Identifying and quantifying erosion beneath the deposits of long-runout turbidity currents along their pathway

Variations between the geochemical compositions, coccolith species compositions and the physical properties of turbidite muds and their underlying hemipelagites can be used to understand the erosive nature of sediment gravity flows. Large-volume submarine landslides on the NW Moroccan continental margin produce long-runout turbidity currents capable of traversing hundreds-to-thousands of kilometres across the adjacent Moroccan Turbidite System (MTS). These turbidity currents are responsible for turbidites that are among the largest-volume, most aerially extensive, and longest-runout deposits recorded. These resulting turbidite beds can be correlated over distances of > 1800 km across the full 250,000 km2 area of the MTS. Due to the ability to trace these individual flow deposits throughout the MTS large-volume beds A5, A7, A11, A12 and A15 can be shown to be erosive upon debouching Agadir Canyon, whilst smaller-volume flows were not erosive. These aforementioned large-volume flows have been capable of eroding up to 15 km3 of material in the Canyon mouth, equating to as much as 50% of the later deposit volume. Evidence suggests individual flows erode up to 4.5 m of sediment within scours in the mouth of Agadir Canyon. However, these scours are > 8.0 m deep, indicating that several flows contribute to forming the scours in a series of cut and fill episodes. Several flows, including beds A5, A7, A11 and A12 were also erosive in Agadir Basin up to 210 km from the canyon. The present study indicates that large-volume flows A5, A7 and A12 are also erosive within the channel-lobe transition zone within the proximal Madeira Abyssal Plain after exiting the Madeira Channels, over 800 km from Agadir Canyon. Studying the deposits of these flows and their compositional changes along their entire pathway has provided invaluable information of whether the flows are erosive, where this erosion takes place, and to what extent they erode the seafloor. There are also broader implications towards gaining information about flow processes at the bed interface, calculating basin sediment budgets and better understanding discontinuous stratigraphy in distal turbidite systems

Decision Problems For Convex Languages

In this paper we examine decision problems associated with various classes of convex languages, studied by Ang and Brzozowski (under the name "continuous languages"). We show that we can decide whether a given language L is prefix-, suffix-, factor-, or subword-convex in polynomial time if L is represented by a DFA, but that the problem is PSPACE-hard if L is represented by an NFA. In the case that a regular language is not convex, we prove tight upper bounds on the length of the shortest words demonstrating this fact, in terms of the number of states of an accepting DFA. Similar results are proved for some subclasses of convex languages: the prefix-, suffix-, factor-, and subword-closed languages, and the prefix-, suffix-, factor-, and subword-free languages.Comment: preliminary version. This version corrected one typo in Section 2.1.1, line

The lifecycle of mid-ocean ridge seamounts and their prodigious flank collapses

Volcanic seamounts are spectacular bathymetric features representing ‘undersea mountains’ comparable in size to volcanic islands. They are often sites of active volcanism, represent major marine habitats, and contain potentially globally significant commodities of trace metals. However, we know comparatively little about how they form, the extent of their volcanic lifecycle, and what risks they pose from periodic flank collapse. Here, we study a uniquely extensive 43 Myr record of volcaniclastic and calciclastic turbidites accumulated on the Madeira Abyssal Plain in the NE Atlantic, which originate from large submarine landslides from the adjacent Great Meteor-Cruiser seamount complex on the flanks of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. These turbidites present the first long-term temporal record of the recurrence, magnitude, and emplacement mechanism of seamount flank collapses from a single seamount complex throughout its lifecycle. Landslides from the Great Meteor-Cruiser seamount complex are comparable size to those from the Canary Islands, with average volumes of 30-40 km3 but can be as large as 130 km3, comparable to many volcanic island landslides. These seamount landslides were predominantly multi-stage failures similar to those form neighbouring volcanic islands, but in contrast occurred preferentially during sea-level lowstands. We show that volcanic seamounts above mantle plumes have long protracted lifecycles and that substantial flank failures are capable of occurring at all stages of development. Temporal change in turbidite composition has, for the first time, enabled reconstruction of the inception (around 43-45 Myrs ago), ascension (taking around 20-25 Myrs), emergence (after 30 Myrs) and later recession (last 9 Myrs), cessation in volcanism (last 4 Myrs) and subsidence of the seamounts (from 2 Myrs onwards). These seamounts above a mantle plume have taken around 26 Myrs to emergence above sea level from inception, while their volcanic island contemporaries only took 2-to-5 Myrs. Here, we use the history of turbidites derived from landslides from the seamounts to show how the seamounts developed and suffered mass wasting during their life cycles

First Documented Pathologies in Tenontosaurus tilletti with Comments on Infection in Non-Avian Dinosaurs

In 2001, a nearly complete sub-adult Tenontosaurus tilletti was collected from the Antlers Formation (Aptian-Albian) of southeastern Oklahoma. Beyond its exceptional preservation, computed tomography (CT) and physical examination revealed this specimen has five pathological elements with four of the pathologies a result of trauma. Left pedal phalanx I-1 and left dorsal rib 10 are both fractured with extensive callus formation in the later stages of healing. Left dorsal rib 7 (L7) and right dorsal rib 10 (R10) exhibit impacted fractures compressed 26 mm and 24 mm, respectively. The fracture morphologies in L7 and R10 indicate this animal suffered a strong compressive force coincident with the long axis of the ribs. All three rib pathologies and the pathological left phalanx I-1 are consistent with injuries sustained in a fall. However, it is clear from the healing exhibited by these fractures that this individual survived the fall. In addition to traumatic fractures, left dorsal rib 10 and possibly left phalanx I-1 have a morphology consistent with post-traumatic infection in the form of osteomyelitis. The CT scans of left metacarpal IV revealed the presence of an abscess within the medullary cavity consistent with a subacute form of hematogenous osteomyelitis termed a Brodie abscess. This is only the second reported Brodie abscess in non-avian dinosaurs and the first documented occurrence in herbivorous dinosaurs. The presence of a Brodie abscess, known only in mammalian pathological literature, suggest mammalian descriptors for bone infection may be applicable to non-avian dinosaurs.We thank R. Cifelli, S. Westrop, and N. Czaplewski for reviewing early drafts of this manuscript. This research was funded by grants awarded to R. L. Cifelli by the American Chemical Society, Petroleum Research Fund (ACS-PRF#38572-AC8) and the National Science Foundation (DEB 9870173). Open Access Fees paid for whole or in part by the University of Oklahoma Libraries Open Initiatives.Ye

Circumference imaging for optical based identification of cylindrical and conical objects

Inspection and identification of cylindrical or conical shaped objects presents a unique challenge for a machine vision system. Due to the circular nature of the objects it is difficult to image the whole object using traditional area cameras and image capture methods. This work describes a unique technique to acquire a two dimensional image of the entire surface circumference of a cylindrical/conical shaped object. The specific application of this method is the identification of large caliber (155 mm) ammunition rounds in the field as they are transported between or within vehicles. The proposed method utilizes a line scan camera in combination with high speed image acquisition and processing hardware to acquire images from multiple cameras and generate a single, geometrically accurate, surface image. The primary steps involved are the capture of multiple images as the ammunition moves by on the conveyor followed by warping to correct for the distortion induced by the curved projectile surface. The individual images are then tiled together to form one two-dimensional image of the complete circumference. Once this image has been formed an automatic identification algorithm begins the feature extraction and classification process

Sudden cold temperature delays plant carbon transport and shifts allocation from growth to respiratory demand

Conservation Biolog

Reducing stomatal density in barley improves drought tolerance without impacting on yield.

The epidermal patterning factor (EPF) family of secreted signalling peptides regulate the frequency of stomatal development in model dicot and basal land plant species. Here we identify and manipulate the expression of a barley ortholog and demonstrate that when overexpressed HvEPF1 limits entry to, and progression through, the stomatal development pathway. Despite substantial reductions in leaf gas exchange, barley plants with approximately half of the normal number of stomata show no reductions in grain yield. In addition, HvEPF1OE barley lines exhibit significantly enhanced water use efficiency, drought tolerance and soil water conservation properties. Our results demonstrate the potential of manipulating stomatal frequency for the protection and optimisation of cereal crop yields under future drier environments

Accessing elite nurses for research: reflections on the theoretical and practical issues of telephone interviewing

Elite groups are interesting as they frequently are powerful (in terms of position, knowledge and influence) and enjoy considerable authority. It is important, therefore, to involve them in research concerned with understanding social contexts and processes. This is particularly pertinent in healthcare, where considerable strategic development and change are features of everyday practice that may be guided or perceived as being guided, by elites. This paper evolved from a study investigating the availability and role of nurses whose remit involved leading nursing research and development within acute NHS Trusts in two health regions in Southern England. The study design included telephone interviews with Directors of Nursing Services during which time the researchers engaged in a reflective analysis of their experiences of conducting research with an `elite' group. Important issues identified were the role of gatekeepers, engagement with elites and the use of the telephone interview method in this context. The paper examines these issues and makes a case for involving executive nurses in further research. The paper also offers strategies to help researchers design and implement telephone interview studies successfully to maximise access to the views and experiences of `hard to reach groups', such as elites, while minimising the associated disruption

Reduced stomatal density in bread wheat leads to increased water-use efficiency

Wheat is a staple crop, frequently cultivated in water-restricted environments. Improving crop water-use efficiency would be desirable if grain yield can be maintained. We investigated whether a decrease in wheat stomatal density via the manipulation of epidermal patterning factor (EPF) gene expression could improve water-use efficiency. Our results show that severe reductions in stomatal density in EPF-overexpressing wheat plants have a detrimental outcome on yields. However, wheat plants with a more moderate reduction in stomatal density (i.e. <50% reduction in stomatal density on leaves prior to tillering) had yields indistinguishable from controls, coupled with an increase in intrinsic water-use efficiency. Yields of these moderately reduced stomatal density plants were also comparable with those of control plants under conditions of drought and elevated CO2. Our data demonstrate that EPF-mediated control of wheat stomatal development follows that observed in other grasses, and we identify the potential of stomatal density as a tool for breeding wheat plants that are better able to withstand water-restricted environments without yield loss

Formation of the Stomatal Outer Cuticular Ledge Requires a Guard Cell Wall Proline-Rich Protein

Stomata are formed by a pair of guard cells which have thickened, elastic cell walls to withstand the large increases in turgor pressure that have to be generated to open the pore that they surround. We have characterised FOCL1, a guard cell-expressed, secreted protein with homology to hydroxyproline-rich cell wall proteins. FOCL1-GFP localises to the guard cell outer cuticular ledge and plants lacking FOCL1 produce stomata without a cuticular ledge. Instead the majority of stomatal pores are entirely covered-over by a continuous fusion of the cuticle, and consequently plants have decreased levels of transpiration and display drought tolerance. The focl1 guard cells are larger and less able to reduce the aperture of their stomatal pore in response to closure signals suggesting that the flexibility of guard cell walls is impaired. FOCL1 is also expressed in lateral root initials where it aids lateral root emergence. We propose that FOCL1 acts in these highly specialised cells of the stomata and root to impart cell wall strength at high turgor and/or to facilitate interactions between the cell wall and the cuticle