Glacial to Holocene terrigenous organic matter input to sediments from Orca Basin, Gulf of Mexico — A combined optical and biomarker approach

In this study we assessed changes in the contribution of terrigenous organic matter (OM) to the Gulf of Mexico over the course of the last deglaciation (the last 25 kyr). To this end, we combined optical kerogen analyses with bulk sedimentary, biomarker, and compound-specific carbon isotope analyses. Samples were obtained from core MD02-2550 from Orca Basin (2249 m water depth at 26°56.77N, 91°20.74W) with temporal resolution ranging from multi-decadal to millennial-scale, depending on the proxy. All proxies confirmed larger terrigenous input during glacial times compared to the Holocene. In addition, the kerogen analyses suggest that much of the glacial OM is reworked (at least 50% of spores and pollen grains and 40% of dinoflagellate cysts). The Holocene sediments, in contrast, contain mainly marine OM, which is exceptionally well preserved. During the deglaciation, terrigenous input was generally high due to large meltwater fluxes, whereby discrepancies between different proxies call for additional influences, such as the change in distance to the river mouth, local productivity changes, and hydrodynamic particle sorting. It is possible that kerogen particles and the terrigenous biomarkers studied here represent distinct pools of land-derived OM with inputs varying independently

Competing T = 0 and T = 1 structures in the N = Z nucleus 3162Ga

The low-lying levels in the odd-odd N = Z nucleus 62Ga have been identified for the first time. These data reveal a cascade of stretched-E2 transitions based on a T = 0, 1+ bandhead which decays directly to the T = 1, 0+ ground state. The observed levels are interpreted in the context of theshell model, using as a basis, the pf5/2g9/2 orbits with a 56Ni core

High-spin study of rotational structures in 72Br

High-spin states in 3572Br37 were studied using the 40Ca(36Ar, 3pn) reaction. The existing level scheme has been significantly modified and extended. Evidence has been found for a spin reassignment of -1ℏh to the previously observed negative-parity band, which carries implications for the interpretation of a signature inversion in this structure. One signature of the previously assigned positive-parity band is interpreted as negative parity and has been extended to I π=(22-) and its signature partner has been observed up to Iπ = (19-) for the first time. The remaining positive-parity band has been extended to Iπ=(29+). A sequence of states observed to Iπ=(22+) may be the signature partner of this structure. Configurations have been assigned to each of these three structures through comparisons to cranked Nilsson-Strutinsky calculations

Genetics of coronary artery calcification among African Americans, a meta-analysis

Background: Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the major cause of death in the United States. Coronary artery calcification (CAC) scores are independent predictors of CHD. African Americans (AA) have higher rates of CHD but are less well-studied in genomic studies. We assembled the largest AA data resource currently available with measured CAC to identify associated genetic variants.Methods: We analyzed log transformed CAC quantity (ln(CAC + 1)), for association with ~2.5 million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and performed an inverse-variance weighted meta-analysis on results for 5,823 AA from 8 studies. Heritability was calculated using family studies. The most significant SNPs among AAs were evaluated in European Ancestry (EA) CAC data; conversely, the significance of published SNPs for CAC/CHD in EA was queried within our AA meta-analysis.Results: Heritability of CAC was lower in AA (~30%) than previously reported for EA (~50%). No SNP reached genome wide significance (p < 5E-08). Of 67 SNPs with p < 1E-05 in AA there was no evidence of association in EA CAC data. Four SNPs in regions previously implicated in CAC/CHD (at 9p21 and PHACTR1) in EA reached

The effects of monensin sodium and Xylanase on corn and wheat based diets

Due to increase in consumer concern about the use of antibiotics in broiler chick feed, xylanase was tested against monensin sodium to observe if the xylanase had better growth performance in broiler chicks. By comparing the growth performance between the two, it could provide an alternative to the use of monensin sodium in boiler feed products and lessen the concerns of the consumer while decreasing economical cost. The main objective was to compare the growth performance of 216 (6 birds/cage and 6 cages/treatment) one-day old broiler chicks over a twenty-one day period under six diets consisting of: 1) wheat, 2) corn, 3) wheat plus monensin sodium, 4) corn plus monensin sodium, 5) wheat plus xylanase, and 6) corn plus xylanase. Treatments were assigned through random assortment and once a week the body weight and feed intake were recorded to later calculate out BW gain, total feed intake, and FCR of each cage. The data was analyzed using GLIMMIX procedure of SAS with the cages as the experimental units and the treatments as the fixed unit in the study. Based on the results (P0.05) which improved FCR compared the control wheat diet. The corn-based diet with xylanase nor monensin sodium improved (P >0.05) FCR in comparison to the corn control group. To conclude, although there was minimal impact on antimicrobials in this experiment, the research suggests that xylanase can improve the digestibility of wheat-based diets and restore it to the FCR of that of a corn-based diet

Endosomal NOX2 oxidase inhibitor protects against highly pathogenic influenza virus morbidity

AO216Eunice E. To, Raymond Luong, Felicia Liong, Jiayin Diao, Steven Bozinovski, Christopher J. H. Porter, Tim Quach, John O, Leary, Doug A. Brooks, Ross Vlahos, Stavros Selemidi