Effects of Volcanic Emissions on Clouds During Kilauea Degassing Events

Aerosols influence Earths radiative balance directly by scattering and absorbing solar radiation, and indirectly by modifying cloud properties. Current scientific consensus indicates that these effects may offset as much as 50% of the warming due to greenhouse gas emissions. Over the last two decades dramatic volcanic events in Hawaii have produced localized aerosol emissions in otherwise clean environments. These are natural experiments" where the aerosol effects on clouds and climate can be partitioned from other effects like meteorology and industrial emissions. Therefore, these events provide a unique opportunity to learn about possible effects of aerosol pollution on climate through cloud modification. In this work we use the version 5 of the NASA Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS-5) and satellite retrievals to analyze and evaluate the strength of the aerosol indirect effect on liquid and ice clouds during the 2008 and 2018 Kilauea degassing events using different emissions scenarios (0, 1, and 5 actual emissions). Our results suggested that the 2018 event was stronger and more regionally significant with respect to cloud formation process for both liquid and ice clouds, while the 2008 affected local liquid clouds only. GEOS-5 predictions reproduced spatial patterns for all parameters, however better precision could be gained by using more accurate plume parameters for height and ash concentration

Dark Work: The Business Of Slavery In Rhode Island

Tracing Slavery\u27s Tentacles in New England Christie Clark-Pujara\u27s Dark Work: The Business of Slavery in Rhode Island has great ambitions for such a little work. Like many recent historians, Clark-Pujara wants to explore the relationship of slavery and capitalism. One of Clark-Pujara\u27s mai...

Direct observation of the picosecond dynamics of I_2-Ar fragmentation

Picosecond real‐time observations of the dynamics of I_2–Ar fragmentation are reported. The state‐to‐state rates, k(ν^i,,ν^f,), are directly measured and related to the homogeneous broadening of the initial state, and to product state distributions in the exit channel. Comparisons with different theories of vibrational (and electronic) predissociation are made

Drug enrichment and discovery from schizophrenia genome-wide association results:an analysis and visualisation approach

Using successful genome-wide association results in psychiatry for drug repurposing is an ongoing challenge. Databases collecting drug targets and gene annotations are growing and can be harnessed to shed a new light on psychiatric disorders. We used genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary statistics from the Psychiatric Genetics Consortium (PGC) Schizophrenia working group to build a drug repositioning model for schizophrenia. As sample size increases, schizophrenia GWAS results show increasing enrichment for known antipsychotic drugs, selective calcium channel blockers, and antiepileptics. Each of these therapeutical classes targets different gene subnetworks. We identify 123 Bonferroni-significant druggable genes outside the MHC, and 128 FDR-significant biological pathways related to neurons, synapses, genic intolerance, membrane transport, epilepsy, and mental disorders. These results suggest that, in schizophrenia, current well-powered GWAS results can reliably detect known schizophrenia drugs and thus may hold considerable potential for the identification of new therapeutic leads. Moreover, antiepileptics and calcium channel blockers may provide repurposing opportunities. This study also reveals significant pathways in schizophrenia that were not identified previously, and provides a workflow for pathway analysis and drug repurposing using GWAS results

The gender and side asymmetry of length of the styloid process

The styloid process is a sharp bony projection, at the base of the skull, and part of the temporal bone. Muscles and ligaments are attached to this process, but they are rarely of any clinical significance unless the styloid process is fractured or severely elongated. Pathology of the styloid process is referred to as Eagle’s syndrome. This was after a publication by Eagle (1937) in which he reported a 4% prevalence of elongated styloid processes. Later studies reported much higher percentages of elongated processes. The aims of this study was to investigate the mean length of the styloid process and compare this with what is accepted as the “normal” length after the Eagle publication. The study also looked at evidence of asymmetry between the two sides within the same specimen. Comparison in the lengths between the two sexes were also made. Forty-five styloid processes from 28 different individuals were measured for comparison. The sample group consisted out of 18 males- and 10 female subjects. The lengths of the styloid processes varied from 7.17 – 50.54mm, with a mean of 27.48mm. Styloid processes were on average 0.87mm longer on the right side and 3.12mm longer in the male specimens. This mean length of 27mm supports the claim by Eagle that the “normal” length is around 25mm. Ten out of 25 individuals (40%) exhibited “elongated” styloid processes measuring over 25mm. These findings were higher than those reported by Eagle. Elongated styloid processes are clinically important in order to make the correct diagnosis.Keywords: Styloid process; Eagel’s Syndrome; Elongated (abnormal length) styloid process

Carbon dioxide kinetics and capnography during critical care

Greater understanding of the pathophysiology of carbon dioxide kinetics during steady and nonsteady state should improve, we believe, clinical care during intensive care treatment. Capnography and the measurement of end-tidal partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PETCO(2)) will gradually be augmented by relatively new measurement methodology, including the volume of carbon dioxide exhaled per breath (VCO(2,br)) and average alveolar expired PCO(2) (PA̅E̅CO(2)). Future directions include the study of oxygen kinetics

Modifications to the Aesop's Fable paradigm change New Caledonian crow performances

While humans are able to understand much about causality, it is unclear to what extent non-human animals can do the same. The Aesop's Fable paradigm requires an animal to drop stones into a water-filled tube to bring a floating food reward within reach. Rook, Eurasian jay, and New Caledonian crow performances are similar to those of children under seven years of age when solving this task. However, we know very little about the cognition underpinning these birds' performances. Here, we address several limitations of previous Aesop's Fable studies to gain insight into the causal cognition of New Caledonian crows. Our results provide the first evidence that any non-human animal can solve the U-tube task and can discriminate between water-filled tubes of different volumes. However, our results do not provide support for the hypothesis that these crows can infer the presence of a hidden causal mechanism. They also call into question previous object-discrimination performances. The methodologies outlined here should allow for more powerful comparisons between humans and other animal species and thus help us to determine which aspects of causal cognition are distinct to humans.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Public Attitudes About Normal and Pathological Grief

Determining public expectations of grief is an important contributor to the debate differentiating normal from pathological grief. An international sample of 348 participants was randomly allocated to 1 of 12 conditions comprising a bereavement vignette and self-report items measuring grief expectations and social distance. Participants expected grief to decrease steadily between 2 weeks and 6 months then stabilize; however, time did not affect social distance. Gender of the bereaved and circumstances of death did not influence expectations, but did interact to influence social distance. These factors must be accounted for in determining a deviation from the norm in diagnostic nosology