Accretion rate of extraterrestrial matter: Iridium deposited over the last 70 million years

In order to quantify the accretion rate of extraterrestrial matter during the Cenozoic, Ir concentrations were measured in a continuous series of 450 samples across most of the length of piston core LL44-GPC3. LL44-GPC3 is a 25-meter-long, large-diameter piston core of abyssal clay from the central North Pacific. This core contains a nearly continuous record of sedimentation over the last 70 Ma, as this site migrated from a region near the Equator in the late Cretaceous to its present position north of Hawaii. The first-cut survey across the core is nearing completion, and all of the conclusions of the earlier study, in which was reported the concentrations of Ir, Co, and Sb across 9 meters of this core, remain unchanged. The only strongly enhanced Ir concentrations occur at the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) boundary and outside the K-T boundary Ir correlates well with Co, a terrestrial element which is largely present in hydrogenous ferromanganese oxide precipitates from seawater. Concentrations of both elements appear to be inversely correlated with the sedimentation rate. Although the K-T Ir anomaly is unique in magnitude in this core, there are several small bumps in the Ir profile which may reflect smaller accretionary events. The most promising Ir enhancement was observed in a 30 cm section approximately 1 m below the K-T boundary. Preliminary data suggest deposition of an excess across this interval at a time estimate to be approximate 1 Ma before the K-T impact event, but there is insufficient evidence at present to prove that this reflects enhanced accretion of extraterrestrial matter. A detailed model is being prepared of the chemical record of sedimentation in this core using a combined database of 39 elements in approximately 450 samples across the Cenozoic. Preliminary working model indicates that the only sedimentary sources which contribute significantly to the Ir budget in this core are the hydrogenous precipitates and extraterrestrial particulates

Marine Impacts and Environmental Consequences—Drilling of the Mjølnir Structure, the Barents Sea

In September 2007, thirty-three scientists attended an international workshop in Longyearbyen (Svalbard, Norway) to discuss impacts of extraterrestrial bodies into marine environment and to prepare for the drilling of the 142-Ma-old Mjølnir impact structure in the Barents Sea (Fig. 1; Gudlaugsson, 1993; Dypvik et al., 1996, Tsikalas et al., 1998). A field trip visited the ejecta layer in the Janusfjellet Mountain in Isfjorden, just outside Longyearbyen (Fig. 2). The workshop focused on two topics: 1) mechanisms of marine impact cratering including ejecta formation and distribution, geothermal reactions, and the formation of tsunami, and 2) environmental effects of marine impacts. Both topics are highly relevant to the Mjølnir event and the geological evolution of the Arctic, as well as to the biological changes at the Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary. Against thisbackground were a) concrete drilling targets formulated, b) plans outlined for compiling data from existing geological and geophysical surveys as the basis for Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) and International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) drilling proposals, and c) a steering group and science teams established for compiling old and new material as a foundation for the developmentof drilling proposal

Predicting Bevirimat resistance of HIV-1 from genotype

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Maturation inhibitors are a new class of antiretroviral drugs. Bevirimat (BVM) was the first substance in this class of inhibitors entering clinical trials. While the inhibitory function of BVM is well established, the molecular mechanisms of action and resistance are not well understood. It is known that mutations in the regions CS p24/p2 and p2 can cause phenotypic resistance to BVM. We have investigated a set of p24/p2 sequences of HIV-1 of known phenotypic resistance to BVM to test whether BVM resistance can be predicted from sequence, and to identify possible molecular mechanisms of BVM resistance in HIV-1.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We used artificial neural networks and random forests with different descriptors for the prediction of BVM resistance. Random forests with hydrophobicity as descriptor performed best and classified the sequences with an area under the Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) curve of 0.93 ± 0.001. For the collected data we find that p2 sequence positions 369 to 376 have the highest impact on resistance, with positions 370 and 372 being particularly important. These findings are in partial agreement with other recent studies. Apart from the complex machine learning models we derived a number of simple rules that predict BVM resistance from sequence with surprising accuracy. According to computational predictions based on the data set used, cleavage sites are usually not shifted by resistance mutations. However, we found that resistance mutations could shorten and weaken the <it>α</it>-helix in p2, which hints at a possible resistance mechanism.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We found that BVM resistance of HIV-1 can be predicted well from the sequence of the p2 peptide, which may prove useful for personalized therapy if maturation inhibitors reach clinical practice. Results of secondary structure analysis are compatible with a possible route to BVM resistance in which mutations weaken a six-helix bundle discovered in recent experiments, and thus ease Gag cleavage by the retroviral protease.</p