Antarctic Paleontological Heritage:Late Cretaceous–Paleogene vertebrates from Seymour(Marambio)Island,Antarctic Peninsula

Antarctica has significant environmental,scientific,historic,and intrinsic values,all of which are worth protecting into the future.This continent has a discrete number of places of scientific interest that exhibit great potential as natural heritage sites;its geodiversity is of fundamental importance to scientific values of the continent,and the pursuit of geological and paleontological knowledge has had a strong influence on its historical values.Seymour Island was once called the‘Rosetta Stone’of Southern Hemisphere paleobiology,because this small island provides the most complete and richly fossiliferous Late Cretaceous–Paleogene sequence in Antarctica.In particular,fossil vertebrates form part of the evidence used in reconstructing the history of life on Antarctica.Paleontological heritage is considered a subset of geo-heritage that embodies both natural and historical components which has received only indirect recognition.Seymour Island is an outstanding paleontological area with high heritage value of its Late Cretaceous/Paleogene vertebrates and should be considered for geo-conservation and protection.This paper reviews vertebrate fossil occurrences and outcrops on Seymour Island and discusses some threats to these fossil sites.

Reptilian vertebrates from Deccan volcanic associated sediments of Malwa Plateau in context to reptiles across Maastrichtian-Paleogene volcanic eruptions in Main Deccan Volcanic Province,India

The enormous eruptive volume of India's Deccan continental flood basalts has been linked to global mass extinction at Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary and destablilisation of both marine and terrestrial ecosystems before and after the Chicxulub bolide impact. Deccan Volcanic Province(DVP) currently covers around 500 000 km^2 of land between latitude 15°10′-24°30′N and longitude 70°10′-82°10′E over central India towards the west coast. The pre-erosional volume is estimated at around 1.6 million km^3 which is one of the largest volcanic eruptions on the Earth. The Deccan lava flows in geographically separated areas in DVP are considered to have separate sources and sites of eruptions and were outpoured in different magnetochrons viz. C30 n to C28 n of Maastrichtian to Paleocene. The Deccan volcanic sequences(DVS) in different provinces are associated with(i) sediments deposited before the arrival(Ground Zero) of the first lava flows-designated as infratrappean or Lameta sediments and(ii) sediments between the lava flows deposited during the period of quiescence at different stratigraphic levels designated as intertrappean(interflow) sediments. The Ground Zero Lameta sediments are the major dinosaur bearing sediments deposited in six inland basins viz. 1. Balasinor-Jhabua;2. Sagar;3. Jabalpur;4. Ambikapur-Amarkantak;5. Salburdi;6. Nand-Dongargaon. The sediments represent mainly the terrestrial ecosystems destabilised by the volcanism and they record history of biotic and environmental changes impacted by the volcanism across the Deccan volcanic eruptions. The titanosaurs, crocodylimorphs and bothremydid turtles survived across the first flows in the region in the C30 n. The skeletal remains of the surviving reptiles are preserved in the Deccan volcanic associated intertrappean lake sediments at different stratigraphic levels higher-up in the sequence. Locally, in the Malwa region the Scincomorp and Anguimorph lizards make their first appearance during the earlier phase of volcanic eruptions in C30 n wherein their well preserved bones are found in the intertrappean/inter lsva lake sediments deposited between the lava flows. The lizard fauna is indicated to have better flourished after the initial Deccan eruptions possibly owing to increased humidity.

The inverted retina and the evolution of vertebrates:an evo-devo perspective

The inverted retina is a basic characteristic of the vertebrate eye.This implies that vertebrates must have a common ancestor with an inverted retina.Of the two groups of chordates,cephalochordates have an inverted retina and urochordates a direct retina.Surprisingly,recent genetics studies favor urochordates as the closest ancestor to vertebrates.The evolution of increasingly complex organs such as the eye implies not only tissular but also structural modifications at the organ level.How these configurational modifications give rise to a functional eye at any step is still subject to debate and speculation.Here we propose an orderly sequence of phylogenetic events that closely follows the sequence of developmental eye formation in extant vertebrates.The progressive structural complexity has been clearly recorded during vertebrate development at the period of organogenesis.Matching the chain of increasing eye complexity in Mollusca that leads to the bicameral eye of the octopus and the developmental sequence in vertebrates,we delineate the parallel evolution of the two-chambered eye of vertebrates starting with an early ectodermal eye.This sequence allows for some interesting predictions regarding the eyes of not preserved intermediary species.The clue to understanding the inverted retina of vertebrates and the similarity between the sequence followed by Mollusca and chordates is the notion that the eye in both cases is an ectodermal structure,in contrast to an exclusively(de novo)neuroectodermal origin in the eye of vertebrates.This analysis places cephalochordates as the closest branch to vertebrates contrary to urochordates,claimed as a closer branch by some researchers that base their proposals in a genetic analysis.

A COMPARATIVE RESEARCH OF ZYMOGRAMS OF LACTATE DEHYDROGENASE IN DIFFERENT TISSUES 0F 25 SPECIES OF VERTEBRATES

The distribution and characteristics of LDH isoenzymes in different tissues of 25spe-cies of vertebrats were comparativety analysed by discontinuous polyacrylamide gel diskelectrophoresis,combined with experiments on heat and urea inhibition.The result showed that indifferent tissues of Cienopharyngodon idellus,Carassius,ayratus,Trichiurus haumete and Miichihysmiiuy in addition to the distribution of LDH isoenzymes,composed of A and B subuits,a E4isoenzyme band,moving very fast to the positive pole,was detectedin the eye tissue of Trichiurushaumele and a F4 isoenzyme hand,moving very slow to the positive pole,was found in liver andkidney of Cienopharyngodon idellus.The A4 isoenzyme band was found in different tisseues ofPleuronichlhys cornulus,inhabiting on the bottom of the ocean.From the amphition to the mammal,with the exception of Hyta arboreu immaculata,Chinnemys reevesii,Trioyx sinensis,Gallus gallusdomeslicus and Corvus macrorhynchos,which have special electrophoretic behaviours.In

New Findings on Devonian“Platypus Fish”Cast Light on Evolution of Modern Jawed Vertebrates

New findings on the brain and inner ear cavity of a 400-million-year-old platypus-like fish cast light on the evolution of modern jawed vertebrates,according to a study led by Dr.ZHU Youan and Dr.LU Jing from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology(IVPP)of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(CAS).

NOTES ON SOME PARASITIC NEMATODES OBTAINED FROM VERTEBRATES IN NANKING

In the present paper, 11 species of parasitic nematodes are described, namely: Amidostomum anscris and Ascaridia galli from ducks and fowl; Heteratys golhnae from fowl, H. parisi from pheasants, H. yam sp. nov. from ducks; Cheilospirura hamulosa from fowl; Rhabdias tmnulosa from water snakes, Rh, bicornis and ntpponica from toads; Tanqua anomala from water snakes and Spiroxys japonica from frogs. All specimens were preserved in glycerine-alcohol and studied after clearing in carbol-alcohol.

How did Jawed Vertebrates Originate and Rise?

99.8% of extant vertebrate species on Earth, including humans, possess jaws(maxilla and mandible). The group which we belong to is accordingly referred to as jawed vertebrates or gnathostomes. The origin and rise of our group is undoubtedly one of the most critical evolutionary milestones in the history of vertebrates from fish to humans.

Meta-analysis reveals that reproductive strategies are associated with sexual differences in oxidative balance across vertebrates

Oxidative stress is a key physiological mechanism underlying life-history tradeoffs. Here, I use meta-analytic techniques to test whether sexual differences in oxidative balance are common in vertebrates and to identify which factors are associated with such differences. The dataset included 732 effect size estimates from 100 articles （82 species）. Larger unsigned effect size （meaning larger sexual differences in a given marker） occurred in： reptiles and fish; those species that do not pro- vide parental care; and oviparous species. Estimates of signed effect size （positive values meaning higher oxidative stress in males） indicated that females were less resistant to oxidative stress than males in： reptiles while males and females were similar in fish, birds, and mammals; those species that do not provide parental care; and oviparous species. There was no evidence for a significant sexual differentiation in oxidative balance in fish, birds, and mammals. Effect size was not associ- ated with： the number of offspring; whether the experimental animals were reproducing or not; biomarker （oxidative damage, non-enzymatic, or enzymatic antioxidant）, the species body mass; the strain （wild vs. domestic）; or the study environment （wild vs. captivity）. Oxidative stress tended to be higher in females than males across most of the tissues analyzed. Levels of residual heterogeneity were high in all models tested. The findings of this meta-analysis indicate that diversification of reproductive strategies might be associated with sexual differences in oxidative balance. This explorative meta-analysis offers a starting platform for future research to investigate the rela-tionship between sex and oxidative balance further.

Foraminiferal biostratigraphy of lignite mines of Kutch,India:Age of lignite and fossil vertebrates

The lignite deposits of Kutch, India are stratigraphically referred to the Naredi Formation and considered to be Early Eocene in age. The biostratigraphy of the older mine at Panandhro and a newly opened mine at Matanomadh has constrained the upper age limit of lignite to the early Bartonian. Its lower age may extend to the late Lutetian. Temporally the formation of lignite corresponds to the warming event of the Middle Eocene and suggests a humid climate at the onset of the warming. The previous palynological studies have already suggested dominance of tropical angiospermic pollen. A diverse assemblage of fossil whales and other vertebrates, many of them supposedly the oldest representatives, were reported from Panandhro mine. These were initially assigned to the Early Eocene and later to the Lute? tian age. The present biostratigraphic study revises their age to the Early Bartonian.

New findings of Changxingaspis(Xiushuiaspidae,Galeaspida)from the Silurian of Tarim Basin and Zhejiang Province,China

New discovery of the early Silurian fossil fish Changxingaspis(Xiushuiaspidae,Galeaspida),Changxingaspis nianzhongi sp.nov.and C.gui,are described from the Tataertag Formation in Tarim Basin and the Kangshan Formation in Zhejiang Province,respectively.C.nianzhongi mainly differs from C.gui in the shape of the median dorsal opening that is transverse elliptic with a width/length ratio of about 3.0,the long lateral transverse canals extending to the lateral margin of the headshield,and the second lateral transverse canal with dichotomous branchings.Discovery of C.nianzhongi from the Tataertag Formation and C.gui from the Kangshan Formation provide direct evidence on the specific level for the correlation between these two formations,which further supports the Silurian fish-bearing red beds in northwest Zhejiang belonging to the Silurian Lower Red Beds(LRBs)rather than the Upper Red Beds(URBs).Additionally,as the first record of the Changxingaspis in Tarim Basin,it extends the paleogeographical distribution of this genus from the South China Block to the Tarim Block,providing new evidence to support faunal exchanges between these two blocks and the hypothesis of a united Tarim-South China Block during the early Silurian.

Cemented vertebra and adjacent vertebra refractured in a chronic kidney disease-mineral and bone disorder patient: A case report

BACKGROUND Although percutaneous vertebral augmentation(PVA)is a commonly used procedure for treating vertebral compression fracture(VCF),the risk of vertebral refracture should be considered.Chronic kidney disease-mineral and bone disorder(CKD-MBD)is a systemic disease of mineral and bone metabolism.It is associated with an increased risk of fracture.Few studies have reported the use of PVA in patients with CKD-MBD.We herein report a rare case wherein the cemented vertebra and the adjacent vertebra refractured simultaneously in a CKD-MBD patient after PVA.CASE SUMMARY A 74-year-old man suffered from low back pain after taking a fall about 3 wk ago.According to physical examination,imaging and laboratory findings,diagnoses of T12 VCF,CKD-MBD,and chronic kidney disease stage 5 were established.He then received percutaneous vertebroplasty at T12 vertebra.Fourteen weeks later,he presented with T12 and L1 vertebral refractures caused by lumbar sprain.Once again,he was given PVA which was optimized for the refractured vertebrae.Although the short-term postoperative effect was satisfactory,he reported chronic low back pain again at the 3-month follow-up.CONCLUSION It is necessary that patients with CKD-MBD who have received PVA are aware of the adverse effects of CKD-MBD.It may increase the risk of vertebral refracture.Furthermore,the PVA surgical technique needs to be optimized according to the condition of the patient.The medium-and long-term effects of PVA remain uncertain in patients with CKD-MBD.

Vertebral Artery Stenting for Acute Multiple Cerebral Infarctions Caused by Vertebral Artery Dissection After Massage:A Case Report

Vertebral artery dissection is a rare pathology that can cause ischemic stroke in young people.Cervical massage,especially improper pulling manipulation,is a cause of vertebral artery dissection.We present a case of 32-year old woman who developed acute multiple posterior circulation ischemic cerebral infarctions as a result of left vertebral artery V4 segment dissection after receiving neck massage.She underwent emergency vertebral artery stent implantation at the site of the dissection.Symptoms were relieved the day after treatment.The patient recovered without adverse complications or endovascular restenosis in the following year.

Spinal Vertebral Fracture Detection and Fracture Level Assessment Based on Deep Learning

This paper addresses the common orthopedic trauma of spinal vertebral fractures and aims to enhance doctors’diagnostic efficiency.Therefore,a deep-learning-based automated diagnostic systemwithmulti-label segmentation is proposed to recognize the condition of vertebral fractures.The whole spine Computed Tomography(CT)image is segmented into the fracture,normal,and background using U-Net,and the fracture degree of each vertebra is evaluated(Genant semi-qualitative evaluation).The main work of this paper includes:First,based on the spatial configuration network(SCN)structure,U-Net is used instead of the SCN feature extraction network.The attention mechanismandthe residual connectionbetweenthe convolutional layers are added in the local network(LN)stage.Multiple filtering is added in the global network(GN)stage,and each layer of the LN decoder feature map is filtered separately using dot product,and the filtered features are re-convolved to obtain the GN output heatmap.Second,a network model with improved SCN(M-SCN)helps automatically localize the center-of-mass position of each vertebra,and the voxels around each localized vertebra were clipped,eliminating a large amount of redundant information(e.g.,background and other interfering vertebrae)and keeping the vertebrae to be segmented in the center of the image.Multilabel segmentation of the clipped portion was subsequently performed using U-Net.This paper uses VerSe’19,VerSe’20(using only data containing vertebral fractures),and private data(provided by Guizhou Orthopedic Hospital)for model training and evaluation.Compared with the original SCN network,the M-SCN reduced the prediction error rate by 1.09%and demonstrated the effectiveness of the improvement in ablation experiments.In the vertebral segmentation experiment,the Dice Similarity Coefficient(DSC)index reached 93.50%and the Maximum Symmetry Surface Distance(MSSD)index was 4.962 mm,with accuracy and recall of 95.82%and 91.73%,respectively.Fractured vertebrae were also marked as red and normal vertebrae were marked as white in the experiment,and the semi-qualitative assessment results of Genant were provided,as well as the results of spinal localization visualization and 3D reconstructed views of the spine to analyze the actual predictive ability of the model.It provides a promising tool for vertebral fracture detection.

Game-changing insights on vertebral skeletal stem cells in bone metastasis and therapeutic horizons

Greenblatt and his team have unveiled vertebral skeletal stem cells(vSSCs)as a critical player in the landscape of bone metastasis.This commentary delves into the transformative discoveries surrounding vSSCs,emphasizing their distinct role in bone metastasis compared to other stem cell lineages.We illuminate the unique properties and functions of vSSCs,which may account for the elevated susceptibility of vertebral bones to metastatic invasion.Furthermore,we explore the exciting therapeutic horizons opened by this newfound understanding.These include potential interventions targeting vSSCs,modulation of associated signaling pathways,and broader implications for the treatment and management of bone metastasis.By shedding light on these game-changing insights,we hope to pave the way for novel strategies that could revolutionize the prognosis and treatment landscape for cancer patients with metastatic bone disease.

Percutaneous kyphoplasty in the treatment of Kümmell disease in lumbar scoliosis:A case report

BACKGROUND Due to mechanical imbalance in the spine,elderly scoliosis patients tend to develop vertebral fracture nonunion,i.e.,Kümmell disease,when osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures occur.However,accompanying vertebral rotational deformities make surgical procedures challenging risky.Such patients are usually compelled to undergo conservative treatment and there are very few reports on minimally invasive surgeries for them.We first-time report a patient with Kümmell disease and lumbar scoliosis treated with percutaneous kyphoplasty(PKP)under O-arm guidance.CASE SUMMARY An 89-year-old female was admitted to the hospital due to delayed low back pain after a fall.She was diagnosed with Kümmell disease based on physical and radiologic examinations.The patient experienced severe scoliosis and subsequently underwent O-arm-guided kyphoplasty,resulting in a significant alleviation of low back pain.CONCLUSION PKP has good efficacy in treating Kümmell disease.However,surgical risks are elevated in scoliosis patients with Kümmell disease due to the abnormal anatomical structure of the spine.O-arm assisted operations play a crucial role in decreasing surgical risks.

Factors influencing further vertebral height loss following percutaneous vertebroplasty in osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures:A 1-year follow-up study

BACKGROUND Osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures(OVCFs)contribute to back pain and functional limitations in older individuals,with percutaneous vertebroplasty(PVP)emerging as a minimally invasive treatment.However,further height loss post-PVP prompts investigation into contributing factors.AIM To investigate the factors associated with further height loss following PVP with cement augmentation in OVCF patients.METHODS A total of 200 OVCF patients who underwent successful PVP between January 2021 and December 2022 were included in this study.“Further height loss”during 1 year of follow-up in OVCF patients with bone edema was defined as a vertical height loss of≥4 mm.The study population was divided into two groups for analysis:The“No Further Height Loss group(n=179)”and the“Further Height Loss group(n=21).”RESULTS In comparing two distinct groups of patients,significant differences existed in bone mineral density(BMD),vertebral compression degree,prevalence of intravertebral cleft(IVF),type of bone cement used,and cement distribution patterns.Results from binary univariate regression analysis revealed that lower BMD,the presence of IVF,cleft distribution of bone cement,and higher vertebral compression degree were all significantly associated with further height loss.Notably,the use of mineralized collagen modified-poly(methyl methacrylate)bone cement was associated with a significant reduction in the risk of further height loss.In multivariate regression analysis,lower BMD and the presence of IVF remained significantly associated with further height loss.CONCLUSION Further height loss following PVP in OVCF patients is influenced by a complex interplay of factors,especially lower BMD and the presence of IVF.These findings underscore the importance of assessing and managing these factors when addressing height loss following PVP in OVCF patients.

Risk factors and clinical significance of posterior slip of the proximal vertebral body after lower lumbar fusion

BACKGROUND Adjacent segment disease(ASD)after fusion surgery is frequently manifests as a cranial segment instability,disc herniation,spinal canal stenosis,spondylolisthesis or retrolisthesis.The risk factors and mechanisms of ASD have been widely discussed but never clearly defined.AIM To investigate the risk factors and clinical significance of retrograde movement of the proximal vertebral body after lower lumbar fusion.METHODS This was a retrospective analysis of the clinical data of patients who underwent transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion surgery between September 2015 and July 2021 and who were followed up for more than 2 years.Ninety-one patients with degenerative lumbar diseases were included(22 males and 69 females),with an average age of 52.3 years(40-73 years).According to whether there was retrograde movement of the adjacent vertebral body on postoperative X-rays,the patients were divided into retrograde and nonretrograde groups.The sagittal parameters of the spine and pelvis were evaluated before surgery,after surgery,and at the final follow-up.At the same time,the Oswestry Disability Index(ODI)and Visual Analogue Scale(VAS)were used to evaluate the patients’quality of life.RESULTS Nineteen patients(20.9%)who experienced retrograde movement of proximal adjacent segments were included in this study.The pelvic incidence(PI)of the patients in the retrograde group were significantly higher than those of the patients in the nonretrograde group before surgery,after surgery and at the final follow-up(P<0.05).There was no significant difference in lumbar lordosis(LL)between the two groups before the operation,but LL in the retrograde group was significantly greater than that in the nonretrograde group postoperatively and at the final follow-up.No significant differences were detected in terms of the|PI–LL|,and there was no significant difference in the preoperative lordosis distribution index(LDI)between the two groups.The LDIs of the retrograde group were 68.1%±11.5%and 67.2%±11.9%,respectively,which were significantly lower than those of the nonretrograde group(75.7%±10.4%and 74.3%±9.4%,respectively)(P<0.05).Moreover,the patients in the retrograde group had a greater incidence of a LDI<50%than those in the nonretrograde group(P<0.05).There were no significant differences in the ODI or VAS scores between the two groups before the operation,but the ODI and VAS scores in the retrograde group were significantly worse than those in the nonretrograde group after the operation and at the last follow-up,(P<0.05).CONCLUSION The incidence of posterior slippage after lower lumbar fusion was approximately 20.9%.The risk factors are related to a higher PI and distribution of lumbar lordosis.When a patient has a high PI and insufficient reconstruction of the lower lumbar spine,adjacent segment compensation via posterior vertebral body slippage is one of the factors that significantly affects surgical outcomes.

Scoliocorrector Fatma-UI for correction of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: Development, effectivity, safety and functional outcome

BACKGROUND Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis remains a major problem due to its high incidence,high risk,and high cost.One of the aims of the management in scoliosis is to correct the deformity.Many techniques are available to correct scoliosis deformity;however,they are all far from ideal to achieve three-dimensional correction in scoliosis.AIM To develop a set of tools named Scoliocorrector Fatma-UI(SCFUI)to aid threedimensional correction and to evaluate the efficacy,safety,and functional outcome.METHODS This study consists of two stages.In the first stage,we developed the SCFUI and tested it in finite element and biomechanical tests.The second stage was a single-blinded randomized clinical trial to evaluate the SCFUI compared to direct vertebral rotation(DVR).Forty-four subjects with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis were randomly allocated into the DVR group(n=23)and SCFUI group(n=21).Radiological,neurological,and functional outcome was compared between the groups.RESULTS Finite element revealed the maximum stress of the SCFUI components to be between 31.2-252 MPa.Biomechanical analysis revealed the modulus elasticity of SCFUI was 9561324±633277 MPa.Both groups showed improvement in Cobb angle and sagittal profile,however the rotation angle was lower in the SCFUI group(11.59±7.46 vs 18.23±6.39,P=0.001).Neurological and functional outcome were comparable in both groups.CONCLUSION We concluded that SCFUI developed in this study resulted in similar coronal and sagittal but better rotational correction compared to DVR.The safety and functional outcomes were also similar to DVR.

High-resolution magnetic resonance imaging in the diagnosis and management of vertebral artery dissection:A case report

BACKGROUND Vertebral artery dissection(VAD)is a rare but life-threatening condition characterized by tearing of the intimal layer of the vertebral artery,leading to stenosis,occlusion or rupture.The clinical presentation of VAD can be heterogeneous,with common symptoms including headache,dizziness and balance problems.Timely diagnosis and treatment are crucial for favorable outcomes;however,VAD is often missed due to its variable clinical presentation and lack of robust diagnostic guidelines.High-resolution magnetic resonance imaging(HRMRI)has emerged as a reliable diagnostic tool for VAD,providing detailed visualization of vessel wall abnormalities.CASE SUMMARY A young male patient presented with an acute onset of severe headache,vomiting,and seizures,followed by altered consciousness.Imaging studies revealed bilateral VAD,basilar artery thrombosis,multiple brainstem and cerebellar infarcts,and subarachnoid hemorrhage.Digital subtraction angiography(DSA)revealed vertebral artery stenosis but failed to detect the dissection,potentially because intramural thrombosis obscured the VAD.In contrast,HRMRI confirmed the diagnosis by revealing specific signs of dissection.The patient was managed conservatively with antiplatelet therapy and other supportive measures,such as blood pressure control and pain management.After 5 mo of rehabilitation,the patient showed significant improvement in swallowing and limb strength.CONCLUSION HR-MRI can provide precise evidence for the identification of VAD.

“FISH VERTEBRA” about 3 Sickle Cell Patients Followed at Laquintinie Hospital, Douala

Vertebral involvement in particular is common in sickle cell patients. We report 3 cases of “fish vertebra” fractures in sickle cell patients aged 16, 18, and 24 years old respectively at Laquintinie Hospital, Douala. When the vertebral fractures were diagnosed, the 3 patients had back pain and kyphosis deformities of the dorsal spine. Treatment with an infusion of biphosphonates (zoledronic acid at a dose of 0.5 mg·per·kg) was offered to all three patients. Two out of three patients received treatment with biphosphonates with a successful outcome. Profound vitamin D deficiency is associated with increased bone remodeling and a history of fractures. In sickle cell anemia, vertebral fractures may also result from bone fragility, which is often overlooked as aseptic osteonecrosis and osteomyelitis, which are very often suspected.