Additional records of scaphitid ammonites from the basal upper Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous) of eastern Poland

New records of rare and/or poorly known scaphitid ammonites are presented from the basal upper Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous) white chalk exposed at Chelm quarry, Lublin Upland (eastern Poland). The described and illustrated material comprises four specimens, all preserved as composite moulds, and includes a well-preserved microconch of Hoploscaphites schmidi (BIRKELUND, 1982), fragmentary specimens of H. felderi KENNEDY, 1987 and Acanthoscaphites (Euroscaphites) varians blaszkiewiczi JAGT, KENNEDY & MACHALSKI, 1999, as well as a pathological macroconch of Hoploscaphites constrictus lvivensis MACHALSKI, 2005b

Cost-utility analysis of different treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder in sexually abused children

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is diagnosed in 20% to 53% of sexually abused children and adolescents. Living with PTSD is associated with a loss of health-related quality of life. Based on the best available evidence, the NICE Guideline for PTSD in children and adolescents recommends cognitive behavioural therapy (TF-CBT) over non-directive counselling as a more efficacious treatment.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A modelled economic evaluation conducted from the Australian mental health care system perspective estimates incremental costs and Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) of TF-CBT, TF-CBT combined with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), and non-directive counselling. The "no treatment" alternative is included as a comparator. The first part of the model consists of a decision tree corresponding to 12 month follow-up outcomes observed in clinical trials. The second part consists of a 30 year Markov model representing the slow process of recovery in non-respondents and the untreated population yielding estimates of long-term quality-adjusted survival and costs. Data from the 2007 Australian Mental Health Survey was used to populate the decision analytic model.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In the base-case and sensitivity analyses, incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) for all three active treatment alternatives remained less than A$7,000 per QALY gained. The base-case results indicated that non-directive counselling is dominated by TF-CBT and TF-CBT + SSRI, and that efficiency gain can be achieved by allocating more resources toward these therapies. However, this result was sensitive to variation in the clinical effectiveness parameters with non-directive counselling dominating TF-CBT and TF-CBT + SSRI under certain assumptions. The base-case results also suggest that TF-CBT + SSRI is more cost-effective than TF-CBT.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Even after accounting for uncertainty in parameter estimates, the results of the modelled economic evaluation demonstrated that all psychotherapy treatments for PTSD in sexually abused children have a favourable ICER relative to no treatment. The results also highlighted the loss of quality of life in children who do not receive any psychotherapy. Results of the base-case analysis suggest that TF-CBT + SSRI is more cost-effective than TF-CBT alone, however, considering the uncertainty associated with prescribing SSRIs to children and adolescents, clinicians and parents may exercise some caution in choosing this treatment alternative.</p

Photosynthetic activity in Devonian Foraminifera

Photosynthetically active foraminifera are prolific carbonate producers in warm, sunlit, surface waters of the oceans. Foraminifera have repeatedly developed mixotrophic strategies (i.e., the ability of an organism or holobiont to both feed and photosynthesize) by facultative or obligate endosymbiosis with microalgae or by sequestering plastids (kleptoplasts) of ingested algae. Mixotrophy provides access to essential nutrients (e.g., N, P) through feeding while providing carbohydrates and lipids produced through photosynthesis, resulting in substantial energetic advantage in warm, sunlit environments where food and dissolved nutrients are scarce. Our morphological as well as stable carbon isotope data provide, as of now, the earliest (Mid-Devonian) evidence for photosynthetic activity in the first advanced, multichambered, calcareous foraminifera, Semitextularia, from the tropical shelf of the Laurussia paleocontinent. This adaptation likely influenced the evolutionary radiation of calcareous Foraminifera in the Devonian (“Givetian revolution”), one of the most important evolutionary events in foraminiferal history, that coincided with the worldwide development of diverse calcifying marine communities inhabiting shelf environments linked with Devonian stromatoporoid coral reefs.</p

Foraminifers and stable isotope record of the Dubivtsi chalk (upper Turonian, Western Ukraine): palaeoenvironmental implications

A combined micropalaeontological and stable isotope study of the Dubivtsi chalk in the Western Ukraine indicates its middle late Turonian age. One long-term and clearly distinguishable positive excursion of the isotope curve (d131

Foraminiferal bioevents in the upper Campanian to lowest Maastrichtian of the Middle Vistula River section, Poland

The Upper Campanian–Lower Maastrichtian interval of the Middle Vistula River Valley section records the following benthic foraminiferal bioevents in ascending stratigraphical order: LO of Globorotalites michelinianus, FO and LO of Globorotalites emdyensis (=G. hiltermanni), FO of Bolivina incrassata, FO of Bolivinoides miliaris, FO of Angulogavelinella gracilis (=A. bettenstaedti), LO of Gavelinella monterelensis, FO of Osangularia navarroana, FO of Bolivina decurrens and FO of Neoflabellina reticulata. These events are recorded in very similar stratigraphic positions in the Lägerdorf-Kronsmoor succession (northern Germany) and in the succession of eastern England and, at least some of them, in eastern Europe. Accordingly they can serve as important markers for stratigraphic correlation across Europe. The FOs of the planktonic species, Rugoglobigerina milamensis, R. hexacamerata and R. pennyi, in the uppermost part of the “Inoceramus” redbirdensis Zone,are very close to the Campanian–Maastrichtian boundary as defined by inoceramid bivalves (Walaszczyk, 2004) and we propose these planktonic foraminiferal bioevents as a good proxy for this boundary in temperate regions

Integrated biostratigraphy of Upper Maastrichtian chalk at Chełm (SE Poland)

A 40-m-thick section of chalk exposed in the Chełm quarry (SE Poland) contains a rather poor assemblage of macrofauna and a well diversified assemblage of foraminifers. The planktonic foraminifer assem- blages characterized by a considerable number of representatives of Globigerinelloides and Heterohelix and the presence of Guembelitria cretacea indicate the lowest part of the Guembelitria cretacea Zone sensu Peryt (1980). Benthic foraminifers point out that the strata of the Chełm quarry section can be attributed to the lower part of the Upper Maastrichtian: i.e., the Gavelinella danica/Brotzenella preacuta Zone of the European Boreal Province or the Anomalinoides pinguis Zone distinguished in Poland (except the Carpathians). The occurrence of ammonites, such as Hoploscaphites constrictus lviviensis Machalski, Hoploscaphites schmidi (Birkelund), and Acanthoscaphites varians blaszkiewiczi Jagt & al. indicates that the Chełm succession belongs to the lower part of the Belemnitella junior Zone, i.e., to the Belemnitella junior–Spyridoceramus tegulatus Zone sensu Schulz & Schmid (1983). The correlation of the Chełm quarry section and the Middle Vistula River Valley section indicates that the equivalent interval of the former section is not exposed in the Middle Vistula River Valley and that it would occur between the Chotcza and Lucimia villages within the lower part of the Belemnitella junior Zone, i.e., within the Belemnitella junior-Spyridoceramus tegulatus Zone distinguished in NW Germany (Schulz & Schmid,1983)

Integrated biostratigraphy of the Santonian through Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous) of extra-Carpathian Poland

The biostratigraphic importance, current zonations, and potential for the recognition of the standard chronostratigraphic boundaries of five palaeontological groups (benthic foraminifers, ammonites, belemnites, inoceramid bivalves and echinoids), critical for the stratigraphy of the Santonian through Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous) of extra-Carpathian Poland, are presented and discussed. The summary is based on recent studies in selected sections of southern Poland (Nida Synclinorium; Puławy Trough including the Middle Vistula River composite section; and Mielnik and Kornica sections of south-eastern Mazury-Podlasie Homocline) and of western Ukraine (Dubivtsi). The new zonation based on benthic forams is presented for the entire interval studied. Zonations for ammonites, belemnites and inoceramid bivalves are compiled. All stage boundaries, as currently defined or understood, may easily be constrained or precisely located with the groups discussed: the base of the Santonian with the First Occurrence (FO) of the inoceramid Cladoceramus undulatoplicatus; the base of the Campanian with the Last Occurrence (LO) of the crinoid Marsupites testudinarius and approximated by the range of the foraminifer Stensioeina pommerana; and the base of the Maastrichtian approximated by the FO of the inoceramid bivalve Endocostea typica and the FO of the belemnite Belemnella vistulensis. The positions of substage boundaries, as currently understood, are constrained in terms of the groups discussed