Last ice-dammed lake in the Kuray basin, Russian Altai: New results from multidisciplinary research

Results from geomorphological, sedimentological and geochronological analyses, together with micropaleontological and mineralogical characteristics of lacustrine deposits in five locations within the Kuray intermountain depression, southeast Altai, mountains of south Siberia, support the thesis of repeated formations of ice-dammed lakes during MIS-2 and their draining by high energy floods. Our data suggest that the timing of one of the last cataclysmic draining events in the area can be estimated by an Optically-Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) age of 19.0 ± 1.1 ka for a sandy layer at the top of the diluvial (i.e. large flood) deposit, revealed in a sedimentary sequence of the 1570 m a.s.l. strandline – one of the lowest preserved strandlines in the western part of the basin. New OSL and radiocarbon ages, augmenting previously published dates, indicate that the last lake to occupy the Kuray depression occurred around 19–16 ka with a depth of at least 170 m in the central part of the basin and to a depth of no less than 220 m near the glacier dam. Lacustrine deposits are represented by two horizons of sandy clays separated by interlayers of mixed-size sands. The mineralogical data, supported by analysis of sedimentological and micropaleontological records, indicate accumulation of a lower lacustrine horizon in a deeper reservoir. Finding of Leucocythere sp.1, Leucocythere sp.2, and Leucocythere dorsotuberosa ostracod species in lacustrine deposits characterizes these reservoirs as periglacial freshwater cold and deep lakes. The presence of well-crystallized mica and chlorite in lacustrine silts and clays from the lower lacustrine horizon indicates cold, dry conditions at the time of their formation, as well as a predominance of physical weathering of rocks within the denudation area. After an abrupt dropping of the lake level around 16 ka, determined from OSL dating, the lake never recovered its former depth. The available radiocarbon ages for organic material in subaerial deposits within the study area and the new OSL ages suggest that the last ice-dammed lake in the Kuray basin was drained between ~16.7 and 9.9 ka. The presence of this lake might explain the absence of late Paleolithic surface finds within the basin that remained generally unsuitable for human habitation until its final drying. The last outburst flood passed along the Chuya and Katun river valleys, which had been already carved by older cataclysmic floods, but did not significantly affect the topography downstream of the Kuray-Chuya intermountain depressions. We numerically simulated the draining of a palaeolake in the Kuray basin with the water level 1650 m a.s.l. (maximal depth about 220 m near the dam) with different scenarios of breaching the ice dam. In contrast to a relatively gradual breach of the ice dam due to thermal erosion, an instantaneous dam break due to structural failure can cause an outburst flood with a peak discharge of around 2 × 106 m3 s−1. The high speeds of the water flow, 1.9–5.6 m s−1, with the maximum Froude numbers of 0.06–0.22, and peak Shields values of 0.03–0.25 indicate competence to mobilize gravel. Generally, the simulated flow remained subcritical, suggesting that bedforms developed under supercritical flows, such as antidunes, could not have developed, although the development of dunes cannot be precluded. Our data also contribute to the issue of correlating the low lake strandlines in the Kuray basin with the landforms associated with cataclysmic outburst floods.The study was supported by State Assignment of IGM SB RAS and partly funded by Russian Foundation for Basic Researches (grant 18-05-00998). We also benefited from the funds of the projects EX-AQUA (1623P) “Palaeohydrological Extreme Events - evidence and archives”, sustained by INQUA TERPRO. The flood modelling contribution by Bohorquez was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MICINN/FEDER, UE) under Grant SEDRETO CGL2015-70736-R

Youth in transition:Study protocol of a prospective cohort study into the long-term course of addiction, mental health problems and social functioning in youth entering addiction treatment

BACKGROUND: Substance use disorders (SUDs) are prevalent in the general population, tend to follow a chronic course, are associated with many individual and social problems, and often have their onset in adolescence. However, the knowledge base from prospective population surveys and treatment-outcome studies on the course of SUD in adolescents is limited at best. The present study aims to fill this gap and focuses on a subgroup that is particularly at risk for chronicity: adolescents in addiction treatment. We will investigate the rate of persistent SUD and its predictors longitudinally from adolescence to young adulthood among youth with DSM-5 SUD from the start of their addiction treatment to 2 and 4 years following treatment-entry. In addition to SUD, we will investigate the course of comorbid mental disorders, social functioning, and quality of life and their association with SUD over time. METHODS/DESIGN: In a naturalistic, multi-center prospective cohort design, we will include youths (n = 420), who consecutively enter addiction treatment at ten participating organizations in the Netherlands. Inclusion is prestratified by treatment organization, to ensure a nationally representative sample. Eligible youths are 16 to 22 years old and seek help for a primary DSM-5 cannabis, alcohol, cocaine or amphetamine use disorder. Assessments focus on lifetime and current substance use and SUD, non-SUD mental disorders, family history, life events, social functioning, treatment history, quality of life, chronic stress indicators (hair cortisol) and neuropsychological tests (computerized executive function tasks) and are conducted at baseline, end of treatment, and 2 and 4 years post-baseline. Baseline data and treatment data (type, intensity, duration) will be used to predict outcome – persistence of or desistance from SUD. DISCUSSION: There are remarkably few prospective studies worldwide that investigated the course of SUD in adolescents in addiction treatment for longer than 1 year. We are confident that the Youth in Transition study will further our understanding of determinants and consequences of persistent SUD among high-risk adolescents during the critical transition from adolescence to young adulthood. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The Netherlands National Trial Register Trial NL7928. Date of registration January 17, 2019

Is there Initial Upper Palaeolithic in Western Tian Shan? Example of an open-air site Katta Sai 2 (Uzbekistan)

The paper presents the results of multidisciplinary studies on the open-air loess site Katta Sai 2 located in thewestern piedmonts of Tian Shan in Uzbekistan. Two archaeological horizons contain features associated with theInitial Upper Palaeolithic (IUP) - both Levallois and blade/bladelet volumetric technology, together with anUpper Palaeolithic toolkit. The cultural traits observed in Katta Sai 2 might have local roots dating back to MIS 5aand can be found in so-called Obirakhmatian technocomplex determined in several archaeological sites in theregion. Thus, the obtained results question the hypothesis of non-local origins of IUP complexes associated withthe early modern human migration from the Near East to Mongolia along the piedmonts of Pamir and Tian Shan.Until reliable anthropological and genetic data are obtained, it seems to be too early to conclude about therelationship between modern human migration and the appearance of IUP assemblages, at least across thewestern parts of Central Asia

The NOS3 G894T (rs1799983) and-786T/C (rs2070744) polymorphisms are associated with elite swimmer status

Endothelial nitric oxide synthase (NOS3) generates nitric oxide in blood vessels and is involved in the regulation of vascular function, metabolism and muscle fibre type transformations. Evidence suggests that the NOS3 G894T (rs1799983) and -786T/C (rs2070744) polymorphisms are associated with athletic performance. The purpose of this study was to determine the association between the NOS3 G894T and -786T/C polymorphisms with elite swimmer status in Polish athletes. One hundred and ninety-seven Polish swimmers (104 males and 93 females), who competed in national and international events, and 379 healthy control subjects (222 males and 157 females) were recruited for this study. The swimmers were divided into two groups: short distance swimmers (SDS; n=147; 50-200 m) and long distance swimmers (LDS; n=49; more than 500 m). As expected, the frequencies of the -786T/C T allele (77.0 vs. 63.1%, p = 0.0085) and G-T haplotype (63.7 vs. 52.0, p=0.025) were significantly higher in the LDS group in comparison with controls. Compared with the -786T/C CC genotype, the chance of being a long distance swimmer was 8.49 times higher (CI=1.14-62.78, p=0.023) for the carriers of -786T/C T allele than in control subjects. On the other hand, the Asp allele frequency was significantly higher in the female SDS group compared with controls (34.3 vs. 18.5%, p=0.00043). In conclusion, our results demonstrate that the T allele and the G-T haplotype of the -786T/C and G894T polymorphisms may be beneficial for long distance swimmers

A microsatellite study in the Łęgucki Młyn/Popielno hybrid zone reveals no genetic differentiation between two chromosome races of the common shrew (Sorex araneus)

This study investigated a chromosome hybrid zone between two chromosomal races of the common shrew (Sorex araneus). Gene flow and genetic structure of the hybrid zone, located in the northeast of Poland, were studied using seven polymorphic autosomal microsatellite loci (L9, L14, L33, L45, L67, L68, L97) and a Y-linked microsatellite locus (L8Y). Seventy-five animals (46 of the Łęgucki Młyn race and 29 of the Popielno race) from nine different localities were examined and the data were analyzed using hierarchical AMOVA and F-statistic. The studied microsatellite loci and races (divided into nine geographical populations) were characterized by observed heterozygosity (HO), expected heterozygosities within (HS), and between (HT) populations, inbreeding coefficient (FIS), fixation index (FST), and average allelic richness (A). We found that genetic structuring within and between the two chromosome races were weak and non-significant. This finding and unconstrained gene flow between the races indicates a high level of migration within the Łęgucki Młyn/Popielno hybrid zone, suggesting that evolutionarily important genetic structuring does not occur in interracial zones where races which are not genetically distinct come into contact

The agt gene m235t polymorphism and response of power-related variables to aerobic training

© Journal of Sports Science and Medicine.The C allele of the M235T (rs699) polymorphism of the AGT gene correlates with higher levels of angiotensin II and has been associated with power and strength sport performance. The aim of the study was to investigate whether or not selected power-related variables and their response to a 12-week program of aerobic dance training are modulated by the AGT M235T genotype in healthy participants. Two hundred and one Polish Caucasian women aged 21 ± 1 years met the inclusion criteria and were included in the study. All women completed a 12-week program of low and high impact aerobics. Wingate peak power and total work capacity, 5 m, 10 m, and 30 m running times and jump height and jump power were determined before and after the training programme. All power-related variables improved significantly in response to aerobic dance training. We found a significant association between the M235T polymorphism and jump-based variables (squat jump (SJ) height, p = 0.005; SJ power, p = 0.015; countermovement jump height, p = 0.025; average of 10 countermovement jumps with arm swing (ACMJ) height, p = 0.001; ACMJ power, p = 0.035). Specifically, greater improvements were observed in the C allele carriers in comparison with TT homozygotes. In conclusion, aerobic dance, one of the most commonly practiced adult fitness activities in the world, provides sufficient training stimuli for augmenting the explosive strength necessary to increase vertical jump performance. The AGT gene M235T polymorphism seems to be not only a candidate gene variant for power/strength related pheno-types, but also a genetic marker for predicting response to training

Neural network feature maps for Chinese phonemes

It has been shown through a number of experiments that neural networks can be used for a phonetic typewriter. Algorithms can be looked on as producing self-organizing feature maps which correspond to phonemes. In the Chinese language the utterance of a Chinese character consists of a very simple string of Chinese phonemes. With this as a starting point, a neural network feature map for Chinese phonemes can be built up. In this paper, feature map structures for Chinese phonemes are discussed and tested. This research on a Chinese phonetic feature map is important both for Chinese speech recognition and for building a Chinese phonetic typewriter

The staining pattern of human sperm with Diff Quik: relationship with sperm head morphology and a sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA

The dark staining of human sperm heads by Diff Quik is significantly correlated with abnormal sperm head morphology (r=0.51, p 0.09). Whilst valuable in the assessment of head morphology, it is concluded that Diff Quik staining is not a useful substitute for the SCSA to assess human sperm chromatin

2004: The influence of cesium activity on the annual dose for OSL dating

Abstract: Abstract: Abstract: Abstract: Abstract: Introduction of single aliquot protocols dramatically improved the accuracy of absorbed dose measurements, so now dating of very recent events, which ages are of the order of tens of years or even single years, becomes possible. The overall accuracy of the OSL age is now limited by the correct assignment of the dose rate. Certain types of recent sediments may contain fall-out radioisotopes that increase the average annual dose. In this paper we demonstrate that the contribution from fall-out radioactivity may be significant and the way to take it into account by using a modified age equation