Improving age-depth models of fluvio-lacustrine deposits using sedimentary proxies for accumulation rates

Lacustrine fills, including those of oxbow lakes in river floodplains, often hold valuable sedimentary and biological proxy records of palaeo-environmental change. Precise dating of accumulated sediments at levels throughout these records is crucial for interpretation and correlation of (proxy) data existing within the fills. Typically, dates...

River flooding and landscape changes impact ecological conditions of a scour hole lake in the Rhine-Meuse delta, The Netherlands

A 400-year sediment record from an 18 m deep scour hole lake (Haarsteegse Wiel) near the Meuse River in the Netherlands was investigated for past changes in water quality, flooding frequency and landscape change using geophysical, geochemical and micropaleontological information. The results are highly significant for determining long-term...

Optical dating of fluvio-deltaic clastic lake-fill sediments - A feasibility study in the Holocene Rhine delta (western Netherlands)

We test the applicability of quartz optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating on clastic lake sediments to investigate whether this dating method can be applied to study the timing and rate of deposition in Holocene fluvio-deltaic lakes. Our study concerns the filling of a lake by the Angstel-Vecht system, part of the Rhine delta in the...

Abrupt climate warming in East Antarctica during the early Holocene

We report a centennial-scale warming event between 8600 and 8400 cal BP from Amery Oasis, East Antarctica, that is documented by the geochemical record in a lacustrine sediment sequence. The organic carbon content, the C/S ratio, and the sedimentation rate in this core have distinctly elevated values around 8500 y ago reflecting relatively warm...

Active MMPs captured by alpha2Macroglobulin as a marker of disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis

Objective. The aim of the present study was to analyze alpha2Macroglobulin/MMP (alpha2M/MMP) complex formation and to investigate whether MMP activity in alpha2M/MMP complexes in serum can be used as a disease marker in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods. High and low molecular weight (H/LMW) substrates and inhibitors and size exclusion were...

Lack of effect of doxycycline on disease activity and joint damage in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. A double blind, placebo controlled trial

Objective. To investigate the effects of doxycycline on disease activity and joint destruction in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods. A 36 week double blind, placebo controlled crossover trial was conducted. Patients (n = 66) received 50 mg doxycycline or placebo twice a day during 12, 24, or 36 weeks. Patient assessments were...

The Holocene evolution of the barrier and the back-barrier basins of Belgium and the Netherlands as a function of late Weichselian morphology, relative sea-level rise and sediment supply

Flooding of the southern part of the North Sea occurred between 9000 and 8000 BP, when the rate of relative sea-level rise was on the order of 0.7 cm per year for the Dover Strait Region and 1.6 cm per year for the area north of the Frisian Islands, forcing the shoreline to recede rapidly. When relative sea-level rise decelerated after 7000 BP...

Isolation of antibody forming cells by using cluster formation in combination with velocity sedimentation

A method is described for isolation of antibody forming cells with the help of cluster formation. This was achieved by incubating spleen cells from immunized mice with sheep erythrocytes at 37°C. During incubation rabbit anti mouse immunoglobulin serum was present in order to facilitate the formation of clusters. Thereafter the clusters were...