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The Turkana Basin in Kenya/Ethiopia hosts remarkable fossil-rich sediments that are central to our understanding of early hominin evolution, with interbedded volcanic tuffs providing critical time markers. However, the resolution of existing Early Pleistocene/Pliocene ages is limited to ∼20-60 kyr, inhibiting evaluation of climatic/environmental drivers of evolution. Here, we present high precision, single-feldspar 40 Ar/ 39 Ar age and elemental data for four stratigraphically significant tuffs. These samples exhibit variably dispersed age distributions correlated with feldspar compositional trends, interpreted to indicate partial retention of inherited argon, related to crustal ‘cold storage’ and rapid melt infiltration preceding eruption. We evaluated various statistical methods and calculate astronomically calibrated, Bayesian age estimates of 1879.1 ± 0.6 ka (± 2.4 ka including external errors) for the KBS/H2 Tuff, 1837.4 ± 0.9 ka (± 2.4 ka) for the Malbe/H4 Tuff, 1357.5 ± 1.8 ka (± 2.5 ka) for the Chari/L Tuff and 1315.4 ± 1.9 ka (± 2.5 ka) for the Gele Tuff. Our results permit refined age constraints for important early Homo fossils, including the cranium KNM-ER1813 ( Homo habilis ) and various Homo erectus fossils. The KBS Tuff age also provides an important calibration locus for orbital tuning of paleoclimate proxy records, revealing complex interplay between paleoclimate and geological drivers of sedimentation. Supplementary material: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.6602994

Fig. S1 Worked Bayesian estimation example, generated using the Julia version of BayeZirChron and the interactive Jupyter notebook of Keller et al. (2018) (https://github.com/brenhinkeller/BayeZirChron.c). Single feldspar 40>Ar*#x002F;39Ar data for KBS sample F102-P1 modelled using an exponential distribution, yielding a Bayesian40>Ar*#x002F;39Ar estimate of 0.9505 ± 0.005, which equates to an age of 1880.1 ± 1.2 Ma (including the uncertainty in the J-value) (see Table 1; Table S5).

The U.S. pork production system is sensitive to supply chain disruptions, including those that can create challenges of feed delivery and feed management during the event of a foreign animal disease outbreak. Therefore, the objective was to evaluate feeding strategies during a prolonged feed availability shortage in group-housed finishing pigs and assess the impacts on pig performance. A total of 1,407 mixed-sex pigs (92 ± 11 kg BW) were randomly allocated to one of five treatments across 60 pens (N = 12 pens per treatment, 22 pigs per pen) and were blocked by initial body weight (BW) within the replicate, over a 21-d test period. Treatments were fed for 14 d (P1), and thereafter all pens returned to ad libitum access to a standard commercial diet for 7 d (P2). Treatments included: 1) Pens fed ad libitum (CON); 2) Pens fed at 1.45X ME maintenance requirement daily of CON diet (1.45X); 3) Pens fed 2X ME maintenance requirement daily of CON diet (2X); 4) Tightened feeders to the lowest setting, fed ad libitum of CON diet (CF); and 5) whole corn kernels, fed ad libitum (WC). P1 and P2 BW and feed disappearance were recorded to calculate ADG, ADFI, and G:F. Data were analyzed with pen as the experimental unit and least-squares means values reported by treatment. Compared to CON, pens fed 1.45X, 2X, CF, and WC treatments had significantly reduced P1 ADG (1.09 vs. 0.02, 0.34, 0.72, 0.41 kg/d, respectively), ADFI (3.21 vs. 1.42, 1.90, 2.49, 2.40 kg/d, respectively) and G:F (P < 0.05). During P2, ADG and G:F were increased (P < 0.05) compared to CON across all treatments. However, ADFI increased only in the 2X, CF, and WC diet from the CON (P < 0.05). Overall (days 0 to 21), all strategies attenuated BW, ADG, and ADFI (P < 0.01) compared to CON. However, G:F was only reduced (P < 0.01) in 1.45X and WC, but not 2X and CF (P > 0.05) compared to CON. In conclusion, all strategies explored could extend feed budgets. Even though these strategies were successful, increased BW variability was reported with more restrictive strategies. Further, adverse pig behaviors and welfare implications needs to be considered in adopting any restrictive feeding strategy.

BACKGROUND: The U.K. 100,000 Genomes Project is in the process of investigating the role of genome sequencing in patients with undiagnosed rare diseases after usual care and the alignment of this research with health care implementation in the U.K. National Health Service. Other parts of this project focus on patients with cancer and infection.METHODS: We conducted a pilot study involving 4660 participants from 2183 families, among whom 161 disorders covering a broad spectrum of rare diseases were present. We collected data on clinical features with the use of Human Phenotype Ontology terms, undertook genome sequencing, applied automated variant prioritization on the basis of applied virtual gene panels and phenotypes, and identified novel pathogenic variants through research analysis.RESULTS: Diagnostic yields varied among family structures and were highest in family trios (both parents and a proband) and families with larger pedigrees. Diagnostic yields were much higher for disorders likely to have a monogenic cause (35%) than for disorders likely to have a complex cause (11%). Diagnostic yields for intellectual disability, hearing disorders, and vision disorders ranged from 40 to 55%. We made genetic diagnoses in 25% of the probands. A total of 14% of the diagnoses were made by means of the combination of research and automated approaches, which was critical for cases in which we found etiologic noncoding, structural, and mitochondrial genome variants and coding variants poorly covered by exome sequencing. Cohortwide burden testing across 57,000 genomes enabled the discovery of three new disease genes and 19 new associations. Of the genetic diagnoses that we made, 25% had immediate ramifications for clinical decision making for the patients or their relatives.CONCLUSIONS: Our pilot study of genome sequencing in a national health care system showed an increase in diagnostic yield across a range of rare diseases. (Funded by the National Institute for Health Research and others.).

The Hera Au–Pb–Zn–Ag deposit in the southeastern Cobar Basin of central New South Wales preserves calc-silicate veins and remnant sandstone/carbonate-hosted skarn within a reduced anchizonal Siluro-Devonian turbidite sequence. The skarn orebody distribution is controlled by a long-lived, basin margin fault system, that has intersected a sedimentary horizon dominated by siliciclastic turbidite, with lesser gritstone and thick sandstone intervals, and rare carbonate-bearing stratigraphy. Foliation (S1) envelopes the orebody and is crosscut by a series of late-stage east–west and north–south trending faults. Skarn at Hera displays mineralogical zonation along strike, from southern spessartine–grossular–biotite–actinolite-rich associations, to central diopside-rich–zoisite–actinolite/tremolite–grossular-bearing associations, through to the northern most tremolite–anorthite-rich (garnet-absent) association in remnant carbonate-bearing lithologies and sandstone horizons; the northern lodes also display zonation down dip to garnet present associations. High-T, prograde skarn assemblages rich in pyroxene and garnet are pervasively replaced by actinolite/tremolite–biotite-rich retrograde skarn which coincides with the main pulse of sulfide mineralization. The dominant sulfides are high-Fe–Mn sphalerite–galena–non-magnetic high-Fe pyrrhotite–chalcopyrite; pyrite, arsenopyrite; scheelite (low Mo) is locally abundant. The distribution of metals in part mimics the changing gangue mineralogy, with Au concentrated in the southern and lower northern lode systems and broadly inverse concentrations for Ag–Pb–Zn. Stable isotope data (O–H–S) from skarn amphiboles and associated sulfides are consistent with magmatic (or metamorphic) water and sulfur input during the retrograde skarn phase, while hydrosilicates and sulfides from the wall rocks display comparatively elevated δD and mixed δ34S consistent with progressive mixing or dilution of original magmatic (or metamorphic) waters within the Hera deposit by unexchanged waters typical of low latitude (tropical) meteoritic waters. High precision titanite (U–Pb) and biotite (Ar–Ar) geochronology reveals a manifold orebody commencing with high-T skarn and retrograde Pb–Zn-rich skarn formation at ≥403 Ma, Au–low-Fe sphalerite mineralization at 403.4 ± 1.1 Ma, foliation development remobilization or new mineralization at 390 ± 0.2 Ma followed by thrusting, orebody dismemberment at 384.8 ± 1.1 Ma and remobilization or new mineralization at 381.0 ± 2.2 Ma. The polymetallic nature of the Hera orebody is a result of multiple mineralization events during extension and compression and involving both magmatic and likely formational metal sources.

The 40Ar/39Ar dating method is among the most versatile of geochronometers, having the potential to date a broad variety of K-bearing materials spanning from the time of Earth’s formation into the historical realm. Measurements using modern noble-gas mass spectrometers are now producing 40Ar/39Ar dates with analytical uncertainties of ~0.1%, thereby providing precise time constraints for a wide range of geologic and extraterrestrial processes. Analyses of increasingly smaller subsamples have revealed age dispersion in many materials, including some minerals used as neutron fluence monitors. Accordingly, interpretive strategies are evolving to address observed dispersion in dates from a single sample. Moreover, inferring a geologically meaningful “age” from a measured “date” or set of dates is dependent on the geological problem being addressed and the salient assumptions associated with each set of data. We highlight requirements for collateral information that will better constrain the interpretation of 40Ar/39Ar data sets, including those associated with single-crystal fusion analyses, incremental heating experiments, and in situ analyses of microsampled domains. To ensure the utility and viability of published results, we emphasize previous recommendations for reporting 40Ar/39Ar data and the related essential metadata, with the amendment that data conform to evolving standards of being findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR) by both humans and computers. Our examples provide guidance for the presentation and interpretation of 40Ar/39Ar dates to maximize their interdisciplinary usage, reproducibility, and longevity.

One of the greatest challenges in the global geochemistry community is to aggregate and make the large amounts of geochemical data generated by laboratories FAIR [Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable] and publicly available the large amounts of data generated in laboratories. Standardisation and data organisation has often been an individual or voluntary/uncoordinated effort and/or motivated by the likelihood of immediate/near-future publication. Along with the technical challenges of getting laboratory data into a well-structured relational database and linked to samples’ metadata, societal and cultural issues are often present around the standardisation and accessibility of data reporting (e.g. equipment manufacturer, funding body proprietary data outputs, data reduction software accessibility and requirements/“data ownership” of the users/scientists). In response to a national expression of a need to address the challenges outlined above and for better organisation and coordination of Australian geochemistry laboratories and data, AuScope funded the AuScope Geochemistry Network (AGN) in 2019. The AGN comprises a team of researchers, data-scientists, and technical staff from three universities across Australia; Curtin University, the University of Melbourne, and Macquarie University, tasked in coordinating and strategizing the best approach to:Unite the diverse Australian geochemistry community. Promote national capability (existing geochemical capability). Promote investment in infrastructure (new, advanced geochemical infrastructure). Support increased end user access to laboratory facilities. Support professional development via online tools, training courses and workshops. Preserving legacy data sets Over the last two years the AGN has worked to organise the geochemistry community and provide solutions to the integration and adoption of international best practices for data management. With the ‘end in mind’ the AGN and collaborator Lithodat have developed the AusGeochem platform, a unique research data platform that services laboratory needs, bridges the gap between sample metadata and analytical data as well as strengthens the user-laboratory connection. To establish data reporting tables that fit the community’s need, yet facilitate FAIR data practices and integrating international best practices for handling geochemistry data, the AGN led and coordinated Expert Advisory Groups composed of geochemical specialists from a number of Australian institutions. Along with the AusGeochem platform that allows laboratories to upload, archive, disseminate and publish their datasets; the AGN has built LabFinder, a web application tool that helps geoscience users find and access the right laboratory and analytical technique to solve their research questions. LabFinder aims to continue to support end user access to laboratory facilities leading to the improvement in the capability and capacity of geochemistry laboratories on a national scale. In the coming two years AGN will continue to build upon these accomplishments by expanding the AGN data partnerships through the on boarding of institutions hosting major geochemistry laboratories, further facilitating collaborations between Australian geochemistry laboratories.

The authors regret that typographical and calculation errors occurred in Table 1 and some related figures. Corrected versions of Table 1, Figs. 4–6 are reproduced below. These errors do not affect the conclusions of the original paper and we summarise the main changes to Section 4 below. We calculate revised and values of 0.041692 ± 0.000024 (0.058%) and 0.16989 ± 0.00015 (0.087%), respectively. The former value is indistinguishable from the average value of 0.041680 ± 0.000050 (0.096%) reported by Phillips and Matchan (2013) [Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 121, 229–239]. Other corrections in Table 1 relate to typographical errors and inconsistent propagation of uncertainty levels (2σ vs 1σ uncertainties) associated with some mean and plateau ages. The authors would like to apologize for any inconvenience these errors may have caused.

Jiaodong gold deposits are mainly sited along faulted contacts between Upper Jurassic Linglong granite and Precambrian basement metamorphic rocks or Lower Cretaceous Guojialing granite. Long-standing controversies relate to timing of gold mineralization and granite-gold relationships. In this study, gold-related muscovite consistently provides concordant 40Ar/39Ar plateau ages of 120 ± 2 Ma (2σ) for the Jiaojia, Sizhuang, and Luoshan deposits. Analogous 40Ar/39Ar timing constraints from gold-related muscovite are provided by total gas and high-temperature ages from Fushan, concordant high-temperature ages from Rushan, and fusion-step ages from Xiadian deposits. These new 40Ar/39Ar ages, when combined with previous reliable 40Ar/39Ar and U-Pb age constraints for mineralization, including ages of pre- and postgold dikes, define a widespread gold mineralization event at 120 ± 2 Ma (2σ). Published zircon U-Pb ages for Guojialing and Aishan granite magmatism suggest an ~8-m.y. lag between peak intrusive activity and gold mineralization. This, together with lack of both high-temperature alteration assemblages and alteration and/or metal zonation, indicates that the structurally controlled Jiaodong deposits are orogenic rather than intrusion-related deposits. Despite this, granite intrusions are considered to have provided suitable fluid trap sites. New 40Ar/39Ar analyses of biotite from the Linglong and Guojialing granites show they had cooled to about ~300° ± 50°C by ca. 123 to 124 Ma, providing pressure-temperature conditions similar to those under which most orogenic gold deposits formed close to the ductile-brittle transition. This enabled the effective ingress of fluids at supralithostatic pressures at 120 ± 2 Ma, leading to intensive brecciation, alteration, and deposition of both vein-type and disseminated gold ores. New zircon (U-Th)/He dates together with apatite fission-track data indicate that preservation of the gold province is due to slow postmineralization uplift and exhumation.

In Australia, the onset of human occupation (≥65 ka?) and dispersion across the continent are the subjects of intense debate and are critical to understanding global human migration routes. New-generation multi-collector mass spectrometers capable of high-precision 40Ar/39Ar dating of young (

The Permian Cape Fold Belt (CFB) of South Africa forms part of a major orogenic belt that originally extended from Argentina, across southern Africa and into Antarctica. The CFB is dominated by complexly folded and faulted rocks of the siliciclastic Cape Supergroup that were deposited in the Cape Basin. The provenance of the Cape Supergroup, timing of deformation and tectonic setting are poorly constrained. U-Pb detrital zircon provenance studies suggest that the Cape Basin received sedimentary detritus from the African Mesoproterozoic Namaqua-Natal Metamorphic Belt, Neoproterozoic-Cambrian Pan-African Belts and the Brasiliano orogenic belts of South America, Africa and Antarctica. However, as zircon is able to survive multiple orogenic and sedimentary transport cycles, complementary provenance tools are required to confirm Cape Supergroup provenance. Previous studies have suggested both uni-modal and multi-modal models for the timing of CFB orogenesis. In the current study, structurally controlled, muscovite-bearing samples were collected along several north-south traverses across the CFB. Detailed textural and mineral chemistry analyses identified multiple muscovite populations, commonly with complex intergrowth features. High precision 40Ar/39Ar analyses reveal a dominant 490–465 Ma detrital muscovite population, lending support to a largely South American provenance for the Cape Supergroup. Lesser detrital muscovite populations in the range 650–500 Ma and >730 Ma, corroborate previous zircon provenance studies suggesting Pan-African/Brasiliano terranes and the Namaqua-Natal Metamorphic Belt as significant sediment sources, respectively. Detailed 40Ar/39Ar analyses of multiple neo-crystallised muscovite samples are consistent with a single major phase of CFB deformation occurring between 253.4 and 249.6 Ma. This age is interpreted to represent either the peak or final dominant phase of CFB deformation.

Many gene fusions are reported in tumours and for most their role remains unknown. As fusions are used for diagnostic and prognostic purposes, and are targets for treatment, it is crucial to assess their function in cancer. To systematically investigate the role of fusions in tumour cell fitness, we utilized RNA-sequencing data from 1011 human cancer cell lines to functionally link 8354 fusion events with genomic data, sensitivity to >350 anti-cancer drugs and CRISPR-Cas9 loss-of-fitness effects. Established clinically-relevant fusions were identified. Overall, detection of functional fusions was rare, including those involving cancer driver genes, suggesting that many fusions are dispensable for tumour fitness. Therapeutically actionable fusions involving RAF1, BRD4 and ROS1 were verified in new histologies. In addition, recurrent YAP1-MAML2 fusions were identified as activators of Hippo-pathway signaling in multiple cancer types. Our approach discriminates functional fusions, identifying new drivers of carcinogenesis and fusions that could have clinical implications., Gene fusions are observed in many cancers but their link to tumour fitness is largely unknown. Here, transcriptomic analysis combined with pharmacological and CRISPR-Cas9 screening of cancer cell lines was used to evaluate the functional linkage between fusions and tumour fitness.

Field observations and unmanned aerial vehicle surveys from Caldera Taburiente (La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain) show that pre-existing dykes can capture and re-direct younger ones to form multiple dyke composites. Chill margins suggest that the older dykes were solidified and cooled when this occurred. In one multiple dyke example, an 40Ar/39Ar age difference of 200 kyr was determined between co-located dykes. Petrography and geomechanical measurements (ultrasonic pulse and Brazilian disc tests) show that a microscopic preferred alignment of plagioclase laths and sheet-like structures formed by non-randomly distributed vesicles give the solidified dykes anisotropic elastic moduli and fracture toughness. We hypothesise that this anisotropy led to the development of margin-parallel joints within the dykes, during subsequent volcanic loading. Finite element models also suggest that the elastic contrast between solidified dykes and their host rock elevated and re-oriented the stresses that governed subsequent dyke propagation. Thus, the margin-parallel joints, combined with local concentration and rotation of stresses, favoured the deflection of subsequent magma-filled fractures by up to 60° to form the multiple dykes. At the edifice scale, the capture and deflection of active intrusions by older ones could change the organisation of volcanic magma plumbing systems and cause unexpected propagation paths relative to the regional stress. We suggest that reactivation of older dykes by this mechanism gives the volcanic edifice a structural memory of past stress states, potentially encouraging the re-use of older vents and deflecting intrusions along volcanic rift zones or towards shallow magma reservoirs.

The AuScope Geochemistry Network (AGN, www.auscope.org.au/agn) was established in 2019 in response to a community expressed desire for closer collaboration and coordination of activities between Australian geochemistry laboratories. Its aims include: i) promotion of capital and operational investments in new, advanced geochemical infrastructure; (ii) supporting increased end user access to laboratory facilities and research data; (iii) fostering collaboration and professional development via online tools, training courses and workshops. Over the last six months, the AGN has coordinated a monthly webinar series to engage the geoscience community, promote FAIR data practices and foster new collaborations. These webinars were recorded for future use and can be found at: www.youtube.com/channel/UC0zzzc6_mrJEEdCS_G4HYgg.A primary goal of the AGN is to make the networks’ laboratory geochemistry data, from around the globe, discoverable and accessible via development of an online data platform called AusGeochem (www.auscope.org.au/ausgeochem). Geochemical data models for SHRIMP U-Pb, Fission Track, U-Th/He, LA-ICP-MS U-Pb/Lu-Hf and Ar-Ar are being developed using international best practice and are informed by expert advisory groups consisting of members from various institutes and laboratories within Australia. AusGeochem is being designed to provide an online data service for analytical laboratories and researchers where sample and analytical data can be uploaded (privately) for processing, synthesis and secure dissemination to collaborators. Researcher data can be retained in a private space but studied within the context of other publicly available data. Researchers can also generate unique international geo sample numbers (IGSNs) for their samples via a build in link to the Australian Research Data Commons IGSN registry. AusGeochem supports FAIR data practices by providing researchers with the ability to include links to their AusGeochem registered data in research publications, providing a potential opportunity for AusGeochem to become a trusted data repository.