5,172 research outputs found
How far did feedback between biodiversity and early diagenesis affect the nature of early Palaeozoic sea floors?
Latest Precambrian to Early Palaeozoic biosphere evolution triggered changes in early diagenesis and carbonate precipitation which fed back to biodiversity through colonization of hard substrates. Progressive increase in the depth and intensity of bioturbation and bio-irrigation lowered the zone of early carbonate cementation in the uppermost sediment column. This firstly led to a decline in the abundance of the flat-pebble conglomerates which had been a common feature of Cambrian and Early Ordovician successions, replaced by the peak and subsequent decline in the Palaeozoic abundance of submarine hardgrounds. The availability of very widespread lithified sea floors in shallow subtidal settings during the Ordovician promoted a rapid expansion in sclerobiont diversity and contributed to the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event
Non-Hawaiian lithostratigraphy of Louisville seamounts and the formation of high-latitude oceanic islands and guyots
Guyots are large seamounts with a flat summit that is generally believed to form due to constructional biogenic and/or erosional processes during the formation of volcanic islands. However, despite their large abundance in the oceans, there are still very few direct constraints on the nature and formation of guyots, in particular those formed at high latitude that lack a thick cap of shallow-marine carbonate rocks. It is largely accepted based on geophysical constraints and surficial observations/sampling that the summit platform of these guyots is shaped by wave abrasion during post-volcanic subsidence of volcanic islands. Here we provide novel constraints on this hypothesis and the summit geology of guyots with a lithostratigraphic analysis of cores from three Louisville seamounts (South Pacific) collected during Expedition 330 of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP). Thirteen lithofacies of sedimentary and volcanic deposits are described, which include facies not previously recognized on the top of guyots, and offer a new insight into the formation of high-latitude oceanic islands on a fast-moving plate. Our results reveal that the lithostratigraphy of Louisville seamounts preserves a very consistent record of the formation and drowning of volcanic islands, with from bottom to top: (i) volcaniclastic sequences with abundant lava-fed delta deposits, (ii) submarine to subaerial shield lava flows, (iii) post-volcanic shallow to deeper marine sedimentary rocks lacking thick reef deposits, (iv) post-erosional rejuvenated volcanic rocks, and (v) pelagic sediments. Recognition of erosional boundaries between subaerial lava flows and shallow-marine sedimentary rocks provides novel support for post-volcanic wave planation of guyots. However, the summit geology of Louisville seamounts is dissimilar to that of high-latitude Hawaiian-Emperor guyots that have emplaced in a similar tectonic and environmental setting and that include thicker lava stacks with apparently little lava-fed delta deposits. To explain observed lithostratigraphic discrepancy we propose that Louisville seamounts represent a distinct type of intraplate ocean volcano characterized by formation of a smaller island, with a central shield volcano surrounded by extended shallow-marine shelves formed by lava-fed deltas. In this interpretation the summit platform of Louisville-type guyots results from early (syn-volcanic) subaerial to shallow-marine constructional volcanic processes and marine erosion, enhanced by later (post-volcanic) wave planation. This contrasts with larger Hawaiian edifices that are capped by thicker shield volcanoes, and that develop an extended wave planation surface during post-volcanic subsidence (in the absence of efficient coral growth). The difference between Hawaiian- and Louisville-type volcanic islands and guyots can be explained by contrasted dynamic disequilibrium between magmatic growth, erosion, and subsidence during the island-building stage. Unlike Hawaiian-type volcanoes, Louisville seamounts are characterized by alkaline magmatism that extends from the late seamount to island stages. This supports more limited magmatic growth during the formation of Louisville islands, and we hypothesize that this promotes the formation of ephemeral shallow-marine platforms and extended lava-fed deltas. Hawaiian-type volcanoes and guyots are unusually large in the population of intraplate ocean volcanoes. Louisville-type guyots as defined in this study could therefore represent a very common but yet poorly documented mode of oceanic island formation in the Pacific Ocean and other similar fast-moving plate settings
Non-Hawaiian lithostratigraphy of Louisville seamounts and the formation of high-latitude oceanic islands and guyots
Guyots are large seamounts with a flat summit that is generally believed to form due to constructional biogenic and/or erosional processes during the formation of volcanic islands. However, despite their large abundance in the oceans, there are still very few direct constraints on the nature and formation of guyots, in particular those formed at high latitude that lack a thick cap of shallow-marine carbonate rocks. It is largely accepted based on geophysical constraints and surficial observations/sampling that the summit platform of these guyots is shaped by wave abrasion during post-volcanic subsidence of volcanic islands. Here we provide novel constraints on this hypothesis and the summit geology of guyots with a lithostratigraphic analysis of cores from three Louisville seamounts (South Pacific) collected during Expedition 330 of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP). Thirteen lithofacies of sedimentary and volcanic deposits are described, which include facies not previously recognized on the top of guyots, and offer a new insight into the formation of high-latitude oceanic islands on a fast-moving plate. Our results reveal that the lithostratigraphy of Louisville seamounts preserves a very consistent record of the formation and drowning of volcanic islands, with from bottom to top: (i) volcaniclastic sequences with abundant lava-fed delta deposits, (ii) submarine to subaerial shield lava flows, (iii) post-volcanic shallow to deeper marine sedimentary rocks lacking thick reef deposits, (iv) post-erosional rejuvenated volcanic rocks, and (v) pelagic sediments. Recognition of erosional boundaries between subaerial lava flows and shallow-marine sedimentary rocks provides novel support for post-volcanic wave planation of guyots. However, the summit geology of Louisville seamounts is dissimilar to that of high-latitude Hawaiian-Emperor guyots that have emplaced in a similar tectonic and environmental setting and that include thicker lava stacks with apparently little lava-fed delta deposits. To explain observed lithostratigraphic discrepancy we propose that Louisville seamounts represent a distinct type of intraplate ocean volcano characterized by formation of a smaller island, with a central shield volcano surrounded by extended shallow-marine shelves formed by lava-fed deltas. In this interpretation the summit platform of Louisville-type guyots results from early (syn-volcanic) subaerial to shallow-marine constructional volcanic processes and marine erosion, enhanced by later (post-volcanic) wave planation. This contrasts with larger Hawaiian edifices that are capped by thicker shield volcanoes, and that develop an extended wave planation surface during post-volcanic subsidence (in the absence of efficient coral growth). The difference between Hawaiian- and Louisville-type volcanic islands and guyots can be explained by contrasted dynamic disequilibrium between magmatic growth, erosion, and subsidence during the island-building stage. Unlike Hawaiian-type volcanoes, Louisville seamounts are characterized by alkaline magmatism that extends from the late seamount to island stages. This supports more limited magmatic growth during the formation of Louisville islands, and we hypothesize that this promotes the formation of ephemeral shallow-marine platforms and extended lava-fed deltas. Hawaiian-type volcanoes and guyots are unusually large in the population of intraplate ocean volcanoes. Louisville-type guyots as defined in this study could therefore represent a very common but yet poorly documented mode of oceanic island formation in the Pacific Ocean and other similar fast-moving plate settings
Inhibition of Burkholderia multivorans Adhesion to Lung Epithelial Cells by Bivalent Lactosides
Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc) is an opportunistic pathogen in cystic
fibrosis patients which is inherently resistant to antimicrobial agents. The mechanisms of
attachment and pathogenesis of Bcc, a group of 17 species, are poorly understood. The most
commonly identified Bcc species in newly colonised patients, Burkholderia multivorans,
continues to be acquired from the environment. Development of therapies which can
prevent or reduce the risk of colonization on exposure to Bcc in the environment would be
a better alternative to antimicrobial agents. Previously, it has been shown that Bcc strains
bound to many glycolipid receptors on lung epithelia. Using a real-time PCR method to
quantify the levels of binding of B. multivorans to the lung epithelial cells, we have
examined glycoconjugate derivatives for their potential to inhibit host cell attachment.
Bivalent lactosides previously shown to inhibit galectin binding significantly reduced the
attachment of B. multivorans to CF lung epithelial cells at micromolar concentrations. This
was in contrast to monosaccharides and lactose, which were only effective in the
millimolar range. Development of glycoconjugate therapies such as these, which inhibit
attachment to lung epithelial cells, represent an alternative means of preventing infection
with inherently antimicrobially resistant pathogens such as B. multivorans
Case report: a diagnostically challenging conjunctival mass caused by the Epstein-Barr virus.
We present a paediatric case of infectious mononucleosis in a 13-year old, manifesting with follicular conjunctivitis and a conjunctival mass in one eye with no evidence of leucocytosis on the blood count. The diagnosis was confirmed following surgical excision and biopsy. The case represented a diagnostic challenge due to its atypism and given the steady increase in the prevalence of EBV-related ocular diseases in the last years, this report can serve as an example to prompt earlier serological tests to identify the aetiology in similar cases. This is important because EBV can be treated with acyclovir early in the active viral phase
Behavior of the Escape Rate Function in Hyperbolic Dynamical Systems
For a fixed initial reference measure, we study the dependence of the escape
rate on the hole for a smooth or piecewise smooth hyperbolic map. First, we
prove the existence and Holder continuity of the escape rate for systems with
small holes admitting Young towers. Then we consider general holes for Anosov
diffeomorphisms, without size or Markovian restrictions. We prove bounds on the
upper and lower escape rates using the notion of pressure on the survivor set
and show that a variational principle holds under generic conditions. However,
we also show that the escape rate function forms a devil's staircase with jumps
along sequences of regular holes and present examples to elucidate some of the
difficulties involved in formulating a general theory.Comment: 21 pages. v2 differs from v1 only by additions to the acknowledgment
A simple piston problem in one dimension
We study a heavy piston that separates finitely many ideal gas particles
moving inside a one-dimensional gas chamber. Using averaging techniques, we
prove precise rates of convergence of the actual motions of the piston to its
averaged behavior. The convergence is uniform over all initial conditions in a
compact set. The results extend earlier work by Sinai and Neishtadt, who
determined that the averaged behavior is periodic oscillation. In addition, we
investigate the piston system when the particle interactions have been
smoothed. The convergence to the averaged behavior again takes place uniformly,
both over initial conditions and over the amount of smoothing.Comment: Accepted by Nonlinearity. 27 pages, 2 figure
Panoramic optical and near-infrared SETI instrument: prototype design and testing
The Pulsed All-sky Near-infrared Optical Search for ExtraTerrestrial
Intelligence (PANOSETI) is an instrument program that aims to search for fast
transient signals (nano-second to seconds) of artificial or astrophysical
origin. The PANOSETI instrument objective is to sample the entire observable
sky during all observable time at optical and near-infrared wavelengths over
300 - 1650 nm. The PANOSETI instrument is designed with a number of modular
telescope units using Fresnel lenses (0.5m) arranged on two geodesic
domes in order to maximize sky coverage. We present the prototype design
and tests of these modular Fresnel telescope units. This consists of the design
of mechanical components such as the lens mounting and module frame. One of the
most important goals of the modules is to maintain the characteristics of the
Fresnel lens under a variety of operating conditions. We discuss how we account
for a range of operating temperatures, humidity, and module orientations in our
design in order to minimize undesirable changes to our focal length or angular
resolution.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, 1 tabl
Apolipoprotein L1 gene variants associate with prevalent kidney but not prevalent cardiovascular disease in the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial.
Apolipoprotein L1 gene (APOL1) G1 and G2 coding variants are strongly associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD) in African Americans (AAs). Here APOL1 association was tested with baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), urine albumin:creatinine ratio (UACR), and prevalent cardiovascular disease (CVD) in 2571 AAs from the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT), a trial assessing effects of systolic blood pressure reduction on renal and CVD outcomes. Logistic regression models that adjusted for potentially important confounders tested for association between APOL1 risk variants and baseline clinical CVD (myocardial infarction, coronary, or carotid artery revascularization) and CKD (eGFR under 60 ml/min per 1.73 m(2) and/or UACR over 30 mg/g). AA SPRINT participants were 45.3% female with a mean (median) age of 64.3 (63) years, mean arterial pressure 100.7 (100) mm Hg, eGFR 76.3 (77.1) ml/min per 1.73 m(2), and UACR 49.9 (9.2) mg/g, and 8.2% had clinical CVD. APOL1 (recessive inheritance) was positively associated with CKD (odds ratio 1.37, 95% confidence interval 1.08-1.73) and log UACR estimated slope (β) 0.33) and negatively associated with eGFR (β -3.58), all significant. APOL1 risk variants were not significantly associated with prevalent CVD (1.02, 0.82-1.27). Thus, SPRINT data show that APOL1 risk variants are associated with mild CKD but not with prevalent CVD in AAs with a UACR under 1000 mg/g
Testing whether early diagenesis of skeletal carbonate is different in non-marine settings: contrasting styles of molluscan preservation in the Upper Jurassic of Portugal
This study tests the hypothesis that the early diagenesis of aragonite shells should differ fundamentally between marine and freshwater environments. This is predicted to be the case because aragonite is highly susceptible to dissolution in the TAZ (Taphonomically Active Zone) in low energy marine settings due to acidity caused largely by the oxidation of H2S generated by sulphate-reducing bacteria, but reduced sulphide activity in freshwater settings should result in less early dissolution of aragonite. To test this hypothesis a range of fresh-brackish-hypersaline and marine limestones were sampled from the Upper Jurassic (mid Oxfordian) Cabaços Formation of central western Portugal. In these freshwater and brackish deposits, molluscs are preserved mostly as sparite shell replacements indicating that the original aragonite was preserved through the TAZ and was later replaced during subsequent burial by calcite cement. In limestones deposited in more marine to hypersaline settings, molluscan remains mostly consist of the calcitic layers of bimineralic bivalves, as shell where the original was wholly calcitic, or as gastropod steinkerns. Exceptions occur and reflect other factors such as higher energy conditions during deposition whereby organic matter, as the drive for microbial decay processes, was removed. The implications for molluscan preservation including some hydrocarbon reservoirs are discussed
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