Microstructural controls on the geomechanics of coarse grained soft rocks; Waitemata Group, Auckland

The geomechanical behaviour of a variety of soft rocks from the Waitemata Group, Auckland, is characterised, and the influence of microstructure in determining the geomechanics examined. Field geotechnical measurements of joint spacing and Schmidt Hammer rebound are related to geomechanical properties to determine controls on joint development and applicability of field index tests for soft materials. Samples studied are dominantly sandstones, with one conglomerate; all of which have a significant component of swelling clay minerals. Low bulk densities, high porosities and large void ratios are characteristic of the samples. They vary from extremely weak, very low durability rocks to moderately: strong and durable materials. Extremely weak sandstones are highly deformable and undergo plastic deformation when loaded in compression. The stronger samples undergo strain softening and respond elastically to applied stresses prior to brittle failure. High softening factors indicate that compressive and tensile strengths are greatly reduced upon saturation. All the study rocks have high proportions of sand and silt size material (≤ 95 %), and up to 10 % of < 2 μ m proportions; significant gravel size material only occurs in the conglomerate. Volcanic and detrital rock fragments are the dominant constituents in all samples, with abundant quartz, minor calcic plagioclase, and a variety of accessory minerals. The dominant clay is smectite with lesser amounts of illite, kaolinite, and mixed-layer clays. Individual sand and silt grains are dominantly subrounded to subangular quartz, regular bricks of feldspar, and rods of rutile, and are often clay coated. Microaggregates and grains are combined into aggregates and assemblages, and in some cases macroassemblages, to form granular arrangements, which produce a network of interconnecting pores. The fabric of the rocks is characterised by discontinuous matrices. Fabric types range from skeletal to turbostratic, and arrangements range from tightly interlocking grains to loose granular structures. Clay micro aggregates are either flocculated or form welded FF honeycomb arrangements. Strength and durability are not influenced by quantity, size, or type of clasts or minerals present; rather, it is the arrangement of individual components (and associated pore spaces) in the rock fabric which directly determines the geomechanical behaviour. Strong, durable samples have an abundance of clean grain to grain contacts, and few large clay aggregates. Clay microaggregates are arranged in welded FF arrangements, and pore space is restricted to micropores which resist water infiltration. Progressively weaker rocks are characterised by an increase in clay coated grains, clay aggregates, and clay connectors (which form weak links for stress transmission), and interconnecting pores at all levels in the fabric. In the weakest rock macroassemblages of clay coated grains, and open flocculated smectitic aggregates connected by point contacts, produce a network of macropores, allowing easy access of water which flocculates clays into weaker states by reducing bonding and cohesion. Schmidt rebound values in the field do not provide a useful indication of either compressive or tensile strength of these rocks. The rebound values do, however, correlate well with laboratory determined dynamic elasticity values, suggesting that the instrument should be used in the field to predict rock elasticity and not strength. Joint spacing within the rock units is related to elasticity with units capable of storing stress through plastic deformation having reasonably wide, uniformly spaced joints. Units which release stress through brittle fracture have closely spaced, and more complex joint systems

[Capítulos de la Cofradia de la Purísima Concepción de la Madre de Dios, instituida en la capilla antiguamente denominada de la Madre de Dios de los Angeles, en el Monasterio de San Francisco de Valencia] [Manuscrito].]

Faltan las h. 1 y 2 del índice, 3 h. de los preliminares y I, II, y de XXII a XXV.Enc. piel sobre tabla con hierros dorados, cantos dorados con cabujones, falto de broches. Deteriorado.Texto en valenciano.admtvo.01Sig. : []8, A-L8, M3Títulos de los capítulos y fileteado en rojoCapitales decoradas18 líneasLetra góticaLa h. 1 vª., il. con la imagen de la Purísima Concepció

Circular /

Altre títol: Circular d'Informació InteriorVILADOT-CEDO

Identification of novel marine algal compounds with differential anti-cancer activity: towards a cancer stem-cell specific chemotherapy

Breast cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related death in women worldwide. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that the treatment-resistant ER-PR-HER2/neu- sub-type is more common among women of African descent, necessitating the search for novel chemotherapies for this form of the disease. The secondary metabolites produced by marine algae represent a rich source of structurally unique compounds with chemotherapeutic potential, particularly in South Africa, whose oceans allegedly host 15 % of the total number of species in the world. Indeed, a recent study reported the isolation of a range of novel compounds from South African red and brown algae of the Plocamium, Portiera and Sargassum genera which displayed cytotoxicity against oesophageal cancer cells in vitro. The molecular mechanisms mediating this toxicity were unknown, as was the effect of these and similar compounds on metastatic ER-PR-HER2/neu- breast cancer cell lines or breast cancer stem cells. The current study aimed to address these questions by screening a library of twenty-two novel marine algal compounds for the ability to inhibit MDA-MB-231 and Hs578T breast cancer cells, while having no adverse effects on non-cancerous MCF12A breast epithelial cells. While twelve of these were toxic in the micromolar range against breast cancer cells, only the polyhalogenated monoterpenes RU004 and RU007, and the tetraprenylated quinone sargaquinoic acid (SQA) were identified as hit compounds based on the criteria that their cytotoxicity was specific to breast cancer and not healthy breast cells in vitro. On the other hand, the halogenated monoterpene RU015 was found to be highly toxic to both breast cancer and non-cancerous breast cell lines, while the halogenated monoterpene stereoisomers RU017 and RU018 were non-toxic to either of these cell lines. The mode of action of RU004, RU007, RU015 and SQA, together with the previously characterized carotenoid fucoxanthin (FXN), was assessed in terms of the type of cell death induced and the effect on cell cycle distribution of these compounds. Flow cytometric analysis of the extent of Hoescht 33342 and propidium iodide staining along with PARP cleavage studies suggested that SQA induced apoptosis in MDA-MB-231 cells. On the other hand, the highly toxic compound RU015 appeared to induce necrosis as evidenced by 50 kDa PARP cleavage product in MDA-MB-231 cells. The flow cytometry profiles of MDA-MB-231 and Hst578T cells treated with the hit compounds RU004 and RU007 were suggestive of the induction of apoptosis by these compounds. Cell cycle analysis by flow cytometry with propidium iodide staining revealed that both SQA and FXN induced G0-G1 arrest together with an increase in the apoptotic sub-G0 population, which agreed with previous reports in the literature. The molecular mechanism of action of SQA and FXN were further investigated by the identification of specific signal transducer molecules involved in mediating their anti-cancer activities. SQA was found to require the activity of numerous caspases, including caspase-3, -6, -8, -9, -10 and -13, for its cytotoxicity and was demonstrated to decrease the level of the antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2. On the other hand, FXN was shown to require caspase-1, -2, -3, -9 and - 10 for its toxicity. This, together with the ability to decrease the levels of Bcl-2, pointed to the involvement of the intrinsic pathway in particular in mediating the activity of FXN. The screening of algal compounds against non-cancerous breast epithelial cells carried out in this study, together with the investigation into their mechanisms of action, represent one of the few reports in which characterization of algal metabolites goes beyond the initial cytotoxicity assays. Finally, in order to assess the potential anti-cancer stem cell activity of the marine algal compounds, a subset of these was screened using a mammosphere assay technique developed in this study. The cancer stem cell (CSC) theory proposes that cancers arise from and are maintained by a specific subpopulation of cells able to undergo asymmetric cell division and termed CSCs. These CSCs are capable of anchorage-independent growth in serum-free culture conditions, such as those in the mammosphere assay. Using this assay, the novel halogenated monoterpene stereoisomers RU017 and RU018 were demonstrated to possess putative anti- CSC activity as evidenced by their ability to completely eliminate mammosphere formation in vitro. Furthermore, since RU017 and RU018 were non-toxic to both breast cancer and healthy breast cells, it appeared that the activity of the compounds was potentially specific to the CSCs. The results require further validation, but represent the first report of selective anti-CSC activity

Understanding the complexity of metabolic regulatory systems an investigation into the regulation of hydantoin-hydrolysis in Pseudomonas putida RU-KM3s

It has been well-established that Pseudomonas species possess extremely versatile metabolic systems allowing them to utilise a wide range of nutrient sources and, furthermore, that the regulation of these enzyme systems involves highly evolved and sophisticated regulatory machinery. This study examined the complexity of metabolic regulation in Pseudomonas using the hydantoin-hydrolysing system of the environmental isolate, Pseudomonas putida RU-KM3s. In this system, the genes encoding dihydropyrimidinase and β-ureidopropionase (dhp and bup) are arranged divergently on the chromosome, separated by a 616 bp intergenic region involved in the transcriptional regulation of these genes. The focus was on the transcriptional regulation of dhp expression. DHP activity was found to be sensitive to several environmental signals including growth phase, carbon catabolite repression (CCR), substrate induction and quorum sensing (QS). Bioinformatic analysis of the intergenic region upstream of dhp revealed a number of putative binding sites for transcriptional regulators, including recognition sequences for the alternate sigma factors σ54 and σ38, as well as for the global regulators Anr (for anaerobic regulator) and Vfr (for virulence factor regulator). The targeted disruption of the genes encoding the transcriptional regulators, Vfr and the major CCR protein, Crc, resulted in a partial relief from repression for the vfr- mutant under quorum sensing conditions and a general decrease in activity in the crc- mutant. This data suggested that both Vfr and Crc were involved in regulating DHP activity. Mutational analysis of the dhp promoter revealed that at least two sites were involved in regulating transcriptional activity, one which mediated activation and the other repression. These sites were designated as a putative Anr box, situated 232 bp from the start codon of dhp, and a CRP-like binding site, at a position 213 bp upstream of dhp. Taken together, this data shows the involvement of several global regulatory factors in controlling the expression of dhp. A complex synergistic model was proposed for the transcriptional regulation of dhp, involving alternate sigma factors in addition to both global and specific regulators and responding to a number of environmental signals associated with growth phase, including nutrient availability, cell density and oxygen status

Assortative preferences for personality and online dating apps: Individuals prefer profiles similar to themselves on agreeableness, openness, and extraversion

Introduction Established couples tend to have similar personalities (i.e., assortative mating); however, the mechanism for this effect is unclear. Individuals may initially be attracted to others who are like themselves (i.e., have assortative preferences). Alternatively, couples may become more similar over time. These explanations have been difficult to disentangle. Assortative mating may be less common in online situations as barriers related to social homogamy are removed. The current study experimentally investigates which, if any, of the Big Five personality traits were assortatively preferred in an online environment. Methods Online volunteers and paid participants (205 females and 178 males) viewed 100 ostensible dating profiles comprised of random pairings of facial images and personal descriptions, the latter of which were pre-rated for perceived personality. Participants indicated whether they would like to “match” with each profile, mimicking responses made on dating applications, and completed the Big Five Inventory (BFI-44). Results Participants showed assortative preferences for agreeableness, openness, and extraversion, but not for conscientiousness or emotional stability. Conclusion These results suggest that people exhibit assortative preferences in an online dating app environment. If these online preferences translate to long-term relationships, this could help explain similarities found in established couples identified in previous research

Room temperature mid-infrared InAsSbN multi-quantum well photodiodes grown by MBE

Room temperature photoresponse in the mid-infrared spectral region is demonstrated from InAsSbN/InAs multi-quantum well photodiodes grown by nitrogen plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy. The structural quality of the InAsSbN MQWs was ascertained in situ by reflection high energy electron diffraction and ex situ by high resolution x-ray diffraction and photoluminescence measurements. The extended long wavelength photoresponse is identified to originate from the electron–heavy hole (e1–hh1) and electron–light hole (e1–lh1) transitions in the InAsSbN MQW, with a cut off wavelength ~4.20 µm and peak detectivity D *  =  1.25  ×  109 cm Hz1/2 W−1

Response of the Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica, to ocean gravity-wave forcing

Author Posting. © International Glaciological Society, 2012. This article is posted here by permission of International Glaciological Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Annals of Glaciology 53 (2012): 163-172, doi:10.3189/2012AoG60A058.Comparison of the Ross Ice Shelf (RIS, Antarctica) response at near-front seismic station RIS2 with seismometer data collected on tabular iceberg B15A and with land-based seismic stations at Scott Base on Ross Island (SBA) and near Lake Vanda in the Dry Valleys (VNDA) allows identification of RIS-specific signals resulting from gravity-wave forcing that includes meteorologically driven wind waves and swell, infragravity (IG) waves and tsunami waves. The vibration response of the RIS varies with season and with the frequency and amplitude of the gravity-wave forcing. The response of the RIS to IG wave and swell impacts is much greater than that observed at SBA and VNDA. A spectral peak at near-ice-front seismic station RIS2 centered near 0.5 Hz, which persists during April when swell is damped by sea ice, may be a dominant resonance or eigenfrequency of the RIS. High-amplitude swell events excite relatively broadband signals that are likely fracture events (icequakes). Changes in coherence between the vertical and horizontal sensors in the 8-12 Hz band from February to April, combined with the appearance of a spectral peak near 10 Hz in April when sea ice damps swell, suggest that lower (higher) temperatures during austral winter (summer) months affect signal propagation characteristics and hence mechanical properties of the RIS.Support for this study for P.B. from the California Department of Boating andWaterways, US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) grant NA10OAR4310121 and US National Science Foundation grant OCE1030022 is gratefully acknowledged. Support for R.S. was provided by the Edward W. and Betty J. Scripps Chair for Excellence in Oceanography at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.2013-05-0