Late Maastrichtian carbon isotope stratigraphy and cyclostratigraphy of the Newfoundland Margin (Site U1403, IODP Expedition 342)

Earth’s climate during the Maastrichtian (latest Cretaceous) was punctuated by brief warming and cooling episodes, accompanied by perturbations of the global carbon cycle. Superimposed on a long-term cooling trend, the middle Maastrichtian is characterized by deep-sea warming and relatively high values of stable carbon-isotope ratios, followed by strong climatic variability towards the end of the Cretaceous. A lack of knowledge on the timing of climatic change inhibits our understanding of underlying causal mechanisms. We present an integrated stratigraphy from Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Site U1403, providing an expanded deep ocean record from the North Atlantic (Expedition 342, Newfoundland Margin). Distinct sedimentary cyclicity suggests that orbital forcing played a major role in depositional processes, which is confirmed by statistical analyses of high resolution elemental data obtained by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) core scanning. Astronomical calibration reveals that the investigated interval encompasses seven 405-kyr cycles (Ma4051 to Ma4057) and spans the 2.8 Myr directly preceding the Cretaceous/Paleocene (K/Pg) boundary. A high-resolution carbon-isotope record from bulk carbonates allows us to identify global trends in the late Maastrichtian carbon cycle. Low-amplitude variations (up to 0.4‰) in carbon isotopes at Site U1403 match similar scale variability in records from Tethyan and Pacific open-ocean sites. Comparison between Site U1403 and the hemipelagic restricted basin of the Zumaia section (northern Spain), with its own well-established independent cyclostratigraphic framework, is more complex. Whereas the pre-K/Pg oscillations and the negative values of the Mid-Maastrichtian Event (MME) can be readily discerned in both the Zumaia and U1403 records, patterns diverge during a ~ 1 Myr period in the late Maastrichtian (67.8–66.8 Ma), with Site U1403 more reliably reflecting global carbon cycling. Our new carbon isotope record and cyclostratigraphy offer promise for Site U1403 to serve as a future reference section for high-resolution studies of late Maastrichtian paleoclimatic change

No evidence that footedness in pheasants influences cognitive performance in tasks assessing colour discrimination and spatial ability

The differential specialization of each side of the brain facilitates the parallel processing of information and has been documented in a wide range of animals. Animals that are more lateralized as indicated by consistent preferential limb use are commonly reported to exhibit superior cognitive ability as well as other behavioural advantages.We assayed the lateralization of 135 young pheasants (Phasianus colchicus), indicated by their footedness in a spontaneous stepping task, and related this measure to individual performance in either 3 assays of visual or spatial learning and memory. We found no evidence that pronounced footedness enhances cognitive ability in any of the tasks. We also found no evidence that an intermediate footedness relates to better cognitive performance. This lack of relationship is surprising because previous work revealed that pheasants have a slight population bias towards right footedness, and when released into the wild, individuals with higher degrees of footedness were more likely to die. One explanation for why extreme lateralization is constrained was that it led to poorer cognitive performance, or that optimal cognitive performance was associated with some intermediate level of lateralization. This stabilizing selection could explain the pattern of moderate lateralization that is seen in most non-human species that have been studied. However, we found no evidence in this study to support this explanation

IRX-2, a novel biologic, favors the expansion of T effector over T regulatory cells in a human tumor microenvironment model

IRX-2, a natural cytokine biological with multiple components, has been used in preclinical and clinical studies to promote antitumor activity of T lymphocytes. To define cellular mechanisms responsible for antitumor effects of IRX-2, its ability to induce effector T cells (Teff) was examined in a model simulating the tumor microenvironment. An in vitro model containing conventional CD4+CD25− cells co-cultured with autologous immature dendritic cells, irradiated tumor cells, and cytokines was used to study differentiation and expansion of regulatory T cells (Treg) and Teff in the presence and absence of IRX-2. Phenotype, suppressor function, signaling, and cytokine production were serially measured using flow cytometry, Western blots, CFSE-based suppressor assays, and Luminex-based analyses. The presence of IRX-2 in the co-cultures promoted the induction and expansion of IFN-γ+Tbet+ Teff and significantly (p < 0.01) decreased the induction of inducible IL-10+TGF-β+ Treg. The responsible mechanism involved IFN-γ-driven T cell polarization towards Teff and suppression of Treg differentiation. In an in vitro model simulating the human tumor microenvironment, IRX-2 promoted Teff expansion and antitumor activity without inducing Treg. Thus, IRX-2 could be considered as a promising component of future antitumor therapies

Tensile Deformation of Oriented Poly(ε-caprolactone) and Its Miscible Blends with Poly(vinyl methyl ether)

The structural evolution of micromolded poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) and its miscible blends with noncrystallizable poly(vinyl methyl ether) (PVME) at the nanoscale was investigated as a function of deformation ratio and blend composition using in situ synchrotron smallangle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and scanning SAXS techniques. It was found that the deformation mechanism of the oriented samples shows a general scheme for the process of tensile deformation: crystal block slips within the lamellae occur at small deformations followed by a stressinduced fragmentation and recrystallization process along the drawing direction at a critical strain where the average thickness of the crystalline lamellae remains essentially constant during stretching. The value of the critical strain depends on the amount of the amorphous component incorporated in the blends, which could be traced back to the lower modulus of the entangled amorphous phase and, therefore, the reduced network stress acting on the crystallites upon addition of PVME. When stretching beyond the critical strain the slippage of the fibrils (stacks of newly formed lamellae) past each other takes place resulting in a relaxation of stretched interlamellar amorphous chains. Because of deformation-induced introduction of the amorphous PVME into the interfibrillar regions in the highly oriented blends, the interactions between fibrils becomes stronger upon further deformation and thus impeding sliding of the fibrils to some extent leading finally to less contraction of the interlamellar amorphous layers compared to the pure PCLNational Natural Science Foundation of China (21204088 and 21134006). This work is within the framework of the RCUK/EPSRC Science Bridges China project of UK−China Advanced Materials Research Institute (AMRI)

A comprehensive characterization of ice nucleation by three different types of cellulose particles immersed in water

We present the laboratory results of immersion freezing efficiencies of cellulose particles at supercooled temperature (T) conditions. Three types of chemically homogeneous cellulose samples are used as surrogates that represent supermicron and submicron ice-nucleating plant structural polymers. These samples include microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), fibrous cellulose (FC) and nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC). Our immersion freezing dataset includes data from various ice nucleation measurement techniques available at 17 different institutions, including nine dry dispersion and 11 aqueous suspension techniques. With a total of 20 methods, we performed systematic accuracy and precision analysis of measurements from all 20 measurement techniques by evaluating T-binned (1 ∘C) data over a wide T range (−36 ∘C <T<−4 ∘C). Specifically, we intercompared the geometric surface area-based ice nucleation active surface site (INAS) density data derived from our measurements as a function of T, ns,geo(T). Additionally, we also compared the ns,geo(T) values and the freezing spectral slope parameter (Δlog(ns,geo)/ΔT) from our measurements to previous literature results. Results show all three cellulose materials are reasonably ice active. The freezing efficiencies of NCC samples agree reasonably well, whereas the diversity for the other two samples spans ≈ 10 ∘C. Despite given uncertainties within each instrument technique, the overall trend of the ns,geo(T) spectrum traced by the T-binned average of measurements suggests that predominantly supermicron-sized cellulose particles (MCC and FC) generally act as more efficient ice-nucleating particles (INPs) than NCC with about 1 order of magnitude higher ns,geo(T)

Cancer-Stromal Cell Interaction and Tumor Angiogenesis in Gastric Cancer

Recent studies in molecular and cellular biology have shown that tumor growth and metastasis are not determined by cancer cells alone but also by a variety of stromal cells. The stroma constitutes a large part of most solid tumors, and cancer-stromal cell interaction contributes functionally to tumor growth and metastasis. Angiogenesis is the result of an imbalance between positive and negative angiogenic factors released by tumor and host cells into the microenvironment of the neoplastic tissue. In gastric cancer, tumor cells and stromal cells produce various angiogenic factors, including vascular endothelial growth factor, interleukin-8, and platelet-derived endothelial cell growth factor. The microenvironment in the gastric mucosa may also influence the angiogenic phenotype of gastric cancer. Helicobacter pylori infection increases expression of several angiogenic factors by tumor cells. Activated fibroblasts and macrophages in tumor stroma also play an important role in angiogenesis and tumor progression. We review the current understanding of cancer-stromal cell interaction as it pertains to tumor angiogenesis in gastric cancer

Reacquisition of the lower temporal bar in sexually dimorphic fossil lizards provides a rare case of convergent evolution

Temporal fenestration has long been considered a key character to understand relationships amongst reptiles. In particular, the absence of the lower temporal bar (LTB) is considered one of the defining features of squamates (lizards and snakes). In a re-assessment of the borioteiioid lizard Polyglyphanodon sternbergi (Cretaceous, North America), we detected a heretofore unrecognized ontogenetic series, sexual dimorphism (a rare instance for Mesozoic reptiles), and a complete LTB, a feature only recently recognized for another borioteiioid, Tianyusaurus zhengi (Cretaceous, China). A new phylogenetic analysis (with updates on a quarter of the scorings for P. sternbergi) indicates not only that the LTB was reacquired in squamates, but it happened independently at least twice. An analysis of the functional significance of the LTB using proxies indicates that, unlike for T. zhengi, this structure had no apparent functional advantage in P. sternbergi, and it is better explained as the result of structural constraint release. The observed canalization against a LTB in squamates was broken at some point in the evolution of borioteiioids, whereas never re-occuring in other squamate lineages. This case of convergent evolution involves a mix of both adaptationist and structuralist causes, which is unusual for both living and extinct vertebrates