Panspermia, Past and Present: Astrophysical and Biophysical Conditions for the Dissemination of Life in Space

Astronomically, there are viable mechanisms for distributing organic material throughout the Milky Way. Biologically, the destructive effects of ultraviolet light and cosmic rays means that the majority of organisms arrive broken and dead on a new world. The likelihood of conventional forms of panspermia must therefore be considered low. However, the information content of dam-aged biological molecules might serve to seed new life (necropanspermia).Comment: Accepted for publication in Space Science Review

Risk profiles and one-year outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation in India: Insights from the GARFIELD-AF Registry.

BACKGROUND: The Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF) is an ongoing prospective noninterventional registry, which is providing important information on the baseline characteristics, treatment patterns, and 1-year outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). This report describes data from Indian patients recruited in this registry. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 52,014 patients with newly diagnosed AF were enrolled globally; of these, 1388 patients were recruited from 26 sites within India (2012-2016). In India, the mean age was 65.8 years at diagnosis of NVAF. Hypertension was the most prevalent risk factor for AF, present in 68.5% of patients from India and in 76.3% of patients globally (P < 0.001). Diabetes and coronary artery disease (CAD) were prevalent in 36.2% and 28.1% of patients as compared with global prevalence of 22.2% and 21.6%, respectively (P < 0.001 for both). Antiplatelet therapy was the most common antithrombotic treatment in India. With increasing stroke risk, however, patients were more likely to receive oral anticoagulant therapy [mainly vitamin K antagonist (VKA)], but average international normalized ratio (INR) was lower among Indian patients [median INR value 1.6 (interquartile range {IQR}: 1.3-2.3) versus 2.3 (IQR 1.8-2.8) (P < 0.001)]. Compared with other countries, patients from India had markedly higher rates of all-cause mortality [7.68 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval 6.32-9.35) vs 4.34 (4.16-4.53), P < 0.0001], while rates of stroke/systemic embolism and major bleeding were lower after 1 year of follow-up. CONCLUSION: Compared to previously published registries from India, the GARFIELD-AF registry describes clinical profiles and outcomes in Indian patients with AF of a different etiology. The registry data show that compared to the rest of the world, Indian AF patients are younger in age and have more diabetes and CAD. Patients with a higher stroke risk are more likely to receive anticoagulation therapy with VKA but are underdosed compared with the global average in the GARFIELD-AF. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION-URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01090362

Preliminary comparisons between measurements and model calculations for the TMI venting of /sup 85/Kr

ARAC was on-line calculating hourly concentration values during the TMI-2 venting of /sup 85/Kr gas from June 28 to July 11, 1980. During this time hourly isopleths of normalized instantaneous concentration were calculated and transmitted to EPA in Middletown, PA. These isopleths were used to help locate the EPA and Penn State mobile air samplers and they were used for comparison to the EPA fixed 24 hr sampler measurements and the DOE helicopter measurements. This report summarizes preliminary comparisons for the EPA fixed samplers and the DOE helicopters

Roles that numerical models can play in emergency response

Four points are presented with regard to a perspective on modeling for emergency preparedness. First, and probably foremost, modeling should be considered a tool, along with measurements and experience when used for emergency preparedness. The second point is that the potential for large errors associated with knowing the source term during an accident should not be used as a guide for determining the level of the model development and application. There are many other uses for models than estimating consequences, given the source term. These uses range from estimating the source term to bracketing the problem at hand. The third point is that several levels of model complexity should be considered when addressing emergency response. These levels can vary from the simple Gaussian calculation to the more complex three-dimensional transport and diffusion calculations where terrain and vertical and horizontal shears in the wind fields can be modeled. Lastly, proper interaction and feedback between model results and measurements enhances the capabilities of each if they were applied independently for emergency response purposes

Summary of MATHEW/ADPIC model evaluation studies

This report summarizes model evaluation studies conducted for the MATHEW/ADPIC transport and diffusion models during the past ten years. These models support the US Department of Energy Atmospheric Release Advisory Capability, an emergency response service for atmospheric releases of nuclear material. Field campaigns involving tracer releases used in these studies cover a broad range of meteorology, terrain and tracer release heights, the three most important aspects of estimating air concentration values resulting from airborne releases of toxic material. Results of these studies show that these models can estimate air concentration values within a factor of 2, 20% to 50% of the time and a factor of 5, 40% to 80% of the time. As the meteorology and terrain become more complex and the release height of the tracer is increased the accuracy of the model calculations degrades. This band of uncertainty appears to correctly represent the capability of these models at this time. 13 refs., 8 figs

Atmospheric Release Advisory Capability (ARAC): update 1977. [Atmospheric monitoring of effluents from DOE nuclear facilities]

The Atmospheric Release Advisory Capability (ARAC) is a service to facilities requiring a means of realtime prediction of the extent of health hazards that may result from a release of radionuclides or other toxic materials. The ARAC system, sponsored by the Department of Energy (DOE), consists of a network of serviced facilities and a central facility at the University of California, Lawrence Livermore Laboratory (LLL). Since 1973, when the concept was initiated, a joint feasibility study of the ARAC system has been conducted by LLL and the Savannah River Laboratory (SRL) and research and development was initiated to implement this service for DOE nuclear facilities. The present system of three sites (LLL, Savannah River Plant and the Rocky Flats Plant) is now being tested and evaluated with the Mound Laboratory scheduled to join the network in the fall of 1977. Plans are presently being formulated to implement the ARAC service for additional DOE sites during the next several years. This article briefly describes the ARAC concept, discusses progress to date and outlines future plans for completing the system's development and operating the service

A (Usually) Connected Subgraph of the Minimum Weight Triangulation (Two Page Abstract)

Matthew T. Dickerson Middlebury College, Middlebury VT USA Mark H. Montague Dartmouh College, Hanover NH USA 1 Overview of Result We present a new polynomial time algorithm that computes a subgraph of the exact minimum weight triangulation of a set of points. The subgraph contains more edges than previously known subgraphs [6, 4, 1]. In fact, it is been tested on many hundreds of uniformly distributed random point sets containing up to 220 points and in every instance has produced a connected subgraph. We are therefore able to compute the exact minimum weight triangulation of these general point set in polynomial (worst case O(n 6 )) time. 2 Introduction A minimum weight triangulation of a point set S is a triangulation that minimizes weight over all possible triangulations. Since two distinct triangulations may have the same weight, we denote any one minimum weight triangulation of S as MWT (S), and the graph containing all edges in every minimum weight triangulation as mwt(S..

Dose estimates from the Chernobyl accident

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Atmospheric Release Advisory Capability (ARAC) responded to the Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident in the Soviet Union by utilizing long-range atmospheric dispersion modeling to estimate the amount of radioactivity released (source term) and the radiation dose distribution due to exposure to the radioactive cloud over Europe and the Northern Hemisphere. In later assessments, after the release of data on the accident by the Soviet Union, the ARAC team used their mesoscale to regional scale model to focus in on the radiation dose distribution within the Soviet Union and the vicinity of the Chernobyl plant. 22 refs., 5 figs., 5 tabs

ARAC status report: 1985

The Atmospheric Release Advisory Capability is a real-time emergency-response service available to federal and state agencies for providing estimates of the environmental consequences of accidental releases of radioactivity into the atmosphere. This includes the estimation of radiation doses to nearby population centers and the levels and extent of surface contamination. The service is currently being expanded to support the emergency response plans at approximately 50 Department of Defense and Department of Energy facilities. This expansion consists of the installation of enhanced computational and data communications and processing systems, development of terrain and geographic data bases, improvements in modeling capabilities, as well as increased staff housing facilities. This report summarizes the current status of ARAC and the requirements to receive the service