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A new analytical method has been developed to determine atomic 236U/238U ratios in samples with only femtograms of 236U using a secondary electron multiplier (SEM) on a multicollector high-resolution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (MC-ICPMS). The abundance sensitivity of the 238U tail at 236 atomic mass unit is reduced from 10-6 to 10-10 with the deployment of a retarding potential quadrupole lens. This method features the reduction of polyatomic interferences from hydride, nitride, lead, and plutonium and the evaluation of nonlinear SEM behavior. The instrument sensitivity is 1-2%, and the estimated methodological detection limit of the 236U/238U atomic ratio is as low as 2 × 10-10. Measurements on reference materials with 236U/238U ratios of 10-7-10-9, including the IRMM-075 series and the ETH Zurich in-house standard ZUTRI, demonstrate the accuracy of our MC-ICPMS technique. The analytical precisions (2σ) are ±4% for 5 fg of 236U at a 236U/238U of 1 × 10-8 and ±8% for 2 fg of 236U at a 236U/238U of 4 × 10-9 level. Compared to state-of-the-art accelerator mass spectrometry techniques and triple quadrupole-based ICPMS, our detection limit is not as low, but the required sample size is 3-40 times lower, and the throughput is as high as 3-4 samples per hour. The new MC-ICPMS-SEM technique is sensitive enough for determining 236U/238U in various small natural samples, such as marine carbonates and seawater.

This study investigated and compared polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in crab (Xenograpsus testudinatus), suspended particulate matter, and surface sediment sampled from Kuei-shan-tao (KST) shallow water vents just offshore northeast Taiwan. The total concentrations of PAHs (t-PAHs) in suspended particles near the vents (533-685 ng g

Marine dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is highly depleted in radiocarbon and thus inferred to be largely refractory to removal processes that operate on less than millennial timescales. However, a growing number of reports have shown that a large fraction of marine DOC can be effectively removed during circulation through submarine hydrothermal systems. What is not clear, however, is whether the DOC that remains in hydrothermal fluids is remnant non-reactive DOC from recharged seawater, or DOC that has been largely produced in the subsurface. We collected and characterized warm (∼65 °C) hydrothermal fluids from deep (18, 40, 73, 200 m) within the basalt-hosted basement of the Juan de Fuca Ridge flank in the Northeast Pacific Ocean. DOC concentrations in hydrothermal fluids were 9 to 18 μM, much lower than measured in local deep seawater (37.5 μM). DOC Δ 14 C values of −683‰ to −856‰ were much lower than the Δ 14 C-dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) values of −880‰ to −918‰, while DOC δ 13 C values of −23.6‰ to −27.0‰ were much heavier than that of the particulate organic carbon (POC) pool ( ∼ − 34 ‰ ), suggesting that biological production in the subsurface is not a primary source of DOC. Rather, our data suggest that isotopically enriched DOC are selectively removed from recharged seawater, leaving DOC that is very isotopically depleted in the basaltic basement fluids. Despite the removal of 50–75% of DOC in the subsurface, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) functional group analyses indicate that aromatic compounds were added to basaltic basement fluids during passage through the deep subseafloor and may partly contribute to the depleted 14C DOC in the ridge-flank basement fluids.

Differences in the initial configuration of ecological communities may lead to contrasting trajectories when facing environmental changes. Here, we propose to uncover the determinism of benthic communities by carrying out a detailed investigation of their response to small-scale modification of environmental conditions, including physical, chemical, and geological factors. At ten locations (confounding site and depth) in Northern Taiwan, communities were delineated using a morpho-functional classification of the organisms. A k-means clustering was used to identify k homogenous groups among transects. Their environmental determinism was examined by combining this result with 16 environmental variables of transect conditions into a regression tree framework. Biotic and abiotic data were further analyzed with a Multivariate Regression Tree (MRT) to ascertain the hierarchical environmental determinism. The classifications produced by both approaches were compared using the Adjusted Rand index (ARI) to assess the predictive power of unsupervised clustering on its missing explanatory components (abiotic variables). k-means and MRT produced five clusters, respectively, with a similarity of 0.82 in ARI. Wave motion, followed by substrate types resolved most of the variance, while chemical factors in this study were uniform throughout the region. Comparable structures for both methods (clustering groups) demonstrated that the delineated clusters matched with contrasting environmental conditions which could be explained by the existence of various benthic communities. Further consideration of these different communities and their environmental context will be important in determining their trajectories under global changes and may help in the interpretation of community modifications with changing environmental conditions.

With large topographic gradients, rifted basins serve as efficient traps for particulate matter from adjacent lands and the ocean surface. However, the fate of organic carbon in the sediment, mostly unaltered by the hydrothermal activities known to occur in young rifts, remains poorly understood. In this study, we present an examination of diagenetic activities and carbon remineralization based on the first complete suite of pore-water data of sediment marginally affected by hydrothermal activities in the Southern Okinawa Trough (SOT). The sediment showed an oxygen penetration depth of 1 cm, consumption of NO3- in the top 1 cm, smeared profiles of Mn2+ and Fe2+ with the latter reaching up to 450 μmol L-1, and relatively unchanged SO42- concentrations with depth. Net production rates of dissolved species resolved from pore-water profiles provide an estimate of 1.68 ± 0.21 mmol C m-2 d-1 as the total carbon remineralization rate in the upper 30 cm sediment column, with aerobic carbon oxidation being the major pathway. The rate, one order of magnitude lower than that of the adjacent East China Sea, is attributed to the lower bottom-water temperature and carbon flux in the trough. The high carbon burial efficiency of SOT (68% of carbon reaching the seafloor and processed thereunder) reflects the combined effects of small mountain rivers and rifting-induced particle trapping.

Shallow-water hydrothermal plumes concomitantly host both photosynthetic and chemoautotrophic organisms in a single biotope. Yet, rate measurements to quantify the contributions of different autotrophic activity types are scarce. Herein, we measured the light and dark dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) uptake rates in the plume water of the Kueishantao hydrothermal field using the 13 C-labeling approach. Seventy percent of the plume-water samples had chemoautotrophy as the dominant mode of carbon fixation, with the dark DIC uptake rates (up to 18.6 mg C/m3 /h) within the range of the primary production in productive inner-shelf waters. When considered alongside the geochemical and microbiological observations, the rate data reveal the distribution of different trophic activities in the hydrothermal plume. The autotrophic activity at the initial phase of plume dispersal is low. This is explained by the short response time the chemoautotrophs have to the stimulation from vent-fluid discharge, and the harmful effects of hydrothermal substances on phytoplankton. As plume dispersal and mixing continue, chemoautotrophic activities begin to rise and peak in waters that have low-to-moderate Si(OH)4 content. Toward the plume margin, chemoautotrophy declines to background levels, whereas photosynthesis by phytoplankton regains importance. Our results also provide preliminary indication to the loci of enhanced heterotrophy in the plume. Results of artificial mixing experiments suggest that previously formed plume water is the primary source of microbial inoculum for new plume water. This self-inoculation mechanism, in combination with the intense DIC uptake, helps to sustain a distinct planktonic autotrophic community in this rapidly flushed hydrothermal plume.

Mulberry (Morus alba) leaf has been used in Chinese medicine as the remedy for hyperlipidemia and metabolic disorders. Recent report indicated Mulberry leaf extract (MLE) attenuated dyslipidemia and lipid accumulation in high fat diet (HFD)-fed mice. Non-alcoholic fatty liver (NAFLD) is generally considered as the liver component of metabolic syndrome. The hepatic lipid infiltration induces oxidative stress, and is associated with interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) which are regulated by the leptin and adiponectin. MLE could prevent obesity-related NAFLD via downregulating the lipogenesis enzymes while upregulating the lipolysis markers. Treatment of MLE, especially at 2%, enhanced the expression of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and clenched the oxidative stress of liver. MLE decreased the plasma level of leptin but increased adiponectin. The advantage of MLE is supposed mainly attributed to chlorogenic acid derivative. We suggest MLE, with promising outcome of research, could be nutraceutical to prevent obesity and related NAFLD. Keywords: Mulberry leaf, Non-alcoholic fatty liver, Adiponectin, Oxidative stress, Inflammation

The degassing of primordial gases from Earth's interior is evidenced by the high He 3 / 4 He ratios in submarine hydrothermal plumes, vent fluids, and rock samples with mantle origin from active hydrothermal systems in mid-ocean ridges (MOR) and subduction zone volcanism. As the largest aquifer on Earth, the uppermost 40-500 m of permeable submarine ridge flank basement (1-65 million-years-old, Myr) holds ∼2% of the ocean volume and accounts for 70% of the seafloor hydrothermal heat flux. However, the degassing of primordial gases through the oceanic ridge flank crust has not yet been directly quantified. Here, we show that high integrity hydrothermal (65 °C) fluids from the sediment-buried 3.5 Myr basaltic crust from the eastern flank of the Juan de Fuca Ridge (JdFR) contain elevated 3He. The He 3 / 4 He for the basaltic fluid is 4.5 ± 0.1 R a (relative to the air ratio), which is greatly elevated when compared to deep seawater (1.05 R a ), but is half of that observed for high-temperature vent fluids (∼8 R a ) emitting from MOR. Only a small fraction of the 3He in ridge flank fluids is derived from the entrainment of high-temperature ridge-axis fluids and is better explained by degassing of the mantle through the mantle-crust boundary. The lower than MOR He 3 / 4 He ratios indicate that radiogenic 4He originates from aged uranium and thorium decay within the mantle as well as from the ridge-flank basalts. The 3He outgassing through warm ridge flanks (4.9 to 36 mol/yr) accounts for 0.7-6% of the global 3He outgassing, exceeded only by degassing through mid-ocean ridges and subduction volcanism. The presence of mantle 3He suggests that the abiogenic methane present in the ridge flank fluids might be mantle-derived. Based on the 3He outgassing flux, a possibly mantle-derived abiotic methane production rate at the ridge flank is estimated to be 0.3 – 35 × 10 8 mol / yr .

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

© 2016 International Society for Microbial Ecology All rights reserved. Although little is known regarding microbial life within our planet's rock-hosted deep subseafloor biosphere, boreholes drilled through deep ocean sediment and into the underlying basaltic crust provide invaluable windows of access that have been used previously to document the presence of microorganisms within fluids percolating through the deep ocean crust. In this study, the analysis of 1.7 million small subunit ribosomal RNA genes amplified and sequenced from marine sediment, bottom seawater and basalt-hosted deep subseafloor fluids that span multiple years and locations on the Juan de Fuca Ridge flank was used to quantitatively delineate a subseafloor microbiome comprised of distinct bacteria and archaea. Hot, anoxic crustal fluids tapped by newly installed seafloor sampling observatories at boreholes U1362A and U1362B contained abundant bacterial lineages of phylogenetically unique Nitrospirae, Aminicenantes, Calescamantes and Chloroflexi. Although less abundant, the domain Archaea was dominated by unique, uncultivated lineages of marine benthic group E, the Terrestrial Hot Spring Crenarchaeotic Group, the Bathyarchaeota and relatives of cultivated, sulfate-reducing Archaeoglobi. Consistent with recent geochemical measurements and bioenergetic predictions, the potential importance of methane cycling and sulfate reduction were imprinted within the basalt-hosted deep subseafloor crustal fluid microbial community. This unique window of access to the deep ocean subsurface basement reveals a microbial landscape that exhibits previously undetected spatial heterogeneity.

The oceanic basaltic basement contains the largest aquifer on Earth and potentially plays an important role in the global carbon cycle as a net sink for dissolved organic carbon (DOC). However, few details of the organic matter cycling in the subsurface are known because great water depths and thick sediments typically hinder direct access to this environment. In an effort to examine the role of water–rock–microorganism interaction on organic matter cycling in the oceanic basaltic crust, basement fluid samples collected from three borehole observatories installed on the eastern flank of the Juan de Fuca Ridge were analyzed for dissolved amino acids. Our data show that dissolved free amino acids (1–13 nM) and dissolved hydrolyzable amino acids (43–89 nM) are present in the basement. The amino acid concentrations in the ridge-flank basement fluids are at the low end of all submarine hydrothermal fluids reported in the literature and are similar to those in deep seawater. Amino acids in recharging deep seawater, in situ amino acid production, and diffusional input from overlying sediments are potential sources of amino acids in the basement fluids. Thermodynamic modeling shows that amino acid synthesis in the basement can be sustained by energy supplied from inorganic substrates via chemolithotrophic metabolisms. Furthermore, an analysis of amino acid concentrations and compositions in basement fluids support the notion that heterotrophic activity is ongoing. Similarly, the enrichment of acidic amino acids and depletion of hydrophobic ones relative to sedimentary particulate organic matter suggests that surface sorption and desorption also alters amino acids in the basaltic basement. In summary, although the oceanic basement aquifer is a net sink for deep seawater DOC, similar amino acid concentrations in basement aquifer and deep seawater suggest that DOC is preferentially removed in the basement over dissolved amino acids. Our data also suggest that organic carbon cycling occurs in the oceanic basaltic basement, where an active subsurface biosphere is likely responsible for amino acid synthesis and degradation.

The oceanic basaltic crust is the largest aquifer on Earth and has the potential to harbor substantial subsurface microbial ecosystems, which hitherto remains largely uncharacterized and is analogous to extraterrestrial subsurface habitats. Within the sediment-buried 3.5 Myr old basaltic crust of the eastern Juan de Fuca Ridge flank, the circulating basement fluids have moderate temperature (∼65 °C) and low to undetectable dissolved oxygen and nitrate concentrations. Sulfate, present in high concentrations, is therefore expected to serve as the major electron acceptor in this subsurface environment. This study focused on the availability and potential sources of two important electron donors, methane (CH4) and hydrogen (H2), for the subseafloor biosphere. High integrity basement fluids were collected via fluid delivery lines associated with Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Circulation Obviation Retrofit Kits (CORKs) that extend from basement depths to outlet ports at the seafloor. Two new CORKs installed during IODP 327 in 2010, 1362A and 1362B, were sampled in 2011 and 2013. The two CORKs are superior than earlier style CORKs in that they are equipped with coated casing and polytetrafluoroethylene fluid delivery lines, reducing the interaction between casing materials with the environment. Additional samples were collected from an earlier style CORK at Borehole 1301A. The basement fluids are enriched in H2 (0.05–1.8 μmol/kg), suggesting that the ocean basaltic aquifer can support H2-driven metabolism. The basement fluids also contain significant amount of CH4 (5–32 μmol/kg), revealing CH4 as an available substrate for subseafloor basaltic habitats. The δ13C values of CH4 from the three boreholes ranged from −22.5 to − 58 ‰ , while the δ2H values ranged from −316 to 57‰. The isotopic compositions of CH4 and the molecular compositions of hydrocarbons suggest that CH4 in the basement fluids is of both biogenic and abiotic origins, varying among sites and sampling times. The δ2H values of CH4 in CORK 1301A fluid samples are much more positive than found in all other marine environments investigated to date and are best explained by the partial microbial oxidation of biogenic CH4. In conclusion, our study shows that CH4 and H2 are persistently available to fuel the deep biosphere and that CH4 is both produced and potentially consumed by microorganisms in the oceanic basement.

The permeable rocks of the upper oceanic basement contain seawater-sourced fluids estimated to be ~ 2% of the global ocean volume. This represents a very large potential subsurface biosphere supported by chemosynthesis. Recent collection of high integrity samples of basement fluid from the sedimented young basaltic basement on the Juan de Fuca Ridge flanks, off the coasts of Vancouver Island (Canada) and Washington (USA), and subsequent chemical analyses permit numerical modeling of metabolic redox reaction energetics. Here, values of Gibbs free energy for potential chemolithotrophic net reactions were calculated in basement fluid and in zones where basement fluid and entrained seawater may mix; the energy yields are reported both on a per mole electrons transferred and on a per kg of basement fluid basis. In pure basement fluid, energy yields from the anaerobic respiration processes investigated are anemic, releasing

© 2016 Robador, LaRowe, Jungbluth, Lin, Rappé, Nealson and Amend. Although fluids within the upper oceanic basaltic crust harbor a substantial fraction of the total prokaryotic cells on Earth, the energy needs of this microbial population are unknown. In this study, a nanocalorimeter (sensitivity down to 1.2 nW ml-1) was used to measure the enthalpy of microbially catalyzed reactions as a function of temperature in samples from two distinct crustal fluid aquifers. Microorganisms in unamended, warm (63°C) and geochemically altered anoxic fluids taken from 292 meters sub-basement (msb) near the Juan de Fuca Ridge produced 267.3 mJ of heat over the course of 97 h during a step-wise isothermal scan from 35.5 to 85.0°C. Most of this heat signal likely stems from the germination of thermophilic endospores (6.66 × 104cells ml-1FLUID) and their subsequent metabolic activity at temperatures greater than 50°C. The average cellular energy consumption (5.68 pW cell-1) reveals the high metabolic potential of a dormant community transported by fluids circulating through the ocean crust. By contrast, samples taken from 293 msb from cooler (3.8°C), relatively unaltered oxic fluids, produced 12.8 mJ of heat over the course of 14 h as temperature ramped from 34.8 to 43.0°C. Corresponding cell-specific energy turnover rates (0.18 pW cell-1) were converted to oxygen uptake rates of 24.5 nmol O2ml-1FLUID d-1, validating previous model predictions of microbial activity in this environment. Given that the investigated fluids are characteristic of expansive areas of the upper oceanic crust, the measured metabolic heat rates can be used to constrain boundaries of habitability and microbial activity in the oceanic crust.

The rock-hosted, oceanic crustal aquifer is one of the largest ecosystems on Earth, yet little is known about its indigenous microorganisms. Here we provide the first phylogenetic and functional description of an active microbial community residing in the cold oxic crustal aquifer. Using subseafloor observatories, we recovered crustal fluids and found that the geochemical composition is similar to bottom seawater, as are cell abundances. However, based on relative abundances and functional potential of key bacterial groups, the crustal fluid microbial community is heterogeneous and markedly distinct from seawater. Potential rates of autotrophy and heterotrophy in the crust exceeded those of seawater, especially at elevated temperatures (25 °C) and deeper in the crust. Together, these results reveal an active, distinct, and diverse bacterial community engaged in both heterotrophy and autotrophy in the oxygenated crustal aquifer, providing key insight into the role of microbial communities in the ubiquitous cold dark subseafloor biosphere.

The permeable upper oceanic basement serves as a plausible habitat for a variety of microbial communities. There is growing evidence suggesting a substantial subseafloor biosphere. Here new time series data are presented on key inorganic species, methane, hydrogen and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in ridge flank fluids obtained from subseafloor observatory CORKs (Circulation Obviation Retrofit Kits) at Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) boreholes 1301A and 1026B. These data show that the new sampling methods ( Cowen et al., 2012 ) employed at 1301A result in lower contamination than earlier studies. Furthermore, sample collection methods permitted most chemical analyses to be performed from aliquots of single large volume samples, thereby allowing more direct comparison of the data. The low phosphate concentrations (0.06–0.2 μM) suggest that relative to carbon and nitrogen, phosphorus could be a limiting nutrient in the basement biosphere. Coexisting sulfate (17–18 mM), hydrogen sulfide (∼0.1 μM), hydrogen (0.3–0.7 μM) and methane (1.5–2 μM) indicates that the basement aquifer at 1301A either draws fluids from multiple flow paths with different redox histories or is a complex environment that is not thermodynamically controlled and may allow co-occurring metabolic pathways including sulfate reduction and methanogenesis. The low DOC concentrations (11–18 μM) confirm that ridge flank basement is a net DOC sink and ultimately a net carbon sink. Based on the net amounts of DOC, oxygen, nitrate and sulfate removed (∼30 μM, ∼80 μM, ∼40 μM and ∼10 mM, respectively) from entrained bottom seawater, organic carbon may be aerobically or anaerobically oxidized in biotic and/or abiotic processes.

Although Abelmoschus esculentus (AE) is known for anti-hyperglycemia, few reports have addressed its target. Our recent studies have focused on diabetic renal epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT), which plays a critical role in fibrosis that accompanies increasing vimentin and suggested signals DPP-4/AT-1/TGF-β1. This study aimed to investigate whether AE is useful for preventing diabetic renal EMT. We used a succession of extractions and obtained the corresponding fractions F1–F5, each with its own individual properties: F1 inhibits high glucose-stimulated vimentin, AT-1, TGF-β1, and DPP-4, and recovers E-cadherin in tubular cells; F2 decreases high glucose-induced vimentin, AT-1 and DPP-4; F3–F5 do not reduce the expression of vimentin. Chemical analysis revealed that F1 is rich of flavonoid glycosides especially quercetin glucosides, and pentacyclic triterpene ester. F2 contains a large amount of carbohydrates and polysaccharides composed of uronic acid, galactose, glucose, myo-inositol etc. In conclusion, AE has the potential to serve as an adjuvant for diabetic nephropathy, with F1 and F2 especially deserving further investigation and development.

Despite its immense size, logistical and methodological constraints have largely limited microbiological investigations of the subseafloor basement biosphere. In this study, a unique sampling system was used to collect fluids from the subseafloor basaltic crust via a Circulation Obviation Retrofit Kit (CORK) observatory at Integrated Ocean Drilling Program borehole 1301A, located at a depth of 2667 m in the Pacific Ocean on the eastern flank of the Juan de Fuca Ridge. Here, a fluid delivery line directly accesses a 3.5 million years old basalt-hosted basement aquifer, overlaid by 262 m of sediment, which serves as a barrier to direct exchange with bottom seawater. At an average of 1.2 × 10(4) cells ml(-1), microorganisms in borehole fluids were nearly an order of magnitude less abundant than in surrounding bottom seawater. Ribosomal RNA genes were characterized from basement fluids, providing the first snapshots of microbial community structure using a high-integrity fluid delivery line. Interestingly, microbial communities retrieved from different CORKs (1026B and 1301A) nearly a decade apart shared major community members, consistent with hydrogeological connectivity. However, over three sampling years, the dominant gene clone lineage changed from relatives of Candidatus Desulforudis audaxviator within the bacterial phylum Firmicutes in 2008 to the Miscellaneous Crenarchaeotic Group in 2009 and a lineage within the JTB35 group of Gammaproteobacteria in 2010, and statistically significant variation in microbial community structure was observed. The enumeration of different phylogenetic groups of cells within borehole 1301A fluids supported our observation that the deep subsurface microbial community was temporally dynamic.

Recently, the techniques of face recognition have been widely used in security application such as security monitoring, and access control. However, there are still some challenges in face recognition system which the light changes, expression changes, head movements, accessory occlusion and aging effect are the main issues. For the aging effect, the shape and texture change degrades the performance of face recognition system. Therefore, there are many algorithms focusing on how to simulate the aging face image. In this paper, the modeling of face image is an important procedure for aging simulation. We propose an aging simulation scheme based on the facial muscle model. Then the estimated aging is calculated by the texture variation of a target age from subspace of age groups. Finally, the PCA is applied to face recognition system. The simulation results presented in the paper are compared with the ground truth image of the same person. Simulation results show that the proposed aging simulation scheme is able to improve performance of face recognition system.

A new analytical technique using inductively coupled plasma–quadrupole mass spectrometry (ICP-QMS) has been developed that produces permil-level precision in the measurement of uranium concentration ([U]) and isotopic composition (δ234U) in natural materials. A 233U-236U double spike method was used to correct for mass fractionation during analysis. To correct for ratio drifting, samples were bracketed by uranium standard measurements. A sensitivity of 6–7 × 108 cps/ppm was generated with a sample solution uptake rate of 30 μL/min. With a measurement time of 15–20 min, standards of 30-ng uranium produced a within-run precision better than 3‰ (±2 R.S.D.) for δ234U and better than 2‰ for [U]. Replicate measurements made on standards show that a between-run reproducibility of 3.5‰ for δ234U and 2‰ for [U] can be achieved. ICP-QMS data of δ234U and [U] in seawater, coral, and speleothem materials are consistent with the data measured by other ICP-MS and TIMS techniques. Advantages of the ICP-QMS method include low cost, easy maintenance, simple instrumental operation, and few sample preparation steps. Sample size requirements are small, such as 10–14 mg of coral material. The results demonstrate that this technique can be applied to natural samples with various matrices.