Cratonic peridotites and silica-rich melts: diopside-enstatite relationships in polymict xenoliths

Abstract-Silica-rich metasomatism is invoked as a mechanism for the conversion of clinopyroxene-bearing peridotites to orthopyroxene-rich, clinopyroxene-poor peridotites. While harzburgites are a major constituent of the garnet-diamond facies "keel" of Archaean (Ͼ 2500 Ma) cratons, metasomatic conversion of lherzolite to harzburgite is not widely documented from cratonic rocks. We report on the replacement of diopside by enstatite in polymict peridotites from Kimberley, South Africa and provide elemental and isotopic constraints on the nature of this process. Silica-rich metasomatism appears to have occurred at mid-craton depths and to have involved a silica-rich derivative of incompatible element-rich melts like kimberlite. The preservation of elemental and isotopic disequilibria in these mantle rocks may arise from the nearly synchronous occurrences of the kimberlite entrainment process and fluid-assisted deformation/crack propagation resulting in polymict formation

Landslide Susceptibility Mapping along the Anninghe Fault Zone in China using SVM and ACO-PSO-SVM Models

AbstractIn the present study, a hybrid machine learning model was designed by integrating ant colony optimization (ACO), particle swarm optimization (PSO), and support vector machine (SVM) algorithms. The model was used to map the landslide susceptibility of the Anninghe fault zone in Sichuan Province, China. Based on this, 12 conditioning factors associated with landslides were considered, namely, altitude, slope angle, cutting depth, slope aspect, relief amplitude, stream power index (SPI), gully density, lithology, rainfall, road density, distance to fault, and peak ground acceleration (PGA). The overall performance of the two resulting models was tested using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC), area under the ROC curve (AUC), Cohen’s kappa coefficient, and five statistical evaluation measures. The success rates of the ACO-PSO-SVM model and the SVM model were 0.898 and 0.814, respectively, while the prediction rates of the two models were 0.887 and 0.804, respectively. The results show that the ACO-PSO-SVM model yields better overall performance and accurate results than the SVM model. Therefore, in conclusion, the ACO-PSO-SVM model can be applied as a new promising method for landslide susceptibility mapping in subsequent studies. The results of this study will be useful for land-use planning, hazard prevention, and risk management

Taxifolin increased semen quality of Duroc boars by improving gut microbes and blood metabolites.

peer reviewedTaxifolin (TAX), as a natural flavonoid, has been widely focused on due to its strong anti-oxidation, anti-inflammation, anti-virus, and even anti-tumor activity. However, the effect of TAX on semen quality was unknown. The purpose of this study was to analyze the beneficial influences of adding feed additive TAX to boar semen in terms of its quality and potential mechanisms. We discovered that TAX increased sperm motility significantly in Duroc boars by the elevation of the protein levels such as ZAG, PKA, CatSper, and p-ERK for sperm quality. TAX increased the blood concentration of testosterone derivatives, antioxidants such as melatonin and betaine, unsaturated fatty acids such as DHA, and beneficial amino acids such as proline. Conversely, TAX decreased 10 different kinds of bile acids in the plasma. Moreover, TAX increased "beneficial" microbes such as Intestinimonas, Coprococcus, Butyrivibrio, and Clostridium_XlVa at the Genus level. However, TAX reduced the "harmful" intestinal bacteria such as Prevotella, Howardella, Mogibacterium, and Enterococcus. There was a very close correlation between fecal microbes, plasma metabolites, and semen parameters by the spearman correlation analysis. Therefore, the data suggest that TAX increases the semen quality of Duroc boars by benefiting the gut microbes and blood metabolites. It is supposed that TAX could be used as a kind of feed additive to increase the semen quality of boars to enhance production performance

Meta-analysis Followed by Replication Identifies Loci in or near CDKN1B, TET3, CD80, DRAM1, and ARID5B as Associated with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus in Asians

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a prototype autoimmune disease with a strong genetic involvement and ethnic differences. Susceptibility genes identified so far only explain a small portion of the genetic heritability of SLE, suggesting that many more loci are yet to be uncovered for this disease. In this study, we performed a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies on SLE in Chinese Han populations and followed up the findings by replication in four additional Asian cohorts with a total of 5,365 cases and 10,054 corresponding controls. We identified genetic variants in or near CDKN1B, TET3, CD80, DRAM1, and ARID5B as associated with the disease. These findings point to potential roles of cell-cycle regulation, autophagy, and DNA demethylation in SLE pathogenesis. For the region involving TET3 and that involving CDKN1B, multiple independent SNPs were identified, highlighting a phenomenon that might partially explain the missing heritability of complex diseases

Numerical Simulation of Wind Characteristics in Complex Mountains with Focus on Terrain Boundary Transition Curve

In recent years, an increasing number of projects have been developed in complex mountainous areas. The wind environment in mountainous areas, extremely complex due to the undulating terrain and diverse landscapes, is a key factor threatening the structural safety of buildings and their appurtenances in mountainous areas. Therefore, it is important to study the wind environment in complex terrain to clarify the wind resistance of structures in mountainous areas. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approaches are commonly used to examine wind fields in complex terrain; however, due to the limited range of terrain considered, direct modeling using terrain elevation data can result in truncated elevation differences, affecting the accuracy of numerical simulations. To address the problem of truncated elevation differences at terrain boundaries, the parameters of the wind tunnel contraction curve are optimized regarding the wind tunnel contraction section design principle. Moreover, several transition curves are analyzed and evaluated by numerical simulation methods, and a transition curve applicable to the terrain boundary transition form is proposed. The proposed terrain transition curves are applied to model the terrain of complex mountainous ski resort areas to be used in CFD numerical simulations. Furthermore, the accuracy of the numerical simulation is verified through a comparison with the field-measured data. Results indicate that the proposed method can accurately and effectively reflect the wind environment characteristics of a ski resort area. The proposed terrain transition curve provides a theoretical basis and case support for designing the terrain model boundary transition section, which can be used as a reference for wind tunnel and numerical simulation studies in complex mountainous areas