Shallow bias of paleomagnetic inclinations in the Paleozoic and Precambrian

An updated analysis of the global paleomagnetic database shows that the frequency distributions of paleomagnetic inclinations for the Cenozoic and Mesozoic eras (younger than 250 Ma) are compatible with a random geographical sampling of a time-averaged geomagnetic field that closely resembles that of a geocentric axial dipole. In contrast, the frequency distributions of paleomagnetic inclinations for the Paleozoic and Precambrian eras (prior to 250 Ma) are over-represented by shallow inclinations. After discounting obvious secondary causes for the bias, such as from data averaging, sedimentary inclination error, inhomogeneous lithological distributions, and tropical remagnetization, we show that the anomalous inclination distributions for the Paleozoic and Precambrian can be explained by a geomagnetic field source model which includes a relatively modest (~25%) contribution to the axial dipole from a zonal octupole field and an arbitrary zonal quadrupolar contribution. The apparent change by around 250 Ma to a much more axial dipolar field geometry might be due to the stabilization of the geodynamo from growth of the inner core to some critical threshold size, a gross speculation which would imply that either the threshold size was rather large or the inner core nucleated rather late in Earth history. Alternatively, if a geocentric axial dipole model is assumed or can eventually be demonstrated independently, the anomalous inclination distributions for the Paleozoic and Precambrian may reflect a tendency of continental lithosphere to be cycled into the equatorial belt, perhaps because geoid highs associated with long-term continental aggregates influence true polar wander

Baltica. A synopsis of vendian-permian palaeomagnetic data and their palaeotectonic implications

In light of recent additions to the Palaeozoic palaeo-magnetic data-base, particularly for the Ordovician era, a revised apparent polar wander (APW) path for Baltica has been constructed following a rigorous synthesis of all Late Precambrian-Permian data. The APW path is characterized by two prominent loops. Firstly, a Late Precambrian-Cambrian loop probably relating to a rifting event and secondly, a younger loop relating to a Mid-Silurian (Scandian) collision event. These features imply major change in plate-tectonic reconfiguration.Baltica probably represented an individual continental unit in Early Palaeozoic times and was positioned in high southerly latitudes in an "inverted" geographic orientation. In such a reconstruction Baltica was separated from the northern margin of Gondwana by the Tornquist Sea and from Laurentia by the Iapetus Ocean. The Tornquist Zone is thus interpreted as a passive or dextral transform margin during the early Palaeozoic.While undergoing counter-clockwise rotations (up to 1.6[deg]/Ma), Baltica drifted northward through most of the Palaeozoic; except for a short period of southerly movement in Late Silurian-Early Devonian times after collision with Laurentia. Rapid movements in latitude (up to 9 cm/yr) are noted in Late Precambrian/early Palaeozoic times and significant decrease in velocities throughout Palaeozoic time probably reflect the progressive amalgamation of a larger continent by Early-Devonian (Euramerica) and Permian (Pangea) times.The Tornquist Sea had a principal component of palaeo-east-west orientation. Hence it is difficult to be precise in the timing of when micro-continents such as Eastern Avalonia and the European Massifs ultimately collided along the southwestern margin of Baltica. These micro-continents are considered to have been peripheral to Gondwana (in high southerly latitudes) during the Early Ordovician. Eastern Avalonia clearly had rifted off Gondwana by Llanvirn-Llandeilo times and may have collided with Baltica during Late Ordovician times, although the present available Silurian palaeomagnetic data from Eastern Avalonia may suggest collision in Late Silurian times.Across the Iapetus facing margin of Baltica, Laurentia was situated in equatorial to southerly latitudes during most of the Lower Palaeozoic. These continents collided in Mid-Silurian times, i.e. a first collision between southwestern Norway and Greenland/Scotland which gave rise to the early Scandian Orogeny (425 Ma) in southwestern Norway possible followed by a later, but less dramatic, Scandian event in northern Norway at around 410 Ma. Since Baltica was geographically inverted in early Palaeozoic times, the collisional margin could not have been a margin that once rifted off Laurentia as assumed in a number of plate-tectonic models.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/29743/1/0000080.pd

Galaxy Zoo: quantitative visual morphological classifications for 48 000 galaxies from CANDELS

We present quantified visual morphologies of approximately 48 000 galaxies observed in three Hubble Space Telescope legacy fields by the Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS) and classified by participants in the Galaxy Zoo project. 90 per cent of galaxies have z ≤ 3 and are observed in rest-frame optical wavelengths by CANDELS. Each galaxy received an average of 40 independent classifications, which we combine into detailed morphological information on galaxy features such as clumpiness, bar instabilities, spiral structure, and merger and tidal signatures. We apply a consensus-based classifier weighting method that preserves classifier independence while effectively down-weighting significantly outlying classifications. After analysing the effect of varying image depth on reported classifications, we also provide depth-corrected classifications which both preserve the information in the deepest observations and also enable the use of classifications at comparable depths across the full survey. Comparing the Galaxy Zoo classifications to previous classifications of the same galaxies shows very good agreement; for some applications, the high number of independent classifications provided by Galaxy Zoo provides an advantage in selecting galaxies with a particular morphological profile, while in others the combination of Galaxy Zoo with other classifications is a more promising approach than using any one method alone. We combine the Galaxy Zoo classifications of ‘smooth’ galaxies with parametric morphologies to select a sample of featureless discs at 1 ≤ z ≤ 3, which may represent a dynamically warmer progenitor population to the settled disc galaxies seen at later epochs

Clinical development of new drug-radiotherapy combinations.

In countries with the best cancer outcomes, approximately 60% of patients receive radiotherapy as part of their treatment, which is one of the most cost-effective cancer treatments. Notably, around 40% of cancer cures include the use of radiotherapy, either as a single modality or combined with other treatments. Radiotherapy can provide enormous benefit to patients with cancer. In the past decade, significant technical advances, such as image-guided radiotherapy, intensity-modulated radiotherapy, stereotactic radiotherapy, and proton therapy enable higher doses of radiotherapy to be delivered to the tumour with significantly lower doses to normal surrounding tissues. However, apart from the combination of traditional cytotoxic chemotherapy with radiotherapy, little progress has been made in identifying and defining optimal targeted therapy and radiotherapy combinations to improve the efficacy of cancer treatment. The National Cancer Research Institute Clinical and Translational Radiotherapy Research Working Group (CTRad) formed a Joint Working Group with representatives from academia, industry, patient groups and regulatory bodies to address this lack of progress and to publish recommendations for future clinical research. Herein, we highlight the Working Group's consensus recommendations to increase the number of novel drugs being successfully registered in combination with radiotherapy to improve clinical outcomes for patients with cancer.National Institute for Health ResearchThis is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Nature Publishing Group via http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nrclinonc.2016.7

The 16th Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Surveys: First Release from the APOGEE-2 Southern Survey and Full Release of eBOSS Spectra

This paper documents the 16th data release (DR16) from the Sloan Digital Sky Surveys (SDSS), the fourth and penultimate from the fourth phase (SDSS-IV). This is the first release of data from the Southern Hemisphere survey of the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment 2 (APOGEE-2); new data from APOGEE-2 North are also included. DR16 is also notable as the final data release for the main cosmological program of the Extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS), and all raw and reduced spectra from that project are released here. DR16 also includes all the data from the Time Domain Spectroscopic Survey and new data from the SPectroscopic IDentification of ERosita Survey programs, both of which were co-observed on eBOSS plates. DR16 has no new data from the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) survey (or the MaNGA Stellar Library "MaStar"). We also preview future SDSS-V operations (due to start in 2020), and summarize plans for the final SDSS-IV data release (DR17)

The 16th Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Surveys: First Release from the APOGEE-2 Southern Survey and Full Release of eBOSS Spectra

This paper documents the 16th data release (DR16) from the Sloan Digital Sky Surveys (SDSS), the fourth and penultimate from the fourth phase (SDSS-IV). This is the first release of data from the Southern Hemisphere survey of the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment 2 (APOGEE-2); new data from APOGEE-2 North are also included. DR16 is also notable as the final data release for the main cosmological program of the Extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS), and all raw and reduced spectra from that project are released here. DR16 also includes all the data from the Time Domain Spectroscopic Survey and new data from the SPectroscopic IDentification of ERosita Survey programs, both of which were co-observed on eBOSS plates. DR16 has no new data from the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) survey (or the MaNGA Stellar Library "MaStar"). We also preview future SDSS-V operations (due to start in 2020), and summarize plans for the final SDSS-IV data release (DR17)

The 16th Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Surveys : First Release from the APOGEE-2 Southern Survey and Full Release of eBOSS Spectra

This paper documents the 16th data release (DR16) from the Sloan Digital Sky Surveys (SDSS), the fourth and penultimate from the fourth phase (SDSS-IV). This is the first release of data from the Southern Hemisphere survey of the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment 2 (APOGEE-2); new data from APOGEE-2 North are also included. DR16 is also notable as the final data release for the main cosmological program of the Extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS), and all raw and reduced spectra from that project are released here. DR16 also includes all the data from the Time Domain Spectroscopic Survey and new data from the SPectroscopic IDentification of ERosita Survey programs, both of which were co-observed on eBOSS plates. DR16 has no new data from the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) survey (or the MaNGA Stellar Library "MaStar"). We also preview future SDSS-V operations (due to start in 2020), and summarize plans for the final SDSS-IV data release (DR17).Peer reviewe

Palaeozoic palaeogeography of laurentia and its margins: a reassessment of palaeomagnetic data

The recognition of wide-spread remagnetization events during the Palaeozoic has greatly added to the problems of reconstructing the Palaeozoic drift history of Laurentia and in recent years increasing emphasis has been placed on evaluating the relative reliability of palaeomagnetic data, in an attempt to overcome some of these difficulties. In the light of these developments a revised apparent polar wander (APW) path has been constructed following a rigorous evaluation of all published Palaeozoic palaeomagnetic data from Laurentia and its Palaeozoic margins (i.e. North America, northern Britain, Northern Ireland and Greenland). The use of data from the Laurentian margins, when corrected for the opening of the North Atlantic, has resulted in a revision of previously published Palaeozoic palaeogeographic reconstructions and these new palaeogeographic reconstructions for Laurentia are in good agreement with faunal and lithological data. A comparison of this new APW path with other APW paths from Avalonia and Baltica reveals a very close agreement between all three paths from mid-Silurian times onwards, indicating that the closure of the lapetus ocean and the Tornquist sea was essentially complete by this time. Laurentia occupied equatorial latitudes from Cambrian to early Silurian times and its drift history was dominated by anti-clockwise rotation (up to 0.7-degrees Ma-1) and low latitudinal drift rates (up to 3 cm yr-1). Late Silurian and early Devonian times were characterized by increased rates of anti-clockwise rotation (up to 1.3-degrees Ma-1) and southerly directed latitudinal drift (rates up to 13 cm yr-1) of the continent, which place Laurentia in moderate southerly latitudes (30-40-degrees-S) by the early Devonian. These palaeolatitudes are comparable with those from Avalonia and Baltica for this time indicating that the amalgamation of Eurmerica had already taken place. By late Devonian time Laurentia had begun to drift north (rates up to 5 cm yr-1) towards equatorial latitudes by mid-Carboniferous time

Palaeozoic palaeogeography of laurentia and its margins: a reassessment of palaeomagnetic data

The recognition of wide-spread remagnetization events during the Palaeozoic has greatly added to the problems of reconstructing the Palaeozoic drift history of Laurentia and in recent years increasing emphasis has been placed on evaluating the relative reliability of palaeomagnetic data, in an attempt to overcome some of these difficulties. In the light of these developments a revised apparent polar wander (APW) path has been constructed following a rigorous evaluation of all published Palaeozoic palaeomagnetic data from Laurentia and its Palaeozoic margins (i.e. North America, northern Britain, Northern Ireland and Greenland). The use of data from the Laurentian margins, when corrected for the opening of the North Atlantic, has resulted in a revision of previously published Palaeozoic palaeogeographic reconstructions and these new palaeogeographic reconstructions for Laurentia are in good agreement with faunal and lithological data. A comparison of this new APW path with other APW paths from Avalonia and Baltica reveals a very close agreement between all three paths from mid-Silurian times onwards, indicating that the closure of the lapetus ocean and the Tornquist sea was essentially complete by this time. Laurentia occupied equatorial latitudes from Cambrian to early Silurian times and its drift history was dominated by anti-clockwise rotation (up to 0.7-degrees Ma-1) and low latitudinal drift rates (up to 3 cm yr-1). Late Silurian and early Devonian times were characterized by increased rates of anti-clockwise rotation (up to 1.3-degrees Ma-1) and southerly directed latitudinal drift (rates up to 13 cm yr-1) of the continent, which place Laurentia in moderate southerly latitudes (30-40-degrees-S) by the early Devonian. These palaeolatitudes are comparable with those from Avalonia and Baltica for this time indicating that the amalgamation of Eurmerica had already taken place. By late Devonian time Laurentia had begun to drift north (rates up to 5 cm yr-1) towards equatorial latitudes by mid-Carboniferous time

Tecnologia Lítica Solutrense do Abrigo de Vale Boi (Vila do Bispo)

The present dissertation comes to light in the framework of a broader program of characterization of the Paleolithic site of Vale Boi. As one of the few contexts with Solutrean occupations known in the region between the well known sites of the Spanish Levant and of the Portuguese Estremadura, Vale Boi is, therefore, a crucial element in understanding the shifts and continuities that occur in the economic, social, and technological systems of the communities that inhabited the extreme of Southwestern Iberia from c. 21 000 to 17 000 BP. The study focus on the analysis of lithic technological attributes of artefacts from the Upper Solutrean levels of the rock shelter area of Vale Boi. The main goal was to obtain a general knowledge of the patterns of exploitation of the different raw-materials, as well as the characterization of the choices taken in lithic reduction sequences. The sample selected for the analysis includes materials collected in field seasons from 2005 to 2008, and come from an area of 21 m2 where three different geological layers have, so far, been identified. Over 20 000 artefacts were analyzed revealing the presence of at least three different moments of occupation, marked by a relatively strong diachronic continuity in terms of the technological aspects of the assemblages. These patterns reveal, on the other hand, a positive cultural origin for its lithic technology, where the adaptation, through time, of some new typological elements (like the microlithic shouldered points) found no major obstacles. It is therefore legitimate to accept the permanency in the Vale Boi rock shelter, during the final phase of the Solutrean, of the same populations that were gradually assimilating, in a context of an intensification of contacts between communities, the different characters of every moment of the Atlantic and Mediterranean Upper Solutrean