1,096 research outputs found
Early Eocene Arctic volcanism from carbonate-metasomatized mantle
Melilitite, nephelinite, basanite, and alkali basalt, along with phonolite differentiates, form the Freemans Cove Complex (FCC) in the south-eastern extremity of Bathurst Island (Nunavut, Canada). New 40Ar/39Ar chronology indicates their emplacement between ~ 56 and ~ 54 million years ago within a localized extensional structure. Melilitites and nephelinites, along with phonolite differentiates, likely relate to the beginning and end phases of extension, whereas alkali basalts were emplaced during a main extensional episode at ~ 55 Ma. The melilitites, nephelinites, and alkali basalts show no strong evidence for significant assimilation of crust, in contrast to some phonolites. Partial melting occurred within both the garnet- and spinel-facies mantle and sampled sources with He, O, Nd, Hf, and Os isotope characteristics indicative of peridotite with two distinct components. The first, expressed in higher degree partial melts, represents a relatively depleted component (“A”; 3He/4He ~ 8 RA, εNdi ~ + 3 εHfi ~ + 7, γOsi ~ 0). The second was an enriched component (“B” 3He/4He + 70) sampled by the lowest degree partial melts and represents carbonate-metasomatized peridotite. Magmatism in the FCC shows that rifting extended from the Labrador Sea to Bathurst Island and reached a zenith at ~ 55 Ma, during the Eurekan orogeny. The incompatible trace-element abundances and isotopic signatures of FCC rocks indicate melt generation occurred at the base of relatively thin lithosphere at the margin of a thick craton, with no mantle plume influence. FCC melt compositions are distinct from other continental rift magmatic provinces worldwide, and their metasomatized mantle source was plausibly formed synchronously with emplacement of Cretaceous kimberlites. The FCC illustrates that the range of isotopic compositions preserved in continental rift magmas are likely to be dominated by temporal changes in the extent of partial melting, as well as by the timing and degree of metasomatism recorded in the underlying continental lithosphere
Using built environment characteristics to predict walking for exercise
Background: Environments conducive to walking may help people avoid sedentary lifestyles and associated diseases. Recent studies developed walkability models combining several built environment characteristics to optimally predict walking. Developing and testing such models with the same data could lead to overestimating one's ability to predict walking in an independent sample
of the population. More accurate estimates of model fit can be obtained by splitting a single study population into training and validation sets (holdout approach) or through developing and
evaluating models in different populations. We used these two approaches to test whether built
environment characteristics near the home predict walking for exercise. Study participants lived in western Washington State and were adult members of a health maintenance organization. The physical activity data used in this study were collected by telephone interview and were selected for their relevance to cardiovascular disease. In order to limit confounding by prior health conditions, the sample was restricted to participants in good self-reported health and without a
documented history of cardiovascular disease.
Results: For 1,608 participants meeting the inclusion criteria, the mean age was 64 years, 90 percent were white, 37 percent had a college degree, and 62 percent of participants reported that they walked for exercise. Single built environment characteristics, such as residential density or connectivity, did not significantly predict walking for exercise. Regression models using multiple built environment characteristics to predict walking were not successful at predicting walking for
exercise in an independent population sample. In the validation set, none of the logistic models had a C-statistic confidence interval excluding the null value of 0.5, and none of the linear models
explained more than one percent of the variance in time spent walking for exercise. We did not detect significant differences in walking for exercise among census areas or postal codes, which
were used as proxies for neighborhoods.
Conclusion: None of the built environment characteristics significantly predicted walking for exercise, nor did combinations of these characteristics predict walking for exercise when tested
using a holdout approach. These results reflect a lack of neighborhood-level variation in walking for exercise for the population studied.University of Washington Royalty Research fund award; by contracts R01-HL043201, R01-HL068639, and T32-HL07902 from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; and by grant R01-AG09556 from the National Institute on Aging
Football Banning Orders: The Highly Effective Cornerstone of a Preventative Strategy?
The chapter examines the development, use and effectiveness of football banning orders in the UK, comparing their use in England to address issues of football 'hooliganism' with their distinct evolution in Scotland to address concerns around sectarian disorder
Observing Extended Sources with the \Herschel SPIRE Fourier Transform Spectrometer
The Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver (SPIRE) on the European Space
Agency's Herschel Space Observatory utilizes a pioneering design for its
imaging spectrometer in the form of a Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS). The
standard FTS data reduction and calibration schemes are aimed at objects with
either a spatial extent much larger than the beam size or a source that can be
approximated as a point source within the beam. However, when sources are of
intermediate spatial extent, neither of these calibrations schemes is
appropriate and both the spatial response of the instrument and the source's
light profile must be taken into account and the coupling between them
explicitly derived. To that end, we derive the necessary corrections using an
observed spectrum of a fully extended source with the beam profile and the
source's light profile taken into account. We apply the derived correction to
several observations of planets and compare the corrected spectra with their
spectral models to study the beam coupling efficiency of the instrument in the
case of partially extended sources. We find that we can apply these correction
factors for sources with angular sizes up to \theta_{D} ~ 17". We demonstrate
how the angular size of an extended source can be estimated using the
difference between the sub-spectra observed at the overlap bandwidth of the two
frequency channels in the spectrometer, at 959<\nu<989 GHz. Using this
technique on an observation of Saturn, we estimate a size of 17.2", which is 3%
larger than its true size on the day of observation. Finally, we show the
results of the correction applied on observations of a nearby galaxy, M82, and
the compact core of a Galactic molecular cloud, Sgr B2.Comment: Accepted for publication by A&
Interface localisation-delocalisation transition in a symmetric polymer blend: a finite-size scaling Monte Carlo study
Using extensive Monte Carlo simulations we study the phase diagram of a
symmetric binary (AB) polymer blend confined into a thin film as a function of
the film thickness D. The monomer-wall interactions are short ranged and
antisymmetric, i.e, the left wall attracts the A-component of the mixture with
the same strength as the right wall the B-component, and give rise to a first
order wetting transition in a semi-infinite geometry. The phase diagram and the
crossover between different critical behaviors is explored. For large film
thicknesses we find a first order interface localisation/delocalisation
transition and the phase diagram comprises two critical points, which are the
finite film width analogies of the prewetting critical point. Using finite size
scaling techniques we locate these critical points and present evidence of 2D
Ising critical behavior. When we reduce the film width the two critical points
approach the symmetry axis of the phase diagram and for we encounter a tricritical point. For even smaller film thickness the
interface localisation/delocalisation transition is second order and we find a
single critical point at .
Measuring the probability distribution of the interface position we determine
the effective interaction between the wall and the interface. This effective
interface potential depends on the lateral system size even away from the
critical points. Its system size dependence stems from the large but finite
correlation length of capillary waves. This finding gives direct evidence for a
renormalization of the interface potential by capillary waves in the framework
of a microscopic model.Comment: Phys.Rev.
Focusing and Compression of Ultrashort Pulses through Scattering Media
Light scattering in inhomogeneous media induces wavefront distortions which
pose an inherent limitation in many optical applications. Examples range from
microscopy and nanosurgery to astronomy. In recent years, ongoing efforts have
made the correction of spatial distortions possible by wavefront shaping
techniques. However, when ultrashort pulses are employed scattering induces
temporal distortions which hinder their use in nonlinear processes such as in
multiphoton microscopy and quantum control experiments. Here we show that
correction of both spatial and temporal distortions can be attained by
manipulating only the spatial degrees of freedom of the incident wavefront.
Moreover, by optimizing a nonlinear signal the refocused pulse can be shorter
than the input pulse. We demonstrate focusing of 100fs pulses through a 1mm
thick brain tissue, and 1000-fold enhancement of a localized two-photon
fluorescence signal. Our results open up new possibilities for optical
manipulation and nonlinear imaging in scattering media
Magnetic fluctuations in the classical XY model: the origin of an exponential tail in a complex system
We study the probability density function for the fluctuations of the
magnetic order parameter in the low temperature phase of the XY model of finite
size. In two-dimensions this system is critical over the whole of the low
temperature phase. It is shown analytically and without recourse to the scaling
hypothesis that, in this case, the distribution is non-Gaussian and of
universal form, independent of both system size and critical exponent .
An exact expression for the generating function of the distribution is
obtained, which is transformed and compared with numerical data from high
resolution molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo simulations. The calculation is
extended to general dimension and an exponential tail is found in all
dimensions less than four, despite the fact that critical fluctuations are
limited to D=2. These results are discussed in the light of similar behaviour
observed in models of interface growth and for dissipative systems driven into
a non-equilibrium steady state.Comment: 32 pages, 13 figures, 1 table. Few changes. To appear in Phys. Rev.
An attenuated strain of Bacillus anthracis (CDC 684) has a large chromosomal inversion and altered growth kinetics
BackgroundAn isolate originally labeled Bacillus megaterium CDC 684 was found to contain both pXO1 and pXO2, was non-hemolytic, sensitive to gamma-phage, and produced both the protective antigen and the poly-D-glutamic acid capsule. These phenotypes prompted Ezzell et al., (J. Clin. Microbiol. 28:223) to reclassify this isolate to Bacillus anthracis in 1990.ResultsWe demonstrate that despite these B. anthracis features, the isolate is severely attenuated in a guinea pig model. This prompted whole genome sequencing and closure. The comparative analysis of CDC 684 to other sequenced B. anthracis isolates and further analysis reveals: a) CDC 684 is a close relative of a virulent strain, Vollum A0488; b) CDC 684 defines a new B. anthracis lineage (at least 51 SNPs) that includes 15 other isolates; c) the genome of CDC 684 contains a large chromosomal inversion that spans 3.3 Mbp; d) this inversion has caused a displacement of the usual spatial orientation of the origin of replication (ori) to the termination of replication (ter) from 180° in wild-type B. anthracis to 120° in CDC 684 and e) this isolate also has altered growth kinetics in liquid media.ConclusionsWe propose two alternative hypotheses explaining the attenuated phenotype of this isolate. Hypothesis 1 suggests that the skewed ori/ter relationship in CDC 684 has altered its DNA replication and/or transcriptome processes resulting in altered growth kinetics and virulence capacity. Hypothesis 2 suggests that one or more of the single nucleotide polymorphisms in CDC 684 has altered the expression of a regulatory element or other genes necessary for virulence
Pathogenesis of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in sheep
The pathogenesis of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in sheep was studied by immunohistochemical detection of scrapie-associated prion protein (PrPSc) in the gastrointestinal, lymphoid and neural tissues following oral inoculation with BSE brain homogenate. First accumulation of PrPSc was detected after 6 months in the tonsil and the ileal Peyer’s patches. At 9 months postinfection, PrPSc accumulation involved all gut-associated lymphoid tissues and lymph nodes as well as the spleen. At this time point, PrPSc accumulation in the peripheral neural tissues was first seen in the enteric nervous system of the caudal jejunum and ileum and in the coeliac-mesenteric ganglion. In the central nervous system, PrPSc was first detected in the dorsal motor nucleus of the nervus Vagus in the medulla oblongata and in the intermediolateral column in the spinal cord segments T7–L1. At subsequent time points, PrPSc was seen to spread within the lymphoid system to also involve all non-gut-associated lymphoid tissues. In the enteric nervous system, further spread of PrPSc involved the neural plexi along the entire gastrointestinal tract and in the CNS the complete neuraxis. These findings indicate a spread of the BSE agent in sheep from the enteric nervous system through parasympathetic and sympathetic nerves to the medulla oblongata and the spinal cord
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