ALBERT

Description: Large peridotite massifs are scattered along the 1500 km length of the Yarlung–Zangbo Suture Zone (southern Tibet, China), the major suture between Asia and Greater India. Diamonds occur in the peridotites and chromitites of several massifs, together with an extensive suite of trace phases that indicate extremely low f O 2 (SiC, nitrides, carbides, native elements) and/or ultrahigh pressures (UHP) (diamond, TiO 2 II, coesite, possible stishovite). New physical and isotopic (C, N) studies of the diamonds indicate that they are natural, crystallized in a disequilibrium, high- T environment, and spent only a short time at mantle temperatures before exhumation and cooling. These constraints are difficult to reconcile with previous models for the history of the diamond-bearing rocks. Possible evidence for metamorphism in or near the upper part of the Transition Zone includes the following: (1) chromite (in disseminated, nodular and massive chromitites) containing exsolved pyroxenes and coesite, suggesting inversion from a high- P polymorph of chromite; (2) microstructural studies suggesting that the chromitites recrystallized from fine-grained, highly deformed mixtures of wadsleyite and an octahedral polymorph of chromite; (3) a new cubic Mg-silicate, with the space group of ringwoodite but an inverse-spinel structure (all Si in octahedral coordination); (4) harzburgites with coarsely vermicular symplectites of opx + Cr–Al spinel ± cpx; reconstructions suggest that these are the breakdown products of majoritic garnets, with estimated minimum pressures to 〉 13 GPa. Evidence for a shallow pre-metamorphic origin for the chromitites and peridotites includes the following: (1) trace-element data showing that the chromitites are typical of suprasubduction-zone (SSZ) chromitites formed by magma mixing or mingling, consistent with Hf-isotope data from magmatic (375 Ma) zircons in the chromitites; (2) the composition of the new cubic Mg-silicate, which suggests a low- P origin as antigorite, subsequently dehydrated; (3) the peridotites themselves, which carry the trace element signature of metasomatism in an SSZ environment, a signature that must have been imposed before the incorporation of the UHP and low- f O 2 phases. A proposed P – T – t path involves the original formation of chromitites in mantle-wedge harzburgites, subduction of these harzburgites at c . 375 Ma, residence in the upper Transition Zone for 〉200 Myr, and rapid exhumation at c . 170–150 Ma or 130–120 Ma. Os-isotope data suggest that the subducted mantle consisted of previously depleted subcontinental lithosphere, dragged down by a subducting oceanic slab. Thermomechanical modeling shows that roll-back of a (much later) subducting slab would produce a high-velocity channelized upwelling that could exhume the buoyant harzburgites (and their chromitites) from the Transition Zone in 〈 10 Myr. This rapid upwelling, which may explain some characteristics of the diamonds, appears to have brought some massifs to the surface in forearc or back-arc basins, where they provided a basement for oceanic crust. This model can reconcile many apparently contradictory petrological and geological datasets. It also defines an important, previously unrecognized geodynamic process that may have operated along other large suture zones such as the Urals.

Description: The human Y box-binding protein-1 (YB-1) is a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)/ribonucleic acid (RNA)-binding protein with pleiotropic functions. Besides its roles in the regulation of transcription and translation, several recent studies indicate that YB-1 is a spliceosome-associated protein and is involved in alternative splicing, but the underlying mechanism has remained elusive. Here, we define both CAUC and CACC as high-affinity binding motifs for YB-1 by systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX) and demonstrate that these newly defined motifs function as splicing enhancers. Interestingly, on the endogenous CD44 gene, YB-1 appears to mediate a network interaction to activate exon v5 inclusion via multiple CAUC motifs in both the alternative exon and its upstream polypyrimidine tract. We provide evidence that YB-1 activates splicing by facilitating the recruitment of U2AF65 to weak polypyrimidine tracts through direct protein–protein interactions. Together, these findings suggest a vital role of YB-1 in activating a subset of weak 3' splice sites in mammalian cells.

Description: Abnormal axonal connectivity and hyperactive mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) are shared features of several neurological disorders. Hyperactive mTORC1 alters axon length and polarity of hippocampal neurons in vitro , but the impact of hyperactive mTORC1 on axon growth in vivo and the mechanisms underlying those effects remain unclear. Using in utero electroporation during corticogenesis, we show that increasing mTORC1 activity accelerates axon growth without multiple axon formation. This was prevented by counteracting mTORC1 signaling through p70S6Ks (S6K1/2) or eukaryotic initiation factor 4E-binding protein (4E-BP1/2), which both regulate translation. In addition to regulating translational targets, S6K1 indirectly signals through GSK3β, a regulator of axogenesis. Although blocking GSK3β activity did not alter axon growth under physiological conditions in vivo , blocking it using a dominant-negative mutant or lithium chloride prevented mTORC1-induced accelerated axon growth. These data reveal the contribution of translational and non-translational downstream effectors such as GSK3β to abnormal axon growth in neurodevelopmental mTORopathies and open new therapeutic options for restoring long-range connectivity.

Description: SUMMARY In this paper, we conduct ambient noise seismic tomography of northwestern China and adjacent regions. The data include 9 months (2009 January to 2009 September) three-component continuous data recorded at 146 seismic stations of newly upgraded China Provincial Digital Seismic Networks and regional Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan networks. Empirical Rayleigh and Love wave Green's functions are obtained from interstation cross-correlations. Group velocity dispersion curves for both Rayleigh and Love waves between 7 and 50 s periods were measured for each interstation path by applying the multiple-filter analysis method with phase-matched processing. The group velocity maps show clear lateral variations which correlate well with major geological structures and tectonic units in the study region. Shear wave velocity structures are inverted from Rayleigh wave and love wave dispersion maps. The results show that the Tibetan Plateau has a very thick crust with a low-velocity zone in its mid-lower crust. Along the northern margin of the plateau where a steep topographic gradient is present, the low-velocity zone does not extend to the Tarim basin which may indicate that crustal materials beneath the Tarim basin are colder and stronger than beneath the plateau, therefore inhibit the extension of mid-lower crustal flow and deformation of the Tibetan Plateau, resulting in very sharp topography contrasts. In the northeastern margin with a gentle topographic gradient toward the Ordos platform, the low-velocity zone diminishes around the eastern KunLun fault. Meanwhile, our results reveal obvious lateral velocity changes in the crust beneath the Tarim basin. In the upper crust, the Manjaer depression in the eastern Tarim basin is featured with very low velocities and the Bachu uplift in the western Tarim basin with high velocities; in the mid-lower crust, the northern Tarim basin in general displays lower velocities than the southern part along latitude ∼40° N with an east–west striking, which is consistent with the high magnetic anomaly zone and may be related to the central suture belt connecting the south and north of Tarim basement blocks together in Pre-Sinian.

Description: We have identified 227 new spectroscopic white-dwarf + main-sequence (WDMS) binaries from the ninth data release (DR9) of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The SDSS spectra of the newly found WDMS binaries with a DA white dwarf and an M-dwarf are analysed based on a spectral decomposition/fitting method. We obtain the effective temperatures, surface gravities and masses of the white dwarf, together with the spectral types and metallicities of the secondary star. Two independent distance estimates are derived from the flux-scaling factors between the WDMS SDSS spectra and the white dwarf and M-dwarf model spectra. We find that about 25 per cent of the newly found WDMS binaries show a significant discrepancy between the two distance estimates. This might be caused by the effects of M-dwarf stellar activity or irradiation of the M-dwarf companions by the white dwarf. The stellar parameter distributions are used to investigate the global properties of the newly found WDMS binaries. We find that the WDMS binaries with a low signal-to-noise ratio (S/N ≤ 4.0) usually have a massive DA white dwarf component with a higher surface gravity, and the metallicity is usually significantly different from solar. This suggests that the observational selection effects and the spectral S/N of the WDMS binaries have a significant influence on the determinations of these physical parameters of WDMS binaries.

Description: As the microblogging systems such as Twitter and Sina Weibo become more and more popular in recent years, the requirement for real-time and personalized search over microblogging systems also becomes more important. In general, a user may expect a quick response that also satisfies her personalized requirements. Unfortunately, since there exist a huge number of users and massive updating microblogs in a microblogging system, personalized search on the system becomes a challenging task. In this paper, we design a new search engine containing four modules to infer the topics of microblogs and update the interests of users, build indexes efficiently, return microblogs for a keyword search, and personalize the order of microblogs, respectively. We also conduct a series of experiments on a real dataset to illustrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed methods.

Description: This investigation analyzes the thermal efficiency and pollutant emissions of a pressurized submerged combustion evaporator (PSCE). Experimental results show that our novel PSCE design can reduce NO x emissions to 12 mg/kg with increased submergence depth and CO emissions to 5.56 mg/kg when using an excess air coefficient of 〈1. As the excess air coefficient increases from 0.872 to 1.582, NO x emissions increase from 9.18 to 20.16 mg/kg, while CO emissions drop to zero. Therefore, it is the excess air coefficient, rather than the submergence depth, that plays a key role in controlling pollutant emissions. Water evaporation using this apparatus has a gross thermal efficiency of 95.2%.

Description: Fuchs’ endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD) is the most common repeat expansion disorder. FECD impacts 4% of U.S. population and is the leading indication for corneal transplantation. Most cases are caused by an expanded intronic CUG tract in the TCF4 gene that forms nuclear foci, sequesters splicing factors and impairs splicing. We investigated the sense and antisense RNA landscape at the FECD gene and find that the sense-expanded repeat transcript is the predominant species in patient corneas. In patient tissue, sense foci number were negatively correlated with age and showed no correlation with sex. Each endothelial cell has ∼2 sense foci and each foci is single RNA molecule. We designed antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) to target the mutant-repetitive RNA and demonstrated potent inhibition of foci in patient-derived cells. Ex vivo treatment of FECD human corneas effectively inhibits foci and reverses pathological changes in splicing. FECD has the potential to be a model for treating many trinucleotide repeat diseases and targeting the TCF4 expansion with ASOs represents a promising therapeutic strategy to prevent and treat FECD.