Downhole logging of the AND-2A borehole, Victoria Land Basin, McMurdo Sound, Antarctica

Under the framework of the ANDRILL Southern McMurdo Sound (SMS) Project successful downhole experiments were conducted in the 1138.54 metre (m)-deep AND-2A borehole. Wireline logs successfully recorded were: magnetic susceptibility, spectral gamma ray, sonic velocity, borehole televiewer, neutron porosity, density, calliper, geochemistry, temperature and dipmeter. A resistivity tool and its backup both failed to operate, thus resistivity data were not collected. Due to hole conditions, logs were collected in several passes from the total depth at ~1138 metres below sea floor (mbsf) to ~230 mbsf, except for some intervals that were either inaccessible due to bridging or were shielded by the drill string. Furthermore, a Vertical Seismic Profile (VSP) was created from ~1000 mbsf up to the sea floor. The first hydraulic fracturing stress measurements in Antarctica were conducted in the interval 1000-1138 mbsf. This extensive data set will allow the SMS Science Team to reach some of the ambitious objectives of the SMS Project. Valuable contributions can be expected for the following topics: cyclicity and climate change, heat flux and fluid flow, seismic stratigraphy in the Victoria Land Basin, and structure and state of the modern crustal stress field.

Clay mineral distribution in sediment core AND-2A

Clay mineral assemblages in sediments from ANDRILL drill core AND-2A were used to reconstruct the Neogene palaeoenvironment. For the first time a clay mineral data set can be presented for southern McMurdo Sound, Ross Sea, Antarctica, that covers an expanded and fairly continuous Lower and Middle Miocene section. Although the occurrence of some authigenic smectites, zeolites and opal-CT documents diagenetic processes, the clay mineral assemblages allow a subdivision of the core into three intervals that reflect changes in provenance and volcanic activity. Interval I (1000-440 mbsf, 20.0-16.5 Ma) is characterised by a dominant sediment source in the Transantarctic Mountains. Frequent and short-term changes in the illite and smectite concentrations were caused by the influx of volcanic sediment components from southern McMurdo Sound and by diagenesis. Interval II (440-225 mbsf, 16.5-15.0 Ma) has much more uniform illite and smectite contents. The assemblage is derived from the Transantarctic Mountains. Interval III (225-0 mbsf, 15.0-0 Ma, containing major hiatuses) shows a distinctly enhanced volcanic influence and sediment components that come from the south of McMurdo Sound. The AND-2A clay mineral assemblages indicate persistent physical weathering conditions and do not mirror the Mid-Miocene Climatic Optimum. They indicate that the climatic changes were probably not strong enough to cause a modification in the weathering regime on the Antarctic continent.

(Table 2) Salinity, pH, alkalinity and major ion concentrations in ANDRILL core AND-2A pore water

The compositional record of the AND-2A drillcore is examined using petrological, sedimentological, volcanological and geochemical analysis of clasts, sediments and pore waters. Preliminary investigations of basement clasts (granitoids and metasediments) indicate both local and distal sources corresponding to variable ice-volume and ice-flow directions. Low abundance of sedimentary clasts (e.g., arkose, litharenite) suggests reduced contributions from sedimentary covers while intraclasts (e.g., diamictite, conglomerate) attest to intrabasinal reworking. Volcanic material includes pyroclasts (e.g., pumice, scoria), sediments and lava. Primary and reworked tephra layers occur within the Early Miocene interval (1093 to 640 metres below sea floor mbsf). The compositions of volcanic clasts reveal a diversity of alkaline types derived from the McMurdo Volcanic Group. Finer-grained sediments (e.g., sandstone, siltstone) show increases in biogenic silica and volcanic glass from 230 to 780 mbsf and higher proportions of terrigenous material c. 350 to 750 mbsf and below 970 mbsf. Basement clast assemblages suggest a dominant provenance from the Skelton Glacier - Darwin Glacier area and from the Ferrar Glacier - Koettlitz Glacier area. Provenance of sand grains is consistent with clast sources. Thirteen Geochemical Units are established based on compositional trends derived from continuous XRF scanning. High values of Fe and Ti indicate terrigenous and volcanic sources, whereas high Ca values signify either biogenic or diagenic sources. Highly alkaline and saline pore waters were produced by chemical exchange with glass at moderately elevated temperatures.

Évaluation pharmacodynamique et sécurité d'emploi de l'Époétine alfa chez les patients aux soins intensifs

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

A Systematic Review of Race and Ethnicity in Hepatitis C Clinical Trial Enrollment.

The African American/Black population in the United States (US) is disproportionately affected by hepatitis C virus (HCV) and has lower response rates to current treatments. This analysis evaluates the participation of African American/Blacks in North American and European HCV clinical trials. The data source for this analysis was the PubMed database. Randomized controlled clinical trials (RCT) on HCV treatment with interferon 2a or 2b between January 2000 and December 2011 were reviewed. Inclusion criteria included English language and participants 18 years or older with chronic HCV. Exclusion criteria included non-randomized trials, case reports, cohort studies, ethnic specific studies, or studies not using interferon-alfa or PEG-interferon. Of the 588 trials identified, 314 (53.4%) fit inclusion criteria. The main outcome was the rate of African American/ Black participation in North American HCV clinical trials. A meta-analysis comparing the expected and observed rates was performed. Of the RCT's that met search criteria, 123 (39.2%) reported race. Clinical trials in North America were more likely to report racial data than European trials. Racial reporting increased over time. There was a statistically significant difference among the expected and observed participation of African Americans in HCV clinical trials in North America based on the prevalence of this disease within the population. The burden of HCV among African Americans in North America is not reflected in those clinical trials designed to treat HCV. Research on minority participation in clinical trials and how to increase minority participation in clinical trials is needed.

Évaluation pharmacodynamique et sécurité d'emploi de l'Époétine alfa chez les patients aux soins intensifs

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Ioannis Manardi ... epistolarum medicinalium libri duodeuiginti / hi partim infinitis in locis [et] ab ipso autore iam recens castigati sunt, partim iam primum in lucem aeduntur ; eiusdem annotationes & censura in medicanina simplicia & composita Mesue.

Indice a tres col.

Element abundances, loss on ignition, total analyzed abundances, CIA values, and Al-oxide/Ti-oxide ratios of sediment core CRP-2A (Table1)

The CRP-2/2A core, drilled in western McMurdo Sound in October and November 1998, penetrated 624 m of Quaternary. Pliocene, lower Miocene, and Oligocene glacigenic sediments. The palaeoclimatic record of CRP-2/2A is examined using major element analyses of bulk core samples of fine grained sediments (mudstones and siltstones) and the Chemical Index of Alteration (CIA) of Nesbitt & Young (1982). The CIA is calculated from the relative abundances of AI, K, Ca, and Na oxides, and its magnitude increases as the effects of chemical weathering increase. However, changes in sediment provenance can also affect the CIA, and provenance changes are recorded by shifts in the Al2O3/TiO2 ratios and the Nb contents of these CRP-2/2A mudstones. Relatively low CIA values (40-50) occur throughout the CRP-2/2A sequence, whereas the Al2O3/TiO2 ratio decreases upsection. The major provenance change is an abrupt onset of McMurdo Volcanic Group detritus at ~300 mbsf and is best characterized by a rapid increase in Nb content in the sediments. This provenance shift is not evident in the CIA record, suggesting that a contribution from the Ferrar Dolerite to the older sediments was replaced by an input of McMurdo Volcanic Group material in the younger sediments. If this is true, then the relatively uniform CIA values indicate relatively consistent palaeoweathering intensities throughout the Oligocene and early Miocene in the areas that supplied sediment to CRP-2/2A.

Color reflectance and XRF drill core scanner data of ANDRILL core AND-2A

The compositional record of the AND-2A drillcore is examined using petrological, sedimentological, volcanological and geochemical analysis of clasts, sediments and pore waters. Preliminary investigations of basement clasts (granitoids and metasediments) indicate both local and distal sources corresponding to variable ice-volume and ice-flow directions. Low abundance of sedimentary clasts (e.g., arkose, litharenite) suggests reduced contributions from sedimentary covers while intraclasts (e.g., diamictite, conglomerate) attest to intrabasinal reworking. Volcanic material includes pyroclasts (e.g., pumice, scoria), sediments and lava. Primary and reworked tephra layers occur within the Early Miocene interval (1093 to 640 metres below sea floor mbsf). The compositions of volcanic clasts reveal a diversity of alkaline types derived from the McMurdo Volcanic Group. Finer-grained sediments (e.g., sandstone, siltstone) show increases in biogenic silica and volcanic glass from 230 to 780 mbsf and higher proportions of terrigenous material c. 350 to 750 mbsf and below 970 mbsf. Basement clast assemblages suggest a dominant provenance from the Skelton Glacier - Darwin Glacier area and from the Ferrar Glacier - Koettlitz Glacier area. Provenance of sand grains is consistent with clast sources. Thirteen Geochemical Units are established based on compositional trends derived from continuous XRF scanning. High values of Fe and Ti indicate terrigenous and volcanic sources, whereas high Ca values signify either biogenic or diagenic sources. Highly alkaline and saline pore waters were produced by chemical exchange with glass at moderately elevated temperatures.