Hydrothermal activity lowers trophic diversity in Antarctic sedimented hydrothermal vents

Sedimented hydrothermal vents are those in which hydrothermal fluid vents through sediment and are among the least studied deep-sea ecosystems. We present a combination of microbial and biochemical data to assess trophodynamics between and within hydrothermally active and off-vent areas of the Bransfield Strait (1050–1647 m depth). Microbial composition, biomass and fatty acid signatures varied widely between and within vent and non-vent sites and provided evidence of diverse metabolic activity. Several species showed diverse feeding strategies and occupied different trophic positions in vent and non-vent areas and stable isotope values of consumers were generally not consistent with feeding structure morphology. Niche area and the diversity of microbial fatty acids reflected trends in species diversity and was lowest at the most hydrothermally active site. Faunal utilisation of chemosynthetic activity was relatively limited but was detected at both vent and non-vent sites as evidenced by carbon and sulphur isotopic signatures, suggesting that the hydrothermal activity can affect trophodynamics over a much wider area than previously thought

Geodynamic setting and origin of the Oman/UAE ophiolite

The ~500km-long mid-Cretaceous Semail nappe of the Sultanate of Oman and UAE (henceforth referred to as the Oman ophiolite) is the largest and best-preserved ophiolite complex known. It is of particular importance because it is generally believed to have an internal structure and composition closely comparable to that of crust formed at the present-day East Pacific Rise (EPR), making it our only known on-land analogue for ocean lithosphere formed at a fast spreading rate. On the basis of this assumption Oman has long played a pivotal role in guiding our conceptual understanding of fast-spreading ridge processes, as modern fast-spread ocean crust is largely inaccessible

Red-bed bleaching in a CO2 storage analogue: insights from Entrada Sandstone fracture-hosted mineralization

Improving our ability to predict the interactions between CO2 and reservoir rocks at geological time scales is of key importance if carbon capture and storage (CCS) is to have a role in climate-change mitigation, particularly in the light of likely regulatory requirements. Understanding and identifying the relevant geological processes over long time scales can be obtained only at natural-analogue sites. At one such site, in the Salt Wash Graben area of Utah, USA, widespread bleaching affects the Middle Jurassic red-bed “wet dune” Entrada Sandstone. Previous work has proposed a genetic link between the bleaching and spatially concomitant recent and modern CO2-rich fluids. The results presented here challenge some of the previous models and come from a detailed petrographic examination of mineralized fractures in the Entrada Sandstone that are centered in vertical extensions to the bleaching. These fractures typically contain complex mineralization assemblages. Pyrite was a paragenetically early phase, identifiable from common pseudomorphs of mixed iron oxides and oxyhydroxides that rarely contain relict pyrite. The pyrite contains up to 3 wt% arsenic. The volume of fracture-adjacent bleached sandstone is sufficient to have been the source of iron for the pyrite originally present in the fracture. The pyrite pseudomorphs occur at the center of fracture- and pore-filling cements that comprise intergrowths of hematite–goethite–jarosite–gypsum, an assemblage that suggests that their formation resulted from the oxidative alteration of pyrite, a genetic link supported by the arsenic present in the iron-bearing minerals. The presence of jarosite and proximal removal of earlier, sandstone-hosted carbonates are consistent with, and indicative of, the low-pH conditions associated with pyrite oxidation reactions. Calcite- and gypsum-cemented fractures crosscut, and contain fragments of, the pyrite-pseudomorphic and -oxidation assemblages, proving that they postdate pyrite formation and its subsequent oxidation, and that pyrite oxidation was not a result of modern weathering reactions. In outcrop, some calcite- and gypsum-cemented fractures link with travertine deposits associated with the modern and recent CO2-rich fluids. The mineral assemblages observed here, and the paragenetic sequence that we have inferred, suggest that the fracture-associated bleaching patterns result from the fracture-fed movement of sulfur-bearing reducing fluids, with hydrogen sulfide the most likely bleaching agent. We conclude that bleaching adjacent to fractures is not genetically related to modern CO2-bearing fluids despite the spatial relationship. The bleaching was already present when the modern fluids utilized the same fracture-based fluid pathways. We suggest that the more widespread regional bleaching formed contemporaneously with the fracture bleaching and followed similar mechanisms. This study highlights the complexity of interpreting analogue sites and the importance of using field and petrographic observations to unravel textures and events that are juxtaposed spatially but not temporally

Part 2: Preparing Entry-Level Occupational and Physical Therapy Students to Promote Healthy Lifestyles Emphasizing Healthy Eating with Individuals with Disabilities

Rehabilitation professionals including occupational therapists (OT) and physical therapists (PT) are increasingly called upon to incorporate health promotion of lifestyle behaviors including physical activity and healthy eating into routine clinical care. While OTs and PTs may be comfortable promoting activity-related behaviors, many are less comfortable with nutrition behaviors. To address entry-level OT and PT students’ perceived discomfort with discussing diet-related behaviors, faculty developed a healthy eating module for students to use during a community-based service learning program. The purpose of this paper is to describe the formative evaluation process of developing the healthy eating module, and to discuss results of a pilot trial of this module. The formative assessment of the healthy eating module consisted of four steps: focus groups with students, key informant interviews with community partners, expert panel round table, and expert panel review of materials. Students (n=117) completed questionnaires at the end of the service learning program to assess how much they used the new resources, and how useful they found the resources. The final healthy eating module consisted of an on-line training session and a healthy eating toolkit, including resources for assessments, treatment activities and additional nutrition information. Mann-Whitney U tests indicated that students who reported high use of materials found the resources significantly more helpful than those students who reported low use (

Part 1: Preparing Entry-Level Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy Students to Promote Health and Wellbeing with Individuals with Disabilities

To address accreditation standards for health and wellbeing within entry-level occupational therapy (OT) and physical therapy (PT) programs, the OT, PT, and Human Studies Departments at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) collaborated with community partners to conduct an interdisciplinary service learning activity based on the I Can Do It, You Can Do It Program (ICDI). This program is a structured community health program where individuals without disabilities are partnered with individuals with disabilities to enhance physical activity, healthy eating, and community participation. The purpose of this paper is to describe a formative evaluation of ICDI at UAB, and to discuss revisions to the program made as a result of the evaluation. Faculty used a qualitative design to collect feedback on perceived benefits and challenges of the program. Focus groups were conducted with students who completed the program, and key informant interviews were conducted with site coordinators from each of the three partnering community sites. Two themes emerged from student focus groups: (1) Program benefits, with sub-themes of hands-on application and interaction, and (2) Challenges with suggestions for change, with sub-themes of preparation, communication, and expectations. Four themes emerged from key informant interviews: (1) Students, (2) Logistics, (3) Program benefits, and (4) Transference. Results of this evaluation led to a number of revisions for the 2016 cohort. Future evaluations will include objective measures of change in student knowledge over time, as well as health and behavioral outcomes of community members who participated in the ICDI program at UAB

Densely functionalised spirocyclic oxetane-piperidine scaffolds for drug discovery

A spirocyclic, sp3-atom rich oxetane-containing scaffold was synthesised in just two steps via a gold catalysed propargylic alcohol rearrangement. The key gold cyclisation can be undertaken on a 40 g scale allowing the preparation of 419 lead-like compounds based on the scaffold for the European Lead Factory

Religious Identity, Religious Attendance, and Parental Control

Using a national sample of adolescents aged 10–18 years and their parents (N = 5,117), this article examines whether parental religious identity and religious participation are associated with the ways in which parents control their children. We hypothesize that both religious orthodoxy and weekly religious attendance are related to heightened levels of three elements of parental control: monitoring activities, normative regulations, and network closure. Results indicate that an orthodox religious identity for Catholic and Protestant parents and higher levels of religious attendance for parents as a whole are associated with increases in monitoring activities and normative regulations of American adolescents