123 research outputs found
Making Decisions on the Demolition or Refurbishment of Social Housing
This policy briefing summarises the main factors involved when deciding whether to refurbish or demolish social housing, including environmental and economic costs and benefits. Such decisions will involve trade-offs between different objectives and values. The briefing discusses: • evaluating the economic case for refurbishment, including impacts on communities and residents; • the energy and carbon implications of demolition compared to refurbishment; • issues around water and waste; and • social factors in housing and regeneration, including health and community participation
Geologic controls on submarine slope failure along the central U.S. Atlantic margin : insights from the Currituck Slide Complex
© The Author(s), 2016. This is the author's version of the work and is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Marine Geology 385 (2017): 114-130, doi:10.1016/j.margeo.2016.10.007.Multiple styles of failure, ranging from densely spaced, mass transport driven canyons to
the large, slab-type slope failure of the Currituck Slide, characterize adjacent sections of
the central U.S. Atlantic margin that appear to be defined by variations in geologic
framework. Here we use regionally extensive, deep penetration multichannel seismic
(MCS) profiles to reconstruct the influence of the antecedent margin physiography on
sediment accumulation along the central U.S. Atlantic continental shelf-edge, slope, and
uppermost rise from the Miocene to Present. These data are combined with highresolution
sparker MCS reflection profiles and multibeam bathymetry data across the
Currituck Slide complex. Pre-Neogene allostratigraphic horizons beneath the slope are
generally characterized by low gradients and convex downslope profiles. This is followed
by the development of thick, prograded deltaic clinoforms during the middle Miocene.
Along-strike variations in morphology of a regional unconformity at the top of this
middle Miocene unit appear to have set the stage for differing styles of mass transport
along the margin. Areas north and south of the Currituck Slide are characterized by
oblique margin morphology, defined by an angular shelf-edge and a relatively steep
(>8°), concave slope profile. Upper slope sediment bypass, closely spaced submarine
canyons, and small, localized landslides confined to canyon heads and sidewalls characterize these sectors of the margin. In contrast, the Currituck region is defined by a
sigmoidal geometry, with a rounded shelf-edge rollover and gentler slope gradient (<6°).
Thick (>800 m), regionally continuous stratified slope deposits suggest the low gradient
Currituck region was a primary depocenter for fluvial inputs during multiple sea level
lowstands. These results imply that the rounded, gentle slope physiography developed
during the middle Miocene allowed for a relatively high rate of subsequent sediment
accumulation, thus providing a mechanism for compaction–induced overpressure that
preconditioned the Currituck region for failure. Detailed examination of the regional
geological framework illustrates the importance of both sediment supply and antecedent
slope physiography in the development of large, potentially unstable depocenters along
passive margins.The U.S. Geological Survey, the
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Coastal Carolina University funded this
research
Connexin-mimetic peptide Gap 27 decreases osteoclastic activity
BACKGROUND: Bone remodelling is dependent on the balance between bone resorbing osteoclasts and bone forming osteoblasts. We have shown previously that osteoclasts contain gap-junctional protein connexin-43 and that a commonly used gap-junctional inhibitor, heptanol, can inhibit osteoclastic bone resorption. Since heptanol may also have some unspecific effect unrelated to gap-junctional inhibition we wanted to test the importance of gap-junctional communication to osteoclasts using a more specific inhibitor. METHODS: A synthetic connexin-mimetic peptide, Gap 27, was used to evaluate the contribution of gap-junctional communication to osteoclastic bone resorption. We utilised the well-characterised pit-formation assay to study the effects of the specific gap-junctional inhibitor to the survival and activity of osteoclasts. RESULTS: Gap 27 caused a remarked decrease in the number of both TRAP-positive mononuclear and multinucleated rat osteoclasts cultured on bovine bone slices. The decrease in the cell survival seemed to be restricted to TRAP-positive cells, whereas the other cells of the culture model seemed unaffected. The activity of the remaining osteoclasts was found to be diminished by measuring the percentage of osteoclasts with actin rings of all TRAP-positive cells. In addition, the resorbed area in the treated cultures was greatly diminished. CONCLUSIONS: On the basis of these results we conclude that gap-junctional communication is essential for the action of bone resorbing osteoclasts and for proper remodelling for bone
Risk Factors Associated With Severe Hypoglycemia in Older Adults With Type 1 Diabetes
OBJECTIVE Severe hypoglycemia is common in older adults with long-standing type 1 diabetes, but little is known about factors associated with its occurrence
Southern California Earthquake Center Geologic Vertical Motion Database
Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/94655/1/ggge1319.pd
- …