Alien Registration- Donahoe, Albert J. (Blanchard Twp, Piscataquis County)

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Report of the SNOMS Project 2006 to 2012, SNOMS SWIRE NOCS Ocean Monitoring System. Part 1: Narrative description

The ocean plays a major role in controlling the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. Increasing concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere are a threat to the stability of the earth’s climate. A better understanding of the controlling role of the ocean will improve predictions of likely future changes in climate and the impact of the uptake of CO2 itself on marine eco-systems caused by the associated acidification of the ocean waters. The SNOMS Project (SWIRE NOCS Ocean Monitoring System) is a ground breaking joint research project supported by the Swire Group Trust, the Swire Educational Trust, the China Navigation Company (CNCo) and the Natural Environment Research Council. It collects high quality data on concentrations of CO2 in the surface layer of the ocean. It contributes to the international effort to better quantify (and understand the driving processes controlling) the exchanges of CO2 between the ocean and the atmosphere. In 2006 and 2007 a system that could be used on a commercial ship to provide data over periods of several months with only limited maintenance by the ships crew was designed and assembled by NOCS. The system was fitted to the CNCo ship the MV Pacific Celebes in May 2007. The onboard system was supported by web pages that monitored the progress of the ship and the functioning of the data collection system. To support the flow of data from the ship to the archiving of the data at the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC in the USA) data processing procedures were developed for the quality control and systematic handling of the data. Data from samples of seawater collected by the ships crew and analysed in NOC (730 samples) have been used to confirm the consistency of the data from the automated measurement system on the ship. To examine the data collected between 2007 and 2012 the movements of the ship are divided into 16 voyages. Initially The Celebes traded on a route circum-navigating the globe via the Panama and Suez Canals. In 2009 the route shifted to one between Australia and New Zealand to USA and Canada. Analysis of the data is an on going process. It has demonstrated that the system produces reliable data. Data are capable of improving existing estimates of seasonal variability. The work has improved knowledge of gas exchange processes. Data from the crew-collected-samples are helping improve our ability to estimate alkalinity in different areas. This helps with the study of ocean acidification. Data from the 9 round trips in the Pacific are currently being examined along with data made available by the NOAA-PMEL laboratory forming time series from 2004 to 2012. The data from the Pacific route are of considerable interest. One reason is that the data monitors variations in the fluxes of CO2 associated with the current that flows westwards along the equator. This is one of the major natural sources of CO2 from the ocean into the atmosphere

016— Quality of College Students’ Close Peer Relationships

This study compares the quality of different types of college students’ relationships: same-sex (SS) friendships, other-sex (OS) friendships, and romantic relationships. Previous research by Hand and Furman (2009) indicated that adolescents perceived their OS friendships as less supportive than both their SS friendships and romantic relationships. Adolescents also perceived their OS friendships as having less conflict than their romantic relationships. The current study attempts to replicate these findings with college students, who tend to have more time and opportunity to develop close OS friendships. In addition, we examine the power dynamic in these relationships, as well as several factors of each type of relationship, including length of the current relationship and previous experience with each type of relationship

International Docking Standardization NASA

This slide presentation reviews the different types of docking types. The objective is the pressurized vehicle connection and crew transfer. Androgynous Docking is defined as the joining or coming together of two free flying space vehicles with alike interfaces. Androgynous mating allows for collaboration between any two vehicles. The subsytems of an androgynous mating system are reviewed, including: Hard docking subsystems: latch system, tunnel housing, alignment system and seal

VINYL COATING OF GRAPHITE PLATES FOR ULTRASONIC INSPECTION

A process has been developed for application of a thin, adherent vinyi plastic coating to graphite plates to prevent absorption of coupling fluids'' used in ultrasonic inspection. The plates are preheated and dipped mechanically in a fluid plastisol, and the resulting coating is fused in an infra-red heater. No significant attenuation of ultrasonic impulse results from presence of the coating. After inspection, the vinyl sheath may be easily stripped from the plate. (auth

Autoantibody-targeted treatments for acute exacerbations of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Background: Severe acute exacerbations (AE) of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) are medically untreatable and often fatal within days. Recent evidence suggests autoantibodies may be involved in IPF progression. Autoantibody-mediated lung diseases are typically refractory to glucocorticoids and nonspecific medications, but frequently respond to focused autoantibody reduction treatments. We conducted a pilot trial to test the hypothesis that autoantibody-targeted therapies may also benefit AE-IPF patients. Methods: Eleven (11) critically-ill AE-IPF patients with no evidence of conventional autoimmune diseases were treated with therapeutic plasma exchanges (TPE) and rituximab, supplemented in later cases with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG). Plasma anti-epithelial (HEp-2) autoantibodies and matrix metalloproteinase-7 (MMP7) were evaluated by indirect immunofluorescence and ELISA, respectively. Outcomes among the trial subjects were compared to those of 20 historical control AE-IPF patients treated with conventional glucocorticoid therapy prior to this experimental trial. Results: Nine (9) trial subjects (82%) had improvements of pulmonary gas exchange after treatment, compared to one (5%) historical control. Two of the three trial subjects who relapsed after only five TPE responded again with additional TPE. The three latest subjects who responded to an augmented regimen of nine TPE plus rituximab plus IVIG have had sustained responses without relapses after 96-to-237 days. Anti-HEp-2 autoantibodies were present in trial subjects prior to therapy, and were reduced by TPE among those who responded to treatment. Conversely, plasma MMP7 levels were not systematically affected by therapy nor correlated with clinical responses. One-year survival of trial subjects was 46+15% vs. 0% among historical controls. No serious adverse events were attributable to the experimental medications. Conclusion: This pilot trial indicates specific treatments that reduce autoantibodies might benefit some severely-ill AE-IPF patients. These findings have potential implications regarding mechanisms of IPF progression, and justify considerations for incremental trials of autoantibody-targeted therapies in AE-IPF patients. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01266317

High Frequency of Cytomegalovirus-Specific Cytotoxic T-Effector Cells in HLA-A*0201-Positive Subjects during Multiple Viral Coinfections

How the cellular immune response copes with diverse antigenic competition is poorly understood. Responses of virus-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) were examined longitudinally in an individual coinfected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), and cytomegalovirus (CMV). CTL responses to all 3 viruses were quantified by limiting dilution analysis and staining with HLA-A*0201 tetrameric complexes folded with HIV-1, EBV, and CMV peptides. A predominance of CMV-pp65-speciflc CTL was found, with a much lower frequency of CTL to HIV-1 Gag and Pol and to EBV-BMLF1 and LMP2. The high frequency of CMV-speciflc CTL, compared with HIV-1- and EBV-specific CTL, was confirmed in an additional 16 HLA-A*0201-positive virus-coinfected subjects. Therefore, the human immune system can mount CTL responses to multiple viral antigens simultaneously, albeit with different strength

Congenital diaphragmatic hernia and chromosome 15q26: determination of a candidate region by use of fluorescent in situ hybridization and array-based comparative genomic hybridization

Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) has an incidence of 1 in 3,000 births and a high mortality rate (33%-58%). Multifactorial inheritance, teratogenic agents, and genetic abnormalities have all been suggested as possible etiologic factors. To define candidate regions for CDH, we analyzed cytogenetic data collected on 200 CDH cases, of which 7% and 5% showed numerical and structural abnormalities, respectively. This study focused on the most frequent structural anomaly found: a deletion on chromosome 15q. We analyzed material from three of our patients and from four previously published patients with CDH and a 15q deletion. By using array-based comparative genomic hybridization and fluorescent in situ hybridization to determine the boundaries of the deletions and by including data from two individuals with terminal 15q deletions but without CDH, we were able to exclude a substantial portion of the telomeric region from the genetic etiology of this disorder. Moreover, one patient with CDH harbored a small interstitial deletion. Together, these findings allowed us to define a minimal deletion region of approximately 5 Mb at chromosome 15q26.1-26.2. The region contains four known genes, of which two--NR2F2 and CHD2--are particularly intriguing gene candidates for CDH