Reconnaissance Basement Geology and Tectonics of South Zealandia

We report new U‐Pb zircon ages, geochemical and isotopic data for Mesozoic igneous rocks, and new seismic interpretations of mostly submerged South Zealandia (1.5 Mkm2). We use these data, along with existing geological and geophysical data sets, to refine the extent and nature of geological units. Our new 1:25 M geological map of South Zealandia provides a regional framework to investigate the rifting and breakup that formed Zealandia, Earth's most submerged continent. Samples of prerift (pre‐100 Ma) plutonic rocks can be matched with on‐land New Zealand igneous suites and indicate an east‐west strike for the subduction‐related 260 to 105‐Ma Median Batholith across the Campbell Plateau. The plutonic chronology of formerly contiguous plutonic rocks in West Antarctica reveals similar pulses and lulls to the Median Batholith. Contrary to previous interpretations, the Median Batholith does not coincide with the 1,600‐km‐long Campbell Magnetic Anomaly System. Instead we interpret the continental magnetic anomalies to represent a mainly mafic igneous unit, whose shape and extent is controlled by synrift structures related to Gondwana breakup. Correlatives of some of these unsampled igneous rocks may be exposed as circa 85 Ma alkalic volcanic rocks on the Chatham Islands. Extension directions varied by up to 65° from 100 to 80 Ma, and we suggest this allowed this large area to thin considerably before final rupture to form new oceanic crust. Synrift (90–80 Ma) structures cut the oroclinal bend in southern South Island and support a pre‐early Late Cretaceous age of orocline formation.The work was supported by Core Research Funding to GNS Science by the New Zealand Government Ministry of Business, Employment and Innovation

Pandemics, vulnerability and prevention: time to fundamentally reassess how we value and communicate risk?

Pandemics have long been recognised on the UK’s National Risk Register as both the likeliest and most severe of threats. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as obesity, heart failure and mental ill-health was already crippling our healthcare services and our economy. The quality of the places in which we live and to which we have access, most especially in deprived populations, compound that vulnerability significantly. When vulnerable, as we are now, we are forced to acknowledge what has weakened us, and to fundamentally reassess our actions and priorities

Comparative analysis of genome-wide association studies signals for lipids, diabetes, and coronary heart disease: Cardiovascular Biomarker Genetics Collaboration

To evaluate the associations of emergent genome-wide-association study-derived coronary heart disease (CHD)-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with established and emerging risk factors, and the association of genome-wide-association study-derived lipid-associated SNPs with other risk factors and CHD events

Typing myalgic encephalomyelitis by infection at onset: A DecodeME study [version 4; peer review: 2 approved]

Background: People with myalgic encephalomyelitis / chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) experience core symptoms of post-exertional malaise, unrefreshing sleep, and cognitive impairment. Despite numbering 0.2-0.4% of the population, no laboratory test is available for their diagnosis, no effective therapy exists for their treatment, and no scientific breakthrough regarding pathogenesis has been made. It remains unknown, despite decades of small-scale studies, whether individuals experience different types of ME/CFS separated by onset-type, sex or age. Methods: DecodeME is a large population-based study of ME/CFS that recruited 17,074 participants in the first 3 months following full launch. Detailed questionnaire responses from UK-based participants who all reported being diagnosed with ME/CFS by a health professional provided an unparalleled opportunity to investigate, using logistic regression, whether ME/CFS severity or onset type is significantly associated with sex, age, illness duration, comorbid conditions or symptoms. Results: The well-established sex-bias among ME/CFS patients is evident in the initial DecodeME cohort: 83.5% of participants were females. What was not known previously was that females tend to have more comorbidities than males. Moreover, being female, being older and being over 10 years from ME/CFS onset are significantly associated with greater severity.  Five different ME/CFS onset types were examined in the self-reported data: those with ME/CFS onset (i) after glandular fever (infectious mononucleosis); (ii) after COVID-19 infection; (iii) after other infections; (iv) without an infection at onset; and, (v) where the occurrence of an infection at or preceding onset is not known. Among other findings, ME/CFS onset with unknown infection status was significantly associated with active fibromyalgia. Conclusions: DecodeME participants differ in symptoms, comorbid conditions and/or illness severity when stratified by their sex-at-birth and/or infection around the time of ME/CFS onset

Effect of Hydrocortisone on Mortality and Organ Support in Patients With Severe COVID-19: The REMAP-CAP COVID-19 Corticosteroid Domain Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Evidence regarding corticosteroid use for severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is limited. Objective: To determine whether hydrocortisone improves outcome for patients with severe COVID-19. Design, Setting, and Participants: An ongoing adaptive platform trial testing multiple interventions within multiple therapeutic domains, for example, antiviral agents, corticosteroids, or immunoglobulin. Between March 9 and June 17, 2020, 614 adult patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 were enrolled and randomized within at least 1 domain following admission to an intensive care unit (ICU) for respiratory or cardiovascular organ support at 121 sites in 8 countries. Of these, 403 were randomized to open-label interventions within the corticosteroid domain. The domain was halted after results from another trial were released. Follow-up ended August 12, 2020. Interventions: The corticosteroid domain randomized participants to a fixed 7-day course of intravenous hydrocortisone (50 mg or 100 mg every 6 hours) (n = 143), a shock-dependent course (50 mg every 6 hours when shock was clinically evident) (n = 152), or no hydrocortisone (n = 108). Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary end point was organ support-free days (days alive and free of ICU-based respiratory or cardiovascular support) within 21 days, where patients who died were assigned -1 day. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model that included all patients enrolled with severe COVID-19, adjusting for age, sex, site, region, time, assignment to interventions within other domains, and domain and intervention eligibility. Superiority was defined as the posterior probability of an odds ratio greater than 1 (threshold for trial conclusion of superiority >99%). Results: After excluding 19 participants who withdrew consent, there were 384 patients (mean age, 60 years; 29% female) randomized to the fixed-dose (n = 137), shock-dependent (n = 146), and no (n = 101) hydrocortisone groups; 379 (99%) completed the study and were included in the analysis. The mean age for the 3 groups ranged between 59.5 and 60.4 years; most patients were male (range, 70.6%-71.5%); mean body mass index ranged between 29.7 and 30.9; and patients receiving mechanical ventilation ranged between 50.0% and 63.5%. For the fixed-dose, shock-dependent, and no hydrocortisone groups, respectively, the median organ support-free days were 0 (IQR, -1 to 15), 0 (IQR, -1 to 13), and 0 (-1 to 11) days (composed of 30%, 26%, and 33% mortality rates and 11.5, 9.5, and 6 median organ support-free days among survivors). The median adjusted odds ratio and bayesian probability of superiority were 1.43 (95% credible interval, 0.91-2.27) and 93% for fixed-dose hydrocortisone, respectively, and were 1.22 (95% credible interval, 0.76-1.94) and 80% for shock-dependent hydrocortisone compared with no hydrocortisone. Serious adverse events were reported in 4 (3%), 5 (3%), and 1 (1%) patients in the fixed-dose, shock-dependent, and no hydrocortisone groups, respectively. Conclusions and Relevance: Among patients with severe COVID-19, treatment with a 7-day fixed-dose course of hydrocortisone or shock-dependent dosing of hydrocortisone, compared with no hydrocortisone, resulted in 93% and 80% probabilities of superiority with regard to the odds of improvement in organ support-free days within 21 days. However, the trial was stopped early and no treatment strategy met prespecified criteria for statistical superiority, precluding definitive conclusions. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02735707

The effects of organisational culture on choices of accounting disclosure : an Australian perspective

The effects of organisational culture on choices of accounting disclosure : an Australian perspectiv

Letter from Andy Ireland

Letter from Andy Irelan