Assessing the full costs of floodplain buyouts

Given projected increases in flood damages, managed retreat strategies are likely to become more widespread. Voluntary buyouts, where governments acquire flood-damaged properties and return the sites to open space, have been the primary form of federally funded retreat in the USA to date. However, little attention has been paid to the cost structure of buyout projects. Using a transaction cost framework, we analyze the costs of activities that comprise floodplain buyouts. Federal data do not distinguish transaction costs, but they do suggest that the cost of purchasing properties often accounts for 80% or less of total project costs. Through a systematic review (n = 1103 publications) and an analysis of government budgets (across n = 859 jurisdiction-years), we find limited sources with relevant cost information, none of which reports transaction costs. The absence of activity-level cost data inhibits more targeted policy reform to support community-driven and efficient buyout programs. Better data collection and reporting can inform more impactful and equitable buyout policy

Heterogeneous Subgreenschist Deformation in an Exhumed Sediment-Poor Mélange

Many described subduction complexes (or mélanges) exhumed from seismogenic depths comprise thick, turbidite-dominated sequences with deformed zones containing clasts or boudins of more competent sandstone and/or basalt. In contrast, many active subduction zones have a relatively small thickness of sedimentary inputs (<2 km), turbidite sequences are commonly accreted rather than subducted, and the role of pelagic sediments and basalt (lavas and hyaloclastites) in the deforming zone near the plate interface at <20 km depth is poorly understood. Field investigation of Neoproterozoic oceanic sequences accreted in the Gwna Complex, Anglesey, UK, reveals repeated lenticular slices of variably sampled ocean plate stratigraphy (OPS) bounded by thin mélange-bearing shear zones. Mélange matrix material is derived from adjacent OPS lithologies and is either dominantly illitic, likely derived from altered siliciclastic sediment, or chloritic, likely derived from altered volcanics. In the illitic mélange, mutually cross-cutting phyllosilicate foliation and variably deformed chlorite-quartz-calcite veins suggest ductile creep was cyclically punctuated by transient, localized fluid pulses. Chlorite thermometry indicates the veins formed at 260 ± 10°C. In the chloritic mélange, recrystallized through-going calcite veins are deformed to shear strains of 4–5 within a foliated chlorite matrix, suggesting calcite veins in subducting volcanics may localize deformation in the seismogenic zone. Shear stress-strain rate curves constructed using existing empirical relationships in a simplified shear zone geometry predict that slip velocities varied depending on pore fluid pressure; models predict slow slip velocities preferentially by frictional sliding in chlorite, at pore fluid pressures greater than hydrostatic but less than lithostatic

Heterogeneous subgreenschist deformation in an exhumed sediment‐poor mélange

Many described subduction complexes (or mélanges) exhumed from seismogenic depths comprise thick, turbidite‐dominated sequences with deformed zones containing clasts or boudins of more competent sandstone and/or basalt. In contrast, many active subduction zones have a relatively small thickness of sedimentary inputs (<2 km), turbidite sequences are commonly accreted rather than subducted, and the role of pelagic sediments and basalt (lavas and hyaloclastites) in the deforming zone near the plate interface at <20 km depth is poorly understood. Field investigation of Neoproterozoic oceanic sequences accreted in the Gwna Complex, Anglesey, UK, reveals repeated lenticular slices of variably sampled ocean plate stratigraphy (OPS) bounded by thin mélange‐bearing shear zones. Mélange matrix material is derived from adjacent OPS lithologies and is either dominantly illitic, likely derived from altered siliciclastic sediment, or chloritic, likely derived from altered volcanics. In the illitic mélange, mutually cross‐cutting phyllosilicate foliation and variably deformed chlorite‐quartz‐calcite veins suggest ductile creep was cyclically punctuated by transient, localized fluid pulses. Chlorite thermometry indicates the veins formed at 260 ± 10°C. In the chloritic mélange, recrystallized through‐going calcite veins are deformed to shear strains of 4–5 within a foliated chlorite matrix, suggesting calcite veins in subducting volcanics may localize deformation in the seismogenic zone. Shear stress‐strain rate curves constructed using existing empirical relationships in a simplified shear zone geometry predict that slip velocities varied depending on pore fluid pressure; models predict slow slip velocities preferentially by frictional sliding in chlorite, at pore fluid pressures greater than hydrostatic but less than lithostatic

Cognitive performance in light current users and ex-users of ecstasy (MDMA) and controls

Previous research has shown that heavy users of ecstasy may suffer impaired cognitive functioning, and the present study set out to investigate whether such impairment might also be found in light users or ex-users of ecstasy. Sixty subjects, comprising 20 current light users, 20 ex-users, and 20 non-users of ecstasy, were tested on an extensive battery of cognitive tests. Current light users of ecstasy achieved significantly lower scores on the overall cognitive test battery than did the non-users (p=0.011), though there were no significant differences on any individual subtests. However, the scores obtained by the ex-users of ecstasy did not differ significantly from those of the non-users. It was concluded that current light users of ecstasy show a small but significant cognitive impairment, but that no such impairment is detectable in ex-users who had abstained from the drug for at least 6 months

Clinical significance in the number of involved lymph nodes in patients that underwent surgery for pathological stage III-N2 non-small cell lung cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Purpose</p> <p>This study investigated whether the number of involved lymph nodes is associated with the prognosis in patients that underwent surgery for pathological stage (p-stage) III/N2 NSCLC.</p> <p>Subjects</p> <p>This study evaluated 121 patients with p-stage III/N2 NSCLC.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The histological types included 65 adenocarcinomas, 39 squamous cell carcinomas and 17 others. The average number of dissected lymph nodes was 23.8 (range: 6-55). The average number of involved lymph nodes was 5.9 (range: 1-23). The 5-year survival rate of the patients was 51.0% for single lymph node positive, 58.9% for 2 lymph nodes positive, 34.2% for 3 lymph nodes positive, and 30.0% for 4 lymph nodes positive, and 20.4% for more than 5 lymph nodes positive. The patients with either single or 2 lymph nodes positive had a significantly more favorable prognosis than the patients with more than 5 lymph nodes positive. A multivariate analysis revealed that the number of involved lymph nodes was a significant independent prognostic factor.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Surgery appears to be preferable as a one arm of multimodality therapy in p-stage III/N2 patients with single or 2 involved lymph nodes. The optimal incorporation of surgery into the multimodality approach therefore requires further clinical investigation.</p

Outcome of radiotherapy in T1 glottic carcinoma: A population-based study

We evaluated the radiation outcome and prognostic factors in a population-based study of early (T1N0M0) glottic carcinoma. Survival parameters and prognostic factors were evaluated by uni- and multivariate analysis in 316 consecutive irradiated patients with T1 glottic carcinoma in the Comprehensive Cancer Center West region of the western Netherlands. Median follow-up was 70 months (range 1-190 months). Five and ten-year local control was 86 and 84%. Disease specific survival was 97% at 5 and 10 years. In multivariate analysis, pre-existent laryngeal hypertrophic laryngitis was the only predictive factor for local control (relative risk = 3.0, P = 0.02). Comorbidity was prognostic for overall survival. No factor was predictive for disease specific survival. Pre-existent laryngeal hypertrophic laryngitis is a new risk factor associated with reduced local control in T1 glottic carcinoma treated with radiotherapy

The IASLC/ITMIG thymic epithelial tumors staging project: Proposals for the T component for the forthcoming (8th) edition of the TNM classification of malignant tumors

Despite longstanding recognition of thymic epithelial neoplasms, there is no official American Joint Committee on Cancer/ Union for International Cancer Control stage classification. This article summarizes proposals for classification of the T component of stage classification for use in the 8th edition of the tumor, node, metastasis classification for malignant tumors. This represents the output of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer and the International Thymic Malignancies Interest Group Staging and Prognostics Factor Committee, which assembled and analyzed a worldwide database of 10,808 patients with thymic malignancies from 105 sites. The committee proposes division of the T component into four categories, representing levels of invasion. T1 includes tumors localized to the thymus and anterior mediastinal fat, regardless of capsular invasion, up to and including infiltration through the mediastinal pleura. Invasion of the pericardium is designated as T2. T3 includes tumors with direct involvement of a group of mediastinal structures either singly or in combination: lung, brachiocephalic vein, superior vena cava, chest wall, and phrenic nerve. Invasion of more central structures constitutes T4: aorta and arch vessels, intrapericardial pulmonary artery, myocardium, trachea, and esophagus. Size did not emerge as a useful descriptor for stage classification. This classification of T categories, combined with a classification of N and M categories, provides a basis for a robust tumor, node, metastasis classification system for the 8th edition of American Joint Committee on Cancer/Union for International Cancer Control stage classification