Analysis of impact of Busch Gardens expansion on air quality of surrounding area

This report is concerned primarily with the increase in carbon monoxide concentrations and hydrocarbon concentrations induced by the projected increased traffic that would be associated with the parking facilities planned to support the expansion of Busch Gardens (Virginia) planned for the summar of 1976. Of primary concern is the integrated effect of the increased traffic that will be handled by existing facilities and an enlarged parking lot across the highway from the main Busch Garden attraction

Interdisciplinary study of atmospheric processes and constituents of the mid-Atlantic coastal region.

Past research projects for the year 1974-1975 are listed along with future research programs in the area of air pollution control, remote sensor analysis of smoke plumes, the biosphere component, and field experiments. A detailed budget analysis is presented. Attachments are included on the following topics: mapping forest vegetation with ERTS-1 MSS data and automatic data processing techniques, and use of LARS system for the quantitative determination of smoke plume lateral diffusion coefficients from ERTS images of Virginia

Remote detection of aerosol pollution by ERTS

Photogrammetric and densitometric examination of ERTS-1 MSS imagery of Eastern Virginia coupled with extensive ground truth air quality and meteorological data has shown that the identification and surveying of fixed particulate emitters (smoke plumes) is feasible. A description of the ground truth network is included. The quantitative monitoring of smoke stacks from orbital altitudes over state size regions appears possible when tied to realistic plume models and minimal ground truth. Contrast reductions over urban areas can possibly be utilized to produce isopleths of particulates when supplemented by local measurements

Ambient Atmospheric Hydrocarbon Content as Determined by Gas Chromatographic Techniques from Rural Tidewater Virginia in Late Spring 1974

In an attempt to ascertain the naturally generated hydrocarbon contribution to the air quality of the Hampton Roads region of Tidewater Virginia, a series of 27 air samples was obtained in two rural locations during late spring of 1974. These samples were analyzed for their hydrocarbon content (carbon number range C5 to C10) using gas chromatographic techniques. The thirty different hydrocarbon species were identified and monitored in the experiment. Preliminary analysis of the data indicates an average concentration of 397 parts per billion by weight (carbon) for the total non-methane hydrocarbon loading for C5 to C10 during the experiment. This value exceeds the National Primary Air Quality Standards as set by the Environmental Protection Agency

Development and validation of a reinforcement learning algorithm to dynamically optimize mechanical ventilation in critical care.

The aim of this work was to develop and evaluate the reinforcement learning algorithm VentAI, which is able to suggest a dynamically optimized mechanical ventilation regime for critically-ill patients. We built, validated and tested its performance on 11,943 events of volume-controlled mechanical ventilation derived from 61,532 distinct ICU admissions and tested it on an independent, secondary dataset (200,859 ICU stays; 25,086 mechanical ventilation events). A patient "data fingerprint" of 44 features was extracted as multidimensional time series in 4-hour time steps. We used a Markov decision process, including a reward system and a Q-learning approach, to find the optimized settings for positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP), fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO2) and ideal body weight-adjusted tidal volume (Vt). The observed outcome was in-hospital or 90-day mortality. VentAI reached a significantly increased estimated performance return of 83.3 (primary dataset) and 84.1 (secondary dataset) compared to physicians' standard clinical care (51.1). The number of recommended action changes per mechanically ventilated patient constantly exceeded those of the clinicians. VentAI chose 202.9% more frequently ventilation regimes with lower Vt (5-7.5 mL/kg), but 50.8% less for regimes with higher Vt (7.5-10 mL/kg). VentAI recommended 29.3% more frequently PEEP levels of 5-7 cm H2O and 53.6% more frequently PEEP levels of 7-9 cmH2O. VentAI avoided high (>55%) FiO2 values (59.8% decrease), while preferring the range of 50-55% (140.3% increase). In conclusion, VentAI provides reproducible high performance by dynamically choosing an optimized, individualized ventilation strategy and thus might be of benefit for critically ill patients

33rd New England Intercollegiate Geological Conference: October 8, 9 and 10, 1937, New York City

Excursion A-2: A Geological Traverse from the Hudson River to Long Island Sound; Excursion B-3: Paleontological Trip to the New Jersey Coastal Plain; Excursion C-1: Progressive Metamorphism of the Hudson River Series; Excursion C-2: Glacial Geology of Long Island; Excursion C-3: Engineering Projects in New York City

A mitochondrial half-size ABC transporter is involved in cadmium tolerance in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Five cadmium-sensitive insertional mutants, all affected at the CDS1 ('cadmium-sensitive 1') locus, have been previously isolated in the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. We here describe the cloning of the Cds1 gene (8314 bp with 26 introns) and the corresponding cDNA. The Cds1 gene, strongly induced by cadmium, encodes a putative protein (CrCds1) of 1062 amino acid residues that belongs to the ATM/HMT subfamily of half-size ABC transporters. This subfamily includes both vacuolar HMT-type proteins transporting phytochelatin-cadmium complexes from the cytoplasm to the vacuole and mitochondrial ATM-type proteins involved in the maturation of cytosolic Fe/S proteins. Unlike the Delta sphmt1 cadmium-sensitive mutant of Schizosaccharomyces pombe that lacks a vacuolar HMT-type transporter, the cds1 mutant accumulates a high amount of phytochelatin-cadmium complexes. By epitope tagging, the CrCds1 protein was localized in the mitochondria. Even though mitochondria of cds1 do not accumulate important amounts of 'free' iron, the mutant cells are hypersensitive to high iron concentrations. Our data show for the first time that a mitochondrial ATM-like transporter plays a major role in tolerance to cadmium.Peer reviewe

Initial presenting manifestations in 16,486 patients with inborn errors of immunity include infections and noninfectious manifestations

Background: Inborn errors of immunity (IEI) are rare diseases, which makes diagnosis a challenge. A better description of the initial presenting manifestations should improve awareness and avoid diagnostic delay. Whilst increased infection susceptibility is a well-known initial IEI manifestation, less is known about the frequency of other presenting manifestations. / Objective: To analyze age-related initial presenting manifestations of IEI including different IEI disease cohorts. Methods: We analyzed data on 16,486 patients of the European Society for Immunodeficiencies (ESID) registry. Patients with autoinflammatory diseases were excluded due to the limited number registered. / Results: Overall, 68% of patients initially presented with infections only, 9% with immune dysregulation only and 9% with a combination of both. Syndromic features were the presenting feature in 12%, 4% had laboratory abnormalities only, 1.5% were diagnosed due to family history only and 0.8% presented with malignancy. Two thirds of IEI patients presented before the age of 6 years, but a quarter of patients only developed initial symptoms as adults. Immune dysregulation was most frequently recognized as an initial IEI manifestation between 6 and 25 years of age with male predominance until age 10, shifting to female predominance after age 40. Infections were most prevalent as a first manifestation in patients presenting after age 30. / Conclusion: An exclusive focus on infection-centered warning signs would have missed around 25% of IEI patients that initially present with other manifestations. / Clinical implications: We provide a data-based rationale to add immune dysregulation and syndromic features to the IEI warning signs, which may significantly improve early IEI diagnosis

Development and geometry of isotropic and directional shrinkage crack patterns

We have studied shrinkage crack patterns which form when a thin layer of an alumina/water slurry dries. Both isotropic and directional drying were studied. The dynamics of the pattern formation process and the geometric properties of the isotropic crack patterns are similar to what is expected from recent models, assuming weak disorder. There is some evidence for a gradual increase in disorder as the drying layer become thinner, but no sudden transition, in contrast to what has been seen in previous experiments. The morphology of the crack patterns is influenced by drying gradients and front propagation effects, with sharp gradients having a strong orienting and ordering effect.Comment: 8 pages, 11 figures, 8 in jpg format, 3 in postscript. See also http://mobydick.physics.utoronto.ca/mud.htm