NEW TECHNIQUES FOR TRACE ELEMENT AND RADIOGENIC ISOTOPE MEASUREMENT OF DIAMONDS: THEIR APPLICATION TO DIAMOND PETROGENESIS AND SOURCE TRACING

To investigate impurities in diamond we have developed an offline laser ablation method to acquire radiogenic isotope compositions and quantitative trace element determinations on diamond. This information has the potential to be used as both a petrogenetic tracer and as a tool in determining the geographic region of origin of particular diamonds. Trace element abundances are determined by sector-field ICPMS and isotope ratios are analysed via TIMS (Sr) and multi-collector ICPMS (Nd-Pb). To report quantitative trace element data the analyte mass we require from a given ablated sample volume is <1 pg for most elements, except for Sr, Zr, Ba which require between 2 – 30 pg, and for Pb ~40 pg. Diamonds show broad LILE and LREE enrichment and HFSE and HREE depletion. Trace element systematics in fibrous diamonds are mimicked in monocrystalline diamonds. Monocrystalline diamonds display 87Sr/86Sr(i) = 0.7014±0.0010 to 0.70864±0.00004 and fibrous diamonds display 87Sr/86Sr(i) = 0.70386±0.00005 to 0.712406±0.00007. The isotope data show no defined isochron systematics that could be used for dating purposes. The parental fluids of fibrous and monocrystalline diamonds are thought to be derived through a similar multi-component mechanism. Diamond formation will result from the interaction between 1) a primitive, volatile and carbonate-rich, silicate liquid with an unradiogenic Sr signature ascending from the asthenosphere and 2) other components with more radiogenic Sr, akin to more ancient, enriched and vein-dominated lower lithosphere e.g. glimmerite/ PIC assemblages and the sources of Group II kimberlites. We have demonstrated, using >100 diamonds from the Ekati, Diavik, Snap Lake and Congo kimberlites, that statistical processing of data using analysis of variance and logistic regression can allow source discrimination of ‘unknown’ samples. For logistic regression the most successful models focus on differences in Nb, Eu, Rb and Th data. This method shows good potential for use in a diamond fingerprinting programme

Matthew Gandy. The Fabric of Space: Water, Modernity, and the Urban Imagination.

Matthew Gandy is a geographer at University College London whose work focuses on cities, how they work, and how their workings are represented in art and literature. His first book, entitled Concrete and Clay (2002), about New York, won a prize. Since its appearance, he has published dozens of articles and several edited books, and his output has earned him election to the British Academy. This latest book concerns six big cities at various points in their recent history: Paris, Berlin, Lagos, Mumbai, Los Angeles, and London

Criteria for Side-Force Control in Air-to-Ground Target Acquisition and Tracking

A moving-base simulator experiment conducted at Ames Research Center demonstrated that a wings-level-turn control mode improved flying qualities for air-to-ground weapons delivery compared with those of a conventional aircraft. Evaluations of criteria for dynamic response for this system have shown that pilot ratings correlate well with equivalent time constant of the initial response and with system bandwidth. Ranges of this time constant, as well as digital-system transport delays and lateral-acceleration control authorities that encompassed level 1 through level 3 handling qualities, were determined

Health-care interventions to promote and assist tobacco cessation: a review of efficacy, effectiveness and affordability for use in national guideline development

Aims: This paper provides a concise review of the efficacy, effectiveness and affordability of health-care interventions to promote and assist tobacco cessation, in order to inform national guideline development and assist countries in planning their provision of tobacco cessation support. Methods: Cochrane reviews of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of major health-care tobacco cessation interventions were used to derive efficacy estimates in terms of percentage-point increases relative to comparison conditions in 6–12-month continuous abstinence rates. This was combined with analysis and evidence from ‘real world’ studies to form a judgement on the probable effectiveness of each intervention in different settings. The affordability of each intervention was assessed for exemplar countries in each World Bank income category (low, lower middle, upper middle, high). Based on World Health Organization (WHO) criteria, an intervention was judged as affordable for a given income category if the estimated extra cost of saving a life-year was less than or equal to the per-capita gross domestic product for that category of country. Results: Brief advice from a health-care worker given opportunistically to smokers attending health-care services can promote smoking cessation, and is affordable for countries in all World Bank income categories (i.e. globally). Proactive telephone support, automated text messaging programmes and printed self-help materials can assist smokers wanting help with a quit attempt and are affordable globally. Multi-session, face-to-face behavioural support can increase quit success for cigarettes and smokeless tobacco and is affordable in middle- and high-income countries. Nicotine replacement therapy, bupropion, nortriptyline, varenicline and cytisine can all aid quitting smoking when given with at least some behavioural support; of these, cytisine and nortriptyline are affordable globally. Conclusions: Brief advice from a health-care worker, telephone helplines, automated text messaging, printed self-help materials, cytisine and nortriptyline are globally affordable health-care interventions to promote and assist smoking cessation. Evidence on smokeless tobacco cessation suggests that face-to-face behavioural support and varenicline can promote cessation

UV/Vis+ Photochemistry Database : Structure, Content and Applications

Acknowledgments This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. However, the authors are indebted to those colleagues who support us in maintaining the database through the provision of spectral and other photochemical data and information. The National Center for Atmospheric Research is operated by the University Coporation for Atmopsheric Research, under the sponsorship of the National Science Foundation. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of the U.S.EPA. Mention of trade names or products does not convey and should not be interpreted as conveying official U.S. EPA approval, endorsement, or recommendation.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Different paths to the modern state in Europe: the interaction between domestic political economy and interstate competition

Theoretical work on state formation and capacity has focused mostly on early modern Europe and on the experience of western European states during this period. While a number of European states monopolized domestic tax collection and achieved gains in state capacity during the early modern era, for others revenues stagnated or even declined, and these variations motivated alternative hypotheses for determinants of fiscal and state capacity. In this study we test the basic hypotheses in the existing literature making use of the large date set we have compiled for all of the leading states across the continent. We find strong empirical support for two prevailing threads in the literature, arguing respectively that interstate wars and changes in economic structure towards an urbanized economy had positive fiscal impact. Regarding the main point of contention in the theoretical literature, whether it was representative or authoritarian political regimes that facilitated the gains in fiscal capacity, we do not find conclusive evidence that one performed better than the other. Instead, the empirical evidence we have gathered lends supports to the hypothesis that when under pressure of war, the fiscal performance of representative regimes was better in the more urbanized-commercial economies and the fiscal performance of authoritarian regimes was better in rural-agrarian economie

Progress towards a holistic land and marine surface meteorological database and a call for additional contributions

This paper outlines progress of the Copernicus Climate Change Service's (C3S) Global Land and Marine Observations Database service in securing data sources and introduces the data upload component. We present details of land and marine data holdings inventoried, highlighting priority needs in terms of periods, regions and Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) where additional data could bring most benefit. These holdings are being iteratively merged and integrated to best meet user needs and are served to the user via the Copernicus Climate Data Store (CDS). The secure Data Upload Server enables any data provider to share additional data and metadata with the service. We outline the process for registering as a data provider and how data sets are prioritized for integration. We encourage all data owners to share their data with the C3S service via our Data Upload Server. All unique and relevant data acquired or submitted will be also archived at the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information World Data Center for Meteorology, Asheville, North Carolina, USA and used in their database curation efforts which are being jointly developed