Searching at the right time of day: Evidence for aqueous minerals in Columbus crater with TES and THEMIS data

The primary objective of the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) experiment, which has been in orbit at Mars since early 2002, is to identify minerals associated with hydrothermal and subaqueous environments. Data from THEMIS have supported the presence of clays, silica-rich deposits, and chlorides but has not before provided definitive evidence for the presence of sulfates. This is an especially puzzling result given that sulfates have been extensively identified with other instruments at Mars. If present, sufficiently exposed, and in high enough abundances, such minerals should be detectable in orbital thermal infrared spectra at the resolution of THEMIS. The extended mission proposal for THEMIS on Mars Odyssey suggests that the detection of all minerals may be enhanced by observing at an earlier time of day and thus at warmer temperatures. Therefore, in 2009, Odyssey moved to an earlier orbit time. Here, we examine THEMIS data collected when the earlier orbit time coincided with the Martian local (southern) late summer (Ls = 270) for Columbus crater where Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) data have detected a number of aqueous minerals. Some of the warmest THEMIS images show evidence for aqueous minerals, although not in the same locations where CRISM finds the highest concentrations. Several factors contribute to this result, including differences in the diurnal temperature curve and levels of induration and particle size. For THEMIS, earlier time-of-day and proper seasonal observations combine to provide warm surface temperatures and ideal low atmospheric opacity that significantly increases the ability to definitively identify low spectral contrast aqueous minerals at the surface of Mars

Inoculation studies related to breeding for resistance to bacterial wilt in lespedeza

... cooperative investigation between the Department of Field Crops, Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Missouri, and Forage and Range Section, Field Crops Branch, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture...--P. [2].Digitized 2007 AES.Includes bibliographical references (page 47)

Constructions of generalized complex structures in dimension four

Four-manifold theory is employed to study the existence of (twisted) generalized complex structures. It is shown that there exist (twisted) generalized complex structures that have more than one type change loci. In an example-driven fashion, (twisted) generalized complex structures are constructed on a myriad of four-manifolds, both simply and non-simply connected, which are neither complex nor symplectic

Exotic smooth structures on 4-manifolds with zero signature

For every integer $k\geq 2$, we construct infinite families of mutually nondiffeomorphic irreducible smooth structures on the topological $4$-manifolds $(2k-1)(S^2\times S^2)$ and (2k-1)(\CP#\CPb), the connected sums of $2k-1$ copies of $S^2\times S^2$ and \CP#\CPb.Comment: 6 page

Prognostic value of programmed death ligand 1, p53, and Ki-67 in patients with advanced stage colorectal cancer

Current prognostic indicators are ineffective for identifying advanced stage colorectal cancer (CRC) patients with high risk of recurrence after surgical resection. We investigated the prognostic value of p53, Ki-67, and programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) in 254 patients with stage II and III CRC. The expression of p53 was positive in 63% of cases. Up-regulation of p53 was associated with smaller tumor size (P = .001) and higher Ki-67 labeling index (LI) (P = .031). The tumor Ki-67 LI was high (≥ 20%) in 197 (78%) of the patients. High Ki-67 LI was associated with higher TNM stage (P = .031), positive p53 expression (P = .031), and negative PD-L1 expression (P = .003). The five-year relapse-free survivals (RFS) were 53% and 89%, respectively, for the p53-positive and Ki-67 LI-high patients and the p53-negative and Ki-67 LI-low patients (P < .001). In univariate analysis, negative p53 (P = .001), low Ki-67 LI (P = .006), low PD-L1 expression (P = .044), low TNM stage (P < .001), recto-sigmoid location (P = .026), and small size (P = .013) were significantly related to RFS. In multivariate Cox regression analysis, positive p53 expression (hazard ratio [HR]: 2.48; 95% confidence interval: 1.34–4.59, P = .004), high Ki-67 LI (HR: 2.62; 95% CI: 1.12–6.14, P = .027) and high TNM stage (HR: 2.598, 95% CI: 1.55–4.37, P < .001,) were independent predictors of unfavorable prognosis. In summary, PD-L1, Ki-67, and p53 staining individually had significant prognostic value for patients with stage II and III CRC. Moreover, combining p53 H-score ≥ 35 and Ki-67 LI ≥ 20% identifies patients with poor clinical outcome

Up in Smoke: Preparing the Air Force for the Legalization of Marijuana

Over the last four decades, public sentiment regarding marijuana has changed drastically. Many states now allow medicinal marijuana to be prescribed and consumed, while some even permit recreational use. The federal government, as both sovereign and employer, is behind the curve. In both roles, the federal government has failed to act meaningfully. Lax enforcement and the shift in public sentiment will force Congress and the President to enact some significant changes to marijuana law in the very near future. If no action is taken, a dramatic clash between state and federal law will ensue within the nation’s court system. The Department of Defense (DoD), specifically the Air Force, has maintained drug testing programs for decades in compliance with federal mandates. Unfortunately, the Air Force and other federal agencies are clinging to outdated policies of the past to justify their current actions. As the professed leader in innovation, the Air Force has a moral responsibility to pioneer a shift in focus within the DoD and the broader federal government. In order to continue its heritage in innovation and adapt to current trends, the Air Force needs to depart from previous policies regarding marijuana. Although such a shift cannot be accomplished alone, the Air Force is responsible for leading the DoD and the federal government in a new direction. A proactive three-pronged approach to marijuana in 2023 would include retaining reasonable suspicion and safety mishap testing, devoting greater attention to marijuana use within existing treatment programs, and working with stakeholders to remove marijuana from random urinalysis testing

Nuclear Anapole Moments

Nuclear anapole moments are parity-odd, time-reversal-even E1 moments of the electromagnetic current operator. Although the existence of this moment was recognized theoretically soon after the discovery of parity nonconservation (PNC), its experimental isolation was achieved only recently, when a new level of precision was reached in a measurement of the hyperfine dependence of atomic PNC in 133Cs. An important anapole moment bound in 205Tl also exists. In this paper, we present the details of the first calculation of these anapole moments in the framework commonly used in other studies of hadronic PNC, a meson exchange potential that includes long-range pion exchange and enough degrees of freedom to describe the five independent $S-P$ amplitudes induced by short-range interactions. The resulting contributions of pi-, rho-, and omega-exchange to the single-nucleon anapole moment, to parity admixtures in the nuclear ground state, and to PNC exchange currents are evaluated, using configuration-mixed shell-model wave functions. The experimental anapole moment constraints on the PNC meson-nucleon coupling constants are derived and compared with those from other tests of the hadronic weak interaction. While the bounds obtained from the anapole moment results are consistent with the broad ``reasonable ranges'' defined by theory, they are not in good agreement with the constraints from the other experiments. We explore possible explanations for the discrepancy and comment on the potential importance of new experiments.Comment: 53 pages; 10 figures; revtex; submitted to Phys Rev

Multiple Smaller Missions as a Direct Pathway to Mars Sample Return

Recent discoveries by the Mars Exploration Rovers, Mars Express, Mars Odyssey, and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft include multiple, tantalizing astrobiological targets representing both past and present environments on Mars. The most desirable path to Mars Sample Return (MSR) would be to collect and return samples from that site which provides the clearest examples of the variety of rock types considered a high priority for sample return (pristine igneous, sedimentary, and hydrothermal). Here we propose an MSR architecture in which the next steps (potentially launched in 2018) would entail a series of smaller missions, including caching, to multiple landing sites to verify the presence of high priority sample return targets through in situ analyses. This alternative architecture to one flagship-class sample caching mission to a single site would preserve a direct path to MSR as stipulated by the Planetary Decadal Survey, while permitting investigation of diverse deposit types and providing comparison of the site of returned samples to other aqueous environments on early Mar

Assessing the Accuracy of Respondents Reports of the Location of Their Home Relative to a National Forest Boundary and Forest Cover

This paper assesses the accuracy of responses to a question that asks the location of respondents’ homes relative to a National Forest boundary. The analysis also assesses the accuracy of respondent reports on forest cover in the area surrounding their home. We find non-ignorable error in the responses to both questions. The remainder of this paper is divided into three sections. First, the methods used for this study are described as are limitations of the study. Second, we illustrate the study’s results. Finally, we discuss our results and conclusions