Water resource problems of energy projects in the Colorado River Basin

The successful development of western coal and oil shale deposits is dependent, to a significant degree, on the availability of adequate water supplies. EQL is involved in a study of the aggregate effects of various energy activities in the upper Colorado River Basin on downstream water quantity and quality. These activities will tend to reduce the available water in the river, and could increase its salinity, which is already so high as to interfere with downstream domestic and agricultural use

Assessment of alternative strategies for sludge disposal into deep ocean basins off Southern California

The general framework of engineering alternatives for regional ocean sludge disposal is well described in a report by Raksit, and will not be repeated here. The various ocean disposal alternatives are less costly than all land-disposal and incineration/pyrolysis systems studied. Even though ocean sludge disposal is currently contrary to both state and federal regulations, it is hoped that this study will advance our scientific and engineering knowledge of the behavior and effects of sludge discharge in deep water, in case the regulatory policy is reexamined in the future. With this report we hope we have demonstrated the potential and difficulties of some new modeling techniques for predicting the effects of sludge discharge in the ocean. In the future. we believe it will be possible to formulate policy of ocean sludge discharges with much better case-by-case predictions of impacts for comparison with other alternatives (such as land disposal). not only for the Los Angeles/Orange County areas, but for all coastal urban areas

Suggestion for linkage of chromosome 1p35.2 and 3q28 to plasma adiponectin concentrations in the GOLDN Study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Adiponectin is inversely associated with obesity, insulin resistance, and atherosclerosis, but little is known about the genetic pathways that regulate the plasma level of this protein. To find novel genes that influence circulating levels of adiponectin, a genome-wide linkage scan was performed on plasma adiponectin concentrations before and after 3 weeks of treatment with fenofibrate (160 mg daily) in the Genetics of Lipid Lowering Drugs and Diet Network (GOLDN) Study. We studied Caucasian individuals (n = 1121) from 190 families in Utah and Minnesota. Of these, 859 individuals from 175 families had both baseline and post-fenofibrate treatment measurements for adiponectin. Plasma adiponectin concentrations were measured with an ELISA assay. All participants were typed for microsatellite markers included in the Marshfield Mammalian Genotyping Service marker set 12, which includes 407 markers spaced at approximately 10 cM regions across the genome. Variance components analysis was used to estimate heritability and to perform genome-wide scans. Adiponectin was adjusted for age, sex, and field center. Additional models also included BMI adjustment.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Baseline and post-fenofibrate adiponectin measurements were highly correlated (r = 0.95). Suggestive (LOD > 2) peaks were found on chromosomes 1p35.2 and 3q28 (near the location of the adiponectin gene).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Two candidate genes, <it>IL22RA1 </it>and <it>IL28RA</it>, lie under the chromosome 1 peak; further analyses are needed to identify the specific genetic variants in this region that influence circulating adiponectin concentrations.</p

Results from the first use of low radioactivity argon in a dark matter search

Liquid argon is a bright scintillator with potent particle identification properties, making it an attractive target for direct-detection dark matter searches. The DarkSide-50 dark matter search here reports the first WIMP search results obtained using a target of low-radioactivity argon. DarkSide-50 is a dark matter detector, using two-phase liquid argon time projection chamber, located at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso. The underground argon is shown to contain Ar-39 at a level reduced by a factor (1.4 +- 0.2) x 10^3 relative to atmospheric argon. We report a background-free null result from (2616 +- 43) kg d of data, accumulated over 70.9 live-days. When combined with our previous search using an atmospheric argon, the 90 % C.L. upper limit on the WIMP-nucleon spin-independent cross section based on zero events found in the WIMP search regions, is 2.0 x 10^-44 cm^2 (8.6 x 10^-44 cm^2, 8.0 x 10^-43 cm^2) for a WIMP mass of 100 GeV/c^2 (1 TeV/c^2 , 10 TeV/c^2).Comment: Accepted by Phys. Rev.

Defending the genome from the enemy within:mechanisms of retrotransposon suppression in the mouse germline

The viability of any species requires that the genome is kept stable as it is transmitted from generation to generation by the germ cells. One of the challenges to transgenerational genome stability is the potential mutagenic activity of transposable genetic elements, particularly retrotransposons. There are many different types of retrotransposon in mammalian genomes, and these target different points in germline development to amplify and integrate into new genomic locations. Germ cells, and their pluripotent developmental precursors, have evolved a variety of genome defence mechanisms that suppress retrotransposon activity and maintain genome stability across the generations. Here, we review recent advances in understanding how retrotransposon activity is suppressed in the mammalian germline, how genes involved in germline genome defence mechanisms are regulated, and the consequences of mutating these genome defence genes for the developing germline

Malonylation of GAPDH is an inflammatory signal in macrophages.

Macrophages undergo metabolic changes during activation that are coupled to functional responses. The gram negative bacterial product lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is especially potent at driving metabolic reprogramming, enhancing glycolysis and altering the Krebs cycle. Here we describe a role for the citrate-derived metabolite malonyl-CoA in the effect of LPS in macrophages. Malonylation of a wide variety of proteins occurs in response to LPS. We focused on one of these, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH). In resting macrophages, GAPDH binds to and suppresses translation of several inflammatory mRNAs, including that encoding TNFα. Upon LPS stimulation, GAPDH undergoes malonylation on lysine 213, leading to its dissociation from TNFα mRNA, promoting translation. We therefore identify for the first time malonylation as a signal, regulating GAPDH mRNA binding to promote inflammation

Measurement of the Bottom-Strange Meson Mixing Phase in the Full CDF Data Set

We report a measurement of the bottom-strange meson mixing phase \beta_s using the time evolution of B0_s -> J/\psi (->\mu+\mu-) \phi (-> K+ K-) decays in which the quark-flavor content of the bottom-strange meson is identified at production. This measurement uses the full data set of proton-antiproton collisions at sqrt(s)= 1.96 TeV collected by the Collider Detector experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron, corresponding to 9.6 fb-1 of integrated luminosity. We report confidence regions in the two-dimensional space of \beta_s and the B0_s decay-width difference \Delta\Gamma_s, and measure \beta_s in [-\pi/2, -1.51] U [-0.06, 0.30] U [1.26, \pi/2] at the 68% confidence level, in agreement with the standard model expectation. Assuming the standard model value of \beta_s, we also determine \Delta\Gamma_s = 0.068 +- 0.026 (stat) +- 0.009 (syst) ps-1 and the mean B0_s lifetime, \tau_s = 1.528 +- 0.019 (stat) +- 0.009 (syst) ps, which are consistent and competitive with determinations by other experiments.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, Phys. Rev. Lett 109, 171802 (2012

Template bank for compact binary mergers in the fourth observing run of Advanced LIGO, Advanced Virgo, and KAGRA

Template banks containing gravitational wave (GW) waveforms are essential for matched-filtering GW search pipelines. We describe the generation method, the design, and validation of the template bank used by the GstLAL-based inspiral pipeline to analyze data from the fourth observing run of LIGO scientific, Virgo, and KAGRA collaboration. This paper presents a template bank containing $1.8 \times 10^6$ templates that include merging neutron star - neutron star, neutron star - black hole, and black hole - black hole systems up to a total mass of $400$ $M_\odot$. Motivated by observations, component masses below $3$ $M_\odot$ have dimensionless spins ranging between $\pm 0.05$, while component masses between $3$ to $200$ $M_\odot$ have dimensionless spins ranging between $\pm 0.99$, where we assume spin-aligned systems. The low-frequency cutoff is $15$ Hz. The templates are placed in the parameter space according to the metric via a binary tree approach which took $\mathcal{O}\left(10\right)$ minutes when jobs were parallelized. The template bank generated with this method has a $98\%$ match or higher for $90\%$ of the injections, thus being as effective as the template placement method used for the previous observation runs. The volumes of the templates are computed prior to template placement and the nearby templates have similar volumes in the coordinate space, henceforth, enabling a more efficient and less biased implementation of population models. SVD sorting of the O4 template bank has been renewed to use post-Newtonian phase terms, which improved the computational efficiency of SVD by nearly $4 \sim 5$ times as compared to conventional SVD sorting schemes. Template banks and searches focusing on the sub-solar mass parameter space and intermediate-mass black hole parameter space are conducted separately

Trends of obesity and abdominal obesity in Tehranian adults: a cohort study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Considering the increasing trend of obesity reported in current data, this study was conducted to examine trends of obesity and abdominal obesity among Tehranian adults during a median follow-up of 6.6 years.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Height and weight of 4402 adults, aged 20 years and over, participants of the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study (TLGS), were measured in 1999-2001(phase I) and again in 2002-2005(phase II) and 2006-2008 (phase III). Criteria used for obesity and abdominal obesity defined body mass index (BMI) ≥ 30 and waist circumference ≥ 94/80 cm for men/women respectively. Subjects were divided into10-year groups and the prevalence of obesity was compared across sex and age groups.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The prevalence of obesity was 15.8, 18.6 and 21% in men and 31.5, 37.7 and 38.6% in women in phases I, II and III respectively (p < 0.001). The prevalence of abdominal obesity in men was 36.5, 57.2 and 63.3% and in women was 76.7, 83.8 and 83.6% in the three periods mentioned (p < 0.001). Men aged between 20-29 years had highest increase rates of obesity and abdominal obesity in phase III in comparison with phase I (with a respective rates of 2.2- and 3.3-fold). In both sexes, an increased trend was observed between phases I and II, whereas between phases II and III, this trend was observed in men, but not in women.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study demonstrates alarming rises in the prevalences of both obesity and abdominal obesity in both sexes especially in young men, calling for urgent action to educate people in lifestyle modifications.</p