The demosponge Leptomitus cf. L. lineatus, first occurrence from the Middle Cambrian of Spain (Murero Formation, Western Iberian Chain)

The Middle Cambrian Murero Formation in the Iberian Chain (NE Spain) has yielded a small collection of softbodied fossils (palaeoscolecid worms, onychophorans, algae), a host of fossils from organisms with mineralized skeletons such as trilobites and brachiopods, and some trace fossils. This paper deals with the description of the only specimen of the demosponge Leptomitus known so far from Spain and its association with the brachiopod Micromitra, showing a probable case of commensalism by the latter over the former. The taphonomical study indicates that there was little or no disarticulation of the sponge spicules and suggests that a rather complex series of alteration processes has occurred since these organisms were buried.Peer reviewe

The demosponge Leptomitus cf. L. lineatus, first occurence from the Middle Cambrian of Spain (Murero Formation, Western Iberian Chain)

The Middle Cambrian Murero Formation in the Iberian Chain (NE Spain) has yielded a small collection of softbodied fossils (palaeoscolecid worms, onychophorans, algae), a host of fossils from organisms with mineralized skeletons such as trilobites and brachiopods, and some trace fossils. This paper deals with the description of the only specimen of the demosponge Leptomitus known so far from Spain and its association with the brachiopod Micromitra, showing a probable case of commensalism by the latter over the former. The taphonomical study indicates that there was little or no disarticulation of the sponge spicules and suggests that a rather complex series of alteration processes has occurred since these organisms were buried

An exceptional record of Cambrian trilobite moulting behaviour preserved in the Emu Bay Shale, South Australia

Trilobites dominate the Emu Bay Shale (EBS) assemblage (Cambrian Series 2, Stage 4, South Australia) in terms of numbers, with Estaingia bilobata Pocock 1964 being extremely abundant, and the larger Redlichia takooensis Lu 1950 being common. Many specimens within the EBS represent complete moulted exoskeletons, which is unusual for Cambrian fossil deposits. The abundance of complete moults provides an excellent record that has allowed the recognition of various recurrent moult configurations for both species, enabling the inference of movement sequences required to produce such arrangements. Moult configurations of E. bilobata are characterised by slight displacement of the joined rostral plate and librigenae, often accompanied by detachment of the cranidium, suggesting ecdysis was achieved by anterior withdrawal via opening of the cephalic sutures. Moulting in R. takooensis often followed the same method, but configurations show greater displacement of cephalic sclerites, suggesting more vigorous movement by the animal during moulting. Both species also show rare examples of Salter’s configuration, with the entire cephalon anteriorly inverted, and several other unusual configurations. These results indicate that moulting in trilobites was a more variable process than originally thought. In contrast, other Cambrian Konservat-Lagerstätten with an abundance of trilobites (e.g., Wheeler Shale, USA, and Mount Stephen Trilobite Beds, Canada)show larger numbers of ‘axial shields’ and isolated sclerites, often interpreted as disarticulated exuviae. This points to a higher level of disturbance from factors such as animal activity, depositional processes, or water movement, compared to that of the EBS, where quiescent conditions and intermittent seafloor anoxia contributed to an unparalleled trilobite moulting record

La Esfinge en las Monedas de Cástulo

[ES] La esfinge alada y marchando es el tipo constante en las monedas de Cástuio. En las primeras emisiones el tocado de la esfinge es vano: Mitra, Klaft y Uraeus; para el resto de las acuñaciones, casco con dos alitas. Un estudio a través de los campos culturales con iconografías de esfinges similares, nos llevan a descartar una influencia romano-griega para estas monedas de fines del siglo III b.C. Las esfinges aparecidas en la Penínsuh son de estirpe clásica: sentadas sobre sus cuartos traseros, la de Agost, Salobral, etc. La nuestra mantiene una iconografía típicamente oriental'zante, pasada de moda en el mundo clásico hacía cuatro siglos y cuya pervivencia sólo se explica dentro del ámbito púnico, tradicional en sus representaciones pero tan influido por el estilo heleníst'co en época bárquida. Ni los tocado,, de la esfinge ni la iconografía en general pueden haber nacido bajo auspicios romanos.[EN] The winged and walking Sphinx is the constant type on the coins of Cástulo. In the first issues, the headdress can vary: mitra, klaft and uraeus. Very soon, this headdress becomes constant in all the rest of issues: a helmet with two winglets. A study through the cultural fields of the iconography of similar sphinxes, leads us to discard any roman-greek influence, in these coins of the end of the third century B.C. The sphinxes which appeared in the Peninsula are of classical lineage: seated on their rear legs, the one of Agost, Salobral, etc... Ours, maintains an iconography typically orientalizing, which had been outdated for four centuries in the classical world and whose survivorship can only be explained within a punie milieu, traditional in its representations but influenced by the helenistic style in the barquida era. Neithere the headdresses of the sphinxes nor the iconography in general can have been born under roman auspices

First report of Crumillospongia (Demospongea) from the Cambrian of Europe (Murero biota, Spain)

The demosponge genus Crumillospongia, originally described from the Burgess Shale (middle Cambrian of Canada), has only been cited from lower and middle Cambrian localities of North America and China. The taxon is now also described from uppermost lower Cambrian rocks of the Murero Lagerstätte (Zaragoza Province, NE Spain). Crumillospongia mureroensis sp. nov. is a small to medium sized sack-shaped to elongate demosponge characterized by the presence of densely packed pores of three sizes, considerably larger than those in any other species of the genus. The Spanish material represents a link in the chronostratigraphical gap between the Chinese and North American material.Peer reviewe

Recent geoethical issues in Moroccan and Peruvian Paleontology

The cases of Joan Corbacho from Spain, and Klaus Hönninger and Carlos A. Vildoso from Peru, considered by some as prestig-ious paleontologists in their countries, are discussed here. The first one is a fossil collector and trader that, without a minimal scientific knowledge, published ca. 20 papers with proposals for a dozen new trilobite taxa coming from different Paleozoic for-mations in the Moroccan Anti-Atlas. Descriptions of new taxa seem formally valid but are rather inadequate, often based on poorly preserved material of dubious geological provenance, and mostly published as papers without peer review in a local jour-nal, managed by a private museum connected to the Seminary of Barcelona. Besides this, part of the published and figured tri-lobite specimens were later offered for sale in the internet, sometimes accompanied with a ‘certificate of authenticity’ signed by the Museum director. Mr. Corbacho is acting also in Spain as a judicial expert in paleontology while he is not more than an amateur fossil collector. In Peru, the two cited pseudo-paleontologists lead their official-looking businesses, the ‘Meyer-Hönninger Palaeontological Museum’ and the ‘Peruvian Institute of Paleovertebrate Studies’, respectively, under names of institutional appearance. The ‘scientific research’ activities of Mr. Hönninger have been basically deactivated by authorities of the Ministry of Culture, and following a public complaint for fraud in the First International Symposium of Palaeontology of Peru held in 2014 in Lima. However, the dealings of the Mr. Vildoso, who has long claimed to have a title on Paleontology from the University of La Plata (Argentina), which he has never been able to show, has experienced a considerable increase, with paleontological heritage contracts with mining companies and the organization of the Dakar Rally. The prominence of the posi-tion he has attained is such that he was offered the presidency of the Organizing Committee of the IX Latin American Congress of Palaeontology held in 2016 in Lima, which has ended in an organization disaster and a money scandal

Disparate compound eyes of Cambrian radiodonts reveal their developmental growth mode and diverse visual ecology

Radiodonts are nektonic stem-group euarthropods that played various trophic roles in Paleozoic marine ecosystems, but information on their vision is limited. Optical details exist only in one species from the Cambrian Emu Bay Shale of Australia, here assigned to Anomalocaris aff. canadensis. We identify another type of radiodont compound eye from this deposit, belonging to ‘Anomalocaris’ briggsi. This ≤4-cm sessile eye has >13,000 lenses and a dorsally oriented acute zone. In both taxa, lenses were added marginally and increased in size and number throughout development, as in many crown-group euarthropods. Both species’ eyes conform to their inferred lifestyles: The macrophagous predator A. aff. canadensis has acute stalked eyes (>24,000 lenses each) adapted for hunting in well-lit waters, whereas the suspension-feeding ‘A.’ briggsi could detect plankton in dim down-welling light. Radiodont eyes further demonstrate the group’s anatomical and ecological diversity and reinforce the crucial role of vision in early animal ecosystems.Copyright © 2020 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License 4.0 (CC BY-NC). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license, which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, so long as the resultant use is not for commercial advantage and provided the original work is properly cited

Phase angle and COVID-19: a systematic review with meta-analysis

Phase angle (PhA) has been identified as a poor prognostic factor in patients with COVID-19. This study aimed to achieve a systematic review, where we discussed the potential role of PhA value as a prognostic marker of adverse clinical outcomes such as mortality and complication in hospitalized with SARS-CoV2 infection and established the strength of recommendations for use. A systematic literature review with meta-analysis was done in the main electronic databases from 2020 to January 2023. The selected articles had to investigate adverse consequences of the COVID-19 population and raw bioimpedance parameters such as PhA and published in peer-reviewed journals. GRADE tools regarded the quality of the methodology. The review protocol was registered in PROSPERO. Only eight studies, 483 studies, were eligible for the analysis. In general, differences in PhA were seen between the comparative study groups. Patients with a low PhA experienced poor outcomes. A low PhA was associated with a significantly increased mortality risk [RR: 2.44; 95% CI (1.20–4.99), p = 0.01; I2 = 79% (p = 0.0008)] and higher complications risk [OR: 3.47, 95% CI (1.16 – 10.37), p = 0.03; I2 = 82% (p = 0.004)] in COVID-19 patients. Our analysis showed four evidence-based recommendations on the prognostic value of PhA with two strong recommendations, one of moderate and another of low-moderate quality, for predicting mortality and complications, respectively. We recommend using PhA as a prognostic marker for mortality and complications in this population. Although the results are promising, future studies must identify the PhA cut-off to guide therapeutic decisions more precisely.Funding for open access publishing: Universidad Málaga/CBUA. I.C.-P. was the recipient of a postdoctoral grant (Río Hortega CM 17/00169) and is now the recipient of a postdoctoral grant (Juan Rodes JR 19/00054) from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III and co-funded by Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional-FEDER. Funding for open access charge: Universidad de Málaga / CBU

Streetlight Control System Based on Wireless Communication over DALI Protocol

Public lighting represents a large part of the energy consumption of towns and cities. Efficient management of public lighting can entail significant energy savings. This work presents a smart system for managing public lighting networks based on wireless communication and the DALI protocol. Wireless communication entails significant economic savings, as there is no need to install new wiring and visual impacts and damage to the facades of historical buildings in city centers are avoided. The DALI protocol uses bidirectional communication with the ballast, which allows its status to be controlled and monitored at all times. The novelty of this work is that it tackles all aspects related to the management of public lighting: a standard protocol, DALI, was selected to control the ballast, a wireless node based on the IEEE 802.15.4 standard with a DALI interface was designed, a network layer that considers the topology of the lighting network has been developed, and lastly, some user-friendly applications for the control and maintenance of the system by the technical crews of the different towns and cities have been developed