bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Earth system models: an overview
Authors: Flato Gregory M.
Published: November 2011

Earth System models (ESMs) are global climate models with the added capability to explicitly represent biogeochemical processes that interact with the physical climate and so alter its response to forcing such as that associated with human‐caused emissions of greenhouse gases. Representing the global carbon cycle allows for feedbacks between the physical climate and the biological and chemical processes in the ocean and on land that take up some of the emitted carbon dioxide and so act to reduce warming. The sulfur cycle is also important in that both natural and human emissions of sulfur contribute to the production of sulfate aerosols which reflect incoming solar radiation (a direct cooling effect) and alter cloud properties (an indirect cooling effect). Other components such as ozone are also being incorporated into some ESMs. Evaluating the physical component of an ESM is becoming increasingly comprehensive and sophisticated, but the evaluation of the biogeochemical components suffer somewhat from a lack of comprehensive global‐scale observational data. Nevertheless, such models provide valuable insight into climate variability and change, and the role of human activities and possible mitigation actions on future climate change. Internationally coordinated experiments are increasingly important in providing a multimodel ensemble of climate simulations, thereby taking advantage of some ‘cancellation of errors’ and allowing better quantification of uncertainty. WIREs Clim Change 2011, 2:783–800. doi: 10.1002/wcc.148

This article is categorized under:

Climate Models and Modeling > Earth System Models
Ba2Ni3: A Missed Intermetallic Compound
Authors: Höhn Peter , Burkhardt UIrich , Hoffmann Stefan , Jach Franziska , Kniep Rüdiger
Published: November 2011

The reinvestigation of the binary system Ba‐Ni revealed the existence of Ba2Ni3 in the temperature range 450 °C–800 °C. Single crystals were grown at 700 °C in the presence of excess barium, followed by separation from the melt by use of the high‐temperature centrifugation aided filtration technique, HTCAF. At ambient temperature Ba2Ni3 is in a metastable state which slowly transforms to the elements (side‐phases of the binary system). The extreme softness and the mechanical instability of the hygroscopic Ba2Ni3 particles prevented a single crystal structure determination. The crystal structure was solved from X‐ray powder diffraction data (P$\bar{3}$m1 (No. 164), a = 419.97(2) pm, c = 913.32(3) pm) and revealed Ba2Ni3 to be an isotype of Sr2Ni3 which was reported only recently.
Kinetic modeling of rapid enzymatic hydrolysis of crystalline cellulose after pretreatment by NMMO
Authors: Khodaverdi Mahdi , Jeihanipour Azam , Karimi Keikhosro , Taherzadeh Mohammad J
Published: November 2011

Pretreatment of cellulose with an industrial cellulosic solvent, N-methylmorpholine-N-oxide, showed promising results in increasing the rate of subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis. Cotton linter was used as high crystalline cellulose. After the pretreatment, the cellulose was almost completely hydrolyzed in less than 12 h, using low enzyme loading (15 FPU/g cellulose). The pretreatment significantly decreased the total crystallinity of cellulose from 7.1 to 3.3, and drastically increased the enzyme adsorption capacity of cellulose by approximately 42 times. A semi-mechanistic model was used to describe the relationship between the cellulose concentration and the enzyme loading. In this model, two reactions for heterogeneous reaction of cellulose to glucose and cellobiose, and a homogenous reaction for cellobiose conversion to glucose was incorporated. The Langmuir model was applied to model the adsorption of cellulase onto the treated cellulose. The competitive inhibition was also considered for the effects of sugar inhibition on the rate of enzymatic hydrolysis. The kinetic parameters of the model were estimated by experimental results and evaluated.
Genetics and language: a neurobiological perspective on the missing link (-ing hypotheses)
Authors: Poeppel David
Published: November 2011

The paper argues that both evolutionary and genetic approaches to studying the biological foundations of speech and language could benefit from fractionating the problem at a finer grain, aiming not to map genetics to “language”—or even subdomains of language such as “phonology” or “syntax”—but rather to link genetic results to component formal operations that underlie processing the comprehension and production of linguistic representations. Neuroanatomic and neurophysiological research suggests that language processing is broken down in space (distributed functional anatomy along concurrent pathways) and time (concurrent processing on multiple time scales). These parallel neuronal pathways and their local circuits form the infrastructure of speech and language and are the actual targets of evolution/genetics. Therefore, investigating the mapping from gene to brain circuit to linguistic phenotype at the level of generic computational operations (subroutines actually executable in these circuits) stands to provide a new perspective on the biological foundations in the healthy and challenged brain.
Management of slipped capital femoral epiphysis: Results of a survey of the members of the European Paediatric Orthopaedic Society
Authors: Sonnega R. J. A. , van der Sluijs J. A. , Wainwright A. M. , Roposch A. , Hefti F.
Published: November 2011

Aim

To determine current practice recommendations for the treatment of slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE) among members of the European Paediatric Orthopaedic Society (EPOS).

Materials and methods

A questionnaire with 4 case vignettes of a 12-year-old boy presenting with a stable and unstable SCFE. Each, stable and unstable slips, was of mild (20° epiphyseal-shaft angle) and of severe (60° epiphyseal-shaft angle) degree was sent to all members of EPOS in 2009 in order to ascertain their views on the best management of SCFE. Specifically, respondents were asked about the role of reduction, methods of fixation, prophylactic fixation of the non-affected hip, postoperative management and their view on the anticipated need for secondary surgery.

Results

The response rate was 25% (72/287). The participating surgeons’ average workload was 76% in paediatric orthopaedics, with mean 16 years of experience. Surgeons were most consistent in their advice for stable slips, where around 90% of the respondents did not recommend a reduction of the slip regardless of severity of slip. Seventy per cent of the respondents recommended the use of only one screw for fixation of a stable slip and for mild unstable slips. For severe unstable slips, 46% of surgeons recommended reduction only by positioning of the hip on the fracture table, 35% by manipulation and 11% advised open reduction. Responders were less consistent in their advice on the anticipated need for secondary osteotomies (in mild slips about 40% and about 60% in severe slips would advise an osteotomy) and on treatment of the contralateral hip (with 32% of surgeons recommending prophylactic fixation of the contralateral hip).

Conclusion

Within members of EPOS, there is controversy on several aspects of the management of SCFE particularly on aspects of the treatment of unstable SCFE.

Significance

Members of EPOS predominantly use traditional means of treatment for patients with SCFE. In contrast, the more modern treatment concepts, such as open reduction via surgical dislocation, are rarely used.
Undergraduate Urology in the UK: Does it Prepare Doctors Adequately?
Authors: Malde Sachin , Shrotri Nitin
Published: November 2011

Objectives:

Undergraduate medical education in the UK has recently changed. Medical schools are expected to provide the core knowledge required for medical practice, with the foundation programme building upon this. However, studies have suggested that both undergraduate and postgraduate exposure to urology have declined. This study aims to evaluate the views of newly qualified doctors regarding undergraduate urology training.

Subjects and methods:

An online questionnaire was emailed to all UK foundation doctors in August 2010 (total 4339).

Results:

289 responses were received, giving a confidence level of 95% with an error rate of 5.6%. 26.6% of respondents had no undergraduate urology attachment, with a further 30.5% receiving one week or less. 68.9% felt that more time should be devoted to urology teaching, with only 9.7% believing that their undergraduate training was adequate. Most (67.8%) thought there was not enough practical skills experience, with 60.4% never having inserted a female urethral catheter. 77.5% felt that a basic urological skills course would be beneficial, with 54% wanting a longer clinical attachment. Interestingly, 70.1% of those surveyed will not complete a urology rotation during the foundation programme, with only 15.6% having considered a career in urology.

Conclusion:

This survey highlights the wide variation in undergraduate urology teaching across the UK, and demonstrates that the foundation programme does not necessarily compensate for this. A national basic urological skills course may provide a standardised way to improve training across the country.
Predictors of suicide in patients with dementia
Authors: Seyfried Lisa S. , Kales Helen C. , Ignacio Rosalinda V. , Conwell Yeates , Valenstein Marcia
Published: November 2011

Background

Assessing predictors of suicide and means of completion in patients with dementia may aid the development of interventions to reduce risk of suicide among the growing population of individuals with dementia.

Methods

This national, retrospective, cohort study used data from the Department of Veterans Affairs (fiscal years 2001–2005). The sample included patients ≥60 years old diagnosed with dementia (N = 294,952), of which 241 committed suicide. Potential predictors of suicide were identified using logistic regression. Suicide methods are also reported.

Results

Increased risk of suicide was associated with white race (OR: 2.4, 95% CI: 1.2, 4.8), depression (OR: 2.0, 95% CI: 1.5, 2.9), a history of inpatient psychiatric hospitalizations (OR: 2.3, 95% CI: 1.5, 3.5), and prescription fills of antidepressants (OR: 2.1, 95% CI: 1.6, 2.8) or anxiolytics (OR: 2.0, 95% CI: 1.5, 2.7). Nursing home admission was associated with lower suicide risk (OR: 0.3, 95% CI: 0.1, 0.8). Severity of medical comorbidity did not affect risk of suicide. Sensitivity analysis indicated that the majority of suicides occurred in those who were newly diagnosed with dementia. Firearms were the most common method of suicide (73%) used.

Conclusions

Given the higher rate of suicide in those receiving treatment for psychiatric symptoms and the high proportion that died using firearms, closer monitoring and assessment of gun access may be an important part of initial treatment planning for older male patients with dementia, particularly those with symptoms of depression or anxiety.
The measurement of everyday cognition: Development and validation of a short form of the Everyday Cognition scales
Authors: Tomaszewski Farias Sarah , Mungas Dan , Harvey Danielle J. , Simmons Amanda , Reed Bruce R. , DeCarli Charles
Published: November 2011

Background

This study describes the development and validation of a shortened version of the Everyday Cognition (ECog) scales [Tomaszewski Farias et al. Neuropsychology 2008;22:531–44], an informant‐rated questionnaire designed to detect cognitive and functional decline.

Methods

External, convergent, and divergent validities and internal consistency were examined. Data were derived from informant ratings of 907 participants who were either cognitively normal, had mild cognitive impairment (MCI), or had dementia.

Results

Twelve items were included in the shortened version (ECog‐12). The ECog‐12 strongly correlated with established functional measures and neuropsychological scores, only weakly with age and education, and demonstrated high internal consistency. The ECog‐12 showed excellent discrimination between the dementia and normal groups (area under the receiver operator characteristic curve = 0.95, CI = 0.94–0.97), and showed promise in discriminating normal older adults from those with any cognitive impairment (i.e., MCI or dementia). Discrimination between the MCI and normal groups was poor.

Conclusions

The ECog‐12 shows promise as a clinical tool for assisting clinicians in identifying individuals with dementia.
Prospects for designating Alzheimer's disease research a national priority
Authors: Khachaturian Zaven S.
Published: November 2011

This editorial evaluates the prospects of the National Alzheimer's Project Act (NAPA) succeeding to shape public policies that would substantially increase national expenditures for research on Alzheimer's disease. The essay identifies, in the context of 30‐year history, some of the difficult challenges the NAPA Advisory Council must address and offers specific recommendations for an action plan by the Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).
The perilous effects of capability loss on outsourcing management and performance
Authors: Handley Sean M.
Published: November 2011

The outsourcing of manufacturing activities and business processes has emerged as a prevalent business practice in many industries. Given this state, the lackluster performance of an alarmingly high proportion of outsourcing initiatives is somewhat surprising. In an effort to achieve aggressive cost savings objectives, many outsourcing engagements are associated with organizational resources being disposed of which can lead to a significant operational capability loss on the part of the outsourcing firm. Surprisingly little empirical research has dealt with the issues arising from this capability loss frequently associated with outsourcing. This study strives to address this void. Drawing on multiple theoretical perspectives, this study investigates the direct impact that capability loss has on outsourcing performance, and also the impact it has on the outsourcing firm's ability to effectively manage its relationship with the outsourcing provider. Results from our hierarchical regression analysis on 198 outsourcing initiatives suggest an inadequate capability evaluation up front can lead to a more substantive capability loss. Subsequently, we find that a more extensive capability loss has a direct negative effect on outsourcing performance. Prior studies have established the significant positive effect that developing a committed and cooperative relationship with the provider has on outsourcing performance. Our results corroborate these previous findings, and also demonstrate that capability loss inhibits the outsourcing firm's efforts to develop a committed and cooperative relationship with the outsourcing provider.
Democracy, Development, and the International System
Authors: BOIX CARLES
Published: November 2011

Resolving a controversy on the relationship of development to democratization, this article expands the time period under study with panel data running from the early nineteenth century (a time where hardly any country was democratic) to the end of the twentieth century, and shows a positive and significant effect of income on the likelihood of democratic transitions and democratic consolidations. The estimations hold after I control for country and time effects and instrument for income. Results reveal that the effect of income varies across income levels and across eras. First, income has a decreasing marginal effect on democratization. In already developed (and democratized) countries, any extra growth has no further effect on the level of democracy. Second, the structure of the international system affects the resources and strategies of pro-authoritarian and pro-democratic factions in client states. The proportion of liberal democracies peaks under international orders governed by democratic hegemons, such as the post–Cold War period, and bottoms out when authoritarian great powers such as the Holy Alliance control the world system.
New understanding in obesity research
Authors: James W. P. T. , Ralph A.
Published: November 2011

A public-health approach considers the relevance of nutritional research in the prevention and management of obesity. Well-defined and internationally-agreed definitions based on BMI allow an assessment of the worldwide prevalence of overweight and obesity. There are about 250 million obese adults in the world, and many more overweight. Obesity is emerging in the Third World, first in urban middle-aged women. With economic developments, obesity then occurs in men and younger women. In the West childhood obesity is rapidly emerging, with concern that early-onset obesity is especially hazardous. In Asians the risks of excess visceral fat occur at lower body weights than in Caucasians. The propensity to visceral obesity in Asians may relate to malnourished mothers and low birth weight. The International Obesity Task Force is considering many issues, including the health economics of obesity. It has developed a strategy to define childhood obesity, which in children over 6 years is likely to predict long-term weight and health problems. While the search for genetic markers of obesity continues, with particular interest in the leptin gene, it is clear that societal change, with the decline in physical activity and the passive overconsumption of high-fat diets are major contributors to the global increase in obesity. The public-health aspects of obesity research are therefore challenging.
A possible role for vitamin C in age-related cataract
Authors: van der Pols Jolieke C.
Published: November 2011

While many experimental studies have shown a protective effect of vitamin C in age-related cataract, other studies have revealed contrasting roles for this nutrient. Oxidative damage in the lens can be prevented by vitamin C. However, a pro-oxidant effect of vitamin C through H2O2 generation has been suggested. Vitamin C has also been shown to play a role in protein glycation, which is observed in cataract formation. A protective effect of dietary energy restriction appears to be inversely related to plasma vitamin C levels in rodents. Moreover, conclusions from human epidemiological and intervention studies are not uniform. The available evidence suggests that maintenance of sufficient plasma vitamin C is needed to prevent oxidative damage in the lens. More research will be needed in order to confirm the relative importance of the different roles of vitamin C in the eye lens.
Kleptothule rasmusseni gen. et sp. nov.: an ?olenellinid-like trilobite from the Sirius Passet fauna (Buen Formation, Lower Cambrian, North Greenland)
Authors: Budd Graham E.
Published: November 2011

The Lower Cambrian Sirius Passet fauna from Peary Land, North Greenland, is a rich repository of soft-bodied and poorly-sclerotised fossils. A new arthropod from the fauna,Kleptothule rasmusseni, is described. The animal is broadly trilobite-like, possessing a trilobed exoskeleton which is divided into distinct cephalic, thoracic and caudal regions. However, it is unusual in that it possesses a large number of segments, and demonstrates pronounced cephalic segmentation, and a very narrow cephalon and thorax. There is some evidence that the exoskeleton was lightly mineralised.

Kleptothuleis compared to some of the olenellimd trilobites, especially those taxa that possess a many-segmented ‘opisthothorax’. Its morphology raises some issues discussed by Lauterbach (1983) in his assignment of some olenellids to the stem-group of the chelicerates. However, it is not considered herein that such a model can be supported. A complete analysis of basal trilobites and the stem-group leading to them must await a fuller description of key taxa from China and Greenland.
Cindarellaand the arachnate clade Xandarellida (Arthropoda, Early Cambrian) from China
Authors: Ramsköld Lars , Junyuan Chen , Edgecombe Gregory D. , Guiqing Zhou
Published: November 2011

Cindarella eucallaChenet al.from the Early Cambrian Chengjiang fauna is the closest relative ofXandarella spectaculumHouet al. CindarellaandXandarellaare united as Xandarellida, a further component of Cambrian arachnate diversity. Diagnostic of Xandarellida are ventral eyes, a posterior extension of the head shield that covers anterior trunk segments, and multiple somites per tergite in the rear part of the trunk. Somites and tergites are decoupled throughout the trunk inCindarella. The bilobate structure of the exopod in xandarellids is widespread throughout the Arachnata.
A new tristichopterid (Osteolepiformes: Sarcopterygii) from the Mandagery Sandstone (Late Devonian, Famennian) near Canowindra, NSW, Australia
Authors: Johanson Zerina , Ahlberg Per Erik
Published: November 2011

A new member of the Tristichopteridae (=Eusthenopteridae), Mandageria fairfaxi gen. et sp. nov., is described from the Late Devonian (Famennian) Mandagery Sandstone outcropping near Canowindra, NSW, Australia. It is represented by several complete or partial heads and bodies, preserved as natural moulds. Mandageria shares derived characters with the Late Famennian tristichopterid Eusthenodon wängsjöi from East Greenland; the pineal plate series is large and kite-shaped and is posterior to the middle of the parietals, the intertemporal does not contact the posterior supraorbital, a posterior process of the premaxilla divides the apical fossa, the anteriormost premaxillary tooth is enlarged, the postorbital is excluded from the orbit by a supraorbital–lacrimal contact, and the coronoids lack marginal teeth except posteriorly. Mandageria fairfaxi differs from Eusthenodon in superficial fusion of the supratemporal, tabular and postparietals, in the lateral extrascapulars being separated by only 2–3 mm in the midline anteriorly, and in having proportionately smaller scales. It also has an elongate supracleithrum, which is probably autapomorphic. The postcranial skeleton is comparable to that of the Frasnian genus Eusthenopteron, but differs in the more posterior position of the median fins, the poorly ossified vertebral column, and the flattened ectepicondyle. Mandageria fairfaxi is the second osteolepiform described from Canowindra (the first, Canowindra grossi) and, other than the now-reinterpreted Marsdenichthys, the first tristichopterid described from Australia.
Dowsing physics: interferometry
Authors: Reddish V. C.
Published: November 2011

Interferometry, a technique widely used in physics to study radiation fields, has been applied to the investigation of dowsing. Pairs of horizontal linear components, typically some metres in length and a metre or so apart, and parallel in a vertical plane, produce patterns of lines that can be mapped by dowsing rods. The lines are parallel to each other and to the components, and are equally spaced. The spacing of the lines depends on the length, separation and composition of the components. The existence of the patterns shows that the dowsing field is wave radiation. Since there is no detectable difference between patterns produced by pairs of components made of good electrical conductors such as copper, and those produced by good insulators such as uPVC, it is concluded that the radiation field is not electromagnetic. Furthermore, aluminium and tin behave differently from copper and steel. The spacing of the lines has been found to depend on time of year. It increases rapidly in late April and falls rapidly in late November; in between these times it appears to be relatively stable except for an isolated maximum in early March. It shows a high degree of repeatability from year to year.
A successful stress-forecast: an addendum to ‘Stress-forecasting: a viable alternative to earthquake prediction in a dynamic Earth’
Authors: Crampin Stuart
Published: November 2011

In a recent issue of this journal, Crampin (1998) suggested that analysing seismic shear-wave splitting along appropriate ray paths can be used to monitor the build-up of stress before earthquakes. If the source and recording geometry are suitable, this procedure, known as stress-forecasting, allows the approximate time and magnitude, but not the location, of future large earthquakes to be estimated.
A microvertebrate fauna from the Llandovery of South China
Authors: Sansom I. J. , Aldridge R. J. , Smith M. M.
Published: November 2011

The late Llandovery (early Silurian) of South China has yielded a locally abundant and diverse microvertebrate fauna. This includes scales of the little-known mongolepids, sinacanthid spines and a whole host of as yet unassigned forms. The material recovered provides a considerable amount of new information about the diversity of fish in the South Yangtze biome during the early Silurian, and suggests that ichthyoliths have a future role to play in Lower Palaeozoic stratigraphic correlation across China and into Mongolia and Siberia. A new family of mongolepids, the Shiqianolepidae, is erected, accommodating the new genus Shiqianolepis with the type species S. hollandi. The description of Shiqianolepis enables the identification of a differentiated squamation in mongolepid fish, a feature which has not previously been recognised. Two further taxa, Rongolepis cosmetica gen. et sp. nov. and Chenolepis asketa gen. et sp. nov., of, as yet, uncertain affinities are also erected.
Functional morphology of the prosoma of Baltoeurypterus tetragonophthalmus (Fischer) (Chelicerata: Eurypterida)
Authors: Selden Paul A.
Published: November 2011

The prosomal morphology ofBaltoeurypterus tetragonophthalmus(Fischer) from the Baltic Silurian is redescribed and reconstructed. The first eurypterid labrum and new secondary sexual characters ofBaltoeurypterusare described. The radially-arranged coxae ofBaltoeurypteruswere capable of adduction and abduction for food mastication, but not promotor-remotor movements for locomotion. Joint diagrams are presented for the first time for an extinct arthropod. Promotion and remotion of the limbs occurred about subvertical trochanteral pivots, as in all other chelicerates except xiphosurans.Baltoeurypterusprobably walked in a “slow” gait; a method of choosing possible gaits for extinct arthropods is outlined. Swimming inBaltoeurypteruswas effected by means of a rowing action of the posterior limb pair, which is provided with complex joints for collapsing the paddle during the recovery stroke. The limb arrangement and joint mechanisms ofBaltoeurypterusare intermediate between those of the xiphosurans and the arachnids. It is possible that a sister relationship exists between the eurypterids and some arachnid groups, which would render Merostomata and Arachnida unnatural assemblages.
Revision of the fossil ricinuleids
Authors: Seiden Paul A.
Published: November 2011

The fossil ricinuleids are described, and their systematic relationships revised, based on a study of all British and American specimens. Phylogenetic analysis, utilising a new character set, indicates a probable basal dichotomy between the fossil and extant forms. The order is divided into two new suborders: Neoricinulei subordo, nov., for the extant genera, and Palaeoricinulei subordo. nov., for the fossil forms. Two new genera are erected:Amarixysgen. nov. forCurculioides gracilis(Petrunkevitch, 1945) andA. stellarissp. nov., andTerpsicrotongen. nov. forPoliochera alticepsPocock, 1911. Three new species are erected in the genusCurculioides: C. mcluckieisp. nov.,C. pocockisp. nov., andC. gigassp. nov., and one in the genusPoliochera: P. gibbsi, sp. nov.
The structure and petrology of ultrabasic rocks in the southern part of the Cuillin Igneous Complex, Isle of Skye
Authors: Claydon R. V. , Bell B. R.
Published: November 2011

The ultrabasic rocks of the southern portion of the Early Tertiary Cuillin Igneous Complex, Isle of Skye, are recognised as forming a Peridotite Series s.l. and have been separated into six distinct structural–lithological units. These units range from almost pure dunite (Unit 1, at the lowest structural level), through to feldspathic peridotites and allivalites (Units 5 and 6, at the highest structural levels). Detailed field and mineralogical studies indicate that both cumulus and postcumulus processes involving ultrabasic (picritic) magmas may be identified, and that the latter processes have significantly modified many of the primary features of these rocks.

Layering, both modal and phase, is present within all six units, although it is more prominent within the higher units, especially Units 5 and 6. Differing orientations of fabrics defined by cumulus spinel and intercumulus plagioclase layers within Unit 3 indicate the important role of compaction and intercumulus melt migration. Unit 4 is extremely heterogeneous, involving material ranging in composition from peridotite to allivalite, and provides clear evidence for postcumulus melt movement, magma-mixing, disruption and brecciation. Units 5 and 6 developed with a more porous cumulus framework, giving rise to dendritic growths involving cumulus olivine and poikilitic plagioclase.

It is concluded that postcumulus melt movement, injection and magma-mixing, involving ultrabasic magmas, were significant processes in the formation of the ultrabasic rocks of the Cuillin Igneous Complex.
Basin history deduced from subtle changes in fluvial style: a study of distal alluvium from the Devonian of southwest Ireland
Authors: Graham John R. , James Andrea , Russell Kenneth J.
Published: November 2011

Two detailed sections through 4 km of distal alluvium of the Upper Devonian Old Red Sandstone in the Munster Basin, southern Ireland, display a limited number of lithofacies. There is little ordering of these lithofacies on a small scale but changes in the proportions of lithofacies through time define a sequence of stages of basin evolution. The depositional environments changed progressively from sheetflood dominant, via mobile ephemeral channels and floodplains to a more fixed channel–overbank system and eventually to a coastal plain. On the basis of the sedimentary record a progressive reduction in subsidence rate with time is deduced as the main control on the evolution of the basin fill. This deduction is consistent with predictions from previously applied extensional basin models, but is insufficiently refined at present to distinguish between the different models.
Depositional environments within Middle Jurassic oyster-dominated lagoons: an integrated litho-, bio- and palynofacies study of the Duntulm Formation (Great Estuarine Group, Inner Hebrides)
Authors: Andrews Julian E. , Walton William
Published: November 2011

The Duntulm Formation of the Bathonian (Middle Jurassic) Great Estuarine Group represents a marine-brackish lagoonal complex which was transgressively established on the drowned delta of the underlying Valtos Sandstone Formation. Duntulm Formation sediments accumulated in adjacent basins, the Sea of the Hebrides-and Inner Hebrides-basins. Litho-, bio-, and palynofacies analysis of these rocks show that the most distinctive lithologies, monotypic shell banks of the oyster Praeexogyra hebridica (Lithofacies 1), accumulated under variable, but distinctly marine conditions. Argillaceous carbonate muds (Lithofacies 2), probably accumulated in the lee of the oyster banks under variably marine-freshwater conditions, while the supralittoral lagoon shores were fringed by algal marshes (Lithofacies 3). The palynology of Lithofacies 3 shows that some marshes accumulated close to the lagoon (dominated by marine dinocysts), while others formed further inland (dominated by terrestrial pollen and spores). In the N of the Sea of the Hebrides Basin, small deltas continued to prograde into the lagoons (Lithofacies 4), and toward the end of Duntulm Formation times, muds and sands colonised by freshwater molluscs (Unio and Neomiodon), the planktonic alga Botryococcus, and dominated by terrestrial pollen and spores (Lithofacies 5), accumulated in this area, representing a basin-wide change from marine to freshwater conditions. The structural high which divided the basins exerted a strong control on lithofacies evolution, effectively preventing any material coarser than silt grade entering the Inner Hebrides Basin. Thickness variation in the Formation is similarly structurally/facies linked, with thick sequences accumulating where sandstones (Lithofacies 4) predominate, and thin sequences occurring close to the structural high.
The pelvic girdle and hind limb ofCrassigyrinus scoticus(Lydekker) from the Scottish Carboniferous and the origin of the tetrapod pelvic skeleton
Authors: Panchen A. L. , Smithson T. R.
Published: November 2011

Our knowledge of the primitive and aberrant early tetrapodCrassigyrinus scoticuswas based on a partial skull roof and mandibles from the Lower Carboniferous of Gilmerton, Edinburgh, plus a skeleton lacking the hind limb and tail from the Namurian, basal Upper Carboniferous, of Cowdenbeath, Fife. New specimens from Cowdenbeath include the pelvic girdle, presacral and sacral rib and most of the hind limb. The ilium of the girdle had a firm articulation with the vertebral column via the sacral rib. The ischium, separated from the ilium by cartilage, was, like that found with the Cowdenbeath skeleton, ornamented as though a dermal bone. No pubis is preserved. The femur lacks an adductor crest, but has a strongly developed internal trochanter. Tibia and fibula are short stout bones, but axial torsion is present in the fibula rather than the tibia. This, and the structure of the femur, suggests a swimming rather than a walking limb. Probable metatarsals and phalanges are recorded. A skeletal reconstruction and a life restoration ofCrassigyrinusare presented in the light of its reconstructed anatomy and physiology.

The ornamentation of the ischium ofCrassigyrinus, and that of the colosteidGreererpeton, suggests that the bone may be at least in part dermal. Its homology wth the pelvic fin basal scute of osteolepiform fishes is proposed and the homologies of pectoral and pelvic fins, and thus limbs, discussed.
The Blairgowrie magnetic anomaly and its interpretation using simplex optimisation
Authors: Farquharson Colin G. , Thompson Roy
Published: November 2011

The large magnetic anomaly which runs along the Highland Boundary Fault of Scotland immediately to the NW of Blairgowrie has been studied by both a ground-based magnetic survey and a palaeomagnetic investigation. A newly developed optimisation program, making use of a simplex algorithm, was used to model the long wavelength component of this effectively two-dimensional anomaly. The consequent model consists of a vertical, rectangular body, 3 km wide and 13 km deep, whose top surface is 2 km below ground level, with a magnetisation directed vertically downwards. The composition of this body is most likely to be that of an ultra-basic, metamorphic complex which has been brought up to its present position between two of the many near-vertical faults in the area. The medium wavelength structure of the anomaly was modelled using the common technique of trial and error, and can be interpreted in terms of a pair of Devonian andesitic lavas and a small extension of the main ultrabasic block. Subsequent palaeomagnetic remanence measurements confirmed that the magnetisation of the two lavas recorded a Devonian polarity reversal. The magnetisation of the ultrabasics is directed vertically downwards, exactly as deduced from the earlier modelling work.
Field relations, geochemistry, origin and emplacement of the Baltoro granite, Central Karakoram
Authors: Searle M. P. , Crawford M. B. , Rex A. J.
Published: November 2011

The Miocene Baltoro granite forms a massive plutonic unit within the Karakoram batholith, and is composed of comagmatic monzogranites and leucogranites with a mineralogy consisting of quartz-K-feldspar-plagioclase-biotite ± muscovite ± garnet, with accessory sphene, zircon, monazite and opaques. Geochemically the Baltoro granites are mildly peraluminous, and show a calc-alkaline trend on trace-element normalised diagrams with high LIL/HFS element ratios and negative Nb, P and Ti anomalies. REE are strongly fractionated with little or no Eu anomaly. Leucogranites are depleted in most elements compared to monzogranites with notable exceptions being Rb, K and the HREEs. Initial87Sr/86Sr ratios are 0·7072-0·7128, considerably lower than High Himalayan leucogranites (0·74-0·79), and are indicative of a lower continental crust source. The probable petrogenesis of the Baltoro granite involves dehydration melting of a biotite-rich pelite to produce a voluminous, hot, water-undersaturated magma which could then separate from its source and intrude through an already thickened and still hot crust. Fractional crystallisation of the monzogranites produced the leucogranites and a pegmatite dyke swarm. A suite of lamprophyre dykes including amphibolerich vogesites and biotite-rich minettes intrude the country rock, dominantly to the north, around the Baltoro granite. These calc-alkaline shoshonitic lamprophyres are volatile-rich mantle-derived melts intruded around the same time as the granite, indicating simultaneous melting of the mantle and lower crust beneath the Karakoram during the Miocene, approximately 30 Ma after the India-Asia collision which initially caused the crustal thickening. Intrusion of mantle melts provided heat to promote crustal melting and may have selectively contaminated the granite magma.

The Baltoro granite intrudes sillimanite gneisses with melt pods along the southern margin indicating temperatures above 700°C at the time of intrusion. Locally, internal fabrics and numerous aligned xenoliths along the southern margin in the Biafo glacier region indicate steep, southward-directed thrusting during emplacement. Along the northern contact, the Baltoro granite intrudes anchimetamorphic to greenschist facies metasedimentary rocks with an andalusite-bearing contact aureole. Northward-directed culmination collapse normal faulting during Miocene emplacement is inferred, in order to explain the P-T differences either side of the pluton. This also provided an extensional stress regime in the upper crust to accommodate the rising magma.
Parallel geological development in the Dunnage Zone of Newfoundland and the Lower Palaeozoic terranes of southern Scotland: an assessment
Authors: Colman-Sadd S. P. , Stone P. , Swinden H. S. , Barnes R. P.
Published: November 2011

The Notre Dame and Exploits subzones of Newfoundland's Dunnage Zone are correlated with the Midland Valley and Southern Uplands of Scotland, using detailed comparisons of two key Lower Palaeozoic successions which record similar histories of extension and compression. It follows that the Baie Verte Line, Red Indian Line and Dover Fault are equivalent to the Highland Boundary Fault, Southern Upland Fault and Solway Line, respectively.

The Betts Cove Complex and overlying Snooks Arm Group of the Notre Dame Subzone are analogous to the Ballantrae Complex of the Midland Valley, both recording the Arenig evolution and subsequent obduction of an arc and back-arc system. The Early Ordovician to Silurian sequence unconformably overlying the Ballantrae Complex is poorly represented in the Notre Dame Subzone but important similarities can still be detected suggesting corresponding histories of continental margin subsidence and marine transgression.

In the Exploits Subzone, Early Ordovician back-arc volcanic rocks are overlain by Llandeilo mudstones and Late Ordovician to Early Silurian turbidites. A similar stratigraphy occurs in the Northern and Central Belts of the Southern Uplands and both areas have matching transpressive structural histories. Deeper erosion in the Exploits Subzone reveals Cambrian and Early Ordovician volcano-sedimentary sequences structurally emplaced on the Gander Zone, and such rocks are probably present beneath the Southern Uplands. Combined data from the Notre Dame Subzone and Midland Valley suggest an Arenig southeast-dipping subduction zone. Early Ordovician volcanic rocks in the Exploits Subzone and Southern Uplands have back-arc basin geochemistry and support the model of the Southern Uplands as a transition from back-arc to foreland basin. Preferential emergence of the Dunnage Zone and contrasts between Exploits Subzone and Southern Uplands turbidite basins are attributed to collision of Newfoundland with a Laurentian promontory and Scotland with a re-entrant. This hypothesis also explains the transpressive structural regime common to both areas.
The palaeoenvironment of East Kirkton, West Lothian, Scotland: stable isotope evidence from silicates and sulphides
Authors: McGill R. A. R. , Hall A. J. , Fallick A. E. , Boyce A. J.
Published: November 2011

Stable isotope data from the East Kirkton succession are used to elucidate the extent of hot-spring influence in the palaeoenvironment by constraining conditions of deposition of the silica and the formation of sulphides.

Petrographically silica occurs as chert laminae thought to be primary, and as patchy chert considered as replacive. No evidence for biogenic silica was observed. For 20 silica samples δ18O was measured for structural oxygen and δD for bound water. δ18O(SMOW) varied between +21 and +27‰ with no sample groupings related to petrography. The range in δD(SMOW) was from −50 to −90‰ with lower values characterising replacive or altered silica; water contents of both petrographic groups were similar. A plot of δ18O versus δD for the laminated primary silica defines a grouping about the line defined by Scottish agates (Fallick et al. 1985). This suggests for the unaltered silica a formation temperature of about 60°C and a fluid containing a strong component of meteoric water. The data imply a Lower Carboniferous meteoric water δ18O composition of −3‰ and δD of −15‰, consistent with the known palaeolatitude.

The only sulphide observed was pyrite; 34 samples were selected from a wide variety of lithological and textural occurrences. δ34S(CDT) ranges widely and continuously between +8 and −34‰ with no strong mode. The sulphur appears to be derived from several sources, and pyrite formation from a variety of conditions as indicated by such wide ranging data, but for the samples with the lowest δ34S the involvement of bacteria in sulphate reduction is inferred.
Fossil plants from the Viséan of East Kirkton, West Lothian, Scotland
Authors: Scott A. C. , Brown R. , Galtier J. , Meyer-Berthaud B.
Published: November 2011

Plant fossils are a common and important element in the East Kirkton biota of Brigantian (late Viséan age). The most important taxa are preserved as compressions or anatomically preserved as permineralisations. The basis of the quantitative study of the flora and the distribution of individual plant species was the trenched section excavated for the East Kirkton Project. The largest diversity of compressions have been recorded from loose blocks. In the trenched section, the uppermost ashes contain only lycopsid compressions including Stigmaria. Nodules in the underlying shales yield mainly lycopsid leaf and sporophyll compressions. The uppermost limestones (Units 39-52) contain drifted fragments of pteridosperm fronds mainly Sphenopteridium crassum, S. pachyrrhachis, Spathulopteris obovata and Adiantites antiquus. Permineralised Lyginorachis spp. occur at this level. Large permineralised woody gymnosperm axes have been found loose (including Pitus, 50 cm in diameter). Permineralised axes, mainly reworked, including the gymnosperms Bilignea, Eristophyton, Stanwoodia and possibly Protopitys, have been found in Units 72-88. Poorly preserved permineralised lycopsids are rare, but include Lepidophloios. Loose chert blocks contain root mats of permineralised Stigmaria, together with Lepidocarpon, the sphenopsid Archaeocalamites and the fern Botryopteris. Similar material is found in Unit 83 of the Limestone sequence. Unit 82, the black shale containing many of the articulated vertebrates, contains predominantly pteridosperm frond and pinnule material including Spathulopteris obovata. The distinctive changes in the flora from the base to the top of the trenched sequence reflect mainly ecological and taphonomic controls upon plant distribution and preservation. Evidence suggests a close relationship between climate, fire, erosion, deposition and vegetation type through the sequence and a climatic change, from a drier to a wetter environment, is suggested at the top of the East Kirkton Limestone sequence.
The temnospondyl amphibians from the Viséan of East Kirkton, West Lothian, Scotland
Authors: Milner A. R. , Sequeira S. E. K.
Published: November 2011

A new temnospondyl amphibianBalanerpeton woodigen. et sp. nov. is represented by over 30 complete or partial skeletons from the Viséan limestones, shales and tuffs in East Kirkton Quarry, Bathgate, near Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the commonest tetrapod represented in the East Kirkton assemblage and grew to about half a metre in length. Although superficially like the laterDendrerpeton, it is more advanced in possessing small premaxillaries each bearing a pronounced alary process, large external nares, large rounded interpterygoid vacuities, broadly bordered by the vomers anteriorly, a narrow vomer-pterygoid suture and a rod-like stapes. It is characterised by an unusual dental configuration in which each dentary bears a smaller number of larger teeth than the corresponding upper jaw ramus. A second probable temnospondyl is represented by two straight ribs of a much larger form.

The relationships of basal temnospondyls and other amphibian groups are discussed and it is proposed that the sister-group of the temnospondyls is the Microsauria and that neither colosteids norCaerorhachiscan be considered to be temnospondyls, as both fall outside the temnospondyl-microsaur clade. A preliminary study of character distribution across a selection of primitive temnospondyls, includingBalanerpeton, suggests that it is more advanced than the long-snouted Edopoidea and the Dendrerpetontidae despite its Viséan age. This implies that by the Viséan, significant diversification of temnospondyls had taken place.
Westlothiana lizziaefrom the Viséan of East Kirkton, West Lothian, Scotland, and the amniote stem
Authors: Smithson T. R. , Carroll R. L. , Panchen A. L. , Andrews S. M.
Published: November 2011

Westlothiana lizziaeis known from the Brigantian of East Kirkton, Scotland. The skull resembles that of later amniotes in the large size of the parietal, the apparent loss of the intertemporal, and the absence of a squamosal notch, palatal fangs and labyrinthine infolding of the marginal teeth, but is primitive in the absence of a transverse flange of the pterygoid. The individual trunk vertebrae resemble those of amniotes; large intercentra are retained, but the neural arch is fused to the centrum. A surprising feature is the presence of 36 presacral vertebrae, as is the relative size of the very small but highly ossified limbs. The humerus is much shorter than the femur, but similar in configuration to that of early amniotes. There are three proximal tarsals as in primitive tetrapods, but an amniote phalangeal count. The presence of massive dorsal as well as ventral scales is a more primitive feature than that of most anthracosaurs.

Westlothianais ‘reptiliomorph’, and is judged to be a stem-group amniote on features of the skull roof, the absence of an otic notch, the gastrocentrous vertebrae and the pedal phalangeal formula. It has not, however, reached the amniote condition in the structure of the tarsus, and the palate is more primitive than that of both early amniotes and the ‘diadectomorphs’.