Alcan Lynemouth smelter, geology and hydrogeology in the vicinity of the ash storage lagoons

The British Geological Survey (BGS) was commissioned by Mr John Clarkson, Alcan Smelting and Power UK, to carry out a desk study of the geology and hydrogeology information of the area around the waste landfill site and ash storage lagoons at Alcan, Lynemouth. The desk study was supplemented by a site visit. A main concern was the possibility that the ash in the lagoons might be contaminated by contact with leachate from the hazardous materials disposed in the landfill. The BGS was asked to provide an independent report on the contamination risk and of the suitability of the ash lagoon test bores plus any existing and proposed groundwater monitoring wells at the Alcan Lynemouth site to detect such contamination. An extensive search was made for previous site investigation reports. The information obtained, in particular the records of over 50 boreholes drilled in the study area since 1990, has been used to review the published geological interpretation and better understand the hydrogeological regime. In general the new information supports the existing solid geological interpretation, but enables improved understanding of the disposition of the superficial deposits including a glacial buried channel. The site is over a minor Coal Measure aquifer, the North Seaton Sandstone, which is underlain by a mudrock aquiclude sequence. Groundwater flow in the sandstone, is dominantly fracture controlled and is to the east. The groundwater system is isolated from the flooded, abandoned mine workings beneath the site where the water level is at about 90 m below Ordnance Datum and slowly rising. Saline intrusion is evident in the aquifer, and the saline interface appears to cut across the axis of the buried glacial channel. An unsaturated zone of sandstone hydraulically separates the landfill and the PFA lagoons from the water table in the North Seaton Sandstone aquifer. It is concluded that it is unlikely that the PFA will become contaminated from the landfill leachate via the groundwater pathway or through direct discharge of leachate through the retaining bunds. The Coal Measure sandstone is overlain, but hydrogeologically unconfined by a glacial till sequence where the flow is probably predominantly vertical through fractures. The landfill operates on the dilute and disperse principle and the limited hydrochemical data available indicates that the groundwater impact diminishes along a flow line from the landfill. The existing series of operational monitoring wells is useful in providing information on water levels to help determine direction of groundwater flow and hydraulic gradient, and chemical data to help determine the extent of saline intrusion from the sea and the extent of dispersion of contaminants from the landfill. However the limited area covered by the wells gives rise to uncertainty in the interpretation. These uncertainties are discussed and possible avenues of investigation and action recommended in order to reduce them. The recommendations include: • Increasing the range of parameters determined in the landfill monitoring wells to include major anions and cations as well as nitrate and ammonia. • Implementing the five additional monitoring wells proposed by URS with specific suggestions for screening of the two proposed on the eastern perimeter of the site • Including a new well, integrated into the monitoring network, at the south-west corner of lagoon 1 • Giving consideration to the complementary approach of building a numerical model for the sit

Rapid X-ray Variability of Seyfert 1 Galaxies

The rapid and seemingly random fluctuations in X-ray luminosity of Seyfert galaxies provided early support for the standard model in which Seyferts are powered by a supermassive black hole fed from an accretion disc. However, since EXOSAT there has been little opportunity to advance our understanding of the most rapid X-ray variability. Observations with XMM-Newton have changed this. We discuss some recent results obtained from XMM-Newton observations of Seyfert 1 galaxies. Particular attention will be given to the remarkable similarity found between the timing properties of Seyferts and black hole X-ray binaries, including the power spectrum and the cross spectrum (time delays and coherence), and their implications for the physical processes at work in Seyferts.Comment: To appear in From X-ray Binaries to Quasars: Black Hole Accretion on All Mass Scales, ed. T. J. Maccarone, R. P. Fender, and L. C. Ho (Dordrecht: Kluwer

The intrinsically disordered Tarp protein from chlamydia binds actin with a partially preformed helix

Tarp (translocated actin recruiting phosphoprotein) is an effector protein common to all chlamydial species that functions to remodel the host-actin cytoskeleton during the initial stage of infection. In C. trachomatis, direct binding to actin monomers has been broadly mapped to a 100-residue region (726-825) which is predicted to be predominantly disordered, with the exception of a ~10-residue α helical patch homologous to other WH2 actin-binding motifs. Biophysical investigations demonstrate that a Tarp726-825 construct behaves as a typical intrinsically disordered protein; within it, NMR relaxation measurements and chemical shift analysis identify the ten residue WH2-homologous region to exhibit partial α-helix formation. Isothermal titration calorimetry experiments on the same construct in the presence of monomeric G-actin show a well defined binding event with a 1:1 stoichiometry and Kd of 102 nM, whilst synchrotron radiation circular dichroism spectroscopy suggests the binding is concomitant with an increase in helical secondary structure. Furthermore, NMR experiments in the presence of G-actin indicate this interaction affects the proposed WH2-like α-helical region, supporting results from in silico docking calculations which suggest that, when folded, this α helix binds within the actin hydrophobic cleft as seen for other actin-associated proteins

Natural Theories of Ultra-Low Mass PNGB's: Axions and Quintessence

We consider the Wilson Line PNGB which arises in a U(1)^N gauge theory, abstracted from a latticized, periodically compactified extra dimension U(1). Planck scale breaking of the PNGB's global symmetry is suppressed, providing natural candidates for the axion and quintessence. We construct an explicit model in which the axion may be viewed as the 5th component of the U(1)_Y gauge field in a 1+4 latticized periodically compactified extra dimension. We also construct a quintessence PNGB model where the ultra-low mass arises from Planck-scale suppressed physics itself.Comment: 20 pages, fixed typo and reference

A Geometric Fractal Growth Model for Scale Free Networks

We introduce a deterministic model for scale-free networks, whose degree distribution follows a power-law with the exponent $\gamma$. At each time step, each vertex generates its offsprings, whose number is proportional to the degree of that vertex with proportionality constant m-1 (m>1). We consider the two cases: first, each offspring is connected to its parent vertex only, forming a tree structure, and secondly, it is connected to both its parent and grandparent vertices, forming a loop structure. We find that both models exhibit power-law behaviors in their degree distributions with the exponent $\gamma=1+\ln (2m-1)/\ln m$. Thus, by tuning m, the degree exponent can be adjusted in the range, $2 <\gamma < 3$. We also solve analytically a mean shortest-path distance d between two vertices for the tree structure, showing the small-world behavior, that is, $d\sim \ln N/\ln {\bar k}$, where N is system size, and $\bar k$ is the mean degree. Finally, we consider the case that the number of offsprings is the same for all vertices, and find that the degree distribution exhibits an exponential-decay behavior

Characterizing the weight-glycemia phenotypes of type 1 diabetes in youth and young adulthood

Introduction Individuals with type 1 diabetes (T1D) present with diverse body weight status and degrees of glycemic control, which may warrant different treatment approaches. We sought to identify subgroups sharing phenotypes based on both weight and glycemia and compare characteristics across subgroups. Research design and methods Participants: with T1D in the SEARCH study cohort (n=1817, 6.0-30.4 years) were seen at a follow-up visit >5 years after diagnosis. Hierarchical agglomerative clustering was used to group participants based on five measures summarizing the joint distribution of body mass index z-score (BMIz) and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) which were estimated by reinforcement learning tree predictions from 28 covariates. Interpretation of cluster weight status and glycemic control was based on mean BMIz and HbA1c, respectively. Results: The sample was 49.5% female and 55.5% non-Hispanic white (NHW); mean±SD age=17.6±4.5 years, T1D duration=7.8±1.9 years, BMIz=0.61±0.94, and HbA1c=76±21 mmol/mol (9.1±1.9)%. Six weight-glycemia clusters were identified, including four normal weight, one overweight, and one subgroup with obesity. No cluster had a mean HbA1c <58 mmol/mol (7.5%). Cluster 1 (34.0%) was normal weight with the lowest HbA1c and comprised 85% NHW participants with the highest socioeconomic position, insulin pump use, dietary quality, and physical activity. Subgroups with very poor glycemic control (ie, ≥108 mmol/mol (≥12.0%); cluster 4, 4.4%, and cluster 5, 7.5%) and obesity (cluster 6, 15.4%) had a lower proportion of NHW youth, lower socioeconomic position, and reported decreased pump use and poorer health behaviors (overall p<0.01). The overweight subgroup with very poor glycemic control (cluster 5) showed the highest lipids and blood pressure (p<0.01). Conclusions: There are distinct subgroups of youth and young adults with T1D that share weight-glycemia phenotypes. Subgroups may benefit from tailored interventions addressing differences in clinical care, health behaviors, and underlying health inequity. © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ

Design, Commissioning and Performance of the PIBETA Detector at PSI

We describe the design, construction and performance of the PIBETA detector built for the precise measurement of the branching ratio of pion beta decay, pi+ -> pi0 e+ nu, at the Paul Scherrer Institute. The central part of the detector is a 240-module spherical pure CsI calorimeter covering 3*pi sr solid angle. The calorimeter is supplemented with an active collimator/beam degrader system, an active segmented plastic target, a pair of low-mass cylindrical wire chambers and a 20-element cylindrical plastic scintillator hodoscope. The whole detector system is housed inside a temperature-controlled lead brick enclosure which in turn is lined with cosmic muon plastic veto counters. Commissioning and calibration data were taken during two three-month beam periods in 1999/2000 with pi+ stopping rates between 1.3*E3 pi+/s and 1.3*E6 pi+/s. We examine the timing, energy and angular detector resolution for photons, positrons and protons in the energy range of 5-150 MeV, as well as the response of the detector to cosmic muons. We illustrate the detector signatures for the assorted rare pion and muon decays and their associated backgrounds.Comment: 117 pages, 48 Postscript figures, 5 tables, Elsevier LaTeX, submitted to Nucl. Instrum. Meth.

UHECR as Decay Products of Heavy Relics? The Lifetime Problem

The essential features underlying the top-down scenarii for UHECR are discussed, namely, the stability (or lifetime) imposed to the heavy objects (particles) whatever they be: topological and non-topological solitons, X-particles, cosmic defects, microscopic black-holes, fundamental strings. We provide an unified formula for the quantum decay rate of all these objects as well as the particle decays in the standard model. The key point in the top-down scenarii is the necessity to adjust the lifetime of the heavy object to the age of the universe. This ad-hoc requirement needs a very high dimensional operator to govern its decay and/or an extremely small coupling constant. The natural lifetimes of such heavy objects are, however, microscopic times associated to the GUT energy scale (sim 10^{-28} sec. or shorter). It is at this energy scale (by the end of inflation) where they could have been abundantly formed in the early universe and it seems natural that they decayed shortly after being formed.Comment: 11 pages, LaTex, no figures, updated versio

Precision Measurement of the Proton and Deuteron Spin Structure Functions g2 and Asymmetries A2

We have measured the spin structure functions g2p and g2d and the virtual photon asymmetries A2p and A2d over the kinematic range 0.02 < x < 0.8 and 0.7 < Q^2 < 20 GeV^2 by scattering 29.1 and 32.3 GeV longitudinally polarized electrons from transversely polarized NH3 and 6LiD targets. Our measured g2 approximately follows the twist-2 Wandzura-Wilczek calculation. The twist-3 reduced matrix elements d2p and d2n are less than two standard deviations from zero. The data are inconsistent with the Burkhardt-Cottingham sum rule if there is no pathological behavior as x->0. The Efremov-Leader-Teryaev integral is consistent with zero within our measured kinematic range. The absolute value of A2 is significantly smaller than the sqrt[R(1+A1)/2] limit.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, 2 table

Observation of exclusive DVCS in polarized electron beam asymmetry measurements

We report the first results of the beam spin asymmetry measured in the reaction e + p -> e + p + gamma at a beam energy of 4.25 GeV. A large asymmetry with a sin(phi) modulation is observed, as predicted for the interference term of Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering and the Bethe-Heitler process. The amplitude of this modulation is alpha = 0.202 +/- 0.028. In leading-order and leading-twist pQCD, the alpha is directly proportional to the imaginary part of the DVCS amplitude.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure