617 research outputs found
Temporal and petrogenetic constraints on volcanic accretionary processes at 9-10 degrees north East Pacific Rise
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution June 2010Volcanic accretion at the fast-spreading East Pacific Rise (EPR) occurs over a ~2-4 km
wide neo-volcanic zone on either side of the axial summit trough (AST). Eruption ages
are critical for understanding the distribution and timing of volcanic and magmatic
activity. Uranium series nuclides are susceptible to fractionation by magmatic processes
that occur beneath mid-ocean ridges, and the half-lives of 226Ra (1.6 kyrs) and 230Th (75
kyrs) make them ideally suited for determining eruption ages and placing constraints on
eruption frequency and temporal changes in magma chemistry. Accordingly, major and
trace element, and long-lived radiogenic and 238U-230Th-226Ra isotope compositions were
measured in basalts from 9º-10ºN EPR to determine eruption ages and to place temporal
constraints on volcanic and magmatic processes.
At 9º30’N EPR, 238U-230Th-226Ra compositions indicate that trace elementally and
isotopically enriched mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) collected off-axis erupted >8 ka
and that E-MORB magmatism is interspersed with normal, depleted MORB magmatism.
Lava ages are consistent with eruption from the AST and flow down the ridge flanks,
which is in contrast to previous studies that suggested E-MORB erupted from off-axis
vents. At 9º50’N EPR, discrete eruptive units are distinguished by high precision 238U, 232Th,
and 226Ra sample concentrations, but because the resolution of the 230Th-226Ra model age
dating technique is ~±1 kyrs, the surprisingly young ages of these lavas prohibit the
construction of an explicit, time-constrained lava stratigraphy. Nonetheless, seven
different flows identified within 0.8-2.0 km west of the AST imply greater frequency of
flows to these distances than previously recognized.
Model age dating of ferrobasalts, basaltic andesites, andesites, and dacites sampled from
the east limb of the overlapping spreading center at 9º03’N EPR is difficult due to
uncertainties in magma residence times. However, (226Ra/230Th) disequilibria indicate
recent basaltic volcanism (<<8 ka) up to ~4 km off-axis. The axial graben at the rise crest
sources the most recent volcanic activity and is the dominant location for eruption of
high-silica magmas. Major element, trace element, 87Sr/86Sr, and (234U/238U) isotope
compositions are consistent with the formation of dacite magmas by extensive
crystallization, and 238U-230Th-226Ra systematics imply crustal residence times of ~8 kyrs.This research was made possible by funding from the Academic Programs Office, from
the WHOI travel assistance funds, a Goldschmidt student travel grant, and National
Science Foundation grants OCE-0623838, OCE-0527053, and OCE-0137325 to
K.W.W.S
Contextual organismality: Beyond pattern to process in the emergence of organisms
Biologists have taken the concept of organism largely for granted. However, advances in the study of chimerism, symbiosis, bacterial-eukaryote associations, and microbial behavior have prompted a redefinition of organisms as biological entities exhibiting low conflict and high cooperation among their parts. This expanded view identifies organisms in evolutionary time. However, the ecological processes, mechanisms, and traits that drive the formation of organisms remain poorly understood. Recognizing that organismality can be context dependent, we advocate elucidating the ecological contexts under which entities do or do not act as organisms. Here we develop a "contextual organismality" framework and provide examples of entities, such as honey bee colonies, tumors, and bacterial swarms, that can act as organisms under specific life history, resource, or other ecological circumstances. We suggest that context dependence may be a stepping stone to the development of increased organismal unification, as the most integrated biological entities generally show little context dependence. Recognizing that organismality is contextual can identify common patterns and testable hypotheses across different entities. The contextual organismality framework can illuminate timeless as well as pressing issues in biology, including topics as disparate as cancer emergence, genomic conflict, evolution of symbiosis, and the role of the microbiota in impacting host phenotype.John Templeton FoundationVersion of record online: 27 October 2016; published open access.This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]
STING-dependent recognition of cyclic di-AMP mediates type I interferon responses during Chlamydia trachomatis infection.
UnlabelledSTING (stimulator of interferon [IFN] genes) initiates type I IFN responses in mammalian cells through the detection of microbial nucleic acids. The membrane-bound obligate intracellular bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis induces a STING-dependent type I IFN response in infected cells, yet the IFN-inducing ligand remains unknown. In this report, we provide evidence that Chlamydia synthesizes cyclic di-AMP (c-di-AMP), a nucleic acid metabolite not previously identified in Gram-negative bacteria, and that this metabolite is a prominent ligand for STING-mediated activation of IFN responses during infection. We used primary mouse lung fibroblasts and HEK293T cells to compare IFN-β responses to Chlamydia infection, c-di-AMP, and other type I IFN-inducing stimuli. Chlamydia infection and c-di-AMP treatment induced type I IFN responses in cells expressing STING but not in cells expressing STING variants that cannot sense cyclic dinucleotides but still respond to cytoplasmic DNA. The failure to induce a type I IFN response to Chlamydia and c-di-AMP correlated with the inability of STING to relocalize from the endoplasmic reticulum to cytoplasmic punctate signaling complexes required for IFN activation. We conclude that Chlamydia induces STING-mediated IFN responses through the detection of c-di-AMP in the host cell cytosol and propose that c-di-AMP is the ligand predominantly responsible for inducing such a response in Chlamydia-infected cells.ImportanceThis study shows that the Gram-negative obligate pathogen Chlamydia trachomatis, a major cause of pelvic inflammatory disease and infertility, synthesizes cyclic di-AMP (c-di-AMP), a nucleic acid metabolite that thus far has been described only in Gram-positive bacteria. We further provide evidence that the host cell employs an endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-localized cytoplasmic sensor, STING (stimulator of interferon [IFN] genes), to detect c-di-AMP synthesized by Chlamydia and induce a protective IFN response. This detection occurs even though Chlamydia is confined to a membrane-bound vacuole. This raises the possibility that the ER, an organelle that innervates the entire cytoplasm, is equipped with pattern recognition receptors that can directly survey membrane-bound pathogen-containing vacuoles for leaking microbe-specific metabolites to mount type I IFN responses required to control microbial infections
Spatially resolved spectroscopy of the globular cluster RZ 2109 and the nature of its black hole
We present optical HST/STIS spectroscopy of RZ 2109, a globular cluster in
the elliptical galaxy NGC 4472. This globular cluster is notable for hosting an
ultraluminous X-ray source as well as associated strong and broad [OIII] 4959,
5007 emission. We show that the HST/STIS spectroscopy spatially resolves the
[OIII] emission in RZ 2109. While we are unable to make a precise determination
of the morphology of the emission line nebula, the best fitting models all
require that the [OIII] 5007 emission has a half light radius in the range 3-7
pc. The extended nature of the [OIII] 5007 emission is inconsistent with
published models that invoke an intermediate mass black hole origin. It is also
inconsistent with the ionization of ejecta from a nova in the cluster. The
spatial scale of the nebula could be produced via the photoionization of a
strong wind driven from a stellar mass black hole accreting at roughly its
Eddington rate.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures - accepted for publication in Ap
Constraining Disk Parameters of Be Stars using Narrowband H-alpha Interferometry with the NPOI
Interferometric observations of two well-known Be stars, gamma Cas and phi
Per, were collected and analyzed to determine the spatial characteristics of
their circumstellar regions. The observations were obtained using the Navy
Prototype Optical Interferometer equipped with custom-made narrowband filters.
The filters isolate the H-alpha emission line from the nearby continuum
radiation, which results in an increased contrast between the interferometric
signature due to the H-alpha-emitting circumstellar region and the central
star. Because the narrowband filters do not significantly attenuate the
continuum radiation at wavelengths 50 nm or more away from the line, the
interferometric signal in the H-alpha channel is calibrated with respect to the
continuum channels. The observations used in this study represent the highest
spatial resolution measurements of the H-alpha-emitting regions of Be stars
obtained to date. These observations allow us to demonstrate for the first time
that the intensity distribution in the circumstellar region of a Be star cannot
be represented by uniform disk or ring-like structures, whereas a Gaussian
intensity distribution appears to be fully consistent with our observations.Comment: 23 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in A
Fluorogenic sensor platform for the histone code using receptors from dynamic combinatorial libraries
A sensor array has been developed that can differentiate multiple post-translational modifications in the same peptide and their relative positions in the sequence, including multiple methylations, providing a promising new tool for deciphering the histone code
Brown Dwarfs in Young Moving Groups from Pan-STARRS1. I. AB Doradus
Substellar members of young (150 Myr) moving groups are valuable
benchmarks to empirically define brown dwarf evolution with age and to study
the low-mass end of the initial mass function. We have combined Pan-STARRS1
(PS1) proper motions with opticalIR photometry from PS1, 2MASS and
to search for substellar members of the AB Dor Moving Group
within 50 pc and with spectral types of late-M to early-L,
corresponding to masses down to 30 M at the age of the group
(125 Myr). Including both photometry and proper motions allows us to
better select candidates by excluding field dwarfs whose colors are similar to
young AB~Dor Moving Group members. Our near-IR spectroscopy has identified six
ultracool dwarfs (M6L4; 30100 M) with intermediate
surface gravities (INT-G) as candidate members of the AB Dor Moving Group. We
find another two candidate members with spectra showing hints of youth but
consistent with field gravities. We also find four field brown dwarfs
unassociated with the AB Dor Moving Group, three of which have INT-G gravity
classification. While signatures of youth are present in the spectra of our
125 Myr objects, neither their nor colors are
significantly redder than field dwarfs with the same spectral types, unlike
younger ultracool dwarfs. We also determined PS1 parallaxes for eight of our
candidates and one previously identified AB Dor Moving Group candidate.
Although radial velocities (and parallaxes, for some) are still needed to fully
assess membership, these new objects provide valuable insight into the spectral
characteristics and evolution of young brown dwarfs.Comment: ApJ, accepte
Discovery of A New Retrograde Trans-Neptunian Object: Hint of A Common Orbital Plane for Low Semi-Major Axis, High Inclination TNOs and Centaurs
Although the majority of Centaurs are thought to have originated in the
scattered disk, with the high-inclination members coming from the Oort cloud,
the origin of the high inclination component of trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs)
remains uncertain. We report the discovery of a retrograde TNO, which we
nickname "Niku", detected by the Pan-STARRS 1 Outer Solar System Survey. Our
numerical integrations show that the orbital dynamics of Niku are very similar
to that of 2008 KV (Drac), with a half-life of Myr. Comparing
similar high inclination TNOs and Centaurs ( AU, ), we find that these objects exhibit a surprising clustering of
ascending node, and occupy a common orbital plane. This orbital configuration
has high statistical significance: 3.8-. An unknown mechanism is
required to explain the observed clustering. This discovery may provide a
pathway to investigate a possible reservoir of high-inclination objects.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in ApJ Letter
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