Stasis in the Fossil Record as Confirmation of a Belief in Biblical Creation

A vast body of palaeontological observations points to the conclusion that all living things make their first appearance in the geological record as separate and finished organisms . To offset this true state of affairs from the often suggested existence of evolutionary links between different types of organisms, a division into four units of fossil assemblages is proposed that represent two pre-Flood and two post-Flood chief ecosystems. The pitfalls of polymorphism, when assigning species rank to fossils or when lumping distinct forms into one created species, are brought to notice. One perfectly modern member of the insect order Zoraptera is described from Caribbean amber

The Flood/Post-Flood Boundary in the Fossil Record

Fossil assemblages through most of the Phanerozoic are evaluated for the presence or absence of in situ life communities. It is shown that most of the water-laid deposits of Palaeozoic age must have been formed during approximately the first five months of the Biblical Flood year. From the appearance of emergence surfaces and briefly inhabited sediments and hardgrounds after the Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) it is deduced that the transition from Floodlaid to post-Flood rocks took place at the turn from the late Palaeozoic era to the Permian period of the conventional time scale

Modifiable Factors Associated With Copeptin Concentration:A General Population Cohort

Background: Vasopressin plays an important role in maintaining volume homeostasis. However, recent studies suggest that vasopressin also may play a detrimental role in the progression of chronic kidney disease. It therefore is of interest to identify factors that influence vasopressin concentration, particularly modifiable ones. Study Design: Cross-sectional analyses. Setting & Participants: Data used are from participants in a large general-population cohort study (Prevention of Renal and Vascular Endstage Disease [PREVEND]). Patients with a missing copeptin value (n = 888), nonfasting blood sample (n = 495), missing or assumed incorrect 24-hour urine collection (n = 388), or heart failure (n = 20) were excluded, leaving 6,801 participants for analysis. Factor: Identification of lifestyle-and diet-related factors that are associated with copeptin concentration. Outcomes: Copeptin concentration as surrogate for vasopressin. Measurements: Copeptin was measured by an immunoluminometric assay as a surrogate for vasopressin. Associations were assessed in uni- and multivariable linear regression analyses. Results: Median copeptin concentration was 4.7 (IQR, 2.9-7.6) pmol/L. When copeptin was studied as a dependent variable, the final stepwise backward model revealed associations with higher copeptin concentrations for lower 24-hour urine volume (P <0.001), higher sodium excretion (P <0.001), higher systolic blood pressure (P <0.001), current smoking (P <0.001), higher alcohol use (P <0.001), higher urea excretion (P = 0.003), lower potassium excretion (P = 0.002), use of glucose-lowering drugs (P = 0.02), higher body mass index (P <0.001), and higher plasma glucose level (P <0.001). No associations with copeptin concentration were found for C-reactive protein or use of diuretics or nondiuretic antihypertensives. Limitations: The cross-sectional study design does not allow firm conclusions on cause-effect relationships. Conclusions: Important lifestyle-and diet-related factors associated with copeptin concentration are current smoking, alcohol use, protein and potassium intake, and particularly fluid and sodium intake. These data form a rationale to investigate whether intervening on these factors results in a lower vasopressin concentration with concomitant beneficial renal effects. (C) 2015 by the National Kidney Foundation, Inc

Influence of Urine Creatinine on the Relationship between the Albumin-to-Creatinine Ratio and Cardiovascular Events

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: In the albumin-to-creatinine ratio (spot-ACR), urine creatinine corrects for tonicity but also reflects muscle mass. Low muscle mass is associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD). We hypothesized that the spot-ACR would be higher in women, lower-weight persons, and older individuals, independent of timed urine albumin excretion (24hr-UAE), and accordingly, that spot-ACR would be more strongly associated with CVD events than 24hr-UAE in these subgroups. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & METHODS: 2627 PREVEND (Prevention of Renal and Vascular End-stage Disease) participants with 24hr-UAE <30 mg/d were followed for CVD events for 11 years. Cox regression evaluated associations of spot-ACR and 24hr-UAE with CVD events by sex, weight, and age. RESULTS: Female sex (26%), lower weight (2% per 5 kg), and older age (4% per 5 years) were associated with higher spot-ACR independent of 24hr-UAE (P<0.001). Spot urine albumin concentration (hazard ratio [HR], 1.26 per ln-SD higher) and 1/spot urine creatinine concentration (HR, 1.16 per ln-SD higher) were associated with CVD events. Spot-ACR was more strongly associated with CVD events than either component of the ratio (HR, 1.41 per ln-SD higher). Associations of spot-ACR ≥10 mg/g versus less (HR, 2.33) and 24hr-UAE ≥10 mg/d versus less (HR, 2.09) with CVD events were similar, and there were no significant differences across subgroups (P for interactions >0.06). CONCLUSIONS: In community-living individuals with 24hr-UAE <30 mg/d, spot-ACR is higher in women, older persons, and lower-weight persons, independent of 24hr-UAE. Low spot urine creatinine is associated with CVD risk, but high urine albumin is a stronger determinant of the association of spot-ACR with CVD than is low urine creatinine