Late Miocene Mediterranean desiccation: topography and significance of the 'Salinity Crisis' erosion surface on-land in southeast Spain: Reply

We welcome this opportunity to amplify the results of our studies of the Late Miocene Messinian sequence in the Sorbas Basin of southeast Spain. The Salinity Crisis concept has captured geological imagination and found its way into textbooks, but scrutiny reveals its details to be disturbingly elusive. Our approach has been to read the history of this important episode in Neogene history in well-exposed on-land sections at Sorbas, Almería, near the western end of the Mediterranean. The Salinity Crisis concept, as it was first proposed (Hsü et al., 1973, 1977) and has largely survived (Cita, 1991), is of deep-desiccation and reflooding of the Mediterranean near the close of the Miocene. Marine downdraw resulted in marginal erosion; evaporites accumulated in depressions; and final marine reflooding completed the cycle. Our rationale is that if these principal tenets of the concept are correct, then one or more of their effects should be recorded throughout the region, both on the deep Mediterranean floor and in marginal basins that were contemporaneously connected to the Mediterranean, including the Sorbas Basin. This emphasis on the widespread effects of the Salinity Crisis does not exclude the possibility that they were overprinted by local conditions, which probably differed considerably over a region as extensive and diverse as the Mediterranean basins. Indeed, we have interpreted the evaporites of the Sorbas Basin to be local products of basin barring, related to the Salinity Crisis but not coeval with deep Mediterranean evaporites. At the same time, we have taken the view that the regional result of the Salinity Crisis in all marginal basins should be an erosion surface on the scale of the massive sea-level fall implied by the concept. It is our recognition of this erosion surface in the Sorbas Basin that has drawn most criticism from Fortuin et al. (2000). Here we provide further details of critical localities so that our observations can be accurately assessed

Ginger And Turmeric Starches Hydrolysis Using Subcritical Water + Co 2: The Effect Of The Sfe Pre-treatment

In this work, the hydrolysis of fresh and dried turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) and ginger (Zingiber officinale R.) in the presence of subcritical water + CO2 was studied. The hydrolysis of ginger and turmeric bagasses from supercritical fluid extraction was also studied. The reactions were done using subcritical water and CO2 at 150 bar, 200°C and reaction time of 11 minutes; the degree of reaction was monitored through the amount of starch hydrolyzed. Process yields were calculated using the amount of reducing and total sugars formed. The effects of supercritical fluid extraction in the starchy structures were observed by scanning electron microscopy. Higher degree of hydrolysis (97- 98 %) were obtained for fresh materials and the highest total sugar yield (74%) was established for ginger bagasse. The supercritical fluid extraction did not significantly modify the degree of hydrolysis in the tested conditions.232235242AOAC, Association of Official Analytical Chemists, Cuniff, P., AOAC International, Gaithersburg, Maryland (1997)Bemiller, J.N., Acid hydrolysis and other lytic reactions of starch (1984) Chemistry and Technology, 1. , Whistler, R.L., BeMiller, J.N. and Paschall, E.F. Starch, Academic Press, London, New YorkBraga, M.E.M., Leal, P.F., Carvalho, J.E., Meireles, M.A.A., Comparison of the yield, composition, and antioxidant activity of turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) extracts obtained using various techniques (2003) J. Agric. Food Chem., 51, p. 6604Freud, R.J., Littell, R.C., SAS system for regression (1995) SAS Series in Statistical Applications, 2nd Ed., p. 211. , SAS Institute: Cary, NCJacobs, M.B., (1981) The Chemical Analysis of Foods and Food Products, , Robert Krieger Publishing Co, New York, NYKrammer, P., Vogel, H., Hydrolysis of esters in subcritical and supercritical water (2000) J. Supercrit. Fluids, 16, p. 189Miller, G.L., Use of dinitrosalicylic acid reagent for determination of reducing sugar (1958) Analyt. Chem., 31, p. 426Moreschi, S.R.M., Petenate, A.J., Meireles, M.A.A., Hydrolysis of ginger bagasse starch in subcritical water and carbon dioxide (2004) J. Agric. Food Chem., 52, p. 1753Nelson, N.A., A photometric adaptation for Somogyi method for determination of glucose (1944) J. Biol. Chem, 153, p. 375Pasquel, A., Meireles, M.A.A., Marques, M.O.M., Petenate, A.J., Extraction of stevia glycosides with CO2 + ethanol and water and ethanol (2000) Braz. J. Chem. Eng., p. 271Rosa, P.T.V., Meireles, M.A.A., Rapid estimation of the manufacturing cost of extracts obtained by supercritical fluid extraction (2004) J. Food Eng, , www.sciencedirect.comSiskin, M., Hydrolysis of esters in subcritical and supercritical water (2000) J. Supercrit. Fluids, 16, p. 189. , cited by Krammer,P and Vogel, HTheander, O., Nelson, D.A., Aqueous, high-temperature transformation of carbohydrate relative to utilization of biomass (1988) Adv Carbohyd Chem. Bi., 46, p. 273Zancan, K.C., Marques, M.O.M., Petenate, A.J., Meireles, M.A.A., Extraction of ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) oleoresin with CO 2 and co-solvents: A study of the antioxidant action of the extracts (2002) J. Supercrit. Fluids, 24, p. 57Zheng, Y., Lin, H.M., Wen, J., Cao, N., Yu, X., Tsao, G.T., Supercritical carbon dioxide explosion as a pretreatment for cellulose hydrolysis (1995) Biotech. Letters, 17, p. 84

Reef response to sea-level and environmental changes during the last deglaciation: Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 310, Tahiti Sea Level

The last deglaciation is characterized by a rapid sea-level rise and coeval abrupt environmental changes. The Barbados coral reef record suggests that this period has been punctuated by two brief intervals of accelerated melting (meltwater pulses, MWP), occurring at 14.08-13.61 ka and 11.4-11.1 ka (calendar years before present), that are superimposed on a smooth and continuous rise of sea level. Although their timing, magnitude, and even existence have been debated, those catastrophic sea-level rises are thought to have induced distinct reef drowning events. The reef response to sea-level and environmental changes during the last deglacial sea-level rise at Tahiti is reconstructed based on a chronological, sedimentological, and paleobiological study of cores drilled through the relict reef features on the modern forereef slopes during the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 310, complemented by results on previous cores drilled through the Papeete reef. Reefs accreted continuously between 16 and 10 ka, mostly through aggradational processes, at growth rates averaging 10 mm yr-1. No cessation of reef growth, even temporary, has been evidenced during this period at Tahiti. Changes in the composition of coralgal assemblages coincide with abrupt variations in reef growth rates and characterize the response of the upward-growing reef pile to nonmonotonous sea-level rise and coeval environmental changes. The sea-level jump during MWP 1A, 16 ± 2 m of magnitude in ~350 yr, induced the retrogradation of shallow-water coral assemblages, gradual deepening, and incipient reef drowning. The Tahiti reef record does not support the occurrence of an abrupt reef drowning event coinciding with a sea-level pulse of ~15 m, and implies an apparent rise of 40 mm yr-1 during the time interval corresponding to MWP 1B at Barbados. © 2012 Geological Society of America

Motivations for social entrepreneurship: evidences from Portugal.

The main purpose of this article is to explore the factors that motivate people to create, develop and maintain a social entrepreneurship project and also to explore the difficulties and expectations social entrepreneurs face. The research is based on an exploratory study that includes the collection and analysis of qualitative data, involving 13 interviews to social entrepreneurs from Portugal.The study provides information about the motivations that take individuals to initiate and maintain a social project, standing out the altruism, the passion, the influence of role models, past volunteering experiences and the willing to create and innovate. The mobilization of financial and human resources, as well as the business bureaucracy, are the most frequent difficulties in the process of social venture creation but the will to fight, the persistence and passion the interviewers have, that is, their motivation, seems to be the motto for continuing to battle for their goal

UPLC-MS-ESI-QTOF analysis and antifungal activity of the spondias tuberosa arruda leaf and root hydroalcoholic extracts

The aim of this study was to identify and evaluate the chemical compositions and effects of the S. tuberosa leaf and root hydroalcoholic extracts (HELST and HERST) against different strains of Candida. Chemical analysis was performed by Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography Coupled to Quadrupole/Time of Flight System (UPLC-MS-ESI-QTOF). The Inhibitory Concentration of 50% of the growth (IC50) as well as the intrinsic and combined action of the extracts with the antifungal fluconazole (FCZ) were determined by the microdilution method while the minimum fungicidal concentrations (MFCs) and the effect on fungal morphological transitions were analyzed by subculture and in humid chambers, respectively. From the preliminary phytochemical analysis, the phenols and flavonoids were the most abundant. The intrinsic IC50 values for HELST ranged from 5716.3 to 7805.8 \ub5g/mL and from 6175.4 to 51070.9 \ub5g/mL for the HERST, whereas the combination of the extracts with fluconazole presented IC50 values from 2.65 to 278.41 \ub5g/mL. The MFC of the extracts, individually, for all the tested strains was 6516384 \ub5g/mL. When fluconazole was combined with each extract, the MFC against CA URM 5974 was reduced (HELST: 2048 and HERST: 4096 \ub5g/mL). Synergism was observed against standard C. albicans (CA) and C. tropicalis (CT) strains and with the root extract against the CT isolate. The leaf extract inhibited the morphological transition of all strains while the root extract inhibited only CT strains

Deglacial mesophotic reef demise on the Great Barrier Reef

Submerged reefs are important recorders of palaeo-environments and sea-level change, and provide a substrate for modem mesophotic (deep-water, light-dependent) coral communities. Mesophotic reefs are rarely, if ever, described from the fossil record and nothing is known of their long-term record on Great Barrier Reef (GBR). Sedimentological and palaeo-ecological analyses coupled with 67 C-14 AMS and U-Th radiometric dates from dredged coral, algae and btyozoan specimens, recovered from depths of 45 to 130 m, reveal two distinct generations of fossil mesophotic coral community development on the submerged shelf edge reefs of the GBR. They occurred from 13 to 10 ka and 8 ka to present. We identified eleven sedimentary fades representing both autochthonous (in situ) and allochthonous (detrital) genesis, and their palaeo-environmental settings have been interpreted based on their sedimentological characteristics, biological assemblages, and the distribution of similar modern biota within the dredges. Facies on the shelf edge represent deep sedimentary environments, primarily forereef slope and open platform settings in palaeo-water depths of 45-95 m. Two coral-algal assemblages and one non-coral encruster assemblage were identified: 1) Massive and tabular corals including Porites, Montipora and faviids associated with Lithophylloids and minor Mastophoroids, 2) platy and encrusting corals including Porites, Montipora and Pachyseris associated with melobesioids and Sporolithon, and 3) Melobesiods and Sporolithon with acervulinids (foraminifera) and bryozoans. Based on their modem occurrence on the GBR and Coral Sea and modem specimens collected in dredges, these are interpreted as representing palaeo-water depths of 100 m respectively. The first mesophotic generation developed at modern depths of 85-130 m from 13 to 10.2 ka and exhibit a deepening succession of 100 m palaeo-water depth through time. The second generation developed at depths of 45-70 m on the shelf edge from 7.8 ka to present and exhibit stable environmental conditions through time. The apparent hiatus that interrupted the mesophotic coral communities coincided with the timing of modem reef initiation on the GBR as well as a wide-spread flux of siliciclastic sediments from the shelf to the basin. For the first time we have observed the response of mesophotic reef communities to millennial scale environmental perturbations, within the context of global sea-level rise and environmental changes. © 2013, Elsevier Ltd

Fitomassa de adubos verdes e controle de plantas daninhas em diferentes densidades populacionias de leguminosas.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a fitomassa de calopogônio, mucuna-preta, mucunarajada,feijão-de-porco, guandu de porte alto, Crotalaria spectabilis e C. breviflora sob diferentes densidades de semeadura (10, 20, 40, 80 e 160 sementes viáveis m-2), e o crescimento de plantas daninhas nessas densidades, em área de tabuleiros costeiros. O experimento foi desenvolvido de maio a agosto de 1996, no Campo Experimental “Antônio Martins”(EMDAGRO/Embrapa-CPATC), em Lagarto, SE. O número de plantas vivas na floração (NPVF) e a matéria seca da parte aérea das leguminosas (MSPA) foram determinados quando, em cada espécie, cerca de 50% das plantas floresceram. Maiores incrementos de MSPA, em resposta ao adensamento populacional, foram observados em C. spectabilis e C. breviflora, seguidas pelo calopogônio, mucuna-preta e mucuna-rajada. Em relação ao feijão-de-porco, a resposta foi negativa, enquanto com o guandu não houve influência. Quanto ao NPVF, as respostas ao adensamento foram lineares e positivas em C. spectabilis, C. breviflora e calopogônio, e quadráticas com ponto de máxima em feijão-de-porco,guandu e mucuna-rajada. Embora nenhum modelo tenha sido ajustado para expressar a relação entre NPVF e adensamento na semeadura de mucuna-preta, a sobrevivência dessa espécie foi reduzida em todas as densidades. Maiores inibições de plantas daninhas ocorreram nas parcelas de mucuna-preta e feijão-de-porco

Impact of a Tutored Theoretical-Practical Training to Develop Undergraduate Students’ Skills for the Detection of Caries Lesions: Study Protocol for a Multicenter Controlled Randomized Study

Background: Tutored laboratorial activities could be a manner of improving the competency development of students. However, its impact over conventional theoretical classes has not yet been tested. Additionally, different university contexts could influence this issue and should be explored. Objective: To assess the impact of a tutored theoretical-practical training for teaching undergraduate students to detect caries lesions as compared with theoretical teaching activities. The impact of these teaching/learning activities will be assessed in terms of efficacy, cost/benefit, retention of knowledge/acquired competences, and student acceptability. Methods: Sixteen centers (7 centers from Brazil and 9 centers from other countries throughout the world) are involved in the inclusion of subjects for this protocol. A randomized controlled study with parallel groups will be conducted. One group (control) will be exposed to a 60- to 90-minute conventional theoretical class and the other group (test) will be exposed to the same theoretical class and also a 90-minute laboratory class, including exercises and discussions based on the evaluation of a pool of images and extracted teeth. The mentioned outcomes will be evaluated immediately after the teaching activities and also in medium- and long-term analyses. To compare the long-term outcomes, students who enrolled in the university before the participating students will be interviewed for data collection and these data will be used as a control and compared with the trained group. This stage will be a nonrandomized phase of this study, nested in the main study. Appropriate statistical analysis will be performed according to the aims of this study. Variables related to the centers will also be analyzed and used to model adjustment as possible sources of variability among results. Results: This ongoing study is funded by a Brazilian national funding agency (CNPq- 400736/2014-4). We expect that the tutored theoretical-practical training will improve the undergraduate students’ performance in the detection of caries lesions and subsequent treatment decisions, mainly in terms of long-term retention of knowledge. Our hypothesis is that tutored theoretical-practical training is a more cost-effective option for teaching undergraduate students to detect caries lesions. Conclusions: If our hypothesis is confirmed, the use of laboratory training in conjunction with theoretical classes could be used as an educational strategy in Cariology to improve the development of undergraduate students’ skills in the detection of caries lesions and clinical decision-making