Fast-Track Remedial Design of Full-Scale ISCO Application Using Pilot Scale Testing and Field Screening Parameters

As a result of drum re-finishing operations, soil and groundwater at the Ottati and Goss Superfund Site in Kingston, NH are contaminated with chlorinated volatile organic compounds (VOCs); benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX); and 1,4-dioxane. After re-evaluation of the selected remedy for groundwater, pump and treat, EPA changed the remediation approach to in-situ chemical oxidation (ISCO) through an Amended Record of Decision in September 2007. At that time, EPA established a goal for the site to attain construction complete status within one year, by September 30, 2008. Activated persulfate was selected as the chemical oxidant for its capability to oxidize 1,4-dioxane, in addition to the other VOC contaminants of concern. Bench-scale and field pilot scale test were completed in three source areas to collect site-specific information to evaluate persulfate\u27s ability to destroy the contaminants of concern and to optimize full-scale remediation design in three discrete source areas at the site. Base-activated persulfate was injected in Areas A and B in December 2007, and pilot test injection was completed in Area C in early February 2008, after vertical profiling was completed throughout Area C. Groundwater sampling for laboratory analysis was planned for 6 and 12 weeks after injection in each area; however, it was known during pilot test planning that the full-scale design would need to be completed by the end of March 2008, before all laboratory results would be available. In order to complete the design, an intensive evaluation of field geochemistry parameters and field screening chemical analysis was performed to assess radius of influence, oxidant persistence, and aquifer behavior. Field screening analyses included residual persulfate via a permanganate titration, sulfate via colorimetry, and sodium via an ion-selective electrode. The field screening and field geochemistry results were used heavily in completing the full-scale ISCO design. The laboratory analytical results noted significant decreases in concentrations of chemicals of concern in wells where geochemistry and field parameters were observed to change. This article discusses pilot test planning, performance monitoring, and full-scale design using data collected from the pilot test for this fast-track remediation. The full-scale application was completed between July and September 2008, and was the third largest single-site application of persulfate performed to date

Oil disturbance reduces infaunal family richness but does not affect phylogenetic diversity

Infaunal organisms are susceptible to disturbances such as hypoxia and sediment contamination; changes in infaunal community structure are therefore often used as indicators of anthropogenic disturbance. Susceptibility to disturbance varies across taxa, either due to physiological factors or to behaviors or functional roles that increase exposure. Both sources of variability are likely to be heritable and shared among related taxa. Thus, we would expect oil disturbance to disproportionately affect related taxa and therefore decrease phylogenetic diversity (PD). We test this hypothesis for a shallow water marine infaunal community using a simulation approach that iteratively removes clades with shared vulnerability to oil exposure. Infauna were sampled at two sites in the Chandeleur Islands, LA, that reflect different exposures to crude oil after the Deepwater Horizon event. Seagrass and adjacent bare sediment habitats were sampled in 2015, 5 years after initial oil exposure, and again in 2016 after an acute re-oiling event. We found that strong correlation between PD and family richness masked any detectable PD patterns with oil exposure. For our full community tree, sensitivity analysis indicated that the removal of larger clades did not disproportionately reduce PD, against our prediction. For this pair of sites, PD did not provide a better metric for assessing the impacts of oil exposure than family richness alone. It is possible, however, that finer-scale taxonomic resolution of infaunal communities may better decouple PD from taxonomic richness. More work is needed to fully evaluate the impacts of disturbance on PD

Significance of E-lesions in Hodgkin lymphoma and the creation of a new consensus definition:a report from SEARCH

The International Staging Evaluation and Response Criteria Harmonization for Childhood, Adolescent, and Young Adult Hodgkin Lymphoma (SEARCH for CAYAHL) seeks to provide an appropriate, universal differentiation between E-lesions and stage IV extranodal disease in Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). A literature search was performed through the PubMed and Google Scholar databases using the terms “Hodgkin disease,” and “extranodal,” “extralymphatic,” “E lesions,” “E stage,” or “E disease.” Publications were reviewed for the number of participants; median age and age range; diagnostic modalities used for staging; and the definition, incidence, and prognostic significance of E-lesions. Thirty-six articles describing 12 640 patients met the inclusion criteria. Most articles reported staging per the Ann Arbor (72%, 26/36) or Cotswolds modification of the Ann Arbor staging criteria (25%, 9/36), and articles rarely defined E-lesions or disambiguated “extranodal disease.” The overall incidence of E-lesions for patients with stage I-III HL was 11.5% (1330/11 602 unique patients). Available stage-specific incidence analysis of 3888 patients showed a similar incidence of E-lesions in stage II (21.2%) and stage III (21.9%), with E-lesions rarely seen with stage I disease (1.1%). E-lesions likely remain predictive, but we cannot unequivocally conclude that identifying E-lesions in HL imparts prognostic value in the modern era of the more selective use of targeted radiation therapy. A harmonized E-lesion definition was reached based on the available evidence and the consensus of the SEARCH working group. We recommend that this definition of E-lesion be applied in future clinical trials with explicit reporting to confirm the prognostic value of E-lesions.</p

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey Reverberation Mapping Project: Technical Overview

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey Reverberation Mapping project (SDSS-RM) is a dedicated multi-object RM experiment that has spectroscopically monitored a sample of 849 broad-line quasars in a single 7 deg$^2$ field with the SDSS-III BOSS spectrograph. The RM quasar sample is flux-limited to i_psf=21.7 mag, and covers a redshift range of 0.1<z<4.5. Optical spectroscopy was performed during 2014 Jan-Jul dark/grey time, with an average cadence of ~4 days, totaling more than 30 epochs. Supporting photometric monitoring in the g and i bands was conducted at multiple facilities including the CFHT and the Steward Observatory Bok telescopes in 2014, with a cadence of ~2 days and covering all lunar phases. The RM field (RA, DEC=14:14:49.00, +53:05:00.0) lies within the CFHT-LS W3 field, and coincides with the Pan-STARRS 1 (PS1) Medium Deep Field MD07, with three prior years of multi-band PS1 light curves. The SDSS-RM 6-month baseline program aims to detect time lags between the quasar continuum and broad line region (BLR) variability on timescales of up to several months (in the observed frame) for ~10% of the sample, and to anchor the time baseline for continued monitoring in the future to detect lags on longer timescales and at higher redshift. SDSS-RM is the first major program to systematically explore the potential of RM for broad-line quasars at z>0.3, and will investigate the prospects of RM with all major broad lines covered in optical spectroscopy. SDSS-RM will provide guidance on future multi-object RM campaigns on larger scales, and is aiming to deliver more than tens of BLR lag detections for a homogeneous sample of quasars. We describe the motivation, design and implementation of this program, and outline the science impact expected from the resulting data for RM and general quasar science.Comment: 25 pages, submitted to ApJS; project website at http://www.sdssrm.or

Antioxidants and cancer therapy: A systematic review

A B S T R A C T Purpose Many patients with cancer take antioxidant nutritional supplements during cancer treatment to alleviate treatment toxicities and to improve long-term outcomes, but little is known about the efficacy and safety of antioxidant use during cancer treatment. We reviewed English-language manuscripts published in the biomedical literature, reporting the results of observational studies of antioxidant status and cancer outcomes and of intervention trials of antioxidants among patients receiving chemotherapy with or without radiation for various malignancies. Methods We searched the Medline database and the bibliographies of the retrieved manuscripts, reviews, and books on antioxidants and cancer. The retrieved studies are grouped by study design, malignancy, and end points. Results More than 100 citations were retrieved; 52 met our criteria, 31 were observational studies, and 21 were intervention trials. The studies varied in study design, timing of observation/intervention, intervention protocol, malignancy, and anticancer regimen. Conclusion These inconsistencies preclude a definitive conclusion as to the effect of chemotherapy on antioxidant status in patients undergoing anticancer therapy. However, our review suggests that total antioxidant status (measured by total radical antioxidant parameter) declines during cancer treatment. Adequately powered trials or observational studies among patients with a specific cancer diagnosis receiving a specific treatment regimen are needed to address patients&apos; and physicians&apos; concerns regarding these associations

A gene expression-based model predicts outcome in children with intermediate-risk classical Hodgkin lymphoma

Classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) is a common malignancy in children and adolescents. Although cHL is highly curable, treatment with chemotherapy and radiation often come at the cost of long-term toxicity and morbidity. Effective risk-stratification tools are needed to tailor therapy. Here, we used gene expression profiling (GEP) to investigate tumor microenvironment (TME) biology, to determine molecular correlates of treatment failure, and to develop an outcome model prognostic for pediatric cHL. A total of 246 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue biopsies from patients enrolled in the Children’s Oncology Group trial AHOD0031 were used for GEP and compared with adult cHL data. Eosinophil, B-cell, and mast cell signatures were enriched in children, whereas macrophage and stromal signatures were more prominent in adults. Concordantly, a previously published model for overall survival prediction in adult cHL did not validate in pediatric cHL. Therefore, we developed a 9-cellular component model reflecting TME composition to predict event-free survival (EFS). In an independent validation cohort, we observed a significant difference in weighted 5-year EFS between high-risk and low-risk groups (75.2% vs 90.3%; log-rank P = .0138) independent of interim response, stage, fever, and albumin. We demonstrate unique disease biology in children and adolescents that can be harnessed for risk-stratification at diagnosis. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT00025259

Evaluating Disparities in Proton Radiation Therapy Use in AHOD1331, a Contemporary Children\u27s Oncology Group Trial for Advanced-Stage Hodgkin Lymphoma

The indications for proton radiation therapy carry the strongest evidence in pediatric cancers. In a recently published letter, Bitterman et al reviewed factors associated with receipt of proton radiation therapy in patients enrolled in Children\u27s Oncology Group (COG) solid tumor and CNS tumor trials. They demonstrated that Black children were less likely to receive this treatment than non-Hispanic white patients, a disparity that persisted when controlling for other demographic and clinical variables. We strongly commend them for their work, as addressing racism and infrastructural barriers to care requires its identification

Nivolumab and brentuximab vedotin with or without bendamustine for R/R Hodgkin lymphoma in children, adolescents, and young adults

Children, adolescents, and young adults (CAYA) with relapsed/refractory (R/R) classic Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) without complete metabolic response (CMR) before autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (auto-HCT) have poor survival outcomes. CheckMate 744, a phase 2 study for CAYA (aged 5-30 years) with R/R cHL, evaluated a risk-stratified, response-adapted approach with nivolumab plus brentuximab vedotin (BV) followed by BV plus bendamustine for patients with suboptimal response. Risk stratification was primarily based on time to relapse, prior treatment, and presence of B symptoms. We present the primary analysis of the standard-risk cohort. Data from the low-risk cohort are reported separately. Patients received 4 induction cycles with nivolumab plus BV; those without CMR (Deauville score &gt;3, Lugano 2014) received BV plus bendamustine intensification. Patients with CMR after induction or intensification proceeded to consolidation (high-dose chemotherapy/auto-HCT per protocol). Primary end point was CMR any time before consolidation. Forty-four patients were treated. Median age was 16 years. At a minimum follow-up of 15.6 months, 43 patients received 4 induction cycles (1 discontinued), 11 of whom received intensification; 32 proceeded to consolidation. CMR rate was 59% after induction with nivolumab plus BV and 94% any time before consolidation (nivolumab plus BV ± BV plus bendamustine). One-year progression-free survival rate was 91%. During induction, 18% of patients experienced grade 3/4 treatment-related adverse events. This risk-stratified, response-adapted salvage strategy had high CMR rates with limited toxicities in CAYA with R/R cHL. Most patients did not require additional chemotherapy (bendamustine intensification). Additional follow-up is needed to confirm durability of disease control. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT02927769.</p

Multi-messenger Astrophysics with Pulsar Timing Arrays: Astro2020 Science White Paper

Pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) are on the verge of detecting low-frequency gravitational waves (GWs)from supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs). With continued observations of a large sampleof millisecond pulsars, PTAs will reach this major milestone within the next decade. Already,SMBHB candidates are being identied by electromagnetic surveys in ever-increasing numbers;upcoming surveys will enhance our ability to detect and verify candidates, and will be instrumentalin identifying the host galaxies of GW sources. Multi-messenger (GW and electromagnetic) obser-vations of SMBHBs will revolutionize our understanding of the co-evolution of SMBHs with theirhost galaxies, the dynamical interactions between binaries and their galactic environments, and thefundamental physics of accretion. Multi-messenger observations can also make SMBHBs `standardsirens' for cosmological distance measurements out to z ~ 0.5 LIGO has already ushered in break-through insights in our knowledge of black holes. The multi-messenger detection of SMBHBs withPTAs will be a breakthrough in the years 2020-2030 and beyond, and prepare us for LISA to helpcomplete our views of black hole demographics and evolution at higher redshifts