Observations on the Paleoecology and Formation of the “Upper Shell” Unit, Lee Creek Mine

The Upper Shell unit at the Lee Creek Mine (Pliocene age, maximum thickness 3 m) is remarkable for its concentration of well-preserved mollusk shells in a sparse quartz sand matrix, and it is dominated by several species of bivalves, with many shells articulated. The unit can be subdivided into three bivalve assemblage zones characterized by associations of dominant species. Zone 1 is dominated by Mercenaria mercenaria, an infaunal, shallow- to medium-burrowing, siphonate clam. Zone 2 is characterized by an epifaunal bivalve assemblage that includes Glycymeris americana, Argopecten eboreus, Anomia simplex, and Ostrea meridionalis. Thin but highly concentrated accumulations of Argopecten and Anomia form distinct layers within zone 2. Zone 3 is marked by a return of Mercenaria mercenaria accompanied by specimens of Geukensia sp. and an increase in oyster shells. The characteristics of the zones of the Upper Shell unit strongly suggest that these shell beds were formed by a series of localized catastrophic events that produced mass mortality of the molluscan assemblages, rather than by processes of gradual shell accumulation. The disappearance of Mercenaria mercenaria from the sequence may have been due largely to the inability of juveniles of this species to penetrate a shell pavement formed immediately after a mass mortality event. Return of Mercenaria mercenaria in zone 3 marks a change in bottom environmental conditions in the area. The overlying Shell Hash unit contains the bivalve Corbicula densata, representative of lower salinity conditions. This unit consists primarily of shell material reworked from the underlying Upper Shell unit and probably represents an accumulation formed in an estuarine tidal channel

Birth by caesarean section and school performance in Swedish adolescents- a population-based study

Background: Our objective was to assess the impact of obstetric mode of delivery, and in particular birth by Caesarean section (CS), on school performance in adolescents using a large, population-based cohort. Methods: We extracted data from the Swedish Medical Birth Register and National School Register. We included all live singleton births in Sweden from 1982–1995 (n = 1,489,925). School grades were reported on a scale from 0 to 320, scores less than 160 (i.e. “pass”) were considered to be “poor school performance.” Mode of delivery was categorised as: unassisted vaginal delivery (VD), assisted VD, elective CS and emergency CS. We measured the association between mode of delivery and “poor school performance” using logistic regression. We then used quantile regression to assess the association between mode of delivery and school performance across the distribution of scores. We adjusted for maternal age, parity, small and large for gestational age, gestational age, maternal country of birth, maternal depression, non-affective disorder or bipolar disorder, parental income at time of birth, and parental social welfare at time of birth. We also conducted sensitivity analyses to investigate the association further. Results: With logistic regression analysis, the adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of assisted VD and poor school performance, compared to unassisted VD, was 1.06 (95% CI: 1.03–1.08). For elective CS it was 1.06 (95% CI:1.03-1.09) and for emergency CS it was 1.12 (95% CI: 1.09–1.15). With quantile regression, assisted VD showed little difference in scores, when compared to unassisted VD, at any point across the distribution. Elective CS was associated with a 1–3 point decrease in scores, and emergency CS was associated with a 2–5 point decrease in scores. Conclusion: A slight association was found between birth by CS and school performance. However, the effect was quite small and given the complex nature of the relationship, should be interpreted with caution

Asilidae and Mydaidae of Bimini

6 p. ; 24 cm.Includes bibliographical references

Impact of very early antiretroviral therapy during acute HIV infection on long-term immunovirological outcomes

Acute HIV infection; Antiretroviral treatment; Immune recoveryInfección aguda por VIH; Tratamiento antirretroviral; Recuperación inmunitariaInfecció aguda per VIH; Tractament antiretroviral; Recuperació immunitàriaObjectives We aimed to determine if starting antiretroviral therapy (ART) in the first 30 days after acquiring HIV infection has an impact on immunovirological response. Methods Observational, ambispective study including 147 patients with confirmed acute HIV infection (January/1995-August/2022). ART was defined as very early (≤30 days after the estimated date of infection), early (31-180 days), and late (>180 days). We compared time to viral suppression (viral load [VL] <50 copies/ml) and immune recovery (IR) (CD4+/CD8+ ratio ≥1) according to the timing and type of ART using survival analysis. Results ART was started in 140 (95.2%) patients. ART was very early in 24 (17.1%), early in 77 (55.0%), and late in 39 (27.9%) cases. Integrase strand transfer inhibitor (INSTI)-based regimens were the most used in both the overall population (65%) and the very early ART group (23/24, 95.8%). Median HIV VL and CD4+/CD8+ ratio pre-ART were higher in the very early ART group (P <0.05). Patients in the very early and early ART groups and treated with INSTI-based regimens achieved IR earlier (P <0.05). Factors associated with faster IR were the CD4+/CD8+ ratio pre-ART (hazard ratio: 9.3, 95% CI: 3.1-27.8, P <0.001) and INSTI-based regimens (hazard ratio: 2.4, 95% CI: 1.3-4.2, P = 0.003). Conclusions The strongest predictors of IR in patients who start ART during AHI are the CD4+/CD8+ ratio pre-ART and INSTI-based ART regimens.This work was founded by Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Acción Estratégica en Salud) and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) through grant PI20/00823. The study was also supported by the Spanish Network for AIDS Research (RIS) through the Instituto de Salud Carlos III – Red Temática de Investigación Cooperativa en Sida (RD06/006, RD12/0017/0018 and RD16/0002/0006) as part of the Plan Nacional R+D+I and by ISCIII Subdirección General de Evaluación and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER). For this project, PS has received a grant from the Catalan Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology (SCMIMC) funded by ViiV Healthcare. MJB is supported by the Miguel Servet program funded by the Spanish Health Institute Carlos III (CPII22/00005). The funders had no role in the study design, data collection, and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication

Social recognition provision patterns in professional Q&amp;A forums in Healthcare and Construction

© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. For some decades, professional Q&A forums have been used as a mainstream way of sharing practices between novices and experts. Several forums have had time to develop their own communities and habits, which made them a suitable place to explore patterned epistemic practices. In this paper we look at the social recognition, help seeking and informal learning patterns in communities of practice; our aim is to use the corresponding outputs to scaffold technology supported informal learning. We analyzed professional discussion forums in two countries (UK and Germany) in two different sectors (Healthcare and Construction). We identified a set of interrelated patterns that are used for socially verifying and maturing rules and guidelines, solving problems, introducing new practices and triggering learning. Some particular social recognition and learning trends common in Healthcare and Construction sector Q&A forums are highlighted. We discuss epistemic practice pattern networks for developing scaffolds to enhance the quality of informal learning in workplace environments in an integrated way. We suggest and validate empirically a model of social recognition provision in Q&A forums

BGEM: An In Situ Hybridization Database of Gene Expression in the Embryonic and Adult Mouse Nervous System

This article describes an open-access gene expression database analyzed for more than 2,000 genes on mouse nervous system tissue in the coronal, sagittal, and transverse orientation representing multiple developmental ages

Disability rights and robotics: Co-producing futures

This project brought together a team of 25 co-researchers from the University of the West of England, Fairfield Farm College and Wiltshire Centre of Independent Living. The co-researchers are a diverse group including disabled people, carers, students, and academics from social work, psychology and sociology to robotics. Our research team demonstrates a wealth of experiences as some members had both lived experience of disability, in addition to being involved in teaching, learning and research. The research question for the project was:How can robotic technologies support disability rights? Rights are about everyday opportunities to live life to the full, human rights that everyone is entitled to (The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) 2009 (Enable.un.org, 2019). In this time of rapid social change to our social and work lives, relationships and leisure, there are new technologies that might support disability rights like ‘driverless cars’, smart phones, social media and new robotic technologies. The project had two aims:•to identify priority research questions into disability rights and robotics•to develop the co-production process for future researc

Conserved Charged Amino Acids within Sendai Virus C Protein Play Multiple Roles in the Evasion of Innate Immune Responses

One of the accessory proteins of Sendai virus (SeV), C, translated from an alternate reading frame of P/V mRNA has been shown to function at multiple stages of infection in cell cultures as well as in mice. C protein has been reported to counteract signal transduction by interferon (IFN), inhibit apoptosis induced by the infection, enhance the efficiency of budding of viral particles, and regulate the polarity of viral genome-length RNA synthesis to maximize production of infectious particles. In this study, we have generated a series of SeV recombinants containing substitutions of highly conserved, charged residues within the C protein, and characterized them together with previously-reported C′/C(−), 4C(−), and F170S recombinant viruses in infected cell cultures in terms of viral replication, cytopathogenicity, and antagonizing effects on host innate immunity. Unexpectedly, the amino acid substitutions had no or minimal effect on viral growth and viral RNA synthesis. However, all the substitutions of charged amino acids resulted in the loss of a counteracting effect against the establishment of an IFN-α-mediated anti-viral state. Infection by the virus (Cm2′) containing mutations at K77 and D80 induced significant IFN-β production, severe cytopathic effects, and detectable amounts of viral dsRNA production. In addition to the Cm2′ virus, the virus containing mutations at E114 and E115 did not inhibit the poly(I:C)-triggered translocation of cellular IRF-3 to the nucleus. These results suggest that the C protein play important roles in viral escape from induction of IFN-β and cell death triggered by infection by means of counteracting the pathway leading to activation of IRF-3 as well as of minimizing viral dsRNA production