SOFAR float Mediterranean outflow experiment data from the second year, 1985-86

In October, 1984, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution SOFAR float group began a three-year-long field program to observe the low frequency currents in the Canary Basin. The principal scientific goal was to learn how advection and diffusion by these currents determine the shape and amplitude of the Mediterranean salt tongue. Fourteen floats were launched at a depth of 1100 min a cluster centered on 32°N, 24°W, and seven other floats were launched incoherently along a north/south line from 24°N to 37°N. At the same time investigators from Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the University of Rhode Island used four other SOFAR floats to tag a Meddy, a submesoscale lens of Mediterranean water. In October, 1985, seven additional floats were launched, four in three different Meddies, one of which was tracked during year 1. This report describes the second year of the floats launched in 1984 and the first year of the ones launched in 1985. Approximately 41 years of float trajectories were produced during the first two years of the experiment. One of the striking accomplishments is the successful tracking of one Meddy over two full years plus the tracking of two other Meddies during the second year.Funding was provided by the National Science Foundation under grant Numbers OCE 82-14066 and OCE 86-00055

Oil Bypass Filter Technology Evaluation - Third Quarterly Report, April--June 2003

This Third Quarterly report details the ongoing fleet evaluation of an oil bypass filter technology by the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) for the U.S. Department of Energy’s FreedomCAR & Vehicle Technologies Program. Eight full-size, four-cycle diesel-engine buses used to transport INEEL employees on various routes have been equipped with oil bypass filter systems from the PuraDYN Corporation. The reported engine lubricating oil-filtering capability (down to 0.1 microns) and additive package of the bypass filter system is intended to extend oil-drain intervals. To validate the extended oil-drain intervals, an oil-analysis regime monitors the presence of necessary additives in the oil, detects undesirable contaminants and engine wear metals, and evaluates the fitness of the oil for continued service. The eight buses have accumulated 185,000 miles to date without any oil changes. The preliminary economic analysis suggests that the per bus payback point for the oil bypass filter technology should be between 108,000 miles when 74 gallons of oil use is avoided and 168,000 miles when 118 gallons of oil use is avoided. As discussed in the report, the variation in the payback point is dependant on the assumed cost of oil. In anticipation of also evaluating oil bypass systems on six Chevrolet Tahoe sport utility vehicles, the oil is being sampled on the six Tahoes to develop an oil characterization history for each engine

Monitoring Creep Damage and Microstructure Evolution in Concrete Using Nonlinear Rayleigh Waves

This paper uses nonlinear ultrasonic measurements to monitor creep-induced microstructural changes in concrete. A new NDE approach that enables the in-situ monitoring of the damage state in concrete is developed in which the second harmonic generation (SHG) technique using nonlinear Rayleigh surface waves is adapted to a cylindrical specimen. This cylindrical specimen is under a uniaxial compressive load (70% of the ultimate strength). The acoustic nonlinearity parameter, β is measured as a function of creep time. The following conclusions are drawn from the experiments: (1) the results suggest that the proposed NLU technique based on the SHG theory (β) is feasible in concrete and this approach shows the expected trends in the behavior of the fundamental and second harmonic amplitudes with respect to propagation distance; (2) the measured nonlinearity parameter, β is highly sensitive to creep- induced changes in the microstructure; and (3) unlike conventional strain based creep monitoring methods, the nonlinearity parameter, β gives a clear indication of the secondary stage of creep. Consequently, it is demonstrated that the time-dependent creep damage in concrete can be monitored with the proposed SHG method. These results can be used to study the microstructure behavior of concrete under creep through a mechanistic model and illustrate the potential of SHG for the in situ monitoring of creep in concrete structures

Road-building materials in Texas

UT Librarie

Human neutrophils permeabilized with digitonin respond with lysosomal enzyme release when exposed to micromolar levels of free calcium

We have recently reported that human neutrophils can be permeabilized with the cholesterol complexing agent saponin and that these cells can be induced to secrete the granule enzyme lysozyme in response to micromolar levels of free calcium. We now report that digitonin can be used in place of saponin and that it has several advantages. Permeabilization of human neutrophils was accomplished with 10 [mu]g/ml digitonin in a high potassium medium. Normally impermeant solutes such as [14C]sucrose and inulin[14C]carboxylic acid gained access to one half of the intracellular water space marked with [3H]H2O. Between 30 and 100% of the cytoplasmic enzyme, lactate dehydrogenase, leaked from the intracellular space. The permeabilization process and calcium-triggered granule secretion were critically dependent upon temperature, time and digitonin concentration. Permeabilized neutrophils secreted [beta]-glucuronidase, lysozyme and vitamin B-12 binding-protein, constituents of both azurophil and specific granules, when exposed to micromolar levels of free calcium. Release of specific granule constituents appeared to be more sensitive to free calcium than release from azurophil granules. Although the amount of permeabilization varied considerably with each batch of cells, release of these granule markers was a consistent finding. Release of granule markers was accompanied by resealing of the cells to high-molecular-weight (Mr > 5000) solutes. Electron microscopic evidence also suggested that granule and plasma membranes were intact following digitonin treatment and that fusion of these membranes occurred in response to calcium. These results suggest that elevation of intracellular free-calcium levels is a sufficient condition for lysosomal enzyme release.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/26199/1/0000278.pd

Una nueva especie de columnea (gesneriaceae) del norte de los Andes

A new species of Columnea L. belonging to section Ortholoma (Gesneriaceae) from the Andean Region of Colombia and Ecuador is described.Se describe e ilustra una nueva especie de Columnea L. (Gesneriaceae) perteneciente a la sección Ortholoma. La nueva especie proviene de la región andina de Colombia (Caquetá y Cauca) y Ecuador (Napo)

Update to the Vitamin C, Thiamine and Steroids in Sepsis (VICTAS) protocol: statistical analysis plan for a prospective, multicenter, double-blind, adaptive sample size, randomized, placebo-controlled, clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: Observational research suggests that combined therapy with Vitamin C, thiamine and hydrocortisone may reduce mortality in patients with septic shock. METHODS AND DESIGN: The Vitamin C, Thiamine and Steroids in Sepsis (VICTAS) trial is a multicenter, double-blind, adaptive sample size, randomized, placebo-controlled trial designed to test the efficacy of combination therapy with vitamin C (1.5 g), thiamine (100 mg), and hydrocortisone (50 mg) given every 6 h for up to 16 doses in patients with respiratory or circulatory dysfunction (or both) resulting from sepsis. The primary outcome is ventilator- and vasopressor-free days with mortality as the key secondary outcome. Recruitment began in August 2018 and is ongoing; 501 participants have been enrolled to date, with a planned maximum sample size of 2000. The Data and Safety Monitoring Board reviewed interim results at N = 200, 300, 400 and 500, and has recommended continuing recruitment. The next interim analysis will occur when N = 1000. This update presents the statistical analysis plan. Specifically, we provide definitions for key treatment and outcome variables, and for intent-to-treat, per-protocol, and safety analysis datasets. We describe the planned descriptive analyses, the main analysis of the primary end point, our approach to secondary and exploratory analyses, and handling of missing data. Our goal is to provide enough detail that our approach could be replicated by an independent study group, thereby enhancing the transparency of the study. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03509350. Registered on 26 April 2018

Nitrogen-induced terrestrial eutrophication: cascading effects and impacts on ecosystem services

Human activity has significantly increased the deposition of nitrogen (N) on terrestrial ecosystems over pre-industrial levels leading to a multitude of effects including losses of biodiversity, changes in ecosystem functioning, and impacts on human well-being. It is challenging to explicitly link the level of deposition on an ecosystem to the cascade of ecological effects triggered and ecosystem services affected, because of the multitude of possible pathways in the N cascade. To address this challenge, we report on the activities of an expert workshop to synthesize information on N-induced terrestrial eutrophication from the published literature and to link critical load exceedances with human beneficiaries by using the STressor–Ecological Production function–final ecosystem Services Framework and the Final Ecosystem Goods and Services Classification System (FEGS-CS). We found 21 N critical loads were triggered by N deposition (ranging from 2 to 39 kg N·ha−1·yr−1), which cascaded to distinct beneficiary types through 582 individual pathways in the five ecoregions examined (Eastern Temperate Forests, Marine West Coast Forests, Northwestern Forested Mountains, North American Deserts, Mediterranean California). These exceedances ultimately affected 66 FEGS across a range of final ecosystem service categories (21 categories, e.g., changes in timber production, fire regimes, and native plant and animal communities) and 198 regional human beneficiaries of different types. Several different biological indicators were triggered in different ecosystems, including grasses and/or forbs (33% of all pathways), mycorrhizal communities (22%), tree species (21%), and lichen biodiversity (11%). Ecoregions with higher deposition rates for longer periods tended to have more numerous and varied ecological impacts (e.g., Eastern Temperate Forests, eight biological indicators) as opposed to other ecoregions (e.g., North American Deserts and Marine West Coast Forests each with one biological indicator). Nonetheless, although ecoregions differed by ecological effects from terrestrial eutrophication, the number of FEGS and beneficiaries impacted was similar across ecoregions. We found that terrestrial eutrophication affected all ecosystems examined, demonstrating the widespread nature of terrestrial eutrophication nationally. These results highlight which people and ecosystems are most affected according to present knowledge, and identify key uncertainties and knowledge gaps to be filled by future research