Postcolonialism: From Bandung to the Tricontinental

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A Gigantic Sarcopterygian (Tetrapodomorph Lobe-Finned Fish) from the Upper Devonian of Gondwana (Eden, New South Wales, Australia)

Edenopteron keithcrooki gen. et sp. nov. is described from the Famennian Worange Point Formation; the holotype is amongst the largest tristichopterids and sarcopterygians documented by semi-articulated remains from the Devonian Period. The new taxon has dentary fangs and premaxillary tusks, features assumed to be derived for large Northern Hemisphere tristichopterids (Eusthenodon, Hyneria, Langlieria). It resembles Eusthenodon in ornament, but is distinguished by longer proportions of the parietal compared to the post-parietal shield, and numerous differences in shape and proportions of other bones. Several characters (accessory vomers in the palate, submandibulars overlapping ventral jaw margin, scales ornamented with widely-spaced deep grooves) are recorded only in tristichopterids from East Gondwana (Australia-Antarctica). On this evidence Edenopteron gen. nov. is placed in an endemic Gondwanan subfamily Mandageriinae within the Tristichopteridae; it differs from the nominal genotype Mandageria in its larger size, less pointed skull, shape of the orbits and other skull characters. The hypothesis that tristichopterids evolved in Laurussia and later dispersed into Gondwana, and a derived subgroup of large Late Devonian genera dispersed from Gondwana, is inconsistent with the evidence of the new taxon. Using oldest fossil and most primitive clade criteria the most recent phylogeny resolves South China and Gondwana as areas of origin for all tetrapodomorphs. The immediate outgroup to tristichopterids remains unresolved - either Spodichthys from Greenland as recently proposed, or Marsdenichthys from Gondwana, earlier suggested to be the sister group to all tristichopterids. Both taxa combine two characters that do not co-occur in other tetrapodomorphs (extratemporal bone in the skull; non-cosmoid round scales with an internal boss). Recently both 'primitive' and 'derived' tristichopterids have been discovered in the late Middle Devonian of both hemispheres, implying extensive ghost lineages within the group. Resolving their phylogeny and biogeography will depend on a comprehensive new phylogenetic analysis.This research was supported by Australian Research Council [www.arc.gov.au] Discovery Grants DP0558499 (‘Australia’s exceptional Palaeozoic fossil fishes, and a Gondwana origin for land vertebrates’) and DP0772138 (‘Old brains, new data–early evolution of structural complexity in the vertebrate head’). Surface scanning and 3D printing equipment was partly financed by an Australian National University [www.anu.edu.au] Major Equipment Grant (10MEC15). No additional external funding received for this study. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Survey of California Pharmacists\u27 Awareness of and Readiness for the New Authorities Granted by SB 493: A Pilot Study

The recent passing of Senate Bill (SB) 493 – effective on January 1, 2014 – addresses a primary care provider shortage in California by declaring pharmacists as health care providers and authorizing new roles for them in patient care. The aims of this pilot study were to examine California registered pharmacists’ awareness and knowledge of the expanded authorities granted by SB 493 as well as to assess their perception of their own readiness to exercise these new authorities. A cross-sectional, observational study was designed, and a 40-question survey was administered electronically through Qualtrics to adjunct faculty, clinical faculty, and alumni of Touro University California College of Pharmacy. All participants were aware of this new legislation. Through their responses to Likert-scale questions, pharmacists’ self-perceived readiness for each new authority was discovered. A Kruskal-Wallis test revealed no statistically significant difference among the three subgroups’ self-perceived readiness to exercise most of the new authorities, except initiating and administering vaccinations independently to those older than three years old without a physician’s collaborative practice protocol (p = 0.0123). The lower degree of self-perceived readiness to provide immunizations independently reported by adjunct faculty might have been due to not being certified as immunizers, reflecting the need to be educated on administration of vaccinations

Polarized Narrow-Line Emission from the Nucleus of NGC 4258

The detection of polarized continuum and line emission from the nucleus of NGC 4258 by Wilkes et al. (1995) provides an intriguing application of the unified model of Seyfert nuclei to a galaxy in which there is known to be an edge-on, rotating disk of molecular gas surrounding the nucleus. Unlike most Seyfert nuclei, however, NGC 4258 has strongly polarized narrow emission lines. To further investigate the origin of the polarized emission, we have obtained spectropolarimetric observations of the NGC 4258 nucleus at the Keck-II telescope. The narrow-line polarizations range from 1.0% for [S II] 6716 to 13.9% for the [O II] 7319,7331 blend, and the position angle of polarization is oriented nearly parallel to the projected plane of the masing disk. A correlation between critical density and degree of polarization is detected for the forbidden lines, indicating that the polarized emission arises from relatively dense (n_e > 10^4 cm^-3) gas. An archival Hubble Space Telescope narrow-band [O III] image shows that the narrow-line region has a compact, nearly unresolved core, implying a FWHM size of <2.5 pc. We discuss the possibility that the polarized emission might arise from the accretion disk itself and become polarized by scattering within the disk atmosphere. A more likely scenario is an obscuring torus or strongly warped disk surrounding the inner portion of a narrow-line region which is strongly stratified in density. The compact size of the narrow-line region implies that the obscuring structure must be smaller than ~2.5 pc in diameter.Comment: To appear in the Astronomical Journal. 13 pages, including 1 table and 4 figures. Uses emulateapj.st

DECOUPLED PAYMENTS IN A CHANGING POLICY SETTING

The studies in this report analyze the effects of decoupled payments in the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform (FAIR) Act on recipient households, and assess land, labor, risk management, and capital market conditions that can lead to links between decoupled payments and production choices. Each study contributes a different perspective to understanding the response of U.S. farm households and production to decoupled income transfers. Some use new microdata on farm households collected through USDA's Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS), initiated in 1996, and its predecessor survey. These data are used to compare household and producer behavior and outcomes before and after the FAIR Act. Other studies use applied or conceptual models to characterize the impact of introducing decoupled payments. Collectively, the chapters represent an early stage in the empirical analysis of decoupled payments. The studies address many aspects of the payments' household impacts but remaining issues call for additional analysis. As the analytical paradigm changes with the evolution of farm programs, the development of appropriate data and models will improve our understanding of farm program impacts on the behavior and well-being of U.S. farm households, and the agricultural sector.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Personality in Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): Exploring the Hierarchical Structure and Associations with the Vasopressin V1A Receptor Gene

One of the major contributions of recent personality psychology is the finding that traits are related to each other in an organized hierarchy. To date, however, researchers have yet to investigate this hierarchy in nonhuman primates. Such investigations are critical in confirming the cross-species nature of trait personality helping to illuminate personality as neurobiologically-based and evolutionarily-derived dimensions of primate disposition. Investigations of potential genetic polymorphisms associated with hierarchical models of personality among nonhuman primates represent a critical first step. The current study examined the hierarchical structure of chimpanzee personality as well as sex-specific associations with a polymorphism in the promoter region of the vasopressin V1a receptor gene (AVPR1A), a gene associated with dispositional traits, among 174 chimpanzees. Results confirmed a hierarchical structure of personality across species and, despite differences in early rearing experiences, suggest a sexually dimorphic role of AVPR1A polymorphisms on hierarchical personality profiles at a higher-order level