Borehole image techniques applied to identification of chert and dolomite layers in lacustrine sediments

Geophysical logging tools, particularly ultrasonic acoustic borehole image techniques, are applied on two different wells (CP1 and CP2) to identify and characterize the lacustrine interval (40m) of the Camp dels Ninots maardiatreme infill (Pliocene, Catalan Coastal Ranges). The CP1 well was cored and also geophysical logs and oriented borehole images were acquired. CP2 hole was partially cored but logging (geophysics and borehole images) was fully undertaken. Continuous core recovery in CP1 is compared with oriented images and is further used to identify and characterize highly reflective signals in a section of CP2 borehole that was not cored. These signals are related to silicified zones and belong to discontinuous centimetric chert nodules, while indurated massive carbonates are characterized as intervals of continuous reflectance. Despite opal nodules (chert) can be relatively small, they have a distinctive response in the ultrasonic borehole images.Peer Reviewe

Co-Mn Mineralisations in the Ni Laterite Deposits of Loma Caribe (Dominican Republic) and Loma de Hierro (Venezuela)

Cobalt demand is increasing due to its key role in the transition to clean energies. Although the main Co ores are the sediment-hosted stratiform copper deposits of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Co is also a by-product of Ni-Co laterite deposits, where Co extraction efficiency depends, among other factors, on the correct identification of Co-bearing minerals. In this paper, we reported a detailed study of the Co mineralisation in the Ni-Co laterite profiles of Loma Caribe (Dominican Republic) and Loma de Hierro (Venezuela). Cobalt is mainly associated with Mn-oxyhydroxide minerals, with a composition between Ni asbolane and lithiophorite, although a Co association with phyllosilicates has also been recorded in a Loma de Hierro deposit. In Loma Caribe, Co-bearing Mn-oxyhydroxide minerals mainly developed colloform aggregates, and globular to spherulitic grains, while in Loma de Hierro, they displayed banded colloform, fibrous or tabular textures. Most of the compositional analyses of Mn-oxyhydroxides yielded 20 and 40 wt.% Mn, with Ni and Co up to 16 and 10 wt.%, respectively. In both profiles, Mn-bearing minerals were mainly found in the transition from the oxide horizon to the saprolite, as observed in other laterite profiles in the world, where the precipitation of Mn-bearing minerals is enhanced because of the pore solution saturation and pH increas

Tractament de manteniment amb metadona: manual de pràctica clínica

Tractament de manteniment amb metadona; Pràctica clínica; DrogodependènciesTratamiento de mantenimiento con metadona; Práctica clínica; DrogodependenciasMethadone maintenance treatment; Clinical practice; Drug addictionsEl Manual pretén ser una eina útil per disminuir la variabilitat de la pràctica clínica i garantir un nivell òptim de qualitat i millora de l'atenció sanitària en el tractament de manteniment amb metadona (TMM). Aplica les normes bàsiques utilitzades per a la preparació de guies de pràctica clínica; en primer lloc, incloent-hi la millor evidència possible sobre la base de revisions sistemàtiques de la literatura, en segon lloc, amb recomanacions clares i curtes, i en tercer lloc, en absència d’una evidència fiable en la literatura, incorporant-hi la opinió d’experts per mitjà de tècniques de consens com el mètode Delphi

The LHCb upgrade I

The LHCb upgrade represents a major change of the experiment. The detectors have been almost completely renewed to allow running at an instantaneous luminosity five times larger than that of the previous running periods. Readout of all detectors into an all-software trigger is central to the new design, facilitating the reconstruction of events at the maximum LHC interaction rate, and their selection in real time. The experiment's tracking system has been completely upgraded with a new pixel vertex detector, a silicon tracker upstream of the dipole magnet and three scintillating fibre tracking stations downstream of the magnet. The whole photon detection system of the RICH detectors has been renewed and the readout electronics of the calorimeter and muon systems have been fully overhauled. The first stage of the all-software trigger is implemented on a GPU farm. The output of the trigger provides a combination of totally reconstructed physics objects, such as tracks and vertices, ready for final analysis, and of entire events which need further offline reprocessing. This scheme required a complete revision of the computing model and rewriting of the experiment's software

Mineralogical proxies of a Pliocene maar lake recording changes in precipitation at the Camp dels Ninots (Pliocene, NE Iberia)

The sedimentary record of the maar lake succession at Camp dels Ninots (Pliocene, NE Spain) reflects mineralogical shifts that correlate with orbitally forced climate changes. X-ray powder diffraction was obtained from a 47 m-long core collected from a borehole drilled in the centre of the paleolake. The results show compositional variations in terms of allogenic/authigenic mineral assemblages which, in turn, correlate with climate proxies such as pollen. Intervals that are dominantly composed of allogenic minerals (quartz, feldspar, smectite) correlate with wet periods. These periods are characterised by an increase in the percentage of Abies pollen. Conversely, intervals enriched in carbonates correlate with dry periods, with decreased amounts of Abies pollen. This cyclicity is attributed to rainfall variations leading to hydrologically open lake conditions during periods of relative high precipitation (when clastic input is enhanced) and hydrologically closed lake conditions during drier periods (when precipitation of authigenic carbonates is enhanced). It is concluded that the mineralogy of maar paleolakes may be highly sensitive to record climate changes.We would like to thank the land owners for their permission to work in the area, and the Town Council of Caldes de Malavella and the Departament de Cultura de la Generalitat de Catalunya for the economic funding of the excavation under the project CLT009/18/00052. This study was partially funded by project of the Spanish Government and the SGR2017-859 and SGR-2017-1666 of the Generalitat de Catalunya. The research of B.G.S. and G.C. is funded by the CERCA Programme/Generalitat de Catalunya. The Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA) has received financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the ‘María de Maeztu’ program for Units of Excellence (CEX2019-000945-M). XRD technical assistance was provided by Soledad Álvarez and José J. Elvira at the XRD Laboratory of GEO3BCN-CSIC (former ICTJA-CSIC), and by Laura Burrel.Peer reviewe

Co-Mn mineralisations in the ni laterite deposits of Loma Caribe (Dominican Republic) and Loma de Hierro (Venezuela)

Cobalt demand is increasing due to its key role in the transition to clean energies. Although the main Co ores are the sediment-hosted stratiform copper deposits of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Co is also a by-product of Ni–Co laterite deposits, where Co extraction efficiency depends, among other factors, on the correct identification of Co-bearing minerals. In this paper, we reported a detailed study of the Co mineralisation in the Ni–Co laterite profiles of Loma Caribe (Dominican Republic) and Loma de Hierro (Venezuela). Cobalt is mainly associated with Mn-oxyhydroxide minerals, with a composition between Ni asbolane and lithiophorite, although a Co association with phyllosilicates has also been recorded in a Loma de Hierro deposit. In Loma Caribe, Co-bearing Mn-oxyhydroxide minerals mainly developed colloform aggregates, and globular to spherulitic grains, while in Loma de Hierro, they displayed banded colloform, fibrous or tabular textures. Most of the compositional analyses of Mn-oxyhydroxides yielded 20 and 40 wt.% Mn, with Ni and Co up to 16 and 10 wt.%, respectively. In both profiles, Mn-bearing minerals were mainly found in the transition from the oxide horizon to the saprolite, as observed in other laterite profiles in the world, where the precipitation of Mn-bearing minerals is enhanced because of the pore solution saturation and pH increase

Atypical neuropathological sCJD-MM phenotype with abundant white matter Kuru-type plaques sparing the cerebellar cortex.

We describe an atypical neuropatholgical phenotype of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD) in a 64-year-old man presenting with a 5-month history of rapidly progressive dementia, comprising behavioral disturbances, memory complaints, disorientation and language alterations. MRI showed diffuse atrophy and hyperintensities in parietal, occipital, temporal and frontal cortices and left caudate nucleus on T2-weighted and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery images. No typical EEG alterations were observed. Repeated 14-3-3 assay was positive after a first negative test. Neuropathology showed classical CJD changes with small cortical foci of large confluent vacuoles and relatively well-preserved cerebellar cortex. The most striking feature was the presence of abundant Kuru-type plaques in both cerebral cortex and subcortical white matter. Sparse Kuru-type plaques were also seen in cerebellum, although only in white matter. Immunohistochemistry showed, in addition to unicentric plaques, diffuse synaptic and patchy perivacuolar, as well as plaque-like and periaxonal pathological prion protein deposits (PrPres ). Western blot studies demonstrated the co-occurrence of PrPres types 1 and 2 in frontal cortex and a relatively weak type 2 signal in cerebellum. PRNP genotyping revealed methionine homozygosity at codon 129 and excluded mutations. This case shows a previously undescribed combination of histopathological features which preclude its classification according to the current phenotypic and molecular sCJD classification. The observation demonstrates that Kuru-type amyloid plaques mainly involving the cerebral white matter may also occur in sCJD cases with short clinical course and the co-existence of PrPres types 1 and 2. This case further highlights the complexity of the correlations between histopathological phenotype and PrPres isotype in prion diseases