Foreland of the Romanian Carpathians : Controls on late orogenic sedimentary basin evolution and Paratethys paleogeography

Cloetingh, S.A.P.L. [Promotor]Matenco, L. [Copromotor]Bertotti, G. [Copromotor

Large scale deformation in a locked collisional boundary: Interplay between subsidence and uplift, intraplate stress and inherited lithospheric structure in the late stage of the SE Carpathians evolution.

The interplay between slab dynamics and intraplate stresses in postcollisional times creates large near-surface deformation, particularly in highly bent orogens with significant lateral variations in mechanical properties. This deformation is expressed through abnormal foredeep geometries and contrasting patterns of vertical movements. Intraplate folding is often the controlling mechanism, particularly when the orogenic belt is locked. The study of these tectonic processes in the SE Carpathians indicates a generalized subsidence period during latest Miocene-Pliocene times driven by the slab-pull and an intraplate folding due to an overall Quaternary inversion. The latter accommodates -5 km ESE-ward movement of this area with respect to the neighboring units, which creates complicated three-dimensional deformation patterns potentially driven at a larger scale by the interaction between the Adriatic indentor and the entire Carpathians system. The lithospheric anisotropy inherited from the subduction times concentrates strain and induces large-scale deformation far away from the active plate margins. This anisotropy is dynamic because of deep mantle processes related to the subducted slab during postcollisional times, such as thermal reequilibration or increase in slab dip. Copyright 2007 by the American Geophysical Union

Antibiotic production in soilborne microorganisms

Antibiotic resistance is a growing global problem due to oversight by international governments and pharmaceutical companies. By 2050, it is estimated that antibiotic-resistant bacteria will kill more people every year that diabetes and cancer combined according to Tackling Drug Resistant Infections Globally: Final Report and Recommendations. There are six main species of concern per the CDC, Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter sp. also referred to as the ESKAPE pathogens. The task of discovering new antibiotics has been left to nonprofits like the Small World Initiative, which also works in tandem with high schools and universities by isolating secondary metabolites from bacteria collected from soil, water, and agricultural samples. The main producers of these secondary metabolites with antibiotic properties are bacteria within the genus Streptomyces. Using these methods, I was able to isolate three bacterial species and two fungal species, which unfortunately did not produce any secondary metabolites.Honors CollegeThesis (B.?

Printed and structurally integrated electronics for air force applications

Both printed and flexible electronic systems promise to integrate functional devices into new form factors (e.g., structures or clothing) and environments. Of particular interest are the mechanically harsh environmental conditions to which military systems are sometimes exposed, which can be quite severe (i.e., upward of 100,000 G peak acceleration within 0.1 ms), and commercial off-the-shelf components are not designed to maintain functionality under such rugged conditions. The overarching aim of this project is to leverage the unique ability of additive manufacturing to digitally control materials properties in three dimensions to create multifunctional systems whose structure is ruggedized for mechanically these harsh environments. Specifically, the work presented here will discuss the initial efforts to develop and characterize the electronic and mechanical properties of dielectric (i.e., PMMA and PVDF-HFP) and conductive Ag inks compatible with filamentary deposition. These inks have been 3D printed into parallel plate capacitors in a continuous process and electrically characterized. We will discuss the path planning necessary to ensure the dielectric breakdown strength of such printed dielectrics was comparable to spin- and tape cast films, and initial high-G drop tower testing results. These results are the first step towards stretchable passive electrical devices for high-G applications and their integration into structures for embedded sensing. Finally, this work will be tied into the broader interests of the Air Force Research Laboratory by highlighting external efforts to develop both structurally integrated and flexible hybrid electronics

Tectonic significance of changes in post-subduction Pliocene-Quaternary magmatism in the south east part of the Carpathian-Pannonian Region

The south-eastern part of the Carpathian–Pannonian region records the cessation of convergence between the European platform/Moesia and the Tisza–Dacia microplate. Plio-Quaternary magmatic activity in this area, in close proximity to the ‘Vrancea zone’, shows a shift from normal calc-alkaline to much more diverse compositions (adakite-like calc-alkaline, K-alkalic, mafic Na-alkalic and ultrapotassic), suggesting a significant change in geodynamic processes at approximately 3 Ma. We review the tectonic setting, timing, petrology and geochemistry of the post-collisional volcanism to constrain the role of orogenic building processes such as subduction or collision on melt production and migration. The calc-alkaline volcanism (5.3–3.9 Ma) marks the end of normal subduction-related magmatism along the post-collisional Călimani–Gurghiu–Harghita volcanic chain in front of the European convergent plate margin. At ca. 3 Ma in South Harghita magma compositions changed to adakite-like calc-alkaline and continued until recent times (< 0.03 Ma) interrupted at 1.6–1.2 Ma by generation of Na and K-alkalic magmas, signifying changes in the source and melting mechanism. We attribute the changes in magma composition in front of the Moesian platform to two main geodynamic events: (1) slab-pull and steepening with opening of a tear window (adakite-like calc-alkaline magmas) and (2) renewed contraction associated with deep mantle processes such as slab steepening during post-collisional times (Na and K-alkalic magmas). Contemporaneous post-collisional volcanism at the eastern edge of the Pannonian Basin at 2.6–1.3 Ma was dominated by Na-alkalic and ultrapotassic magmas, suggesting a close relationship with thermal asthenospheric doming and strain partitioning related to the Adriatic indentation. Similar timing, magma chamber processes and volume for K-alkalic (shoshonitic) magmas in the South Apuseni Mountains (1.6 Ma) and South Harghita area at a distance of ca. 200 km imply a regional connection with the inversion tectonics

Worker-queen dimorphism and queen winglessness in Megalomyrmex Forel, 1885

The evolutionary success of eusocial insects, such as ants, is attributed to their division of labor between reproductive and non-reproductive castes. For most ant species, reproduction is carried out by winged queens. However, for some species, ergatoid queens (wingless queens) – with intermediate morphologies between winged queens and workers – have replaced winged queens. In the ant genus Megalomyrmex Forel, 1885, 16 of the 45 species described have ergatoid queens. As a consequence of flight loss, wingless queens are dependent on their parent colony when founding. They disperse on foot with a subset of their sisters from their natal nest (i.e., budding). In Megalomyrmex, queen winglessness has been gained and lost multiple times throughout its evolutionary history and in the instance of four species, it may occur simultaneously with the winged queen strategy in the same species. Using extensive morphological measurements, we examine worker-queen dimorphism of wingless queens in Megalomyrmex. These include measurements of the head, eyes, mesosoma, and metasoma. Focusing primarily on the head and eye morphology, we explore the relationship of these traits between castes within the genus. Our findings support the established trend that winged queens are typically larger while ergatoid queens are more worker-like. Additionally, we find that the eyes of winged queens are larger than that of ergatoid queens relative to their body size, which may suggest a similar relationship between winged and ergatoid queens with regards to eye morphology. Our study contributes to the growing body of knowledge on ergatoid queen evolution, as well as the evolutionary relationship between morphology, natural history, and colony reproduction.Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program (URAP) GrantA three-year embargo was granted for this item.Academic Major: Biolog

Short communication: Runout of rock avalanches limited by basal friction but controlled by fragmentation

Rock avalanches produce exceptionally long run-outs that correlate with their rock volume. This relationship has been attributed to the size-dependent dynamic lowering of the effective basal friction. However, it has also been observed that run-outs of rock avalanches with similar volumes can span several orders of magnitude, suggesting additional controlling factors. Here, we analyse analogue models of rock avalanches, with the experiments designed to test the role of dynamic fragmentation. We show that for a fixed low basal friction, the run-out of experimental rock avalanches varies over 2 orders of magnitude and is determined by their degree of fragmentation, while the basal friction acts only as an upper limit on run-out. We interpret the run-out's dependence on fragmentation as being controlled by the competition between mobility enhancing spreading and energy-consuming fragmentation limited by basal friction. We formalize this competition into a scaling law based on energy conservation, which shows that the variation in the degree of fragmentation can contribute to the large variation in run-out of rock avalanches seen in nature.</p

Crustal structure of the carpathian-pannonian region from ambient noise tomography

We use ambient noise tomography to investigate the crust and uppermost mantle structure beneath the Carpathian-Pannonian region of Central Europe. Over 7500 Rayleigh wave empirical Green's functions are derived from interstation cross-correlations of vertical component ambient seismic noise recordings (2005-2011) using a temporary network of 54 stations deployed during the South Carpathian Project (2009-2011), 56 temporary stations deployed in the Carpathian Basins Project (2005-2007) and 100 permanent and regional broad-band stations. Rayleigh wave group velocity dispersion curves (4-40 s) are determined using the multiple-filter analysis technique. Group velocity maps are computed on a grid of 0.2° × 0.2° from a non-linear 2-D tomographic inversion using the subspace method. We then inverted the group velocity maps for the 3-D shear wave velocity structure of the crust and uppermost mantle beneath the region. Our shear wave velocity model provides a uniquely complete and relatively high-resolution view of the crustal structure in the Carpathian-Pannonian region, which in general is validated by comparison with previous studies using other methods to probe the crustal structure. At shallow depths (30 km are relatively fast, presumably related to shallowing of the Moho consequent on the extensional history of the Pannonian region

Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 84 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2017 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Background: The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2017 comparative risk assessment (CRA) is a comprehensive approach to risk factor quantification that offers a useful tool for synthesising evidence on risks and risk outcome associations. With each annual GBD study, we update the GBD CRA to incorporate improved methods, new risks and risk outcome pairs, and new data on risk exposure levels and risk outcome associations. Methods: We used the CRA framework developed for previous iterations of GBD to estimate levels and trends in exposure, attributable deaths, and attributable disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), by age group, sex, year, and location for 84 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or groups of risks from 1990 to 2017. This study included 476 risk outcome pairs that met the GBD study criteria for convincing or probable evidence of causation. We extracted relative risk and exposure estimates from 46 749 randomised controlled trials, cohort studies, household surveys, census data, satellite data, and other sources. We used statistical models to pool data, adjust for bias, and incorporate covariates. Using the counterfactual scenario of theoretical minimum risk exposure level (TMREL), we estimated the portion of deaths and DALYs that could be attributed to a given risk. We explored the relationship between development and risk exposure by modelling the relationship between the Socio-demographic Index (SDI) and risk-weighted exposure prevalence and estimated expected levels of exposure and risk-attributable burden by SDI. Finally, we explored temporal changes in risk-attributable DALYs by decomposing those changes into six main component drivers of change as follows: (1) population growth; (2) changes in population age structures; (3) changes in exposure to environmental and occupational risks; (4) changes in exposure to behavioural risks; (5) changes in exposure to metabolic risks; and (6) changes due to all other factors, approximated as the risk-deleted death and DALY rates, where the risk-deleted rate is the rate that would be observed had we reduced the exposure levels to the TMREL for all risk factors included in GBD 2017. Findings: In 2017,34.1 million (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 33.3-35.0) deaths and 121 billion (144-1.28) DALYs were attributable to GBD risk factors. Globally, 61.0% (59.6-62.4) of deaths and 48.3% (46.3-50.2) of DALYs were attributed to the GBD 2017 risk factors. When ranked by risk-attributable DALYs, high systolic blood pressure (SBP) was the leading risk factor, accounting for 10.4 million (9.39-11.5) deaths and 218 million (198-237) DALYs, followed by smoking (7.10 million [6.83-7.37] deaths and 182 million [173-193] DALYs), high fasting plasma glucose (6.53 million [5.23-8.23] deaths and 171 million [144-201] DALYs), high body-mass index (BMI; 4.72 million [2.99-6.70] deaths and 148 million [98.6-202] DALYs), and short gestation for birthweight (1.43 million [1.36-1.51] deaths and 139 million [131-147] DALYs). In total, risk-attributable DALYs declined by 4.9% (3.3-6.5) between 2007 and 2017. In the absence of demographic changes (ie, population growth and ageing), changes in risk exposure and risk-deleted DALYs would have led to a 23.5% decline in DALYs during that period. Conversely, in the absence of changes in risk exposure and risk-deleted DALYs, demographic changes would have led to an 18.6% increase in DALYs during that period. The ratios of observed risk exposure levels to exposure levels expected based on SDI (O/E ratios) increased globally for unsafe drinking water and household air pollution between 1990 and 2017. This result suggests that development is occurring more rapidly than are changes in the underlying risk structure in a population. Conversely, nearly universal declines in O/E ratios for smoking and alcohol use indicate that, for a given SDI, exposure to these risks is declining. In 2017, the leading Level 4 risk factor for age-standardised DALY rates was high SBP in four super-regions: central Europe, eastern Europe, and central Asia; north Africa and Middle East; south Asia; and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania. The leading risk factor in the high-income super-region was smoking, in Latin America and Caribbean was high BMI, and in sub-Saharan Africa was unsafe sex. O/E ratios for unsafe sex in sub-Saharan Africa were notably high, and those for alcohol use in north Africa and the Middle East were notably low. Interpretation: By quantifying levels and trends in exposures to risk factors and the resulting disease burden, this assessment offers insight into where past policy and programme efforts might have been successful and highlights current priorities for public health action. Decreases in behavioural, environmental, and occupational risks have largely offset the effects of population growth and ageing, in relation to trends in absolute burden. Conversely, the combination of increasing metabolic risks and population ageing will probably continue to drive the increasing trends in non-communicable diseases at the global level, which presents both a public health challenge and opportunity. We see considerable spatiotemporal heterogeneity in levels of risk exposure and risk-attributable burden. Although levels of development underlie some of this heterogeneity, O/E ratios show risks for which countries are overperforming or underperforming relative to their level of development. As such, these ratios provide a benchmarking tool to help to focus local decision making. Our findings reinforce the importance of both risk exposure monitoring and epidemiological research to assess causal connections between risks and health outcomes, and they highlight the usefulness of the GBD study in synthesising data to draw comprehensive and robust conclusions that help to inform good policy and strategic health planning