Geochemistry, isotopic ratios and aldehyde concentrations of frost flowers, snow and ice near Barrow, Alaska

Frost flowers, intricate featherlike crystals that grow on refreezing sea ice leads, have been implicated in lower atmospheric chemical reactions. Few studies have presented chemical composition information for frost flowers over time and many of the chemical species commonly associated with Polar tropospheric reactions have never been reported for frost flowers. We undertook this study on the sea ice north of Barrow, Alaska to quantify the major ion, stable oxygen and hydrogen isotope, alkalinity, light absorbance by soluble species, organochlorine, and aldehyde composition of seawater, brine, and frost flowers. For many of these chemical species we present the first measurements from brine or frost flowers. Results show that major ion and alkalinity concentrations, stable isotope values, and major chromophore (NO3- and H2O2) concentrations are controlled by fractionation from seawater and brine. The presence of these chemical species in present and future sea ice scenarios is somewhat predictable. However, aldehydes, organochlorine compounds, light absorbing species, and mercury (part 2 of this research and Sherman et al. (2012, doi:10.1029/2011JD016186)) are deposited to frost flowers through less predictable processes that probably involve the atmosphere as a source. The present and future concentrations of these constituents in frost flowers may not be easily incorporated into future sea ice or lower atmospheric chemistry scenarios. Thinning of Arctic sea ice will likely present more open sea ice leads where young ice, brine, and frost flowers form. How these changing ice conditions will affect the interactions between ice, brine, frost flowers and the lower atmosphere is unknown.

Stable oxygen isotope and Mg/Ca data of Globigerinoides ruber white, water stable oxygen isotope data, SST and MAT records of sediment core GeoB6211-2

During Termination 1, millennial-scale weakening events of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) supposedly produced major changes in sea surface temperatures (SSTs) of the western South Atlantic, and in mean air temperatures (MATs) over southeastern South America. It has been suggested, for instance, that the Brazil Current (BC) would strengthen (weaken) and the North Brazil Current (NBC) would weaken (strengthen) during slowdown (speed-up) events of the AMOC. This anti-phase pattern was claimed to be a necessary response to the decreased North Atlantic heat piracy during periods of weak AMOC. However, the thermal evolution of the western South Atlantic and the adjacent continent is so far largely unknown. Here we address this issue, presenting high-temporal-resolution SST and MAT records from the BC and southeastern South America, respectively. We identify a warming in the western South Atlantic during Heinrich Stadial 1 (HS1), which is followed first by a drop and then by increasing temperatures during the Bølling-Allerød, in phase with an existing SST record from the NBC. Additionally, a similar SST evolution is shown by a southernmost eastern South Atlantic record, suggesting a South Atlantic-wide pattern in SST evolution during most of Termination 1. Over southeastern South America, our MAT record shows a two-step increase during Termination 1, synchronous with atmospheric CO2 rise (i.e., during the second half of HS1 and during the Younger Dryas), and lagging abrupt SST changes by several thousand years. This delay corroborates the notion that the long duration of HS1 was fundamental in driving the Earth out of the last glacial.

Construction of a precise early Eocene orbital cyclostratigraphy for DSDP Site 80-550 from the Goban Spur, North Atlantic

We constructed a precise early Eocene orbital cyclostratigraphy for DSDP Site 550 (Leg 80, Goban Spur, North Atlantic) utilizing precession related cycles as represented in a high resolution X-Ray Fluorescence based Barium core log. Based on counting of those cycles, we constrain the exact timing of two volcanic ash layers in Site 550 which correlate to ashes +19 and -17 of the Fur Formation in Denmark. The ashes, relative to the onset of the Paleocene/Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), are offset by 862 kyr and 672 kyr, respectively. When combined with published absolute ages for ash -17, the absolute age for the onset of the PETM is consistent with astronomically calibrated ages. Using the current absolute age of 28.02 Ma for the Fish Canyon Tuff (FCT) standard for calibrating the absolute age of ash -17 is consistent with tuning option 2 in the astronomically calibrated Paleocene time scale of Westerhold et al. (2008) [Westerhold, T., Röhl, U., Raffi, I., Fornaciari, E., Monechi, S., Reale, V., Bowles, J., and Evans, H.F., 2008, Astronomical calibration of the Paleocene time: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, v. 257, p. 377-403]. Using the recently recalibrated absolute age of 28.201 Ma for the FCT standard is consistent with tuning option 3 in the astronomically calibrated Paleocene time scale. The new results do not support the existence of any additional 405-kyr cycle in the early Paleocene astronomically tuned time scale.

Estimates of %NCW bathing deep North Atlantic (IODP Site 306-U1313) over the past ~3.3 Ma

The circulation and internal structure of the oceans exert a strong influence on Earth's climate because they control latitudinal heat transport and the segregation of carbon between the atmosphere and the abyss (Sigman et al., 2010, doi:10.1038/nature09149). Circulation change, particularly in the Atlantic Ocean, is widely suggested (Bartoli et al., 2005, doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2005.06.020; Haug and Tiedemann, 1998, doi:10.1038/31447; Woodard et al., 2014, doi:10.1126/science.1255586; McKay et al., 2012, doi:10.1073/pnas.1112248109) to have been instrumental in the intensification of Northern Hemisphere glaciation when large ice sheets first developed on North America and Eurasia during the late Pliocene, approximately 2.7 million years ago (Bailey et al., 2013, doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.06.004). Yet the mechanistic link and cause/effect relationship between ocean circulation and glaciation are debated. Here we present new records of North Atlantic Ocean structure using the carbon and neodymium isotopic composition of marine sediments recording deep water for both the Last Glacial to Holocene (35-5 thousand years ago) and the late Pliocene to earliest Pleistocene (3.3-2.4 million years ago). Our data show no secular change. Instead we document major southern-sourced water incursions into the deep North Atlantic during prominent glacials from 2.7 million years ago. Our results suggest that Atlantic circulation acts as a positive feedback rather than as an underlying cause of late Pliocene Northern Hemisphere glaciation. We propose that, once surface Southern Ocean stratification (Sigman, et al., 2004, doi:10.1038/nature02357) and/or extensive sea-ice cover (McKay et al., 2012, doi:10.1073/pnas.1112248109) was established, cold-stage expansions of southern-sourced water such as those documented here enhanced carbon dioxide storage in the deep ocean, helping to increase the amplitude of glacial cycles.

Long chain alkyl diol distribution in Arabian Sea surface sediments

Oxygen exposure has a large impact on lipid biomarker preservation in surface sediments and may affect the application of organic proxies used for reconstructing past environmental conditions. To determine its effect on long chain alkyl diol and keto-ol based proxies, the distributions of these lipids was studied in nine surface sediments from the Murray Ridge in the Arabian Sea obtained from varying water depths (900 to 3000 m) but in close lateral proximity and, therefore, likely receiving a similar particle flux. Due to substantial differences in bottom water oxygen concentration (<3 to 77 µmol/L) and sedimentation rate, substantial differences exist in the time the biomarker lipids are exposed to oxygen in the sediment. Long chain alkyl diol and keto-ol concentrations in the surface sediments (0-0.5 cm) decreased progressively with increasing oxygen exposure time, suggesting increased oxic degradation. The 1,15-keto-ol/diol ratio (DOXI) increased slightly with oxygen exposure time as diols had apparently slightly higher degradation rates than keto-ols. The ratio of 1,14- vs. 1,13- or 1,15-diols, used as upwelling proxies, did not show substantial changes. However, the C30 1,15-diol exhibited a slightly higher degradation rate than C28 and C30 1,13-diols, and thus the Long chain Diol Index (LDI), used as sea surface temperature proxy, showed a negative correlation with the maximum residence time in the oxic zone of the sediment, resulting in ca. 2-3.5 °C change, when translated to temperature. The UK'37 index did not show significant changes with increasing oxygen exposure. This suggests that oxic degradation may affect temperature reconstructions using the LDI in oxic settings and where oxygen concentrations have varied substantially over time.

Petroleum System Analysis: Middle Magdalena Valley Basin, Colombia, South America

The purpose of this study is to create a petroleum system model and to assess whether or not the La Luna Formation has potential for unconventional exploration and production in the Middle Magdalena Valley Basin (MMVB), Colombia. Today, the Magdalena River valley is an intermontane valley located between the Central and Eastern Cordillera of Colombia. The underlying basin, however, represents a major regional sedimentary basin that received deposits from the Triassic through the Cenozoic. In recent years Colombia has been of great exploration interest because of its potentially vast hydrocarbon resources, existing petroleum infrastructure, and skilled workforce. Since the early 1900s when the MMVB began producing, it has led to discoveries of 1.9 billion barrels of oil (BBO) and 2.5 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas (Willatt et al., 2012). Colombia is already the third largest producer of oil in South America, and there is good potential for additional unconventional exploration and production in the Cretaceous source rocks (Willatt et al., 2012). Garcia Gonzalez et al. (2009) estimate the potential remaining hydrocarbons in the La Luna Formation in the MMVB to be between 1.15 and 10.33 billion barrels of oil equivalent (BBOE; P90 and P10 respectively), with 2.02 BBOE cumulative production to date. Throughout the 1900s and early 2000s, Cenozoic continental and transitional clastic reservoirs were the primary exploration interest in the MMVB (Dickey, 1992). The Cretaceous source rocks, such as the La Luna Formation, are now the target for unconventional exploration and production. In the MMVB, the La Luna formation is characterized by relatively high total organic carbon (TOC) values, moderate maturity, and adequate thickness and depth (Veigal and Dzelalijal, 2014). The La Luna Formation is composed of Cenomanian-Santonian aged shales, marls, and limestones (Veigal and Dzelalijal, 2014). In addition to the in-situ hydrocarbons, the fractured limestones in the La Luna formation act as secondary reservoirs for light oil from other formations (Veigal and Dzelalijal, 2014). Thus the system can be considered more of a hybrid play, rather than a pure unconventional play. The Cretaceous source rocks of the MMVB exhibit excellent potential for unconventional exploration and production. Due to the complex structural nature of the MMVB, an understanding of the distribution of rocks and variations in rock qualities is essential for reducing risk in this play.

O IMPACTO DAS POLÍTICAS E PRÁTICAS DE RECURSOS HUMANOS SOBRE OS COMPORTAMENTOS DE CIDADANIA ORGANIZACIONAL

O objetivo deste estudo é investigar se as políticas e práticas de recursos humanos (PPRH) impactam os comportamentos de cidadania organizacional (CCO), a fim de proporcionar aos gestores uma compreensão de como os indivíduos, tão diferentes entre si, comportam-se dentro e fora da organização diante daquilo que lhes é estabelecido pela área de recursos humanos. No campo teórico, foram consideradas as obras de Milkovich e Boudreau (1994), Dessler (2002), Demo et al. (2012) entre outros para abordar a questão de PPRH e os trabalhos de Handy (1978), Organ (1990), Siqueira (2003) entre outros para a temática CCO. A metodologia utilizada nesse estudo trata-se de uma pesquisa quantitativa entre 156 trabalhadores de empresas públicas, privadas e mistas localizadas no Estado de São Paulo, sendo que para a captação dos dados foram aplicados questionários de autopreenchimento, composto por duas escalas, sendo uma voltada a PPRH (DEMO et al., 2012) e outra cujas questões são relacionadas a CCO (BASTOS et al., 2014). Como resultados, identificou-se que PPRH impacta de forma significativa CCO e que a política de envolvimento, que trata da criação de um vínculo afetivo entre a organização e seus colaboradores, contribuindo para o seu bem-estar em termos de reconhecimento, relacionamento, participação e comunicação (Demo et al., 2012, p.38), é a única que impacta de forma significativa CCO, se comparados aos impactos causados pelas políticas de recrutamento e seleção, treinamento e desenvolvimento, condições de trabalho, avaliação de desempenho e remuneração e recompensas. Conclui-se também que o conjunto de PPRH impacta com maior significância os fatores de CCO denominados divulgação da imagem organizacional e sugestões criativas. Não houve impacto significativo entre PPRH e o fator cooperação com os colegas.

Truthiness and falsiness of trivia claims depend on judgmental contexts

When people rapidly judge the truth of claims presented with or without related but nonprobative photos, the photos tend to inflate the subjective truth of those claims-a "truthiness" effect (Newman et al., 2012). For example, people more often judged the claim "Macadamia nuts are in the same evolutionary family as peaches" to be true when the claim appeared with a photo of a bowl of macadamia nuts than when it appeared alone. We report several replications of that effect and 3 qualitatively new findings: (a) in a within-subjects design, when people judged claims paired with a mix of related, unrelated, or no photos, related photos produced truthiness but unrelated photos had no significant effect relative to no photos; (b) in a mixed design, when people judged claims paired with related (or unrelated) and no photos, related photos produced truthiness and unrelated photos produced "falseness;" and © in a fully between design, when people judged claims paired with either related, unrelated, or no photos, neither truthiness nor falsiness occurred. Our results suggest that photos influence people's judgments when a discrepancy arises in the expected ease of processing, and also support a mechanism in which-against a backdrop of an expected standard-related photos help people generate pseudoevidence to support claims. (PsycINFO Database Record)

DSM-5 Autism Spectrum Disorder:in search of essential behaviours for diagnosis

Background: Despite initial concerns about the sensitivity of the proposed diagnostic criteria for DSM-5 Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD; e.g. Gibbs et al., 2012; McPartland et al., 2012), evidence is growing that the DSM-5 criteria provides an inclusive description with both good sensitivity and specificity (e.g. Frazier et al., 2012; Kent, Carrington et al., 2013). The capacity of the criteria to provide high levels of sensitivity and specificity comparable with DSM-IV-TR however relies on careful measurement to ensure that appropriate items from diagnostic instruments map onto the new DSM-5 descriptions.Objectives: To use an existing DSM-5 diagnostic algorithm (Kent, Carrington et .al., 2013) to identify a set of ‘essential��� behaviors sufficient to make a reliable and accurate diagnosis of DSM-5 Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) across age and ability level. Methods: Specific behaviors were identified and tested from the recently published DSM-5 algorithm for the Diagnostic Interview for Social and Communication Disorders (DISCO). Analyses were run on existing DISCO datasets, with a total participant sample size of 335. Three studies provided step-by-step development towards identification of a minimum set of items. Study 1 identified the most highly discriminating items (p<.0001). Study 2 used a lower selection threshold than in Study 1 (p<.05) to facilitate better representation of the full DSM-5 ASD profile. Study 3 included additional items previously reported as significantly more frequent in individuals with higher ability. The discriminant validity of all three item sets was tested using Receiver Operating Characteristic curves. Finally, sensitivity across age and ability was investigated in a subset of individuals with ASD (n=190).Results: Study 1 identified an item set (14 items) with good discriminant validity, but which predominantly measured social-communication behaviors (11/14). The Study 2 item set (48 items) better represented the DSM-5 ASD and had good discriminant validity, but the item set lacked sensitivity for individuals with higher ability. The final Study 3 adjusted item set (54 items) improved sensitivity for individuals with higher ability and performance and was comparable to the published DISCO DSM-5 algorithm.Conclusions: This work represents a first attempt to derive a reduced set of behaviors for DSM-5 directly from an existing standardized ASD developmental history interview. Further work involving existing ASD diagnostic tools with community-based and well characterized research samples will be required to replicate these findings and exploit their potential to contribute to a more efficient and focused ASD diagnostic process.

Can psychometric testing be used to explain, predict and measure behavioural competences and the funding resource orchestration of the entrepreneur?

Financing is a critical entrepreneurial activity (Shane et al. 2003) and within the study of entrepreneurship, behaviour has been identified as an area requiring further exploration (Bird et al. 2012). Since 2008 supply side conditions for SMEs have been severe and increasingly entrepreneurs have to bundle or ‘orchestrate’ funding from a variety of sources in order to successfully finance the firm (Wright and Stigliani 2013: p.15). This longitudinal study uses psychometric testing to measure the behavioural competences of a panel of sixty entrepreneurs in the Creative Industries sector. Interviews were conducted over a 3 year period to identify finance finding behaviour. The research takes a pragmatic realism perspective to examine process and the different behavioural competences of entrepreneurs. The predictive qualities of this behaviour are explored in a funding context. The research confirmed a strong behavioural characteristic as validated through interviews and psychometric testing, was an orientation towards engagement and working with other organisations. In a funding context, this manifested itself in entrepreneurs using networks, seeking advice and sharing equity to fund growth. These co-operative, collaborative characteristics are different to the classic image of the entrepreneur as a risk-taker or extrovert. Leadership and achievement orientation were amongst the lowest scores. Three distinctive groups were identified and also shown by subsequent analysis to be a positive contribution to how entrepreneurial behavioural competences can be considered. Belonging to one of these three clusters is a strong predictive indicator of entrepreneurial behaviour – in this context, how entrepreneurs access finance. These Clusters were also proven to have different characteristics in relation to funding outcomes. The study seeks to make a contribution through the development of a methodology for entrepreneurs, policy makers and financial institutions to identify competencies in finding finance and overcome problems in information asymmetry.