Curtin University

About: Curtin University is a education organization based out in Perth, Western Australia, Australia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Zircon. The organization has 14257 authors who have published 48997 publications receiving 1336531 citations. The organization is also known as: WAIT & Western Australian Institute of Technology.

Insights into perovskite-catalyzed peroxymonosulfate activation: Maneuverable cobalt sites for promoted evolution of sulfate radicals

Abstract: Metal-based catalysis has significantly contributed to the chemical community especially in environmental science. However, the knowledge of cobalt-based perovskite for aqueous phase oxidation still remains equivocal and insufficient. In this study, we discovered that Ba0.5Sr0.5Co0.8Fe0.2O3-δ (BSCF) perovskite was exclusively effective for peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation to produce free radicals, whereas the BSCF was inert to activate peroxydisulfate (PDS) and hydrogen peroxide. The BSCF/PMS exhibited superior performance to the benchmark Co3O4 nanocrystals and other classical PMS activators such as α-MnO2 and spinel CoFe2O4, meanwhile achieving an impressive stability with manipulated cobalt leaching in neutral and basic environment. In situ electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) revealed the evolution of massive sulfate radicals (SO4 −) and hydroxyl radicals ( OH) during the oxidation. A comprehensively comparative study of BSCF and Co3O4 nanocrystals was performed, including electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and cyclic voltammograms (CV) in PMS solution as well as hydrogen temperature-programmed reduction (H2-TPR) and oxygen temperature-programmed desorption (O2-TPD) tests. The results unveil that the cobalt-based perovskite, BSCF, exhibited a better electrical conductivity and redox potential than the spinel cobalt oxide to interact with PMS. More importantly, the oxygen vacancies and less-electronegativity A-site metals may secure cobalt sites with a lower valence state for donating electrons to PMS simultaneously for radical generation. This study advances the mechanism of cobalt-based heterogeneous catalysis in environmental remediation.

Tag jumps illuminated--reducing sequence-to-sample misidentifications in metabarcoding studies.

Abstract: Metabarcoding of environmental samples on second-generation sequencing platforms has rapidly become a valuable tool for ecological studies. A fundamental assumption of this approach is the reliance on being able to track tagged amplicons back to the samples from which they originated. In this study, we address the problem of sequences in metabarcoding sequencing outputs with false combinations of used tags (tag jumps). Unless these sequences can be identified and excluded from downstream analyses, tag jumps creating sequences with false, but already used tag combinations, can cause incorrect assignment of sequences to samples and artificially inflate diversity. In this study, we document and investigate tag jumping in metabarcoding studies on Illumina sequencing platforms by amplifying mixed-template extracts obtained from bat droppings and leech gut contents with tagged generic arthropod and mammal primers, respectively. We found that an average of 2.6% and 2.1% of sequences had tag combinations, which could be explained by tag jumping in the leech and bat diet study, respectively. We suggest that tag jumping can happen during blunt-ending of pools of tagged amplicons during library build and as a consequence of chimera formation during bulk amplification of tagged amplicons during library index PCR. We argue that tag jumping and contamination between libraries represents a considerable challenge for Illumina-based metabarcoding studies, and suggest measures to avoid false assignment of tag jumping-derived sequences to samples.

The Heilongjiang Group: A Jurassic accretionary complex in the Jiamusi Massif at the western Pacific margin of northeastern China

Abstract: The tectonic setting of the Eastern Asian continental margin in the Jurassic is highly controversial. In the current study, we have selected the Heilongjiang complex located at the western margin of the Jiamusi Massif in northeastern China for geochronological investigation to address this issue. Field and petrographic investigations indicate that the Heilongjiang complex is composed predominately of granitic gneiss, marble, mafic-ultramafic rocks, blueschist, greenschist, quartzite, muscovite-albite schist and two-mica schist that were tectonically interleaved, indicating they represent a melange. The marble, two-mica schist and granitic gneiss were most probably derived from the Mashan complex, a high-grade gneiss complex in the Jiamusi Massif with which the Heilongjiang Group is intimately associated. The ultramafic rocks, blueschist, greenschist and quartzite (chert) are similar to components in ophiolite. The sensitive high mass-resolution ion microprobe U-Pb zircon age of 265 ± 4 Ma for the granitic gneiss indicates that the protolith granite was emplaced coevally with Permian batholiths in the Jiamusi Massif. 40Ar/39Ar dating of biotite and phengite from the granitic gneiss and mica schist yields a late Early Jurassic metamorphic age between 184 and 174 Ma. Early components of the Jiamusi Massif, including the Mashan complex, probably formed part of an exotic block from Gondwana, affected by late Pan-African orogenesis, and collided with the Asian continental margin during the Early Jurassic. Subduction of oceanic crust between the Jiamusi block and the eastern part of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt resulted in the formation of a huge volume of Jurassic granites in the Zhangguangcai Range. Consequently, the collision of the Jiamusi Massif with the Central Asian Orogenic Belt to the west can be considered as the result of circum-Pacific accretion, unrelated to the Central Asian Orogenic Belt. The widespread development of Jurassic accretionary complexes along the Asian continental margin supports such an interpretation.

What does best practice care for musculoskeletal pain look like? Eleven consistent recommendations from high-quality clinical practice guidelines: systematic review

Abstract: Objectives To identify common recommendations for high-quality care for the most common musculoskeletal (MSK) pain sites encountered by clinicians in emergency and primary care (spinal (lumbar, thoracic and cervical), hip/knee (including osteoarthritis [OA] and shoulder) from contemporary, high-quality clinical practice guidelines (CPGs). Design Systematic review, critical appraisal and narrative synthesis of MSK pain CPG recommendations. Eligibility criteria Included MSK pain CPGs were written in English, rated as high quality, published from 2011, focused on adults and described development processes. Excluded CPGs were for: traumatic MSK pain, single modalities (eg, surgery), traditional healing/medicine, specific disease processes (eg, inflammatory arthropathies) or those that required payment. Data sources Four scientific databases (MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL and Physiotherapy Evidence Database) and four guideline repositories. Results 6232 records were identified, 44 CPGs were appraised and 11 were rated as high quality (low back pain: 4, OA: 4, neck: 2 and shoulder: 1). We identified 11 recommendations for MSK pain care: ensure care is patient centred, screen for red flag conditions, assess psychosocial factors, use imaging selectively, undertake a physical examination, monitor patient progress, provide education/information, address physical activity/exercise, use manual therapy only as an adjunct to other treatments, offer high-quality non-surgical care prior to surgery and try to keep patients at work. Conclusion These 11 recommendations guide healthcare consumers, clinicians, researchers and policy makers to manage MSK pain. This should improve the quality of care of MSK pain.

Snowball Earth climate dynamics and Cryogenian geology-geobiology

Abstract: Geological evidence indicates that grounded ice sheets reached sea level at all latitudes during two long-lived Cryogenian (58 and ≥5 My) glaciations. Combined uranium-lead and rhenium-osmium dating suggests that the older (Sturtian) glacial onset and both terminations were globally synchronous. Geochemical data imply that CO2 was 102 PAL (present atmospheric level) at the younger termination, consistent with a global ice cover. Sturtian glaciation followed breakup of a tropical supercontinent, and its onset coincided with the equatorial emplacement of a large igneous province. Modeling shows that the small thermal inertia of a globally frozen surface reverses the annual mean tropical atmospheric circulation, producing an equatorial desert and net snow and frost accumulation elsewhere. Oceanic ice thickens, forming a sea glacier that flows gravitationally toward the equator, sustained by the hydrologic cycle and by basal freezing and melting. Tropical ice sheets flow faster as CO2 rises but lose mass and become sensitive to orbital changes. Equatorial dust accumulation engenders supraglacial oligotrophic meltwater ecosystems, favorable for cyanobacteria and certain eukaryotes. Meltwater flushing through cracks enables organic burial and submarine deposition of airborne volcanic ash. The subglacial ocean is turbulent and well mixed, in response to geothermal heating and heat loss through the ice cover, increasing with latitude. Terminal carbonate deposits, unique to Cryogenian glaciations, are products of intense weathering and ocean stratification. Whole-ocean warming and collapsing peripheral bulges allow marine coastal flooding to continue long after ice-sheet disappearance. The evolutionary legacy of Snowball Earth is perceptible in fossils and living organisms.