The geology of the hyperstheme Gabbro of Ardnamurchan point and implications for its evolution as an upper crustal basic magma chamber

The Hypersthene Gabbro of Ardnamurchan Point is formed by an outer Marginal Border Group ( MBG ) and a younger Inner Series (IS). The MBG is a single large intrusion which corresponds to a high - melt - percentage magma chamber. The IS is dominated by numerous gabbronorite sheet intrusions which formed a large low - melt - percentage magma body. The country rocks around the MBG show polyphase metamorphism. An early (Ml) phase of high-grade metamorphiam was followed by sudden cooling and then by hydrothermal metamorphism ( M2 ), related in part to the emplacement of the IS. The sudden cooling was caused by self - propagation of tensile fracture networks containing vigorously convecting hydrothermal fluids. The fracture networks were initiated by tectonic fracturing. The fractures networks also propagated into the MBG and partly preserved the magma chamber boundary layer formed during Ml. The contact of the MBG was approximately stationary during Ml. Wall - rock melting occurred in an episodic process triggered by movement on concentric inward - dipping normal faults due to fluctuations in magma pressure. The heat flux Q(_m) in the boundary layer was approximately equal to the heat flux Qc in the adjacent wall rocks. The preservation of the end – M1 instantaneous metamorphic thermal gradient in the country rocks by the subsequent sudden cooling allows direct measurement of Q(_c) and hence of Q(_m) ( 8 - 40Wm(^-2) and other parameters of the boundary layer of the MBG magma chamber. The interior of the MBG magma chamber was probably just stably stratified but cooling at the chamber walls produced density currents and slow mixing between the layers. The chamber was not well - mixed: variations in previous crustal contamination of the magmas have been preserved. The IS shows evidence for interstitial melt expulsion related to the formation of igneous lamination. Hydrothermal circulation in the IS, at up to 1000ºC, produced oxidation of the rocks and may have led to the formation of hydrous melts

The New Opportunity to Lead: A Vision for Education in Massachusetts in the Next 20 Years

This report is based on the vision that the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education (MBAE) advocates for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In preparing this report, the MBAE asked us explicitly what it would take for Massachusetts to have the best-performing system in the world in within 20 years. In the field of public education, Massachusetts has often - sometimes spectacularly - led before. By creating the best education in the World, it would undoubtedly do so again and provide better opportunities for all its citizens

Organised crime and social media: detecting and corroborating weak signals of human trafficking online

This paper describes an approach for detecting the presence or emergence of Organised Crime (OC) signals on Social Media. It shows how words and phrases, used by members of the public in Social Media, can be treated as weak signals of OC, enabling information to be classified according to a taxonomy of OC. Formal Concept Analysis is used to group information sources, according to Crime and Location, thus providing a means of corroboration and creating OC Concepts that can be used to alert police analysts to the possible presence of OC. The analyst is able to `drill down' into an OC Concept of interest, discovering additional information that may be pertinent to the crime. The paper describes the implementation of this approach into a fully-functional prototype software system, incorporating a Social Media Scanning System and a map-based user interface. The approach and system are illustrated using the Trafficking of Human Beings as an example. Real data is used to obtain results that show that weak signals of OC have been detected and corroborated, thus alerting to the possible presence of OC. Keyword : organised crime, social media, formal concept analysis

Sulfur: A potential resource crisis that could stifle green technology and threaten food security as the world decarbonises

Sulfur in the form of sulfuric acid is a crucial part of our modern industrial society. It is required for the production of phosphorus fertiliser and manufacturing lightweight electric motors and high-performance lithium-ion batteries. Over 246 million tonnes of sulfuric acid are used annually. Rapid growth in the green economy and intensive agriculture could see demand increase to over 400 million tonnes by 2040. Today over 80% of the global sulfur supply comes from desulfurisation of fossil fuels to reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) gas. Decarbonisation of the global economy to deal with climate change will greatly reduce the production of fossil fuels. This will create a shortfall in the annual supply of sulfuric acid of between 100 and 320 million tonnes by 2040, depending on how quickly decarbonisation occurs. Unless action is taken to reduce the need for sulfuric acid, a massive increase in environmentally damaging mining will be required to fill this resource demand

Safety and efficacy of vismodegib in patients aged ≥65 years with advanced basal cell carcinoma.

Because many patients with unresectable basal cell carcinoma (BCC) are aged ≥65 years, this study explores the efficacy and safety of vismodegib in these patients with locally advanced (la) or metastatic (m) basal cell carcinoma (BCC) in the ERIVANCE BCC trial and the expanded access study (EAS).We compared patients aged ≥65 years to patients aged <65 years taking vismodegib 150 mg/day, using descriptive statistics for response and safety. Patients aged ≥65 years (laBCC/mBCC) were enrolled in ERIVANCE BCC (33/14) and EAS (27/26). Investigator-assessed best overall response rate in patients ≥65 and <65 years was 46.7%/35.7% and 72.7%/52.6% (laBCC/mBCC), respectively, in ERIVANCE BCC and 45.8%/33.3% and 46.9%/28.6%, respectively, in EAS. These differences were not clinically meaningful. Safety was similar in both groups, although those aged ≥65 years had a higher percentage of grade 3-5 adverse events than those aged <65 years. Vismodegib demonstrated similar clinical activity and adverse events regardless of age

Magma Plumbing During the 2014-2015 Eruption of Fogo (Cape Verde Islands)

Phenocrysts in volcanic rocks are recorders of magmatic processes that have occurred at depth before and during a volcanic eruption. Our petrological investigations of stratigraphically controlled tephrite and phonotephrite samples from the latest eruption of Fogo (Cape Verde Islands) aimed to reconstructing magma storage and transport. The dates of sample emplacement have been determined using satellite instrument - derived high resolution thermal infrared maps. All samples are strongly phyric and commonly contain complexly zoned clinopyroxene crystals and cumulate fragments. Clinopyroxenes from all samples exhibit 10-50 mu m wide rim zones, inferred to have grown in a few days to weeks during the ongoing eruption as a consequence of H2O loss from the melt. Clinopyroxene-melt thermobarometry using tephrite groundmass compositions suggests that the rims formed at upper mantle pressures of around 600 MPa (21 km depth). This level is interpreted to reflect temporary reduction in magma ascent velocity by near-isobaric movement through a complex storage system. Previously, the tephrite magma had accumulated at a deeper level, possibly between 700 and 900 MPa as indicated by clinopyroxene cores (Mata et al., 2017). The cause for H2O loss initiating rim growth could be degassing after rise of the magma from the deeper level, or CO(2)flushing by a carbonic fluid phase released at depth. Corresponding data from phonotephrites indicate last equilibration at around 440 MPa (16 km);the phonotephrite magma is inferred to be a residuum from an earlier magmatic event that was entrained by advancing tephrite. Microthermometry of CO2-dominated fluid inclusions in tephrite clinopyroxenes results in pressures of around 330 MPa (12 km), indicating another short pause in magma ascent in the lowermost crust. Rim zonations of olivine phenocrysts indicate that after leaving this final stalling zone, the magma ascended to the surface in less than half a day. In strong contrast to these petrological equilibration depths, seismic events precursory to the eruption were located at < 5 km below sea level, with only two exceptions at 17 and 21 km depth consistent with our barometry. Our results enhance the understanding of this potentially dangerous volcano, which helps to interpret future pre-eruptive unrest

Thermal reaction norms and the scale of temperature variation: latitudinal vulnerability of intertidal Nacellid limpets to climate change

The thermal reaction norms of 4 closely related intertidal Nacellid limpets, Antarctic (Nacella concinna), New Zealand (Cellana ornata), Australia (C. tramoserica) and Singapore (C. radiata), were compared across environments with different temperature magnitude, variability and predictability, to test their relative vulnerability to different scales of climate warming. Lethal limits were measured alongside a newly developed metric of “duration tenacity”, which was tested at different temperatures to calculate the thermal reaction norm of limpet adductor muscle fatigue. Except in C. tramoserica which had a wide optimum range with two break points, duration tenacity did not follow a typical aerobic capacity curve but was best described by a single break point at an optimum temperature. Thermal reaction norms were shifted to warmer temperatures in warmer environments; the optimum temperature for tenacity (Topt) increased from 1.0°C (N. concinna) to 14.3°C (C. ornata) to 18.0°C (an average for the optimum range of C. tramoserica) to 27.6°C (C. radiata). The temperature limits for duration tenacity of the 4 species were most consistently correlated with both maximum sea surface temperature and summer maximum in situ habitat logger temperature. Tropical C. radiata, which lives in the least variable and most predictable environment, generally had the lowest warming tolerance and thermal safety margin (WT and TSM; respectively the thermal buffer of CTmax and Topt over habitat temperature). However, the two temperate species, C. ornata and C. tramoserica, which live in a variable and seasonally unpredictable microhabitat, had the lowest TSM relative to in situ logger temperature. N. concinna which lives in the most variable, but seasonally predictable microhabitat, generally had the highest TSMs. Intertidal animals live at the highly variable interface between terrestrial and marine biomes and even small changes in the magnitude and predictability of their environment could markedly influence their future distributions