ALBERT

Description: Sediment samples (32) from DSDP Holes 516 and 516F, Leg 72 were subjected to INAA (instrumental neutron activation analysis). Thirty-two major, minor and trace elements were determined. Ce anomalies, Ce_a = Ce (obs.)/Ce* (interpolated between La and Nd and relative to the NASC (North American Shale Composite)) = Ce (obs.)/[1.44 La (obs.) + 0.66 Nd (obs.)], in the carbonate phase were obtained. Calculations indicate that the Ce anomaly changed from 0.80 (80 My), 0.68 (67 My) to 0.30 (56 My), 0.27 (39 My) and 0.12–0.43 (avg. 0.26) (15?0.3 My). The Ce anomaly change observed at ~55 My coincides with the Ce anomaly change at ~58 My in marine carbonates from the Walvis Ridge, Hole 525A. These changes are attributed to improved water circulation caused by either the widening of the north-south Atlantic passage, subsidence of the Rio Grande Rise or subsidence of the Romanche Fracture Zone. The ultimate driving force behind the Ce anomaly changes is related to the pH and pO2 of the seawater and also related to global circulation of bottom ocean water and transport of the external terrestrial input from riverine or/and aeolian sources.

Description: The geochemistry of the REE (rare earth elements) in oceanic sediments is discussed, based mainly on samples from DSDP Holes 530A and 530B, Leg 75, and Hole 525A, Leg 74. The proposed mechanisms for incorporation of the REE into the marine carbonate phases are adsorption, chiefly onto the carbonate minerals and on Sc, Hf, and Ta-rich Fe-Mn hydroxide flocs as carbonate coatings. The Ce anomaly of marine carbonate was used as an indicator of paleo-ocean water redox conditions: the bottom water of the Angola Basin was in a reducing condition in the Cretaceous. At ca. 54 My, the South Atlantic water condition became oxidizing, similar to the present seawater redox condition. This change was related to the improvement of circulation due to the widening of South Atlantic and the subsidence of water circulation barriers such as the Walvis Ridge and perhaps the Romanche Fracture Zone. The younger (Eocene-Recent) and older (Albian-Santonian) argillaceous sedimentary rocks from 530A (denoted as YSAB and OSAB respectively) show different degrees of Eu depletion with a transition period in between. The REE patterns of OSAB suggest a basaltic origin. The possible sources are Kaoko basalt in Southwest Africa or Namibia and the basaltic Walvis Ridge itself. The decrease in the area covered by Kaoko basalt due to erosion, the subsidence of the Walvis Ridge, and the improvement of water circulation led to changes in the Eu anomaly from Campanian to Paleocene, and resulted in the YSAB REE pattern. Changes in the Sm/Eu, La/Th, Th/Yb, Ti/Al2O3, FeO/Al2O3, and Hf/Al2O3 ratios suggest changes of average source rock composition from and esite to granodiorite. The REE abundances and patterns of younger sediments in the Angola Basin (YSAB) are very similar to those observed in NASC, PAAS, and ES sediments. The YSAB REE abundances and patterns may represent the average REE distribution of the exposed African continental crust. The strong resemblance of REE distributions of YSAB, NASC, PAAS and ES suggests thorough REE mixing from different sources and the uniformity of the average crustal compositions of different continents: Africa, North America, Australia, and Europe.

Description: Journal of Proteome Research DOI: 10.1021/pr4005635

Description: Background: Rapeseed (B. napus, AACC, 2n = 38) is one of the most important oil seed crops in the world, it is also one of the most common oil for production of biodiesel. Its oil is a mixture of various fatty acids and dissection of the genetic network for fatty acids biosynthesis is of great importance for improving seed quality. Results: The genetic basis of fatty acid biosynthesis in B. napus was investigated via quantitative trail locus (QTL) analysis using a doubled haploid (DH) population with 202 lines. A total of 72 individual QTLs and a large number pairs of epistatic interactions associated with the content of 10 different fatty acids were detected. A total of 234 homologous genes of Arabidopsis thaliana that are involved in fatty acid metabolism were found within the confidence intervals (CIs) of 47 QTLs. Among them, 47 and 15 genes homologous to those of B. rapa and B. oleracea were detected, respectively. After the QTL mapping, the epistatic and the candidate gene interaction analysis, a potential regulatory pathway controlling fatty acid biosynthesis in B. napus was constructed, including 50 enzymes encoded genes and five regulatory factors (LEC1, LEC2, FUS3, WRI1 and ABI3). Subsequently, the interaction between these five regulatory factors and the genes involved in fatty acid metabolism were analyzed. Conclusions: In this study, a potential regulatory pathway controlling the fatty acid was constructed by QTL analysis and in silico mapping analysis. These results enriched our knowledge of QTLs for fatty acids metabolism and provided a new clue for genetic engineering fatty acids composition in B. napus.

Description: PIK3CA mutations confer resistance to first-line chemotherapy in colorectal cancer PIK3CA mutations confer resistance to first-line chemotherapy in colorectal cancer, Published online: 03 July 2018; doi:10.1038/s41419-018-0776-6 PIK3CA mutations confer resistance to first-line chemotherapy in colorectal cancer

Description: Author(s): Chang-kai Li, Fei Mao, Feng Wang, Yan-long Fu, Xiao-ping Ouyang, and Feng-Shou Zhang Nonadiabatic dynamics simulations are performed to investigate the electronic stopping power of a helium ion moving through ZnTe crystalline thin films under channeling conditions. Using ab initio time-dependent density-functional theory, we found by direct simulation that electronic stopping power … [Phys. Rev. A 95, 052706] Published Mon May 22, 2017

Description: In this paper, automatic control of the water level in an irrigation canal by automatic regulation of intermediate gates was studied. Previous scholars have proposed a water level difference control strategy that works to keep relative deviations in all pools the same for a particular situation where the operator does not have full control over the canal inflow, with the centralized linear quadratic regulator (LQR) control method used. While in practice, the deviation tolerance of pools may differ in some canals which limits the applicability of the control strategy. In this work, a weight coefficient was added to the deviation and the algorithm was improved to keep the relative deviations to certain proportions. The model predictive control (MPC) method was then used with this improved control strategy and was compared to the LQR control method using the same control strategy. The results showed that the improved strategy can keep the water level deviations in all pools to certain proportions, as is our objective. Also, under this difference control strategy, the MPC method greatly improved the control performance compared to the LQR control method.