1,365 research outputs found

    Textural indicators of mineralisation potential in porphyry magmatic systems – A framework from the archetypal Yerington district, Nevada

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    This is the final version. Available on open access from Elsevier via the DOI in this recordData availability: All data is available within the manuscript and its Supplementary Data files.Porphyry-type deposits are spatially and temporally associated with the relatively shallow and texturally complex parts of magmatic systems. Whilst certain textures offer snapshots into the physical processes which result in fluid exsolution and hydrothermal mineralisation, their documentation and interpretation remains disjointed. To address this, we describe a suite of magmatic and magmatic-hydrothermal textures from the classic Yerington Cu(-Mo-Au) porphyry district, Nevada, where Cenozoic extension and tilting has exposed a unique, ∌8 km palaeodepth, cross-section through the magmatic system. Within the granite cupolas that underlie the Ann Mason and Yerington porphyry deposits, these textures include pegmatitic pods and massive silica bodies. Emplaced through the cupolas, and genetically associated with ore formation, are aplite dykes that host mineralised unidirectional solidification textures (USTs), pegmatitic segregations, miarolitic cavities and early A-type quartz veins. Based on field relations, including associations with hypogene mineralisation, petrography and Ti-in-quartz crystallisation temperatures, we highlight how these textures may record the timing and location of the magmatic-hydrothermal transition and ore-formation. By doing so we provide a textural framework for exploration geologists to assess the likely 3D spatial and temporal architecture of porphyry mineralisation at the district-prospect scale before employing more invasive and expensive techniques.Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)Natural History Museum, LondonBritish Geological SurveyHugh McKinstry Fund, SEG (Society of Economic Geologists

    Expedition 381 Preliminary Report: Corinth Active Rift Development

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    The primary objective of International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 381 was to retrieve a record of early continental rifting and basin evolution from the Corinth rift, central Greece. Continental rifting is fundamental for the formation of ocean basins, and active rift zones are dynamic regions of high geohazard potential. However, the detailed spatial and temporal evolution of a complete rift system needed to understand rift development from the fault to plate scale is poorly resolved. In the active Corinth rift, deformation rates are high, the recent synrift succession is preserved and complete offshore, earlier rift phases are preserved onshore, and a dense seismic database provides high-resolution imaging of the fault network and of seismic stratigraphy around the basin. As the basin has subsided, its depositional environment has been affected by fluctuating global sea level and its absolute position relative to sea level, and the basin sediments record this changing environment through time. In Corinth, we can therefore achieve an unprecedented precision of timing and spatial complexity of rift-fault system development, rift-controlled drainage system evolution, and basin fill in the first few million years of rift history. The following are the expedition themes: High-resolution fault slip and rift evolution history, Surface processes in active rifts, High-resolution late Quaternary Eastern Mediterranean paleoclimate and paleoenvironment of a developing rift basin, and Geohazard assessment in an active rift. These objectives were and will be accomplished as a result of successful drilling, coring, and logging at three sites in the Gulf of Corinth, which collectively yielded 1645 m of recovered core over a 1905 m cored interval. Cores recovered at these sites together provide (1) a longer rift history (Sites M0078 and M0080), (2) a high-resolution record of the most recent phase of rifting (Site M0079), and (3) the spatial variation of rift evolution (comparison of sites in the central and eastern rift). The sediments contain a rich and complex record of changing sedimentation, sediment and pore water geochemistry, and environmental conditions from micropaleontological assemblages. The preliminary chronology developed by shipboard analyses will be refined and improved during postexpedition research, providing a high-resolution chronostratigraphy down to the orbital timescale for a range of tectonic, sedimentological, and paleoenvironmental studies. This chronology will provide absolute timing of key rift events, rates of fault movement, rift extension and subsidence, and the spatial variations of these parameters. The core data will also allow us to investigate the relative roles of and feedbacks between tectonics, climate, and eustasy in sediment flux and basin evolution. Finally, the Corinth rift boreholes will provide the first long Quaternary record of Mediterranean-type climate in the region. The potential range of scientific applications for this unique data set is very large, encompassing tectonics, sedimentary processes, paleoenvironment, paleoclimate, paleoecology, geochemistry, and geohazards

    Prospects for progress on health inequalities in England in the post-primary care trust era : professional views on challenges, risks and opportunities

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    Background - Addressing health inequalities remains a prominent policy objective of the current UK government, but current NHS reforms involve a significant shift in roles and responsibilities. Clinicians are now placed at the heart of healthcare commissioning through which significant inequalities in access, uptake and impact of healthcare services must be addressed. Questions arise as to whether these new arrangements will help or hinder progress on health inequalities. This paper explores the perspectives of experienced healthcare professionals working within the commissioning arena; many of whom are likely to remain key actors in this unfolding scenario. Methods - Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 42 professionals involved with health and social care commissioning at national and local levels. These included representatives from the Department of Health, Primary Care Trusts, Strategic Health Authorities, Local Authorities, and third sector organisations. Results - In general, respondents lamented the lack of progress on health inequalities during the PCT commissioning era, where strong policy had not resulted in measurable improvements. However, there was concern that GP-led commissioning will fare little better, particularly in a time of reduced spending. Specific concerns centred on: reduced commitment to a health inequalities agenda; inadequate skills and loss of expertise; and weakened partnership working and engagement. There were more mixed opinions as to whether GP commissioners would be better able than their predecessors to challenge large provider trusts and shift spend towards prevention and early intervention, and whether GPs’ clinical experience would support commissioning action on inequalities. Though largely pessimistic, respondents highlighted some opportunities, including the potential for greater accountability of healthcare commissioners to the public and more influential needs assessments via emergent Health & Wellbeing Boards. Conclusions - There is doubt about the ability of GP commissioners to take clearer action on health inequalities than PCTs have historically achieved. Key actors expect the contribution from commissioning to address health inequalities to become even more piecemeal in the new arrangements, as it will be dependent upon the interest and agency of particular individuals within the new commissioning groups to engage and influence a wider range of stakeholders.</p

    Family coordination in families who have a child with autism spectrum disorder

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    Little is known about the interactions of families where there is a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The present study applies the Lausanne Trilogue Play (LTP) to explore both its applicability to this population as well as to assess resources and areas of deficit in these families. The sample consisted of 68 families with a child with ASD, and 43 families with a typically developing (TD) child. With respect to the global score for family coordination there were several negative correlations: the more severe the symptoms (based on the child’s ADOS score), the more family coordination was dysfunctional. This correlation was particularly high when parents had to play together with the child. In the parts in which only one of the parents played actively with the child, while the other was simply present, some families did achieve scores in the functional range, despite the child’s symptom severity. The outcomes are discussed in terms of their clinical implications both for assessment and for interventio

    Severe aortic and arterial aneurysms associated with a TGFBR2 mutation.

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    BACKGROUND: A 24-year-old man presented with previously diagnosed Marfan\u27s syndrome. Since the age of 9 years, he had undergone eight cardiovascular procedures to treat rapidly progressive aneurysms, dissection and tortuous vascular disease involving the aortic root and arch, the thoracoabdominal aorta, and brachiocephalic, vertebral, internal thoracic and superior mesenteric arteries. Throughout this extensive series of cardiovascular surgical repairs, he recovered without stroke, paraplegia or renal impairment. INVESTIGATIONS: CT scans, arteriogram, genetic mutation screening of transforming growth factor beta receptors 1 and 2. DIAGNOSIS: Diffuse and rapidly progressing vascular disease in a patient who met the diagnostic criteria for Marfan\u27s syndrome, but was later rediagnosed with Loeys-Dietz syndrome. Genetic testing also revealed a de novo mutation in transforming growth factor beta receptor 2. MANAGEMENT: Regular cardiovascular surveillance for aneurysms and dissections, and aggressive surgical treatment of vascular disease

    Effect of Mouth Rinsing and Ingestion of Carbohydrate Solutions on Mood and Perceptual Responses During Exercise

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    Background: The aim of this study was to investigate whether mouth rinsing or ingesting carbohydrate (CHO) solutions impact on perceptual responses during exercise. Methods: Nine moderately trained male cyclists underwent a 90-min glycogen-reducing exercise, and consumed a low CHO meal, prior to completing an overnight fast. A 1-h cycle time trial was performed the following morning. Four trials, each separated by 7days, were conducted in a randomized, counterbalanced study design: 15% CHO mouth rinse (CHOR), 7.5% CHO ingestion (CHOI), placebo mouth rinse (PLAR) and placebo ingestion (PLAI). Solution volumes (1.5ml·g-1 ingestion trials and 0.33ml·kg-1 rinsing trials) were provided after every 12.5% of completed exercise. Perceptual scales were used to assess affective valence (feeling scale, FS), arousal (felt arousal scale, FAS), exertion (ratings of perceived exertion, RPE) and mood (profile of mood states, POMS) before, during and immediately after exercise. Results: There was no difference in RPE (CHOI, 14.0±9; CHOR, 14.2±.7; PLAI, 14.6±1.8; PLAR, 14.6±2.0; P=0.35), FS (CHOI, 0.0±1.7; CHOR, -0.2±1.5; PLAI, -0.8±1.4; PLAR, -0.8±1.6; P0.15), or FAS (CHOI, 3.6±1.1; CHOR, 3.5±1.0; PLAI, 3.4±1.4; PLAR, 3.3±1.3; P=725) scores between trials. While overall POMS score did not appear to differ between trials, the 'vigour' subscale indicated that CHOI may facilitate the maintenance of 'vigour' scores over time, in comparison to the steady decline witnessed in other trials (P=0.04). There was no difference in time trial performance between trials (CHOI, 65.3±4.8min; CHOR, 68.4±3.9min; PLAI, 68.7±5.3min; PLAR, 68.3±5.2min; P=0.21) but power output was higher in CHOI (231.0±33.2 W) relative to other trials (221-223.6 W; Plt0.01). Conclusions: In a CHO-reduced state, mouth rinsing with a CHO solution did not impact on perceptual responses during high-intensity exercise in trained cyclists and triathletes. On the other hand CHO ingestion improved perceived ratings of vigour and increased power output during exercise

    RNAseq Analyses Identify Tumor Necrosis Factor-Mediated Inflammation as a Major Abnormality in ALS Spinal Cord

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    ALS is a rapidly progressive, devastating neurodegenerative illness of adults that produces disabling weakness and spasticity arising from death of lower and upper motor neurons. No meaningful therapies exist to slow ALS progression, and molecular insights into pathogenesis and progression are sorely needed. In that context, we used high-depth, next generation RNA sequencing (RNAseq, Illumina) to define gene network abnormalities in RNA samples depleted of rRNA and isolated from cervical spinal cord sections of 7 ALS and 8 CTL samples. We aligned \u3e50 million 2X150 bp paired-end sequences/sample to the hg19 human genome and applied three different algorithms (Cuffdiff2, DEseq2, EdgeR) for identification of differentially expressed genes (DEG’s). Ingenuity Pathways Analysis (IPA) and Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis (WGCNA) identified inflammatory processes as significantly elevated in our ALS samples, with tumor necrosis factor (TNF) found to be a major pathway regulator (IPA) and TNFα-induced protein 2 (TNFAIP2) as a major network “hub” gene (WGCNA). Using the oPOSSUM algorithm, we analyzed transcription factors (TF) controlling expression of the nine DEG/hub genes in the ALS samples and identified TF’s involved in inflammation (NFkB, REL, NFkB1) and macrophage function (NR1H2::RXRA heterodimer). Transient expression in human iPSC-derived motor neurons of TNFAIP2 (also a DEG identified by all three algorithms) reduced cell viability and induced caspase 3/7 activation. Using high-density RNAseq, multiple algorithms for DEG identification, and an unsupervised gene co-expression network approach, we identified significant elevation of inflammatory processes in ALS spinal cord with TNF as a major regulatory molecule. Overexpression of the DEG TNFAIP2 in human motor neurons, the population most vulnerable to die in ALS, increased cell death and caspase 3/7 activation. We propose that therapies targeted to reduce inflammatory TNFα signaling may be helpful in ALS patients

    Maternal Mid-Gestation Cytokine Dysregulation in Mothers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

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    Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder characterised by deficits in social interactions and communication, with stereotypical and repetitive behaviours. Recent evidence suggests that maternal immune dysregulation may predispose offspring to ASD. Independent samples t-tests revealed downregulation of IL-17A concentrations in cases, when compared to controls, at both 15 weeks (p = 0.02), and 20 weeks (p = 0.02), which persisted at 20 weeks following adjustment for confounding variables. This adds to the growing body of evidence that maternal immune regulation may play a role in foetal neurodevelopment

    Sideroflexin 3 is an α-synuclein-dependent mitochondrial protein that regulates synaptic morphology.

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    α-Synuclein plays a central role in Parkinson's disease, where it contributes to the vulnerability of synapses to degeneration. However, the downstream mechanisms through which α-synuclein controls synaptic stability and degeneration are not fully understood. Here, comparative proteomics on synapses isolated from α-synuclein-/- mouse brain identified mitochondrial proteins as primary targets of α-synuclein, revealing 37 mitochondrial proteins not previously linked to α-synuclein or neurodegeneration pathways. Of these, sideroflexin 3 (SFXN3) was found to be a mitochondrial protein localized to the inner mitochondrial membrane. Loss of SFXN3 did not disturb mitochondrial electron transport chain function in mouse synapses, suggesting that its function in mitochondria is likely to be independent of canonical bioenergetic pathways. In contrast, experimental manipulation of SFXN3 levels disrupted synaptic morphology at the Drosophila neuromuscular junction. These results provide novel insights into α-synuclein-dependent pathways, highlighting an important influence on mitochondrial proteins at the synapse, including SFXN3. We also identify SFXN3 as a new mitochondrial protein capable of regulating synaptic morphology in vivo
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