SV Kommandor Jack Cruise 01/05, 11 Jul – 08 Aug 2005. Multibeam bathymetry and high resolution sidescan sonar surveys within the SEA7 area of the UK continental shelf

The objectives of the SV Kommandor Jack 01/05 cruise were to collect EM120, and where water depths permit, EM1002 multibeam bathymetry and backscatter data, and also where desired, high resolution sidescan sonar data, over Anton Dohrn Seamount, George Bligh and Rosemary Banks, the eastern margin of Rockall Bank and selected areas of Hatton Bank. The aims were to a) create high quality bathymetric maps of the survey areas b) create acoustic backscatter maps over the same areas c) when possible, define the extent of any potential coral habitats d) create high resolution bathymetric, backscatter and sonar maps of specific features as may be discovered, such as mud diapers, carbonate mounds etc. e) complete, during the cruise, a preliminary interpretation of the above data, to be used as a guide for the sampling and seabed photography cruise which followed immediately. This was a highly successful cruise with virtually all cruise objectives achieved. 6,384 line-km of multibeam bathymetry and backscatter data were obtained in water depths between 150 and 2,400 m. In addition, approximately 240 line-km of high resolution sidescan sonar were collected in depths between 150 and 1,500 m, and 6,323 line-km of high resolution CHIRP profiles were also collected

SV Kommandor Jack Cruise 01/05, 11 Jul – 08 Aug 2005. Multibeam bathymetry and high resolution sidescan sonar surveys within the SEA7 area of the UK continental shelf

The objectives of the SV Kommandor Jack 01/05 cruise were to collect EM120, and where water depths permit, EM1002 multibeam bathymetry and backscatter data, and also where desired, high resolution sidescan sonar data, over Anton Dohrn Seamount, George Bligh and Rosemary Banks, the eastern margin of Rockall Bank and selected areas of Hatton Bank. The aims were toa) create high quality bathymetric maps of the survey areasb) create acoustic backscatter maps over the same areasc) when possible, define the extent of any potential coral habitatsd) create high resolution bathymetric, backscatter and sonar maps of specific features as may be discovered, such as mud diapers, carbonate mounds etc.e) complete, during the cruise, a preliminary interpretation of the above data, to be used as a guide for the sampling and seabed photography cruise which followed immediately.This was a highly successful cruise with virtually all cruise objectives achieved. 6,384 line-km of multibeam bathymetry and backscatter data were obtained in water depths between 150 and 2,400 m. In addition, approximately 240 line-km of high resolution sidescan sonar were collected in depths between 150 and 1,500 m, and 6,323 line-km of high resolution CHIRP profiles were also collected

Pulmonary complications in 110 consecutive renal transplant recipients

The pulmonary complications in 110 consecutive renal transplant recipients OR cyclosporin and low-dose steroid immunosuppression were studied retrospectively. The pulmonary complications were: acute pulmonary oedema in 19 patients, pneumonia in 18, tuberculosis in 9, acute pulmonary embolism in 5, and lung abscess in 1. Sixty nine patients (62,7%) had no pulmonary complications; 69% of the complications occurred in the first 4 months after the transplant. Pulmonary tuberculosis became evident later. The mean age, period of follow-up, human leucocyte antigen (HLA) B/OR mismatches, mean serum urea and serum creatinine concentrations, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, and cyclosporin dosage did not differ between the groups with no complications, infectious complications and non-infectious complications. The number of rejection episodes treated with bolus steroids was significantly higher in the infectious and noninfectious complications groups compared with the group with no complications.The incidence of pulmonary complications after renal transplantation, especially pneumonia and tuberculosis, was still high despite the use of low-dose steroids and cyclosporin. Pulmonary complications were the commonest cause ofaeath in the first 3 years after the transplant. A high index of suspicion for pulmonarytuberculosis and pulmonary embolism in these patients is necessary

Emissions of N2O from fertilized and grazed grassland on organic soil in relation to groundwater level

Intensively managed grasslands on organic soils are a major source of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) therefore has set the default emission factor at 8 kg N–N2O ha-1 year-1 for cultivation and management of organic soils. Also, the Dutch national reporting methodology for greenhouse gases uses a relatively high calculated emission factor of 4.7 kg N–N2O ha-1 year-1. In addition to cultivation, the IPCC methodology and the Dutch national methodology account for N2O emissions from N inputs through fertilizer applications and animal urine and faeces deposition to estimate annual N2O emissions from cultivated and managed organic soils. However, neither approach accounts for other soil parameters that might control N2O emissions such as groundwater level. In this paper we report on the relations between N2O emissions, N inputs and groundwater level dynamics for a fertilized and grazed grassland on drained peat soil. We measured N2O emissions from fields with different target groundwater levels of 40 cm (‘wet’) and 55 cm (‘dry’) below soil surface in the years 1992, 1993, 2002, 2006 and 2007. Average emissions equalled 29.5 kg N2O–N ha-1 year-1 and 11.6 kg N–N2O ha-1 year-1 for the dry and wet conditions, respectively. Especially under dry conditions, measured N2O emissions exceeded current official estimates using the IPCC methodology and the Dutch national reporting methodology. The N2O–N emissions equalled 8.2 and 3.2% of the total N inputs through fertilizers, manure and cattle droppings for the dry and wet field, respectively and were strongly related to average groundwater level (R 2 = 0.74). We argue that this relation should be explored for other sites and could be used to derive accurate emission data for fertilized and grazed grasslands on organic soil

Magnetohydrodynamics and Plasma Cosmology

We study the linear magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations, both in the Newtonian and the general-relativistic limit, as regards a viscous magnetized fluid of finite conductivity and discuss instability criteria. In addition, we explore the excitation of cosmological perturbations in anisotropic spacetimes, in the presence of an ambient magnetic field. Acoustic, electromagnetic (e/m) and fast-magnetosonic modes, propagating normal to the magnetic field, can be excited, resulting in several implications of cosmological significance.Comment: 9 pages, RevTeX, To appear in the Proceedings of the Peyresq X Meeting, IJTP Conference Serie

Single Photons on Pseudo-Demand from Stored Parametric Down-Conversion

We describe the results of a parametric down-conversion experiment in which the detection of one photon of a pair causes the other photon to be switched into a storage loop. The stored photon can then be switched out of the loop at a later time chosen by the user, providing a single photon for potential use in a variety of quantum information processing applications. Although the stored single photon is only available at periodic time intervals, those times can be chosen to match the cycle time of a quantum computer by using pulsed down-conversion. The potential use of the storage loop as a photonic quantum memory device is also discussed.Comment: 8 pages, 7 Figs., RevTe

Single-hole properties in the tt-JJ and strong-coupling models

We report numerical results for the single-hole properties in the $t$-$J$ model and the strong-coupling approximation to the Hubbard model in two dimensions. Using the hopping basis with over $10^6$ states we discuss (for an infinite system) the bandwidth, the leading Fourier coefficients in the dispersion, the band masses, and the spin-spin correlations near the hole. We compare our results with those obtained by other methods. The band minimum is found to be at ($\pi/2,\pi/2$) for the $t$-$J$ model for $0.1 \leq t/J \leq 10$, and for the strong-coupling model for $1 \leq t/J \leq 10$. The bandwidth in both models is approximately $2J$ at large $t/J$, in rough agreement with loop-expansion results but in disagreement with other results. The strong-coupling bandwidth for t/J\agt6 can be obtained from the $t$-$J$ model by treating the three-site terms in first-order perturbation theory. The dispersion along the magnetic zone face is flat, giving a large parallel/perpendicular band mass ratio.Comment: 1 RevTeX file with epsf directives to include 8 .eps figures 8 figure files encoded using uufile

Systemic perturbations of the kynurenine pathway precede progression to dementia independently of amyloid-β

Increasing evidence suggests that kynurenine pathway (KP) dyshomeostasis may promote disease progression in dementia. Studies in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients confirm KP dyshomeostasis in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) which correlates with amyloid-β and tau pathology. Herein, we performed the first comprehensive study assessing baseline levels of KP metabolites in participants enrolling in the Australian Imaging Biomarkers Flagship Study of Aging. Our purpose was to test the hypothesis that changes in KP metabolites may be biomarkers of dementia processes that are largely silent. We used a cross-sectional analytical approach to assess non-progressors (N = 73); cognitively normal (CN) or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) participants at baseline and throughout the study, and progressors (N = 166); CN or MCI at baseline but progressing to either MCI or AD during the study. Significant KP changes in progressors included increased 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid (3-HAA) and 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid/anthranilic acid (3-HAA/AA) ratio, the latter having the largest effect on the odds of an individual being a progressor (OR 35.3; 95% CI between 14 and 104). 3-HAA levels were hence surprisingly bi-phasic, high in progressors but low in non-progressors or participants who had already transitioned to MCI or dementia. This is a new, unexpected and interesting result, as most studies of the KP in neurodegenerative disease show reduced 3-HAA/AA ratio after diagnosis. The neuroprotective metabolite picolinic acid was also significantly decreased while the neurotoxic metabolite 3-hydroxykynurenine increased in progressors. These results were significant even after adjustment for confounders. Considering the magnitude of the OR to predict change in cognition, it is important that these findings are replicated in other populations. Independent validation of our findings may confirm the utility of 3-HAA/AA ratio to predict change in cognition leading to dementia in clinical settings