Early Episodes Research Articles

Adaptive instruction that supports collective argumentation

When a classroom environment is designed to foster student sense-making and reasoning, resulting in collective argumentation, the teacher’s support for collective argumentation requires adaptive teaching. This paper examines the teacher’s adaptive support for argumentation during the teaching of mathematics in a digital environment that simulated a laboratory experiment. The teacher and twenty 15-year-old students engaged in multiple episodes of argumentation during the class. Adaptiveness of instruction is evidenced by the teacher’s actions in support of collective argumentation both within and across episodes of argumentation. Within episodes, the kinds of questions and other supportive actions reveal the teacher’s focus on adapting instruction with respect to the utterances, gestures, and observations of the students. Across episodes, the teacher’s support for collective argumentation differed from the beginning of class to the end as evidenced by the number of questions asked in early episodes of argumentation and the preponderance of repeating actions later in the class session.

MO992: Is It Safe to Receive Kidneys from Deceased Kidney Donors Who Tested Positive for Covid-19 Infection?

BACKGROUND AND AIMSOur modern world is facing extraordinary circumstances while passing through a serious pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) which may lead to multi-organ system failure and death. COVID-19 deaths may provide a potential source for kidneys available for transplantation. In our study, we are discussing the safety of receiving kidneys from donors who tested positive for the novel coronavirus.METHODAll renal transplant recipients registered in UNOS database who had their transplants between 1 March 2020 and 1 June 2021 were retrospectively reviewed. Patients who received kidney transplants from a deceased donor with positive PCR of COVID-19 test were included in our study. Patients were followed up till 1 July 2021. Data about recipient factors (age, sex, ethnicity, diabetes and date of renal transplant), transplant factors (type of induction therapy, maintenance immunosuppressive therapy, delayed graft functions, early post-operative rejection episodes, HLA mismatch, PRA level and cold ischemia time) and donor factors (age, sex, ethnicity, diabetes, hypertension, date of COVID-19 test and type of COVID-19 test) were collected. Outcome measured were post-transplant hospitalisation, acute rejection, delayed graft function, patient, and graft survival till the end of the follow-up.RESULTSEighty-six transplant patients received kidneys from deceased donors who tested positive for COVID-19 infection using PCR test. Sixty patients received kidneys from deceased patients who tested positive for COVID-19 within 30 days pre-transplant. Twenty-six patients received kidneys from deceased patients who tested positive for COVID-19 between 30 and 90 days pre-transplant. Number of post-transplant hospitalisation and acute rejection episodes were nil. 19.76% of the patients had delayed graft functions. Graft loss occurred in one patient due to graft vein thrombosis. Patient survival was 100%.CONCLUSIONReceiving kidneys from deceased donors who tested positive for COVID-19 infection seems safe and does not affect hospitalisation, acute rejection rates, graft or patient survival. Longer follow-up is needed to confirm our results.

Border zone repolarization duration as a predictor of early ischemic ventricular fibrillation

Ventricular fibrillation (VF) is a dangerous complication of acute myocardial infarction. Within an episode of acute ischemia, VFs are clustered into early (1A) and delayed (1B) phases based on different mechanisms. Our previous work demonstrated that prolonged repolarization duration in the border zone predisposed to VF development. A prolongation of action potential duration in the affected area is a frequent though not inevitable change at the very beginning of ischemia. However, the role of this phenomenon in arrhythmogenesis is unclear. The objective of the present study was to evaluate an association between early (1A phase) VF with repolarization duration in the border zone in an experimental porcine myocardial infarction model.Myocardial ischemia was induced in 19 anesthetized domestic pigs by ligation of the left anterior descending (n=9) or left circumflex (n=10) coronary arteries. Epicardial mapping was done with a 64‐lead epicardial array placed on the affected area with adjacent regions. Recordings were done in the baseline state and during ischemia with a custom‐designed system (16 bits; bandwidth 0.05 to 1000 Hz; sampling rate 4000 Hz). Local activation time (AT) and end of repolarization time (RT) were measured in each epicardial lead as the instants of a dV/dt minimum during QRS‑complex and dV/dt maximum during T‑wave, respectively. Activation‐repolarization interval (ARI, a surrogate for action potential duration) was taken as a rate‐corrected difference between RT and AT. Dispersion of repolarization (DOR) was calculated as a difference between the latest and earliest RTs throughout all recorded epicardial leads.Ten early VF episodes developed during first minutes of ischemia (1‐8 min). In logistic regression analysis, VF incidence was associated with ARI duration in the border zone (regression coefficient 1.02, 95% CI 1.003‐1.037, p=0.023), but not DOR (regression coefficient 1.005, 95%CI 0.990‐1.021, p=0.508) during first ten minutes of ischemia. In multivariate logistic regression analysis (baseline ARI duration vs the fact of ARI prolongation), VF incidence was associated only with the baseline ARI duration (regression coefficient 1.025, 95%CI 1.007‐1.044, p=0.005).Our data demonstrated the role of the prolonged repolarization duration in the development of 1A phase VF, which was independent of DOR and related to its baseline duration. Since the border zone is by definition at least partly accessible for blood flow, it may present a target for VF prevention therapy in a setting of acute myocardial ischemia.

Effects of violent media content: Evidence from the rise of the UFC

We document the effect of violent media on crime. Specifically, we evaluate the effects of The Ultimate Fighter, a hit TV show that features fighters competing in violent mixed martial arts and which brought Ultimate Fighting Championship into the mainstream. We estimate the effect of exposure to the show’s earliest episodes using panel data from police agencies across the United States and a strategy that uses network ratings prior to the show’s premier as an instrumental variable. We show that this exposure significantly reduced crime: these effects are particularly evident for assault, began in the month the show premiered, and persisted for many years. These estimates do not reflect systematic differences across geographic areas in their trends in crime rates prior to 2005. To complement our main results, we also investigate the effects of “UFC Main Events,” which air in bars and on Pay-Per-View. This analysis additionally suggests reductions in violence caused by viewership.

Geology, C-H-O isotopes, and muscovite 40Ar-39Ar dating of the Qingbaishan gold deposit: Implications for tectonism and metallogenesis of early Devonian gold deposits in the Beishan orogen, NW China

The Beishan orogen is an economically important gold mineralization belt that hosts more than 20 gold deposits. Most Au orebodies occur within large-scale fault zones, indicating a correlation between structural evolution and gold mineralization. Previous studies have demonstrated that Au mineralization generally developed in the Permian–Triassic; however, pre-Permian gold mineralization and its temporal relationship with tectonic evolution remain poorly understood. The Qingbaishan deposit, located in the Beishan orogen, NW China, is hosted by the Sanjiashan shear zone. A detailed field-based structural analysis revealed that the Sanjiashan shear zone has thrust and sinistral strike-slip characteristics, such as asymmetrical folds and S-C fabrics. The muscovite 40Ar/39Ar age from auriferous quartz shows that the Qingbaishan gold system formed around 399.7 ± 1.6 Ma, consistent with the time of Sanjiashan sinistral ductile shearing in the Beishan orogen. The carbon and oxygen isotope compositions of auriferous quartz suggest that the host rocks within the Precambrian Gudongjin Group would have been a significant source of ore metals and that the low δ18O values in quartz resulted from fluid reactions with 18O-poor host rocks. The Qingbaishan Au deposit is concluded to be a strike-slip-dominated orogenic-type system related to continental collision between the Tarim and Kazakhstan–Ili plates.By integrating the age data obtained from this study with previous geochronological results, two episodes of gold mineralization in Beishan are distinguished: an early episode around 399 Ma, when sinistral strike-slip zone-related orogenic gold deposits formed in a syncollisional setting, and a late episode around 298–231 Ma, when dextral strike-slip deformation produced deposits in a postcollisional extensional setting.

Dynamic Behaviour of Donor Specific Antibodies in the Early Period Following HLA Incompatible Kidney Transplantation.

In HLA-incompatible kidney transplantation, monitoring donor-specific antibodies (DSA) plays a crucial role in providing appropriate treatment and increases kidney survival times. This work aimed to determine if early post-transplant DSA dynamics inform graft outcome over and above other predictive factors. Eighty-eight cases were classified by unsupervised machine learning into five distinct DSA response groups: no response, fast modulation, slow modulation, rise to sustained and sustained. Fast modulation dynamics gave an 80% rate for early acute rejection, whereas the sustained group was associated with the lowest rejection rates (19%). In complete contrast, the five-year graft failure was lowest in the modulation groups (4–7%) and highest in the sustained groups (25–31%). Multivariable analysis showed that a higher pre-treatment DSA level, male gender and absence of early acute rejection were strongly associated with a sustained DSA response. The modulation group had excellent five-year outcomes despite higher rates of early rejection episodes. This work further develops an understanding of post-transplant DSA dynamics and their influence on graft survival following HLA-incompatible kidney transplantation.

Physical and chemical evolution of the largest monogenetic lava field in the Central Andes: El Negrillar Volcanic Field, Chile

El Negrillar volcanic field is one of the most voluminous monogenetic volcanic fields so far identified in the Central Volcanic Zone (CVZ) of the Andes: its lava field comprises 84 eruptive phases from 35 small eruptive centers. The study of this volcanic field offers a unique opportunity to assess the volumetric, morphometric, rheological, and compositional evolution of the effusive activity in an entire monogenetic cluster; the great extent and exposure of these small eruptive centers is difficult to observe in other monogenetic volcanoes from the Central Volcanic Zone, as they normally appear as isolated vents or in small clusters (< 3 eruptive centers) with less associated eruptive phases. Our methodology utilizes GIS mapping tools to outline the different eruptive phases of El Negrillar to create a detailed lava flow map, allowing us to estimate the volume emitted by each eruptive center. This analysis was also possible through the paleoreconstruction of the buried lava flows, allowing the determination of the variation in the magma supply. This yielded a total bulk volume of ~7.6 km3 (6.8 km3 DRE, considering the low vesicle abundance of the eruptive products), which exceeds by more than one order of magnitude the volume emitted by other monogenetic centers from the Salar de Atacama region (e.g., El País lava flow, Tilocálar Norte, Tilocálar Sur, La Albondiga and Cerro Overo). We also determined the composition of the entire effusive activity of El Negrillar; andesitic magmas represent more than 46 vol% of the lava field. We identify three main clusters (i.e., Northern El Negrillar (NEN), Central El Negrillar (CEN), and Southern El Negrillar (SEN)), that revealed a compositional variation together with a change in the calculated morphometrical and rheological parameters, implying the existence of a local trend within the monogenetic lava field. The NEN cluster represents the most differentiated magmatism in the field, characterized by amphibole-rich lavas with almost absent olivine, and the highest crystallinity and vesicle content, which led to an effusive activity sustained for more than 3 years, with lava accumulation predominating over its transport, leading to the shortest and thickest flows of the field. The presence of “cauliflower shape bombs” in an early stage of one of its eruptive centers indicates that the NEN cluster may have been influenced by environmental factors leading to an early explosive episode during its activity. On the contrary, the SEN cluster represents the less differentiated magmatic activity of the field, characterized by olivine-rich lavas with almost absent amphibole, low crystallinity, and poor vesicles content, which along with a large magma supply led to effusive activity sustained for approximately two years where the lava flows achieved the longest distances in the field. The CEN cluster is compositionally closer to the SEN, but morphometrical and rheologically resembling to the NEN, suggesting that it represents an intermediate behavior between the other two clusters.

Giant Left Atrial Thrombus in a Heart Transplant Recipient - Risk Factors and Diagnostic Approach

<h3>Introduction</h3> The left atrium (LA) in heart transplant (HT) recipients is a surgically created chamber from different portions of donor and recipient atria and is thus frequently enlarged. It was hypothesized that remaining sutures and LA enlargement may precipitate LA thrombus (LAT) formation, but LAT following bi-caval anastomosis has seldom been described. We report a case of a giant LAT diagnosed upon routine transthoracic echocardiography in an asymptomatic HT recipient. <h3>Case Report</h3> A 58 y/o man with non-ischemic cardiomyopathy underwent orthotopic HT (bi-caval technique) from a 30 y/o donor with head trauma. Perioperative course and long-term follow up were uneventful, except for an early single self-resolving episode of atrial fibrillation (AF). Chronic aspirin therapy was administered per institutional protocol. The immunosuppression protocol included tacrolimus, mTORi and prednisone. Five years after HT, routine follow up TTE revealed, within a known enlarged LA (AP diameter 56mm, area 30mm²), a new large fixed mass (29*39mm) that had not been evident on previous TTEs done every 3 months. Blood count, electrolytes, and CRP were unremarkable; no arrhythmia was documented. Transesophageal echocardiography revealed a large immobile echogenic mass attached to the interatrial septum (Fig. 1A), and ECG-gated CT revealed a non-contrast enhancing filling defect (36*31*39mm) adjacent to the interatrial septum (Fig. 1B). Cardiac MRI showed a homogenous non-gadolinium enhancing mass adherent to the interatrial septum at the upper pole of the LA. Collectively, these findings were consistent with a diagnosis of LAT. Anticoagulation therapy was initiated, and mTORi was withdrawn; no further embolic events were recorded. <h3>Summary</h3> Remaining sutures, enlarged LA, history of AF and immunosuppressive therapies may play a role in thrombus formation. Systematic echocardiographic surveillance post-HT should be considered for early diagnosis and treatment of this potentially devastating complication.

Prognostic Significance of Early Leukopenia in Heart Transplant Recipients

<h3>Purpose</h3> Although leukopenia is a relatively frequent finding after heart transplantation, its effects on patient outcomes remain poorly defined. We evaluated the long-term prognostic impact of early leukopenia in this patient population. <h3>Methods</h3> We performed a retrospective single-center cohort study in 133 consecutive heart transplant recipients transplanted between January 2009 and September 2016. Recipients with intensified immunosuppression (IS) and patients who died within the first post-transplant year were excluded. All patients received immunoinduction with basiliximab and maintenence IS therapy with tacrolimus (TAC)/mycophenolate mofetil (MMF)/steroids. Infection prophylaxis consisted of posaconasole (6 months), TMP-SMX (life-long) and valgancyclovir (discontinued pending positive Quantiferon-CMV assay). Early leukopenia was defined as any episode of WBC count <4.0x10⁹/L within 12 months after transplantation. Late CMV reactivation was defined as PCR CMV >1000 IU/mL after discontinuation of virostatic therapy. All patients were followed for 5 years. <h3>Results</h3> Within the first post-transplant year, 47 (35%) patients had at least one episode of leukopenia (Group A) and in 86 (65%) no leukopenia was registered (Group B). The two groups did not differ in gender (male; 77% in Group A vs. 86% in Group B, P=0.12), age (57±10 years vs. 54±11 years, P=0.25), heart failure etiology (ischemic: 41% vs. 42%, P=0.97), the presence of hypertension (68% vs. 61%; P=0.34) and diabetes (32% vs. 24%; P=0.23). IS regimen was comparable in both groups and consisted of TAC (mean C0 level 7.4±1.7 μg/mL vs. 7.2±2.1 μg/mL, P=0.41), MMF (mean dose 1979±100 mg vs. 1994±53 mg, P=0.11) and steroids. However, the duration of valgancyclovir therapy was significantly longer in Group A than in Group B (73±143 days vs. 46±97 days, P=0.001). During follow-up, the patients in Group A were more likely to develop malignancy (21% vs. 6% in Group B, P=0.01). We found no differences in late CMV reactivation (12% in Group A vs. 13% in Group B, P=0.98) and 5-year survival (90% vs. 91%; P=0.88) between the two groups. <h3>Conclusion</h3> In heart transplant recipients early leukopenia episodes are likely related to the prolonged use of virostatic therapy and may be associated with increased rates of post-transplant malignancies.

Attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination among patients with early episode psychosis

Attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination among patients with early episode psychosis

Abjection Incorporated: Mediating the Politics of Pleasure and Violence

Abjection Incorporated: Mediating the Politics of Pleasure and Violence

Controls on generation and accumulation of blended gases (CH4/H2/He) in the Neoproterozoic Amadeus Basin, Australia

Various gases are generated in the subsurface, by diagenetic processes, fluid/rock interactions, maturation of petroleum source rocks and microbial activity. Often these gases just leak at the surface but sometimes they may accumulate in a subsurface trap. The present study investigates the case of the southern part of the Amadeus Basin, Australia, where exploration wells tested a blend of hydrocarbon (HC), helium (He) and hydrogen (H2). In Mt Kitty-1 well, He- and H2-rich gases were reported (He ∼9%, H2 ∼11.4%) with traces of HC, whereas C1 and C2+ HC gases associated with He were discovered in Magee-1 well. Seismic and well data elucidate accumulation of the gas blend within a classical subsurface system with a structural trap, a permeable reservoir and a thick salt layer as seal. This salt, the Proterozoic Upper Gillen, is overlying the Heavitree sandstones and fractured basement reservoirs. The former is dominated by intergranular porosity (∼13%), whereas the latter is commonly associated with complex patterns of fractures associated with deep-seated faults. The sources of blended gases are different: thermal cracking of organic matter for hydrocarbons, radiolytic decay of radioelements for helium. Radiolysis, and water reduction as well as oxidation of hydrocarbons are open hypothesizes for H2 generation in the study region. Neoproterozoic and Early Paleozoic tectonic episodes (e.g. Petermann; Alice Springs) allowed the formation of various structural traps where the gas blend was accumulated.The large quantity of He, light gas slowly generated by the crustal radioactivity indicates that the seal is very efficient and that accumulations could have been in place for millions of years very likely with an evolving CH4/H2/He ratios through time. The presence of gas chimneys and surface depressions in the basin indicate that the generation, and/or migration of the gases are still active. All the data are consistent with a long-term accumulation of this gas blend, different from the short term H2 retention in the reservoir that was proposed in other contexts such as in Mali.

Progressive retinal changes in pediatric multiple sclerosis

Objectives To determine to what extent acute demyelinating episodes versus chronic degenerative phenomena drive retinal neuroaxonal damage in pediatric acquired demyelinating syndromes (ADS).Methods We acquired optical coherence tomography (OCT) data (follow-up range: 2 weeks – 5 years, at variable intervals from presentation) in pediatric participants who had multiple sclerosis (MS), monophasic ADS, or were healthy. Multivariable mixed effects models were used to assess the association of the number of demyelinating episodes (either optic neuritis [ON], or non-ON relapses) with changes in retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) or ganglion cell layer-inner plexiform layer (GCIPL) thickness.Results 64 OCT sans from 23 MS, and 33 scans from 12 monophasic ADS participants were compared with 68 scans from 62 healthy participants. The first ON episode had the biggest impact on RNFL or GCIPL thickness in monophasic ADS (RNFL: -7.9 µm, CI=5.5, p = 0.0056; GCIPL: -8.4 µm, CI=4.4, p = 0.0002) and MS (RNFL: -16 µm, CI = 3.7, p < 10−6; GCIPL: -15 µm, CI = 2.6, p < 10−6). Non-ON relapses were also associated with small but significant retinal thickness reductions in MS (RNFL: -2.6 µm/relapse, CI = 1.4, p = 0.0003; GCIPL: -2.8 µm/relapse, CI = 0.89, p < 10−6). MS participants showed progressive GCIPL thinning independent of acute demyelinating episodes (-2.7 µm/year, CI = 1.9, p = 0.0058).Conclusions We showed a prominent impact of early ON episodes on OCT measures of neuroaxonal structure in patients with ADS. We also demonstrated negative effects of non-ON relapses, and the presence of chronic retinal neurodegenerative changes, in youth with MS.

A novel kernel based approach to arbitrary length symbolic data with application to type 2 diabetes risk

Predictive modeling of clinical data is fraught with challenges arising from the manner in which events are recorded. Patients typically fall ill at irregular intervals and experience dissimilar intervention trajectories. This results in irregularly sampled and uneven length data which poses a problem for standard multivariate tools. The alternative of feature extraction into equal-length vectors via methods like Bag-of-Words (BoW) potentially discards useful information. We propose an approach based on a kernel framework in which data is maintained in its native form: discrete sequences of symbols. Kernel functions derived from the edit distance between pairs of sequences may then be utilized in conjunction with support vector machines to classify the data. Our method is evaluated in the context of the prediction task of determining patients likely to develop type 2 diabetes following an earlier episode of elevated blood pressure of 130/80 mmHg. Kernels combined via multi kernel learning achieved an F1-score of 0.96, outperforming classification with SVM 0.63, logistic regression 0.63, Long Short Term Memory 0.61 and Multi-Layer Perceptron 0.54 applied to a BoW representation of the data. We achieved an F1-score of 0.97 on MKL on external dataset. The proposed approach is consequently able to overcome limitations associated with feature-based classification in the context of clinical data.

Platinum-Group Element Geochemistry and Magma Evolution of the Mount Hagen (Papua New Guinea) Magmatic System

Abstract Mount Hagen is a mid-Pleistocene stratovolcano located in the Papua New Guinea Highlands. It was selected for this study because of (1) its close location to several giant Cu–Au porphyry deposits in the region; (2) its high-K calc-alkaline character (absarokite–shoshonite) and (3) its wide compositional range (2 to 12 wt % MgO). Whole-rock geochemistry, petrography and QEMSCAN observations are consistent with fractional crystallisation of the evolving magma being controlled by the phases now represented by the megacrysts in the lavas: olivine and clinopyroxene at high MgO and hornblende and plagioclase at low MgO. However, the role of plagioclase is enigmatic. Although it is an abundant megacryst phase in the low-MgO samples, plagioclase has little or no influence on fractional crystallisation, suggesting that it may be an antecryst. The appearance of plagioclase megacrysts does not slow the rate of increase in Al2O3 or Sr with decreasing sample MgO and the low-MgO samples do not have Eu anomalies. At ~5.5 wt % MgO, there are significant changes in the system that are inconsistent with simple fractional crystallisation. These changes include hornblende and plagioclase replacing olivine and clinopyroxene as the principal megacryst phases, a sharp rise in platinum-group elements (PGE) concentrations, the brief reappearance of high Fo olivine megacrysts and reversed zoning in the plagioclase megacrysts. These changes are interpreted to have resulted from a new pulse of magma entering the system, with higher water, MgO, SiO2 and PGE concentrations than the original parent magma. Scatter in the PGE data is attributed to the presence of micronuggets in all samples, including the most mafic samples. We conclude that the magma system became sulphide saturated during an early stage in its fractionation history, probably before leaving the crust to deep crustal magma chamber, and then became undersaturated as a consequence of decreasing pressure as magma ascended into a mid-crustal magma chamber. The early saturation episode had a pronounced influence on PGE concentration but had little affect Cu and Au, due to their lower partition coefficient into sulphides. The magma became sulphide saturated again in the crustal magma chamber at ~8.5 wt % MgO, this time affecting all chalcophile elements. Given the early episodes of sulphide saturation, depletion in Au in the Mount Hagen magma system and the absence of a known porphyry system, it is unlikely that Mount Hagen produced economic porphyry mineralisation.

Multiplexed droplet single-cell sequencing (Mux-Seq) of normal and transplant kidney

Maintenance of systemic homeostasis by kidney requires the coordinated response of diverse cell types. The use of single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) for patient tissue samples remains fraught with difficulties with cell isolation, purity, and experimental bias. The ability to characterize immune and parenchymal cells during transplant rejection will be invaluable in defining transplant pathology where tissue availability is restricted to needle biopsy fragments. Herein, we present feasibility data for multiplexing approach for droplet scRNAseq (Mux-Seq). Mux-Seq has the potential to minimize experimental batch bias and variation even with very small sample input. In this first proof-of-concept study for this approach, explant tissues from six normal and two transplant recipients after multiple early post-transplant rejection episodes leading to nephrectomy due to aggressive antibody mediated rejection, were pooled for Mux-Seq. A computational tool, Demuxlet was applied for demultiplexing the individual cells from the pooled experiment. Each sample was also applied individually in a single microfluidic run (singleplex) to correlate results with the pooled data from the same sample. Our applied protocol demonstrated that data from Mux-Seq correlated highly with singleplex (Pearson coefficient 0.982) sequencing results, with the ability to identify many known and novel kidney cell types including different infiltrating immune cells. Trajectory analysis of proximal tubule and endothelial cells demonstrated separation between healthy and injured kidney from transplant explant suggesting evolving stages of cell- specific differentiation in alloimmune injury. This study provides the technical groundwork for understanding the pathogenesis of alloimmune injury and host tissue response in transplant rejection and normal human kidney and provides a protocol for optimized processing precious and low input human kidney biopsy tissue for larger scale studies.

Mesozoic-Cenozoic exhumation history and its implications for the uranium mineralization in the southern Junggar Basin, North China

The phases of tectonic activity and exhumation of the southern margin of the Junggar Basin during the Cretaceous through Cenozoic shows significant relationships with the timing of uranium mineralization episodes. To clarify the succession of metallogenetic stages that were controlled by different phases of uplift and exhumation, apatite fission track (AFT) thermochronology was performed on the Jurassic through Cenozoic sediments from the Manas section in the southern Junggar Basin. The mean ages of the AFT suites range from 63 Ma to 133 Ma, and are younger than the host sediment for the Mesozoic samples and older than the host for the Cenozoic samples. The mean track lengths (MTLs) are between 10 and 11 μm. These results indicate that most of the apatite grain assemblages in these samples experienced complicated annealing histories. AFT ages were combined with thermal history modeling to unravel the timing of the multi-phase regional uplift and exhumation history and to reveal the tectonic constraints on the uranium mineralization. The populations of AFT single-grain ages display four peaks, which are interpreted as regional uplift and cooling episodes: mid-Early Jurassic (189–180 Ma), late Jurassic–early Cretaceous (157–116 Ma), late Cretaceous–early Paleocene (88–59 Ma) and late Eocene–early Oligocene (37–28 Ma). Thermal history modeling indicates two episodes of rapid cooling of the basin sediment deposits during the late Cretaceous–Paleocene (80–50 Ma) and the Pliocene (5 Ma)–Present. A synthesis of the temporal relationship between AFT age peaks, of the modeled time–temperature paths, of a compilation of age data and regional geologic events from the Tianshan mountain belt, suggests a close relationship between tectonic evolution and uranium mineralization. Uranium metallogenesis episodes occurred in conjunction with tectonic uplift and exhumation episodes along the southern margin of the Junggar Basin during the late Cretaceous–early Paleogene and during the latest Miocene-Present. The earlier episode was the primary mineralization stage, and the later episode was a partial transformation stage superimposed on the earlier one.

Incidence, Risk Factors and Outcomes of Kidney and Liver Cyst Infection in Kidney Transplant Recipient With ADPKD

IntroductionCyst infection is a known complication of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). Here, we describe incidence, risk factors, clinical presentation, and outcomes of cyst infection in kidney transplant recipient.MethodsWe conducted a single-center retrospective cohort study of patients with ADPKD with renal allografts between January 1, 2009, and October 31, 2020. Cyst infection diagnosis was based on previously described clinical and radiological criteria, using positron emission tomography when available.ResultsA total of 296 patients with ADPKD with renal allografts were included, and 21 patients experienced 22 episodes of cyst infection over a median follow-up of 4 (2–7) years. The cumulative incidence rate was 3% at 1 year, 6 % at 5 years, and 12% at 10 years after transplantation. In multivariate analysis, history of cyst infection before transplantation was the only significant risk factor identified to predict the occurrence of cyst infection after kidney transplantation (hazard ratio [HR] 3.47, 95% CI 1.29–9.31). The clinical presentation at diagnosis of cyst infection included isolated fever in 5 (23%) episodes, acute kidney injury in 12 (55%), and severe sepsis/septic shock in 3 (14%) episodes. Among the 16 (73%) episodes with culture positivity, Escherichia coli was the most common pathogen. There was no difference between early (≤1 year after transplantation) and late (>1 year) cyst infection episodes in terms of clinical presentation and outcomes. Cyst infection was significantly associated with graft loss (HR 3.93, 95% CI 1.21–12.80), but no causal relationship could be established.ConclusionIncidence of cyst infection in ADPKD after kidney transplantation is low, history of cyst infection representing the main risk factor.

The Oil BeetleMeloe rugosusMarsham, 1802 (Coleoptera, Meloidae) at Mill Bank, Penallt, Monmouthshire, Wales

Monitoring and marking schemes for the Oil BeetleMeloe rugosusMarsham, 1802 at Mill Bank, Penallt, Monmouthshire, confirm that the population is internationally significant, may exceed 300 individuals and benefits from traditional land management. The population is associated with a range of mining bee genera and is spatially constrained by aspect and conferred microclimatic effects. Beetles emerge in waves directly correlated with air and soil temperature and individual beetles may survive for months with a theoretical ability to produce astonishing numbers of eggs. Triungulins appear from at least April to June inclusive and have an affinity with flowers of dandelionTaraxacum sensu lato. The population is believed to have been favoured by medieval to early post-medieval woodland clearance episodes.

Structural development and tectonostratigraphic evolution of the Sylhet Trough (northeastern Bengal Basin) in the context of Cenozoic Himalayan Orogeny: Insights from geophysical data interpretation

The Sylhet Trough of the Bengal Basin in the northeastern Indian Plate had started to develop since the Late Mesozoic Gondwana break-up and subsequent onset of the Cenozoic Himalayan Orogeny. However, very little is known about evolution of the Cenozoic Sylhet Trough in response to the latter tectonic event. Therefore, we aim at providing insights into the nature of basement, variations in structural style, kinematics and possible timing of structural activation(s) and tectonostratigraphic evolution of the Sylhet Trough based on geophysical data interpretation. Results show that the Sylhet Trough is mostly underlain by an attenuated continental or oceanic crust, bounded by a NE-SW-trending geophysical feature in the northwest that corresponds to the boundary with the Precambrian continental crust. The overlying Cenozoic sediments show variations in style of deformations and can be divided into three structural domains. Domains 1 and 2 in the southeastern and northeastern parts of the Sylhet Trough, respectively, are characterized by anticlines that are highly deformed to the east and are mostly associated with west- or northwest-dipping reverse faults. However, the anticlinal trends are deviated from a generalized NS-orientation in the Domain 1 to a dominant NE-SW-orientation in the Domain 2. Many of these anticlines resemble positive flower structures, indicating possible impacts of regional transpression associated with the Dauki and Kaladan faults to the north and east; respectively. In contrast, the Domain 3 to the west shows NE-SW-trending extensional structures. A southward thickening of the Oligocene to Miocene pre-kinematic packages indicates an early episode of foreland basin subsidence, although there is no evidence of a major structural activation. Rather, the presence of the Pliocene syn-kinematic packages indicates a major structural reactivation in response to the E-W and N-S crustal shortening since the Pliocene. This younger episode of structural activation can be directly linked with the late Cenozoic subduction related processes of the Indian Plate to the north and to the east, which is also responsible for the transformation of the Sylhet Trough into a remnant ocean basin. This latter (i.e., Pliocene and onward) episode of crustal shortening played a significant role in structural trap formation and preservation of hydrocarbons in the Sylhet Trough.