A case study of the internal structures of gossans and weathering processes in the Iberian Pyrite Belt using magnetic fabrics and paleomagnetic dating

International audienceIn the Rio Tinto district of the Iberian Pryrite Belt of South Spain, the weathering of massive sulfide bodies form iron caps, i.e., true gossans and their subsequent alteration and re-sedimentation has resulted in iron terraces, i.e., displaced gossans. To study the stucture and evolution of both types of gossans, magnetic investigations have been carried out with two foci: (1) the characterisation and spatial distribution of magnetic fabrics in different mineralised settings, including massive sulfides, gossans, and terraces, and (2) paleomagnetic dating. Hematite has been identified as the suceptibility carrier in all sites and magnetic fabric investigation of four gossans reveals a vertical variation from top to bottom, with: (1) a horizontal foliation refered to as "mature" fabric in the uppermost part of the primary gossans, (2) highly inclined or vertical foliation interpreted as "immature" fabric between the uppermost and lowermost parts, and (3) a vertical foliation interpreted to be inherited from Hercynian deformation in the lowermost part of the profiles. In terraces, a horizontal foliation dominates and is interpreted to be a "sedimentary" fabric. Rock magnetic studies of gossan samples have identified goethite as the magnetic remanence carrier for the low-temperature component, showing either a single direction close to the present Earth field (PEF) direction or random directions. Maghemite, hematite, and occasionally magnetite are the remanence carriers for the stable high-temperature component that is characterized by non PEF directions with both normal and reversed magnetic polarities. No reliable conclusion can be yet be drawn on the timing of terrace magnetization due to the small number of samples. In gossans, the polarity is reversed in the upper part and normal in the lower part. This vertical distribution with a negative reversal test suggests remanence formation during two distinct periods. Remanence in the upper parts of the gossans is older than in the lower parts, indicating that the alteration proceeded from top to bottom of the profiles. In the upper part, the older age and the horizontal "mature" fabric is interpreted to be a high maturation stage of massive sulfides' alteration. In the lower part, the age is younger and the inherited "imature" vertical Hercynian fabric indicates a weak maturation stage. These two distinct periods may reflect changes of paleoclimate, erosion, and/or tectonic motion

Vitellogenin Dynamics and Reproductive Morphology at Sexual Maturity of Philippine Mallard (Anas Platyrhynchos Domesticus L) Fed with Zinc Supplemented Diet

The vitellogenin (Vtg) is a precursor for the synthesis of egg yolk protein. Feeding with zinc-supplemented diet is hypothesized to increase the circulating Vtg thereby enhancing reproductive development. A total of 80 ducks,aged 16 weeks old, were randomly assigned to treatment groups; namely: group A with 40 ducks fed with 30 ppm zinc-supplemented diet (zinc positive) and group B with 40 ducks fed with no added zinc (zinc negative). Thecirculating Vtg at sexual maturity (155.11±10.83 days old) were determined from the blood sera. The sera were assayed for Vtg in duplicate using 96–well microplate and read the optical density at 415nm. The zinc concentrationof the samples was calculated using the nonlinear regression =OD = a x [Zn2+] / (b + [Zn2+]. Results show that the circulating Vtg in the blood sera of ducks at sexual maturity were 0.69±0.07 Gg Zn dL-1. The feeding of zinc-treateddiet had no significant influenced on the concentration of circulating Vtg. There was also insignificant difference in the reproductive morphology of ducks fed with or without added zinc. The Vtg concentration had no correlation withreproductive parameters but found to be positively correlated with liver weight (H=0.21) and negatively correlated with body weight (H = -0.24)

Differential effect of MMSET mRNA levels on survival to first-line FOLFOX and second-line docetaxel in gastric cancer

Breast cancer susceptibility gene 1 (BRCA1) expression differentially affects outcome to platinum- and taxane-based chemotherapy. Mediator of DNA damage checkpoint protein 1 (MDC1), p53-binding protein 1 (53BP1), multiple myeloma SET domain (MMSET) and ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme 9 (UBC9) are involved in DNA repair and could modify the BRCA1 predictive model. Mediator of DNA damage checkpoint protein 1, 53BP1, MMSET and UBC9 mRNA were assessed in gastric tumours from patients in whom BRCA1 levels had previously been determined. In vitro chemosensitivity assay, MMSET levels were higher in docetaxel-sensitive samples. In a separate cohort, survival was longer in those with low MMSET (12.3 vs 8.8 months; P =0.04) or UBC9 (12.4 vs 8.8 months; P =0.01) in patients receiving only folinic acid, fluorouracil (5-FU) and oxaliplatin (FOLFOX). Conversely, among patients receiving second-line docetaxel, longer survival was associated with high MMSET (19.1 vs 13.9 months; P =0.003). Patients with high MMSET and BRCA1 attained a median survival of 36.6 months, compared with 13.9 months for those with high BRCA1 and low MMSET (P =0.003). In the multivariate analyses, low MMSET (hazard ratio (HR), 0.59; P =0.04) and low UBC9 (HR, 0.52; P =0.01) levels were markers of longer survival to first-line FOLFOX, whereas palliative surgery (HR, 2.47; P =0.005), low BRCA1 (HR, 3.17; P =0.001) and low MMSET (HR, 2.52; P =0.004) levels were markers of shorter survival to second-line docetaxel. Breast cancer susceptibility gene 1, MMSET and UBC9 can be useful for customising chemotherapy in gastric cancer patients

Personal protective measures and settings on the risk of SARS-COV-2 community transmission: a case-control study

A preprint of this article is available on SSRN at https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4395325. It has not been certified by peer review.Copyright: © 2023 Huguet-Torres, Castro-Sánchez, Capitán-Moyano, Rodríguez-Sánchez, Bennasar-Veny and Yañez. Background: During the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, nurses of primary health care has been an important role in Spain. Even so, the data obtained in the tracing have been scarcely used to investigate the possible mechanisms of transmission. Few studies focused on community transmission, evaluating the effectiveness of individual protective measures and exposure environment. The main aim of the study was to evaluate the association between individual protective measures and SARS-CoV-2 transmission in the community and to compare secondary attack rates in different exposure settings. Methods: A case-control study from contact tracing of SARS-CoV-2 index patients. COVID-19 contact tracing was led by nurses at the COVID-19 Coordinating Centre in Majorca (Spain). During the systematic tracing, additional information for this study was collected from the index patient (social-demographic variables, symptoms, the number of close contacts). And also, the following variables from their close contacts: contact place, ventilation characteristics mask-wearing, type of mask, duration of contact, shortest distance, case-contact relationship, household members, and handwashing, the test result for SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic. Close contacts with a positive test for SARS-CoV-2 were classified as "cases" and those negative as "controls". Results: A total of 1,778 close contacts from 463 index patients were identified. No significant differences were observed between the sexes but between age groups. Overall Secondary Attack Rate (SAR) was 24.0% (95% CI: 22.0%-26.0%), 36.9% (95% CI: 33.2%-40.6%) in closed spaces without ventilation and 50.7% (95% CI: 45.6%-55.8%) in exposure time >24 hours. A total of 49.2% of infections occurred among household members. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that open-air setting (OR 0.43, 95% CI: 0.27-0.71), exposure for less than 1 hour (OR 0.19, 95% CI: 0.11-0.32), and wearing a mask (OR 0.49, 95% CI: 0.28-0.85) had a protective effect transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the community. Conclusions: Ventilation of the space, mask-wearing and shorter exposure time were associated with a lower risk of transmission in the community. The data obtained allowed an assessment of community transmission mechanisms and could have helped to improve and streamline tracing by identifying close contacts at higher risk.Royal College of Nurses from the Balearic Islands (Ref.: 2021-0564); Florence Nightingale fellowship program, Royal College of Nurses from the Balearic Islands and the Nursing and Physiotherapy Department, University of the Balearic Islands

Dogs accompanied humans during the Neolithic expansion into Europe

International audienceNear Eastern Neolithic farmers introduced several species of domestic plants and animals as they dispersed into Europe. Dogs were the only domestic species present in both Europe and the Near East prior to the Neolithic. Here, we assessed whether early Near Eastern dogs possessed a unique mitochondrial lineage that differentiated them from Mesolithic European populations. We then analysed mitochondrial DNA sequences from 99 ancient European and Near Eastern dogs spanning the Upper Palaeolithic to the Bronze Age to assess if incoming farmers brought Near Eastern dogs with them, or instead primarily adopted indigenous European dogs after they arrived. Our results show that European pre-Neolithic dogs all possessed the mitochondrial haplogroup C, and that the Neolithic and Post-Neolithic dogs associated with farmers from Southeastern Europe mainly possessed haplogroup D. Thus, the appearance of haplogroup D most probably resulted from the dissemination of dogs from the Near East into Europe. In Western and Northern Europe, the turnover is incomplete and haplogroup C persists well into the Chalcolithic at least. These results suggest that dogs were an integral component of the Neolithic farming package and a mitochondrial lineage associated with the Near East was introduced into Europe alongside pigs, cows, sheep and goats. It got diluted into the native dog population when reaching the Western and Northern margins of Europe

Abnormalities on 1q and 7q are associated with poor outcome in sporadic Burkitt's lymphoma. A cytogenetic and comparative genomic hybridization study

Comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) studies have demonstrated a high incidence of chromosomal imbalances in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. However, the information on the genomic imbalances in Burkitt's Lymphoma (BL) is scanty. Conventional cytogenetics was performed in 34 cases, and long-distance PCR for t(8;14) was performed in 18 cases. A total of 170 changes were present with a median of four changes per case (range 1-22). Gains of chromosomal material (143) were more frequent than amplifications (5) or losses (22). The most frequent aberrations were gains on chromosomes 12q (26%), Xq (22%), 22q (20%), 20q (17%) and 9q (15%). Losses predominantly involved chromosomes 13q (17%) and 4q (9%). High-level amplifications were present in the regions 1q23-31 (three cases), 6p12-p25 and 8p22-p23. Upon comparing BL vs Burkitt's cell leukemia (BCL), the latter had more changes (mean 4.3 +/- 2.2) than BL (mean 2.7 +/- 3.2). In addition, BCL cases showed more frequently gains on 8q, 9q, 14q, 20q, and 20q, 9q, 8q and 14q, as well as losses on 13q and 4q. Concerning outcome, the presence of abnormalities on 1q (ascertained either by cytogenetics or by CGH), and imbalances on 7q (P=0.01) were associated with a short survival

Bovine Polledness – An Autosomal Dominant Trait with Allelic Heterogeneity

The persistent horns are an important trait of speciation for the family Bovidae with complex morphogenesis taking place briefly after birth. The polledness is highly favourable in modern cattle breeding systems but serious animal welfare issues urge for a solution in the production of hornless cattle other than dehorning. Although the dominant inhibition of horn morphogenesis was discovered more than 70 years ago, and the causative mutation was mapped almost 20 years ago, its molecular nature remained unknown. Here, we report allelic heterogeneity of the POLLED locus. First, we mapped the POLLED locus to a ∼381-kb interval in a multi-breed case-control design. Targeted re-sequencing of an enlarged candidate interval (547 kb) in 16 sires with known POLLED genotype did not detect a common allele associated with polled status. In eight sires of Alpine and Scottish origin (four polled versus four horned), we identified a single candidate mutation, a complex 202 bp insertion-deletion event that showed perfect association to the polled phenotype in various European cattle breeds, except Holstein-Friesian. The analysis of the same candidate interval in eight Holsteins identified five candidate variants which segregate as a 260 kb haplotype also perfectly associated with the POLLED gene without recombination or interference with the 202 bp insertion-deletion. We further identified bulls which are progeny tested as homozygous polled but bearing both, 202 bp insertion-deletion and Friesian haplotype. The distribution of genotypes of the two putative POLLED alleles in large semi-random sample (1,261 animals) supports the hypothesis of two independent mutations

A mission control architecture for robotic lunar sample return as field tested in an analogue deployment to the Sudbury impact structure

A Mission Control Architecture is presented for a Robotic Lunar Sample Return Mission which builds upon the experience of the landed missions of the NASA Mars Exploration Program. This architecture consists of four separate processes working in parallel at Mission Control and achieving buy-in for plans sequentially instead of simultaneously from all members of the team. These four processes were: Science Processing, Science Interpretation, Planning and Mission Evaluation. Science Processing was responsible for creating products from data downlinked from the field and is organized by instrument. Science Interpretation was responsible for determining whether or not science goals are being met and what measurements need to be taken to satisfy these goals. The Planning process, responsible for scheduling and sequencing observations, and the Evaluation process that fostered inter-process communications, reporting and documentation assisted these processes. This organization is advantageous for its flexibility as shown by the ability of the structure to produce plans for the rover every two hours, for the rapidity with which Mission Control team members may be trained and for the relatively small size of each individual team. This architecture was tested in an analogue mission to the Sudbury impact structure from June 6-17, 2011. A rover was used which was capable of developing a network of locations that could be revisited using a teach and repeat method. This allowed the science team to process several different outcrops in parallel, downselecting at each stage to ensure that the samples selected for caching were the most representative of the site. Over the course of 10 days, 18 rock samples were collected from 5 different outcrops, 182 individual field activities - such as roving or acquiring an image mosaic or other data product - were completed within 43 command cycles, and the rover travelled over 2,200 m. Data transfer from communications passes were filled to 74%. Sample triage was simulated to allow down-selection to 1kg of material for return to Earth

Rearranged EML4-ALK fusion transcripts sequester in circulating blood platelets and enable blood-based crizotinib response monitoring in non-small-cell lung cancer

Purpose: Non-small-cell lung cancers harboring EML4-ALK rearrangements are sensitive to crizotinib. However, despite initial response, most patients will eventually relapse, and monitoring EML4-ALK rearrangements over the course of treatment may help identify these patients. However, challenges associated with serial tumor biopsies have highlighted the need for blood-based assays for the monitoring of biomarkers. Platelets can sequester RNA released by tumor cells and are thus an attractive source for the non-invasive assessment of biomarkers. Methods: EML4-ALK rearrangements were analyzed by RT-PCR in platelets and plasma isolated from blood obtained from 77 patients with non-small-cell lung cancer, 38 of whom had EML4-ALK-rearranged tumors. In a subset of 29 patients with EML4-ALK-rearranged tumors who were treated with crizotinib, EML4-ALK rearrangements in platelets were correlated with progression-free and overall survival. Results: RT-PCR demonstrated 65% sensitivity and 100% specificity for the detection of EML4-ALK rearrangements in platelets. In the subset of 29 patients treated with crizotinib, progression-free survival was 3.7 months for patients with EML4-ALK+ platelets and 16 months for those with EML4-ALK− platelets (hazard ratio, 3.5; P = 0.02). Monitoring of EML4-ALK rearrangements in the platelets of one patient over a period of 30 months revealed crizotinib resistance two months prior to radiographic disease progression. Conclusions: Platelets are a valuable source for the non-invasive detection of EML4-ALK rearrangements and may prove useful for predicting and monitoring outcome to crizotinib, thereby improving clinical decisions based on radiographic imaging alone

Rate and duration of hospitalisation for acute pulmonary embolism in the real-world clinical practice of different countries : Analysis from the RIETE registry

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