Review of endemic Sulawesi squirrels.

260 p. : ill. (some col.), maps ; 26 cm. "Issued June 11, 2010." Includes bibliographical references (p. 246-255).Analyses of fur color patterns, morphometric data derived from external, cranial, and dental dimensions, and distributions of collection sites for voucher specimens form the basis for a taxonomic revision of Sulawesi’s endemic squirrel fauna. Eight species of tree squirrels in Rubrisciurus and Prosciurillus and two species of ground squirrels in Hyosciurus are recognized. All are diurnal and inhabit primary forest formations. Diet consists of fruit, nuts, seeds, and arthropods. Rubrisciurus rubriventer, the largest in body size, forages on the ground and in the lower canopy layer, is found throughout Sulawesi where primary forest persists, and occurs through an altitudinal range embracing tropical lowland evergreen and lower montane rain forests; it is absent from upper montane rain forest. Five species of arboreal squirrels comprise the Prosciurillus leucomus group, a cluster of species occupying the upper forest canopy: P. leucomus, known only from lowland and montane habitats in the northern peninsula and one offshore island; P. alstoni, recorded from lowland tropical evergreen rain forest in the eastern section of Sulawesi’s central core, the east-central and southeastern arms, and two southeastern islands; P. weberi, represented by a few specimens from the coastal lowlands of the southern core of Sulawesi; P. topapuensis, endemic to the western mountain block in Sulawesi’s central core and occurring along an altitudinal gradient from lowland evergreen rain forest to upper montane rain forest; and P. rosenbergii, the only species of squirrel collected on islands in the Sangihe Archipelago north of the northeastern tip of the northern peninsula. The Prosciurillus murinus group contains two species of small body size: P. murinus, found throughout Sulawesi and in all forest formations, from the coastal lowlands to mountaintops, and a forager in the lower canopy layers; and P. abstrusus, known only from montane forest habitats on Pegunungan Mekongga in the southeastern peninsula. Of two species of ground squirrels, Hyosciurus heinrichi occupies montane forest habitats in the western mountain block of Sulawesi’s central core. It is altitudinally parapatric to H. ileile, which inhabits lowland evergreen and lower montane rain forests in the western mountain block and northeastern lowlands of central Sulawesi, and montane forest on the northern peninsula. A slightly revised classification of Sciuridae is provided in which a new tribe, Exilisciurini, is proposed for the Bornean and Philippine Exilisciurus. Previously published results of morphological and molecular analyses point to Rubrisciurus, Prosciurillus, and Hyosciurus as a monophyletic cluster, the Hyosciurina, nested within a larger clade, the Nannosciurini, which along with Exilisciurini n. tribe and Funambulini, comprise the Nannosciurinae, one of the three subfamilies constituting Sciuridae, and one that contains most of the Indomalayan genera. The present diversity of species endemic to Sulawesi was derived from an ancient lineage that crossed a sea barrier from the Sunda Shelf to Sulawesi during the late Miocene. Eight new species of hoplopleurid sucking lice ‪(‬Insecta, Anoplura‪)‬ are described as parasitizing 8 of the 10 species of squirrels endemic to Sulawesi: Hoplopleura rubrisciuri from Rubrisciurus rubriventer, Hoplopleura leucomus from Prosciurillus leucomus, Hoplopleura alstoni from Prosciurillus alstoni, Hoplopleura topapuensis from Prosciurillus topapuensis, Hoplopleura murinus from Prosciurillus murinus, Hoplopleura abstrusus from Prosciurillus abstrusus, Hoplopleura heinrichi from Hyosciurus heinrichi, and Hoplopleura ileile from Hyosciurus ileile. Examples of Prosciurillus weberi and P. rosenbergii were surveyed but no lice were recovered. A phylogenetic analysis based on cladistic principles for six species of Sulawesian squirrel lice for which both sexes were available is presented and the results discussed with respect to host relationships. These new data are incorporated into a discussion covering zoogeography of global sciurid-sucking louse associations, emphasizing the Indomalayan squirrel fauna. Globally, members of 11 genera of Anoplura parasitize sciurids, a figure far exceeding the number of anopluran genera associated with any other mammalian family. Nine of these ‪(‬the enderleinellids, Atopophthirus, Enderleinellus, Microphthirus, Phthirunculus, and Werneckia; the hoplopleurid, Paradoxophthirus; and the polyplacids, Johnsonpthirus, Linognathoides, and Neohaematopinus‪)‬ are primary parasites of sciurids. The remaining two ‪(‬the hoplopleurid Hoplopleura, and the polyplacid Polyplax‪)‬ include representatives that are acquired ‪(‬secondary‪)‬ parasites of sciurids--the majority of species in these two louse genera parasitize other groups of mammals but a small number of species have transferred to squirrel hosts. Sciurid hosts and geographic distributions of these 11 anopluran genera are discussed. Historically, representatives of Hoplopleura colonized different sciurid hosts on several separate occasions with one known species on a North American tree squirrel ‪(‬Sciurus‪)‬, two described species on North American flying squirrels ‪(‬Glaucomys‪)‬, two species parasitizing North American species of chipmunks ‪(‬Tamias and Eutamias‪)‬, 14 described species from Indomalayan nannosciurine squirrels ‪(‬Callosciurus, Tamiops, Rubrisciurus, Prosciurillus, Hyosciurus, and Funambulus‪)‬, and one species parasitizing a Chinese xerine ground squirrel ‪(‬Sciurotamias‪)‬. The zoogeography of the seven sciurid-infesting louse genera known from Southeast Asia is discussed using data from nine different countries or regions ‪(‬China, Taiwan, Thailand, peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, the Philippines, and Sulawesi‪)‬. A reduction in the number of sciuirid-infesting anopluran genera and species is apparent from mainland northern/western regions to insular southern/eastern regions with members of seven genera and 23 species described from China but only one genus and eight species from Sulawesi. The absence of known species of Hoplopleura from Bornean and Javanese squirrels suggests that such a fauna may await discovery on one or both of these islands. Six of the eight species of Hoplopleura found parasitizing species of endemic Sulawesi squirrels were recovered as a monophyletic clade from a phylogenetic analysis employing anatomical structures associated with male and female lice. ‪(‬Two species of Sulawesi Hoplopleura are based on females and nymphs only and were not incorporated into the analysis.‪)‬ The monophyletic cluster formed by the Sulawesian squirrel lice joined with the monophyletic assemblage containing the three Sulawesi squirrel genera--Rubrisciurus, Prosciurillus, and Hyosciurus--suggest that the ancestral squirrel lineage that arrived in Sulawesi during the late Miocene may have been carrying its unique Hoplopleura parasite

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy

Clinical Trials in Head Injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains a major public health problem globally. In the United States the incidence of closed head injuries admitted to hospitals is conservatively estimated to be 200 per 100,000 population, and the incidence of penetrating head injury is estimated to be 12 per 100,000, the highest of any developed country in the world. This yields an approximate number of 500,000 new cases each year, a sizeable proportion of which demonstrate signficant long-term disabilities. Unfortunately, there is a paucity of proven therapies for this disease. For a variety of reasons, clinical trials for this condition have been difficult to design and perform. Despite promising pre-clinical data, most of the trials that have been performed in recent years have failed to demonstrate any significant improvement in outcomes. The reasons for these failures have not always been apparent and any insights gained were not always shared. It was therefore feared that we were running the risk of repeating our mistakes. Recognizing the importance of TBI, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) sponsored a workshop that brought together experts from clinical, research, and pharmaceutical backgrounds. This workshop proved to be very informative and yielded many insights into previous and future TBI trials. This paper is an attempt to summarize the key points made at the workshop. It is hoped that these lessons will enhance the planning and design of future efforts in this important field of research.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/63185/1/089771502753754037.pd

Introduction: Toward an Engaged Feminist Heritage Praxis

We advocate a feminist approach to archaeological heritage work in order to transform heritage practice and the production of archaeological knowledge. We use an engaged feminist standpoint and situate intersubjectivity and intersectionality as critical components of this practice. An engaged feminist approach to heritage work allows the discipline to consider women’s, men’s, and gender non-conforming persons’ positions in the field, to reveal their contributions, to develop critical pedagogical approaches, and to rethink forms of representation. Throughout, we emphasize the intellectual labor of women of color, queer and gender non-conforming persons, and early white feminists in archaeology

Variation in human water turnover associated with environmental and lifestyle factors

Water is essential for survival, but one in three individuals worldwide (2.2 billion people) lacks access to safe drinking water. Water intake requirements largely reflect water turnover (WT), the water used by the body each day. We investigated the determinants of human WT in 5604 people from the ages of 8 days to 96 years from 23 countries using isotope-tracking (2H) methods. Age, body size, and composition were significantly associated with WT, as were physical activity, athletic status, pregnancy, socioeconomic status, and environmental characteristics (latitude, altitude, air temperature, and humidity). People who lived in countries with a low human development index (HDI) had higher WT than people in high-HDI countries. On the basis of this extensive dataset, we provide equations to predict human WT in relation to anthropometric, economic, and environmental factors.acceptedVersio

Contributions in honor of Guy G. Musser.

450 p. : ill. (some col.), maps ; 26 cm. "Issued December 15, 2009." Includes bibliographical references.Contents: They sort out like nuts and bolts : a scientific biography of Guy G. Musser / Michael D. Carleton -- Taxonomy, distribution, and natural history of the genus Heteromys ‪(‬Rodentia: Heteromyidae‪)‬ in central and eastern Venezuela, with the description of a new species from the Cordillera de la Costa / Robert P. Anderson and Eliécer E. Gutiérrez -- Review of the Oryzomys couesi complex ‪(‬Rodentia: Cricetidae: Sigmodontinae‪)‬ in western Mexico / Michael D. Carleton and Joaquin Arroyo-Cabrales -- The antiquity of Rhizomys and independent acquisition of fossorial traits in subterranean muroids / Lawrence J. Flynn -- A new species of Reithrodontomys, subgenus Aporodon ‪(‬Cricetidae: Neotominae‪)‬, from the highlands of Costa Rica, with comments on Costa Rican and Panamanian Reithrodontomys / Alfred L. Gardner and Michael D. Carleton -- Phylogenetic relationships of harpyionycterine megabats ‪(‬Chiroptera: Pteropodidae‪)‬ / Norberto P. Giannini, Francisca Cunha Almeida, and Nancy B. Simmons -- A new genus and species of small ‪"‬tree-mouse‪"‬ ‪(‬Rodentia, Muridae‪)‬ related to the Philippine giant cloud rats / Lawrence R. Heaney, Danilo S. Balete, Eric A. Rickart, M. Josefa Veluz, and Sharon A. Jansa -- Biodiversity and biogeography of the moss-mice of New Guinea : a taxonomic revision of Pseudohydromys ‪(‬Muridae: Murinae‪)‬ / Kristofer M. Helgen and Lauren E. Helgen -- Systematic revision of sub-Saharan African dormice ‪(‬Rodentia: Gliridae‪)‬. Part 2, Description of a new species of Graphiurus from the central Congo Basin, including morphological and ecological niche comparisons with G. crassicaudatus and G. lorraineus / Mary Ellen Holden and Rebecca S. Levine -- Descriptions of new species of Crocidura ‪(‬Soricomorpha: Soricidae‪)‬ from mainland Southeast Asia, with synopses of previously described species and remarks on biogeography / Paulina D. Jenkins, Darrin P. Lunde, and Clive B. Moncrieff -- The six opossums of Félix de Azara : identification, taxonomic history, neotype designations, and nomenclatural recommendations / Robert S. Voss, Philip Myers, François Catzeflis, Ana Paula Carmignotto, and Josefina Barreiro -- Skull and dentition of Willeumys korthi, nov. gen. et sp., a cricetid rodent from the Oligocene ‪(‬Orellan‪)‬ of Wyoming / John H. Wahlert

Case Reports1. A Late Presentation of Loeys-Dietz Syndrome: Beware of TGFβ Receptor Mutations in Benign Joint Hypermobility

Background: Thoracic aortic aneurysms (TAA) and dissections are not uncommon causes of sudden death in young adults. Loeys-Dietz syndrome (LDS) is a rare, recently described, autosomal dominant, connective tissue disease characterized by aggressive arterial aneurysms, resulting from mutations in the transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) receptor genes TGFBR1 and TGFBR2. Mean age at death is 26.1 years, most often due to aortic dissection. We report an unusually late presentation of LDS, diagnosed following elective surgery in a female with a long history of joint hypermobility. Methods: A 51-year-old Caucasian lady complained of chest pain and headache following a dural leak from spinal anaesthesia for an elective ankle arthroscopy. CT scan and echocardiography demonstrated a dilated aortic root and significant aortic regurgitation. MRA demonstrated aortic tortuosity, an infrarenal aortic aneurysm and aneurysms in the left renal and right internal mammary arteries. She underwent aortic root repair and aortic valve replacement. She had a background of long-standing joint pains secondary to hypermobility, easy bruising, unusual fracture susceptibility and mild bronchiectasis. She had one healthy child age 32, after which she suffered a uterine prolapse. Examination revealed mild Marfanoid features. Uvula, skin and ophthalmological examination was normal. Results: Fibrillin-1 testing for Marfan syndrome (MFS) was negative. Detection of a c.1270G > C (p.Gly424Arg) TGFBR2 mutation confirmed the diagnosis of LDS. Losartan was started for vascular protection. Conclusions: LDS is a severe inherited vasculopathy that usually presents in childhood. It is characterized by aortic root dilatation and ascending aneurysms. There is a higher risk of aortic dissection compared with MFS. Clinical features overlap with MFS and Ehlers Danlos syndrome Type IV, but differentiating dysmorphogenic features include ocular hypertelorism, bifid uvula and cleft palate. Echocardiography and MRA or CT scanning from head to pelvis is recommended to establish the extent of vascular involvement. Management involves early surgical intervention, including early valve-sparing aortic root replacement, genetic counselling and close monitoring in pregnancy. Despite being caused by loss of function mutations in either TGFβ receptor, paradoxical activation of TGFβ signalling is seen, suggesting that TGFβ antagonism may confer disease modifying effects similar to those observed in MFS. TGFβ antagonism can be achieved with angiotensin antagonists, such as Losartan, which is able to delay aortic aneurysm development in preclinical models and in patients with MFS. Our case emphasizes the importance of timely recognition of vasculopathy syndromes in patients with hypermobility and the need for early surgical intervention. It also highlights their heterogeneity and the potential for late presentation. Disclosures: The authors have declared no conflicts of interes

Adjunctive rifampicin for Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia (ARREST): a multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia is a common cause of severe community-acquired and hospital-acquired infection worldwide. We tested the hypothesis that adjunctive rifampicin would reduce bacteriologically confirmed treatment failure or disease recurrence, or death, by enhancing early S aureus killing, sterilising infected foci and blood faster, and reducing risks of dissemination and metastatic infection. METHODS: In this multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, adults (≥18 years) with S aureus bacteraemia who had received ≤96 h of active antibiotic therapy were recruited from 29 UK hospitals. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) via a computer-generated sequential randomisation list to receive 2 weeks of adjunctive rifampicin (600 mg or 900 mg per day according to weight, oral or intravenous) versus identical placebo, together with standard antibiotic therapy. Randomisation was stratified by centre. Patients, investigators, and those caring for the patients were masked to group allocation. The primary outcome was time to bacteriologically confirmed treatment failure or disease recurrence, or death (all-cause), from randomisation to 12 weeks, adjudicated by an independent review committee masked to the treatment. Analysis was intention to treat. This trial was registered, number ISRCTN37666216, and is closed to new participants. FINDINGS: Between Dec 10, 2012, and Oct 25, 2016, 758 eligible participants were randomly assigned: 370 to rifampicin and 388 to placebo. 485 (64%) participants had community-acquired S aureus infections, and 132 (17%) had nosocomial S aureus infections. 47 (6%) had meticillin-resistant infections. 301 (40%) participants had an initial deep infection focus. Standard antibiotics were given for 29 (IQR 18-45) days; 619 (82%) participants received flucloxacillin. By week 12, 62 (17%) of participants who received rifampicin versus 71 (18%) who received placebo experienced treatment failure or disease recurrence, or died (absolute risk difference -1·4%, 95% CI -7·0 to 4·3; hazard ratio 0·96, 0·68-1·35, p=0·81). From randomisation to 12 weeks, no evidence of differences in serious (p=0·17) or grade 3-4 (p=0·36) adverse events were observed; however, 63 (17%) participants in the rifampicin group versus 39 (10%) in the placebo group had antibiotic or trial drug-modifying adverse events (p=0·004), and 24 (6%) versus six (2%) had drug interactions (p=0·0005). INTERPRETATION: Adjunctive rifampicin provided no overall benefit over standard antibiotic therapy in adults with S aureus bacteraemia. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment

Procalcitonin Is Not a Reliable Biomarker of Bacterial Coinfection in People With Coronavirus Disease 2019 Undergoing Microbiological Investigation at the Time of Hospital Admission

Abstract Admission procalcitonin measurements and microbiology results were available for 1040 hospitalized adults with coronavirus disease 2019 (from 48 902 included in the International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infections Consortium World Health Organization Clinical Characterisation Protocol UK study). Although procalcitonin was higher in bacterial coinfection, this was neither clinically significant (median [IQR], 0.33 [0.11–1.70] ng/mL vs 0.24 [0.10–0.90] ng/mL) nor diagnostically useful (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, 0.56 [95% confidence interval, .51–.60]).</jats:p