Geology of the northwestern South Mountains near Morganton, North Carolina

Detailed mapping in the South Mountains has revealed a structurally complex sequence of high-grade gneisses with a mappable stratigraphy. The Walker Top gneiss has an igneous origin and was originally mapped in 1988 by Goldsmith et. al. as a less deformed version of the Henderson Gneiss. Geochemical and petrologic data support the conclusion that the Henderson Gneiss and Walker Top gneiss are genetically related. Contact relationships and field observations are consistent with the interpretation of the Walker Top gneiss as a pluton or as a depositional platform for the overlying metasedimentary units (i.e., a basement unit). Metamorphic data and geochronologic data, however, favor an intrusive interpretation of the Walker Top gneiss-metasedimentary unit contact. The surrounding metasedimentary sequence consists of the Tallulah Falls and the Poor Mountain Formations that have been subjected to upper-amphibolite facies, sillimanite-grade metamorphic conditions. Electron microprobe analyses of mineral phases yield minimum equilibration temperatures between 425°C and 675°C. The upper end of these temperature estimates are consistent with the mineral assemblage present and record peak- or post-peak Acadian metamorphic conditions. Prior to peak Acadian metamorphism, this gneiss sequence was folded into a tight synform-antiform pair (the Cane Creek synform and the Buzzards Roost antiform). With progressive deformation, the common limb between these two folds became attenuated and a discrete fault surface developed (the Brindle Creek fault). The magnitude of displacement on this fault is \u3c5 km. Alleghenian open folding of the axial surfaces of the major antiform-synform pair and the Brindle Creek fault surface produced a dome-and-basin interference pattern. Pervasive fracture sets also developed after the peak-deformational episode. This area was uplifted during the Miocene as part of the major uplift that created the modern Appalachian Highlands (Hack, 1982). The South Mountains became a highland in the gently rolling hills of the Piedmont. Due to the South Mountains relatively high relief, rock type, foliation, and fracture orientation have locally become controlling factors in landscape evolution. Resistant units (Walker Top gneiss and the sillimanite-mica-schist) tend to hold up areas of high relief, while less resistant units (Poor Mountain Amphibolite) tend to underlie areas of low relief. Fracture sets have controlled drainage development as the dissection of the South Mountains progresses

The Racing Mind and the Path of Love: automatic extraction of image schematic triggers in knowledge graphs generated from natural language

Embodied Cognition and Cognitive Metaphors Theory take their origin from our use of language: sensorimotor triggers are disseminated in our daily communication, expression and commonsense knowledge. We propose, in this work, a first attempt of image-schematic triggers automatic extraction, starting from knowledge graphs automatically generated from natural language. The methodology proposed here is conceived as a modular addition integrated in the FRED tool, able to generate knowledge graphs from natural language, while it has its foundation in querying ImageSchemaNet, the Image Schematic layer developed on top of FrameNet and integrated in the Framester resource. This methodology allows the extraction of sensorimotor triggers from WordNet, VerbNet, MetaNet, BabelNet and many more

In situ Raman analyses of the soot oxidation reaction over nanostructured ceria-based catalysts

Abstract To reduce the emissions of internal combustion engines, ceria-based catalysts have been widely investigated as possible alternatives to the more expensive noble metals. In the present work, a set of four different ceria-based materials was prepared via hydrothermal synthesis, studying the effect of Cu and Mn as dopants both in binary and ternary oxides. In situ Raman analyses were carried out to monitor the behaviour of defect sites throughout thermal cycles and during the soot oxidation reaction. Despite ceria doped with 5% of Cu featured the highest specific surface area, reducibility and amount of intrinsic and extrinsic defects, a poor soot oxidation activity was observed through the standard activity tests. This result was confirmed by the calculation of soot conversion curves obtained through a newly proposed procedure, starting from the Raman spectra collected during the in situ tests. Moreover, Raman analyses highlighted that new defectiveness was produced on the Cu-doped catalyst at high temperature, especially after soot conversion, while a slight increase of the defect band and a total reversibility were observed in case of the ternary oxide and pure/Mn-doped ceria, respectively. The major increment was related to the extrinsic defects component; tests carried out in different atmospheres suggested the assignment of this feature to vacancy-free sites containing oxidized doping cations. Its increase at the end of the tests can be an evidence of peroxides and superoxides deactivation on catalysts presenting excessive oxygen vacancy concentrations. Instead, ceria doped with 5% of Mn exhibited the best soot oxidation activity, thanks to an intermediate density of oxygen vacancies and to its well-defined morphology

PTX3 shapes profibrotic immune cells and epithelial/fibroblast repair and regeneration in a murine model of pulmonary fibrosis

The long pentraxin 3 (PTX3) is protective in different pathologies but was not analyzed in-depth in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF). Here, we have explored the influence of PTX3 in the bleomycin (BLM)-induced murine model of IPF by looking at immune cells (macrophages, mast cells, T cells) and stemness/regenerative markers of lung epithelium (SOX2) and fibro-blasts/myofibroblasts (CD44) at different time points that retrace the progression of the disease from onset at day 14, to full-blown disease at day 21, to incomplete regression at day 28. We took advantage of transgenic PTX3 overexpressing mice (Tie2-PTX3) and Ptx3 null ones (PTX3-KO) in which pulmonary fibrosis was induced. Our data have shown that PTX3 overexpression in Tie2-PTX3 compared to WT or PTX3-KO: reduced CD68+ and CD163+ macrophages and the Tryptase+ mast cells during the whole experimental time; on the contrary, CD4+ T cells are consistently present on day 14 and dramatically decreased on day 21; CD8+ T cells do not show significant differences on day 14, but are significantly reduced on day 21; SOX2 is reduced on days 14 and 21; CD44 is reduced on day 21. Therefore, PTX3 could act on the proimmune and fibrogenic microenvironment to prevent fibrosis in BLM-treated mice

Cerium‐Copper Oxides Synthesized in a Multi‐Inlet Vortex Reactor as Effective Nanocatalysts for CO and Ethene Oxidation Reactions

In this study, a set of CuCeOx catalysts was prepared via the coprecipitation method using a Multi‐Inlet Vortex Reactor: the Cu wt.% content is 5, 10, 20, 30 and 60. Moreover, pure CeO2 and CuO were synthesized for comparison purposes. The physico‐chemical properties of this set of samples were investigated by complementary techniques, e.g., XRD, N2 physisorption at −196 °C, Scanning Electron Microscopy, XPS, FT‐IR, Raman spectroscopy and H2‐TPR. Then, the CuCeOx catalysts were tested for the CO and ethene oxidation reactions. As a whole, all the prepared samples presented good catalytic performances towards the CO oxidation reaction (1000 ppm CO, 10 vol.% O2/N2): the most promising catalyst was the 20%CuCeOx (complete CO conversion at 125 °C), which exhibited a long‐term thermal stability. Similarly, the oxidative activity of the catalysts were evaluated using a gaseous mixture containing 500 ppm C2H4, 10 vol.% O2/N2. Accordingly, for the ethene oxidation reaction, the 20%CuCeOx catalyst evidenced the best catalytic properties. The elevated catalytic activity towards CO and ethene oxidation was mainly ascribed to synergistic interactions between CeO2 and CuO phases, as well as to the high amount of surface‐chemisorbed oxygen species and structural defects

Investigation of Cu-doped ceria through a combined spectroscopic approach: Involvement of different catalytic sites in CO oxidation

Copper-ceria mixed oxides are widely considered promising catalysts for oxidation reactions, especially when the participation of lattice oxygen is required. However, the mechanistic understanding of these catalytic systems is still incomplete, due to their considerable complexity. In fact, copper doping of ceria results in the formation of a significant number of different interacting sites in continuous evolution during the catalytic processes. In the present study, pure and Cu-doped ceria samples were deeply investigated through combined spectroscopic techniques, i.e. XPS, EPR, and in situ FTIR and Raman spectroscopy. Through this systematic approach, the copper sites and lattice defects responsible for the enhanced CO oxidation activity of doped ceria were eluci-dated. Superficial Cu+ species and small Cu0 clusters promote the adsorption of CO at low temperature, while isolated Cu2+ monomers and dimers well-dispersed in the ceria matrix foster lattice oxygen mobility, involving the sub-surface in the redox phenomena. Consequently, the structure of Cu-doped ceria undergoes substantial modifications throughout CO oxidation in the absence of O2, with the formation of oxygen vacancy clusters. Anyway, these changes are reversible, and structural reorganization in the presence of O2 can occur even at room temperature. The excellent performance of Cu-doped ceria eventually stems from the effective cooperation among the different catalytic sites in the mixed oxide

Dp71 expression in human glioblastoma

Background: Dp71 is the most abundant dystrophin (DMD) gene product in the nervous system. Mutation in the Dp71 coding region is associated with cognitive disturbances in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) patients, but the function of dystrophin Dp71 in tumor progression remains to be established. This study investigated Dp71 expression in glioblastoma, the most common and aggressive primary tumor of the central nervous system (CNS). Methods: Dp71 expression was analyzed by immunofluorescence, immunohistochemistry, RT-PCR, and immunoblotting in glioblastoma cell lines and cells isolated from human glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) bioptic specimens. Results: Dp71 isoform was expressed in normal human astrocytes (NHA) cell lines and decreased in glioblastoma cell lines and cells isolated from human glioblastoma multiforme bioptic specimens. Moreover, Dp71 was localized in the nucleus in normal cells, while it was localized into the cytoplasm of glioblastoma cells organized in clusters. We have shown, by double labeling, that Dp71 colocalizes with lamin B in normal astrocytes cells, confirming the roles of Dp71 and lamin B in maintaining nuclear architecture. Finally, we demonstrated that decreased Dp71 protein in cells isolated from human bioptic specimens was inversely correlated with the Ki-67 tumor proliferative index. Conclusion: A decreased Dp71 expression is associated with cancer proliferation and poor prognosis in glioblastoma