Lithostratigraphic classification of the Tsodilo Hills Group: a Palaeo- to Mesoproterozoic metasedimentary succession in NW Botswana

The Tsodilo Hills Group strata exposed in the Tsodilo Hills are an association of metaarenites, metaconglomerates, quartz-mica schists, sandstone, red siltstone and sedimentary breccia deposited on an open siliciclastic marine shelf between the Late  alaeoproterozic and Late Mesoproterozoic, and outcropping in NW Botswana. The  uccession is dominated by three micaceous quartzite units interlayered with subordinate lenses and wedges of other rock types. Facies gradients from S to N are expressed by: decreasing content of muscovite at all levels of metasediment organisation from thin wedge-shaped units to thick quartzite complexes, as well as a decrease in pebble content and increase in arenaceous matrix in some metaconglomerate beds, matching regional palaeotransport direction. Well-rounded pebbles of extrabasinal rocks are flat, suggesting redeposition from a beach environment. Lenticular conglomeratic bodies with erosional lower boundaries represent infills of local incisions in the sandy bottom sediments. The abundance of laterally discontinuous lithological units reflects shelf palaeotopography controlled and modified by deposition and migration of large bed forms, ranging from megaripple marks (or submarine dunes) to sand waves. Deposition was influenced by tides and two regressive events. The older regression resulted in a marker unit of tidal mudflat-related red-bed facies: mudstone, siltstone, channel-fill sandstone and sedimentary breccia. The second regression is indicated by a tabular conglomerate marker reflecting increased input of coarse terrigenous material

Lithological variations of sedimentary succession within a meteorite impact crater: Jwaneng S Structure, Botswana

The Jwaneng South Structure is a meteorite impact crater located in the Kalahari region of Botswana. The structure has the shape of a bowl 1.3 km in diameter and a maximum depth of 275 m in the centre. It was discovered by an airship-mounted full tensor gravity gradiometer and penetrated by nine vertical diamond drill-holes. The crater is underlain by the Gaborone Granite (2785 Ma) and basalts of the Karoo Supergroup (182 Ma). The covering aeolian sediments of the Kalahari Group (Late Cretaceous-Recent) completely obscure the structure.A succession of the following lithofacies overlying authigenic in situ brecciated granite was intersected in the boreholes (from base to top): (i) allogenic heterolithic/oligomictic “fallback” and resedimented breccia (ii) sedimentary breccia and conglomerate with sand matrix; (iii) six intervals of carbonate sediments, with traces of evaporites and mudstone interbeds, which are interlayered with (iv) five intervals of sandstone and sedimentary breccia composed of granules, pebbles and cobbles, mostly of granite, embedded in a matrix of well-sorted medium-grained sand; (v) bioturbated, mostly massive sandstone rich in mud matrix (wacke), with locally preserved interbeds of mudstone and cross-bedded sandstone, and abundant root traces; (v) silcrete and calcrete that occur at the top of the succession.This lithological association suggests that deposition within the Jwaneng South meteorite impact crater took place in a playa lake surrounded by steeply-dipping talus piedmont fans. The depositional cycles were controlled by pronounced climatic oscillations. Wet periods are recorded by lithofacies (iii), which reflects intense supply of sand eroded from the Kalahari dune field surrounding the crater and coarse detritus derived from its rim and steep talus below. Dry intervals of high evaporation and fall of the lake level are reflected by lithofacies (iv). During the youngest wet period (v) the lake filled up with alluvia sands interbedded with muds, abundantly vegetated and homogenised by bioturbation. The silcrete and calcrete layer at the top of the succession is the product of pedogenic processes that affected the Kalahari Desert environment. An asymmetry of lateral distribution of the lithofacies (ii) – (iv) and the presence of sedimentary breccia redeposited into the marginal E (and NE) parts of the crater suggest an asymmetry of the crater depression and its coarse clastic rim, which may imply an oblique trajectory of the impactor approaching from the SW

Characterization of incineration residues from wastewater treatment plant in Polish city : a future waste based source of valuable elements?

To support the rational management of raw materials in the European Union more attention is being paid to the resource potential of waste materials, which are increasing in volume due to industrial development and the world population growth. One of the methods to reduce the amount of produced and landfilled waste is incineration. As a result of sewage sludge incineration, fly ash (ISSA-incinerated sewage sludge ash) and APC (air pollution control) residues are produced. The goal of this study was to characterize incineration residues from waste water treatment plant in Polish city with ca. one million inhabitants using mineralogical, chemical methods, and to estimate the recovery potential of valuable components. Both incineration products accumulate elements which are of valuable concentrations, such as P (17 wt% of P_{2}O_{5} on average in the ISSA), as well as significant amounts of metals such as Zn, Pb, Cu, Ni, and Cr. Small particle sizes < 125 \mu m in both materials favor the accumulation of elements of higher volatility during incineration, but they are usually dispersed within a matrix, main minerals or amorphous substance, or are present in the form of micro inclusions or grains < 10 \mu m, which thus excludes their easy recovery

Compositional differences between Besko and Otryt sandstones of the Krosno Beds (Oligocene) in Eastern part of the Silesian Tectonic Unit

The aim of this research was to quantitatively and qualitatively analyse under microscope sandstones representing two lithofacies called Otryt and Besko (or Lesko) facies of the Krosno Formation (Oligocene), Silesian Tectonic Unit in the E part of the Polish Outer Carpathians. Four samples were taken into consideration — two from each lithofacies. Special attention was paid to  structural and textural characteristics and  mineral composition that reflects mainly  provenance. The results have been compared and analysed between and within facies, in terms of source and transport of the material, mineralogical and textural maturity and sedimentary processes that affect the deposition. Ślączka &amp; Unrug (1972) and Shideler at al. (1976) concluded that mineralogical variations exhibited by sandstones in Krosno Formation were attributed to both regional (provenance) and local (sorting) effects.The samples have been taken from the northern (Otryt)  and southern (Besko) limbs of the Otryt Syncline. They represent different sources of the material -  Silesian Ridge in NW in case of Besko facies and Maramures Massif in the the SE in case of Otryt facies (Wendorff 1981). The result of the analysis confirm statement about two different sources.Transport and deposition mechanism results in considerable difference in grain size and its distribution. Besko facies sandstones display classic Bouma sequence at structures (Tb - c) indicative of deposition from normally diluted, waning turbidity currents, with incremental deposition layer-by-layer (Talling 2012) and this results in very fine grained sandstones and in better sorting. Deposits of that lithofacies appear much relatively uniform and well organized (Wendorff 1987). By contrast, sedimentary features of the Otryt facies suggest deposition from rapidly decelerating high density turbidity currents — “sandy debris flows” (Talling 2012), conditions and mechanisms of transportation and deposition must have been very variable (Wendorff 1987). These sandstones are medium grained, but the bottom sample is characterized by coarse tail caused by rapid deposition. The detrital material of the top sample was deposited also of high density turbidity current, however slightly less dense than that of the bottom sample.The diversity of mineral composition between Besko and Otryt lithofacies is very clear. There are probably three reasons for that — completely different source rocks, initially different maturity of the detritus involved in density flows and the depositional processes within the basin . Besko (Leslo) lithofacies is dominated by nonundulatory quartz. Other components are rather minor. The only difference between carbonate components is in the proportion of detrital calcite/limestone (or dolomite) to carbonate cement, which may have resulted from diagenetic processes. Carbonate cements are very rich in both samples. In Otryt facies mineral composition is more differentiated. Quartz predominates, but not as distinctly as in Besko facies. The most abundant and the coarsest are polycrystalline grains. Nonundulatory quartz is similarly abundant. Altered K-feldspars and metamorphic rock fragments are important however they occur less frequently. The bottom and top samples differ in quantity of coarse to very coarse metamorphic rock fragments and polycrystalline quartz — the bottom sample is richer in such grains. This is the result of grain-size sorting — coarser grains have been deposited first and this sorting process affects the mineral composition of the top-of-bed sample in which the coarse tail is absent and the proportion of metamorphic grains is less pronounced. There is very little cement in both samples. Next to high mineralogical maturity, Besko facies sandstones show also high textural and  mineralogical maturity (presence of well-rounded grains and high quartz content). On the other hand, Otryt facies sandstones are immature both texturally and mineralogically, which results from both source area composition and rapid deposition.According to provenance diagrams (Dickinson 1983), source of the Besko facies is recycled orogen, but close to craton interior field. Whereas source of the Otryt facies should be recycled orogen too.Despite the fact that all samples are the same age and occur in one formation,  they are totally different.In summary, differences in mineral composition and textural features, observed under the microscope, between the analysed samples of the Besko/Lesko and Otryt lithofacies turbidite sandstones reveal different mineral composition of the source areas and are comparable to the macroscopically observed sedimentary features. The latter indicate pronounced differences in the transportation and deposition mechanisms – from normally diluted turbidity currents to rapidly decelerating high sandy debris flows

Olistoliths within the Silesian Series and their connections with evolutionary stages of the Silesian Basin

Olistoliths of various ages, provenance and dimensions are known in all of the higher-rank tectonic units of the Outer Carpathians. Their occurrences at various stratigraphic levels (Late Jurassic - Early Miocene) are related to different stages of development of the flysch basins, from the stage of rifting to post-rifting, through the orogenic phases, and further to the post-orogenic period

Sedimentary response to tectonic uplift of the Dukla basin margin recorded at Skrzydlna – the Menilite Beds (Oligocene), Outer Carpathians, S Poland

The Menilite Beds (Oligocene of Polish Flysch Carpathians) at Skrzydlna crops out in a structurally complex zone of the Fore-Magura Unit, which is tectonically overridden by Magura Nappe thrust form the S. The exposed sedimentary suite, representing the Dukla Basin, consists of fine-grained, well organised strata deposited in a low-energy, deep marine basin, which are abruptly overlain by poorly organised, coarse sandy conglomerate that forms a Mass Transport Deposit (MTD) complex. The MTD contains large boulders of extrabasinal rocks, massive sandstone beds with intrabasinal mudstone clasts, and slump sheets of sandstones. Above rests a fining- upwards sequence of sandstone beds interlayered with mudstones. The fine-grained facies reappear above to terminate the exposed succession. Erosional contacts and rapid facies changes, both vertical and lateral, are characteristic for the MTD unit. The sandstone-mudstone unit above contains laterally migrating erosional channels filled with massive sandy conglomerate in the lower part. Turbidites of varying density and completeness of internal structures that occur above are accompanied by an association of mixed facies including large-scale dune cross-bedding.Mineralogically, the sandstones are quartz arenites, sub-lithic arenites and wackes. Calcarenite grains – bioclasts, micrite and marl occur in substantial proportions only in the uppermost part of the succession. The point-counting data plotted on Qm-F-Lt diagram are clustered within the recycled fields: quartzose and transitional. Mineralogical maturity of the sandstones has the tendency to decrease from the sub-MTD strata upwards via the MTD unit to the lower part of the sandstone-mudstone complex; then it increases to the youngest sandstone beds with carbonate grains. These tendencies, associated with sedimentary features of the succession, reflect rapid uplift, emergence and progressive erosion of the terrigenous detritus source area, followed by tectonic stabilisation reflected by the appearance of the “carbonate factory”

Impact of the -174G/C interleukin-6 (IL-6) gene polymorphism on the risk of paediatric ischemic stroke, its symptoms and outcome

Ischemic stroke remains one of the top ten causes of death in children. There is evidence for the role of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-6 and the -174G>C promoter polymorphism of the IL-6 gene, in the occurrence and outcome of stroke in adults. The aim of the present study was to determine a possible association between the -174G>C IL-6 polymorphism and occurrence of paediatric stroke, its symptoms and outcome. The study group consisted of 340 individuals: 80 stroke children, 122 parents of patients and 138 controls. The -174G/C polymorphism was genotyped using the RFLP method. For the analysis of the relationship between genotypes and stroke we used two alternative methods: the case-control model and the transmission test for linkage disequilibrium using data from families. We observed no differences in the transmission of alleles from parents to children. We also did not find any statistical differences in distribution of genotypes and alleles between patients and controls. However, the analysis showed that post-stroke epilepsy was genotype-dependent. All children with epilepsy were G allele carriers and none of them was a CC homozygote whereas about 25% of children without epilepsy had the CC genotype. Our study did not show any associations between the IL-6 -174 G>C polymorphism and the occurrence of stroke but we observed a relation between post-stroke epilepsy and the G allele carrier-state

Polimorfizm C242T genu kodującego cytohrom b-245 alfa nie jest związany z udarem niedokrwiennym mózgu u dzieci: analiza wewnątrzrodzinna i badanie kliniczno-kontrolne

Background and purpose Reactive oxygen species play an important role in the physiology and pathology of cerebral arteries, including ischaemic stroke. The cytochrome b-245 alpha gene (CYBA) encodes cytochrome b-245 alpha light chain (p22phox peptide), a critical element of NAD(P)H oxidases, the most important source of superoxide anion in the cerebral arteries. To search for genetic factors associated with paediatric ischaemic stroke, the possible association between CYBA gene C242T polymorphism and the disease was evaluated. Material and methods The study group consisted of 238 individuals: children with ischaemic stroke (n = 70), their biological parents (n = 118) and children without any symptoms of stroke (n = 50). The C242T polymorphism was genotyped using polymerase chain reaction – restriction fragment length methodology. To evaluate the possible association between polymorphism and stroke, the transmission disequilibrium test and the case-control method were applied. Results The C242 allele was transmitted more frequently than 242T (62.2% vs. 37.8%) but observed frequencies did not differ significantly from expected (p = 0.10). There were also no significant differences in allele and genotype distribution between patients and control subjects (patients: CC – 50.0%, CT – 38.6%, TT – 11.4% vs. controls: CC – 52.0%, CT – 36.0%, TT – 12.0%). Conclusions The study did not show that the C242T polymorphism of the CYBA gene is a risk factor of ischaemic stroke in children.Wstęp i cel pracy Reaktywne formy tlenu pełnią istotną funkcję zarówno w fizjologii, jak i patologii tętnic mózgowych, także w patogenezie udaru niedokrwiennego mózgu. Gen cytochromu b-245 alfa (gen CYBA) koduje lekki łańcuch cytochromu b-245 (białko p22phox), kluczowy składnik oksydaz NAD(P)H, najważniejszego źródła anionorodnika ponadtlenkowego w obrębie tętnic mózgowych. W niniejszej pracy, poszukując genetycznych czynników ryzyka predysponujących do udaru mózgu u dzieci, oceniano możliwe związki pomiędzy polimorfizmem C242T genu CYBA i chorobą. Materiał i metody W badaniu wzięło udział 238 osób: 70 dzieci z udarem niedokrwiennym mózgu, 118 ich biologicznych rodziców oraz 50 dzieci bez żadnych objawów udaru. Polimorfizm C242T genu CYBA genotypowano metodą polimorfizmu długości fragmentów restrykcyjnych w reakcji łańcuchowej polimerazy. Do oceny możliwych związków pomiędzy polimorfizmem i udarem zastosowano dwie niezależne metody: wewnątrzrodzinny test transmisji i badanie kliniczno-kontrolne. Wyniki Allel C242 był częściej przekazywany chorym dzieciom przez heterozygotycznych rodziców niż allel 242T (62,2% w porównaniu z 37,8%), jednak obserwowane częstości nie odbiegały znamiennie od oczekiwanych (p = 0,10). Nie wykazano także znaczących różnic w rozkładzie alleli i genotypów pomiędzy pacjentami i dziećmi z grupy kontrolnej (pacjenci: CC – 50,0%, CT – 38,6%, TT – 11,4%; grupa kontrolna: CC – 52,0%, CT – 36,0%, TT – 12,0%). Wnioski Wyniki badań nie wykazały, aby polimorfizm C242T genu CYBA był czynnikiem ryzyka udaru niedokrwiennego u dzieci

Polimorfizm C242T genu kodującego cytochrom b-245 alfa nie jest związany z udarem niedokrwiennym mózgu u dzieci : analiza wewnątrzrodzinna i badanie kliniczno-kontrolne

Background and purpose: Reactive oxygen species play an important role in the physiology and pathology of cerebral arteries, including ischaemic stroke. The cytochrome b-245 alpha gene (CYBA) encodes cytochrome b-245 alpha light chain (p22phox peptide), a critical element of NAD(P)H oxidases, the most important source of superoxide anion in the cerebral arteries. To search for genetic factors associated with paediatric ischaemic stroke, the possible association between CYBA gene C242T polymorphism and the disease was evaluated. Material and methods: The study group consisted of 238 in - dividuals: children with ischaemic stroke (n = 70), their biological parents (n = 118) and children without any symptoms of stroke (n = 50). The C242T polymorphism was genotyped using polymerase chain reaction – restriction fragment length methodology. To evaluate the possible association between polymorphism and stroke, the transmission disequilibrium test and the case-control method were applied. Results: The C242 allele was transmitted more frequently than 242T (62.2% vs. 37.8%) but observed frequencies did not differ significantly from expected (p = 0.10). There were also no significant differences in allele and genotype distribution between patients and control subjects (patients: CC – 50.0%, CT – 38.6%, TT – 11.4% vs. controls: CC – 52.0%, CT – 36.0%, TT – 12.0%). Conclusions: The study did not show that the C242T polymorphism of the CYBA gene is a risk factor of ischaemic stroke in childre

BET-inhibition by JQ1 promotes proliferation and self-renewal capacity of hematopoietic stem cells

Although inhibitors of bromodomain and extra terminal domain (BET) proteins show promising clinical activity in different hematologic malignancies, a systematic analysis of the consequences of pharmacological BET inhibition on healthy hematopoietic (stem) cells is urgently needed. We found that JQ1 treatment decreases the numbers of pre-, immature and mature B cells while numbers of early pro-B cells remain constant. In addition, JQ1 treatment increases apoptosis in T cells, all together leading to reduced cellularity in thymus, bone marrow and spleen. Furthermore, JQ1 induces proliferation of long-term hematopoietic stem cells, thereby increasing stem cell numbers. Due to increased numbers, JQ1-treated hematopoietic stem cells engrafted better after stem cell transplantation and repopulated the hematopoietic system significantly faster after sublethal myeloablation. As quantity and functionality of hematopoietic stem cells determine the duration of life-threatening myelosuppression, BET inhibition might benefit patients in myelosuppressive conditions