Some Famennian (Upper Devonian) ammonoids from north western Europe

Famennian (Upper Devonian) ammonoids and their biostratigraphy are reviewed, with particular reference to the Sauerland and Oberfranken, West Germany. Most european species of the Order Clymeniida are described. The Famennian ammonoid zonal scheme is rationalised and within it 23 faunal levels are proposed. Ammonoid zones and conodont zones are correlated, and the rhomboidea (conodont) zone is newly recognised to be coeval with the curvispina zone. The following genera and subgenera are dealt with in detail: Progonioclymenia, Endosiphonites, Sellaclymenia, Biloclymenia, Gonioclymenia (Gon.), Gonioclymenia (Kalloclymenia), Sphenoclymenia, Platyclymenia (Plat.), Plat. (Pleuroclymenia), Plat. (TrigonocIymenia), Sulcoclymenia, PiricIymenia, Ornatoclymenia, Cyrtoclymenia, Protactoclymenia, Carinoclymenia, Clymenia, Protoxtclymenia, Kosmoclymenia, Genuclymenia, Cymaclymenia, Genn. Nov. D, E, and F. In most cases the types of the type species are illustrated photographically for the first time. The following generic names are recognised to have been wrongly interpreted in the past, and, where necessary new names have been proposed: Kalloclymenia, Biloclymenia, Rectoclymenia and Falciclymenia. Two new subgenera and one new genus are proposed, and two generic names, Protactoclymenia and Endosiphonites, have been revived. Kosmoclymenia is split into four species groups by its ornament and Cymaclymenia has been split into three species groups. Two widely used specific names are recognised to have been placed in the wrong genus; sedgwicki Münster is a Pseudoclymenia (a goniatite), and serpentina Münster is a Protoxyclymenia

An Induced Natural Selection Heuristic for Finding Optimal Bayesian Experimental Designs

Bayesian optimal experimental design has immense potential to inform the collection of data so as to subsequently enhance our understanding of a variety of processes. However, a major impediment is the difficulty in evaluating optimal designs for problems with large, or high-dimensional, design spaces. We propose an efficient search heuristic suitable for general optimisation problems, with a particular focus on optimal Bayesian experimental design problems. The heuristic evaluates the objective (utility) function at an initial, randomly generated set of input values. At each generation of the algorithm, input values are "accepted" if their corresponding objective (utility) function satisfies some acceptance criteria, and new inputs are sampled about these accepted points. We demonstrate the new algorithm by evaluating the optimal Bayesian experimental designs for the previously considered death, pharmacokinetic and logistic regression models. Comparisons to the current "gold-standard" method are given to demonstrate the proposed algorithm as a computationally-efficient alternative for moderately-large design problems (i.e., up to approximately 40-dimensions)

Examining the Effect of Pore Size Distribution and Shape on Flow through Unsaturated Peat using Computer Tomography

The hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated peat soil is controlled by the air-filled porosity, pore size and geometric distribution as well as other physical properties of peat materials. This study investigates how the size and shape of pores affects the flow of water through peat soils. In this study we used X-ray Computed Tomography (CT), at 45μm resolution under 5 specific soil-water pressure head levels to provide 3-D, high-resolution images that were used to detect the inner pore structure of peat samples under a changing water regime. Pore structure and configuration were found to be irregular, which affected the rate of water transmission through peat soils. The 3-D analysis suggested that pore distribution is dominated by a single large pore-space. At low pressure head, this single large air-filled pore imparted a more effective flowpath compared to smaller pores. Smaller pores were disconnected and the flowpath was more tortuous than in the single large air-filled pore, and their contribution to flow was negligible when the single large pore was active. We quantify the pore structure of peat soil that affects the hydraulic conductivity in the unsaturated condition, and demonstrate the validity of our estimation of peat unsaturated hydraulic conductivity by making a comparison with a standard permeameter-based method. Estimates of unsaturated hydraulic conductivities were made for the purpose of testing the sensitivity of pore shape and geometry parameters on the hydraulic properties of peats and how to evaluate the structure of the peat and its affects on parameterization. We also studied the ability to quantify these factors for different soil moisture contents in order to define how the factors controlling the shape coefficient vary with changes in soil water pressure head. The relation between measured and estimated unsaturated hydraulic conductivity at various heads shows that rapid initial drainage, that changes the air-filled pore properties, creates a sharp decline in hydraulic conductivity. This is because the large pores readily lose water, the peat rapidly becomes less conductive and the flow path among pores, more tortuous

An innovative corticosteroid/long-acting β2-agonist breath-triggered inhaler : facilitating lung delivery of fluticasone propionate/formoterol fumarate for the treatment of asthma

OS Usmani and/or his department has received research grants, unrestricted educational grants, and/or fees for lectures and advisory board meetings from Aerocrine, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chiesi, Cipla, Edmond Pharma, GlaxoSmithKline, Napp, Mundipharma International, Prosonix, Sandoz, Takeda, Zentiva. N Roche reports grants and personal fees from Boehringer Ingelheim, Novartis, Pfizer and personal feed from Teva, GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca, Chiesi, Mundipharma, Cipla, Sanofi, Sandoz, 3M, Trudell, Zambon. J Marshall and H Danagher report being an employee of Mundibiopharma Ltd., at the time of writing. D Price is a board member with Amgen, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chiesi, Circassia, Mylan, Mundipharma Ltd., Napp, Novartis, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Sanofi Genzyme, Teva Pharmaceuticals; consultancy agreements with Amgen, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chiesi, GlaxoSmithKline, Mylan, Mundipharma Ltd., Napp, Novartis, Pfizer, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Threvance; grants and unrestricted funding for investigator-initiated studies (conducted through Observational and Pragmatic Research Institute Pte Ltd.) from AKL Research and Development Ltd., AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, British Lung Foundation, Chiesi, Circassia, Mylan, Mundipharma Ltd., Napp, Novartis, Pfizer, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Respiratory Effectiveness Group, Sanofi Genzyme, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Theravance, UK National Health Service, Zentiva (Sanofi Generics); payment for lectures/speaking engagements from AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chiesi, Cipla, GlaxoSmithKline, Kyorin, Mylan, Merck, Munipharma Ltd., Novartis, Pfizer, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Sanofi Genzyme, Teva Pharmaceuticals; payment for manuscript preparation from Mundipharma Ltd., Teva Pharmaceuticals; payment for the development of educational materials from Mundipharma, Novartis; payment for travel/accommodation/meeting expenses from AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Circassia, Mundipharma Ltd., Napp, Novartis, Teva Pharmaceuticals; funding for patient enrollment or completion of research from Chiesi, Novartis, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Zentiva (Sanofi Generics); stock/stock options from AKL Research and Development Ltd, which produces phytopharmaceuticals; owns 74% of the social enterprise Optimum Patient Care Ltd (Australia and UK) and 74% of Observational and Pragmatic Research Institute Pte Ltd (Singapore); and is a peer reviewer for grant committees of the Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation program, and Health Technology Assessment.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Total or Partial Knee Arthroplasty Trial - TOPKAT : study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Topological Photonics

Topological photonics is a rapidly emerging field of research in which geometrical and topological ideas are exploited to design and control the behavior of light. Drawing inspiration from the discovery of the quantum Hall effects and topological insulators in condensed matter, recent advances have shown how to engineer analogous effects also for photons, leading to remarkable phenomena such as the robust unidirectional propagation of light, which hold great promise for applications. Thanks to the flexibility and diversity of photonics systems, this field is also opening up new opportunities to realize exotic topological models and to probe and exploit topological effects in new ways. This article reviews experimental and theoretical developments in topological photonics across a wide range of experimental platforms, including photonic crystals, waveguides, metamaterials, cavities, optomechanics, silicon photonics, and circuit QED. A discussion of how changing the dimensionality and symmetries of photonics systems has allowed for the realization of different topological phases is offered, and progress in understanding the interplay of topology with non-Hermitian effects, such as dissipation, is reviewed. As an exciting perspective, topological photonics can be combined with optical nonlinearities, leading toward new collective phenomena and novel strongly correlated states of light, such as an analog of the fractional quantum Hall effect.Comment: 87 pages, 30 figures, published versio

Serving GODAE Data and Products to the Ocean Community

The Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment (GODAE [http:// www.godae.org]) has spanned a decade of rapid technological development. The ever-increasing volume and diversity of oceanographic data produced by in situ instruments, remote-sensing platforms, and computer simulations have driven the development of a number of innovative technologies that are essential for connecting scientists with the data that they need. This paper gives an overview of the technologies that have been developed and applied in the course of GODAE, which now provide users of oceanographic data with the capability to discover, evaluate, visualize, download, and analyze data from all over the world. The key to this capability is the ability to reduce the inherent complexity of oceanographic data by providing a consistent, harmonized view of the various data products. The challenges of data serving have been addressed over the last 10 years through the cooperative skills and energies of many individuals

3D Joint Kinematic and 2D Quality of Movement Comparison Between Lateral and Forward Step Downs

Step down assessments are frequently used in clinical settings with the lateral step-down (LSD) and forward step-down (FSD) two common variations. The LSD and FSD are both reliable and are commonly used for the assessment of lower extremity pathologies such as patellofemoral pain, anterior ligament reconstruction, and femoral acetabular impingement (1-7). Step down kinematics can be influenced by reduced dorsiflexion mobility (8). Previous studies have demonstrated altered movement quality in those with pathology during either the LSD or FSD (4,7). However, no studies have directly compared the lower extremity movement patterns of the FSD and LSD, using either 3-dimensional (3D) joint angle analysis or 2-dimensional (2D) assessment of faulty movement patterns.https://ecommons.udayton.edu/grad_showcase/1004/thumbnail.jp

An investigation into the effects of, and interaction between, heel height and shoe upper stiffness on plantar pressure and comfort

High heeled shoes remain popular, nevertheless it is not clear what influence manipulating characteristics of this footwear has on their functioning. It is accepted that shoe features other than heel height can affect plantar pressures. However, few investigations have compared such features, and none have compared the influence of modifying upper material stiffness, whilst systematically increasing heel height. A firm understanding of the interactions of footwear properties is essential to ensure that footwear designers can optimise design for the comfort and health of the wearer. This paper investigates a feature that is known to reduce comfort (heel height) and a feature that is easy to change without affecting aesthetics (material stiffness) to better understand the effects of their interaction on plantar pressure and comfort. Sixteen female participants with experience wearing high heels wore a range of shoes with five effective heel heights (35-75 mm) and two upper materials (with different stiffness). In-shoe plantar pressure was recorded and participants completed a comfort questionnaire. Increasing heel height increased plantar pressure under the metatarsal heads, while reducing pressure in the hallux and heel. Higher heel heights also lead to increased discomfort, particularly in the toes where discomfort increased 154.3% from the 35 to 75 mm heels. Upper stiffness did not affect plantar pressure. However, stiffer uppers significantly increased reported discomfort, most notably on top of the foot (108.6%), the back of the heel (87.7%), the overall width (99%), and the overall comfort (100.7%). Significant interaction effects between heel height and upper material existed for comfort questionnaire data. Manipulating heel height alters plantar pressure and comfort, and choice of upper material is paramount to achieving wearer comfort in heels

Anterior knee pain from the evolutionary perspective

Background This paper describes the evolutionary changes in morphology and orientation of the PFJ using species present through our ancestry over 340 million years. Methods 37 specimens from the Devonian period to modern day were scanned using a 64-slice CT scanner. 3D geometries were created following routine segmentation and anatomical measurements taken from standardised bony landmarks. Results Findings are described according to gait strategy and age. The adoption of an upright bi-pedal stance caused a dramatic change in the loading of the PFJ which has subsequently led to changes in the arrangement of the PFJ. From Devonian to Miocene periods, our sprawling and climbing ancestors possessed a broad knee with a shallow, centrally located trochlea. A more rounded knee was present from the Paleolithic period onwards in erect and bipedal gait types (aspect ratio 0.93 vs 1.2 in late Devonian), with the PFJ being placed lateral to the midline compared to the medial position in quadrapeds. The depth of the trochlea groove was maximal in the Miocene period of the African ground apes with associated acute sulcus angles in Gorilla (117°) becoming more flattened towards the modern human (138°). Conclusions The evolving bipedal gait lead to anteriorisation of the patellofemoral joint, flattening of the trochlea sulcus, in a more lateral, dislocation prone arrangement. Ancestral developments might help explain the variety of presentations of anterior knee pain and patellofemoral instability