Mesospheric vertical thermal structure and winds on Venus from HHSMT CO spectral-line observations

We report vertical thermal structure and wind velocities in the Venusian mesosphere retrieved from carbon monoxide (12CO J=2-1 and 13CO J=2-1) spectral line observations obtained with the Heinrich Hertz Submillimeter Telescope (HHSMT). We observed the mesosphere of Venus from two days after the second Messenger flyby of Venus (on June 5 2007 at 23:10 UTC) during five days. Day-to-day and day-to-night temperature variations and short-term fluctuations of the mesospheric zonal flow were evident in our data. The extensive layer of warm air detected recently by SPICAV at 90 - to 100 km altitude is also detected in the temperature profiles reported here. These data were part of a coordinated ground-based Venus observational campaign in support of the ESA Venus Express mission. Furthermore, this study attempts to cross-calibrate space- and ground-based observations, to constrain radiative transfer and retrieval algorithms for planetary atmospheres, and to contribute to a more thorough understanding of the global patterns of circulation of the Venusian atmosphere.Comment: 35 pages, 18 figures. Shortcut URL to this page: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/0032063

Reading and Metaphonological Outcomes in Late Talkers

Children with a history of slow expressive language development (SELD) were followed to second grade, at which point outcomes in terms of speech, language, cognitive skills, reading achievement, and metaphonological performance were evaluated. Although there were some statistically significant differences between groups, children with a history of SELD generally performed within the normal range on the measures collected. Relations among speech, reading, and metaphonology in the SELD cohort appeared to operate in a manner similar to that seen in groups with typical language development. The implications of these findings for understanding the nature of specific language impairments and for treating early circumscribed language delays are discussed

Chemical Biology of Protein Arginine Modifications in Epigenetic Regulation

Review article on histone citrullination (arginine deimination), histone arginine methylation, and noncanonical histone arginine modifications

Safety and/or Hazard Near Miss Reporting in an International Energy Company

This paper presents the preliminary progress of an industry driven programme to improve the data monitoring of safety/hazard near miss reporting from front line staff of a branch of a multinational energy supply company in Ireland. The paper discusses the main factors that emerged as possible causes for underreporting and the course of action selected for addressing them. The initiative, which is only in operation for 4 months has already led to an increase in reporting of “near misses” by a factor of nine. Furthermore, the level and detail of the reports is far greater than had previously being received

Human Factors Issues and the Risk of High Voltage Equipment: Are Standards Sufficient to Ensure Safety by Design?

High voltage equipment is mostly designed according to technically prescriptive standards requirements based on electrical engineering safety principles. However a more risk-based approach to standards and regulation may be advisable to enable designer and user to take an active role in establishing that their installation is inherently safe. The use of Gas Insulated Switchgear (GIS) for instance is enabling the new substation to be housed indoors and condensed into around one quarter of the space. The manufacturers argue that design improvements in GIS make it virtually “maintenance free”, comply with all the relevant standards. However some of these improvements have implications for the operators that need to be taken into account. Commissioning, operational checks and inspections and the occasional maintenance interventions are activities during which the technicians need to interface with the equipment, the issues regarding the interfaces provided have been analysed to identify their relevance in the overall risk assessment of the equipment. The paper reports about a study aimed at verifying through a risk analysis the impacts that the issues related to deficit in ergonomic design may present for the overall availability and safety of the plant. Those issues are not tackled in the technical standards and/or designers current practice

The effects of the Reformation in Scotland upon the law of husband and wife with particular attention paid to the constitution and dissolution of marriage during the period 1560 to 1690

Sine historia caeca est jurisprudentia, a statement made by the sixteenth century French humanist Balduinus is a fitting maxim for this particular thesis. Law is an essentially historical discipline and can best be understood with a historical perspective. Furthermore Canon law is quite unique amongst the legal systems of the world, in terms of its continuity from early antiquity and the foundations of ecclesiastical organisation, in terms of the influence which it has exerted upon other legal systems and in terms of its evident equity and justice. These twin aspects of historicism and canonism lead one, as a secular lawyer to the necessary inquiry, How did Canon law affect one's native system and does it still? This thesis attempts to answer the first part only of this question. Given that His Holiness Pope John Paul II promulgated the new Codex Juris Canonici on 25 January, 1983 which came into force on the First Sunday in Advent 1983, the answer to the second part of that question may be ripe for answer only some time in the future. That the Canon law did exert a considerable formative influence on the law of Scotland can hardly be doubted. To examine every branch of law where the Canon law may have had or could have had an effect would be the work of many lifetimes, hence the restriction on the subject matter viz. the law of husband and wife

New functionalisation reactions of graphitic carbon nitrides: Computational and experimental studies

The functionalisation of two-dimensional materials is key to modify their properties and facilitate assembly into functional devices. Here, new reactions have been proposed to modify crystalline two-dimensional carbon nitrides of polytriazine imide structure. Both amine alkylation and aryl-nitrene-based reactions have been explored computationally and with exploratory synthetic trials. The approach illustrates that alkylation is unfavourable, particularly at basal-plane sites. In contrast, while initial trial reactions were inconclusive, the radical-addition of nitrenes is shown to be energetically favourable, with a preference for functionalising sheet edges to minimise steric effects

The Threads of Texas: A story of enduring identity in a changing state

The Threads of Texas is a research project launched by More in Common to understand change in Texas: the divergent views toward change that are pulling Texans apart, and the shared identity and dreams for the future that can bring Texans together.Texas is continuously in a state of change — economically, politically, demographically. As Texas grapples with major changes, how do Texans across age, race, and political parties hold onto what they perceive as "truly Texan?" How does Texas replicate its DNA to maintain its sense of identity as new people, new ideas, and new industries make their homes in the state? These questions have become more urgent as the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2021 winter storm challenge the Texas social and economic landscape.These are the questions that inspired More in Common to launch a landmark study of the state of Texas. In 2020 and 2021, we heard from over 4000 Texans from across the state, including experts in Texan culture and leaders of Texas industries. We capture the striking and ultimately hopeful attitudes of Texans: We find that although Texans on far ends of the ideological spectrum feel exhausted by political divisions, most Texans say that the ties that bind us are stronger than what divides us. They believe in a changing Texas where everyone feels they belong

Development of an on-disc isothermal in vitro amplification and detection of bacterial RNA

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version, made available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License CC BY NC-ND 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). The final, published version is available online at doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.snb.2016.08.018. Published by Elsevier B. V.We present a centrifugal microfluidic “Lab-on-a-Disc” (LoaD) system capable of implementing nucleic acid in vitro amplification using non-contact heating and fluorescence detection. The system functionality is verified by implementing a Nucleic Acid Sequence Based Amplification (NASBA) reaction, targeting the tmRNA transcript of Haemophilus influenzae. The NASBA assay incorporates fluorescent molecular beacon probes reporting target tmRNA amplification for endpoint detection. The system implements non-contact IR heating to heat the NASBA reaction to the required target temperatures during denaturation and amplification steps. The LoaD control system facilitates spin speed and chamber positioning for heating and fluorescence detection. The LoaD alignment system uses magnetic fields to locate and lock the chamber in the required position (heating or detection). The NASBA assay was implemented on the system using Haemophilus influenzae tmRNA over the range 102–104 cell equivalent (CE) units. For comparison, identical qNASBA assays were implemented on a Roche LightCycler 2.0 over this concentration range.Peer reviewe