Paleomagnetic results of Tertiary sediments from Corsica: evidence of post-Eocene rotation

Middle Eocene (Lutetian) and Lower to Middle Miocene (Burdigalian-Langhian) sediments from Corsica have been investigated in a paleomagnetic study to constrain the amount and timing of tectonic rotation of the Corsican block with respect to Sardinia and stable Eurasia. The sediments are generally characterized by weak and unstable magnetization, and only five Eocene and five Miocene sites out of 23 sites sampled provided interpretable data. Our best estimate for the Eocene paleomagnetic field for Corsica suggests ∼ 37° of counter-clockwise rotation, and no latitudinal change, with respect to stable Eurasia in post-Eocene time. This is similar to the amount of tectonic rotation documented from Oligo-Miocene volcanics from Sardinia, which is therefore consistent with Corsica and Sardinia being part of the same tectonic block since at least the early to middle Tertiary. Paleomagnetic results from the Miocene sites may represent remagnetizations but the presence of reversed polarity magnetization at three of the five accepted sites indicates acquisition before the late Pleistocene. The final rotation history of Corsica nevertheless is left unresolved

Assessing health professionals’ perception of health literacy in Rhode Island community health centers: a qualitative study

Background: Limited health literacy is linked with poor health behaviors, limited health care access, and poor health outcomes. Improving individual and population health outcomes requires understanding and addressing barriers to promoting health literacy. Methods: Using the socio-ecological model as a guiding framework, this qualitative study (Phase 1 of a larger ongoing project) explored the interpersonal and organizational levels that may impact the health literacy levels of patients seeking care at federally qualified community health centers (FQCHCs) in Rhode Island. Focus groups were conducted with FQCHC employees (n = 37) to explore their perceptions of the health literacy skills of their patients, health literacy barriers patients encounter, and possible strategies to increase health literacy. The focus groups were audio-recorded and transcribed, and transcripts were coded using a process of open, axial, and selective coding. Codes were grouped into categories, and the constant comparative approach was used to identify themes. Results: Eight unique themes centered on health literacy, sources of health information, organizational culture’s impact, challenges from limited health literacy, and suggestions to ameliorate the impact of limited health literacy. All focus group participants were versed in health literacy and viewed health literacy as impacting patients’ health status. Participants perceived that some patients at their FQCHC have limited health literacy. Participants spoke of themselves and of their FQCHC addressing health literacy through organizational- and provider-level strategies. They also identified additional strategies (e.g., training staff and providers on health literacy, providing patients with information that includes graphics) that could be adopted or expanded upon to address and promote health literacy. Conclusions: Study findings suggest that strategies may need to be implemented at the organizational-, provider-, and patient- level to advance health literacy. The intervention phase of this project will explore intervention strategies informed by study results, and could include offering health literacy training to providers and staff to increase their understanding of health literacy to include motivation to make and act on healthy decisions and strategies to address health literacy, including the use of visual aids

Advanced documentation methodologies combined with multi-analytical approach for the preservation and restoration of 18th century architectural decorative elements at Palazzo Nuzzi in Orte (Central Italy)

This contribution reports the documentation of the conservation status and the pictorial technique of a wall painting and a stucco arch at Palazzo Nuzzi in Orte, central Italy (Viterbo district), achieved using a wide combination of non-invasive and micro-invasive diagnostic techniques. Specifically, a photogrammetric approach has been used for 2D and 3D ultraviolet fluorescence (UVF) acquisitions. Moreover, the conservation status of the wall painting has been also investigated by a non-invasive active infrared thermograghy technique, i.e. Pulse Compression Thermography (PuCT), used here for the first time on a wall painting to map the surface and sub-surface cracks in the first layers. Pigments, grounds and organic binders were characterised by X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, micro-stratigraphic analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. The results of this unique combination of advanced tools corroborated the historical-artistic attribution to the school of the architect Andrea Pozzo

Reconstruction of a Segment of the UNESCO World Heritage Hadrian’s Villa Tunnel Network by Integrated GPR, Magnetic–Paleomagnetic, and Electric Resistivity Prospections

The authors are grateful to the Director of the Villa Adriana and Villa d’Este, Andrea Bruciati, for kindly allowing us to survey the archaeological area and to Benedetta Adembri for facilitating the research on site. We are also grateful to Francesco Ferruti and the students that helped us in the data acquisition. Finally, we thank Alessandro Bertani for his help in the acquisition and formal analysis of aerial photogrammetry data. This paper also benefited from four accurate reviews that allowed us to improve the manuscript.The following are available online at https://zenodo.org/record/3351757#.XVIUHdIRWUl, Figure S1: Local reference frames used for the acquisition of GPR data, Figure S2: UAV orthophoto of the study area (Plutonium−Inferi complex) with indication of the excavated areas, Tables S1–S13: Relevant migrated and unmigrated GPR profiles for areas 1 through 13, Table S10A, transversal migrated and unmigrated GPR profiles for Areas 10.Hadrian’s Villa is an ancient Roman archaeological site built over an ignimbritic tuff and characterized by abundant iron oxides, strong remnant magnetization, and elevated magnetic susceptibility. These properties account for the high-amplitude magnetic anomalies observed in this site and were used as a primary tool to detect deep archaeological features consisting of air-filled and soil-filled cavities of the tuff. An integrated magnetic, paleomagnetic, radar, and electric resistivity survey was performed in the Plutonium-Inferi sector of Hadrian’s Villa to outline a segment of the underground system of tunnels that link different zones of the villa. A preliminary paleomagnetic analysis of the bedrock unit and a high-resolution topographic survey by aerial photogrammetry allowed us to perform a computer-assisted modelling of the observed magnetic anomalies, with respect to the archaeological sources. The intrinsic ambiguity of this procedure was reduced through the analysis of ground penetrating radar and electric resistivity profiles, while a comprehensive picture of the buried archaeological features was built by integration of the magnetization model with radar amplitude maps. The final subsurface model of the Plutonium-Inferi complex shows that the observed anomalies are mostly due to the presence of tunnels, skylights, and a system of ditches excavated in the tuff.This research was funded by the Università degli Studi di Camerino, grants FAR Schettino 2016–2018 and FAR Pierantoni 2016–2018, and by the University of Oxford, Eugene Ludwig Fund, New College

Abstract 3144: A role for DOK2 methylation in platinum resistance and tumor suppression in ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer is the 5th leading cause of cancer in women, affecting close to 22,000 women in the year 2011, of which nearly 15,500 will die. It is difficult to detect until it reaches advanced stages and becomes malignant. Currently, the standard treatment for ovarian cancer is platinum-based therapeutics, such as Carboplatin or Cisplatin, combined with Taxol. Unfortunately, approximately 25% of patients are inherently platinum-resistant and all patients who suffer from recurrence will have developed acquired platinum resistance. The genetic/epigenetic causes of this resistance are poorly understood. Epigenetic events are reversible and the identification of genes altered by this mechanism may lead to studies on how to reprogram the process leading up to resistance. To examine the ovarian epigenome, we utilized an array based method, Methylation Oligonucleotide Microarray Analysis (MOMA), to analyze a set of 50 primary ovarian tumors and 12 ovarian normal samples. We identified epigenetic differences that segregated with platinum response and then associated this with expression data to identify gene candidates transcriptionally repressed and methylated in patients resistant to platinum. Next, a pooled shRNA screen was performed on candidate genes to identify those that were functionally relevant to platinum resistance. One of the validated candidate genes identified through the pooled shRNA screen was DOK2, an adapter protein downstream of tyrosine kinase, which has been shown by others to be a lung cancer tumor suppressor. We show that suppression of DOK2 by short hairpin RNAs in ovarian cell lines conferred resistance to platinum treatment. To elucidate the mechanism for resistance, we measured the influx of platinum into the cells using C-14 tagged carboplatin. As a result, uptake of carboplatin was found to be decreased with DOK2 suppression. Consistent with DOK2 having tumor suppressor activity, knockdowns in ovarian cell lines increases growth and migration. Furthermore, loss of DOK2 induces invasive and tumorigenic phenotypes in ovarian cell lines. DOK2 is already a proven tumor suppressor in lung cancer, and our experiments indicate DOK2 has tumor suppressor features in ovarian cancer as well. We show that DOK2 is a tumor suppressor in ovarian cancer and that the loss of DOK2 also contributes to platinum resistance. Understanding DOK2 function will help us understand ovarian cancer development, progression as well as therapy resistance

Abstract 70: A role for the chromatin remodeling protein CHD3 in ovarian cancer therapy response

Carboplatin and cisplatin are chemotherapeutic agents that are used extensively for treating epithelial ovarian cancer. These drugs can be highly effective, yet tumors are frequently refractory to treatment or become resistant upon tumor relapse. Epigenetic silencing, particularly at promoter regions of genes regulates important cell function and has been associated with all stages of tumor formation and progression and may contribute to therapy response. We analyzed the epigenome of 50 primary ovarian tumors and 12 normal ovarian samples using an array based method previously developed in our lab and associated Affymetrix U133 expression data. We then identified gene candidates that segregate patients based on platinum sensitivity and patient survival. These candidates were then pooled into a genome-wide RNAi-based screen where we validated a gene encoding a chromatin remodeling protein, CHD3, a member of the Mi-2 NuRD complex, and show that it is linked to chemoresistance. CHD3 is silenced through an epigenetic mechanism in both ovarian cancer cell lines and primary ovarian tumors. When ovarian cancer cell lines that are transcriptionally silenced for CHD3 are challenged with carboplatin they display a striking slow growth phenotype as well as increased resistance to the chemotherapy drugs carboplatin and cisplatin. Taken together, we provide the first evidence for a role for CHD3 as an important mediator of chemoresistance in ovarian cancer. Furthermore, CHD3 might represent a response predictor and potential therapeutic target for predicting chemoresistance in this disease

Crustal Contamination and Hybridization of an Embryonic Oceanic Crust during the Red Sea Rifting (Tihama Asir Igneous Complex, Saudi Arabia)

The Red Sea rift system represents a key case study of the transition from a continental to an oceanic rift. The Red Sea rifting initiated in Late Oligocene to Early Miocene (24-23 Ma) and was accompanied by extensive magmatism throughout the rifted basin, from Afar and Yemen to northern Egypt. Here, we present a petrological and geochemical study of two gabbro bodies and associated basalts from the Tihama Asir igneous complex, which formed at 24-20 Ma within the rifted Arabian-Nubian Shield (ANS). The Tihama Asir is therefore an ideal location to study the initial phase of syn-rift magmatism and its influence on the geodynamic evolution of the Red Sea rift system. The most primitive olivine gabbros present modal, bulk and mineral compositions consistent with formation from Mid-Ocean Ridge Basalt (MORB)-type parental melts, whereas the evolved olivine-free gabbros and oxide-bearing gabbros show saturation of phlogopite and a crystal line of descent diverging from fractional crystallization trends. In detail, whole-rock and mineral compositions in the most evolved lithologies show high Light over Middle Rare Earth Elements (LREE/MREE) ratios (La-N/Sm-N = 0.89-1.31) and selective enrichments in Sr, K and highly incompatible elements (Rb, Ba, U, Th). We relate these geochemical characteristics to a process of progressive assimilation of host continental crust during the emplacement of the gabbroic plutons. Interestingly, high LREE/MREE ratios (La-N/Sm-N = 1.45-4.58) and high Rb, Ba, Th and U contents also characterize the basaltic dike swarms associated to the gabbros. Incompatible trace element compositions of these basalts approach those of the melts that formed the most hybridized gabbros. Therefore, we propose that the dike swarms represent melts partially contaminated by assimilation of continental crust material, extracted from the underlying gabbroic crystal mush. Our results suggest that early syn-rift magmatism led to the partial replacement of the thinned continental crust by MORB-type gabbroic bodies, in turn suggesting that oceanic magmatism started prior to continental break-up. Extensive syn-rift magmatism is consistent with the interpretation of the southern Red Sea rift system as a volcanic rifted margin. One possible implication of this study is that extensive but diffuse syn-rift magmatism possibly hampered continental break-up, leading to a protracted rifting stage