Changes in behaviour during the inter-nesting period and post-nesting migration for Ascension Island green turtles

Satellite transmitters were attached to green turtles Chelonia mydas while they were nesting on Ascension Island in the South Atlantic (7°57\u27S, 14°22\u27W) and individuals were subsequently monitored during the inter-nesting period and the post-nesting migration to Brazil. During the inter-nesting period, data from the transmitters suggested that turtles generally stayed within 5 km of the nesting beach on which they had originally been observed. During both the inter-nesting period and migration, turtles were submerged the vast majority (>95%) of the time, suggesting that they neither basked at the surface nor drifted passively during migration to any great extent. There was a clear dichotomy in submergence behaviour, with submergences tending to be of short duration during post-nesting migration (mean = 7.3 min, 3318 h of data from 5 individuals) and of longer duration during the inter-nesting period (mean = 22.1 min, 714 h of data from 5 different individuals). As submergence duration is generally linked to activity levels in sea turtles, this pattern suggests that turtles were comparatively inactive during the inter-nesting period and comparatively active during migration. During both the inter-nesting period and the post-nesting migration, diel submergence patterns were detected with dive duration tending to be longer at night. As the turtles migrated WSW from Ascension Island, there was a reduction in their speed of travel. A numerical model of the near-surface currents suggested that this reduction was associated with the weakening of the WSW flow of the prevailing South Atlantic Equatorial Current

Magnetic shielding accelerates the proliferation of human neuroblastoma cell by promoting G1-phase progression

Organisms have been exposed to the geomagnetic field (GMF) throughout evolutionary history. Exposure to the hypomagnetic field (HMF) by deep magnetic shielding has recently been suggested to have a negative effect on the structure and function of the central nervous system, particularly during early development. Although changes in cell growth and differentiation have been observed in the HMF, the effects of the HMF on cell cycle progression still remain unclear. Here we show that continuous HMF exposure significantly increases the proliferation of human neuroblastoma (SH-SY5Y) cells. The acceleration of proliferation results from a forward shift of the cell cycle in G1-phase. The G2/M-phase progression is not affected in the HMF. Our data is the first to demonstrate that the HMF can stimulate the proliferation of SH-SY5Y cells by promoting cell cycle progression in the G1-phase. This provides a novel way to study the mechanism of cells in response to changes of environmental magnetic field including the GMF

Dynamics of Magma Ascent and Fragmentation in Trachytic Versus Rhyolitic Eruptions

We have performed a parametric study on the dynamics of trachytic (alkaline) versus rhyolitic (calc-alkaline)eruptions by employing a steady, isothermal, multiphase non-equilibrium model of conduit flow and fragmentation. The employed compositions correspond to a typical rhyolite and to trachytic liquids from Phlegrean Fields eruptions,for which detailed viscosity measurements have been performed. The investigated conditions include conduit diameters in the range 30-90 m and total water contents from 2 to 6 wt%, corresponding to mass flow rates in the range 106-108 kg/s. The numerical results show that rhyolites fragment deep in the conduit and at a gas volume fraction ranging from 0.64 to 0.76, while for trachytes fragmentation is found to occur at much shallower levels and higher vesicularities (0.81-0.85). An unexpected result is that low-viscosity trachytes can be associated with lower mass flow rates with respect to more viscous rhyolites. This is due to the non-linear combined effects of viscosity and water solubility affecting the whole eruption dynamics. The lower viscosity of trachytes, together with higher water solubility, results in delayed fragmentation, or in a longer bubbly flow region within the conduit where viscous forces are dominant. Therefore, the total dissipation due to viscous forces can be higher for the less viscous trachytic magma, depending on the specific conditions and trachytic composition employed. The fragmentation conditions determined through the simulations agree with measured vesicularities in natural pumice clasts of both magma compositions. In fact, vesicularities average 0.80 in pumice from alkaline eruptions at Phlegrean Fields, while they tend to be lower in most calc-alkaline pumices. The results of numerical simulations suggest that higher vesicularities in alkaline products are related to delayed fragmentation of magmas with this composition. Despite large differences in the distribution of flow variables which occur in the deep conduit region and at fragmentation, the flow dynamics of rhyolites and trachytes in the upper conduit and at the vent can be very similar, at equal conduit size and total water content. This is consistent with similar phenomenologies of eruptions associated with the two magma types