Weathering rinds as mirror images of palaeosols: Examples from the Western Alps with correlation to Antarctica and Mars

Weathering rinds have been used for decades as relative age indicators to differentiate glacial deposits in long Quaternary sequences, but only recently has it been shown that rinds contain long and extensive palaeoenvironmental records that often extend far beyond mere repositories of chemical weathering on both Earth and Mars. When compared with associated palaeosols in deposits of the same age, rinds often carry a zonal weathering record that can be correlated with palaeosol horizon characteristics, with respect to both abiotic and biotic parameters. As demonstrated with examples from the French and Italian Alps, rinds in coarse clastic sediment contain weathering zones that correlate closely with horizon development in associated palaeosols of presumed Late Glacial age. In addition to weathering histories in both rinds and palaeosols, considerable evidence exists to indicate that the black mat impact (12.8 ka) reached the European Alps, a connection with the Younger Dryas readvance supported by both mineral and chemical composition. Preliminary metagenomic microbial analysis using density gradient gel electrophoresis suggests that the eubacterial microbial population found in at least one Ah palaeosol horizon associated with a rind impact site is different from that in other Late Glacial and Younger Dryas surface palaeosol horizons. © 2013 The Geological Society of London.

Halometallate ionic liquids – revisited

Ionic liquids with chlorometallate anions may not have been the first ionic liquids, however, it was their development that lead to the recognition that ionic liquids are a distinct, and useful, class of (functional) materials. While much of the phenomenal interest and attention over the past two decades has focussed on ‘air and water stable’ ionic liquids, research and application of chlorometallate systems has continued unabated albeit largely out of the main spotlight. The defining characteristic of chlorometallates is the presence of complex anionic equilibria, which depend both on the type and on the concentration of metal present, and leads directly to their characteristic and individual properties. Here, we review the experimental techniques that can be applied to study and characterise the anion speciation in these ionic liquids and, using recent examples, illustrate how their applications base is evolving beyond traditional applications in Lewis acidic catalysis and electrochemistry through to uses as soft and component materials, in the ionothermal synthesis of semiconductors, gas storage systems and key components in the development of biomass processing.

Effects of the mycotoxin patulin at the level of nuclear receptor transcriptional activity and steroidogenesis in vitro

Patulin (PAT) is a mycotoxin produced by various species of fungi, with Penicillium expansum being the most commonly occurring. Apples and apple products are the main sources of PAT contamination. This mycotoxin has been shown to induce toxic effects in animals, a few of which include reproductive toxicity and interference with the endocrine system. Here the endocrine disrupting potential of PAT has been investigated in vitro to identify disruption at the level of oestrogen, androgen, progestagen and glucocorticoid nuclear receptor transcriptional activity, and to assess interferences in estradiol, testosterone and progesterone steroid hormone production. At the receptor level, 0.5-5000ng/ml (0.0032-32μM) PAT did not appear to induce any specific (ant) agonistic responses in reporter gene assays (RGAs); however, nuclear transcriptional activity was affected. A >6 fold increase in the glucocorticoid receptor transcriptional activity was observed following treatment with 5000ng/ml PAT in the presence of cortisol. At the hormone production level, despite cytotoxicity being observed after treatment with 5000ng/ml PAT, estradiol levels had increased >2 fold. At 500ng/ml PAT treatment, an increase in progesterone and a decrease in testosterone production were observed. The findings of this study could be considered in assessing the health risks following exposure to PAT.

Recipient obesity and outcomes after kidney transplantation: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of obesity is increasing globally and is associated with chronic kidney disease and premature mortality. However, the impact of recipient obesity on kidney transplant outcomes remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the association between recipient obesity and mortality, death-censored graft loss and delayed graft function (DGF) following kidney transplantation.

METHODS: A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted using Medline, Embase and the Cochrane Library. Observational studies or randomized controlled trials investigating the association between recipient obesity at transplantation and mortality, death-censored graft loss and DGF were included. Obesity was defined as a body mass index (BMI) of ≥30 kg/m(2). Obese recipients were compared with those with a normal BMI (18.5-24.9 kg/m(2)). Pooled estimates of hazard ratios (HRs) for patient mortality or death-censored graft loss and odds ratios (ORs) for DGF were calculated.

RESULTS: Seventeen studies including 138 081 patients were analysed. After adjustment, there was no significant difference in mortality risk in obese recipients [HR = 1.24, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.90-1.70, studies = 5, n = 83 416]. However, obesity was associated with an increased risk of death-censored graft loss (HR = 1.06, 95% CI = 1.01-1.12, studies = 5, n = 83 416) and an increased likelihood of DGF (OR = 1.68, 95% CI = 1.39-2.03, studies = 4, n = 28 847).

CONCLUSIONS: Despite having a much higher likelihood of DGF, obese transplant recipients have only a slightly increased risk of graft loss and experience similar survival to recipients with normal BMI.

A mid to late Holocene cryptotephra framework from eastern North America

Holocene cryptotephras of Alaskan and Pacific Northwestern origin have recently been detected ca. 7000 km away on the east coast of North America. This study extends the emerging North American tephrochronological framework by geochemically characterising seventeen cryptotephra layers from four newly explored peatlands. All detected tephras were deposited during the late Holocene, with no horizons present in the peat between ca. 3000–5000 years ago. The prevalence of the Alaskan White River Ash eastern lobe (AD 847 ± 1) is confirmed across the eastern seaboard from Newfoundland to Maine and a regional depositional pattern from Mount St Helens Set W (AD 1479–1482) is presented. The first occurrences of four additional cryptotephras in eastern North America are described, three of which may originate from source regions in Mexico, Kamchatka (Russia) and Hokkaido (Japan). The possibility of such tephras reaching eastern North America presents the opportunity to link palaeo-archives from the tropics and eastern Asia with those from the western Atlantic seaboard, aiding inter-regional comparisons of proxy-climatic records.

Biocontrol agents promote growth of potato pathogens, depending on environmental conditions

There is a pressing need to understand and optimize biological control so as to avoid over-reliance on the synthetic chemical pesticides that can damage environmental and human health. This study focused on interactions between a novel biocontrol-strain, Bacillus sp. JC12GB43, and potato-pathogenic Phytophthora and Fusarium species. In assays carried out in vitro and on the potato tuber, the bacterium was capable of near-complete inhibition of pathogens. This Bacillus was sufficiently xerotolerant (water activity limit for growth = 0.928) to out-perform Phytophthora infestans (~0.960) and challenge Fusarium coeruleum (~0.847) and Fusarium sambucinum (~0.860) towards the lower limits of their growth windows. Under some conditions, however, strain JC12GB43 stimulated proliferation of the pathogens: for instance, Fusarium coeruleum growth-rate was increased under chaotropic conditions in vitro (132 mM urea) by >100% and on tubers (2-M glycerol) by up to 570%. Culture-based assays involving macromolecule-stabilizing (kosmotropic) compatible solutes provided proof-of-principle that the Bacillus may provide kosmotropic metabolites to the plant pathogen under conditions that destabilize macromolecular systems of the fungal cell. Whilst unprecedented, this finding is consistent with earlier reports that fungi can utilize metabolites derived from bacterial cells. Unless the antimicrobial activities of candidate biocontrol strains are assayed over a full range of field-relevant parameters, biocontrol agents may promote plant pathogen infections and thereby reduce crop yields. These findings indicate that biocontrol activity, therefore, ought to be regarded as a mode-of-behaviour (dependent on prevailing conditions) rather than an inherent property of a bacterial strain.

I/Q imbalance in AF dual-hop relaying: Performance analysis in Nakagami-m fading

We analyze the performance of amplify-and-forward dual-hop relaying systems in the presence of in-phase and quadrature-phase imbalance (IQI) at the relay node. In particular, an exact analytical expression for and tight lower bounds on the outage probability are derived over independent, non-identically distributed Nakagami-m fading channels. Moreover, tractable upper and lower bounds on the ergodic capacity are presented at arbitrary signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs). Some special cases of practical interest (e.g., Rayleigh and Nakagami-0.5 fading) are also studied. An asymptotic analysis is performed in the high SNR regime, where we observe that IQI results in a ceiling effect on the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), which depends only on the level of I/Q impairments, i.e., the joint image rejection ratio. Finally, the optimal I/Q amplitude and phase mismatch parameters are provided for maximizing the SINR ceiling, thus improving the system performance. An interesting observation is that, under a fixed total phase mismatch constraint, it is optimal to have the same level of transmitter (TX) and receiver (RX) phase mismatch at the relay node, while the optimal values for the TX and RX amplitude mismatch should be inversely proportional to each other.

Computing probable maximum loss in catastrophe reinsurance portfolios on multi-core and many-core architectures

In the reinsurance market, the risks natural catastrophes pose to portfolios of properties must be quantified, so that they can be priced, and insurance offered. The analysis of such risks at a portfolio level requires a simulation of up to 800 000 trials with an average of 1000 catastrophic events per trial. This is sufficient to capture risk for a global multi-peril reinsurance portfolio covering a range of perils including earthquake, hurricane, tornado, hail, severe thunderstorm, wind storm, storm surge and riverine flooding, and wildfire. Such simulations are both computation and data intensive, making the application of high-performance computing techniques desirable.

In this paper, we explore the design and implementation of portfolio risk analysis on both multi-core and many-core computing platforms. Given a portfolio of property catastrophe insurance treaties, key risk measures, such as probable maximum loss, are computed by taking both primary and secondary uncertainties into account. Primary uncertainty is associated with whether or not an event occurs in a simulated year, while secondary uncertainty captures the uncertainty in the level of loss due to the use of simplified physical models and limitations in the available data. A combination of fast lookup structures, multi-threading and careful hand tuning of numerical operations is required to achieve good performance. Experimental results are reported for multi-core processors and systems using NVIDIA graphics processing unit and Intel Phi many-core accelerators.

Gestão de resíduos sólidos urbanos (RSU) em territórios rurais: caracterização, problemas e propostas de intervenção no concelho de Anadia

Num mundo cada vez mais industrializado e consumista, com assimetrias territoriais várias, a defesa dos valores ambientais assume uma progressiva importância, uma vez que a qualidade de vida passa também pela qualidade ambiental. Como os produtos gerados pelo consumo devem ter o confinamento correto em função das suas diversas componentes, a gestão do processo de deposição, recolha e transporte de RSU, fica mais complexa, à medida que a população e a área se diversifica e expande, como acontece em alguns territórios rurais, agravando os custos e os impactos ambientais induzidos, se não for equacionada uma solução simultaneamente eficaz e eficiente. Paralelamente urge a satisfação dos residentes e dos restantes utilizadores enquanto usuários desses territórios. Por este motivo, nos últimos anos, as autarquias têm vindo a estudar essas soluções nas suas áreas de jurisdição, tentando com as ações realizadas, respeitar não só os critérios de proteção ambiental, mas também as necessidades das pessoas. Neste trabalho apresentam-se algumas variáveis identificadas, como resultados de um estudo de caso aplicado a um município rural, Anadia, onde se evidencia a ausência de sensibilização e a carência de meios e processos que podem comprometer as metas ambientais e sociais desejadas. In a world, progressively more industrialized and consumer, with several territorial disparities, the protection of environmental values assumes an increasingly importance, since the quality of life also involves environmental quality. As the products generated by the consumption must have a correct confinement in its various components, the management of the deposition process, collection and transportation of municipal solid waste, is more complex, as the population and the area expand, as happens in some rural territories, increasing the cost and environmental impacts induced, if not equated a solution both effective and efficient. At the same time it is very important to increase the satisfaction of residents, visitors and tourists visiting these areas. For this reason, in the last years, the municipalities have been studying these solutions in their areas of jurisdiction. That is why they try to respect not only the criteria of environmental protection, but also the needs of people and fulfilled actions whose variables we shall try to present as a case study applied to a rural municipality, Anadia, where we show up that the absence of awareness and the lack of means and processes can compromise the desired environmental and social goals

Relapsing Fever Borreliae: A Global Review

Relapsing fever borreliae were notorious and feared infectious agents that earned their place in history through their devastating impact as causes of both epidemic and endemic infection. More recently they are considered more as an oddity and their burden of infection is largely overshadowed by other infections such as malaria, which presents in a similar clinical way. Despite this, they remain the most common bacterial infection in some developing countries. Transmitted by soft ticks or lice, these fascinating spirochaetes have evolved a myriad of mechanisms to survive within their diverse environments.

Composición y distribución del plancton en el litoral peruano en el verano de 1996

Presenta la estimación del volumen de plancton superficial del litoral peruano, entre el 07 de febrero y 05 de abril de 1996. Para ello se colectó 147 muestras de fitoplancton y 258 de zooplancton. Dentro del fitoplancton, las especies que tuvieron un amplio rango de distribución fueron las diatomas de afloramiento como chaetoceros debilis, c. didymus, c. affinis, entre otras, encontrándose además especies oceánicas como panktoniella sol, gunardia fláccida, proboscia alata, entre otras, cerca de la costa en la parte sur entre Pisco e Ilo.

L'Écho de Paris

1886/07/07 (Numéro 847).

« Recueil de plusieurs procez criminels qui ne sont point imprimez ».

Contient : 1 « Procès criminel fait à messire Gilles de Rays, marechal de France, condamné et executé à mort en l'année 1440, au mois de septembre » ; 2 ; « Arrest prononcé contre sire Jacques Coeur à Lezignan, le 29e jour de may 1453 » ; « Revision du procès demandé par Jean Coeur, archevêque de Bourges, pretendant son père estre clerc, qui contient les appellations du patriarche et evêque de Poitiers et ses vicaires, et aussy dudit archevêque de Bourges contre les griefs faits à l'Eglise en la personne dudit Jacques Coeur ». 1453 ; 3 « Arrest du parlement contre le duc de Lorraine » Charles Ier « et ses complices, pour plusieurs pilleries, meurtres et autres crimes et delits ». 1412 ; 4 « Question si le roy peut estre interrogé et examiné en fait de crimes » ; 5 « Plaintes et poursuites faites en la cour de parlement contre le chancelier Du Prat, et les lettres escrittes par laditte cour à madame la regente » Louise de Savoie « et aux pairs de France, pour se trouver en laditte cour. En 1525 ». Juillet-septembre ; 6 « Arrêt rendu contre messire Guillaume Poyet, chancelier de France, Mre Jean de Royer, conseiller en châtelet, et Louis Martine, substitut du procureur du roy aud. châtelet, du 24 avril 1545, en la salle de Saint Louis » ; 7 « Arrest d'innocence de monsieur l'amiral de Châtillon » Gaspard de Coligny, « de la mort de monsieur de Guise », François de Lorraine. 1567 ; 8 « Histoire memorable de la très damnable conjuration faite par Charles Ridicauve d'attenter à la personne du... roy [Henri IV], fidellement extraite des actes du procès ». 1599 ; 9 Récit du procès, condamnation et exécution du duc de Biron. 1602 ; 10 « Discours sur la conspiration » contre le roi Henri IV de Henriette de Balsac, marquise de Verneuil, et du comte d'Auvergne (Charles de Valois, fils naturel de Charles IX et de Marie Touchet), frère utérin de ladite marquise. 1604-1605 ; 11 Interrogatoires faits à François Ravaillac, assassin de Henri IV, et relation de ce qui se passa lors de l'exécution à mort dudit Ravaillac. 1610 ; 12 « Arrest de la cour contre Jean Particelly, banqueroutier et faussaire, et autres complices ». 1620 ; 13 « Relation des particularités plus remarquables arrivées, tant à l'instruction du procès de messieurs de Sainct Mars et de Thou, qu'à leur mort ». 1642 ; 14 « Documents concernant l'affaire du cardinal de Bouillon et l'histoire généalogique de la maison d'Auvergne ; a Lettre dudit cardinal EMMANUEL THEODOSE DE LA TOUR D'AUVERGNE au roi Louis XIV. Arras, 22 mai 1710 ; b Lettre du même à M. le président de Maisons, Claude de Longueil. 25 juin 1710 ; c Lettre de LOUIS XIV au cardinal de La Trémoille. 26 mai 1710 ; d Réponse d'un anonyme à la lettre anonyme du cardinal de Bouillon au président de Maisons ; e Arrêt du conseil d'État du roi contrel' « Histoire genealogique de la maison d'Auvergne » par Etienne Baluze. Versailles, 1er juillet 1710 ; f « Declaration du roi concernant la disposition des bénéfices qui sont à la nomination du cardinal de Bouillon ». Versailles, 7 juillet 1710. Pièce imprimée ; g « Arrest du conseil et lettres patentes sur icelluy, portant qu'il sera pourvu par le parlement de Paris à la régie et administration de tous les biens, fruits et revenus du cardinal de Bouillon. Des 7 et 15 juillet 1710. Registrez en parlement le 30 juillet 1710 ». Pièce imprimée ; h Arrêt de la cour pour la destruction du mausolée que le cardinal de Bouillon avait fait faire dans l'église de Cluny. 2 janvier 1711 ; i « Memoire en faveur de monsieur le cardinal de Bouillon ». Ce mémoire, copie d'un imprimé annoncé comme se vendant à Tournay et daté de 1710, se compose : 1° d'un avis au lecteur ; 2° du texte (commenté dans le sens de la défense dudit cardinal) de la requête du procureur général au parlement de Paris H. F. d'Aguesseau, en date du 28 mai 1710, contre le cardinal ; 3° du commentaire de l'arrêt du même parlement, rendu le 20 juin 1710, portant prise de corps contre le cardinal et contre le père de Monthiers et le chevalier de Serte ; j « Memoire sur l'« Histoire genealogique de la maison d'Auvergne ». Dans une note qui précède ce titre, on lit que « ce memoire a esté copié sur l'original de Mr SORIN, qui a examiné par ordre de M. le chancelier la nouvelle edition de l'« Histoire genealogique de La Tour d'Auvergne », composée par monseigneur Baluze, laquelle edition a esté suprimée et mise au pilon par arrest du conseil » ; k « Copie d'un Receuil imprimé de quelques lettres escrites » depuis « le 14 de juin 1709 jusqu'au 24 de may 1710, concernant Son Altesse Eminentissime le cardinal de Bouillon, doyen du sacré collège, etc. 1710 ». Ce recueil contient : (pages 891-895) un « Avis au lecteur », daté du 1er juillet 1710 ; (pages 895-896) « lettre du marquis DE TORCY, ministre et secretaire d'Estat de France, au cardinal de Bouillon, doyen du sacré collège », datée de « Marly, ce 14 juin 1709 » ; (pages 896-900) « lettre du cardinal DE BOUILLON au marquis de Torcy », datée d'« Orléans, le 8 mars 1710 » ; (pages 900-903) lettre faisant suite à la précédente du même au même, datée d'« Orléans, le 9 mars 1719 » ; (pages 903-904) « route que le cardinal de Bouillon tiendra d'Orleans pour aller habiter les environs de Rouen, dans le present mois de mars 1710 » ; (pages 904-906), lettre du même cardinal au marquis de Torcy, datée d'« Orléans, le 8 mars 1710 » ; (pages 906) « lettre du marquis DE TORCY au cardinal de Bouillon, à Versailles, le 11 mars 1710 » ; (pages 907-908) « lettre du cardinal DE BOUILLON au marquis de Torcy », datée d' « Ormesson, ce jeudy 3 avril 1710 » ; (pages 908-909) lettre dudit cardinal au marquis de Torcy, datée d' « Arras, le 22 de may 1710 » ; (pages 909-912) « lettre escrite de Tournay, le 24 may 1710 », relative aux honneurs rendus par le prince Eugène et le duc de Marlborough au cardinal de Bouillon, à son passage au milieu des troupes de l'armée des alliés, le dit cardinal se rendant de l'abbaye de Saint Riquier près d'Abbeville, à l'abbaye de Vicoigne près Valenciennes, mais pour le moment arrêté à Tournay