Continuous measurements of greenhouse gases and atmospheric oxygen at the Namib Desert atmospheric observatory

A new coastal background site has been established for observations of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the central Namib Desert at Gobabeb, Namibia. The location of the site was chosen to provide observations for a data-poor region in the global sampling network for GHGs. Semi-automated continuous measurements of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, carbon monoxide, atmospheric oxygen, and basic meteorology are made at a height of 21 m a.g.l., 50 km from the coast at the northern border of the Namib Sand Sea. Atmospheric oxygen is measured with a differential fuel cell analyzer (DFCA). Carbon dioxide and methane are measured with an early-model cavity ring-down spectrometer (CRDS); nitrous oxide and carbon monoxide are measured with an off-axis integrated cavity output spectrometer (OA-ICOS). Instrument-specific water corrections are employed for both the CRDS and OA-ICOS instruments in lieu of drying. The performance and measurement uncertainties are discussed in detail. As the station is located in a remote desert environment, there are some particular challenges, namely fine dust, high diurnal temperature variability, and minimal infrastructure. The gas handling system and calibration scheme were tailored to best fit the conditions of the site. The CRDS and DFCA provide data of acceptable quality when base requirements for operation are met, specifically adequate temperature control in the laboratory and regular supply of electricity. In the case of the OA-ICOS instrument, performance is significantly improved through the implementation of a drift correction through frequent measurements of a reference cylinder

Focus groups as a qualitative method for crosscultural research in social gerontology

The focus group approach for collecting qualitative data can be usefully applied in social gerontological studies, both in a single setting and cross-culturally. The experiences of the research terms participating in the Comparative Study of Asian Elderly in employing focus groups are described, and their advantages and disadvantages as a general method for gathering basic qualitative data are discussed. While the method has promise, it also should be recognized that conducting focus group research within the context of a comparative study compounds the considerable time, effort, and funds that focus group research for basic social science already requires.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/42971/1/10823_2004_Article_BF00972029.pd

Winding down the Chicxulub impact: The transition between impact and normal marine sedimentation near ground zero

The Chicxulub impact led to the formation of a ~ 200-km wide by ~1-km deep crater on México's Yucatán Peninsula. Over a period of hours after the impact the ocean re-entered and covered the impact basin beneath several hundred meters of water. A suite of impactites were deposited across the crater during crater formation, and by the resurge, tsunami and seiche events that followed. International Ocean Discovery Program/International Continental Scientific Drilling Program Expedition 364 drilled into the peak ring of the Chicxulub crater, and recovered ~130 m of impact deposits and a 75-cm thick, fine-grained, carbonate-rich “Transitional Unit”, above which normal marine sedimentation resumed. Here, we describe the results of analyses of the uppermost impact breccia (suevite) and the Transitional Unit, which suggests a gradual waning of energy recorded by this local K-Pg boundary sequence. The dominant depositional motif in the upper suevite and the Transitional Unit is of rapid sedimentation characterized by graded bedding, local cross bedding, and evidence of oscillatory currents. The lower Transitional Unit records the change from deposition of dominantly sand-sized to mainly silt to clay sized material with impact debris that decreases in both grain size and abundance upward. The middle part of the Transitional Unit is interrupted by a 20 cm thick soft sediment slump overlain by graded and oscillatory current cross-laminated beds. The uppermost Transitional Unit is also soft sediment deformed, contains trace fossils, and an increasing abundance of planktic foraminifer and calcareous nannoplankton survivors. The Transitional Unit, as with similar deposits in other marine target impact craters, records the final phases of impact-related sedimentation prior to resumption of normal marine conditions. Petrographic and stable isotopic analyses of carbon from organic matter provide insight into post-impact processes. δ13Corg values are between terrestrial and marine end members with fluctuations of 1–3‰. Timing of deposition of the Transitional Unit is complicated to ascertain. The repetitive normally graded laminae, both below and above the soft sediment deformed interval, record rapid deposition from currents driven by tsunami and seiches, processes that likely operated for weeks to potentially years post-impact due to subsequent continental margin collapse events. Highly siderophile element-enrichment at the top of the unit is likely from fine-grained ejecta that circulated in the atmosphere for several years prior to settling. The Transitional Unit is thus an exquisite record of the final phases of impact-related sedimentation related to one of the most consequential events in Earth history

Shock impedance amplified impact deformation of zircon in granitic rocks from the Chicxulub impact crater

Zircon is a precise chronometer and prominent recorder of impact deformation. However, many impact-induced features in zircon are poorly calibrated, sometimes due to contradicting experimental data, in other instances due to the lack of systematic studies of impact-deformed zircon. To resolve issues with the shock petrographic use of zircon, we classified impact deformation features in 429 zircon grains in a continuous drill core of uplifted, granitic bedrock in the peak ring of the 200-km-diameter K-Pg Chicxulub impact structure. Following initial identification in backscattered electron (BSE) images, Raman spectroscopy and electron backscatter diffraction confirmed one reidite-bearing zircon grain. Quartz-based shock barometry indicates the host rock of this zircon-reidite grain experienced an average shock pressure of 17.5 GPa. A survey of BSE images of 429 ZrSiO4 grains found brittle deformation features are ubiquitous, with planar fractures in one to five sets occurring in 23% of all zircon grains. Our survey also reveals a statistically significant correlation of the occurrence of planar fractures in zircon with the types of host materials. Compared to zircon enclosed in mafic, higher density mineral hosts, felsic, low-density minerals show a much higher incidence of zircon with planar fractures. This finding suggests amplification of pressure due to shock impedance contrasts between zircon and its mineral hosts. Using the impedance matching method, we modeled the shock impedance pressure amplification effect for zircon inclusions in Chicxulub granitic hosts. Our modeling indicates shock impedance could have amplified the average 17.5 GPa shock pressure in a zircon inclusion in quartz or feldspar in the Chicxulub granitic rocks to 24 ± 1 GPa, suggesting that reidite in these rocks formed between 17.5 and 25 GPa. In essence, our study of impedance-induced shock pressure amplification in zircon assemblages, including the onset of reidite formation, details how shock impedance in mineral associations can be quantified to refine shock pressure estimates

Origins of the Ambient Solar Wind: Implications for Space Weather

The Sun's outer atmosphere is heated to temperatures of millions of degrees, and solar plasma flows out into interplanetary space at supersonic speeds. This paper reviews our current understanding of these interrelated problems: coronal heating and the acceleration of the ambient solar wind. We also discuss where the community stands in its ability to forecast how variations in the solar wind (i.e., fast and slow wind streams) impact the Earth. Although the last few decades have seen significant progress in observations and modeling, we still do not have a complete understanding of the relevant physical processes, nor do we have a quantitatively precise census of which coronal structures contribute to specific types of solar wind. Fast streams are known to be connected to the central regions of large coronal holes. Slow streams, however, appear to come from a wide range of sources, including streamers, pseudostreamers, coronal loops, active regions, and coronal hole boundaries. Complicating our understanding even more is the fact that processes such as turbulence, stream-stream interactions, and Coulomb collisions can make it difficult to unambiguously map a parcel measured at 1 AU back down to its coronal source. We also review recent progress -- in theoretical modeling, observational data analysis, and forecasting techniques that sit at the interface between data and theory -- that gives us hope that the above problems are indeed solvable.Comment: Accepted for publication in Space Science Reviews. Special issue connected with a 2016 ISSI workshop on "The Scientific Foundations of Space Weather." 44 pages, 9 figure

Microbial life in the nascent Chicxulub crater

The Chicxulub crater was formed by an asteroid impact at ca. 66 Ma. The impact is considered to have contributed to the end-Cretaceous mass extinction and reduced productivity in the world's oceans due to a transient cessation of photosynthesis. Here, biomarker profiles extracted from crater core material reveal exceptional insights into the post-impact upheaval and rapid recovery of microbial life. In the immediate hours to days after the impact, ocean resurge flooded the crater and a subsequent tsunami delivered debris from the surrounding carbonate ramp.  Deposited material, including biomarkers diagnostic for land plants, cyanobacteria, and photosynthetic sulfur bacteria, appears to have been mobilized by wave energy from coastal microbial mats. As that energy subsided, days to months later, blooms of unicellular cyanobacteria were fueled by terrigenous nutrients. Approximately 200 k.y. later, the nutrient supply waned and the basin returned to oligotrophic conditions, as evident from N2-fixing cyanobacteria biomarkers. At 1 m.y. after impact, the abundance of photosynthetic sulfur bacteria supported the development of water-column photic zone euxinia within the crater

Jumping to conclusions, general intelligence, and psychosis liability: Findings from the multi-centre EU-GEI case-control study

BackgroundThe 'jumping to conclusions' (JTC) bias is associated with both psychosis and general cognition but their relationship is unclear. In this study, we set out to clarify the relationship between the JTC bias, IQ, psychosis and polygenic liability to schizophrenia and IQ.MethodsA total of 817 first episode psychosis patients and 1294 population-based controls completed assessments of general intelligence (IQ), and JTC, and provided blood or saliva samples from which we extracted DNA and computed polygenic risk scores for IQ and schizophrenia.ResultsThe estimated proportion of the total effect of case/control differences on JTC mediated by IQ was 79%. Schizophrenia polygenic risk score was non-significantly associated with a higher number of beads drawn (B = 0.47, 95% CI-0.21 to 1.16, p = 0.17); whereas IQ PRS (B = 0.51, 95% CI 0.25-0.76, p < 0.001) significantly predicted the number of beads drawn, and was thus associated with reduced JTC bias. The JTC was more strongly associated with the higher level of psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) in controls, including after controlling for IQ (B =-1.7, 95% CI-2.8 to-0.5, p = 0.006), but did not relate to delusions in patients.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that the JTC reasoning bias in psychosis might not be a specific cognitive deficit but rather a manifestation or consequence, of general cognitive impairment. Whereas, in the general population, the JTC bias is related to PLEs, independent of IQ. The work has the potential to inform interventions targeting cognitive biases in early psychosis

An Integrated TCGA Pan-Cancer Clinical Data Resource to Drive High-Quality Survival Outcome Analytics

For a decade, The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) program collected clinicopathologic annotation data along with multi-platform molecular profiles of more than 11,000 human tumors across 33 different cancer types. TCGA clinical data contain key features representing the democratized nature of the data collection process. To ensure proper use of this large clinical dataset associated with genomic features, we developed a standardized dataset named the TCGA Pan-Cancer Clinical Data Resource (TCGA-CDR), which includes four major clinical outcome endpoints. In addition to detailing major challenges and statistical limitations encountered during the effort of integrating the acquired clinical data, we present a summary that includes endpoint usage recommendations for each cancer type. These TCGA-CDR findings appear to be consistent with cancer genomics studies independent of the TCGA effort and provide opportunities for investigating cancer biology using clinical correlates at an unprecedented scale. Analysis of clinicopathologic annotations for over 11,000 cancer patients in the TCGA program leads to the generation of TCGA Clinical Data Resource, which provides recommendations of clinical outcome endpoint usage for 33 cancer types

Ação de reguladores vegetais no crescimento de tomateiro (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. cv. «Miguel Pereira»)

This research deals with the effects of exogenous growth regulators on development of the tomato cultivar «Miguel Pereira». Observations of tomato plants treated with (2-chloroethyl) trimethylammonium chloride (2,000 ppm) and succinic acid -2,2-d:methyi-hydrazide (3,000 ppm) showed that growth regulators induced little variation in plant height. Gibberellic acid (100 ppm) caused greater variation in height.Estudaram-se em condições de casa de vegetação, os efeitos da aplicação de reguladores vegetais no crescimento do tomateiro cultivar "Miguel Pereira". Além do tratamento controle, aplicou-se, 44 dias após a semeadura, cloreto de (2-cloroetil) trimetilamônio 2.000 ppm, ácido succínico -2,2-dimetilhidrazida 3.000 ppm e ácido giberélico 100 ppm. Observou-se que o GA promoveu maior crescimento, em relação ao controle. O crescimento do tomateiro mostrou-se mais reduzido nas plantas tratadas com CCC e SADH, com relação àquelas pulverizadas com GA e plantas controle

Collision, Collusion and Coincidence: Pop Art’s Fairground Parallel

This article looks at parallel methods, motivations and modes of consumption between formative British pop art and British fairground art. I focus on two strands, the emergent critical work of the Independent Group and the school of artists based at the Royal College of Art under the nominal leadership of Peter Blake. I use iconographical and iconological methods to compare the content of the art, and then examine how pop art tried to create both a critical and playful distancing from established rules and practices of the artistic canon. I focus on non-institutional cultural groupings and diffuse production and consumption models