Seafloor gas seeps and sediment failures triggered by the August 17, 1999 earthquake in the Eastern part of the Gulf of Izmit, Sea of Marmara, NW Turkey

On August 17, 1999, a major earthquake (M-w=7.4) occur-red, affecting a large area in northwestern Turkey. A 150-km-long section of the North Anatolian Fault ruptured from the entrance of the Gulf of Izmit to Golyaka in the east during the earthquake. We utilized high-resolution shallow seismic data acquired during a post-earthquake cruise to find evidence of gas seeps, gas-charged sediments, and sediment failure in the Eastern (Izmit) Basin of the Gulf of Izmit. The data showed anomalies that suggest the presence of increased gas in the gulf after the earthquake. Five major zones of offshore mass movement were found in the study area. Comparison of data collected before and after the earthquake indicates that the apparent amount of gas increased after the earthquake and the mass movement has a causative relationship to the August 17, 1999 earthquake. Therefore, we conclude that the seismic event, presence of increased gas, and the offshore mass movements in the study area are interrelated. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Book Review: Theorising normalcy and the mundane: precarious positions

Additional file 2. Locations of surface ruptures along the Hinagu fault zone, where lateral displacements were measured. LON Longitude (°E), LAT latitude (°N), DATE measuring date, TIME measuring time, R-slip measured lateral displacement (cm), where positive and negative values mean right- and left-lateral displacements, respectively

A prospective multicenter study on genome wide associations to ranibizumab treatment outcome for age-related macular degeneration

We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) on the outcome of anti-VEGF treatment for exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in a prospective cohort. Four hundred and sixty-one treatment-naïve AMD patients were recruited at 13 clinical centers and all patients were treated with 3 monthly injections of ranibizumab followed by pro re nata regimen treatment for one year. Genomic DNA was collected from all patients for a 2-stage GWAS on achieving dry macula after the initial treatment, the requirement for an additional treatment, and visual acuity changes during the 12-month observation period. In addition, we evaluated 9 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 8 previously reported AMD-related genes for their associations with treatment outcome. The discovery stage with 256 patients evaluated 8, 480, 849 SNPs, but no SNPs showed genome-wide level significance in association with treatment outcomes. Although SNPs with P-values of <5 × 10[−6] were evaluated in replication samples of 205 patients, no SNP was significantly associated with treatment outcomes. Among AMD-susceptibility genes, rs10490924 in ARMS2/HTRA1 was significantly associated with additional treatment requirement in the discovery stage (P = 0.0023), and pooled analysis with the replication stage further confirmed this association (P = 0.0013). ARMS2/HTRA1 polymorphism might be able to predict the frequency of injection after initial ranibizumab treatment