A new specimen of Cardiocorax mukulu with a nearly complete cranium from Angola

We report a plesiosaur specimen that includes the most well complete skull of an Elasmoaurid plesiosaurian from Sub-Saharan Africa. The new specimen, MGUAN PA278 from the Maastrichtian outcrops of Bentiaba, Angola includes fully preserved semicircular canals, both hyoids, a nearly complete mandible, seventeen cervical vertebrae, a rib and rib fragment, a propodial, and paddle elements. A CT scan of the cranium was performed at UTCT in Austin, TX to visualize all aspects of the cranium and to produce a digital model of the skull and casts of the endosseous labyrinths. The cranium was segmented at SMU using AMIRA software and compared to other well preserved elasmosaurid plesiosaurian skulls from collection visits and from the literature. MGUAN PA278 is diagnosed as Cardiocorax mukulu based on the morphology of the middle cervical neural spines. C. mukulu is returned from a phylogenetic analysis as a basal elasmosaurid outside of the Elasmosaurinae-Aristonectinae clade and the sister taxon of Libonectes morgani. The compact morphology of the endosseous labyrinth in MGUAN PA278 may be an adaptation to living in a pelagic environment

The cranial anatomy and relationships of Cardiocorax mukulu (Plesiosauria: Elasmosauridae) from Bentiaba, Angola

We report a new specimen of the plesiosaur Cardiocorax mukulu that includes the most complete plesiosaur skull from sub-Saharan Africa. The well-preserved three-dimensional nature of the skull offers rare insight into the cranial anatomy of elasmosaurid plesiosaurians. The new specimen of Cardiocorax mukulu was recovered from Bentiaba, Namibe Province in Angola, approximately three meters above the holotype. The new specimen also includes an atlas-axis complex, seventeen postaxial cervical vertebrae, partial ribs, a femur, and limb elements. It is identified as Cardiocorax mukulu based on an apomorphy shared with the holotype where the cervical neural spine is approximately as long anteroposteriorly as the centrum and exhibits a sinusoidal anterior margin. The new specimen is nearly identical to the holotype and previously referred material in all other aspects. Cardiocorax mukulu is returned in an early-branching or intermediate position in Elasmosauridae in four out of the six of our phylogenetic analyses. Cardiocorax mukulu lacks the elongated cervical vertebrae that is characteristic of the extremely long-necked elasmosaurines, and the broad skull with and a high number of maxillary teeth (28-40) which is characteristic of Aristonectinae. Currently, the most parsimonious explanation concerning elasmosaurid evolutionary relationships, is that Cardiocorax mukulu represents an older lineage of elasmosaurids in the Maastrichtian.publishersversionpublishe

Lo que tenemos ahora es una globalización de las enfermedades infecciosas

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted everyone's daily life on multiple scales and in different ways. From the constitutive heterogeneity of social studies, contributions that offer us an overview of the current situation are vital because, far from being a mere conjuncture, the pandemic is revealing of a set of crises that define our epochal moment. In this regard, the critical gaze and analytical acuity of Miguel Ángel Contreras Natera, allows locating the pandemic in the context of broader conflicts not only in socio-environmental, geoeconomic and geopolitical terms, but also epistemological, ontological and ethical. Their reflections offer us elements to collectively design research programs that are dedicated to deactivating the causes and processes that are enabling the emergence of dystopias that threaten to redesign our present towards increasingly uncertain futures.La pandemia de COVID-19 ha trastocado la cotidianidad de todas y todos a múltiples escalas y de formas diferenciadas. Desde la heterogeneidad constitutiva de los estudios sociales, son vitales los aportes que nos ofrezcan una mirada de conjunto de la situación actual porque, lejos de ser una mera coyuntura, la pandemia es reveladora de un conjunto de crisis que definen nuestro momento epocal. Al respecto, la mirada crítica y la agudeza analítica de Miguel Ángel Contreras Natera, permite ubicar a la pandemia en el contexto de conflictividades más amplias no sólo en términos socio-ambientales, geoeconómicos y geopolíticos, sino también epistemológicos, ontológicos y éticos. Sus reflexiones nos ofrecen elementos para diseñar colectivamente programas de investigación que se aboquen a desactivar las causas y procesos que están posibilitando la emergencia de distopías que amenazan con rediseñar nuestro presente hacia futuros cada vez más inciertos

A new plesiosaur from the Lower Jurassic of Portugal and the early radiation of Plesiosauroidea

A new plesiosaur partial skeleton, comprising most of the trunk and including axial, limb, and girdle bones, was collected in the lower Sinemurian (Coimbra Formation) of Praia da Concha, near São Pedro de Moel in central west Portugal. The specimen represents a new genus and species, Plesiopharos moelensis gen. et sp. nov. Phylogenetic analysis places this taxon at the base of Plesiosauroidea. Its position is based on this exclusive combination of characters: Presence of a straight preaxial margin of the radius; transverse processes of mid-dorsal vertebrae horizontally oriented; ilium with sub-circular cross section of the shaft and subequal anteroposterior expansion of the dorsal blade; straight proximal end of the humerus; and ventral surface of the humerus with an anteroposteriorly long shallow groove between the epipodial facets. In addition, the new taxon has the following autapomorphies: Iliac blade with less expanded, rounded and convex anterior flank; highly developed ischial facet of the ilium; apex of the neural spine of the first pectoral vertebra inclined posterodorsally with a small rounded tip. This taxon represents the most complete and the oldest plesiosaur species in the Iberian Peninsula. It is also the most complete, best preserved, and oldest marine vertebrate in the region and testifies to the incursion of marine reptiles in the newly formed proto-Atlantic sea, prior to the Atlantic Ocean floor spreading in the Early Cretaceous.publishersversionpublishe

Open Education and the emancipation of academic labour

I have previously argued that open education is a liberal project with a focus on the freedom of things rather than the freedom of people (Winn, Joss. 2012. “Open Education: From the Freedom of Things to the Freedom of People.” In Towards Teaching in Public: Reshaping the Modern University, edited by Michael Neary, Howard Stevenson, and Les Bell, 133– 147. London: Continuum). Furthermore, I have argued that despite an implicit critique of private property with its emphasis on ‘the commons’, the literature on open education offers no corresponding critique of academic labour (Neary, Mike, and Joss Winn. 2012. “Open Education: Common(s), Commonism and the New Common Wealth.” Ephemera: Theory & Politics in Organization 12 (4): 406–422). In this paper, I develop my critical position that an emancipatory form of education must work towards the emancipation of teachers and students from labour, the dynamic, social, creative source of value in capitalism. In making this argument, I first establish the fundamental characteristics of academic labour. I then offer a ‘form-analytic’ critique of open access, followed by a corresponding critique of its legal form. Finally, I critically discuss the potential of ‘open cooperatives’ as a transitional organisational form for the production of knowledge through which social relations become ‘transparent in their simplicity’ (Marx, Karl. 1976. Capital, Vol. 1. London: Penguin Classics, 172)

IZA COVID-19 Crisis response monitoring: The second phase of the crisis

Grupo de autores, para além dos nacionais: Werner Eichhorst, Paul Marx, Ulf Rinne, René Böheim, Thomas Leoni, Steven Tobin, Arthur Sweetman, Pierre Cahuc, Tommaso Colussi, Egbert L. W. Jongen, Paul Verstraten, Priscila Ferreira, João Cerejeira, Miguel Portela, Raul Ramos, Martin Kahanec, Monika Martiskova, Lena Hensvik, Oskar Nordström Skans, Patrick Arni, Rui Costa, Stephen Machin, Susan N. HousemanAs the pandemic continues and countries experience a massive second wave, labor markets continue to be heavily affected. At the same time, countries have started to extend, but also adjust stabilization measures initially introduced at the outset of the crisis. As of today, three main elements of crisis response require particular attention: the further development of short-time work schemes, ad hoc income protection for the self-employed, and the specific difficulties labor markets are currently facing. This overview addresses focusses on these three essential issues

Nutritional and motor functional status in Parkinson’s disease: the NutriSPark protocol

Communication abstract: Proceedings of the 5th International Congress of CiiEM - Reducing inequalities in Health and Society, held at Egas Moniz’ University Campus in Monte de Caparica, Almada, from June 16th to 18th, 2021.This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.A growing body of evidence suggests that nutritional status may play an important role in the development and course of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Nutritional status is known to influence PD motor and non-motor features and is in turn influenced by disease duration and severity. A proper nutritional status assessment and intervention should be incorporated in the management and follow-up of PD patients. This study aims to characterize the impact of nutritional status in multiple domains of PD and to explore the feasibility and the effectiveness of a customized and intensive nutritional intervention compared to standard care.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Synthesis and cell-free cloning of DNA libraries using programmable microfluidics

Microfluidics may revolutionize our ability to write synthetic DNA by addressing several fundamental limitations associated with generating novel genetic constructs. Here we report the first de novo synthesis and cell-free cloning of custom DNA libraries in sub-microliter reaction droplets using programmable digital microfluidics. Specifically, we developed Programmable Order Polymerization (POP), Microfluidic Combinatorial Assembly of DNA (M-CAD) and Microfluidic In-vitro Cloning (MIC) and applied them to de novo synthesis, combinatorial assembly and cellfree cloning of genes, respectively. Proof-of-concept for these methods was demonstrated by programming an autonomous microfluidic system to construct and clone libraries of yeast ribosome binding sites and bacterial Azurine, which were then retrieved in individual droplets and validated. The ability to rapidly and robustly generate designer DNA molecules in an autonomous manner should have wide application in biological research and development

Inflammatory bowel disease, alpha-synuclein aggregates and Parkinson’s disease: the InflamaSPark protocol

Communication abstract: Proceedings of the 5th International Congress of CiiEM - Reducing inequalities in Health and Society, held at Egas Moniz’ University Campus in Monte de Caparica, Almada, from June 16th to 18th, 2021.This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.The hallmark of Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the accumulation of alpha-synuclein (AS) aggregates. Prior to the central nervous system involvement, PD establishes itself in the gut as a result of the complex interplay between microbiota, the host’s immune/neural systems and increased intestinal permeability. Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) patients present a higher number of AS aggregates in the intestinal wall and an increased risk of developing PD. By studying AS aggregates in gut biopsy specimens of IBD patients and controls, this project aims to further clarify the pathophysiology of PD and to explore the potential of gut a biopsy for AS aggregates as a biomarker for prodromal PD.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Gut status in Parkinson’s disease: the GutSPark protocol

Communication abstract: Proceedings of the 5th International Congress of CiiEM - Reducing inequalities in Health and Society, held at Egas Moniz’ University Campus in Monte de Caparica, Almada, from June 16th to 18th, 2021.This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.The neuropathological hallmark of Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the accumulation of alpha–synuclein (AS) aggregates. The identification of AS aggregates in gut biopsy specimens from people with PD may provide an opportunity to identify PD at a very early stage, prior to symptom onset. Changes in gut microbiota and inflammatory conditions (such as periodontitis) may be linked with PD onset/evolution. This project aims to explore the concept of microbiota–gut–brain axis in PD, studying gut biopsy specimens for AS aggregates, oral and intestinal microbiota, associated digestive disorders and oral health, of both patients with PD and controls.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio