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A combined geochemical and molecular characterisation of a wide section of Cretaceous outcrop sedimentary rocks (with no significant effects of weathering) from the Calabar Flank, southeastern Nigeria has been undertaken for petroleum potential evaluation. Rock-Eval pyrolysis and lipid biomarkers show organic matter (OM) to contain varying proportions of marine and continental materials. OM content in the samples is variable. Low values of total organic carbon (TOC) ranging from 0.01to 9.49% with varying extractability (44–4215 ppm), low hydrogen indices (HI = 10–190 mg hydrocarbons (HC)/g TOC, Tmax in the range 414 °C–460 °C, and vitrinite reflectance values from 0.41% to 0.47% Ro were obtained indicating immature to marginally mature terrestrially derived OM of type III kerogen. Awi Formation of Aptian-middle Albian age with an average genetic potential of 4.3 kg HC/ton rock, has the highest potential for oil/gas. 13C/12C ratios of the kerogen, biomarker distribution pattern, and some specific compound ratios (Ts/Tm, oleanane/C30-hopane, C31-22S/22R + 22S homohopane, and moretane/C30-hopane are useful in determining the source and thermal maturity of the OM. The Coniacian–Campanian–Maastrichian black shales of New Netim and Nkporo Formations differ significantly from other formations because of the presence of oleanane which may serve to delineate the late Upper Cretaceous boundary.

II Zw 23 (UGC 3179) is a luminous (M B ~ −21) nearby compact narrow emission line starburst galaxy with blue optical colors and strong emission lines. We present a photometric and morphological study of II Zw 23 and its interacting companion, KPG103a, using data obtained with the WIYN 3.5 m telescope in combination with a WFPC2 image from the Hubble Space Telescope archives. II Zw 23 has a highly disturbed outer structure with long trails of debris that may be contributing material toward the production of tidal dwarfs. Its central regions appear disky, a structure that is consistent with the overall rotation pattern observed in the Hα velocity field measured from Densepak observations obtained with WIYN. We find additional evidence for interaction in this system, including the discovery of a new tidal loop extending from an associated dwarf galaxy, which appears to be in the process of disrupting along its orbit. We also present Hα equivalent widths and discuss the relative star formation rates across this interacting system.

Detailed bulk geochemistry and organo-petrography of outcrop Cretaceous sediments (with no significant effects of weathering) from the Calabar Flank, southeast Nigeria were performed to understand the organic carbon source, accumulation and degradation, and paleo-climatic, paleoceanographic and paleoenvironmental conditions in West Africa during Early Cretaceous (Aptian) to Maastrichtian times. This study was based on microscopic, elemental analyses (organic carbon, nitrogen, iron and sulphur), Rock-eval pyrolysis and carbon-isotope analyses. In general, the Calabar Flank shales are characterised by highly variable total organic carbon (TOC) contents, which range between 0.1% in Aptian–Albian Mfamosing Limestone and 9.9% in the Awi Formation sediments. The organic matter (OM) is a mixture of immature to early-mature marine and terrigenous OM of types III and IV. This is indicated by low hydrogen indices (HI value (10–190 mg HC/g TOC), Tmax (417–460 °C), vitrinite reflectance %Ro (0.39–0.62 %Ro), low to high C/N ratios (3.4–1158.0) and high amounts of terrigenous macerals (vitrinite + inertinite). Based on carbon isotope, C/N ratios and sulphate reduction index (SRI), OM degradation (up to 70%, SRI > 2.5) is most pronounced for shales deposited in a marine environment. The geochemical and petrographic data indicate that local factors such as low bioproductivity, down slope transport and redeposition of sediments from a fluvial–deltaic basin to nearshore facies, shallower, oxic and mildly oxygen-deficient environments, humid–arid paleogeographic conditions, specifically controlled the amount and quality of the OM during Aptian–Mastrichtian stages where marine sediments have been assumed to be deposited during the global anoxic events. Therefore, the order of the main factors controlling OM content in sediments are: input of terrigenous material transported from the land > low OM productivity by marine photoautotrophs > low preservation.

Organic geochemical studies of Cretaceous formations in the Gongola Basin, northern Nigeria, show TOC values that are generally higher than the minimum (0.5 wt %) required for hydrocarbon generation. Data from Rock-Eval pyrolysis and biomarker studies indicate the presence of both terrestrial and marine derived Types II and III organic matter, which is immature in the Gombe Formation and of marginal maturity in the Yolde Formation. Immature Type III to IV OM is present in the Pindiga Formation; and Type III OM, with a maturity that corresponds to the conventional onset (or perhaps peak) of oil generation occurs in the Bima Formation. However, Bima Formation samples from the 4710 – 4770 ft (1435.6 – 1453.9 m) depth interval within well Nasara-1 indicate Type I OM of perhaps lacustrine origin (H31R/H30 ratio generally ≤0.25). Although the Nasara-1 well was reported to be dry, geochemical parameters (high TOCs, S1, S2 and Hls, low Tmax compared to adjacent samples, a bimodal S2 peak on the Rock-Eval pyrogram, a dominance of fluorinite macerals), together with generally low H3IR/H30 biomarker ratios within the 4710–4770 ft (1435.6–1453.9 m) interval, suggest the presence of migrated oil, perhaps sourced by lacustrine shales in the Albian Bima Formation located at as-yet unpenetrated depths. The presence of the migrated oil in the Bima Formation and its possible lacustrine origin suggest that the petroleum system in the Gongola Basin is similar to that of the Termit, Doba and Doseo Basins of the Chad Republic, where economic oil reserves have been encountered.

We present extensive new photometry in (g',i') of the large globular cluster (GC) system around NGC 3311, the central cD galaxy in the Hydra cluster. Our GMOS data cover a 5.5' field of view and reach a limiting magnitude i' = 26, about 0.5 magnitude fainter than the turnover point of the GC luminosity function. We find that NGC 3311 has a huge population of ~16, 000 GCs, closely similar to the prototypical high specific frequency Virgo giant M87. The color-magnitude distribution shows that the metal-poor blue GC sequence and the metal-richer red sequence are both present, with nearly equal numbers of clusters. Bimodal fits to the color distributions confirm that the blue sequence shows the same trend of progressively increasing metallicity with GC mass that has previously been found in many other large galaxies; the correlation we find corresponds to a scaling of GC metallicity with mass of Z ~ M^0.6 . By contrast, the red sequence shows no change of mean metallicity with mass, but it shows an upward extension to much higher than normal luminosity into the UCD-like range, strengthening the potential connections between massive GCs and UCDs. The GC luminosity function, which we measure down to the turnover point at M_I = -8.4, also has a normal form like those in other giant ellipticals. Within the Hydra field, another giant elliptical NGC 3309 is sitting just 100" from the cD NGC 3311. We use our data to solve simultaneously for the spatial structure and total GC populations of both galaxies at once. Their specific frequencies are S_N (NGC 3311) = 12.5 +/- 1.5 and S_N (NGC 3309) = 0.6 +/-0.4. NGC 3311 is completely dominant and entirely comparable with other cD-type systems such as M87 in Virgo., Comment: 15 pages, 15 figures. Accepted to the Astrophysical Journal. Version with higher resolution figures is available at http://www.thewehners.net/astro/papers/wehner_n3311_highres.pdf

An angiomyolipoma is now mostly diagnosed by sonography due to sonographically typical criteria, such as abundant echoes and clear delineation, or via CT, since it is a process rich in fat and hence hypodense. Laying bare by surgery will only be required in case of an atypical localisation or expansive tumour growth. Two case reports are presented with ipsilateral lymph node infiltration in multifocal angiomyolipoma and expansion of the tumour into the vena cava via the renal vein.

NGC 2655, a nearby bright S0/a galaxy in a loose group, has strongly asymmetric central dust lanes and an extended disk of neutral hydrogen gas. Here we present deep optical images showing tidal arms and regions of diffuse starlight well beyond the main galaxy, suggestive of a recent merger. Our maps in the 21 cm line show a layer of neutral hydrogen extending to at least 7.5' or 40 kpc from the center, with a broken streamer of gas trailing off toward the small neighbor galaxy UGC 4714. The global profile has sloping "shoulders" of extreme-velocity gas, usually a sign of interaction. The diffuse stellar light corresponds generally but not in detail with the distribution of H I. In particular, the stellar light of the main tidal arm extends beyond the H I layer, which is limb-brightened as if it had been compressed from outside. The pattern of gas velocities is generally bisymmetric, but the H I layer is strongly warped; it does not share the kinematics of the stellar disk. The gas orbits twist by at least 90° between 1' and 3' of the center, as the H I layer appears to warp through edge-on. The complex optical tails and H I dynamics suggest that the galaxy has undergone multiple mergers. Both at small and at large radii, the gas layer twists in a trailing sense relative to its orbital motion. If the twist results from differential precession in the galaxy's gravitational potential, this would indicate that the dark halo is prolate, elongated along the rotation axis of the disk.

Paralic carbonaceous series intercalated among calcareous shelf sediments have seldom been investigated. During the early Eocene, calcareous and siliciclastic sediments were deposited on a wide shelf in front of low-reliefed hinterland in the Al Khawd region in NE Oman. The siliciclastic-calcareous sediments originated from strongly reworked debris of the Arabic Shield. The underlying Semail Ophiolite did not act as a direct source of debris but provided some heat to increase the maturity of carbonaceous rocks and modify the isotope signal of the calcareous minerals in the Rusayl Formation. A multidisciplinary approach involving sedimentology, mineralogy, chemistry, coal petrography and paleontology resulted in the establishment of nine stratigraphic lithofacies units and provides the reader with a full picture from deposition of the mixed carbonaceous-calcareous-siliciclastic rocks to the most recent stages of post-depositional alteration of the Paleogene formations. The calcareous Jafnayn Formation (lithofacies unit 1) developed in a subtidal to intertidal regime, influenced episodically by storms. Deepening of the calcareous shelf towards younger series was ground to a halt by paleosols developing on a disconformity (lithofacies unit 11) and heralding the onset of the Rusayl Formation. The stratigraphic lithofacies units III and IV reflect mangrove swamps which from time to time were flooded through washover fans from the open sea. The presence of Spinozonocolpites and the taxon Avicennia, which today belong to a coastal marsh vegetational community, furnish palynological evidence to the idea of extensive mangrove swamps in the Rusayl Formation [El Beialy, S.Y., 1998. Stratigraphic and palaeonenvironmental significance of Eocene palynomorphs from the Rusayl Shale Formation, Al Khawd, northern Oman. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 102, 249-258]. During the upper Rusayl Formation (lithofacies units V through VII) algal mats episodically flooded by marine incursions make up a greater deal of the sedimentary record than mangrove swamps. Terra rossa paleosols mark the end of accumulation of organic material (OM) and herald supratidal conditions at the passage of Rusayl Formation into the overlying Seeb Formation. In the subtidal-supratidal cycles of lithofacies unit VIII the terra rossa horizons are thining upwards and become gradually substituted for by deep-water middle ramp sediments of lithofacies unit IX Framboidal pyrite, (ferroan) dolomite with very little siderite are indicative of an early diagenetic alteration stage I under rather moderate temperatures of formation.

NGC 3311, the giant cD galaxy in the Hydra cluster (A1060), has one of the largest globular cluster systems known. We describe new Gemini GMOS (g',i') photometry of the NGC 3311 field which reveals that the red, metal-rich side of its globular cluster population extends smoothly upward into the mass range associated with the new class of Ultra-Compact Dwarfs (UCDs). We identify 29 UCD candidates with estimated masses > 6x10^6 solar masses and discuss their characteristics. This UCD-like sequence is the most well defined one yet seen, and reinforces current ideas that the high-mass end of the globular cluster sequence merges continuously into the UCD sequence, which connects in turn to the E galaxy structural sequence.

We have used the ACS camera on HST to obtain (V,I) photometry for 5300 red-giant stars in the halo of the dominant Leo-group member NGC 3379, a galaxy usually regarded as a classic normal giant elliptical. We use this sample of stars to derive the metallicity distribution function (MDF) for its outer-halo field stars 33 kpc from the galaxy center. The MDF is distinctly unlike all the other E galaxies for which we have similar data (including the Local Group dwarf ellipticals, the intermediate-luminosity NGC 3377, and the giant NGC 5128). First, the MDF for the NGC 3379 outer halo is broad and flat, with many stars at every interval in [m/H]. Second, we see a metallicity gradient across our ACS field such that in its outermost region the blue, low-metallicity stars ([m/H] < -0.7) are beginning to dominate and the higher-metallicity stars are rapidly diminishing. Our target field is centered at a projected distance about equal to 12 R_e, twice as far out in units of effective radius as in any of the other galaxies that we have surveyed. If NGC 3379 is indeed representative of large E/S0 galaxies, we predict that such galaxies in general will reveal diffuse low-metallicity subpopulations, but that photometry at radii r ~ 10 - 15 R_e will be necessary to see the faint low-metallicity component clearly., 48 pages, 15 figures. Complete preprint file available at http://physwww.mcmaster.ca/%7Eharris/Publications.html. to be published in Ap.J. 667, Oct 1 (2007)

NGC 3310 is a well-studied starburst galaxy thought to have merged with a companion galaxy. It has several known tidal features surrounding the main disk, as well as two large H I tails extending to the north and south. In order to explore this system's low surface brightness features, we obtained deep V- and R-band data on the WIYN 0.9 m telescope in Kitt Peak, Arizona. These data reveal a new closed loop consisting of stars emerging from the eastern side of the disk and rejoining in the north. This faint structure seems to be distinct from the rest of the shells surrounding NGC 3310. It appears to consist of tidal debris from a companion galaxy and is the first of its kind to be detected in a starburst galaxy. We discuss implications of this new loop and present V-band photometry on morphologically defined regions of debris in this system.

Well Nasara-1, one of three exploration wells recently drilled in the Gongola Basin in the Upper Benue Trough (onshore Nigeria), was tested and found to be dry. The well penetrated an entirely Cretaceous succession comprising the Pindiga, Yolde and ?Bima Formations, and standard organic geochemical analyses were carried out to assess the source-rock potential of selected samples. Total organic carbon (TOC) contents were found generally to be very low, with no values exceeding 1.0wt%, and about one-half of them ranging between 0.50 and 0.87wt%. Hydrogen indices (HIs) correlated against Tmax indicate some gas-generative potential. However, in the depth interval between 4,710ft and 4,770ft, TOC values of between 52.1 and 55.2wt% were recorded; these are characteristic of coals. This is the first report of a coal within the Pindiga, Yolde or Bima Formations. HIs were between 564 and 589 mgHC/gTOC and Tmax was 423–428°C. Although hydrogen indices can be misleading in assessing the oil-generative potential of a coal, values as high as those recorded in Nasara-1 permit oil-generative capabilities to be inferred. Total ion chromatograms of the saturated hydrocarbon fractions of the coaly samples show some ramping of unresolved complex mixtures attributable to biodegradation. Further biomarker data indicate a dominance of low molecular weight n-alkanes (C15–C25), pristane/phytane ratios of 0.8 to 1.3, and very high contents of C28 regular steranes. These attributes, together with the very high HIs, indicate that some oils generated from a probably deeper-seated or laterally-located (and yet to be identified) lacustrine source rock must have migrated and been adsorbed into the coaly facies, which were later intermittently subjected to anoxic to suboxic biodegradation processes.

Organic geochemical studies have been carried out to assess the qualities of source rocks penetrated by four wells (Kemar-1, Murshe-1, Tuma-1 and Ziye-1) in the Nigerian sector of the Chad basin. The Chad basin is a large intracratonic basin in Central West Africa. Commercial hydrocarbon accumulations have been discovered in some sectors of the basin outside the Nigerian border in a structurally related contiguous basin. Fair to poor quality source rocks are inherent in the sequences penetrated by the studied wells. About 80% of all samples have their total organic carbon (TOC) contents more than 0.5 wt.%, the minimum limit for hydrocarbon generation. Juxtaposition of the hydrogen indices against the TOC and T max indicates that the source rocks are entirely gas-prone. However, biomarker chromatograms and extract vs. TOC plots indicate the presence of oil shows in Ziye-1 well at a depth of 1210 m. Although generated hydrocarbons (wherever they have accumulated) would be overwhelmingly gaseous, gas is the energy of the future. The gas resources of this part of Nigeria's inland basins can be economically exploited through policies that will increase the tempo of gas-utilization projects and the construction of a national grid of gas pipelines with nodal points of input and output.

The inland basins of Nigeria comprise the Anambra basin, the lower, middle, and upper Benue trough, the southeastern sector of the Chad basin, the Mid-Niger (Bida) basin, and the Sokoto basin. Organic geochemical and organic petrologic studies indicate that coal beds constitute major potential source rocks in the whole of the Benue trough (Anambra basin inclusive). The generation and production of liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons from coal beds is presently indisputable worldwide. In the Anambra basin, the coal beds in the Mamu Formation (Campanian–Maastrichtian) have total organic carbon (TOC) contents of as much as 60.8 wt.%, mean hydrogen index (HI) of 364 mg HC/g TOC, vitrinite reflectance (Ro) of 0.54–0.56%, and T max 430–433°C. Biomarker data indicate a dominance of high-molecular-weight n-alkanes, very high pristane/phytane ratios, pronounced odd-over-even predominance (OEP), a preponderance of C29 regular steranes, and relatively high contents of C28. In the middle Benue trough, the coal beds of the Turonian–Coniacian Awgu Formation have TOC contents of as much as 79.1 wt.%, Ro of 0.83–1.07%, and mean HI of 281 mg HC/g TOC, unimodal distributions of both low- and high-molecular-weight n-alkanes with no obvious OEP, a predominance of C29 steranes, and relatively high contents of C27 and C28. Coal beds from the Coniacian–lower Santonian Lamja Formation in the upper Benue trough yielded TOC contents of as much as 50.7 wt.%, with HI of 184 mg HC/g TOC, Ro of 0.70–0.73%, low- and high-molecular-weight n-alkane dominance with an unpronounced OEP, high pristane/phytane ratios, and very high contents of C29 regular steranes. On a basinal evaluation level, incorporating source rock data from the other formations in the respective sectors, plots on the modified Van Krevelen diagram alongside biomarker and maceral data indicate good to fair source rock qualities (oil and gas) in the Anambra basin and middle Benue trough and fair to poor source rock qualities (gaseous to dry) in the upper Benue trough and the Chad basin, with sporadic good to fair source rock qualities in the Lamja Formation (coals) and shales of the Cenomanian–Coniacian Yolde, Dukul, and Pindiga Formations in that part of the Benue trough. Although TOC values and liptinite contents are relatively high in the Mid-Niger (Bida) basin, T max values and biomarker data show that hydrocarbons are probably just being generated in the basin and may not yet have been expelled nor migrated in large quantities. Nuhu is currently a professor of geology at the Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Nigeria (formerly Associate Professor at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, Nigeria). He graduated with B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in geology from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in 1984 and 1987, respectively, and received a Ph.D. in geology from the University of Tuebingen (Germany) in 1994. He held the Royal Society of London postdoctoral fellowship in petroleum geochemistry at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1997; the German Academic Exchange Service (doctoral and postdoctoral) fellowships in organic petrology and biostratigraphy at the University of Tuebingen in 1990–1994 and 1998; and the Alexander von Humboldt research fellowship in organic geochemistry/organic petrology at the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources in Hanover, Germany in 2002–2003. Nuhu also held research tenures with the Exploration Departments of Chevron Nigeria Limited, Lagos (1997–1998), and the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited in Port Harcourt (2000–2001). He is a member of the Nigerian government's Presidential Committee on Oil and Gas Sector Policy Reform for the National Council on Privatization.Hermann Wehner is the geological director and head of the Organic Geochemistry and Organic Petrology Section at the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources in Hanover, Germany. Georg Scheeder, born September 8, 1964, has been working since 1991 in the Organic Geochemistry Section at the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources in Hanover, Germany. He obtained the diploma in chemical engineering from the University of Paderborn, Germany, in 1991. He is currently working on his Ph.D. on geochemical investigations of late glacial to Holocene lake sediments in Germany. M. B. Abubakar, born October 3, 1970, is a lecturer at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Bauchi, Nigeria. He obtained a B.Tech. (with honors) degree in applied geology and an M.Sc. degree in sedimentology/petroleum geology from that university in 1995 and 2001, respectively. He is currently working on his Ph.D. on a subject matter that combines organic geochemistry, micropaleontology and sedimentology, and the relationship to the hydrocarbon prospectivity of the upper Benue trough. As a part of Chevron Nigeria Limited's university linkage and community services program, he worked as a well-site geologist in April–May 2000 on Nasara-1 well at Futuk in Bauchi State (Nigeria). M. B. was a recipient of the German Academic Exchange Service scholarship to undertake analyses on some parts of his doctoral project at the University of Tuebingen in Germany (May–August 2003). He is presently the chairman of the Nigerian Mining and Geosciences Society, Bauchi/Gombe Chapter. Aliyu Jauro, born June 27, 1971, is a lecturer in the Department of Chemistry at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) Bauchi, Nigeria. He obtained B.Tech. (with honors) and M.Sc. degrees in chemistry from ATBU in 1995 and 2001, respectively. He is currently working on the hydrocarbon potential and technological properties of some Nigerian coal deposits for his Ph.D.

Investigations presented in this paper were aimed at defining the alterations of n-alkane composition in cases of oil-polluted alluvial sediments. Therefore, oil-polluted groundwater samples, taken in five different time intervals during a period of 28 months, were investigated. Samples of alluvial sediments were taken from two boreholes within an oil refinery at Pancevo, Yugoslavia. In both boreholes significant alterations with characteristic degradation of "oil" n-alkanes with no odd- or even-member predominance were observed, as well as subsequent synthesis of new ones with pronounced even-member predominance, and with maxima at C-16 and C-18. Since no additional contamination of boreholes was observed by analyses of steranes and triterpanes, the observed changes can only be attributed to microbial activity. It is assumed that for the degradation of oil n-alkanes, as well as for the synthesis of "new" n-alkanes, algae such as dinoflagellates are responsible. This assumption was confirmed by identification of n-alcohols with even-member predominance (C-14-C-20), by identification of cholesterol, as well as of n-fatty acids with even-member predominance (C-14-C-18) in the extract with n-alkane even-member predominance.

We use deep near-infrared and submillimeter observations of three massive lensing cluster fields, A370, A851, and A2390, to determine the average submillimeter properties of a K'-selected sample. The 38 Extremely Red Objects (EROs; I-K'>4) with K', Comment: 5 pages, accepted by The Astrophysical Journal Letters

Hydrothermal gases from shallow seafloor vents in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand contain CO2, CH4, and the higher gaseous hydrocarbons up to i-, n-C4H10. The gases are similar to those discharged at fumaroles on the nearby White Island. Carbon isotope compositions for CO2 fall between −3.4‰ and −5.5‰ PDB and reflect a shallow magmatic carbon source. The δ13C values of CH4 range from −24.6‰ to −28.9‰ PDB and the δD values vary between −122‰ and −135‰ SMOW. The CH4 isotope values and the presence of the higher hydrocarbon compounds such as C2H6 and C3H8 with δ13C values near −20‰ PDB suggest hydrocarbon production by high-temperature maturation of sedimentary organic matter and mixing (∼1:1) of the thermogenic CH4 with abiogenic CH4. Long-chained hydrocarbons occur in dredged samples close to the active vents. Their n-alkane distribution has a high to moderate odd–even predominance and an extensive hopane series, indicative of higher land-plant waxes and prokaryotic membranes in the source. Substantial amounts of unsubstituted polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) mark the transition from aliphatic- to aromatic-dominated bitumens, consistent with extensive source maturation resulting from thermal stress. The bitumens are interpreted as pyrolysates derived from buried near-coastal vegetation and terrestrial detritus under various thermal regimes, mixed with immature seafloor organic matter.

The purpose of this paper was to examine to which extent the abundance and distribution of certain biological markers may be used for the identification of oil-type pollutants in recent sediments and ground waters. The samples were taken from the area of the Oil Refinery Pancevo (alluvial formation of the Danube River). The organic matter of the investigated samples was isolated using an extraction method with chloroform. The group composition and usual biological markers were analyzed in the obtained extracts. n-Alkanes and acyclic isoprenoids, pristane and phytane were analyzed using gas chromatographie (GC) analysis of saturated hydrocarbons. Polycyclic alkanes of the sterane and terpane type were analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), i.e. by analyzing the carbamide non-adduct of the total alkane fraction (Single Ion Monitoring SIM-technique). The obtained results indicate that n-alkanes can be used for the identification of oil-type pollutants (for example, if the oil-pollutant is biodegraded or present in very low concentrations), and steranes and triterpanes can be used as very reliable indicators of oil-type pollution in recent sediments and ground waters.

In a search for source rocks of the crude oils of the Drmno depression (southern part of the Pannonian Basin, Serbia), based on bulk and specific organic geochemical parameters, six out of eight Sirakovo, Bubu{inac and Bradarac sedimentary core samples were found to possess typical source rock characteristics. By comparing the results observed for these sedimentary samples with the corresponding properties of the crude oils from the Sirakovo and Bradarac oil-gas fields, a positive organic geochemical oil-source rock correlation was experienced for the first time within this basin. This finding may be considered as an important step towards the ultimate organic geochemical/geological interpretation of the Drmno depression.

Pneumoparotid has been described in patients who generate increased intraoral pressures when playing wind instruments, while coughing, and when undergoing dental work. Some patients have intentionally created pneumoparotid to avoid duties at school or in the military, or to gain attention. We describe a patient who developed pneumoparotid during pulmonary function testing. The diagnosis of pneumoparotid depends on a suggestive clinical situation and glandular swelling with or without crepitus. Observation of aerated saliva per Stensen's duct or air in the parotid duct and/or gland by any imaging study is diagnostic if infection with a gas-forming organism can be reasonably excluded. No specific treatment is required, other than the avoidance of predisposing activities.

The late Tertiary high ash brown coal ( R r =0.26%) of the Schirnding Seam Zone is mainly composed of huminite. The seam is underlain by a thick saprock (mica saprock⇒kaolinite-mica saprock) some tens of meters thick which gradually developed from phyllitic basement rocks and a thin Footwall Series of coarse-grained clastic sediments which, however, occur only in a few places. The roof rocks ` Hanging Wall Series' abruptly appear on top of the seam and consist of massive gray mudstones and arenites, intercalated with some tuffites. These Tertiary series were studied in open-pit mines operated for coal and clay and in bore holes. Chemical investigation involved the analyses of TOC, TSC, Ni, Co, Pb, Zn, Ga, Be, V, Cr, U, Th, P, Zr, REE and organic compounds of extracted organic matter (=OM). Early Tertiary chemical weathering was responsible for the monotonous kaolinite-mica-goethite mineral assemblage in the saprock and the footwall series. In the coal-bearing basin a more variegated mineral association including, pyrite, kaolinite, illite, smectite, illite-smectite mixed layers and siderite was brought about by volcanic processes, intrastratal solution set free in course of coalification and early diagenesis and by meteoric waters infiltrating the coal-bearing series from uplifted parts of the basin, which underwent strong oxidation. The environment of deposition is interpreted in terms of peatswamps that were fed by small streams and crevasse splays of a meandering drainage system grading towards the basin margin into a braided stream system on an alluvial fan plain. Strongly fluctuating water levels were responsible for the pronounced cyclicity to be encountered across the coal-bearing series. The processes of element redeposition and element migration in the Schirnding Basin are operative across the interface coal-saprolite (detrital influx of heavy minerals and intrastratal solution, hydrocarbon infiltration and redistribution of organic matter, reworking of duricrusts), in the saprolite proper (weathering leachats) and across the redox boundaries between the Schirnding Seam Zone and the Hanging Wall Series (input of physils and diagenetic alteration) as well as its strongly oxidized stratigraphic equivalents at the basin edge (volcanic influx, intrastratal solutions). Chemical and mineralogical variations across the coal basin which are directly controlled by the variation in the environment of deposition, weathering and groundwater movements may be directly correlated to changes in the saprock due to the immediate contact between coal and bedrock.

Persistent or recurrent acute allograft rejection (AR) refractory to high-dose steroid therapy can adversely affect long-term outcomes of heart-lung (HLT), bilateral-lung (BLT), and single-lung (SLT) transplantations. The use of total lymphoid irradiation (TLI) for the management of refractory acute AR in six transplant recipients (two men, four women; mean age, 29.8 +/- 3.8 years) is detailed. There are two HLT (primary pulmonary hypertension [PPH], cystic fibrosis [CF]), 1 BLT (pulmonary hypertension postventricular septal defect repair), and 3 SLT (sarcoid, PPH, congenital heart disease with atrial septal defect) recipients. Refractory AR is defined as persistent rejection unresponsive to high-dose steroid therapy in all cases. The BLT and SLT recipients had at least two moderate and one mild AR events per patient. The HLT recipients had at least two moderate acute heart and one severe and one mild asynchronous acute lung rejection events per patient. A total of 800 cGy of total lymphoid irradiation (TLI) was administered over a 5-week period. Mild and transient leukopenia was the only observed side effect. The patient with PPH received TLI 313 days after HLT for recurrent AR at another institution and died of ARDS 4 weeks after completing TLI. The patient with CF received TLI 707 days after HLT and died 457 days after TLI of severe obliterative bronchiolitis (OB) with multiorgan failure. The patient with BLT received TLI 176 days after transplant and died 372 days after TLI of respiratory failure related to severe rejection. One patient with SLT received TLI 78 days after transplant and died 679 days after TLI of severe acute AR. The two remaining patients with SLTs have been free from acute AR for more than 4 years. The patient with sarcoidosis received TLI 37 days after SLT following a clinical rejection event and two severe acute AR events. He is alive with normal lung function 5 years later. The patient with PPH received TLI 108 days after SLT following three moderate acute AR events and is alive with stable OB 4 years later. These limited preliminary results suggest that TLI has merit for the treatment of intractable acute AR following HLT and lung transplantation.

This two-part study initially evaluated complications associated with catheters inserted via upper extremity veins. The second prospective phase compared thrombotic risk of peripheral catheter tips vs a central vein terminus.Patients from public institutions with infectious diseases were observed throughout their inpatient and outpatient use of IV catheters. Seventy-two and 39 patients enrolled in phase 1 and phase 2, respectively. Phase 1 consisted of prospective observations and analysis of complications and associated risk factors. Phase 2 randomized patients to a catheter tip location in the superior vena cava or the axillosubclavian-innominate vein and compared the incidence of thrombosis, phlebitis, and infection.In phase 1, there was an increased risk of thrombosis with peripheral tip localization (61% vs 16%, p.05). Phase 2 confirmed increased thrombosis with tips in the axillosubclavian-innominate vein compared with the superior vena cava (60% vs 21%, p.05) with an improved survival for central tip catheters (p.02). Catheters associated with thrombosis were more likely to become infected (r = 0.48, p.02).The experience supports use of the long arm catheter as an effective device for parenteral therapy. A novel method for placing these catheters makes most patients candidates for this approach. Placing a long arm-catheter's tip in the central venous circulation reduces the risk of thrombosis. A high incidence of tip misdirection indicates a need for radiographic confirmation before use.

Sulfide mineralization in clastic rocks from SE Germany were mineralogically and chemically investigated in relation to host-rock lithology and their environment of deposition. The S isotopes and trace-element contents of pyrite were determined to decipher the origin of sulfur concentration in arenaceous rocks beneath carbonaceous horizons. Two principal types of CS distribution may be defined in these fluvial depositions. Type I may be encountered in meandering stream depositions and is of syn(dia)genetic origin. Type II was found in sediments laid down by braided streams and is likely to have been overprinted by an epigenetic pyritization. The sulfur of sulfides probably derived from evaporites. There is no evidence for these swamp environments to have been flooded by marine ingressions. The organic matter originated from higher-plant material and to a varying amount from algae and bacteria. Sedimentation did not occur in a strongly reducing environment. Biogenic reduction controlled by the humic matter preferentially removed 32 S from the sulfate of intrastratal solutions and conduced to negative δ 34 S-values at the top and increasingly more positive values with depth. Sulfate reduction commenced in an open system and later converted into a more or less closed system. Concluding from the data of organic chemistry the organic matter of type-I sediments may be categorized as “gas prone”. However, the clastic rocks of type II show small-scale hydrocarbon migration along with sulfidization. Their C isotopes attest to a slight change in the composition of kerogenous matter, owing to the shift of δ 13 C-values plotted as a function of host-rock stratigraphy.

In order to evaluate the adsorption and catalytic effects of indigenous carbonates and silicates on the organic matter of Aleksinac oil shale, the free and the bound bitumens were isolated and analyzed by organic geochemical methods. The differences in the gross compositions indicated an adsorption effect of both the carbonates and silicates in the examined oil shale. The maturation parameters, based on n-alkanes and isoprenoid alkanes pristane and phytane, indicated that bitumen 3 was of the highest, and bitumen 1 of the lowest, apparent maturity. The silicates were shown to have had a thermocatalytic effect on the organic matter of this sediment. Clay minerals had a catalytic effect primarily on sterane aromatization, rearrangement of steranes into diasteranes and their (20R) → (20S) isomerization. All evidence obtained by analysis of steranes and aromatic steroids suggested that the differences in bitumen compositions should be explained by the effect of clay minerals rather than by variations in the origin of the precursor biomass.

We combine the globular cluster data for fifteen Brightest Cluster Galaxies and use this material to trace the mass-metallicity relations (MMR) in their globular cluster systems (GCSs). This work extends previous studies which correlate the properties of the MMR with those of the host galaxy. Our combined data sets show a mean trend for the metal-poor (MP) subpopulation which corresponds to a scaling of heavy-element abundance with cluster mass Z ~ M^(0.30+/-0.05). No trend is seen for the metal-rich (MR) subpopulation which has a scaling relation that is consistent with zero. We also find that the scaling exponent is independent of the GCS specific frequency and host galaxy luminosity, except perhaps for dwarf galaxies. We present new photometry in (g',i') obtained with Gemini/GMOS for the globular cluster populations around the southern giant ellipticals NGC 5193 and IC 4329. Both galaxies have rich cluster populations which show up as normal, bimodal sequences in the colour-magnitude diagram. We test the observed MMRs and argue that they are statistically real, and not an artifact caused by the method we used. We also argue against asymmetric contamination causing the observed MMR as our mean results are no different from other contamination-free studies. Finally, we compare our method to the standard bimodal fitting method (KMM or RMIX) and find our results are consistent. Interpretation of these results is consistent with recent models for globular cluster formation in which the MMR is determined by GC self-enrichment during their brief formation period., Comment: 35 pages, 20 figures. Accepted by Astronomical Journal. Complete preprint including high resolution figures available at http://www.physics.mcmaster.ca/~cockcroft/MMRpaper

The Permo-Carboniferous Schmidgaden, Weiden, Erbendorf and Stockheim basins from southern Germany host discontinuous seams of high ash coal and carbargillites which were mined for hard coal, explored for uranium and only recently have proved their source rock potential for gaseous and fluid hydrocarbons. Alteration and facies of these carbonaceous beds were geologically and chemically investigated. During silicification which is exclusively confined to the carbonaceous interbeds of pyroclastic depositions, element depletion prograded except for Zn, Pb, U. The anoxic environments under consideration may be subdivided into fluvial/swamp (Upper Westphalian beds from Schmidgaden, Weiden, Erbendorf and Stockheim) and lacustrine depositions (Upper Stephanian and Upper Autunian carbargillites from Erbendorf, Weiden-Bechtsrieth). SiO 2 , MgO, CaO, Mo and Zr have proved to be most suitable for recognition of these environments, whereas, U, K 2 O and notably Cu/Zn are less appropriate. In the ternary plots displaying the organic chemistry of extracts of these carbonaceous beds fluvial swamps have low and lacustrine beds high contents of saturated hydrocarbons. All samples show a pronounced OEP (=odd even predominance) of n -alkanes which partly are environment-controlled (terrestrial origin), partly maturity-controlled. The high iso- and cyclo-alkanes of Schmidgaden and bimodal n -alkyl distribution point to a contribution of algal material. Finally four basin types bearing carbonaceous rocks are discussed with respect to their economic potential and compared with basins elsewhere (Cerilly, Lodeve, St. Hippolyte, Uinta): type I: intramontane fault-bounded basin (swamp), type II: volcanic-depression with steep relief (swamps), type III: halfgraben (lake), type IV: volcanic-depression with smooth relief (lake). Types I and II are of interest for hard coal, organic-hosted U-deposits and mainly gasprone; types III and IV, however, show good source-rock potential for crude oil.

Organic petrographical investigations of Norwegian Sea sediments deposited during oxygen istope stages 6 and 5 show significant changes in the relative amounts of "reactive" (vitrinite and liptinite) and "inert" (inertinite and graphite) particles. The [delta]13C values of the total organic fraction possibly reflect the variable content of reactives, i.e. the isotopic composition is more negative (to -23.9[per mille sign]) when the reactive components increase. The n-alkane distribution shows that the soluble organic matter deposited during late stage 6 and 5e reveals relatively low odd-even-predominance indices (OEP) associated with shorter chain lengths. This indicates a relatively higher marine algal contribution during stage 6 and 5e compared with stage 5d to 5a.

NGC 3379, an E1 giant in the nearby Leo I group, is often considered (quite literally) to be a textbook example of a normal elliptical galaxy. Typical elliptical galaxies are expected to contain a substantial metal-rich stellar component in their outer haloes. A previous study by [1], which used HST WFPC2 to examine halo stars, finds metal rich stars out to 6’ from NGC 3379’s center. More recently, [2] find almost solar values of metallicity in their near-IR study of the NGC 3379 red giant branch stars at distances out to 17 kpc from the galaxy’s center. In order to probe this trend at higher radii, we obtained deep ACS V and I-band data on a field extending out to 27-38 kpc.