Geochemistry on Yangla copper deposit, China

The Yangla copper deposit, situated in the middle section of Jinshajiang tectonic belt between Zhongza-Zhongdian block and Changdu-Simao block, is a representative and giant copper deposit that has been discovered in Jinshajiang-Lancangjiang-Nujiang region in recent years. There are coupled relationship between Yangla granodiorite and copper mineralization in the Yangla copper deposit. Five molybdenite samples yielded a well-constrained 187Re-187Os isochron age of 233.3±3 Ma, the metallogenesis is therefore slightly younger than the crystallization age of the granodiorite. S, Pb isotopic compositions of the Yangla copper deposit indicate that the ore-forming materials were derived from the mixture of upper crust and mantle, also with the magmatic contributions. In the late Early Permian, the Jinshajiang Oceanic plate was subducted to the west, resulting in the formation of a series of gently dipping thrust faults in the Jinshajiang tectonic belt, meanwhile, accompanied magmatic activities. In the early Late Triassic, which was a time of transition from collision-related compression to extension in the Jinshajiang tectonic belt, the thrust faults were tensional; it would have been a favorable environment for forming ore fluids. The ascending magma provided a channel for the ore-forming fluid from the mantle wedge. After the magma arrived at the base of the early-stage Yangla granodiorite, the platy granodiorite at the base of the body would have shielded the late-stage magma from the fluid. The magma would have cooled slowly, and some of the ore-forming fluid in the magma would have entered the gently dipping thrust faults near the Yangla granodiorite, resulting in mineralization.

Have we been underestimating the effects of ocean acidification in zooplankton?

Understanding how copepods may respond to ocean acidification (OA) is critical for risk assessments of ocean ecology and biogeochemistry. The perception that copepods are insensitive to OA is largely based on experiments with adult females. Their apparent resilience to increased carbon dioxide (pCO2) concentrations has supported the view that copepods are 'winners' under OA. Here, we show that this conclusion is not robust, that sensitivity across different life stages is significantly misrepresented by studies solely using adult females. Stage-specific responses to pCO2 (385-6000 µatm) were studied across different life stages of a calanoid copepod, monitoring for lethal and sublethal responses. Mortality rates varied significantly across the different life stages, with nauplii showing the highest lethal effects; nauplii mortality rates increased threefold when pCO2 concentrations reached 1000 µatm (year 2100 scenario) with LC50 at 1084 µatm pCO2. In comparison, eggs, early copepodite stages, and adult males and females were not affected lethally until pCO2 concentrations >= 3000 µatm. Adverse effects on reproduction were found, with >35% decline in nauplii recruitment at 1000 µatm pCO2. This suppression of reproductive scope, coupled with the decreased survival of early stage progeny at this pCO2 concentration, has clear potential to damage population growth dynamics in this species. The disparity in responses seen across the different developmental stages emphasizes the need for a holistic life-cycle approach to make species-level projections to climate change. Significant misrepresentation and error propagation can develop from studies which attempt to project outcomes to future OA conditions solely based on single life history stage exposures.

Composition of drilled sediments and pore waters from the continental slope of the Northern Gulf of Mexico

Pore waters were analyzed from 6 holes drilled from M.V. "Eureka" as a part of the Shell Oil Co. deeper offshore study. The holes were drilled in water depths of 600-3000 ft. (approximately 180-550 m) and penetrated up to 1000 ft. (300 m) of Pliocene-Recent clayey sediments. Salt and anhydrite caprock was encountered in one diapiric structure on the continental slope. Samples from holes drilled near diapiric structures showed systematic increases of pore-water salinity with depth, suggestive of salt diffusion from underlying salt plugs. Anomalous concentrations of K and Br indicate that at least one plug contains late-stage evaporite minerals. Salinities approaching halite saturation were observed. Samples from holes away from diapiric structures showed little change in pore-water chemistry, except for loss of SO4 and other variations attributable to early-stage diagenetic reactions with enclosing sediments. Thus, increased salt concentrations in even shallow sediments from this part of the Gulf appear to provide an indicator of salt masses at depth.

Geochemistry of Atlantis Massif serpentinites

The Lost City hydrothermal system at the southern Atlantis Massif (Mid-Atlantic Ridge, 30°N) provides a natural laboratory for studying serpentinization processes, the temporal evolution of ultramafic-hosted hydrothermal systems, and alteration conditions during formation and emplacement of an oceanic core complex. Here we present B, O, and Sr isotope data to investigate fluid/rock interaction and mass transfer during detachment faulting and exhumation of lithospheric sequences within the Atlantis Massif. Our data indicate that extensive serpentinization was a seawater-dominated process that occurred predominately at temperatures of 150-250 °C and at high integrated W/R ratios that led to a marked boron enrichment (34-91 ppm). Boron removal from seawater during serpentinization is positively correlated with changes in d11B (11-16 per mil) but shows no correlation with O-isotope composition. Modeling indicates that B concentrations and isotope values of the serpentinites are controlled by transient temperature-pH conditions. In contrast to prior studies, we conclude that low-temperature marine weathering processes are insignificant for boron geochemistry of the Atlantis Massif serpentinites. Talc- and amphibole-rich fault rocks formed within a zone of detachment faulting at temperatures of approximately 270-350 °C and at low W/R ratios. Talc formation in ultramafic domains in the massif was subsequent to an early stage of serpentinization and was controlled by the access of Si-rich fluids derived through seawater-gabbro interactions. Replacement of serpentine by talc resulted in boron loss and significant lowering of d11B values (9-10 per mil), which we model as the product of progressive extraction of boron. Our study provides new constraints on the boron geochemical cycle at oceanic spreading ridges and suggests that serpentinization associated with ultramafic-hosted hydrothermal systems may have important implications for the behavior of boron in subduction zone settings.

Seawater carbonate chemistry and pteropod Limacina helicina antarctica shell dissolution during experiments, 2012

Anthropogenic ocean acidification is likely to have negative effects on marine calcifying organisms, such as shelled pteropods, by promoting dissolution of aragonite shells. Study of shell dissolution requires an accurate and sensitive method for assessing shell damage. Shell dissolution was induced through incubations in CO2 enriched seawater for between 4 and 14 days. We describe a procedure that allows the level of dissolution to be assessed and classified into three main types: Type I with partial dissolution of the prismatic layer; Type II with exposure of underlying crossed-lamellar layer, and Type III, where crossed-lamellar layer shows signs of dissolution. Levels of dissolution showed a good correspondence to the incubation conditions, with the most severe damage found in specimens held for 14 d in undersaturated condition (Ohm ~ 0.8). This methodology enables the response of small pelagic calcifiers to acidified conditions to be detected at an early stage, thus making pteropods a valuable bioindicator of future ocean acidification.

Black economic empowerment in the South African agricultural sector : a case study of the wine industry

This paper explores the extent and forms of black economic empowerment (BEE) in the South African agricultural sector through a case study of the wine industry in the Western Cape. Compared to the mining and fisheries sectors, the progress of BEE in the agricultural sector is still in the early stage. However, various forms of black entry into the wine industry, not limited to BEE deals by large corporations, began to emerge, especially since the enactment of the Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment Act (BBBEE Act), Act 53 of 2003. This paper identifies two types of BEE wineries as unique forms of black entry into the wine industry and investigates in detail their features, backgrounds and challenges by referring to several prominent examples of each type of BEE winery.

Did Japanese direct investment in Korea suppress indigenous industrialization in the 1930s? : evidence from country-level factory entry patterns

Foreign direct investment (FDI) can deliver both positive and negative spillovers to the local economy. Negative effects such as crowding-out or entry-barrier effects might outweigh the positive ones when the technological gap between foreign and local firms is significant. This paper examines the impact of Japanese direct investment into Korea under colonization in the 1930s on the entry of Korean-owned factories. By using the census of manufacturing factories in Korea, we exploit variations in the share of Japanese factories and their entry rates across counties within the same subsectors. We find that within a subsector, entry rates of Korean factories were higher in counties with higher presence and entry of Japanese factories. Positive correlations are also found between subsectors. The results imply that Japanese direct investment did not suppress the entry of Korean factories and that FDI could exert positive entry spillovers on indigenous firms, even at a very early stage of industrialization.

Heart Failure Monitoring System Based on Wearable and Information Technologies

In Europe, Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD) are the leading source of death, causing 45% of all deceases. Besides, Heart Failure, the paradigm of CVD, mainly affects people older than 65. In the current aging society, the European MyHeart Project was created, whose mission is to empower citizens to fight CVD by leading a preventive lifestyle and being able to be diagnosed at an early stage. This paper presents the development of a Heart Failure Management System, based on daily monitoring of Vital Body Signals, with wearable and mobile technologies, for the continuous assessment of this chronic disease. The System makes use of the latest technologies for monitoring heart condition, both with wearable garments (e.g. for measuring ECG and Respiration); and portable devices (such as Weight Scale and Blood Pressure Cuff) both with Bluetooth capabilities

Methodology for the design of offshore wind farms

Although still in an early stage, offshore wind development is now characterized by a boom process. This leads to the necessity of applying an integral management model for the design of offshore wind facilities, being the purpose of the model to achieve technical, economical and environmental viability, all within a sustainable development framework. The foregoing led to the research project exposed in this paper, consisting of drawing up an offshore wind farms methodological proposal; this methodology has a global and/or general nature or point of view whilst searching for optimization of the overall process of operations leading to the design of this type of installations and establishing collated theoretical bases for the further development of management tools. This methodological proposal follows a classical engineering thought scheme: it begins with the alternatives study, and ends with the detailed design. With this in mind, the paper includes the following sections: introduction, methodology used for the research project, conditioning factors, methodological proposal for the design of offshore wind farms, checking the methodological proposal, and conclusions

An investigation of the performance of a new Mechanical thrombectomy device using Bond Graph modelling: application to the extraction of blood clots in the middle cerebral artery

A number of thrombectomy devices using a variety of methods have now been developed to facilitate clot removal. We present research involving one such experimental device recently developed in the UK, called a ‘GP’ Thrombus Aspiration Device (GPTAD). This device has the potential to bring about the extraction of a thrombus. Although the device is at a relatively early stage of development, the results look encouraging. In this work, we present an analysis and modeling of the GPTAD by means of the bond graph technique; it seems to be a highly effective method of simulating the device under a variety of conditions. Such modeling is useful in optimizing the GPTAD and predicting the result of clot extraction. The aim of this simulation model is to obtain the minimum pressure necessary to extract the clot and to verify that both the pressure and the time required to complete the clot extraction are realistic for use in clinical situations, and are consistent with any experimentally obtained data. We therefore consider aspects of rheology and mechanics in our modeling.

Self-learning of fault diagnosis identification

A good and early fault detection and isolation system along with efficient alarm management and fine sensor validation systems are very important in today¿s complex process plants, specially in terms of safety enhancement and costs reduction. This paper presents a methodology for fault characterization. This is a self-learning approach developed in two phases. An initial, learning phase, where the simulation of process units, without and with different faults, will let the system (in an automated way) to detect the key variables that characterize the faults. This will be used in a second (on line) phase, where these key variables will be monitored in order to diagnose possible faults. Using this scheme the faults will be diagnosed and isolated in an early stage where the fault still has not turned into a failure.

Games based learning for Exploring Cultural Conflict

In this paper we discuss the early stage design of MIXER, a technology enhance educational application focused at supporting children in learning about cultural conflict, achieved through the use of a game with an effective embodied AI agent. MIXER is being developed re-using existing technology applied to a different context and purpose with the aim of creating an educational and enjoyable experience for 9-11 year olds. This paper outlines MIXER’s underpinning technology and theory. It presents early stage design and development, highlighting current research directions.

Developing front-end Web 2.0 technologies to access services, content and things in the future Internet

The future Internet is expected to be composed of a mesh of interoperable web services accessible from all over the web. This approach has not yet caught on since global user?service interaction is still an open issue. This paper states one vision with regard to next-generation front-end Web 2.0 technology that will enable integrated access to services, contents and things in the future Internet. In this paper, we illustrate how front-ends that wrap traditional services and resources can be tailored to the needs of end users, converting end users into prosumers (creators and consumers of service-based applications). To do this, we propose an architecture that end users without programming skills can use to create front-ends, consult catalogues of resources tailored to their needs, easily integrate and coordinate front-ends and create composite applications to orchestrate services in their back-end. The paper includes a case study illustrating that current user-centred web development tools are at a very early stage of evolution. We provide statistical data on how the proposed architecture improves these tools. This paper is based on research conducted by the Service Front End (SFE) Open Alliance initiative.

Non invasive moisture measurement in agricultural fiel using a rolling spherical robot

Irrigation management in large crop fields is a very important practice. Since the farm management costs and the crop results are directly connected with the environmental moisture, water control optimization is a critical factor for agricultural practices, as well as for the planet sustainability. Usually, the crop humidity is measured through the water stress index (WSI), using imagery acquired from satellites or airplanes. Nevertheless, these tools have a significant cost, lack from availability, and dependability from the weather. Other alternative is to recover to ground tools, such as ground vehicles and even static base stations. However, they have an outstanding impact in the farming process, since they can damage the cultivation and require more human effort. As a possible solution to these issues, a rolling ground robot have been designed and developed, enabling non-invasive measurements within crop fields. This paper addresses the spherical robot system applied to intra-crop moisture measurements. Furthermore, some experiments were carried out in an early stage corn field in order to build a geo-referenced WSI map.

The Threads of Biosystems Engineering

The core concepts, or threads, of Biosystems Engineering (BSEN) are variously understood by those within the discipline, but have never been unequivocally defined due to its early stage of development. This makes communication and teaching difficult compared to other well established engineering subjects. Biosystems Engineering is a field of Engineering which int egrates engineering science and design with applied biological, environmental and agricultural sciences. It represents an evolution of the Agricultural Engineering discipline applied to all living organisms not including biomedical applications. The basic key element for the emerging EU Biosystems Engineering program of studies is to ensure that it offers essential minimum fundamental engine ering knowledge and competences . A core curriculum developed by Erasmus Thematic Networks is used as benchmark for Agr icultural and Biosystems Engineering studies in Europe. The common basis of the core curriculum for the discipline across the Atlantic , including a minimum of competences comprising the Biosystems Engineering core competencies, has been defined by an Atlan tis project , but this needs to be taken further by defining the threads linking courses together. This paper presents a structured approach to define the Threads of BSEN . The definition of the mid-level competences and the associated learning outcomes has been one of the objectives of the Atlantis programme TABE.NET. The mid-level competences and learning outcomes for each of six specializations of BSEN are defined while the domain-specific knowledge to be acquired for each outcome is proposed. Once the proposed definitions are adopted, these threads will be available for global development of the BSEN.