Contribution to the understanding of the Ionian Basin sedimentary evolution along the eastern edge of Apulia during the Late Cretaceous in Albania

Integrated in the peri-Adriatic domain, the Ionian Basin extended along a NW-SE direction during the Late Cretaceous, limited on its sides by the Apulian and the Kruja platforms. The basinal/slope succession was studied in seven outcrops exposed in the Albanian fold-and-thrust belt. Sedimentological investigations, supported by bio- and chronostratigraphy were performed on calcareous Upper Cretaceous hemipelagites, gravity-flow deposits and slumps. The western part of the basin was studied, revealing a strong influence of the Apulian margin, alternatively shedding sediment basinward, by means of a tectonically controlled edge. The Late Albian to Cenomanian period is characterized by the settling of muddy debrites along the margin. A deep basinal environment characterizes this period which prolongs until the Santonian, with no significant influx of the platform basinward. This sedimentary setting abruptly changed at the end of the Santonian, with an important influx derived from both platforms. Coarsening and thickening upward sequences show a progressive increase in sediment shedding during the Campanian. The Late Campanian-Early Maastrichtian period points out a major change on the resedimentation processes with the settling of several slumped units reworking thick sediment packages. The latter can be traced along the Apulian margin, testifying of instabilities along the edge of Apulia

Competitive Reporter Monitored Amplification (CMA) - Quantification of Molecular Targets by Real Time Monitoring of Competitive Reporter Hybridization

Background: State of the art molecular diagnostic tests are based on the sensitive detection and quantification of nucleic acids. However, currently established diagnostic tests are characterized by elaborate and expensive technical solutions hindering the development of simple, affordable and compact point-of-care molecular tests. Methodology and Principal Findings: The described competitive reporter monitored amplification allows the simultaneous amplification and quantification of multiple nucleic acid targets by polymerase chain reaction. Target quantification is accomplished by real-time detection of amplified nucleic acids utilizing a capture probe array and specific reporter probes. The reporter probes are fluorescently labeled oligonucleotides that are complementary to the respective capture probes on the array and to the respective sites of the target nucleic acids in solution. Capture probes and amplified target compete for reporter probes. Increasing amplicon concentration leads to decreased fluorescence signal at the respective capture probe position on the array which is measured after each cycle of amplification. In order to observe reporter probe hybridization in real-time without any additional washing steps, we have developed a mechanical fluorescence background displacement technique. Conclusions and Significance: The system presented in this paper enables simultaneous detection and quantification of multiple targets. Moreover, the presented fluorescence background displacement technique provides a generic solution fo

Reward-Related Dorsal Striatal Activity Differences between Former and Current Cocaine Dependent Individuals during an Interactive Competitive Game

Cocaine addiction is characterized by impulsivity, impaired social relationships, and abnormal mesocorticolimbic reward processing, but their interrelationships relative to stages of cocaine addiction are unclear. We assessed blood-oxygenation-level dependent (BOLD) signal in ventral and dorsal striatum during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in current (CCD; n = 30) and former (FCD; n = 28) cocaine dependent subjects as well as healthy control (HC; n = 31) subjects while playing an interactive competitive Domino game involving risk-taking and reward/punishment processing. Out-of-scanner impulsivity-related measures were also collected. Although both FCD and CCD subjects scored significantly higher on impulsivity-related measures than did HC subjects, only FCD subjects had differences in striatal activation, specifically showing hypoactivation during their response to gains versus losses in right dorsal caudate, a brain region linked to habituation, cocaine craving and addiction maintenance. Right caudate activity in FCD subjects also correlated negatively with impulsivity-related measures of self-reported compulsivity and sensitivity to reward. These findings suggest that remitted cocaine dependence is associated with striatal dysfunction during social reward processing in a manner linked to compulsivity and reward sensitivity measures. Future research should investigate the extent to which such differences might reflect underlying vulnerabilities linked to cocaine-using propensities (e.g., relapses)

Anion Effect of Zinc Source on Chemically Deposited ZnS(O,OH) Films

The study on the anion effect of different Zn sources—Zn(CH3COO)2, ZnCl2, ZnI2, Zn(NO3)2 and ZnSO4—on the chemical deposition of ZnS(O,OH) films revealed that the growth rate and composition of the ZnS(O,OH) layer depend on the instability constant (pK) value of the corresponding Zn-complex Zn(L)n in the chemical bath solution. In the region of pKZn(NH3)2+>pKZn(L)n the ZnS(O,OH) film's growth rate and ZnS concentration in films increased with the increasing pK value of the used Zn salt complex up to the pK value of the Zn[NH3]2+ complex and decreased in the region where pKZn(NH3)2+<pKZn(L)n. The band gap values (around 3.6 eV in most cases) of deposited ZnS(O,OH) films did not depend on the Zn precursor's instability constant, the ZnS(O,OH) film from zinc nitrate containing bath has higher band gap energy (Eg = 3.8 eV). The maximum efficiency of CISSe and CZTSSe monograin layer solar cells was gained with ZnS(O,OH) buffer layer deposited from CBD solution containing Zn(CH3COO)2 as Zn source, which provided the highest growth rate and ZnS concentration in the ZnS(O,OH) film on glass substrates

Effects of sulphur and tin disulphide vapour treatments of Cu2ZnSnS(Se)4 absorber materials for monograin solar cells

AbstractThe aim of this study was to find a heat-treatment procedure for monograin powders using a controllable reactive gas phase to improve the CZTS(Se) crystal surface for effectively working p-n junctions. The influence of an isothermal treatment in S and SnS2 vapour on the parameters of monograin layer solar cells is depending on the CZTS(Se) initial composition. The efficiencies of solar cells improve continuously with increasing temperatures of the absorber materials’ post-annealing from 823 to 973K under constant sulphur vapour pressure of 100 Torr. The highest values of Jsc= 18.4mA/cm2 and Voc= 720mV were obtained for a device made from CZTS powder annealed at 1013K in SnS2 vapour

Contribution to the understanding of the Ionian Basin sedimentary evolution along the eastern edge of Apulia during the Late Cretaceous in Albania

Integrated in the peri-Adriatic domain, the Ionian Basin extended along a NW-SE direction during the Late Cretaceous, limited on its sides by the Apulian and the Kruja platforms. The basinal/slope succession was studied in seven outcrops exposed in the Albanian fold-and-thrust belt. Sedimentological investigations, supported by bio- and chronostratigraphy were performed on calcareous Upper Cretaceous hemipelagites, gravity-flow deposits and slumps. The western part of the basin was studied, revealing a strong influence of the Apulianmargin, alternatively shedding sediment basinward, by means of a tectonically controlled edge. The Late Albian to Cenomanian period is characterized by the settling of muddy debrites along themargin. A deep basinal environment characterizes this period which prolongs until the Santonian, with no significant influx of the platform basinward. This sedimentary setting abruptly changed at the end of the Santonian, with an important influx derived from both platforms. Coarsening and thickening upward sequences show a progressive increase in sediment shedding during the Campanian. The Late Campanian-Early Maastrichtian period points out a major change on the resedimentation processes with the settling of several slumped units reworking thick sediment packages. The latter can be traced along the Apulian margin, testifying of instabilities along the edge of Apulia.status: publishe

From outcrop and petrographic studies to basin-scale fluid flow modelling: The use of the Albanian natural laboratory for carbonate reservoir characterisation

International audienc