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Abstract classes
An implementation of abstract CLOS classes, i.e. classes that can be subclassed but not instantiated. This is part of the Lisp hacks collection by Tim Bradshaw.
Applicative iteration
A library that provides for Common Lisp the syntax of Scheme's named LET construct. In addition, it generates a loop even on implementations without tail-call elimination. This is part of the Lisp hac...
AspectL is a library that provides aspect-oriented extensions for Common Lisp / CLOS.
BKNR Datastore
The bknr datastore is a persistence system based on transaction logging. Similar to Java Prevalence, it logs all changes to the persistent data to a transaction log file on disk. Snapshots can be wr...
A compatible replacement for the BibTeX program, written in CL.
A package for creating and manipulating graphs (in the graph-theoretic sense). Creates a set of CLOS classes for graphs, vertices, edges. Provides algorithms for traversing, counting, searching for ve...
CL-HTTP is suite of an HTTP 1.1 compliant and SSL-capable tools for creating Web applications written in ANSI Common Lisp that includes: A Sophisticated Server, A Programatic Client, A Caching Proxy, ...
uniform frontend to running Common Lisp code from a unix shell
Common Lisp interface to the memcached object caching system.
CL-MUPROC - Erlang-inspired multiprocessing in Common Lisp
A library that implements some of the message-passing multiprocessing abstractions provided by the Erland programming language.
This very small Common Lisp library provides a way to add initialization files to ASDF systems. Every time ASDF loads <system>, one or several corresponding <system>.lisp files are loaded automaticall...
Common Lisp Erlang Interface
CLPython is an implementation of Python in Common Lisp.
A Common Lisp to C compiler, which translates a subset of Common Lisp + CLOS to a subset of C.
A dataflow, constraint-management extension to CLOS. It allows the creation of classes whose instances "have slots whose values are determined by a formula", like cells in a spreadsheet. Arbitrary Com...
Closer to MOP
Closer to MOP is a compatibility layer that rectifies many of the absent or incorrect MOP features as detected by MOP Feature Tests in a growing number of Common Lisp implementations.
Collecting lists forward
A library for traversing lists and collecting elements backwards. This is part of the Lisp hacks collection by Tim Bradshaw.
Common Lisp User Space File System
A simple file based file system. Use mkfs and mount to take clufs file system into use. Use it with mkdir, create, open and close to read and write files. Open returns a stream to file in clufs file s...
Conduit packages
Conduits are a generalization of packages. They allow the definition of packages that extend other packages in some way, such as having some symbols from another package. This is part of the Lisp hack...
Core Server
Continuations + Parser Combinators + Generic Streams + Javascript Generator + HTML generator/parser + several RFC implementations + Unified client/server javascript components + Indivisible working UN...
Cusp, a Lisp plugin for Eclipse
A Common Lisp development environment built on top of the Java-based Eclipse development platform. It uses the SLIME Swank backend for interacting with the SBCL Lisp implementation.
Defaulting optional arguments for generic functions
An implementation of CLOS "wrapping" methods. They are "like around methods but happen outside them (so: before and after), and the least specific wrapping method is outermost". They provide a clean w...
Design by Contract
An implementation for CLOS of the Design by Contract method of software engineering, developed by Bertrand Meyer for the Eiffel programming language.
Erann's Lisp utilities
A small set of Common Lisp utilities for string and symbol operations, CLOS, mapping, flow control, anaphoric macros, and more.
Erlisp is "a high-level Common Lisp framework for parallel and distributed programming". It is an attempt to bring to Common Lisp the Erlang approach to concurrency.
a Lisp-programmable document preparation system.
FOR: iteration in the style of Python
An implementation of a FOR control structure macro similar to that of the Python programming language, which is based on iterator objects.
Foil (Foreign Object Interface for Lisp) consists of a protocol and a set of libraries that facilitate access to popular object runtimes, such as the JVM and the CLI/CLR, and their libraries, from Lis...
An integrated Common Lisp development environment written in C++ with a GTK+ 2 front end. It provides a text editor and a Lisp listener based on GNU CLISP.
Global lexical variables
An implementation of global lexical variables.
Guy Steele's FOO language
Guy Steele's "FOO" language, as found on the ll1.mit.edu mailing list.
Hierarchical packages
An implementation of hierarchical packages, i.e. packages with a hierarchically structured namespace. It is based on the Allegro CL hierarchical packages by Franz, Inc.. This is part of the Lisp hacks...
JACOL - Java and Common Lisp
An interoperation framework between Java and Common Lisp. It allows Lisp to be used as an extension language for Java, and it can expose Java APIs to Lisp applications. JACOL uses sockets for communic...
JFLI provides comprehensive, safe, dynamic and Lisp-y access to Java and Java libraries as if they were Lisp libraries, for use in Lisp programs, i.e. with an emphasis on working in Lisp rather than i...
JSGEN - S-Expression Syntax for JavaScript
JSGEN is an extension to AllegroServe that allows one to write JavaScript programs in an s-expression syntax
A translator from Java (JLS2) source code to pragmatically correct Lisp code. It provides two backends: Common Lisp and the Linj Lisp dialect. Jnil currently depends on the Eclipse development environ...
KM: The Knowledge Machine
KM is a powerful, frame-based knowledge representation language with clear first-order logic semantics. It contains sophisticated machinery for reasoning, including selection by description, unificati...
KMgen is an ontology editor for the KM language (Knowledge Machine), written with Lispworks, Foil (a Foreign Object Interface for Lisp) and SWT (Java Standard Widget Toolkit). Free to use.
The Linj compiler translates Linj, a Lisp dialect very similar to Common Lisp, programs into human-readable Java programs, serving two different purposes: (1) it allows a very smooth integration with...
A Common Lisp language extension for adding first-class lexical environments, a.k.a. "lexicons".
Lisp code from Artificial Intelligence, A Modern Approach
Common Lisp code for solving basic AI problems, from the definitive textbook on intelligent agents by Russell & Norvig. The website also links implementations in other languages (java, python, c++, p...
Lisp hacks
A collection of small libraries for packages, dynamic variables, lists, iteration, CLOS, and HTML generation.
Lisplets are Java Servlets that forward their requests, and gather their response headers, using s-expressions over sockets. They enable easy integration of Common Lisp or Scheme into a Java-based web...
List comprehensions, after Python
An implementation of the GATHER macro, which generalizes the list comprehensions facilities of the Python programming language.
MCPat stands for Meta-Circular Pattern Matcher, a simple pattern matcher that executes code by lists against patterns.
MOP Feature Tests
This package provides a test suites for checking what CLOS MOP features a Common Lisp implementation supports.
Wrapper around BLAS and LAPACK linear algebra libraries. Limited to CMUCL and Allegro (CLisp port in progress). Keywords: matrix, vector, eigenvalue.
A compatibility layer on top of various CLOS MOP implementations, with some additional reflection capabilities.
NCASE: case using a jump-table
An implementation of the NCASE control structure macro, which has semantics similar to CASE but is able to optimize certain cases with a jump table.
NST is a test framework for Common Lisp offering separate and reusable fixture definitions, test groups, extensible test criteria, ASDF integration, and optional JUnit XML output.
Objective-CL is a free CL/Objective-C bridge that is portable not only across Lisp implementations but also across operating systems. It strives to achieve full GNUstep and Cocoa compatibility includ...
An update of Peter Norvig's "Prolog in Common Lisp".
A Lisp-like web development language that can be compiled to JavaScript.
A library for communicating with a PostgreSQL database, trying to make the Lisp-SQL boundary as unobtrusive as possible.
PythOnLisp (Python On Lisp: A project to call Python code from Lisp) is an interface to the Python programming language that makes it possible to run Python 2.2 or 2.4 code from inside Lisp. It allows...
Python Generators in Common Lisp using Arnesi's CPS transformer
An attempt to simulate generators of the Python language using Arnesi CPS transformer. The macro defgenerator allow to define new generators. A 'yield' function is implictly available in the body of ...
Read-time packages
A library that makes it possible to read an entire Lisp form in the context of a given package by switching packages at read time. This is part of the Lisp hacks collection by Tim Bradshaw.
SWIG (Simplified Wrapper and Interface Generator)
SWIG is a software development tool that connects programs and libraries written in C and C++ with a variety of high-level programming languages, including Common Lisp. It parses C/C++ header files a...
A series is a data structure much like a sequence, with similar kinds of operations. The difference is that in many situations, operations on series may be composed functionally and yet execute iterat...
Sheeple is a delegative prototype-based object system inspired by CLOS. It is designed with the purpose of providing the goodies of CLOS programming, but in an object-based environment. As such, it ...
Singleton classes
A library for implementing singleton CLOS classes, i.e. classes that only have a single instance. This is part of the Lisp hacks collection by Tim Bradshaw
Snarf is a simple prototype-style OO language for common lisp. It uses a call syntax rather than a CLOS-style general function syntax. Snarf is so small that the entire language (about 400 lines) is ...
A set of portable extensions for bindings, CLOS-compatible message passing, easier manipulation of functions, continuations and cooperative multitasking.
Subject-verb-object syntax
A library that provides a subject-verb-object syntax for function calling similar to that of object-oriented languages.
Lisp file for accessing Terminfo databases.
TwinLisp is a language with C/Java - like syntax, but with internals and abilities of a Common Lisp (it is a twin of a lisp internally).
UCW extension package for event based AJAX web programming. THIS PROJECT SUPERSEEDED BY "CORE SERVER"!!!
Asdf-ecs (Another System Definition Facility - Enhanced C Support) is an ASDF extension which simplifies the use of C files and shared libraries.
BMUD is a multiuser dimension (MUD) of the Diku/Rogue persuasion.
CL-AJAX is Richard Newman's Common Lisp library to allow for remote invocation of functions through Javascript. Quoting John Wiseman's writeup: ... lets you use Lisp to leverage the XMLHttpReque...
B-Tree implemented in Common Lisp. Stores key/value pairs onto disk based data structure. Current implementation has been tested with SBCL.
CL-Famix is a model extractor, that extract FAMIX-Lisp complaint models from Lisp systems.
CFFI interface for Graphviz, integrated with cl-graph.
A parser and generator for the JSON data-interchange format.
Portable localisation package for Common Lisp.
A Common Lisp interface to the MediaWiki API
The goal of this project is to provide a link between the Octave programming language and Common-Lisp.
cl-perec is a library for RDBMS based CLOS persistency
Bindings to PortAudio crossplatform library.
Cl-wdim is "a Common Lisp web framework based on persistent CLOS".
A BASIC interpreter.
A library that implements computed classes. "An instance of computed-class is a class meta object which supports per instance lazy computation of CLOS object slot values".
defclass* and defcondition* that automatically generates accessors other things that are schematic for most defclass declarations.
evol - entrenched virtues of lisp (love reversed) aims to be a compatible and full-fledged replacement for the GNU autotools stack targeted at coping with the autotools' shortcomings while not repeati...
Tests, stress-test and performance-tests for Common Lisp object-databases and persistence libraries.
A library for encoding and decoding (HTML/SGML/XML) entities in Common Lisp.
jwacs - Javascript With Advanced Continuation Support
A program transformer for web development that translates code from an extended Javascript syntax to standard Javascript. It supports client-side continuations.
The lisp-cgi-utils is a software package for developing CGI scripts with Common Lisp. It implements a very basic HTTP/CGI interface (sending headers, getting GET/POST and environment variables) and of...
A toolkit for specifying how to make copies of CLOS objects.
A library that parses a string into one of the Common Lisp number types, or signals an error if it is not possible.
An assembler for the Microchip Technology PIC microcontroller.
An INI-file style configuration parser conformant to the Python configparser module.
pygen - Python-style generators library
A library for search and replace operations on sequences.
TRIVIAL-LDAP is a one file, all lisp client implementation of parts of RFC 2251.
A Z80 assembler with sexp-based syntax.


text:
Lighting designer Gunnar Loose uses a variety of GLP impressions and G-LEC Phantom 30 frames
The long-running German hip hop band Fettes Brot embarked on their latest tour of German arenas (Fettes/Brot Tour 2010) at the end of April to coincide with the release of their new dual live CD's, Fettes and Brot.
Initially the tour was planned to have taken place in smaller venues but, such was the success of the new CD that it quickly transpired that demand was much greater than expected. Many of the concerts moved to arenas with much larger capacities (ranging between 2,000-9,000) — and this leg will culminate in a performance at the vast, 20,000-capacity Lanxess Arena in Köln.
The variation in venue size had little effect on Gunnar Loose's lighting design as he had created it with sufficient versatility and scalability to be easily implemented in tour venues, whatever the size.
Loose has been working for several years with Fettes Brot, constantly coming up with new designs for each tour.
As with previous concerts, the renowned LD again specified impression moving LED fixtures from GLP. This time he had steel ladders specially manufactured to take three impressions on each. "I have five frames in the back truss and four frames on the stage," he explained. "The impressions provide me with the perfect lighting to implement my ideas."
Loose complemented this with video technology from the same source. GLP supplied 16 G-LEC Phantom 30 frames to provide a vibrant LED video display. These were divided into four screens, mounted on the back truss.
Fettes Brot producer André Luth and designer Stefan Kassel created the video content, which consists mainly of self-produced images fitting seamlessly into the context of the recent album and the tour.
Gunnar Loose is particularly enthusiastic about the Phantom 30. "The color and brightness of this system provide an absolute highlight. We run the frames at a maximum of 50 percent and yet they have brightness that some systems do not even reach at 100 percent!"
For more information write to [email protected] or visit www.glp.de

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Structural colours, the most intense, reflective and pure colours in nature, are generated when light is scattered by complex nanostructures. Metallic structural colours are widespread among modern insects and can be preserved in their fossil counterparts, but it is unclear whether the colours have been altered during fossilization, and whether the absence of colours is always real. To resolve these issues, we investigated fossil beetles from five Cenozoic biotas. Metallic colours in these specimens are generated by an epicuticular multi-layer reflector; the fidelity of its preservation correlates with that of other key cuticular ultrastructures. Where these other ultrastructures are well preserved in non-metallic fossil specimens, we can infer that the original cuticle lacked a multi-layer reflector; its absence in the fossil is not a preservational artefact. Reconstructions of the original colours of the fossils based on the structure of the multi-layer reflector show that the preserved colours are offset systematically to longer wavelengths; this probably reflects alteration of the refractive index of the epicuticle during fossilization. These findings will allow the former presence, and original hue, of metallic structural colours to be identified in diverse fossil insects, thus providing critical evidence of the evolution of structural colour in this group.
1. Introduction
Biophotonic nanostructures generate structural colours by scattering light [1]. They comprise alternating materials of different refractive indices organized into one- (e.g. multi-layer reflectors), two- (e.g. diffraction gratings) or three-dimensional (e.g. gyroids and cubic and diamond lattices) arrays [1]. Such structures are widespread among modern animals [2], where they function primarily in inter- and intraspecific signalling [3–5]. Research on biological structural colours has focused on insects, especially butterflies [3] and beetles [5]. Preservation of colour-producing structures in fossil insects offers the possibility of testing hypotheses on the evolution of structural colours [4–7] and communication strategies in this group, but only if the original structures and colours are known. Evidence of structural colour (including metallic colours [8]) has been reported from insects (typically beetles) from various fossil biotas [9–20]. Survival of the original colours in such fossils is often assumed (e.g. [14,17]), but rarely tested using computer modelling. The only studies to do so have yielded conflicting results: claims that original structural colour survives in beetles from the Pleistocene (less than 600 ka) [12] and the Mid-Eocene (ca 47 Ma) [13] contrast with evidence from Mid-Eocene fossil lepidopterans in which original colours are not preserved [20]. The preservation potential of structural colours over geological timescales, and their usefulness for evolutionary reconstructions, is therefore uncertain. Here, we address these issues by investigating the ultrastructural- and spectral fidelity of fossil beetles from five lacustrine-hosted Lagerstätten ranging from 15 to 47 million years in age. In our novel approach, we combine data from electron microscopic-, microspectrophotometric- and two-dimensional Fourier analyses to determine the origin and the fidelity of preserved metallic colours in the beetles. Further, by placing preservation of biophotonic nanostructures within the context of the fidelity of preservation of cuticule as a whole, we present, to our knowledge, the first predictive model for the presence of biophotonic nanostructures in fossil insects.
2. Material and methods
Fossil beetle specimens were studied from the following Lagerstätten: Clarkia, Middle Miocene (15 Ma), Idaho, USA [21]; Randecker Maar, Early Miocene (17 Ma), Germany; Enspel, Late Oligocene (25 Ma), Germany [22]; Eckfeld, Middle Eocene (40 Ma), Germany [23] and Messel, Middle Eocene (47 Ma), Germany [24] (figure 1). These Lagerstätten are hosted within organic-rich, finely laminated lacustrine mudstones [21,25]. The specimens are held by the following institutions: Generaldirektion Kulturelles Erbe, Mainz, Germany (GKE); Naturhistorisches Museum Mainz (Germany) (NMM); Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum, Forschungsstation Grube Messel, Germany (MeI); Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart, Germany (SMNS) and the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, USA (YPM). Specimens are stored in glycerine (100%, or 70–99% in water) or ethanol (70%). There is no evidence that immersion in these solutions affects the hue of the observed colour. The material studied includes unidentified beetle specimens with metallic colours and specimens of beetle taxa known to exhibit metallic colours (Buprestidae, Chrysomelidae and Tenebrionidae; the specimens studied are not identified to species level, but examples from different Lagerstätten probably represent conspecifics or, at the very least, closely related species). The lustre and cohesiveness of the cuticle were assessed visually and used as a proxy for the quality of preservation: the cuticle was coded as (i) 'well preserved' if highly reflective, solid and cohesive, and (ii) 'poorly preserved' if not reflective and friable. Metallic colours are bright where the cuticle is well preserved, and dull or absent where the cuticle is poorly preserved; these colours are apparent in sunlight, white light and under the optical microscope, and their hue does not alter upon drying of the specimen (at least on timescales of hours to days). Well-preserved curculionid beetles from Eckfeld that do not exhibit metallic coloration were studied for comparison; their cuticles are typically black, highly reflective, solid and cohesive. Specimens for digital photography were washed in water and allowed to dry (the storage medium was replaced subsequently).
Small (2–3 mm2) samples of cuticle were removed from selected specimens using sterile tools and prepared for scanning- and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM) using the method in McNamara et al. [20]. Particular care was taken to orient samples for TEM orthogonal to the cutting surface to ensure that sections through the cuticle were as close to vertical as possible. Samples for SEM were examined using a FEI XL-30 ESEM-FEG microscope equipped with an EDAX energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer. Observations were made at an accelerating voltage of 15 kV, with acquisition times of 60 s for electron dispersive spectra of carbon-coated samples. Samples for TEM were examined using a Zeiss EM900 TEM at 80 kV with an objective aperture of 90 µm diameter.
Entire specimens or cuticle samples for reflectance microspectrophotometry were washed in water and allowed to dry. Spectra collected from a 70 µm diameter spot were recorded in air using an epi-illumination Nikon Optiphot 66 microscope and an Ocean Optics HR2000+ spectrophotometer. Recorded spectra were normalized against the spectrum of the light source from a white standard. Predicted reflection spectra were obtained by analysing variation in the refractive index of structures within the cuticle using two-dimensional Fourier analysis of digital TEM micrographs [1]. This analysis was performed using a freely available Fourier tool (http://www.yale.edu/eeb/prum/fourier.htm) that is implemented in the matrix algebra program Matlab and uses the distribution of lighter and darker areas in the TEM image (and therefore the distribution of materials of different refractive index) to estimate the average refractive index of the structure. The fossil cuticles exhibit subtle vertical undulations over distances of 10–100 µm owing to minor deformation around small sedimentary particles. This results in small variations in the thicknesses of cuticular structures in TEM sections. Care was taken to select TEM micrographs that are representative of each sample; in particular, micrographs of regions of cuticle where structures appear unusually thick were not used for two-dimensional Fourier analysis.
3. Results
(a) Preservation of cuticular ultrastructure
All the fossil beetles studied that show metallic colours (regardless of taxon and locality) retain ultrastructures diagnostic of extant beetle cuticle (figure 2, [26]), including horizontal divisions between the epi-, exo- and endocuticle (figure 2a,b). The epicuticle (0.3–0.7 µm thick) in the fossil beetles comprises two layers (figure 2c–f). The finely laminate outermost layer (total thickness 15–30 nm; lamina thickness 5–10 nm) is of moderate electron density (figure 2f, arrow) and corresponds in thickness and structure to the outer epicuticle (sensu [27]) [27,28] in extant insects. It is underlained by 6–14 thicker laminae of alternating electron contrast; lamina thickness varies between specimens, but is typically between 100 and 150 nm (figure 2c–f). Similar laminar arrays occur in the inner epicuticle of many extant beetles [5,28–30]. Each lamina comprises a reticulate network of filaments (each 150–750 nm long and 75 nm wide; figure 2d) that resembles the fibrillar lipid network in the inner epicuticle of extant beetles [31]. The exocuticle in the fossil beetles comprises thinner, uniformly electron-dense laminae (each 90–100 nm thick; figure 2e,g) and exhibits arcuate patterns in oblique section (figure 2h). Such patterns also occur in the exocuticle of extant insects, where they are generated by helicoidal chitin fibrils [26]. The exocuticle of the fossil beetles is perforated by pore canals (each 200–400 nm across) that each contain two to three spiral filaments (each 60 nm across; figure 2h,i), as in extant beetles [26]. The endocuticle of the fossil beetles shows a granular texture (figure 2a,b,j) and is underlain by membranous material (figure 2b,j) that represents the degraded remains of the extracellular membranes of the basal endocuticle and basement membrane of the cuticle [26].
The fidelity of preservation of cuticular ultrastructures is significantly lower in specimens where metallic coloration is dull or not preserved. Where metallic coloration is dull, there is little or no evidence of the outer epicuticle, exocuticular lamination or pore canals (figure 3a), lamination of the inner epicuticle is typically reduced to a subtle banding (figure 3b), and details of fibrillar and helicoidal textures in the epi- and exocuticle, respectively, are not preserved. The endocuticle in these specimens typically shows a granular texture, but may exhibit a subtle banding. Where metallic coloration is not preserved (in taxa that are known to be coloured), only the division between the exo- and endocuticle is apparent (figure 3c,d). Such specimens exhibit an orthogonal arrangement of fibrous bundles in the endocuticle (figure 3c,d). This is identical to the cross-ply organization of bundles of chitin microfibrils in the endocuticle of extant beetles [26] and is characteristic of degraded insect cuticle [32]. The curculionid beetles from Eckfeld lack metallic colour, but exhibit most or all of the cuticular ultrastructures present in the specimens of other taxa with well-preserved colour, except for lamination within the epicuticle (figure 3e,f).
(b) Reflectance spectrophotometry of colour-producing nanostructures
There is no evidence in any of the fossil beetles of either diffraction grating on the surface of the cuticle, or three-dimensional photonic crystals within it; the preserved colour is therefore generated by one or more laminar structures within the cuticle. In extant beetles, laminar colour-producing nanostructures, i.e. multi-layer reflectors, can occur in the epicuticle, exocuticle or endocuticle [5]. The periodicity of the layering in the fossil cuticles is not sufficiently high in either the outer epicuticle (approx. 5–10 nm) or the exocuticle (approx. 90–100 nm) to scatter light in the visible part of the spectrum [33] (electronic supplementary material, figure S1). The laminar array within the inner epicuticle, however, has a periodicity of 150–300 nm and is therefore capable of generating a structural colour [33], i.e. it represents a fossil multi-layer reflector. This feature can be used to determine whether the preserved colours of the fossil beetles are original, but only if its structure has not been modified during fossilization [4]. There is no evidence that the fossil cuticles experienced diagenetic shrinkage (owing to dehydration), expansion (owing to absorption of diagenetic fluids) or loading (during burial): features such as polygonal cracking, separation of cuticle layers, swelling and ptygmatic folding are absent. Further, it is highly unlikely that the cuticle experienced isotropic volume changes during diagenesis: the dimensions of preserved cuticular ultrastructures correspond to those in extant insects. Collectively, these data indicate that the structure of the fossil cuticles has survived fossilization with little or no modification. The fossil multi-layer reflector, therefore, provides a reliable basis for determining whether the colours of the fossil beetles are original. The electron-dense (high-index) and electron-lucent (low-index) layers of the multi-layer reflector were assigned refractive index values of 1.73 and 1.4, respectively, based on the available data for multi-layer reflectors within the epicuticle of extant, and other fossil, insects [12,30,34]. Two-dimensional Fourier analysis of TEM images of the fossil multi-layer reflectors from various beetle specimens reveals that the predicted peak wavelengths of reflectance are consistently shorter (12.97 ± 3.84%) than the measured reflectance peaks (figure 4 and table 1).
4. Discussion
(a) Determining the presence or absence of multi-layer reflectors in fossil insects
The state of preservation of various ultrastructural features of the cuticle correlates with that of the epicuticular multi-layer reflector. These features include the epicuticular cement layer, fibrillar textures in the epicuticular laminae, nanometre-scale lamination of the exocuticle, helicoidal textures in the exocuticle, exocuticular pore canals and their filaments, and extracellular membranes of the lowermost endocuticle and basement membrane of the cuticle. As the preserved colour deteriorates (based on visual assessment of cuticles performed using an optical microscope), so too does the preservation of the epicuticular multi-layer reflector and other ultrastructural features of the cuticle. The only feature that is more clearly evident in specimens with poor or no colour preservation is the orthogonal arrangement of bundles of chitin microfibrils in the endocuticle, but this arrangement becomes only evident when the protein matrix surrounding the chitin is degraded [32].
The various ultrastructural features listed above are 'markers' for high-fidelity preservation of the cuticle and provide a basis for determining the occurrence of multi-layer reflectors in fossil beetle taxa. The absence of a multi-layer reflector in a fossil is likely to be real, i.e. the beetle was not structurally coloured in vivo, if the marker ultrastructural features are well preserved. The curculionids from Eckfeld provide a test of this model. The high-fidelity preservation of marker ultrastructural features in their cuticle echoes the visual evidence of high reflectivity and cohesiveness. The absence of an epicuticular multi-layer reflector is therefore real and confirms that these Eocene beetles lacked metallic colours. This is not unexpected as epicuticular multi-layer reflectors have not been reported from extant curculionids.
(b) The original structural colours of fossil insects
The difference between the observed and predicted reflectance peaks is not an artefact of dehydration or other processes during sample preparation. Both reflectance measurements and TEM analyses used dry fossil material. There is no evidence that the dehydration process altered the ultrastructure of the multi-layer reflector: the hue of the cuticle does not change upon drying (if the low-index layers had contained abundant free water, dehydration of the multi-layer reflector would have resulted in a decrease in the spacing of the layers and in the wavelength of the observed colour). Further, there is no evidence that the ultrastructural features of the fossil cuticles were modified during fossilization (see §3). Nonetheless, the difference between the measured and predicted reflectance peaks reveals that the colours of the beetles have been altered during diagenesis. The wavelength of visible light produced by a biophotonic nanostructure is a function of the periodicity of the structure and its refractive index [5]; as there was no modification of the cuticle ultrastructure, the refractive index of the material must have changed. The refractive index of the cuticle in extant insects is determined by its precise biochemistry [28]. Alteration of its refractive index during fossilization must reflect changes in its biomolecular composition; most fossil arthropod cuticles are chemically altered during diagenesis [35,36]. This hypothesis explains the results of previous investigations of structurally coloured fossil beetles. The preservation of original structural colour in Pleistocene beetles reflects limited diagenetic alteration: geochemical analyses of the cuticle demonstrated that many of its original biomacromolecules survived [12]. By contrast, investigation of a structurally coloured fossil beetle from the Mid-Eocene demonstrated that the wavelength of the predicted reflectance peak was slightly less than that measured (a similar result to ours). This difference was attributed to limitations of the experimental technique used [13], but is also probably the result of diagenetic alteration of the composition of the cuticle.
5. Conclusions and wider implications
The fossil beetle specimens analysed in this study differ in age, precise depositional context, geological history and their phylogenetic position. Nonetheless, structural colours commonly survive owing to preservation of multi-layer reflectors in the epicuticle. Our data show that the original structural colours do not survive fossilization, but can be reconstructed based on the structure of the preserved multi-layer reflector. The offset between the measured and predicted reflectance peaks for the fossil multi-layer reflectors is strikingly similar for all specimens (see above); in each case, the colour has been shifted to longer wavelengths ('redshifted') during fossilization. These results could be applied to measured reflectance data from fossils of related insect taxa, and from a similar depositional context, to those used herein in order to predict the original colour. Future investigations will constrain the extent to which the colour shift varies between taxa and with the age and diagenetic history of the biota. Importantly, the preserved biophotonic nanostructures also allow the former presence or absence of structural colour to be determined even when fossils are non-metallic.
Multi-layer reflectors are particularly common in extant representatives of the beetle groups investigated in this study, and also in Scarabaeidae, Carabidae and Cerambycidae [5]. Fossil examples of these last three groups, however, rarely exhibit metallic colours. TEM analyses of cuticle from these taxa will determine whether the absence of colour is real, or an artefact of preservation. A dull, matt colour in other fossil insect taxa need not be the result of a poorly preserved reflector: in some extant beetles, modification of the cuticle above a multi-layer reflector can produce a weakly reflecting matt effect [8]. Among extant insects, epicuticular multi-layer reflectors also occur in orders other than beetles [37,38]. Our findings therefore could be used to determine the former presence and (where the original structure of multi-layer reflectors is preserved [4]) to estimate original hues of metallic structural colours in non-coleopteran insect fossils.
Numerous Mesozoic and Cenozoic insect-rich Lagerstätten are known [39]. These biotas are an underused resource for understanding the evolution of structural colour in insects. Colour-producing nanostructures are hypothesized to have arisen via multiple convergence events in at least some insect groups, e.g. beetles [5] and some odonate [40] and lepidopteran [41] taxa. Evolution towards progressively more complex (but not necessarily more optically efficient) structures has been postulated for lepidoptera [41] (and also other invertebrates [42]). Characterization of colour-producing nanostructures in fossil insects will test these evolutionary hypotheses and will identify the extent to which they can be extrapolated to other insect groups. Further, fossils will provide insights into the evolution of the function(s) of structural coloration, particularly when combined with data from related extant groups [8]. The evolution of colour-producing nanostructures is linked to sexual signalling in several insect groups [4,29,30,43–45] and in other invertebrate taxa [4,46]. Structural colour in insects is known or postulated to have various other visual (e.g. crypsis [47], aposematism) and non-visual (thermoregulation, [48], friction reduction and water repellency [49], aerodynamics [41] and antireflection [4]) functions. Reconstruction of the original colours and colour patterns of structurally coloured insect fossils, particularly those for which an ecological and environmental context can be provided, will help to determine the function(s) of the colour. Comprehensive investigation of structural colour in various insect taxa from different fossil biotas will provide crucial insights into the evolution of structural colour and its functions.
We thank the Eckfeld, Enspel and Senckenberg excavation teams, Bill Rember for field assistance at the Clarkia sites, Günter Bechly, Herbert Lutz, Markus Poschmann, Michael Rasser, Sonja Wedmann and Michael Wuttke for access to specimens, Uta Kiel and Petra Schäfers for preparation and photographing of fossils, Thomas Engel for assistance with photography, Barry Piekos and Zhenting Zhang for assistance with EM techniques, and Larry Gall for useful discussion. The research is funded by an IRCSET-Marie Curie International Mobility Fellowship awarded to M.McN. and by NSF grant PHY-0957680 to H.C.
- Received August 9, 2011.
- Accepted September 6, 2011.
- This journal is © 2011 The Royal Society


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Forum congratulates Fiji on rural solar project
FIJI — Villagers of Matasawalevu on Fiji's island of Kadavu found reason to celebrate last month with the commissioning of the 'Fiji 1000 Solar Home Systems Project'.
The Matasawalevu villagers are the first recipients of the US$2.3 million initiative, which is expected to provide significant benefits to people in 41 villages around Fiji through supply of solar-generated electricity to rural households.
The project, developed and implemented by the Government of Fiji, is funded through the Pacific Environment Community (PEC) Fund, contributed by the Government of Japan and administered by the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat.
The 'Fiji 1000 Solar Home Systems Project' is the first PEC Fund-supported project to be installed and commissioned in the Pacific. Other Forum Island Countries are at various stages of implementing their respective projects.
Deputy Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, Mr Feleti Teo, welcomed Fiji's efforts in successfully steering this initiative to fruition.
"I wish to commend the sterling efforts of the Government of Fiji and the project implementers who have worked diligently and efficiently in the execution of the project to ensure that the solar home systems are installed at the earliest opportunity," said Mr Teo.
"This project will no doubt complement other efforts being undertaken by Fiji to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and reducing carbon emissions through increasing the use of renewable energy. We look forward to the completion of installations in other sites around Fiji."
Mr Teo also expressed appreciation and gratitude of the region to the Government and people of Japan for the provision of the PEC Fund.
He added: "To the people of Matasawalevu it is all our sincere hope that your solar home system will be a welcomed improvement to your lives and will be put to great use, to allow your children additional hours of study at night, or to undertake income generating activities, or to host social events at home."
Mr Teo also stressed that the sustainability of the project was critical.
"I wish to join others in encouraging each household participating in this project to look after their solar systems to ensure that the benefits can be sustained well into the future, and also to report on the benefits that come about as a result of this project."
The commissioning ceremony in Matasawalevu village was also attended by Fiji's Minister for Works, Transport and Public Utilities, Honourable Timoci Lesi Natuva, First Secretary at the Embassy of Japan to Fiji, Mr Hideyuki Shiozawa, and Senior Officials of the Government of Fiji and the Forum Secretariat.
The PEC Fund is a commitment by the Government of Japan of ¥6.8 billion (approx US$66 million) to support Forum Island Country projects with a focus on the provision of solar power generation systems and sea water desalination plants, or a combination of both technologies.
The Forum Secretariat was tasked to manage the fund in close collaboration with the Government of Japan. Each Forum Island Country is provided with an indicative allocation of USD$4 million.
To date, the Governments of Samoa, Tuvalu, Cook Islands, Nauru, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Niue, Republic of Palau and Republic of Marshall Islands have successfully accessed the PEC Fund for national renewable energy and seawater desalination projects.
Source: Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat


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Other California Wilderness
We are working to protect rare California wild lands like old growth forests, volcanic cliffs, pristine river gorges, rocky spires and wildflower meadows. Preserving these beautiful places also protects wildlife habitat, enhances recreation and expands wilderness for generations of visitors.
In the last decade, The Wilderness Society and our partners have permanently protected more than one million acres of California's wilderness. Now we are focused on wild land campaigns that extend across the state.
Berryessa Snow Mountain
Less than 100 miles from the Bay Area and Sacramento, this area is filled with meadows, clear creeks and snow fields. Its rich biodiversity includes wild tule elk, osprey and river otter.
We're working to upgrade this national monument to a national park. Near the central coast town of Soledad, it is a volcanic wonderland of spires, caves and California condors.
Bodie Hills
Home to Bodie ghost town, this Eastern Sierra gem is dotted with aspen groves, Sierra views and high plateaus. Visitors can observe pronghorn antelope and greater sage-grouse.
Northern San Diego County
Pristine river canyons and peaceful rocky vistas dot Agua Tibia and Beauty Mountain. Our goal is to complete wilderness protections here adjacent to Riverside County.
Wilderness is a precious resource with many human, natural and economic benefits that we need to protect.
Learn more about issues affecting the places we work to protect with our Notes from the Field.
Hear artists, activists and adventurers share what the ownership and legacy of these American wildlands means to them.


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Also Includes
Class 29 leather stitcher shoe patch type machines have a foot that can rotate. It can sew up to 7mm thick and has the most narrow cylinder arm of any industrial sewing machine.
- Uses 29x3(332) Round Point or 29x4 (332LL) Wedge Point Needles
- Up to 500 Stitches Per Minute
- Oscillating Shuttle
- Clearance Under Foot: 13/32"'
- Large Hook and Big Bobbin
- 12" Work Space right of needle
- Directional Rotating Top Feed Walking Foot
- 1"Ø Narrow Cylinder Arm
- Industrial Shoe Repair Machine
- KD Knocked Down Unassembled Power Stand
- US Warranty 30 Days labor on defects in materials and workmanship.
- Non-US Warranty: 30 days parts and labor
- 500 stitches per minute
- Used for repairing leather materials and shoe uppers
- Extra small cylinder bed arm
- Oscillating shuttle
- Universal upper feed for stitching in any direction without turning work
- Handwheel can be mounted on front or right end of machine
- Wheel pulley "V" grooved for motor drive
- Double ended needle plate with different size holes at back end to accomodate various sizes of needles
- Adjustable thread take-up lever
- Adjustable presser foot pressure and thread tension
- Machine can be driven by foot treadle, hand crank or electric motor
Please review our Freight LTL Shipping Policies
Ships Ground Freight only.
- Instruction Manual
- Needles
- Bobbin
- Bobbin Winder
- Thread Stand
- Table, Stand and Motor
The Singer 29 is typically used as a shoe patching machine and for similar work. The needles used are Organ 29x3 (available sizes #12, 14, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24) which is round point for softer materials and 29x4 (available sizes #14,26,28,29,20,21,22,23,24,25) which is a wedge point for dense materials like leather.


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BERLIN (AP) — A German university says it is opening a formal investigation into allegations that the country's education minister plagiarized parts of her doctoral thesis, which explored the formation of conscience.
A committee of academics at Duesseldorf's Heinrich-Heine University voted Tuesday to begin the probe after hearing the results of a preliminary investigation into whether Annette Schavan failed to properly cite passages of her 1980 thesis in philosophy.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has backed Schavan, who denies the allegations first raised by an anonymous blogger.
But the committee said it was compelled to investigate the claims "regardless of the person or her position."
Merkel's former defense minister, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, resigned from his post in 2011 after it emerged he copied large parts of his doctoral thesis.


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TORONTO, Dec. 17, 2012 /CNW/ - Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV) today published a joint Consultation Paper on Emerging Market Issuers. The Consultation Paper examines the risks associated with listings from emerging markets and solicits feedback on possible measures being considered to complement existing and well-established guidelines, rules and standards at TSX and TSXV.
Kevan Cowan, President, TSX Markets and Group Head of Equities, TMX Group, said:
"Our primary objective is to maintain and enhance our strong global reputation as an operator of quality exchanges. As emerging economies expand and global capital flows increase, issuers from these markets will continue to seek a Canadian listing to help fund growth and innovation. The integrity of our markets requires all issuers, regardless of their location, to adhere to the same high standards. We are committed to working with issuers, securities regulators as well as a broad group of stakeholders who share a combined responsibility to promote integrity and investor confidence in Canadian markets."
The Consultation Paper was developed with extensive input received from market participants, listed issuers, advisors, other stakeholders and regulatory organizations. It is intended to support work being conducted by regulatory organizations, the primary authorities overseeing reporting issuers, including the Ontario Securities Commission Issuer Guide for Companies Operating in Emerging Markets (Staff Notice 51-720) published in November of this year.
Comments are being solicited in areas such as emerging market issuer management, corporate governance, financial reporting, internal controls, related party transactions and sponsorship requirements, among others. The comment period will continue to February 28, 2013.
The Consultation Paper on Emerging Market Issuers can be found at: http://www.tmx.com/en/pdf/Joint-Consultation-Paper.pdf
For more information on the rules, regulations and procedures governing
Toronto Stock Exchange issuers, please visit:
For more information on the rules and regulations and procedures governing TSX Venture Exchange issuers, please visit: http://www.tmx.com/en/listings/venture_issuer_resources/index.html
About TMX Group (TSX:X)
TMX Group's key subsidiaries operate cash and derivative markets and clearinghouses for multiple asset classes including equities, fixed income and energy. Toronto Stock Exchange, TSX Venture Exchange, TMX Select, Alpha Group, The Canadian Depository for Securities, Montreal Exchange, Canadian Derivatives Clearing Corporation, Natural Gas Exchange, Boston
Options Exchange, Shorcan, Shorcan Energy Brokers, Equicom and other TMX Group companies provide listing markets, trading markets, clearing facilities, depository services, data products and other services to the global financial community. TMX Group is headquartered in Toronto and operates offices across Canada (Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver), in key U.S. markets (New York, Houston, Boston and Chicago) as well as in London, Beijing and Sydney. For more information about TMX Group, visit our website at www.tmx.com. Follow TMX Group on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tmxgroup.
SOURCE: TMX Group Inc.
For further information:
Carolyn Quick
Director, Communications and Public Affairs
TMX Group
TMX Group Inc.
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