Rare Diatom Stauroneis schinzii (Brun) Cleve var. schinzii Microfossil Collected and Georeferenced in Alabama

The diatom Stauroneis schinzii (Brun) Cleve var. schinzii has an underreported record of its autecology, distribution, and natural history. While the species is found in Africa and South America, it is rare in North America and very few specimens have been collected and cataloged. As part of a landscape evolution study, we cored the sediments of an oxbow lake in the coastal plain of Alabama, USA, for diatom analysis. Among 40,608 individual diatoms sampled, we counted a single valve of S. s. var. schinzii, georeferenced its location, and recorded a micrograph. Based on the carbon dating of the sediment core, we conclude the diatom was not anthropogenically introduced from another continent

An independently corroborated, diatom-inferred record of long-term drought cycles occurring over the last two millennia in New Mexico, USA

We investigated late Holocene (2000 YBP to present) drought in northern New Mexico, USA, using diatom valves sampled from a lake sediment core. Diatoms were analyzed with a combination of multivariate ordination and time series analysis to identify significant changes in community dynamics and corresponding significant bifurcations between periods of increased and decreased precipitation. This diatom-inferred precipitation regime was statistically corroborated against an independently derived tree ring record of precipitation in northern New Mexico. Also, both the tree ring and diatom records were tested for concordance with indirect radiocarbon solar intensity data and were both significantly cross-correlated with solar intensity. Periods of drought aligned with periods of decreased solar intensity during ~1400–1000 and ~600–200 YBP; periods of increased solar activity aligned with periods of increased precipitation during ~1000–600 YBP and ~200 YBP to present day. These results suggest that longer-term drought regimes in northern New Mexico may have been modulated by solar activity

Geological Field Trips

This field trip guide organized in the framework of the Goldschmidt Conference 2013, held in Florence from August 25 to 30, 2013, is here presented. The two-days field trip, shows some of the many geological, naturalistic and cultural features in the Fiorano area (Modena), in which history, geology and passion for Ferrari come together in a perfect marriage. The first excursion day is dedicated to visit the Natural Reserve of Salse di Nirano, where the mud volcanoes, produced by the cold mud, salt water and hydrocarbons - mainly methane- can be observed. The second day is devoted to visit the Ferrari Museum and goes on at the Spezzano Castle, hosting the Ceramics Museum. Clays are, in fact, abundant in the hilly margin, where they form badlands, characteristic narrow crests washed out by running waters. In the Castle there is also a Balsamic Vinegar producing Consortium, it’s a peculiar and typical product of Modena province. The itinerary ends with the tour to Enzo Ferrari’s Birthplace at Modena

Targeted mitochondrial therapy using MitoQ shows equivalent renoprotection to angiotensin converting enzyme inhibition but no combined synergy in diabetes.

Mitochondrial dysfunction is a pathological mediator of diabetic kidney disease (DKD). Our objective was to test the mitochondrially targeted agent, MitoQ, alone and in combination with first line therapy for DKD. Intervention therapies (i) vehicle (D); (ii) MitoQ (DMitoQ;0.6 mg/kg/day); (iii) Ramipril (DRam;3 mg/kg/day) or (iv) combination (DCoAd) were administered to male diabetic db/db mice for 12 weeks (n = 11-13/group). Non-diabetic (C) db/m mice were followed concurrently. No therapy altered glycaemic control or body weight. By the study end, both monotherapies improved renal function, decreasing glomerular hyperfiltration and albuminuria. All therapies prevented tubulointerstitial collagen deposition, but glomerular mesangial expansion was unaffected. Renal cortical concentrations of ATP, ADP, AMP, cAMP, creatinine phosphate and ATP:AMP ratio were increased by diabetes and mostly decreased with therapy. A higher creatine phosphate:ATP ratio in diabetic kidney cortices, suggested a decrease in ATP consumption. Diabetes elevated glucose 6-phosphate, fructose 6-phosphate and oxidised (NAD+ and NADP+) and reduced (NADH) nicotinamide dinucleotides, which therapy decreased generally. Diabetes increased mitochondrial oxygen consumption (OCR) at complex II-IV. MitoQ further increased OCR but decreased ATP, suggesting mitochondrial uncoupling as its mechanism of action. MitoQ showed renoprotection equivalent to ramipril but no synergistic benefits of combining these agents were shown

Assessing the carcinogenic potential of low-dose exposures to chemical mixtures in the environment: the challenge ahead.

Lifestyle factors are responsible for a considerable portion of cancer incidence worldwide, but credible estimates from the World Health Organization and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) suggest that the fraction of cancers attributable to toxic environmental exposures is between 7% and 19%. To explore the hypothesis that low-dose exposures to mixtures of chemicals in the environment may be combining to contribute to environmental carcinogenesis, we reviewed 11 hallmark phenotypes of cancer, multiple priority target sites for disruption in each area and prototypical chemical disruptors for all targets, this included dose-response characterizations, evidence of low-dose effects and cross-hallmark effects for all targets and chemicals. In total, 85 examples of chemicals were reviewed for actions on key pathways/mechanisms related to carcinogenesis. Only 15% (13/85) were found to have evidence of a dose-response threshold, whereas 59% (50/85) exerted low-dose effects. No dose-response information was found for the remaining 26% (22/85). Our analysis suggests that the cumulative effects of individual (non-carcinogenic) chemicals acting on different pathways, and a variety of related systems, organs, tissues and cells could plausibly conspire to produce carcinogenic synergies. Additional basic research on carcinogenesis and research focused on low-dose effects of chemical mixtures needs to be rigorously pursued before the merits of this hypothesis can be further advanced. However, the structure of the World Health Organization International Programme on Chemical Safety 'Mode of Action' framework should be revisited as it has inherent weaknesses that are not fully aligned with our current understanding of cancer biology

Comprehensive ECG reference intervals in C57BL/6N substrains provide a generalizable guide for cardiac electrophysiology studies in mice.

Reference ranges provide a powerful tool for diagnostic decision-making in clinical medicine and are enormously valuable for understanding normality in pre-clinical scientific research that uses in vivo models. As yet, there are no published reference ranges for electrocardiography (ECG) in the laboratory mouse. The first mouse-specific reference ranges for the assessment of electrical conduction are reported herein generated from an ECG dataset of unprecedented scale. International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium data from over 26,000 conscious or anesthetized C57BL/6N wildtype control mice were stratified by sex and age to develop robust ECG reference ranges. Interesting findings include that heart rate and key elements from the ECG waveform (RR-, PR-, ST-, QT-interval, QT corrected, and QRS complex) demonstrate minimal sexual dimorphism. As expected, anesthesia induces a decrease in heart rate and was shown for both inhalation (isoflurane) and injectable (tribromoethanol) anesthesia. In the absence of pharmacological, environmental, or genetic challenges, we did not observe major age-related ECG changes in C57BL/6N-inbred mice as the differences in the reference ranges of 12-week-old compared to 62-week-old mice were negligible. The generalizability of the C57BL/6N substrain reference ranges was demonstrated by comparison with ECG data from a wide range of non-IMPC studies. The close overlap in data from a wide range of mouse strains suggests that the C57BL/6N-based reference ranges can be used as a robust and comprehensive indicator of normality. We report a unique ECG reference resource of fundamental importance for any experimental study of cardiac function in mice

Assessing the carcinogenic potential of low-dose exposures to chemical mixtures in the environment: the challenge ahead

Summary Low-dose exposures to common environmental chemicals that are deemed safe individually may be combining to instigate carcinogenesis, thereby contributing to the incidence of cancer. This risk may be overlooked by current regulatory practices and needs to be vigorously investigated

Last Men Standing: Chlamydatus Portraits and Public Life in Late Antique Corinth

Notable among the marble sculptures excavated at Corinth are seven portraits of men wearing the long chlamys of Late Antique imperial office. This unusual costume, contemporary portrait heads, and inscribed statue bases all help confirm that new public statuary was created and erected at Corinth during the 4th and 5th centuries. These chlamydatus portraits, published together here for the first time, are likely to represent the Governor of Achaia in his capital city, in the company of local benefactors. Among the last works of the ancient sculptural tradition, they form a valuable source of information on public life in Late Antique Corinth

Erratum to: 36th International Symposium on Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s13054-016-1208-6.]

The genetic architecture of the human cerebral cortex

The cerebral cortex underlies our complex cognitive capabilities, yet little is known about the specific genetic loci that influence human cortical structure. To identify genetic variants that affect cortical structure, we conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of brain magnetic resonance imaging data from 51,665 individuals. We analyzed the surface area and average thickness of the whole cortex and 34 regions with known functional specializations. We identified 199 significant loci and found significant enrichment for loci influencing total surface area within regulatory elements that are active during prenatal cortical development, supporting the radial unit hypothesis. Loci that affect regional surface area cluster near genes in Wnt signaling pathways, which influence progenitor expansion and areal identity. Variation in cortical structure is genetically correlated with cognitive function, Parkinson's disease, insomnia, depression, neuroticism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder