Formation of the Chah-Gaz iron oxide-apatite ore (IOA) deposit, Bafq District, Iran: constraints from halogens, trace element concentrations, and Sr-Nd isotopes of fluorapatite

The textures, chemistry and Sr-Nd isotopic compositions of apatite from the Chah-Gaz iron-oxide apatite (IOA) deposit in the Bafq metallogenic belt, central Iran, were studied to investigate the formation of this ore deposit. Two generations of apatite were recognized based on Cl/F and Cl/OH ratios. Primary fluorapatite, which is coeval with magnetite in the massive ore bodies, is chemically homogeneous and characterized by Cl/F < 0.05 and Cl/OH in the range of 0.01–0.07. By contrast, F-depleted apatite rims are present in apatite hosted in veinlets that crosscut the massive ore bodies and are disseminated in the igneous host rocks, and have Cl/F and Cl/OH-apatite ratios of 0.08–0.12 and 0.15–0.79, respectively. The F-depleted rims are also depleted in LREEs, Th and U, consistent with the presence of secondary monazite, xenotime and thorite that formed by coupled dissolution-reprecipitation. The whole-rock Nd–Sr isotopic data ((87Sr/86Sr)(I) = 0.7052 to 0.7064 and ɛNd(t) = +1.3 to + 2.7) of gabbro-diorite indicate an mantle source, while the high -K, calc-alkaline-shoshonitic volcanic host rocks have εNd(t) = − 5.5 to − 7.6, clearly reflecting mixing between mantle-derived mafic magmas and assimilated Proterozoic basement. The initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios and ɛNd values of both F-rich and -depleted apatites (0.7038 to 0.7050 and −0.3 to + 6.5, respectively) are similar to gabbroic rocks and support a magmatic source for primary fluorapatite, with minimal or no crustal contribution, and indicate that the magmatic event with negative ɛNd values did not affect the whole-rock Sm-Nd signature of the ore. Petrography plus geochemical and Nd-Sr isotopic data of both studied fluorapatite, which come from iron oxide stage, are consistent with a combined igneous/magmatic-hydrothermal genesis for the Chah-Gaz IOA deposit, with low degrees of hydrothermal overprint, as evidenced by the formation of F-depleted (Cl-rich) apatite rims. The relatively constant Sr-Nd data in apatite are consistent with superimposed, episodic hydrothermal fluids from the same, evolving, magmatic-hydrothermal system

Coeval calc-alkaline and alkaline Cadomian magmatism in the Bafq, central Iran: Insights into their petrogenesis

The Chah-Gaz and Mishdovan areas in the Bafq magmatic complex, central Iran, contain thick series of terrigenous sediments (the Rizu-Dezu complex), and arc-related calc-alkaline and alkaline igneous rocks. Geochemical analyses of igneous rocks from both areas indicate two distinct rock clans: (1) high-K, calc-alkaline-shoshonitic rocks with strong depletions in Nb, P, and Ti, and (2) an alkaline quartz gabbro-diorite, with trace element patterns resembling oceanic island basalts (OIB). New geochronological data reveal that magmatic rocks of both clans crystallized almost simultaneously, with zircon U[sbnd]Pb ages of 534 Ma and 537 Ma, respectively. The whole-rock Nd[sbnd]Sr isotopic data ((87Sr/86Sr)(I) = 0.7052 to 0.7064 and ɛNd(t) = +1.3 to +2.7) of alkaline quartz gabbro-diorite indicate an enriched OIB-like mantle source, while the high-K, calc-alkaline-shoshonitic rocks have εNd(t) = −5.5 to −7.6, clearly reflecting significant contributions from pre-existing Proterozoic basement. Apatite in both the Chah-Gaz and Mishdovan magmatic rocks is of magmatic origin, with light rare earth element (LREE) enrichment patterns. The low Sr/Y and Eu/Eu⁎ values in apatite demonstrate the non-adakitic character of the investigated rocks, while the moderately negative Eu anomaly and inverse correlation between δCe and δEu in the analyzed apatites may reflect reduced parental magmas. The geochemical and isotopic results presented here indicate that slab rollback and opening of an extensional basin could have initiated concurrent Cadomian arc-related calc-alkaline and rift-associated alkaline magmatism in the Chah-Gaz and Mishdovan areas

Unsupervised automatic tracking of thermal changes in human body

An automated system for detecting and tracking of the thermal fluctuation in human body is addressed. It applies HSV based k-means clustering which initialized and controlled the points which lie on the ROI boundary. Afterward a particle filter tracked the targeted ROI in the thermal video stream. There were six subjects have voluntarily participated on these experiments. For simulating the hot spots occur during the some medical tests a controllable heater utilized close to the subjects body. The results indicated promising accuracy of the proposed approach for tracking the hot spots. However, there were some approximations (e.g. the transmittance of the atmosphere and emissivity of the fabric) which can be neglected because of independency of the proposed approach for these parameters. The approach can track the heating spots efficiently considering the movement in the subjects which provided a confidence of considerable robustness against motion-artifact usually occurs in the medical tests

Corrigendum: Ethnopharmacological Approaches for Therapy of Jaundice: Part II. Highly Used Plant Species from Acanthaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Asteraceae, Combretaceae, and Fabaceae Families

In the original article, there was a mistake in the legend for Figure 4 as published (the spelling of isosilibin was incorrect). The correct legend appears below. In the original article, there was a mistake in Figure 4 as published (CH3 group was missing in the Silybin structure). The corrected Figure 4 appears below. The authors apologize for these errors and state that this does not change the scientific conclusions of the article in any way

Local-flexural interactive buckling of standard and optimised cold-formed steel columns

This paper aims to study the interaction of local and overall flexural buckling in cold-formed steel (CFS) channels under axial compression. Detailed nonlinear FE models were developed and validated against a total of 36 axial compression tests on CFS plain and lipped channel columns with pin-ended boundary conditions. The numerical models incorporated the non-linear stress-strain behaviour of CFS material and enhanced properties of cold-worked corner regions obtained from coupon tests. The effects of initial geometric imperfections of the specimens measured by a specially designed set-up with laser displacement transducers were also taken into account. The developed FE models produced excellent predictions of the ultimate strength of the specimens obtained from experimental tests. The validated FE models and experimental results were then used to assess the adequacy of the effective width method in Eurocode 3 (EC3) and Direct Strength Method (DSM) in estimating the design capacity of a wide range of conventional and optimised design CFS channel column sections. The results indicate that Eurocode 3 provides conservative predictions (on average 21% deviation) for the compressive capacity of plain and lipped channel sections, while in general DSM predictions are more accurate for lipped channels. A comparison between FE predictions and tested results show that geometric imperfections can change the FE predictions by up to 20% and 40%, respectively, for lipped and plain channel columns, while the strain hardening effect at the rounded corner regions of the cross-sections is negligible. The results also confirmed that the proposed numerical model is able to provide a consistent and reliable prediction on the efficiency of a previously proposed optimisation methodology

Ethnopharmacological Approaches for Therapy of Jaundice: Part I

Jaundice is a very common symptom especially in the developing countries. It is associated with several hepatic diseases which are still major causes of death. There are many different approaches to jaundice treatment and the growing number of ethnomedicinal studies shows the plant pharmacology as very promising direction. Many medicinal plants are used for the treatment of jaundice, however a comprehensive review on this subject has not been published. The use of medicinal plants in drug discovery is highly emphasized (based on their traditional and safe uses in different folk medicine systems from ancient times). Many sophisticated analytical techniques are emerging in the pharmaceutical field to validate and discover new biologically active chemical entities derived from plants. Here, we aim to classify and categorize medicinal plants relevant for the treatment of jaundice according to their origin, geographical location, and usage. Our search included various databases like Pubmed, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar. Keywords and phrases used for these searches included: “jaundice,” “hyperbilirubinemia,” “serum glutamate,” “bilirubin,” “Ayurveda.” The first part of the review focuses on the variety of medicinal plant used for the treatment of jaundice (a total of 207 medicinal plants). In the second part, possible mechanisms of action of biologically active secondary metabolites of plants from five families for jaundice treatment are discussed