Granulometry and Bulk Geochemistry of Nearshore Sediments, Herschel Island, Yukon Territory, Canada

This dataset contains the results of granulometric and bulk geochemical analyses of Van Veen surface samples obtained by the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) in the course of the 2012 and 2013 summer field seasons. The sampling was performed along transects in depths generally <13 m, to a distance of about <5 km off Herschel Island. In 2012, 75 samples in Pauline Cove and in the vicinity of Simpson Point were obtained. Sample collection was expanded in 2013, on transects established the previous year, with additional locations in Tetris Bay and Workboat Passage. Samples consisted of approximately 100 g of the top 3-6 cm of sediment, and were frozen in the field and freeze dried at the AWI before undergoing analytical procedures. Sample locations were recorded with the onboard global positioning system (GPS) unit. Grain size distributions in our study were obtained using laser diffractometry at the AWI (Beckman Coulter LS200) on the <1 mm fraction of samples oxidized with 30% H2O2 until effervescence ceased to remove organics. Some samples were also sieved using a sieve stack with 1 phi intervals. GRADISTAT (Blott and Pye, 2001) was used to calculate graphical grain size statistics (Folk and Ward, 1957). Grain diameters were logarithmically transformed to phi values, calculated as phi=-log2d, where d is the grain diameter in millimeters (Blott and Pye, 2001; Krumbein, 1934). Freeze dried samples were ground and ground using an Elemetar Vario EL III carbon-nitrogen-sulphur analyzer at the AWI to measure total carbon (TC) and total nitrogen (TN). Tungsten oxide was added to the samples as a catalyst to the pyrolysis. Following this analysis, total organic carbon (TOC) was determined using an Elementar VarioMax. Stable carbon isotope ratios of 13C/12C of 118 samples were determined on a DELTAplusXL mass spectrometer (ThermoFisher Scientific, Bremen) at the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) in Potsdam, Germany . An additional analysis on 69 samples was carried out at the University of Hamburg with an isotope ratio mass spectrometer (Delta V, Thermo Scientific, Germany) coupled to an elemental analyzer (Flash 2000, Thermo Scientific, Germany). Prior to analysis, soil samples were treated with phosphoric acid (43%) to release inorganic carbon. Values are expressed relative to Vienna Peedee belemnite (VPDB) using external standards (USGS40, -26.4 per mil VPDB and IVA soil 33802153, -27.5 per mil VPDB).

Dynamics of halocarbons in coastal surface waters during short term mesocosm experiments

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the influence of different light quality, especially ultraviolet radiation (UVR), on the dynamics of volatile halogenated organic compounds (VHOCs) at the sea surface. Short term experiments were conducted with floating gas-tight mesocosms of different optical qualities. Six halocarbons (CH3I, CHCl3, CH2Br2, CH2ClI, CHBr3 and CH2I2), known to be produced by phytoplankton, together with a variety of biological and environmental variables were measured in the coastal southern Baltic Sea and in the Raunefjord (North Sea). These experiments showed that ambient levels of UVR have no significant influence on VHOC dynamics in the natural systems. We attribute it to the low radiation doses that phytoplankton cells receive in a normal turbulent surface mixed layer. The VHOC concentrations were influenced by their production and removal processes, but they were not correlated with biological or environmental parameters investigated. Diatoms were most likely the dominant biogenic source of VHOCs in the Baltic Sea experiment, whereas in the Raunefjord experiment macroalgae probably contributed strongly to the production of VHOCs. The variable stable carbon isotope signatures (d13C values) of bromoform (CHBr3) also indicate that different autotrophic organisms were responsible for CHBr3 production in the two coastal environments. In the Raunefjord, despite strong daily variations in CHBr3 concentration, the carbon isotopic ratio was fairly stable with a mean value of -26 per mil. During the declining spring phytoplankton bloom in the Baltic Sea, the d13C values of CHBr3 were enriched in 13C and showed noticeable diurnal changes (-12 per mil ± 4). These results show that isotope signature analysis is a useful tool to study both the origin and dynamics of VHOCs in natural systems.

(Table 1) Porewater analysis with respect to gypsum from different ODP holes

The stability of gypsum in marine sediments has been investigated through the calculation of its saturation index at the sediment in situ temperature and pressure, using the entire ODP/IODP porewater composition database (14416 samples recovered from sediments collected during 95 ODP and IODP Legs). Saturation is reached in sediment porewaters of 26 boreholes drilled at 23 different sites, during 12 ODP/IODP Legs. As ocean bottom seawater is largely undersaturated with respect to gypsum, the porewater Ca content or its SO4 concentration, or both, must increase in order to reach equilibrium. At several sites equilibrium is reached either through the presence of evaporitic gypsum layers found in the sedimentary sequence, and/or through a salinity increase due to the presence of evaporitic brines with high concentrations of Ca and SO4. Saturation can also be reached in porewaters of seawater-like salinity (~ 35 per mil), provided sulfate reduction is limited. In this case, saturation is due to the alteration of volcanogenic material which releases large amounts of Ca to the porewaters, where the Ca concentration can reach 55 times its seawater value as for example at ODP Leg 134 site 833. At a few sites, saturation is reached in hydrothermal environments, or as a consequence of the alteration of the basaltic basement. In addition to the well known influence of brines on the formation of gypsum, these results indicate that the alteration of sediments rich in volcanogenic material is a major process leading to gypsum saturation in marine sediment porewaters. Therefore, the presence of gypsum in ancient and recent marine sediments should not be systematically interpreted as due to hypersaline waters, especially if volcanogenic material is present.

Nitrogen fuelling of the pelagic food web of the Tropical Atlantic

We estimated the relative contribution of atmospheric Nitrogen (N) input (wet and dry deposition and N fixation) to the epipelagic food web by measuring N isotopes of different functional groups of epipelagic zooplankton along 23°W (17°N-4°S) and 18°N (20-24°W) in the Eastern Tropical Atlantic. Results were related to water column observations of nutrient distribution and vertical diffusive flux as well as colony abundance of Trichodesmium obtained with an Underwater Vision Profiler (UVP5). The thickness and depth of the nitracline and phosphocline proved to be significant predictors of zooplankton stable N isotope values. Atmospheric N input was highest (61% of total N) in the strongly stratified and oligotrophic region between 3 and 7°N, which featured very high depth-integrated Trichodesmium abundance (up to 9.4×104 colonies m-2), strong thermohaline stratification and low zooplankton delta15N (~2 per mil). Relative atmospheric N input was lowest south of the equatorial upwelling between 3 and 5°S (27%). Values in the Guinea Dome region and north of Cape Verde ranged between 45 and 50%, respectively. The microstructure-derived estimate of the vertical diffusive N flux in the equatorial region was about one order of magnitude higher than in any other area (approximately 8 mmol m-2 d 1). At the same time, this region received considerable atmospheric N input (35% of total). In general, zooplankton delta15N and Trichodesmium abundance were closely correlated, indicating that N fixation is the major source of atmospheric N input. Although Trichodesmium is not the only N fixing organism, its abundance can be used with high confidence to estimate the relative atmospheric N input in the tropical Atlantic (r2 = 0.95). Estimates of absolute N fixation rates are two- to tenfold higher than incubation-derived rates reported for the same regions. Our approach integrates over large spatial and temporal scales and also quantifies fixed N released as dissolved inorganic and organic N. In a global analysis, it may thus help to close the gap in oceanic N budgets.

Changes in the prevalence of chronic disability in the United States black and nonblack population above age 65 from 1982 to 1999

Survey evidence through the early 1990s generally suggests a reduction in disability in the elderly population of the United States. Because the evidence is not fully consistent, several authors have speculated about whether disability declines will continue. This paper reports results from the 1999 National Long-Term Care Survey on disability trends from 1982 through 1999. It is found that disability continued to decline in the 1994 to 1999 period, and that the decline was greater in the 1990s than in the 1980s. The disability decline from 1982 to 1989 was 0.26% per year, from 1989 to 1994 it was 0.38% per year, and from 1994 to 1999 it was 0.56% per year. In addition, disability declined by a greater percentage for blacks than for nonblacks over the 1989 to 1999 period.

Molecular phylogeny analysis of fiddler crabs: test of the hypothesis of increasing behavioral complexity in evolution.

The current phylogenetic hypothesis for the evolution and biogeography of fiddler crabs relies on the assumption that complex behavioral traits are assumed to also be evolutionary derived. Indo-west Pacific fiddler crabs have simpler reproductive social behavior and are more marine and were thought to be ancestral to the more behaviorally complex and more terrestrial American species. It was also hypothesized that the evolution of more complex social and reproductive behavior was associated with the colonization of the higher intertidal zones. Our phylogenetic analysis, based upon a set of independent molecular characters, however, demonstrates how widely entrenched ideas about evolution and biogeography led to a reasonable, but apparently incorrect, conclusion about the evolutionary trends within this pantropical group of crustaceans. Species bearing the set of "derived traits" are phylogenetically ancestral, suggesting an alternative evolutionary scenario: the evolution of reproductive behavioral complexity in fiddler crabs may have arisen multiple times during their evolution. The evolution of behavioral complexity may have arisen by coopting of a series of other adaptations for high intertidal living and antipredator escape. A calibration of rates of molecular evolution from populations on either side of the Isthmus of Panama suggest a sequence divergence rate for 16S rRNA of 0.9% per million years. The divergence between the ancestral clade and derived forms is estimated to be approximately 22 million years ago, whereas the divergence between the American and Indo-west Pacific is estimated to be approximately 17 million years ago.

31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy of the Sherpa heart: a phosphocreatine/adenosine triphosphate signature of metabolic defense against hypobaric hypoxia.

Of all humans thus far studied, Sherpas are considered by many high-altitude biomedical scientists as most exquisitely adapted for life under continuous hypobaric hypoxia. However, little is known about how the heart is protected in hypoxia. Hypoxia defense mechanisms in the Sherpa heart were explored by in vivo, noninvasive 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Six Sherpas were examined under two experimental conditions [normoxic (21% FiO2) and hypoxic (11% FiO2) and in two adaptational states--the acclimated state (on arrival at low-altitude study sites) and the deacclimating state (4 weeks of ongoing exposure to low altitude). Four lowland subjects were used for comparison. We found that the concentration ratios of phosphocreatine (PCr)/adenosine triphosphate (ATP) were maintained at steady-state normoxic values (0.96, SEM = 0.22) that were about half those found in normoxic lowlanders (1.76, SEM = 0.03) monitored the same way at the same time. These differences in heart energetic status between Sherpas and lowlanders compared under normoxic conditions remained highly significant (P < 0.02) even after 4 weeks of deacclimation at low altitudes. In Sherpas under acute hypoxia, the heart rate increased by 20 beats per min from resting values of about 70 beats per min, and the percent saturation of hemoglobin decreased to about 75%. However, these perturbations did not alter the PCr/ATP concentration ratios, which remained at about 50% of the values expected in healthy lowlanders. Because the creatine phosphokinase reaction functions close to equilibrium, these steady-state PCr/ATP ratios presumably coincided with about 3-fold higher free adenosine diphosphate (ADP) concentrations. Higher ADP concentrations (i.e., lower [PCr]/[ATP] ratios) were interpreted to correlate with the Km values for ADP-requiring kinases of glycolysis and to reflect elevated carbohydrate contributions to heart energy needs. This metabolic organization is postulated as advantageous in hypobaria because the ATP yield per O2 molecule is 25-60% higher with glucose than with free fatty acids (the usual fuels utilized in the human heart in postfasting conditions).

Fatores associados à integridade perineal e à episiotomia no parto normal: estudo transversal

Introdução: Investigar os fatores associados à condição perineal no parto vaginal pode possibilitar modificações no cuidado com o períneo, de forma a contribuir para menores frequências de episiotomia e de lacerações perineais. Objetivos: Identificar os fatores associados à episiotomia; identificar os fatores associados à integridade perineal no parto vaginal; descrever os motivos apontados para a realização de episiotomia por enfermeiras obstétricas; e identificar as manobras de proteção perineal realizadas por enfermeiras obstétricas em um Centro de Parto Normal. Método: Estudo transversal com coleta de dados prospectiva por meio de formulário aplicado junto às enfermeiras obstétricas de um Centro de Parto Normal intra-hospitalar de São Paulo e que incluiu dados de todas as mulheres que deram à luz neste serviço no período de fevereiro de 2014 a janeiro de 2015. Na análise estatística, as associações entre as variáveis dependentes (episiotomia e integridade perineal) e as variáveis sociodemográficas, obstétricas e assistenciais foram estimadas por meio de Odds Ratios (OR), calculadas por meio de regressão logística binária univariada e múltipla com intervalos de confiança de 95 por cento (IC 95 por cento ), no programa estatístico SPSS versão 20. Foram realizadas análises separadas para cada variável dependente. Os motivos para a realização de episiotomia e o uso de manobras de proteção perineal foram descritos por meio de frequências e porcentagens. O estudo foi aprovado nos Comitês de Ética em Pesquisa das instituições proponente e coparticipante. Resultados: Foram analisados os dados de 802 mulheres (frequência de episiotomia de 23,8 por cento , 191 mulheres; integridade perineal de 25,9 por cento , 208 mulheres; laceração perineal de 50,3 por cento , 403 mulheres). Os fatores independentemente associados à episiotomia foram: não ter parto vaginal anterior (OR 26,72; IC 95 por cento 15,42-46,30), uso de ocitocina durante o trabalho de parto (OR 1,69; IC 95 por cento 1,12-2,57), puxos dirigidos (OR 2,05; IC 95 por cento 1,23-3,43), intercorrência no trabalho de parto (OR 2,61; IC 95 por cento 1,43-4,77) e posição semissentada no parto (5,45; IC 95 por cento 1,06-28,01). O uso de uma manobra de proteção perineal (OR 0,11; IC 95 por cento 0,04-0,26) ou de duas manobras ou mais (OR 0,09; IC 95 por cento 0,04-0,22) se apresentou como fator de proteção contra a episiotomia. Em relação à integridade perineal, os fatores independentemente associados foram: ter parto vaginal anterior (OR 3,88; IC 95 por cento 2,41-6,23) e cor da pele autorreferida não branca (OR 1,43; IC 95 por cento 1,01-2,04). As indicações para episiotomia incluíram, predominantemente, motivos relacionados às condições e dimensões do períneo. As manobras de proteção perineal foram utilizadas em aproximadamente 95 por cento dos partos vaginais, mas não impactaram as taxas de integridade perineal. Conclusões: As variáveis associadas à episiotomia incluíram, em sua maioria, fatores que podem ser controlados pelo profissional de saúde. Estas variáveis não impactaram as taxas de integridade perineal. Informar os profissionais que atuam na assistência ao parto e as mulheres que buscam esse atendimento sobre os fatores associados à condição perineal no parto vaginal pode contribuir para a redução da frequência de episiotomia e para preservar a integridade perineal no parto vaginal.

Epidemiologia da oclusão dentária na infância e os sistemas de saúde

O propósito deste estudo foi contribuir para a análise da epidemiologia da oclusão dentária na infância e discutir a implicação para os sistemas de saúde, examinando dados de prevalência de uma amostra probabilística (n=985) da população de 5 e 12 anos de idade na cidade de São Paulo, Brasil (1996); e estudos epidemiológicos transversais publicados nos últimos 70 anos. A prevalência na cidade, cresceu de 49,0 ± 4,5 por cento na dentição decídua para 71,3 ± 3,9 por cento na dentição permanente (p<0,001), sendo que a chance de ocorrência de oclusopatia moderada/severa foi quase duas vezes maior na segunda dentição (OR=1,87; IC95 por cento =1,43-2,45; p<O,OOO). O ataque de cárie acima das metas da OMS para o ano 2000 mostrou associação positiva com a severidade do dano (OR=1,51; IC95s por cento =1,15-1,99; p<0,003). Análise de regressão logística múltipla mostrou que o risco estimado da população portadora de dentição permanente e com experiência de cárie acima dessas metas apresentar oclusopatia moderada/severa se elevou de 22 por cento para 50 por cento . Sexo, tipo de escola (pública e privada) e diferenças étnicas entre brancos e pardos não influenciaram essa distribuição. O exame da literatura através de meta-análise indicou que a prevalência dos problemas oclusais foi duas vezes maior na dentição permanente quando comparada às dentições decídua/mista. Tanto a realização de estudos longitudinais quanto de levantamentos e triagens para a identificação e o tratamento dos casos mais severos, não apenas no período da dentição permanente, mas também nas dentições decídua/mista, combinado à introdução de ações de proteção específica em programas materno-infantis direcionadas ao desenvolvimento oro-facial dos zero aos 6 anos são medidas que devem ser consideradas no planejamento estratégico e normativo dos sistemas de saúde. Métodos de intervenção em saúde pública devem ser pesquisados e implementados o mais precocemente possível para aumentar a proporção da população com oclusão normal e reduzir o percentual de oclusopatia moderada/severa.

Abundance of Globigerinoides sacculifer and Globigerinoides ruber and oxygen and carbon stable isotopes of different planktonic foraminifers at DSDP Holes 78-541 and 78-543

The stable isotope study of monospecific planktonic foraminifer samples recovered at Sites 541 and 543 during Deep Sea Drilling Project Leg 78A indicates a warming during the early Pliocene about 4.7 to 4.3 Ma. The changes in the late Pliocene oxygen isotope record around 2.9 to 2.7 Ma coincide with changes in the circulation pattern resulting from the closure of the Panama seaway and the beginning of the Northern Hemisphere glaciation. The Pleistocene record is characterized by 0.5 to 1.0 per mil fluctuations in the d18O record. These fluctuations reflect salinity changes, rather than temperature changes, as indicated by Globigerinoides ruber and G. sacculifer abundances. The salinity changes may be explained by a drifting of (1) the highly saline Central Water Mass of the southern Sargasso Sea, and (2) lower-salinity ocean water displaced by the northward shift of the Intertropical Convergence Zone into the Caribbean region during cooler intervals.

Size exclusion chromatogram of the Tannermoor 2009 sample after saltout experiments

Samples from a pristine raised peat bog runoff in Austria, the Tannermoor creek, were analysed for their iron linked to natural organic matter (NOM) content. Dissolved organic carbon < 0.45 µm (DOC) was 41 to 64 mg/L, iron 4.4 to 5.5 mg/L. Samples were analysed applying asymmetric field flow fractionation (AsFlFFF) coupled to UV-Vis absorption, fluorescence and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The samples showed an iron peak associated with the NOM peak, one sample exhibiting a second peak of iron independent from the NOM peak. As highland peat bogs with similar climatic conditions and vegetation to the Tanner Moor are found throughout the world, including areas adjacent to the sea, we examined the behaviour of NOM and iron in samples brought to euhaline (35 per mil) conditions with artificial sea salt. The enhanced ionic strength reduced NOM by 53% and iron by 82%. Size exclusion chromatography (SEC) of the samples at sea-like salinity revealed two major fractions of NOM associated with different iron concentrations. The larger one, eluting sharply after the upper exclusion limits of 4000-5000 g/mol, seems to be most important for iron chelating. The results outline the global importance of sub-mountainous and mountainous raised peat bogs as a source of iron chelators to the marine environment at sites where such peat bogs release their run-offs into the sea.

Catchment characteristics and soil and water chemistry of the San Francisco basin and subbasins, Ecuador

In this study, the Mean Transit Time and Mixing Model Analysis methods are combined to unravel the runoff generation process of the San Francisco River basin (73.5 km**2) situated on the Amazonian side of the Cordillera Real in the southernmost Andes of Ecuador. The montane basin is covered with cloud forest, sub-páramo, pasture and ferns. Nested sampling was applied for the collection of streamwater samples and discharge measurements in the main tributaries and outlet of the basin, and for the collection of soil and rock water samples. Weekly to biweekly water grab samples were taken at all stations in the period April 2007-November 2008. Hydrometric data, Mean Transit Time and Mixing Model Analysis allowed preliminary evaluation of the processes controlling the runoff in the San Francisco River basin. Results suggest that flow during dry conditions mainly consists of lateral flow through the C-horizon and cracks in the top weathered bedrock layer, and that all subcatchments have an important contribution of this deep water to runoff, no matter whether pristine or deforested. During normal to low precipitation intensities, when antecedent soil moisture conditions favour water infiltration, vertical flow paths to deeper soil horizons with subsequent lateral subsurface flow contribute most to streamflow. Under wet conditions in forested catchments, streamflow is controlled by near surface lateral flow through the organic horizon. Exceptionally, saturation excess overland flow occurs. By absence of the litter layer in pasture, streamflow under wet conditions originates from the A horizon, and overland flow.

Biometry, stable isotopes and stomach contents of A. glacialis and B. saida from Northeast Greenland

Two gadoid fishes, Arctogadus glacialis and Boreogadus saida, often coexist (i.e. sympatric) in the fjords and shelf areas of the Arctic seas, where they likely share the same food resources. Diet composition from stomach contents, i.e. frequency of occurrence (FO) and Schoener's index (SI), and stable isotope signatures (d13C and d15N) in muscle of these sympatric gadoids were examined from two fjords in NE Greenland-Tyrolerfjord (TF, ~74°N, sill present) and Dove Bugt (DB, ~76°N, open). Twenty-three prey taxa and categories were identified and both gadoids ate mostly crustaceans. The SI values of 0.64-0.70 indicated possible resource competition, whereas FO differed significantly. A. glacialis fed mainly on the mysid Mysis oculata and other benthic-associated prey, whereas B. saida ate the copepod Metridia longa and other pelagic prey. Both diet and stable isotopes strongly suggest a spatial segregation in feeding habitat, with A. glacialis being associated with the benthic food web (mean d13C = -20.81 per mil, d15N = 14.92 per mil) and B. saida with the pelagic food web (mean d13C = -21.25 per mil, d15N = 13.64 per mil). The dietary differences and isotopic signals were highly significant in the secluded TF and less clear in the open DB, where prey and predators may be readily advected from adjacent areas with other trophic conditions. This is the first study on the trophic position of A. glacialis inferred from analyses of stable isotopes. The subtle interaction between the Arctic gadoids should be carefully monitored in the light of ocean warming and ongoing invasions of boreal fishes into the Arctic seas.

Chemical and isotopic compositions of hydrothermal manifestations and minerals from the Broken Spur hydrothermal field

A representative collection of hydrothermal manifestations was sampled practically from all hydrothermal mounds of the Broken Spur hydrothermal vent field with use of the Mir manned submersibles during three cruises of R/V Akademik Mstislav Keldysh. Mineral associations characteristic for different morphological types of sulfide ores from hydrothermal pipes, plates, and diffusers are assessed. Particular attention is paid to distribution of minor elements and their distribution patterns determined by mineralogical zonation. Measured isotopic composition of sulfur in sulfide minerals varies from 0.4 to 5.2 per mil that indicates their similarity with ores from the Snake Pit vent field and is related to dilution of hot ore-bearing solutions by seawater and reduction of water sulfate ions to H2S with heavy isotopic composition.