An investigation of environmental factors associated with the current and proposed jetty systems at Belle Pass, Louisiana

The history of the existing jetty system at Belle Pass was investigated to determine its past effect on the littoral currents and beach erosion. Present flow patterns and erosion rates were also studied, along with the prevailing recession rates of local beaches not influenced by the jetty system. Aerial photographs and maps were used in conjunction with periodic hydraulic measurements, ground observations, and physical measurements of beach erosion. A scale model was constructed to further the study of flow patterns and velocities. It is shown that the existing jetty has not adversely affected the coastline in the area; erosive processes have been retarded by the jetty and its companion groin. Future erosion patterns are predicted, and projected effects of the proposed jetty system are given

Created mangrove wetlands store belowground carbon and surface elevation change enables them to adjust to sea-level rise

Mangrove wetlands provide ecosystem services for millions of people, most prominently by providing storm protection, food and fodder. Mangrove wetlands are also valuable ecosystems for promoting carbon (C) sequestration and storage. However, loss of mangrove wetlands and these ecosystem services are a global concern, prompting the restoration and creation of mangrove wetlands as a potential solution. Here, we investigate soil surface elevation change, and its components, in created mangrove wetlands over a 25 year developmental gradient. All created mangrove wetlands were exceeding current relative sea-level rise rates (2.6 mm yr(-1)), with surface elevation change of 4.2-11.0 mm yr(-1) compared with 1.5-7.2 mm yr(-1) for nearby reference mangroves. While mangrove wetlands store C persistently in roots/soils, storage capacity is most valuable if maintained with future sea-level rise. Through empirical modeling, we discovered that properly designed creation projects may not only yield enhanced C storage, but also can facilitate wetland persistence perennially under current rates of sea-level rise and, for most sites, for over a century with projected medium accelerations in sea-level rise (IPCC RCP 6.0). Only the fastest projected accelerations in sea-level rise (IPCC RCP 8.5) led to widespread submergence and potential loss of stored C for created mangrove wetlands before 2100

Systematic Analysis of Priority Water Resources Problems to Develop a Comprehensive Research Program for the Southern Plains River Basins Region

During the past twenty years, there have been several evaluations of national water resources research requirements. Many states have made similar analyses of their water resources research needs. Funding for water resources research generally has not been directed to these identified requirements; also, the level of funding has not been commensurated with the magnitude of the water resources problems. The Office of Water Research and Technology and the associated state water resources research institutes (or centers) initiated a regional problem analysis program to improve the effectiveness of research programs on major regional and national water resources problems. Today no single university or water resource agency possesses the competence to adequately analyze our major water resources problems and to conduct the research necessary to solve these problems, thus the regional problem analysis program was conducted in close cooperation between the universities and the state and federal water resource agencies in the region. The state institutes (or centers) in the Southern Plains River Basins Region Joined together and developed a series of workshops to analyze some of the major regional water resources problems. The water resources research institutes in the Southern Plains River Basins Region have made significant contributions to water resources knowledge in their respective states. In spite of this, the Institutes are striving to improve the effectiveness of their research programs. A potential area for improving the effectiveness of the Institutes is through the inter-institute cooperative problem analysis program to identify research needs for urgent regional water resources problems. This approach provides an opportunity to examine the "total" problem, all alternative solutions, and the probable impact of research on solution of these problems. Upon completion of the systematic analysis of these problems, the Institutes should be able to provide more effective leadership in the state water resources research programs. The objectives of the systematic problem analysis program for the region was as follows: 1. To develop a detailed description of each regional priority problem and sub-problems. 2. To identify and describe the alternatives and sub-alternatives of each priority problem and sub-problems. 3. To identify and describe the knowledge essential to implementation of the complete alternatives sets. 4. To develop a comprehensive research program for the Southern Plains River Basins Region based on the research needs and feasible alternatives identified in the systematic analysis. The objectives at the problem analysis program was accomplished through a series of workshops. Prior to the workshops, considerable discussion was held in each state on important water resource problems. The water resources research institute directors in each state had input on the problem from state and federal agencies in each state as well as faculty knowledge in the area of the particular problem. Thus, the institute directors had input into the problem analysis process from the water resources profession on each problem and sub-problems being conducted by the region

Cross-priming of cyclin B1, MUC-1 and survivin-specific CD8(+ )T cells by dendritic cells loaded with killed allogeneic breast cancer cells

INTRODUCTION: The ability of dendritic cells (DCs) to take up whole tumor cells and process their antigens for presentation to T cells ('cross-priming') is an important mechanism for induction of tumor specific immunity. METHODS: In vitro generated DCs were loaded with killed allogeneic breast cancer cells and offered to autologous naïve CD8(+ )T cells in 2-week and/or 3-week cultures. CD8(+ )T cell differentiation was measured by their capacity to secrete effector cytokines (interferon-γ) and kill breast cancer cells. Specificity was measured using peptides derived from defined breast cancer antigens. RESULTS: We found that DCs loaded with killed breast cancer cells can prime naïve CD8(+ )T cells to differentiate into effector cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs). Importantly, these CTLs primed by DCs loaded with killed HLA-A*0201(- )breast cancer cells can kill HLA-A*0201(+ )breast cancer cells. Among the tumor specific CTLs, we found that CTLs specific for HLA-A2 restricted peptides derived from three well known shared breast tumor antigens, namely cyclin B1, MUC-1 and survivin. CONCLUSION: This ability of DCs loaded with killed allogeneic breast cancer cells to elicit multiantigen specific immunity supports their use as vaccines in patients with breast cancer

Ecosystem development after mangrove wetland creation : plant–soil change across a 20-year chronosequence

This paper is not subject to U.S. copyright. The definitive version was published in Ecosystems 15 (2012): 848-866, doi:10.1007/s10021-012-9551-1.Mangrove wetland restoration and creation efforts are increasingly proposed as mechanisms to compensate for mangrove wetland losses. However, ecosystem development and functional equivalence in restored and created mangrove wetlands are poorly understood. We compared a 20-year chronosequence of created tidal wetland sites in Tampa Bay, Florida (USA) to natural reference mangrove wetlands. Across the chronosequence, our sites represent the succession from salt marsh to mangrove forest communities. Our results identify important soil and plant structural differences between the created and natural reference wetland sites; however, they also depict a positive developmental trajectory for the created wetland sites that reflects tightly coupled plant-soil development. Because upland soils and/or dredge spoils were used to create the new mangrove habitats, the soils at younger created sites and at lower depths (10–30 cm) had higher bulk densities, higher sand content, lower soil organic matter (SOM), lower total carbon (TC), and lower total nitrogen (TN) than did natural reference wetland soils. However, in the upper soil layer (0–10 cm), SOM, TC, and TN increased with created wetland site age simultaneously with mangrove forest growth. The rate of created wetland soil C accumulation was comparable to literature values for natural mangrove wetlands. Notably, the time to equivalence for the upper soil layer of created mangrove wetlands appears to be faster than for many other wetland ecosystem types. Collectively, our findings characterize the rate and trajectory of above- and below-ground changes associated with ecosystem development in created mangrove wetlands; this is valuable information for environmental managers planning to sustain existing mangrove wetlands or mitigate for mangrove wetland losses

A História da Alimentação: balizas historiográficas

Os M. pretenderam traçar um quadro da História da Alimentação, não como um novo ramo epistemológico da disciplina, mas como um campo em desenvolvimento de práticas e atividades especializadas, incluindo pesquisa, formação, publicações, associações, encontros acadêmicos, etc. Um breve relato das condições em que tal campo se assentou faz-se preceder de um panorama dos estudos de alimentação e temas correia tos, em geral, segundo cinco abardagens Ia biológica, a econômica, a social, a cultural e a filosófica!, assim como da identificação das contribuições mais relevantes da Antropologia, Arqueologia, Sociologia e Geografia. A fim de comentar a multiforme e volumosa bibliografia histórica, foi ela organizada segundo critérios morfológicos. A seguir, alguns tópicos importantes mereceram tratamento à parte: a fome, o alimento e o domínio religioso, as descobertas européias e a difusão mundial de alimentos, gosto e gastronomia. O artigo se encerra com um rápido balanço crítico da historiografia brasileira sobre o tema

Ensayo acerca de las regiones naturales de España.

Es fotocopi

Towards an Open-Source, Preprocessing Framework for Simulating Material Deposition for a Directed Energy Deposition Process

This work focuses on the development of an open-source framework to simulate material deposition for arbitrary geometries with respect to desired process parameters during a directed energy deposition (DED) process. This framework allows the flexibility to define the element activation criteria used in conjunction with Abaqus. A Python script was developed to extract toolpath coordinates from G-code and implement an element activation sequence that is unique to a specific CAD drawing. This is important for simulating the additive manufacturing construction of complex geometries because the thermal history of the component is dependent on laser path, which has a significant effect on residual stresses and distortion. The results of varying the element activation criteria are compared with simulated temperature profiles.Mechanical Engineerin

Examining the GPU Acceleration Speed-Up for Finite Element Modeling of Additive Manufacturing

Using a graphics processing unit (GPU) in addition to a central processing unit (CPU) has demonstrated promise for the acceleration of processing-intensive operations such as finite element (FE) simulations. Commercial FE solvers have begun to utilize GPU acceleration for classical multi-physics applications, but the speed-up for additive manufacturing (AM) simulations is not well understood. There is a significant need for GPU acceleration for metal-based AM FE simulations, which are computationally expensive because of the high mesh densities and the large number of time increments employed. This study examines the efficacy of GPU acceleration for Abaqus AM simulations, where benchmark simulations using a sequentially coupled FE thermo- mechanical model are run both with and without GPU acceleration. The speed-up is compared across the AM process for the thermal and mechanical analysis. In this study, GPU acceleration provided the ability to decrease simulation runtime by two-to-four times on 4-8 CPU cores, and one-to-two times on 16-32 CPU cores.Mechanical Engineerin