The Meigs Creek Coal "Lower Split" in Short Creek Township, Harrison County, Ohio

Author Institution: 713 Oxford Road, Vpsilanti, Michiga

Le genre Paraspirifer Wedekind, R., 1926 dans le Dévonien moyen de la partie orientale de l’Amerique du Nord

The authors describe seven species of the genus Paraspirifer WEDEKIND, R., 1926 on the basis of more than one hundred specimens from twenty-three localities in North America. Three of these species are new: P. conradi n. sp., P. halli n. sp. and P. clarkei n. sp. Two others are provisionally named P. cf. halli and P. sp. A. A Neotype is proposed for P. acuminatus (CONRAD, T.A., 1839) and the Lectotype of P. brownockeri (STEWART, G.A., 1927) is designated. The problems concerning the species Terebratula acuminatissima DE CASTELNAU, F., 1843 and Delthyris prora CONRAD, T.A., 1842 are briefly discussed. The genus Paraspirifer is confined to an area of ± 6.500.000 km2 in eastern North America. In New York, the biostratigraphic range-zone for the genus is from the upper Onondaga Limestone (Moorehouse Member) to the middle Marcellus Shale (Solsville Member) and, in Ohio and Ontario, from the upper part of the Columbus Limestone (Zones F — H) to the Silica Shale. In Indiana and Kentucky, the genus occurs in the upper Jeffersonville Limestone (P. acuminatus sensu lato Zone) and, in Illinois and Missouri, in the Grand Tower Limestone

Biometrical Study of Morphology and Development of the Pennsylvanian Trilobite \u3ci\u3eAmeura sangamonensis\u3c/i\u3e (Meek and Worthen)

Biometrical study of morphology and development in a sample of 100 cranidia, 94 pygidia, 26 free cheeks, and 9 complete specimens of the trilobite Ameura sangamonensis (Meek and Worthen) from the Bonner Springs Shale (Pennsylvanian; Missouri Series) in eastern Nebraska indicates that the dominant growth pattern was isometric. Evidence supporting this conclusion consists of rectilinear size relations among eight pairs of cranidial dimensions, three pairs of pygidial dimensions, and three pairs of dimensions of the free cheeks. Qualitative changes in pygidial morphology during development include a progressive decrease in prominence of the border, increasing width of the posterior border relative to the lateral borders, and a progressive change in outline from a smoothly rounded semi-circular margin to one that is subtriangular or subparabolic. All the complete specimens in the sample are holaspides. There is some indication of point clustering on scatter diagrams among the smallest cranidia which suggests that the sample may contain a few late meraspides. However, if meraspid cranidia and free cheeks are present, they are morphologically very similar to the small holaspides

Cestode Species Identification on Waterfowl: Parasitology Class Project 2022

Parasites can have a significant effect on an ecosystem if they become too abundant due to the multitude of animals that play a role in their life cycle. This research is a part of a larger class project for BIO 462 identifying parasites that are commonly found in or on waterfowl from around the Winona, Minnesota area. Ducks were donated from hunters and dissected to collect their endo and ectoparasites. Parasite specimens were stained and mounted to look for morphological characteristics that ultimately helped identify the parasites using light microscopy. DNA was extracted from the individual cestodes, and PCR was used to amplify select genes of the DNA. The DNA was then sequenced then compared to other DNA samples in GenBank which determined if the parasites was already classified or if a new species was found. More specimens will be processed to obtain additional results and obtain proper identification. These findings could help identify not only what parasites are common in certain species of ducks, but also provide additional information to the abundance of parasites within waterfowl in our local area

Measuring activities in tobacco control across the EU. The MAToC

BACKGROUND: Objectives of this study are (a) to develop a comprehensive and economic tool to estimate tobacco control (TC) activities in single EU member states, (b) to compare TC activities between member states of the EU. This article provides the questionnaire and gives a benchmark of EU member states according to their perceived TC activities. Methods: An international workshop was specifically initiated to develop the questionnaire "Measuring Activities in Tobacco Control (MATOC)". TC experts from 8 European countries participated and chose 40 items to cover 11 general topics of TC. At the World Conference of Tobacco or Health in Helsinki 2003 participants were asked to fill out the questionnaire. N = 142 participants from EU-member states returned questionnaires. RESULTS: Subjects from the tobacco field in Finland gave the highest TC values to their country, followed by Sweden, Ireland, the UK and the Netherlands. The least active countries in TC were Greece and Germany, behind Austria, Spain, Belgium and Portugal. Italy, France and Denmark constituted the middle field. CONCLUSION: The MATOC provides a profile of TC across European countries and delivers results that are plausible and fit into the existing findings. The data presented here fulfils the purpose to illustrate what is possible with the MATOC and underlines the value of such an approach in delivering information for policy makers and TC advocates how TC is perceived in each country. Yet, further validity testing is necessary, the number of experts per country differs and is partly rather small. Further research with the MATOC should encounter these limitations. The procedure though could serve as model of practice for alcohol and legal drug policy as well

Fagerstrom test for nicotine dependence vs heavy smoking index in a general population survey

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) is used for assessing nicotine dependence. A shorter test derived from the FTND used for the general population is the Heavy Smoking Index (HSI) (six questions vs. two). The objective of this study is to compare the validity of the HSI versus the FTND.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A survey of tobacco use in the general population was carried out in the northern Spanish region of Galicia using both the FTND and the HSI to study a representative sample of 1655 daily smokers. The HSI was compared with the FTND, considered the gold standard. Measures of sensitivity, specificity and predictive values were calculated. Concordance between the tests was also established (Cohen's kappa).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Cohen's kappa showed good agreement between measures (Kappa = 0.7); specificity values were also high (Sp = 96.2%). Sensitivity analysis in females (Se = 62.3%) did not show good agreement.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The HSI can be used as a reasonably good screening test in order to identify daily smokers with high nicotine dependence. Nevertheless, for populations or subpopulations having low nicotine dependence, such as women, the FTND is more reliable.</p

Sibling bullying at 12 years and high-risk behavior in early adulthood : a prospective cohort study

Emerging evidence suggests that sibling aggression is associated with the development of high‐risk behavior. This study investigated the relationship between sibling bullying perpetration and victimization in early adolescence and high‐risk behavior in early adulthood. Sibling bullying was assessed at 12 years in 6,988 individuals from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, a birth cohort based in the UK and high‐risk behavioral outcomes were assessed at 18–20 years. Frequent sibling bullying perpetration predicted antisocial behavior (OR = 1.74; 95%CI, 1.38–2.20), while frequent sibling bullying victimization increased the odds of nicotine dependence (OR = 2.87; 95%CI, 1.55–5.29), even after accounting for peer bullying and parent maltreatment. Categorical analysis revealed that particularly bullies and bully‐victims were at risk of developing high‐risk behavior. Finally, this study found that adolescents who were involved in bullying perpetration across multiple contexts (home and school) had the highest odds of reporting antisocial behavior (OR = 3.05; 95%CI, 2.09–4.44), criminal involvement (OR = 2.12; 95%CI, 1.23–3.66), and illicit drug use (OR = 2.11; 95%CI, 1.44–3.08). Findings from this study suggest that sibling bullying perpetration may be a marker of or a contributory factor along the developmental trajectory to antisocial behavior problems. Intervention studies are needed in order to test whether reducing sibling bullying can alleviate long‐term adverse social and behavioral outcomes