Molecular and fossil evidence place the origin of cichlid fishes long after Gondwanan rifting.

Cichlid fishes are a key model system in the study of adaptive radiation, speciation and evolutionary developmental biology. More than 1600 cichlid species inhabit freshwater and marginal marine environments across several southern landmasses. This distributional pattern, combined with parallels between cichlid phylogeny and sequences of Mesozoic continental rifting, has led to the widely accepted hypothesis that cichlids are an ancient group whose major biogeographic patterns arose from Gondwanan vicariance. Although the Early Cretaceous (ca 135 Ma) divergence of living cichlids demanded by the vicariance model now represents a key calibration for teleost molecular clocks, this putative split pre-dates the oldest cichlid fossils by nearly 90 Myr. Here, we provide independent palaeontological and relaxed-molecular-clock estimates for the time of cichlid origin that collectively reject the antiquity of the group required by the Gondwanan vicariance scenario. The distribution of cichlid fossil horizons, the age of stratigraphically consistent outgroup lineages to cichlids and relaxed-clock analysis of a DNA sequence dataset consisting of 10 nuclear genes all deliver overlapping estimates for crown cichlid origin centred on the Palaeocene (ca 65-57 Ma), substantially post-dating the tectonic fragmentation of Gondwana. Our results provide a revised macroevolutionary time scale for cichlids, imply a role for dispersal in generating the observed geographical distribution of this important model clade and add to a growing debate that questions the dominance of the vicariance paradigm of historical biogeography

Quelles perspectives pour les musées au xxie siècle ?

James Clifford © musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac, photo Cyril Zannettacci M. Frédéric KECK C’est un grand plaisir et un grand honneur d’accueillir pour cette conférence inaugurale de notre colloque Le musée du quai Branly dix ans après. Un musée à imaginer, le professeur James Clifford qui est un des observateurs les plus importants des musées d’anthropologie, des circulations d’œuvres, des revendications autochtones depuis une trentaine d’années. James Clifford a fait sa thèse à Harva..

Profiles of SUMO and ubiquitin conjugation in an Alzheimer's disease model

► Global levels of ubiquitinated proteins increased in the hippocampus of Tg2576 mice. ► No global changes in either SUMO-1 or SUMO-2/3 conjugation in any brain regions analysed. ► SUMO conjugating and deconjugating enzymes, UBC9 and SENP-1, unaltered in Tg2576 mice. ► Total levels of AMPA and kainate receptors were also unaffected in Tg2576 mice. ► Posttranslational modification by ubiquitin may play a role in Alzheimer's disease

The Advocate

Headlines Include: Laurels For Feerick: An Alumnus To Remember; Crime at Fordham; Who\u27s Next?, Film at 11https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/student_the_advocate/1007/thumbnail.jp

Pelargonium Extract EPs 7630 in the Treatment of Human Corona Virus-Associated Acute Respiratory Tract Infections – A Secondary Subgroup-Analysis of an Open-Label, Uncontrolled Clinical Trial

Background: Experience in treating human coronavirus (HCoV) infections might help to identify effective compounds against novel coronaviruses. We therefore performed a secondary subgroup-analysis of data from an open-label, uncontrolled clinical trial published in 2015 investigating the proanthocyanidin-rich Pelargonium sidoides extract EPs 7630 in patients with the common cold. Methods: 120 patients with common cold and at least 2 out of 10 common cold symptoms received one film-coated 20 mg tablet EPs 7630 thrice daily for 10 days in an uncontrolled, interventional multicentre trial (ISRCTN65790556). At baseline, viral nucleic acids were detected by polymerase chain reaction. Common cold-associated symptoms and treatment satisfaction were evaluated after 5 days and at treatment end. Based on the data of patients with proof of viral nucleic acids, we compared the course of the disease in patients with or without HCoV infection. Results: In 61 patients, viral nucleic acids were detected. Of these, 23 (37.7%) were tested positive for at least one HCoV (HCoV subset) and 38 (62.3%) for other viruses only (non-HCoV subset). Patients of both subsets showed a significant improvement of common cold symptoms already after 5 days of treatment, although the observed change tended to be more pronounced in the HCoV subset. At treatment end, more than 80% of patients of both groups were completely recovered or majorly improved. In both subsets, less than 22% of patients took concomitant paracetamol for antipyresis. The mean number of patients’ days off work or school/college was similar (0.9 ± 2.6 days in HCoV subset vs 1.3 ± 2.8 days in non-HCoV subset). In both groups, most patients were satisfied or very satisfied with EPs 7630 treatment. Conclusion: EPs 7630 treatment outcomes of common cold patients with confirmed HCoV infection were as favourable as in patients with other viral infections. As this trial was conducted before the pandemic, there is currently no evidence from clinical trials for the efficacy of EPs 7630 in patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Dedicated non-clinical studies and clinical trials are required to elucidate the potential of EPs 7630 in the early treatment of HCoV infections