Tectonic control on southern Sierra Nevada topography, California

In this study we integrate the apatite (U-Th)/He thermochronometric technique with geomorphic, structural, and stratigraphic studies to pursue the origin and evolution of topographic relief related to extensive late Cenozoic faulting in the southern Sierra Nevada. The geomorphology of this region reflects a transition from a vast region to the north characterized by nonequilibrium fluvial modification of a relict low-relief landscape, little affected by internal deformation, to a more complex landscape affected by numerous faults. Regionally, the relict landscape surface is readily resolved by age-elevation relationships of apatite He ages coupled to geomorphology. These relationships can be extended into the study area and used as a structural datum for the resolution of fault offsets and related tilting. On the basis of 63 new apatite He ages and stratigraphic data from proximal parts of the San Joaquin basin we resolve two sets of normal faults oriented approximately N–S and approximately NW. Quaternary west-side-up normal faulting along the N–S Breckenridge–Kern Canyon zone has resulted in a southwest step over from the Owens Valley system in the controlling structure on the regional west tilt of Sierran basement. This zone has also served as a transfer structure partitioning Neogene-Quaternary extension resulting from normal displacements on the NW fault set. This fault system for the most part nucleated along Late Cretaceous structures with late Cenozoic remobilization representing passive extension by oblate flattening as the region rose and stretched in response to the passage of a slab window and the ensuing delamination of the mantle lithosphere from beneath the region

Optimal Constructions for Chain-based Cryptographic Enforcement of Information Flow Policies

The simple security property in an information flow policy can be enforced by encrypting data objects and distributing an appropriate secret to each user. A user derives a suitable decryption key from the secret and publicly available information. A chain-based enforcement scheme provides an alternative method of cryptographic enforcement that does not require any public information, the trade-off being that a user may require more than one secret. For a given information flow policy, there will be many different possible chain-based enforcement schemes. In this paper, we provide a polynomial-time algorithm for selecting a chain-based scheme which uses the minimum possible number of keys. We also compute the number of secrets that will be required and establish an upper bound on the number of secrets required by any user

The state of OA: a large-scale analysis of the prevalence and impact of Open Access articles

Despite growing interest in Open Access (OA) to scholarly literature, there is an unmet need for large-scale, up-to-date, and reproducible studies assessing the prevalence and characteristics of OA. We address this need using oaDOI, an open online service that determines OA status for 67 million articles. We use three samples, each of 100,000 articles, to investigateOAin three populations: (1) all journal articles assigned a Crossref DOI, (2) recent journal articles indexed in Web of Science, and (3) articles viewed by users of Unpaywall, an open-source browser extension that lets users find OA articles using oaDOI. We estimate that at least 28% of the scholarly literature is OA (19M in total) and that this proportion is growing, driven particularly by growth in Gold and Hybrid. The most recent year analyzed (2015) also has the highest percentage of OA (45%). Because of this growth, and the fact that readers disproportionately access newer articles, we find that Unpaywall users encounter OA quite frequently: 47% of articles they view are OA. Notably, the most common mechanism for OA is not Gold, Green, or Hybrid OA, but rather an under-discussed category we dub Bronze: articles made freeto- read on the publisher website, without an explicit Open license. We also examine the citation impact of OA articles, corroborating the so-called open-access citation advantage: accounting for age and discipline, OA articles receive 18% more citations than average, an effect driven primarily by Green and Hybrid OA.Weencourage further research using the free oaDOI service, as a way to inform OA policy and practice

Thermochronometry across the Austroalpine-Pennine boundary, Central Alps, Switzerland: Orogen-perpendicular normal fault slip on a major ‘overthrust’ and its implications for orogenesis

Fifty-one new and 309 published thermochronometric ages (nine systems with closure temperatures ranging from ~450 to 70°C) from the Graubünden region of the Central Alps demonstrate that a pronounced thermal mismatch between the Austroalpine allochthon (Alpine “orogenic lid”) and the Pennine zone persisted until at least 29 Ma and, allowably, until circa 18 Ma. The observed mismatch supports previous suggestions that the famous “overthrust” between the Austroalpine allochthon and the Pennine zone, historically regarded as primarily an Eocene top-north thrust fault, is in fact primarily an Oligocene-Miocene normal fault that has a minimum of 60 km of displacement with top-south or top-southeast sense of shear. Two hallmarks of Alpine geology, deposition of the foredeep Molasse and emplacement of the Helvetic nappes, appear to be coeval, peripheral manifestations of crustal thickening via the interposition of the Pennine zone as a northward intruding wedge between the Austroalpine “lid” and the European cratonic margin, with the Helvetic system (European margin) acting as the “floor” of the wedge. We presume the Penninic wedge is driven by the buoyant rise of subducted crust no longer able to remain attached to the descending slab. If so, emplacement of the Pennine wedge could have occurred mainly after Adria was juxtaposed against cratonic Europe

Prevalence and Risk Factors for Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in an HIV-Positive Cohort

Background: Persons living with HIV (PLWH) are disproportionately burdened with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Our objective was to evaluate prevalence and risks for MRSA colonization in PLWH. Methods: Adults were recruited from Johns Hopkins University AIDS Service in Baltimore, Maryland. A risk questionnaire and specimen collection from anatomic sites with culture susceptibility and genotyping were completed. Generalized estimating equation modeling identified MRSA colonization risk factors. Results: Of 500 participants,mostwere black (69%), on antiretroviral therapy (ART) (87%),with undetectable viral loads (73.4%). Median CD4 count was 487 cells/mm3 (interquartile range, 316-676.5 cells/mm3). MRSA prevalence was 15.4%, predominantly from the nares (59.7%). Forty percent were nares negative but were colonized elsewhere. Lower odds for colonizationwere associatedwith recent sexual activity (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]¼0.84, P$75,000; AOR ¼ 2.68, P \u3c .001), recent hospitalization (AOR ¼ 1.54, P \u3c .001), incarceration (AOR ¼ 1.55,

Prevalence and Risk Factors for Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in an HIV-Positive Cohort

Background: Persons living with HIV (PLWH) are disproportionately burdened with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Our objective was to evaluate prevalence and risks for MRSA colonization in PLWH. Methods: Adults were recruited from Johns Hopkins University AIDS Service in Baltimore, Maryland. A risk questionnaire and specimen collection from anatomic sites with culture susceptibility and genotyping were completed. Generalized estimating equation modeling identified MRSA colonization risk factors. Results: Of 500 participants,mostwere black (69%), on antiretroviral therapy (ART) (87%),with undetectable viral loads (73.4%). Median CD4 count was 487 cells/mm3 (interquartile range, 316-676.5 cells/mm3). MRSA prevalence was 15.4%, predominantly from the nares (59.7%). Forty percent were nares negative but were colonized elsewhere. Lower odds for colonizationwere associatedwith recent sexual activity (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]¼0.84, P$75,000; AOR ¼ 2.68, P \u3c .001), recent hospitalization (AOR ¼ 1.54, P \u3c .001), incarceration (AOR ¼ 1.55,

A global transcriptional network connecting noncoding mutations to changes in tumor gene expression.

Although cancer genomes are replete with noncoding mutations, the effects of these mutations remain poorly characterized. Here we perform an integrative analysis of 930 tumor whole genomes and matched transcriptomes, identifying a network of 193 noncoding loci in which mutations disrupt target gene expression. These 'somatic eQTLs' (expression quantitative trait loci) are frequently mutated in specific cancer tissues, and the majority can be validated in an independent cohort of 3,382 tumors. Among these, we find that the effects of noncoding mutations on DAAM1, MTG2 and HYI transcription are recapitulated in multiple cancer cell lines and that increasing DAAM1 expression leads to invasive cell migration. Collectively, the noncoding loci converge on a set of core pathways, permitting a classification of tumors into pathway-based subtypes. The somatic eQTL network is disrupted in 88% of tumors, suggesting widespread impact of noncoding mutations in cancer