Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and climate are regulated on geological timescales by the balance between carbon input from volcanic and metamorphic outgassing and its removal by weathering feedbacks; these feedbacks involve the erosion of silicate rocks and organic-carbon-bearing rocks. The integrated effect of these processes is reflected in the calcium carbonate compensation depth, which is the oceanic depth at which calcium carbonate is dissolved. Here we present a carbonate accumulation record that covers the past 53 million years from a depth transect in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. The carbonate compensation depth tracks long-term ocean cooling, deepening from 3.0-3.5 kilometres during the early Cenozoic (approximately 55 million years ago) to 4.6 kilometres at present, consistent with an overall Cenozoic increase in weathering. We find large superimposed fluctuations in carbonate compensation depth during the middle and late Eocene. Using Earth system models, we identify changes in weathering and the mode of organic-carbon delivery as two key processes to explain these large-scale Eocene fluctuations of the carbonate compensation depth.

Highlights d cGAS-STING activation and mitochondrial damage in tubules mediate acute kidney injury d cGAS-STING activation induces tubular inflammation and progression of AKI d Mitochondrial DNA leakage into the cytosol increased in AKIinduced tubular damage d Cytosolic mitochondrial DNA activates cGAS-STING signaling in tubular inflammation

A nationwide statistical survey of 4098 dialysis facilities was conducted at the end of 2007, and 4052 facilities (98.88%) participated. The number of patients undergoing dialysis at the end of 2007 was determined to be 275 242, an increase of 10 769 patients (4.1%) compared with that at the end of 2006.The number of dialysis patients per million at the end of 2007 was 2154. The crude death rate of dialysis patients at the end of 2007 from the end of 2006 was 9.4%. The mean age of new patients begun on dialysis was 66.8 years and the mean age of the entire dialysis patient population was 64.9 years. For the primary diseases of new patients begun on dialysis, the percentages of patients with diabetic nephropathy and chronic glomerulonephritis were 43.4% and 23.8%, respectively. The percentages of facilities that achieved the control standard of endotoxin concentration in the dialysate solution of<0.05 EU/mL and those that achieved a bacterial count of <100 cfu/mL in the dialysate solution, as specified by the Japanese Society for Dialysis Therapy, were 93.6% and 97.4%, respectively. The percentage of patients positive for the hepatitis C virus antibody among the entire dialysis population significantly decreased from 15.95% at the end of 1999 to 9.83% at the end of 2007. The mean hemoglobin concentration in all the dialysis patients at the end of 2007 was 10.27 (+/-1.32, SD) g/dL, which has scarcely changed over the last three years. The numbers of male and female patients with a history of hip fracture were 142.9 and 339.0 per 10 000 dialysis patients, respectively, showing an extremely high prevalence among female patients. A history of hip fracture correlates with a low body mass index, serum albumin concentration, and a history of diabetes. The serum creatinine level of patients upon introduction to dialysis was 8.34 (+/-3.55) mg/dL, and the estimated glomerular filtration rate was 5.43 (+/-3.43) mL/min/1.73 m(2) for the patients who were newly begun on dialysis in 2007.

Litho-, bio-, and chemostratigraphy of the Cretaceous forearc basin sediments exposed in Hokkaido, northern Japan allow a synthesis of the faunal, sedimentological, and environmental history of the north-west Pacific margin. Although the succession, named the Yezo Group, has yielded an abundant record of mid- to late Cretaceous invertebrates, monotonous lithologies of sandstone and mudstone, showing occasional lateral facies changes, have caused confusion regarding the lithostratigraphic nomenclature. Based on our wide areal mapping of the sequence, and analysis of litho- and biofacies, a new lithostratigraphic scheme for the Yezo Group is proposed. In ascending order, the scheme is as follows: the Soashibetsugawa Formation (Lower Aptian mudstone unit); the Shuparogawa Formation (Lower Aptian–lower Upper Albian sandstone-dominant turbidite unit); the Maruyama Formation (lower Upper Albian tuffaceous sandstone unit); the Hikagenosawa Formation (Upper Albian–Middle Cenomanian mudstone-dominant unit); the Saku Formation (Middle Cenomanian–Upper Turonian sandstone-common turbidite unit); the Kashima Formation (Upper Turonian–Lower Campanian mudstone-dominant unit); and the Hakobuchi Formation (Lower Campanian–Paleocene shallow-marine sandstone-conglomerate unit). In addition, we designate two further lithostratigraphic units, the Mikasa Formation (Upper Albian–Turonian shallow-marine sandstone-dominated unit) and the Haborogawa Formation (Middle Turonian–Campanian shelf mudstone/sandstone unit), which correspond in age to the shallower facies of the Saku and Kashima formations, respectively. Despite a lack of so-called “black shales”, because of siliciclastic dilution, our stratigraphic integration has revealed the horizons of oceanic anoxic events (OAEs) in the Yezo Group. The OAE1a horizon in the Soashibetsugawa Formation is characterized by a lack of foraminifers, macrofossils and bioturbation, and a prominent positive excursion of δ13Corg. A significant hiatus during the late Aptian and early Albian removed the OAE1b horizon. The OAE1c horizon in the Maruyama Formation shows a distinct negative excursion of δ13Corg with a concomitant high productivity of radiolarians. The OAE1d horizon in the middle part of the Hikagenosawa Formation consists of weakly laminated, pyrite-rich mudstone. Planktonic and calcareous benthic foraminifers are absent, whereas radiolarians are abundant above the OAE1d horizon. The mid-Cenomanian event (MCE) horizon is identified at the top of the Hikagenosawa Formation. Stepwise extinction of calcareous benthic foraminifers and a decrease in radiolarian diversity become apparent above the MCE horizon. In the study area, the OAE2 horizon has been well documented, and is placed in the middle part of the Saku Formation

No abstract