NEOWISE-R Observation of the Coolest Known Brown Dwarf

The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) spacecraft has been reactivated as NEOWISE-R to characterize and search for Near Earth Objects. The brown dwarf WISE J085510.83-071442.5 has now been reobserved by NEOWISE-R, and we confirm the results of Luhman (2014b), who found a very low effective temperature ($\approx 250$ K), a very high proper motion (8.1 +/- 0.1 arcsec/yr) , and a large parallax (454 +/- 45 mas). The large proper motion has separated the brown dwarf from the background sources that influenced the 2010 WISE data, allowing a measurement of a very red WISE color of W1-W2 $> 3.9$ mag. A re-analysis of the 2010 WISE astrometry using only the W2 band, combined with the new NEOWISE-R 2014 position, gives an improved parallax of 448 +/- 33 mas and proper motion of 8.08 +/- 0.05\; arcsec/yr. These are all consistent with Luhman (2014b).Comment: 6 pages, AJ accepte

Joint spatiotemporal models to predict seabird densities at sea

Introduction: Seabirds are abundant, conspicuous members of marine ecosystems worldwide. Synthesis of distribution data compiled over time is required to address regional management issues and understand ecosystem change. Major challenges when estimating seabird densities at sea arise from variability in dispersion of the birds, sampling effort over time and space, and differences in bird detection rates associated with survey vessel type. Methods: Using a novel approach for modeling seabirds at sea, we applied joint dynamic species distribution models (JDSDM) with a vector-autoregressive spatiotemporal framework to survey data collected over nearly five decades and archived in the North Pacific Pelagic Seabird Database. We produced monthly gridded density predictions and abundance estimates for 8 species groups (77% of all birds observed) within Cook Inlet, Alaska. JDSDMs included habitat covariates to inform density predictions in unsampled areas and accounted for changes in observed densities due to differing survey methods and decadal-scale variation in ocean conditions. Results: The best fit model provided a high level of explanatory power (86% of deviance explained). Abundance estimates were reasonably precise, and consistent with limited historical studies. Modeled densities identified seasonal variability in abundance with peak numbers of all species groups in July or August. Seabirds were largely absent from the study region in either fall (e.g., murrelets) or spring (e.g., puffins) months, or both periods (shearwaters). Discussion: Our results indicated that pelagic shearwaters (Ardenna spp.) and tufted puffin (Fratercula cirrhata) have declined over the past four decades and these taxa warrant further investigation into underlying mechanisms explaining these trends. JDSDMs provide a useful tool to estimate seabird distribution and seasonal trends that will facilitate risk assessments and planning in areas affected by human activities such as oil and gas development, shipping, and offshore wind and renewable energy

Daisyworld: a review

Daisyworld is a simple planetary model designed to show the long-term effects of coupling between life and its environment. Its original form was introduced by James Lovelock as a defense against criticism that his Gaia theory of the Earth as a self-regulating homeostatic system requires teleological control rather than being an emergent property. The central premise, that living organisms can have major effects on the climate system, is no longer controversial. The Daisyworld model has attracted considerable interest from the scientific community and has now established itself as a model independent of, but still related to, the Gaia theory. Used widely as both a teaching tool and as a basis for more complex studies of feedback systems, it has also become an important paradigm for the understanding of the role of biotic components when modeling the Earth system. This paper collects the accumulated knowledge from the study of Daisyworld and provides the reader with a concise account of its important properties. We emphasize the increasing amount of exact analytic work on Daisyworld and are able to bring together and summarize these results from different systems for the first time. We conclude by suggesting what a more general model of life-environment interaction should be based on

Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF) and Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) Conceptual Design Report Volume 2: The Physics Program for DUNE at LBNF

The Physics Program for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) at the Fermilab Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF) is described

Acoustic Telemetry Evaluation of Juvenile Salmonid Passage and Survival at John Day Dam, 2010

This report presents survival, behavioral, and fish passage results for yearling and subyearling Chinook salmon smolts and juvenile steelhead tagged with JSATS acoustic micro-transmitters as part of a survival study conducted at John Day Dam during 2010. This study was designed to evaluate the passage and survival of yearling and subyearling Chinook salmon and juvenile steelhead to assist managers in identifying dam operations for compliance testing as stipulated by the 2008 Federal Columbia River Power System Biological Opinion and the 2008 Columbia Basin Fish Accords. Survival estimates were based on a single-release survival estimate model

Concurrent RB1 Loss and BRCA Deficiency Predicts Enhanced Immunologic Response and Long-term Survival in Tubo-ovarian High-grade Serous Carcinoma

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to evaluate RB1 expression and survival across ovarian carcinoma histotypes and how co-occurrence of BRCA1 or BRCA2 (BRCA) alterations and RB1 loss influences survival in tubo-ovarian high-grade serous carcinoma (HGSC).Experimental designRB1 protein expression was classified by immunohistochemistry in ovarian carcinomas of 7,436 patients from the Ovarian Tumor Tissue Analysis consortium. We examined RB1 expression and germline BRCA status in a subset of 1,134 HGSC, and related genotype to overall survival (OS), tumor-infiltrating CD8+ lymphocytes, and transcriptomic subtypes. Using CRISPR-Cas9, we deleted RB1 in HGSC cells with and without BRCA1 alterations to model co-loss with treatment response. We performed whole-genome and transcriptome data analyses on 126 patients with primary HGSC to characterize tumors with concurrent BRCA deficiency and RB1 loss.ResultsRB1 loss was associated with longer OS in HGSC but with poorer prognosis in endometrioid ovarian carcinoma. Patients with HGSC harboring both RB1 loss and pathogenic germline BRCA variants had superior OS compared with patients with either alteration alone, and their median OS was three times longer than those without pathogenic BRCA variants and retained RB1 expression (9.3 vs. 3.1 years). Enhanced sensitivity to cisplatin and paclitaxel was seen in BRCA1-altered cells with RB1 knockout. Combined RB1 loss and BRCA deficiency correlated with transcriptional markers of enhanced IFN response, cell-cycle deregulation, and reduced epithelial-mesenchymal transition. CD8+ lymphocytes were most prevalent in BRCA-deficient HGSC with co-loss of RB1.ConclusionsCo-occurrence of RB1 loss and BRCA deficiency was associated with exceptionally long survival in patients with HGSC, potentially due to better treatment response and immune stimulation

Atmospheric electrification in dusty, reactive gases in the solar system and beyond

Detailed observations of the solar system planets reveal a wide variety of local atmospheric conditions. Astronomical observations have revealed a variety of extrasolar planets none of which resembles any of the solar system planets in full. Instead, the most massive amongst the extrasolar planets, the gas giants, appear very similar to the class of (young) Brown Dwarfs which are amongst the oldest objects in the universe. Despite of this diversity, solar system planets, extrasolar planets and Brown Dwarfs have broadly similar global temperatures between 300K and 2500K. In consequence, clouds of different chemical species form in their atmospheres. While the details of these clouds differ, the fundamental physical processes are the same. Further to this, all these objects were observed to produce radio and X-ray emission. While both kinds of radiation are well studied on Earth and to a lesser extent on the solar system planets, the occurrence of emission that potentially originate from accelerated electrons on Brown Dwarfs, extrasolar planets and protoplanetary disks is not well understood yet. This paper offers an interdisciplinary view on electrification processes and their feedback on their hosting environment in meteorology, volcanology, planetology and research on extrasolar planets and planet formation

Survival and Passage of Yearling and Subyearling Chinook Salmon and Juvenile Steelhead at McNary Dam, 2012

The study was designed to evaluate the passage and survival of yearling and subyearling Chinook salmon and juvenile steelhead at McNary Dam as stipulated by the 2008 Biological Opinion and Fish Accords and to assess performance measures including route-specific fish passage proportions, travel times, and survival based upon a virtual/paired-release model. This study supports the USACE’s continual effort to improve conditions for juvenile anadromous fish passing through Columbia River dams

Survival and Passage of Yearling Chinook Salmon and Steelhead at The Dalles Dam, Spring 2011 - FINAL REPORT

The study reported herein was conducted by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and the University of Washington (UW) for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District (USACE). The PNNL and UW project managers were Drs. Thomas J. Carlson and John R. Skalski, respectively. The USACE technical lead was Mr. Brad Eppard. The study was designed to estimate dam passage survival and other performance measures at The Dalles Dam as stipulated by the 2008 Federal Columbia River Power System Biological Opinion (BiOp) and the 2008 Columbia Basin Fish Accords. The study is being documented in two types of reports: compliance and technical. A compliance report is delivered within 6 months of the completion of the field season and focuses on results of the performance metrics outlined in the 2008 BiOp and Fish Accords. A technical report is produced within the 18 months after field work, providing comprehensive documentation of a given study and results on route-specific survival estimates and fish passage distributions, which are not included in compliance reports. This technical report concerns the 2011 acoustic telemetry study at The Dalles Dam

p53 and ovarian carcinoma survival: an Ovarian Tumor Tissue Analysis consortium study

Our objective was to test whether p53 expression status is associated with survival for women diagnosed with the most common ovarian carcinoma histotypes (high-grade serous carcinoma [HGSC], endometrioid carcinoma [EC], and clear cell carcinoma [CCC]) using a large multi-institutional cohort from the Ovarian Tumor Tissue Analysis (OTTA) consortium. p53 expression was assessed on 6,678 cases represented on tissue microarrays from 25 participating OTTA study sites using a previously validated immunohistochemical (IHC) assay as a surrogate for the presence and functional effect of TP53 mutations. Three abnormal expression patterns (overexpression, complete absence, and cytoplasmic) and the normal (wild type) pattern were recorded. Survival analyses were performed by histotype. The frequency of abnormal p53 expression was 93.4% (4,630/4,957) in HGSC compared to 11.9% (116/973) in EC and 11.5% (86/748) in CCC. In HGSC, there were no differences in overall survival across the abnormal p53 expression patterns. However, in EC and CCC, abnormal p53 expression was associated with an increased risk of death for women diagnosed with EC in multivariate analysis compared to normal p53 as the reference (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.18, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.36-3.47, p = 0.0011) and with CCC (HR = 1.57, 95% CI 1.11-2.22, p = 0.012). Abnormal p53 was also associated with shorter overall survival in The International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage I/II EC and CCC. Our study provides further evidence that functional groups of TP53 mutations assessed by abnormal surrogate p53 IHC patterns are not associated with survival in HGSC. In contrast, we validate that abnormal p53 IHC is a strong independent prognostic marker for EC and demonstrate for the first time an independent prognostic association of abnormal p53 IHC with overall survival in patients with CCC