extending from head to tail.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;The female reproductive system consists of paired vitellaria, solitary ovary, receptaculum seminis, uterus, bursa copulatrix, genital atrium and common gonopore (Figs. 1, 3&shy;4). Paired vitellaria present as two longitudinal bands beginning lateral to esophagus and extending to caudal end. Vitellaria consist of numerous finger&shy;like processes (to 96 &micro;m long) and often extend dorsally over intestine. Caudally, short vitelline ducts connect to a common genital atrium. Extending anteriorly from the genital atrium is a solitary, elongate ovary often located on the left side of the body. Distally the ovary leads into a short oviduct before expanding into an oval receptaculum seminis often containing sperm. A small, muscular bursa copulatrix (55 &micro;m long) with a short distal tube, also muscular, leading to the genital atrium was located at the body midline. In several specimens the bursa was obscured by parenchymal pigments. The region around the genital atrium is highly glandular with numerous digitiform glands (stains intensely with aniline blue) that often conceal the common gonopore and all ducts leading to it. Posterior to the genital pore is a thinwalled uterus containing an egg up to 200 &micro;m long. Eggs are bright orange and highly sculptured. In one specimen (egg size 192 &micro;m long and 128 &micro;m wide) the dorsal sculpturing (observed from the dorsal side of the animal) consisted of 15 raised rows of numerous small spheres 1.6 &micro;m to 2.4 &micro;m in diameter. Raised rows were oriented longitudinally, separated by depressed areas 7&shy;8 &micro;m wide and often filled with numerous small spheres of variable size. Egg shell thickness was 1.8 um in depressed areas and up to 9 um in the raised ridges.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;The male reproductive system consists of paired testes, vasa deferentia, vesicula granulorum, vesicula seminalis, a sclerotic copulatory organ, genital atrium and common gonopore (Figs. 1, 3&shy;5). The paired testes are ventral to the vitellaria and located on the posterolateral border of the intestine on the right side of the body. Each testis is round and compact and gives rise to a vas deferens that leads to the copulatory organ. The organ contains an anterior sac&shy;like vesicula seminalis atop a compact glandular vesicula granulorum. The base of the organ was ensheathed in its own longitudinal musculature while some fibres originating from the bodywall also appeared to supply the organ. A sclerotic copulatory apparatus was present at the distal end of the organ.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;When relaxed, the copulatory apparatus is housed within a muscular bulb that leads into a thin&shy;walled genital canal (Figs. 3, 5 A). Several spine&shy;like structures could be seen protruding from the distal end of the canal. In heavily squashed whole mounts, the entire structure is bilaterally symmetric and consists of three layers of complex tines: a single dorsal tine, paired median tines, and paired ventral tines (Figs. 5, 6). The dorsal tine, ca. 59 &micro;m long, is in the shape of a &ldquo;V&rdquo; and constructed of thin bars. A thin membrane exists between the bars for the length of the tine except around 50 % length where an aperture (8 &micro;m by 5 &micro;m) is present. Proximally, the left and right base of the dorsal tine is connected to the respective left and right tines immediately ventral to it. The paired median tines are lanceolate&shy;shaped structures, ca. 58 &micro;m long, constructed similar to the dorsal tine but with a larger and more triangular&shy;shaped aperture (18 &micro;m long) at ca. 60% length. The paired ventral tines, ca. 58 &micro;m long, are somewhat blade&shy;shaped with two apertures: a lateral circular aperture to 7 um diameter and a medial elliptic aperture to 4 &micro;m wide. A small curved bar extends from the most medial side of the circular aperture to the lateral side of the tine. The tip and base of the blade&shy;shaped tine are perforated with tiny holes.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;When extended, the copulatory organ appears highly flexible. Tines can twist and bend longitudinally. In several specimens, the dorsal tine and paired ventral tines were bent outward at approximately 25% tine length (from the base) and had peeled away from the paired medial tines. In other specimens, the dorsal tine remained straight and the median and ventral tines had peeled away.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;i&gt;Remarks. Austrodalyellia ariena&lt;/i&gt; gen. nov. sp. nov. conforms to all general morphological characters of the related freshwater genera &lt;i&gt;Dalyellia&lt;/i&gt;, &lt;i&gt;Gieysztoria&lt;/i&gt; and &lt;i&gt;Microdalyellia&lt;/i&gt;: large anterior doliiform pharynx, saccate gut, paired testes, sclerotic male copulatory organ, paired vitellaria, solitary ovary, bursa copulatrix, seminal vesicle, and uterus. The topology of the male reproductive system is perhaps more reminiscent of species of &lt;i&gt;Gieysztoria&lt;/i&gt;, with posterior testes and short vas deferentia leading to a compact vesicula seminalis and vesicula granulorum. The cuticular apparatus, however, bears little resemblance to the stylets of other dalyellioids.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; General stylet morphology in &lt;i&gt;Dalyellia&lt;/i&gt; and &lt;i&gt;Microdalyellia&lt;/i&gt; is covered extensively in Luther (1955) and consists of several tines: two proximal handles (Stiel) connected by a cross piece (Querbalken), a dorsal and ventral median piece (Rinne), and two lateral distal branches (End&auml;ste) with spines. Similarly, the stylet of the marine dalyelliid, &lt;i&gt;Jensenia angulata&lt;/i&gt; (Jensen 1878), consists of the same basic structures minus the ventral median piece (Ehlers 1990). In &lt;i&gt;Austrodalyellia&lt;/i&gt;, the copulatory stylet also consists of several tines in relatively similar positions, though their morphology differs considerably from that of other species. The stylet is bilaterally symmetric and constructed of five tines: two layers of ventral tines on either side of the midline of a single dorsal tine. The dorsal tine is connected to all four pieces at its paired proximal base.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; Homology of individual tines with those of other species is difficult to assess. Based on relative shape and position, the dorsal tine may be homologous with the dorsal median piece of species of &lt;i&gt;Dalyellia&lt;/i&gt;, &lt;i&gt;Microdalyellia&lt;/i&gt;, &lt;i&gt;Jensenia&lt;/i&gt; and perhaps some species of &lt;i&gt;Gieysztoria&lt;/i&gt; (see Rogozin 1995). The dorsal centerpiece is characteristically a solid, distal triangular expansion of the proximal handles. The dorsal tine of &lt;i&gt;Austrodalyellia&lt;/i&gt; is also triangular and relatively solid (the thin membrane often appears absent under strong light) with the exception of the medial aperture. The paired short proximal ends of the stylet are also conceivably derived from the elongate handles characteristic of species of &lt;i&gt;Dalyellia&lt;/i&gt; and &lt;i&gt;Microdalyellia&lt;/i&gt; among others. The homology of the median and ventral distal tines is more difficult to assess. Their structure is similar to the distal tine but their shape is unlike any of the stylet branches present in other species.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; Functionally, the stylet of &lt;i&gt;Austrodalyellia&lt;/i&gt; appears highly flexible, and while all individual tines can bend along their length, it is the dorsal and ventral tines that often &lsquo;peel&rsquo; away from medial tines during stylet discharge (during fixation; Figs. 5 B, 6B). The effect is reminiscent of the opening of the stylet of &lt;i&gt;Castrella groenlandica&lt;/i&gt; Riedel, 1932 (see Fig. N1,p. 275, Luther 1955). Movements of individual tines other than lateral bending appears restricted presumably because all tines are branches of the common base and devoid of joints. Unfortunately, muscle attachments to individual tines could not be ascertained from histological sections, so their range of possible movements is unknown. However, the perforated appearance of the proximal handles and ventral tines might indicate insertion points for retractor muscles.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;There appears to be minimal variation in the structure or position of the copulatory stylet among the examined specimens. However, it was difficult to make good squash mounts of the stylet, and unfortunately, in the majority of specimens examined, the stylet was &lsquo;peeled', making observations of individual tines extremely difficult. Attempts to isolate the stylet by dissolving away soft tissue using dilute sodium hypochlorite also dissolved much of the stylet, especially the thin membraneous sheet that connects the tine bars. Future attempts to isolate and observe the stylet using scanning electron microscopy might provide more useful taxonomic characters than can be ascertained with light optics.&lt;/p&gt;Published as part of &lt;i&gt;Hochberg, Rick &amp; Cannon, Lester R. G., 2002, Two new freshwater rhabdocoels, Austrodalyellia gen. nov. and Haplodidymos gen. nov. (Platyhelminthes), from Queensland, Australia, pp. 1-15 in Zootaxa 44&lt;/i&gt; on pages 3-8, DOI: &lt;a href="http://zenodo.org/record/156078"&gt;10.5281/zenodo.156078&lt;/a&gt

Haplodidymos Hochberg & Cannon, 2002, gen. nov.

&lt;i&gt;Haplodidymos&lt;/i&gt; gen. nov. &lt;p&gt; &lt;i&gt;Type Material.&lt;/i&gt; Holotype (QM G219256), de Faure&rsquo;s wholemount of adult specimens with sclerotic stylet. Paratypes: de Faure&rsquo;s wholemount of adult with stylet (QM G219257), de Faure&rsquo;s wholemount of adult with egg (QM G219258), and one sectioned specimen (QM G219259).&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;i&gt;Type Repository.&lt;/i&gt; Queensland Museum, South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;i&gt;Type Locality.&lt;/i&gt; Shoreline of Clean Lake, University of Queensland, St. Lucia campus, Brisbane, QLD.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;i&gt;Etymology.&lt;/i&gt; the genus name refers to the presence of a single long testis: &lt;i&gt;Haplo&lt;/i&gt; (Gr. single), &shy; &lt;i&gt;didymos&lt;/i&gt; (Gr. testicle).&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;i&gt;Diagnosis.&lt;/i&gt; A freshwater typhloplanid worm with anatomical features characteristic of the family Typhloplanidae. Body length 500&shy;720 um long with an anterior pair of large red eyes and short paired tracts of adenal rhabdites. Body is transparent except for several radially&shy;arranged pigment bands. Vertically&shy;oriented pharynx rosulatus in posterior onethird of body. Single, long medial testis ventral to gut. All other male organs are posterior to the pharynx including a copulatory organ with distinct vesicula seminalis and indistinct vesicula granulorum. Within the glandular posterior zone is a slightly curved, weakly sclerotic stylet. Female system posterior to the pharynx and includes a solitary ovary with separate receptaculum seminis, muscular bursa copulatrix, and posterior uterus. All reproductive organs communicate with a single genital atrium and common gonopore.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;i&gt;Type species. Haplodidymos rubroculatus&lt;/i&gt; sp. nov. (Figs. 7&shy;9)&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;i&gt;Etymology.&lt;/i&gt; Species name refers to the presence of paired red eyes; &lt;i&gt;rubro&lt;/i&gt; (L. red) and &lt;i&gt;oculatus&lt;/i&gt; (L. &shy;eyed).&lt;/p&gt;Published as part of &lt;i&gt;Hochberg, Rick &amp; Cannon, Lester R. G., 2002, Two new freshwater rhabdocoels, Austrodalyellia gen. nov. and Haplodidymos gen. nov. (Platyhelminthes), from Queensland, Australia, pp. 1-15 in Zootaxa 44&lt;/i&gt; on page 9, DOI: &lt;a href="http://zenodo.org/record/156078"&gt;10.5281/zenodo.156078&lt;/a&gt

Haplodidymos rubroculatus Hochberg & Cannon, 2002, sp. nov.

&lt;i&gt;Haplodidymos rubroculatus&lt;/i&gt; sp. nov. &lt;p&gt; &lt;i&gt;Material.&lt;/i&gt; Eleven animals studied alive, six mounted, and three serially sectioned.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;i&gt;Description.&lt;/i&gt; Animals are up to 720 &micro;m long with a rounded head and tapering caudal end that forms a small tail (Fig. 7). The worms are highly flexible and often contract into a spherical shape when disturbed. Worms are mostly transparent along their length, though several longitudinal bands of red&shy;brown pigment are present around the body. During full body contraction, the pigment gets dispersed around various internal organs. Epidermis consists of cuboidal cells, 8 &micro;m high, with cilia to 10 &micro;m long. The head contains a large (24 &micro;m long) pair of red eyes (Fig. 8). Individual pigment granules were not observed. The eyes were not present after fixation in de Faure&rsquo;s fluid. In section, the region around and including the eyes stains intensely with eosin. Immediately posterior of the eyes is the cerebral ganglion; cerebral cells stain intensely with aniline blue. Paired tracts of adenal rhabdites extend for up to 136 &micro;m from the tip of the head past the eyes. The tracts are spaced widely at the tip of the head and connect posterior to the eyes with lateral branches extending toward the body margin.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; The digestive tract consists of a saccate gut and pharynx rosulatus. The gut often contain numerous rotifer trophi and occasionally full rotifers &ndash; species of &lt;i&gt;Philodina&lt;/i&gt; and various ploimate rotifers. Gut cells are eosinophilic. The vertically oriented pharynx rosulatus is present in the posterior one&shy;third of the body and up to 128 &micro;m diameter. Protonephridia pores were not evident in wholemount or section material. Caudal glands stained with the basic dye aniline blue indicative of acid mucosubstances.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;The female reproductive system consists of paired vitellaria, a solitary ovary, receptaculum seminis, bursa copulatrix, uterus, genital atrium and common gonopore (Fig. 9). The paired vitellaria are papillose and begin around 25% body length and extend to ca. 85% body length. Vitelline ducts may form a single duct before opening close to the base of the oviduct or perhaps the lateral wall of the genital atrium. The solitary ovary is variable in position but often located medially, extending dorsal or sometimes ventral to the gut. The ovary opens at its posterior tip into a thin&shy;walled oviduct that leads to the genital atrium. The pouch&shy;like genital atrium has a single midventral gonopore present at ca. 90% body length. A circular receptaculum seminis, ca. 30&shy;40 &micro;m diameter, opens into the left wall of the genital atrium through a short duct, and an elongate bursa copulatrix, ca. 50&shy;64 &micro;m long, opens into the right wall. The bursa is highly muscular with strong circular muscles and weaker longitudinal bands. Both organs were filled with sperm in several specimens. A thin sac&shy;shaped uterus connects to the posterior wall of the genital atrium and contains a single egg. Eggs are bright orange, devoid of sculpture, and up to 46 &micro;m long by 34 &micro;m wide.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;The male reproductive system consists of a solitary testis, male copulatory organ, genital atrium and common gonopore (Figs. 7, 9). The single testis is located ventral to the gut along the body mid&shy;line. It is finger&shy;like in appearance and up to 120 &micro;m long. The anterior&shy;most portion of the testis is highly compact while free sperm are present posteriorly along most of its length. Distally, the testis curves dorsally and opens into a short vas deferens before entering the anterior border of a compact male copulatory organ. The copulatory organ is dorsally located and has two distinct portions, an anterior seminal vesicle and posterior copulatory bulb. The seminal vesicle is a thin&shy;walled oblong organ, ca. 16 &micro;m wide, and often filled with sperm. The seminal vesicle sits atop a glandulo&shy;muscular organ containing a weakly sclerotic stylet. Prostatic glands were not observed outside of the organ, nor was there a defined glandular mass within the organ. Instead, finely&shy;granular refractive spheres (glandular?) were scattered throughout the organ and around the ejaculatory duct containing the stylet. The stylet is weakly curved and to 31 &micro;m long. Proximally, the stylet opens to 4.2 &micro;m wide, then narrows to 2.5 &micro;m, and expands to 5.4 &micro;m at the distal opening.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;i&gt;Remarks.&lt;/i&gt; Several characters link this species with other members of Typhloplanidae Graff, 1905: the pharynx rosulatus, single ovary with separate follicular vitellaria, and single gonopore. There are currently eight subfamilies within the Typhloplanidae Graff, 1905, generally all defined by the orientation and position of the pharynx, location of excretory pores, and position of testes relative to vitellaria (Cannon 1986). The taxonomic position of &lt;i&gt;Haplodidymos&lt;/i&gt; can be defined by these and other characters including the presence of eyes, uterus, and the structure of the stylet.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; The ventral orientation of the pharynx rosulatus in &lt;i&gt;Haplodidymos&lt;/i&gt; is characteristic of most species of Typhloplanidae with the exception of species of Phaenocorinae and Opistominae, where the pharynx is anteriorly and posteriorly directed, respectively. The location of the pharynx in the posterior one&shy;third of the body is characteristic of species of Olisthanellinae, Protoplanellinae and Typhloplaninae.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;The location of excretory pores was difficult to identify conclusively in the specimens examined. Based on limited observations, protonephridial ducts were never observed to enter the region of the mouth (e.g., Mesostominae, Typloplaninae).&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; Eyespots are common among typhloplanids with the exception of species of &lt;i&gt;Typhloplana&lt;/i&gt; and &lt;i&gt;Typhloplanella&lt;/i&gt;. The eyespots of &lt;i&gt;Haplodidymos&lt;/i&gt; appear to be unique among Typhloplanidae. Instead of consisting of numerous pigment granules forming a distinct cup, the eyes consist of large patches of red pigment without distinct granules. Closer inspection is necessary before speculating on their precise structure.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; The general structure of the reproductive system is similar to other typhloplanids with three notable deviations: number and position of testes, structure of the male copulatory apparatus, and the presence of a uterus. The presence of a solitary testis lying along the body midline in &lt;i&gt;Haplodidymos&lt;/i&gt; is an unusual and unique condition among species of Typhloplanidae. Anatomically and histologically, the testis is a long thin organ, with a compact, proximal germinal zone, and distal, slightly dilated zone of free sperm. The latter zone takes up most of the length of the organ and may in fact represent a highly dilated vas deferens. Only at its most distal tip does the testis form a narrower zone reminiscent of the thin vas deferens of other typhloplanids. Sperm congregate at the distal end of the testis where it connects with the anterior wall of the copulatory organ and forms a vesicula seminalis. The ventral position of the testis relative to the vitellaria suggests close ties with the Protoplanellinae, Rhynchomesostominae and Typhloplaninae.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; The second deviation in the reproductive system is in the structure of the copulatory apparatus. According to Jondelius and Thollesson (1993), a cirrus is characteristic of the ground pattern of the family. However, &lt;i&gt;Haplodidymos&lt;/i&gt; possesses a simple stylet, as do species of the marine genera &lt;i&gt;Brinkmanniella&lt;/i&gt;, &lt;i&gt;Haloplanella&lt;/i&gt;, &lt;i&gt;Pratoplana&lt;/i&gt;, and &lt;i&gt;Thalassoplanella&lt;/i&gt; among others. The stylet of &lt;i&gt;Haplodidymos&lt;/i&gt; is weakly developed relative to these other species. The presence of a stylet may be indicative of close phylogenetic ties. The third deviation from the reproductive ground pattern of the Typhloplanidae is in the presence of a uterus (Jondelius &amp; Thollesson 1993). Egg maturation probably occurs in the parenchyma of most typhloplanids, while in &lt;i&gt;Haplodidymos&lt;/i&gt; and several species of &lt;i&gt;Chorizogynopora&lt;/i&gt; (Kolasa 1980), &lt;i&gt;Olisthanella&lt;/i&gt; and &lt;i&gt;Phaenocora&lt;/i&gt; (Luther 1963), a posterior uterus is present. Other species such as &lt;i&gt;Gullmariella vivipara&lt;/i&gt; Luther, 1948 possess a superior genital atrium for egg development. However, apart from their respective positions, the difference between the uterus and superior genital atrium is ambiguous according to the diagrams of Luther (1948) and Kolasa (1991). In Luther&rsquo;s scheme, the superior genital atrium is a lone, dorsal expansion of the genital atrium (inferior), but according to Kolasa (1991), the superior genital atrium receives the ducts of other reproductive organs and the uterus functions in egg maturation.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; Based on the above characters, &lt;i&gt;Haplodidymos&lt;/i&gt; has close taxonomic ties to Protoplanellinae. The precise position of excretory pores remains to be determined, but their absence from the mouth region excludes this genus from Typhloplaninae.&lt;/p&gt;Published as part of &lt;i&gt;Hochberg, Rick &amp; Cannon, Lester R. G., 2002, Two new freshwater rhabdocoels, Austrodalyellia gen. nov. and Haplodidymos gen. nov. (Platyhelminthes), from Queensland, Australia, pp. 1-15 in Zootaxa 44&lt;/i&gt; on pages 9-13, DOI: &lt;a href="http://zenodo.org/record/156078"&gt;10.5281/zenodo.156078&lt;/a&gt