Thematic mapper studies of central Andean volcanoes

A series of false color composite images covering the volcanic cordillera was written. Each image is 45 km (1536 x 1536 pixels) and was constructed using bands 7, 4, and 2 of the Thematic Mapper (TM) data. Approximately 100 images were prepared to date. A set of LANDSAT Multispectral Scanner (MSS) images was used in conjunction with the TM hardcopy to compile a computer data base of all volcanic structure in the Central Andean province. Over 500 individual structures were identified. About 75 major volcanoes were identified as active, or potentially active. A pilot study was begun combining Shuttle Imaging Radar (SIR) data with TM for a test area in north Chile and Bolivia

Involvement of deprivation and environmental lead in neural tube defects:a matched case-control study.

OBJECTIVE. To analyse the prevalence of neural tube defects in small geographical areas and seek to explain any spatial variations with reference to environmental lead and deprivation. SETTING. The Fylde of Lancashire in the north west of England. DESIGNCases were ascertained as part of a prospective survey of major congenital malformations in babies born in the Fylde to residents there between 1957 and 1981. A matched case-control analysis used infants with cardiovascular system, alimentary tract, and urinary system malformations as controls. Conditional logistic regression was used to assess the effects of more than 10 µg/l lead in drinking water and the Townsend deprivation score. RESULTS. The prevalence of neural tube defects in 1957-73 was higher in Blackpool, Fleetwood, and North Fylde, whereas the three control groups showed no significant spatial variation. In 1957-81 mothers living in electoral wards with either a higher proportion of houses with more than 10 µg/l lead in the water or a higher deprivation score had a greater risk of having a baby with a neural tube defect. For spina bifida and cranium bifidum alone, this was also true. For anencephaly, deprivation was less important although the effect of lead was still seen. In some neural tube defects, lead may act independently of other possible factors associated with deprivation. It seemed unlikely that lead levels changed significantly during the survey. The percentage of houses with 10 µg/l or more of lead in the water in 1984-5 was similar to that found in Great Britain 10 years previously. CONCLUSION. There is evidence to suggest that lead is one cause of neural tube defects, especially anencephaly. This could link the known preventive actions of hard water and folic acid. Calcium is a toxicological antagonist of lead. One cause of a deficiency of folic acid is impaired absorption secondary to zinc deficiency, which may be produced or exacerbated by lead

Report of the panel on volcanology, section 4

Two primary goals are identified as focal to NASA's research efforts in volcanology during the 1990s: to understand the eruption of lavas, gases, and aerosols from volcanoes, the dispersal of these materials on the Earth's surface and through the atmosphere, and the effects of these eruptions on the climate and environment; and to understand the physical processes that lead to the initiation of volcanic activity, that influence the styles of volcanic eruptions, and that dictate the morphology and evolution of volcanic landforms. Strategy and data requirements as well as research efforts are discussed

Potential Energy Landscape of the Apparent First-Order Phase Transition between Low-Density and High-Density Amorphous Ice

The potential energy landscape (PEL) formalism is a valuable approach within statistical mechanics for describing supercooled liquids and glasses. Here we use the PEL formalism and computer simulations to study the pressure-induced transformations between low-density amorphous ice (LDA) and high-density amorphous ice (HDA) at different temperatures. We employ the ST2 water model for which the LDA-HDA transformations are remarkably sharp, similar to what is observed in experiments, and reminiscent of a first-order phase transition. Our results are consistent with the view that LDA and HDA configurations are associated with two distinct regions (megabasins) of the PEL that are separated by a potential energy barrier. At higher temperature, we find that low-density liquid (LDL) configurations are located in the same megabasin as LDA, and that high-density liquid (HDL) configurations are located in the same megabasin as HDA. We show that the pressure-induced LDL-HDL and LDA-HDA transformations occur along paths that interconnect these two megabasins, but that the path followed by the liquid is different than the path followed by the amorphous solid. At higher pressure, we also study the liquid-to-ice-VII first-order phase transition, and find that the behavior of the PEL properties across this transition are qualitatively similar to the changes found during the LDA-HDA transformation. This similarity supports the interpretation that the LDA-HDA transformation is a first-order-like phase transition between out-of-equilibrium states.Comment: 29 pages, 8 figure

Fractional Stokes-Einstein and Debye-Stokes-Einstein relations in a network forming liquid

We study the breakdown of the Stokes-Einstein (SE) and Debye-Stokes-Einstein (DSE) relations for translational and rotational motion in a prototypical model of a network-forming liquid, the ST2 model of water. We find that the emergence of ``fractional'' SE and DSE relations at low temperature is ubiquitous in this system, with exponents that vary little over a range of distinct physical regimes. We also show that the same fractional SE relation is obeyed by both mobile and immobile dynamical heterogeneities of the liquid

Growth or decline in the Church of England during the decade of Evangelism: did the Churchmanship of the Bishop matter?

The Decade of Evangelism occupied the attention of the Church of England throughout the 1990s. The present study employs the statistics routinely published by the Church of England in order to assess two matters: the extent to which these statistics suggest that the 43 individual dioceses finished the decade in a stronger or weaker position than they had entered it and the extent to which, according to these statistics, the performance of dioceses led by bishops shaped in the Evangelical tradition differed from the performance of dioceses led by bishops shaped in the Catholic tradition. The data demonstrated that the majority of dioceses were performing less effectively at the end of the decade than at the beginning, in terms of a range of membership statistics, and that the rate of decline varied considerably from one diocese to another. The only exception to the trend was provided by the diocese of London, which experienced some growth. The data also demonstrated that little depended on the churchmanship of the diocesan bishop in shaping diocesan outcomes on the performance indicators employed in the study