Structural complexity at and around the Triassic-Jurassic GSSP at Kuhjoch, Northern Calcareous Alps, Austria

One of the key requirements for a Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) is the absence of tectonic disturbance. The GSSP for the Triassic–Jurassic system boundary was recently defined at Kuhjoch, Northern Calcareous Alps, Austria. New field observations in the area of the Triassic–Jurassic boundary GSSP site demonstrate that the overturned, tight, and almost upright Karwendel syncline was formed at semibrittle deformation conditions, confirmed by axial planar foliation. Tight to isoclinal folds at various scales were related to a tectonic transport to the north. Brittle faulting occurred before and after folding as confirmed by tilt tests (the rotation of structural data by the average bedding). Foliation is ubiquitous in the incompetent units, including the Kendlbach Formation at the GSSP. A reverse fault (inferred to be formed as a normal fault before folding) crosscuts the GSSP sections, results in the partial tectonic omission of the Schattwald Beds, and thus makes it impossible to measure a complete and continuous stratigraphic section across the whole Kendlbach Formation. Based on these observations, the Kuhjoch sections do not fulfil the specific requirement for a GSSP regarding the absence of tectonic disturbances near boundary level

A possible new phase of antagonistic nematogens in a disorienting field

A simple model is proposed for nematogenic molecules that favor perpendicular orientations as well as parallel ones. (Charged rods, for example, show this antagonistic tendency.) When a small disorienting field is applied along $z$, a low density phase $N_-$ of nematic order parameter $S_z<0$ coexists with a dense biaxial nematic $N_b$. (At zero field, $N_-$ becomes isotropic and $N_b$ uniaxial.) But at stronger fields, a new phase $N_{+4}$, invariant under $\pi/2$ rotations around the field axis, appears in between $N_-$ and $N_b$. Prospects for finding the $N_{+4}$ phase experimentally are briefly discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. Accepted for publication in PR

DUckCov: a Dynamic Undocking‐based Virtual Screening Protocol for Covalent Binders

Thanks to recent guidelines, the design of safe and effective covalent drugs has gained significant interest. Other than targeting non‐conserved nucleophilic residues, optimizing the noncovalent binding framework is important to improve potency and selectivity of covalent binders toward the desired target. Significant efforts have been made in extending the computational toolkits to include a covalent mechanism of protein targeting, like in the development of covalent docking methods for binding mode prediction. To highlight the value of the noncovalent complex in the covalent binding process, here we describe a new protocol using tethered and constrained docking in combination with Dynamic Undocking (DUck) as a tool to privilege strong protein binders for the identification of novel covalent inhibitors. At the end of the protocol, dedicated covalent docking methods were used to rank and select the virtual hits based on the predicted binding mode. By validating the method on JAK3 and KRas, we demonstrate how this fast iterative protocol can be applied to explore a wide chemical space and identify potent targeted covalent inhibitors

Paleogeographic evolution of the Southern Pannonian Basin: 40Ar/39Ar age constraints on the Miocene continental series of notthern Croatia

The Pannonian Basin, originating during the Early Miocene, is a large extensional basin incorporated between Alpine, Carpathian and Dinaride fold-thrust belts. Back-arc extensional tectonics triggered deposition of up to 500-m-thick continental fluvio-lacustrine deposits distributed in numerous sub-basins of the Southern Pannonian Basin. Extensive andesitic and dacitic volcanism accompanied the syn-rift deposition and caused a number of pyroclastic intercalations. Here, we analyze two volcanic ash layers located at the base and top of the continental series. The lowermost ash from Mt. Kalnik yielded an 40Ar/39Ar age of 18.07 ± 0.07 Ma. This indicates that the marine-continental transition in the Slovenia-Zagorje Basin, coinciding with the onset of rifting tectonics in the Southern Pannonian Basin, occurs roughly at the Eggenburgian/ Ottnangian boundary of the regional Paratethys time scale. This age proves the synchronicity of initial rifting in the Southern Pannonian Basin with the beginning of sedimentation in the Dinaride Lake System. Beside geodynamic evolution, the two regions also share a biotic evolutionary history: both belong to the same ecoregion, which we designate here as the Illyrian Bioprovince. The youngest volcanic ash level is sampled at the Glina and Karlovac sub-depressions, and both sites yield the same 40Ar/39Ar age of 15.91 ± 0.06 and 16.03 ± 0.06 Ma, respectively. This indicates that lacustrine sedimentation in the Southern Pannonian Basin continued at least until the earliest Badenian. The present results provide not only important bench marks on duration of initial synrift in the Pannonian Basin System, but also deliver substantial backbone data for paleogeographic reconstructions in Central and Southeastern Europe around the Early–Middle Miocene transition

Mathematics Curriculum Change: Identifying Parental Expectations

Parents’growing concerns about the current approaches to learning mathematics in elementary school have drawn public attention in Canada. Rather than dismiss such concerns, understanding parent perceptions and garnering their support is essential to ongoing curriculum transformation and students’ success in mathematics learning. Using phenomenography, we examined parents’ perceptions of the current mathematics curriculum and their children’s experiences as expressed in community-based focus groups and individual interviews. Parents responded based on their past experiences, their views of children’s current experiences and their future aspirations for their children. Our analysis of parents’ perspectives revealed that their concerns and critiques were grounded in the expectations they held for their children’s mathematics learning. In particular, parental expectations fell into three categories: students need the opportunity to reach expected goals of mathematics learning; essential supports must be in place to reach expected goals; and, home-school communication is necessary for parent understanding and engagement. We suggest that by understanding the specific expectations that underlie parents’ concerns, teachers can engage in conversations that begin with affirming mutual expectations and respecting parents’ personal experiences to lead to partnering with parents as they realize their agency in their children’s learning

Published geological map

BC Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, Geoscience Map 2006-2Base Map Information Base map has been produced from digital TRIM (Terrain Resource Inventory Management) 1:20 000 topographic database provided by the British Columbia Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks. North American Datum (NAD) 1983. Universal Transverse Mercator Projection (Zone 9). Elevation in metres above mean sea level. Contour interval 100m

Lessons from Earth’s Deep Past: Climate Change and Ocean Acidification 200 Million Years Ago

Understanding ongoing climate change is a major scientific challenge. Climate events in the deep history of Earth can inform us about the possible extremes of greenhouse conditions, rates and magnitude of long-term climate change, and their consequences to the ocean and the biosphere. The end of the Triassic period was a time of greenhouse warming, driven by volcanic emission of CO2 and other gases from eruptions in the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province. The end-Triassic mass extinction is the biotic response to rapid environmental changes triggered by volcanism. Ocean acidification was likely a major factor driving the selective extinction of calcifying marine organisms