Characterising the role of basin margin structure on finite strain patterns across a cleavage front from the Variscides of southern Ireland

The northern margin of the Munster Basin has been traditionally placed at the Dingle Dungarvan Line (DDL), a line which runs through Dingle Bay in the west and coincides with the Kilarney Mallow Fault (KMF) further to the east, on the Iveragh Peninsula, southwest Ireland. This region lies at the northern boundary of the Rhenohercynian Zone of the European Variscides. Deformation of 7 km+ Upper Devonian continental clastic sequence and overlying Carboniferous marine carbonate/clastic sequence at the end of the Carboniferous is thought to have consisted of an initial phase of layer parallel shortening, followed by folding, ongoing cleavage development and late stage accommodation thrusting. Previous models of inversion at the northern margin consist of an initial extensional bounding fault subsequently reactivated as a reverse fault during Variscan compression, with resulting higher strain to the south in the Munster Basin and lower strain to the north in the Foreland Zone. These previous basin margin models do not account for the nature of deformation observed in the western vicinity of the basin margin. The results from the Anisotropy of Magnetic Susceptibility, Strain Analysis and structural field work carried out on Upper Devonian ORS from the MB and northern peripheral areas show that the Coomnacronia Fault, which lies to the south of the DDL, marks a significant tectonic boundary. The Coomnacronia Fault marks a divide between a higher strain zone: ‘the Intrabasinal Zone’ with axial planar cleavage to the south and a lower strain zone: ‘the Transition Zone’ with weak rotated cleavage/early LPS to the north. These proposed tectonic zones are intrinsically related to the geometry of the Caledonian/Acadian basement and the inversion mechanisms of Coomnacronia Fault. The Coomnacronia Fault is thus considered to be the northern margin of the Munster Basin and marks a significant northern boundary of the Variscan front

A Hybrid Sequencing Approach Completes the Genome Sequence of Thermoanaerobacter ethanolicus JW 200

Thermoanaerobacter ethanolicus JW 200 has been identified as a potential sustainable biofuel producer due to its ability to readily ferment carbohydrates to ethanol. A hybrid sequencing approach, combining Oxford Nanopore and Illumina DNA sequence reads, was applied to produce a single contiguous genome sequence of 2,911,280 bp

Impact of acute stress, sex, and childhood maltreatment on fear learning and fear generalization in a fear-potentiated startle paradigm

Many researchers approach the etiology of trauma-, stressor-, and anxiety-related mental disorders from the perspective of classical conditioning processes gone awry. According to this view, abnormal associative relationships between conditioned and unconditioned stimuli may underlie pathological anxiety and result in unusually intense fear memories or fear memories that cannot be properly extinguished. Recent work has expanded on this view by showing that many psychological disorders involving pathological anxiety are associated with an exaggerated form of stimulus generalization, leading individuals with such disorders to respond with fear and anxiety to a variety of contexts and cues that should not be threatening. It is well-known that stress, biological sex, childhood maltreatment, and certain dispositional factors can increase one’s susceptibility for pathological anxiety and significantly impact fear learning; thus, it is possible that these factors, alone or in combination, contribute to clinical anxiety by influencing fear generalization processes. In the present study, 478 healthy undergraduate students were exposed to the socially-evaluated cold pressor test immediately or 30 min prior to learning to associate one geometrical shape, but not another, with an aversive stimulus in a fear-potentiated startle paradigm. The next day, participants were tested for fear generalization by measuring their fear responses to a variety of stimuli that were similar to, but different from, the shapes observed on Day 1. Objective and subjective measures of stress were collected on Day 1, and childhood maltreatment was quantified with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. The results revealed that, across both stress time points, greater heart rate and greater cortisol levels in response to stress were associated with weaker fear acquisition and a flatter generalization gradient. These effects were influenced by participant sex and trait anxiety. We also found evidence to suggest that greater childhood maltreatment was associated with impaired fear acquisition in males but enhanced fear acquisition in females. These findings reveal a complex interaction between acute stress, biological sex, childhood maltreatment, dispositional anxiety, and fear learning that may lend insight into the etiology of certain stress-related psychological disorders

Business Improvement Districts in the UK: A Review and Synthesis

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review the development and current position of Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) in the UK, drawing on the content within A State-of-the-Art Review of Business Improvement Districts in the UK: Setting the Agenda for Policy, Practice and Research, commissioned by The BID Foundation, and produced by members of the Institute of Place Management. Design/Methodology/Approach – The paper is divided into seven main sections. The first section defines the concept of BIDs, outlines their process of establishment, and provides a brief critique of BIDs from the academic literature. Second, the process of introducing BIDs into the UK is discussed. Third, the different types of BIDs that currently exist are detailed. The fourth section outlines the development of BIDs since their introduction in 2004. Fifth, an analysis of BID ballots is provided, involving details of ballot results, demonstrating a general improvement as BIDs develop over time. The sixth section comprises a discussion of unsuccessful ballots and BID terminations. The paper concludes with a brief analysis of issues facing BIDs in the UK, looking into the future. Findings – The paper contains three main empirical contributions: first, a numerical analysis of the different types of BIDs in the UK; second, a timeline of their development from 2005-2018; and third, a statistical analysis of BID ballot results over this period, with an indication of the numbers of unsuccessful ballots and BID terminations. Originality/value – This paper provides the first comprehensive overview of BIDs in the UK detailing development and performance (e.g. ballot results) in the 15 years since their introduction

Tunnel vision, false memories, and intrusive memories following exposure to the Trier Social Stress Test

Most research examining the impact of stress on learning and memory has exposed participants to a stressor and measured how it affects learning and memory for unrelated material (e.g., list of words). Such work has been helpful, but it has not been the most translational to the human condition. When considering phenomena such as intrusive memories in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or an eyewitness\u27s memory for a crime, it is most useful to know what an individual remembers about the stress experience itself, not unrelated information. In prior work, investigators used a modified version of the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) to quantify participant memory for the stressor. We aimed to replicate this work by examining participant memory for the TSST and extend on it by quantifying false and intrusive memories that result from TSST exposure. Forty-six undergraduate students from Ohio Northern University were exposed to the TSST or the friendly-TSST (f-TSST). The TSST required participants to deliver a ten-minute speech in front of two lab panel members as part of a mock job interview; the f-TSST required participants to casually converse with the panel members about their interests and hobbies. In both conditions, the panel members interacted with (central) or did not interact with (peripheral) several objects sitting on a desk in front of them. Participants’ anxiety levels were assessed before and after the TSST or f-TSST, and saliva samples were collected to assay for cortisol. The next day, participants’ memory for the objects that were present on Day 1 was assessed with recall and recognition tests. We also quantified participants’ intrusive memories for each task by having them complete an intrusive memory questionnaire on Days 2, 4, 6, and 8. Participants exposed to the TSST exhibited greater recall of central objects than participants exposed to the f-TSST. There were no differences observed for the recall of peripheral objects or for recognition memory. Interestingly, TSST exposure increased false recall in males, but reduced it in females. Females exposed to the TSST also showed greater evidence of intrusive memories than males exposed to the TSST. Consistent with prior work, these findings show that stress enhances memory for the central details of a stressful experience. They also extend on prior work by showing that stressful experiences sex-dependently impact the manifestation of false and intrusive memories. This is the first study of which we are aware to quantify intrusive memory formation with the TSST; the modified TSST paradigm may be useful in understanding differential susceptibility to intrusive memory formation and the development of PTSD