Identifying cold-water coral ecosystem by using benthic foraminiferal indicators: from active reefs to the geological record

Cold-water coral ecosystems dominated by the species Lophelia pertusa and Madrepora oculata, as well as cold-water coral carbonate mounds (fossils and/or active) occur worldwide and are especially developed along the European margin, from northern Norway to the Gulf of Cadiz and into the Alboran Sea. Their discovery is a major achievement of the last few decades and their widespread occurrence presents a challenge to understand their development, preservation and possible importance in the geologic record.On the Norwegian shelf active/living reefs are developed on elevated hard substrata. Along the Irish margin L. pertusa builds large fossil and/or active carbonate mounds. In the Gulf of Cadiz and in the Alboran Sea buried reefs and patch reefs are generally found in association with mud volcanoes.In modern oceans, they provide important ecological niches for the marine benthic fauna in the deep-sea. In comparison to the macrofauna the microfauna, particularly the foraminifera associated to these systems, are poorly known. We present here a detailed study based on quantitative analyses of benthic and planktonic foraminifera together with the statistical treatment of assemblage data collected along the Norwegian margin, in the Porcupine-Rockall region and in the Alboran Sea.The three regions were and/or are site of cold-water coral ecosystems settlements. Our study reveals that in the Porcupine/Rockall region benthic foraminiferal assemblages are strictly related to the distribution of facies. On the Norwegian margin, benthic foraminiferal habitats are weakly defined and grade one into the other preventing the sharp facies separation observed along the Irish margin (Margreth et al., 2009). In the Alboran Sea cold-water coral ecosystems and cold-water carbonate mounds are presently buried and corals are generally fragmented. However, benthic assemblages from coral-rich layers in the Alboran Sea and those from Porcupine/Rockall and Norway show remarkable similarities. In particular, epifaunal-attached species such as Discanomalina coronata, Cibicides refulgens, and Lobatula lobatula dominate the assemblages with D. coronata restricted to living cold-water coral reefs facies only and/or in co-occurrence with coral fragments. In conclusion, our data suggest that although cold-water coral ecosystems occur at different latitudes, the associated foraminiferal assemblages are consistent from Norway to the Western Mediterranean. Thus they can be used to identify these ecosystems even in the geologic record, when the corals are often strongly dissolved like in the Alboran Sea

Construction of an integrated consensus map of the Apple genome based on four mapping populations

An integrated consensus genetic map for apple was constructed on the basis of segregation data from four genetically connected crosses (C1¿=¿Discovery × TN10-8, C2¿=¿Fiesta × Discovery, C3¿=¿Discovery × Prima, C4¿=¿Durello di Forli × Fiesta) with a total of 676 individuals using CarthaGene® software. First, integrated female¿male maps were built for each population using common female¿male simple sequence repeat markers (SSRs). Then, common SSRs over populations were used for the consensus map integration. The integrated consensus map consists of 1,046 markers, of which 159 are SSR markers, distributed over 17 linkage groups reflecting the basic chromosome number of apple. The total length of the integrated consensus map was 1,032 cM with a mean distance between adjacent loci of 1.1 cM. Markers were proportionally distributed over the 17 linkage groups (¿ 2¿=¿16.53, df¿=¿16, p¿=¿0.41). A non-uniform marker distribution was observed within all of the linkage groups (LGs). Clustering of markers at the same position (within a 1-cM window) was observed throughout LGs and consisted predominantly of only two to three linked markers. The four integrated female¿male maps showed a very good colinearity in marker order for their common markers, except for only two (CH01h01, CH05g03) and three (CH05a02z, NZ02b01, Lap-1) markers on LG17 and LG15, respectively. This integrated consensus map provides a framework for performing quantitative trait locus (QTL) detection in a multi-population design and evaluating the genetic background effect on QTL expression

Pulmonary congestion assessment in heart failure: traditional and new tools

Congestion related to cardiac pressure and/or volume overload plays a central role in the pathophysiology, presentation, and prognosis of heart failure (HF). Most HF exacerbations are related to a progressive rise in cardiac filling pressures that precipitate pulmonary congestion and symptomatic decompensation. Furthermore, persistent symptoms and signs of congestion at discharge or among outpatients are strong predictors of an adverse outcome. Pulmonary congestion is also one of the most important diagnostic and therapeutic targets in chronic heart failure. The aim of this review is to analyze the importance of clinical, instrumental, and biochemical evaluation of congestion in HF by describing old and new tools. Lung ultrasonography (LUS) is an emerging method to assess pulmonary congestion. Accordingly, we describe the additive prognostic role of chest ultrasound with respect to traditional clinical and X-ray assessment in acute and chronic HF setting

Regulatory framework of pharmaceutical compounding and actual developments of legislation in Europe

Pharmaceutical preparations are medicines that the pharmacist makes for the special needs of the patients that the pharmaceutical industry cannot comply for economic and logistic reasons. Pharmacy compounding is still an important component of pharmacy practice and a valuable therapeutical service that is an integrant part of the modern health care system, but its legislation is not harmonized among European and US countries.In 2011 the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has adopted a Resolution on quality and safety assurance requirements for medicinal products prepared in pharmacies for the special needs of patients. Aim of this resolution is to harmonize quality assurance and standards for pharmacy-made medicinal products among European countries and to pass the gap in quality assurance and standards between preparation in pharmacies and medicines prepared by the pharmaceutical industry. This article will analyze the actual rules and technical norms that regulate compounding activity and the expectations resultants from the new European and US laws