Palaeoclimate and palaeoenvironment of the middle Eocene southern Pacific : insights from New Zealand

The Hampden Section of South Island, New Zealand, is used to generate a multiproxy record of middle Eocene palaeoclimate. The Hampden Formation is a calcareous clay-rich siltstone deposited in a shelf edge environment, containing exceptionally well-preserved micro- and nannofossils. A range of sedimentary, geochemical and fossil assemblage records from this formation are combined to provide new insights into middle Eocene climate in the southern Pacific Ocean. A palaeoclimate record generated through the formation spans the period from -42.1 to -39.3 Ma and shows clear cooling in ocean mixed-layer temperatures from -18 C to -14 C, with long period cyclicity (likely -405 k.y.) superimposed. This cooling trend is punctuated by a transient warm excursion of - 2.5 C lasting -450 k.y. that may represent the Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum. There is a brief influx of the tropical planktonic foraminifer Hantkenina australis during this time and the excursion is also marked by a substantial drop in the sand fraction of the sediment, indicating that the warm interval had a significant impact on the terrestrial realm. The water temperatures produced from this record are warmer than those previously estimated for similar latitudes, likely due to the excellent preservation of the microfossils reducing the effect of diagenesis on their geochemistry. These temperatures suggest that during the middle Eocene, the site lay in the path of a warm southward flowing current rather than a cold Antarctic gyre. They also support the hypothesis that the global latitudinal temperature gradient was reduced during the middle Eocene. A shorter high-resolution record of climate was also obtained. This shows -18 k.y. cyclicity in a range of palaeoclimatic and palaeonvironmental proxies that is considered to have been orbitally forced. The Mg/Ca derived bottom water temperatures range from -11 to 13 C and the TEXg6 derived surface water temperatures from -22.5 to 24 C through these cycles. The combination of 8 O and Mg/Ca in foraminiferal carbonates indicates that there was little or no ice present globally. Despite the lack of ice available to amplify the cycles they had a major and complex effect on both the marine and terrestrial environments.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Palaeoclimate and palaeoenvironment of the middle Eocene southern Pacific : insights from New Zealand

The Hampden Section of South Island, New Zealand, is used to generate a multiproxy record of middle Eocene palaeoclimate. The Hampden Formation is a calcareous clay-rich siltstone deposited in a shelf edge environment, containing exceptionally well-preserved micro- and nannofossils. A range of sedimentary, geochemical and fossil assemblage records from this formation are combined to provide new insights into middle Eocene climate in the southern Pacific Ocean. A palaeoclimate record generated through the formation spans the period from -42.1 to -39.3 Ma and shows clear cooling in ocean mixed-layer temperatures from -18 C to -14 C, with long period cyclicity (likely -405 k.y.) superimposed. This cooling trend is punctuated by a transient warm excursion of - 2.5 C lasting -450 k.y. that may represent the Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum. There is a brief influx of the tropical planktonic foraminifer Hantkenina australis during this time and the excursion is also marked by a substantial drop in the sand fraction of the sediment, indicating that the warm interval had a significant impact on the terrestrial realm. The water temperatures produced from this record are warmer than those previously estimated for similar latitudes, likely due to the excellent preservation of the microfossils reducing the effect of diagenesis on their geochemistry. These temperatures suggest that during the middle Eocene, the site lay in the path of a warm southward flowing current rather than a cold Antarctic gyre. They also support the hypothesis that the global latitudinal temperature gradient was reduced during the middle Eocene. A shorter high-resolution record of climate was also obtained. This shows -18 k.y. cyclicity in a range of palaeoclimatic and palaeonvironmental proxies that is considered to have been orbitally forced. The Mg/Ca derived bottom water temperatures range from -11 to 13 C and the TEXg6 derived surface water temperatures from -22.5 to 24 C through these cycles. The combination of 8 O and Mg/Ca in foraminiferal carbonates indicates that there was little or no ice present globally. Despite the lack of ice available to amplify the cycles they had a major and complex effect on both the marine and terrestrial environments.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Remunerating private psychiatrists for participating in case conferences

BACKGROUND: On 1 November 2000, a series of new item numbers was added to the Medicare Benefits Schedule, which allowed for case conferences between physicians (including psychiatrists) and other multidisciplinary providers. On 1 November 2002, an additional set of numbers was added, designed especially for use by psychiatrists. This paper reports the findings of an evaluation of these item numbers. RESULTS: The uptake of the item numbers in the three years post their introduction was low to moderate at best. Eighty nine psychiatrists rendered 479 case conferences at a cost to the Health Insurance Commission of $70,584. Psychiatrists who have used the item numbers are generally positive about them, as are consumers. Psychiatrists who have not used them have generally not done so because of a lack of knowledge, rather than direct opposition. The use of the item numbers is increasing over time, perhaps as psychiatrists become more aware of their existence and of their utility in maximising quality of care. CONCLUSION: The case conferencing item numbers have potential, but as yet this potential is not being realised. Some small changes to the conditions associated with the use of the item numbers could assist their uptake

Bayesian approach to determining penetrance of pathogenic SDH variants.

BACKGROUND: Until recently, determining penetrance required large observational cohort studies. Data from the Exome Aggregate Consortium (ExAC) allows a Bayesian approach to calculate penetrance, in that population frequencies of pathogenic germline variants should be inversely proportional to their penetrance for disease. We tested this hypothesis using data from two cohorts for succinate dehydrogenase subunits A, B and C (SDHA-C) genetic variants associated with hereditary pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma (PC/PGL). METHODS: Two cohorts were 575 unrelated Australian subjects and 1240 unrelated UK subjects, respectively, with PC/PGL in whom genetic testing had been performed. Penetrance of pathogenic SDHA-C variants was calculated by comparing allelic frequencies in cases versus controls from ExAC (removing those variants contributed by The Cancer Genome Atlas). RESULTS: Pathogenic SDHA-C variants were identified in 106 subjects (18.4%) in cohort 1 and 317 subjects (25.6%) in cohort 2. Of 94 different pathogenic variants from both cohorts (seven in SDHA, 75 in SDHB and 12 in SDHC), 13 are reported in ExAC (two in SDHA, nine in SDHB and two in SDHC) accounting for 21% of subjects with SDHA-C variants. Combining data from both cohorts, estimated lifetime disease penetrance was 22.0% (95% CI 15.2% to 30.9%) for SDHB variants, 8.3% (95% CI 3.5% to 18.5%) for SDHC variants and 1.7% (95% CI 0.8% to 3.8%) for SDHA variants. CONCLUSION: Pathogenic variants in SDHB are more penetrant than those in SDHC and SDHA. Our findings have important implications for counselling and surveillance of subjects carrying these pathogenic variants

The application of rules in morphology, syntax and number processing: a case of selective deficit of procedural or executive mechanisms?: Deficit of procedural or executive mechanisms

International audienceDeclarative memory is a long-term store for facts, concepts and words. Procedural memory subserves the learning and control of sensorimotor and cognitive skills, including the mental grammar. In this study, we report a single-case study of a mild aphasic patient who showed procedural deficits in the presence of preserved declarative memory abilities. We administered several experiments to explore rule application in morphology, syntax and number processing. Results partly support the differentiation between declarative and procedural memory. Moreover, the patient's performance varied according to the domain in which rules were to be applied, which underlines the need for more fine-grained distinctions in cognition between procedural rules

Student Attitudes Contribute to the Effectiveness of a Genomics CURE

The Genomics Education Partnership (GEP) engages students in a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE). To better understand the student attributes that support success in this CURE, we asked students about their attitudes using previously published scales that measure epistemic beliefs about work and science, interest in science, and grit. We found, in general, that the attitudes students bring with them into the classroom contribute to two outcome measures, namely, learning as assessed by a pre- and postquiz and perceived self-reported benefits. While the GEP CURE produces positive outcomes overall, the students with more positive attitudes toward science, particularly with respect to epistemic beliefs, showed greater gains. The findings indicate the importance of a student\u27s epistemic beliefs to achieving positive learning outcomes

Reactions to Brexit in images : a multimodal content analysis of shared visual content on Flickr

In this article, the authors analyze citizens’ reactions to Brexit on social media after the referendum results by performing a content analysis of 5877 posts collected from the social media platform Flickr, written in English, German, French, Spanish or Italian. Their research aims to answer the three following questions: What multimodal practices are adopted by citizens when they react to societal events like Brexit? To what extent do these practices illustrate types of citizenship that are specific to social networks? Can we observe different reactions to Brexit according to the languages used by the citizens? The authors focus on the types of visual content the citizens used to react to Brexit, as well as on what types of social relations this content can particularly create between their authors and the other members of the Flick community. Their article also highlights to what extent these posts shared on Flickr show content that is in favour of, or against, Brexit

A linkage study of candidate loci in familial Parkinson's Disease

BACKGROUND: Parkinson's disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder after Alzheimer's disease. Most cases are sporadic, however familial cases do exist. We examined 12 families with familial Parkinson's disease ascertained at the Movement Disorder clinic at the Oregon Health Sciences University for genetic linkage to a number of candidate loci. These loci have been implicated in familial Parkinson's disease or in syndromes with a clinical presentation that overlaps with parkinsonism, as well as potentially in the pathogenesis of the disease. METHODS: The examined loci were PARK3, Parkin, DRD (dopa-responsive dystonia), FET1 (familial essential tremor), BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), GDNF (glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor), Ret, DAT1 (the dopamine transporter), Nurr1 and Synphilin-1. Linkage to the α-synuclein gene and the Frontotemporal dementia with parkinsonism locus on chromosome 17 had previously been excluded in the families included in this study. Using Fastlink, Genehunter and Simwalk both parametric and model-free non-parametric linkage analyses were performed. RESULTS: In the multipoint parametric linkage analysis lod scores were below -2 for all loci except FET1 and Synphilin-1 under an autosomal dominant model with incomplete penetrance. Using non-parametric linkage analysis there was no evidence for linkage, although linkage could not be excluded. A few families showed positive parametric and non-parametric lod scores indicating possible genetic heterogeneity between families, although these scores did not reach any degree of statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that in these families there was no evidence for linkage to any of the loci tested, although we were unable to exclude linkage with both parametric and non-parametric methods