Prev Chronic Dis

IntroductionThe objective of this cross-sectional study was to examine the nutrition literacy status of adults in the Lower Mississippi Delta.MethodsSurvey instruments included the Newest Vital Sign and an adapted version of the Health Information National Trends Survey. A proportional quota sampling plan was used to represent educational achievement of residents in the Delta region. Participants included 177 adults, primarily African Americans (81%). Descriptive statistics, \ucf\u20212 analysis, analysis of variance, and multivariate analysis of covariance tests were used to examine survey data.ResultsResults indicated that 24% of participants had a high likelihood of limited nutrition literacy, 28% had a possibility of limited nutrition literacy, and 48% had adequate nutrition literacy. Controlling for income and education level, the multivariate analysis of covariance models revealed that nutrition literacy was significantly associated with media use for general purposes (F = 2.79, P = .005), media use for nutrition information (F = 2.30, P = .04), and level of trust from nutrition sources (F = 2.29, P = .005). Overall, the Internet was the least trusted and least used source for nutrition information. Only 12% of participants correctly identified the 2005 MyPyramid graphic, and the majority (78%) rated their dietary knowledge as poor or fair.ConclusionCompared with other national surveys, rates of limited health literacy among Delta adults were high. Nutrition literacy status has implications for how people seek nutrition information and how much they trust it. Understanding the causes and consequences of limited nutrition literacy may be a step toward reducing the burden of nutrition-related chronic diseases among disadvantaged rural communities

Carbonodraco lundi gen et sp. Nov., the oldest parareptile, from Linton, Ohio, and new insights into the early radiation of reptiles

Redescription of the holotype specimen of Cephalerpeton ventriarmatum Moodie, 1912, from the Middle Pennsylvanian (Moscovian) Francis Creek Shale of Mazon Creek, Illinois, confirms that it is a basal eureptile with close postcranial similarities to other protorothyridids, such as Anthracodromeus and Paleothyris. The skull is long and lightly built, with large orbits and a dorsoventrally short mandible similar to most basal eureptiles. Two specimens referred previously to Cephalerpeton cf. C. ventriarmatum from the approximately coeval Linton, Ohio, locality differ significantly from the holotype in cranial and mandibular proportions and tooth morphology. This material and an additional Linton specimen compare favourably to ‘short-faced’ parareptiles, such as Colobomycter and Acleistorhinus, and justify recognition of an acleistorhinid parareptile in the Linton assemblage. The new binomen is thus the oldest known parareptile

Deciphering morphological variation in the braincase of caecilian amphibians (Gymnophiona)

High levels of morphological homoplasy have hindered progress in understanding morphological evolution within gymnophione lissamphibians. Stemming from the hypothesis that the braincase has the potential to yield phylogenetic information, the braincases of 27 species (23 genera) of gymnophione amphibians were examined using high-resolution micro-computed tomography and histologically prepared specimens. Morphology of the brain and its relationship to features of the braincase is described, and it is shown that eight different patterns exist in the distribution of foramina in the antotic region. The distribution of variants is congruent with molecule-based phylogeny. Additionally, all variants are shown to correspond directly to stages along developmental continua, suggesting that the evolutionary truncation of development in the antotic region at various stages has driven the evolution of morphology in this region. Attempts to correlate the observed morphology with proxies of putative heterochronic events (including those attributable to burrowing, life history, and size) fail to explain the distribution of morphology if each proxy is considered separately. Thus, it is concluded that either currently unrecognized causes of heterochrony or combinations thereof have influenced morphology in different lineages independently. These data identify clades whose morphology can now be reconsidered in light of previously unrecognized heterochronic events, thereby providing a foundation for future analyses of the evolution of morphology within Gymnophiona as a whole. Most significantly, these data confirm, for the first time in a lissamphibian group, that the braincase can preserve important phylogenetic information that is otherwise obscured in regions of the skull that experience strong influences from functional constraints

Diabloroter bolti, a short-bodied recumbirostran 'microsaur' from the Francis Creek Shale, Mazon Creek, Illinois

The Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian; 309-307 Mya) 'Mazon Creek' Lagerstätte produces some of the earliest tetrapod fossils of major Palaeozoic lineages. Previously, the Mazon Creek record of 'microsaurs' was known from a single specimen. However, the lack of key anatomy, such as the skull, precluded a confident taxonomic assignment, thus only a suggested affinity to the microbrachimorph 'microsaur' Hyloplesion was determined. Recently several new tetrapod specimens collected from Mazon Creek have come to light, of which some have recumbirostran 'microsaur' affinity. Here we describe a new genus and species of short-bodied recumbirostran, Diabloroter bolti, on the basis of a unique combination of autapomorphies. Both parsimony and Bayesian phylogenetic methods recover the new taxon in the Brachystelechidae clade, as sister to a clade including Carrolla and Batropetes. We determine Diabloroter to be the earliest known member of Brachytelechidae and thus establishing a Carboniferous origin of the family. We also provide an updated diagnosis for Brachystelechidae. Finally, we comment on the evolutionary trends in the clade, including dental adaptations for a proposed algivorous diet in derived clade members

Influence of fossoriality on inner ear morphology: Insights from caecilian amphibians

It is widely accepted that a relationship exists between inner ear morphology and functional aspects of an animal's biology, such as locomotor behaviour. Animals that engage in agile and spatially complex behaviours possess semicircular canals that morphologically maximise sensitivity to correspondingly complex physical stimuli. Stemming from the prediction that fossorial tetrapods require a well-developed sense of spatial awareness, we investigate the hypothesis that fossoriality leads to inner ear morphology that is convergent with other spatially adept tetrapods. We apply morphometrics to otic capsule endocasts of 26 caecilian species to quantify aspects of inner ear shape, and compare these with a sample of frog and salamander species. Our results reveal caecilians (and also frogs) possess strongly curved canals, a feature in common with spatially adept species. However, significantly shorter canals in caecilians suggest reduced sensitivity, possibly associated with reduced reliance on vestibulo-ocular reflexes in this group of visually degenerate tetrapods. An elaboration of the sacculus of caecilians is interpreted as a unique adaptation among amphibians to increase sensitivity to substrate-borne vibrations transmitted through the head. This study represents the first quantitative analyses of inner ear morphology of limbless fossorial tetrapods, and identifies features within a new behavioural context that will contribute to our understanding of the biological consequences of physical stimuli on sensory function and associated morphological evolution

The morphology of the terminal phalanges in Permo-Carboniferous synapsids: An evolutionary perspective

Morphological features of the terminal phalanges of extinct tetrapods can be used to infer whether or not keratinous claws were present even though these structures are not preserved in the fossil record. Such features as dense vascularization grooves and foramina, and a general claw-like morphology, are present in some of the earliest fully terrestrial tetrapods, the Permo-Carboniferous synapsids. Early synapsids are represented by a rich fossil record that preserves the detailed anatomy of the terminal phalanges and allows for an examination of the early evolution of these structures in a well-resolved phylogenetic context. The pattern of change in the morphology of the terminal phalanges of five basal synapsids, Cotylorhynchus romeri, Varanops sp., Edaphosaurus boanerges, Haptodus garnettensis, and Dimetrodon limbatus, reveals a clear trend from a broad, flat, and spatulate morphology in the basal taxa to a tall, narrow, and curved structure. This trend in overall shape change does not reflect changes in feeding behaviour. The size and shape of the flexor tubercle appears to be a factor of size and function, rather than possessing a phylogenetically informative signal. The osteological features used to infer the presence of a keratinous sheath in the synapsids are also observed in the non-amniote taxon Diadectes absitus. This indicates that claws were not an amniote innovation and that they instead originated somewhere outside the crown group Amniota