Epigene and Hypogene Karst Manifestations of the Castile Formation: Eddy County, New Mexico and Culberson County, Texas, USA

Permian evaporites of the Castile Formation crop out over ~1,800 km2 in the western Delaware Basin (Eddy County, New Mexico and Culberson County, Texas, USA) with abundant and diverse karst manifestations. Epigene karst occurs as well-developed karren on exposed bedrock, while sinkholes dominate the erosional landscape, including both solutional and collapse forms. Sinkhole analyses suggest that more than half of all sinks are the result of upward stoping of subsurface voids, while many solutional sinks are commonly the result of overprinting of collapsed forms. Epigene caves are laterally limited with rapid aperture decreases away from insurgence, with passages developed along fractures and anticline fold axes. Hypogene karst occurs as diverse manifestations, forming the deepest and longest caves within the region as well as abundant zones of brecciation. Hypogene caves exhibit a wide range of morphologies from complex maze and anastomotic patterns to simple, steeply dipping patterns, but all hypogene caves exhibit morphologic features (i.e. risers, outlet cupolas and half-tubes) that provide a definitive suite of evidence of dissolution within a mixed convection (forced and free convection) hydrologic system. Extensive blanket breccias, abundant breccia pipes and numerous occurrences of calcitized evaporites indicate widespread hypogene speleogenesis throughout the entire Castile Formation. Although most cave and karst development within the Castile outcrop region appears to have hypogene origins, epigene processes are actively overprinting features, creating a complex speleogenetic evolution within the Castile Formation

Epigene and hypogene gypsum karst manifestations of the Castile Formation: Eddy County, New Mexico and Culberson County, Texas, USA

Pikara Magazine es un medio de comunicación fundado por cuatro periodistas vascas: June Fernández, Lucía Martínez Odriozola, Itziar Abad y Maite Asensio. Todas formaban parte de la Red Vasca de Periodistas con Visión de Género- Kazetarion Berdinsarea. Los objetivos de la red pasaban por lograr introducir la perspectiva de género en las prácticas periodistas de los medios de comunicación, que tienden al androcentrismo. Esos mismos objetivos rigen Pikara Magazine

Influence of mycotoxin zearalenone and its derivatives (alpha and beta zearalenol) on apoptosis and proliferation of cultured granulosa cells from equine ovaries

BACKGROUND: The mycotoxin zearalenone (ZEA) and its derivatives, alpha and beta-zearalenol (alpha and beta-ZOL), synthesized by genera Fusarium, often occur as contaminants in cereal grains and animal feeds. The importance of ZEA on reproductive disorders is well known in domestic animals species, particularly in swine and cattle. In the horse, limited data are available to date on the influence of dietary exposure to ZEA on reproductive health and on its in vitro effects on reproductive cells. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of ZEA and its derivatives, alpha and beta-ZOL, on granulosa cells (GCs) from the ovaries of cycling mares. METHODS: The cell proliferation was evaluated by using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) test after 3 days exposure at different concentrations of ZEA and its derivatives (from 1 × 10-7 to 0.1 microM). The apoptosis induction was evaluated after 1 day exposure, by DNA analysis using flow cytometry. RESULTS: An increase in cell proliferation with respect to the control was observed in the presence of ZEA at 1 × 10-3 and 1 × 10-4 microM and apoptosis was induced by all mycotoxins at different concentrations. CONCLUSION: The simultaneous presence of apoptosis and proliferation in GC cultures treated with zearalenones could indicate that these mycotoxins could be effective in inducing follicular atresia. These effects of zearalenones may result from both direct interaction with oestrogen-receptors as well as interaction with the enzymes 3alpha (beta)-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (HSD), involved in the synthesis and metabolism of endogenous steroid hormones. These cellular disturbances, described for the first time in equine GCs cultured in vitro, could be hypothesized as referred to reproductive failures of unknown ethiology in the mare

Triatoma dimidiata Infestation in Chagas Disease Endemic Regions of Guatemala: Comparison of Random and Targeted Cross-Sectional Surveys

Chagas disease is a vector-borne parasitic zoonosis endemic throughout South and Central America and Mexico. Guatemala is engaged in the Central America Initiative to interrupt Chagas disease transmission. A major strategy is the reduction of Triatoma dimidiata domiciliary infestations through indoor application of residual insecticides. Successful control of T. dimidiata will depend on accurate identification of areas at greatest risk for infestation. Initial efforts focused primarily on targeted surveys of presumed risk factors and suspected infestation to define intervention areas. This policy has not been evaluated and might not maximize the effectiveness of limited resources if high prevalence villages are missed or low prevalence villages are visited unnecessarily. We compare findings from the targeted surveys to concurrent random surveys in two primary foci of Chagas disease transmission in Guatemala to evaluate the performance of the targeted surveys. Our results indicate that random surveys performed better than targeted surveys and should be considered over targeted surveys when reliability of risk factors has not been evaluated, identify useful environmental factors to predict infestation, and indicate that infestation risk varies locally. These findings are useful for decision-makers at national Chagas Disease control programs in Central America, institutions supporting development efforts, and funding agencies

Toro Times: Raising Our Voices!

During the Spring 2019 semester, Dr. Noah Asher Golden\u27s Teaching of Writing K-12 students partnered with the Journalism class at Yorba Academy for the Arts. Through collaboration over a four-month period, Chapman\u27s future teachers and Yorba\u27s junior high journalists engaged a deep writing process to write a series of features, editorials, and news articles related to a number of global issues. Thank you to Principal Preciado-Martin, former principal Tracy Knibb, Mrs. Andrea Lopez, Mrs. Kori Shelton, and the Lloyd E. and Elisabeth H. Klein Family Foundation for supporting this project.https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/yorba-chapman/1004/thumbnail.jp

Mechanism of KMT5B haploinsufficiency in neurodevelopment in humans and mice.

Pathogenic variants in KMT5B, a lysine methyltransferase, are associated with global developmental delay, macrocephaly, autism, and congenital anomalies (OMIM# 617788). Given the relatively recent discovery of this disorder, it has not been fully characterized. Deep phenotyping of the largest (n = 43) patient cohort to date identified that hypotonia and congenital heart defects are prominent features that were previously not associated with this syndrome. Both missense variants and putative loss-of-function variants resulted in slow growth in patient-derived cell lines. KMT5B homozygous knockout mice were smaller in size than their wild-type littermates but did not have significantly smaller brains, suggesting relative macrocephaly, also noted as a prominent clinical feature. RNA sequencing of patient lymphoblasts and Kmt5b haploinsufficient mouse brains identified differentially expressed pathways associated with nervous system development and function including axon guidance signaling. Overall, we identified additional pathogenic variants and clinical features in KMT5B-related neurodevelopmental disorder and provide insights into the molecular mechanisms of the disorder using multiple model systems