The Ponto-Caspian basin as a final trap for southeastern Scandinavian Ice-Sheet meltwater

This paper provides new data on the evolution of the Caspian Sea and Black Sea from the Last Glacial Maximum until ca. 12 cal kyr BP. We present new analyses (clay mineralogy, grain-size, Nd isotopes and pollen) applied to sediments from the river terraces in the lower Volga, from the middle Caspian Sea and from the western part of the Black Sea. The results show that during the last deglaciation, the Ponto-Caspian basin collected meltwater and fine-grained sediment from the southern margin of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet (SIS) via the Dniepr and Volga Rivers. It induced the deposition of characteristic red-brownish/chocolate-coloured illite-rich sediments (Red Layers in the Black Sea and Chocolate Clays in the Caspian Sea) that originated from the Baltic Shield area according to Nd data. This general evolution, common to both seas was nevertheless differentiated over time due to the specificities of their catchment areas and due to the movement of the southern margin of the SIS. Our results indicate that in the eastern part of the East European Plain, the meltwater from the SIS margin supplied the Caspian Sea during the deglaciation until ∼13.8 cal kyr BP, and possibly from the LGM. That led to the Early Khvalynian transgressive stage(s) and Chocolate Clays deposition in the now-emerged northern flat part of the Caspian Sea (river terraces in the modern lower Volga) and in its middle basin. In the western part of the East European Plain, our results confirm the release of meltwater from the SIS margin into the Black Sea that occurred between 17.2 and 15.7 cal kyr BP, as previously proposed. Indeed, recent findings concerning the evolution of the southern margin of the SIS and the Black Sea, show that during the last deglaciation, occurred a westward release of meltwater into the North Atlantic (between ca. 20 and 16.7 cal kyr BP), and a southward one into the Black Sea (between 17.2 and 15.7 cal kyr BP). After the Red Layers/Chocolate Clays deposition in both seas and until 12 cal kyr BP, smectite became the dominant clay mineral. The East European Plain is clearly identified as the source for smectite in the Caspian Sea sediments. In the Black Sea, smectite originated either from the East European Plain or from the Danube River catchment. Previous studies consider smectite as being only of Anatolian origin. However, our results highlight both, the European source for smectite and the impact of this source on the depositional environment of the Black Sea during considered period

The Human Connectome Project's neuroimaging approach

Noninvasive human neuroimaging has yielded many discoveries about the brain. Numerous methodological advances have also occurred, though inertia has slowed their adoption. This paper presents an integrated approach to data acquisition, analysis and sharing that builds upon recent advances, particularly from the Human Connectome Project (HCP). The 'HCP-style' paradigm has seven core tenets: (i) collect multimodal imaging data from many subjects; (ii) acquire data at high spatial and temporal resolution; (iii) preprocess data to minimize distortions, blurring and temporal artifacts; (iv) represent data using the natural geometry of cortical and subcortical structures; (v) accurately align corresponding brain areas across subjects and studies; (vi) analyze data using neurobiologically accurate brain parcellations; and (vii) share published data via user-friendly databases. We illustrate the HCP-style paradigm using existing HCP data sets and provide guidance for future research. Widespread adoption of this paradigm should accelerate progress in understanding the brain in health and disease

A method of object-oriented symbolical description and evaluation of machine elements using antipatterns

Authors propose a method of normalizing and analyzing structures, enabling automated cross-comparison of features observed in tested structures against predefined ones (both correct and incorrect reference elements). Application of this method, enables usage of numerical methods and neural networks for rapid classification of elements, while maintaining high level of flexibility, uncertainty and variety of input data. Additionally, a language, enabling symbolic representation of mechanical elements is presented and used in the demonstration of the proposed method applied to mechanical shafts. Authors explore one simple, and two more complex calculation models aimed at automation of the evaluation and rating of mechanical elements, with a purpose of improving the design and quality monitoring processes. Increase in efficiency of these processes results from applying proposed method as a tool for reducing common mistakes, faults, quality assessment time of large amounts of similar elements, or automatic suggesting of possible solutions

Parcellation Schemes and Statistical Tests to Detect Active Regions on the Cortical Surface

International audienceActivation detection in functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) datasets is usually performed by thresholding activation maps in the brain volume or, better, on the cortical surface. However, basing the analysis on a site-by-site statistical decision may be detrimental both to the interpretation of the results and to the sensitivity of the analysis, because a perfect point-to-point correspondence of brain surfaces from multiple subjects cannot be guaranteed in practice. In this paper, we propose a new approach that first defines anatomical regions such as cortical gyri outlined on the cortical surface, and then segments these regions into functionally homogeneous structures using a parcellation procedure that includes an explicit between-subject variability model, i.e. random effects. We show that random effects inference can be performed in this framework. Our procedure allows an exact control of the specificity using permutation techniques, and we show that the sensitivity of this approach is higher than the sensitivity of voxel- or cluster-level random effects tests performed on the cortical surface

Magnetic mineral variations of South Caspian Sea sediments at laminae scale.

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Final Project Report : ASSEssment of the BLAck Sea sedimentary system since the last Glacial Extreme

Contract number : EVK3-CT-2002-2009, period du 1er février au 30 juin 2006, 2006-08-3

A Late Pleistocene and Holocene mineral magnetic record from sediments of Lake Aibi, Dzungarian Basin, NW China

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