The energy release in earthquakes, and subduction zone seismicity and stress in slabs

Energy release in earthquakes is discussed. Dynamic energy from source time function, a simplified procedure for modeling deep focus events, static energy estimates, near source energy studies, and energy and magnitude are addressed. Subduction zone seismicity and stress in slabs are also discussed

The equation of state of Mg_(0.6)Fe_(0.4)O to 200 GPa

New Hugoniot data on polycrystalline (avg.porosity 6.9%) samples of the magnesiowustite Mg_(0.6)Fe_(0.4)O are presented, covering the pressure range up to 200 GPa. When our data are fit by a single 3rd order Eulerian Hugoniot with K_0 constrained to its ultrasonic value of 161.5 GPa, the required isentropic pressure derivative K_0′ is 4.37 +/− 0.37. This value is significantly lower than the ultrasonic one of 6.18; existing isothermal compression data, however, are in agreement with our value rather than the ultrasonic one. Our data are adequately explained without phase transitions. There is some marginal evidence for a possible phase transition around 120 GPa. If such a transition indeed occurs it is probably of small volume change compared to the transition observed in FeO; we place an extreme upper bound of 3% on the density change such a transformation could involve and still be consistent with the data. Contrary to earlier hypotheses, we believe that a phase transition in magnesiowustite is not a likely explanation of the seismic effects in the D″ region of the lower mantle. The wustite transition may be a more complex phenomenon than initially supposed — perhaps an effect of nonstoichiometry localized to the iron-rich end of the solid solution series

A model based on clinical parameters to identify myocardial late gadolinium enhancement by magnetic resonance in patients with aortic stenosis: An observational study

Objective With increasing age, the prevalence of aortic stenosis grows exponentially, increasing left heart pressures and potentially leading to myocardial hypertrophy, myocardial fibrosis and adverse outcomes. To identify patients who are at greatest risk, an outpatient model for risk stratification would be of value to better direct patient imaging, frequency of monitoring and expeditious management of aortic stenosis with possible earlier surgical intervention. In this study, a relatively simple model is proposed to identify myocardial fibrosis in patients with a diagnosis of moderate or severe aortic stenosis. Design Patients with moderate to severe aortic stenosis were enrolled into the study; patient characteristics, blood work, medications as well as transthoracic echocardiography and cardiovascular magnetic resonance were used to determine potential identifiers of myocardial fibrosis. Setting The Royal Brompton Hospital, London, UK Participants One hundred and thirteen patients in derivation cohort and 26 patients in validation cohort. Main outcome measures Identification of myocardial fibrosis. Results Three blood biomarkers (serum platelets, serum urea, N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide) and left ventricular ejection fraction were shown to be capable of identifying myocardial fibrosis. The model was validated in a separate cohort of 26 patients. Conclusions Although further external validation of the model is necessary prior to its use in clinical practice, the proposed clinical model may direct patient care with respect to earlier magnetic resonance imagining, frequency of monitoring and may help in risk stratification for surgical intervention for myocardial fibrosis in patients with aortic stenosis

Provenance, manufacturing and corrosion behavior of Ancient Hellenistic coins from Egypt

Some copper alloy coins of the Ptolemaic period from a private collection, providing valuable evidence for both archaeometric as well as materials science and corrosion studies, have been investigated. The coins were found in the ancient city of Bubastis, known as Tell Basta, in the Nile Delta, Egypt. The coins have been examined by optical microscopy for their metallurgical structure, analysed by X-ray fluorescence and Electron Dispersion Spectroscopy for their composition, and by X-ray diffraction for the characterisation of their corrosion products. An attempt has been made to remove part of their corrosion products by mild chemical cleaning procedures. In some areas the coins are heavily corroded by chlorides, however most of the inscriptions on the coins themselves are still decipherable. Assumptions are made on the coins provenance, the production period, the manufacturing technique and the burial environmental conditions

Detailed molecular characterisation of acute myeloid leukaemia with a normal karyotype using targeted DNA capture

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.-- et al.Advances in sequencing technologies are giving unprecedented insights into the spectrum of somatic mutations underlying acute myeloid leukaemia with a normal karyotype (AML-NK). It is clear that the prognosis of individual patients is strongly influenced by the combination of mutations in their leukaemia and that many leukaemias are composed of multiple subclones, with differential susceptibilities to treatment. Here, we describe a method, employing targeted capture coupled with next-generation sequencing and tailored bioinformatic analysis, for the simultaneous study of 24 genes recurrently mutated in AML-NK. Mutational analysis was performed using open source software and an in-house script (Mutation Identification and Analysis Software), which identified dominant clone mutations with 100% specificity. In each of seven cases of AML-NK studied, we identified and verified mutations in 2-4 genes in the main leukaemic clone. Additionally, high sequencing depth enabled us to identify putative subclonal mutations and detect leukaemia-specific mutations in DNA from remission marrow. Finally, we used normalised read depths to detect copy number changes and identified and subsequently verified a tandem duplication of exons 2-9 of MLL and at least one deletion involving PTEN. This methodology reliably detects sequence and copy number mutations, and can thus greatly facilitate the classification, clinical research, diagnosis and management of AML-NK.We acknowledge the use of the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre, University of Cambridge. We thank Drs J Craig and C Crawley of Cambridge University NHS Hospitals trust for allowing us to approach their patients for samples. GV is funded by a Wellcome Trust Senior Fellowship in Clinical Science. Work in GV’s laboratory is also funded by Leukaemia Lymphoma Research and the Kay Kendal Leukaemia Fund.Peer Reviewe