MANGANESE MINERALISATIONS AT THE BASE OF MIOCENE SEDIMENTS IN NORTHERN SARDINIA (ITALY)

During the eastward drift of the Palaeozoic-Mesozoic block formed by Sardinia and Corsica in the Oligocene-Miocene, calc-alkaline volcanism developed mostly in the western part of the island. Most Tertiary metallogenic phoenomena are related to hydrothermal activity associated with this volcanism. Following volcanic and related hydrothermal activity, sediments were deposited during the Oligocene-Miocene as a consequence of a marine transgression. The basal part of this series is clastic and includes elements derived from erosion of unaltered volcanics as well as hydrothermally altered rocks and hydrothermal vein quartz. Inside the Tertiary volcanics manganese ore-minerals occur as nodules, veinlets, and stockworks and mainly include Mn and Fe oxides; quartz in different forms is the most common gangue mineral. The mineralisations at the contact between volcanics and Miocene sediments are the most homogeneous, the ore-minerals occur in the cement, but also as fairly continuous thin beds, nodules and veinlets containing pyrolusite, frequent ramsdellite, less frequent manganite, psilomelane, cryptomelane-manjiroite, rare ranciéite, and todorokite. The nature of the ore-bearing beds indicate a near-shore clastic environment along the ancient coastal lines of the Miocene sea. Genetic considerations point to a supergenic transport and redeposition after erosion of primary dispersion and residual concentrations of Mn in the volcanics

The preburning condition of Chalcolithic cremated human remains from the Perdigoes enclosures (Portugal)

The Iberian Chalcolithic displayed a remarkable variety of funerary practices, which has been related to interpopulation differences, intrapopulation social-cultural differences, and complex multistage funerary rituals. Perdigoes, a Chalcolithic set of ditched enclosures, reflects such diversity including a wide array of funerary practices. Among those practices is cremation, which, despite relatively rare, is represented in different structures in Perdigoes. One of these structures (Pit 40) presents an unparalleled high minimum number of individuals (n = 240), contrasting with nearby and coeval structures. In this study, we analyse heat-induced bone changes and other archaeothanatological variables to tentatively assess the preburning condition of the human remains. The results of Pit 40 are also compared with other comparable contexts to assess if this unique context presents further funerary differences relative to those other contexts in, for example, body processing. Our results suggest preferential cremation of fleshed human remains, but burning of at least a minority of skeletonised remains and deposition of possibly unburned remains also likely occurred. Body processing appears to be comparable with that of the cremation contexts of Perdigoes but contrasts with that of another nearby context (Dolmen of Olival da Pega 2b) in which burned bones were also found.Portuguese Foundation for Science and TechnologyPortuguese Foundation for Science and Technology [PEst-OE/SADG/UI0283/2013, POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016766, PTDC/EPH-ARQ/0798/2014, PTDC/IVC-ANT/1201/2014, SFRH/BPD/84268/2012]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Probing beta decay matrix elements through heavy ion charge exchange reactions

To access information on neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ) nuclear matrix elements, it has been proposed by the NUMEN collaboration to exploit the analogies between double beta decay processes and double charge exchange (DCE) nuclear reactions, looking in particular at the conditions where the corresponding cross section can be factorized into nuclear reaction and nuclear structure terms. DCE reactions can be treated as a convolution of two correlated or uncorrelated single charge exchange (SCE) processes, resembling 0νββ and 2νββ, respectively. Thus it is important to model first SCE processes, to get a deeper insight into the possibility to factorize the corresponding cross section, so one can gain a better understanding of DCE cross section factorization. In this contribution, DCE reactions are discussed in terms of the convolution of two uncorrelated SCE processes, which should allow one to extract information on 2νββ nuclear matrix elements. These theoretical investigations are performed in close synergy with the experimental activity running at INFN-LNS within the NUMEN project

Quantifying the relative contribution of ante- and post-mortem factors to the variability in beef texture

This study aims to investigate the relative contribution of ante- and post-mortem factors to the final quality of beef. In all, 112 steers (four breed-crosses) were arranged in a 2 3 2 3 2 factorial experimental including production system, growth implant and b-adrenergic agonist strategies. Carcasses were suspended by the Achilles tendon or the aitch bone and meat was aged for 2/6/13/21/27 days (longissimus muscle) or 2/27 days (semimembranosus muscle). Meat quality traits related to beef texture were measured. Statistical analyses were developed including ante- and post-mortem factors and their relative contribution to the variability observed for each measured trait was calculated. The main factor responsible for the variability in sarcomere length was the suspension method (91.1%), which also influenced drip-loss (44.3%). Increasing the percentage of British breeds increased (P , 0.05) the intramuscular fat content in longissimus muscle, but only when implants were not used. Thus, the breed-cross, implant strategy and their interaction were responsible for .58% of the variability in this trait. The variability in instrumental and sensory tenderness was mainly affected by post-mortem factors (carcass suspension, ageing time and their interaction), explaining generally , 70% of the variability in these traits. Breed-cross was the second most important effect ( ,15%) when carcass suspension was not considered in the model, but still ageing time was responsible for a much larger proportion of the variability in tenderness (.45%). In conclusion, post-mortem handling of the carcasses may be much more effective in controlling beef tenderness than pre-mortem strategies

Recruiting people with severe mental illness through community pharmacies:real-world experiences from a UK study

BACKGROUND: Proxy recruitment of patient participants through community pharmacies may be a valuable strategy to maximise participation. This paper focuses on the feasibility of such a recruitment strategy for research involving people who experience severe mental illness. METHODS: Fifty-three community pharmacies, including 50 'Research Ready' pharmacies, were asked to recruit people with severe mental illness for participation in research. Pharmacists were asked to provide participant information to anyone presenting a prescription meeting specific criteria. RESULTS: Thirteen recruitment sites (25%) (from 4 distinct organisations) were approved to recruit patient participants. Eighty-five percent (n = 11) failed to recruit any potential participants. CONCLUSIONS: Proxy recruitment of people with severe mental illness through community pharmacies was challenging with challenges in both pharmacy- and participant-recruitment. Further investigation into supporting community pharmacists' engagement with recruiting patients with SMI as research participants is required

Multichannel experimental and theoretical constraints for the 116 Cd ( 20 Ne , 20 F ) 116 In charge exchange reaction at 306 MeV

Background: Charge-exchange (CE) reactions offer a major opportunity to excite nuclear isovector modes, providing important clues about the nuclear interaction in the medium. Moreover, double charge-exchange reactions are proving to be a tempting tool to access nuclear transition matrix elements (NMEs) related to double beta-decay processes. The latter are also of crucial importance to extract neutrino properties from the half-life of the hypothetical neutrinoless double beta decay and to search for physics beyond the standard model. Purpose: Through a multichannel experimental analysis and a consistent theoretical approach of the 116 Cd ( 20 Ne , 20 F ) 116 In single charge-exchange (SCE) reaction at 306 MeV, we aim at disentangling from the experimental cross section the contribution of the competing mechanisms associated with second- or higher-order sequential transfer and/or inelastic processes. Methods: We measured excitation energy spectra and absolute cross sections for elastic + inelastic, one-proton transfer and SCE channels by using the MAGNEX large acceptance magnetic spectrometer to detect the ejectiles. For the first two channels, we also extracted the experimental cross-section angular distributions. The experimental data are compared with theoretical predictions obtained by performing two-step distorted-wave Born approximation and coupled reaction channel calculations. We employ spectroscopic amplitudes for single-particle transitions derived within a large-scale shell-model approach and different optical potentials for modeling the initial- and the final-state interactions. Results: The present study significantly mitigates the possible model dependence existing in the description of these complex reaction mechanisms thanks to the satisfactory reproduction of several channels at once. In particular, our work demonstrates that the two-step transfer mechanisms produce a non-negligible contribution to the total cross section of the 116 Cd ( 20 Ne , 20 F ) 116 In reaction channel, although a relevant fraction is still missing, being ascribable to the direct SCE mechanism, which is not addressed here. Conclusions: Our analysis provides a careful estimation of the sequential transfer processes which are competing with the direct SCE mechanism for the heavy ion reaction under investigation. The study suggests that the direct SCE should play an important role among the mechanisms populating the final channel. Nevertheless, the analysis of the higher-order processes considered here is mandatory to isolate the direct SCE process contribution and approach structure information on the corresponding NME from the reaction cross section. The description of the latter process and the competition between the two mechanisms deserves further investigation.Consejo Europeo de Investigación (ERC).Horizonte 2020-714625Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad de España y el Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER)-FIS2017-88410-P y FIS2014-53448-C2-1-PDirección General de Asuntos del Personal Académico de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México -DGAPA-UNAM IN107820 y AG101120Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología de México-CONACyT 314857Fundación de Apoyo a la Investigación del Estado de São Paulo de Brasil-FAPESP. 2019/07767-1Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia de Brasil-INCT-FNA 464898/2014-

Sex chromosomal abnormalities associated with equine infertility: validation of a simple molecular screening tool in the Purebred Spanish Horse

Chromosomal abnormalities in the sex chromosome pair (ECAX and ECAY) are widely associated with reproductive problems in horses. However, a large proportion of these abnormalities remains undiagnosed due to the lack of an affordable diagnostic tool that allows for avoiding karyotyping tests. Hereby, we developed an STR (single-tandem-repeat)- based molecular method to determine the presence of the main sex chromosomal abnormalities in horses in a fast, cheap and reliable way. The frequency of five ECAXIinked (LEX026, LEX003, TKY38, TKY270 and UCDE0502) and two ECAY-Iinked (EcaYH12 and SRY) markers was characterized in 261 Purebred Spanish Horses to determine the efficiency of the methodology developed to be used as a chromosomal diagnostic tool. All the microsatellites analyzed were highly polymorphic, with a sizeable number of alleles (polymorphic information content > 0.5). Based on this variability, the methodology showed 100% sensitivity and 99.82% specificity to detect the most important sex chromosomal abnormalities reported in horses (chimerism, Turner’s syndrome and sex reversal syndromes). The method was also validated with 100% efficiency in 10 individuals previously diagnosed as chromosomally aberrant. This STR screening panel is an efficient and reliable molecular-cytogenetic tool for the early detection of sex chromosomal abnormalities in equines that could be included in breeding programs to save money, effort and time of veterinary practitioners and breeders.Facultad de Ciencias Veterinaria

Arsenic contamination of natural origin in stream sediments of Lake Mulargia Reservoir, Southern Sardinia

Abstract. High As contents have been detected in the stream sediments of Lake Mulargia and in the tributaries draining the basin which carry mineral matter mostly containing Fe, As and Sb sulphides. Systematic sampling has shown the presence of significant amounts of arsenic originating from natural sources alone, as it is supplied by the surrounding mineralised rocks. The seasonal water level fluctuations peculiar of this lake cause oxidation and remobilization of most metals. Arsenic is readily released in the acid waters, but the constantly high-pH of the main body of water causes adsorption and co-precipitation of this element on the abundant newly formed Fe-hydroxides. These trap the As, as the negligible arsenic contents in the lake waters clearly demonstrate