Foreword

Early Middle Cambrian bituminous coquinoid limestones from a tectonically isolated outcrop in southwestern Kyrgyzstan yield a remarkably diverse fauna, with stem-group cnidarians, trilobites, rhynchonelliformean brachiopods, and other shelly fossils. The fossil site is in the northern foothills of the Turkestan Range and thus forms part of the westernmost extension of the South Tien Shan. The fauna includes two fairly well known trilobite species, Glabrella ventrosa Lermontova, 1940 and Dorypyge richthofeniformis Lermontova, 1940, that provide confident support for an Amgan age of the rocks. New described taxa include the stem-group cnidarian Cambroctoconus kyrgyzstanicus Peel sp. nov., the trilobite Olenoides sagittatus Geyer sp. nov., and the helcionelloid Manasoconus bifrons Peel gen. et sp. nov. Additional fossils within the samples include the trilobites Olenoides sp. A, Kootenia sp., and Pseudoeteraspis? sp.; the rhynchonelliform brachiopods Narynella cf. ferganensis (Andreeva, 1962), Narynella? sp., Austrohedra? sp. nov., and two species of uncertain generic affinity; the tommotiid Tesella sp.; the hyolithelminth Hyolithellus sp.; and the palaeoscolecid Hadimopanella oezgueli Gedik, 1977. Of particular interest is Cambroctoconus kyrgyzstanicus with an octagonal corallum and a sparsely septate calyx

Proposed Early Cambrian cephalopods are chimaeras, the oldest known cephalopods are 30 m.y. younger

Peer reviewe

Der deutsche Profi-Fußball am Scheideweg

Der deutsche Profi-Fußball steht durch die Auswirkungen der Corona-Krise am Scheideweg. Durch Geisterspiele verliert der Sport an Emotionalität und damit an Attraktivität in der Vermarktung. Aktive Fußball-Fans kritisieren die wirtschaftlich motivierten Interessen von Verbänden im Verlauf der letzten Monate – und setzen diese durch öffentlichkeitswirksame Verbreitung eines Konzepts zu strukturellen Veränderungen unter Druck. Das Deutsche Institut für Sportmarketing empfiehlt beiden Seiten die Bereitschaft zu einem offen geführten Dialog. Ziel ist die nachhaltige Stärkung der Marke Bundesliga im internationalen Vergleich unter Berücksichtigung von Fan-Interessen als wesentlicher Bestandteil der Attraktivität

U-Pb Zircon Dates from North American and British Avalonia Bracket the Lower–Middle Cambrian Boundary Interval, with Evaluation of the Miaolingian Series as a Global Unit

High-precision U-Pb zircon ages on SE Newfoundland tuffs now bracket the Avalonian Lower–Middle Cambrian boundary. Upper Lower Cambrian Brigus Formation tuffs yield depositional ages of 507.91 ± 0.07 Ma (Callavia broeggeri Zone) and 507.67 ± 0.08 Ma and 507.21 ± 0.13 Ma (Morocconus-Condylopyge eli Assemblage interval). Lower Middle Cambrian Chamberlain’s Brook Formation tuffs have depositional ages of 506.34 ± 0.21 Ma (Kiskinella cristata Zone) and 506.25 ± 0.07 Ma (Eccaparadoxides bennetti Zone). The composite unconformity separating the Brigus and Chamberlain’s Brook formations is constrained between these ages. An Avalonian Lower–Middle Cambrian boundary between 507.2 ± 0.1 and 506.3 ± 0.2 Ma is consistent with maximum depositional age constraints from southwest Laurentia, which indicate an age for the base of the Miaolingian Series, as locally interpreted, of ≤ 506.6 ± 0.3 Ma. The Miaolingian Series’ base is interpreted as correlative within ≤ 0.3 ± 0.3 Ma between Cambrian palaeocontinents, although its exact synchrony is questionable due to taxonomic problems with a possible Oryctocephalus indicus-plexus, invariable dysoxic lithofacies control of O. indicus and diachronous occurrence of O. indicus in temporally distinct δ13C chemozones in South China and SW Laurentia. The lowest occurrence of O. indicus assemblages is linked to onlap (epeirogenic or eustatic) of dysoxic facies. A united Avalonia is shown by late Early Cambrian volcanics in SW New Brunswick; Cape Breton Island; SE Newfoundland; and the Wrekin area, England. The new U-Pb ages revise Avalonian geological evolution as they show rapid epeirogenic changes through depositional sequences 4a–6

Congenital myelomeningocele - do we have to change our management?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Eagerly awaiting the results of the Management of Myelomeningocele Study (MOMS) and with an increasing interest in setting up intrauterine myelomeningocele repair (IUMR), the optimal management of patients suffering from congenital myelomeningocele (MMC) has become a matter of debate again. We performed a cross-sectional study at our referral-center for MMC to determine the outcome for our expectantly managed patients.</p> <p>Materials and methods</p> <p>A computed chart review at our institution revealed 70 patients suffering from MMC. Forty-three patients were eligible for the study and analyzed further. A retrospective analysis was performed only in patients that underwent MMC repair within the first two days of life and were seen at our outpatient clinic between 2008 and 2009 for a regular multidisciplinary follow-up. Data were collected on: gestational age (GA) and weight at birth, age at shunt placement and shunt status after the first year of life, radiological evidence for Arnold-Chiari malformation (ACM) and tethered cord (TC), need for surgery for TC, bladder function, lower leg function and educational level. Data were compared to published results for IUMR and to studies of historical controls.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Patients were born with MMC between 1979 and 2009 and are now 13.3 ± 8.9 (mean ± SD) years of age. At birth, mean GA was 37.8 ± 2.3 weeks and mean weight was 2921.3 ± 760.3 g, both significantly higher than in IUMR patients. Shunt placement in our cohort was required in 69.8% at a mean age of 16.0 ± 10.7 days, which was less frequent than for historical controls. Amongst our cohort, radiological observations showed 57.1% had ACM II and 41.9% had TC. Only two of our patients underwent a surgical correction for TC. Clean intermittent catheterization was performed in 69.7% of our patients, 56.4% were (assisted) walkers and 64.1% attended regular classes, both comparable to historical controls.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>With a close and interdisciplinary management by pediatric surgeons, neurologists and urologists, the long-term outcome of patients suffering from MMC can currently be considered satisfactory. With respect to the known drawbacks of fetal interventions for mother and child, especially preterm delivery, the results of the MOMS trial should be awaited with caution before proceeding with a complex intervention like IUMR.</p

New high-resolution age data from the Ediacaran-Cambrian boundary indicate rapid, ecologically driven onset of the Cambrian explosion

The replacement of the late Precambrian Ediacaran biota by morphologically disparate animals at the beginning of the Phanerozoic was a key event in the history of life on Earth, the mechanisms and the timescales of which are not entirely understood. A composite section in Namibia providing biostratigraphic and chemostratigraphic data bracketed by radiometric dating constrains the Ediacaran–Cambrian boundary to 538.6–538.8 Ma, more than 2 Ma younger than previously assumed. The U–Pb-CA-ID TIMS zircon ages demonstrate an ultrashort time frame for the LAD of the Ediacaran biota to the FAD of a complex, burrowing Phanerozoic biota represented by trace fossils to a 410 ka time window of 538.99±0.21 Ma to 538.58±0.19 Ma. The extremely short duration of the faunal transition from Ediacaran to Cambrian biota within less than 410 ka supports models of ecological cascades that followed the evolutionary breakthrough of increased mobility at the beginning of the Phanerozoic