Revisiting Early Jurassic Biscutaceae: Similiscutum giganteum sp. nov.

A large, broadly elliptical coccolith of the genus Similiscutum (Biscutaceae) was observed in sediments dated from the Lower Jurassic (upper Pliensbachian to Toarcian) coming from different localities of western Tethys, namely Portugal (Lusitanian Basin), France (Causses and Paris basins) and Spain (Subbetic area). This form is quite easy to find in the Toarcian GSSP (Global Stratotype Section and Point) of Peniche (Portugal), where the holotype has been described. More than 100 specimens of Similiscutum were digitally captured using a CCD camera, including this large form and two other related species, Similiscutum finchii and Similiscutum novum. The length and width of the coccoliths and the length and width of their central area were measured, and biometric analyses were performed. Results show that this large morphotype of Similiscutum is well characterized and easily differentiable by its size and morphology from the species S. finchii and S. novum, which are characterized by a similar extinction pattern in optical-microscope crossed polars . On the basis of combined differences in size and in central-area shape and structure, Similiscutum giganteum sp. nov. is introduced here. (Plant Fossil Names Registry no.: PFN003067; Act LSID: urn:lsid:plantfossilnames.org:act:3067).</p

Biogenic Iron Preserves Structures during Fossilization: A Hypothesis

International audienc

Patient self-reported concerns in inflammatory bowel diseases: A gender-specific subjective quality-of-life indicator.

Patient-reported disease perceptions are important components to be considered within a holistic model of quality of care. Gender may have an influence on these perceptions. We aimed to explore gender-specific concerns of patients included in a national bilingual inflammatory bowel disease cohort. Following a qualitative study, we built a questionnaire comprising 37 items of concern. Answers were collected on a visual analog scale ranging from 0 to 100. Principal axis factor analysis was used to explore concern domains. Linear multiple regressions were conducted to assess associations with patient characteristics. Of 1102 patients who replied to the survey, 54% were female and 54% had Crohn's disease. We identified six domains of concern: socialization and stigmatization, disease-related constraints and uncertainty, symptoms and their impact on body and mind, loss of body control (including sexuality), disease transmission, and long-term impact of the disease. Cancer concerns were among the highest scored by all patients (median 61.8). Severity of symptoms was the only factor associated with concerns, unrelated to dimension and gender (p&lt;0.015). In women, being &gt;40 years decreased disease-related constraints and uncertainty concerns, and being at home or unemployed increased them. Treatments were associated with increased socialization and stigmatization and with increased disease-related constraints and uncertainty concerns in men. Overall, psychosomatic characteristics were highly associated with concerns for both men and women. Depending on the concern dimensions, increased levels of concern were associated with the highest signs of anxiety in women or depression in men, as well as lower health-related quality of life in men. Patients have numerous concerns related to their illness that need to be reassessed regularly. Concerns differ between men and women, suggesting that information and communication about the disease should take gender differences and subjective perceptions of quality of life into consideration

Effect of Vancomycin Therapy for Osteomyelitis on Colonization by Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus: Lack of Emergence of Glycopeptide Resistance

Abstract Background: In treating orthopedic infections, the long-term impact of vancomycin therapy on colonization by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and the emergence of vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus is unknown. Design: Prospective surveillance of the effect of long-term vancomycin therapy on colonization by MRSA and the emergence of vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus. Methods: Thirty-four patients with MRSA osteomyelitis that was microbiologically documented were longitudinally observed for the emergence of vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus at 3 body sites (wound, anterior nares, and groin) during the initial period of vancomycin therapy and at the 2-month follow-up. Twenty patients received the standard dose (20 mg/kg/d) for 34 ± 6 days and 14 patients received a high dose (40 mg/kg/d) of vancomycin for 37 ± 9 days. Results: During vancomycin treatment, global MRSA carriage (all body sites) fell from 100% to 25% in the group of patients receiving the standard dose of vancomycin, and from 100% to 40% in the group receiving the high dose. During the 2-month follow-up period after vancomycin therapy, global MRSA carriage increased from 25% to 55% in the group receiving the standard dose and decreased from 43% to 36% in the group receiving the high dose. Conclusion: Therapy with a high dose of vancomycin contributes to the sustained eradication of MRSA carriage without promoting the emergence of glycopeptide resistanc

Ocean acidification during the early Toarcian extinction event : evidence from boron isotopes in brachiopods

This project was funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement and project BASE-LiNE Earth (643084) and by the Slovak Research and Development Agency (APVV17-0555) and the Slovak Scientific Grant Agency (VEGA 0169/19).The loss of carbonate production during the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event (T-OAE, ca.183 Ma) is hypothesized to have been at least partly triggered by ocean acidification linkedto magmatism from the Karoo-Ferrar large igneous province (southern Africa and Antarctica).However, the dynamics of acidification have never been directly quantified across theT-OAE. Here, we present the first record of temporal evolution of seawater pH spanning thelate Pliensbachian and early Toarcian from the Lusitanian Basin (Portugal) reconstructedon the basis of boron isotopic composition (δ11B) of brachiopod shells. δ11B declines by ~1‰across the Pliensbachian-Toarcian boundary (Pl-To) and attains the lowest values (~12.5‰)just prior to and within the T-OAE, followed by fluctuations and a moderately increasingtrend afterwards. The decline in δ11B coincides with decreasing bulk CaCO3 content, inparallel with the two-phase decline in carbonate production observed at global scales andwith changes in pCO2 derived from stomatal indices. Seawater pH had declined significantlyalready prior to the T-OAE, probably due to the repeated emissions of volcanogenicCO2. During the earliest phase of the T-OAE, pH increased for a short period, likely dueto intensified continental weathering and organic carbon burial, resulting in atmosphericCO2 drawdown. Subsequently, pH dropped again, reaching the minimum in the middle ofthe T-OAE. The early Toarcian marine extinction and carbonate collapse were thus driven,in part, by ocean acidification, similar to other Phanerozoic events caused by major CO2 emissions and warming.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Palaeoenvironmental significance of Toarcian black shales and event deposits from southern Beaujolais, France

New sedimentological, biostratigraphical and geochemical data recording the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event (T-OAE) are reported from a marginal marine succession in southern Beaujolais, France. The serpentinum and bifrons ammonite zones record black shales with high (1-10 wt%) total organic carbon contents (TOC) and dysoxia-tolerant benthic fauna typical of the ‘Schistes Carton' facies well documented in contemporaneous nearby basins. The base of the serpentinum ammonite zone, however, differs from coeval strata of most adjacent basinal series in that it presents several massive storm beds particularly enriched in juvenile ammonites and the dysoxia-tolerant, miniaturized gastropod Coelodiscus. This storm-dominated interval records a marked negative 5‰ carbonate and organic carbon isotope excursion being time-equivalent with that recording storm- and mass flow-deposits in sections of the Lusitanian Basin, Portugal, pointing to the existence of a major tempestite/turbidite event over tropical areas during the T-OAE. Although several explanations remain possible at present, we favour climatically induced changes in platform morphology and storm activity as the main drivers of these sedimentological features. In addition, we show that recent weathering, most probably due to infiltration of O2-rich meteoric water, resulted in the preferential removal of 12C-enriched organic carbon, dramatic TOC loss and total destruction of the lamination of the black shale sequence over most of the studied exposure. These latter observations imply that extreme caution should be applied when interpreting the palaeoenvironmental significance of sediments lacking TOC enrichment and lamination from outcrops with limited surface exposure

A novel tool to untangle the ecology and fossil preservation knot in exceptionally preserved biotas

Understanding the functioning of extinct ecosystems is a complicated knot of ecological, evolutionary, and preservational strands that must be untangled. For instance, anatomical and behavioral differences can profoundly alter fossilization pathways. This is particularly true in exceptionally preserved soft-bodied biotas that record the earliest phases of animal evolution during the Cambrian Explosion and the Ordovician Radiation. Herein, a novel method of data partitioning based on probabilistic modelling is developed to examine these processes for the Walcott Quarry, Burgess Shale, Canada (510Ma), and the Fezouata Shale, Morocco (c. 475Ma). The modelling shows that the mechanism for soft-tissue preservation in the Walcott Quarry is ecologically selective, favoring the endobenthos. This is not found in the Fezouata Shale. Taken in concert with bioturbation data, a new model of comparative preservation is developed based on sedimentary flow dynamics. This suggests that during the Cambrian Explosion and Ordovician Radiation the most exceptional fossils sites must still be calibrated against each other to understand the unfolding evolutionary events and the ecological structuring of ancient animal communities

Large trilobites in a stress-free Early Ordovician environment

International audienceUnderstanding variations in body-size is essential for deciphering the response of an organism to its surrounding environmental conditions and its ecological adaptations. In modern environments, large marine animals are mostly found in cold waters. However, numerous parameters can influence body size variations other than temperatures, such as oxygenation, nutrient availability, predation, or physical disturbances by storms. Here, we investigate trilobite size variations in the Lower Ordovician Fezouata Shale deposited in a cold water environment. Trilobite assemblages dominated by small-to normal-sized specimens that are few cm in length are found in proximal and intermediate settings, while those comprising larger taxa more than 20cm in length are found in the most distal environment of the Fezouata Shale. Drill core material from distal settings shows that sedimentary rocks hosting large trilobites preserved in-situ are extensively bioturbated with a high diversity of trace fossils, indicating that oxygen and nutrients were available in this environment. In intermediate and shallow settings, bioturbation is less extensive and shallower in depth. The rarity of storm events (minimal physical disturbance) and the lack of predators in deep environments in comparison to shallower settings would have also helped trilobites attain larger body sizes. This highly resolved spatial study investigating the effects of numerous biotic and abiotic parameters on body size has wider implications for the understanding of size fluctuations over geological time

Phase II Trial of IL-12 Plasmid Transfection and PD-1 Blockade in Immunologically Quiescent Melanoma.

PurposeTumors with low frequencies of checkpoint positive tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (cpTIL) have a low likelihood of response to PD-1 blockade. We conducted a prospective multicenter phase II trial of intratumoral plasmid IL-12 (tavokinogene telseplasmid; "tavo") electroporation combined with pembrolizumab in patients with advanced melanoma with low frequencies of checkpoint positive cytotoxic lymphocytes (cpCTL).Patients and methodsTavo was administered intratumorally days 1, 5, and 8 every 6 weeks while pembrolizumab (200 mg, i.v.) was administered every 3 weeks. The primary endpoint was objective response rate (ORR) by RECIST, secondary endpoints included duration of response, overall survival and progression-free survival. Toxicity was evaluated by the CTCAE v4. Extensive correlative analysis was done.ResultsThe combination of tavo and pembrolizumab was well tolerated with adverse events similar to those previously reported with pembrolizumab alone. Patients had a 41% ORR (n = 22, RECIST 1.1) with 36% complete responses. Correlative analysis showed that the combination enhanced immune infiltration and sustained the IL-12/IFNγ feed-forward cycle, driving intratumoral cross-presenting dendritic cell subsets with increased TILs, emerging T cell receptor clones and, ultimately, systemic cellular immune responses.ConclusionsThe combination of tavo and pembrolizumab was associated with a higher than expected response rate in this poorly immunogenic population. No new or unexpected toxicities were observed. Correlative analysis showed T cell infiltration with enhanced immunity paralleling the clinical activity in low cpCTL tumors