Analytical improvements and assessment of long-term performance of the oxidation-denitrifier method.

Unlabelled: The analysis of the nitrogen (N) isotopic composition of organic matter bound to fossil biomineral structures (BB-δ N) using the oxidation-denitrifier (O-D) method provides a novel tool to study past changes in N cycling processes.

Methods: We report a set of methodological improvements to the O-D method, including (a) a method for sealing the reaction vials in which the oxidation of organic N to NO takes place, (b) a recipe for bypassing the pH adjustment step before the bacterial conversion of NO to N O, and (c) a method for storing recrystallized dipotassium peroxodisulfate (K S O ) under Ar atmosphere.

Results: The new sealing method eliminates the occasional contamination and vial breakage that occurred previously while increasing sample throughput.

Weakened AMOC related to cooling and atmospheric circulation shifts in the last interglacial Eastern Mediterranean.

There is limited understanding of temperature and atmospheric circulation changes that accompany an Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) slowdown beyond the North Atlantic realm. A Peqi'in Cave (Israel) speleothem dated to the last interglacial period (LIG), 129-116 thousand years ago (ka), together with a large modern rainfall monitoring dataset, serve as the base for investigating past AMOC slowdown effects on the Eastern Mediterranean. Here, we reconstruct LIG temperatures and rainfall source using organic proxies (TEX) and fluid inclusion water d-excess.

Unilateral and bilateral training competitive archers differ in some potentially unhealthy neck-shoulder region movement behaviour characteristics.

Background: Excessive unilateral joint loads may lead to overuse disorders. Bilateral training in archery is only performed as a supportive coordination training and as a variation of typical exercise. However, a series of studies demonstrated a crossover transfer of training-induced motor skills to the contralateral side, especially in case of mainly unilateral skills.

Southern Ocean upwelling, Earth's obliquity, and glacial-interglacial atmospheric CO change.

Previous studies have suggested that during the late Pleistocene ice ages, surface-deep exchange was somehow weakened in the Southern Ocean's Antarctic Zone, which reduced the leakage of deeply sequestered carbon dioxide and thus contributed to the lower atmospheric carbon dioxide levels of the ice ages. Here, high-resolution diatom-bound nitrogen isotope measurements from the Indian sector of the Antarctic Zone reveal three modes of change in Southern Westerly Wind-driven upwelling, each affecting atmospheric carbon dioxide. Two modes, related to global climate and the bipolar seesaw, have been proposed previously.

Specific smartphone usage and cognitive performance affect gait characteristics during free-living and treadmill walking.

Background: Mobile phone tasks like texting, typing, and dialling during walking are known to impact gait characteristics. Beyond that, the effects of performing smartphone-typical actions like researching and taking self-portraits (selfie) on gait have not been investigated yet.

Research Question: We aimed to investigate the effects of smartphone usage on relevant gait characteristics and to reveal potential association of basic cognitive and walking plus smartphone dual-task abilities.