Fossils of the sponge Angulosuspongia sinensis from calcareous mudstones of the middle and upper part of the Kaili Formation (Cambrian Stage 5) in the Jianhe area of Guizhou province, South China, exhibit an apparently reticulate pattern, characteristic of the Vauxiidae. Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometry (EDS) and Raman spectroscopy analysis indicate the presence of silica in the skeletal el...

Reef building corals precipitate calcium carbonate as an exo-skeleton and provide substratum for prosperous marine life. Biomineralization of the coral's skeleton is a developmental process that occurs concurrently with other proliferation processes that control the animal extension and growth. The development of the animal body is regulated by large gene regulatory networks, which control the ...

Abstract Boron isotopic and elemental analysis of coral aragonite can give important insights into the calcification strategies employed in skeletal construction. Traditional methods have limited spatial (and thus temporal) resolution, hindering attempts to unravel heterogeneity. Laser ablation mass spectrometry allows a much more refined view, here we employ these techniques explore boron isot...

We report on five sibs affected by congenital microcephaly, growth retardation, sloping forehead, bitemporal grooving and micrognathia. Generalized tonic-clonic seizures started very early in life. Postnatal brain computerized tomography (CT) presented cortical band-like calcification, calcification of basal ganglia and brain stem while brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed abnormal g...

Previous work by Venn et al. describing live imaging of coral mounted on cover slips in miniaturized flow cells and live imaging of coral calcification was inadvertently omitted from the reference list of this Article. This work should have been cited in the second paragraph of the introduction, where previous work describing microscopic examination of coral and coral culture systems are referr...

Physiological calcification plays an essential part in the development of skeleton and teeth; however, occurrence soft tissues such as brain, heart, kidneys associates with health impacts, creating a massive social economic burden. The current paradigm for pathological focuses on biological factors responsible bone-like mineralization, including osteoblast-like cells proteins inducing nucleatio...

ALTHOUGH calcification in the animal body is normaly confined to hypertrophic cartilage and osteoid, in certain abnormal or pathological conditions deposits of calcium salts may also be formed in other tissues, among which are the kidney, the lung and the arteries. Some of these conditions, for example hypervitaminosis D, are associated with exceptionally high concentrations of bloodcalcium or ...

The sources and mechanisms of inorganic carbon transport for scleractinian coral calcification and photosynthesis were studied using a double labelling technique with H(14)CO(3) and (45)Ca. Clones of Stylophora pistillata that had developed into microcolonies were examined. Compartmental and pharmacological analyses of the distribution of(45)Ca and H(14)CO(3) in the coelenteron, tissues and ske...

Low concentrations of calcium ions (Ca2+) are maintained in living cells by the Ca-ATPase calcium pump of the plasma membrane. The presence of a calcium pump in corals has been confirmed and its temperature related breakdown underlies coral bleaching. There is also mounting evidence from stable calcium isotope ratios in the skeleton for involvement of a calcium pump in coral calcification. Hydr...

The skeleton of the "wings" of skates and rays consists of a series of radially oriented cartilaginous fin rays emanating from a modified pectoral girdle. Each fin ray consists of small, laterally oriented skeletal elements, radials, traditionally represented as simple cylindrical building blocks. High-resolution radiography reveals the pattern of calcification in batoid wing elements, and thei...