Patterns of Silurian deformation and magmatism during sinistral oblique convergence, northern Scottish Caledonides

Funding Information: Acknowledgments Fieldwork by RAS, REH and GIA was carried out in part during the remapping of BGS Scotland sheets 114E (Tongue), 108E (Loch Naver), 109E (Kildonan) and 109W (Badenloch) and funded under the NERC-BGS Academic Collaboration Programme. IMB acknowledges a PhD studentship funded by Oxford Brookes University (1990-93). Mark Witton is thanked for drafting. Rick Law, Fernando Corfu, Calvin Mako and Kathryn Goodenough contributed detailed comments that resulted in significant improvements to the paper. John Waldron and Rick Law are thanked for supplying editable versions of figures 1 and 3, respectively. Stephen Daly is thanked for efficient editorial handling.Peer reviewedPostprin

Zircon U-Pb geochronology of the Mount Givens Granodiorite: Implications for the genesis of large volumes of eruptible magma

The Mount Givens Granodiorite, a large pluton in the central Sierra Nevada batholith, California, is similar in area to zoned intrusive suites yet is comparatively chemically and texturally homogenous. New zircon U-Pb geochronology indicates that the pluton was constructed over at least 7 Ma from 97.92 ± 0.06 Ma to 90.87 ± 0.05 Ma. Combining the new geochronology with the exposed volume of the pluton yields an estimated magma flux of <0.001 km3/a. The geochronologic data are at odds with the previously speculated links between plutons such as the Mount Givens Granodiorite and large-volume homogeneous ignimbrites (often termed monotonous intermediates). Existing data indicate that large plutons accumulate at rates of ≤0.001 km3/a, 1-2 orders of magnitude less than fluxes calculated for dated monotonous intermediates. If monotonous intermediates are remobilized, erupted plutons accumulated at rates comparable to dated examples, they should preserve a record of zircon growth of up to 10 Ma. Alternatively, the long history of zircon growth recorded in plutons may be erased during the processes of reheating and remobilization that precede supervolcano eruption. However, zircon dissolution modeling, based on hypothetical temperature-time histories for preeruptive monotonous intermediates, indicates that rejuvenation events would not sufficiently dissolve zircon. We suggest that eruptions of monotonous intermediates occur during high magmatic flux events, leaving little behind in the intrusive rock record, whereas low fluxes favor pluton accumulation

Primordialists and Constructionists: a typology of theories of religion

This article adopts categories from nationalism theory to classify theories of religion. Primordialist explanations are grounded in evolutionary psychology and emphasize the innate human demand for religion. Primordialists predict that religion does not decline in the modern era but will endure in perpetuity. Constructionist theories argue that religious demand is a human construct. Modernity initially energizes religion, but subsequently undermines it. Unpacking these ideal types is necessary in order to describe actual theorists of religion. Three distinctions within primordialism and constructionism are relevant. Namely those distinguishing: a) materialist from symbolist forms of constructionism; b) theories of origins from those pertaining to the reproduction of religion; and c) within reproduction, between theories of religious persistence and secularization. This typology helps to make sense of theories of religion by classifying them on the basis of their causal mechanisms, chronology and effects. In so doing, it opens up new sightlines for theory and research

A Comprehensive Pan-Cancer Molecular Study of Gynecologic and Breast Cancers

We analyzed molecular data on 2,579 tumors from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) of four gynecological types plus breast. Our aims were to identify shared and unique molecular features, clinically significant subtypes, and potential therapeutic targets. We found 61 somatic copy-number alterations (SCNAs) and 46 significantly mutated genes (SMGs). Eleven SCNAs and 11 SMGs had not been identified in previous TCGA studies of the individual tumor types. We found functionally significant estrogen receptor-regulated long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and gene/lncRNA interaction networks. Pathway analysis identified subtypes with high leukocyte infiltration, raising potential implications for immunotherapy. Using 16 key molecular features, we identified five prognostic subtypes and developed a decision tree that classified patients into the subtypes based on just six features that are assessable in clinical laboratories. By performing molecular analyses of 2,579 TCGA gynecological (OV, UCEC, CESC, and UCS) and breast tumors, Berger et al. identify five prognostic subtypes using 16 key molecular features and propose a decision tree based on six clinically assessable features that classifies patients into the subtypes

Patterns of Silurian deformation and magmatism during sinistral oblique convergence, northern Scottish Caledonides

Regional ductile thrusting and syn-kinematic granitic magmatism within the Caledonides of northern Scotland occurred within a sinistrally oblique convergent tectonic setting during the Silurian closure of the Iapetus Ocean. The highest thrust nappes are dominated by structures of probable Grampian (Ordovician) age, and Scandian (Silurian) deformation dominates the underlying thrust nappes. Deformation was overall foreland-propagating but the nappe stack was modified by out-of-sequence thrusting and probable synchronous development of thrusts at different structural levels. Localized dextrally transpressive deformation is related to an inferred lateral ramp located offshore. New U–Pb zircon ages from syn-tectonic granites indicate that the internal Naver Thrust was active between c. 432 and c. 426 Ma. This is consistent with other data sets that indicate that contractional deformation and high-grade metamorphism, and by implication displacements in the Moine Thrust Zone, may have lasted until c. 420–415 Ma. The synchroneity of thrusting and strike-slip movements along the Great Glen Fault implies that partitioning of transpressional strain occurred above a regional basal decollement. The short duration of the Scandian orogen in Scotland (c. 437–415 Ma?) is consistent with only moderate crustal thickening and a location on the periphery of the main Laurentia–Baltica collision further north

Prolonged Drug Release from Gels, using Catanionic Mixtures

The use of catanionic drug-surfactant mixtures was proven to be an efficient novel method of obtaining prolonged drug release from gels. It was shown that various commonly used drug compounds are able to form catanionic mixtures together with oppositely charged surfactants. These mixtures exhibited interesting phase behaviour, where, among other structures, vesicles and large worm-like or branched micelles were found. The size of these aggregates makes them a potential means of prolonging the drug release from gels, as only monomer drugs in equilibrium with larger aggregates were readily able to diffuse through the gel. When the diffusion coefficient for drug release from the formulation based upon a catanionic mixture was compared to that obtained for the drug substance and gel alone, the coefficient was some 10 to 100 times smaller. The effects of changes in the pH and ionic strength on the catanionic aggregates was also investigated, and this method of prolonging the release was found to be quite resilient to variations in both. Although the phase behaviour was somewhat affected, large micelles and vesicles were still readily found. The drug release was significantly prolonged even under physiological conditions, that is, at a pH of 7.4 and an osmolality corresponding to 0.9% NaCl. Surfactants of low irritancy, capric and lauric acid, may successfully be used instead of the more traditional surfactants, such as sodium lauryl sulfate (SDS), and prolonged release can still be obtained with ease. Some attempts to deduce the release mechanism from the proposed systems have also been made using transient current measurements, dielectric spectroscopy, and modelling of the release using the regular solution theory. In these studies, the previous assumptions made concerning the mechanism responsible for the release were confirmed to a large extent. Only small amounts of the drug existed in monomer form, and most seemed to form large catanionic aggregates with the oppositely charged surfactant