A new Lower Silurian fossil locality in the northeastern Mascarene-Nerepis Belt, southern New Brunswick

A new fossil locality from the northeastern part of the Mascarene-Nerepis Belt, previously mapped as "Ordovician or Silurian", gives a precise Liandoverian C5 age. It occurs In a sedimentary sequence that underlies, and in part is laterally equivalent to, volcanic rocks of the Long Reach Formation. It establishes an approximate upper age limit to the Queen Brook Formation and is about the same age as the oldest fossiliferous rocks (Back Bay and Quoddy Formations) in the southwestern Mascarene-Nerepis Belt. RÉSUMÉ Un nouveau site fossilifère, daté avec précision com me Liandovérien C5, a été découvert dans la partie nord-est de la zone Mascarene-Nerepis autrefois cartographiée comme "Ordovicien ou Silurien". Le site fait partie d'une séquence de roches sédimentares qui sont récouvertes par des roches volcaniques appartenant à la Formation de Long Reach, et auxquelles elles sont également en partie équivalentes. Cette découverte précise la limite supérieure de L’âge de la Formation de Queen Brook et correspond à peu près à L’âge des plus anciennes roches fossilifères (Formations de Back Bay et de Quoddy) de la partie sud-ouest de la zone Mascarene-Nerepis. [Traduit par le journal

Geology of the Moose River and Roach River Synclinoria, Northwestern Maine

Geology of the Moose River and Roach River Synclinoria, Northwestern Maine by Arthur J. Boucot, with contributions by Edward W. Heath Bulletin No.21, Maine Geological Survey Department of Economic Development, Augusta, Maine (August, 1969). Contents: Abstract / Introduction / Stratigraphy / Intrusive Rocks / Metamorphism / Structure / Large Scale Maps / Somerset Island / Lobster Island / Historical Geology / The Problem of Shell Beds / References / Appendix I /https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/me_collection/1187/thumbnail.jp

Two New Genera of Stricklandid Brachiopods

47-66http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/48367/2/ID211.pd

Strophatrypa, a new genus of Brachiopoda (Atrypidae), from upper Silurian strata of the Alexander terrane, Southeast Alaska

The atrypid brachiopod Strophatrypa skaflestadi gen. et sp. nov. occurs in unnamed upper Silurian strata exposed near the town of Hoonah on northeast Chichagof Island, Southeast Alaska. The new genus represents the first strophic atrypoid with many characters otherwise similar to those of the Atrypidae. Although this genus is known from only a single bed at one Alaskan locality, its unique morphology is worth noting in anticipation that similar forms may be discovered elsewhere in the Alexander terrane, or especially somewhere in Siberia where other taxa restricted to the Silurian of the Alexander terrane are shared. This paper represents a further contribution to our limited knowledge of the Silurian brachiopods of the Alexander terrane of Southeast Alaska.Keywords: new genus, Southeast Alaska, U.S.A., palaeogeography, Alexander terrane, late Silurian, Brachiopoda, palaeoecology, slope facie

Primary Care Management of Asthma Exacerbations or Attacks: Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a renewed focus on appropriate management of chronic respiratory conditions with a heightened awareness of respiratory symptoms and the requirement for differential diagnosis between an asthma attack and COVID-19 infection. Despite early concerns in the pandemic, most studies suggest that well-managed asthma is not a risk factor for more severe COVID-related outcomes, and that asthma may even have a protective effect. Advice on the treatment of asthma and asthma attacks has remained unchanged. This article describes some challenges faced in primary care asthma management in adults and in teenagers, particularly their relevance during a pandemic, and provides practical advice on asthma attack recognition, classification, treatment and continuity of care. Acute attacks, characterised by increased symptoms and reduced lung function, are often referred to as exacerbations of asthma by doctors and nurses but are usually described by patients as asthma attacks. They carry a significant and underestimated morbidity and mortality burden. Many patients experiencing an asthma attack are assessed in primary care for treatment and continuing management. This may require remote assessment by telephone and home monitoring devices, where available, during a pandemic. Differentiation between an asthma attack and a COVID-19 infection requires a structured clinical assessment, taking account of previous medical and family history. Early separation into mild, moderate, severe or life-threatening attacks is helpful for continuing good management. Most attacks can be managed in primary care but when severe or unresponsive to initial treatment, the patient should be appropriately managed until transfer to an acute care facility can be arranged. Good quality care is important to prevent further attacks and must include a follow-up appointment in primary care, proactive regular dosing with daily controller therapy and an understanding of a patient’s beliefs and perceptions about asthma to maximise future self-management

Annual direct medical cost of active systemic lupus erythematosus in five European countries.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the annual direct medical cost of managing adult systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients with active autoantibody positive disease in Europe. METHODS: A 2-year, retrospective, multicentre, observational study was conducted in five countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK). Data included patients' characteristics, disease activity and severity, flare assessments and health resource use (eg, laboratory tests, medications, specialist visits and hospitalisations). Costs were assessed from the public payers' perspective. Cost predictors were estimated by multivariate regression models. RESULTS: Thirty-one centres enrolled 427 consecutive eligible patients stratified equally by disease severity. At baseline, mean (SD) age was 44.5 (13.8) years, 90.5% were women and mean (SD) SLE duration was 10.7 (8.0) years. The SELENA-SLEDAI (11.2 vs 5.3) and SLICC/ACR index (1.0 vs 0.7) scores were higher in severe patients. Over the study period, patients experienced on average 1.02 (0.71) flares/year. The mean annual direct medical cost was higher in severe compared to non-severe patients ( 4748 vs 2650, p<0.001). Medication costs were 2518 in severe versus 1251 in non-severe patients (p<0.001). Medications represented 53% and 47% of the total cost for severe and non-severe patients, respectively, primarily due to immunosuppressants and biologics. Flares, especially severe flares, were identified as the major cost predictor, with each flare increasing the annual total cost by about 1002 (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The annual direct medical cost of SLE patients in Europe is related to disease severity and flares. Medical treatments were the main cost drivers. Severe flares and major organ involvement were identified as important cost predictors

The only known cyclopygid–‘atheloptic’ trilobite fauna from North America: the upper Ordovician fauna of the Pyle Mountain Argillite and its palaeoenvironmental significance

The trilobite fauna of the upper Ordovician (middle Katian) Pyle Mountain Argillite comprises a mixture of abundant mesopelagic cyclopygids and other pelagic taxa and a benthic fauna dominated by trilobites lacking eyes. Such faunas were widespread in deep water environments around Gondwana and terranes derived from that continent throughout Ordovician time but this is the only known record of such a fauna from North America and thus from Laurentia. It probably reflects a major sea level rise (the ‘Linearis drowning events’) as does the development of coeval cyclopygid-dominated deep water trilobite faunas in terranes that were marginal to Laurentia and are now preserved in Ireland and Scotland. The Pyle Mountain Argillite trilobite fauna occurs with a deep water Foliomena brachiopod fauna and comprises 22 species. Pelagic trilobites (mostly cyclopygids) constitute 36% of the preserved sclerites, and 45% of the fauna is the remains of trilobites lacking eyes, including one new species, Dindymene whittingtoni sp. nov. Three species of cyclopygid are present, belonging in Cyclopyge, Symphysops and Microparia (Heterocyclopyge). Cyclopygids are widely thought to have been stratified in the water column in life and thus their taxonomic diversity reflects the relative depths of the sea-beds on which their remains accumulated. A tabulation of middle and upper Katian cyclopygid-bearing faunas from several palaeoplates and terranes arranged on the basis of increasing numbers of cyclopygid genera allows an assessment of the relative depth ranges of the associated benthic taxa. The Pyle Mountain Argillite fauna lies towards the deeper end of this depth spectrum

High potential for weathering and climate effects of non-vascular vegetation in the Late Ordovician

It has been hypothesized that predecessors of today’s bryophytes significantly increased global chemical weathering in the Late Ordovician, thus reducing atmospheric CO2 concentration and contributing to climate cooling and an interval of glaciations. Studies that try to quantify the enhancement of weathering by non-vascular vegetation, however, are usually limited to small areas and low numbers of species, which hampers extrapolating to the global scale and to past climatic conditions. Here we present a spatially explicit modelling approach to simulate global weathering by non-vascular vegetation in the Late Ordovician. We estimate a potential global weathering flux of 2.8 (km3 rock) yr−1, defined here as volume of primary minerals affected by chemical transformation. This is around three times larger than today’s global chemical weathering flux. Moreover, we find that simulated weathering is highly sensitive to atmospheric CO2 concentration. This implies a strong negative feedback between weathering by non-vascular vegetation and Ordovician climate