A coherent middle Pliocene magnetostratigraphy, Wanganui Basin, New Zealand

We document magnetostratigraphies for three river sections (Turakina, Rangitikei, Wanganui) in Wanganui Basin and interpret them as corresponding to the Upper Gilbert, the Gauss and lower Matuyama Chrons of the Geomagnetic Polarity Timescale, in agreement with foraminiferal biostratigraphic datums. The Gauss-Gilbert transition (3.58 Ma) is located in both the Turakina and Wanganui River sections, while the Gauss-Matuyama transition (2.58 Ma) is located in all three sections, as are the lower and upper boundaries of the Mammoth (3.33–3.22 Ma) and Kaena (3.11–3.04 Ma) Subchrons. Our interpretations are based in part on the re-analysis of existing datasets and in part on the acquisition and analysis of new data, particularly for the Wanganui River section. The palaeomagnetic dates of these six horizons provide the only numerical age control for a thick (up to 2000 m) mudstone succession (Tangahoe Mudstone) that accumulated chiefly in upper bathyal and outer neritic palaeoenvironments. In the Wanganui River section the mean sediment accumulation rate is estimated to have been about 1.8 m/k.y., in the Turakina section it was about 1.5 m/k.y., and in the Rangitikei section, the mean rate from the beginning of the Mammoth Subchron to the Hautawa Shellbed was about 1.1 m/k.y. The high rates may be associated with the progradation of slope clinoforms northward through the basin. This new palaeomagnetic timescale allows revised correlations to be made between cyclothems in the Rangitikei River section and the global Oxygen Isotope Stages (OIS) as represented in Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 846. The 16 depositional sequences between the end of the Mammoth Subchron and the Gauss-Matuyama Boundary are correlated with OIS MG2 to 100. The cyclothems average 39 k.y. in duration in our age model, which is close to the 41 k.y. duration of the orbital obliquity cycles. We support the arguments advanced recently in defence of the need for local New Zealand stages as a means of classifying New Zealand sedimentary successions, and strongly oppose the proposal to move stage boundaries to selected geomagnetic polarity transitions. The primary magnetisation of New Zealand mudstone is frequently overprinted with secondary components of diagenetic origin, and hence it is often difficult to obtain reliable magnetostratigraphic records. We suggest specific approaches, analytical methods, and criteria to help ensure robustness and coherency in the palaeomagnetic identification of chron boundaries in typical New Zealand Cenozoic mudstone successions

Superconductivity in Co-doped LaFeAsO

Here we report the synthesis and basic characterization of LaFe1-xCoxAsO for several values of x. The parent phase LaFeAsO orders antiferromagnetically (TN ~ 145 K). Replacing Fe with Co is expected to both electron dope the system and introduce disorder in the FeAs layer. For x = 0.05 antiferromagnetic order is destroyed and superconductivity is observed at Tconset = 11.2 K. For x = 0.11 superconductivity is observed at Tc(onset) = 14.3 K, and for x = 0.15 Tc = 6.0 K. Superconductivity is not observed for x = 0.2 and 0.5, but for x = 1, the material appears to be ferromagnetic (Tc ~ 56 K) as judged by magnetization measurements. We conclude that Co is an effective dopant to induce superconductivity. Somewhat surprisingly, the system appears to tolerate considerable disorder in the FeAs planes.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figure

Acute Exercise Increases Adiponectin Levels in Abdominally Obese Men

Objective. To examine the effect of acute and short-term (~1 week) aerobic exercise training on plasma adiponectin levels in inactive, abdominally obese men. Materials and Methods. Inactive and abdominally obese men (n = 38, waist circumference ≥102 cm) recruited from Kingston, Canada were randomly allocated to perform three bouts of aerobic treadmill exercise at either low (50% VO2 peak) or high (75% VO2 peak) intensity during a 1-week period. Blood samples were taken before and after the first exercise session and 24–72 hours following the completion of the final exercise session. Results. Adiponectin levels were elevated immediately following an acute bout of exercise at both high and low intensities (High: 5.79 ± 0.42 versus 5.05 ± 0.41 ug/mL; Low: 5.24 ± 0.44 versus 4.37 ± 0.44 ug/mL, P < 0.05) and remained elevated following 30 minutes of rest. In comparison to baseline, adiponectin levels were also elevated 24–72 hours following the final exercise session (High: 5.47 ± 0.48 versus 4.88 ± 0.48 ug/mL; Low: 5.18 ± 0.49 versus 4.47 ± 0.49 ug/mL, P < 0.05). Conclusion. Both acute and short-term aerobic exercise result in a significant increase in plasma adiponectin levels in inactive, abdominally obese men independent of intensity

Acute Exercise Increases Adiponectin Levels in Abdominally Obese Men

Objective. To examine the effect of acute and short-term (~1 week) aerobic exercise training on plasma adiponectin levels in inactive, abdominally obese men. Materials and Methods. Inactive and abdominally obese men (n = 38, waist circumference ≥102 cm) recruited from Kingston, Canada were randomly allocated to perform three bouts of aerobic treadmill exercise at either low (50% VO2 peak) or high (75% VO2 peak) intensity during a 1-week period. Blood samples were taken before and after the first exercise session and 24–72 hours following the completion of the final exercise session. Results. Adiponectin levels were elevated immediately following an acute bout of exercise at both high and low intensities (High: 5.79 ± 0.42 versus 5.05 ± 0.41 ug/mL; Low: 5.24 ± 0.44 versus 4.37 ± 0.44 ug/mL, P < 0.05) and remained elevated following 30 minutes of rest. In comparison to baseline, adiponectin levels were also elevated 24–72 hours following the final exercise session (High: 5.47 ± 0.48 versus 4.88 ± 0.48 ug/mL; Low: 5.18 ± 0.49 versus 4.47 ± 0.49 ug/mL, P < 0.05). Conclusion. Both acute and short-term aerobic exercise result in a significant increase in plasma adiponectin levels in inactive, abdominally obese men independent of intensity

Groundwater depletion and sustainability of irrigation in the US High Plains and Central Valley

Aquifer overexploitation could significantly impact crop production in the United States because 60% of irrigation relies on groundwater. Groundwater depletion in the irrigated High Plains and California Central Valley accounts for ∼50% of groundwater depletion in the United States since 1900. A newly developed High Plains recharge map shows that high recharge in the northern High Plains results in sustainable pumpage, whereas lower recharge in the central and southern High Plains has resulted in focused depletion of 330 km3 of fossil groundwater, mostly recharged during the past 13,000 y. Depletion is highly localized with about a third of depletion occurring in 4% of the High Plains land area. Extrapolation of the current depletion rate suggests that 35% of the southern High Plains will be unable to support irrigation within the next 30 y. Reducing irrigation withdrawals could extend the lifespan of the aquifer but would not result in sustainable management of this fossil groundwater. The Central Valley is a more dynamic, engineered system, with north/south diversions of surface water since the 1950s contributing to ∼7× higher recharge. However, these diversions are regulated because of impacts on endangered species. A newly developed Central Valley Hydrologic Model shows that groundwater depletion since the 1960s, totaling 80 km3, occurs mostly in the south (Tulare Basin) and primarily during droughts. Increasing water storage through artificial recharge of excess surface water in aquifers by up to 3 km3 shows promise for coping with droughts and improving sustainability of groundwater resources in the Central Valley

Chromosome painting in the manatee supports Afrotheria and Paenungulata

BACKGROUND: Sirenia (manatees, dugongs and Stellar's sea cow) have no evolutionary relationship with other marine mammals, despite similarities in adaptations and body shape. Recent phylogenomic results place Sirenia in Afrotheria and with elephants and rock hyraxes in Paenungulata. Sirenia and Hyracoidea are the two afrotherian orders as yet unstudied by comparative molecular cytogenetics. Here we report on the chromosome painting of the Florida manatee. RESULTS: The human autosomal and X chromosome paints delimited a total of 44 homologous segments in the manatee genome. The synteny of nine of the 22 human autosomal chromosomes (4, 5, 6, 9, 11, 14, 17, 18 and 20) and the X chromosome were found intact in the manatee. The syntenies of other human chromosomes were disrupted in the manatee genome into two to five segments. The hybridization pattern revealed that 20 (15 unique) associations of human chromosome segments are found in the manatee genome: 1/15, 1/19, 2/3 (twice), 3/7 (twice), 3/13, 3/21, 5/21, 7/16, 8/22, 10/12 (twice), 11/20, 12/22 (three times), 14/15, 16/19 and 18/19. CONCLUSION: There are five derived chromosome traits that strongly link elephants with manatees in Tethytheria and give implicit support to Paenungulata: the associations 2/3, 3/13, 8/22, 18/19 and the loss of the ancestral eutherian 4/8 association. It would be useful to test these conclusions with chromosome painting in hyraxes. The manatee chromosome painting data confirm that the associations 1/19 and 5/21 phylogenetically link afrotherian species and show that Afrotheria is a natural clade. The association 10/12/22 is also ubiquitous in Afrotheria (clade I), present in Laurasiatheria (clade IV), only partially present in Xenarthra (10/12, clade II) and absent in Euarchontoglires (clade III). If Afrotheria is basal to eutherians, this association could be part of the ancestral eutherian karyotype. If afrotherians are not at the root of the eutherian tree, then the 10/12/22 association could be one of a suite of derived associations linking afrotherian taxa

Herschel observations of EXtraordinary Sources: Analysis of the full Herschel/HIFI molecular line survey of Sagittarius B2(N)

A sensitive broadband molecular line survey of the Sagittarius B2(N) star-forming region has been obtained with the HIFI instrument on the Herschel Space Observatory, offering the first high-spectral resolution look at this well-studied source in a wavelength region largely inaccessible from the ground (625-157 um). From the roughly 8,000 spectral features in the survey, a total of 72 isotopologues arising from 44 different molecules have been identified, ranging from light hydrides to complex organics, and arising from a variety of environments from cold and diffuse to hot and dense gas. We present an LTE model to the spectral signatures of each molecule, constraining the source sizes for hot core species with complementary SMA interferometric observations, and assuming that molecules with related functional group composition are cospatial. For each molecule, a single model is given to fit all of the emission and absorption features of that species across the entire 480-1910 GHz spectral range, accounting for multiple temperature and velocity components when needed to describe the spectrum. As with other HIFI surveys toward massive star forming regions, methanol is found to contribute more integrated line intensity to the spectrum than any other species. We discuss the molecular abundances derived for the hot core, where the local thermodynamic equilibrium approximation is generally found to describe the spectrum well, in comparison to abundances derived for the same molecules in the Orion KL region from a similar HIFI survey.Comment: Accepted to ApJ. 64 pages, 14 figures. Truncated abstrac

Research Ethics Recommendations for Whole-Genome Research: Consensus Statement

Interest in whole-genome research has grown substantially over the past few months. This article explores the challenging ethics issues associated with this work

Roles of forest bioproductivity, transpiration and fire in a nine-year record of cave dripwater chemistry from southwest Australia

Forest biomass has the potential to significantly impact the chemistry and volume of diffuse recharge to cave dripwater via the processes of nutrient uptake, transpiration and forest fire. Yet to-date, this role has been under-appreciated in the interpretation of speleothem trace element records from forested catchments. In this study, the impact of vegetation is examined and quantified in a long-term monitoring program from Golgotha Cave, SW Australia. The contribution of salts from rain and dry-deposition of aerosols and dissolved elements from soil mineral and bedrock dissolution to dripwater chemistry are also examined. This study is an essential pre-requisite for the future interpretation of trace element data from SW Australian stalagmite records, whose record of past environmental change will include alterations in these biogeochemical fluxes. Solute concentrations in dripwater vary spatially, supporting the existence of distinct flow paths governed by varying amounts of transpiration as well as nutrient uptake by deeply-rooted biomass. Applying principal components analysis, we identify a common pattern of variation in dripwater Cl, Mg, K, Ca, Sr and Si, interpreted as reflecting increasing transpiration, due to forest growth. Mass-balance calculations show that increasing elemental sequestration into biomass has the largest impact on SO4, providing an explanation for the overall falling dripwater SO4 concentrations through time, in contrast to the transpiration-driven rising trend dominating other ions. The long-term rise in transpiration and nutrient uptake driven by increased forest bioproductivity and its impact on our dripwater chemistry is attributed to i. the post-fire recovery of the forest understorey after fire impacted the site in 2006 CE; ii. and/or increased water and nutrient demand as trees in the overlying forest mature. The impact of climate-driven changes on the water balance is also examined. Finally, the implications for interpreting SW Australian speleothem trace element records are discussed

In Vivo Fluorescent Detection of Fe-S Clusters Coordinated by Human GRX2

A major challenge to studying Fe-S cluster biosynthesis in higher eukaryotes is the lack of simple tools for imaging metallocluster binding to proteins. We describe the first fluorescent approach for in vivo detection of 2Fe2S clusters that is based upon the complementation of Venus fluorescent protein fragments via human glutaredoxin 2 (GRX2) coordination of a 2Fe2S cluster. We show that Escherichia coli and mammalian cells expressing Venus fragments fused to GRX2 exhibit greater fluorescence than cells expressing fragments fused to a C37A mutant that cannot coordinate a metallocluster. In addition, we find that maximal fluorescence in the cytosol of mammalian cells requires the iron-sulfur cluster assembly proteins ISCU and NFS1. These findings provide evidence that glutaredoxins can dimerize within mammalian cells through coordination of a 2Fe2S cluster as observed with purified recombinant proteins