The Temporal Region of the Tetrapod Skull – Research History, Evolution, and Functional Backgrounds

Die Schläfenregion der frühesten Tetrapoda und ihrer nächsten Verwandten war in den meisten Fällen komplett von einem Panzer aus Dermalknochen bedeckt. Dieser wurde im Lauf der Evolution tendenziell reduziert, was in den bekanntesten Fällen zur Ausbildung von Schläfenfenstern oder randständiger Einbuchtungen führte. Derartige Schläfenöffnungen sind heute die Regel in den meisten Tetrapoda. Dabei inspirierte besonders ihre Vielfalt innerhalb der Amniota (Säugetiere und Reptilien einschließlich der Vögel) viele frühe Arbeiten über mögliche phylogenetische und evolutionsbiologische Implikationen der Schläfenmorphologie. Im frühen 20. Jahrhundert brachte dies verschiedene Autoren zur Aufstellung neuer Taxa, die wesentlich über ihre Schläfenmorphologie definiert waren, am bekanntesten darunter Anapsida, Synapsida, Diapsida und Euryapsida. Die meisten dieser Taxa werden jedoch nicht mehr als natürliche Gruppen anerkannt und neue Erkenntnisse bekräftigten, dass sich ähnliche Typen von Öffnungen sowohl innerhalb als auch außerhalb der Amniota mehrmals unabhängig entwickelten. Das Hauptaugenmerk in der Untersuchung von Schläfenöffnungen liegt deshalb auf deren funktionsmorphologischer Relevanz. Eine wesentliche Rolle spielen dabei die Kräfte ausgehend von den äußeren Kieferadduktoren, aber unter anderem auch die Halsmechanik, Schädelform und entwicklungsbiologische Aspekte werden diskutiert. Diese Dissertation liefert einen Einblick in die Anatomie und morphologischen Muster der Schläfenregion innerhalb der Tetrapoda und ihren nächsten Verwandten (Stegocephali). Zuerst wird die Forschungsgeschichte der Schläfenregion seit dem 19. Jahrhundert aufgearbeitet und analysiert und die verschiedenen phylogenetischen und funktionsmorphologischen Hypothesen, sowie darauf basierende Terminologie einander gegenübergestellt. Dazu werden zehn neue Morphotypen zur Kategorisierung der Schläfenmorphologie eingeführt. Im Anschluss werden die Suturen der Dermalknochen im Schädel des permischen Reptils Captorhinus aguti im Detail beschrieben und die Kieferadduktoren rekonstruiert, um Rückschlüsse auf die Beweglichkeit und Kräfteverteilung im Schädel eines frühen Amnioten ohne Schläfenöffnungen zu ziehen. Anhand davon werden Erklärungen zur Entstehung von Schläfenöffnungen diskutiert und inwiefern Vorstufen dazu bereits in einem vollständigen Schläfenpanzer sichtbar sein könnten. Zuletzt wird eine Anatomische Netzwerkanalyse an C. aguti durchgeführt, um die Integration der Knochen im Schädel eines frühen Amnioten darzustellen und zu diskutieren, inwiefern die gefundenen Module mit Hypothesen zum Ursprung in Einklang gebracht werden können. Die für diese Analyse erstellte Matrix wird außerdem modifiziert, um die zuvor beschriebenen zehn Morphotypen zu simulieren und auszuwerten welche Einflüsse verschiedene Schläfenöffnungen auf die Integration des Modellschädels hätten und wie das mit Beobachtungen an tatsächlichen Arten übereinstimmt.The temporal region of the earliest Tetrapoda and their closest relatives was, in most cases, completely covered by an armor of dermal bones. This armor has been successively reduced over time, leading most famously to the evolution of temporal fenestrae and marginal excavations. Such temporal openings are widespread in extant Tetrapoda, but especially their great diversity within Amniota (mammals and reptiles, including birds) inspired many early studies on the potential phylogenetic and evolutionary implications of temporal openings. In the early 20th century, this led to various researchers naming new taxa that were mainly defined by their temporal morphology, with Anapsida, Synapsida, Diapsida, and Euryapsida being the most known. Most of these taxa are not considered to represent natural groupings anymore; instead, new fossil findings and analyses confirmed that similar types of temporal openings independently evolved several times within, as well as outside of Amniota. Thus, the main focus of temporal region research has been on their functional morphology. The forces generated by the external jaw adductors hereby play an essential role, but additionally the impact of neck mechanics, skull shape, developmental biology, and others are being discussed. This thesis provides an insight to the anatomy and morphological patterns of the temporal region in Tetrapoda and their closest relatives (Stegocephali). The first part focuses on reviewing and analyzing the research history of the temporal region, starting in the early 19th century discussing the various phylogenetic and functional hypotheses, as well as comparisons of previous terminologies. Additionally, ten new morphotypes for the categorization of temporal morphology are introduced. In the subsequent chapter, sutures of the dermal bones in the skull of the Permian reptile Captorhinus aguti are described in detail and its jaw adductors are reconstructed. This is important to draw inferences on the intracranial mobility and stress distribution in an early amniote skull without temporal openings. Relating thereto, previous explanations on the formation of temporal openings alongside the presence of potential pre-stages for such in a fully roofed dermal temporal region are debated. Lastly, an Anatomical Network Analysis is performed on the skull of C. aguti to illustrate and consider the bone integration in an early amniote skull and whether the observed modules correspond to previous hypotheses on the origin of temporal openings. The matrix generated for this analysis is then modified to simulate the ten morphotypes mentioned above, but also to evaluate the influences of various temporal openings on the integration of the respective model skull and its correspondence to observations on actual taxa

Why they participate – motivational functions of digital platforms for bottom-up urbanism

Public participation is an increasing topic in the context of smart cities. In general, we differentiate between top-down and bottom-up participation. But when we dig deeper there are several variations of participation from mobile participation (Ertiö, 2015) to planning the city space through Minecraft (Falco & Kleinhans, 2018). As there is a strong focus on technocratic and expert-driven forms of smart cities (Simonofski, Serral Asensio, De Smedt, & Snoeck, 2019), the means of participation can lead towards tokenism. Therefore, we see a pivot towards a more citizen-centric approach of smart cities. ... In the previous work on participatory platforms, we found 23 platforms out of a pool of 143 platforms that offer self-governance and a bottom-up approach to empower thousands of people and help them realize their projects (Abel et al., 2021). Our research on motivations is based on two studies: a quantitative study to investigate the usability of VFI with our additions, and a qualitative study with the platform operators of participatory platforms to prove the applicability in the practical domain. ... Our findings show that the set of items Enhancement, Understanding, Values, Social, Experience, Career, Protective, Experience and Intrinsic Motivation define a comprehensive base to evaluate the motivations and that practitioners can derive structural elements for their participatory platforms. [Aus: Introduction

Designing Urban Participation Platforms – Model for Goal-oriented Classification of Participation Mechanisms

Citizens are increasingly shaping their city selfdetermined. To do so, they use digital platforms to start projects, gain awareness or raise funds. These and other participation mechanisms enable citizens to participate in manifold ways. With the help of the tree ring model introduced in our contribution, we present a tool that is intended to support practitioners in evaluating and developing their platforms. The model was designed based on the analysis of 22 existing platforms as well as a literature review and evaluated in qualitative interviews. The result is a tree ring model that shows a new understanding of participation apart from hierarchical structures. The citizens’ role classification and the possible mechanisms that can offer practitioners effective implications for the design of participation platforms

An integrated cryogenic optical modulator

Integrated electrical and photonic circuits (PIC) operating at cryogenic temperatures are fundamental building blocks required to achieve scalable quantum computing, and cryogenic computing technologies. Optical interconnects offer better performance and thermal insulation than electrical wires and are imperative for true quantum communication. Silicon PICs have matured for room temperature applications but their cryogenic performance is limited by the absence of efficient low temperature electro-optic (EO) modulation. While detectors and lasers perform better at low temperature, cryogenic optical switching remains an unsolved challenge. Here we demonstrate EO switching and modulation from room temperature down to 4 K by using the Pockels effect in integrated barium titanate (BaTiO3)-based devices. We report the nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of BaTiO3 in a temperature range which has previously not been explored, showing an effective Pockels coefficient of 200 pm/V at 4 K. We demonstrate the largest EO bandwidth (30 GHz) of any cryogenic switch to date, ultra-low-power tuning which is 10^9 times more efficient than thermal tuning, and high-speed data modulation at 20 Gbps. Our results demonstrate a missing component for cryogenic PICs. It removes major roadblocks for the realisation of novel cryogenic-compatible systems in the field of quantum computing and supercomputing, and for interfacing those systems with the real world at room-temperature

Design Claims für Community-Plattformen im Kontext des bottom-up Urbanism

Der urbane Raum wird zunehmend von den BürgerInnen selbst gestaltet: Sie pflanzen Blumen in ungenutzten Bereichen oder markieren Flächen als Fahrradwege, wo diese gebraucht werden (Fabian & Samson, 2016). Auch wenn die Rechte und Pflichten der BürgerInnen nicht immer klar sind (Finn, 2014), steigt das Interesse an der Partizipation zu praktischen Projekten für den urbanen Raum (Talen, 2015) und verändert so auch die Denkweisen sowie Prozesse der Stadtverwaltung (Danenberg & Haas, 2019). Einzelne BürgerInnen oder Gruppen identifizieren Probleme, die sie schnell und selbst lösen (Iveson, 2013). Diese bottom-up (aus der Bevölkerung heraus) initiierten Vorhaben tragen zum Erscheinungsbild und zum Verständnis unserer urbanen Räume bei (Fabian & Samson, 2016). Das Ziel ist dabei die Verbesserung des Erlebnisses im öffentlichen Raum (Finn, 2014). [... aus der Einleitung

Morphological diversities and associated preference traits in Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) landraces from central and southern Benin

Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) production in Benin is limited by several biotic and abiotic stresses. The objectives of this study were to document varietal trait preferences and peanut genetic diversity for breeding programs. A survey in the South and Center of Benin and an agro-morphological characterization was carried out. Results showed that farmers used five criteria, namely yield (seeds and pods), size of seeds, number of seeds per pod, oil content, and quality of the paste for selecting a variety. The clustering based on ten qualitative traits showed a variability structure in three groups based on the leaflets shape, plant habit, and branching pattern. The principal component analysis carried out on the quantitative traits indicated six groups of accessions. The group 3 of the latest analysis is composed of Azii alorga and Kamalo with interesting characteristics and showing a good criteria as seeds size (SDL= 14.62 ± 0.48 mm), and pods size (average pod length and width respectively PoL = 33.70 ± 1.14 mm, Pow = 14.87 ± 0.29 mm). The results should be prioritized for breeding programs to improve the good criteria found in other peanut varieties. It will be helpful for farmers in selecting performant varieties

A new species of Cricosaurus (Thalattosuchia, Metriorhynchidae) from the Upper Jurassic of southern Germany.

Here we describe a new species of the metriorhynchid thalattosuchian Cricosaurus, C. bambergensis sp. nov., from the Upper Jurassic Torleite Formation of Wattendorf near Bamberg, Bavaria (southern Germany). The holotype and only known specimen is a nearly complete skeleton that shows a number of diagnostic traits including a bicarinate dentition formed by labiolingually compressed tooth crowns that lack a conspicuous enamel ornamentation and the presence of a distinct midline ridge with paired depressions on the palatines. Our phylogenetic analysis recovers a grouping of Cricosaurus bambergensis sp. nov. with C. elegans and C. suevicus. The implications of the new Cricosaurus species to the species complex from the late Kimmeridgian–early Tithonian of southern Germany is discussed. Our description of C. bambergensis demonstrates that the specific, and morphological, diversity of Cricosaurus in southern Germany was higher than previously thought. This coincides with the recent trend of re-evaluating the species-complexes of extant taxa, and the identification of new “cryptic species”. As such, the crocodylomorph fossil record will need to be re- examined to ensure there is not an underestimation of their biodiversity

Importance d’un schéma de vaccination a deux doses dans la lutte contre la rougeole (cas de la zone de santé de Manika)

Objectif: Pour contribuer à la réduction de la morbide mortalité liée à la rougeole, nous avons menés une étude descriptive transversale, au cours de laquelle nous avons analysés,, l’importance de la seconde vaccination, face aux résurgences de l’épidémie de la rougeole dans la zone de santé de Manika, district de Kolwezi, province du Katanga, en République démocratique du Congo, au cours de la période allant de janvier à décembre 2011 .Méthodologie et résultats: ressort de notre travail que, parmi les enfants enquêtés, 46,8% étaient non vaccinés, et parmi eux 38% avaient présenté la rougeole, l’Odds ratio est de 6,34 avec un intervalle de confiance de [4,26 ; 9,43], d’où une différence statistiquement significative qui se dégage entre la survenue de la rougeole et le statut de zéro dose. Pour ce qui est des enfants qui ont reçu une dose, on déduit que la vaccination est un facteur (OR = 0,45 IC95% [0,16 ; 0,87]). Quant aux enfants ayant reçu deux doses, il est a noté que la deuxième vaccination était apparu comme un facteur protecteur, offrant à l’enfant moins de chance à développer la rougeole (OR = 0,03 IC95% [0,01 ; 0,07]).Conclusion et application des résultats: Actuellement, il est admis qu’avec une seule dose de vaccination contre la rougeole, il est peu probable de réduire la morbidité et la mortalité liée à la rougeole dans la Zone de santé Manika, car environ 20,3% d’enfants vaccinés d’une seule dose, ont développé la maladie. La seconde vaccination des enfants demeure un enjeu majeur pour un meilleur contrôle, et élimination de la rougeole, dans notre pays.Mots clés: épidémie rougeole Manika : importance du schéma à deux dosesEnglish AbstractObjective: To contribute to the reduction of the morbid mortality related to measles, we conducted a descriptive transversal study, during which we analyzed, the importance of the second vaccination, in the face of resurgences of the measles epidemic in the Manika Health Zone, Kolwezi District, Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo, during the period January to December 2011.Methodology and results: Our work shows that among the children surveyed, 46.8% were unvaccinated, and among them 38% had measles, the odds ratio was 6.34 with a confidence interval of [4.26; 9.43], resulting in a statistically significant difference between the occurrence of measles and zero dose status. For children who received a dose, it is deduced that vaccination is a protective factor because its odds ratio is 0.45 (> to 1) and its confidence interval is [0.16; 0.87]. As for the children who received two doses, it was noted that the second vaccination is also a protective factor, giving the child less chance to develop measles, because his odds ratio was 0.03 with a confidence interval of [0.01; 0.07].Conclusion and application of results: Currently, it is recognized that with a single measles vaccination dose, it is unlikely to reduce measles-related morbidity and mortality in the Manika Health Zone, as about 20.3% of children vaccinated against measles are affected by measles. A single dose, developed the disease. The second vaccination of children remains a major challenge for better control and elimination of measles in our countryKeywords: Manika measles epidemic: importance of the two-dose regim

Treatment of Endovascular Coil and Stent Migration Using the Merci Retriever: Report of Three Cases

Background. Coil and stent migration is a potentially catastrophic complication in endovascular neurosurgery, which may lead to cerebral thromboembolism. Techniques for removing migrated coil and stent are not well established. Methods and Results. We present three cases in which coil or stent migration occurred during endovascular embolization of a cerebral aneurysm. The Merci Retrievers were used successfully in all cases to remove the displaced foreign bodies. Technical details are described. Conclusion. The Merci Retriever device can be utilized successfully for removal of migrated coils and stents in endovascular neurosurgery