Saetaspongia sponges from the Cambrian (Stage 4) Balang Formation of Guizhou, China

Saetaspongia so far cannot be confidently assigned to any class-level crown group. Clarifying its phylogenetic position requires new information provided by more detailed studies of previously described and/or new material. Some sponge fossils with the typical skeletal architecture of Saetaspongia have recently been recognized in the Cambrian (Stage 4) Balang Biota of Guizhou, China, including S. jianhensis new species and S. cf. S. densa. The new taxon is characterized by the following features: spicules are fine monaxons and are inclined to be loosely to densely arranged into plumose arrays; skeleton is composed primarily of one major plumose bundle, with an uncertain number (perhaps two) of small plumose arrays; and primary skeleton is occasionally interspersed with some irregularly oriented individual spicules. An additional specimen consisting of large monaxons, with plumose structures and overlying irregular coarse monaxons, closely fits the description and illustrations of previously described S. cf. S. densa. By combining information from previous studies and the present research, fossil evidence indicates that the plumose architecture is a critical feature diagnostic of Saetaspongia and that there are no hexactine-based spicules in this genus. The new material from the Balang Biota further supports the notion that Saetaspongia has a protomonaxonid rather than a hexactinellid affinity. Fossil evidence suggests that Saetaspongia had a wide biogeographic distribution during the early Cambrian and the stratigraphic distribution of this genus extends up to Stage 4. UUID: http://zoobank.org/e9ca5e4a-134c-4daa-9266-19085e32614f.

A new species of Prosyntexis Sharkey, 1990 (Hymenoptera: Sepulcidae) from the Lower Cretaceous Crato Formation of Brazil confirmed by geometric morphometric analysis

Examination of new fossil specimens of Prosyntexis from the Lower Cretaceous Crato Formation of Brazil reveled a new species namely Prosyntexis sennlaubi sp. nov. To ensure the validity of the new taxon we examined previously described and figured specimens but we also figured an additional specimen of Prosyntexis gouleti Sharkey, 1990. The new species can be differentiated from the other Prosyntexis species of the Crato formation by its larger size but also in having the cell 2R1 small, the cell 2M small and short, the cell 3R1 narrow and the vein a directed toward wing apex. We performed a Geometric Morphometric Analysis (GMA) to estimate the variation in the forewing venation of the two species from the Crato Formation and ensure our placement.

Variable Diagnostic Performance of Stool Xpert in Pediatric Tuberculosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background Difficult specimen collection and low bacillary load makes microbiological confirmation of tuberculosis (TB) in children challenging. In this study, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess diagnostic accuracy of Xpert on stool for pediatric tuberculosis. Methods Our search included studies from 2011 through 2019 and specific search terms were used to retrieve articles from Pubmed, EMBASE, BIOSIS, Clinical trials.gov and Google scholar. Risk of bias was assessed using QUADAS 2 tool. The protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42018083637). Summary estimates of sensitivity and specificity were conducted using meta-disc Software assuming a random effects model. Results We identified 12 eligible studies which included data from 2177 children, of whom 295 (13.6%) had bacteriologically confirmed TB on respiratory specimens. The pooled sensitivity of xpert MTB/RIF on stool specimens compared to bacteriologically confirmed tuberculosis with respiratory specimens was 0.50 (95%CI 0.44-0.56) with I 2 of 86%, which was statistically significant (p<0.001). The pooled specificity was 0.99 (95% CI 0.98-0.99), I 2 of 0.0%, p=0.44. Conclusions Despite the observed heterogeneity, stool may be considered as an additional specimen to support diagnosis of pulmonary TB in children especially in settings where it is impossible to get respiratory samples. Further studies should evaluate its optimization as a diagnostic tool.

RT-qPCR versus Digital PCR: How Do They Impact Differently on Clinical Management of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Patients?

Real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) is the gold standard to quantify the BCR-ABL1 transcript for molecular response monitoring in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients, and it plays a pivotal role in clinical decision-making process, even if it presents technical limits. Increasing data suggest that digital PCR (dPCR) is more accurate and reliable than RT-qPCR in CML minimal residual disease monitoring and in patients’ selection for treatment discontinuation. But what about the identification of treatment discontinuation failures? We present the case of a CML patient enrolled both in a study aiming to comparatively assess molecular response by RT-qPCR and dPCR and in the progressive arm of the OPTkIMA trial. This is a phase III trial including CML patients randomized to receive a fixed versus a progressive intermittent tyrosine kinase inhibitor regimen. At 24 months, because of two consecutive detections of MR^2.0 by RT-qPCR, the patient resumed daily treatment. Conversely, dPCR revealed a stability of molecular response and even a slight decreasing of transcript over time. An additional specimen was sampled one month after the first MR^2.0 detection because of clinical decision: RT-qPCR resulted MR^3.0 and dPCR confirmed the transcript’s stability. Nowadays, the resumption of therapy is RT-qPCR-driven despite its limits in detection and robustness. In this case, according to dPCR, the patient could have continued intermittent treatment and the stability of response was then confirmed by RT-qPCR. So, dPCR could be able to better identify peculiar clinical response to therapy.

Diagnostic characters of two rare zoarcids, Krusensterniella multispinosa and K. pavlovskii (Pisces: Zoarcidae), with new data for the Sea of Okhotsk

Diagnostic characters and taxonomic descriptions of two rare zoarcid fishes, Krusensterniella multispinosa Soldatov, 1922 and K. pavlovskii Andriashev, 1955 (family Zoarcidae), have been updated using the type and additional specimens. The type locality of K. multispinosa is located in the northwestern part of the Sea of Okhotsk (55°57ʹN, 138°13ʹE, depth 87 m). The lectotype (ZIN No 19961) was designated by P.Yu. Schmidt (1950). The morphological variability of the species is described, diagnosis is expanded. Additional differences from the species of related genus Gymnelopsis are specified. The distribution of K. multispinosa is limited to the Sea of Okhotsk and depths of 78–160 m. Krusensterniella pavlovskii was known by three type specimens from the Cape Africa, eastern Kamchatka (holotype ZIN No 33748, paratypes ZIN No 56576). Additional specimen derives from the north-eastern part of the Sea of Okhotsk (58°50ʹN, 157°02ʹE), which extends the known range of the species. The description of K. pavlovskii was updated, the diagnosis supplemented. Krusensterniella multispinosa and K. pavlovskii (subgenus Schantarella Andriashev, 1938) differ from other congeners in a larger number of pungent spines in the middle section of the dorsal fin D (XV–XXVI vs. I-XI). The both have 100–112 vertebrae, 95–110 dorsal-fin rays, and 81–94 anal-fin rays. In Krusensterniella pavlovskii unlike K. multispinosa, there are XXIII–XXVI pungent spines D (vs. XV–XX), 71–74 spiny rays in the anterior and middle parts of the dorsal fin (vs. 60–69), and 7 preoperculomandibular pores (vs. 6); the middle section of D with pungent spines is 83-112% of the length of the posterior section of D (43–72% in K. multispinosa) and 26–31% of the tail length, measured from the anal-fin origin to the caudal-fi n en d (vs. 17–22%); the scale cover reaching forward to the pectoral fins (in K. multispinosa not reaching the anal-fin origin.

Comparison of the NeuMoDX, Diasorin Simplexa, Cepheid and Roche CDC SARS-CoV 2 EUA assays using nasopharyngeal/nasal swabs in universal transport media (UTM) and sputum and tracheal aspirates

In March 2019 the outbreak of SARS-CoV 2 was officially defined as a pandemic by the World Health Organization and shortly after, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rtPCR) molecular testing for the detection of the SARS-CoV-2 virus from NP swabs. Since then, EUA with relaxed regulations were granted to numerous manufacturers and clinical microbiology laboratories to implement in-house testing assays with nasopharyngeal swabs (NP) and subsequently additional specimen types. Because of supply chain shortages leading to competition for reagents, sustaining any significant volume of testing soon became problematic. As a countermeasure, within several weeks the Henry Ford Microbiology Laboratory validated 4 different rtPCR assays and multiple specimen types using NeuMoDX, Diasorin Simplexa, Cepheid and Roche platforms. The purpose of this study was to analyze the analytic sensitivity of these rtPCR assays with NP/nasal swabs and sputum/tracheal aspirates. Qualitative analytic agreement between the 4 platforms for NP/nasal swabs ranged 95% - 100% overall with no statistically significant difference in threshold cT values. Similar results were obtained with the sputum/tracheal aspirates. These data demonstrate the high accuracy and reproducibility in detection of SARS-CoV 2 between the rtPCR assays performed on 4 different platforms with numerous specimen types.

Review of the Asian Thaumastodinae (Coleoptera, Byrrhoidea, Limnichidae), with a phylogeny of the genera

The Asian species of the subfamily Thaumastodinae Champion, 1924 are reviewed. Seven new species are described: Acontosceles borneensis sp. nov., Pseudeucinetus papuanus sp. nov., Mexico ogasawaraensis sp. nov., M. baliensis sp. nov., M. papuanus sp. nov., M. palauensis sp. nov. and M. borneensis sp. nov. The genus Babalimnichus Satô, 1994 is treated as a junior synonym of the genus Mexico Spilman, 1972, and three known species of the genus Babalimnichus are transferred to Mexico, viz. M. taiwanus (Satô, 1994) comb. nov., M. masamii (Satô, 1994) comb. nov. and M. splendens (Hernando & Ribera, 2003) comb. nov. Additional specimen data are shown, and new distributional records are as follows: Acontosceles chujoi Yoshitomi & Satô, 2005 from Vietnam; A. zetteli Pütz, 2008 from Laos; Pseudeucinetus javanicus Yoshitomi & Putra, 2010 from Lombok Island; Mexico taiwanus (Satô, 1994) comb. nov. from Lutao, Lanhsu and the Yonaguni-jima Islands; and M. masamii (Satô, 1994) comb. nov. from Kume-jima. A species list of the subfamily Thaumastodinae is given, with ZooBank LSIDs. The phylogenetic relationships of the thaumastodine genera are discussed.

A new record of the Dwarf Sea Krait (Laticauda frontalis) from the Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia

ABSTRACT Common in Vanuatu, the Dwarf Sea Krait Laticauda frontalis also is known from five old records (in the 1880s and 1890s) from the Loyalty Islands, between Vanuatu and the main island of New Caledonia. Those records have been interpreted by some authorities as errors, or as reflecting occasional waifs rather than breeding populations. We now report an additional specimen of L. frontalis from the Loyalty Islands island of Maré, and we review distributional data for this species and for the closely allied L. saintgironsi. Sympatry on the western coast of Maré confirms that these two taxa warrant separate species status despite their minimal genetic divergence.

Conotoxin Diversity in the Venom Gland Transcriptome of the Magician’s Cone, Pionoconus magus

The transcriptomes of the venom glands of two individuals of the magician’s cone, Pionoconus magus, from Okinawa (Japan) were sequenced, assembled, and annotated. In addition, RNA-seq raw reads available at the SRA database from one additional specimen of P. magus from the Philippines were also assembled and annotated. The total numbers of identified conotoxin precursors and hormones per specimen were 118, 112, and 93. The three individuals shared only five identical sequences whereas the two specimens from Okinawa had 30 sequences in common. The total number of distinct conotoxin precursors and hormones for P. magus was 275, and were assigned to 53 conotoxin precursor and hormone superfamilies, two of which were new based on their divergent signal region. The superfamilies that had the highest number of precursors were M (42), O1 (34), T (27), A (18), O2 (17), and F (13), accounting for 55% of the total diversity. The D superfamily, previously thought to be exclusive of vermivorous cones was found in P. magus and contained a highly divergent mature region. Similarly, the A superfamily alpha 4/3 was found in P. magus despite the fact that it was previously postulated to be almost exclusive of the genus Rhombiconus. Differential expression analyses of P. magus compared to Chelyconus ermineus, the only fish-hunting cone from the Atlantic Ocean revealed that M and A2 superfamilies appeared to be more expressed in the former whereas the O2 superfamily was more expressed in the latter.

New skull remains of Phorusrhacos longissimus (Aves, Cariamiformes) from the Miocene of Argentina: implications for the morphology of Phorusrhacidae

The giant carnivorous phorusrhacid bird Phorusrhacos longissimus (Aves, Cariamiformes) was first described in 1887 by Florentino Ameghino on the basis of a jaw fragment. The majority of a skull of the species still encased in crumbling rock was preserved only long enough for illustrations to be made by Carlos Ameghino in the field and for a brief description to be written. Skull remains of this species have remained scarce, and few postcranial remains have been figured. Here, we reassess the cranial anatomy of this outstanding ‘terror bird’ species taking into account data from a newly discovered skull. An additional specimen of a well-preserved dorsal vertebra referable to Phorusrhacinae is also described from a separate locality within the Miocene Santa Cruz Formation (late early Miocene) from Santa Cruz Province in Argentina. The skull includes most of the rostrum, skull roof, and mandible and is compared with material from other members of the Phorusrhacinae. The new data from the skull and vertebra provide morphological features of this clade that benefit future taxonomic and phylogenetic analyses of this iconic group of birds.