Spaced and timed in the New York Marathon

We inhabit a world of near ubiquitous information and communications technology (ICT) presence. Mobile communication networks now have a carrying capacity (bandwidth) to allow user-friendly communication tools (software) to transmit information rich (e.g. text and imagery) messages in real-time, across the globe. As consumers of the bandwidth capacity on offer, we are being presented with many additional means of using this possibility to contact each other. Combined advances in ICT and software functionality produce new types of information (e.g. spatial location) that might be ‘valuable’ to receive, and thus worthwhile to pay to transmit. Our telephones are no longer just phones, but advanced microcomputers with all the modifiable functionality which that implies (via hosted software applications or ‘Apps.’). Mobile devices offer new opportunities to communicate new types of information from new situations to new ‘audiences’ or ‘constituencies’. ICT infrastructures (e.g. cellular networks) allow trans-global communication instantly and relatively cheaply. It is argued that when accompanied by mobile devices running such software, they are creating personal ‘coded spaces’ (Kitchin and Dodge, 2011) that are significantly modifying how interpersonal contact, or lack of it, may be interpreted. In this essay I detail my experience of one such coded space, the New York City (NYC) Marathon, and discuss some of the implications of communications software infiltration into this and similar situations

Photochemical Tools for Fluorescent Labeling of Endogenous Proteins

The study of the dynamic movements of membrane bound proteins is typically achieved through an exogenously applied fluorescent tag or genetic modification of a receptor of interest to spatiotemporally monitor protein location. Techniques often used for labeling proteins include overexpression of a fluorescent protein such as GFP fused to a target protein or the application of antibodies. These methods benefit from superb specificity towards a receptor of interest, but may impose unforeseen consequences when studying natural protein movements. Thus, it is advantageous to development small, modular probes that would allow for visualization of endogenous membrane bound receptors in a minimally perturbed state. Several strategies employing photochemical small molecules were pursued to label important neuronal receptor targets on live cells. One method, photoaffinity labeling, requires a highly specific ligand outfitted with a UV photoreactive group and an orthogonal handle to covalently bind the ligand to the receptor for experimental analysis of the target. Using this technique we synthesized high affinity photoaffinity labels to study sigma receptors, which are believed to be involved in several neurodegenerative disorders and cancer pathologies. Another method is fluorescently tethered small molecule ligands that utilize a pharmacophore covalently bound to a fluorophore for specificity and subsequent visualization of a receptor of interest. We have designed small, minimally-perturbing modular probes that enable labeling and subcellular visualization of endogenous receptors on live cells. This technology allows for silent labeling of a receptor of interest, which allows for the receptor to be tagged with a fluorescent moiety in a non-ligated and thus active state. Using these probes we labeled the presynaptic dopamine and serotonin transporters and NMDA receptors on live cells. Finally, we have developed a method for facile alkylation of biological substrates utilizing a small, photoactivatable, electrophilc moiety that is compatible with aqueous buffer. We demonstrated that the molecule is reactive only in the presence of UV light, which gives the user temporal control over the alkylation of a nucleophile. In sum, these small molecule probes will provide chemical biologists novel tools for labeling membrane-bound receptors to visualize their location and trafficking, which will give fundamental insight into their endogenous activity

Cenozoic: Tertiary and Quaternary (until 11,700 years before 2000)

Book Chapte

Cenozoic: Tertiary and Quaternary (until 11,700 years before 2000)

Book Chapte

Dietary fibre and phytate; a balancing act. Results from 3 time points in a British Birth Cohort

An investigation was carried out to determine whether there were significant changes in the intake of dietary fibre (non-starch polysaccharide; NSP) and phytate of adult men and women in the UK from 1982 (aged 36 years) to 1999 (aged 53 years). The 1253 subjects studied were members of the Medical Research Council National Survey of Health and Development; a longitudinal study of a nationally representative cohort of births in 1946. Food intake was recorded in a 5-day diary at age 36 years in 1982, 43 years in 1989 and 53 years in 1999. The food composition database was amended with revised values for phytate. Outcome measures were mean intakes of total NSP and phytate by year, gender and food source. There were significant changes in total NSP and phytate intake over the 3 time-points. Intakes of NSP rose significantly between 1982 and 1999 for men and women but phytate intakes rose significantly only between 1989 and 1999. Cereal foods were the most important source of both NSP and phytate. Between 1989 and 1999 there was a significant increase in the contribution from pasta, rice and other grains. This study shows that an increase in dietary fibre that is in accordance with dietary guidelines would almost inevitably be accompanied by a rise in phytate. The increased dietary phytate is discussed in relation to its recognised inhibition of mineral absorption and its merits with regard to protection against some cancers and other diseases of an ageing population

Quaternary ice sheet limits on the continental shelf west of Ireland

Recent investigations have shown that the continental shelf west of Ireland contains sedimentary landforms recording occupation by grounded, lobate ice sheet margins that extended from Ireland during at least the last glacial cycle. This paper reviews some of the offshore evidence of past glacial events available from high-resolution bathymetry, 2D/3D seismic datasets (Fig. 1), and shallow sediment cores providing information on the sedimentology, rheology and age of glacigenic stratigraphic units. The available data suggest that the continental shelf has been repeatedly occupied by tidewater ice margins characterised by ice streaming, possibly since the mid-Pleistocene transition. The offshore record provides as yet incomplete information on the extent and timing of glaciation from multiple centres of dispersal in Ireland. The dynamics of former ice sheets in Ireland, downwind of the climatically important central North Atlantic region, makes them of wider interest in the study of partially marine based ice sheet-ocean interactions in rapidly changing environments

Reconstructing terrestrial ice sheet retreat dynamics from hummocky topography using multiscale evidence: An example from central Ireland

The research reported here combines high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) derived from airborne LiDAR with ground-penetrating radar (GPR) surveys and macro- and micro-scale sedimentological analyses to study the geomorphology and internal structure and composition of ridges and mounds within an area of hummocky topography in the Brosna basin, central Ireland. Our evidence indicates that much of the hummocky topography consists of fragmented mega-scale glacial lineations (MSGLs) indicating a phase of accelerated ice flow, overlain by groups of small ridges composed of subglacially derived till and sediment gravity flow deposits. Subtle differences in ridge morphology indicate they may be multi-genetic and formed both ice-marginally as moraines and subglacially as small ribbed moraine. We interpret MSGL-ridge associations as a subglacial bedform continuum reflecting the evolution from a deforming bed to brittle deformation, due to changing thermal and hydrological conditions at the ice-bed interface during ice sheet retreat. Adjacent glaciofluvial landforms indicate initial en- and supra-glacial meltwater drainage, possibly directly related to changing basal thermal/hydrological characteristics and subglacial ridge formation. Subsequently a subglacial conduit system evolved, and later retreat involved formation of ice-marginal ridges. The partially preserved landsystem reflects formation at a polythermal to active temperate ice marginal zone, rather than the stagnating temperate margin previously assumed for this area. Our work demonstrates the usefulness of hummocky topography in identifying changes in ice sheet bed thermal/hydrological characteristics during deglaciation and the importance of combining multiple evidence strands in reconstructing the processes involved in glacial landform construction

Cosmogenic 10Be chronology of the last deglaciation of western Ireland, and implications for sensitivity of the Irish Ice Sheet to climate change

Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C dates of fossiliferous marine mud identify a readvance of the Irish Ice Sheet from the north and central lowlands of Ireland into the northern Irish Sea Basin during the Killard Point Stadial at ca. 16.5 cal k.y. B.P., with subsequent deglaciation occurring by ca. 15.0–15.5 cal k.y. B.P. Killard Point Stadial moraines have been mapped elsewhere in Ireland but have previously remained undated. Here, we report sixteen 10Be surface exposure dates that constrain the age of retreat of the Killard Point Stadial ice margin from western Ireland. Eight 10Be dates from the Ox Mountains (13.9–18.1 ka) indicate that fi nal deposition of the moraine occurred at 15.6 ± 0.5 ka (mean age, standard error). Eight 10Be dates from Furnace Lough (14.1–17.3 ka, mean age of 15.6 ± 0.4 ka) are statistically indistinguishable from the Ox Mountain samples, suggesting that the moraines were deposited during the same glacial event. Given the agreement between the two age groups, and their common association with a regionally signifi cant moraine system, we combine them to derive a mean age of 15.6 ± 0.3 ka (15.6 ± 1.0 ka with external uncertainty). This age is in excellent agreement with the timing of deglaciation from the Irish Sea Basin (at or older than 15.3 ± 0.2 cal k.y. B.P.) and suggests the onset of near-contemporaneous retreat of the Irish Ice Sheet from its maximum Killard Point Stadial limit. A reconstruction of the ice surface indicates that the Irish Ice Sheet reached a maximum surface elevation of ~500 m over the central Irish Lowlands during the Killard Point Stadial, suggesting a high sensitivity of the ice sheet to small changes in climate

Cosmogenic 10Be chronology of the last deglaciation of western Ireland, and implications for sensitivity of the Irish Ice Sheet to climate change

Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C dates of fossiliferous marine mud identify a readvance of the Irish Ice Sheet from the north and central lowlands of Ireland into the northern Irish Sea Basin during the Killard Point Stadial at ca. 16.5 cal k.y. B.P., with subsequent deglaciation occurring by ca. 15.0–15.5 cal k.y. B.P. Killard Point Stadial moraines have been mapped elsewhere in Ireland but have previously remained undated. Here, we report sixteen 10Be surface exposure dates that constrain the age of retreat of the Killard Point Stadial ice margin from western Ireland. Eight 10Be dates from the Ox Mountains (13.9–18.1 ka) indicate that fi nal deposition of the moraine occurred at 15.6 ± 0.5 ka (mean age, standard error). Eight 10Be dates from Furnace Lough (14.1–17.3 ka, mean age of 15.6 ± 0.4 ka) are statistically indistinguishable from the Ox Mountain samples, suggesting that the moraines were deposited during the same glacial event. Given the agreement between the two age groups, and their common association with a regionally signifi cant moraine system, we combine them to derive a mean age of 15.6 ± 0.3 ka (15.6 ± 1.0 ka with external uncertainty). This age is in excellent agreement with the timing of deglaciation from the Irish Sea Basin (at or older than 15.3 ± 0.2 cal k.y. B.P.) and suggests the onset of near-contemporaneous retreat of the Irish Ice Sheet from its maximum Killard Point Stadial limit. A reconstruction of the ice surface indicates that the Irish Ice Sheet reached a maximum surface elevation of ~500 m over the central Irish Lowlands during the Killard Point Stadial, suggesting a high sensitivity of the ice sheet to small changes in climate

Formational history of the Wicklow Trough: a marine transgressed tunnel valley revealing ice flow velocity and retreat rates for the largest ice stream draining the late-Devensian British-Irish Ice Sheet.

The Wicklow Trough is one of several Irish Sea bathymetric deeps, yet unusually isolated from the main depression, the Western Trough. Its formation has been described as proglacial or subglacial, linked to the Irish Sea Ice Stream (ISIS) during the Last Glacial Maximum. The evolution of the Wicklow Trough and neighbouring deeps, therefore, help us to understand ISIS dynamics, when it was the main ice stream draining the former British–Irish Ice Sheet. The morphology and sub-seabed stratigraphy of the 18 km long and 2 km wide Wicklow Trough is described here from new multibeam echo sounder data, 60 km of sparker seismic profiles and five sediment cores. At a maximum water depth of 82 m, the deep consists of four over deepened sections. The heterogeneous glacial sediments in the Trough overlay bedrock, with indications of flank mass-wasting and subglacial bedforms on its floor. The evidence strongly suggests that the Wicklow Trough is a tunnel valley formed by time-transgressive erosional processes, with pressurised meltwater as the dominant agent during gradual or slow ice sheet retreat. Its location may be fault-controlled, and the northern end of the Wicklow Trough could mark a transition from rapid to slow grounded ice margin retreat, which could be tested with modelling