Paleozoic structural and geodynamic evolution of eastern Tianshan (NW China): welding of the Tarim and Junggar plates

to cite the paper EPISODES Volume: 30 Issue: 3 Pages: 162-186 Published: September, 2007International audienceChinese East Tianshan is a key area for understanding the Paleozoic accretion of the southern Central Asian Orogenic Belt. A first accretion-collision stage, before the Visean, developed the Eo-Tianshan range, which exhibits north-verging structures. The geodynamic evolution included: i) Ordovician-Early Devonian southward subduction of a Central Tianshan ocean beneath a Central Tianshan arc; ii) Devonian oceanic closure and collision between Central Tianshan arc and Yili-North Tianshan block, along the Central Tianshan Suture Zone; iii) Late Devonian-earliest Carboniferous closure of a South Tianshan back-arc basin, and subsequent Central Tianshan-Tarim active margin collision along the South Tianshan Suture Zone. A second stage involved: i) Late Devonian-Carboniferous southward subduction of North Tianshan ocean beneath the Eo-Tianshan active margin (Yili-North Tianshan arc); ii) Late Carboniferous-Early Permian North Tianshan-Junggar collision. The Harlike range, unit of Mongolian Fold Belt, collided with Junggar at Mid- Carboniferous, ending a north-dipping subduction. The last CAOB oceanic suture is likely the North Tianshan Suture Zone, between Yili-North Tianshan and Junggar. During the Permian, all the already welded units suffered from a major wrenching, dextral in Tianshan, sinistral in Mongolian Fold Belt, due to opposite motion of Siberia and Tarim

Eating Frequency and the Role of Snacking on Body Weight of WIC Preschool Children

The objective of this study was to understand the influence of eating episodes and snack quality on body weight of children ages 3-4.9 years participating in the Broward County Special Supplementation Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).Additional objectives were to evaluate obesity risk factors and to examine the effect of childcare arrangements on body weight. Data was collected from 7 Broward County Health Department WIC clinics over 4 months via a researcher-administered questionnaire. Additional data was extracted from the WIC data system. BMI-for-age percentiles were used to categorize children by weight according to Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines, which were further categorized into under/normal weight and overweight/obese. There were 197 participants included (45.7% boys), 3.6% of the children were underweight, 64.4% normal weight, 16.8% overweight, and 15.2% were obese. Most children consumed 3 meals (97.5%) and 2 to 3 snacks per day (33.0% and 37.1% respectively), with a significantly higher intake of snacks on the weekends when compared to weekdays (p=0.001). Children consumed more nutritious snacks more often (66%) than the nutrient-poor snacks (33.5%). We observed a marginally significant trend in which the WIC preschool children that more frequently consumed nutrient-poor snacks had a higher prevalence of overweight/obesity (p=0.090). In multivariate analyses, the children who consumed more than 4-oz of sugar sweetened beverages (SSB) per day, exercised for less than 1 hour per day, and had a higher birth weight had increased odds of being overweight/obese. Race and ethnicity were not predictive of body weight status, but Blacks or African Americans were at a higher risk for many of the risk factors. Children spent on average 20 hours per week under some type of nonparental care arrangement. There was no significant relationship between childcare and weight status. Our findings indicate that WIC children are at a greater risk for overweight and obesity, however there is potential for successful prevention interventions addressing prevalent risk factors. Longitudinal studies including a large sample of racial and ethnic diverse preschool children from low socioeconomic families could help elucidate the results from our study. This study was approved by FIU IRB (Protocol Approval #15-0369) the State of Florida Department of Health IRB (Protocol Title: Meal Frequency and the Role of Snacking on Weight of Minority Preschool Children)

Bias in Selection Processes

This research study examines underlying biases that occur in the selection process by college admissions evaluators in evaluating applicants applying for college admissions. Participants are recruited from Pitzer College and Claremont McKenna College - institutions who are apart of the Claremont Colleges consortium. The study uses a 2 x 2 factorial design. I predict that this research project will uncover underlying psychological ingroup bias in the college admissions process

The Problems with Physician Profiling: What Have We Learned?

Physician profiling has emerged as an effort to satisfy increased demand for information about the cost and quality of health care. Health plans, physicians and consumers all have distinctive purposes and methods for reviewing physician profiles, but they share several concerns about the data itself and the interpretation of this data. These problems have been so severe that physician profiling has not been widely accepted as an appropriate tool for quality improvement and cost control. However, through the use of improved data, more informed interpretation, and involvement of key stakeholders, physician profiling may one day be considered an effective and worthy investment

Invoice from Charvet to Ogden Goelet

https://digitalcommons.salve.edu/goelet-personal-expenses/1099/thumbnail.jp

Geological, geochronological and geochemical features of granulites in the Eastern Tianshan, NW China

This paper reports new results on the petrology, geochronology and geochemistry of two km-scale high-pressure granulite exposures, namely the Weiya and the Yushugou granulites, that occur in the central and southern Tianshan Paleozoic sub-belts, respectively. Petrological and geochemical results suggest that the Weiya and the Yushugou granulites are different in both the rock types and geological structures. The protolith of the Weiya granulite is basic to intermediate rocks, and that of the Yushugou granulite is basic rocks; the former is distributed as fault-bounded blocks within the Precambrian schist-gneiss, and the latter occurs as thrust slabs in the allochthonous ophiolitic mélange. Observation of deformation structures provides some evidence for two-phase ductile deformation of the Tianshan granulites, characterized by deformed garnet-pyroxene and deformed feldspar-quartz microstructures, corresponding to rheological conditions of the lower crustal level and of the middle crustal level, respectively. The deformation structures also indicate that the Weiya granulite was involved in the late stage retrograde metamorphism forming new amphibole, following a thrusting movement toward the north and ductile deformation of feldspar-quartz grains. The Yushugou granulite underwent strong ductile shearing during the Silurian–Devonian interval. Three stages of metamorphism are recorded by mineral assemblages of the Weiya granulite: M1=Pl+Qtz+Bt, M2=Cpx+Grt+Pl+Qtz+Atp±Opx, and M3=Amp+Ep+Pl+Bt+Qtz, in contrast to a two-stage metamorphic history of the Yushugou granulite: M1=Cpx+Grt+Pl±Hyp, M2=Amp+Pl+Qtz±Bt. The P–T condition estimates suggest that the Weiya granulite was formed between 910–1025 °C and 1.08–1.12 GPa, and underwent retrograde metamorphism at 650–670 °C, while the peak metamorphism of the Yushugou granulite took place between 800–870 °C and 0.88–1.13 GPa. Geochemical characteristics (major, REE and incompatible elements) of the Weiya and Yushugou granulites indicate that their protoliths were formed in a volcanic arc setting, implying that a late Precambrian active continental margin may have existed in the study area. The Sm–Nd isochron dating for the Weiya granulite suggests that the peak metamorphism occurred at 538±24 Ma, which was likely related to the ancient plate subduction. The 40Ar/39Ar dating on amphibole grains separated from the Weiya granulite yielded a plateau age of 432±1 Ma for the retrograde metamorphism, which represents an exhumation age, suggesting a significant early Paleozoic tectonothermal event

International Field Excursion and Workshop on Tectonic Evolution and Crustal Structure of the Paleozoic Chinese Tianshan

International audienceThe Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in Beijing, together with the Xinjiang 305 Project, in cooperation with International Lithosphere Program (ILP) CC-1/4 Projects TOPOCENTRAL- ASIA, ERAS, Chinese National 973 project and Paleo-environment research of NW China, will organize a 7-day (Sept. 10 to 16) international geological transect across the Eastern Tianshan in China, followed by a 2-day workshop* in Urumqi (Sept. 17 and 18). Integrating previous and recent field observations and laboratory analyses, the purpose of this meeting is to recognize collectively key tectonic zones, their geometric and kinematic relationships, in order to reach a common understanding on the Paleozoic evolution of the Tianshan belt and to establish the up-dated model of continental accretion of Central Asia. For practical reasons, the field trip will be limited to 25 participants, but the workshop will be open to any interested participants. The field trip will be 7-day field observations of the key tectonic zones across the Northern, Central and Southern Tianshan. Field–based discussions of the Tianshan Belt will help to place the geodynamic evolution of this range within the general frame of Central Asian geology. The following workshop will provide the opportunity for the international geological community to present new research results in the fields of Earth Sciences (stratigraphy, petrology, structural geology, geochemistry, geochronology, ore deposits, paleomagnetism, seismology, etc... dealing with the geological evolution of Central Asia and related areas). This meeting may provide the opportunity for elaborated syntheses on up-dated understanding of the Paleozoic evolution of the Central Asian Orogenic Belts, and also be a suitable place to set seeds for future international cooperation

Comment [on "Origin of the Chichibu Sea, Japan: Middle Paleozoic to Early Mesozoic plate construction in the northern margin of the Gondwana continent" by S. Otoh, S. Yamakita, and S. Yanai]

International audienceComment [on "Origin of the Chichibu Sea, Japan: Middle Paleozoic to Early Mesozoic plate construction in the northern margin of the Gondwana continent" by S. Otoh, S. Yamakita, and S. Yanai

Estimating Tsunami-Induced Building Damage through Fragility Functions: Critical Review and Research Needs

Tsunami damage, fragility, and vulnerability functions are statistical models that provide an estimate of expected damage or losses due to tsunami. They allow for quantification of risk, and so are a vital component of catastrophe models used for human and financial loss estimation, and for land-use and emergency planning. This paper collates and reviews the currently available tsunami fragility functions in order to highlight the current limitations, outline significant advances in this field, make recommendations for model derivation, and propose key areas for further research. Existing functions are first presented, and then key issues are identified in the current literature for each of the model components: building damage data (the response variable of the statistical model), tsunami intensity data (the explanatory variable), and the statistical model that links the two. Finally, recommendations are made regarding areas for future research and current best practices in deriving tsunami fragility functions (see Discussion, Recommendations, and Future Research). The information presented in this paper may be used to assess the quality of current estimations (both based on the quality of the data, and the quality of the models and methods adopted) and to adopt best practice when developing new fragility functions