Iron Biogeochemistry in the High Latitude North Atlantic Ocean

Iron (Fe) is an essential micronutrient for marine microbial organisms, and low supply controls productivity in large parts of the world’s ocean. The high latitude North Atlantic is seasonally Fe limited, but Fe distributions and source strengths are poorly constrained. Surface ocean dissolved Fe (DFe) concentrations were low in the study region (<0.1 nM) in summer 2010, with significant perturbations during spring 2010 in the Iceland Basin as a result of an eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano (up to 2.5 nM DFe near Iceland) with biogeochemical consequences. Deep water concentrations in the vicinity of the Reykjanes Ridge system were influenced by pronounced sediment resuspension, with indications for additional inputs by hydrothermal vents, with subsequent lateral transport of Fe and manganese plumes of up to 250–300 km. Particulate Fe formed the dominant pool, as evidenced by 4–17 fold higher total dissolvable Fe compared with DFe concentrations, and a dynamic exchange between the fractions appeared to buffer deep water DFe. Here we show that Fe supply associated with deep winter mixing (up to 103 nmol m−2 d−1) was at least ca. 4–10 times higher than atmospheric deposition, diffusive fluxes at the base of the summer mixed layer, and horizontal surface ocean fluxes

"One for Sorrow, Two for Joy?": American embryo transfer guideline recommendations, practices and outcomes for gestational surrogate patients

In January 2016, Melissa Cook, a California gestational surrogate experiencing a multiple birth pregnancy following the in vitro fertilization (IVF) transfer of three embryos comprised of donor eggs and sperm provided by the intended father went to the media when the intended father requested that she undergo a fetal reduction because twins were less expensive to raise than triplets. Much of the legal interest in this case to date has centered on the enforceability of surrogacy contracts. However, the Cook case also raises troubling issues about fertility treatment practices involving gestational surrogates, twin preference, and third-party reproduction medical decision-making. This paper focuses on multipleembryo transfers in the context of U.S. surrogacy arrangements. Offering an original analysis of data obtained from the U.S. national assisted reproduction registry, it examines single- and multiple-embryo transfer trends over an eleven-year period (2003 to 2014). Findings reveal that recommended guidelines were followed in less than 42% of cases in 2014. The paper argues that ensuring equitable medical treatment for all recipients of IVF requires the adoption of treatment guidelines tailored to, and offering protections for, specific patient groups, and that, once in place, guidelines must be robustly implemente

Measurements of prompt charm production cross-sections in pp collisions at s=5 \sqrt{s}=5 TeV

See paper for full list of authors - All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and additional information, are available at this https URL - Submitted to JHEPInternational audienceProduction cross-sections of prompt charm mesons are measured using data from pp collisions at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 5TeV. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 8.60±0.33pb−1 collected by the LHCb experiment. The production cross-sections of D0, D+, D+s, and D∗+ mesons are measured in bins of charm meson transverse momentum, pT, and rapidity, y. They cover the rapidity range 2.0<y<4.5 and transverse momentum ranges 0<pT<10GeV/c for D0 and D+ and 1<pT<10GeV/c for D+s and D∗+ mesons. The inclusive cross-sections for the four mesons, including charge-conjugate states, within the range of 1<pT<8GeV/c are determined to beσ(pp→D0X)=1190±3±64μbσ(pp→D+X)=456±3±34μbσ(pp→D+sX)=195±4±19μbσ(pp→D∗+X)=467±6±40μbwhere the uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively