Examining storms, sediment supply, and coastal change within the historical record

Beaches that receive more sediment than can be removed by storm erosion will not recede as the sea level rises from future global warming. This research examines the interplay between sediment supply and the frequency and magnitude of storms within the historical record at Bengello Beach, Moruya, New South Wales. During a series of large storms in May-June 1974, Bengello Beach lost approximately 50% of its sand volume and evidence of this erosion is preserved by a 40+ year beach profile campaign that recorded subsequent sediment accumulation. This historical beach-profile history can be contextualised with the barrier’s stratigraphic record captured by the progradation in the past 7,000 years allowing inferences to be made of larger scale changes. The three main objectives of this study are: 1) Examine the links between river flooding, coastal storms and beach changes during large storm events 2) Determine if the Moruya River is delivering sediment to the beach and 3) Analyse the frequency and magnitude of river flooding, coastal storms and beach changes from the historical record and beyond. This methodological approach will focus on analysing pre-existing datasets including: a 40+ year beach profile dataset, a 34- and 46-year wave buoy dataset from Batemans Bay and Port Kembla, peak discharge from the Moruya River and estuarine hydrodynamic models. While it is common to observe intense rain and river flooding in association with coastal storms, preliminary results from the analyses indicate that no strong correlation exist between the occurrence of high river discharge and high significant wave height. However, estuarine hydrodynamic models indicate that sediment reaching the river mouth during floods appears to coincide with increased coastal accretion. Furthermore, within the wave rider buoy records, differences in the quantity, peak significant wave height, duration and period of moderate to extreme storms were noticed on the seasonal scale in addition to an increasing occurrence of severe events (Hsig 5-6m) which have appeared throughout the record since 2000. In response to the observed trends in storm wave 3 characteristics, the effect of various climatic influences can be inferred. The implications of this study will highlight the sensitivity of coastal barriers to storm erosion and changing storm frequency relationships seen throughout the early 21st century

Public policy and the promise of digital credit for financial inclusion

Digital credit products are characterized by a lending process that is instantaneous, automated, and remote. While digital credit has the potential to reach less collateralized, less mobile, and more remote cohorts of borrowers, there are also risks in relying on digital credit for financial inclusion. This paper investigates the digital credit policy environment and the extent to which it may support pro-poor digital credit market development using two types of documents: a set of 23 regulatory documents specifically mentioning either digital or online credit or lending, and another set of 298 informal documents relevant to digital credit based on a systematic web search. After reviewing the literature on the effects of credit expansion and automated credit scoring, we summarize the characteristics of the current digital credit regulatory environment in low- and middle-income countries. Our findings suggest that few regulations specifically target digital credit markets, and that the current regulatory environment may not support the full potential of digital credit to reach historically underserved credit consumers. Most countries do not explicitly target financial inclusion as part of their digital credit policies. However, we do find evidence that informal web documents consider financial inclusion to a greater extent than formal regulatory documents

LSST: from Science Drivers to Reference Design and Anticipated Data Products

(Abridged) We describe here the most ambitious survey currently planned in the optical, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). A vast array of science will be enabled by a single wide-deep-fast sky survey, and LSST will have unique survey capability in the faint time domain. The LSST design is driven by four main science themes: probing dark energy and dark matter, taking an inventory of the Solar System, exploring the transient optical sky, and mapping the Milky Way. LSST will be a wide-field ground-based system sited at Cerro Pach\'{o}n in northern Chile. The telescope will have an 8.4 m (6.5 m effective) primary mirror, a 9.6 deg$^2$ field of view, and a 3.2 Gigapixel camera. The standard observing sequence will consist of pairs of 15-second exposures in a given field, with two such visits in each pointing in a given night. With these repeats, the LSST system is capable of imaging about 10,000 square degrees of sky in a single filter in three nights. The typical 5$\sigma$ point-source depth in a single visit in $r$ will be $\sim 24.5$ (AB). The project is in the construction phase and will begin regular survey operations by 2022. The survey area will be contained within 30,000 deg$^2$ with $\delta<+34.5^\circ$, and will be imaged multiple times in six bands, $ugrizy$, covering the wavelength range 320--1050 nm. About 90\% of the observing time will be devoted to a deep-wide-fast survey mode which will uniformly observe a 18,000 deg$^2$ region about 800 times (summed over all six bands) during the anticipated 10 years of operations, and yield a coadded map to $r\sim27.5$. The remaining 10\% of the observing time will be allocated to projects such as a Very Deep and Fast time domain survey. The goal is to make LSST data products, including a relational database of about 32 trillion observations of 40 billion objects, available to the public and scientists around the world.Comment: 57 pages, 32 color figures, version with high-resolution figures available from https://www.lsst.org/overvie

A review of clinical trials of cetuximab combined with radiotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer

Treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is challenging in many ways. One of the problems is disappointing local control rates in larger volume disease. Moreover, the likelihood of both nodal and distant spread increases with primary tumour (T-) stage. Many patients are elderly and have considerable comorbidity. Therefore, aggressive combined modality treatment might be contraindicated or poorly tolerated. In many cases with larger tumour volume, sufficiently high radiation doses can not be administered because the tolerance of surrounding normal tissues must be respected. Under such circumstances, simultaneous administration of radiosensitizing agents, which increase tumour cell kill, might improve the therapeutic ratio. If such agents have a favourable toxicity profile, even elderly patients might tolerate concomitant treatment. Based on sound preclinical evidence, several relatively small studies have examined radiotherapy (RT) with cetuximab in stage III NSCLC. Three different strategies were pursued: 1) RT plus cetuximab (2 studies), 2) induction chemotherapy followed by RT plus cetuximab (2 studies) and 3) concomitant RT and chemotherapy plus cetuximab (2 studies). Radiation doses were limited to 60-70 Gy. As a result of study design, in particular lack of randomised comparison between cetuximab and no cetuximab, the efficacy results are difficult to interpret. However, strategy 1) and 3) appear more promising than induction chemotherapy followed by RT and cetuximab. Toxicity and adverse events were more common when concomitant chemotherapy was given. Nevertheless, combined treatment appears feasible. The role of consolidation cetuximab after RT is uncertain. A large randomised phase III study of combined RT, chemotherapy and cetuximab has been initiated

The Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment: Exploring Fundamental Symmetries of the Universe

The preponderance of matter over antimatter in the early Universe, the dynamics of the supernova bursts that produced the heavy elements necessary for life and whether protons eventually decay --- these mysteries at the forefront of particle physics and astrophysics are key to understanding the early evolution of our Universe, its current state and its eventual fate. The Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment (LBNE) represents an extensively developed plan for a world-class experiment dedicated to addressing these questions. LBNE is conceived around three central components: (1) a new, high-intensity neutrino source generated from a megawatt-class proton accelerator at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, (2) a near neutrino detector just downstream of the source, and (3) a massive liquid argon time-projection chamber deployed as a far detector deep underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility. This facility, located at the site of the former Homestake Mine in Lead, South Dakota, is approximately 1,300 km from the neutrino source at Fermilab -- a distance (baseline) that delivers optimal sensitivity to neutrino charge-parity symmetry violation and mass ordering effects. This ambitious yet cost-effective design incorporates scalability and flexibility and can accommodate a variety of upgrades and contributions. With its exceptional combination of experimental configuration, technical capabilities, and potential for transformative discoveries, LBNE promises to be a vital facility for the field of particle physics worldwide, providing physicists from around the globe with opportunities to collaborate in a twenty to thirty year program of exciting science. In this document we provide a comprehensive overview of LBNE's scientific objectives, its place in the landscape of neutrino physics worldwide, the technologies it will incorporate and the capabilities it will possess.Comment: Major update of previous version. This is the reference document for LBNE science program and current status. Chapters 1, 3, and 9 provide a comprehensive overview of LBNE's scientific objectives, its place in the landscape of neutrino physics worldwide, the technologies it will incorporate and the capabilities it will possess. 288 pages, 116 figure

Beat synchronization across the lifespan: intersection of development and musical experience

Rhythmic entrainment, or beat synchronization, provides an opportunity to understand how multiple systems operate together to integrate sensory-motor information. Also, synchronization is an essential component of musical performance that may be enhanced through musical training. Investigations of rhythmic entrainment have revealed a developmental trajectory across the lifespan, showing synchronization improves with age and musical experience. Here, we explore the development and maintenance of synchronization in childhood through older adulthood in a large cohort of participants (N = 145), and also ask how it may be altered by musical experience. We employed a uniform assessment of beat synchronization for all participants and compared performance developmentally and between individuals with and without musical experience. We show that the ability to consistently tap along to a beat improves with age into adulthood, yet in older adulthood tapping performance becomes more variable. Also, from childhood into young adulthood, individuals are able to tap increasingly close to the beat (i.e., asynchronies decline with age), however, this trend reverses from younger into older adulthood. There is a positive association between proportion of life spent playing music and tapping performance, which suggests a link between musical experience and auditory-motor integration. These results are broadly consistent with previous investigations into the development of beat synchronization across the lifespan, and thus complement existing studies and present new insights offered by a different, large cross-sectional sample

The Lantern, 2015-2016

• Ghosts • Going to China • 98% Guaranteed • Constellation/Boulevard • Prayer • The Little One • Burning • The Amber Macaroon • Becoming • Requiem • Construction Site • Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Dragon • Charlie • No Sleep • A Lesson in Physical Education • Statues • Who Can Love a Black Woman? • Apples • Fun Craft • The Door at Midnight • Eve as a Book in the Bible • Boys • Diamond Heart • To Apollo • Joanne and Her July Garden • Option A, 1936 • Young White Girls, Hollow Bodies, and Home • Mama\u27s Stance on Sugar • The Mariana Trench • Hurricane • Part of the Job • Avenue H Blues • Hour of Nones • Send Toilet Paper • Grave Robbing • Wild Turkey • The Creek • Let\u27s Go for a Walk • Deaconess • Border of Love • Your Father, Rumpelstiltskin • Purchasing Poplars • Red Tatters • Sunken • Whispers • Existence • God Took a Cigarette Break with Police Officers • Martian Standoff • In the Headlights • It\u27s a Subtle Thing • Dear Kent • Hanako-san • A Brief Interlude • On Fencing, Gummy Worms, and my Inescapable Fear of Living in the Moment • Stolen Soul • Block • Mortem Mei Fratris • Kalki • Lake Placid • Atom and Eve • The Baerie Queene • Gladston • Soldiers at Gettysburg • Pattern • Foliage • Mass Media • Arrow • Move Out • Wanderers • Riverside Gardenhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/lantern/1182/thumbnail.jp

NOX1 loss-of-function genetic variants in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

Genetic defects that affect intestinal epithelial barrier function can present with very early-onset inflammatory bowel disease (VEOIBD). Using whole-genome sequencing, a novel hemizygous defect in NOX1 encoding NAPDH oxidase 1 was identified in a patient with ulcerative colitis-like VEOIBD. Exome screening of 1,878 pediatric patients identified further seven male inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients with rare NOX1 mutations. Loss-of-function was validated in p.N122H and p.T497A, and to a lesser degree in p.Y470H, p.R287Q, p.I67M, p.Q293R as well as the previously described p.P330S, and the common NOX1 SNP p.D360N (rs34688635) variant. The missense mutation p.N122H abrogated reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in cell lines, ex vivo colonic explants, and patient-derived colonic organoid cultures. Within colonic crypts, NOX1 constitutively generates a high level of ROS in the crypt lumen. Analysis of 9,513 controls and 11,140 IBD patients of non-Jewish European ancestry did not reveal an association between p.D360N and IBD. Our data suggest that loss-of-function variants in NOX1 do not cause a Mendelian disorder of high penetrance but are a context-specific modifier. Our results implicate that variants in NOX1 change brush border ROS within colonic crypts at the interface between the epithelium and luminal microbes

The Seventeenth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Surveys: Complete Release of MaNGA, MaStar and APOGEE-2 Data

This paper documents the seventeenth data release (DR17) from the Sloan Digital Sky Surveys; the fifth and final release from the fourth phase (SDSS-IV). DR17 contains the complete release of the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) survey, which reached its goal of surveying over 10,000 nearby galaxies. The complete release of the MaNGA Stellar Library (MaStar) accompanies this data, providing observations of almost 30,000 stars through the MaNGA instrument during bright time. DR17 also contains the complete release of the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment 2 (APOGEE-2) survey which publicly releases infra-red spectra of over 650,000 stars. The main sample from the Extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS), as well as the sub-survey Time Domain Spectroscopic Survey (TDSS) data were fully released in DR16. New single-fiber optical spectroscopy released in DR17 is from the SPectroscipic IDentification of ERosita Survey (SPIDERS) sub-survey and the eBOSS-RM program. Along with the primary data sets, DR17 includes 25 new or updated Value Added Catalogs (VACs). This paper concludes the release of SDSS-IV survey data. SDSS continues into its fifth phase with observations already underway for the Milky Way Mapper (MWM), Local Volume Mapper (LVM) and Black Hole Mapper (BHM) surveys