Observations on the Paleoecology and Formation of the “Upper Shell” Unit, Lee Creek Mine

The Upper Shell unit at the Lee Creek Mine (Pliocene age, maximum thickness 3 m) is remarkable for its concentration of well-preserved mollusk shells in a sparse quartz sand matrix, and it is dominated by several species of bivalves, with many shells articulated. The unit can be subdivided into three bivalve assemblage zones characterized by associations of dominant species. Zone 1 is dominated by Mercenaria mercenaria, an infaunal, shallow- to medium-burrowing, siphonate clam. Zone 2 is characterized by an epifaunal bivalve assemblage that includes Glycymeris americana, Argopecten eboreus, Anomia simplex, and Ostrea meridionalis. Thin but highly concentrated accumulations of Argopecten and Anomia form distinct layers within zone 2. Zone 3 is marked by a return of Mercenaria mercenaria accompanied by specimens of Geukensia sp. and an increase in oyster shells. The characteristics of the zones of the Upper Shell unit strongly suggest that these shell beds were formed by a series of localized catastrophic events that produced mass mortality of the molluscan assemblages, rather than by processes of gradual shell accumulation. The disappearance of Mercenaria mercenaria from the sequence may have been due largely to the inability of juveniles of this species to penetrate a shell pavement formed immediately after a mass mortality event. Return of Mercenaria mercenaria in zone 3 marks a change in bottom environmental conditions in the area. The overlying Shell Hash unit contains the bivalve Corbicula densata, representative of lower salinity conditions. This unit consists primarily of shell material reworked from the underlying Upper Shell unit and probably represents an accumulation formed in an estuarine tidal channel

Robust Weak-lensing Mass Calibration of Planck Galaxy Clusters

In light of the tension in cosmological constraints reported by the Planck team between their SZ-selected cluster counts and Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) temperature anisotropies, we compare the Planck cluster mass estimates with robust, weak-lensing mass measurements from the Weighing the Giants (WtG) project. For the 22 clusters in common between the Planck cosmology sample and WtG, we find an overall mass ratio of \left = 0.688 \pm 0.072. Extending the sample to clusters not used in the Planck cosmology analysis yields a consistent value of $\left< M_{Planck}/M_{\rm WtG} \right> = 0.698 \pm 0.062$ from 38 clusters in common. Identifying the weak-lensing masses as proxies for the true cluster mass (on average), these ratios are $\sim 1.6\sigma$ lower than the default mass bias of 0.8 assumed in the Planck cluster analysis. Adopting the WtG weak-lensing-based mass calibration would substantially reduce the tension found between the Planck cluster count cosmology results and those from CMB temperature anisotropies, thereby dispensing of the need for "new physics" such as uncomfortably large neutrino masses (in the context of the measured Planck temperature anisotropies and other data). We also find modest evidence (at 95 per cent confidence) for a mass dependence of the calibration ratio and discuss its potential origin in light of systematic uncertainties in the temperature calibration of the X-ray measurements used to calibrate the Planck cluster masses. Our results exemplify the critical role that robust absolute mass calibration plays in cluster cosmology, and the invaluable role of accurate weak-lensing mass measurements in this regard.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure

Advancing our pharmacy reformation-accelerating education and practice transformation: Report of the 2019-2020 argus commission

© 2020, American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. All rights reserved. The Argus Commission examined changes that should be considered by colleges and schools of pharmacy to meet the bold aim of better integrating pharmacists’ and physi-cians’ practices articulated by President Sorensen. The Commission assessed the readiness of pharmacy educators to contribute to the acceleration of practice transformation. The primary focus of the report is on how the doctor of pharmacy curriculum and post-graduate training might be modified and better aligned to ensure that graduates complete their education ready to engage in roles partnered with primary care clinicians. The aim is to achieve comprehensive medication management and other pharmacist patient care services as standards of care. The Argus Commission provides preliminary recommendations for new or more intensified priorities by the 2020-21 AACP Strategic Planning Committee as they update the AACP plan. This includes the recommendation that AACP should create the Center for Academic Innovation and Practice Transformation, a hub to coordinate many current and emerging activities relevant to accelerating change in pharmacy education and practice

Improved prognosis of intracranial non-germinoma germ cell tumors with multimodality therapy

The 5 year survival for patients with malignant intracranial non-germinoma germ cell tumors (NGGCT) which include endodermalsinus tumors, embryonal carcinomas, choriocarcinomas and immatureteratomas is less than 25% following a small resection and radiotherapy. In an effort to improve the survival of these patients, an approach using an attempt at radical resection wherefeasible, followed by multi-modality ’sandwich‘ therapy (chemotherapy-radiation-chemotherapy) was used to treat 18 newly diagnosed patients between 1986 and 1994 in a multi-institution study. Fourteen patients had histologically proven NGGCT andfour were presumed NGGCT because of markedly elevated concentrations of serum and/or CSF alpha fetoprotein (AFP) and/or beta human chorionic gonadatrophin (b-HCG). The primary tumor was confined to thepineal region in 12 patients, the suprasellar region in five, and acerebral hemisphere in one. None of the patients had central nervoussystem metastases at diagnosis by MRI imaging of the spine and CSF cytology. Radical surgical resection was performedinitially in 11 patients (gross total — 6, subtotal — 5);four had a biopsy and three had no surgery. All patients then received3 or 4 cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy with cisplatin (100 mg/m 2 /cycle) and VP-16 (500 mg/m 2 /cycle)/cycle). Of the 12 patients with evaluabledisease there were 9 responses to the neoadjuvant chemotherapy (5 CR,4 PR); 2 patients had stable disease and 1 progressed duringchemotherapy. Six patients with no evaluable disease after a grosstotal resection had a continuous complete response. Seventeen patientsreceived radiation therapy (involved field — 11, involved field + craniospinal — 4, involved field+ whole brain — 2). Twelve patients received 4 cycles post-radiation chemotherapy with vinblastine (6.5 mg/m 2 /cycle), bleomycin (15 U/m 2 /cycle),VP-16 (300 mg/m 2 /cycle, carboplatin (450 mg/m 2 /cycle). A total of four patients have died (3 — progressive/recurrent disease, 1 — metabolic). Four year actuarialevent-free and total survival rates are 67% and 74%. This multi-modality adjuvant therapy approach appears to dramatically improve the outcome of malignant intracranialNGGCT.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45385/1/11060_2004_Article_110512.pd

Genes required for survival in microgravity revealed by genome-wide yeast deletion collections cultured during spaceflight

Spaceflight is a unique environment with profound effects on biological systems including tissue redistribution and musculoskeletal stresses. However, the more subtle biological effects of spaceflight on cells and organisms are difficult to measure in a systematic, unbiased manner. Here we test the utility of the molecularly barcoded yeast deletion collection to provide a quantitative assessment of the effects of microgravity on a model organism. We developed robust hardware to screen, in parallel, the complete collection of ~4800 homozygous and ~5900 heterozygous (including ~1100 single-copy deletions of essential genes) yeast deletion strains, each carrying unique DNA that acts as strain identifiers. We compared strain fitness for the homozygous and heterozygous yeast deletion collections grown in spaceflight and ground, as well as plus and minus hyperosmolar sodium chloride, providing a second additive stressor. The genome-wide sensitivity profiles obtained from these treatments were then queried for their similarity to a compendium of drugs whose effects on the yeast collection have been previously reported. We found that the effects of spaceflight have high concordance with the effects of DNA-damaging agents and changes in redox state, suggesting mechanisms by which spaceflight may negatively affect cell fitness

Evaluating 'Prefer not to say' Around Sensitive Disclosures

As people's offline and online lives become increasingly entwined, the sensitivity of personal information disclosed online is increasing. Disclosures often occur through structured disclosure fields (e.g., drop-down lists). Prior research suggests these fields may limit privacy, with non-disclosing users being presumed to be hiding undesirable information. We investigated this around HIV status disclosure in online dating apps used by men who have sex with men. Our online study asked participants (N=183) to rate profiles where HIV status was either disclosed or undisclosed. We tested three designs for displaying undisclosed fields. Visibility of undisclosed fields had a significant effect on the way profiles were rated, and other profile information (e.g., ethnicity) could affect inferences that develop around undisclosed information. Our research highlights complexities around designing for non-disclosure and questions the voluntary nature of these fields. Further work is outlined to ensure disclosure control is appropriately implemented around online sensitive information disclosures

Weighing the Giants - I. Weak-lensing masses for 51 massive galaxy clusters: project overview, data analysis methods and cluster images

This is the first in a series of papers in which we measure accurate weak-lensing masses for 51 of the most X-ray luminous galaxy clusters known at redshifts 0.15<z<0.7, in order to calibrate X-ray and other mass proxies for cosmological cluster experiments. The primary aim is to improve the absolute mass calibration of cluster observables, currently the dominant systematic uncertainty for cluster count experiments. Key elements of this work are the rigorous quantification of systematic uncertainties, high-quality data reduction and photometric calibration, and the "blind" nature of the analysis to avoid confirmation bias. Our target clusters are drawn from RASS X-ray catalogs, and provide a versatile calibration sample for many aspects of cluster cosmology. We have acquired wide-field, high-quality imaging using the Subaru and CFHT telescopes for all 51 clusters, in at least three bands per cluster. For a subset of 27 clusters, we have data in at least five bands, allowing accurate photo-z estimates of lensed galaxies. In this paper, we describe the cluster sample and observations, and detail the processing of the SuprimeCam data to yield high-quality images suitable for robust weak-lensing shape measurements and precision photometry. For each cluster, we present wide-field color optical images and maps of the weak-lensing mass distribution, the optical light distribution, and the X-ray emission, providing insights into the large-scale structure in which the clusters are embedded. We measure the offsets between X-ray centroids and Brightest Cluster Galaxies in the clusters, finding these to be small in general, with a median of 20kpc. For offsets <100kpc, weak-lensing mass measurements centered on the BCGs agree well with values determined relative to the X-ray centroids; miscentering is therefore not a significant source of systematic uncertainty for our mass measurements. [abridged]Comment: 26 pages, 19 figures (Appendix C not included). Accepted after minor revisio

Impact of inhaled corticosteroids on growth in children with asthma: systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Long-term inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) may reduce growth velocity and final height of children with asthma. We aimed to evaluate the association between ICS use of >12 months and growth. Methods: We initially searched MEDLINE and EMBASE in July 2013, followed by a PubMed search updated to December 2014. We selected RCTs and controlled observational studies of ICS use in patients with asthma. We conducted random effects meta-analysis of mean differences in growth velocity (cm/year) or final height (cm) between groups. Heterogeneity was assessed using the I2 statistic. Results: We found 23 relevant studies (twenty RCTs and three observational studies) after screening 1882 hits. Meta-analysis of 16 RCTs showed that ICS use significantly reduced growth velocity at one year follow-up (mean difference -0.48 cm/year (95% CI -0.66 to -0.29)). There was evidence of a dose-response effect in three RCTs. Final adult height showed a mean reduction of -1.20 cm (95% CI -1.90 cm to -0.50 cm) with budesonide versus placebo in a high quality RCT. Meta-analysis of two lower quality observational studies revealed uncertainty in the association between ICS use and final adult height, pooled mean difference -0.85 cm (95% CI -3.35 to 1.65). Conclusion: Use of ICS for >12 months in children with asthma has a limited impact on annual growth velocity. In ICS users, there is a slight reduction of about a centimeter in final adult height, which when interpreted in the context of average adult height in England (175 cm for men and 161 cm for women), represents a 0.7% reduction compared to non-ICS users

Efficient low-loaded ternary Pd-In2O3-Al2O3 catalysts for methanol production

Pd-In2O3 catalysts are among the most promising alternatives to Cu-ZnO-Al2O3 for synthesis of CH3OH from CO2. However, the intrinsic activity and stability of In2O3 per unit mass should be increased to reduce the content of this scarcely available element and to enhance the catalyst lifetime. Herein, we propose and demonstrate a strategy for obtaining highly dispersed Pd and In2O3 nanoparticles onto an Al2O3 matrix by a one-step coprecipitation followed by calcination and activation. The activity of this catalyst is comparable with that of a Pd-In2O3 catalyst (0.52 vs 0.55 gMeOH h−1 gcat-1 at 300 \ub0C, 30 bar, 40,800 mL h−1 gcat-1) but the In2O3 loading decreases from 98 to 12 wt% while improving the long-term stability by threefold at 30 bar. In the new Pd-In2O3-Al2O3 system, the intrinsic activity of In2O3 is highly increased both in terms of STY normalized to In specific surface area and In2O3 mass (4.32 vs 0.56 g gMeOH h−1 gIn2O3-1 of a Pd- In2O3 catalyst operating at 300 \ub0C, 30 bar, 40,800 mL h−1 gcat-1).The combination of ex situ and in situ catalyst characterizations during reduction provides insights into the interaction between Pd and In and with the support. The enhanced activity is likely related to the close proximity of Pd and In2O3, wherein the H2 splitting activity of Pd promotes, in combination with CO2 activation over highly dispersed In2O3 particles, facile formation of CH3OH