Boron concentrations and isotopic compositions in methane-derived authigenic carbonates : constraints and limitations in reconstructing formation conditions

The work is supported by Norwegian Research Council through the schemes PETROMAKS2-NORCRUST (grant number 255150 ) and Centre for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Environment and Climate (CAGE grant number 223259 ) as well as Lundin Norway AS. Cruise MSM57-1/-2 was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), the Research Center/Excellence Cluster “The Ocean in the Earth System” at MARUM–Center for Marine and Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen and funds from CAGE.The boron content and isotopic composition (δ11B), of marine carbonates have the potential to constrain CO2 chemistry during carbonate growth conditions. However, obtaining and interpreting boron compositions from authigenic carbonates in geological archives present several challenges that may substantially limit their application. In particular, contamination from non-carbonate phases during sample preparation must be carefully avoided, and a variety of controls on boron composition during authigenic growth conditions must be evaluated. To advance understanding of the use and limitations of boron in authigenic carbonates, we present data and modelling results on methane-derived authigenic carbonate (MDAC), a by-product of microbially mediated anaerobic oxidation of methane, taken from three cold seep sites along the Norwegian margin. We present a novel sequential leaching method to isolate the boron signals from the micritic (Mg-calcite) and cavity-filling (aragonitic) MDAC cements in these complex multi-phase samples. This method successfully minimizes contamination from non-carbonate phases. To investigate the factors that could potentially contribute to the observed boron signals, we construct a numerical model to simulate the evolution of MDAC δ11B and B/Ca ratios over its growth history. We show that diagenetic fluid composition, depths of precipitation, the physical properties of sediments (such as porosity), and mineral surface kinetics all contribute to the observed boron compositions in the different carbonate cements. While broad constraints may be placed on fluid composition, the multiple competing controls on boron in these diagenetic settings limit the ability to place unique solutions on fluid CO2 chemistry using boron in these authigenic carbonates.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Current knowledge and perspectives of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in pharmacological applications: a mini-review

Plant science

A Color-Pair Based Approach for Accurate Color Harmony Estimation

Harmonious color combinations can stimulate positive user emotional responses. However, a widely open research question is: how can we establish a robust and accurate color harmony measure for the public and professional designers to identify the harmony level of a color theme or color set. Building upon the key discovery that color pairs play an important role in harmony estimation, in this paper we present a novel color-pair based estimation model to accurately measure the color harmony. It first takes a two-layer maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) based method to compute an initial prediction of color harmony by statistically modeling the pair-wise color preferences from existing datasets. Then, the initial scores are refined through a back-propagation neural network (BPNN) with a variety of color features extracted in different color spaces, so that an accurate harmony estimation can be obtained at the end. Our extensive experiments, including performance comparisons of harmony estimation applications, show the advantages of our method in comparison with the state of the art methods

Example-based Image Recoloring in Indoor Environment

Color structure of a home scene image closely relates to the material properties of its local regions. Existing color migration methods typically fail to fully infer the correlation between the coloring of local home scene regions, leading to a local blur problem. In this paper, we propose a color migration framework for home scene images. It picks the coloring from a template image and transforms such coloring to a home scene image through a simple interaction. Our framework comprises three main parts. First, we carry out an interactive segmentation to divide an image into local regions and extract their corresponding colors. Second, we generate a matching color table by sampling the template image according to the color structure of the original home scene image. Finally, we transform colors from the matching color table to the target home scene image with the boundary transition maintained. Experimental results show that our method can effectively transform the coloring of a scene matching with the color composition of a given natural or interior scenery

Human mutations in integrator complex subunits link transcriptome integrity to brain development

Integrator is an RNA polymerase II (RNAPII)-associated complex that was recently identified to have a broad role in both RNA processing and transcription regulation. Importantly, its role in human development and disease is so far largely unexplored. Here, we provide evidence that biallelic Integrator Complex Subunit 1 (INTS1) and Subunit 8 (INTS8) gene mutations are associated with rare recessive human neurodevelopmental syndromes. Three unrelated individuals of Dutch ancestry showed the same homozygous truncating INTS1 mutation. Three siblings harboured compound heterozygous INTS8 mutations. Shared features by these six individuals are severe neurodevelopmental delay and a distinctive appearance. The INTS8 family in addition presented with neuronal migration defects (periventricular nodular heterotopia). We show that the first INTS8 mutation, a nine base-pair deletion, leads to a protein that disrupts INT complex stability, while the second missense mutation introduces an alternative splice site leading to an unstable messenger. Cells from patients with INTS8 mutations show increased levels of unprocessed UsnRNA, compatible with the INT function in the 3’-end maturation of UsnRNA, and display significant disruptions in gene expression and RNA processing. Finally, the introduction of the INTS8 deletion mutation in P19 cells using genome editing alters gene expression throughout the course of retinoic acid-induced neural differentiation. Altogether, our results confirm the essential role of Integrator to transcriptome integrity and point to the requirement of the Integrator complex in human brain development

A Measurement of Psi(2S) Resonance Parameters

Cross sections for e+e- to hadons, pi+pi- J/Psi, and mu+mu- have been measured in the vicinity of the Psi(2S) resonance using the BESII detector operated at the BEPC. The Psi(2S) total width; partial widths to hadrons, pi+pi- J/Psi, muons; and corresponding branching fractions have been determined to be Gamma(total)= (264+-27) keV; Gamma(hadron)= (258+-26) keV, Gamma(mu)= (2.44+-0.21) keV, and Gamma(pi+pi- J/Psi)= (85+-8.7) keV; and Br(hadron)= (97.79+-0.15)%, Br(pi+pi- J/Psi)= (32+-1.4)%, Br(mu)= (0.93+-0.08)%, respectively.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure

Measurements of the Mass and Full-Width of the ηc\eta_c Meson

In a sample of 58 million $J/\psi$ events collected with the BES II detector, the process J/$\psi\to\gamma\eta_c$ is observed in five different decay channels: $\gamma K^+K^-\pi^+\pi^-$, $\gamma\pi^+\pi^-\pi^+\pi^-$, $\gamma K^\pm K^0_S \pi^\mp$ (with $K^0_S\to\pi^+\pi^-$), $\gamma \phi\phi$ (with $\phi\to K^+K^-$) and $\gamma p\bar{p}$. From a combined fit of all five channels, we determine the mass and full-width of $\eta_c$ to be $m_{\eta_c}=2977.5\pm1.0 ({stat.})\pm1.2 ({syst.})$ MeV/$c^2$ and $\Gamma_{\eta_c} = 17.0\pm3.7 ({stat.})\pm7.4 ({syst.})$ MeV/$c^2$.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures and 4 table. Submitted to Phys. Lett.

The Physical Processes of CME/ICME Evolution

As observed in Thomson-scattered white light, coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are manifest as large-scale expulsions of plasma magnetically driven from the corona in the most energetic eruptions from the Sun. It remains a tantalizing mystery as to how these erupting magnetic fields evolve to form the complex structures we observe in the solar wind at Earth. Here, we strive to provide a fresh perspective on the post-eruption and interplanetary evolution of CMEs, focusing on the physical processes that define the many complex interactions of the ejected plasma with its surroundings as it departs the corona and propagates through the heliosphere. We summarize the ways CMEs and their interplanetary CMEs (ICMEs) are rotated, reconfigured, deformed, deflected, decelerated and disguised during their journey through the solar wind. This study then leads to consideration of how structures originating in coronal eruptions can be connected to their far removed interplanetary counterparts. Given that ICMEs are the drivers of most geomagnetic storms (and the sole driver of extreme storms), this work provides a guide to the processes that must be considered in making space weather forecasts from remote observations of the corona.Peer reviewe

Insights into Cross-Kingdom Plant Pathogenic Bacteria

Plant and human pathogens have evolved disease factors to successfully exploit their respective hosts. Phytopathogens utilize specific determinants that help to breach reinforced cell walls and manipulate plant physiology to facilitate the disease process, while human pathogens use determinants for exploiting mammalian physiology and overcoming highly developed adaptive immune responses. Emerging research, however, has highlighted the ability of seemingly dedicated human pathogens to cause plant disease, and specialized plant pathogens to cause human disease. Such microbes represent interesting systems for studying the evolution of cross-kingdom pathogenicity, and the benefits and tradeoffs of exploiting multiple hosts with drastically different morphologies and physiologies. This review will explore cross-kingdom pathogenicity, where plants and humans are common hosts. We illustrate that while cross-kingdom pathogenicity appears to be maintained, the directionality of host association (plant to human, or human to plant) is difficult to determine. Cross-kingdom human pathogens, and their potential plant reservoirs, have important implications for the emergence of infectious diseases