Seismic data reveal eastern Black Sea Basin structure

Rifted continental margins are formed by progressive extension of the lithosphere. The development of these margins plays an integral role in the plate tectonic cycle, and an understanding of the extensional process underpins much hydrocarbon exploration. A key issue is whether the lithosphere extends uniformly, or whether extension varies\ud with depth. Crustal extension may be determined using seismic techniques. Lithospheric extension may be inferred from the waterloaded subsidence history, determined from\ud the pattern of sedimentation during and after rifting. Unfortunately, however, many rifted margins are sediment-starved, so the subsidence history is poorly known.\ud To test whether extension varies between the crust and the mantle, a major seismic experiment was conducted in February–March 2005 in the eastern Black Sea Basin (Figure 1), a deep basin where the subsidence history is recorded\ud by a thick, post-rift sedimentary sequence. The seismic data from the experiment indicate the presence of a thick, low-velocity zone, possibly representing overpressured sediments. They also indicate that the basement and\ud Moho in the center of the basin are both several kilometers shallower than previously inferred. These initial observations may have considerable impact on thermal models of the petroleum system in the basin. Understanding\ud the thermal history of potential source rocks is key to reducing hydrocarbon exploration risk. The experiment, which involved collaboration between university groups in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Turkey, and BP and\ud Turkish Petroleum (TPAO), formed part of a larger project that also is using deep seismic reflection and other geophysical data held by the industry partners to determine the subsidence history and hence the strain evolution of\ud the basin

Further Validation of the Realness Scale: Are Celebrity Worshipers Unreal?

We administered the Realness Scale (RS), Celebrity Attitude Scale (CAS), and the modified Authentic Living Subscale (ALS) from the Authenticity Scale (AS) to undergraduate students from four American institutions of higher learning. We sought to further validate the RS by showing that it correlated positively with the ALS and negatively with the CAS. We also hypothesized that African Americans would score lower than Whites on the RS. Our results supported the first hypothesis, but we found only weak or non-existent support for the other two hypotheses. Discussion focused on reasons why our latter two hypotheses yielded mostly negative results and suggested improvements for future research

The impact of predation by marine mammals on Patagonian toothfish longline fisheries

Predatory interaction of marine mammals with longline fisheries is observed globally, leading to partial or complete loss of the catch and in some parts of the world to considerable financial loss. Depredation can also create additional unrecorded fishing mortality of a stock and has the potential to introduce bias to stock assessments. Here we aim to characterise depredation in the Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) fishery around South Georgia focusing on the spatio-temporal component of these interactions. Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella), sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus), and orcas (Orcinus orca) frequently feed on fish hooked on longlines around South Georgia. A third of longlines encounter sperm whales, but loss of catch due to sperm whales is insignificant when compared to that due to orcas, which interact with only 5% of longlines but can take more than half of the catch in some cases. Orca depredation around South Georgia is spatially limited and focused in areas of putative migration routes, and the impact is compounded as a result of the fishery also concentrating in those areas at those times. Understanding the seasonal behaviour of orcas and the spatial and temporal distribution of “depredation hot spots” can reduce marine mammal interactions, will improve assessment and management of the stock and contribute to increased operational efficiency of the fishery. Such information is valuable in the effort to resolve the human-mammal conflict for resources

Active Galaxies in the UV

In this article we present different aspects of AGN studies demonstrating the importance of the UV spectral range. Most important diagnostic lines for studying the general physical conditions as well as the metalicities in the central broad line region in AGN are emitted in the UV. The UV/FUV continuum in AGN excites not only the emission lines in the immediate surrounding but it is responsible for the ionization of the intergalactic medium in the early stages of the universe. Variability studies of the emission line profiles of AGN in the UV give us information on the structure and kinematics of the immediate surrounding of the central supermassive black hole as well as on its mass itself.Comment: 29 pages, 13 figures, Ap&SS in pres

Risk of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and associations with gastrointestinal cancers

Metabolic syndrome may contribute to the rising incidence of multiple gastrointestinal (GI) cancers in recent birth cohorts. However, other than hepatocellular carcinoma, the association between nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and risk of non-liver GI cancers is unexplored. We prospectively examined the associations of NAFLD risk with GI cancers among 319,290 participants in the UK Biobank (2006-2019). Baseline risk for NAFLD was estimated using the Dallas Steatosis Index, a validated prediction tool. Multivariable Cox models were used to estimate relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) according to NAFLD risk categories: low (\u3c20%), intermediate (20%-49%), and high (≥50%). We also examined the associations by age of cancer diagnosis (earlier onset [\u3c60] vs. ≥60). A total of 273 incident liver cancer and 4789 non-liver GI cancer cases were diagnosed. Compared with individuals at low risk for NAFLD, those at high risk had 2.41-fold risk of liver cancer (RR = 2.41, 95% CI: 1.73-3.35) and 23% increased risk of non-liver GI cancers (RR = 1.23, 95% CI: 1.14-1.32) (all

Molecule Microscopy

Contains research objectives, summary of research on five research projects and reports on four research projects.Joint Services Electronics Program (Contract DAAB07-74-C-0630)National Institutes of Health (Grant 1 PO1 HL14322-03)National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 SO5 RR07047-08)Environmental Measurements Project Laboratory grant from the Dean of Science, M.I.T.Boehringer Mannheim Gmb

X-Ray/Ultraviolet Observing Campaign of the Markarian 279 Active Galactic Nucleus Outflow: a close look at the absorbing/emitting gas with Chandra-LETGS

We present a Chandra-LETGS observation of the Seyfert 1 galaxy Mrk 279. This observation was carried out simultaneously with HST-STIS and FUSE, in the context of a multiwavelength study of this source. The Chandra pointings were spread over ten days for a total exposure time of ~360 ks. The spectrum of Mrk279 shows evidence of broad emission features, especially at the wavelength of the OVII triplet. We quantitatively explore the possibility that this emission is produced in the broad line region (BLR). We modeled the broad UV emission lines seen in the FUSE and HST-STIS spectra following the ``locally optimally emitting cloud" approach. We find that the X-ray lines luminosity derived from the best fit BLR model can match the X-ray features, suggesting that the gas producing the UV lines is sufficient to account also for the X-ray emission. The spectrum is absorbed by ionized gas whose total column density is ~5x10^{20} cm^{-2}. The absorption spectrum can be modeled by two distinct gas components (log xi ~ 0.47 and 2.49, respectively) both showing a significant outflow velocity. However, the data allow also the presence of intermediate ionization components. The distribution of the column densities of such extra components as a function of the ionization parameter is not consistent with a continuous, power law-like, absorber, suggesting a complex structure for the gas outflow for Mrk 279 (abridged).Comment: 16 pages, 12 figures. To appear in A&

XMM-Newton unveils the complex iron K alpha region of Mrk 279

We present the results of a ~160 ks-long XMM-Newton observation of the Seyfert 1 galaxy Mrk 279. The spectrum shows evidence of both broad and narrow emission features. The Fe K alpha line may be equally well explained by a single broad Gaussian (FWHM~10,000 km/s) or by two components: an unresolved core plus a very broad profile (FWHM~14,000 km/s). For the first time we quantified, via the "locally optimally emitting cloud" model, the contribution of the broad line region (BLR) to the absolute luminosity of the broad component of the Fe K alpha at 6.4 keV. We find that the contribution of the BLR is only ~3%. In the two-line component scenario, we also evaluated the contribution of the highly ionized gas component, which produces the FeXXVI line in the iron K region. This contribution to the narrow core of the Fe K alpha line is marginal <0.1%. Most of the luminosity of the unresolved, component of Fe K alpha may come from the obscuring torus, while the very-broad associated component may come from the accretion disk. However, models of reflection by cold gas are difficult to test because of the limited energy band. The FeXXVI line at 6.9 keV is consistent to be produced in a high column density (N_H~10^23 cm^{-2}), extremely ionized (log\xi~5.5-7) gas. This gas may be a highly ionized outer layer of the torus.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic

TCR signal strength controls thymic differentiation of iNKT cell subsets.

During development in the thymus, invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells commit to one of three major functionally different subsets, iNKT1, iNKT2, and iNKT17. Here, we show that T cell antigen receptor (TCR) signal strength governs the development of iNKT cell subsets, with strong signaling promoting iNKT2 and iNKT17 development. Altering TCR diversity or signaling diminishes iNKT2 and iNKT17 cell subset development in a cell-intrinsic manner. Decreased TCR signaling affects the persistence of Egr2 expression and the upregulation of PLZF. By genome-wide comparison of chromatin accessibility, we identify a subset of iNKT2-specific regulatory elements containing NFAT and Egr binding motifs that is less accessible in iNKT2 cells that develop from reduced TCR signaling. These data suggest that variable TCR signaling modulates regulatory element activity at NFAT and Egr binding sites exerting a determinative influence on the dynamics of gene enhancer accessibility and the developmental fate of iNKT cells