Mangarara Formation: exhumed remnants of a middle Miocene, temperate carbonate, submarine channel-fan system on the eastern margin of Taranaki Basin, New Zealand

The middle Miocene Mangarara Formation is a thin (1–60 m), laterally discontinuous unit of moderately to highly calcareous (40–90%) facies of sandy to pure limestone, bioclastic sandstone, and conglomerate that crops out in a few valleys in North Taranaki across the transition from King Country Basin into offshore Taranaki Basin. The unit occurs within hemipelagic (slope) mudstone of Manganui Formation, is stratigraphically associated with redeposited sandstone of Moki Formation, and is overlain by redeposited volcaniclastic sandstone of Mohakatino Formation. The calcareous facies of the Mangarara Formation are interpreted to be mainly mass-emplaced deposits having channelised and sheet-like geometries, sedimentary structures supportive of redeposition, mixed environment fossil associations, and stratigraphic enclosure within bathyal mudrocks and flysch. The carbonate component of the deposits consists mainly of bivalves, larger benthic foraminifers (especially Amphistegina), coralline red algae including rhodoliths (Lithothamnion and Mesophyllum), and bryozoans, a warm-temperate, shallow marine skeletal association. While sediment derivation was partly from an eastern contemporary shelf, the bulk of the skeletal carbonate is inferred to have been sourced from shoal carbonate factories around and upon isolated basement highs (Patea-Tongaporutu High) to the south. The Mangarara sediments were redeposited within slope gullies and broad open submarine channels and lobes in the vicinity of the channel-lobe transition zone of a submarine fan system. Different phases of sediment transport and deposition (lateral-accretion and aggradation stages) are identified in the channel infilling. Dual fan systems likely co-existed, one dominating and predominantly siliciclastic in nature (Moki Formation), and the other infrequent and involving the temperate calcareous deposits of Mangarara Formation. The Mangarara Formation is an outcrop analogue for middle Miocene-age carbonate slope-fan deposits elsewhere in subsurface Taranaki Basin, New Zealand

Security in Dynamic Spectrum Access Systems: A Survey

Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) systems are being developed to improve spectrum utilization. Most of the research on DSA systems assumes that the participants involved are honest, cooperative, and that no malicious adversaries will attack or exploit the network. Some recent research efforts have focused on studying security issues in cognitive radios but there are still significant security challenges in the implementation of DSA systems that have not been addressed. In this paper we focus on security issues in DSA. We identify various attacks (e.g., DoS attacks, system penetration, repudiation, spoofing, authorization violation, malware infection, data modification, etc.) and suggest various approaches to address them. We show that significant security issues exist that should be addressed by the research community if DSA is to find its way into production systems. We also show that, in many cases, existing approaches to securing IT systems can be applied to DSA and identify other DSA specific security challenges where additional research will be required

Impact of Radiotherapy, Chemotherapy and Surgery in Multimodal Treatment of Locally Advanced Esophageal Cancer

Objectives: It was the aim of this study to assess our institutional experience with definitive chemoradiation (CRT) versus induction chemotherapy followed by CRT with or without surgery (C-CRT/S) in esophageal cancer. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 129 institutional patients with locally advanced esophageal cancer who had been treated by either CRT in analogy to the RTOG 8501 trial (n = 78) or C-CRT/S (n = 51). Results: The median, 2-and 5-year overall survival (OS) of the entire collective was 17.6 months, 42 and 24%, respectively, without a significant difference between the CRT and C-CRT/S groups. In C-CRT/S patients, surgery statistically improved the locoregional control (LRC) rates (2-year LRC 73.6 vs. 21.2%; p = 0.003); however, this was translated only into a trend towards improved OS (p = 0.084). The impact of escalated radiation doses (>= 60.0 vs. <60.0 Gy) on LRC was detectable only in T1-3 N0-1 M0 patients of the CRT group (2-year LRC 77.8 vs. 42.3%; p = 0.036). Conclusion: Definitive CRT and a trimodality approach including surgery (C-CRT/S) had a comparable outcome in this unselected patient collective. Surgery and higher radiation doses improve LRC rates in subgroups of patients, respectively, but without effect on OS. Copyright (C) 2012 S. Karger AG, Base

Number of Nanoparticles per Cell through a Spectrophotometric Method - A key parameter to Assess Nanoparticle-based Cellular Assays

Engineered nanoparticles (eNPs) for biological and biomedical applications are produced from functionalised nanoparticles (NPs) after undergoing multiple handling steps, giving rise to an inevitable loss of NPs. Herein we present a practical method to quantify nanoparticles (NPs) number per volume in an aqueous suspension using standard spectrophotometers and minute amounts of the suspensions (up to 1 μL). This method allows, for the first time, to analyse cellular uptake by reporting NPs number added per cell, as opposed to current methods which are related to solid content (w/V) of NPs. In analogy to the parameter used in viral infective assays (multiplicity of infection), we propose to name this novel parameter as multiplicity of nanofection.JJDM thanks Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad for a Ramon y Cajal Fellowship and for supporting this work partially by Grant CTQ2012-34778. This research was partially supported by Marie Curie Career Integration Grants within the 7th European Community Framework Programme (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-CIG-Project Number 294142 and FP7-PEOPLE-2012-CIG-Project Number 322276) to RMSM and JJDM, respectively. This research was partially supported by the Consejería de Economía, Innovación y Ciencia de la Junta de Andalucía (BIO-1778) to JJDM. RMSM and JDUB thank CEI Biotic Granada for funding P_BS_54 and mP_BS_37 projects. JDUB thanks Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad for a Torres Quevedo fellowship (PTQ-13-06046)

On the Stability and Structural Dynamics of Metal Nanowires

This article presents a brief review of the nanoscale free-electron model, which provides a continuum description of metal nanostructures. It is argued that surface and quantum-size effects are the two dominant factors in the energetics of metal nanowires, and that much of the phenomenology of nanowire stability and structural dynamics can be understood based on the interplay of these two competing factors. A linear stability analysis reveals that metal nanocylinders with certain magic conductance values G=1, 3, 6, 12, 17, 23, 34, 42, 51, 67, 78, 96, ... times the conductance quantum are exceptionally stable. A nonlinear dynamical simulation of nanowire structural evolution reveals a universal equilibrium shape consisting of a magic cylinder suspended between unduloidal contacts. The lifetimes of these metastable structures are also computed.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure

Divergent trajectories of cellular bioenergetics, intermediary metabolism and systemic redox status in survivors and non-survivors of critical illness.

BACKGROUND: Numerous pathologies result in multiple-organ failure, which is thought to be a direct consequence of compromised cellular bioenergetic status. Neither the nature of this phenotype nor its relevance to survival are well understood, limiting the efficacy of modern life-support. METHODS: To explore the hypothesis that survival from critical illness relates to changes in cellular bioenergetics, we combined assessment of mitochondrial respiration with metabolomic, lipidomic and redox profiling in skeletal muscle and blood, at multiple timepoints, in 21 critically ill patients and 12 reference patients. RESULTS: We demonstrate an end-organ cellular phenotype in critical illness, characterized by preserved total energetic capacity, greater coupling efficiency and selectively lower capacity for complex I and fatty acid oxidation (FAO)-supported respiration in skeletal muscle, compared to health. In survivors, complex I capacity at 48 h was 27% lower than in non-survivors (p = 0.01), but tended to increase by day 7, with no such recovery observed in non-survivors. By day 7, survivors' FAO enzyme activity was double that of non-survivors (p = 0.048), in whom plasma triacylglycerol accumulated. Increases in both cellular oxidative stress and reductive drive were evident in early critical illness compared to health. Initially, non-survivors demonstrated greater plasma total antioxidant capacity but ultimately higher lipid peroxidation compared to survivors. These alterations were mirrored by greater levels of circulating total free thiol and nitrosated species, consistent with greater reductive stress and vascular inflammation, in non-survivors compared to survivors. In contrast, no clear differences in systemic inflammatory markers were observed between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Critical illness is associated with rapid, specific and coordinated alterations in the cellular respiratory machinery, intermediary metabolism and redox response, with different trajectories in survivors and non-survivors. Unravelling the cellular and molecular foundation of human resilience may enable the development of more effective life-support strategies

Antipsychotic dose escalation as a trigger for Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome (NMS): literature review and case series report

Background: “Neuroleptic malignant syndrome” (NMS) is a potentially fatal idiosyncratic reaction to any medication which affects the central dopaminergic system. Between 0.5% and 1% of patients exposed to antipsychotics develop the condition. Mortality rates may be as high as 55% and many risk factors have been reported. Although rapid escalation of antipsychotic dose is thought to be an important risk factor, to date it has not been the focus of a published case series or scientifically defined. &lt;p/&gt;Aims: To identify cases of NMS and review risk factors for its development with a particular focus on rapid dose escalation in the 30 days prior to onset. &lt;p/&gt;Methodology: A review of the literature on rapid dose escalation was undertaken and a pragmatic definition of “rapid dose escalation” was made. NMS cases were defined using DSM-IV criteria and systematically identified within a secondary care mental health service. A ratio of titration rate was calculated for each NMS patient and “rapid escalators” and “non rapid escalators” were compared. &lt;p/&gt;Results: 13 cases of NMS were identified. A progressive mean dose increase 15 days prior to the confirmed episode of NMS was observed (241.7mg/day during days 1-15 to 346.9mg/day during days 16-30) and the mean ratio of dose escalation for NMS patients was 1.4. Rapid dose escalation was seen in 5/13 cases and non rapid escalators had markedly higher daily cumulative antipsychotic dose compared to rapid escalators. &lt;p/&gt;Conclusions: Rapid dose escalation occurred in less than half of this case series (n=5, 38.5%), although there is currently no consensus on the precise definition of rapid dose escalation. Cumulative antipsychotic dose – alongside other known risk factors - may also be important in the development of NMS

Young Aphids Avoid Erroneous Dropping when Evading Mammalian Herbivores by Combining Input from Two Sensory Modalities

Mammalian herbivores may incidentally ingest plant-dwelling insects while foraging. Adult pea aphids (Acyrthosiphon pisum) avoid this danger by dropping off their host plant after sensing the herbivore's warm and humid breath and the vibrations it causes while feeding. Aphid nymphs may also drop (to escape insect enemies), but because of their slow movement, have a lower chance of finding a new plant. We compared dropping rates of first-instar nymphs with those of adults, after exposing pea aphids to different combinations of simulated mammalian breath and vibrations. We hypothesized that nymphs would compensate for the greater risk they face on the ground by interpreting more conservatively the mammalian herbivore cues they perceive. Most adults dropped in response to breath alone, but nymphs rarely did so. Breath stimulus accompanied by one concurrent vibrational stimulus, caused a minor rise in adult dropping rates. Adding a second vibration during breath had no additional effect on adults. The nymphs, however, relied on a combination of the two types of stimuli, with a threefold increase in dropping rates when the breath was accompanied by one vibration, and a further doubling of dropping rates when the second vibration was added. The age-specificity of the aphids' herbivore detection mechanism is probably an adaptation to the different cost of dropping for the different age groups. Relying on a combination of stimuli from two sensory modalities enables the vulnerable nymphs to avoid costly mistakes. Our findings emphasize the importance of the direct trophic effect of mammalian herbivory for plant-dwelling insects