An immunocompromised dialysis patient with skin and bone lesions

Patients with chronic kidney failure have disturbances of immune function involving both innate and adaptive systems. These result in both immunodepression which increases susceptibility to infection and immunoactivation leading to a chronic inflammatory state [1]. Dialysis treatment may further aggravate aspects of this, especially the induction of inflammation. In addition, there is a growing number of patients who have returned to dialysis programmes following transplant failure. Many of these will have been intensively immunosuppressed, often over years or decades. These patients are at particular risk.Non peer reviewedFinal Published versio

A new chironomid (Insecta : Diptera) from Wealden amber (Lower Cretaceous) of the Isle of Wight (UK)

The first insect from the Wealden amber of the Isle of Wight (early Barremian) is formally described. Dungeyella gavini n. gen., n. sp. (Diptera: Chironomidae) is a tiny buchonomyiine/podonomian with specialised wing venation and probably lived in an araucarian riparian woodland with seasonal resin production. It is in one of the oldest-known ambers with insect inclusions

Early Cretaceous angiosperms and beetle evolution

The Coleoptera (beetles) constitute almost one–fourth of all known life-forms on earth. They are also among the most important pollinators of flowering plants, especially basal angiosperms. Beetle fossils are abundant, almost spanning the entire Early Cretaceous, and thus provide important clues to explore the co-evolutionary processes between beetles and angiosperms. We review the fossil record of some Early Cretaceous polyphagan beetles including Tenebrionoidea, Scarabaeoidea, Curculionoidea, and Chrysomeloidea. Both the fossil record and molecular analyses reveal that these four groups had already diversified during or before the Early Cretaceous, clearly before the initial rise of angiosperms to widespread floristic dominance. These four beetle groups are important pollinators of basal angiosperms today, suggesting that their ecological association with angiosperms probably formed as early as in the Early Cretaceous. With the description of additional well-preserved fossils and improvements in phylogenetic analyses, our knowledge of Mesozoic beetle–angiosperm mutualisms will greatly increase during the near future

Earwigs (Dermaptera) from the Mesozoic of England and Australia, described from isolated tegmina, including the first species to be named from the Triassic

Dermaptera (earwigs) are described from the Triassic of Australia and England, and from the Jurassic and Cretaceous of England. Phanerogramma heeri (Giebel) is transferred from Coleoptera and it and Brevicula gradus Whalley are re-described. Seven new taxa are named based on tegmina: Phanerogramma australis sp. nov. and P. dunstani sp. nov. from the Late Triassic of Australia; P. gouldsbroughi sp. nov. from the Triassic/Jurassic of England; Brevicula maculata sp. nov. and Trivenapteron moorei gen. et sp. nov. from the Early Jurassic of England; and Dimapteron corami gen et sp. nov. and Valdopteron woodi gen. et sp. nov. from the Early Cretaceous of England. Phanerogramma, Dimapteron and Valdopteron are tentatively placed in the family Dermapteridae, and Trivenapteron is incertae sedis. Most of the specimens of Phanerogramma heeri are from the Brodie Collection and labelled ‘Lower Lias'; however, some were collected from the underlying Penarth Group, thus this species spans the Triassic/Jurassic boundary. The palaeobiogeography of the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic of England is discussed

The oldest plant-insect interaction in Croatia: Carboniferous evidence

The feeding trace Phagophytichnus ekowskii VAN AMEROM, 1966 is recorded on Taeniopteris carnotii ZEILLER, 1888, a cycadopsid leaf, from the Lika mudstone (Upper Kasimovian-Gzhelian) of Croatia. The distribution and occurrence of this ichnogenus and species are discussed and comparison made with occurrences on Taeniopteris angustifolia (SCHENK, 1927) in the Upper Landinian of Germany. Recent analogues are considered of the possible producer and an orthopteroid insect is suggested.</p

The first fossil Perilestidae (Odonata: Zygoptera) from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber

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Potentially Diagnostic Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Spectra Elucidate the Underlying Mechanism of Mitochondrial Dysfunction in the Deoxyguanosine Kinase Deficient Rat Model of a Genetic Mitochondrial DNA Depletion Syndrome

A novel rat model for a well-characterized human mitochondrial disease, mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome with associated deoxyguanosine kinase (DGUOK) deficiency, is described. The rat model recapitulates the pathologic and biochemical signatures of the human disease. The application of electron paramagnetic (spin) resonance (EPR) spectroscopy to the identification and characterization of respiratory chain abnormalities in the mitochondria from freshly frozen tissue of the mitochondrial disease model rat is introduced. EPR is shown to be a sensitive technique for detecting mitochondrial functional abnormalities in situ and, here, is particularly useful in characterizing the redox state changes and oxidative stress that can result from depressed expression and/or diminished specific activity of the distinct respiratory chain complexes. As EPR requires no sample preparation or non-physiological reagents, it provides information on the status of the mitochondrion as it was in the functioning state. On its own, this information is of use in identifying respiratory chain dysfunction; in conjunction with other techniques, the information from EPR shows how the respiratory chain is affected at the molecular level by the dysfunction. It is proposed that EPR has a role in mechanistic pathophysiological studies of mitochondrial disease and could be used to study the impact of new treatment modalities or as an additional diagnostic tool

Brood care in a 100-million-year-old scale insect

Behavior of extinct organisms can be inferred only indirectly, but occasionally rare fossils document particular behaviors directly. Brood care, a remarkable behavior promoting the survival of the next generation, has evolved independently numerous times among animals including insects. However, fossil evidence of such a complex behavior is exceptionally scarce. Here, we report an ensign scale insect (Hemiptera: Ortheziidae), Wathondara kotejai gen. et sp. nov., from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber, which preserves eggs within a wax ovisac, and several freshly hatched nymphs. The new fossil is the only Mesozoic record of an adult female scale insect. More importantly, our finding represents the earliest unequivocal direct evidence of brood care in the insect fossil record and demonstrates a remarkably conserved egg-brooding reproductive strategy within scale insects in stasis for nearly 100 million years