Effects of soil erosion and anoxic-euxinic ocean in the Permian-Triassic marine crisis.

The largest mass extinction of biota in the Earth's history occurred during the Permian-Triassic transition and included two extinctions, one each at the latest Permian (first phase) and earliest Triassic (second phase). High seawater temperature in the surface water accompanied by euxinic deep-intermediate water, intrusion of the euxinic water to the surface water, a decrease in pH, and hypercapnia have been proposed as direct causes of the marine crisis. For the first-phase extinction, we here add a causal mechanism beginning from massive soil and rock erosion and leading to algal blooms, release of toxic components, asphyxiation, and oxygen-depleted nearshore bottom water that created environmental stress for nearshore marine animals. For the second-phase extinction, we show that a soil and rock erosion/algal bloom event did not occur, but culmination of anoxia-euxinia in intermediate waters did occur, spanning the second-phase extinction. We investigated sedimentary organic molecules, and the results indicated a peak of a massive soil erosion proxy followed by peaks of marine productivity proxy. Anoxic proxies of surface sediments and water occurred in the shallow nearshore sea at the eastern and western margins of the Paleotethys at the first-phase extinction horizon, but not at the second-phase extinction horizon. Our reconstruction of ocean redox structure at low latitudes indicates that a gradual increase in temperature spanning the two extinctions could have induced a gradual change from a well-mixed oxic to a stratified euxinic ocean beginning immediately prior to the first-phase extinction, followed by culmination of anoxia in nearshore surface waters and of anoxia and euxinia in the shallow-intermediate waters at the second-phase extinction over a period of approximately one million years or more. Enhanced global warming, ocean acidification, and hypercapnia could have caused the second-phase extinction approximately 60 kyr after the first-phase extinction. The causes of the first-phase extinction were not only those environmental stresses but also environmental stresses caused by the soil and rock erosion/algal bloom event.

In vivo imaging of the dendritic arbors of layer V pyramidal cells in the cerebral cortex using a laser scanning microscope with a stick-type objective lens.

In the field of neuroscience, low-invasive in vivo imaging would be a very useful method of monitoring the morphological dynamics of intact neurons in living animals. At present, there are two widely used in vivo imaging methods; one is the two-photon microscope method, and the other is the fiber optics method. However, these methods are not suitable for the in vivo imaging of deeper subcortical structures. In our study, we have developed a novel method for the in vivo imaging of pyramidal neurons in layer V of the cerebral cortex, utilizing a MicroLSM system and a stick-type objective lens that can be directly inserted into the target tissue. By using this method, we succeeded in obtaining clear images of pyramidal neurons in layer V of the cerebral cortex under a low-invasive condition. The MicroLSM system is a useful and versatile in vivo imaging system that will be applicable not only to the brain but also to other organs.

An unusual case of congenital convergent convergent strabismus fixus.

BACKGROUND: Convergent strabismus fixus is classified into congenital and acquired types; however, there are only a few detailed case reports of congenital convergent strabismus fixus. Here, we report a rare case of this condition in which the eyeball was shown by imaging diagnosis to be fixed with a hard cord-like material in the orbit. To our knowledge, there have been no previous reports of congenital convergent strabismus fixus caused by an abnormal cord-like material that was clearly identifiable by imaging. CASE REPORT: The patient was a 16 year old female who visited our department for consultation regarding restoration of normal appearance of her strabismus. She had undergone strabismus surgery at the age of 3 years, but a forced duction test was strongly positive in all directions, and the eyeball was not mobile at the time. The initial surgery performed was a tenotomy of the medial rectus muscle and inferior rectus muscle and resection of the lateral rectus muscle of the right eye. The eye position and eye movement remained unchanged after surgery. At this time, MRI of the orbital region was performed, and an abnormal cord-like material connecting the posterior eyeball to the orbital wall was detected in the orbit. The cord-like material was pulling strongly on the posterior eyeball, congenitally fixing the eye position internally. CONCLUSION: We experienced a rare case in which a hard cord-like material in the orbit congenitally fixed the position of the eyeball. On MRI, the intensity of the cord-like material was clearly different from those of the muscle and nerve tissues. Considering the linearity of the cord-like material and the results of a forced duction test, the cord-like material probably consisted of fairly hard tissue, similar to bone.