A taxonomic note concerning a dicynodont (Synapsida: Anomodontia) from the Middle Triassic of East Africa

Main articleThe complicated histories of the Indian dicynodont Rechnisaurus and the East African dicynodont Kannemeyeria cristarhynchus has led to the incorrect use of the name ‘cristarhynchus’ for the latter taxon. This paper therefore proposes a new species name and diagnosis.The National Research Foundation and University Research Committee of the University of the Witwatersran

Dynamics of precipitation pattern formation at geothermal hot springs

We formulate and model the dynamics of spatial patterns arising during the precipitation of calcium carbonate from a supersaturated shallow water flow. The model describes the formation of travertine deposits at geothermal hot springs and rimstone dams of calcite in caves. We find explicit solutions for travertine domes at low flow rates, identify the linear instabilities which generate dam and pond formation on sloped substrates, and present simulations of statistical landscape evolution

Academic freedom in Europe: reviewing UNESCO’s recommendation

This paper examines the compliance of universities in the European Union with the UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Higher–Education Teaching Personnel, which deals primarily with protection for academic freedom. The paper briefly surveys the European genesis of the modern research university and academic freedom, before evaluating compliance with the UNESCO recommendation on institutional autonomy, academic freedom, university governance and tenure. Following from this, the paper examines the reasons for the generally low level of compliance with the UNESCO Recommendation within the EU states, and considers how such compliance could be improved

Proteomic analysis of three Coffee Leaf Rust races with different pathogenic behavior

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Fichte and Hegel on Recognition

In this paper I provide an interpretation of Hegel’s account of ‘recognition’ (Anerkennung) in the 1802-3 System of Ethical Life as a critique of Fichte’s account of recognition in the 1796-7 Foundations of Natural Right. In the first three sections of the paper I argue that Fichte’s account of recognition in the domain of right is not concerned with recognition as a moral attitude. I then turn, in section four, to a discussion of Hegel’s critique and transformation of Fichte’s conception of recognition. Hegel’s transformation consists, I argue, in the claim that a comprehensive account of recognition in the domain of right must be concerned with recognition as a moral attitude

Reducing hospital mortality: Incremental change informed by structured mortality review is effective.

Hospital mortality rates have frequently been improved by identifying diagnostic groups with high mortality and targeting interventions to those specific groups. We found that high residual inpatient mortality persisted after targeted measures had achieved an initial reduction, and that the causes were spread across a wide range of diagnostic groups. Further interventions were put in place consisting of a structured electronic mortality form and systematised mortality scrutiny and reporting (primary intervention) accompanied by a number of quality improvement interventions arising from the mortality analysis (secondary interventions). We found that those interventions were associated with progressive improvements in mortality rates and average lengths of inpatient stay over the 5-year study period. Winter quarter mortality improvements reached a high level of statistical significance but could not be attributed to changes in any particular diagnostic groups. We conclude that progress with mortality improvements is probably best achieved by applying both code-targeted and general interventions simultaneously

Palaeoproterozoic magnesite: lithological and isotopic evidence for playa/sabkha environments

Magnesite forms a series of 1- to 15-m-thick beds within the approximate to2.0 Ga (Palaeoproterozoic) Tulomozerskaya Formation, NW Fennoscandian Shield, Russia. Drillcore material together with natural exposures reveal that the 680-m-thick formation is composed of a stromatolite-dolomite-'red bed' sequence formed in a complex combination of shallow-marine and non-marine, evaporitic environments. Dolomite-collapse breccia, stromatolitic and micritic dolostones and sparry allochemical dolostones are the principal rocks hosting the magnesite beds. All dolomite lithologies are marked by delta C-13 values from +7.1 parts per thousand to +11.6 parts per thousand (V-PDB) and delta O-18 ranging from 17.4 parts per thousand to 26.3 parts per thousand (V-SMOW). Magnesite occurs in different forms: finely laminated micritic; stromatolitic magnesite; and structureless micritic, crystalline and coarsely crystalline magnesite. All varieties exhibit anomalously high delta C-13 values ranging from +9.0 parts per thousand to +11.6 parts per thousand and delta O-18 values of 20.0-25.7 parts per thousand. Laminated and structureless micritic magnesite forms as a secondary phase replacing dolomite during early diagenesis, and replaced dolomite before the major phase of burial. Crystalline and coarsely crystalline magnesite replacing micritic magnesite formed late in the diagenetic/metamorphic history. Magnesite apparently precipitated from sea water-derived brine, diluted by meteoric fluids. Magnesitization was accomplished under evaporitic conditions (sabkha to playa lake environment) proposed to be similar to the Coorong or Lake Walyungup coastal playa magnesite. Magnesite and host dolostones formed in evaporative and partly restricted environments; consequently, extremely high delta C-13 values reflect a combined contribution from both global and local carbon reservoirs. A C- 13-rich global carbon reservoir (delta C-13 at around +5 parts per thousand) is related to the perturbation of the carbon cycle at 2.0 Ga, whereas the local enhancement in C-13 (up to +12 parts per thousand) is associated with evaporative and restricted environments with high bioproductivity

Controls on Quaternary geochemical and mineralogical variability in the Koora Basin and South Kenya Rift

The South Kenya Rift is comprised of a series of N-S-oriented grabens with sediments that preserve an approximate one-million-year environmental history that reflects the interplay of climate, tectonism and volcanism. This study attempts to disentangle the relative roles of these major controls by comparing the geochemical records preserved in three sedimentary basins. The study focuses on the Koora Basin using bulk geochemical data in a 139-m-long core. This record is then compared with geochemical data and environmental histories from a 196-m-long core at Magadi and outcrops in the Olorgesailie Basin. Four climatic phases (1000–850; 850–470; 470–400; 400–0 ka) are recognised at Koora, which can also be distinguished in the Magadi and Olorgesailie Basins. However, inter-basin contrasts also suggest that additional, non-climatic factors influenced these geochemical histories, particularly during four intervals. These include 1) the Magadi Transition (MT; ∼770–700 ka), 2) the Magadi Tectonic Event (MTE; ∼540 ka), 3) the Koora Instability Period (KIP; ∼325–180 ka), and 4) the Trona Precipitation Period (TPP; ∼105–0 ka). Prior to the MT, Zr/TiO, La/Lu, Mo, As, V and Na/Ca in Magadi and Koora cores were similar but afterwards diverged. Major reductions in transition metals at Magadi during the MTE reflect tectonically-induced cross-rift drainage diversion. This contrasts with the Koora and Olorgesailie basins where these metals were constant from ∼1000 to 300 ka. The KIP represents a significant increase in volcanic inputs to the Koora Basin and increased geochemical variability. Bromine (Br), which reflects peralkaline volcanic activity and/or evaporative concentration, is elevated during the KIP at Koora but is below detection limits in the rest of the Koora core. Br in the Magadi core does not correlate with that in the Koora record, suggesting contrasting accumulation processes. The TPP represents a phase of trona precipitation at Magadi but not at Koora. This difference partly reflects increased magmatic CO rising along faults in the Magadi basin during a period of increasing aridity. Rare-earth element patterns indicate a major change at Magadi with many anomalies after about 325 ka to the present, caused by the development of hypersaline waters, which did not occur at Koora or Olorgesailie. The geochemical data from the three basins help to partially separate climatic controls from those related to volcanism, tectonism and local geomorphology.Funding for this research was given for the Olorgesailie Drilling Project (ODP) by (1) the Peter Buck Fund for Human Origins Research, (2) the William H. Donner Foundation, (3) the Ruth and Vernon Taylor Foundation, (4) Whitney and Betty MacMillan, and (4) the Smithsonian Human Origins Program and (5) National Science Foundation grants EAR-1322017 and 1349599. Drilling at Magadi for the Hominin Sites and Paleolakes Drilling Project (HSPDP) was funded by ICDP and NSF grants (EAR-1123942, BCS-1241859, EAR-1338553). The Hong Kong Research Grants Council (HKBU201912) and several grants from NSERC Canada supported our work at both Koora and Magadi. CR thanks Univ. of Tübingen Excellence Strategy Grant: PRO-ROSCA-2021-11 for financial support