Investigation of Metal and Organic Contaminant Distributions and Sedimentation Rates in Backwater Lakes along the Illinois River

Systematic sub-sampling of sediment cores in sections of uniform thickness is necessary in order to evaluate historic changes in sediment quality, to determine the vertical extent of contamination, and to measure sedimentation rates. With these objectives in mind, fourteen sediment cores were collected during March 2002 using the Illinois State Water Survey vibracorer. Concentrations of metals and total organic carbon were measured using standard techniques. Concentrations of chlorinated pesticides, phenolic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were measured by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The concentrations of chlorinated pesticides, phenolic compounds and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were below the method detection limit in all sediment samples analyzed. However, there was a wide range in concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) which were detected in all sediment samples. Also, a wide range of metal concentrations was noted in the sediments evaluated. Lower concentrations of metals were found in the upper 0.5 m of sediment but concentrations were elevated at depths ranging from 1.0 m to 1.5 m. Sedimentation rates were estimated using cesium-137 radiometric dating on 14 vibracores. Sedimentation rates range from < 0.1 to 1.9 cm/yr, with an average of 0.9 cm/yr. These rates are comparable to those reported in previous studies.Illinois Sustainable Technology Centerpublished or submitted for publicationis peer reviewe

Luminosity measurement method for the LHC: The detector requirements studies

Absolute normalisation of the LHC measurements with a precision of O(1%) is desirable but beyond the reach of the present LHC detectors. This series of papers proposes and evaluates a measurement method capable to achieve such a precision target. In our earlier paper we have selected the phase-space region where the lepton pair production cross section in pp collisions at the LHC can be controlled with < 1 % precision and is large enough to reach a comparable statistical accuracy of the absolute luminosity measurement on the day-by-day basis. In the present one the performance requirements for a dedicated detector, indispensable to efficiently select events in the proposed phase-space region, are discussed.Comment: 26 pages, 13 figure

Gourd\u27geous

Finding a voice to articulate my passion for making utilitarian pottery has been the central focus of my graduate studies. As a ceramic artist, I strive to make work that celebrates clay\u27s tactile qualities, history, environmental responsiveness, and beauty. My research involved investigating different clay processes, fabrication methods, glazes, and contemporary/historical influences. The end result is a body of work that expresses a balanced blending of clay, nature, and history

The immune cell landscape in kidneys of patients with lupus nephritis.

Lupus nephritis is a potentially fatal autoimmune disease for which the current treatment is ineffective and often toxic. To develop mechanistic hypotheses of disease, we analyzed kidney samples from patients with lupus nephritis and from healthy control subjects using single-cell RNA sequencing. Our analysis revealed 21 subsets of leukocytes active in disease, including multiple populations of myeloid cells, T cells, natural killer cells and B cells that demonstrated both pro-inflammatory responses and inflammation-resolving responses. We found evidence of local activation of B cells correlated with an age-associated B-cell signature and evidence of progressive stages of monocyte differentiation within the kidney. A clear interferon response was observed in most cells. Two chemokine receptors, CXCR4 and CX3CR1, were broadly expressed, implying a potentially central role in cell trafficking. Gene expression of immune cells in urine and kidney was highly correlated, which would suggest that urine might serve as a surrogate for kidney biopsies

Cultural engagement and the economic performance of the cultural and creative industries: an occupational critique

This article presents a new critical engagement with the concept of Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs), focusing on the rationale for grouping occupations and industries under this label. We show how the definition of ‘creativity’ used to demonstrate CCIs’ economic performance remains contested and variable, particularly with regard to the inclusion of specific parts of the IT sector. In demonstrating the importance of IT to the economic narrative regarding CCIs, we then unfold a related critique, exploring patterns in cultural consumption within CCI occupations. We demonstrate how some CCI workers have distinctively high cultural consumption, others reflect their broader social class, and some, including IT workers, show lower than expected consumption. Overall, we question the coherence of the prevailing CCI category, particularly in government policy, and suggest a new mode of ‘cultural’ occupational analysis for the sociology of CCIs

Draft Report: Sediment Characterization in the Middle Peoria Pool, Illinois River

The Illinois Waterway (IWW) is a significant resource to the state of Illinois and the nation as a whole. Commercial navigation on the Illinois Waterway provides a vital means for transporting commodities to and from blue water ports on the East and Gulf coasts of the United States. However throughout the world large floodplain-river ecosystems, like the Illinois River, are becoming increasingly rare. The National Research Council Committee on Aquatic Ecosystems considered this ecosystem type to be the highest priority for aquatic restoration and specifically named the Illinois River as one of three floodplain-river ecosystems within the United States having sufficient ecological integrity to recover. To address the concomitant while sometimes competing needs of commercial navigation and ecological integrity the US federal government, through the Army Corp of Engineers (COE), and the Upper Mississippi River states have proposed the Navigation and Ecological Sustainability Project (NESP) as a means of improving navigation along the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Waterways while improving and/or mitigating the environmental impacts associated with the navigation improvements. As part of this effort it is envisioned that certain backwater areas within the middle Peoria Pool area will be dredged and the dredged material will be used for the construction of islands, elevated floodplain areas or other beneficial uses. These deep water areas will provide suitable overwinter habitat for native fish species while the islands and elevated floodplain areas will diversify terrestrial habitats within that river reach and provide loafing and nesting habitat for waterfowl and shorebirds. These Options 1-3 of this project seek to provide additional data to help further characterize the sediments found in the middle reach of the Illinois River. For this project that area can generally be described as that portion of the Illinois River between Lacon and Chillicothe IL. The descriptions, photos, and analytical results of the analyses for the 16 sediment cores collected May 8-9, 2006 are presented.U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island DistrictResults for Contract Options 1-3........................................................................... 1 Introduction ............................................................. 1 Acknowledgments ................................................... 1 Study Area ............................................................. 1 Methods .................................................................. 3 Results ................................................................... 4 References ............................................................ 5 Results for Contract Base Option .......................... 7 Appendix A. Field Sheets ....................................... 48 Appendix B. Standard Operating Procedures for the Collection of Sediment Cores Using the Rossfelder 3-Pc Vibrocore ............. 54 Appendix C. Chemical Results from Severn Trent Laboratories ..........62 Appendix D. Particle Size Results ............................................... 195 Appendix E. Percent Moisture ................................................... 230 Appendix F. Photographs of Sediment Cores ............................ 234Ope

Common Genetic Variants Modulate Pathogen-Sensing Responses in Human Dendritic Cells

Little is known about how human genetic variation affects the responses to environmental stimuli in the context of complex diseases. Experimental and computational approaches were applied to determine the effects of genetic variation on the induction of pathogen-responsive genes in human dendritic cells. We identified 121 common genetic variants associated in cis with variation in expression responses to Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide, influenza, or interferon-β (IFN-β). We localized and validated causal variants to binding sites of pathogen-activated STAT (signal transducer and activator of transcription) and IRF (IFN-regulatory factor) transcription factors. We also identified a common variant in IRF7 that is associated in trans with type I IFN induction in response to influenza infection. Our results reveal common alleles that explain interindividual variation in pathogen sensing and provide functional annotation for genetic variants that alter susceptibility to inflammatory diseases.National Human Genome Research Institute (U.S.) (Grant P50 HG006193)National Institutes of Health (U.S.). Pioneer Award (DP1 CA174427)Howard Hughes Medical InstituteNational Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant HG004037)National Institutes of Health (U.S.). Pioneer Award (DP1 MH100706)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Transformative R01 Grant R01 DK097768)W. M. Keck FoundationMcKnight FoundationMerkin, Richard N.Damon Runyon Cancer Research FoundationSearle Scholars ProgramSimons Foundatio

Source Monitoring and Evaluation of Sediment Inputs for Peoria Lake

NOTE: ISWS Library copies were labeled as ISWS CR 514, but this designation is not included in the report itself. and there was no ISWS Contract Report CR-514 listed on the ISWS website or ISWS pubs database.Ope

Defining inflammatory cell states in rheumatoid arthritis joint synovial tissues by integrating single-cell transcriptomics and mass cytometry

© 2019, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature America, Inc. To define the cell populations that drive joint inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), we applied single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), mass cytometry, bulk RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) and flow cytometry to T cells, B cells, monocytes, and fibroblasts from 51 samples of synovial tissue from patients with RA or osteoarthritis (OA). Utilizing an integrated strategy based on canonical correlation analysis of 5,265 scRNA-seq profiles, we identified 18 unique cell populations. Combining mass cytometry and transcriptomics revealed cell states expanded in RA synovia: THY1(CD90) + HLA-DRA hi sublining fibroblasts, IL1B + pro-inflammatory monocytes, ITGAX + TBX21 + autoimmune-associated B cells and PDCD1 + peripheral helper T (T PH ) cells and follicular helper T (T FH ) cells. We defined distinct subsets of CD8 + T cells characterized by GZMK + , GZMB + , and GNLY + phenotypes. We mapped inflammatory mediators to their source cell populations; for example, we attributed IL6 expression to THY1 + HLA-DRA hi fibroblasts and IL1B production to pro-inflammatory monocytes. These populations are potentially key mediators of RA pathogenesis