Application of mineralogical, petrological and geochemical tools for evaluating the palaeohdrogeological evolution of the PADAMOT study sites

The role of Work Package (WP) 2 of the PADAMOT project – ‘Palaeohydrogeological Data Measurements’ - has been to study late-stage fracture mineral and water samples from groundwater systems in Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom and the Czech Republic, with the aim of understanding the recent palaeohydrogeological evolution of these groundwater systems. In particular, the project sought to develop and evaluate methods for obtaining information about past groundwater evolution during the Quaternary (about the last 2 million years) by examining how the late-stage mineralization might record mineralogical, petrographical and geochemical evidence of how the groundwater system may have responded to past geological and climatological changes. Fracture-flow groundwater systems at six European sites were studied: • Melechov Hill, in the Bohemian Massif of the Czech Republic: a shallow (0-100 m) dilute groundwater flow system within the near-surface weathering zone in fractured granitic rocks; • Cloud Hill, in the English Midlands: a (~100 m) shallow dilute groundwater flow system in fractured and dolomitized Carboniferous limestone; • Los Ratones, in southwest Spain: an intermediate depth (0-500 m) dilute groundwater flow system in fractured granitic rocks; • Laxemar, in southeast Sweden: a deep (0-1000 m) groundwater flow system in fractured granitic rocks. This is a complex groundwater system with potential recharge and flushing by glacial, marine, lacustrine and freshwater during the Quaternary; • Sellafield, northwest England: a deep (0-2000 m) groundwater flow system in fractured Ordovician low-grade metamorphosed volcaniclastic rocks and discontinuous Carboniferous Limestone, overlain by a Permo-Triassic sedimentary sequence with fracture and matrix porosity. This is a complex coastal groundwater system with deep hypersaline sedimentary basinal brines, and deep saline groundwaters in crystalline basement rocks, overlain by a shallow freshwater aquifer system. The site was glaciated several times during the Quaternary and may have been affected by recharge from glacial meltwater; • Dounreay, northeast Scotland: a deep (0-1400 m) groundwater flow system in fractured Precambrian crystalline basement overlain by fractured Devonian sedimentary rocks. This is within the coastal discharge area of a complex groundwater system, comprising deep saline groundwater hosted in crystalline basement, overlain by a fracture-controlled freshwater sedimentary aquifer system. Like Sellafield, this area experienced glaciation and may potentially record the impact of glacial meltwater recharge. In addition, a study has been made of two Quaternary sedimentary sequences in Andalusia in southeastern Spain to provide a basis of estimating the palaeoclimatic history of the region that could be used in any reconstruction of the palaeoclimatic history at the Los Ratones site: • The Cúllar-Baza lacustrine sequence records information about precipitation and palaeotemperature regimes, derived largely from the analysis of the stable isotope (δ18O and δ13C) signatures from biogenic calcite (ostracod shells). • The Padul Peat Bog sequence provided information on past vegetation cover and palaeogroundwater inputs based on the study of fossil pollen and biomarkers as proxies for past climate change. Following on from the earlier EC 4th Framework EQUIP project, the focus of the PADAMOT studies has been on calcite mineralization. Calcite has been identified as a late stage mineral, closely associated with hydraulically-conductive fractures in the present-day groundwater systems at the Äspö-Laxemar, Sellafield, Dounreay and Cloud Hill sites. At Los Ratones and Melechov sites late-stage mineralization is either absent or extremely scarce, and both the quantity and fine crystal size of any late-stage fracture mineralization relevant to Quaternary palaeohydrogeological investigations is difficult to work with. The results from the material investigated during the PADAMOT studies indicate that the fracture fillings at these sites are related to hydrothermal activity, and so do not have direct relevance as Quaternary indicators. Neoformed calcite has not been found at these two sites at the present depth of the investigations. Furthermore, the HCO3 - concentration in all the Los Ratones groundwaters is mainly controlled by complex carbonate dissolution. The carbonate mineral saturation indices do not indicate precipitation conditions, and this is consistent with the fact that neoformed calcite, ankerite or dolomite have not been observed petrographically

Heritability and genetic correlations of enteric methane emissions of dairy cows measured by sniffers and GreenFeed

Before methane (CH4) emission can be mitigated with animal breeding, breath measurements have to be recorded on a large number of cows. Our aim was to estimate heritabilities for, and a genetic correlation between, CH4 recorded by GreenFeed and sniffers. Repeated records were available for CH4 production (g/cow/day) by GreenFeed and for CH4 concentration (ppm) by sniffers. The data included 24,284 GreenFeed daily means from 822 cows, 172,948 sniffer daily means from 1,800 cows, and 1,787 daily means from both devices on the same day from 75 cows. Additionally, records were averaged per week. The datasets were analyzed using bivariate animal models. The results show that CH4 emissions recorded by either device has a moderate heritability (0.18-0.37). Furthermore, the genetic correlation between weekly mean CH4 recorded by GreenFeed or by sniffers was high (0.77). This suggest that the measurements can be used in the same genetic evaluations

Heritability and genetic correlations between enteric methane production and concentration recorded by GreenFeed and sniffers on dairy cows

To reduce methane (CH4) emissions of dairy cows by animal breeding, CH4 measurements have to be recorded on thousands of individual cows. Currently, several techniques are used to phenotype cows for CH4, differing in costs and applicability. However, there is uncertainty about the agreement between techniques. To judge the similarity and repeatability between measurements of different recording techniques, the repeatability, heritability, and genetic correlation are useful metrics. Therefore, our objective was to estimate (1) the repeatability and heritability for CH4 and carbon dioxide production recorded by GreenFeed (GF) and for CH4 and carbon dioxide concentration measured by cost-effective but less accurate sniffers, and (2) the genetic correlation between CH4 recorded with these 2 different on farm and high throughput techniques. Data were available from repeated measurements of CH4 production (grams/day) by GF units and of CH4 concentration (ppm) by sniffers, recorded on commercial dairy farms in the Netherlands. The final data comprised 24,284 GF daily means from 822 cows, 170,826 sniffer daily means from 1,800 cows, and 1,786 daily means from 75 cows by both GF and sniffer (in the same period). Additionally, CH4 records were averaged per week. For daily and weekly mean GF CH4 the heritabilities were 0.19 ± 0.02 and 0.33 ± 0.04, and for daily and weekly mean sniffer CH4 the heritabilities were similar and were 0.18 ± 0.01 and 0.32 ± 0.02, respectively. Phenotypic correlations between GF CH4 production and sniffer CH4 concentration were moderate (0.39 ± 0.03 for daily means and 0.37 ± 0.05 for weekly means). However, genetic correlations were high" 0.71 ± 0.13 for daily means and 0.76 ± 0.15 for weekly means. The high genetic correlation indicates that selection on low CH4 concentrations (ppm) recorded by the cost-effective sniffer method, will result in reduced CH4 production (grams/day) as recorded with GF

Fine mapping of a linkage peak with integration of lipid traits identifies novel coronary artery disease genes on chromosome 5

Coronary artery disease (CAD), and one of its intermediate risk factors, dyslipidemia, possess a demonstrable genetic component, although the genetic architecture is incompletely defined. We previously reported a linkage peak on chromosome 5q31-33 for early-onset CAD where the strength of evidence for linkage was increased in families with higher mean low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C). Therefore, we sought to fine-map the peak using association mapping of LDL-C as an intermediate disease-related trait to further define the etiology of this linkage peak. The study populations consisted of 1908 individuals from the CATHGEN biorepository of patients undergoing cardiac catheterization; 254 families (N = 827 individuals) from the GENECARD familial study of early-onset CAD; and 162 aorta samples harvested from deceased donors. Linkage disequilibrium-tagged SNPs were selected with an average of one SNP per 20 kb for 126.6-160.2 MB (region of highest linkage) and less dense spacing (one SNP per 50 kb) for the flanking regions (117.7-126.6 and 160.2-167.5 MB) and genotyped on all samples using a custom Illumina array. Association analysis of each SNP with LDL-C was performed using multivariable linear regression (CATHGEN) and the quantitative trait transmission disequilibrium test (QTDT; GENECARD). SNPs associated with the intermediate quantitative trait, LDL-C, were then assessed for association with CAD (i.e., a qualitative phenotype) using linkage and association in the presence of linkage (APL; GENECARD) and logistic regression (CATHGEN and aortas)

Design and performance of the traveling-wave beam chopper for the SSRL injector

A pulsed, split-parallel plate chopper has been designed built, and installed as part of the preinjector of the SSRL Injector. Its function is to allow the linear accelerator three consecutive S-band bunches from the long bunch train provided by a RF gun. A permanent magnet deflector (PMD) at the chopper entrance deflects the beam into an absorber when the chopper pulse is off. The beam is swept across a pair of slits at the beam output end when a 7 kV, 10-ns rise-time pulse passes in the opposite direction through the 75 {Omega} stripline formed by the deflecting plates. Bunches exiting the slits have their trajectories corrected by another PMD, and enter the linac. Beam tests demonstrate that the chopper functions as expected. 9 refs., 5 figs

New mimics of the acetate function in pheromone-based attraction

Several analogues of (Z)-8-dodecenyl acetate (la), the major pheromone component of the Oriental fruit moth, Cydia molesta, with chloroformate and lactone functional groups in place of the acetate moiety, were synthesized and investigated for their biological activity at four evaluation levels, i.e. by electroantennography (EAG), electrosensillography (ESG), short-range sexual stimulation and activation in the flight-tunnel. We found very strict requirements on the shape as well as on the electron distribution of the acetate group for a productive interaction with the receptor. The behavioral results showed that, among the analogues investigated, the chloroformate lb, alken-4-olide 2a and also dodecyl acetate (lc) possess significant (60-85%) inhibitory activities. Based on electrophysiological evidence demonstrating that (i) only lb is competing with the major pheromone component la for the same receptor sites on the male antennal sensilla, (ii) lc elicits moderate EAG but no ESG responses and (iii) 2a does not produce any electrophysiologicai response at all, three possible inhibitory mechanisms by which these analogues are acting could be distinguished

A test for assessment of saproxylic beetle biodiversity using subsets of monitoring species

In European forests, large scale biodiversity monitoring networks need to be implemented - networks which include components such as taxonomical groups that are at risk and that depend directly on forest stand structure. In this context, monitoring the species-rich group of saproxylic beetles is challenging. In the absence of sufficient resources to comprehensively survey a particular group, surrogates of species richness can be meaningful tools in biodiversity evaluations. In search of restricted subsets of species to use as surrogates of saproxylic beetle richness, we led a case study in Western Europe. Beetle data were compiled from 67 biodiversity surveys and ecological studies carried out from 1999 to 2010 with standardized trapping methods in France and Belgium. This large-scale dataset contains 642 forest plots, 1521 traps and 856 species. Twenty-two simplified species subsets were identified as potential surrogates, as well as the number of genera, a higher taxonomic level, taking into account, for each surrogate, the effort required for species identification, the practical monitoring experience necessary, the species conservation potential or the frequency of species occurrence. The performance of each surrogate was analyzed based on the following parameters: overall surrogacy (correlation between subset richness and total species richness), surrogacy vs. identification cost balance, surrogacy variation over a wide range of ecological conditions (forest type, altitude, latitude and bio-geographical area) and consistency with spatial scale. Ecological representativeness and ability to monitor rare species were supplementary criteria used to assess surrogate performance. The subsets consisting of the identifiable (or only easy-to-identify species) could easily be applied in practice and appear to be the best performing subsets, from a global point of view. The number of genera showed good prediction at the trap level and its surrogacy did not vary across wide environmental gradients. However, the subset of easy-to-identify species and the genus number were highly sensitive to spatial scale, which limits their use in large-scale studies. The number of rare species or the species richness of single beetle families (even the best single-family subset, the Cerambycidae) were very weak surrogates for total species richness. Conversely, the German list of monitoring species had high surrogacy, low identification costs and was not strongly influenced by the main geographical parameters, even with our French and Belgian data. In European-wide monitoring networks, such internationally validated subsets could be very useful with regard to the timing and cost-efficiency of field inventories