Role of Magnetic Resonance Elastography as a Noninvasive Measurement Tool of Fibrosis in a Renal Allograft: A Case Report.

A major reason for poor long-term kidney transplant outcomes is the development of chronic allograft injury, characterized by interstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy. Currently, an invasive biopsy that samples only <1% of the kidney is the gold standard for detecting kidney allograft fibrosis. We report the use of magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) to quantify tissue stiffness as a noninvasive and whole-kidney measurement tool of allograft fibrosis in a kidney transplant patient at 2 time points. The MRE whole-kidney stiffness values reflected the changes in fibrosis of the kidney allograft as assessed by histologic examination. To our knowledge, this technique is the first observation of change over time in MRE-derived whole-kidney stiffness in an allograft that is consistent with changes in histology-derived fibrosis scores in a single patient.

Anomalous compressibility of ferropericlase throughout the iron spin cross-over.

The thermoelastic properties of ferropericlase Mg(1-x)Fe(x)O (x = 0.1875) throughout the iron high-to-low spin cross-over have been investigated by first principles at Earth's lower mantle conditions. This cross-over has important consequences for elasticity such as an anomalous bulk modulus (K(S)) reduction. At room temperature the anomaly is somewhat sharp in pressure but broadens with increasing temperature. Along a typical geotherm it occurs across most of the lower mantle with a more significant K(S) reduction at approximately 1,400-1,600 km depth. This anomaly might also cause a reduction in the effective activation energy for diffusion creep and lead to a viscosity minimum in the mid-lower mantle, in apparent agreement with results from inversion of data related with mantle convection and postglacial rebound.

The initiation of subduction: criticality by addition of water?

Subduction is a major process of plate tectonics; however, its initiation is not understood. We used high-resolution (less than 1 kilometer) finite-element models based on rheological data of the lithosphere to investigate the role played by water on initiating subduction. A solid-fluid thermomechanical instability is needed to drive a cold, stiff, and negatively buoyant lithosphere into the mantle. This instability can be triggered slowly by sedimentary loading over a time span of 100 million years. Our results indicate that subduction can proceed by a double feedback mechanism (thermoelastic and thermal-rheological) promoted by lubrication due to water.

Plumes and waves in two-dimensional turbulent thermal convection.

We have conducted a high-resolution, two-dimensional direct numerical simulation of Rayleigh-Bénard convection with stress-free and periodic boundary conditions at a Rayleigh (Ra) number of 10(8) and Prandtl (Pr) number of unity. An aspect-ratio three box has been considered. A single cell has been used as the initial condition. First, the flow develops into time-dependent convection with a strong asymmetry and highly convoluted thermal plumes delineating a large-scale circulation. Smaller thermal plumes detach from the boundary layer and extend over the entire cell, creating a local inversion of the temperature gradient adjacent to the boundary layers. Then the conditions leading to the formation of internal waves are fulfilled, as the local Richardson number decreases sufficiently small to cross the linear threshold of Ri=0.25. Together with the strong shear, convective rolls with a Kelvin-Helmholtz wavelike character are produced. The secondary boundary layer itself becomes unstable and produces smaller plumes. At later times, the large-scale circulation is destroyed and the internal waves disappear. A Reynolds number, based on the global scale, of Re=500, is attained at this stage. Only isolated thermal plumes and vortices are present. Thus, internal waves can be generated at finite Prandtl number fluids for sufficiently high Ra in the presence of a large-scale circulation. Spectral analysis reveals that the kinetic energy decays with a logarithmic slope of -3, while the logarithmic slope of the thermal variance has a value of around -5 / 3.

Viscous dissipation in three-dimensional convection with temperature-dependent viscosity.

Numerical simulations of three-dimensional convection with temperature-dependent viscosity and viscous heating at realistic Rayleigh numbers for Earth's mantle reveal that, in the strongly time-dependent regime, very intense localized heating takes place along the top portion of descending cold sheets and also at locations where the ascending plume heads impinge at the surface. For a viscosity contrast of 100, these localized heat sources exceed the internal heating due to the radioactive decay of chondritic materials by more than an order of magnitude. The horizontally averaged viscous dissipation is concentrated in the top of the convecting layer and has a magnitude comparable with that of radioactive heating.

Implications for mantle dynamics from the high melting temperature of perovskite.

Recent studies have implied that (Mg, Fe)SiO(3)-perovskite, a likely dominant mineral phase in the lower mantle, may have a high melting temperature. The implications of these findings for the dynamics of the lower mantle were investigated with the use of numerical convection models. The results showed that low homologous temperatures (0.3 to 0.5) would prevail in the modeled lower mantle, regardless of the effective Rayleigh number and internal heating rates. High-temperature ductile creep is possible under relatively cold conditions. In models with low rates of internal heating, local maxima of viscosity developed in the mid-lower mantle that were similar to those obtained from inversion of geoid, topography, and plate velocities.

Three-dimensional instabilities of mantle convection with multiple phase transitions.

The effects of multiple phase transitions on mantle convection are investigated by numerical simulations that are based on three-dimensional models. These simulations show that cold sheets of mantle material collide at junctions, merge, and form a strong downflow that is stopped temporarily by the transition zone. The accumulated cold material gives rise to a strong gravitational instability that causes the cold mass to sink rapidly into the lower mantle. This process promotes a massive exchange between the lower and upper mantles and triggers a global instability in the adjacent plume system. This mechanism may be cyclic in nature and may be linked to the generation of superplumes.

Development of diapiric structures in the upper mantle due to phase transitions.

Solid-state phase transitions in time-dependent mantle convection can induce diapiric flows in the upper mantle. When a deep mantle plume rises toward phase boundaries in the upper mantle, the changes in the local thermal buoyancy, local heat capacity, and latent heat associated with the phase change at a depth of 670 kilometers tend to pinch off the plume head from the feeding stem and form a diapir. This mechanism may explain episodic hot spot volcanism. The nature of the multiple phase boundaries at the boundary between the upper and lower mantle may control the fate of deep mantle plumes, allowing hot plumes to go through and retarding the tepid ones.