Leaf cuticular morphology links Platanaceae and Proteaceae

Int. J. Plant Sci. 166(5):843–855. © 2005 by The University of Chicago.The leaf cuticular morphology of extant species of Platanus was investigated using light and scanning electron microscopy. All species are shown to possess trichome bases of the same type as those commonly found in Proteaceae. Of particular significance are compound forms that consist of an annular surface scar associated with more than one underlying epidermal cell. These are found on the adaxial leaf surfaces of all species of Platanus and are also clearly evident on the abaxial surface of Platanus orientalis. This type of trichome base is therefore interpreted as the first detected nonreproductive morphological synapomorphy linking Proteaceae and Platanaceae. Also, the laterocytic, sometimes paracytic, or anomocytic arrangement of subsidiary cells in Platanus is distinct from the general state in Proteaceae, which is brachyparacytic and presumably derived. In Bellendena, possibly the most basal genus of extant Proteaceae, subsidiary cell arrangements resemble those of Platanus. These results are discussed with respect to leaf fossil records of Proteales, where it is concluded that the combination of brachyparacytic stomata and compound trichome bases is strong evidence for Proteaceae.Raymond J. Carpenter, Robert S. Hill, and Gregory J. Jorda

The Harlem Renaissance

the spring of 2017, I was approached by a professor to join him in a writing project that will be published in 2019. The project is a volume called: 50 Events that Shaped African American History. My contribution to this project is a chapter on the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance took place between 1920 and 1930. Once the decade passed, the Harlem Renaissance ended as quickly as it had begun. Using primary and secondary sources, I researched and learned about the various themes within the Harlem Renaissance. Such themes include: politics, literature, music, and black identity and culture. I had to write a chronology, a narrative, two biographies, and two sidebars. One biography is about Langston Hughes, and the other, James Weldon Johnson. The one side-bar comments on the concept of “The New Negro” and the other, comments on the Harlem Riot of 1935 and how that symbolized the end of the Harlem Renaissance. The goal of this project was to write an unbiased view of the Harlem Renaissance. I encountered the arguments, victories, and defeats of the Harlem Renaissance. Writing about the Harlem Renaissance also caused me to ask questions. One question was: “Was the Harlem Renaissance a success?” I intend to share what this writing experience has taught me and also hope to offer my own take on the questions offered above, and help to start an educated conversation of an influential moment in African American History

Tributes to Professor Robert Berkley Harper

In 1977, I began teaching at The University of Pittsburgh Law School and in short order one of my closest friends during my tenure there was Professor Robert “Bob” Harper. I wondered when I was hired whether I was selected because I looked strikingly similar to Bob, and perhaps the faculty thought my favoring Professor Harper would make my assimilation into the law school faculty that much easier. Students constantly called me Professor Harper and, indeed, many on the faculty called me Bob for several years; I never bothered to correct them. I thought if they paid that little attention to detail in law school, I would just let them go through life missing some of the finer points their education, and life for that matter, has to offer

Macrofossils as indicators of Plio-Pleistocene climates in Tasmania and Antarctica

Plant macrofossils can be used as proxy palaeoclimatic indicators, since both the taxa present at a site and the form ofleaves depend on the climate, and macrofossils are rarely transported far. In the simple case of the Sirius Group Nothofagus leaves and wood in Antarctica, the fossils provide data on climate that suggest temperatures at the time of deposition were in the order of> 10°C warmer than at present. While the age of the fossils is still debated, the climatic signal is not. However, in more subtle cases, where the climatic differences are smaller and the fossil evidence is more complex, it is critical to interpret the evidence cauriously. Macrofossils from Pleistocene localities in Tasmania provide a clear signal on temperature and rainfall that is sometimes at odds with pollen-based reconstructions, bur the former is inherently likely to be more accurate

Polyoxometalate multi-electron-transfer catalytic systems for water splitting

The viable production of solar fuels requires a visible-light-absorbing unit, a H2O (or CO2) reduction catalyst (WRC), and a water oxidation catalyst (WOC) that work in tandem to split water or reduce CO2 with H2O rapidly, selectively, and for long periods of time. Most catalysts and photosensitizers developed to date for these triadic systems are oxidatively, thermally, and/or hydrolytically unstable. Polyoxometalates (POMs) constitute a huge class of complexes with extensively tunable properties that are oxidatively, thermally, and (over wide and adjustable pH ranges) hydrolytically stable. POMs are some of the fastest and most stable WOCs to date under optimal conditions. This Microreview updates the very active POM WOC field; it reports the application of POMs as WRCs and initial self-assembling metal oxide semiconductor–photosensitizer–POM catalyst triad photoanodes. The complexities of investigating these POM systems, including but not limited to the study of POM-hydrated metal-ion–metal-oxide speciation processes, are outlined. The achievements and challenges in POM WOC, WRC, and triad research are outlined

The macrofossil record of Proteaceae in Tasmania: a review with new species

About ten taxa of Proteaceae are known from the Early Eocene in Tasmania, one from a Late Eocene site, 22 from four Early Oligocene sites, one from a Late Oligocene/Early Miocene site, 12 or 13 from two Early Pleistocene sites, and five or six from the Middle and Late Pleistocene. Most of the Tertiary fossils are of extinct species, but the extant species Lomatia fraxinifolia and Telopea truncata have been recorded from the Early Oligocene as well as apparent close relatives of the subalpine rainforest species Orites milliganii, and the sub-tropical rainforest species, O. excelsa. None of the Early Oligocene species are known from more than one site, implying very high regional diversity, and floristic differentiation among the sites. High diversity of Proteaceae at some sites may be associated with oligotrophic soils. There is no evidence of any of the modern species-rich scleromorphic groups of Proteaceae except Banksiinae. Scleromorphy was well established in Oriteae, Embothrieae and Banksiinae by the Early Oligocene. The Early Eocene fossils have very small stomata, sparsely distributed on the leaf, which may have been due to elevated atmospheric CO2. All extant Tasmanian genera and many extant species were present by the Early Pleistocene as well as some extinct species. The specific diversity within the region was probably higher than it is now. In order to resolve a nomenclatural problem with the genus Proteaciphyllum, Euproteaciphyllum G.J.Jord., R.J.Carp. & R.S.Hill, gen. nov. is proposed and this name is applied to 10 previously described species. The Tasmanian fossil taxa include three new records, and nine new species: Euproteaciphyllum brookerensis G.J.Jord., R.J.Carp. & R.S.Hill, sp. nov., and E. tasmanicum G.J.Jord., R.J.Carp. & R.S.Hill, sp. nov. from Early Eocene sediments; and Orites milliganoides G.J.Jord., R.J.Carp. & R.S.Hill, sp. nov., O. scleromorpha G.J.Jord., R.J.Carp. & R.S.Hill, sp. nov., E. papillosum G.J.Jord., R.J.Carp. & R.S.Hill, sp. nov., E. polymorphum G.J.Jord., R.J.Carp. & R.S.Hill, sp. nov., E. microlobium G.J.Jord., R.J.Carp. & R.S.Hill, sp. nov., E. falcatum G.J.Jord., R.J.Carp. & R.S.Hill, sp. nov., and E. serratum G.J.Jord., R.J.Carp. & R.S.Hill, sp. nov. from Early Oligocene sediments

Patterns of brain growth in one FGFR2 mouse model for Apert Syndrome

Apert syndrome is a disorder associated with craniosynostosis resulting from one of two mutations in Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor 2 (FGFR2). Individuals with Apert syndrome demonstrate brain dysmorphology, often associated with cognitive deficits. In this study, micro magnetic resonance images of the brain of FGFR2+/P253R mice and their wildtype littermates were acquired at two ages, P0 (newborn) and P2 (two days old). Fifteen landmarks on the brain surface were collected to compare growth patterns in the morphological phenotypes of the brain."Work supported by NIDCR R01 DE018500