The arctic submarine, an alternative to ice breaker tankers and pipelines

The dual need to discover new sources of energy and to achieve energy self-sufficiency has resulted in a search for petroleum resources in the North American Arctic by the United States, Canada, and Great Britain. Petroleum has been discovered in many localities on land, and increasingly, offshore. A number of these are potential commercial fields. A considerable amount of development has already taken place, and full production will be possible at many of the sites by the early 1990s. However, transport systems to bring this new found wealth to world markets are as yet far from fully developed, and are a problem. While there are two and possibly three potential transport technologies, all are e4pensive, high risk "megaprojects" which are unlikely to be ready for transporting the petroleum when it is ready to be transported. The author presents what he believes to be a more versatile and economically viable transport technology: the Arctic Transport Submarine. The Arctic submarine, the history of which is given in the first chapters, is an accomplished fact. Its modification for commercial purposes, given in a later chapter, can be readily achieved. The author reviews: High Arctic petroleum finds and developments, particularly offshore; the characteristics of the "mega-project" alternatives (pipelines, ice-breaker tankers, and giant submarine tankers), existent and proposed; and the obstacles-financial, political, environmental and physical--that confront any potential Arctic Transport developer. He discusses the advantages and vulnerabilities of each of the transport technologies in face of these obstacles; and concludes with why a prototype "Arctic" submarine, with or without towed cargo containers, is now deserving of developmental attention

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

EULAR/ACR points to consider in the development of classification and diagnostic criteria in systematic vasculitis

OBJECTIVES: The systemic vasculitides are multiorgan diseases where early diagnosis and treatment can significantly improve outcomes. Robust nomenclature reduces diagnostic delay. However, key aspects of current nomenclature are widely perceived to be out of date, these include disease definitions, classification and diagnostic criteria. Therefore, the aim of the present work was to identify deficiencies and provide contemporary points to consider for the development of future definitions and criteria in systemic vasculitis. METHODS: The expert panel identified areas of concern within existing definitions/criteria. Consequently, a systematic literature review was undertaken looking to address these deficiencies and produce 'points to consider' in accordance with standardised European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) operating procedures. In the absence of evidence, expert consensus was used. RESULTS: There was unanimous consensus for re-evaluating existing definitions and developing new criteria. A total of 17 points to consider were proposed, covering 6 main areas: biopsy, laboratory testing, diagnostic radiology, nosology, definitions and research agenda. Suggestions to improve and expand current definitions were described including the incorporation of anti-neutrophil cytoplasm antibody and aetiological factors, where known. The importance of biopsy in diagnosis and exclusion of mimics was highlighted, while equally emphasising its problems. Thus, the role of alternative diagnostic tools such as MRI, ultrasound and surrogate markers were also discussed. Finally, structures to develop future criteria were considered. CONCLUSIONS: Limitations in current classification criteria and definitions for vasculitis have been identified and suggestions provided for improvement. Additionally it is proposed that, in combination with the updated evidence, these should form the basis of future attempts to develop and validate revised criteria and definitions of vasculitis

The DNA sequence of the human X chromosome

The human X chromosome has a unique biology that was shaped by its evolution as the sex chromosome shared by males and females. We have determined 99.3% of the euchromatic sequence of the X chromosome. Our analysis illustrates the autosomal origin of the mammalian sex chromosomes, the stepwise process that led to the progressive loss of recombination between X and Y, and the extent of subsequent degradation of the Y chromosome. LINE1 repeat elements cover one-third of the X chromosome, with a distribution that is consistent with their proposed role as way stations in the process of X-chromosome inactivation. We found 1,098 genes in the sequence, of which 99 encode proteins expressed in testis and in various tumour types. A disproportionately high number of mendelian diseases are documented for the X chromosome. Of this number, 168 have been explained by mutations in 113 X-linked genes, which in many cases were characterized with the aid of the DNA sequence