3D seismic evidence of internal structure within Tampen Slide deposits on the North Sea Fan : are chaotic deposits that chaotic?

The seismic character of slide deposits is typically described as structureless or chaotic. However, 3D seismic data from the northern flank of the North Sea Fan reveal recognizable internal, penetrative structures within the Tampen Slide deposits. The study of its seismic attributes allowed an integrated characterization of the slide deposits and has shown distinctive acoustic fabrics, both at the top and base of the slide deposit, which are interpreted to be the expression of internal deformation structures. Based on their geometry, four main seismic fabric types have been defined: anastomosing, curvilinear, rectilinear and wispy. The spatial distribution of the fabric was mainly controlled by a topographic high present on the sea-bed at the time of the gravitational collapse, which influenced the transport of material. Areas of distinct fabrics are thought to reflect different flow behaviour during the latest stages of the mass movement and could be considered kinematic indicators. The results give new insights into the transport and deformation processes of submarine mass movements and highlight the potential of detailed analysis of 3D seismic data

PSS8 Use of consumer market research panels to generate prevalence and disease burden estimates in data-sparse diseases: a case study in severe Chronic Hand Eczema

Farrando, Jordi;Febles, Maria Dolors ;Henrich, Jordi;Tarrasó, Olga ;Fuertes, J.C.;Pérez, S

A microbial platform for renewable propane synthesis based on a fermentative butanol pathway

Background Propane (C3H8) is a volatile hydrocarbon with highly favourable physicochemical properties as a fuel, in addition to existing global markets and infrastructure for storage, distribution and utilization in a wide range of applications. Consequently, propane is an attractive target product in research aimed at developing new renewable alternatives to complement currently used petroleum-derived fuels. This study focuses on the construction and evaluation of alternative microbial biosynthetic pathways for the production of renewable propane. The new pathways utilize CoA intermediates that are derived from clostridial-like fermentative butanol pathways and are therefore distinct from the first microbial propane pathways recently engineered in Escherichia coli. Results We report the assembly and evaluation of four different synthetic pathways for the production of propane and butanol, designated a) atoB-adhE2 route, b) atoB-TPC7 route, c) nphT7-adhE2 route and d) nphT7-TPC7 route. The highest butanol titres were achieved with the atoB-adhE2 (473 ± 3 mg/L) and atoB-TPC7 (163 ± 2 mg/L) routes. When aldehyde deformylating oxygenase (ADO) was co-expressed with these pathways, the engineered hosts also produced propane. The atoB-TPC7-ADO pathway was the most effective in producing propane (220 ± 3 μg/L). By (i) deleting competing pathways, (ii) including a previously designed ADOA134F variant with an enhanced specificity towards short-chain substrates and (iii) including a ferredoxin-based electron supply system, the propane titre was increased (3.40 ± 0.19 mg/L). Conclusions This study expands the metabolic toolbox for renewable propane production and provides new insight and understanding for the development of next-generation biofuel platforms. In developing an alternative CoA-dependent fermentative butanol pathway, which includes an engineered ADO variant (ADOA134F), the study addresses known limitations, including the low bio-availability of butyraldehyde precursors and poor activity of ADO with butyraldehyde

Cosmology, Oscillating Physics and Oscilllating Biology

According to recent reports there is an excess correlation and an apparent regularity in the galaxy one-dimensional polar distribution with a characteristic scale of 128 $h^{-1}$ Mpc. This aparent spatial periodicity can be naturally explained by a time oscillation of the gravitational constant $G$. On the other hand, periodic growth features of bivalve and coral fossiles appear to show a periodic component in the time dependence of the number of days per year. In this letter we show that a time oscillating gravitational constant with similar period and amplitude can explain such a feature.Comment: 9 pages. latex using revtex. This revised version is supposed to be free of e-mail nois

The potential of painting: unlocking Disenfranchised Grief for people living with dementia

As part of the “Creative Well” programme at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHN) North Wales, artist/researchers Megan Wyatt and Susan Liggett qualitatively investigated how painting can access a means of communication for people living with Dementia. In a workshop setting within a gallery environment at Ruthin Crafts Centre, participants living with dementia were facilitated on a one to one basis the opportunity to paint alongside the artist/researchers. The participants were from a wellestablished art group called “Lost in Art” that is managed by Denbighshire Arts Service. During the workshops, a number of experiences were articulated. These included experiences of illness, crisis and loss. They were captured through observations, interviews, visual art and video to contribute to new understandings and models of engagement through art for people living with dementia and their carers. Focusing on theory and practice in arts based research and the social sciences, this paper investigates the potential of painting to unlock experiences such as disenfranchised grief for people living with dementia. The conclusions do not measure how and if participants felt disenfranchised grief but rather provide an alternative to augment the body of knowledge surrounding how people living with dementia can communicate feelings of disenfranchised grief through painting. Objective: In this presentation I aim to outline the main findings from the above paper that is to be published in an academic journal later in the year on Illness Crisis and Loss published by Sage

The effect of terminal globular domains on the response of recombinant mini-spidroins to fiber spinning triggers

From Springer Nature via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: received 2020-02-04, accepted 2020-06-11, registration 2020-06-15, pub-electronic 2020-06-30, online 2020-06-30, collection 2020-12Publication status: PublishedFunder: Defence Science and Technology Laboratory; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100010418; Grant(s): DSTLX1000101893, DSTLX1000101893, DSTLX1000101893, DSTLX1000101893, DSTLX1000101893Funder: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000266; Grant(s): EP/L014904/1Funder: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000268; Grant(s): BB/M017702/1, BB/M017702/1, BB/M017702/1Abstract: Spider silk spidroins consist of long repetitive protein strands, flanked by globular terminal domains. The globular domains are often omitted in recombinant spidroins, but are thought to be essential for the spiders’ natural spinning process. Mimicking this spinning process could be an essential step towards producing strong synthetic spider silk. Here we describe the production of a range of mini-spidroins with both terminal domains, and characterize their response to a number of biomimetic spinning triggers. Our results suggest that mini-spidroins which are able to form protein micelles due to the addition of both terminal domains exhibit shear-thinning, a property which native spidroins also show. Furthermore, our data also suggest that a pH drop alone is insufficient to trigger assembly in a wet-spinning process, and must be combined with salting-out for effective fiber formation. With these insights, we applied these assembly triggers for relatively biomimetic wet spinning. This work adds to the foundation of literature for developing improved biomimetic spinning techniques, which ought to result in synthetic silk that more closely approximates the unique properties of native spider silk

Direct Evidence of an Excited-State Triplet Species upon Photoactivation of the Chlorophyll Precursor Protochlorophyllide

The chlorophyll precursor protochlorophyllide (Pchlide), which is the substrate for the light-driven enzyme protochlorophyllide oxidoreductase, has unique excited-state properties that facilitate photocatalysis. Previous time-resolved spectroscopy measurements have implied that a long-lived triplet state is formed during the excited-state relaxation of Pchlide, although direct evidence of its existence is still lacking. Here we use time-resolved electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) in combination with time-resolved absorption measurements at a range of temperatures (10–290 K), solvents, and oxygen concentrations to provide a detailed characterization of the triplet state of Pchlide. The triplet decays in a biphasic, oxygen-dependent manner, while the first reported EPR signature of a Pchlide triplet displays both emissive and absorptive features and an antisymmetric spectrum similar to other porphyrin triplet states. This work demonstrates that the Pchlide triplet is accessible to various cryogenic spectroscopic probes over a range of time scales and paves the way for understanding its potential role in catalysis