Downhole measurements in the AND-2A borehole, ANDRILL southern McMurdo Sound Project, Antarctica

Under the framework of the ANDRILL Southern McMurdo Sound (SMS) Project successful downhole experiments were conducted in the 1138.54 metre (m)-deep AND-2A borehole. Wireline logs successfully recorded were: magnetic susceptibility, spectral gamma ray, sonic velocity, borehole televiewer, neutron porosity, density, calliper, geochemistry, temperature and dipmeter. A resistivity tool and its backup both failed to operate, thus resistivity data were not collected. Due to hole conditions, logs were collected in several passes from the total depth at ~1138 metres below sea floor (mbsf) to ~230 mbsf, except for some intervals that were either inaccessible due to bridging or were shielded by the drill string. Furthermore, a Vertical Seismic Profile (VSP) was created from ~1000 mbsf up to the sea floor. The first hydraulic fracturing stress measurements in Antarctica were conducted in the interval 1000-1138 mbsf. This extensive data set will allow the SMS Science Team to reach some of the ambitious objectives of the SMS Project. Valuable contributions can be expected for the following topics: cyclicity and climate change, heat flux and fluid flow, seismic stratigraphy in the Victoria Land Basin, and structure and state of the modern crustal stress field

Downhole logging of the AND-2A borehole, Victoria Land Basin, McMurdo Sound, Antarctica

Under the framework of the ANDRILL Southern McMurdo Sound (SMS) Project successful downhole experiments were conducted in the 1138.54 metre (m)-deep AND-2A borehole. Wireline logs successfully recorded were: magnetic susceptibility, spectral gamma ray, sonic velocity, borehole televiewer, neutron porosity, density, calliper, geochemistry, temperature and dipmeter. A resistivity tool and its backup both failed to operate, thus resistivity data were not collected. Due to hole conditions, logs were collected in several passes from the total depth at ~1138 metres below sea floor (mbsf) to ~230 mbsf, except for some intervals that were either inaccessible due to bridging or were shielded by the drill string. Furthermore, a Vertical Seismic Profile (VSP) was created from ~1000 mbsf up to the sea floor. The first hydraulic fracturing stress measurements in Antarctica were conducted in the interval 1000-1138 mbsf. This extensive data set will allow the SMS Science Team to reach some of the ambitious objectives of the SMS Project. Valuable contributions can be expected for the following topics: cyclicity and climate change, heat flux and fluid flow, seismic stratigraphy in the Victoria Land Basin, and structure and state of the modern crustal stress field

Black Tea Theaflavins Inhibit Formation of Toxic Amyloid-β and α-Synuclein Fibrils

Causal therapeutic approaches for amyloid diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease targeting toxic amyloid oligomers or fibrils are still emerging. Polyphenols from green tea, especially (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), have recently been found to redirect amyloid formation pathways leading to the assembly of small, non-toxic aggregate structures. Here, we show that theaflavins (TF1, TF2a, TF2b, TF3), the main polyphenolic components found in fermented black tea, are potent inhibitors of amyloid-beta (A{beta}) and alpha-synuclein ({alpha}S) fibrillogenesis. Their mechanism of inhibiting amyloid formation was compared to that of two established inhibitors of amyloid formation, EGCG and congo red. All three compounds reduce the fluorescence of the amyloid indicator dye thioflavin T. Mapping the binding regions of TF3 and revealed that all three bind to two regions of the peptide, aa 12-23 and aa 24-36, albeit with different specificities. However, their mechanisms of amayloid inhibition differ. Like EGCG but unlike congo red, theaflavins stimulate the assembly of A{beta} and {alpha}S into non-toxic, spherical aggregates that are incompetent to seed amyloid formation and remodel A{beta} fibrils into non-toxic, spherical aggregates. These findings suggest that theaflavins might be useful to remove toxic amyloid deposits in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease brains