Rotating mandrel for assembly of inflatable devices Patent

Rotating, multisided mandrel for fabricating gored inflatable spacecraf

Diversification and biogeography of the one-toed horses Onohippidium and Hippidion

In this report we describe a large sample of Onohippidium galushai, new species, from the Late Hemphillian (Early Pliocene) of western Arizona, one ramus of Hippidion sp. from the Early Hemphillian (Late Miocene) of the Texas High Plains, and one ramus of cf. Hippidion sp. from the Irvingtonian (Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene) of southern California. These one-toed horses were previously thought to have been confined to Plio-Pleistocene deposits of South America. Onohippidium from Arizona possesses a retracted nasal notch, deep preorbital facial fossae, and dental pattern diagnostic of South American representatives of this genus. Hippidion from Texas and California exhibit the dental characters, especially in the deep ectoflexids, seen in South American representatives of this genus. This is the first report of these horses from North America. The presence of Onohippidium and Hippidion in North America demonstrates that diversification of these endemics occurred prior to dispersal to South America during the Pleistocene great faunal interchange

New World hipparions

195 p. : ill., map ; 26 cm.Includes bibliographical references (p. 189-195)."Hipparions are a polyphyletic assemblage of three-toed horses that lived during the Miocene and Pliocene in the Old and New worlds. Four hipparion genera are recognized from Central and North America, they are: Hipparion sensu stricto, Neohipparion, Nannippus, and Cormohipparion. Of the 41 previously named species of New World hipparions, 15 are referred to the existing genera and the remaining 26 species names are considered to be either junior synonyms, incertae sedis, nomina nuda, or nomina dubia. One new species, Hipparion shirleyi, is described from the late Barstovian of the Texas Gulf Coastal Plain. This paper presents the systematics of New World hipparions in a scheme that principally includes an integration of quantitative and qualitative dental and cranial characters such as the configuration of the dorsal preorbital fossa. Statistical analyses of crania and dentitions provide determinations of the amount of character variation for North American hipparions. The hipparion from Mt. Léberon in southern France, Hipparion prostylum de Christol, 1832, is the genotypic species of Hipparion sensu stricto. In the New World, Hipparion sensu stricto is represented by three species; H. shirleyi, new species, H. tehonense (Merriam), 1916a, and H. forcei Richey, 1948, collectively known from the late Barstovian to the early Hemphillian of North America. Six species comprise the genus Neohipparion: N. coloradense (Osborn), 1918, N. affine (Leidy), 1869, N. trampasense (Edwards), 1982, N. leptode Merriam, 1915a, N. eurystyle (Cope), 1893, and N. gidleyi Merriam, 1915a, collectively known from the Clarendonian through late Hemphillian of Central and North America. Four species comprise the genus Nannippus: N. minor (Sellards), 1916, N. ingenuus (Leidy), 1885, N. beckensis Dalquest and Donovan, 1973, and N. peninsulatus (Cope), 1885, collectively known from the Clarendonian through late Blancan of Central and North America. In the New World, the genus Cormohipparion consists of three species, C. goorisi MacFadden and Skinner, 1981, C. sphenodus (Cope), 1889, and C. occidentale (Leidy), 1856, collectively known from the early Barstovian through early Hemphillian of North America. Hipparions are closely related to, or arose from, at least two separate taxa within the merychippine horse complex. The earliest North American hipparion, C. goorisi, is known from the 15-million-year old early Barstovian Gulf Coastal Plain of Texas. The peak of hipparion diversity in North America occurred about 12 to 8 1/2 million years ago during the height of the Clarendonian chronofauna. Hipparion diversity dropped during the Hemphillian. Only the genus Nannippus is known from the Blancan. Some previous workers state that all Old World hipparions were monophyletically descended from the oldest Old World species H. primigenium. However, based on similar hipparion facial morphotypes represented in both the Old and New worlds, it is possible that there were at least two hipparion dispersal events across Beringia, resulting in a polyphyletic assemblage in the Old World"--P. 5

Carbon Isotope Compositions of Terrestrial C3 Plants as Indicators of (Paleo)Ecology and (Paleo)Climate

A broad compilation of modern carbon isotope compositions in all C3 plant types shows a monotonic increase in δ13C with decreasing mean annual precipitation (MAP) that differs from previous models. Corrections for temperature, altitude, or latitude are smaller than previously estimated. As corrected for altitude, latitude, and the δ13C of atmospheric CO2, these data permit refined interpretation of MAP, paleodiet, and paleoecology of ecosystems dominated by C3 plants, either prior to 7–8 million years ago (Ma), or more recently at mid- to high latitudes. Twenty-nine published paleontological studies suggest preservational or scientific bias toward dry ecosystems, although wet ecosystems are also represented. Unambiguous isotopic evidence for C4 plants is lacking prior to 7–8 Ma, and hominid ecosystems at 4.4 Ma show no isotopic evidence for dense forests. Consideration of global plant biomass indicates that average δ13C of C3 plants is commonly overestimated by approximately 2‰

Amateur Paleontological Societies and Fossil Clubs, Interactions with Professional Paleontologists, and Social Paleontology in the United States

Considerable interest exists among lifelong learners in the USA about fossils and the science of paleontology. Unlike some other science-related groups, e.g., astronomy and ornithology, interest in fossils among amateur paleontologists is primarily focused within local clubs and societies with little national coordination. This paper presents the results of formative evaluation of the FOSSIL project, conducted after the project “Kickoff” meeting held at the NAPC (North American Paleontological Convention) in 2014. FOSSIL is developing a national networked community of practice that includes amateur and professional paleontologists. Our research indicates that more than 60 amateur fossil clubs and societies exist in the USA, of which almost 40 have elected to be part of the FOSSIL network. Overarching goals of this program include enhanced collaborations between amateurs and professionals, knowledge-building about paleontology, access to resources for lifelong learning, and development a viable learning community of practice focused on topics of common and societal interest, such as collections (including digitization), evolution, climate change, and K-12 outreach. In addition to more traditional means such as list-serves and newsletters, FOSSIL is developing an online community (myFOSSIL) and using social media (Facebook and Twitter) to foster communication and interactions among stakeholders, and thus promoting the concept of “social paleontology”

SHRINE: Enabling Nationally Scalable Multi-Site Disease Studies

Results of medical research studies are often contradictory or cannot be reproduced. One reason is that there may not be enough patient subjects available for observation for a long enough time period. Another reason is that patient populations may vary considerably with respect to geographic and demographic boundaries thus limiting how broadly the results apply. Even when similar patient populations are pooled together from multiple locations, differences in medical treatment and record systems can limit which outcome measures can be commonly analyzed. In total, these differences in medical research settings can lead to differing conclusions or can even prevent some studies from starting. We thus sought to create a patient research system that could aggregate as many patient observations as possible from a large number of hospitals in a uniform way. We call this system the ‘Shared Health Research Information Network’, with the following properties: (1) reuse electronic health data from everyday clinical care for research purposes, (2) respect patient privacy and hospital autonomy, (3) aggregate patient populations across many hospitals to achieve statistically significant sample sizes that can be validated independently of a single research setting, (4) harmonize the observation facts recorded at each institution such that queries can be made across many hospitals in parallel, (5) scale to regional and national collaborations. The purpose of this report is to provide open source software for multi-site clinical studies and to report on early uses of this application. At this time SHRINE implementations have been used for multi-site studies of autism co-morbidity, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, peripartum cardiomyopathy, colorectal cancer, diabetes, and others. The wide range of study objectives and growing adoption suggest that SHRINE may be applicable beyond the research uses and participating hospitals named in this report

Body mass predicts isotope enrichment in herbivorous mammals

Carbon isotopic signatures recorded in vertebrate tissues derive from ingested food and thus reflect ecologies and ecosystems. For almost two decades, most carbon isotope-based ecological interpretations of extant and extinct herbivorous mammals have used a single diet–bioapatite enrichment value (14‰). Assuming this single value applies to all herbivorous mammals, from tiny monkeys to giant elephants, it overlooks potential effects of distinct physiological and metabolic processes on carbon fractionation. By analysing a never before assessed herbivorous group spanning a broad range of body masses—sloths—we discovered considerable variation in diet–bioapatite d13C enrichment among mammals. Statistical tests (ordinary least squares, quantile, robust regressions, Akaike information criterion model tests) document independence from phylogeny, and a previously unrecognized strong and significant correlation of d13C enrichment with body mass for all mammalian herbivores. A single-factor body mass model outperforms all other single- factor or more complex combinatorial models evaluated, including for physiological variables (metabolic rate and body temperature proxies), and indicates that body mass alone predicts d13C enrichment. These analyses, spanning more than 5 orders of magnitude of body sizes, yield a size-dependent prediction of isotopic enrichment across Mammalia and for distinct digestive physiologies, permitting reconstruction of foregut versus hindgut fermentation for fossils and refined mean annual palaeoprecipitation estimates based on d13C of mammalian bioapatite

Mitochondrial phylogeography and demographic history of the Vicuña: implications for conservation

The vicuña (Vicugna vicugna; Miller, 1924) is a conservation success story, having recovered from near extinction in the 1960s to current population levels estimated at 275 000. However, lack of information about its demographic history and genetic diversity has limited both our understanding of its recovery and the development of science-based conservation measures. To examine the evolution and recent demographic history of the vicuña across its current range and to assess its genetic variation and population structure, we sequenced mitochondrial DNA from the control region (CR) for 261 individuals from 29 populations across Peru, Chile and Argentina. Our results suggest that populations currently designated as Vicugna vicugna vicugna and Vicugna vicugna mensalis comprise separate mitochondrial lineages. The current population distribution appears to be the result of a recent demographic expansion associated with the last major glacial event of the Pleistocene in the northern (18 to 22°S) dry Andes 14–12 000 years ago and the establishment of an extremely arid belt known as the 'Dry Diagonal' to 29°S. Within the Dry Diagonal, small populations of V. v. vicugna appear to have survived showing the genetic signature of demographic isolation, whereas to the north V. v. mensalis populations underwent a rapid demographic expansion before recent anthropogenic impacts