Geochemical and Isotopic Evolution of Late Oligocene Magmatism in Quchan, NE Iran

Magmatic activity that accompanied the collision between Arabia and Eurasia at ∼27 Ma, provides unique opportunities for understanding the triggers and magma reservoirs for collisional magmatism and its different styles in magmatic fronts and back-arcs. We present new ages and geochemical-isotopic results for magmatic rocks that formed during the collision between Arabia and Eurasia in NE Iran, which was a back-arc region to the main magmatic arcs of Iran. Our new zircon U-Pb ages indicate that collisional magmatism began at ∼24 Ma in the NE Iran back-arc, although magmatism in this area started in the Late Cretaceous time and continued until the Pleistocene. The collisional igneous rocks are characteristically bimodal, and basaltic-andesitic and dacitic-rhyolitic components show significant isotopic differences; εNd(t) = +4.4 to +7.4 and εHf(t) = +5.4 to +9.5 for mafic rocks and εNd(t) = +0.2 to +8.4 and εHf(t) = +3.4 to +12.3 for silicic rocks. The isotopic values and modeling suggest that fractional crystallization and assimilation-fractional crystallization played important roles in the genesis of felsic rocks in the NE Iran collisional zone. Trace element and isotopic modeling further emphasize that the main triggers of the magmatism in NE Iran comprise a depleted to the enriched mantle and the Cadomian continental crust of Iran. Our results also emphasize the temporal magmatic variations in the NE Iran back-arc from Late Cretaceous to Pleistocene. © 2021. The Authors

Modeling of droplet generation in a top blowing steelmaking process

Quantification of metal droplets ejected due to impinging gas jet on the surface of liquid metal is an important parameter for the understanding and for the modeling of the refining kinetics of reactions in slag-metal emulsion zone. In the present work, a numerical study has been carried out to critically examine the applicability of droplet generation rate correlation previously proposed by Subagyo et al. on the basis of dimensionless blowing number (N B). The blowing number was re-evaluated at the impingement point of jet with taking into account the temperature effect of change in density and velocity of the gas jet. The result obtained from the work shows that the modified blowing number N B,T at the furnace temperature of 1873 K (1600 °C) is approximately double in magnitude compared to N B calculated by Subagyo and co-workers. When N B,T has been employed to the Subagyo’s empirical correlation for droplet generation, a wide mismatch is observed between the experimental data obtained from cold model and hot model experiments. The reason for this large deviation has been investigated in the current study, and a theoretical approach to estimate the droplet generation rate has been proposed. The suitability of the proposed model has been tested by numerically calculating the amount of metals in slag. The study shows that the weight of metals in emulsion falls in the range of 0 to 21 wt pct of hot metal weight when droplet generation rate has been calculated at ambient furnace temperature of 1873 K (1600 °C)

Reconsideration of species boundaries and proposed DNA barcodes for Calonectria

Calonectria represents a genus of phytopathogenic ascomycetous fungi with a worldwide distribution. In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of taxonomic studies on these fungi. Currently, there are 169 described species of Calonectria based on comparisons of DNA sequence data, combined with morphological characteristics. However, for some of these species, the sequence data utilised at the time of their description were relatively limited. This has justified an urgent need to reconsider the species boundaries for Calonectria based on robust genus-wide phylogenetic analyses. In this study, we utilised 240 available isolates including the ex-types of 128 Calonectria species, and re-sequenced eight gene regions (act, cmdA, his3, ITS, LSU, rpb2, tef1 and tub2) for them. Sequences for 44 Calonectria species, for which cultures could not be obtained, were downloaded from GenBank. DNA sequence data of all the 169 Calonectria species were then used to determine their phylogenetic relationships. As a consequence, 51 species were reduced to synonymy, two new species were identified, and the name Ca. lauri was validated. This resulted in the acceptance of 120 clearly defined Calonectria spp. The overall data revealed that the genus includes 11 species complexes, distributed across the Prolate and Sphaero-Naviculate Groups known to divide Calonectria. The results also made it possible to develop a robust set of DNA barcodes for Calonectria spp. To accomplish this goal, we evaluated the outcomes of each of the eight candidate DNA barcodes for the genus, as well as for each of the 11 species complexes. No single gene region provided a clear identity for all Calonectria species. Sequences of the tef1 and tub2 genes were the most reliable markers; those for the cmdA, his3, rpb2 and act gene regions also provided a relatively effective resolution for Calonectria spp., while the ITS and LSU failed to produce useful barcodes for species discrimination. At the species complex level, results showed that the most informative barcodes were inconsistent, but that a combination of six candidate barcodes (tef1, tub2, cmdA, his3, rpb2 and act) provided stable and reliable resolution for all 11 species complexes. A six-gene combined phylogeny resolved all 120 Calonectria species, and revealed that tef1, tub2, cmdA, his3, rpb2 and act gene regions are effective DNA barcodes for Calonectria.http://www.studiesinmycology.orgam2021BiochemistryForestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI)GeneticsMicrobiology and Plant Patholog

Time-Dependent CP Violation Effects in Partially Reconstructed B0→D∗πB^0 \to D^* \pi Decays

We report measurements of time-dependent decay rates for $B^0 \to D^{*\mp} \pi^\pm$ decays and extraction of CP violation parameters related to $\phi_3$. We use a partial reconstruction technique, whereby signal events are identified using information only from the primary pion and the charged pion from the decay of the $D^{*\mp}$. The analysis uses $140 {\rm fb}^{-1}$ of data accumulated at the $\Upsilon(4S)$ resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy $e^{+}e^{-}$ collider. We measure the CP violation parameters $S^+ = 0.035 \pm 0.041 ({\rm stat}) \pm 0.018 ({\rm syst})$ and $S^- = 0.025 \pm 0.041 ({\rm stat}) \pm 0.018 ({\rm syst})$.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures. To appear in Physics Letters

Progress in muscular dystrophy research with special emphasis on gene therapy

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is an X-linked, progressive muscle-wasting disease caused by mutations in the DMD gene. Since the disease was described by physicians in the 19th century, information about the subject has been accumulated. One author (Sugita) was one of the coworkers who first reported that the serum creatine kinase (CK) level is elevated in progressive muscular dystrophy patients. Even 50 years after that first report, an elevated serum CK level is still the most useful marker in the diagnosis of DMD, a sensitive index of the state of skeletal muscle, and useful to evaluate therapeutic effects. In the latter half of this article, we describe recent progress in the therapy of DMD, with an emphasis on gene therapies, particularly exon skipping

Major vault protein suppresses obesity and atherosclerosis through inhibiting IKK-NF-kappa B signaling mediated inflammation

Macrophage-orchestrated, low-grade chronic inflammation plays a pivotal role in obesity and atherogenesis. However, the underlying regulatory mechanisms remain incompletely understood. Here, we identify major vault protein (MVP), the main component of unique cellular ribonucleoprotein particles, as a suppressor for NF-κB signaling in macrophages. Both global and myeloid-specific MVP gene knockout aggravates high-fat diet induced obesity, insulin resistance, hepatic steatosis and atherosclerosis in mice. The exacerbated metabolic disorders caused by MVP deficiency are accompanied with increased macrophage infiltration and heightened inflammatory responses in the microenvironments. In vitro studies reveal that MVP interacts with TRAF6 preventing its recruitment to IRAK1 and subsequent oligomerization and ubiquitination. Overexpression of MVP and its α-helical domain inhibits the activity of TRAF6 and suppresses macrophage inflammation. Our results demonstrate that macrophage MVP constitutes a key constraint of NF-κB signaling thereby suppressing metabolic diseases