Geometric analysis of satellite laser ranging data

The analysis of simultaneous laser data is investigated using the method of trilateration. Analysis of data from 1987 to 1992 is presented with selected baseline rates and station positions. The use of simultaneous Etalon data is simulated to demonstrate the additional global coverage these satellites provide. Trilateration has a great potential for regional deformation studies with monthly LAGEOS American solutions between 3-12 millimeters

"On the Spot": travelling artists and Abolitionism, 1770-1830

Until recently the visual culture of Atlantic slavery has rarely been critically scrutinised. Yet in the first decades of the nineteenth century slavery was frequently represented by European travelling artists, often in the most graphic, sometimes voyeuristic, detail. This paper examines the work of several itinerant artists, in particular Augustus Earle (1793-1838) and Agostino Brunias (1730–1796), whose very mobility along the edges of empire was part of a much larger circulatory system of exchange (people, goods and ideas) and diplomacy that characterised Europe’s Age of Expansion. It focuses on the role of the travelling artist, and visual culture more generally, in the development of British abolitionism between 1770 and 1830. It discusses the broad circulation of slave imagery within European culture and argues for greater recognition of the role of such imagery in the abolitionist debates that divided Britain. Furthermore, it suggests that the epistemological authority conferred on the travelling artist—the quintessential eyewitness—was key to the rhetorical power of his (rarely her) images. Artists such as Earle viewed the New World as a boundless source of fresh material that could potentially propel them to fame and fortune. Johann Moritz Rugendas (1802-1858), on the other hand, was conscious of contributing to a global scientific mission, a Humboldtian imperative that by the 1820s propelled him and others to travel beyond the traditional itinerary of the Grand Tour. Some artists were implicated in the very fabric of slavery itself, particularly those in the British West Indies such as William Clark (working 1820s) and Richard Bridgens (1785-1846); others, particularly those in Brazil, expressed strong abolitionist sentiments. Fuelled by evangelical zeal to record all aspects of the New World, these artists recognised the importance of representing the harsh realities of slave life. Unlike those in the metropole who depicted slavery (most often in caustic satirical drawings), many travelling artists believed strongly in the evidential value of their images, a value attributed to their global mobility. The paper examines the varied and complex means by which visual culture played a significant and often overlooked role in the political struggles that beset the period

Mining, visualizing and comparing multidimensional biomolecular data using the Genomics Data Miner (GMine) web-server

Genomics Data Miner (GMine) is a user-friendly online software that allows non-experts to mine, cluster and compare multidimensional biomolecular datasets. Various powerful visualization techniques are provided, generating high quality figures that can be directly incorporated into scientific publications. Robust and comprehensive analyses are provided via a broad range of data-mining techniques, including univariate and multivariate statistical analysis, supervised learning, correlation networks, clustering and multivariable regression. The software has a focus on multivariate techniques, which can attribute variance in the measurements to multiple explanatory variables and confounders. Various normalization methods are provided. Extensive help pages and a tutorial are available via a wiki server. Using GMine we reanalyzed proteome microarray data of host antibody response against Plasmodium falciparum. Our results support the hypothesis that immunity to malaria is a higher-order phenomenon related to a pattern of responses and not attributable to any single antigen. We also analyzed gene expression across resting and activated T cells, identifying many immune-related genes with differential expression. This highlights both the plasticity of T cells and the operation of a hardwired activation program. These application examples demonstrate that GMine facilitates an accurate and in-depth analysis of complex molecular datasets, including genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics data

Field-Dependent Critical Current in Type-II Superconducting Strips: Combined Effect of Bulk Pinning and Geometrical Edge Barrier

Recent theoretical and experimental research on low-bulk-pinning superconducting strips has revealed striking dome-like magnetic-field distributions due to geometrical edge barriers. The observed magnetic-flux profiles differ strongly from those in strips in which bulk pinning is dominant. In this paper we theoretically describe the current and field distributions of a superconducting strip under the combined influence of both a geometrical edge barrier and bulk pinning at the strip's critical current Ic, where a longitudinal voltage first appears. We calculate Ic and find its dependence upon a perpendicular applied magnetic field Ha. The behavior is governed by a parameter p, defined as the ratio of the bulk-pinning critical current Ip to the geometrical-barrier critical current Is0. We find that when p > 2/pi and Ip is field-independent, Ic vs Ha exhibits a plateau for small Ha, followed by the dependence Ic-Ip ~ 1/Ha in higher magnetic fields.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, Fig. 1 revised, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Infusion of Reconstituted High-Density Lipoprotein, CSL112, in Patients With Atherosclerosis: Safety and Pharmacokinetic Results From a Phase 2a Randomized Clinical Trial

Background CSL112 is a new formulation of human apolipoprotein A‐I (apoA‐I) being developed to reduce cardiovascular events following acute coronary syndrome. This phase 2a, randomized, double‐blind, multicenter, dose‐ranging trial represents the first clinical investigation to assess the safety and pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics of a CSL112 infusion among patients with stable atherosclerotic disease. Methods and Results Patients were randomized to single ascending doses of CSL112 (1.7, 3.4, or 6.8 g) or placebo, administered over a 2‐hour period. Primary safety assessments consisted of alanine aminotransferase or aspartate aminotransferase elevations \u3e3× upper limits of normal and study drug–related adverse events. Pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic assessments included apoA‐I plasma concentration and measures of the ability of serum to promote cholesterol efflux from cells ex vivo. Of 45 patients randomized, 7, 12, and 14 received 1.7‐, 3.4‐, and 6.8‐g CSL112, respectively, and 11 received placebo. There were no clinically significant elevations (\u3e3× upper limit of normal) in alanine aminotransferase or aspartate aminotransferase. Adverse events were nonserious and mild and occurred in 5 (71%), 5 (41%), and 6 (43%) patients in the CSL112 1.7‐, 3.4‐, and 6.8‐g groups, respectively, compared with 3 (27%) placebo patients. The imbalance in adverse events was attributable to vessel puncture/infusion‐site bruising. CSL112 resulted in rapid (Tmax≈2 hours) and dose‐dependent increases in apoA‐I (145% increase in the 6.8‐g group) and total cholesterol efflux (up to 3.1‐fold higher than placebo) (P\u3c0.001). Conclusions CSL112 infusion was well tolerated in patients with stable atherosclerotic disease. CSL112 immediately raised apoA‐I levels and caused a rapid and marked increase in the capacity of serum to efflux cholesterol. This potential novel approach for the treatment of atherosclerosis warrants further investigation. Clinical Trial Registration URL: http://www.ClinicalTrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01499420

Production properties of low-mass systems in pp collisions at 102 GeV/c

We examine in detail the properties of low-mass systems produced in the inclusive reaction p + p --> p + anything at 102 GeV/c. We find that the internal characteristics of these low-mass nucleon-multipion systems (the "anything"), at fixed values of mass (M), are similar to those found for produced hadrons in high-energy collisions at fixed incident hadron energies . The resemblance between the properties of the M2 system and the characteristics of [pi]p collisions at s = M2 is particularly striking.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/22250/1/0000686.pd

A cross-sectional description of social capital in an international sample of persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWH)

Background Social capital refers to the resources linked to having a strong social network. This concept plays into health outcomes among People Living with HIV/AIDS because, globally, this is a highly marginalized population. Case studies show that modifying social capital can lead to improvements in HIV transmission and management; however, there remains a lack of description or definition of social capital in international settings. The purpose of our paper was to describe the degree of social capital in an international sample of adults living with HIV/AIDS. Methods We recruited PLWH at 16 sites from five countries including Canada, China, Namibia, Thailand, and the United States. Participants (n = 1,963) completed a cross-sectional survey and data were collected between August, 2009 and December, 2010. Data analyses included descriptive statistics, factor analysis, and correlational analysis. Results Participant\u27s mean age was 45.2 years, most (69%) identified as male, African American/Black (39.9%), and unemployed (69.5%). Total mean social capital was 2.68 points, a higher than average total social capital score. Moderate correlations were observed between self-reported physical (r = 0.25) and psychological condition (r = 0.36), social support (r = 0.31), and total social capital. No relationships between mental health factors, including substance use, and social capital were detected. Conclusions This is the first report to describe levels of total social capital in an international sample of PLWH and to describe its relationship to self-reported health in this population

Laboratory angular distributions for the production of charged secondaries in inelastic proton-proton collisions at 102 GeV/c

Lab angular distributions for the production of charged secondary particles in inelastic proton-proton collisions are presented. Data are separately displayed for protons and for positive and negative mesons (pions and kaons combined).Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/22255/1/0000691.pd

Tamm Review: Management of mixed-severity fire regime forests in Oregon, Washington, and Northern California

Increasingly, objectives for forests with moderate- or mixed-severity fire regimes are to restore successionally diverse landscapes that are resistant and resilient to current and future stressors. Maintaining native species and characteristic processes requires this successional diversity, but methods to achieve it are poorly explained in the literature. In the Inland Pacific US, large, old, early seral trees were a key historical feature of many young and old forest successional patches, especially where fires frequently occurred. Large, old trees are naturally fire-tolerant, but today are often threatened by dense understory cohorts that create fuel ladders that alter likely post-fire successional pathways. Reducing these understories can contribute to resistance by creating conditions where canopy trees will survive disturbances and climatic stressors; these survivors are important seed sources, soil protectors, and critical habitat elements. Historical timber harvesting has skewed tree size and age class distributions, created hard edges, and altered native patch sizes. Manipulating these altered forests to promote development of larger patches of older, larger, and more widely-spaced trees with diverse understories will increase landscape resistance to severe fires, and enhance wildlife habitat for underrepresented conditions. Closed-canopy, multi-layered patches that develop in hot, dry summer environments are vulnerable to droughts, and they increase landscape vulnerability to insect outbreaks and severe wildfires. These same patches provide habitat for species such as the northern spotted owl, which has benefited from increased habitat area. Regional and local planning will be critical for gauging risks, evaluating trade-offs, and restoring dynamics that can support these and other species. The goal will be to manage for heterogeneous landscapes that include variably-sized patches of (1) young, middle-aged, and old, closed canopy forests growing in upper montane, northerly aspect, and valley bottom settings, (2) a similar diversity of open-canopy, fire-tolerant patches growing on ridgetops, southerly aspects, and lower montane settings, and (3) significant montane chaparral and grassland areas. Tools to achieve this goal include managed wildfire, prescribed burning, and variable density thinning at small to large scales. Specifics on ‘‘how much and where?” will vary according to physiographic, topographic and historical templates, and regulatory requirements, and be determined by means of a socio-ecological process