Validation of tectonic models for an intraplate seismic zone, Charleston, South Carolina, with GPS geodetic data

Although the average strain rate in intraplate settings is 2--3 orders of magnitude lower than at plate boundaries, there are pockets of high strain rates within intraplate regions. The results of a Global Positioning System survey near the location of current seismicity (and the inferred location of the destructive 1886 Charleston, South Carolina earthquake) suggest that there is anomalous strain build-up occurring there. By reoccupying 1930 triangulation and 1980 GPS sites with six Trimble SST dual frequency receivers, a strain rate of 0.4 {times} 10{sup {minus}7} yr{sup {minus}1} was observed. At the 95% confidence level, this value is not significant; however, at a lower level of confidence ({approximately} 85%) it is about two orders of magnitude greater than the background of 10{sup {minus}9} to 10{sup {minus}10} yr{sup {minus}1}. The direction of contraction inferred from the GPS survey 66{degree} {+-} 11{degree} is in excellent agreement with the direction of the maximum horizontal stress (N 60{degree} E) in the area, suggesting that the observed strain rate is also real. 66 refs

Antiinflammatory Therapy with Canakinumab for Atherosclerotic Disease

Background: Experimental and clinical data suggest that reducing inflammation without affecting lipid levels may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Yet, the inflammatory hypothesis of atherothrombosis has remained unproved. Methods: We conducted a randomized, double-blind trial of canakinumab, a therapeutic monoclonal antibody targeting interleukin-1β, involving 10,061 patients with previous myocardial infarction and a high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level of 2 mg or more per liter. The trial compared three doses of canakinumab (50 mg, 150 mg, and 300 mg, administered subcutaneously every 3 months) with placebo. The primary efficacy end point was nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or cardiovascular death. RESULTS: At 48 months, the median reduction from baseline in the high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level was 26 percentage points greater in the group that received the 50-mg dose of canakinumab, 37 percentage points greater in the 150-mg group, and 41 percentage points greater in the 300-mg group than in the placebo group. Canakinumab did not reduce lipid levels from baseline. At a median follow-up of 3.7 years, the incidence rate for the primary end point was 4.50 events per 100 person-years in the placebo group, 4.11 events per 100 person-years in the 50-mg group, 3.86 events per 100 person-years in the 150-mg group, and 3.90 events per 100 person-years in the 300-mg group. The hazard ratios as compared with placebo were as follows: in the 50-mg group, 0.93 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.80 to 1.07; P = 0.30); in the 150-mg group, 0.85 (95% CI, 0.74 to 0.98; P = 0.021); and in the 300-mg group, 0.86 (95% CI, 0.75 to 0.99; P = 0.031). The 150-mg dose, but not the other doses, met the prespecified multiplicity-adjusted threshold for statistical significance for the primary end point and the secondary end point that additionally included hospitalization for unstable angina that led to urgent revascularization (hazard ratio vs. placebo, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.73 to 0.95; P = 0.005). Canakinumab was associated with a higher incidence of fatal infection than was placebo. There was no significant difference in all-cause mortality (hazard ratio for all canakinumab doses vs. placebo, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.83 to 1.06; P = 0.31). Conclusions: Antiinflammatory therapy targeting the interleukin-1β innate immunity pathway with canakinumab at a dose of 150 mg every 3 months led to a significantly lower rate of recurrent cardiovascular events than placebo, independent of lipid-level lowering. (Funded by Novartis; CANTOS ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01327846.

Experiment for cryogenic large-aperture intensity mapping: instrument design

The experiment for cryogenic large-aperture intensity mapping (EXCLAIM) is a balloon-borne telescope designed to survey star formation in windows from the present to z  =  3.5. During this time, the rate of star formation dropped dramatically, while dark matter continued to cluster. EXCLAIM maps the redshifted emission of singly ionized carbon lines and carbon monoxide using intensity mapping, which permits a blind and complete survey of emitting gas through statistics of cumulative brightness fluctuations. EXCLAIM achieves high sensitivity using a cryogenic telescope coupled to six integrated spectrometers employing kinetic inductance detectors covering 420 to 540 GHz with spectral resolving power R  =  512 and angular resolution ≈4  arc min. The spectral resolving power and cryogenic telescope allow the survey to access dark windows in the spectrum of emission from the upper atmosphere. EXCLAIM will survey 305  deg2 in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Stripe 82 field from a conventional balloon flight in 2023. EXCLAIM will also map several galactic fields to study carbon monoxide and neutral carbon emission as tracers of molecular gas. We summarize the design phase of the mission

Seismic Structure of the Carnegie Ridge and the nature of the Galapagos hotspot

The Galápagos volcanic province (GVP) includes several aseismic ridges resulting from the interaction between the Galápagos hotspot (GHS) and the Cocos–Nazca spreading centre (CNSC). The most prominent are the Cocos, Carnegie and Malpelo ridges. In this work, we investigate the seismic structure of the Carnegie ridge along two profiles acquired during the South American Lithospheric Transects Across Volcanic Ridges (SALIERI) 2001 experiment. Maximum crustal thickness is ∼19 km in the central Carnegie profile, located at ∼85°W over a 19–20 Myr old oceanic crust, and only ∼13 km in the eastern Carnegie profile, located at ∼82°W over a 11–12 Myr old oceanic crust. The crustal velocity models are subsequently compared with those obtained in a previous work along three other profiles over the Cocos and Malpelo ridges, two of which are located at the conjugate positions of the Carnegie ones. Oceanic layer 2 thickness is quite uniform along the five profiles regardless of the total crustal thickness variations, hence crustal thickening is mainly accommodated by layer 3. Lower crustal velocities are systematically lower where the crust is thicker, thus contrary to what would be expected from melting of a hotter than normal mantle. The velocity-derived crustal density models account for the gravity and depth anomalies considering uniform and normal mantle densities (3300 kg m−3), which confirms that velocity models are consistent with gravity and topography data, and indicates that the ridges are isostatically compensated at the base of the crust. Finally, a two-dimensional (2-D) steady-state mantle melting model is developed and used to illustrate that the crust of the ridges does not seem to be the product of anomalous mantle temperatures, even if hydrous melting coupled with vigorous subsolidus upwelling is considered in the model. In contrast, we show that upwelling of a normal temperature but fertile mantle source that may result from recycling of oceanic crust prior to melting, accounts more easily for the estimated seismic structure as well as for isotopic, trace element and major element patterns of the GVP basalts

Temporally resolved GC-MS-based metabolic profiling of herbicide treated plants treated reveals that changes in polar primary metabolites alone can distinguish herbicides of differing mode of action

We conducted a comprehensive metabolic phenotyping of primary metabolism of photosynthetic tissue of Arabidopsis thaliana following spray treatment with a number of commercially used herbicides using a well established gas-chromatography mass-spectrometry profiling method. Applying this technique we were able to identify and quantify in excess of 80 polar metabolites and based on a combination of co-elution with standards and prediction from the mass spectra a similar number of lipophillic components within two chromatographic runs. The herbicides selected were glufosinate, sulcotrione, AE944 [N2-(1-ethyl-3-phenylpropyl)-6-(1-fluoro-1-methylethyl)-1,3,5-triazine-2,4-diamine], foramsulfuron, benfuresate and glyphosate. We determined causal changes in the metabolite profiles by following their time-dependent changes using a serial sampling strategy. The resultant profiles were compared both by looking at the largest changes in a metabolite by metabolite manner and by performance of statistical analyses. These data revealed that analysis of the polar metabolites allows clear separation of the compounds under test. This finding is discussed in the context of current strategies for agrochemical discovery

Inhibition of 2-Oxoglutarate Dehydrogenase in Potato Tuber Suggests the Enzyme Is Limiting for Respiration and Confirms Its Importance in Nitrogen Assimilation1[W][OA]

The 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase complex constitutes a mitochondrially localized tricarboxylic acid cycle multienzyme system responsible for the conversion of 2-oxoglutarate to succinyl-coenzyme A concomitant with NAD+ reduction. Although regulatory mechanisms of plant enzyme complexes have been characterized in vitro, little is known concerning their role in plant metabolism in situ. This issue has recently been addressed at the cellular level in nonplant systems via the use of specific phosphonate inhibitors of the enzyme. Here, we describe the application of these inhibitors for the functional analysis of the potato (Solanum tuberosum) tuber 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase complex. In vitro experiments revealed that succinyl phosphonate (SP) and a carboxy ethyl ester of SP are slow-binding inhibitors of the 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase complex, displaying greater inhibitory effects than a diethyl ester of SP, a phosphono ethyl ester of SP, or a triethyl ester of SP. Incubation of potato tuber slices with the inhibitors revealed that they were adequately taken up by the tissue and produced the anticipated effects on the in situ enzyme activity. In order to assess the metabolic consequences of the 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase complex inhibition, we evaluated the levels of a broad range of primary metabolites using an established gas chromatography-mass spectrometry method. We additionally analyzed the rate of respiration in both tuber discs and isolated mitochondria. Finally, we evaluated the metabolic fate of radiolabeled acetate, 2-oxoglutarate or glucose, and 13C-labeled pyruvate and glutamate following incubation of tuber discs in the presence or absence of either SP or the carboxy ethyl ester of SP. The data obtained are discussed in the context of the roles of the 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase complex in respiration and carbon-nitrogen interactions

An Integrated Genomics Approach to Define Niche Establishment by Rhodococcus fascians1[C][W][OA]

Rhodococcus fascians is a Gram-positive phytopathogen that induces shooty hyperplasia on its hosts through the secretion of cytokinins. Global transcriptomics using microarrays combined with profiling of primary metabolites on infected Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) plants revealed that this actinomycete modulated pathways to convert its host into a niche. The transcript data demonstrated that R. fascians leaves a very characteristic mark on Arabidopsis with a pronounced cytokinin response illustrated by the activation of cytokinin perception, signal transduction, and homeostasis. The microarray data further suggested active suppression of an oxidative burst during the R. fascians pathology, and comparison with publicly available transcript data sets implied a central role for auxin in the prevention of plant defense activation. Gene Ontology categorization of the differentially expressed genes hinted at a significant impact of infection on the primary metabolism of the host, which was confirmed by subsequent metabolite profiling. The much higher levels of sugars and amino acids in infected plants are presumably accessed by the bacteria as carbon and nitrogen sources to support epiphytic and endophytic colonization. Hexoses, accumulating from a significantly increased invertase activity, possibly inhibited the expression of photosynthesis genes and photosynthetic activity in infected leaves. Altogether, these changes are indicative of sink development in symptomatic tissues. The metabolomics data furthermore point to the possible occurrence of secondary signaling during the interaction, which might contribute to symptom development. These data are placed in the context of regulation of bacterial virulence gene expression, suppression of defense, infection phenotype, and niche establishment