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Ganoine-scaled fishes belonging to the superfamily Lepisosteoidea, more commonly known as gars, are an ancient lineage with origins in the Mesozoic, first appearing in the Kimmeridgian, Late Jurassic. The Mesozoic gar fossil record is patchy, mostly consisting of disarticulated remains, with only a few partially or mostly complete specimens being extremely rare. Extant gars typically occur in freshwater and brackish environments, with rare observations of a few species frequenting saline waters although little is known of their marine ancestors. Here we describe a new genus and species, Grandemarinus gherisensis gen. et sp. nov., an unusually short-snouted gar from the Upper Cretaceous (Turonian) Akrabou Formation of Morocco. The short-snouted cranial bauplan is superficially convergent with the Eocene freshwater genera Cuneatus and Masillosteus , although a phylogenetic analysis resolves the new gar as the sister taxon to the Lepisosteini (Oniichthys , Lepisosteus , Atractosteus), falling outside of Masillosteinae (Masillosteus , Cuneatus). Gars likely originated as fully marine fishes during the Late Jurassic, and during Early Cretaceous times successfully invaded freshwater ecosystems. The new gar described here is likely a late surviving member of this early marine lineage. The new lepisosteiform is the first complete gar described from a Cretaceous marine deposit; representing a vital clue to help decipher the early evolution and ecology of Lepisosteidae. The taphonomy of the specimen is discussed within the context of a fully marine carbonate Konservat Lagerstätte. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Intra-abdominal sepsis is frequently seen and dealt with by surgeons. It presents as a spectrum of conditions from uncomplicated localized infection through to complicated sepsis with generalized peritonitis. Complicated sepsis is frequently associated with a local and a systemic inflammatory response. The development of septic shock is associated with a high mortality. The management of this condition involves a multidisciplinary approach with either radiological or surgical procedures required to definitively deal with the source of the sepsis (source control). The range of surgical procedures includes open or laparoscopic techniques depending on the source and the extent of the sepsis. Adjuncts to source control are effective broad-spectrum antibiotic cover and effective fluid resuscitation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Upper Cretaceous (Turonian) Akrabou Formation at Asfla in south east Morocco is a marine carbonate succession well-known for its exceptionally preserved, often three-dimensional marine vertebrate fossils. It is perhaps best known for its diverse ichthyological assemblage comprising both cartilaginous and bony fishes, notably teleosts and pycnodonts. However, holostean fishes (Holostei), particularly gars (Ginglymodi, Lepisosteiformes) are previously unreported from the formation. Described here is a partial specimen consisting the articulated squamation of a notably large marine lepisosteiform (Gar). Fossil and extant gars are predominantly recorded in freshwater environments and therefore the occurrence of the new specimens in an outer shelf marine deposit is unusual. The Asfla specimen is confidently assigned to Lepisosteidae based on its characteristic squamation which differentiates it from all other gar families. Specimen biostratinomy and taphonomy is discussed with revision of the lepisosteiform fossil record of Morocco. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we report results of a dedicated experiment that gives the plasma penetration profiles inside a gap of a tokamak castellated plasma-facing component. A specially designed probe that recreates a gap between two tiles has been built for the purpose of this study. It allows to measure ion saturation profiles along the 2 sides and at the bottom of the gap for both poloidal and toroidal orientations. The novelty of such experiment is the real time measurement of the plasma flux inside the gap during a tokamak D-shaped discharge compared to previous experimental studies which were mainly post-mortem. This experiment was performed in the COMPASS tokamak and results are compared with particle-in-cell simulations. The plasma deposition is found to be asymmetric in both orientations with a stronger effect in poloidal gaps. The Larmor radius of the incoming ions plays a role in the plasma penetration only in poloidal gaps but seems to have little impact in toroidal gaps. Profiles are qualitatively well reproduced by simulations. Ion current is recorded at the bottom of a toroidal gap under certain conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]