Two unrecognised burnetiamorph specimens from historic Karoo collections

Two historical specimens from Permian rocks of the Karoo Basin represent previously unrecognised members of the rare therapsid group Burnetiamorpha. These specimens cannot be referred to any existing burnetiamorph species, but are left in open nomenclature because of their incompleteness (both are isolated skull roofs). The first specimen is from the Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone (AZ) and is characterized by heavily pachyostosed supraorbital bosses and a low nasal crest. The second specimen is from the Tropidostoma AZ and is generally similar to the Malawian taxon Lende, but is unique among described burnetiamorphs in having a frontoparietal ‘dome’ that surrounds the pineal foramen. Phylogenetic analysis of burnetiamorphs recovers support for a split between Proburnetia and Burnetia-like burnetiids, here named Proburnetiinae subfam. nov. and Burnetiinae Broom, 1923.Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (KA 4133-1/1) Sofja Kovalevskaja Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation to Jörg Fröbsic

The first skeletal evidence of a dicynodont from the lower Elliot Formation of South Africa

Historical fossil specimens from the lower Elliot Formation are identified as representing a large-bodied dicynodont, the first known from skeletal material in the Late Triassic of South Africa. Although fragmentary, these fossils differ from all other known Triassic dicynodonts and are here described as a new taxon, Pentasaurus goggai gen. et sp. nov. Pentasaurus can be distinguished from other Triassic dicynodonts by a number of mandibular characters, most importantly the well-developed, unusually anteriorly-positioned lateral dentary shelf. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that Pentasaurus is a placeriine stahleckeriid. Placeriines include the latestsurviving dicynodonts but their remains are primarily known from the Northern Hemisphere, with their only previously-known Southern Hemisphere representative being the Middle Triassic Zambian taxon Zambiasaurus. The discovery of a placeriine in the Late Triassic of SouthAfrica supports recent proposals that local climatic conditions, not broad-scale biogeographic patterns, best explain the observed distribution of Triassic tetrapods. The tetrapod fauna of the lower Elliot Formation is highly unusual among Triassic assemblages in combining ‘relictual’ taxa like dicynodonts and gomphodont cynodonts with abundant, diverse sauropodomorph dinosaurs.Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (KA 4133/1-1)JN

Replacement names for the therapsid genera Criocephalus Broom 1928 and Olivieria Brink 1965.

Main articleOur knowledge of premammalian synapsid evolutionary history has benefited from over a hundred years of fossil collecting, especially within the Permo-Triassic sediments of South Africa's Beaufort Group (Rubidge 1995) and the Cis-Ural region of Eastern Europe (Ivachnenko et al. 1997). In the course of our research and discussions we have discovered several errors in the present state of non-mammalian synapsid taxonomy. Here we propose emendations concerning the genera Criocephalus Broom 1928 and Olivieria Brink 1965.Palaeo-Anthropology Scientific Trust; French Embassy in South Africa; Co-operation and Cultural Service

The earliest segmental sternum in a Permian synapsid and its implications for the evolution of mammalian locomotion and ventilation

The article processing charge was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) – 491192747 and the Open Access Publication Fund of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.The sternum is a stabilizing element in the axial skeleton of most tetrapods, closely linked with the function of the pectoral girdle of the appendicular skeleton. Modern mammals have a distinctive sternum characterized by multiple ossified segments, the origins of which are poorly understood. Although the evolution of the pectoral girdle has been extensively studied in early members of the mammalian total group (Synapsida), only limited data exist for the sternum. Ancestrally, synapsids exhibit a single sternal element and previously the earliest report of a segmental sternum in non-mammalian synapsids was in the Middle Triassic cynodont Diademodon tetragonus. Here, we describe the well-preserved sternum of a gorgonopsian, a group of sabre-toothed synapsids from the Permian. It represents an ossified, multipartite element resembling the mammalian condition. This discovery pulls back the origin of the distinctive “mammalian” sternum to the base of Theriodontia, significantly extending the temporal range of this morphology. Through a review of sternal morphology across Synapsida, we reconstruct the evolutionary history of this structure. Furthermore, we explore its role in the evolution of mammalian posture, gait, and ventilation through progressive regionalization of the postcranium as well as the posteriorization of musculature associated with mammalian breathing.Peer Reviewe

A New Dicynodont (Therapsida: Anomodontia) from the Permian of Southern Brazil and Its Implications for Bidentalian Origins

Dicynodonts were a highly successful group of herbivorous therapsids that inhabited terrestrial ecosystems from the Middle Permian through the end of the Triassic periods. Permian dicynodonts are extremely abundant in African deposits, but are comparatively poorly known from the other regions of Gondwana. Here we describe a new South American dicynodont, Rastodon procurvidens gen. et sp. nov., from the Boqueirão farm site of the Rio do Rasto Formation, Paraná Basin, Guadalupian/Lopingian of Brazil. Diagnostic features of R. procurvidens include uniquely anteriorly-curved maxillary tusks, well-developed ridges extending from the crista oesophagea anteriorly along the pterygoid rami, strong posterior angulation of the posterior pterygoid rami, and a bulbous, well-developed retroarticular process of the articular. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that R. procurvidens is the earliest and most basal member of Bidentalia, a cosmopolitan clade that includes Permian and Triassic dicynodonts whose dentition is usually reduced to a pair of maxillary tusks

Captorhinid reptiles from the lower Permian Pedra de Fogo Formation, Piauí, Brazil: the earliest herbivorous tetrapods in Gondwana

The Pedra de Fogo Formation in the Parnaíba Basin of northeastern Brazil hosts a recently discovered lacustrine fauna and provides the only known record of the Captorhinidae in South America. Here, new captorhinid remains from this unit are described. Two partial mandibles, including one formerly ascribed to the genus Captorhinus, are here referred to Captorhinikos sp. a genus previously described from North America. The natural mould of a large mandible probably represents a new taxon within the captorhinid subclade Moradisaurinae, and a small skull roof is regarded as Captorhinidae indet. Captorhinids are generally considered to have been herbivores or omnivores. The Pedra de Fogo captorhinids likely played an important ecological role as primary consumers in the palaeoenvironment of this geological unit, which is also known for its extensive record of petrified forests. The new finds reinforce the close relationships between the continental faunas of palaeotropical western Gondwana and palaeoequatorial North America during the Cisuralian

Repenser le management des ressources humaines et des relations de travail

Botulinum neurotoxin A (BoNT/A) belongs to the most dangerous class of bioweapons. Despite this, BoNT/A is used to treat a wide range of common medical conditions such as migraines and a variety of ocular motility and movement disorders. BoNT/A is probably best known for its use as an antiwrinkle agent in cosmetic applications (including Botox and Dysport). BoNT/A application causes long-lasting flaccid paralysis of muscles through inhibiting the release of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine by cleaving synaptosomal-associated protein 25 (SNAP-25) within presynaptic nerve terminals. Two types of BoNT/A receptor have been identified, both of which are required for BoNT/A toxicity and are therefore likely to cooperate with each other: gangliosides and members of the synaptic vesicle glycoprotein 2 (SV2) family, which are putative transporter proteins that are predicted to have 12 transmembrane domains, associate with the receptor-binding domain of the toxin. Recently, fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) has also been reported to be a potential BoNT/A receptor. In SV2 proteins, the BoNT/A-binding site has been mapped to the luminal domain, but the molecular details of the interaction between BoNT/A and SV2 are unknown. Here we determined the high-resolution crystal structure of the BoNT/A receptor-binding domain (BoNT/A-RBD) in complex with the SV2C luminal domain (SV2C-LD). SV2C-LD consists of a right-handed, quadrilateral β-helix that associates with BoNT/A-RBD mainly through backbone-to-backbone interactions at open β-strand edges, in a manner that resembles the inter-strand interactions in amyloid structures. Competition experiments identified a peptide that inhibits the formation of the complex. Our findings provide a strong platform for the development of novel antitoxin agents and for the rational design of BoNT/A variants with improved therapeutic properties

New genetic loci link adipose and insulin biology to body fat distribution.

Body fat distribution is a heritable trait and a well-established predictor of adverse metabolic outcomes, independent of overall adiposity. To increase our understanding of the genetic basis of body fat distribution and its molecular links to cardiometabolic traits, here we conduct genome-wide association meta-analyses of traits related to waist and hip circumferences in up to 224,459 individuals. We identify 49 loci (33 new) associated with waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index (BMI), and an additional 19 loci newly associated with related waist and hip circumference measures (P < 5 × 10(-8)). In total, 20 of the 49 waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for BMI loci show significant sexual dimorphism, 19 of which display a stronger effect in women. The identified loci were enriched for genes expressed in adipose tissue and for putative regulatory elements in adipocytes. Pathway analyses implicated adipogenesis, angiogenesis, transcriptional regulation and insulin resistance as processes affecting fat distribution, providing insight into potential pathophysiological mechanisms

The James Webb Space Telescope Mission

Twenty-six years ago a small committee report, building on earlier studies, expounded a compelling and poetic vision for the future of astronomy, calling for an infrared-optimized space telescope with an aperture of at least $4m$. With the support of their governments in the US, Europe, and Canada, 20,000 people realized that vision as the $6.5m$ James Webb Space Telescope. A generation of astronomers will celebrate their accomplishments for the life of the mission, potentially as long as 20 years, and beyond. This report and the scientific discoveries that follow are extended thank-you notes to the 20,000 team members. The telescope is working perfectly, with much better image quality than expected. In this and accompanying papers, we give a brief history, describe the observatory, outline its objectives and current observing program, and discuss the inventions and people who made it possible. We cite detailed reports on the design and the measured performance on orbit.Comment: Accepted by PASP for the special issue on The James Webb Space Telescope Overview, 29 pages, 4 figure