Heat capacity, configurational heat capacity and fragility of hydrous magmas

International audienceThe glassy and liquid heat capacities of four series of dry and hydrous natural glasses and magma as a function of temperature and water content (up to 19.9 mol%) were investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The analyzed compositions are basalt, latite, trachyte and pantellerite. The results of this study indicate that the measured heat capacity of glasses (Cpg) is a linear function of composition and is well reproduced by the empirical model of Richet (1987). For the investigated glasses, the partial molar heat capacity of water can be considered as independent of composition, in agreement with Bouhifd et al. (2006). For hydrous liquids, the heat capacity (Cpliq) decreases nonlinearly with increasing water content. Previously published models, combined with the partial molar heat capacity of water from the literature, are not able to reproduce our experimental data in a satisfactory way. We estimated the partial molar heat capacity of water (CpH2O) in hydrous magma over a broad compositional range. The proposed value is 41 ± 3 J mol-1 K-1. Water strongly affects the configurational heat capacity at the glass transition temperature [Cpconf (Tg)]. An increases of Cpconf (Tg) with water content was measured for the polymerized liquids (trachyte and pantellerite), while the opposite behavior was observed for the most depolymerized liquids (basalt and latite). Structural and rheological implications of this behavior are discussed in light of the presented results

Global gene expression analysis provides insight into local adaptation to geothermal streams in tadpoles of the Andean toad Rhinella spinulosa

Indexación: Web of Science; Scopus.The anuran Rhinella spinulosa is distributed along the Andes Range at altitudes that undergo wide daily and seasonal variation in temperature. One of the populations inhabits geothermal streams, a stable environment that influences life history traits such as the timing of metamorphosis. To investigate whether this population has undergone local adaptation to this unique habitat, we carried out transcriptome analyses in animals from two localities in two developmental stages (prometamorphic and metamorphic) and exposed them to two temperatures (20 and 25 degrees C). RNA-Seq, de novo assembly and annotation defined a transcriptome revealing 194,469 high quality SNPs, with 1,507 genes under positive selection. Comparisons among the experimental conditions yielded 1,593 differentially expressed genes. A bioinformatics search for candidates revealed a total of 70 genes that are highly likely to be implicated in the adaptive response of the population living in a stable environment, compared to those living in an environment with variable temperatures. Most importantly, the population inhabiting the geothermal environment showed decreased transcriptional plasticity and reduced genetic variation compared to its counterpart from the non-stable environment. This analysis will help to advance the understanding of the molecular mechanisms that account for the local adaptation to geothermal streams in anurans.https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-01982-

Electron-Beam-Induced Grafting Of Chitosan Onto HDPE/ATZ Composites for Biomedical Applications

HDPE and HDPE/ATZ surfaces were functionalised with chitosan Via electron-beam irradiation technique in order to prepare materials suitable for biomedical purposes. ATR–FTIR and wettability measurements were employed for monitoring the surface changes after both irradiation and chitosan grafting reaction. The presence of ATZ influenced both the EB irradiation process and the surface functionalisation. Mechanical properties of irradiated materials were not remarkably affected by irradiation processing. Biological assays indicated that electrostatic interactions between the negative charges of the surface of cell membranes and the –NH3+ sites on chitosan chains promoted cell adhesion, while some oxidized species produced during the irradiation process were thought to cause a detrimental effect on the cell Viability

Sulfate geoengineering impact on methane transport and lifetime: results from the Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP)

Abstract. Sulfate geoengineering (SG), made by sustained injection of SO2 in the tropical lower stratosphere, may impact the CH4 abundance through several photochemical mechanisms affecting tropospheric OH and hence the methane lifetime. (a) The reflection of incoming solar radiation increases the planetary albedo and cools the surface, with a tropospheric H2O decrease. (b) The tropospheric UV budget is upset by the additional aerosol scattering and stratospheric ozone changes: the net effect is meridionally not uniform, with a net decrease in the tropics, thus producing less tropospheric O(1D). (c) The extratropical downwelling motion from the lower stratosphere tends to increase the sulfate aerosol surface area density available for heterogeneous chemical reactions in the mid-to-upper troposphere, thus reducing the amount of NOx and O3 production. (d) The tropical lower stratosphere is warmed by solar and planetary radiation absorption by the aerosols. The heating rate perturbation is highly latitude dependent, producing a stronger meridional component of the Brewer–Dobson circulation. The net effect on tropospheric OH due to the enhanced stratosphere–troposphere exchange may be positive or negative depending on the net result of different superimposed species perturbations (CH4, NOy, O3, SO4) in the extratropical upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS). In addition, the atmospheric stabilization resulting from the tropospheric cooling and lower stratospheric warming favors an additional decrease of the UTLS extratropical CH4 by lowering the horizontal eddy mixing. Two climate–chemistry coupled models are used to explore the above radiative, chemical and dynamical mechanisms affecting CH4 transport and lifetime (ULAQ-CCM and GEOSCCM). The CH4 lifetime may become significantly longer (by approximately 16 %) with a sustained injection of 8 Tg-SO2 yr−1 starting in the year 2020, which implies an increase of tropospheric CH4 (200 ppbv) and a positive indirect radiative forcing of sulfate geoengineering due to CH4 changes (+0.10 W m−2 in the 2040–2049 decade and +0.15 W m−2 in the 2060–2069 decade)

Influence of chitosan on the mechanical and biological properties of HDPE for biomedical applications

High density polyethylene (HDPE) is widely used in biomedical field, except when strong cell-material interactions and high mechanical properties are required. To address this pitfall, two kinds of chitosan in different amounts were used as filler in the present research. Composites were prepared by melt extrusion process and their microstructural, thermal and mechanical properties were widely investigated. Also roughness and wettability were studied, as features of paramount importance in dictating cell response. Both types of chitosan endowed HDPE with higher Young modulus and lower elongation at break. Interestingly, fibroblast adhesion and viability were enhanced when a low amount of filler was used. The interaction of HDPE/chitosan composites with biological environment was investigated for the first time in order to assess the feasibility of these composites as materials for biomedical application

Upper tropospheric ice sensitivity to sulfate geoengineering

Aside from the direct surface cooling that sulfate geoengineering (SG) would produce, investigations of the possible side effects of this method are still ongoing, such as the exploration of the effect that SG may have on upper tropospheric cirrus cloudiness. The goal of the present study is to better understand the SG thermodynamical effects on the freezing mechanisms leading to ice particle formation. This is undertaken by comparing SG model simulations against a Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5 (RCP4.5) reference case. In the first case, the aerosol-driven surface cooling is included and coupled to the stratospheric warming resulting from the aerosol absorption of terrestrial and solar near-infrared radiation. In a second SG perturbed case, the surface temperatures are kept unchanged with respect to the reference RCP4.5 case. When combined, surface cooling and lower stratospheric warming tend to stabilize the atmosphere, which decreases the turbulence and updraft velocities (−10&thinsp;% in our modeling study). The net effect is an induced cirrus thinning, which may then produce a significant indirect negative radiative forcing (RF). This RF would go in the same direction as the direct effect of solar radiation scattering by aerosols, and would consequently influence the amount of sulfur needed to counteract the positive RF due to greenhouse gases. In our study, given an 8&thinsp;Tg-SO2&thinsp;yr−1 equatorial injection into the lower stratosphere, an all-sky net tropopause RF of −1.46&thinsp;W&thinsp;m−2 is calculated, of which −0.3&thinsp;W&thinsp;m−2 (20&thinsp;%) is from the indirect effect on cirrus thinning (6&thinsp;% reduction in ice optical depth). When surface cooling is ignored, the ice optical depth reduction is lowered to 3&thinsp;%, with an all-sky net tropopause RF of −1.4&thinsp;W&thinsp;m−2, of which −0.14&thinsp;W&thinsp;m−2 (10&thinsp;%) is from cirrus thinning. Relative to the clear-sky net tropopause RF due to SG aerosols (−2.1&thinsp;W&thinsp;m−2), the cumulative effect of the background clouds and cirrus thinning accounts for +0.6&thinsp;W&thinsp;m−2, due to the partial compensation of large positive shortwave (+1.6&thinsp;W&thinsp;m−2) and negative longwave adjustments (−1.0&thinsp;W&thinsp;m−2). When surface cooling is ignored, the net cloud adjustment becomes +0.8&thinsp;W&thinsp;m−2, with the shortwave contribution (+1.5&thinsp;W&thinsp;m−2) almost twice as much as that of the longwave (−0.7&thinsp;W&thinsp;m−2). This highlights the importance of including all of the dynamical feedbacks of SG aerosols.</p