The first ornithosuchid from Brazil and its macroevolutionary and phylogenetic implications for Late Triassic faunas in Gondwana

Ornithosuchidae is one of the most enigmatic clades of Triassic pseudosuchians. The group is composed by three carnivorous species that were excavated from Upper Triassic beds of Scotland and Argentina. We describe the first ornithosuchid from the Upper Triassic sediments of Brazil and explore its phylogenetic affinities and implications for the evolution of the group. Dynamosuchus collisensis gen. et sp. nov. was found as the sister taxon of the Argentinean form Venaticosuchus rusconii. These relationships reject a potential endemic radiation of ornithosuchids from the Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin and would better support multiple diversification events. Our findings with ornithosuchids is consistent with the pattern reported for proterochampsid and erpetosuchid archosauriforms from Ischigualasto-Villa Unión and the Paraná basins. In addition, the presence of an ornithosuchid in the Late Triassic of Brazil suggests that ornithosuchids were more widespread than previously thought in the southern hemisphere. The new ornithosuchid further demonstrates a faunistic link between the Argentinean and Brazilian basins during the Carnian. Finally, the discovery of the new species provides the first clue of a putative necrophagous vertebrate from the oldest dinosaur-bearing beds and expands our knowledge regarding the trophic structure of the Late Triassic of Brazil.Fil: Müller, Rodrigo. Universidade Federal de Santa Maria; BrasilFil: Von Baczko, Belen. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. División Paleontología Vertebrados; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; ArgentinaFil: Desojo, Julia Brenda. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. División Paleontología Vertebrados; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; ArgentinaFil: Nesbitt, Sterling. Virginia Tech University; Estados Unido

Footnotes Aren’t Enough: The Impact of Pension Accounting on Stock Values

Some research has suggested that companies with defined benefit (DB) pensions are sometimes significantly misvalued by the market. This is because the measures of pension cost and pension net liabilities embedded in financial statements, taken at face value, can provide very misleading picture of pension finances. The more pertinent information on pension finances is relegated to footnotes, but might not receive much attention from portfolio managers. But dramatic swings in the financial conditions of large DB plans around the turn of the decade focused widespread attention on pension accounting practices, and dissatisfaction with current accounting standards has recently prompted the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) to take up a project revamp DB pension accounting. Arguably, the increased attention should have made investors wise to the informational problems, thereby eliminating systematic mispricing in recent years. We test this proposition and conclude that investors continued to misvalue DB pensions, inducing sizable valuation errors in the stock of many companies. Our findings suggest that FASB’s current reform efforts could substantially aid the market’s ability to value firms with DB pensions

Footnotes Aren't Enough: The Impact of Pension Accounting on Stock Values

Some research has suggested that companies with defined benefit (DB) pensions are sometimes significantly misvalued by the market. This is because the measures of pension cost and pension net liabilities embedded in financial statements, taken at face value, can provide very misleading picture of pension finances. The more pertinent information on pension finances is relegated to footnotes, but might not receive much attention from portfolio managers. But dramatic swings in the financial conditions of large DB plans around the turn of the decade focused widespread attention on pension accounting practices, and dissatisfaction with current accounting standards has recently prompted the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) to take up a project revamp DB pension accounting. Arguably, the increased attention should have made investors wise to the informational problems, thereby eliminating systematic mispricing in recent years. We test this proposition and conclude that investors continued to misvalue DB pensions, inducing sizable valuation errors in the stock of many companies. Our findings suggest that FASB's current reform efforts could substantially aid the market's ability to value firms with DB pensions.

Impact of results-based financing on effective obstetric care coverage : evidence from a quasi-experimental study in Malawi

Background: Results-based financing (RBF) describes health system approaches addressing both service quality and use. Effective coverage is a metric measuring progress towards universal health coverage (UHC). Although considered a means towards achieving UHC in settings with weak health financing modalities, the impact of RBF on effective coverage has not been explicitly studied. Methods: Malawi introduced the Results-Based Financing For Maternal and Neonatal Health (RBF4MNH) Initiative in 2013 to improve quality of maternal and newborn health services at emergency obstetric care facilities. Using a quasi-experimental design, we examined the impact of the RBF4MNH on both crude and effective coverage of pregnant women across four districts during the two years following implementation. Results: There was no effect on crude coverage. With a larger proportion of women in intervention areas receiving more effective care over time, the overall net increase in effective coverage was 7.1%-points (p = 0.07). The strongest impact on effective coverage (31.0%-point increase, p = 0.02) occurred only at lower cut-off level (60% of maximum score) of obstetric care effectiveness. Design-specific and wider health system factors likely limited the program's potential to produce stronger effects. Conclusion: The RBF4MNH improved effective coverage of pregnant women and seems to be a promising reform approach towards reaching UHC. Given the short study period, the full potential of the current RBF scheme has likely not yet been reached.Peer reviewe

THE EXPANDED CITY - STAGE TWO

For 10 years In Certain Places has focused on and shaped developments within the city centre of Preston. The Expanded City is a three-stage programme of artistic research, interventions and events, designed to inform a series of planned infrastructure projects on the outskirts of Preston. Part of Preston’s ‘City Deal’ – a central government initiative which aims to encourage economic growth by addressing strategic infrastructure challenges – the scheme includes the creation of over 17,000 houses as well as new roads and amenities. In the first stage of The Expanded City project (2015-2016) commissioned artists Olivia Keith, Gavin Renshaw, Emily Speed and duo Ian Nesbitt and Ruth Levene investigated the physical and cultural topography of the outskirts of Preston, ‘deep mapping’ the areas marked for growth. The artists share an interest in boundaries, routes, edges and the urban/rural binary, and work across a range of media, including film, photography and performance. This second phase running from 2017 until 2018 was a continuation of the artists' active research and saw the project expand with a series of Network events which brought external perspectives from experts and local communities directly into the development of the artists’ work. These included; Ruth Levene and Ian Nesbitt's 'Precarious Landscape Bus Tour' with archaeologist Bob Johnston; Gavin Renshaw's 'Routes in, Routes Out' in conversation event with cycling journalist Jack Thurston; Olivia Keith two week residency at the Final Whistle Cafe in Cottam culminating in a workshop 'Traces of Place'; Emily Speed's in conversation event with architect Lee Ivett on the topic of playspace 'What do we need in a Space for Play?'; and Lauren Velvick's 'Open House' event, an informal evening of music and discussion about the politics and practicalities of housing, leading to the creation of an 'Open House' publication. The second phase featured the 'Lie of the Land' symposium, a day of artworks, presentations and conversations, which drew on research undertaken by the artists to explore how our everyday lives are shaped by the ownership, management and development of land. The symposium featured talks by Peter Hetherington – journalist and author of the book 'Whose Land is Our Land: The use and abuse of Britain’s forgotten acres', and Julia Heslop – a Newcastle-based artist whose self-build housing project, 'Protohome' (2016), examined participatory alternatives to mainstream housing provision. The event also included a bus tour to sites in and around Preston, during which The Expanded City artists presented their research into issues of housing, cycling infrastructure and the changing landscape. The symposium was accompanied by 'The Expanded City Map' created by artist Claire Tindale. The map geographically locates and gives details of the main research insights generated through the projects by the commissioned artists This phase saw the finalisation by The Decorators of two pieces emerging from their research the 'Learning from Preston' report and the 'Garstang Road Stories' audio artwork. (https://podtail.com/en/podcast/the-decorators-on-air/garstang-road-stories/) Ruth Levene and Ian Nesbitt's research culminated in May 2018 with them curating 'Notes from a Precarious Landscape' – a community exhibition curated by in a vacant house in a new development in Cottam, North Preston, which included contributions from residents of Preston and its surrounding villages. The exhibition explored the ways in which the land around the city is changing or has changed in the past. Emily Speed’s research in phase two of The Expanded City culminated in the project ‘Model Village?’ in June 2018, during which she worked with members of the public, including local residents and school pupils of all ages to construct a temporary model village on the site of a housing development. Participants were asked ‘What would your dream place to live or play in look like?’ and had the opportunity to use coloured clay to build their ideal home, and make a mark on the village by creating, extending, squashing or customising its buildings, trees, parks and streets. Gavin Renshaw's research in this phase concluded with the production of a cycling map for Preston which collates routes, information relevant to cyclists, such as storage, topography and traffic black spots, and existing cycle infrastructure within a single, visual inventory. Olivia Keith's project 'Traces of Place' involved a two-week residency at the Final Whistle Café in Cottam during the summer of 2017, in which she collated memories and contributions from local people.. As a direct result of her work and the conversations hosted, Olivia was invited to contribute to the 'Streets of Change: Beattie’s Preston and Beyond' exhibition at the Harris Museum and Art Gallery, where she created 'Setting in Place: The Making of a Jellied Map of Nether Bartle' a performance installation in two separate venues, Bartle Hall and Harris Museum & Art Gallery, Preston. Another outcome from her research was the creation of a linocut 'Nether Bartle map' as a prompt for discussions around naming and place. The Expanded City has been developed in response to an invitation from Preston City Council, to inform a programme of infrastructure projects on the outskirts of the city proposed by a £430m City Deal scheme. The City Deal scheme aims to deliver new jobs and housing, by addressing strategic transport, environmental, community and cultural infrastructure challenges

Probing the origins of vibrational mode specificity in intramolecular dynamics through picosecond time-resolved photoelectron imaging studies

We have studied the intramolecular dynamics induced by selective photoexcitation of two near-isoenergetic vibrational states in S1 p-fluorotoluene using picosecond time-resolved photoelectron imaging. We find that similar dynamics ensue following the preparation of the 13111 and 7a111 states that lie at 1990 cm-1 and 2026 cm-1, and that these dynamics are mediated by a single strongly coupled doorway state in each case. However, the lifetimes differ by a factor of three, suggesting an influence of the vibrational character of the modes involved. Our results clearly show the contribution of torsion-vibration coupling to the dynamics; this is further corroborated by comparison with the 7a111 state in S1 p-difluorobenzene, which lies at 2068 cm-1. We invoke a model in which van der Waals interactions between methyl hydrogen atoms and nearby ring carbon and hydrogen atoms leads to mixing of the vibrational and torsional states. This model predicts that enhanced torsion-vibration coupling occurs when mode 7a is excited, consistent with our observations

Smart Skin Patterns Protect Springtails

Springtails, arthropods who live in soil, in decaying material, and on plants, have adapted to demanding conditions by evolving extremely effective and robust anti-adhesive skin patterns. However, details of these unique properties and their structural basis are still unknown. Here we demonstrate that collembolan skin can resist wetting by many organic liquids and at elevated pressures. We show that the combination of bristles and a comb-like hexagonal or rhombic mesh of interconnected nanoscopic granules distinguish the skin of springtails from anti-adhesive plant surfaces. Furthermore, the negative overhang in the profile of the ridges and granules were revealed to be a highly effective, but as yet neglected, design principle of collembolan skin. We suggest an explanation for the non-wetting characteristics of surfaces consisting of such profiles irrespective of the chemical composition. Many valuable opportunities arise from the translation of the described comb-like patterns and overhanging profiles of collembolan skin into man-made surfaces that combine stability against wear and friction with superior non-wetting and anti-adhesive characteristics

Evaluation of the feasibility, diagnostic yield, and clinical utility of rapid genome sequencing in infantile epilepsy (Gene-STEPS): an international, multicentre, pilot cohort study

BACKGROUND: Most neonatal and infantile-onset epilepsies have presumed genetic aetiologies, and early genetic diagnoses have the potential to inform clinical management and improve outcomes. We therefore aimed to determine the feasibility, diagnostic yield, and clinical utility of rapid genome sequencing in this population. METHODS: We conducted an international, multicentre, cohort study (Gene-STEPS), which is a pilot study of the International Precision Child Health Partnership (IPCHiP). IPCHiP is a consortium of four paediatric centres with tertiary-level subspecialty services in Australia, Canada, the UK, and the USA. We recruited infants with new-onset epilepsy or complex febrile seizures from IPCHiP centres, who were younger than 12 months at seizure onset. We excluded infants with simple febrile seizures, acute provoked seizures, known acquired cause, or known genetic cause. Blood samples were collected from probands and available biological parents. Clinical data were collected from medical records, treating clinicians, and parents. Trio genome sequencing was done when both parents were available, and duo or singleton genome sequencing was done when one or neither parent was available. Site-specific protocols were used for DNA extraction and library preparation. Rapid genome sequencing and analysis was done at clinically accredited laboratories, and results were returned to families. We analysed summary statistics for cohort demographic and clinical characteristics and the timing, diagnostic yield, and clinical impact of rapid genome sequencing. FINDINGS: Between Sept 1, 2021, and Aug 31, 2022, we enrolled 100 infants with new-onset epilepsy, of whom 41 (41%) were girls and 59 (59%) were boys. Median age of seizure onset was 128 days (IQR 46-192). For 43 (43% [binomial distribution 95% CI 33-53]) of 100 infants, we identified genetic diagnoses, with a median time from seizure onset to rapid genome sequencing result of 37 days (IQR 25-59). Genetic diagnosis was associated with neonatal seizure onset versus infantile seizure onset (14 [74%] of 19 vs 29 [36%] of 81; p=0·0027), referral setting (12 [71%] of 17 for intensive care, 19 [44%] of 43 non-intensive care inpatient, and 12 [28%] of 40 outpatient; p=0·0178), and epilepsy syndrome (13 [87%] of 15 for self-limited epilepsies, 18 [35%] of 51 for developmental and epileptic encephalopathies, 12 [35%] of 34 for other syndromes; p=0·001). Rapid genome sequencing revealed genetic heterogeneity, with 34 unique genes or genomic regions implicated. Genetic diagnoses had immediate clinical utility, informing treatment (24 [56%] of 43), additional evaluation (28 [65%]), prognosis (37 [86%]), and recurrence risk counselling (all cases). INTERPRETATION: Our findings support the feasibility of implementation of rapid genome sequencing in the clinical care of infants with new-onset epilepsy. Longitudinal follow-up is needed to further assess the role of rapid genetic diagnosis in improving clinical, quality-of-life, and economic outcomes. FUNDING: American Academy of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital Children's Rare Disease Cohorts Initiative, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Epilepsy Canada, Feiga Bresver Academic Foundation, Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity, Medical Research Council, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institute for Health and Care Research Great Ormond Street Hospital Biomedical Research Centre, One8 Foundation, Ontario Brain Institute, Robinson Family Initiative for Transformational Research, The Royal Children's Hospital Foundation, University of Toronto McLaughlin Centre

2017 Research & Innovation Day Program

A one day showcase of applied research, social innovation, scholarship projects and activities.https://first.fanshawec.ca/cri_cripublications/1004/thumbnail.jp

The higher-level phylogeny of Archosauria (Tetrapoda:Diapsida)

Crown group Archosauria, which includes birds, dinosaurs, crocodylomorphs, and several extinct Mesozoic groups, is a primary division of the vertebrate tree of life. However, the higher-level phylogenetic relationships within Archosauria are poorly resolved and controversial, despite years of study. The phylogeny of crocodile-line archosaurs (Crurotarsi) is particularly contentious, and has been plagued by problematic taxon and character sampling. Recent discoveries and renewed focus on archosaur anatomy enable the compilation of a new dataset, which assimilates and standardizes character data pertinent to higher-level archosaur phylogeny, and is scored across the largest group of taxa yet analysed. This dataset includes 47 new characters (25% of total) and eight taxa that have yet to be included in an analysis, and total taxonomic sampling is more than twice that of any previous study. This analysis produces a well-resolved phylogeny, which recovers mostly traditional relationships within Avemetatarsalia, places Phytosauria as a basal crurotarsan clade, finds a close relationship between Aetosauria and Crocodylomorpha, and recovers a monophyletic Rauisuchia comprised of two major subclades. Support values are low, suggesting rampant homoplasy and missing data within Archosauria, but the phylogeny is highly congruent with stratigraphy. Comparison with alternative analyses identifies numerous scoring differences, but indicates that character sampling is the main source of incongruence. The phylogeny implies major missing lineages in the Early Triassic and may support a Carnian-Norian extinction event.Marshall Scholarship for study in the United KingdomJurassic FoundationUniversity of BristolPaleontological Societ