scholarly journals Ontogeny, evolution and palaeogeographic distribution of the world’s largest ammonite Parapuzosia (P.) seppenradensis (Landois, 1895)

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
pp. e0258510
Author(s):  
Christina Ifrim ◽  
Wolfgang Stinnesbeck ◽  
Arturo H. González González ◽  
Nils Schorndorf ◽  
Andrew S. Gale
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Position ◽  
Growth Stages ◽  
Top Predators ◽  
Reproduction Strategy ◽  
New Material ◽  
Size Variability ◽  
The Many ◽  
Ecological Pressure ◽  
Lower Campanian ◽  
Insight Into

The world’s largest ammonite, Parapuzosia (P.) seppenradensis (Landois, 1895), fascinated the world ever since the discovery, in 1895, of a specimen of 1.74 metres (m) diameter near Seppenrade in Westfalia, Germany, but subsequent findings of the taxon are exceedingly rare and its systematic position remains enigmatic. Here we revise the historical specimens and document abundant new material from England and Mexico. Our study comprises 154 specimens of large (< 1 m diameter) to giant (> 1m diameter) Parapuzosia from the Santonian and lower Campanian, mostly with stratigraphic information. High-resolution integrated stratigraphy allows for precise cross-Atlantic correlation of the occurrences. Our specimens were analysed regarding morphometry, growth stages and stratigraphic occurrence wherever possible. Our analysis provides insight into the ontogeny of Parapuzosia (P.) seppenradensis and into the evolution of this species from its potential ancestor P. (P.) leptophylla Sharpe, 1857. The latter grew to shell diameters of about 1 m and was restricted to Europe in the early Santonian, but it reached the Gulf of Mexico during the late Santonian. P. (P.) seppenradensis first appears in the uppermost Santonian- earliest Campanian on both sides of the Atlantic. Initially, it also reached diameters of about 1 m, but gradual evolutionary increase in size is seen in the middle early Campanian to diameters of 1.5 to 1.8 m. P. (P.) seppenradensis is characterized by five ontogenetic growth stages and by size dimorphism. We therefore here include the many historic species names used in the past to describe the morphological and size variability of the taxon. The concentration of adult shells in small geographic areas and scarcity of Parapuzosia in nearby coeval outcrop regions may point to a monocyclic, possibly even semelparous reproduction strategy in this giant cephalopod. Its gigantism exceeds a general trend of size increase in late Cretaceous cephalopods. Whether the coeval increase in size of mosasaurs, the top predators in Cretaceous seas, caused ecological pressure on Parapuzosia towards larger diameters remains unclear.

scholarly journals Changing landscapes: Gay men in the west and northwest of Ireland

Sexualities ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 136346072098169
Author(s):  
Aidan McKearney
Keyword(s):  
Gay Men ◽  
Social Rights ◽  
Irish Society ◽  
Recent Past ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Lgbt People ◽  
The Many ◽  
Northwest Region ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Insight Into

This article focuses on the experiences of gay men in the rural west and northwest region of Ireland, during a period of transformational social and political change in Irish society. These changes have helped facilitate new forms of LGBTQI visibility, and local radicalism in the region. Same-sex weddings, establishment of rural LGBT groups and marching under an LGBT banner at St Patricks Day parades would have been unthinkable in the recent past; but they are now becoming a reality. The men report continuing challenges in their lives as gay men in the nonmetropolitan space, but the emergence of new visibility, voice and cultural acceptance of LGBT people is helping change their lived experiences. The study demonstrates the impact of local activist LGBT citizens. Through their testimonies we can gain an insight into the many, varied and interwoven factors that have interplayed to create the conditions necessary for the men to: increasingly define themselves as gay to greater numbers of people in their localities; to embrace greater visibility and eschew strategies of silence; and aspire to a host of legal, political, cultural and social rights including same-sex marriage. Organic forms of visibility and local radicalism have emerged in the region and through an analysis of their testimonies we can see how the men continue to be transformed by an ever-changing landscape.

scholarly journals Genome-wide identification of chitinase genes in Thalassiosira pseudonana and analysis of their expression under abiotic stresses

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Haomiao Cheng ◽  
Zhanru Shao ◽  
Chang Lu ◽  
Delin Duan
Keyword(s):  
Abiotic Stresses ◽  
Chitinase Activity ◽  
Thalassiosira Pseudonana ◽  
Centric Diatom ◽  
Carbon And Nitrogen ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Duplication Events ◽  
The Many ◽  
Chitinase Genes ◽  
Insight Into

Abstract Background The nitrogen-containing polysaccharide chitin is the second most abundant biopolymer on earth and is found in the cell walls of diatoms, where it serves as a scaffold for biosilica deposition. Diatom chitin is an important source of carbon and nitrogen in the marine environment, but surprisingly little is known about basic chitinase metabolism in diatoms. Results Here, we identify and fully characterize 24 chitinase genes from the model centric diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana. We demonstrate that their expression is broadly upregulated under abiotic stresses, despite the fact that chitinase activity itself remains unchanged, and we discuss several explanations for this result. We also examine the potential transcriptional complexity of the intron-rich T. pseudonana chitinase genes and provide evidence for two separate tandem duplication events during their evolution. Conclusions Given the many applications of chitin and chitin derivatives in suture production, wound healing, drug delivery, and other processes, new insight into diatom chitin metabolism has both theoretical and practical value.

scholarly journals A Mini Review: Recent Advances in Surface Modification of Porous Silicon

Materials ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 2557 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seo Lee ◽  
Jae Kang ◽  
Dokyoung Kim
Keyword(s):  
Surface Modification ◽  
Porous Silicon ◽  
Wide Spectrum ◽  
Basic Research ◽  
Recent Advances ◽  
Developed Surface ◽  
The Many ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Biomedical Fields

Porous silicon has been utilized within a wide spectrum of industries, as well as being used in basic research for engineering and biomedical fields. Recently, surface modification methods have been constantly coming under the spotlight, mostly in regard to maximizing its purpose of use. Within this review, we will introduce porous silicon, the experimentation preparatory methods, the properties of the surface of porous silicon, and both more conventional as well as newly developed surface modification methods that have assisted in attempting to overcome the many drawbacks we see in the existing methods. The main aim of this review is to highlight and give useful insight into improving the properties of porous silicon, and create a focused description of the surface modification methods.

scholarly journals En[dj]uring [ʧ]unes or ma[tj]ure [ʤ]ukes? Yod-coalescence and yod-dropping in the Eighteenth-Century English Phonology Database

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 493-526
Author(s):  
JOAN C. BEAL ◽  
RANJAN SEN ◽  
NURIA YÁÑEZ-BOUZA ◽  
CHRISTINE WALLIS
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Oxford English Dictionary ◽  
British English ◽  
Variation Patterns ◽  
Comprehensive Survey ◽  
Social Motivations ◽  
The Many ◽  
Historical Variation ◽  
Late Modern ◽  
Insight Into

Yod-coalescence involving alveolar consonants before Late Modern English /uː/ from earlier /iu > juː/ is still variable and diffusing in Present-day English. For example, the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) gives both (/tj dj/) and (/ʧ ʤ/) British English pronunciations for tune (/tjuːn/, /tʃuːn/), mature (/mǝˈtjʊǝ/, /mǝˈʧʊǝ/), duke (/djuːk/, /dʒuːk/) and endure (/ᵻnˈdjʊə/, /ɛnˈdjʊə/, /ᵻnˈdʒʊə/, /ɛnˈdʒʊə/, /ᵻnˈdjɔː/, /ɛnˈdjɔː/, /ᵻnˈdʒɔː/, /ɛnˈdʒɔː/). Extensive variability in yod-coalescence and yod-dropping is not recent in origin, and we can already detect relevant patterns in the eighteenth century from the evidence of a range of pronouncing dictionaries. Beal (1996, 1999) notes a tendency for northern English and Scottish authors to be more conservative with regard to yod-coalescence. She concludes that we require ‘a comprehensive survey of the many pronouncing dictionaries and other works on pronunciation’ (1996: 379) to gain more insight into the historical variation patterns underlying Present-day English.This article presents some results from such a ‘comprehensive survey’: the Eighteenth-Century English Phonology Database (ECEP). Transcriptions of all relevant words located are compared across a range of eighteenth-century sources in order to determine the chronology of yod-coalescence and yod-dropping as well as internal (e.g. stress, phoneme type, presence of a following /r/) and external (e.g. prescriptive, geographical, social) motivations for these developments.

scholarly journals An earlier role for intent in children’s partner choice versus punishment

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin Martin ◽  
Kyleigh Leddy ◽  
Liane Young ◽  
Katherine McAuliffe
Keyword(s):  
Young Children ◽  
Moral Judgment ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Developmental Trajectories ◽  
Partner Choice ◽  
Moral Judgments ◽  
Equal Weight ◽  
Behavioral Differences ◽  
The Many ◽  
Insight Into

Among the many factors that influence our moral judgments, two are especially important: whether the person caused a bad outcome and whether they intended for it to happen. Notably, the weight accorded to these factors in adulthood varies by the type of judgment being made. For punishment decisions, intentions and outcomes carry relatively equal weight; for partner choice decisions (i.e., deciding whether or not to interact with someone again), intentions are weighted much more heavily. These behavioral differences in punishment and partner choice judgments may also reflect more fundamental differences in the cognitive processes supporting these decisions. Exploring how punishment and partner choice emerge in development provides important and unique insight into these processes as they emerge and mature. Here, we explore the developmental emergence of punishment and partner choice decisions in 4- to 9-year-old children. Given the importance of intentions for partner choice decisions¬–from both theoretical and empirical perspectives–we targeted the sensitivity of these two responses to others’ intentions as well as outcomes caused. Our punishment results replicate past work: young children are more focused on outcomes caused and become increasingly sensitive to intentions with age. In contrast, partner choice judgments exhibit sensitivity to intentions at an earlier age than punishment judgments, manifesting as earlier partner choice in cases of attempted violations. These results reveal distinct developmental trajectories for punishment and partner choice judgments, with implications for our understanding of the processes underlying these two responses as well as the development of moral judgment more broadly.

scholarly journals Rare Campanian Echinoids from Höver and Misburg (Hannover Area, Lower Saxony, Germany)

Fossil Record ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-139
Author(s):  
C. Neumann ◽  
J. W. M. Jagt ◽  
R. W.J. M. van der Ham
Keyword(s):  
Cement Industry ◽  
Northern Germany ◽  
Lower Saxony ◽  
The Caucasus ◽  
Lower Saxony Basin ◽  
New Material ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Marly Limestone ◽  
Lower Campanian ◽  
Upper Campanian

Amongst the rich and fairly diverse echinoid faunas from the Campanian marl/marly limestone facies as exposed at the large quarries of the cement industry near Höver and Misburg (east of Hannover, northern Germany), there are a few rare taxa, most of which have not been recorded previously from the Lower Saxony Basin. These include <i>Echinogalerus peltiformis</i> (Wahlenberg, 1821), <i>Conulus (C.) matesovi</i> Poslavskaia & Moskvin in Moskvin 1959, <i>Hagenowia blackmorei</i> Wright & Wright, 1949, <i>Diplodetus</i> sp., and <i>Peroniaster cotteaui</i> Gauthier in Peron 1887. New material of another rare species, <i>Hemiaster</i> gr. <i>aquisgranensis</i> Schlüter, 1899, is here described. The palaeoecological significance of the rarity of these is briefly discussed. Of particular note, in a palaeobiogeographic context, are <i>E. peltiformis</i> and <i>C. matesovi</i>. The former is well known from Lower and Upper Campanian arenitic facies in southern Sweden, while the latter was held to be confined to the Lower Campanian of the Caucasus and Kazakhstan. These two species may have immigrated into the Lower Saxony Basin following transgressive pulses or within transgressive systems tracts. <br><br> Die reiche und vergleichsweise diverse Echinidenfauna der Mergel/Mergelkalk-Rhythmite des Campans von Misburg und Höver bei Hannover enthält einige seltene Taxa, die bisher aus dem Niedersächsischen Becken nicht bekannt waren. Dazu gehören <i>Echinogalerus peltiformis</i> (Wahlenberg, 1821), <i>Conulus (C.) matesovi</i> Poslavskaia & Moskvin in Moskvin 1959, <i>Hagenowia blackmorei</i> Wright & Wright, 1949, <i>Diplodetus</i> sp. und <i>Peroniaster cotteaui</i> Gauthier in Peron 1887. Für eine weitere Art, <i>Hemiaster</i> gr. <i>aquisgranensis</i> Schlüter, 1899, werden neue Funde beschrieben. Die paläoökologische Bedeutung der Seltenheit der vorliegenden Taxa wird diskutiert. Als besonders bedeutsam erweisen sich dabei die Vorkommen von <i>E. peltiformis</i> und <i>C. matesovi</i>. Ersterer war bisher ausschließlich aus den küstennahen Kalkareniten Südschwedens bekannt, letzterer wurde bisher nur im Untercampan des Kaukasus und von Asserbaidschan und Kasachstan nachgewiesen. Beide Arten sind wahrscheinlich im Rahmen transgressiver Schübe dritter Ordnung in das Niedersächsische Becken eingewandert. <br><br> doi:<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mmng.20020050109" target="_blank">10.1002/mmng.20020050109</a>

The many roles of the transcriptional regulator CTCF

2003 ◽  
Vol 81 (3) ◽  
pp. 161-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine L Dunn ◽  
James R Davie
Keyword(s):  
Transcriptional Repression ◽  
Genetic Information ◽  
Transcriptional Regulator ◽  
Nuclear Factor ◽  
Regulatory Regions ◽  
Insulator Function ◽  
Myc Gene ◽  
The Many ◽  
Insight Into

The nuclear factor CTCF was first identified as one of the factors binding to the regulatory regions of the c-myc gene. Further study of this protein revealed roles in transcriptional repression, insulator function, and imprinting genetic information. Recent studies have provided new insight into the mechanism through which this factor acts at various levels of gene regulation.Key words: CTCF, insulator, transcription.

When the Absence of Reasoning Breeds Meaning

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carey K. Morewedge ◽  
Daniella M. Kupor
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
External Source ◽  
Judgment And Decision Making ◽  
Dream Interpretation ◽  
The Self ◽  
The World ◽  
Religious Thoughts ◽  
The Many ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Insight Into

Intuitions, attitudes, images, mind-wandering, dreams, and religious messages are just a few of the many kinds of uncontrolled thoughts that intrude on consciousness spontaneously without a clear reason. Logic suggests that people might thus interpret spontaneous thoughts as meaningless and be uninfluenced by them. By contrast, our survey of this literature indicates that the lack of an obvious external source or motive leads people to attribute considerable meaning and importance to spontaneous thoughts. Spontaneous thoughts are perceived to provide meaningful insight into the self, others, and the world. As a result of these metacognitive appraisals, spontaneous thoughts substantially affect the beliefs, attitudes, decisions, and behavior of the thinker. We present illustrative examples of the metacognitive appraisals by which people attribute meaning to spontaneous secular and religious thoughts, and the influence of these thoughts on judgment and decision-making, attitude formation and change, dream interpretation, and prayer discernment.

Solving the “Mystery” of Profiling Fraud: Teaching Students About Occupational Fraud by Examining Episodes of Mystery Diners

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. A1-A15
Author(s):  
Ronald J. Daigle ◽  
David C. Hayes ◽  
Dwayne N. McSwain
Keyword(s):  
Television Show ◽  
Occupational Fraud ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
The Many ◽  
Insight Into

ABSTRACT Students learn about the many different aspects of occupational fraud by reading the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud and Abuse (Report) and applying what they learn to one of two episodes of the television show Mystery Diners, which features an undercover fraud investigation in a restaurant setting. Applying the ACFE Report to a setting generally familiar to students helps them gain insight into occupational fraud. Pre-/post-test and survey results reveal that students significantly increased their knowledge of how occupational fraud is committed and detected, traits of victim organizations, characteristics of perpetrators, and case results (what actions are or are not taken against perpetrators) across two different episodes and two editions of the ACFE Report. Feedback shows students found the case valuable and enjoyable and would find more cases like this beneficial. Instructors can modify the case for other episodes (more than 100 are available) and further editions of the ACFE Report to help students learn about occupational fraud.

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