New records and new taxa of Permian brachiopods from the Khuff Formation, Midhnab Member, central Saudi Arabia

Brachiopods are described for the first time from outcrops of the lower part of the Midhnab Member of the Khuff Formation in central Saudi Arabia. The very rare fauna discovered includes Kotlaia sp. ind. of the order Orthida and Omanilasma husseinii n. gen. n. sp. of the order Terebratulida. Besides this new taxon, another new species Omanilasma desertica n. gen. n. sp. from the Khuff Formation of Interior Oman is here erected. The brachiopods were collected from an open-marine horizon and are associated with nautiloids, bactritids, bivalves, foraminifers, algae, and ostracods. A probable Late Permian age is assigned to the lower part of the Midhnab Member based on foraminifers. The brachiopods are compared to similar faunas from the Middle Permian Khuff Formation of Interior Oman, Amb Formation of Salt Range (Pakistan) and Rat Buri Limestone of Southeast Thailand

Nycthemeral and Monthly Occupation of the Fish Assemblage on a Sheltered Beach of Baía Norte, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina State, Brazil

Interpreting fish community records is challenging for several reasons, including the lack of past ichthyofauna data, the cyclical temporal variations in the community, and the methodology employed, which usually underestimates fish assemblages. The objective of this study was to describe short-scale and meso-scale (nycthemeral period and months, respectively) temporal variations in the ichthyofauna composition and structure of a sheltered beach of Baía Norte (Florianópolis, Santa Catarina state, Brazil), using a capéchade net. Samples were collected monthly for a period of 48 hours. During the period from December 2010 to November 2011, a total of 19,302 individuals belonging to 89 species and 39 families were captured. The number of individuals that were sampled during the day and/or night was dependent on the sampling month. On average, the daytime assemblage was more abundant and different in structure and composition than the nighttime assemblage. Of the eight species that had the highest Index of Relative Importance (%IRI), five had higher variations (ANOVA F) between the day and night than between the months. This finding reinforced the need for sampling during both the day and night. The capéchade net effectively captured demersal and pelagic individuals in a broad range of sizes

Activated TNF-α/NF-κB signaling via down-regulation of Fas-associated factor 1 in asbestos-induced mesotheliomas from Arf knockout mice

The human CDKN2A locus encodes 2 distinct proteins, p16(INK4A) and p14(ARF) [mouse p19(Arf)], designated INK4A (inhibitor of cyclin dependent kinase 4) and ARF (alternative reading frame) here, that are translated from alternatively spliced mRNAs. Human ARF is implicated as a tumor suppressor gene, mainly in association with the simultaneous deletion of INK4A. However, questions remain as to whether loss of ARF alone is sufficient to drive tumorigenesis. Here, we report that mice deficient for Arf are susceptible to accelerated asbestos-induced malignant mesothelioma (MM). MMs arising in Arf (+/−) mice consistently exhibit biallelic inactivation of Arf, but, unexpectedly, do not acquire additional recurrent genetic alterations that we previously identified in asbestos-induced MMs arising in Nf2 (+/−) mice. Array CGH analysis was used to detect a recurrent deletion at chromosome 4C6 in MMs from Arf (+/−) mice. A candidate gene in this region, Faf1 (FAS-associated factor 1), was further explored, because it encodes a protein implicated in tumor cell survival and in the pathogenesis of some human tumor types. We confirmed hemizygous loss of Faf1 and down-regulation of Faf1 protein in a series of MMs from Arf (+/−) mice, and we then showed that Faf1 regulates TNF-α-mediated NF-κB signaling, a pathway previously implicated in asbestos-induced oncogenesis of human mesothelial cells. Collectively, these data indicate that Arf inactivation has a significant role in driving MM pathogenesis, and implicate Faf1 as a key component in the TNF-α/NF-κB signaling node that has now been independently implicated in asbestos-induced oncogenesis