Biodiversity patterns of the coral reef cryptobiota around the Arabian Peninsula.

The Arabian Peninsula accounts for approximately 6% of the world's coral reefs. Some thrive in extreme environments of temperature and salinity. Using 51 Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structure (ARMS), a standardized non-destructive monitoring device, we investigated the spatial patterns of coral reef cryptobenthic diversity in four ecoregions around the Arabian Peninsula and analyzed how geographical and/or environmental drivers shape those patterns. The mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene was used to identify Amplicon Sequence Variants and assign taxonomy of the cryptobenthic organisms collected from the sessile and mobile fractions of each ARMS. Cryptobenthic communities sampled from the two ecoregions in the Red Sea showed to be more diverse than those inhabiting the Arabian (Persian) Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Geographic distance revealed a stronger relationship with beta diversity in the Mantel partial correlation than environmental distance. However, the two mobile fractions (106-500 µm and 500-2000 µm) also had a significant correlation between environmental distance and beta diversity. In our study, dispersal limitations explained the beta diversity patterns in the selected reefs, supporting the neutral theory of ecology. Still, increasing differences in environmental variables (environmental filtering) also had an effect on the distribution patterns of assemblages inhabiting reefs within short geographic distances. The influence of geographical distance in the cryptofauna assemblages makes these relevant, yet usually ignored, communities in reef functioning vulnerable to large scale coastal development and should be considered in ecosystem management of such projects.

Anatomy of Parahesperornis: Evolutionary Mosaicism in the Cretaceous Hesperornithiformes (Aves).

The Hesperornithiformes constitute the first known avian lineage to secondarily lose flight in exchange for the evolution of a highly derived foot-propelled diving lifestyle, thus representing the first lineage of truly aquatic birds. First unearthed in the 19th century, and today known from numerous Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian-Maastrichtian) sites distributed across the northern hemisphere, these toothed birds have become icons of early avian evolution. Initially erected as a taxon in 1984 by L. D. Martin, Parahesperornis alexi is known from the two most complete hesperornithiform specimens discovered to date and has yet to be fully described. P. alexi thus contributes significantly to our understanding of hesperornithiform birds, despite often being neglected in favor of the iconic Hesperornis. Here, we present a full anatomical description of P. alexi based upon the two nearly complete specimens in the collections of the University of Kansas Natural History Museum, as well as an extensive comparison to other hesperornithiform taxa. This study reveals P. alexi to possess a mosaic of basal and derived traits found among other hesperornithiform taxa, indicating a transitional form in the evolution of these foot-propelled diving birds. This study describes broad evolutionary patterns within the Hesperornithiformes, highlighting the significance of these birds as not only an incredible example of the evolution of ecological specializations, but also for understanding modern bird evolution, as they are the last known divergence of pre-modern bird diversification.

New Bohaiornis-like bird from the Early Cretaceous of China: enantiornithine interrelationships and flight performance.

During the last decade, several Bohaiornis-like enantiornithine species-and numerous specimens-have been recognized from the celebrated Jehol Biota of northwestern China. In this paper, we describe the anatomy of another "bohaiornithid" species from the 125 million-year-old Yixian Formation of Liaoning Province, China. The new taxon differs from previously recognized "bohaiornithids" on a number of characters from the forelimb and shoulder girdle. We also provide a new phylogenetic framework for enantiornithine birds, which questions the monophyly of the previously recognized bohaiornithid clade and highlights ongoing challenges for resolving enantiornithine interrelationships. Additionally, we offer the first assessment of the flight properties of Bohaiornis-like enantiornithines. Our results indicate that while "bohaiornithids" were morphologically suited for flying through continuous flapping, they would have been unable to sustain prolonged flights. Such findings expand the flight strategies previously known for enantiornithines and other early birds.

Succeeding in Sustained Reduction in the use of Restraint using the Improvement Model.

As part of the Scottish Patient Safety Programme - Mental Health one of the main drivers was the reduction of harm to patients caused by restraint. The aim of this project was to reduce the number of restraints on our Acute Admissions ward. Through use the of the Improvement Model (PDSA), frontline staff were empowered to implement small tests of change at a grassroots level. This approach has led to frontline staff having ownership of driving the changes on a daily basis within the Clinical area. The use of a restraint data collection tool has been adapted and developed with frontline staff to ensure that the staff have ownership of data collected and is used to facilitate improvement. This data is used to inform the development of our Physical Interventions training. Most recently, following analysis, were able to introduce changes to promote the increased use of de-escalation and a shift from prone restraint to the safer seated restraint position. Patient involvement has been paramount with their inclusion in the debrief process. The information gleaned from the patients is used for staff and patient reflection. This has created a learning environment not only for staff but also patients and carers. Everyone involved is able to identify reasons and triggers and generate ideas to reduce the possibility of another restraint. The use of staff and patient safety climate surveys has ensured that we are constantly monitoring improvements in the feeling of safety amongst staff and patients. Our approach has resulted in a change in the culture of restraint resulting in a sustained reduction of 50% in restraint.

Identification of a New Hesperornithiform from the Cretaceous Niobrara Chalk and Implications for Ecologic Diversity among Early Diving Birds.

The Smoky Hill Member of the Niobrara Chalk in Kansas (USA) has yielded the remains of numerous members of the Hesperornithiformes, toothed diving birds from the late Early to Late Cretaceous. This study presents a new taxon of hesperornithiform from the Smoky Hill Member, Fumicollis hoffmani, the holotype of which is among the more complete hesperornithiform skeletons. Fumicollis has a unique combination of primitive (e.g. proximal and distal ends of femur not expanded, elongate pre-acetabular ilium, small and pyramidal patella) and derived (e.g. dorsal ridge on metatarsal IV, plantarly-projected curve in the distal shaft of phalanx III:1) hesperornithiform characters, suggesting it was more specialized than small hesperornithiforms like Baptornis advenus but not as highly derived as the larger Hesperornis regalis. The identification of Fumicollis highlights once again the significant diversity of hesperornithiforms that existed in the Late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway. This diversity points to the existence of a complex ecosystem, perhaps with a high degree of niche partitioning, as indicated by the varying degrees of diving specializations among these birds.

An advanced, new long-legged bird from the Early Cretaceous of the Jehol Group (northeastern China): insights into the temporal divergence of modern birds.

We describe a new ornithuromorph bird species, Gansus zheni from the Lower Cretaceous lacustrine deposits of the Jiufotang Formation (Jehol Group), Liaoning Province, China. A cladistic analysis resolves Gansus zheni as the sister taxon of the roughly contemporaneous Gansus yumenensis (Xiagou Formation, Gansu Province), and together as the most immediate outgroup to Ornithurae. Gansus zheni is the most advanced bird known today for the Jehol Biota. Its discovery provides the best-documented case of inter-basinal correlations (Jehol and Changma basins of Liaoning and Gansu provinces, respectively) using low-taxonomic clades of fossil birds. The existence of close relatives of Ornithurae in deposits formed at about 120 million years ago helps to mitigate the long-standing controversy between molecular and paleontological evidence for the temporal divergence of modern birds (Neornithes).

Factors influencing the persistence of fecal Bacteroides in stream water.

Laboratory microcosm experiments were used to assess the effects of environmental parameters on the persistence of the Bacteroides 16S rRNA genes derived from equine fecal samples in stream water to investigate the utility of Bacteroides spp. as fecal indicator organisms. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was used to measure gene concentrations over time with treatments designed to compare filtered vs. unfiltered stream water, fecal aggregate size, initial fecal concentrations, and water temperatures. Comparison of Bacteroides16S rRNA genes/mL in microcosms constructed with unfiltered stream water and filtered stream water indicated that stream water filtration to remove indigenous microorganisms followed by temperature had the largest effects on gene persistence. First-order exponential decay functions were fitted to the data from each microcosm constructed using unfiltered stream water, and the decay constants (k) ranged from 0.0071 h(-1) in the microcosms incubated at 5 degrees C to 0.0336 h(-1) in a set of microcosms incubated at 25 degrees C. Analysis of k calculated from the 10 experimental treatments indicated that k is more highly correlated to temperature than initial Bacteroides 16S rRNA gene starting concentrations. The equation resulting from graphing k (as the dependent variable) vs. temperature (as the independent variable) best fit a peak, Gaussian, 3 parameter function with a maximum decay at 30 degrees C, a r(2) of 0.83 and all parameters were significant (P < 0.0015). Thus this data suggest that factors that reduce biological activity, such as physical removal of stream microorganisms by filtration and low temperature, result in slower Bacteroides 16S rRNA gene decay.