Documenting Magma Evolution of the Fossa delle Felci (Salina Island, South Tyrrhenian Sea) by Integrating In Situ Plagioclase Data with Quantitative Modeling

Compositional diversity occurs via processes dominated by recharge, assimilation and fractional crystallization (RAFC), quantification of which can provide insights into eruption catalysts, and therefore assist in hazard mitigation. This study evaluates the relative roles of RAFC processes in Fossa delle Felci (Salina Island, Italy) magmas, which span the basalt to dacite range (52-65 wt% SiO2). Integration of petrographic, whole rock, and in situ plagioclase data with quantitative magma chamber models suggests differentiation dominated by fractional crystallization and magma recharge/mixing in reservoirs located at different crustal levels. At ~12 km depth, magma evolved through crystallization of a pyroxene dominated assemblage; plagioclase suppression at this depth is indicated by increasing plagioclase Sr concentrations with increasing whole rock SiO2. Magmas shoaled to shallow (~3 km) depths where plagioclase crystallized. Basalt intruded the more silicic chamber and was then erupted, followed by dacites through basaltic andesites

Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy for Veteran Survivors With Full or Partial PTSD

Symptom severity among veteran survivors with partial or full posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) continues to increase, with approximately 40% of U.S. veterans reporting significant symptomology 10 years after initial onset of the condition. Veteran survivors often struggle to find therapeutic interventions that meet their specific needs and have a difficult time maintaining a therapy that is both equitable and evidenced based. Grounded in the Rogerian, client-centered theory, the purpose of this qualitative collective exploratory case study was to explore the effects of equine-facilitated psychotherapy with 3 veteran survivors with partial or full PTSD. A 4-stage process was used to collect data, including initial semistructured interviews, observations, photo-interviews, and researcher interpretations of photo-interviews. Data were transcribed, analyzed, and coded into within-case themes and cross case-themes. The principle findings revealed that veteran survivors with partial or full PTSD engaged in an equine-facilitated psychotherapy program had both here-and-now experiences and relational connection experiences with the horse. Many other significant details provided insight into the veteran participants\u27 experiences with equine-facilitated psychotherapy, such as trust, connection, nonverbal communication, awareness, peace, decompression, communication, empathic reflection, congruence, reciprocity, concern, respect, and selflessness. These findings provide social change implications that may inform mental health professionals and counselor educators about the benefits of equine-facilitated psychotherapy with veteran survivors with partial or full posttraumatic stress disorder; the findings also provide structure to the use of equine-facilitated psychotherapy as an adjunct and/or alternative to traditional posttraumatic stress disorder treatments

Thermodynamic Model for Energy-Constrained Open-System Evolution of Crustal Magma Bodies Undergoing Simultaneous Recharge, Assimilation and Crystallization: the Magma Chamber Simulator

The Magma Chamber Simulator quantifies the impact of simultaneous recharge, assimilation and crystallization through mass and enthalpy balance in a multicomponent–multiphase (melt + solids ± fluid) composite system. As a rigorous thermodynamic model, the Magma Chamber Simulator computes phase equilibria and geochemical evolution self-consistently in resident magma, recharge magma and wallrock, all of which are connected by specified thermodynamic boundaries, to model an evolving open-system magma body. In a simulation, magma cools from its liquidus temperature, and crystals ± fluid are incrementally fractionated to a separate cumulate reservoir. Enthalpy from cooling, crystallization, and possible magma recharge heats wallrock from its initial subsolidus temperature. Assimilation begins when a critical wallrock melt volume fraction (0·04–0·12) in a range consistent with the rheology of partially molten rock systems is achieved. The mass of melt above this limit is removed from the wallrock and homogenized with the magma body melt. New equilibrium states for magma and wallrock are calculated that reflect conservation of total mass, mass of each element and enthalpy. Magma cooling and crystallization, addition of recharge magma and anatectic melt to the magma body (where appropriate), and heating and partial melting of wallrock continue until magma and wallrock reach thermal equilibrium. For each simulation step, mass and energy balance and thermodynamic assessment of phase relations provide major and trace element concentrations, isotopic characteristics, masses, and thermal constraints for all phases (melt + solids ± fluid) in the composite system. Model input includes initial compositional, thermal and mass information relevant to each subsystem, as well as solid–melt and solid–fluid partition coefficients for all phases. Magma Chamber Simulator results of an assimilation–fractional crystallization (AFC) scenario in which dioritic wallrock at 0·1 GPa contaminates high-alumina basalt are compared with results in which no assimilation occurs [fractional crystallization only (FC-only)]. Key comparisons underscore the need for multicomponent–multiphase energy-constrained thermodynamic modeling of open systems, as follows. (1) Partial melting of dioritic wallrock yields cooler silicic melt that contaminates hotter magma. Magma responds by cooling, but a pulse of crystallization, possibly expected based on thermal arguments, does not occur because assimilation suppresses crystallization by modifying the topology of multicomponent phase saturation surfaces. As a consequence, contaminated magma composition and crystallizing solids are distinct compared with the FC-only case. (2) At similar stages of evolution, contaminated melt is more voluminous (∼3·5×) than melt formed by FC-only. (3) In AFC, some trace element concentrations are lower than their FC-only counterparts at the same stage of evolution. Elements that typically behave incompatibly in mafic and intermediate magmas (e.g. La, Nd, Ba) may not be ‘enriched’ by crustal contamination, and the most ‘crustal’ isotope signatures may not correlate with the highest concentrations of such elements. (4) The proportion of an element contributed by anatectic melt to resident magma is typically different for each element, and thus the extent of mass exchange between crust and magma should be quantified using total mass rather than the mass of a single element. Based on these sometimes unexpected results, it can be argued that progress in quantifying the origin and evolution of open magmatic systems and documenting how mantle-derived magmas and the crust interact rely not only on improvements in instrumentation and generation of larger datasets, but also on continued development of computational tools that couple thermodynamic assessment of phase equilibria in multicomponent systems with energy and mass conservation

The \u3cem\u3eChlamydomonas\u3c/em\u3e Genome Reveals the Evolution of Key Animal and Plant Functions

Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is a unicellular green alga whose lineage diverged from land plants over 1 billion years ago. It is a model system for studying chloroplast-based photosynthesis, as well as the structure, assembly, and function of eukaryotic flagella (cilia), which were inherited from the common ancestor of plants and animals, but lost in land plants. We sequenced the ∼120-megabase nuclear genome of Chlamydomonas and performed comparative phylogenomic analyses, identifying genes encoding uncharacterized proteins that are likely associated with the function and biogenesis of chloroplasts or eukaryotic flagella. Analyses of the Chlamydomonas genome advance our understanding of the ancestral eukaryotic cell, reveal previously unknown genes associated with photosynthetic and flagellar functions, and establish links between ciliopathy and the composition and function of flagella

The PREDICTS database: a global database of how local terrestrial biodiversity responds to human impacts

Biodiversity continues to decline in the face of increasing anthropogenic pressures such as habitat destruction, exploitation, pollution and introduction of alien species. Existing global databases of species’ threat status or population time series are dominated by charismatic species. The collation of datasets with broad taxonomic and biogeographic extents, and that support computation of a range of biodiversity indicators, is necessary to enable better understanding of historical declines and to project – and avert – future declines. We describe and assess a new database of more than 1.6 million samples from 78 countries representing over 28,000 species, collated from existing spatial comparisons of local-scale biodiversity exposed to different intensities and types of anthropogenic pressures, from terrestrial sites around the world. The database contains measurements taken in 208 (of 814) ecoregions, 13 (of 14) biomes, 25 (of 35) biodiversity hotspots and 16 (of 17) megadiverse countries. The database contains more than 1% of the total number of all species described, and more than 1% of the described species within many taxonomic groups – including flowering plants, gymnosperms, birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, beetles, lepidopterans and hymenopterans. The dataset, which is still being added to, is therefore already considerably larger and more representative than those used by previous quantitative models of biodiversity trends and responses. The database is being assembled as part of the PREDICTS project (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems – www.predicts.org.uk). We make site-level summary data available alongside this article. The full database will be publicly available in 2015

Correction to: Cluster identification, selection, and description in Cluster randomized crossover trials: the PREP-IT trials

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article

A NEW NARROWLY ENDEMIC SPECIES OF DIRCA (THYMELAEACEAE) FROM KANSAS AND ARKANSAS, WITH A PHYLOGENETIC OVERVIEW AND TAXONOMIC SYNOPSIS OF THE GENUS

Volume: 3Start Page: 485End Page: 49

Algae-produced Pfs25 elicits antibodies that inhibit malaria transmission.

Subunit vaccines are significantly more expensive to produce than traditional vaccines because they are based primarily on recombinant proteins that must be purified from the expression system. Despite the increased cost, subunit vaccines are being developed because they are safe, effective, and can elicit antibodies that confer protection against diseases that are not currently vaccine-preventable. Algae are an attractive platform for producing subunit vaccines because they are relatively inexpensive to grow, genetically tractable, easily scaled to large volumes, have a short generation time, and are devoid of inflammatory, viral, or prion contaminants often present in other systems. We tested whether algal chloroplasts can produce malaria transmission blocking vaccine candidates, Plasmodium falciparum surface protein 25 (Pfs25) and 28 (Pfs28). Antibodies that recognize Pfs25 and Pfs28 disrupt the sexual development of parasites within the mosquito midgut, thus preventing transmission of malaria from one human host to the next. These proteins have been difficult to produce in traditional recombinant systems because they contain tandem repeats of structurally complex epidermal growth factor-like domains, which cannot be produced in bacterial systems, and because they are not glycosylated, so they must be modified for production in eukaryotic systems. Production in algal chloroplasts avoids these issues because chloroplasts can fold complex eukaryotic proteins and do not glycosylate proteins. Here we demonstrate that algae are the first recombinant system to successfully produce an unmodified and aglycosylated version of Pfs25 or Pfs28. These antigens are structurally similar to the native proteins and antibodies raised to these recombinant proteins recognize Pfs25 and Pfs28 from P. falciparum. Furthermore, antibodies to algae-produced Pfs25 bind the surface of in-vitro cultured P. falciparum sexual stage parasites and exhibit transmission blocking activity. Thus, algae are promising organisms for producing cysteine-disulfide-containing malaria transmission blocking vaccine candidate proteins